bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geospatial Semantic Web Services
Authors: Peng Zhong-Ren , Zhao Tian , Zhang Chuanrong
Published: May 2011

Semantic heterogeneity in diverse data sources is a major obstacle in real time data access, exchange and integration. This chapter provides a unique approach to address this issue by developing a framework and prototype for a geospatial semantic web service, through a case study of transportation road networks and transit networks for a transit trip planning system. The uniqueness of this approach is that it takes advantage of the merits of ontology, Web Feather Services (WFS) and relational database query functions. Ontological constructs provide semantic definitions for geospatial data, making use of the spatial query functions of WFS for spatial data searches, the WFS client library for feature rendering, and relational database search functions for non-spatial data queries. The results show that this approach is more efficient than conventional methods of converting all data into ontology instances, as it avoids the costs and consistency problems of data replication.
Linked Data
Authors: Granell Carlos , Schade Sven , Hobona Gobe
Published: May 2011

A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is an information infrastructure for enhancing geospatial data sharing and access. At the moment, the service-oriented second generation of SDI is transitioning to a third generation, which is characterized by user-centric approaches. This new movement closes the gap between classical SDI and user contributed content, also known as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). Public use and acquisition of information provides additional challenges within and beyond the geospatial domain. Linked Data has been suggested recently as a possible overall solution. This notion refers to a best practice for exposing, sharing, and connecting resources in the (Semantic) Web. This chapter details the Linked Data approach to SDI and suggests it as a possibility to combine SDI with VGI. Thus, a Spatial Linked Data Infrastructure could apply solutions for Linked Data to classical SDI standards. The chapter highlights different implementing strategies, gives examples, and argues for benefits, while at the same time trying to outline possible fallbacks; hopeful this contribution will enlighten a way towards a single shared information space.
Implementing Geospatial Web Services for Cloud Computing
Authors: Hobona Gobe , Jackson Mike , Anand Suchith
Published: May 2011

Cloud computing is concerned with the provision of hardware, infrastructure, software and data as services on the internet. A key attraction of cloud computing is that the infrastructure from which services are offered is able to scale upwards automatically as the load on the services increases. This chapter examines the potential for offering capabilities of the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) as a service within a compute cloud. GRASS is a free and open source desktop Geographic Information System (GIS). The chapter describes a prototype service that adopts the Web Processing Service (WPS) standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). A case study is presented applying the prototype in the analysis of satellite imagery. The chapter concludes that the WPS standard can facilitate the provision of geospatial capability in compute clouds.
Semantic Web Enabled Intelligent Geoprocessing Service Chaining
Authors: Yue Peng , He Lianlian , Di Liping
Published: May 2011

In a service-oriented environment, large volumes of geospatial data and diverse geoprocessing functions are accessible as services. An intelligent mechanism is required to facilitate discovery and integration of geospatial data and services so as to enable semi-automated or automated geospatial knowledge discovery. This chapter addresses key research issues for Semantic Web enabled intelligent geoprocessing service chaining. A set of applicable solutions are described, including a common data and service environment, semantic descriptions of geoprocessing services, and a general process for intelligent generation of geoprocessing workflow. Some use cases illustrate the applicability of such solutions. A proof-of-concept prototype system is implemented and some use cases help to demonstrate the applicability of the current approach.
Geospatial Service Composition in Grid Environments
Authors: Fleuren Tino , Müller Paul
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a workflow enactment system that maintains the robustness of centralized control (using service orchestration), but is enhanced by distributed components called “proxy services” that can communicate with each other to allow for efficient coupling between parallel tasks and avoiding of unnecessary data transfers (using service choreography).
Operational Delivery of Customized Earth Observation Data Using Web Coverage Service
Authors: Yang Wenli
Published: May 2011

Global long term Earth Observation (EO) provides valuable information about the land, ocean, and atmosphere of the Earth. EO data are often archived in specialized data systems managed by the data collector’s system. For the data to be fully utilized, one of the most important aspects is to adopt technologies that will enable users to easily find and obtain needed data in a form that can be readily used with little or no manipulation. Many efforts have been made in this direction but few, if any, data providers can deliver on-demand and operational data to users in customized form. Geospatial Web Service has been considered a promising solution to this problem. This chapter discusses the potential for operational and scalable delivery of on-demand personalized EO data using the interoperable Web Coverage Service (WCS) developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
Using Geospatial Web Services Holistically in Emergency Management
Authors: An Ning , Liu Gang , Kazar Baris
Published: May 2011

