bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
General Adaptation Framework
Authors: Kaykova Olena , Khriyenko Oleksiy , Kovtun Dmytro , Naumenko Anston , Terziyan Vagan , Zharko Andriy
Published: May 2011

Integration of heterogeneous applications and data sources into an interoperable system is one of the most relevant challenges for many knowledge-based corporations nowadays. Development of a global environment that would support knowledge transfer from human experts to automated Web services, which are able to learn, is a very profit-promising and challenging task. The domain of industrial maintenance is not an exception. This chapter outlines in detail an approach for adaptation of heterogeneous Web resources into a unified environment as a first step toward interoperability of smart industrial resources, where distributed human experts and learning Web services are utilized by various devices for self monitoring and self diagnostics. The proposed General Adaptation Framework utilizes a potential of the Semantic Web technology and primarily focuses on the aspect of a semantic adaptation (or mediation) of existing widely used models of data representation to RDF-based semantically rich format. To perform the semantic adaptation of industrial resources, the approach of two-stage transformation (syntactical and semantic) is elaborated and implemented for monitoring of a concrete industrial device with underlying XML-based data representation model as a use case.
Toward Always-On Enterprise Information Systems
Authors: Bajgoric Nijaz
Published: May 2011

Significant changes in information technology (IT), the Internet, and e-business technology have increased the need for continuous and agile data access, in particular for mission-critical applications. Modern business computing has evolved into an organizational engine that drives business and provides a powerful source for competitive advantage. IT has been integrated into organizational operations and activities in a way that application downtime is not an option since each hour, even minute of downtime may generate negative financial effects. In order to achieve higher levels of competitiveness, business has to be continuous from data availability perspective and agile with regard to data access. An enterprise information system (EIS) can be qualified as “high-quality” in terms of its architecture, application platform, and information it can provide to users but if that information is unavailable when it is needed by customer, manager, or any other end user, the value of that EIS simply becomes “zeroed” from end-users’ point of view. The chapter presents a framework for implementation of continuous computing technologies for improving business continuity. The framework is presented within a systemic view of developing an “always-on” enterprise information system.
Federated Agent-Based Architecture for Collaborative Education Model
Authors: Miliszewska Iwona
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the development of a conceptual, operational, and software architecture of a collaborative education model. The purpose of the model is to provide efficient communication services and an open scalable architecture for the uniform publication, management, and dissemination of distributed educational material developed by geographically dispersed educational providers, while maintaining the autonomy of the participating providers. Promotion of educational expertise, especially through expansion of specialisation, is of increasing importance. Within the educational arena, big providers tend to dominate the market, at the expense of smaller ones. For small providers, specialization within disciplines, coupled with collaboration among other providers might be the key to their survival. Intradiscipline specialization would promote development of quality services, and inter-provider collaboration would enable wide offering of these services. The proposed paradigm would require the development of a suitable model to support it. The model proposed in this chapter is a federation of independent providers that are loosely coupled to facilitate collaboration, and sharing and exchanging of information. The federated model, supported by agent-based communication over the Internet, can operate across geographical, cultural and organisational boundaries while promoting integration within those boundaries. Because of its potential ability to cross the various boundaries, the proposed model seems particularly applicable to distance education environments.
"Neomillennial" Learning Styles Propagated by Wireless Handheld Devices
Authors: Dieterle Edward , Dede Chris , Schrier Karen
Published: May 2011

