Exploring metadata standards for competence descriptions in the business & management domain

This paper explores the development and use of competency metadata standards. As there has recently been a surge of a number of standards to address the challenge of representing competencies and there is a rising need to develop a common methodology, as well as methods and tools for developing, reusing, adapting, integrating such standards, this research is now becoming important and timely. We explore this within the context of the OpenScout project, which is building a federation of repositories with content in the areas of business and management. Thus this study is limited to metadata standards for competencies in the business and management fields, but it is aimed that the lessons from this domain can transfer to other fields and will inform the wider debate on the development and use of such standards. The paper revisits a set of standards for competence descriptions and provides recommendations as to which standard would suit better the nature of the repository, the requirements of stakeholders, and the Open Content resources. In particular, the paper proposes an adaptation and extension of the IEEE-RCD model, employing an application profiling approach, and taking into account the granularity of the European Qualifications Framework and the requirements of Open Content resources.OpenScout project (Contract no.: 428016, “Skill based scouting of open user-generated and community-improved content for management education and training”

Professional discourse, quality assurance and a practice integrated pre-service teacher education course: The Open University PGCE

The Open University (UK) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme is a distance learning pre-service course in teacher education which integrates learning in the practice setting with university-based learning. This programme, which has flexible start and finish points and either training or assessment only routes, uses a web-based Needs Analysis process to reflect on prior experience and to determine individualized university and practice-based curriculum and assessment and is set in the context of an external regulatory framework which demands that teacher education courses in England fulfil certain national requirements and that student-teachers meet identified standards or competences. These requirements and standards are inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) and the outcomes of inspection lead to a 'Quality Grade' which determines government funding. This PGCE course, therefore, presents a radically flexible, practice integrated programme which faces both internal, University based quality assurance processes and procedures and 'high stakes' external inspection. This paper reflects on the tensions between quality compliance and quality assurance in practice integrated learning and suggests that quality assurance processes which open up a discourse of personal and professional development and which might support the exploration of dissonance between and within practices can improve, rather than merely maintain, programme quality

From a standard to an output oriented ap-proach in organic livestock farming

Although standards of organic livestock production clearly exceed the legal minimum requirements in many areas, the current performance in relation to animal health and product quality often does not surpass the level of conventional production and does not always meet the self-proclaimed aims and the expectations of the consumers. Thus, the standards lack efficiency in the implementa-tion of organic principles. Taking the system approach of organic farming into account, the implementation of feed back mechanisms is required to correspond to the teleological behaviour of open systems. Moreover, there is a need for a change in the paradigm from a standard to an output oriented approach to improve the level of animal health and of product quality

Icts, Social Media, & the Future of Human Rights

As communication increasingly shifts to digital platforms, information derived from online open sources is starting to become critical in creating an evidentiary basis for international crimes. While journalists have led the development of many newly emerging open source investigation methodologies, courts have heightened the requirements for verifying and preserving a chain of custody—information linking all of the individuals who possessed the content and indicating the duration of their custody—creating a need for standards that are just now beginning to be identified, articulated, and accepted by the international legal community. In this article, we discuss the impact of internet-based open source investigations on international criminal legal processes, as well as challenges related to their use. We also offer best practices for lawyers, activists, and other individuals seeking to admit open source information—including content derived from social media—into courts

Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS - a collection of Technical Notes Part 1

This report provides an introduction and overview of the Technical Topic Notes (TTNs) produced in the Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS (Tigars) project. These notes aim to support the development and evaluation of autonomous vehicles. Part 1 addresses: Assurance-overview and issues, Resilience and Safety Requirements, Open Systems Perspective and Formal Verification and Static Analysis of ML Systems. Part 2: Simulation and Dynamic Testing, Defence in Depth and Diversity, Security-Informed Safety Analysis, Standards and Guidelines

Architecture for Survivable System Processing (ASSP)

