JIDT: An information-theoretic toolkit for studying the dynamics of complex systems

Complex systems are increasingly being viewed as distributed information processing systems, particularly in the domains of computational neuroscience, bioinformatics and Artificial Life. This trend has resulted in a strong uptake in the use of (Shannon) information-theoretic measures to analyse the dynamics of complex systems in these fields. We introduce the Java Information Dynamics Toolkit (JIDT): a Google code project which provides a standalone, (GNU GPL v3 licensed) open-source code implementation for empirical estimation of information-theoretic measures from time-series data. While the toolkit provides classic information-theoretic measures (e.g. entropy, mutual information, conditional mutual information), it ultimately focusses on implementing higher-level measures for information dynamics. That is, JIDT focusses on quantifying information storage, transfer and modification, and the dynamics of these operations in space and time. For this purpose, it includes implementations of the transfer entropy and active information storage, their multivariate extensions and local or pointwise variants. JIDT provides implementations for both discrete and continuous-valued data for each measure, including various types of estimator for continuous data (e.g. Gaussian, box-kernel and Kraskov-Stoegbauer-Grassberger) which can be swapped at run-time due to Java's object-oriented polymorphism. Furthermore, while written in Java, the toolkit can be used directly in MATLAB, GNU Octave, Python and other environments. We present the principles behind the code design, and provide several examples to guide users.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figure

Transportability, distributability and rehosting experience with a kernel operating system interface set

For the past two years, PRC has been transporting and installing a software engineering environment framework, the Automated Product control Environment (APCE), at a number of PRC and government sites on a variety of different hardware. The APCE was designed using a layered architecture which is based on a standardized set of interfaces to host system services. This interface set called the APCE Interface Set (AIS), was designed to support many of the same goals as the Common Ada Programming Support Environment (APSE) Interface Set (CAIS). The APCE was developed to provide support for the full software lifecycle. Specific requirements of the APCE design included: automation of labor intensive administrative and logistical tasks: freedom for project team members to use existing tools: maximum transportability for APCE programs, interoperability of APCE database data, and distributability of both processes and data: and maximum performance on a wide variety of operating systems. A brief description is given of the APCE and AIS, a comparison of the AIS and CAIS both in terms of functionality and of philosophy and approach and a presentation of PRC's experience in rehosting AIS and transporting APCE programs and project data. Conclusions are drawn from this experience with respect to both the CAIS efforts and Space Station plans

Validating a Framework for Driving Forces in Enterprise Systems Implementation in the Public Sector

Enterprise systems (ES) are complex software packages that enable integration of data across the whole organization (Esteves and Pastor 2001). Despite several decades of intense research, the process of ES implementation in the public sector is not yet fully understood (Seres et al. 2019). The topic of ES in the public sector is important, however, as these systems serve as the platform for efficiently and effectively servicing the population as part of e-government. Roztocki et al. (2021) previously proposed a conceptual framework showing six key concepts, viz. political leadership, employee motivation, government regulations, financial resources, commercial base, and vendor quality, as the driving forces in ES implementations in the public sector. The aim of the current study is to empirically validate the framework developed by Roztocki et al. (2021), which was based on data collected in semi-structured interviews of City Hall employees in Poland that were involved in ES implementations. The proposed new study will use surveys to validate and possibly refine, extend, and improve the conceptual framework. The first phase of this project will be to construct an appropriate instrument specifically devised to assess the validity of the existing framework. This survey questionnaire will be developed based on previous research findings and literature review. In the second phase, after preliminary, internal testing, the questionnaire will be posted online in a pilot study aimed at a limited number of employees in only one City Hall in Poland. In the third phase, after modifying the survey instrument, if necessary, several hundred randomly selected employees in multiple City Halls across Poland will be asked to complete the online survey. In the fourth and final phase, the collected data will be used to validate and possibly modify the framework. The proposed study will benefit other researchers in two ways. Firstly, it will show if the framework proposed by Roztocki et al. (2021) is valid and can be applied to better understand ES implementations in the public sector and the driving forces behind them. Secondly, the specially developed and tested survey instrument can be used or modified by other researchers for their own investigations. References Esteves, J., and Pastor, J. 2001. Enterprise resource planning systems research: An annotated bibliography, Communications of the Association for Information Systems (7), pp. 1-52. Roztocki, N., Strzelczyk, W., and Weistroffer, H.R. 2021. Driving Forces in Enterprise Systems Implementation in the Public Sector: A Conceptual Framework, Thirteenth Annual AIS SIG Global Development Pre-ICIS 2021 Workshop, Austin, TX, USA: Association for Information Systems (AIS). Seres, L., Tumbas, P., Matkovic, P., and Sakal, M. 2019. Critical Success Factors in ERP System Adoption: Comparative Analysis of the Private and the Public Sector, E+M Ekonomie a Management (22:2), pp. 203-221

Implementing section 404 of the sarbanes oxley act: Recommendations for information systems organizations

Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act addresses the effectiveness of internal controls, which in most organizations are either fully or partially automated due to the pervasiveness and ubiquity of information technologies. Significant or material control deficiencies have to be reported publicly. The adverse impact on organizations declaring deficiencies can be severe, for example, damage to reputation and/or market value. While there are many practitioner-led manuals and methods for dealing with 404, there has been little published in the academic research literature investigating the role of Information Systems organizations in implementing Section 404. The paper addresses this gap in knowledge. We used institutional theory as the lens through which to examine the experiences of Section 404 implementation in three global organizations. We used the case study method and an abductive strategy to gather and analyze data respectively. Our findings are summarized in six recommendations. We found that institutional pressures play a critical role in the implementation of Section 404. In particular, organizations face coercive pressure to achieve Section 404 compliance, without which punitive sanctions can be imposed by regulators. Organizations tend to imitate one another in the methods they use so that each is perceived to be in line with their competitive environment. Organizations face normative pressures to act in ways that are socially acceptable, which is to achieve compliance. Failure to do so would be a signal to the market that the organization does not take controls seriously. We expand these findings in terms of power and influence tactics that IS organizations can use when implementing Section 404. Our findings provide directions for practice and lines of enquiry for further research

Robust Computer Algebra, Theorem Proving, and Oracle AI

In the context of superintelligent AI systems, the term "oracle" has two meanings. One refers to modular systems queried for domain-specific tasks. Another usage, referring to a class of systems which may be useful for addressing the value alignment and AI control problems, is a superintelligent AI system that only answers questions. The aim of this manuscript is to survey contemporary research problems related to oracles which align with long-term research goals of AI safety. We examine existing question answering systems and argue that their high degree of architectural heterogeneity makes them poor candidates for rigorous analysis as oracles. On the other hand, we identify computer algebra systems (CASs) as being primitive examples of domain-specific oracles for mathematics and argue that efforts to integrate computer algebra systems with theorem provers, systems which have largely been developed independent of one another, provide a concrete set of problems related to the notion of provable safety that has emerged in the AI safety community. We review approaches to interfacing CASs with theorem provers, describe well-defined architectural deficiencies that have been identified with CASs, and suggest possible lines of research and practical software projects for scientists interested in AI safety.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure