Engineering a semantic web trust infrastructure

The ability to judge the trustworthiness of information is an important and challenging problem in the field of Semantic Web research. In this thesis, we take an end-to-end look at the challenges posed by trust on the Semantic Web, and present contributions in three areas: a Semantic Web identity vocabulary, a system for bootstrapping trust environments, and a framework for trust aware information management. Typically Semantic Web agents, which consume and produce information, are not described with sufficient information to permit those interacting with them to make good judgements of trustworthiness. A descriptive vocabulary for agent identity is required to enable effective inter agent discourse, and the growth of trust and reputation within the Semantic Web; we therefore present such a foundational identity ontology for describing web-based agents.It is anticipated that the Semantic Web will suffer from a trust network bootstrapping problem. In this thesis, we propose a novel approach which harnesses open data to bootstrap trust in new trust environments. This approach brings together public records published by a range of trusted institutions in order to encourage trust in identities within new environments. Information integrity and provenance are both critical prerequisites for well-founded judgements of information trustworthiness. We propose a modification to the RDF Named Graph data model in order to address serious representational limitations with the named graph proposal, which affect the ability to cleanly represent claims and provenance records. Next, we propose a novel graph based approach for recording the provenance of derived information. This approach offers computational and memory savings while maintaining the ability to answer graph-level provenance questions. In addition, it allows new optimisations such as strategies to avoid needless repeat computation, and a delta-based storage strategy which avoids data duplication.<br/

When Insider Trading and Market Manipulation Cross Jurisdictions. What Are the Challenges For Securities Regulators and How Can They Best Preserve the Integrity of Markets?

Over the last few decades world securities markets have become significantly more sophisticated in terms of how securities are traded as well as the variety of securities traded. My hypothesis is that the ability of securities regulators to take enforcement action against market abuse has not kept pace with the level of sophistication of the markets and, in particular, the way in which trading can take place across borders and the manner in which market related information can spread rapidly across the world. I argue that that regulators need to do more to protect the integrity of the markets by improving their efforts to initiate action against market abuse. Furthermore, given the global nature of the problem I argue that the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) should be more proactive in coordinating the activities of securities regulators in this regard. I commence with an analysis of why the integrity of securities markets is critical to the economy of a country and why it is necessary for regulators to enforce laws prohibiting market abuse in order to protect market integrity. I then move on to identify the changes to securities markets, the regulatory responses to these changes, trends in the types of market abuse which is taking place across borders and how those responsible for taking enforcement action against such market abuse have responded. Finally I consider IOSCO, its history, how its role has evolved, its impact to date and how IOSCO could build upon its success in terms of improving the enforcement outcomes of securities regulators in relation to market abuse. I conclude that the transformation of the markets have presented opportunities to engage in market abuse across borders and that, while some positive steps have been taken to address this issue, more could be achieved. Finally I discuss and make recommendations about what might be done to improve the ability of securities regulators to take successful enforcement action

Digital privacy and new media: an empirical study assessing the impact of privacy seals on personal information disclosure.

Advances in technology have facilitated the rapid growth of a global new media industry. Many new media firms rely heavily on networked technologies to enable a primary income driver based on advertising revenues. This has attracted criticisms from privacy campaigners who argue that elements of the way some of these firms operate constitute an invasion of user’s privacy. Early economic approaches to privacy are primarily informed by the rational choice theory and viewed individuals as utility maximizers when making decisions involving personal information disclosure. Theoretical approaches have since developed to account for factors explored by bounded rationality and behavioural economics where individuals engage in complex trade-offs when making privacy disclosure decisions. Both EU and US regulators believe rapid technological advances have rendered existing regulatory provisions inadequate. In the EU, the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set out to improve ‘information transparency’ and give individuals to exercise greater ‘control’ over their personal data. The regulation set out provisions for the establishment of a privacy seal accreditation scheme. There is little empirical evidence to demonstrate that the use of privacy seals is privacy enhancing. Existing research reveals inconsistent and at times counter-intuitive findings. This research conducted online experimental research to establish if a causal link exists between the presence of a privacy seals and personal information disclose. Experiment results show that contrary to previous research in this area, the presence of privacy seals does not result in lower personal information disclosure. Survey findings also show that the GDPR has failed to expand ‘sensitive’ categories of data in line with both EU and US data subjects expectations. This research makes a number of original contributions to knowledge. Information disclosure is examined in relation to sensitive data categories as defined in the GDPR. Using commercially available privacy seals, it adds to the existing body of literature on the impact of iconography on user behaviour. The findings suggest there is an opportunity for new media firms to use independently accredited privacy seals as a differentiator in this industry sector

Component-based control system development for agile manufacturing machine systems

It is now a common sense that manufactures including machine suppliers and system integrators of the 21 st century will need to compete on global marketplaces, which are frequently shifting and fragmenting, with new technologies continuously emerging. Future production machines and manufacturing systems need to offer the "agility" required in providing responsiveness to product changes and the ability to reconfigure. The primary aim for this research is to advance studies in machine control system design, in the context of the European project VIR-ENG - "Integrated Design, Simulation and Distributed Control of Agile Modular Machinery"

International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate