9 research outputs found

    Communicating open systems

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    Just as conventional institutions are organisational structures for coordinating the activities of multiple interacting individuals, electronic institutions provide a computational analogue for coordinating the activities of multiple interacting software agents. In this paper, we argue that open multi-agent systems can be effectively designed and implemented as electronic institutions, for which we provide a comprehensive computational model. More specifically, the paper provides an operational semantics for electronic institutions, specifying the essential data structures, the state representation and the key operations necessary to implement them. We specify the agent workflow structure that is the core component of such electronic institutions and particular instantiations of knowledge representation languages that support the institutional model. In so doing, we provide the first formal account of the electronic institution concept in a rigorous and unambiguous way

    Analysis and Report 1991-1992 : Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street

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    Analysis and report for the year 1991-1992. Academic activities and involvement with society

    Knowledge-base and techniques for effective service-oriented programming & management of hybrid processes

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    Recent advances in Web 2.0, SOA, crowd-sourcing, social and collaboration technologies, as well as cloud-computing, have truly transformed the Internet into a global development and deployment platform. As a result, developers have been presented with ubiquitous access to countless Web-services, resources and tools. However, while enabling tremendous automation and reuse opportunities, new productivity challenges have also emerged: The exploitation of services and resources nonetheless requires skilled programmers and a development-centric approach; it is thus inevitably susceptible to the same repetitive, error-prone and time consuming integration work each time a developer integrates a new API. Business Process Management on the other hand were proposed to support service-based integration. It provided the benefit of automation and modelling, which appealed to non-technical domain-experts. The problem however: it proves too rigid for unstructured processes. Thus, without this level of support, building new application either requires extensive manual programming or resorting to homebrew solutions. Alternatively, with the proliferation of SaaS, various such tools could be used for independent portions of the overall process - although this either presupposes conforming to the in-built process, or results in "shadow processes" via use of e-mail or the like, in order to exchange information and share decisions. There has therefore been an inevitable gap in technological support between structured and unstructured processes. To address these challenges, this thesis deals with transitioning process-support from structured to unstructured. We have been motivated to harness the foundational capabilities of BPM for its application to unstructured processes. We propose to achieve this by: First, addressing the productivity challenges of Web-services integration - simplifying this process - whilst encouraging an incremental curation and collective reuse approach. We then extend this to propose an innovative Hybrid-Process Management Platform that holistically combines structured, semi-structured and unstructured activities, based on a unified task-model that encapsulates a spectrum of process specificity. We have thus aimed to bridge the current lacking technology gap. The approach presented has been exposed as service-based libraries and tools. Whereby, we have devised several use-case scenarios and conducted user-studies in order to evaluate the overall effectiveness of our proposed work

    Proceedings of the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference 2010

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    FOREWORD Welcome to this West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) conference taking place here in Ghana. Thank you for coming and welcome to Accra. The main aims of the WABER conference are: to help young researchers and early-career scholars in West Africa to develop their research work and skills through constructive face-to-face interaction with experienced academics; to provide a platform for networking and collaborative work among senior built environment academics in West Africa; and to serve as a vehicle for developing the field of construction management and economics in Africa. Waber 2009 The WABER event in 2009 was held at the British Council in Accra, Ghana on 2-3 June. The event was a resounding success. It attracted participation from 32 researchers, from 12 different institutions, who presented their work to an audience of approximately 100 people. Each presenter received immediate and constructive feedback from an international panel. The event was opened by Professor K.K. Adarkwa, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana, with several senior academics and researchers from universities, polytechnics, and other institutions in Ghana and Nigeria in attendance. There was also a significant level of attendance by senior construction practitioners in Ghana. Thank you to the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, UK for funding the inaugural event in 2009. We are also grateful to all of you who helped to make the event a success and to those of you who have joined us here today to build upon the success and legacy of WABER 2009. Waber 2010 This year, we have 60+ peer-reviewed papers and presentations on topics relating to Building services and maintenance, Construction costs, Construction design and technology, Construction education, Construction finance, Construction procurement, Contract administration, Contract management, Contractor development, Decision support systems, Dispute resolution, Economic development, Energy efficiency, Environment and sustainability, Health and safety, Human resources, Information technology, Marketing, Materials science, Organisation strategy and business performance, Productivity, Project management, Quantity surveying, Real estate and planning, Solar energy systems, Supply chain management and Urban development. We hope that these papers will generate interest among delagates and stimulate discussion here and beyond the conference into the wider community of academia and industry. The delegates at this conference come from 10 different countries. This provides a rich international and multicultural blend and a perfect platform for networking and developing collaborations. This year we are blessed to have three high profile keynote speakers in the persons of Professor George Ofori (National University of Singapore), Dr Roine Leiringer (University of Reading, UK) and Professor Will Hughes (University of Reading, UK). We are also thankful to Dr Chris Harty (University of Reading, UK) who is facilitating the Research Skills Workshop on ‘Writing a scientific article’. Thank you to Dr Sena Agyepong of our conference organising team for her capable management of local organising arrangements. And above all, thank you to all of you for coming to this conference. Enjoy and have a safe journey back home. Dr Samuel Laryea School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, July 201

