A study of the portability of an Ada system in the software engineering laboratory (SEL)

A particular porting effort is discussed, and various statistics on analyzing the portability of Ada and the total staff months (overall and by phase) required to accomplish the rehost, are given. This effort is compared to past experiments on the rehosting of FORTRAN systems. The discussion includes an analysis of the types of errors encountered during the rehosting, the changes required to rehost the system, experiences with the Alsys IBM Ada compiler, the impediments encountered, and the lessons learned during this study

Middleware’s message : the financial technics of codata

In this paper, I will argue for the relevance of certain distinctive features of messaging systems, namely those in which data (a) can be sent and received asynchronously, (b) can be sent to multiple simultaneous recipients and (c) is received as a “potentially infinite” flow of unpredictable events. I will describe the social technology of the stock ticker, a telegraphic device introduced at the New York Stock Exchange in the 1860s, with reference to early twentieth century philosophers of synchronous experience (Bergson), simultaneous sign interpretations (Mead and Peirce), and flows of discrete events (Bachelard). Then, I will show how the ticker’s data flows developed into the 1990s-era technologies of message queues and message brokers, which distinguished themselves through their asynchronous implementation of ticker-like message feeds sent between otherwise incompatible computers and terminals. These latter systems’ characteristic “publish/subscribe” communication pattern was one in which conceptually centralized (if logically distributed) flows of messages would be “published,” and for which “subscribers” would be spontaneously notified when events of interest occurred. This paradigm—common to the so-called “message-oriented middleware” systems of the late 1990s—would re-emerge in different asynchronous distributed system contexts over the following decades, from “push media” to Twitter to the Internet of Things

The cleanroom case study in the Software Engineering Laboratory: Project description and early analysis

This case study analyzes the application of the cleanroom software development methodology to the development of production software at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. The cleanroom methodology emphasizes human discipline in program verification to produce reliable software products that are right the first time. Preliminary analysis of the cleanroom case study shows that the method can be applied successfully in the FDD environment and may increase staff productivity and product quality. Compared to typical Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) activities, there is evidence of lower failure rates, a more complete and consistent set of inline code documentation, a different distribution of phase effort activity, and a different growth profile in terms of lines of code developed. The major goals of the study were to: (1) assess the process used in the SEL cleanroom model with respect to team structure, team activities, and effort distribution; (2) analyze the products of the SEL cleanroom model and determine the impact on measures of interest, including reliability, productivity, overall life-cycle cost, and software quality; and (3) analyze the residual products in the application of the SEL cleanroom model, such as fault distribution, error characteristics, system growth, and computer usage

Performance factors for successful business incubators in Indonesian public universities

Measuring the performance of business processes is already a main concern for both faculty and enterprise players, since organizations are motivated to reach the productivity stage. Employing a performance achievement framework for the relationship between business incubator success factors will guarantee connection with commercial schemes, which support a high level of performance indicators in successful business incubator models. This research employs a quantitative approach, with the data analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 23 and Smart PLS version 3 statistical software packages. Employing a sample of 95 incubator managers from 19 universities which geographically located in Indonesia, it is shown that the image of business incubator factors has a positive effect on incubator performance. The study investigates the relationship between incubator performance and business incubator success factors in Indonesia. It was found that IT, as part of the business incubators’ facets/abilities, partially supports their performance; that the entry criteria directly support the performance of the incubators; that mentoring networks also support the performance, with good infrastructure systems as a moderating factor; that funding supports the performance of business incubators, also with good infrastructure systems as a moderating factor; and that university regulations and government support and protection enhance the performance of business incubators, with credits and rewards as a moderating factor. In addition, a variety of indicators from the local context affiliate positively to promote a community that highlighted the incubators’ strategies.N/

Heterogeneity and Disorder: Contributions of Rolf Landauer

Rolf Landauer made important contributions to many branches of science. Within the broad area of transport in disordered media, he wrote seminal papers on electrical conduction in macroscopically inhomogeneous materials, as well as fundamental analyses of electron transport in quantum mechanical systems with disorder on the atomic scale. We review here some of these contributions. We also briefly describe some main events in his personal and scientific life.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; presented on the occasion when Rolf Landauer was awarded, posthumously, the inaugural ETOPIM Medal at the ETOPIM 8 Conference, which took place during 7--12 June, 2009 in Rethymnon, Cret

Automation and Management Accounting in British Manufacturing and Retail Financial Services, 1945-1968

This article looks at the effects of office mechanisation in greater detail by describing data processing innovations in major building societies during the dawn of the computer era. Reference to similar developments in clearing banks, industrial and computer organisations provides evidence as to the common experience in the computerisation of firms in the post-war years. As a result, research in this article offers a comparison between widespread technological change and changes unique to service sector organisations. Moreover, research in this article ascertains the extent to which the adoption of computer-related innovations in financial services sought to satisfy financial, rather than management accounting, purposes.banks, building societies, manufacturing, computers

Profiling a decade of information systems frontiers’ research

This article analyses the first ten years of research published in the Information Systems Frontiers (ISF) from 1999 to 2008. The analysis of the published material includes examining variables such as most productive authors, citation analysis, universities associated with the most publications, geographic diversity, authors’ backgrounds and research methods. The keyword analysis suggests that ISF research has evolved from establishing concepts and domain of information systems (IS), technology and management to contemporary issues such as outsourcing, web services and security. The analysis presented in this paper has identified intellectually significant studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth of ISF. The analysis has also identified authors published in other journals whose work largely shaped and guided the researchers published in ISF. This research has implications for researchers, journal editors, and research institutions

What Permits Small Firms to Compete in High-Tech Industries? Inter-Organizational Knowledge Creation in the Taiwanese Computer Industry

This paper addresses a puzzle related to firm size and competition. Since Stephen Hymer´s pioneering contribution (Hymer, 1960/1976), theories of the firm implicitly assume that only large, diversified multinational enterprises can compete in industries that combine high capital intensity, high knowledge-intensity and a high degree of internationalization. Small firms, by definition, have limited resources and capabilities and are unlikely to possess substantial ownership advantages. They also have a limited capacity to influence and shape the development of markets, market structure and technological change. One would thus expect that they are ill-equipped to compete in a knowledge-intensive industry that is highly globalized. Taiwan’s experience in the computer industry tells a different story: despite the dominance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Taiwan successfully competes in the international market for PC-related products, key components and knowledge-intensive services. The paper inquires into how this was possible. It is argued that organizational innovations related to the creation of knowledge are of critical importance. Taiwanese computer firms were able to develop their own distinctive approach: due to their initially very narrow knowledge base, access to external sources of knowledge has been an essential prerequisite for their knowledge creation. Such “inter-organizational knowledge creation” (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) was facilitated by two factors: active, yet selective and continuously adjusted industrial development policies; and a variety of linkages with large Taiwanese business groups, foreign sales and manufacturing affiliates and an early participation in international production networks established by foreign electronics companies. A novel contribution of this paper is its focus on inter-organizational knowledge creation. I first describe Taiwan´s achievements in the computer industry. The dominance of SMEs and their role as a source of flexibility is documented in part II. Part III describes some policy innovations that have shaped the process of knowledge creation. The rest of the paper inquires how inter-organizational knowledge creation has benefited from a variety of linkages with large domestic and foreign firms; I also address some industrial upgrading requirements that result from this peculiar type of knowledge creation.knowledge creation; learning; small firms; networks; firm strategy; industrial policies;