Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

Measuring knowledge sharing processes through social network analysis within construction organisations

The construction industry is a knowledge intensive and information dependent industry. Organisations risk losing valuable knowledge, when the employees leave them. Therefore, construction organisations need to nurture opportunities to disseminate knowledge through strengthening knowledge-sharing networks. This study aimed at evaluating the formal and informal knowledge sharing methods in social networks within Australian construction organisations and identifying how knowledge sharing could be improved. Data were collected from two estimating teams in two case studies. The collected data through semi-structured interviews were analysed using UCINET, a Social Network Analysis (SNA) tool, and SNA measures. The findings revealed that one case study consisted of influencers, while the other demonstrated an optimal knowledge sharing structure in both formal and informal knowledge sharing methods. Social networks could vary based on the organisation as well as the individuals’ behaviour. Identifying networks with specific issues and taking steps to strengthen networks will enable to achieve optimum knowledge sharing processes. This research offers knowledge sharing good practices for construction organisations to optimise their knowledge sharing processes

From Exposure To Effects: Examining The Cognitive Processes Underlying Effects Of the Real Cost Youth-Targeted Anti-Smoking Media Campaign

The goal of this dissertation is twofold: to assess anti-smoking campaign effects, and examine the ad-induced, cognitive processes that account for effective anti-smoking advertisements. The dissertation studies evaluate ads from “The Real Cost” anti-smoking campaign, a public education campaign aimed at reducing tobacco use among U.S. adolescents. Study 1 examines the relationship between self-reported recall of specific ads and anti-smoking belief endorsement in a nationally-representative sample of nonsmoking adolescents. To address limitations from Study 1, Study 2 evaluates the relationship between opportunities for exposure using Target Rating Points (TRPs), a measure of campaign reach and frequency, and anti-smoking belief endorsement in a nationally-representative sample of nonsmoking adolescents. Studies 3 and 4 employ functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how anti-smoking ads are received and processed by the adolescent brain. Study 3 examines the relationships between ad-elicited neural response and subsequent ratings of perceived ad effectiveness and intention to share ads on social media in a sample of forty adolescent nonsmokers. Study 4 examines the moderating effect of ad-elicited brain response on the relationship between opportunities for campaign exposure and population-level ad recall. Analyses were conducted with a combined dataset representing: ad recall from a nationally-representative survey of adolescents; weekly, ad-specific TRPs; and ad-elicited neural response in brain regions implicated in social processing and memory encoding from a separate sample of adolescents. From the studies that comprise this dissertation, we can conclude the following: 1) opportunities for exposure and recalled exposure to campaign ads associate with endorsement of ad-targeted beliefs, suggesting the campaign has been effective through the theorized pathway of effects 2) ads that are perceived as more effective elicit greater response in brain regions implicated in social processing, and 3) ad-induced neural response in social processing and memory encoding brain regions partially explains the relationship between opportunities for ad exposure and recalled exposure. Findings suggest that neural measures of ad processing may be an important tool for forecasting which ads will be more effective in a target audience. These conclusions have important implications for the future design and implementation of mass media campaigns

Recent Changes in Drug Abuse Scenario: The Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Phenomenon

copyright 2019 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.Final Published versio

A Prototype Method and Tool to Facilitate Knowledge Sharing in the New Product Development Process

New Product Development (NPD) plays a critical role in the success of manufacturing firms. Activities in the product development process are dependent on the exchange of knowledge among NPD project team members. Increasingly, many organisations consider effective knowledge sharing to be a source of competitive advantage. However, the sharing of knowledge is often inhibited in various ways. This doctoral research presents an exploratory case study conducted at a multinational physical goods manufacturer. This investigation uncovered three, empirically derived and theoretically informed, barriers to knowledge sharing. They have been articulated as the lack of an explicit definition of information about the knowledge used and generated in the product development process, and the absence of mechanisms to make this information accessible in a multilingual environment and to disseminate it to NPD project team members. Collectively, these barriers inhibit a shared understanding of product development process knowledge. Existing knowledge management methodologies have focused on the capture of knowledge, rather than providing information about the knowledge and have not explicitly addressed issues regarding knowledge sharing in a multilingual environment. This thesis reports a prototype method and tool to facilitate knowledge sharing that addresses all three knowledge sharing barriers. Initially the research set out to identify and classify new product development process knowledge and then sought to determine what information about specific knowledge items is required by project teams. Based on the exploratory case findings, an ontology has been developed that formally defines information about this knowledge and allows it to be captured in a knowledge acquisition tool, thereby creating a knowledge base. A mechanism is provided to permit language labels to be attached to concepts and relations in the ontology, making it accessible to speakers of different languages. A dissemination tool allows the ontology and knowledge base to be viewed via a Web browser client. Essentially, the ontology and mechanisms facilitate a knowledge sharing capability. Some initial validation was conducted to better understand implementation issues and future deployment of the prototype method and tool in practice

Cybersecurity and cyber defence: national level strategic approach

Cybersecurity encompasses a broad range of practices, tools and concepts related closely to those of information and operational technology (OT) security. Cybersecurity is distinctive in its inclusion of the offensive use of information technology to attack adversaries. Use of the term “cybersecurity” as a key challenge and a synonym for information security or IT security confuses customers and security practitioners, and obscures critical differences between these disciplines. Recommendation for security leaders is that they should use the term “cybersecurity” to designate only security practices related to the defensive actions involving or relying upon information technology and/or OT environments and systems. Within this paper, we are aiming to explain “cybersecurity” and describe the relationships among cybersecurity, information security, OT security, IT security, and other related disciplines and practices, e.g. cyber defence, related to their implementation aligned with the planned or existing cybersecurity strategy at the national level. In the case study given example of The National Cybersecurity Strategy of the Republic of Croatia and Action plan is presented and elaborated. The Strategy’s primary objective is to recognize organizational problems in its implementation and broaden the understanding of the importance of this issue in the society