Technological foundations of electronic governance

This paper explores the relevance and opportunities for the application of mature Formal Techniques – techniques based on mathematical theories and supported by industry-ready tools and methods – to build technical solutions for Electronic Governance. The paper proceeds in four steps: (1) establishes the basic need for Formal Techniques in Electronic Governance, (2) identifies the challenges peculiar to Electronic Governance development, (3) presents the salient features and various application scenarios for Formal Techniques in general, and (4) carries out a mapping between the challenges to Electronic Governance and various application scenarios of Formal Techniques as part of solutions to such challenges. In the second part, the paper presents an overview of the tutorial and workshop on Formal Engineering Methods for Electronic Governance. The tutorial follows the four-step program, as above, and the workshop includes the presentations of four papers that exemplify various elements of the mapping, particularly: the use of formal, precise modeling techniques; the importance of security risk assessment; model-driven development of software systems; and the provision of semantic frameworks to coordinate development within and across major programs and initiatives. In the last part, the paper discusses how Formal Techniques can contribute to establishing a solid foundation for Electronic Governance

Understanding “Cyber Conflict”

Poster presented in the workshop on "Who Controls Cyberspace,” MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States, November 6-7, 2012.Problem: Emergence of cyber as the new arena for conflict raises three basic questions: (a) What qualifies as a Cyber Conflict? (multiple definitions exist); (b) Does intervention of cyber in conflict life-cycle requires new models to decipher control points in cyberspace?; and (c) What is different between conflicts in kinetic and cyberspace? Solution: Application of USE CASE ANALYSIS to understand the mechanics of cyber conflict to arrive at a model of cyber conflict in a data driven manner (analysis of events since 2001). In Software Engineering domain use case analysis is used as an established tool to define processes and roles a stakeholder employs to interact with a system, and system’s response to the user stimulus.This material is based upon work supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-09-1-0597. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research

Technological foundations of electronic governance

This paper explores the relevance and opportunities for the application of mature Formal Techniques – techniques based on mathematical theories and supported by industry-ready tools and methods – to build technical solutions for Electronic Governance. The paper proceeds in four steps: (1) establishes the basic need for Formal Techniques in Electronic Governance, (2) identifies the challenges peculiar to Electronic Governance development, (3) presents the salient features and various application scenarios for Formal Techniques in general, and (4) carries out a mapping between the challenges to Electronic Governance and various application scenarios of Formal Techniques as part of solutions to such challenges. In the second part, the paper presents an overview of the tutorial and workshop on Formal Engineering Methods for Electronic Governance. The tutorial follows the four-step program, as above, and the workshop includes the presentations of four papers that exemplify various elements of the mapping, particularly: the use of formal, precise modeling techniques; the importance of security risk assessment; model-driven development of software systems; and the provision of semantic frameworks to coordinate development within and across major programs and initiatives. In the last part, the paper discusses how Formal Techniques can contribute to establishing a solid foundation for Electronic Governance

Integration of mouse phenome data resources

Understanding the functions encoded in the mouse genome will be central to an understanding of the genetic basis of human disease. To achieve this it will be essential to be able to characterize the phenotypic consequences of variation and alterations in individual genes. Data on the phenotypes of mouse strains are currently held in a number of different forms (detailed descriptions of mouse lines, first-line phenotyping data on novel mutations, data on the normal features of inbred lines) at many sites worldwide. For the most efficient use of these data sets, we have initiated a process to develop standards for the description of phenotypes (using ontologies) and file formats for the description of phenotyping protocols and phenotype data sets. This process is ongoing and needs to be supported by the wider mouse genetics and phenotyping communities to succeed. We invite interested parties to contact us as we develop this process further