To confront the ever-growing volume and complexity of disasters, development should begin on a highly interoperable, loosely coupled, dynamic, geospatially-enabled information platform with comprehensive situational awareness. This chapter argues that geospatial Web services are a crucial building component for the emergency management community to develop this desired information platform because geospatial Web services, along with other non-spatial Web services, can provide interoperability. In addition to discussing how geospatial Web services, especially the ones standardized by the Open Geospatial Consortium, have been used in different phases of emergency management, the chapter contends that a holistic approach with geospatial Web services will create more value for emergency management. It concludes by pointing out some future work that is worth exploring in order to cope with the ever-changing nature of emergency management.
GeoBrain Online Analysis System
Authors: Han Weiguo , Di Liping , Zhao Peisheng , Li Xiaoyan
Published: May 2011

The geospatial Web portal is the gateway to combining news, information, data, and applications from the geosciences community. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software as a Service, Rich Internet Application, and other emerging Web standards and technologies have revolutionized the implementation of Web portals. The GeoBrain project is developing a comprehensive Web service-oriented geospatial portal, the GeoBrain Online Analysis System (GeOnAS). This data-rich and service-centric geospatial portal provides easy, fast, and federated Web access to geospatial data, information, and services compliant with Open Geospatial Consortium standards from multiple sources. It offers standards-based geospatial data discovery, retrieval, visualization and analysis to facilitate geosciences research and education around the world, and to help decision-makers and analysts work more efficiently and effectively within an SOA runtime environment. Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) also brings more responsive, interactive, and dynamic features to this Web portal and creates a better Web experience to its end users in the confines of a modern browser.
Computer Simulations and Scientific Knowledge Construction
Authors: Jimoyiannis Athanassios
Published: May 2011

In this article, the basic characteristics of scientific and educational simulations are discussed. Research findings which support their educational effectiveness are presented, and emphasis is placed on the pedagogical issues of designing and using simulation environments aiming at facilitating students’ engagement and active knowledge construction.
Distinctions Between Games and Learning
Authors: Becker Katrin
Published: May 2011

Serious games are digital games designed for purposes other than pure entertainment. This category includes educational games but it also includes a great deal more. A field that was unheard of until Ben Sawyer referred to it as Serious Games in late 2002 (Sawyer, 2003) has already grown so large that one can only hope to keep track of a very small part of it. The time is rapidly coming to an end when literature surveys of even one branch of Serious Games can be considered comprehensive. This chapter will examine the current state of the part of the serious games discipline that intersects with formal education, with a particular focus on design. The chapter begins broadly by looking at games in order to define the term serious game but then narrows to a specific focus on games for education. In this way, it provides an educational context for games as learning objects, distinguishes between traditional, (i.e. non-digital; Murray, 1998) and digital games, and classifies games for education as a subcategory of serious games while at the same time still being part of a larger group of interactive digital applications.
A Multi-Disciplinary Strategy for Identifying Affective Usability Aspects in Educational Geosimulation Systems
Authors: Furtado Elizabeth S. , Furtado Vasco
Published: May 2011

In this article we propose a multi-disciplinary strategy for identifying affective usability design aspects in educational geosimulation systems. It is based on the association of these aspects with an architecture that defines the basic components of a geosimulation system as well as the learning strategies used in this context. Our goal is to provide design strategies that might elicit positive emotional responses from the students in learning experiences. We illustrate how these strategies have been used in a learning system by evaluating the students’ emotional responses evoked during their interaction with the system.
Real Time Interface for Fluidized Bed Reactor Simulator
Authors: Maranesi Luis Alfredo Harriss , Tannous Katia
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, the world witnesses a large technological revolution which has brought new information distribution forms, interpretation and storage. With that, computational tools can be used to sustain the education, as with the learning objects case. A learning object is any digital product that could be re-used for knowledge acquisition, with significant economy and reduction of computer time. Learning objects have led to new solutions, which resulted in good structured and safe programs. Hereby, they rend possible creations of simple units, and the objects, which are associated with each other, can produce large units. Some of them are distinguished among the presence or absence of simulation functions. The software SEREA has been developed to reach undergraduate and graduate chemical engineering for studies about fluid dynamics of fluidized bed reactors motivating students in order to acquire a successful learning process. Motivating students is certainly a stimulating and challenging problem, and is always present in teaching methodologies (Tannous, 2007). This article will present a comparison between two methodologies for interface creations, to sustain the chemical engineering learning and other correlated fields.
A Virtual Environment for Machining Operations Simulation and Machining Evaluation
Authors: Nicolaos Bilalis , Markos Petousis
Published: May 2011

