Statistical structures for internet-scale data management

Efficient query processing in traditional database management systems relies on statistics on base data. For centralized systems, there is a rich body of research results on such statistics, from simple aggregates to more elaborate synopses such as sketches and histograms. For Internet-scale distributed systems, on the other hand, statistics management still poses major challenges. With the work in this paper we aim to endow peer-to-peer data management over structured overlays with the power associated with such statistical information, with emphasis on meeting the scalability challenge. To this end, we first contribute efficient, accurate, and decentralized algorithms that can compute key aggregates such as Count, CountDistinct, Sum, and Average. We show how to construct several types of histograms, such as simple Equi-Width, Average-Shifted Equi-Width, and Equi-Depth histograms. We present a full-fledged open-source implementation of these tools for distributed statistical synopses, and report on a comprehensive experimental performance evaluation, evaluating our contributions in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and scalability

A design of a data base system for an academic department, 1984

This thesis describes the design of an on-line data base management system for an academic department. The implementation uses dBASE II to create a full information system containing student records, course listing, course scheduling, fiscal management, statistical data, faculty records, and inventory of textbooks and equipment. Application programs to maintain the data base are also included

Techniques to Update a Land Management Information System with Landsat

The Minnesota State Planning Agency has developed a geographically referenced Land Management Information System which is being used extensively for planning purposes. Land use categories in the system were originally coded from aerial photographs; this method is inefficient for updating the large-area data base. Landsat data and many computer-assisted techniques are available to analyze the classification system and to update the land use data base. The data derived from a Landsat analysis could be used to supplement the existing data base and to complement detailed interpretations of aerial photographs. This study had as its primary objective an evaluation of computer manipulation, classification, and accuracy assessment techniques for use in updating land use data in the Land Management Information System. Four approaches to statistical computer manipulation (polygons selected from cathode ray tube displays, unsupervised clustering, polygons selected from aerial photographs and data extracted from the existing land use data base) were attempted. The resulting statistics were applied to the image data by three pattern-recognition algorithms: minimum distance to the mean, maximum likelihood, and canonical analysis with minimum distance to the mean. Twelve output images were compared to photo interpreted samples, ground-verified samples, and the current land use data base for accuracy assessment. The results of this study indicate that for a reconnaissance inventory, statistical computer manipulation via polygons selected from aerial photographs applied with the canonical analysis and minimum distance algorithm is the most accurate and efficient approach. Crosstabulation with the accuracy samples indicated classification accuracies between 20 to 40 percent. These accuracy levels could probably be increased with the availability of appropriate seasonal coverage and the collection of more timely multidate supporting data

Combining Statistics and Information Systems: The La Salle Experience

In attempting to meet accreditation standards, La Salle University combines a second semester statistics course with an introductory course in information systems, as part of a two course sequence in statistical information systems. Of importance is finding ways to integrate the material from these separate disciplines. Instructors begin to do this integration in the first semester of this two-course sequence by emphasizing two points. First, the statistical data found in the text are presented as part of a data base, not just as columns of numbers. Second, a statistics computer package used in the course is used to demonstrate features of a management information system (MIS), and is not just a tool for data analysis. This article discusses these two points from a first semester perspective as an integrative way of combining material from two separate courses. In the second semester, data bases and management information systems are fully discussed as topics in their own right. Another method used in the second semester to integrate the two courses is the use of class projects, with details of one project discussed

Users guide for information retrieval using APL

A Programming Language (APL) is a precise, concise, and powerful computer programming language. Several features make APL useful to managers and other potential computer users. APL is interactive; therefore, the user can communicate with his program or data base in near real-time. This, coupled with the fact that APL has excellent debugging features, reduces program checkout time to minutes or hours rather than days or months. Of particular importance is the fact that APL can be utilized as a management science tool using such techniques as operations research, statistical analysis, and forecasting. The gap between the scientist and the manager could be narrowed by showing how APL can be used to do what the scientists and the manager each need to do, retrieve information. Sometimes, the information needs to be retrieved rapidly. In this case APL is ideally suited for this challenge

