Modeling organizations as a social network of distributed knowledge-based systems

The development, validation and implementation of knowledge-based systems

A novel approach is described for building intelligent information systems (or knowledge-base management systems). The approach utilizes the knowledge data language, which is a schema specification language developed for the knowledge/data model. The model, referred to as a hypersemantic data model, captures both knowledge semantics, as specified in knowledge-based systems, and data semantics, as represented by semantic data models. Hypersemantic data models facilitate the incorporation of knowledge in the form of heuristics, uncertainty, constraints and other artificial intelligence concepts, together with object-oriented concepts found in semantic data models. The unified knowledge/data modeling features and constructs of the language are used to develop a prototype knowledge base management system, the KDL-advisor. >

ABSTRACTInformation schools (iSchools) have grown along with heightened understanding of the rapid changes taking place in the information society and in the humanities. This growth has led to the characteristics of multidisciplinarity and the need for ongoing discussion and collaboration in information field (i-Field) research in terms of human behaviors and information technology. To promote collaboration in the context of research and education, it is necessary to understand the current activities of iSchools in relation to their collaboration patterns. This study analyzed the research patterns among iSchools at the macro and micro levels, and combined the analysis resultsFor the analysis,, 41 iSchools were identified from the iSchool directory. Co-authorship and an institution-profiling network were extracted from conference papers and posters presented at the iConference 2008-2013 to mine scholarly communication patterns. Social networks (friendship networks) among them were also extracted from Twitter by collecting their common followees to identify their interest in current public issues. The network analysis was performed at the micro and macro levels.In the micro-level analysis, the structures of social networking and scholarly communication among 41 iSchools were constructed and compared statistically by executing quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) correlation. The QAP correlation analysis determines whether a relationship exists between two particular nodes in two networks at the same time. At the macro level, comparison between the top interest in social networking and that of scholarly communication was performed by revealing top co-word networks. Additionally, co-authorship patterns and institution profiling patterns among 196 institutions, including the 41 iSchools identified in scholarly communication, were compared statistically to identify similarities and differences in communication patterns of iSchools compared to non-iSchools.The analysis provided evidence of the current prominent collaborating bodies and their neighbors as proactive actors accelerating scholarly communication and social networking. The social networking pattern and institution-profiling pattern were significantly related at the micro level, and the co-authorship pattern was significantly related to the institution-profiling pattern at macro-level. Additionally, iSchools that actively elaborate social networking and scholarly communication at the micro or macro levels were identified and compared to determine whether iSchools that could bridge other iSchools and non-iSchools in both social networking and research. The significant interest in social networking revealed in this study was related to IT trends and higher education while the research interest in the iField was related to linking information science to society, technology, and culture.Keywords: Social network analysis, Bibliometrics, Twitter, Social networking, iSchool, iConference1. INTRODUCTIONiSchools are recognized as an emerging name for information schools whose approach applies information science and technology to culture, education, and business (iSchools). Because membership and research activities of iSchools have expanded rapidly since 2003, it is important to define the major activities and research these schools have pursued to understand where they stand in the fields of research and education. Recent studies have examined the overall research activity and education programs of iSchools (Chen 2008; Subramaniam & Jaeger 2011; Wiggins & Sawyer 2012; Wu, He, Jiang, Dong & Vo, 2012) and these studies could be regarded as a reflection of the need for further research.The purpose of this study was to enhance the understanding of iSchools and their research activities by identifying their major interests in current issues and research. The researcher assumed that iSchools' social networking patterns could represent their interests in current issues, and publications could show their research interests and activities. …

The heightened focus of global competition has increased the necessity of manufacturing in combination with information technologies to continuously improve production flexibility and product quality, delivery and cost. Coupled with uncertainty and delays in information transmission lags, this increased focus has also created confusion and difficulties in production and inventory control management. Many manufacturers have abandoned the simple make‐to‐stock environments in favor of more complex make‐to‐order, configure‐to‐order, and engineer‐to‐order. At the heart of this range of options is the information technology (IT) that makes it all possible. Of the most popular new technologies for supporting production and inventory control (PIC) are solver technologies, intelligent decision support systems, and knowledge‐based systems. This paper discusses the integration of IT and knowledge management (KM) and the future trends in KM that are likely to impact PIC. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consistency Evaluation of Landscape Design by a Decision Support System

In the past four decades, information technology has altered chains of value production, distribution, and information access at a significant rate. These changes, although they have shaken up numerous economic models, have so far not radically challenged the bases of our society. This book addresses our current progress and viewpoints on digital identity management in different fields (social networks, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT)), with input from experts in computer science, law, economics and sociology. Within this multidisciplinary and scientific context, having crossed analysis on the digital ID issue, it describes the different technical and legal approaches to protect digital identities with a focus on authentication systems, identity federation techniques and privacy preservation solutions. The limitations of these solutions and research issues in this field are also discussed to further understand the changes that are taking place. Offers a state of the discussions and work places on the management of digital identities in various contexts, such as social networking, cloud computing and the Internet of Things Describes the advanced technical and legal measures to protect digital identities Containsa strongemphasis of authentication techniques, identity federation tools and technical protection of privacy