A virtual reality machine shop environment has been developed capable of simulating the operation of a three axis milling machine and it has been integrated with a graphical model for the calculation of quantitative data affecting the machined surface roughness. The model determines the machined surface topomorphy as a cloud of points, retrieved from the visualization system Z buffer. The current study describes the developed model for milling processes simulation in a virtual environment and the determination of the surface roughness of the processed surfaces. Also, the methodology for the verification of the quantitative data acquired by the system is presented. Results were verified with data determined in cutting experiments and by another numerical model that was integrated to the system.
Changing Middle School Science through STEAM
Authors: Franklin Teresa , Chelberg David , Liu Chang
Published: May 2011

Virtual environments are a topic of discussion for many in the business and commerce fields. However, K-12 school systems have been slow to embrace technology within the typical classroom environment, much less a virtual environment. This chapter examines the development of Web-based Flash® content, an Interactive Science Lab in Second Life®, and newly created software called the STEAMiE engine being used by rural Appalachian middle school science classrooms in Ohio, USA. Presented are discussions of the design process through the use of teachers as content experts, the designing of games and simulations for middle school children, the changes in teaching strategies of middle school science teachers, and Fellows and the expectations of school administrators, teachers, and students during design and implementation.
Design Principles for Interactive Learning Environments with Embedded Formative Assessments
Authors: Dexter Sara
Published: May 2011

The new technology-enhanced conception of assessment stands in contrast to the traditional view of assessments as tests of a learner’s ability to recall facts. Because technology mediates learning in new ways, it engenders new forms of knowledge as well as possibilities for documentation and analysis. Many have noted that games, simulations, and cases are engaging for learners and thus warrant further development for their expanded use. Research on learning and assessment suggests design principles that developers should follow when investing such effort in order to capitalize on how the interactive aspects of these tools can serve as assessments about what, how, and when learning is occurring. The ETIPS application described here serves as an example of how such principles can be used to guide priorities and decisions for developers as well as applied as criteria for determining the quality of such digital tools as learning environments and assessment tools.
Haptic-Based Virtual Reality Dental Simulator as an Educational Tool
Authors: Kolesnikov Maxim , Steinberg Arnold D. , Žefran Miloš
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the haptic dental simulator developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It explores its use and advantages as an educational tool in dentistry and examines the structure of the simulator, its hardware and software components, the simulator’s functionality, reality assessment, and the users’ experiences with this technology. The authors hope that the dental haptic simulation program should provide significant benefits over traditional dental training techniques. It should facilitate students’ development of necessary tactile skills, provide unlimited practice time and require less student/instructor interaction while helping students learn basic clinical skills more quickly and effectively.
Hybrid 2D/3D Development of Interactive Simulations
Authors: deByl Penny
Published: May 2011

Three-dimensional virtual learning environments provide students with pedagogic experiences beyond traditional two-dimensional textbook and Web page content. When delivered via the World Wide Web, this technology is known as Web3D. Such immersive learning experiences are available to a wider audience of student and when coupled with existing 2D content make effective learning applications. In this chapter a method for delivering a 2D/3D hybrid Web page will be demonstrated, which illustrates a best of both worlds approach to including both traditional text-based content and 3D simulated environments in an e-Learning context.
Squeak Etoys
Authors: Bouras Christos J , Poulopoulos Vassilis , Tsogkas Vassilis
Published: May 2011

Squeak Etoys is a free software program and media-rich authoring system with a user-friendly visual interface. The software is designed to help six to twelve year-old children learn through interaction and collaboration; it comes preinstalled on XO laptop computers distributed by the One Laptop Per Child Foundation. The goal of the One Laptop Per Child initiative is to create novel educational opportunities for the world’s children by providing each child with a book-size, light and portable computer for personal use at school and at home. This chapter elaborates on the educational dimensions of the XO laptop and the Etoys environment developed to empower teachers and students with the capacity for creative learning, exploration, interaction, and collaboration. The authors focus on how the hardware and software capabilities of XO laptops can be utilized to allow children to interact, work together on projects, and engage in computer simulations and games while learning mathematics, physics, chemistry, and geometry.
Game Interfaces as Bodily Techniques
Authors: Parisi David
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the way that new video game interfaces such as those employed by Guitar Hero™, Dance Dance Revolution, and the Nintendo Wii™ are being used to invoke the whole body as a participant in the game text. As such, new video games involve more than cognitive education; they impart a set of body habits to the player. Drawing on Marcel Mauss’s concept of “bodily technique,” I propose a new vocabulary for understanding these devices, referring to them as bodily interfaces. Next, I discuss three aspects of bodily interfaces: mode of capture, haptics, and button remapping. In order to help educators take advantage of these developments, I conclude by pointing to theoretical literature on the relationship between the physical and mental aspects of the learning process that may be useful in rethinking electronic games.
JavaMOO Virtual Cells for Science Learning
Authors: Vender Bradley , Borchert Otto , Dischinger Ben , Hokanson Guy , McClean Phillip , Slator Brian  M.
Published: May 2011

