Sustainability innovation systems (SIS): IT Investments and Stages of Sustainability Maturity

We synthesize a new longitudinal framework for investing in IT assets to support sustainability and to prescribe specific investments for each stage of sustainability. This framework provides an IT investment plan for organizations that supports the five stages of sustainability and will positively moderate the relationship between an organization’s ability to traverse the stages of sustainability and organizational innovation. We propose that there is an innovation payoff at each stage and support that proposition with exemplars from the literature. To highlight their key role in supporting sustainability driven innovation, we choose to call these IT investments Sustainability Innovation Systems (SIS)

Information Technology and Systems - III. Research Publications in Systems Development during 2000-2004

Although systems development research is at the core of the Information Systems discipline, some scholars call attention to a teaching and research gap in this area of IS. In this study, we examine the state of systems development research in IS by analyzing the articles published in three leading journals between 2000 and 2004. We propose a classification framework based on the type of research paradigm (design vs. explanatory) and the nature of the IT-artifact (conceptualization vs. instantiation). Our results show that about 20% of the articles published in this five year period are focused on systems development. In two of the three journals, there are comparable proportions of studies in the design research and in the explanatory paradigm. However, in all three publications most of the articles are focused on conceptual IT-artifacts, as opposed to algorithms or software-based artifacts. These findings are important for system development researchers when they choose journals where to send their papers

India's twelfth finance commission : a view from Kerala

The focus of the paper is to review the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Twelfth Finance Commission with special reference to Kerala. It also critically examines the emphasis on fiscal deficit reduction without paying attention to its quality and finds that this has led to the Centre and the States resorting to a softer option of cutting productive capital and necessary maintenance and social sector expenditure. This is likely to have adverse consequences on equitable growth and to impede the process of relieving the economy of structural constraints on growth. There is an urgent need for analysing the quality of fiscal consolidation instead of focusing merely on quantity of reduction of deficits as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The study hence suggests incorporating the concept of Quality of Fiscal Discipline. It is found that there has been an enlargement of the scope of Finance Commissions [since the Eleventh Finance Commission (11th FC)] into mandates for recommending mechanisms for achieving macroeconomic balance, equitable growth, and suggestions for disinvestments and privatisation, while its role in the traditional area of grant devolution has been restricted to non-Plan grants only. In fact, the enlargement of the role in the traditional area of grant devolution would be more desirable. There is sufficient scope for augmenting resource mobilisation from direct and indirect taxes at the Central level. Emphasis is to be placed on integrating services and manufacturing into a single CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) and on direct taxes reform. The second generation tax reform should concentrate on States’ tax administration and inter-State coordination prior to moving on to a State level VAT. There is need for a constitutional amendment to place service tataxation in the Concurrent List and enable States to tax more services. On the expenditure side, steep increases in items like wages and salaries and interest expenditure are unlikely in the near future. Hence maintenance and social sector expenditure should not be sacrificed. At the same time, efficiency in spending and cutting unproductive expenditure and leakages should be strictly monitored. A decentralised district level monitoring system for maintenance expenditure of capital assets is also suggested. The paper argues that bringing privatisation in the Terms of Reference of the Finance Commission seems avoidable. It is also felt that more effective time bound implementation of State Finance Commission Reports is needed. Along with devolution of funds, transfer of administrative functions is necessary for avoiding duplication of expenditure. As for Kerala-specific issues, it is found that achievements on the human development front are not rewarded. Certain changes in the existing criteria (of the Eleventh Finance Commission) are hence suggested. Kerala’s tax effort, though better than richer States like Punjab, is facing structural constraints. The fast expanding services sector is outside the tax net of the State. The tax-GDP ratio of Kerala showed a mild decline at 9.84 percent in the 1990s as compared to 10.29 percent in the 1980s despite a much higher growth rate of State Domestic Product, mainly because the State was not able to tax the dominant sector of the State Domestic Product, that is, the services sector. Key words : finance commission, fiscal deficit, revenue mobilisation, devolution JEL Classification : H77, H60, H2

Knowledge Transfer in Distributed Software Support with a Traceability Framework

Distributed software support has become increasingly common especially due to the rampant globalization of the software development process. Transfer of contextual knowledge across stakeholders involved in such distributed environments is critical to successful product development and support. Timely transfer of appropriate knowledge about issues faced in production environments to support teams and within support teams can result in significant economic benefits. Failure to share contextual knowledge and lack of common understanding significantly impact the quality of support. We draw from the literature on knowledge transfer and adaptive structuration theory to develop a theoretical basis and an approach to knowledge transfer in distributed software support contexts. Based on a multi-site case study, we develop a traceability framework to enhance shared understanding among team members. A qualitative evaluation of the usefulness of our traceability-based approach to knowledge transfer is presented