As the digital-aged learners of today prepare for their post-classroom lives, educational experiences within classrooms and outside of schools should reflect advances both in interactive media and in the learning sciences. Two recent research projects that explore the strengths and limitations of wireless handheld computing devices (WHDs) as primary tools for educational innovations are Harvard University’s Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous Learning (HDUL) and Schrier’s Reliving the Revolution (RtR). These projects provide rich data for analysis using our conceptual framework, which articulates (a) the global proliferation of WHDs; (b) society’s movement toward “ubiquitous computing;” (c) the potential of WHDs to enable sophisticated types of instructional designs; and (d) WHD’s fostering of new, media-based learning styles. In this chapter, our primary focus is the last of these four themes.
Discursive Context-Aware Knowledge and Learning Management Systems
Authors: O’Nualláin Caoimhín , Westerski Adam , Kruk Sebastian
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we look at the research area of discursion and context-aware information as it relates to the user. Much research has been done in the area of effective learning, active learning, and in developing frameworks through which learning can be said to be achieved and have some possibility of being measured (i.e., Networked Learning and Bloom’s Taxonomy) (Bloom, 1956). Having examined many such frameworks, we have found that dialogue plays a large part, and in this chapter we specifically examine dialogue in context of the user’s background and social context. This always plays a critical role, and it is around this that we want to dig deeper. We aim to provide a quality discourse analysis model which will achieve in more detail a picture of the users actual level of knowledge. Problem solving skills, together with the critical thinking capability as part of a team, and individually, in the following chapter.
Knowledge Management Leaders' Top Issues
Authors: Croteau Anne-Marie , Dfouni Marc
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the results obtained after reaching a consensus among 100 knowledge leaders on their critical issues. These issues include the perceived knowledge management benefits and obstacles, the knowledge leaders’ roles and skills, as well as the technologies they used for implementing knowledge management initiatives. Using a Web-based Delphi method, the results indicate that an increase in internal knowledge sharing is judged to be the most significant of all perceived knowledge management benefits. Their most important role is to foster a knowledge sharing culture in their organization in order to overcome the most important obstacle: organizational culture. They also suggest that the key abilities they should possess are those of strong interpersonal and leadership skills. Finally, portals and information retrieval engines are found to be the most widely used technologies to develop and/or implement knowledge management initiatives.
Virtual Teams
Authors: Jawadi Nabila , Daassi Mohamed
Published: May 2011

This chapter analyses how to build and maintain trust in virtual teams. Based on literature on trust and leadership in virtual teams, the purpose of this chapter is to identify e-leaders’ roles and behaviors related to trust management and development. It argues that trust is qualified as swift in virtual context and that it relies heavily on leaders contribution to be established and maintained. E-leaders have to adopt new roles and to build strategies to manage task achievement, individual team members’ needs, and team cohesion to face problems related to distortion of the communication processes, member diversity, technology problems, and time pressure that inhibit trust management.
Evolutionary Population Dynamics and Multi-Objective Optimisation Problems
Authors: Lewis Andrew , Mostaghim Sanaz , Randall Marcus
Published: May 2011

Problems for which many objective functions are to be simultaneously optimised are widely encountered in science and industry. These multi-objective problems have also been the subject of intensive investigation and development recently for metaheuristic search algorithms such as ant colony optimisation, particle swarm optimisation and extremal optimisation. In this chapter, a unifying framework called evolutionary programming dynamics (EPD) is examined. Using underlying concepts of self organised criticality and evolutionary programming, it can be applied to many optimisation algorithms as a controlling metaheuristic, to improve performance and results. We show this to be effective for both continuous and combinatorial problems.
Tacit Knowledge Defined
Authors: Busch Peter
Published: May 2011

As Dahlbom and Mathiassen (1999) state, even though we may not be able to articulate a lot of our “know how” as opposed to “know what” or “know that” (Garud, 1997), it is felt there is a proportion that can be. Within an organisational context, people make use of knowledge that is not necessarily codified or even articulated, this knowledge is said to be tacit, yet comprises not only a viable source of information to be articulated but provides an organisation with a competitive edge. The separation between articulable and inarticulable. tacit.knowledge has its foundations in the work of others. “… It is important to distinguish between tacit knowledge, which is embodied in skills and can therefore be copied, and tacit knowledge which cannot be demonstrated and so is very difficult to transfer (e.g., the recognition of a musical note)” (Senker, 1995a, p. 102). Although recognition is given to inarticulable.tacit.knowledge, or true tacit knowledge, the bulk of this monograph is concerned with the articulable component. This chapter accomplishes two tasks. Part A provides the reader with a general background to knowledge with a view to where tacit knowledge fits into this spectrum. A broad review of the literature then is presented with tacit knowledge explored from different perspectives. Exemplars will include the effect of culture on the importance of tacit knowledge to the competitive process, as well as the significance of the receiver understanding what it is they are being given in the form of knowledge. In addition, the role of metaphors and analogies in the tacit knowledge transfer process is explored. Part B explores definitions of tacit knowledge through a qualitative grounded theory approach. As a result of this process a working definition for the remainder of this book is established.
Large Company (X)
Authors: Busch Peter
Published: May 2011