One of the World Wide Web Instructional Committee (WWWIC) at North Dakota State University’s (NDSU) long running projects is the Virtual Cell, a desktop immersive virtual environment developed for biology education. The focus of the content in the Virtual Cell is cellular biology, and the underlying focus of the content modules is the scientific method and analytical reasoning. However, the technical challenges encountered during the course of the project include designing deployable server architectures, designing robust simulations, and developing high quality animations without losing interactivity.
Simulating Crime Against Properties Using Swarm Intelligence and Social Networks
Authors: Furtado Vasco , Melo Adriano , Coelho André L.V. , Menezes Ronaldo , Belchior Mairon
Published: May 2011

Experience in the domain of criminology has shown that the spatial distribution of some types of crimes in urban centers follows Zipf’s Law in which most of the crime events are concentrated in a few places while other places have few crimes. Moreover, the temporal distribution of these crime events follows an exponential law. In order to reproduce and better understand the nuances of such crime distribution profile, we introduce in this chapter a novel multi-agent-based crime simulation model that is directly inspired by the swarm intelligence paradigm. In this model, criminals are regarded as agents endowed with the capability to pursue self-organizing behavior by considering their individual (local) activities as well as the influence of other criminals pertaining to their social networks. Through controlled experiments with the simulation model, we could indeed observe that self-organization phenomena (i.e., criminal behavior toward crime) emerge as the result of both individual and social learning factors. As expected, our experiments reveal that the spatial distribution of crime occurrences achieved with the simulation model provides a good approximation of the real-crime data distribution. A detailed analysis of the social aspect is also conducted here as this factor is shown to be instrumental for the accurate reproduction of the spatial pattern of crime occurrences.
Synchronization of Uncertain Neural Networks with H8 Performance and Mixed Time-Delays
Authors: Karimi Hamid Reza
Published: May 2011

An exponential H8 synchronization method is addressed for a class of uncertain master and slave neural networks with mixed time-delays, where the mixed delays comprise different neutral, discrete and distributed time-delays. An appropriate discretized Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and some free weighting matrices are utilized to establish some delay-dependent sufficient conditions for designing a delayed state-feedback control as a synchronization law in terms of linear matrix inequalities under less restrictive conditions. The controller guarantees the exponential H8 synchronization of the two coupled master and slave neural networks regardless of their initial states. Numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the established synchronization laws.
The Use of Electronic Games in Distance Learning as a Tool for Teaching and Learning
Authors: Demirbilek Muhammet
Published: May 2011

Playing game is the basic nature of human beings. Though the concept of learning through game is not a new one, it is generally acknowledged that the earliest educational games and simulations were usually war games (Gredler, 1996). Although electronic games have a very short history, they remain a vital force in entertainment. The earliest electronic game called Spacewar, was developed by a young graduate student named Steve Russell in 1961 on a PDP-11 computer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Herz, 2001). The Spacewar computer game is generally recognized as the first of the “shoot-’em’ up” game genre. Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in the early 1980’s. The popularity of electronic games specially increased in entertainment sector during the 1990s, due to fast diffusion of the personal computers all over the world.
Culturally Responsive Games and Simulations
Authors: Swain Colleen
Published: May 2011

Electronic games and simulations are powerful learning tools for many learners; yet, the learning environments in these games and simulations frequently represent knowledge and experiences from a single dominant culture perspective—a white, middle to upper class perspective. This chapter introduces the reader to the connection between culture and learning and using culturally responsive teaching strategies as a method of expanding the effectiveness of electronic games and simulations to all learners. Readers are exposed to major tenets of culturally responsive instruction and how specific instructional strategies that embrace these principles can effectively be incorporated into educational games and simulations. Suggestions for future development of electronic games and simulations are also presented along with ideas for research regarding the effectiveness of culturally responsive teaching strategies in electronic games and simulations.
The Role of Narrative in Educational Games and Simulations
Authors: Bizzocchi Jim
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the relationship of story, interaction, and learning through a close view of the role of narrative in two SAGE for Learning projects: Contagion and COMPS. The combination of narrative with an interactive multi-mediated environment can enhance the learning experience. In interactive environments, the standard narrative arc has limited analytical utility; in its place, we use a framework of more focused and particular narrative components, with the following components: storyworld, character, emotion, narrativized interface, micro-narrative and narrative progression. This framework is used to analyze Contagion and COMPS, revealing the underlying narrative dynamics that drive the design, and support the learning experiences that they make possible.
Using Digital Games to Develop Ethical Teachers
Authors: Schrier Karen , Kinzer Charles K.
Published: May 2011

Teacher education that emphasizes the understanding and assessment of ethics can support the creation of an ethically aware and critically engaged citizenship. But how do we develop teachers who are reflective and critical thinkers of ethics? One potential solution is to incorporate digital games and simulations into teacher education curricula. Game worlds might be suitable playgrounds for ethical thinking because they can encourage experimentation with alternative identities, possibilities, and perspectives, and can support a learning sciences framework where: 1) cognition is situated, 2) cognition is social, and 3) cognition is distributed. In fact, games themselves, like all media, reflect designed values systems that should be considered and analyzed. Using case studies of current commercial and more explicitly educational digital games, we create a set of recommendations for creating future games and simulations that teach ethics to educators.
Modifying Popular Board Games to Illustrate Complex Strategic Concepts
Authors: Gallagher Scott , Cavazos David , Harper Steven
Published: May 2011

Simulations can be powerful tools in helping students learn about strategic management. This chapter discusses the value of simulations in helping to illustrate the importance of contingency, the impossibility of a perfect strategy, planning ahead, and aligning internal resources to external environments in strategic management classes. The authors also discuss the benefits that simulations can offer in going beyond the book and class, being interesting, and the importance of instrumentality in facilitating student learning. This chapter then compares self reported student learning results for each of these variables for two simulations, a professionally packaged simulation and a “home-brewed” one based on a popular board game. The authors expected the professional simulation to do better on every variable except instrumentality. Surprisingly, the “home-brewed” simulation scored better on most of the dimensions. Therefore, they conclude by encouraging management educators to aggressively explore their instincts for simulation learning opportunities.
The Applications of Building Information Modelling in Facilities Management
Authors: Olatunji Oluwole Alfred , Sher William David
Published: May 2011

Effective processes in facilities management are responsive to the quality of information flow across various levels and stages of design, procurement and construction processes. Considerable empirical evidence from industry reports shows how construction and facilities management processes could be jeopardized by some of the limitations of conventional design and procurement processes. To address these limitations, there are promising indications showing that the potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM) will trigger major improvements in both construction and facilities management systems. This study reviews some of the capabilities of BIM which may revolutionize conventional practices in facilities management processes. Specific platforms for this include, integrated analysis and simulation of project variables in virtual environments, effective communication between project stakeholders and project teams and multi-disciplinary collaboration. Others are interoperability, project visualization, value intelligence and other digital facilities management applications. In the study it is argued that BIM capabilities such as project visualization, simulation, auto-alert and value intelligence could stimulate major improvements in facilities management processes. Finally conclusions are drawn on the relationships between BIM and digital facilities management, including suggestions on areas of further studies.
The State of Computer Simulation Applications in Construction
Authors: Marzouk Mohamed
Published: May 2011

Construction operations are performed under different working conditions including (but not limited to) unexpected weather conditions, equipment breakdown, delays in procurement, etc. As such, computer simulation is considered an appropriate technique for modeling the randomness of construction operations. Several construction processes and operations have been modeled utilizing computer simulation such as earthmoving, construction of bridges and tunnels, concrete placement operations, paving processes, and coordination of cranes operations. This chapter presents an overview of computer simulation efforts that have been performed in the area of construction engineering and management. Also, it presents two computer simulation applications in construction; earthmoving and construction of bridges’ decks. Comprehensive case studies are worked out to illustrate the practicality of using computer simulation in scheduling construction projects, taking into account the associated uncertainties inherited in construction operations.
Building Interactive and Immersive Imagery
Authors: Hai-Jew Shalin
Published: May 2011

The influence of immersive gaming and simulations on e-learning cannot be understated. While there has been some successful harnessing of interactivity and immersive spaces for e-learning, more awareness of related fundamentals may enhance e-learning. This chapter discusses the role of graphics in interactivity (live and automated) and immersion and strategies for creating effective interfaces, virtual spaces, contexts, agents, and 3D digital learning objects.
Learners’ Cognitive Load When Using Educational Technology
Authors: Low Renae , Jin Putai , Sweller John
Published: May 2011

