OpenKnowledge at work: exploring centralized and decentralized information gathering in emergency contexts

Real-world experience teaches us that to manage emergencies, efficient crisis response coordination is crucial; ICT infrastructures are effective in supporting the people involved in such contexts, by supporting effective ways of interaction. They also should provide innovative means of communication and information management. At present, centralized architectures are mostly used for this purpose; however, alternative infrastructures based on the use of distributed information sources, are currently being explored, studied and analyzed. This paper aims at investigating the capability of a novel approach (developed within the European project OpenKnowledge1) to support centralized as well as decentralized architectures for information gathering. For this purpose we developed an agent-based e-Response simulation environment fully integrated with the OpenKnowledge infrastructure and through which existing emergency plans are modelled and simulated. Preliminary results show the OpenKnowledge capability of supporting the two afore-mentioned architectures and, under ideal assumptions, a comparable performance in both cases

OCRIS : online catalogue and repository interoperability study. Final report

The aims and objectives of OCRIS were to: • Survey the extent to which repository content is in scope for institutional library OPACs, and the extent to which it is already recorded there; • Examine the interoperability of OPAC and repository software for the exchange of metadata and other information; • List the various services to institutional managers, researchers, teachers and learners offered respectively by OPACs and repositories; • Identify the potential for improvements in the links (e.g. using link resolver technology) from repositories and/or OPACs to other institutional services, such as finance or research administration; • Make recommendations for the development of possible further links between library OPACs and institutional repositories, identifying the benefits to relevant stakeholder groups

Enabling Information Gathering Patterns for Emergency Response with the OpenKnowledge System

Today's information systems must operate effectively within open and dynamic environments. This challenge becomes a necessity for crisis management systems. In emergency contexts, in fact, a large number of actors need to collaborate and coordinate in the disaster scenes by exchanging and reporting information with each other and with the people in the control room. In such open settings, coordination technologies play a crucial role in supporting mobile agents located in areas prone to sudden changes with adaptive and flexible interaction patterns. Research efforts in different areas are converging to devise suitable mechanisms for process coordination: specifically, current results on service-oriented computing and multi-agent systems are being integrated to enable dynamic interaction among autonomous components in large, open systems. This work focuses on the exploitation and evaluation of the OpenKnowledge framework to support different information-gathering patterns in emergency contexts. The OpenKnowledge (OK) system has been adopted to model and simulate possible emergency plans. The Lightweight Coordination Calculus (LCC) is used to specify interaction models, which are published, discovered and executed by the OK distributed infrastructure in order to simulate peer interactions. A simulation environment fully integrated with the OK system has been developed to: (1) evaluate whether such infrastructure is able to support different models of information-sharing, e.g., centralized and decentralized patterns of interaction; (2) investigate under which conditions the OK paradigm, exploited in its decentralized nature, can improve the performance of more conventional centralized approaches. Preliminary results show the capability of the OK system in supporting the two afore-mentioned patterns and, under ideal assumptions, a comparable performance in both cases

Multimedia Markup Tools for OpenKnowledge

OpenKnowledge is a peer-to-peer system for sharing knowledge and is driven by interaction models that give the necessary context for mapping of ontological knowledge fragments necessary for the interaction to take place. The OpenKnowledge system is agnostic to any specific data formats that are used in the interactions, relying on ontology mapping techniques for shimming the messages. The potentially large search space for matching ontologies is reduced by the shared context of the interaction. In this paper we investigate what this means for multimedia data on the OpenKnowledge network by discussing how an existing application that provides multimedia annotation (the Semantic Logger) can be migrated into the OpenKnowledge domain

Organization of networks with tagged nodes and biased links: a priori distinct communities. The case of Intelligent Design Proponents and Darwinian Evolution Defenders

Among topics of opinion formation it is of interest to observe the characteristics of networks with a priori distinct communities. As an illustration, we report on the citation network(s) unfolded in the recent decades through web available works belonging to selected members of the Neocreationist and Intelligent Design Proponents (IDP) and the Darwinian Evolution Defenders (DED) communities. An adjacency matrix of tagged nodes is first constructed; it is not symmetric. A generalization of considerations pertaining to the case of networks with biased links, directed or undirected, is thus presented. The main characteristic coefficients describing the structure of such partially directed networks with tagged nodes are outlined. The structural features are discussed searching for statistical aspects, equivalence or not of subnetworks through the degree distributions, each network assortativity, the global and local clustering coefficients and the Average Overlap Indices. The various closed and open triangles made from nodes, moreover distinguishing the community, are especially listed to calculate the clustering characteristics. The distribution of elements in the rectangular submatrices are specially examined since they represent inter-community connexions. The emphasis being on distinguishing the number of vertices belonging to a given community. Using such informations one can distinguish between opinion leaders, followers and main rivals and briefly interpret their relationships through psychological-like conditions intrinsic to behavior rules in either community. Considerations on other controversy cases with similar social constraints are outlined, as well as suggestions on further, more general, work deduced from our observations on such networks.Comment: 40 pages, 61 references, 7 Tables, 11 Figures, 2 Appendices (giving the adjacency matrices

Effectiveness of dismantling strategies on moderated vs. unmoderated online social platforms

