Where are the world's top 100 I.T. firms - and why?

Various publications tabulate and publish lists of the ?top 100? information-technology (I.T.) firms. The July 1997 issue of PD Magazine, for example, has a list showing that most of the world?s key firms in computing, software, semiconductors, and related fields are American. They are also heavily concentrated in such western states as Texas, Utah, Washington, and of course California. The distribution of firms and entrepreneurs is markedly different from 15 years ago. For example, the December 1997 Upside Magazine list of the top 100 people in I.T. contains only three individuals from supposedly ?high-tech? Massachusetts ? or no more than the number predicted by the state?s share of the US population. The paper will extend my work tracking the westward rebirth of American computing since the early 1980s. It will complement the employment shifts I have already documented with new mappings of firms and entrepreneurs. The hypotheses is that the PC revolution spurs a regional realignment of US computing away from the more hierarchical and bureaucratized firms of the Northeast to flatter, more agile, and more entrepreneurial firms in the younger economic cultures of the West. A look at the specific enterprises and entrepreneurs will illuminate the process by which the US regained its leadership in I.T. within the world economy.

Professor Zdzisław Hellwig (1925–2013) a Giant in the Renaissance Style

On 8th November 2013, with great sadness we said goodbye to our dear Master and Teacher, Professor Zdzisław Hellwig. He walked away from us forever. Professor Zdzisław Hellwig (1925 – 2013) was a great man with impressive biography. Primarily professor Zdzisław Hellwig was prominent, widely recognized, eminent scholar of international standing in the field of statistics. His most important works are Elements of probability and mathematical statistics, Linear Regression and its applications in economics and Stochastic approximation. On 8th November 2013, with great sadness we said goodbye to our dear Master and Teacher, Professor Zdzisław Hellwig. He walked away from us forever. Professor Zdzisław Hellwig (1925 – 2013) was a great man with impressive biography. Primarily professor Zdzisław Hellwig was prominent, widely recognized, eminent scholar of international standing in the field of statistics. His most important works are Elements of probability and mathematical statistics, Linear Regression and its applications in economics and Stochastic approximation. His second field of achievements was econometrics. The rich scientific achievements in the field of econometrics of Professor Zdzisław Hellwig cover numerous studies dealing with the theory and application, including modeling of the socio – economic development, economic forecasting, and multidimensional comparative analysis and taxsonometrics. Professor Zdzisław Hellwig has a standing as economist. Professor Zdzisław Hellwig is a precursor of research in the field referred to as sustainable development, and early warning system for the national economy. He is considered pioneer of computer science in Poland. His international activities gave him the global scholar rank. Professor Zdzisław Hellwig was exceptionally gifted teacher and educator with long list of prominent followers. He has notable achievements as an organizer. Achievements of Professor Zdzisław Hellwig were widely acknowledged, both in the home university, countywide and abroad.

Appraisal and the Future of Archives in the Digital Era

Discussion of the implications of new technologies, changing public policies, and transformation of culture for how archivists practice and think about appraisal

An investigation into the adoption of CDIO in distance learning

The Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate Initiative (CDIO) uses integrated learning to develop deep learning of the disciplinary knowledge base whilst simultaneously developing personal, interpersonal, product, process and system building skills. This is achieved through active and experiential learning methods that expose students to experiences engineers will encounter in their profession. These are incorporated not only in the design-build-test experiences that form a crucial part of a CDIO programme but also in discipline focused studies. Active and experiential learning methods are, of course, more difficult to incorporate into distance education. This paper investigates these difficulties and the implications in providing a programme that best achieves the goals of the CDIO approach through contemporary distance education methods. First, the key issues of adopting the CDIO approach in conventional oncampus courses are considered with reference to the development of the CDIO engineering programmes at the University of Liverpool. The different models of distance based delivery of engineering programmes provided by the Open University in the UK, and Deakin University and the University of Southern Queensland in Australia are then presented and issues that may present obstacles to the future adoption of the CDIO approach in these programmes are discussed. The effectiveness and suitability of various solutions to foreseen difficulties in delivering CDIO programmes through distance education are then considered. These include the further development, increased use and interinstitutional sharing of technology based facilities such as Internet facilitated access to laboratory facilities and computer aided learning (CAL) laboratory simulations, on campus workshops, and the development of a virtual engineering enterprise

Beyond Buddhism and animism:A psychometric test of the structure of Burmese Theravada Buddhism

Anthropologists and religious scholars have long debated the relationship between doctrinal Theravada Buddhism, so-called 'animism', and other folk practices in southeast Asian societies. A variety of models of this relationship have been proposed on the basis of ethnographic evidence. We provide the first psychometric and quantitative evaluation of these competing models, using a new scale developed for this purpose, the Burmese Buddhist Religiosity Scale. Having tested existing hypotheses in our first study (n = 2285) we formulated an alternative model, which was then tested in our second study (n = 3377). We argue that this model provides support for a two-dimensional distinction between great and little traditions, shedding light on decades-old theoretical debates. Far from being in conflict, the transnational religious tradition of the literati and the variegated religious practices of locals appear to be reflected in two complementary dimensions of religiosity. This distinction has been heretofore neglected in psychometric research, but arguably merits attention beyond Buddhism, in the psychology of religion more generally. Our findings suggest that, insofar as research on religiosity relies on doctrinal pronouncements denigrating little traditions as mere superstition, it may be blinded to a crucial dimension of religious life

Why Computer-Based Systems Should be Autonomic

The objective of this paper is to discuss why computer-based systems should be autonomic, where autonomicity implies self-managing, often conceptualized in terms of being self-configuring, self-healing, self-optimizing, self-protecting and self-aware. We look at motivations for autonomicity, examine how more and more systems are exhibiting autonomic behavior, and finally look at future directions

Globalization patterns of emerging high technology companies : an exploratory analysis of desktop computing

Includes bibliographical references (p. 29).Supported from the David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Fund for Entrepreneurship Research.Edward B. Roberts and Todd A. Senturia

Community as Canvas: The Power of Culture in the Emergence of Intelligent Communities

Intelligent Communities are cities and regions that use information and communications technologies (ICT) to build prosperous economies, solve social problems and enrich their cultures in the 21st Century. Many people are familiar with the concept of the Smart City, which turns to technology for solutions to problems from traffic congestion to leakage from water mains, public safety to parking tickets. The Intelligent Community is the next evolutionary step. Intelligent Communities turn to technology not just to save money or make things work better: they create high quality employment, increase citizen participation and make themselves great places to live, work, start a business and prosper across generations.Each year, the Forum presents an awards program for Intelligent Communities. The program salutes their achievements in building those inclusive, prosperous economies on a foundation of ICT. In the process, it gathers data for ICF's research programs, which the Forum shares with other communities around the world.The Awards are divided into three phases,and the analysis becomes more detailed andrigorous at each successive stage