The ability of Patient Dependency Systems to provide information for staffing decisions and budgetary development has been demonstrated. In addition, they have become powerful tools in modern hospital management. This growing interest in Patient Dependency Systems has renewed calls for their automation. As advances in Information Technology and in particular Knowledge-Based Engineering reach new heights, hospitals can no longer afford to ignore the potential benefits obtainable from developing and implementing Patient Dependency Knowledge-Based Systems. Experience has shown that the vast majority of decisions and rules used in the Patient Dependency method are too complex to capture in the form of a traditional programming language. Furthermore, the conventional Patient Dependency Information System automates the simple and rigid bookkeeping functions. On the other hand Knowledge-Based Systems automate complex decision making and judgmental processes and therefore are the appropriate technology for automating the Patient Dependency method. In this paper a new technique to automate Patient Dependency Systems using knowledge processing is presented. In this approach all Patient Dependency factors have been translated into a set of Decision Rules suitable for use in a Knowledge-Based System. The system is capable of providing the decision-maker with a number of scenarios and their possible outcomes. This paper also presents the development of Patient Dependency Knowledge-Based Systems, which can be used in allocating and evaluating resources and nursing staff in hospitals on the basis of patients' needs.

In recent years, academics have focused increasingly on social network connections across different organisations. Social networking for businesses is a topic that crosses many disciplines, including social sciences, computer science, engineering, management, education, sociology, and psychology, so it's no surprise that definitions, methods, and approaches to social networks are constantly debated. Based on a data set of 3466 publications from the Scopus database, the goal of this study is to map the previous literature on social network ties of organisations to the business and management area. The data set was taken from the Scopus database to investigate the main authors, the number of publications, the most influential journals, the most used keywords and the top productive institutions and countries. The goal of this study is to map the previous literature on the social network ties of organisations to the business and management area. The most influential publications, authors, journals, and keywords are thus identified using four methods of bibliographic analysis, as follows: bibliographic coupling, analysis of co-occurrence of authors' keywords, and analysis of co-authorship (a) countries and (b) authors. According to the study’s findings, the USA is the most prolific country, having over 900 publications in the past five years, followed by China and the UK. The publication trend has increased over the last 5 years in the business and management field and will keep increasing because of the growing interest of researchers and practitioners in the given field. Knowledge-based systems are found to be the top productive journal and Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the most influential institution with the highest number of publications.

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a tool that aligns organization’s business-process with application and information technology (IT) through EAmodels. This EA model allows the organization to cut off unnecessary IT expenses and determines the future and current IT requirements and boosts organizational performance. Enterprise architecture may be employed in every firm where the firm or organization requires configurations between information technology and business functions. This research investigates the role of enterprise architecture in healthcare organizations and suggests the suitable EA framework for knowledge-based medical diagnostic system for EA modeling by comparing the two most widely used EA frameworks. The results of the comparison identified that the proposed EA has a better framework for knowledge-based medical diagnostic system.

Applying Ethical Principles to Information and Communication Technology Research: A Companion to the Menlo Report

(1957), (1987) and (1995) establish that social networks are important for understanding innovation diffusion through social systems. Social network interaction exposes individuals to technology. Additionally, new technology is commonly adopted when acquaintances reinforce mass media messages (Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955). That is, adopters rely on personal networks to gain new technology insights. In this manner, social networks assist in building network technology critical mass (Markus 1987; Rogers 1995; Valente 1995; Kavanaugh and Patterson 2001). Namely, networked communication technology is more likely employed when it is of demonstrative value. Such demonstrations are reinforced by the social nature of computing activity, i.e., network users are linked by personal relationship and common interest (Wellman et al. 1996). Adopters involved in social networks, e.g., through work and community, increasingly integrate computing into regular activity. Formal education is also associated with computer adoption, e.g., in US households socio-economic status tends to differentiate adopters and their use patterns for personal and network computing (Fischer 1977; Dutton et al. 1987; Rogers 1995; Cooper 2000). That is, early adopters are generally better educated and receive more media exposure (Rogers 1995). For less affluent populations new technology adoption patterns are similar. Early adopters are usually community leaders and diffusion is via social networks (Hudson 1984; Wresch 1996; Kavanaugh et al. 2002). However, less affluent socio-economic group leaders have fewer social ties to computer users and accordingly acquire less computing skill. While public access to information technology (IT) is available, disadvantaged individuals are not typically comfortable in these social contexts. For example, less educated and affluent individuals often have negative associations with public schools and are not comfortable gaining Internet access in this manner. Similarly, individuals with poor reading skill are less likely to frequent public libraries. Clearly, IT diffusion is slower within disadvantaged populations. However, when IT is integrated in community social settings it is used. IT diffusion problems are exacerbated in developing countries with large uneducated populations that receive low incomes and are not computer literate.

