The development of a wisdom autonomic grid

It is not a simple matter to develop an integrative approach that exploits  synergies between knowledge management and knowledge discovery in   order to monitor and manage the full lifecycle of knowledge and provides  services quickly, reliably and securely. One of the main problems is the heterogeneity of the involved resources that represent knowledge. Data mining systems produce knowledge in a form meant to be understandable  to machines and on the other hand in knowledge management systems the  priority is placed on the readability and usability of knowledge by humans.  The Semantic Web is a promising platform to unify this heterogeneity and, in conjunction with novel techniques for Web Intelligence it could offer more  then just knowledge - wisdom. The Wisdom Autonomic Grid is an original proposal of a knowledge based Grid that is able to configure and reconfigure itself under varying and unpredictable conditions and optimize its working, performs something akin to healing and provides self-protection, as  visioned in the IBM Autonomic Computing initiative. This paper presents an original framework for creating advanced applications to integrate  knowledge discovery and knowledge management in the Autonomic Grid  and Web environments.

Using decision-tree to automatically construct learned-heuristics for events classification in sports video

Automatic events classification is an essential requirement for constructing an effective sports video summary. It has become a well-known theory that the high-level semantics in sport video can be “computationally interpreted” based on the occurrences of specific audio and visual features which can be extracted automatically. State-of-the-art solutions for features-based event classification have only relied on either manual-knowledge based heuristics or machine learning. To bridge the gaps, we have successfully combined the two approaches by using learning-based heuristics. The heuristics are constructed automatically using decision tree while manual supervision is only required to check the features and highlight contained in each training segment. Thus, fully automated construction of classification system for sports video events has been achieved. A comprehensive experiment on 10 hours video dataset, with five full-match soccer and five full-match basketball videos, has demonstrated the effectiveness/robustness of our algorithms.

Guest editorial: foreword to the special issue on aggregation operators

The fourteen papers in this special section are devoted to aggregation operators with respect to knowledge based systems.

Tracking the nomadic life of the educational researcher :- what future for feminist public intellectual(s) and/in the performative postmodern university

Is the idea of the liberal university dead, has the post modern university any chance of being emancipatory, has the theory practice divide merely collapsed in an era of 'new knowledge work', or has the university just become one aspect of market state and global capitalism. Knowledge based economies simultaneously locate universities as central to the commodification and management of knowledge while the legitimacy of the university and the academic as knowledge producers is challenged by post modernist, feminist, postcolonial and indigenous claims within a wider trend towards the 'democratisation of knowledge' and a new educational instrumentalism and opportunism. What becomes of the educational researcher, and indeed for their professional organizations, in this changing socio political and economic scenario? Is our role one of policy service or policy critique, technical expert or public intellectual? In particular what place is there for feminist public intellectuals in a socalled era of post feminism and public-/private convergence? The paper draws on recent debates around the nature of knowledge based societies, trends in relations between policy and educational research, and draws upon feminist and critical perspectives to mount a case for the importance of the postmodern university and the public intellectual.

Tale of three (media) cities

In the early years of the twenty-first century, three of the 23 Arab nations – Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – have established media cities in the hope that media and knowledge-based industries will push their economies forward. All three cities are the direct result of government policy and planning. The intention is that a combination of media, business, technology and finance will become inexorably linked and that the resulting synergy will produce thousands of jobs. The cities offer financial benefits to companies located in the special zones created for the cities. As well as generating jobs and leapfrogging their economies into the 21st century, these cities are also meant to be shining symbols of modernity in societies that have tended to look backwards rather than forwards. This paper considers the vision behind these cities, who owns them, the business models employed and their likelihood of success. It also considers the key issue of freedom of expression and the free flow of information in these cities, in the context of societies that traditionally have restricted the flow of information and adopted a different interpretation of freedom of expression, compared with the West’s approach.

