A Conceptual Model for Scholarly Research Activity

This paper presents a conceptual model for scholarly research activity, developed as part of the conceptual modelling work within the ???Preparing DARIAH??? European e-Infrastructures project. It is inspired by cultural-historical activity theory, and is expressed in terms of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, extending its notion of activity so as to also account, apart from historical practice, for scholarly research planning. It is intended as a framework for structuring and analyzing the results of empirical research on scholarly practice and information requirements, encompassing the full research lifecycle of information work and involving both primary evidence and scholarly objects; also, as a framework for producing clear and pertinent information requirements, and specifications of digital infrastructures, tools and services for scholarly research. We plan to use the model to tag interview transcripts from an empirical study on scholarly information work, and thus validate its soundness and fitness for purpose

The ENVRI reference model

Advances in automation, communication, sensing and computation enable experimental scientific processes to generate data at increasingly great speeds and volumes. Research infrastructures are devised to take advantage of these data, providing advanced capabilities for acquisition, sharing, processing, and analysis; enabling advanced research and playing an ever-increasing role in the environmental and Earth science research domain. The ENVRI community identified several recurring requirements in the development of environmental research infrastructures such as i) duplication of efforts to solve similar problems; ii) lack of standards to harmonise and accelerate development, and bring about interoperability; iii) a large number of data models and data information systems within the domain, and iv) a steep learning curve for integration complex research infrastructure systems. To address these challenges, the ENVRI community has developed and refined the Environmental Research Infrastructures Reference Model (ENVRI Reference Model or ENVRI RM), a modelling framework encoding this knowledge. The proposed modelling framework encompasses a language and a notation to describe the research domain, its systems and the requirements and challenges faced when implementing those systems. By adopting ENVRI RM as an integrative approach, the environmental research community can secure interoperability between infrastructures, enable reuse, share resources, experiences and common language, reduce unnecessary duplication of effort, and speed up the understanding of research infrastructure systems. This chapter provides a short introduction to the ENVRI RM

Designing an information architecture for data management technologies: Introducing the DIAMANT model

Although research institutions take on increased responsibility for providing infrastructures and services around the proper handling of research data, there is no comprehensive framework addressing the ideal conditions of this implementation process. To overcome this gap, we present the DIAMANT model, a reference model aimed at providing an orientation framework for the implementation of research data management guided by the research process itself. It builds upon a central research data management information unit controlling the information flow between all other organizational units involved in research data management. Due to the possibility of outsourcing organizational units, the implementation process is maximally flexible and efficient

HOW TO ALLOW FOR USER-CENTERED INNOVATION OVER AN ESTABLISHED INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN AN INSTITUTIONALIZED CONTEXT

This paper describes a user-centered innovation process within psychiatric services for children and adolescents, implementing a new decentralized model in rural areas in Norway by using mobile phone technology. We apply theory of information infrastructures as a frame of reference for analysing what enables or constrain user-centered innovation processes within a complex organizational context. We illustrates what roles the various levels of an information infrastructure and its installed base can play in innovation processes, implying a complex interplay between technical, organizational and institutional factors. We argue that as a result of this user-centered innovation, the new model emerged with a larger potential for creating a new innovation path than would have been the case if it had been linked to the existing structures. The aim of this paper is thus to contribute to the understanding of how to allow for user-centered innovation over an established information infrastructure within an institutionalized context

Methodology for Seamless Supply Chain Planning

Today, enterprises are typically in a constant process of acquiring and updating its information technologies, however typically without an overall view of the global inter and intra enterprise’s system integration. Researchers have been proposing methodologies and platforms to assist such integration of applications and data. However, implementing new technologies in organizations is a difficult task, since its quality needs for architectures development are more exigent and critical than ever, due to the systems complexity, dimension and to the interoperability requirements to interact with third party applications and infrastructures. This paper proposes a methodology for seamless Supply Chain Planning (SCP), by using a domain reference ontology, data model representation standards, software components evaluation and interoperability checking processes. The methodology VALTE is used to assure that enterprises use tools for SCP compliant to semantics, represented in a common reference ontology, created by the MENTOR methodology. These two horizontal methodologies are vertically supported by interoperability checking processes, which assure an interoperable supply chain planning system