Taking advantage of the rapid evolution of educational technology, simulations and games have been embodied in a variety of teaching and learning procedures. To a large extent, their effectiveness, in common with the effectiveness of all instructional design relies on how material and activities are optimally organized. That organization should be determined by the nature of human cognitive architecture when dealing with complex, biologically secondary information. Cognitive load theory has been devised to deal with such knowledge. Therefore, embodied simulations and serious games should take evidence-based cognitive load principles into account in both design and implementation.
Online Games for 21st Century Skills
Authors: Galarneau Lisa , Zibit Melanie
Published: May 2011

20th century visionaries foresaw that mastery of the dynamic processes underpinning the acquisition and manipulation of knowledge would be critical in the 21st century. Formal educational systems have not yet changed to facilitate the development of these necessary capabilities, and so people of all ages are developing them through a variety of digitally mediated mechanisms. Online games offer one area in which to examine patterns of spontaneously occurring phenomena that represent the natural development of such capabilities. This chapter reviews the character of, and need for, 21st century skills. It also illuminates existing digital domains in which these skills develop organically. Peering through the window of the present into the future, we see that envisioning change in education means taking a long look at what activity produces those skills, regardless of whether that activity is taking place in a formal setting or within entertainment-based worlds where the skills are learned incidentally through play.
Synthetic Biology as a Proof of Systems Biology
Authors: Kuznetsov Andrew
Published: May 2011

Biologists have used a reductionist approach to investigate the essence of life. In the last years, scientific disciplines have merged with the aim of studying life on a global scale in terms of molecules and their interactions. Based on high-throughput measurements, Systems Biology adopts mathematical modeling and computational simulation to reconstruct natural biological systems. Synthetic Biology seeks to engineer artificial biological systems starting from standard molecular compounds coding in DNA. Can Systems and Synthetic Biology be combined with the idea of creating a new science—‘SYS Biology’ that will not demarcate natural and artificial realities? What will this approach bring to medicine?
Have You Taken Your Guys on the Journey?
Authors: Cecez-Kecmanovic Dubravka , Nagm Fouad
Published: May 2011

Pre-investment evaluation of information system (IS) project proposals persists to be problematic and highly risky in practice. Numerous evaluation approaches and methodologies, offered in the literature, have not contributed to major improvements in practice. In this paper we propose a radical departure from the dominant conceptions in IS evaluation literature by adopting Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to provide a better understanding of the development and evaluation of IS proposals in practice and examine the ways in which the evaluation process shapes and ensures the selection of the best IS projects. By drawing on a field study of the IS evaluation processes in a company with a history of IS successes, we reveal the relational nature of IS project proposals and the ways they are constitutively entangled with business processes and practices. Our ANT account demonstrates: a) that the view of pre-investment IS evaluation in the literature is very narrow; b) that the practice of IS evaluation produces the ‘object’ it evaluates; c) that this object, that is the IS project proposal document, is a focal actor (an inscription device) produced by relations in the actor-network emerging around it; and d) that reconfiguration of these relations involving the translation of actors’ expertise, experiences and interests into the IS proposal documents are critical for the evaluation of IS project proposals and their chances of success.
Innovation Translation, Innovation Diffusion and the Technology Acceptance Model
Authors: Tatnall Arthur
Published: May 2011

The process of innovation involves getting new ideas accepted and new technologies adopted and used. There are a number of different approaches to theorising technological innovation and this chapter will compare and contrast what I suggest are the most important three: Innovation Diffusion, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Translation, giving examples of how each of these approaches is used in different situations. While there are many advantages to the use of an Innovation Translation approach, it should not be said that Translation offers a better approach than the others in all circumstances and that the others have nothing at all to offer; that would be rather too simplistic a view given the widespread use of Innovation Diffusion and TAM. This chapter proposes that perhaps it should not be a case of always using either one approach or the other but rather the use of whichever is most appropriate to a particular investigation.
Using I-D maps to Represent the Adoption of Internet Applications by Local Cricket Clubs
Authors: Bingley Scott , Burgess Steven
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the development of a visual aid to depict the manner in which Internet applications are being diffused through local sporting associations. Rogers’ (2003) Innovation-Decision process stages, specifically the knowledge, persuasion, adoption and confirmation stages, are used as the theoretical basis for the aid. The chapter discusses the Innovation-Decision process as an important component of Rogers’ (2003) Innovation Diffusion approach. It then outlines the particular problem at hand, determining how best to represent different sporting (cricket) associations and their adoption and use of Internet applications across the innovation-decision process stages. Different data visualisation approaches to representing the data (such as line graphs and bar charts) are discussed, with the introduction of an aid (labelled I-D maps) used to represent the adoption of different Internet applications by cricket associations in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The Internet applications considered are email, club websites, association and/or third party websites and the use of the Internet to record online statistics. The use of I-D maps provides instant interpretation of the different levels of adoption of Internet applications by different cricket associations.
Modelling the Adoption and Use of Internet Technologies in Higher Education in Thailand
Authors: Kripanont Napaporn , Tatnall Arthur
Published: May 2011