FISCAL MANAGEMENT IN DANGILA MUNICIPALITY, ETHIOPIA. PERFORMANCE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Fiscal decentralization is one component of decentralization that gives authority to local governments to collect revenue through taxes and responsibility over spending decisions. Even though fiscal decentralization has given revenue raising and spending decision powers to lower levels of government, the implementation process has often been a daunting task for many local authorities in the developing world. In the case of Ethiopia, decentralization has been implemented since 1991. However, revenue raising and expenditure management are not efficiently and effectively exercised, especially in lower level government units of Ethiopia. Insufficient revenue collection and reprehensible expenditure management leads to financial incapability such that public infrastructure and services could not be financed amply. Dangila municipality faces the problem of financial capacity to deliver infrastructure and services to its citizens. While a number of studies have documented the financial incapacities of Ethiopian municipalities, they have been very shy to articulate the discrepancies and deficiencies that link financing to service delivery. It is interesting to know what the driving factors are in this case. Therefore, the main focus of this paper is to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection and expenditure management of Dangila Municipality. To obtain edifying data the paper used a positivist survey study. Municipality financial documentation and questionnaires were the main sources of secondary and primary data respectively. Parametric descriptive statistical methods were applied in the analysis of data to arrive at measures of efficiency and effectiveness in revenue collection and expenditure management of the municipality. The study revealed that the municipality is not efficient and effective in its revenue collection and expenditure management. The main explanation for such inefficiency comprise; derisory assessment of taxable sources, poor organizational structure, inadequate accounting system, absence of clear operational guidelines, poor planning and data base management, lack of awareness by taxpayers and lack of skilled manpower. To resolve such challenges, we recommend the following actionable measures; widening the revenue base of local sources of revenue, improving planning and implementing capacity, establishing adequate data base systems, continuous awareness creation for taxpayers, establishing appropriate guidelines and methods of revenue collection, revision of the tariff structure regularly, installing accounting system that produces timely and reliable information, encouraging community participation in planning and resource allocation and municipal restructuring that take into account needs and welfare of employees. Classification-JEL: R53, R42Fiscal decentralization, revenue collection, expenditure management, efficiency, effectiveness.

Web-Based Network Device Monitoring Tool Using Simple Network Management Protocol (Snmp)

The Internet enables different computer networks to join together into one network in which many different models of network devices can co-exist with each other. Standard management protocol is necessary for the purpose of managing these networks. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), one of the standard protocols, is designed for this open-class management function and is successfully implemented. This thesis suggests a monitoring of network device statistical data from a remote place. This approach reduced the complexity of existing techniques, which are basically operable in specific operating system and having no standard Graphical User Interface (GUI). To address this problem, a system based on WWW standard tool is developed which is SNMP compatible as well as operable with any network device. The network device monitoring tool is a client program, which is managed and could be contacted with the server program. A web server and a browser are to provide static, dynamic, and interactive management information. A web server, which plays a managing role, offers a variety of types of information. An SNMP agent, which cooperates with a web server, uses SNMP protocol and provides access to management information of network devices/agents. The implementation of the user interface using the web-based technique of Java Applet makes it possible for a manager to easily search and manage agent Management Information Base (Mill) through a browser. Java SNMP class files and SNMP Applet Server (SAS) classes are used inside the Web-server to communicate with network devices. The network device monitoring tool is configured to collect network statistical data. It can monitor the real time graph on the basis of MIB variable from remote place and shows more efficient than the existing tool

Інформаційна складова джерел статистичної інформації для потреб соці­альної політики в сучасних умовах

Розглянуто основні джерела інформації соціальної статистики (переписи населення, поточна звітність, вибіркові обстеження, адміністративні дані) та проаналізовано їх інформаційну складову в контексті розроблення даних для статистичного забезпечення соціальної політики.Рассматриваются основные источники информации социальной статистики (переписи населения, текущая отчетность, выборочные обследования, административные данные) и анализируется их информационная составная в контексте разработки данных для статистического обеспечения социальной политикиOne of the main functions of the modern state is the development and implementation of social policy, formulation and implementation of which requires high-quality information support (which constituent is statistical information). This would contribute to the adequate management both at the national and regional levels. The national science of public management did not pay much attention to studying the sources of the statistical data required as an information base to support state social policy. The following sources are the most informative and qualitative in terms of developing the data to support social policy with statistics: population censuses, household sample surveys, subject-matter (module) surveys, the existent statistical reporting, and administrative data. Based on information obtained from the sources reviewed, the state statistics bodies develop quite a wide range of statistical data that comprehensively characterize different aspects of life covered by social policy, in particular, with respect to the total size and composition of population, mortality and birth rates, life expectancy, employment and unemployment, labor demand and supply, economic activity and wages, income and expenditures of population, living standards of citizens, per capita incomes, educational attainment of the population, morbidity and medical care, living conditions, etc. However, these sources differ in coverage and frequency, complexity, cost, quality and timeliness of data and have both advantages and disadvantages, so we believe that they should complement each other. In addition, in order to develop statistical information to satisfy the needs of social policy, it is advisable to supplement them with such source of information as administrative electronic registers, which are hardly used in Ukraine nowadays since they are autonomous and operate under different standards. Social statistics widely uses six of the above mentioned sources, while the register of natural persons, including population register, is not applied. Thus, it is quite timely to establish the unified population register, which primarily requires the adoption of appropriate political solutions, study of the relevant experience of developed countries by national experts, development of the necessary legal framework, concept and feasible mechanism of its creation and protection of personal information

