134,524 research outputs found
Designing IS service strategy: an information acceleration approach
Information technology-based innovation involves considerable risk that requires insight and foresight. Yet, our understanding of how managers develop the insight to support new breakthrough applications is limited and remains obscured by high levels of technical and market uncertainty. This paper applies a new experimental method based on âdiscrete choice analysisâ and âinformation accelerationâ to directly examine how decisions are made in a way that is behaviourally sound. The method is highly applicable to information systems researchers because it provides relative importance measures on a common scale, greater control over alternate explanations and stronger evidence of causality. The practical implications are that information acceleration reduces the levels of uncertainty and generates a more accurate rationale for IS service strategy decisions
The quality of sustainability and the nature of open source software
The aim is to categorise Open Source Software as a commons based production process and resource. The definition of the commons is always accompanied by the doubt about its sustainability, the so-called "tragedy of the commons." Therefore it is worth to have a closer look on Open Source and why a "tragedy" does not appear
Cognitive architectures as Lakatosian research programmes: two case studies
Cognitive architectures - task-general theories of the structure and function of the complete cognitive system - are sometimes argued to be more akin to frameworks or belief systems than scientific theories. The argument stems from the apparent non-falsifiability of existing cognitive architectures. Newell was aware of this criticism and argued that architectures should be viewed not as theories subject to Popperian falsification, but rather as Lakatosian research programs based on cumulative growth. Newell's argument is undermined because he failed to demonstrate that the development of Soar, his own candidate architecture, adhered to Lakatosian principles. This paper presents detailed case studies of the development of two cognitive architectures, Soar and ACT-R, from a Lakatosian perspective. It is demonstrated that both are broadly Lakatosian, but that in both cases there have been theoretical progressions that, according to Lakatosian criteria, are pseudo-scientific. Thus, Newell's defense of Soar as a scientific rather than pseudo-scientific theory is not supported in practice. The ACT series of architectures has fewer pseudo-scientific progressions than Soar, but it too is vulnerable to accusations of pseudo-science. From this analysis, it is argued that successive versions of theories of the human cognitive architecture must explicitly address five questions to maintain scientific credibility
Air Traffic Management Safety Challenges
The primary goal of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system is to control accident risk. ATM
safety has improved over the decades for many reasons, from better equipment to additional
safety defences. But ATM safety targets, improving on current performance, are now extremely
demanding. Safety analysts and aviation decision-makers have to make safety assessments
based on statistically incomplete evidence. If future risks cannot be estimated with precision,
then how is safety to be assured with traffic growth and operational/technical changes? What
are the design implications for the USAâs âNext Generation Air Transportation Systemâ
(NextGen) and Europeâs Single European Sky ATM Research Programme (SESAR)? ATM
accident precursors arise from (eg) pilot/controller workload, miscommunication, and lack of upto-
date information. Can these accident precursors confidently be âdesigned outâ by (eg) better
system knowledge across ATM participants, automatic safety checks, and machine rather than
voice communication? Future potentially hazardous situations could be as âmessyâ in system
terms as the Ăberlingen mid-air collision. Are ATM safety regulation policies fit for purpose: is it
more and more difficult to innovate, to introduce new technologies and novel operational
concepts? Must regulators be more active, eg more inspections and monitoring of real
operational and organisational practices
Exploiting Qualitative Information for Decision Support in Scenario Analysis
The development of scenario analysis (SA) to assist decision makers and stakeholders has been growing over the last few years through mainly exploiting qualitative information provided by experts. In this study, we present SA based on the use of qualitative data for strategy planning. We discuss the potential of SA as a decision-support tool, and provide a structured approach for the interpretation of SA data, and an empirical validation of expert evaluations that can help to measure the consistency of the analysis. An application to a specific case study is provided, with reference to the European organic farming business
The computational turn: thinking about the digital humanities
No description supplie
Transformative Effects of NDIIPP, the Case of the Henry A. Murray Archive
This article comprises reflections on the changes to the Henry A.
Murray Research Archive, catalyzed by involvement with the National
Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program
(NDIIPP) partnership, and the accompanying introduction of next
generation digital library software.
Founded in 1976 at Radcliffe, the Henry A. Murray Research
Archive is the endowed, permanent repository for quantitative and
qualitative research data at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science,
in Harvard University. The Murray preserves in perpetuity all
types of data of interest to the research community, including numerical,
video, audio, interview notes, and other types. The center
is unique among data archives in the United States in the extent
of its holdings in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed quantitativequalitative
research.
The Murray took part in an NDIIPP-funded collaboration
with four other archival partners, Data-PASS, for the purpose of
the identification and acquisition of data at risk, and the joint development
of best practices with respect to shared stewardship,
preservation, and exchange of these data. During this time, the
Dataverse Network (DVN) software was introduced, facilitating
the creation of virtual archives. The combination of institutional
collaboration and new technology lead the Murray to re-engineer
its entire acquisition process; completely rewrite its ingest,
dissemination, and other licensing agreements; and adopt a new
model for ingest, discovery, access, and presentation of its collections.
Through the Data-PASS project, the Murray has acquired a
number of important data collections. The resulting changes
within the Murray have been dramatic, including increasing its
overall rate of acquisitions by fourfold; and disseminating acquisitions
far more rapidly. Furthermore, the new licensing and
processing procedures allow a previously undreamed of level of
interoperability and collaboration with partner archives, facilitating
integrated discovery and presentation services, and joint
stewardship of collections.published or submitted for publicatio
Knowledge Management and Sustainable Agriculture:the Italian Case
The contemporary knowledge-based economy requires global usage of information in all aspects of modern society. Pertinent information is an important asset for successful business, therefore an application of knowledge management in organisational practice has become a crucial factor for the viability and sustainable development of enterprises. This is particularly relevant for the agricultural context, which needs modern practices for enhancement and development. However, information and knowledge, due to their intangible character, seem difficult to manage and organize. Therefore the paper targeted at developing sustainable organizational model of knowledge management for small and medium enterprises. Italian agriculture is considered as a context for this study, and knowledge management was offered as a tool for facilitating agricultural performance and increasing competitiveness of agricultural sector. A wide concept of knowledge management and specified agricultural context require a theory-based approach to research and a survey. Thus, the research methodology includes the next four parts. The first one contains literature review and examines definitions, strategies, approaches and models of sustainable knowledge management. The second part includes content analysis of 105 scientific publications. The third part of methodology is based on the results of the two previous parts and includes creating the model of knowledge management. Verification of this model is the last part of the research. Verification was executed through on-line questionnaire distributed to Italian agricultural enterprises throughout the country on their intentions and awareness towards knowledge management and developed model of knowledge management. The results of the survey have demonstrated farmerâs incentives to implement the developed knowledge management model with flexible approach in its organisation
- âŠ