Comparison of ontology alignment systems across single matching task via the McNemar's test

Ontology alignment is widely-used to find the correspondences between different ontologies in diverse fields.After discovering the alignments,several performance scores are available to evaluate them.The scores typically require the identified alignment and a reference containing the underlying actual correspondences of the given ontologies.The current trend in the alignment evaluation is to put forward a new score(e.g., precision, weighted precision, etc.)and to compare various alignments by juxtaposing the obtained scores. However,it is substantially provocative to select one measure among others for comparison.On top of that, claiming if one system has a better performance than one another cannot be substantiated solely by comparing two scalars.In this paper,we propose the statistical procedures which enable us to theoretically favor one system over one another.The McNemar's test is the statistical means by which the comparison of two ontology alignment systems over one matching task is drawn.The test applies to a 2x2 contingency table which can be constructed in two different ways based on the alignments,each of which has their own merits/pitfalls.The ways of the contingency table construction and various apposite statistics from the McNemar's test are elaborated in minute detail.In the case of having more than two alignment systems for comparison, the family-wise error rate is expected to happen. Thus, the ways of preventing such an error are also discussed.A directed graph visualizes the outcome of the McNemar's test in the presence of multiple alignment systems.From this graph, it is readily understood if one system is better than one another or if their differences are imperceptible.The proposed statistical methodologies are applied to the systems participated in the OAEI 2016 anatomy track, and also compares several well-known similarity metrics for the same matching problem

A Risk Management Perspective of ASPs

Application service providers (ASPs) provide access to application software over wide area networks and have been viewed as a means of making the benefits of outsourcing available to small businesses. However, many enterprise ASPs get the majority of their revenue from very large businesses while many vertical niche ASPs get their revenue from small businesses. We analyze this seeming anomaly from a risk management perspective. ASPs present a greater risk management problem to would-be customers than traditional outsourcing. We analyze the nature of the risk differences and then propose a model of how would-be customers process those risks. In our model, prospects first assess whether they can tolerate the worst case scenario and if they are able to do due diligence on the likely outcome. They consider benefits only if one of the previous assertions is true. The worst case scenario for enterprise applications is truly dire and only technologically sophisticated businesses are better able to identify the true risk profile. For vertical niche ASPs the worst case scenario is relatively mild, but economies of scale make the benefits relatively more appealing to small businesses

Towards Asymmetric Information for the G2B Inter-Organizational Networks

With the emergence of innovative (networked) organization forms such as enhanced supply chain collaboration and modern forms of public-private partnerships (PPP), effective and efficient collaboration among network participants becomes crucial but often difficult to achieve. One of the leading factors&#; which cause such defective collaboration is the asymmetric information issue among the network participants. Two identifiable problems resulted by the asymmetric information are the moral hazard and adverse selection problems. Former studies mainly positioned asymmetric information problems within the context of traditional business environment; in this paper we suggest that similar problems may also occur in the Government to Business (G2B) context. We discuss these issues via a collaborative pilot case study (hereafter, Beer Living Lab) between the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (DutchTCA) and a Dutch beer company (Beer Co.). The paper reveals that both moral hazard and adverse selection problems may occur during the G2B interactions and tamper the relationships between the two. In addressing these problems, we propose an advanced information technology (IT) solution, drawing upon an effective and efficient information sharing schema that can on the one hand minimize the moral hazard by enhancing supply chain management for the business and on the other hand preventing tax fraud for the government. Further we argue that the application of the advanced IT may serve as a strong signaling and screening tool for overcoming the adverse selection problem during the PPP forming and result in a win-win situation. The insights learned should benefit those involved in various inter-organizational business networks, partnership as well as supply chain management settings

Perceived Risk and Trust Associated with Purchasing at Electronic Marketplaces

Understanding consumer behavior is of vital importance to consumer oriented e-business models today. In this paper we report on a study into the relationships between consumer perceptions of risk and trust and the intention to purchase at a C2C electronic marketplace. Distinguishing for electronic marketplace settings is that consumer behavior is subject to perceptions of both selling party and the institutional structures of the intermediary operating the system. Building upon the well-established literature of trust we consider the concepts of institutional trust and party trust. We extend this categorization by introducing the concepts of institutional risk and party risk. Next, we adopt the process of measurement instrument development as put forward by Churchill (1979). We develop measurement instruments for institutional trust (4 items), institutional risk (5 items) and party risk (4 items). All measurement scales contain acceptable alpha’s and are unidimensional. An empirical study is applied to explore the relationships between the risk and trust types and consumer purchase intention. The results reveal significant, direct effects of party trust and party risk. Second order effects of institutional trust and institutional risk are investigated and reported. The paper concludes with general observations and recommendations for further research

