A competence management system towards increased corporate success

Estágio realizado na Critical Manufacturing, S. ATese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Guidelines for artificial intelligence-driven enterprise compliance management systems

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design and drive a Compliance Management System (CMS) at an enterprise level is a strategic decision to be taken by large organizations. Given the complexity this decision entails, conceptual guidelines addressed to senior management and board of directors are required. The original contribution to knowledge and practice of this research lies in the understanding of how compliance management systems are set-up in organizations, by using the CMS framework derived from literature, later confirmed by empirical data. Furthermore, this research originally contributes to both knowledge and practice, through the depiction of the enablers and barriers of AI adoption in organizations, as well as the recommended conceptual guidelines for AI-driven CMSs. Using three case studies as a research method, this paper investigates the current set-up of CMSs, as well as the enablers and barriers of AI adoption and then discusses the driving themes of strategic importance to organizations when sourcing AI aimed at supporting the management of compliance. These themes are: CMS components structures responsibilities, enablers and barriers of AI, control and compliance of AI applications, compliance by design, data governance and data management, cyber security, information technology infrastructure, regulation and regulators, and collaboration with external parties. The thematic findings of this research are additionally discussed in the context of the three lines of defence of an enterprise (business units, support functions, audit functions), making this an organizational framework for the design of an AI-driven CMS. The research concludes with the recommendations that in order to adopt an AI-driven enterprise CMS, organizations should do the following: strategically decide the type of AI organization they want to be, involve stakeholders in the design phase of new policies and AI applications, invest in data governance and IT infrastructure, tap on best practices from cyber security, and collaborate with external parties and regulators

Advanced Algorithms for Automatic Wind Turbine Condition Monitoring

Reliable and efficient condition monitoring (CM) techniques play a crucial role in minimising wind turbine (WT) operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for a competitive development of wind energy, especially offshore. Although all new turbines are now fitted with some form of condition monitoring system (CMS), very few operators make use of the available monitoring information for maintenance purposes because of the volume and the complexity of the data. This Thesis is concerned with the development of advanced automatic fault detection techniques so that high on-line diagnostic accuracy for important WT drive train mechanical and electrical CM signals is achieved. Experimental work on small scale WT test rigs is described. Seeded fault tests were performed to investigate gear tooth damage, rotor electrical asymmetry and generator bearing failures. Test rig data were processed by using commercial WT CMSs. Based on the experimental evidence, three algorithms were proposed to aid in the automatic damage detection and diagnosis during WT non-stationary load and speed operating conditions. Uncertainty involved in analysing CM signals with field fitted equipment was reduced, and enhanced detection sensitivity was achieved, by identifying and collating characteristic fault frequencies in CM signals which could be tracked as the WT speed varies. The performance of the gearbox algorithm was validated against datasets of a full-size WT gearbox, that had sustained gear damage, from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) WT Gearbox Condition Monitoring Round Robin project. The fault detection sensitivity of the proposed algorithms was assessed and quantified leading to conclusions about their applicability to operating WTs

Knowledge management in higher education: a case study using a stakeholder approach