The Architecture for Survivable System Processing (ASSP) Program is a multi-phase effort to implement Department of Defense (DOD) and commercially developed high-tech hardware, software, and architectures for reliable space avionics and ground based systems. System configuration options provide processing capabilities to address Time Dependent Processing (TDP), Object Dependent Processing (ODP), and Mission Dependent Processing (MDP) requirements through Open System Architecture (OSA) alternatives that allow for the enhancement, incorporation, and capitalization of a broad range of development assets. High technology developments in hardware, software, and networking models, address technology challenges of long processor life times, fault tolerance, reliability, throughput, memories, radiation hardening, size, weight, power (SWAP) and security. Hardware and software design, development, and implementation focus on the interconnectivity/interoperability of an open system architecture and is being developed to apply new technology into practical OSA components. To insure for widely acceptable architecture capable of interfacing with various commercial and military components, this program provides for regular interactions with standardization working groups (e.g.) the International Standards Organization (ISO), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Selection of a viable open architecture is based on the widely accepted standards that implement the ISO/OSI Reference Model

Diversifying Clearinghouse Ownership In Order To Safeguard Free And Open Access To The Derivatives Clearing Market

Implementing the rigorous governance and ownership standards established in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act3 for derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs) will promote free and open access to clearing and reduce systemic risk within what is now the $700 trillion notional value derivatives market. Such standards are central to and advance the key regulatory tenants of Dodd-Frank: i.e., to restore transparency, capital adequacy, and accountability to what was the unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market by ensuring that swaps are cleared through financially sound DCOs. Also, these rules will promote competition by curtailing large swap dealers‘ (SDs) control over these markets to the disadvantage of swaps users. This article focuses on the importance of swaps clearing to Dodd-Frank-mandated market reforms and the need for fair and open access to that clearing. Specifically, it shows that implementing objective governance standards for DCOs that include maximum capital requirements for DCO membership will enhance market stability and efficiency. To this end, the article focuses exclusively on clearing as it lies at the heart of Dodd Frank market reforms. Also, although the article discusses the SEC‘s proposed rules on DCO governance and ownership, it primarily focuses on the CFTC‘s rulemaking for DCOs since the CFTC has jurisdiction over 85The article is divided into four parts. First, it shows that Congress intended the CFTC to adopt rigorous rules regarding DCO governance and ownership that eliminate the conflicts of interest that have allowed SDs to stifle competition for clearing services and to charge unnecessarily high transaction fees. Second, it explains how pre-Dodd-Frank market forces have limited access to clearing. Third, it shows that the CFTC‘s final rule on participant eligibility—particularly the rule establishing a$50 million threshold for DCO membership—promises to both improve swap users‘ access to clearing and ensure greater stability within the derivatives clearing market. Finally, the article argues that the CFTC should strengthen its proposed governance standards for DCOs in order to safeguard swap users‘ access to clearing against the possibility that the CFTC‘s participant eligibility requirements fail to increase DCO membership

E-Standards For Mass Properties Engineering

A proposal is put forth to promote the concept of a Society of Allied Weight Engineers developed voluntary consensus standard for mass properties engineering. This standard would be an e-standard, and would encompass data, data manipulation, and reporting functionality. The standard would be implemented via an open-source SAWE distribution site with full SAWE member body access. Engineering societies and global standards initiatives are progressing toward modern engineering standards, which become functioning deliverable data sets. These data sets, if properly standardized, will integrate easily between supplier and customer enabling technically precise mass properties data exchange. The concepts of object-oriented programming support all of these requirements, and the use of a JavaTx based open-source development initiative is proposed. Results are reported for activity sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center Innovation Institute to scope out requirements for developing a mass properties engineering e-standard. An initial software distribution is proposed. Upon completion, an open-source application programming interface will be available to SAWE members for the development of more specific programming requirements that are tailored to company and project requirements. A fully functioning application programming interface will permit code extension via company proprietary techniques, as well as through continued open-source initiatives

Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS - a collection of Technical Notes Part 2

This report provides an introduction and overview of the Technical Topic Notes (TTNs) produced in the Towards Identifying and closing Gaps in Assurance of autonomous Road vehicleS (Tigars) project. These notes aim to support the development and evaluation of autonomous vehicles. Part 1 addresses: Assurance-overview and issues, Resilience and Safety Requirements, Open Systems Perspective and Formal Verification and Static Analysis of ML Systems. This report is Part 2 and discusses: Simulation and Dynamic Testing, Defence in Depth and Diversity, Security-Informed Safety Analysis, Standards and Guidelines