Exploring digital government initiatives to expand Full Information Product Pricing (FIPP) networks in NAFTA
This poster describes research in progress made by the Research Group on Comparative and Transnational Digital government in North America. The main purpose of this project is to explore the impact of product labeling, information architectures and government-sponsored information policies on the expansion of the market share of organic, fair trade, and eco-friendly products in the NAFTA region. In these alternative markets, price is often complemented with information conveying the conditions under which a product is produced and distributed, which is transmitted through trusting networks or certifiable labels such as "Organic" or "Fair Trade." We call such networks Full Information Product Pricing (FIPP) Networks. The transparency of FIPP networks, enabled by the information technology and associated policy and standards, may have the potential to supplement a compliance-enforcement approach with a more market-based voluntary approach that relies on shifts in producer and consumer behavior to significantly expand the share of worker and environmentally friendly products traded. In this paper, we discuss our research focus, research plan, and results from preliminary studies.

title: Minitrack: E-Government Information and Knowledge Management
abstract: The public sector realizes the strategic importance of methods, tools and concepts applied to the efficient and effective Information and Knowledge resource Management (IKM). Because governments and public administrations deal with vast amounts of information and knowledge, it is particularly important to leverage research agendas that advance tenets related to the management of these resources. For example, much of the work of public authorities and governments is related to the collection, processing, interpretation, and use of data, information and knowledge on citizens, businesses, governments themselves, the society, the market, the environment, laws, politics, etc.

title: The nature of knowledge and its influence on knowledge sharing practice: experiences from building the MACROS system
abstract: This study investigates how the interactive influences of the nature of knowledge and multiple organizational and technological factors - trust, leadership, incentives and issues, group size and variety, implementation strategy, and technology - facilitated and/or impeded the knowledge sharing processes. Using a case study approach, the research focuses on the modifying effects of four characteristics of knowledge- codifiability, context-embeddedness, practice-embeddedness, and dynamics- on the processes and outcomes of knowledge sharing in a case of building the multi-purpose access for customer relations & operational support (MACROS) system involving multiple organizations, divisions, and geographically separated offices. The case results suggest that modifying effects occurred along at least three dimensions- codifiability, context-embeddedness, and practice-embeddedness. The levels of codifiability appeared to dictate the implementation strategy; reduced context-embeddedness allowed for more effective group coordination; reduced context-embeddedness also enhanced trust; codified knowledge is more effective than uncodified knowledge in demonstrating concrete incentives; and technology interacts with context-embeddedness and practice-embeddedness. The results of this study have theoretical and practical implications for a larger set of problems encountered in sizable organizations. More specifically, even though the relevance of the nature of knowledge has been widely acknowledged by I. Nonaka, et. al. (2001), it is not always clear how it comes into play. This study conceptualized the nature of knowledge as a modifying variable, and the results provide a new and more comprehensive framework for investigating the relevance of the nature of knowledge in knowledge management research.

title: Research group on digital government in North America: developing a comparative and transnational agenda
abstract: This poster describes the second year's progress of the research group on Comparative and Transnational Digital Government in North America. This group was formed in 2007 to advance electronic government research across geographic and political boundaries in the region, with the support of the National Science Foundation Digital Government Research Program and the home institutions of the members in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. During the second year of activities, the group members joined their expertise and interests in two face-to-face meetings in Canada. During the second year of work, group members advanced research proposals and developed preliminary products on two topical areas as well as a first draft of a Research Agenda for North America. The group members will continue the discussion of this research agenda in Cholula, Mexico as part of the activities of the 10th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2009).

title: The Effect of Organizational/Technological Factors and the Nature of Knowledge on Knowledge Sharing
abstract: This study investigates the dynamics of a knowledge sharing effort in New York State government that involved multiple organizations, divisions, and geographically separated offices in the development of the Multi- Using a case study approach, we address the question of how multiple organizational and technological factors — distributed leadership, alignment of issues and incentives, coordination of a number and variety of groups, trust, technology, and implementation strategy — interact with the nature of knowledge to influence the knowledge sharing process. A major contribution of this study is that it uses a multi-dimensional view of knowledge, examining the interactive impact of the nature of knowledge with multiple organizational and technological factors in public sector knowledge management research.

