13 research outputs found
Structure and Behaviour of Virtual Organisation Breeding Environments
This paper provides an outline of a formal approach that we are developing
for modelling Virtual Organisations (VOs) and their Breeding Environments
(VBEs). We propose different levels of representation for the functional
structures and processes that VBEs and VOs involve, which are independent of
the specificities of the infrastructures (organisational and technical) that
support the functioning of VBEs. This allows us to reason about properties of
tasks performed within VBEs and services provided through VOs without
committing to the way in which they are implemented
Some myths about industrial safety
MINES ParisTech - CRC Technical Report.There are many definitions of safety, but most of them are variations on the theme that safety can be measured by the number of adverse outcomes. This vision has consequences for how industry thinks safety can be achieved. This paper looks at six safety-related assumptions, or safety myths, which impact industry practices. We argue that these practices are littered with fragile beliefs, which in many cases make the safety management flawed and ineffectual. The open acknowledgement of these myths is a necessary first step to genuinely improve industrial safety
The development and deployment of formal methods in the UK
UK researchers have made major contributions to the technical ideas
underpinning formal approaches to the specification and development of computer
systems. Perhaps as a consequence of this, some of the significant attempts to
deploy theoretical ideas into practical environments have taken place in the
UK. The authors of this paper have been involved in formal methods for many
years and both have tracked a significant proportion of the whole story. This
paper both lists key ideas and indicates where attempts were made to use the
ideas in practice. Not all of these deployment stories have been a complete
success and an attempt is made to tease out lessons that influence the
probability of long-term impact.Comment: This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication.
Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no
longer be accessibl
Enhanced Graph Rewriting Systems for Complex Software Domain
International audienceMethodologies for correct by construction reconfigurations can efficiently solve consistency issues in dynamic software architecture. Graph-based models are appropriate for designing such architectures and methods. At the same time, they may be unfit to characterize a system from a non functional perspective. This stems from efficiency and applicability limitations in handling time-varying characteristics and their related dependencies. In order to lift these restrictions, an extension to graph rewriting systems is proposed herein. The suitability of this approach, as well as the restraints of currently available ones, are illustrated, analysed and experimentally evaluated with reference to a concrete example. This investigation demonstrates that the conceived solution can: (i) express any kind of algebraic dependencies between evolving requirements and properties; (ii) significantly ameliorate the efficiency and scalability of system modifications with respect to classic methodologies; (iii) provide an efficient access to attribute values; (iv) be fruitfully exploited in software management systems; (v) guarantee theoretical properties of a grammar, like its termination
Successful Strategies to Address Disruptive Innovation Technologies in the Digital-media Industry
Digital media executives lack strategic solutions for the preparation and response to changing media innovation technology. The lack of innovative technological strategies threatens digital-media corporationsâ ability to maintain marketplace sustainability for addressing disruptive innovation technologies. Grounded in Christensenâs disruptive innovation theory and Rogerâs diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore innovative technological strategies some executives of digital-media corporations used to maintain marketplace sustainability for addressing disruptive innovation technologies. The participants were 7 digital-media executives in New York and California, who used effective strategies to innovate technology and maintain marketplace sustainability. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and responses from a demographic survey. Four themes emerged through thematic analysis: teamwork, data collection, budgeting, and corporate governance. A key recommendation is digital-media, and streaming-video executives should utilize collaborative team efforts of technology and marketing departments and outsourced digital-media companies to create pioneering strategies that address disruptive innovation technology. The potential for positive social change includes organizationsâ leaders acquiring new teams to strategize for the future of the company, which creates new jobs and happier consumers willing to spend more money for services, which creates better economies internationally
Structure for Dependability: Computer-Based Systems from an Interdisciplinary Perspective
This book collects the latest research on computer-based system structure of computer scientists, sociologists, psychologists and combines statistical and become a picture that can be read from recent work on dependable computer-based systems. Stakeholders and system designers as well as the scientific community now agrees that the issues of human and social development must be covered along with technical problems. System developers, stakeholders, decision makers, policy makers and academics will find this book highlights the core issues for all those involved in dependence on complex computer-based environment
A situated method for modelling and analysing the efficiency of cognitive activity during the radiology reporting workflow using eye-tracking
The success of modern medical imaging systems has created a data overload problem, where an ever-increasing number of examinations, generate more images per study, which all need to be evaluated
by radiologists or other reporting practitioners. This operational bottleneck hasthe potentialto create
fatigue and burnout due to the high mental workload that is required to keep up with the demand.