In many ways the quote from Pfeffer (1992) illustrates the importance of tacit knowledge communication; or rather what takes place if the communication breaks down. This chapter deals with communication flows between personnel in the first of three organisations. An understanding of tacit knowledge patterns was gained in the previous chapter. It was noted that experts do in fact produce different responses generally speaking from that of the novices and that there existed a group of staff whose results made them effectively “expert” non-experts (ENEs). There existed in effect a certain street-smarted-ness to varying degrees amongst the IT staff studied in the three organisations. Through modelling the relationship patterns of individuals one is able to determine the consequences of knowledge flowing from one individual to the next. Implicit within this assumption is that those within a clique of higher tacit knowledge savvy individuals are more likely to benefit by gaining access to soft knowledge. Conversely those not within expert-rich cliques are likely to be disadvantaged by their lack of access to scarce knowledge related resources.
Mining for Web Personalization
Authors: Markellou Penelope , Rigou Maria , Sirmakessis Spiros
Published: May 2011

The Web has become a huge repository of information and keeps growing exponentially under no editorial control, while the human capability to find, read and understand content remains constant. Providing people with access to information is not the problem; the problem is that people with varying needs and preferences navigate through large Web structures, missing the goal of their inquiry. Web personalization is one of the most promising approaches for alleviating this information overload, providing tailored Web experiences. This chapter explores the different faces of personalization, traces back its roots and follows its progress. It describes the modules typically comprising a personalization process, demonstrates its close relation to Web mining, depicts the technical issues that arise, recommends solutions when possible, and discusses the effectiveness of personalization and the related concerns. Moreover, the chapter illustrates current trends in the field suggesting directions that may lead to new scientific results.
Role-Based Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Zhu Haibin , Zhou MengChu
Published: May 2011

Agent system design is a complex task challenging designers to simulate intelligent collaborative behavior. Roles can reduce the complexity of agent system design by categorizing the roles played by agents. The role concepts can also be used in agent systems to describe the collaboration among cooperative agents. In this chapter, we introduce roles as a means to support interaction and collaboration among agents in multi-agent systems. We review the application of roles in current agent systems at first, then describe the fundamental principles of role-based collaboration and propose the basic methodologies of how to apply roles into agent systems (i.e., the revised E-CARGO model). After that, we demonstrate a case study: a soccer robot team designed with role specifications. Finally, we present the potentiality to apply roles into information personalization.
Introduction to Digital Audio Watermarking
Authors: Cvejic Nedeljko , Seppänen Tapio
Published: May 2011

This chapter gives a general overview of the audio watermarking fundamental definitions. Audio watermarking algorithms are characterized by five essential properties, namely: perceptual transparency, watermark bit rate, robustness, blind/informed watermark detection and security. Chapter also reviews the most common signal processing manipulations that are frequently applied to the watermarked audio in order to prevent detection of the embedded watermark. Finally, several application areas for digital audio watermarking are presented and advantages of digital watermarking over standard technologies examined.
Artificial Science
Authors: Edmonds Bruce
Published: May 2011

Science is important, not only in the knowledge it gives us, but also as an example of effective distributed problem solving that results in complex and compound solutions. This chapter presents a model of some of the social interactions in science, namely those between the body of published knowledge and the scientists’ individual knowledge. The structure of knowledge is modelled by a formal Hilbert system for a classical propositional logic. Individuals have limited selections of the total knowledge available which they use to derive new knowledge, which they may submit to the central journal to be published. This model shows how difficult it is to achieve the accumulation of knowledge as in science and also that publishing more does not necessarily lead to more important knowledge being discovered.
Understanding Tag Systems by Comparing Tag Models
Authors: Hales David
Published: May 2011

Since Holland (1993) introduced the concept of tags a number of tag models with intriguing and potentially very useful, properties have been advanced. However there is currently little understanding as to the exact mechanisms that produce these results. Specifically it is not known what (if any) are the necessary conditions for tag systems to produce high levels of cooperation in social dilemmas. In this paper by comparing existing tag models to formulate a hypothesis and then using simulation we identify what appears be a necessary condition for high cooperation. Previous tag models implicitly contained the condition but authors did not identify the significance of it.
Friends and Buffaloes
Authors: Boissau Stanislas , Sempé François , Boucher Alain , Drogoul Alexis
Published: May 2011

Starting from a simple gaming-simulation experiment about the management of a common resource, two modelling experiments were conducted in different settings. In the first experiment, the game was played by farmers and the modeller subsequently inferred a model from behaviour observed during the game. In order to address the validation problems underlying this type of modelling, a new experiment was conducted, in which computer science students played the game and then "self-modelled" their behaviour. We shall present, compare and discuss both these modelling processes. We show that self-modelling facilitated a better understanding of the players’ behaviours, although it is not a complete solution.
Online Behavior Modeling
Authors: Chen Charlie , Ryan Terry , Olfman Lorne
Published: May 2011

Organizations need effective and affordable software training. In face-to-face settings, behavior modeling is an effective, but expensive, training method. Can behavior modeling be employed effectively, and more affordably, for software training in the online environment? An experiment was conducted to compare the effectiveness of online behavior modeling with that of face-to-face behavior modeling for software training. Results indicate that online behavior modeling and face-to-face behavior modeling provide essentially the same outcomes in terms of knowledge near transfer, immediate knowledge far transfer, delayed knowledge far transfer, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. Observed differences were not significant, nor were their patterns consistent, despite sufficient power in the experimental design to detect meaningful differences, if any were present. These results suggest that organizations should consider online behavior modeling as a primary method of software training.
Support Vector Machines for Business Applications
Authors: Lovell Brian C. , Walder Christian J.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the use of support vector machines (SVM) for business applications. It provides a brief historical background on inductive learning and pattern recognition, and then an intuitive motivation for SVM methods. The method is compared to other approaches, and the tools and background theory required to successfully apply SVM to business applications are introduced. The authors hope that the chapter will help practitioners to understand when the SVM should be the method of choice, as well as how to achieve good results in minimal time.
Fuzzy Miner
Authors: Pelekis Nikos , Theodoulidis Babis , Kopanakis Ioannis , Theodoridis Yannis
Published: May 2011

QOSP Quality of Service Open Shortest Path First based on QoS routing has been recognized as a missing piece in the evolution of QoS-based services in the Internet. Data mining has emerged as a tool for data analysis, discovery of new information, and autonomous decision-making. This paper focuses on routing algorithms and their appli-cations for computing QoS routes in OSPF protocol. The proposed approach is based on a data mining approach using rough set theory, for which the attribute-value system about links of networks is created from network topology. Rough set theory offers a knowledge discovery approach to extracting routing-decisions from attribute set. The extracted rules can then be used to select significant routing-attributes and make routing-selections in routers. A case study is conducted to demonstrate that rough set theory is effective in finding the most significant attribute set. It is shown that the algorithm based on data mining and rough set offers a promising approach to the attribute-selection prob-lem in internet routing.
The Theory of Visual Sentences to Formalize Interactive Visual Languages
Authors: Bottoni Paolo , Costabile Maria Francesca , Levialdi Stefano
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces an approach to the theory of visual languages, based on the notion of visual sentence as defined by the integration of pictures and descriptions. The paper proceeds by firstly tracking the history of the ideas that stemmed from the initial IEEE Workshop held at Hiroshima (Japan) during 1984 and then gradually progressing towards the formalisms that build up the theory of visual languages. The theory of visual sentences allows a coherent view of both static and dynamic aspects of human-computer interaction, as well as of the relations between the user and the machine during the interaction.
Customized Visual Computing
Authors: Fishwick Paul A.
Published: May 2011

Aesthetic computing is defined as the application of art theory and practice toward the field of computing. This chapter introduces Aesthetic Computing and its approach for the task of multimedia representation of formal structures. We chose the structure of a simple computer program to illustrate the method. Examples used to represent the program illustrate how we may customize formal structures—such as programs—to allow users to employ visualization and human interaction as means to achieve a variety of diverse presentation artifacts. To date, the method has been used in education, to promote creativity in computing and model building, and as a technique for bridging the arts with computer science.
Multi-Agent Tourism System (MATS)
Authors: Maw Soe Yu , Naing Myo-Myo
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes the architecture of the Multi-Agent Tourism System (MATS). Tourism information on the World Wide Web is dynamic and constantly changing. It is not easy to obtain relevant and updated information for individual user’s needs. A multi-agent system is defined as a collection of agents that work in conjunction with each other. The objective of MATS is to provide the most relevant and updated information according to the user’s interests. It consists of multiple agents with three main tiers such as the Interface Module, Information Management Module, and Domain Related Module. We propose the Rule-based Personalization with Collaborative Filtering Technique for effective personalization in MATS which can address the limitations of pure Collaborative Filtering such as the scalability, sparsity and cold-start problems.
Quality Monitor
Authors: Handzic Meliha
Published: May 2011

