The evaluation of ontologies: quality, reuse and social factors

Finding a “good” or the “right” ontology is a growing challenge in the ontology domain, where one of the main aims is to share and reuse existing semantics and knowledge. Before reusing an ontology, knowledge engineers not only have to find a set of appropriate ontologies for their search query, but they should also be able to evaluate those ontologies according to different internal and external criteria. Therefore, ontology evaluation is at the heart of ontology selection and has received a considerable amount of attention in the literature.Despite the importance of ontology evaluation and selection and the widespread research on these topics, there are still many unanswered questions and challenges when it comes to evaluating and selecting ontologies for reuse. Most of the evaluation metrics and frameworks in the literature are mainly based on a limited set of internal characteristics, e.g., content and structure of ontologies and ignore how they are used and evaluated by communities. This thesis aimed to investigate the notion of quality and reusability in the ontology domain and to explore and identify the set of metrics that can affect the process of ontology evaluation and selection for reuse. [Continues.

Information Technology Outsourcing Strategies to Ensure Customer Satisfaction

Many information technology (IT) outsourcing initiatives fail, resulting in a high impact on business results and customer satisfaction. Without effective strategies, business leaders who outsource their IT services are at considerable risk of failure and stakeholder dissatisfaction. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore outsourcing strategies that IT managers in Southern Ontario, Canada, used to ensure customer satisfaction. Participants included 9 executives with experience in complex IT outsourcing initiatives. Stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics theory were the conceptual frameworks for the study. Data were gathered using semistructured interviews to query 8 topical areas including IT outsourcing reasons, challenges, and successful solutions. Data analysis using thematic analysis revealed 4 themes: strategic intent for outsourcing, applicable frameworks, risk awareness, and partnership strategies. Key findings included the importance of clients’ and suppliers’ focus on deal principles, innovation, and work-collaboration strategies to enhance performance and customer satisfaction. Information technology managers’ application of the findings of this study may improve business success and contribute to positive social change by revitalizing the clients’ and suppliers’ economies to create job opportunities and improve the quality of lives of employees and their communities

Supporting experimental methods in Information System research

International audienceComputer scientists in information system encounter difficulties in leading research when they must consider human aspects, especially while designing users centred experiments. In order to guide them in this difficult task, this paper presents the THEDRE research process and the MATUI decision tree. It focuses on MATUI which aims at helping in the selection of the most appropriate user centred experimental methods thanks to researchers oriented criteria. MATUI also considers a categorisation and a description of experimental methods. THEDRE and MATUI are supported by a website to practically guide researchers. They are the results of 10 years of work in information system experiments. 16 researchers have evaluated them during 2 focus groups