Online social networks are the perfect test bed to better understand large-scale human behavior in interacting contexts. Although they are broadly used and studied, little is known about how their terms of service and posting rules affect the way users interact and information spreads. Acknowledging the relation between network connectivity and functionality, we compare the robustness of two different online social platforms, Twitter and Gab, with respect to dismantling strategies based on the recursive censor of users characterized by social prominence (degree) or intensity of inflammatory content (sentiment). We find that the moderated (Twitter) vs unmoderated (Gab) character of the network is not a discriminating factor for intervention effectiveness. We find, however, that more complex strategies based upon the combination of topological and content features may be effective for network dismantling. Our results provide useful indications to design better strategies for countervailing the production and dissemination of anti-social content in online social platforms

A culturally-focused life cycle sustainability assessment: Analysis of forestry value chain options with Māori land owners : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy in Life Cycle Management At Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The purpose of this research was to 1) explore the potential for the more distinctive representation of Māori culture in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and 2) understand the relationship between culturally-focused LCSA and the Māori decisionmaking process. These two interrelated aspects were investigated through participatory engagement with three members of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), and through collaborative development of three forestry LCSA scenarios (radiata pine, rimu, and mānuka). Aligning with principles of kaupapa Māori research, a participatory LCSA methodology approach was created which encapsulated five phases: 1) understand Ngāti Porou aspirations and concerns, 2) co-develop options for forestry scenarios, 3) co-develop and select LCSA indicators (including a cultural indicator), 4) LCSA indicator data collection and modelling, and 5) communication of results. The methodology utilised a mixed methods approach as Stage 1, 2, 3, and 5 are predominantly qualitative while Stage 4 is predominantly quantitative. Culture was represented in the participatory LCSA in two ways. Firstly, a bespoke cultural indicator (Cultural Indicator Matrix) was co-developed to distinctly include culture within LCSA. The Cultural Indicator Matrix was based on and adapted an existing cultural decision-making framework (i.e. the Mauri Model) in order to ensure its capability to represent both Ngāti Porou aspirations and the forestry value chains explored in this research. The Cultural Indicator Matrix was completed by each participant and subjectively measured the impact they perceived each forestry process or product had upon a range of Ngāti Porou aspirations. Secondly, a participatory research approach was utilised that itself made the LCSA process more culturally-focused. The participatory approach relied on active engagement with the research participants throughout the LCSA study, primarily with the utilisation of semi-structured interviews. Such collaborative participatory engagement with the research participants allowed for their cultural input, preferences, and knowledge at each stage of the LCSA process. This research has yielded several original and meaningful results: 1. The Cultural Indicator Matrix is a new culturally-focused mechanism which can be used to support the Māori decision-making process. The participants viewed the Cultural Indicator Matrix as an effective method for gathering community impressions of how potential forestry life cycle processes could impact upon their cultural aspirations. 2. The participants felt the participatory LCSA aspect was crucially important; the open and consistent communication between themselves and the LCSA practitioner provided them with more control, access to information, understanding of the LCSA process, and enhanced their acceptance of the final results. They considered that the results of the culturally-focused LCSA gave them “validation” and “direction”, and justified their interests in pursuing forestry options for their land. 3. The participatory LCSA process led to the identification of a need to formally include a Cultural Compliance process with the LCSA. The Cultural Compliance process is comprised of six cultural components occurring throughout the forestry life cycle. Recognition of these components helps to ensure that appropriate and necessary cultural considerations are taken into account during relevant forestry life cycle processes. It is unlikely that this insight would have been reached if not for the participatory engagement focus of this LCSA research. 4. The development and analysis of three forestry scenarios using a range of sustainability indicators generated distinctive datasets on the life cycles of radiata pine, rimu, and mānuka. As the rimu and mānuka scenarios are particularly underrepresented in forestry-life cycle literature, this research has provided a contribution to knowledge regarding these two forestry options. For the first time, indigenous culture has been represented alongside economic, social, and environmental impacts in LCSA. This comprehensive presentation of results facilitates the decision-making process by providing the decision maker(s) with information about the “big picture”, thus supporting educated and informed decisions. Furthermore, a culturally-focused LCSA approach helps to ensure that culture is not lost during the decision-making process, but rather is an active component. Finally, of critical importance, both the culturally-focused LCSA process and associated results will further enable the recognition cultural groups, including their values and aspirations. The explicit acknowledgement of culture in LCSA will engender more awareness and protection for culture, lessen the isolation and marginalisation of culture, and empower cultural groups to develop and pursue brave choices

Flexible Decision Control in an Autonomous Trading Agent

An autonomous trading agent is a complex piece of software that must operate in a competitive economic environment and support a research agenda. We describe the structure of decision processes in the MinneTAC trading agent, focusing on the use of evaluators – configurable, composable modules for data analysis and prediction that are chained together at runtime to support agent decision-making. Through a set of examples, we show how this structure supports sales and procurement decisions, and how those decision processes can be modified in useful ways by changing evaluator configurations. To put this work in context, we also report on results of an informal survey of agent design approaches among the competitors in the Trading Agent Competition for Supply Chain Management (TAC SCM).autonomous trading agent;decision processes

Quantifying Changes in the Land Over Time: A Landsat Classroom Activity

Students in grades 7-10 analyze land cover change in order to help them grasp the extent, significance, and consequences of land cover change; and to introduce them to the perspective of space-based observations. Educational levels: High school, Middle school