Bureaucratic, corporate/market and network governance : shifting spaces for gender equity in education

Education as a field of policy, research and practice has been reconfigured over four decades by economic, social and cultural globalization in conjuncture with neoliberal policies premised upon markets and new managerialism. One effect has been shifting boundaries between, and understandings of what constitutes the public and the private with regard to the role of the state vis-á-vis the formation of gendered subjectivities and civil society and the gendering of public– private relations in and between family and work. Drawing on feminist readings of Bourdieu and critical policy sociology, I consider the implications of a move from bureaucratic educational governance framed by state welfarism to corporate or market governance framed by the post-welfare state, and consider whether particular constructions of globalization and corporate/market governance lead to network governance. Network governance, it is argued, is premised on new forms of sociality and institutional reconfigurations of knowledge-based economies and a spatialized state that coordinates rather than regulates multiple public– private providers. The question is how each mode of governance frames various possibilities and problems for gender equity in education.

'Fencing them in' : the A-league, policing and the dilemma of public order

The establishment of an elite national Australian soccer league has been accompanied by an unprecedented growth in popularity for the world game in several Australian cities. Such growth presents numerous challenges for public order maintenance, particularly in light of the widespread concern over the relationship between soccer, disasters in major closed venues and violence. After outlining the emerging issues, and the extant Australian research into the phenomena of policing and sports crowd disorder, this study offers a knowledge based approach to foster informed, reflective and collaborative policing in elite and sub-elite soccer venues. Rather than advocating a fundamental shift in the current public order policing paradigm, we suggest drawing on elements of best practice that are currently adopted in other Australian sporting and public order settings and appropriate overseas experience to facilitate a better understanding of the dynamics of Australian soccer fandom. The result should be the promotion of safer yet exciting events at which interactive crowd management based on harm minimization principles are key features.

Intelligent assistant to re-configure parameter-driven systems

Parameter-Driven Systems (PDS) are widely used in commerce for large-scale applications. Reusability is achieved with a PDS design by relocating implicit control structures in the software and the storage of explicit data in database files. This approach can accommodate various user requirements without tedious modification of the software. In order to specify appropriate parameters in a system, knowledge of both business activities and system behaviour are required. For large, complex software packages, this task becomes time consuming and requires specialist knowledge, yet the consistency and correctness still cannot be guaranteed. My research studied the types of knowledge required and agents involved in the PDS customisation. The work also identified the associated problems and constraints. A solution is proposed and implemented as an Intelligent Assistant prototype than a manual approach. Three areas of achievement have been highlighted: 1. The characteristics and problems of maintaining parameter instances in a PDS are defined. It is found that the verification is not complete with the technical/structural knowledge alone, but a context is necessary to provide semantic information and related business activities (thus the implemented parameters) so that mainline functions can relate with each other. 2. A knowledge-based modelling approach has been proposed and demonstrated via a practical implementation. A Specification Language was designed which can model various types of knowledge in a PDS and encapsulate relationships. The Knowledge-Based System (KBS) developed verifies parameters based on the interpreted model of a given context. 3. The performance of the Intelligent Assistant prototype was well received by the domain specialist from the participating organisation. The modelling and KBS approach developed in my research offers considerable promise in solving practical problems in the software industry.

Architectural information

Through a study of architectural information as a complex system, a theoretical model relating critical information elements and project knowledge is proposed. The Project Specific Information model articulates distinct information integrities (intellectual, contextual, structural and spatial) that support the knowledge-based decision-making processes controlling information quality in architectural projects.

Radical epistemological skepticism about justified belief

"Radical epistemological skepticism" designates the philosophical position that all our beliefs, and knowledge based upon them, are groundless. Skeptics claims have been recorded throughout history and, despite their threat to the security of human knowledge, they endure. The thesis hypothesises that skepticism is a consequence of our development of symbolic capability.

Modeling and control of flatness in cold rolling mill using fuzzy petri nets

Today, having a good flatness control in steel industry is essential to ensure an overall product quality, productivity and successful processing. Flatness error, given as difference between measured strip flatness and target curve, can be minimized by modifying roll gap with various control functions. In most practical systems, knowing the definition of the model in order to have an acceptable control is essential. In this paper, a fuzzy Petri net method for modeling and control of flatness in cold rolling mill is developed. The method combines the concepts of Petri net and fuzzy control theories. It focuses on the fuzzy decision making problems of the fuzzy rule tree structures. The method is able to detect and recover possible errors that can occur in the fuzzy rule of the knowledge-based system. The method is implemented and simulated. The results show that its error is less than that of a PI conventional controller.

