Robust synchronization for 2-D discrete-time coupled dynamical networks

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 IEEEIn this paper, a new synchronization problem is addressed for an array of 2-D coupled dynamical networks. The class of systems under investigation is described by the 2-D nonlinear state space model which is oriented from the well-known Fornasini–Marchesini second model. For such a new 2-D complex network model, both the network dynamics and the couplings evolve in two independent directions. A new synchronization concept is put forward to account for the phenomenon that the propagations of all 2-D dynamical networks are synchronized in two directions with influence from the coupling strength. The purpose of the problem addressed is to first derive sufficient conditions ensuring the global synchronization and then extend the obtained results to more general cases where the system matrices contain either the norm-bounded or the polytopic parameter uncertainties. An energy-like quadratic function is developed, together with the intensive use of the Kronecker product, to establish the easy-to-verify conditions under which the addressed 2-D complex network model achieves global synchronization. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the theoretical results and the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization scheme.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61028008 and 61174136, the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of China under Grant No. 2009DFA32050, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China under Grant BK2011598, the Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province of China, the Project sponsored by SRF for ROCS of SEM of China, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the U.K. under Grant GR/S27658/01, the Royal Society of the U.K., and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Dynamic cyber-incident response

Permission to make digital or hard copies of this publication for internal use within NATO and for personal or educational use when for non-profi t or non-commercial purposes is granted providing that copies bear this notice and a full citation on the first page. Any other reproduction or transmission requires prior written permission by NATO CCD COE.Traditional cyber-incident response models have not changed significantly since the early days of the Computer Incident Response with even the most recent incident response life cycle model advocated by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (Cichonski, Millar, Grance, & Scarfone, 2012) bearing a striking resemblance to the models proposed by early leaders in the field e.g. Carnegie-Mellon University (West-Brown, et al., 2003) and the SANS Institute (Northcutt, 2003). Whilst serving the purpose of producing coherent and effective response plans, these models appear to be created from the perspectives of Computer Security professionals with no referenced academic grounding. They attempt to defend against, halt and recover from a cyber-attack as quickly as possible. However, other actors inside an organisation may have priorities which conflict with these traditional approaches and may ultimately better serve the longer-term goals and objectives of an organisation

IT Outsourcing in Tourism Business in the UK: Decision Making Approach

As sophistication and complexity in information technology (IT) increases, organisations are discovering difficulties in managing their information systems efficiently and effectively for commercial success. The access to state-of-the-art technologies has accelerated the need for different approaches to managing IT resources. Companies increasingly perceive IT outsourcing as a necessary organisational resource-acquisition venture, and tourism enterprises are not an exception. This paper is based on a recent research study into IT outsourcing in tourism businesses. It investigates the attitudes towards IT outsourcing in the industry, identifies the benefits sought from outsourcing arrangements and the results achieved, and based on how the benefits and detriments of outsourcing are measured and justified, evaluates the ‘quality’ of IT outsourcing decision-making. The research is theoretically supported, drawing reference to general published literature on outsourcing and linking this to observations arising from the findings based on a survey of managers and those involved in IT decisions in 56 tourism organisations in the UK

Exploring factors that determine consumer attitude toward use of intelligent software agents

The aim of the research described in this paper is to evaluate the impact of Intelligent Software Agents (ISA) used in the on-line purchase of e-tickets, and their acceptance as a source of information service and decision assistance for customers. An empirical study was conducted using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the EC Consumer Behaviour Model in order to determine the factors affecting consumer attitude towards using ISA. The research instrument employed was a questionnaire survey among 150 postgraduate students from the School of Management at the University of Surrey, the findings demonstrate a positive view of ISA – the stronger predictors of consumer attitude towards ISA being perceived usefulness (PU), information richness (IR), customer interface (CI) and perceived trust (PT). Overall, the future of ISA at the business-to-customer (B2C) interface level is to a great extent affected by the consumers’ perception of ISA usefulness and control over it. The present study’s recommendations indicate a need for travel businesses to develop more intelligent electronic environments that will elicit a more positive response from the consumers if they are to be used more

Managing Customer Behaviour in the Multichannel e-Business Environment

Managing the dynamics of customer behaviour in the rapidly emerging multichannel eBusiness environment is complex. Establishing an enduring and profitable dialogue with a customer requires that online relationship management applications can accommodate the channel variety in the customer\u27s eCommunications portfolio including their buyer behaviour dynamics. With reference to the hotel industry, this paper considers (a) the impact of Internet multichannel access on the customer decision making process; (b) how differences in buyer behaviour and loyalty level influence the relationship management process; and (c) the implications of effectively managing buyer behaviour and the provision of multichannel customer accessibility for competitive advantage

The effect of information and communication technologies, workplace re-organization and trade on the demand for employees\u27 skills: A comparative analysis of Greek and Swiss enterprises

The aim of this research is to determine and evaluate whether differences in national culture impact on the buyer behaviour of Thai and British consumers when purchasing a mobile phone. Furthermore, the research was conducted in order to identify and compare key cultural attributes that influence mobile phone purchasing between Thai and British consumers. An empirical study was based on the concept of Hofstede’s dimension of Individualism /Collectivism and Power Distance and Schwartz’s values dimension of Power, Achievement, Hedonism and Self-Direction. The data was collected from 140 questionnaires using students at the University of Surrey. The findings indicated that there is a significant difference between Thai and British consumers in terms of mobile phone purchasing behaviour as far as Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Schwartz’s cultural values are concerned. The findings also recommend that managers in mobile phone organizations should be concerned with the cultural dynamics of consumers as part of their going re-segmentation, communication and promotion strategies within their overall marketing strategie. Additionally, the cultural factors will assist managers to guide the specifications required for the development of online customer decision support system

Eliciting expert knowledge to inform training design

To determine the elicitation methodologies best placed to uncover and capture the expert operator’s reflective cognitive judgements in complex and dynamic military operating environments (e.g., explosive ordinance disposal) in order to develop the specification for a reflective eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) agent to support the training of domain novices. Approach: A bounded literature review of the latest developments in expert knowledge elicitation was undertaken to determine the ’art-of-the-possible’ in respects to uncovering an expert’s cognitive judgements in complex and dynamic environments. Candidate methodologies were systematically and critically reviewed in order to identify the most promising methodologies for uncovering expert situational awareness and metacognitive evaluations in pursuit of actionable threat mitigation strategies in high-risk contexts. Research outputs are synthesized into an interview protocol for eliciting and understanding the in-situ actions and decisions of experts in high-risk, complex operating environments. Practical implications: Trainees entering high-risk operating environments can benefit from exposure to expert reflective strategies whilst learning the trade. Typical operator training focuses on technical aspects of threat mitigation but often overlooks reflective self-evaluation. The present study represents an initial step towards determining the feasibility of designing a reflective XAI agent to augment the performance of trainees entering high-risk operations. Outputs of the expert knowledge elicitation protocol documented here shall be used to refine a theoretical framework of expert operator judgement, in order to determine decision support strategies of benefit to domain novices