With a penetration rate of only about 13%, Internet usage in Thailand is lower than the world average, and is much less than the US and Australia where Internet penetration is over 70%. There are a number of approaches to modelling technology adoption, and this chapter describes a research project that modelled adoption of Internet technology by academics in Business Schools in Public Universities in Thailand. In the Internet adoption research outlined in this chapter, formulation of the research model was based mainly on TAM and its derivatives, survey methodology was used to collect primary data from academics in Thailand and analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The result was the generation of a research model: ‘The Internet Acceptance Model’ which demonstrates that only perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and self-efficacy significantly influenced actual usage behaviour in this case.
Chronicle of a Journey
Authors: Kosachev Alex , Nemati Hamid
Published: May 2011

Every email that originates from outside of an organization must go through a series of firewalls and gateways before reaching the intended recipient inside the organization. During this journey, each email may get scanned for possible viruses or other malicious programming codes. In some cases, the e-mail may also receive a score based on the possibility of spam content. On any stage of this processing email can be quarantined, or moved to a spam folder for the future possible analysis or simply deleted. Understandably, such complex structure helps secure the company’s internal infrastructure, however, e-mails have become an important tool in marketing for many e-commerce organizations and if marketing e-mails do not get to their intended receiver, the sending company will be disadvantaged. Therefore, from the point of view of the sender of an e-mail, it is important to understand the faith of the e-mail that was sent and whether it was received as intended. In this case study, we describe an e-mail bounce back system that was developed by a major e-commerce company in order to understand whether its e-mail based marketing was successful in delivering the intended message to its customers. In addition to the describing the development of the system, security and privacy issues are also discussed.
Addressing Current PCI Compliance Challenges
Authors: Ngugi Benjamin , Dardick Glenn , Vega Gina
Published: May 2011

This study reviews the progress made by the introduction of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance rules in the USA. Available data indicate that compliance has grown but several issues remain unresolved. These are identified within, along with an analysis of the feasibility of several solutions to the challenges that have hampered compliance with the Payment Card Industry rules. These solutions are evaluated by the extent to which they can help the merchants meet their business objectives while still safeguarding the credit card data. The first solution involves upgrading the current PCI standards as suggested by the PCI council. The second solution would require moving the burden of credit card information storage to the credit card companies and member banks, as suggested by the National Retail Federation. A third option reflects a socially responsible approach that protects the interests of all stakeholders. The study concludes by suggesting the way forward.
Advances in Security and Privacy in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Kar Dulal C. , Ngo Hung L. , Mulkey Clifton J. , Sanapala Geetha
Published: May 2011

It is challenging to secure a wireless sensor network (WSN) because its inexpensive, tiny sensor nodes do not have the necessary processing capability, memory capacity, and battery life to take advantage of the existing security solutions for traditional networks. Existing security solutions for wireless sensor networks are mostly based on symmetric key cryptography with the assumption that sensor nodes are embedded with secret, temporary startup keys before deployment thus avoiding any use of computationally demanding public key algorithms altogether. However, symmetric key cryptography alone cannot satisfactorily provide all security needs for wireless sensor networks. It is still problematic to replenish an operational wireless sensor network with new sensor nodes securely. Current research on public key cryptography for WSNs shows some promising results, particularly in the use of elliptic curve cryptography and identity based encryption for WSNs. Although security is essential for WSNs, it can complicate some crucial operations of a WSN like data aggregation or in-network data processing that can be affected by a particular security protocol. Accordingly, in this chapter, the authors summarize, discuss, and evaluate recent symmetric key based results reported in literature on sensor network security protocols such as for key establishment, random key pre-distribution, data confidentiality, data integrity, and broadcast authentication as well as expose limitations and issues related to those solutions for WSNs. The authors also present significant advancement in public key cryptography for WSNs with promising results from elliptic curve cryptography and identity based encryption as well as their limitations for WSNs. In addition,they also discuss recently identified threats and their corresponding countermeasures in WSNs.
A New SOA Security Model to Protect Against Web Competitive Intelligence Attacks by Software Agents
Authors: Amouzegar Hamidreza , Tarokh Mohammad Jafar , Hidaji Anahita Naghilouye
Published: May 2011

