Open Government Architecture: The evolution of De Jure Standards, Consortium Standards, and Open Source Software

Conducted for the Treasury Board of Québec, this study seeks to present recent contributions to the evolution, within an enterprise architecture context, of de jure and de facto standards by various actors in the milieu, industrial consortia, and international standardization committees active in open source software. In order to be able to achieve its goals of delivering services to citizens and society, the Government of Québec must integrate its computer systems to create a service oriented open architecture. Following in the footsteps of various other governments and the European Community, such an integration will require elaboration of an interoperability framework, i.e. a structured set of de jure standards, de facto standards, specifications, and policies allowing computer systems to interoperate. Thus, we recommend that the Government of Québec: Pursue its endeavours to elaborate an interoperability framework for its computer systems that is based on open de jure and de facto standards. This framework should not only reflect the criteria enumerated in this study and apply to internal computer systems, but it should also extend to Web services supplied to organizations outside of the government. This framework should explicitly prioritize open source de jure and de facto standards and include a policy covering free software. The interoperability framework should initially draw on that of the state of Massachusetts. In the medium term, is should be as comprehensive as that of the British government. Integrate this interoperability framework into its enterprise architecture. Publish this interoperability framework with its enterprise architecture. Specify this interoperability framework in its calls for tenders. Elaborate a policy of compliance with this framework for all new applications.

H2 distribution during formation of multiphase molecular clouds

H2 is the simplest and the most abundant molecule in the ISM, and its formation precedes the formation of other molecules. Understanding the dynamical influence of the environment and the interplay between the thermal processes related to the formation and destruction of H2 and the structure of the cloud is mandatory to understand correctly the observations of H2. We perform high resolution MHD colliding flow simulations with the AMR code RAMSES in which the physics of H2 has been included. We compare the simulation results with various observations including the column densities of excited rotational levels. Due to a combination of thermal pressure, ram pressure and gravity, the clouds produced at the converging point of HI streams are highly inhomogeneous. H2 molecules quickly form in relatively dense clumps and spread into the diffuse interclump gas. This in particular leads to the existence of significant abundances of H2 in the diffuse and warm gas that lies in between clumps. Simulations and observations show similar trends, specially for the HI-to-H2 transition. The abundances of excited rotational levels, calculated at equilibrium in the simulations are very similar to the observed abundances inferred from FUSE results. This is a direct consequence of the presence of the H2 enriched diffuse and warm gas. Our simulations show that H2 rapidly forms in the dense clumps and, due to the complex structure of molecular clouds, quickly spreads at lower densities. Consequently a significant fraction of warm H2 exists in the low density gas. This warm H2 leads to column densities of excited rotational levels close to the observed ones likely revealing the complex intermix between the warm and the cold gas in molecular clouds. This suggests that the 2-phase structure of molecular clouds is an essential ingredient to fully understand molecular hydrogen in these objects.Comment: 16 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Towards an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software: Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software (RESOLL) - Version 2.0