AMCIS 2006 Panel Summary: Towards the Service Oriented Enterprise Vision: Bridging Industry and Academics

The complexities and costs of current information architectures, infrastructures, and distributed data and software have provided impetus to emerging conceptualizations of the Service Oriented Enterprise (SOE). The foundations for SOE can be found in current applications of service oriented architecture (SOA), service oriented infrastructure (SOI), business process and workflow, computing resource virtualization, business semantics, service level agreements, increasing standardization, and other areas of applied research. This article reports on a panel held at the 2006 Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) in Acapulco, Mexico, regarding the impacts of SOE tenets on the IS field. Two organizations that are at the leading edge of the SOE continuum [American Express and Intel] in terms of vision and experiences were represented by Margaret Mitchell and George Brown. In addition, MIS academics were represented on the panel by the authors, researchers from Arizona State University. Both industry and academics brought unique perspectives. American Express\u27 SOE approach addresses organizational structure and business intelligence project workflow issues. The company hosts one of the largest IT infrastructures capable of handling untold numbers of transactions each second. Intel\u27s SOE approach addresses the orchestration of services and workflows in the cross-architecture environments characterizing the modern extended global enterprise. Intel is playing a lead role in establishing the OASIS (the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) SOA Reference Model (called \u27ebSOA\u27)

Rural infrastructure and smallholders commercialization: analysis of crop input market from Jimma Zone, South-West Ethiopia

Purpose: This study is aimed to examine the effect of rural infrastructure on smallholders’ crop input market participation with reference to Jimma zone. Research methodology: Censored Tobit approach was employed to model relationships between the degree of household market participation from input side and rural infrastructures. Results: Distance to the nearest all-weather-road from the farm area was found important. Moreover, provision of rural credit, communication and rural market services was found to significantly foster smallholder commercialization. Unfortunately, we estimated trivial coefficient for agricultural extension. Limitation: This study is limited to a year data, where we are unable to estimate the long term impact of rural infrastructural service on rural commercialization. Contribution: Various inadequacies in the provision of services may likely be involved. The right approach for the future should consider efficiency as well as the adequacy of the services being provided. It would be better to provide smallholders with the necessary infrastructures to ensure growth as well as the transformational targets. Besides, interventions intensifying rural access to information are vital. Keywords: Censored Tobit, Commercialization, Crop input Market index, Infrastructure, Smallholde

Semantic and Knowledge Engineering Using ENVRI RM

The ENVRI Reference Model provides architects and engineers with the means to describe the architecture and operational behaviour of environmental and Earth science research infrastructures (RIs) in a standardised way using the standard terminology. This terminology and the relationships between specific classes of concept can be used as the basis for the machine-actionable specification of RIs or RI subsystems. Open Information Linking for Environmental RIs (OIL-E) is a framework for capturing architectural and design knowledge about environmental and Earth science RIs intended to help harmonise vocabulary, promote collaboration and identify common standards and technologies across different research infrastructure initiatives. At its heart is an ontology derived from the ENVRI Reference Model. Using this ontology, RI descriptions can be published as linked data, allowing discovery, querying and comparison using established Semantic Web technologies. It can also be used as an upper ontology by which to connect descriptions of RI entities (whether they be datasets, equipment, processes, etc.) that use other, more specific terminologies. The ENVRI Knowledge Base uses OIL-E to capture information about environmental and Earth science RIs in the ENVRI community for query and comparison. The Knowledge Base can be used to identify the technologies and standards used for particular activities and services and as a basis for evaluating research infrastructure subsystems and behaviours against certain criteria, such as compliance with the FAIR data principles