The book starts with an introduction to theoretical foundations of knowledge management concepts, proceeds with a series of empirical studies on the role of technology in knowledge management, followed by studies of socially orientated knowledge management solutions. The book ends with the discussion of major issues and challenges for knowledge management research and practice. With its integrated and systematic approach, the book makes a small but important step in helping individuals and organisations to get an objective and complete picture of the role of social and technical initiatives in knowledge management based on formal and sound empirical research. More importantly, the book shows that the impact of various initiatives is highly contingent upon the context in which the knowledge is generated, transferred, and used. This may help managers to choose more suitable solutions to turn their intangible assets into tangible outcomes.
Communities of Practice
Authors: Handzic Meliha
Published: May 2011

The book starts with an introduction to theoretical foundations of knowledge management concepts, proceeds with a series of empirical studies on the role of technology in knowledge management, followed by studies of socially orientated knowledge management solutions. The book ends with the discussion of major issues and challenges for knowledge management research and practice. With its integrated and systematic approach, the book makes a small but important step in helping individuals and organisations to get an objective and complete picture of the role of social and technical initiatives in knowledge management based on formal and sound empirical research. More importantly, the book shows that the impact of various initiatives is highly contingent upon the context in which the knowledge is generated, transferred, and used. This may help managers to choose more suitable solutions to turn their intangible assets into tangible outcomes.
Theory vs. Practice
Authors: Handzic Meliha
Published: May 2011

The book starts with an introduction to theoretical foundations of knowledge management concepts, proceeds with a series of empirical studies on the role of technology in knowledge management, followed by studies of socially orientated knowledge management solutions. The book ends with the discussion of major issues and challenges for knowledge management research and practice. With its integrated and systematic approach, the book makes a small but important step in helping individuals and organisations to get an objective and complete picture of the role of social and technical initiatives in knowledge management based on formal and sound empirical research. More importantly, the book shows that the impact of various initiatives is highly contingent upon the context in which the knowledge is generated, transferred, and used. This may help managers to choose more suitable solutions to turn their intangible assets into tangible outcomes.
Analytic Research and Quantitative Models
Authors: Higuchi Toru , Troutt Marvin
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides two kinds of background information that we consider important to the subject area. First, we surveyed the supply chain management, operations management, and management science literatures for those works contacting life-cycle issues and at the same time that use quantitative or modeling approaches. We then developed synoptic summaries of these publications and provide some analysis of their central topics, trends, and themes. Hopefully the results will be a helpful reference guide to the related literature to date for both practicing managers and researchers. In the second part of the chapter, we introduce the standard quantitative methods and models used for mathematical life-cycle models. These have been developed under the label of diffusion models and most of the work has been carried out by marketing scientists. This topic should be useful to practitioners in making forecasts, constructing estimates related to capacity, and other supply chain management forecast and planning issues. We also note that some research needs in this area.
Supply Chain Dynamics and Dynamic Simulation
Authors: Higuchi Toru , Troutt Marvin
Published: May 2011

This chapter first focuses on the intrinsic dynamic interactions within supply chains. These are theoretically interesting and informative for understanding and managing supply chains. Next, the chapter explores the power of dynamic simulations for managing and understanding the workings and complex interactions in supply chains. Dynamic simulation grew out of the work of Forrester on Systems Dynamics. While general influences of the differing players and levels can be qualitatively described, the use of dynamic simulations permits exploration of the processes by which small changes and interactions of variables and parameters can have surprisingly large impacts on supply chain performance. As revealed by the literature survey in Chapter III, the short life-cycle case is increasingly important in practice. At the same time, the intrinsic dynamics of supply chains are especially problematical and potentially catastrophic in the short life-cycle case. The history of the well-known Tamagotchi? toy is used to provide an illustration both for the technique of dynamic simulation and for the difficulties that can occur in such supply chains.
Development of Products
Authors: Higuchi Toru , Troutt Marvin
Published: May 2011

This chapter explains the advancement and the price decline of products based on the VCR case. After the dominant design emerges, the product advances incrementally or cumulatively because the dominant design sets a standard design of the product and a framework for the competition. Many new generation products appeared in the market with innovative functions to spur sales. Some of them became popular and others did not. In the VCR case, most consumers bought a monaural VHS machine and, then later, a HiFi VHS machine. On the other hand, most consumers did not purchase S-VHS, D-VHS, and other advanced machines because those were too expensive in comparison with their performance. As a result, the alternation of generations of the VCR occurred only once, from the monaural to the HiFi machine.
Cross-Cultural Consumer Perceptions of Advertising via Mobile Devices
Authors: Haghirian Parissa , Madlberger Maria
Published: May 2011

