Big data analytics:Computational intelligence techniques and application areas

Big Data has significant impact in developing functional smart cities and supporting modern societies. In this paper, we investigate the importance of Big Data in modern life and economy, and discuss challenges arising from Big Data utilization. Different computational intelligence techniques have been considered as tools for Big Data analytics. We also explore the powerful combination of Big Data and Computational Intelligence (CI) and identify a number of areas, where novel applications in real world smart city problems can be developed by utilizing these powerful tools and techniques. We present a case study for intelligent transportation in the context of a smart city, and a novel data modelling methodology based on a biologically inspired universal generative modelling approach called Hierarchical Spatial-Temporal State Machine (HSTSM). We further discuss various implications of policy, protection, valuation and commercialization related to Big Data, its applications and deployment

Collaborative tools: computer science students' skills versus software industry needs

Software companies encourage and further the use of collaborative tools and skills at the workplace in pursuit of the benefits of their use: they improve communication, productivity and efficiency, and competitiveness. Besides, undergraduate and graduate software engineering computing curricula recommend subjects related to effective cooperative working and group learning. In order to align industry needs and curricula recommendations, universities should provide students with the collaborative knowledge and skills that they will require on the labour market once they finish their degrees. In this scenario, we asked three questions: Are collaborative tools beneficial to software projects? Is it easier for students with knowledge and skills of collaborative tools to find a job? Do enterprises use collaborative tools as a marketing strategy for the recruitment process or are they really empowering their employees to use collaborative tools? This paper explores these questions. We devised a survey addressing the above questions, which was administered to 86 recent computer science graduates. We applied statistical techniques to analyse the responses. From the data gathered during the survey, we conclude that the expected benefits of the use of collaborative tools are in fact corroborated, students skilled in the use of collaborative tools do find it easier to get jobs and companies are not only looking for people with collaborative skills but also use collaborative tools in their routine work processes

Fault Detection and Isolation in Industrial Processes Using Deep Learning Approaches

Automated fault detection is an important part of a quality control system. It has the potential to increase the overall quality of monitored products and processes. The fault detection of automotive instrument cluster systems in computer- based manufacturing assembly lines is currently limited to simple boundary checking. The analysis of more complex non-linear signals is performed manually by trained operators, whose knowledge is used to supervise quality checking and manual detection of faults. In this paper, a novel approach for automated fault detection and isolation based on deep machine learning techniques is presented. The approach was tested on data generated by computer-based manufacturing systems equipped with local and remote sensing devices. The results show that the proposed approach models the different spatial / temporal patterns found in the data. The approach is also able to successfully diagnose and locate multiple classes of faults under real-time working conditions. The proposed method is shown to outperform other established fault detection and isolation methods

Design implications for task-specific search utilities for retrieval and re-engineering of code

The importance of information retrieval systems is unquestionable in the modern society and both individuals as well as enterprises recognise the benefits of being able to find information effectively. Current code-focused information retrieval systems such as Google Code Search, Codeplex or Koders produce results based on specific keywords. However, these systems do not take into account developers’ context such as development language, technology framework, goal of the project, project complexity and developer’s domain expertise. They also impose additional cognitive burden on users in switching between different interfaces and clicking through to find the relevant code. Hence, they are not used by software developers. In this paper, we discuss how software engineers interact with information and general-purpose information retrieval systems (e.g. Google, Yahoo!) and investigate to what extent domain-specific search and recommendation utilities can be developed in order to support their work-related activities. In order to investigate this, we conducted a user study and found that software engineers followed many identifiable and repeatable work tasks and behaviours. These behaviours can be used to develop implicit relevance feedback-based systems based on the observed retention actions. Moreover, we discuss the implications for the development of task-specific search and collaborative recommendation utilities embedded with the Google standard search engine and Microsoft IntelliSense for retrieval and re-engineering of code. Based on implicit relevance feedback, we have implemented a prototype of the proposed collaborative recommendation system, which was evaluated in a controlled environment simulating the real-world situation of professional software engineers. The evaluation has achieved promising initial results on the precision and recall performance of the system

Arquitectura empresarial para la firma de abogados Norton Rose Fulbright, un enfoque BPM-SOA

El objetivo de este trabajo de grado se fundamenta en la modelación, optimización y automatización de los procesos de negocio de la firma de abogados Norton Rose Fulbright referentes al área financiera. Dichos procesos son fundamentales para la actividad contable de la firma y se basan principalmente en el registro de los honorarios de los abogados y la consecuente facturación de estos. Teniendo en cuenta esta información, se realizó el proceso de análisis, diseño y construcción de un prototipo funcional que soporte el proceso de negocio mencionado anteriormente y solucione los problemas de pérdida, tiempo y productividad en la firma.The objective of this thesis is based in the modeling, optimization and automation of the business processes of the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. These processes are fundamental for the accounting activity of the firm and are mainly based on the registration of attorneys' fees and the consequent invoicing thereof. Taking into account this information, the process of analysis, design and construction of a functional prototype that supports the business process was performed, previously solved the problems of loss, time and productivity in the firm.Ingeniero (a) de SistemasPregrad

Critical Factors of Adopting Enterprise Application Integration Technology: An Empirical Study on Larger Hospitals

As hospitals extend their service scope, they adopt more information systems. These systems are implemented in different timelines and the interfaces of databases become varied. Frequently, the exchange of information between various systems requires additional coordination or even manual input for unifying data. To embrace automation, the solution is to adopt enterprise application integration (EAI) technology, the middleware, to convert data from among various information systems to enable an efficient flow of data in the hospital. In this paper, we discuss and verify the impact factors on the integration levels of EAI by surveying larger hospitals above the regional level in Taiwan and testing a proposed research model. The findings of this study show that information technology infrastructure, hospital size, external pressure, internal pressure, and external support significantly affect the EAI level

Fuzzy rule based profiling approach for enterprise information seeking and retrieval

With the exponential growth of information available on the Internet and various organisational intranets there is a need for profile based information seeking and retrieval (IS&R) systems. These systems should be able to support users with their context-aware information needs. This paper presents a new approach for enterprise IS&R systems using fuzzy logic to develop task, user and document profiles to model user information seeking behaviour. Relevance feedback was captured from real users engaged in IS&R tasks. The feedback was used to develop a linear regression model for predicting document relevancy based on implicit relevance indicators. Fuzzy relevance profiles were created using Term Frequency and Inverse Document Frequency (TF/IDF) analysis for the successful user queries. Fuzzy rule based summarisation was used to integrate the three profiles into a unified index reflecting the semantic weight of the query terms related to the task, user and document. The unified index was used to select the most relevant documents and experts related to the query topic. The overall performance of the system was evaluated based on standard precision and recall metrics which show significant improvements in retrieving relevant documents in response to user queries

Mobile ERP: simplificação do processo de inventário em loja

Os processos de uma organização representam uma importante componente para o sucesso e bom funcionamento da mesma. A sua execução de forma eficiente e eficaz deve ser garantida para assegurar um nível de qualidade superior na prestação de serviços e na oferta de produtos. Neste estudo foi investigado o conceito de Mobile ERP aplicado ao processo de inventário efetuado em loja. Deste modo, pretende-se tirar proveito da utilização de dispositivos móveis como os smartphones para a simplificação do processo. Foi desenvolvida uma proposta de solução concetual e posteriormente validada pela implementação de um protótipo. Para a avaliação da solução foi implementado o protótipo numa organização que se enquadrava no contexto de estudo e de seguida testado por seis intervenientes do processo de inventário. A avaliação foi obtida com base na classificação qualitativa da solução e pela opinião dos intervenientes.The business processes represents one of the key factors for the success of an organization. These should be studied and continuously improved to answer the demanding needs of the competitive market. In this study it was investigated the concept of Mobile ERP applied to the in-store inventory process aiming to find a solution that meet the process simplification and simultaneously was a low-cost option. Thus, there were used mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to simplify the studied process. A proposal for a conceptual solution was developed and subsequently validated by the implementation of the prototype. For the evaluation it was implemented the prototype in an organization that meets the context studied and then tested by a group of six people involved in the inventory process. The evaluation was obtained based on qualitative ranking of the solution and the opinion of the stakeholders

Considering the usability of an ERP system in a multicultural collaborative organizational context through Hertzum's images of usability

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, although common in organizations, are noted for their lack of usability considerations. They are often large and complex, and as such are difficult to learn and to use. We set out to understand how a multicultural, geographically dispersed organizational setting affects the usability of ERP systems. Usability itself is difficult concept to define. Multiple definitions exist, most of which look at usability through a number of narrow, more approachable attributes. To incorporate different contextual and usability factors, we applied Hertzum’s method of usability analysis. The method considers six images of usability: universal, situational, perceived, hedonic, organizational, and cultural, each with a distinct perspective on usability. We explored which image would rise as dominant, and also considered the usefulness of applying Hertzum’s method in the context of an actual organization. The study was performed as a single-case study in an international organization, and focused on the ticket handling process of IT support personnel. We applied a mixed method approach, gathering data through a usability survey, semi-structured interviews, as well as live observation. Organizational usability emerged as the dominant image, as it was seen to elicit the most comments in the survey. The usability of the system was seen to result from the combination of all individual factors, and therefore to be rooted in specific instances of use. While Hertzum’s method was found to require a large scope of study to provide enough data to consider all images equally, the method nevertheless provided new insights into the usability of the ERP system. It is our hope that our results may assist future researchers appreciate the value gained from a change of perspective

Investigating enterprise application integration (EAI) adoption factors in higher education: an empirical study

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University LondonThe Higher Education (HE) sector of a country is a key area indicating the progress of cultural, political and social growth and development. Public and social demands as well as technological developments add new challenges for this sector. Consequently, higher education institutions have changed and a more flexible IT infrastructure is required to enable them to adapt efficiently to competitive business challenges. Enterprise application integration (EAI) is a technology that effectively integrates intra- and inter-organizational systems. Firstly a systematic review of the EAI literature was conducted. From this review, it was apparent that there are no theoretical models for EAI adoption and evaluation for higher education. Hence, this research contributes a conceptual model that includes influential factors derived from the literature and combines them with the proposed classification of influential factors for HE to produce an EAI conceptual model for the HE domain. To validate this proposed model empirical research was conducted. Then, the model was tested using a qualitative case study approach by means of three case studies that were conducted at different universities. Exploratory, explanatory and interpretive data analysis phases were implemented to find what is the current EAI process of HE and how these institutions currently work. In addition, these phases were employed to identify the EAI adoption factors in HE. As a result of this analysis the conceptual model was modified because of complementary factors that emerged. Therefore, the main contribution of this research is a comprehensive and novel model for EAI adoption in higher education area. The adoption EAI factors were identified by extracting a number of parameters from the empirical data. Several important factors that influence and assist the adoption of EAI in HE were identified. Hence, an additional contribution is the classification of factors in EAI adoption into technical and social factors which provides a better understanding of these factors. A further contribution is the derivation of a new classification of the EAI external and internal pressure factors. The development of a consistent model for the adoption and evaluation of EAI in HE is based on these factors