CIRANO and its partners are proposing the creation of an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software (Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software-RESOLL), which would be a partnership between information technology research centres, government and private user organizations, and businesses working in the field. The network will conduct studies and pilot projects that integrate computer solutions based on open standards and open source software, mainly in e-government fields such as health, education, and scientific research, as well as municipal and quasi-public services and business processes for SMEs. The knowledge, expertise and tools thus developed will be disseminated in a number of ways in order to Quebec and Canadian expertise in the field. RESOLL will also have economic and strategic benefits in that it will put the new economic model to the test in terms of open standards and open source software as well as the reuse of software components by organizations. Background The development of on-line government services and e-business is a priority for governments and businesses of all sizes. It requires considerable spending and significant strategic and organizational changes. Of the many information technology solutions available, the use of open standards and open source software is often brought up by those in the know. Although the Internet and many world-renowned software programs were developed largely from open standards and open source software, there is still a need to study, and above all prove the advantages of this approach for public and quasi-public organizations as well as small to medium-sized businesses. It is essential to identify the needs of these organizations, document best practices, experiment with open source software solutions, evaluate the performance of the software and share the knowledge and know-how of Quebec and Canadian research centres and businesses. RESOLL Goals he main goal of the Expert Network on Open Standards and Open Source Software (RESOLL) is to give people an understanding of the benefits of open standards and open source software and suggest an intelligent and advantageous use of them for public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs. More specifically, the goals are as follows: Document and share government and industry policies, strategies, and practices with respect to the use and development of adaptive software and open source software, defining open standards, open source software, adaptive software, and proprietary software; Adapt these practices and share the different methods with partners and the IT management and development communities in government and business; Establish innovative prototypes and pilot projects in order to test and demonstrate the advantages and features of this approach; Develop the expertise of Quebec and Canadian organizations in the field and create synergy between them and their users; P ublish and share the findings of the work, contribute to the enrichment of a collective software asset base available to public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs while explaining the legal issues involved in the various types of licences and electronic services. Process ESOLL is a multilateral partnership founded on the excellence of partners in their respective field. The RESOLL process will be based on the needs of its partners and users. Once these needs have been identified, research will be conducted to identify available solutions, adapt them through an integration process and alpha test them. This would be followed by a pilot project as required by the organizations and businesses. The pilot project will be implemented and evaluated in order to learn from it and ensure that necessary adjustments are made. Solutions thus obtained will be implemented as electronic services either by the client organization’s IT department or by a business partner. It is up to each organization to select their service provider. RESOLL will encourage the transfer of developed tools and services to partners for complete autonomy. Each project will have its own budget, funded by client partners. RESOLL will use part of its operating budget to start projects and develop a start-up asset base for its activities. Expectations and Deliverables The expectations of RESOLL partners and the team can be expressed by the achievement of their goals. RESOLL’s actions will quickly lead to concrete results. The deliverables will be: Policy and position papers to help partners make clear and informed decisions; Needs analyses and suggested solutions; Software solutions based on open standards and open source software integrated into experimental electronic services; Pilot project experiments that combine strategies, plans, software solutions, project support, evaluation and recommendations; Studies and interpretation documents for different types of licences and software; Collaborative Web site for sharing documents and open source software developed in the context of RESOLL projects or available on the Internet, with comments and explanations; Information and knowledge sharing activities for RESOLL and its partners (conferences, workshops, training, etc.). Partners RESOLL is a multilateral partnership. The partners that have been asked to become involved are: CIRANO, CRIM, RISQ, the governments of Quebec and Canada, Industry Canada, university researchers, Canadian and Quebec software and information technology companies, and not-for-profit user organizations from the software and information technology fields. Budget ESOLL’s master infrastructure budget will make it possible to establish a small coordination team involving part-time resources seconded from their parent organizations. We plan to obtain general financing from government and the businesses involved. The individual projects will provide their own financing. Other Benefits RESOLL will contribute to Quebec’s and Canada’s world leadership by sharing the results of its work. It will contribute to the eventual creation of resources that will enable partner companies to commercialize services based on open source software.Open standard, free software, open software, FOSS, e-government, business process, small and medium enterprises,

Le processus de socialisation au travail dans un programme ontarien d’éducation coopérative

L'article1 examine, par une étude ethnographique, le processus de socialisation au travail présent dans les programmes d'éducation coopérative des écoles secondaires en Ontario, dans le contexte particulier de la coiffure. La réflexion porte sur l'expérience de deux jeunes filles, Claudine et Anne, et sur la façon dont elles ont vécu leur séjour en milieu de travail. Une attention particulière est portée aux notions de compétences et de subjectivité comme construction sociale dans l'analyse. L'article tente de montrer, par le biais d'une étude de cas, la complexité des pratiques sociales présentes dans le processus de travail et leur influence sur la capacité des élèves de démontrer les compétences requises, au moment de leur expérience de travail au salon de coiffure.This article examines the process of socialization in the workplace within cooperative education programs in secondary schools in Ontario, specifically in the field of hairdressing. The author analyses the short term work experience of two young women, Claudine and Anne. Specifically, the analysis examines the concept of competence and subjectivity as part of a social construction. Using this case study, the author attemps to demonstrate the complexity of social practices operating in the process of working, as well as their impact on students' capacities to show the necessary competencies during their experience in the hairdressing salon.Este articulo examina el proceso de socializaciôn en el trabajo présente en los programas de educacion cooperativa de las escuelas secundarias de Ontario, en el contexto particular de la ensenanza de la peluqueria. La reflexion se basa en la experiencia de dos jovenes, Claudine y Anne, y en la forma en que ellas vivieron su estancia en el medio de trabajo. Se da particular a tendon en el analisis a las nociones de competencias y de subjetividad como construction social. El articule" desea demostrar, a través de un estudio de caso, la complejidad de las practicas sociales présentes en el proceso de trabajo y su influencia sobre la capacidad de los estudiantes de demostrar las competencias requeridas durante su experiencia de trabajo en el salon de belleza.Der vorliegende Artikel untersucht am Beispiel der Ausbildung der Friseure den Prozef? der Sozialisierung bei der Arbeit, der zu den Schulplànen der kooperativen Bildung der ontarischen Mittelschulen gehôrt. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Erfàhrungen, die zwei Schiïlerinnen gemacht haben wahrend der Zeit, die sie in einem Friseursalon verbrachten. Besonders beachtet werden dabei die Begriffe der Kompetenz und der Subjektivitat als Sozialbildung. Der Artikel versucht, mittels einer Beispielsstudie die Komplexitât der sozialen Praktiken im Arbeitsmilieu aufzuweisen, die auf die Fâhigkeit der Schiller einwirken, bei ihrer Arbeitserfahrung im Friseursalon die erforderlichen Kompetenzen aufzuweisen