This chapter tries to answer the question on how international consumers differ in their perceptions of mobile advertising. In order to answer this research question a survey among mobile phone users was carried out in Austria and in Japan. These two countries have been selected because they show a high dissimilarity in culture, in historical terms but also in the degree of technological development and usage. Both countries experienced a similar economic development and show comparable living standards. Furthermore, Japan and Austria are leading markets for advanced mobile technology in their geographic areas. On the basis of the literature review, variables picturing perceptions of mobile advertising are defined, hypotheses in comparing consumer perspectives in the respective countries presented and results of the MANOVA analysis shown and discussed. Finally, the paper presents theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research on this issue.
IT Standardization
Authors: Hurd John , Isaak Jim
Published: May 2011

This article summarizes key incentives for vendors, users, government and individuals to participate in the standardization process. It argues that standards can expand markets at all points in the market life cycle, with overall impact measured in billions of dollars. The authors hope to encourage standards involvement, and also future research and analysis that might quantify the financial value of standardization for vendors and users.
Standards for Business Component Markets
Authors: Hahn Heiko , Turowski Klaus
Published: May 2011

The idea of component-based software systems and markets for the exchange of components dates back to the late 1960s. However, so far no large-scale components markets can be found. The purpose of this chapter is to present a more in-depth analysis of the conditions that have to be met for the successful realization of this idea. Three perspectives are presented: first, a system-theoretic perspective; second, an economic perspective; and third, a knowledge-codification perspective of standardization. As we want to argue, the problem should be considered as an empirical question that depends to a large extent on the future technological development and its outcome, like specification techniques, software verification standards, and the performance and maturity of existing systems.
"Boundary-Spanning" Practices and Paradoxes Related to Trust Among People and Machines in a High-Tech Oil and Gas Environment
Authors: Hepsø Vidar
Published: May 2011

This chapter follows subsea engineering coordinators (SEC) at Statoil, a major Norwegian oil company, and their collaboration with subsea engineering/operational support personnel and external vendors. This is a high-tech business that tends to be described by formal procedures and a strict division of labor, or in other words, strict hierarchy and market coordination mechanisms. Still, engineers in this setting perform substantial informal boundary work to be able to do their work efficiently. Their self-definition and devotion is realized through boundary-spanning interaction with various material resources and through extensive management of trust. The consequence of this knowledge intensive operational practice is that the engineers have to live continuously with paradoxes. In the light of the situation of these engineers, we address some of the dynamics of collaboration and control that such professionals must cope with in today’s high-tech environments.
The Information Society
Authors: Barinaga Ester
Published: May 2011

The discourse on the information society is characterised by a democratic ideal of “general access.” In this chapter, we follow the transformation of such an ideal as the discourse of the information society is translated by the Swedish parliament and implemented in a high-tech region north of Stockholm. We will see that as the discourse is being implemented, it incorporates ethnic categorical boundaries that structure the region and segregates the community where it is being implemented. The main argument of the chapter is that categorical inequalities are embedded in the economic rationality/business logic that structures the discourse on the information society, resulting in socioeconomic, geographic, and technological segregation.
Power and Ethics in IS Evaluation
Authors: Córdoba José-Rodrigo , Robson Wendy
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we widen the perspective on power as an issue in the practice of information systems (IS) evaluation. Power is frequently seen as a resource that some people have and some do not. Therefore it is primarily discussed in the context of IS development methodologies and little is said about power in evaluation. Based on Michel Foucault’s ideas, we discuss the role(s) of power and ethics strategies in the evaluation of information systems plans. Reflections from practice of an evaluation at Javeriana University in Colombia led us to identify some salient features of ethics and power in IS evaluation, which we could use to inform further IS evaluation exercises. The experience also led us to acknowledge two layers of power that influenced the evaluation: An institutional level and an “emerging” local level. At the time of the evaluation, these layers exhibited their own mechanisms by which information systems projects were defined, justified, implemented, and evaluated at the organization. These layers also influenced the ethics of evaluators. Recognising their existence could influence the strategies that evaluators define to deal with issues that emerge in the process of information systems development and implementation.
How to Support Agile Development Projects with Enterprise Modelling
Authors: Stirna Janis , Kirikova Marite
Published: May 2011