title: Information Strategies to Support Full Information Product Pricing: the Role of Trust
abstract: In this paper, we report the importance of trust in the development and operation of distribution networks that attach non-price information to products to mitigate market dynamics introduced by information asymmetries. Often this non-price information is transmitted from producers to consumers through trusting networks or under certifiable labels such as Organic or Fair Trade. We are calling such networks Full Information Product Pricing (FIPP) Networks. This study is part of a larger project aimed at understanding the characteristics of FIPP networks. This initial exploration on four cases in Canada and Latin America indicated that trust, in the forms of institutional trust, calculative trust, and relational trust, plays key roles in FIPP operations and expansion. It is critical for building collaboration, coordinating network activities, and mitigating the risks associated with information asymmetry.

title: Business Process-Oriented Software Architecture for Supporting Business Process Change
abstract: As a business process is essential in running an enterprise, this paper aims toward improving software architecture by extracting business-relevant semantics from business logic and transforming them as important elements that need to be molded and represented in software architecture. This allows for the development of a business process-oriented software architecture (BPOSA) that can support smoother business process change. The paper introduces the structure of BPOSA and its work mode. Then it describes the steps involved in designing a process-oriented software system, and provides analysis and design methods of extending process-relevant attributes for application in business operations.

title: A review of fault management in WDM mesh networks: basic concepts and research challenges
abstract: The article first presents a broad overview of the fault management mechanisms involved in deploying a survivable optical mesh network which employs optical crossconnects. We review various protection and restoration schemes, primary and back-up route computation methods, shareability optimization, and dynamic restoration. We then describe different parameters that can measure the quality of service provided by a WDM mesh network to upper protocol layers (e.g., IP network backbones, ATM network backbones, leased lines, virtual private networks), such as service availability, service reliability, restoration time, and service restorability. We review these concepts, the factors that affect them, and how to improve them. In particular, we present a framework for cost-effective availability-aware connection provisioning to provide differentiated services in WDM mesh networks. Through the framework, the more realistic scenario of multiple near-simultaneous failures can be handled. In addition, the emerging problem of protecting low-speed connections of different bandwidth granularities is also reviewed.

title: Application of multisensor data fusion based on RBF neural networks for fault diagnosis of SAMS
abstract: The idea of multisensor integration is to use multiple sensors for measuring the same variables, where each sensor has its own accuracy, reliability and drawbacks. The sensor information is integrated by some data integration algorithms. In this paper, Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural networks and multisensor data fusion technology are combined and used in the fault detection and diagnosis of sensors hardware faults in the Satellite Attitude Measurement System (SAMS). The fusion method of the RBF neural networks is adopted. By using the combination method the outputs of the system are more accurate and reliable than each individual sensor. Research results show that this method for the detection and diagnosis of the sensors hardware faults in the SAMS is feasible and more effective, and for the sensors which measure the same attitude angle, using the method of firstly integration, then faults diagnosis, finally connection with the measurement system, the systematic measurement precision and performance-price-ratio can be improved.

title: Expert Finding in a Social Network
abstract: This paper addresses the issue of expert finding in a social network. The task of expert finding, as one of the most important research issues in social networks, is aimed at identifying persons with relevant expertise or experience for a given topic. In this paper, we propose a propagation-based approach that takes into consideration of both person local information and network information (e.g. relationships between persons). Experimental results show that our approach can outperform the baseline approach.

title: Increase of potential intellectual bandwidth in a scientific community through implementation of an end-user information system
abstract: Qureshi, et al. (2002) presented a case study where they used a framework, the intellectual bandwidth model to measure an organization's ability to create value. The model consists of two dimensions, information assimilation and collaboration. The IB model is a useful tool for managers because it enables them to plan solutions to complex business problems and to easily communicate these plans to key individuals. The model can also serve as a guide when making investment decisions. While it is important to increase an organization's intellectual bandwidth, it is equally important to assure that the resulting increase is employed to improve the organization's ability to innovate since, as it has been shown, innovation is the number one creator of organizational wealth (Baum et al., 2000). In this paper we discuss how intellectual bandwidth as proposed by Nunamaker et al. (2001) can be extended beyond the highest level of information assimilation identified in the model, automated sense-making, to ensure implementation of product innovations. To do this we propose adding two new information assimilation features, automated utilization and automated implementation. A real business example from the bioscience industry is presented in order to demonstrate how the IB model with extensions can be used. The study discusses an end-user information system, its current use and its potential to enhance an organization's value-creating capability.