Побудова таблиць міжгалузевого балансу регіону на основі даних первинної статистичної звітності підприємств

Запропоновано інформаційну систему, що автоматизує процес обробки даних статистичної звітності підприємств для формування регіональних таблиць міжгалузевого балансу. Отримані таблиці є інформаційною базою для аналізу і прогнозування виробництва регіонального продукту в розрізі секцій і галузей із метою підвищення ефективності управління економікою регіону. Ключові слова: інформаційна система, статистична звітність підприємств, міжгалузевий баланс. ----------Предложена информационная система, которая автоматизирует процесс обработки данных статистической отчетности предприятий для формирования региональных таблиц межотраслевого баланса. Полученные таблицы являются информационной базой для анализа и прогнозирования производства регионального продукта в разрезе секций и областей с целью повышения эффективности управления экономикой региона. Ключевые слова: информационная система, статистическая отчетность предприятий, межотраслевой баланс. ----------The paper offers an information system that automates the processing of enterprises’ statistical reports data in order to build regional interbranch balance tables. The tables built are the information base for analyzing and forecasting a regional product in sectors and regions and provide increase in efficiency of region’s economy management. Key words: information system, enterprises’ statistical reports, interbranch balance. ---------

Data infrastructures and spatial models for biodiversity assessment and analysis: applications to vertebrate communities.

In conservation biology the computation of biodiversity maps, based on statistical models is a central concern. These maps, produced with objective and repeatable methods are an essential tool for conservation and monitoring programs as well as for landuse planning. Since the computation of biodiversity maps requires complex and time consuming procedures for data processing and analysis, it is necessary to design methods for homogeneous, scalable and repeatable data management and analysis. Moreover, the huge volume of data used in ecological modelling requires suitable software architectures to store, analyze, retrieve and distribute information in order to support research and management actions in due time. First of all we developed an analysis system (SOS - Species Open Spreader) providing statistical and mathematical models to predict species distribution in relation to a set of predictive environmental and geographical variables The system is composed of a module for data input/output toward and from the GIS and of a package of scripts for the application of different modelling techniques. At present, three statistical techniques are integrated in SOS: Logistic Regression Analysis (LRA), Environmental Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) and flexible Discriminant Analysis with method BRUTO. Furthermore, two empirical spatial methods of analysis are available within SOS: Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) and Spatial Overlay. The system is designed to work with the GIS (Geographical Information System) soft-ware GRASS and the statistical environment R, coupled together through the SPGRASS6 library. Three different outputs are expected: text and graphical outputs with statistical results and suitability maps. Second, we tested the use of spatial Database Management Systems (Spatial DBMS) to handle wildlife and socio-economic data and we developed a web database application to provide facilities for database access. The information system was built for the Meru district (Tanzania) in the context of an Italian cooperation project of land use planning in Maasai rural areas. We tested two di_erent solutions: SpatiaLite and PostgreSQL-PostGIS; they both offer advanced technical facilities and spatial extensions to analyze spatial data. SpatiaLite is a new solution and offers the main advantages to consist of a unique file and to present a user-friendly interface, which make it the best solution for many applications. in spite of this we used PostgreSQL-PostGIS since it represents a well-established information system supported by libraries for web applications development. We applied SOS to three case studies at different spatial scale: Brescia plain (small scale), Mount Meru region - Tanzania (medium scale) and Lombardy region (big scale) in order to produce maps of species potential distribution and biodiversity maps for planning and management. We applied logistic regression analyses to compute models and ROC analysis for classification performance evaluation. The automation of processes through SOS gave us the possibility to build models for a large number of vertebrate species. The analysis produced very reliable results at middle and big scale while regression methods did not converge at small scale. This is probably due to habitat homogeneity and to the use of environmental variables with an insufficient level of detail. The potential distribution and biodiversity maps produced also had in all cases an applicative use in fact we used mammal species models computed for Mt. Meru region to produce a map of biodiversity within the area: this map represents an informative base for land use planning at village level within a cooperation project for Maasai economic development and environmental redemption. Amphibians and reptiles models, computed for Lombardy, represent a good informative base for planning management actions in the region