This paper analyses the potential of using Enterprise Modelling (EM) in agile information system development projects on the basis of a number of empirical findings. We outline the current issues and challenges that projects using agile development approaches are facing. To address these challenges we analyse what are the objectives of using EM in agile development projects and give recommendations concerning the modelling process and tool support.
Towards a Holistic Approach to Validating Conceptual Models
Authors: Becker Jorg
Published: May 2011

The chapter sketches a holistic approach to semantically validating conceptual models. The quality and thus the validation of conceptual models are of high economic importance. However, only little empirical work has focused on their evaluation so far. This raises the question whether a holistic approach to determining the quality of conceptual models is available yet. In order to describe the current state of research and to expose the so far neglected research fields we develop a two dimensional framework. With the help of this framework we can identify a notable shortcoming on conceptual model evaluation. We can show that there is actually no approach that covers all aspects of the framework. Hence, we describe a procedure model that integrates different evaluation techniques. This procedure model provides a starting point to further elaborate on a holistic evaluation approach.
Effective Product Customization on the Web
Authors: Bharati Pratyush , Chaudhury Abhijit
Published: May 2011

Product customization is an important facility that e-commerce offers to its users. On the Web, choiceboard systems have become quite prevalent as the means by which users are able to customize their products. These systems allow customers to configure products and services by choosing from a menu of attributes, components, delivery options, and prices. In the context of a choiceboard environment, this research examines the impact of system and information quality and information presentation on interface satisfaction and decision satisfaction. Further, it examines the impact of the latter two satisfaction factors on overall user satisfaction and intention to use. The research reveals that improved system quality, vis-à-vis choiceboards, leads to better information and decision satisfaction on the part of the users. This in turn leads to higher overall satisfaction and intention to use. The research uses an experiment for data collection and examines these relationships using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.
Effects of Managerial Drivers and Climate Maturity on Knowledge Management Performance
Authors: Lee Jang-Hwan , Kim Young-Gul , Kim Min-Yong
Published: May 2011

This study examined the effects of the organizational climate maturity on knowledge-management performance, measured in terms of knowledge quality and knowledge-sharing level. Reward, top management support, and IT service quality were investigated as the managerial drivers to positively influence such climate maturity. The hypothesized relationships were tested by the partial least square analysis, with data from 42 organizations in Korea. Findings of the study indicate that a more mature (knowledge friendly) organizational climate is linked to higher knowledge-management performance; reward, top management support, and IT service quality are critical managerial drivers influencing such climate maturity.
The Evolution of ICT, Economic Development, and the Digitally-Divided Society
Authors: Takaya Sadayoshi
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we mention that a digital divide could bring about an income divide both within a country and between countries. The more the uses of the Internet diffuse, the more the divide may introduce serious concerns. From a macroeconomic point of view, the increase in the digital divide diminishes ICT investments and delays the innovation of ICT. As a result, we propose that the public policies of each government provide the devices of ICT as social capital and infrastructure. On the global stage, the digital divide exists between developed and developing countries. Therefore, international provision of the digital devices should be achieved through a cooperative effort between developed countries and international organizations.
Information Technology and Economic Development in Developing Countries
Authors: Karatas Muhammed , Bekmez Selahattin
Published: May 2011

Within last decades, there were very high level of increase of information technology production. This production successfully speeds up technological changes in only developed countries. Such a situation results use of existing knowledge as input in production of new knowledge in monopoly of developed countries. Developing countries are, however, still struggling with their own socio-politic and/or socio-economic problems. This process create a bigger technological gap between developed and developing countries. One of the reasons for that is lack of physical and human capital in developing countries. This is common problem in the world and necessary precautions should be taken in timely manner. This study discusses the problematic issues of information technology creation in both developed and developing countries and suggest some solutions.
IT and Software Industry in Vietnam
Authors: Iwasaki Yuko
Published: May 2011

