The accuracy of digital elevation models derived from digitised contour data

Although accuracy of digital elevation models (DEMs) can be quantified and measured in different ways, each is influenced by three main factors: terrain character, sampling strategy and interpolation method. These parameters, and their interaction, are discussed. The generation of DEMs from digitised contours is emphasised because this is the major source of DEMs, particularly within member countries of OEEPE. Such DEMs often exhibit unwelcome artifacts, depending on the interpolation method employed. The origin and magnitude of these effects and how they can be reduced to improve the accuracy of the DEMs are also discussed.

Century-of-Information Research (CIR): a strategy for research and innovation in the century of information

More data will be produced in the next five years than in the entire history of human kind, a digital deluge that marks the beginning of the Century of Information. Through a year-long consultation with UK researchers, a coherent strategy has been developed, which will nurture Century-of-Information Research (CIR); it crystallises the ideas developed by the e-Science Directors' Forum Strategy Working Group. This paper is an abridged version of their latest report which can be found at: http://wikis.nesc.ac.uk/escienvoy/Century_of_Information_Research_Strategy which also records the consultation process and the affiliations of the authors. This document is derived from a paper presented at the Oxford e-Research Conference 2008 and takes into account suggestions made in the ensuing panel discussion. The goals of the CIR Strategy are to facilitate the growth of UK research and innovation that is data and computationally intensive and to develop a new culture of 'digital-systems judgement' that will equip research communities, businesses, government and society as a whole, with the skills essential to compete and prosper in the Century of Information. The CIR Strategy identifies a national requirement for a balanced programme of coordination, research, infrastructure, translational investment and education to empower UK researchers, industry, government and society. The Strategy is designed to deliver an environment which meets the needs of UK researchers so that they can respond agilely to challenges, can create knowledge and skills, and can lead new kinds of research. It is a call to action for those engaged in research, those providing data and computational facilities, those governing research and those shaping education policies. The ultimate aim is to help researchers strengthen the international competitiveness of the UK research base and increase its contribution to the economy. The objectives of the Strategy are to better enable UK researchers across all disciplines to contribute world-leading fundamental research; to accelerate the translation of research into practice; and to develop improved capabilities, facilities and context for research and innovation. It envisages a culture that is better able to grasp the opportunities provided by the growing wealth of digital information. Computing has, of course, already become a fundamental tool in all research disciplines. The UK e-Science programme (2001-06)—since emulated internationally—pioneered the invention and use of new research methods, and a new wave of innovations in digital-information technologies which have enabled them. The Strategy argues that the UK must now harness and leverage its own, plus the now global, investment in digital-information technology in order to spread the benefits as widely as possible in research, education, industry and government. Implementing the Strategy would deliver the computational infrastructure and its benefits as envisaged in the Science & Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014 (July 2004), and in the reports developing those proposals. To achieve this, the Strategy proposes the following actions: support the continuous innovation of digital-information research methods; provide easily used, pervasive and sustained e-Infrastructure for all research; enlarge the productive research community which exploits the new methods efficiently; generate capacity, propagate knowledge and develop skills via new curricula; and develop coordination mechanisms to improve the opportunities for interdisciplinary research and to make digital-infrastructure provision more cost effective. To gain the best value for money strategic coordination is required across a broad spectrum of stakeholders. A coherent strategy is essential in order to establish and sustain the UK as an international leader of well-curated national data assets and computational infrastructure, which is expertly used to shape policy, support decisions, empower researchers and to roll out the results to the wider benefit of society. The value of data as a foundation for wellbeing and a sustainable society must be appreciated; national resources must be more wisely directed to the collection, curation, discovery, widening access, analysis and exploitation of these data. Every researcher must be able to draw on skills, tools and computational resources to develop insights, test hypotheses and translate inventions into productive use, or to extract knowledge in support of governmental decision making. This foundation plus the skills developed will launch significant advances in research, in business, in professional practice and in government with many consequent benefits for UK citizens. The Strategy presented here addresses these complex and interlocking requirements.

Factors affecting regional SMEs progression to Digital Business Ecosystems

SMEs are widely recognized as an important driving force of economic growth, yet, their uptake of ICT is still very low. Tosupport SMEs ICT adoption and to foster regional development, in 2000, the Lisbon Strategy on the Information Society andKnowledge-based economy created a vision for 2010 towards the creation of the European Digital Business Ecosystems(DBE). This paper is positioned within that context and reports upon a project involving 6000 SMEs whose aim was tosupport ICT adoption and to encourage SME networks through the creation of a Regional Business Portal. The papere xplores factors affecting the regional SMEs participating in the DBE. An in-depth longitudinal case study approach was adopted and multiple sources of evidence were used. Many factors affecting SMEs progression to DBE were identified:including people and organization, environmental, diffusion networks, technological, regional and time factors

e-Leadership through strategic alignment: an empirical study of small and medium sized enterprises in the digital age

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the European economy. A critical challenge faced by SME leaders, as a consequence of the continuing digital technology revolution, is how to optimally align business strategy with digital technology to fully leverage the potential offered by these technologies in pursuit of longevity and growth. There is a paucity of empirical research examining how e-leadership in SMEs drives successful alignment between business strategy and digital technology fostering longevity and growth. To address this gap, in this paper we develop an empirically derived e-leadership model. Initially we develop a theoretical model of e-leadership drawing on strategic alignment theory. This provides a theoretical foundation on how SMEs can harness digital technology in support of their business strategy enabling sustainable growth. An in-depth empirical study was undertaken interviewing 42 successful European SME leaders to validate, advance and substantiate our theoretically driven model. The outcome of the two stage process – inductive development of a theoretically driven e-leadership model and deductive advancement to develop a complete model through in-depth interviews with successful European SME leaders – is an e-leadership model with specific constructs fostering effective strategic alignment. The resulting diagnostic model enables SME decision makers to exercise effective e-leadership by creating productive alignment between business strategy and digital technology improving longevity and growth prospects.