The focus of this problem centres around the cognitive complexity of the radiology reporting
workflow, and the associated workstation interactions involved in diagnostic report generation.
There has been a significant body of work evaluating the behaviour of radiologists using controlled
laboratory-based techniques, but these non-naturalistic studies fail to address the highly context
dependant nature of the radiology reporting workflow. For example, the early eye-tracking work of
Charmody et al; the psychometric studies by Krupinksi et al; and also the workstation interaction
evaluations of Moise et al; whilst highly principled, can be all be questioned on the grounds of
ecological validity and authenticity.
This thesis asserts that the only way to truly understand and resolve the radiology data overload
problem, is by developing a situated method for observing the reporting workflow that can evaluate
the behaviours of the reporting clinicians in relation to their authentic reporting context. To this end,
this study has set out to develop a new approach for observing and analysing the cognitive activities
of the reporters relative to the demands of their genuine working environment, and supported
through the application of a Critical Realistâs perspective to naturalistic workplace observations. This
goal was achieved through the development of four key project deliverables:
âą An in-depth exploratory study of the radiology overload problem based on an extensive
literature review and situated observations of authentic reporting workflows.
âą A descriptive hierarchical activity modelof the reporting workflow that can be understood by
both clinicians, application designers and researchers.
âą A generalised methodology and research protocolfor conducting situated observations of the
radiology reporting workflow, using an analysis based on the process tracing of sequencesof
Object Related Actions, captured with eye-tracking and multimodal recordings.
âą A set of case studies demonstrating the applicability of the research protocol involving 5
Radiology Consultants, 2 Radiology Registrars and one Reporting Radiographer at a single NHS
Hospital within the UK.
The final workflow evaluation of the case studies demonstrated that activities such as error correction,
and the collection of supporting radiological information from previous studies is complex, time
consuming and cognitively demanding. These types of activities are characterised by long, low utility
actions that correspond to what Kahneman refers to as âThinking Slowâ. Also, the participants
appeared to be self-optimising their workflow via a sparse use of complex functionality and system
tools. From these observations, the author recommends that any intervention that can reduce the
number and the duration of the object related actions used to produce radiology reports, will reduce
cognitive load, increase overall efficiency, and go some way to alleviate the data overload problem.
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This study establishes a new set of situated techniques that are able to capture and quantify the
complex dynamicactivities that make up the radiology reporting workflow. Itis hoped that the ability
to distil usefuland impactful insightsfrom the userâs workstation behaviours can be used as the basis
for further development in the area of workflow analysis and redesign, which will ultimately improve
the working lives of Radiologists and other Reporting Clinicians. Lastly, the generic nature of these
techniques make them amenable for use within any type of complex sociotechnical human factors
study related to the cognitive efficiency of the user
Exploiting the architectural characteristics of software components to improve software reuse
PhD ThesisSoftware development is a costly process for all but the most trivial systems. One of the
commonly known ways of minimizing development costs is to re-use previously built
software components. However, a significant problem that source-code re-users encounter
is the difficulty of finding components that not only provide the functionality they need but
also conform to the architecture of the system they are building. To facilitate finding reusable
components there is a need to establish an appropriate mechanism for matching the
key architectural characteristics of the available source-code components against the
characteristics of the system being built. This research develops a precise characterization
of the architectural characteristics of source-code components, and investigates a new way
to describe how appropriate components for re-use can be identified and categorized.Umm Al-
Qura University