Vietnam has been advancing toward s market economy since 1986. Industrialization has progressed with a high rate of growth. One of the factors of the economic growth of Vietnam has been FDI. Japanese companies are among those that have a strong interest in Vietnam. Japanese companies are recently taking note of Vietnam’s IT and software industries. But now, interest is increasing in offshoring as a means developing in this sector.
GIS-Based Simulation and Visualization of Urban Landuse Change
Authors: Meenar Md Mahbubur R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the use of geographic information systems simulations and visualizations in urban landuse changes as a means of studying spatial pattern of crime incidents. Through literature reviews the chapter provides a survey of different simulation tools and techniques that have been used in landuse planning. It also provides an overview of the models available for examining landuse changes in the context of planning processes. It argues that three-dimensional simulations of urban landuse change scenarios encourage public participation in the decision making process. The author hopes that the chapter would be useful for criminologists unfamiliar with landuse scenario simulation models and techniques. Furthermore, the chapter suggests how the crime analysts could utilize the available landuse simulation models and tools in analyzing existing crime patterns or predicting future patterns in an urban setting.
Modelling Pedestrian Movement to Measure On-Street Crime Risk
Authors: Chainey Spencer , Desyllas Jake
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents results for the first large-scale analysis of street crime rates that utilizes accurate on-street pedestrian population estimates. Pedestrian counts were generated at the street segment level for an area in central London (UK) using a modeling process that utilized key indicators of pedestrian movement and sample observations. Geocoded street crime positioned on street segments then allowed for street crime rates to be calculated for the entire central London study area’s street network. These street crime rate measures were then compared against street crime volume patterns (e.g., hotspot maps of street crime density) and street crime rate statistics and maps that were generated from using the residential population as the denominator. The research demonstrates the utility of pedestrian modeling for generating better and more realistic measures for street crime rates, suggesting that if the residential population is used as a denominator for local level street crime analysis it may only misinform and mislead the interpretation and understanding of on- to pedestrians. The research also highlights the importance of crime rate analysis for understanding and explaining crime patterns, and suggests that with accurate analysis of crime rates, policing, and crime prevention initiatives can be improved.
Synthesis Over Analysis
Authors: Birks Daniel J. , Donkin Susan , Wellsmith Melanie
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the use of computer simulation, specifically agent-based modeling, as a tool for criminologists and its potentially unique ability to examine, test, refine, and validate criminological theory. It suggests an approach to be taken by those working in this field, through the use of detailed examples of the processes necessary to define, produce, and populate both a simple model of general offending and a more detailed model for domestic burglary. It further suggests methods for evaluating such models, particularly calling for collaborative research and model replication. The authors hope that this chapter will act as a step towards an accepted ontology for volume crime simulation.
Simulating Crime Against Properties Using Swarm Intelligence and Social Networks
Authors: Furtado Vasco , Melo Adriano , Coelho Andre L.V. , Menezes Ronaldo
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.
FraudSim
Authors: Kim Yushim , Xiao Ningchuan
Published: May 2011

This chapter shows that white-collar crime can be approached using an agent-based model. Fraud in public delivery programs often involves several entities that are loosely interrelated and interact dynamically. However, the crime literature has not paid sufficient attention to these characteristics, thus providing limited utility for public managers. This chapter frames a public delivery program as a complex system. The patterns of fraud in such a system are simulated using an agent-based model called FraudSim. We demonstrate that FraudSim closely replicates the statistical and spatial patterns of fraud and provides a framework for future work in this area.
Security, Sovereignty, and Continental Interoperability
Authors: Roy Jeffrey
Published: May 2011

In an era of digital government, citizen-centric governance is a central aim, one that is often predicated on more efficient and responsive service owed, in large part, to greater digital connectivity internally (i.e., to share information in new manners), as well as externally (i.e., to gather information and reach out to citizens and stakeholders). Antiterrorism efforts accentuate this focus, albeit with a very different set of aims. Governments have been quick to establish new antiterrorism and homeland security measures that create new and expanded capacities for gathering, analyzing, and sharing information, both within governments and across governments and other sectors, notably the private sector.
Information Technology and Surveillance
Authors: Haque Akhlaque
Published: May 2011

The Patriot Act of 2001 has introduced significant legislative changes impacting how public managers collect, disseminate, and evaluate information for decision making. The chapter describes the theoretical underpinnings of information gathering and decision making and argues that more information gathering and subsequent use of sophisticated information gathering tools serves as an important myth promoting greater legitimacy and confidence in the government’s ability to provide security to the citizens. The chapter suggests that the rational choice approach to security is limited in its ability to evaluate values that are embedded into the decision making processes. However, being cognizant of the nonrational rulings placed on technology-based policy initiatives, public managers can be guided toward “responsible values” to avoid the dark path of control, surveillance, and the loss of freedom.