Playing with the “Playing God”

Some philosophers and theologians have argued against the idea of Human Enhancement, saying that human beings should not play God. A closer look, however, might reveal that the question of who is playing Whom is far from being so clear-cut. This chapter will address the idea of human enhancement from the standpoint of theistic theology, arguing that human enhancement and theistic theology may not be so very incompatible, after all

RefDB: The Reference Database for CMS Monte Carlo Production

RefDB is the CMS Monte Carlo Reference Database. It is used for recording and managing all details of physics simulation, reconstruction and analysis requests, for coordinating task assignments to world-wide distributed Regional Centers, Grid-enabled or not, and trace their progress rate. RefDB is also the central database that the workflow-planner contacts in order to get task instructions. It is automatically and asynchronously updated with book-keeping run summaries. Finally it is the end-user interface to data catalogues.Comment: CHEP03 conference, 4 page

Asset approach to IT cost management in industrial companies

The article introduces the authors’ estimation method for measuring the current level of information technologies in companies by four aspects (hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunication equipment) using the proposed original indicators. On the example of 50 sample Russian industrial companies the authors have built and tested an econometric model, which allows to measure how IT costs are affected by such factors as: the current level of IT development, net profit value, number of employees, general wages, salaries of IT specialists, percentage of qualified workers.IT management, IT development, IT cost management, industrial companies., Industrial Organization, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, M15,

University as an Institute of Forming the Value- and Competence-Based Codes of New Industrialization

The objective of the article is to consider a transition to neo-industrialization through a prism of codes (genetic) of the territory, allow-ing it to participate in neo-industrialization processes, and of the institutes stimulating its process, in specific conditions of managing practice. And to define a role of universities in formation of value- and competence-based codes of neo-industrialization. The plan and methodology included: analysis of relation of values and modernization; revealing of the values being characteristic for post-industrialization; revealing of neo-industrialization codes of territory and the actors forming these codes; at last, for empirical determination of neo-industrialization codes which universities create, – the poll of students of Ural state universities. So, to reveal the main codes of neo-industrialization its features were ana-lyzed being marked out by various researchers. The analysis showed that in the basis of neo-industrial development are the technical innovations rais-ing the labor productivity; the professional specialization caused by the level of education of population; and also new forms of interaction, both among the organizations and among people in a production process, creat-ing the new and updating the existing information flows and sources of their generation. Basic codes of neo-industrialization of a territory are: in-novative codes of territory (innovative solutions); production codes (pro-duction capacities); branch codes (branch specifics); information codes (in-formation and the information technologies); social-value codes (values of the population in terms of industrial transformations); social-competence codes (knowledge, ability and skills of population as of effective produc-tive force); institutional codes of territory (legislative provision of transi-tion to new type of industrialization). Respectively, the basic actors form-ing the codes of neo-industrialization are the enterprises of real sector (car-rier of production and industrial codes), society (carrier of social codes), authorities (carrier of institutional codes). Universities act as a transformer of information, innovative and value- and competence-based codes. For defining the neo-industrialization codes, what universities form, the poll of students of Ural state universities was carried out. It showed, that, to the majority of respondents, education is not only the process of knowledge transmission promoting to find job, but also the process of studying to live in the conditions being continually changed, of forming the platform for further self-development. The most of respondents are inclined to associate universities with the in-stitute of forming the competence-based codes of neo-industrialization, but also with research and international cooperation functions. As the poll showed, in Ural universities among scientific-educational measures at least represented are the meetings with business representatives – it’s a lack of interaction with enterprises, what could increase relevance and importance of the knowledge being transmitted. In the part of mutual influence of values and modernization processes, the poll showed that by new generation prevail secular-rational values what replaced the traditional values, forging the population in its behavior and needs as well as causing the resistance to innovative transformations. By new generation prevail the values of self-expression. That’s why it can be said that young generation positively percepts indus-trial transformations, being an active cell of postindustrial society. The fact that the values of self-expression prevail, testifies an active position of students and readiness to participate in changing their life. The answers of respondents received testify that one more institute of forming the social-value codes of neo-industrialization is a family, what confirms a theory of cultural transmission. In the part of the nearest planes of students after university graduation, the poll showed that new generation possesses the positive potential of in-novative transformations and neo-industrialization on the whole. The most popular answers were “to get a job on an existing enterprise”, “to study further (magistracy / postgraduate study)”, “to create family”, “to create own business”. The results of research allow to conclude, that universities set and solve, by permanently improving themselves in ways, mechanisms and instru-ments, the double task: on the one hand, form the social competence-based codes of new industrialization furthering the forming the high-qualified work force; in the other hand, form the social value-based codes of new industrialization, such as leader qualities, patriotic qualities, re-sponsibility, general culture, what will create a neo-industrial perception of world and allow to exist in it successfully