Inter-Organisational Network Formation and Sense-Making: Initiation and Management of Public-Private Collaboration

The paper analyses the initiation and management of inter-organisational networks, spanning both the public and private domain. Specifically, bracketing the institutional level and combining literature on communities-of-practice and network management, we turn our attention to managerial activities which are no longer de-contextualized but understood as highly situated activities. By doing so, the paper elucidates the crucial role boundary spanners have in alleviating discontinuities across institutional boundaries. Furthermore, we untangle the temporal process which led to the successful formation of an innovative network, namely stabilising the network, initiating a cognitive shift towards a network strategy, and developing a supportive culture and practices. These ideas are developed by presenting a processual account of an interpretive case study on inter-organisational network formation which was part of a research programme for designing and studying the feasibility and implications of electronic government/industry interaction

E-Customs control procedures redesign methodology: model-based Application

Growing trade volumes and increased security, health and financial control regulations require customs administrations to change their working practices worldwide. An existing dilemma however, is that governments would like on the one hand to reduce the administrative burden for businesses and on the other hand to increase security and control. The traditional single side power-posing by customs administrations to trade parties is not appropriate any more. The European Union is now realizing the potential benefits of establishing Customs-and-Business partnerships. To achieve such collaboration, current customs procedures need to be redesigned, and ICT is a key enabler for the redesign. In this paper we present a model-based approach using two levels of abstraction – value and process levels – to support domain experts in investigating how customs procedures can be redesigned while coping with business and administrative challenges. Especially, we focus on a methodological application of control principles from accounting and auditing literature, to redesign procedures. We discuss our “AAD”† approach and its application in an e- Customs procedure redesign case study

The Role of Trust in Government Control of Businesses

Governments have the responsibility to control whether businesses are compliant with regulations in various areas such as health, safety, security, tax and customs. Traditionally, this control is exercised in a command-and-control fashion: businesses provide data to the control agencies, and in addition these agencies perform inspections of the businesses. To reduce administrative burden, governments are investigating `horizontal’ governance models, built on the responsibility and participation of companies. The information needs of both companies and agencies are changing and trust is now playing a more prominent role. Appropriate information management, supported by IT systems helps the trust relation to evolve. The model of transitional stages of trust (Lewicki and Bunker) identifies information needs per trust level. In this paper we link ‘horizontal’ governance strategies with the trust levels of lewicki and Bunker to identify information needs. Information needs determine requirements for enterprise information systems and eGovernment applications. We define hypotheses about the trust levels and information needs of ‘horizontal’ governance strategies. The hypotheses are evaluated in a case study of the system-based control approach of Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. We find that system-based control corresponds to knowledge-based trust, and that the information which must be gathered corresponds with both calculus-based and knowledge-based trust

Data Sharing Issues and Potential Solutions for Adoption of Information Infrastructures: Evidence from a Data Pipeline Project in the Global Supply Chain over Sea

Information infrastructures have gained significant momentum in today’s information economy. They are defined as shared, open and evolving socio-technical systems providing distinct IT capabilities. The Cassandra EU project aims to enhance visibility of the international flow of goods over sea with an electronic data pipeline as an information infrastructure. This paper presents data sharing issues that could prevent adoption of the Cassandra Pipeline. Potential solutions are provided regarding access restriction and data sharing. In addition solutions are derived from the design theory for dynamic complexity in information infrastructures of Hanseth and Lyytinen (2010), proposing to gain momentum by starting small, focusing on immediate benefits for supply chain partners and obtaining experience using simple prototypes. This paper underlines that designers of the Cassandra Pipeline as an information infrastructure need to think carefully about the implications of restricting access and non-obligatory or obligatory data sharing, both allowing for generativity and trust while preventing potential abuse at the same time