Provided that valuable knowledge is: collected from all existing sources including people, systems, databases, file cabinets, etc.; it is stored, categorized and organized; and it is disseminated to those people and systems that need it; “The right knowledge would reach the right person or system at the right time” (Seiner, 2000) and businesses would be transformed into knowledge organizations and economies into knowledge economies. This is in fact the global business phenomenon of our modern world economy (Malhotra, 2003); or at least we aspire that it will be. The wealth of today’s businesses and modern nations lies on their competences and capabilities as knowledge-based economies (Boisot, 1998). Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are increasingly exposed to marketplace pressures, in a similar way to other businesses, and the environment in which they are operating today has also changed drastically (Kara & DeShields, 2004), (Cranfield & Taylor, 2008); they experience intense pressure and are required to respond to the global integration (Blose, et al., 2005). The strategic management of knowledge of a university may provide the competitive advantage that universities need and has potentially several benefits to offer to higher education in general. Knowledge Management (KM) which includes management strategies, and methods, as well as the necessary information and communication technologies may potentially leverage intellectual capital and know-how in order that businesses can benefit from gains in human performance and competitiveness. Examples and best practices are available in the literature but very few of them are specific to higher education and involve the use of KM by HEIs. Amongst those who believe that KM has a lot more to offer to Higher Education (HE) is Rowley (Rowley, 2000) who said that “we are a long way from a scenario in which each member of the university community has access to the combined knowledge and wisdom of others in the organization, and has access to that knowledge in a form that suits their particular needs”. This study was initiated to study KM practices in a HEI and create a case study of a KM implementation specific to a HEI following a stakeholder approach. The HEI under study is the largest (over 5,000 students) private HE institution in Cyprus. While involving all areas required for the successful introduction of KM in a HEI, the study delivers a KM solution to satisfy the need of internal stakeholders, being the administration, faculty and staff members and the students. All aspects of KM are examined in the study which being exploratory in nature carries out an organization-wide survey to explore the HEI’s stakeholders’ perceptions of the “knowledge organization”, their current practices including strategy, leadership style, and culture and their needs and expectations relating to KM. Research objectives are satisfied with the utilization of focus groups and surveys conducted via questionnaires and personal interviews for the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. As data are analyzed the results and recommended actions lead to a case study which describes the implementation of a kick-off KM project in the HEI. The case study has an explanatory nature and takes the reader through all of the steps, from the initiation to the completion, of the KM project. It may be replicated, customized, and re-used as necessary for other KM implementations in the HEI under study, other HEIs, or other organizations with similar needs

An exploration of online information spaces that support instructional design and teacher professional development

Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical knowledge accumulates over time and becomes an integral part of online CoPs. Due to ease of implementation, content management systems (CMSs) and social media platforms, primarily Facebook, have enabled the emergence of large online CoPs. However, research has shown that online CoPs are not conducive information spaces for seeking solutions independently, and hashtags used for topic organization are not representative of the wealth of practical knowledge. This three-article dissertation describes design recommendations for supporting the information needs of community members by analyzing the practical knowledge in instructional design and technology (IDT) that rely on a CMS and the Facebook platform and conducting usability testing to improve an existing teacher professional development CoP. By applying natural language processing (NLP) and usability testing, quantitative and qualitative approaches were implemented to examine the practical knowledge and help guide the design of information spaces that enable members to search for solutions through better topic representations or categories. The results of the first study showed that the e-learning development CoP emphasized producing online articles related to educational technology and the lack of transparency in evaluating such materials. The results of the second study showed that the four IDT CoPs on the Facebook platform were characterized by the lack of effective topic structures representative of the accumulated knowledge and the lack of community protocols for curating knowledge and taking corrective actions toward misinformation. The third study relied on usability testing to design an information space to support educators' ability to align materials with Missouri teacher standards. This three-article dissertation suggests five design features that online CoPs can implement in addressing the shortcomings of asynchronous online environments, including (1) improving topic organization, (2) establishing community protocols, (3) increasing transparency, (4) improving search functions, and (5) leveraging NLP in future web technologies. Lastly, the dissertation discussed the results of the three published studies, offered recommendations for improving online CoPs as conducive information spaces, and provided future directions.Includes bibliographical references

The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: eLearning in Estonia

In 2005, IPTS launched a project which aimed to assess the developments in eGoverment, eHealth and eLearning in the 10 New Member States at national, and at cross-country level. At that time, the 10 New Member States were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. A report for each country was produced, describing its educational system and the role played by eLearning within both the formal education system and other aspects of lifelong learning. Each report then analyzes, on the basis of desk research and expert interviews, the major achievements, shortcomings, drivers and barriers in the development of eLearning in one of the countries in question. This analysis provides the basis for the identification and discussion of national policy options to address the major challenges and to suggest R&D issues relevant to the needs of each country,¿ in this case, Estonia.JRC.J.4-Information Societ