Purpose– This paper aims to cross-culturally compare how consumers in China and Australia adopt cloud computing services. Cloud computing is one of the major innovation advances in information technology. In order for more consumers to adopt cloud computing as a technological innovation, there needs to be a better understanding of the issues involved in consumer adoption processes for online retailers. While there is an increasing amount of interest in cloud computing as a technological innovation, there is an important need to examine the reasons why consumers purchase cloud computing services for online retailers.Design/methodology/approach– In this paper, the technology acceptance model and social cognitive theory are identified as the theoretical frameworks to understand the consumer purchase intention of cloud computing services. A set of research hypotheses are stated from both theoretical frameworks to test their relationship with a consumer’s intention to adopt cloud computing as a technological innovation. These hypotheses focus on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, online behavioural advertising knowledge, social networks and online privacy concerns, which will help online retailers understand how cloud computing can be utilized by consumers to store and access online retail information.Findings– The findings of the study outline the different areas of technological innovation research that are needed to advance the information technology industry in the future. The findings suggest that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and online privacy concerns can determine a consumer’s intention to adopt cloud computing, but online behavioural advertising knowledge and social networks differ among consumers in different countries.Originality/value– The key issues influencing consumer adoption of cloud computing are outlined, which due to the emerging nature of this technological innovation will influence the regulation and marketing of cloud computing services by firms and governments in the technology sector.

Cloud computing is one of the major innovation advances in information technology. In order for more consumers to adopt cloud computing as a technological innovation there needs to be a better understanding of the issues involved in consumer adoption processes. Whilst there is an increasing amount of interest in cloud computing as a technological innovation there is an important need to examine the reasons why consumers adopt cloud computing. In this paper, the technology acceptance model and social cognitive theory are identified as the theoretical frameworks to understand the consumer adoption process of cloud computing. A set of research hypotheses are stated from both theoretical frameworks to test their relationship with a consumer’s intention to adopt cloud computing as a technological innovation. These hypotheses focus on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, online behavioural advertising knowledge, social networks and online privacy concerns. The findings of the study outline the different areas of technological innovation research that are needed in order to advance the information technology industry in the future. The findings suggest that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and online privacy concerns can determine a consumer’s intention to adopt cloud computing but online behavioural advertising knowledge and social networks differ amongst consumers in different countries. Finally, some of the key issues influencing consumer adoption of cloud computing are outlined, which due to the emerging nature of this technological innovation will influence the regulation and marketing of cloud computing services by firms and governments in the technology sector.

The purpose of a database management system is the reliable and efficient management of shared persistent data. Current knowledge-based systems are designed for representing and processing knowledge in a way that is cognitively adequate. Since knowledge should be kept persistent as well, it seems to be interesting to combine the techniques of database management systems and knowledge-based systems into something like a knowledge base management system. We shortly show some conceptual differences between these two types of systems and then discuss how database concepts should be evolved in order to meet the requirements of knowledge-based systems. Using LILOG-DB as an example, we demonstrate in detail the modeling capabilities a database system should provide in order to support typical knowledge structures.Especially, we discuss the design of FLL, a first-order logic based query language supporting an order-sorted complex-object data-model under an Open-World Assumption.KeywordsLogic ProgramDatabase SystemKnowledge RepresentationOpen StructureDatabase Management SystemThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Information technology (IT) has been a central issue in research on firm performance and organization design for more than 50 years (Zammuto et al., 2007). Early research on the relationship between IT and firm performance uncovered a so-called ‘productivity paradox’ (Brynjolfsson, 1993; Solow, 1987). Subsequent studies found positive returns to IT (Anderson et al., 2006; Bharadwaj et al., 1999; Dewan and Kraemer, 2000; Mukhopadhyay et al., 1997), but also a substantial variation of IT payoffs across firms (Brynjolfsson and Hitt, 1995; Loveman, 1994). Further results have led to the growing consensus that the returns to IT are dependent on the presence of complementary organizational factors (Aral and Weill, 2007; Bertschek and Kaiser, 2004; Bresnahan et al., 2002; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Sabherwal et al., 2006). Particularly, there is solid evidence that IT payoffs are enhanced by a greater decentralization of organizational decision-making authority (Bresnahan et al., 2002; Brynjolfsson et al., 2002; Hitt and Brynjolfsson, 1997). I extend this line of research by arguing that the effects of IT on firm performance may also be increased by greater centralization, depending on the type of corporate learning that is pursued by a firm.