    Proceedings of 8th International Conference Improving Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings (IEECB’14)

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    This book contains the proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings which took place in Frankfurt, Germany 1-3 April 2014. The IEECB conference brings together all the key players from this sector, including commercial buildings’ investors and property managers, energy efficiency experts and building technologies researchers, equipment manufacturers, service providers (ESCOs, utilities, facilities management companies) and policy makers, with a view to exchange information, to learn from each other and to network. The wide scope of topics covered during the IEECB’14 conference includes: smart building and low energy buildings, (Nearly) Net Zero Energy Buildings, equipment and systems (lighting, HVAC auxiliary equipment, ICT & office equipment, miscellaneous equipment, BEMS, electricity on-site production, renewable energies, etc.) and the latest advances in energy efficiency programmes, regulation & policies for public and private sector commercial buildings. Potential readers who may benefit from this book include researchers, engineers, policymakers, energy agencies, electric utilities, and all those who can influence the design, selection, application, and operation of electrical motor driven systems.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc

    3rd Party E-business Architechure and Model in Grid Computing Environment

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    Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications

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    The Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications brings together diverse technical and scientific work in order to help those who employ AI methods in space applications to identify common goals and to address issues of general interest in the AI community. Topics include the following: automation for Space Station; intelligent control, testing, and fault diagnosis; robotics and vision; planning and scheduling; simulation, modeling, and tutoring; development tools and automatic programming; knowledge representation and acquisition; and knowledge base/data base integration

    Dynamics of Technology Acceptance to the Sustainability of eHealth Systems in Resource Constrained Environments

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    Healthcare in developing countries is confronted with a shortage of skilled healthcare workforce, medical errors, inequity and inefficient healthcare service delivery. Innovative ways of solving healthcare problems through Information and communication technology (ICT) can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, access and quality of the healthcare system. Despite highly anticipated benefits of eHealth system to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery, the healthcare had barely begun to take advantage of ICT mainly in a resource-constrained environment. The implementation of eHealth systems in developing countries could not proceed beyond the pilot phase to demonstrate sustainability in a large-scale rollout. The general research problem in this thesis focuses on how factors of eHealth implementation interplay to influence technology and information use to ensure the long-term sustainability of eHealth in resource-constrained settings. Systems thinking and system dynamics modelling method were used to handle complexity in the implementation of eHealth. Moreover, sustainability theory, technology acceptance model (TAM) and IS success models were used to develop a system dynamics model of sustainable eHealth implementation. The socio-technical, techno-organizational and techno-economic factors of sustainable eHealth systems are discussed to address the research objectives. The system dynamics simulation model of sustainable eHealth implementation is developed, verified, validated and tested. This applied research study focused on addressing the problems of sustainable eHealth systems implementation in resource-constrained environments. The model-based theory-building research study followed in this thesis aimed at enhancing the understanding of sustainable eHealth implementation in a resource-constrained environment to maximize the acceptance of eHealth by the end-users. Both the ontological and epistemological assumptions of this research study supported the position of the constructivist research paradigm. Methodologically, this study mainly applies qualitative research methodology which is common in the interpretive approach. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to elicit information from purposefully sampled eHMIS and SmartCare health facilities in Ethiopia. Field notes, document review, interview and focus group discussion data were analysed using ATLAS.ti software. Vensim DSS Version 6.3D was used to model and simulate the system dynamics model. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was followed in the systematic literature review of techno-economic factors. The simulation results confirmed that the ‘effectiveness of training’ was a dominant factor to improve the ‘acceptance rate’ of eHMIS and SmartCare in the socio-technical dimension of sustainable eHealth implementation. The adequacy of ICT and healthcare workforce within eHealth implementing facility and end-users’ familiarity with digital technology showed a stronger influence on the ‘acceptance rate’ of both eHMIS and SmartCare systems in the techno-organizational dimension. An economic incentive, funding duration, funding amount, funding source and economic benefit are identified as techno-economic factors that influence the long-term sustainability of eHealth projects.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM)PhDUnrestricte
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