This article presents an automata SOA based security model against competitive intelligence attacks in e-commerce. It focuses on how to prevent conceptual interception of an e-firm business model from CI agent attackers. Since competitive intelligence web environment is a new important approach for all e-commerce based firms, they try to come in new marketplaces and need to find a good customer-base in contest with other existing competitors. Many of the newest methods for CI attacks in web position are based on software agent facilities. Many researchers are currently working on how to facilitate CI creation in this environment. The aim of this paper is to help e-firm designers provide a non-predictable presentation layer against CI attacks.
PAKE on the Web
Authors: Wang Xunhua , Lin Hua
Published: May 2011

Unlike existing password authentication mechanisms on the web that use passwords for client-side authentication only, password-authenticated key exchange (PAKE) protocols provide mutual authentication. In this article, we present an architecture to integrate existing PAKE protocols to the web. Our integration design consists of the client-side part and the server-side part. First, we implement the PAKE client-side functionality with a web browser plug-in, which provides a secure implementation base. The plug-in has a log-in window that can be customized by a user when the plug-in is installed. By checking the user-specific information in a log-in window, an ordinary user can easily detect a fake log-in window created by mobile code. The server-side integration comprises a web interface and a PAKE server. After a successful PAKE mutual authentication, the PAKE plug-in receives a one-time ticket and passes it to the web browser. The web browser authenticates itself by presenting this ticket over HTTPS to the web server. The plug-in then fades away and subsequent web browsing remains the same as usual, requiring no extra user education. Our integration design supports centralized log-ins for web applications from different web sites, making it appropriate for digital identity management. A prototype is developed to validate our design. Since PAKE protocols use passwords for mutual authentication, we believe that the deployment of this design will significantly mitigate the risk of phishing attacks.
Social Learning from the Inside Out
Authors: Bennet David , Bennet Alex
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores from the viewpoint of the mind/brain the factors and conditions which influence the social creation and sharing of knowledge. A foundation is developed by providing clear definitions of information, knowledge and learning, including levels of knowledge and the process through which the mind/brain creates new knowledge. Then neuroscience findings are used to discuss social interaction, including environmental impacts on the creation and sharing of knowledge. Factors such as arousal and stress level, social attunement, holding environment, intersubjective space, level of trust, social bonding, and an enriched external environment are posited to enhance the creation and sharing of knowledge. Finally, the individual learning and knowledge activity is extrapolated to the societal level through a short introduction to collaborative entanglement (learning to create and apply knowledge as communities), and the use of metaphor and story. Summary highlights of neuroscience findings are also provided.
Measuring the Impact of Social Media
Authors: Dalkir Kimiz
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on a method, social network analysis (SNA) that can be used to assess the quantity and quality of connection, communication and collaboration mediated by social tools in an organization. An organization, in the Canadian public sector, is used as a real-life case study to illustrate how SNA can be used in a pre-test/post-test evaluation design to conduct a comparative assessment of methods that can be used before, during and after the implementation of organizational change in work processes. The same evaluation method can be used to assess the impact of introducing new social media such as wikis, expertise locator systems, blogs, Twitter and so on. In other words, while traditional pre-test/post-test designs can be easily applied to social media, the social media tools themselves can be added to the assessment toolkit. Social network analysis in particular is a good candidate to analyze the connections between people and content as well as people with other people.
Cultural Barriers to Organizational Social Media Adoption
Authors: Miller Andrew
Published: May 2011

From telephones to fax machines to personal computers to email, most communication technology has been introduced with a business function in mind, prior to becoming a part of our social lives. However, social media is a technological anomaly; private individuals quickly adopted this technology as an extension of their personal life without any previous introduction to it through their workplace. Due to this reversal, many organizations are struggling to understand how this technology can benefit their mission, while many more worry that it will devastate productivity and security. Individuals who wield the power of expansive social media networks can significantly alter an organization’s credibility and fiscal health. Organizations who harness the massive data warehouses behind these social media networks have the ability to significantly alter individual lives and society at large; for better or worse. With this backdrop, what cultural barriers are being raised against social media adoption and how can management re-align their understanding of social media to better utilize resources and take advantage of the opportunities this technology presents?