Innovation in logistic services and the new business model : a conceptual framework

Service industries hold an increasingly dynamic and pivotal role in today’s knowledge-based economies. The logistics industry is a classic example of the birth and development of a vital new service-based industry, transformed from the business concept of transportation to that of serving the entire logistical needs of customers. Quantum advances in science, technology, and communication in the new millennium have compelled firms to consider the potential of the so-called new “resources” (technology, knowledge and relationship networks) that are essential if firms are to operate effectively within the emerging business model, and to utilise the opportunities to innovate and gain market leadership. Through an extensive literature review, this paper examines the factors that nurture innovation in logistics services, identifies the contributions of the new “resources” and, using industry examples, examines the application of these resources to logistics firms as they assume an extended role within the new business model

Exploring barriers in expertise seeking : why don't they ask an expert?

This paper reports findings from a research project that explores reasons why some employees prefer to seek expertise to resolve work-related problems from direct colleagues rather than designated internal experts. Several studies suggest that while an expert generally provides a higher quality solution in a shorter time, workers tend to ask friendly or proximate colleagues to help with knowledge-based problems at work. Prior research provides only fragmented insights into understanding the barriers to asking a designated internal expert for help at work. To address this gap, we asked post-graduate students enrolled in a knowledge management subject at a large Australian university to share their perspectives in an online discussion forum. Content analysis of the collected perspectives enabled identification of twenty-one factors that may limit the seeking of expertise from a designated internal expert. The factors are grouped in four categories: environment, accessibility, communication and personality. In addition one context variable is described, determining the extent to which the barriers are influential in a specific situation. By synthesising the results, we have proposed two models of expertise-seeking barriers. A literature review helps validate the barriers identified by the study. Key theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Exploring the development and assessment of work-readiness using reflective practice in construction education.

It is well known that the construction industry is characterized by the need for practical knowledge and skill. However, this creates special challenges for universities in the development of work readiness in graduates. This research investigates the attitudes of students towards a course which was designed to develop work-readiness skills in construction management. The paper focuses on the distinctive issues associated with Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) using a formally assessed industry-mentored course of study. Past research shows that university degrees should promote reflective thinking since, in construction, it is necessary to make reflective judgements which deal with ill-defined problems. This is a generic capability that is needed by all graduates in knowledge-based occupations. The study utilized reflective practice to examine the perceptions of construction management students towards the development of attributes which were known to improve work skills. The students were asked to capture their reflections on their experiences in the form of reflective diaries, which were prepared weekly throughout the course. The results showed that the students expressed very positive views about their learning experiences. This occurred in spite of the challenges caused by the formal assessment processes that were undertaken as part of the course. This paper compares the student perceptions with the teachers’ reflections on the ability of traditional assessment methods to measure graduate attributes and work-readiness. The research explores the issues associated with assessing work-readiness skills in higher education. The findings suggest that student reflection is a necessary precondition to the development of effective work-readiness. In addition, the research concludes that more nontraditional assessment approaches are needed in construction programmes in order to develop the type of graduate required by the industry.

Reconceptualising engagement : a study of Australian academics

The management of human capital is a strategic imperative for knowledge based firms such as universities. Human capital has been described as the investment in people necessary to build the skills and capabilities to operate at their full potential and enable them to act in ways that enhance the competitiveness of organisations. This thesis is set amidst the series of changes made to the Australian Higher Education sector that have had a profound effect on the management of its human capital. The changes have larg ely been driven by government policy in response to globalisation, increased competition and technological advances. As a result the climate of universities has moved to a more cost efficiency-focused managerialism. Various studies have illustrated the significant consequences for the academic workforce and the way in which work has changed in the sector. Academics now face greater accountability for the quality and quantity of their teaching and research at a time when university funding has been constrained. The results have not been all positive for the quality of academics’ working lives and evidence points to heavy workloads and a steadily disengaging workforce. Despite this, many of the sectoral changes rely on an engaged and cooperative workforce to bring about greater productivity and quality of education to attract a larger share of international and domestic students. ... The two aims of this thesis are: to clarify the current definitions of engagement by bringing together the constructs and concepts that contribute to engagement; and to provide insight into the dimensions that shape engagement in Australian business academics ... The thesis also contributes to the dialogue on human capital and in particular, how it can be harnessed in key areas such as the knowledge industries and for targeted purposes such as the management of talent.