IS Bibliographic Repository (ISBIB): A Central Repository of Research Information for the IS Community

The IS Bibliographic Repository (ISBIB), a central repository of Information Systems citations and author information, is a shared resource for research and researcher assessment that can support multiple streams of research. The goal of the repository is to capture research citations and other valuable information from all sub-cultures and disciplines within the international IS community, thereby providing a balanced perspective on the state of art in IS research. This repository should lead to a better understanding on the scope and objectives of IS research in general. The repository also aims to be an unbiased data source for bibliometric research, and studies on IS research methods and processes. It currently holds systematic information about 82 journals. In the spirit of community development, the repository is available to the entire IS community, free of charge. This article describes the current state of the repository and invites readers to use it both for their own research and for bibliometric analysis. Because the repository is intended to be a reflection of the global IS community, the authors, who are also its maintainers, encourage IS researchers and journal editors to provide bibliographic information to extend the repository\u27s usefulness

Risk of falls and its association with activities of daily living and depression among elderly residing in a rural area in Bangalore, Karnataka

Background: According to 2011 censes, elderly account for 8.6% of Indian population and is projected to become 20% by 2050. Early identification and prevention of fall-related factors would play a vital role in reducing the health costs in elderly. The objective of the study was to assess the risk of falls among elderly residing in Mugalur subcentre, Bangalore Urban.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the ten villages of Mugalur subcenter, from March-May 2019 using a structured questionnaire that was administered through a face-validated interview. Systemic random sampling was done from the ten villages, proportionate allocation was done to reach a calculated sample size of 220. Timed up and go test (TUG) was done for all participants.Results: Mean age of the study population was 69.05±8.3years. Among the study subjects, 40 (18.2%) had moderate risk of fall and 9 (4.1%) were seen to have high risk of fall. 26 (11.8%) subjects had a fall in past one year. TUG test showed a median value of 18.5 seconds, and 179 (18.4%) elderly had TUG result ≥13 sec. According to Geriatric Depression scale (GDS-15), 18 (8.2%) subjects were found to be severely depressed. Significant association was seen between the GDS-15 scores and risk of falls according to Fisher’s exact test. The mean TUG score was shown to have a significant association with the risk of falls according to ANOVA.Conclusions: Moderate to high risk of fall is seen among 22.3% of the elderly. Significant association was seen between age, TUG score and depression with risk of falls.  

A Novel Approach for Groundwater Budgeting Using GIS in a Part of Pondicherry Region, India

The over extraction of groundwater from the coastal aquifers, result in reduction of groundwater resource and lowering of water level. In general, the depletion of groundwater level enhances the landward migration of saltwater wedge. Pondicherry is one such region with recent alluvium as the major formation. Since the study area forms a part of the coastal aquifer system this behaves as a fragile ecosystem. The present study has been attempted to calculate the extraction of water and to estimate the amount of recharge into this allu-vial aquifer by using groundwater level variations. The monthly water level fluctuation was observed during the study period (2000-2002) in eighteen locations. The maximum rise in groundwater level observed during 2000 was considered as the initial water level for the study and the subsequent decline in water level (draw down) was monitored monthly until the rising trend was noted. This indicates the fall in water level due to extraction.Later keeping the deepest draw down as the initial value increasing water level trend was studied until there was a notice of decline in groundwater level. This indicates as the rise in water level due to re-charge. This method of observation carried out at a single location was adopted for all eighteen locations. The spatial representation of these data for eighteen locations were carried out by using GIS and the area occupied by different groundwater level contours were calculated and the amount of water withdrawn/re- charged was estimated. The maximum recharge was noted in the central and the northern part of the study area when compared to the other regions. Similarly, the maximum discharge was noted in the northern and the southern part of the study area during the study period

Injury analysis using Anthropomorphic Test Device under vertical shock loads

Natural and manmade injuries due to terrorism, military weapon and accidents lead to cutting edge research for engineers and clinicians alike. The study of injury and its mechanism can help in predicting the severity of an injury which in turn shall guide the engineers to design safer structures and medical specialists in treating casualties. This article summarizes the various advancements and technologies available in the field of Injury Analysis. The objective of the study is to quantify the levels of an injury which occurs when an Anthropomorphic Test Device is subjected to a given vertical impact load. As a baseline a half sine shock test simulating the vertical impact was carried out on Hybrid III 50th percentile male dummy and injury analysis was done based on the standards prescribed by NATO TR-HFM-090. In the present test the injury analysis predicts that the injury during the loading is well within 10% probability of an AIS 2 or greater (AIS 2+)