Feasibility of Information-Centric Networking Integration into LTE Mobile Networks

With the current growth of mobile devices usage, mobile net- works struggle to deliver content with an acceptable Quality of Experience. In this paper, we propose the integration of Information Centric Networking into 3GPP Long Term Evolution mobile networks, allowing its inherent caching feature to be explored in close proximity to the end users by deploying components inside the evolved Node B. Apart from the advantages brought by Information-Centric Networking’s content requesting paradigm, its inherent caching features enable lower latencies to access content and reduce traffic at the core network. Results show that the impact on the evolved Node B performance is low and ad- vantages coming from Information-Centric Networking are considerable. Thus, mobile network operators reduce operational costs and users end up with a higher perceived network quality even in peak utilization periods.

Systemic Determinants of the Information Systems Outsourcing Decision: A Comparative Study of German and United States Firms

The practice of information systems (IS) outsourcing is widely established among organizations. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that organizations differ considerably in the extent to which they deploy IS outsourcing. This variation has motivated research into the determinants of the IS outsourcing decision. Most of this research is based on the assumption that a decision on the outsourcing of a particular IS function is made independently of other IS functions. This modular view ignores the systemic nature of the IS function, which posits that IS effectiveness depends on how the various IS functions work together effectively. This study proposes that systemic influences are important criteria in evaluating the outsourcing option. It further proposes that the recognition of systemic influences in outsourcing decisions is culturally sensitive. Specifically, we provide evidence that systemic effects are factored into the IS outsourcing decision differently in more individualist cultures than in collectivist ones. Our results of a survey of United States and German firms indicate that perceived in-house advantages in the systemic impact of an IS function are, indeed, a significant determinant of IS outsourcing in a moderately individualist country (i.e., Germany), whereas insignificant in a strongly individualist country (i.e., the United States). The country differences are even stronger with regard to perceived in-house advantages in the systemic view of IS professionals. In fact, the direction of this impact is reversed in the United States sample. Other IS outsourcing determinants that were included as controls, such as cost efficiency, did not show significant country differences.

Information Systems Outsourcing. Enduring themes, global challenges, and process opportunities

he notion of outsourcing – making arrangements with an external entity for the provision of goods or services to supplement or replace internal efforts – has been around for centuries. The outsourcing of information systems (IS) is however a much newer concept but one which has been growing dramatically. This book attempts to synthesize what is known about IS outsourcing by dividing the subject into three interrelated parts: (1) Traditional Information Technology Outsourcing, (2) Information Technolgy Offshoring, and (3) Business Process Outsourcing. The book should be of interest to all academics and students in the field of Information Systems as well as corporate executives and professionals who seek a more profound analysis and understanding of the underlying factors and mechanisms of outsourcing.

Information Systems Outsourcing: Towards Sustainable Business Value

This book attempts to synthesize research that contributes to a better understanding of how to reach sustainable business value through information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics in this realm are how IS outsourcing can contribute to innovation, how it can be dynamically governed, how to cope with its increasing complexity through multi-vendor arrangements, how service quality standards can be met, how corporate social responsibility can be upheld and how to cope with increasing demands of internationalization and new sourcing models, such as crowdsourcing and platform-based cooperation. These issues are viewed from either the client or vendor perspective, or both. The book should be of interest to all academics and students in the fields of Information Systems, Management and Organization as well as corporate executives and professionals who seek a more profound analysis and understanding of the underlying factors and mechanisms of outsourcing.

Cognitive binding in schizophrenia: weakened integration of temporal intersensory information

Cognitive functioning is based on binding processes, by which different features and elements of neurocognition are integrated and coordinated. Binding is an essential ingredient of, for instance, Gestalt perception. We have implemented a paradigm of causality perception based on the work of Albert Michotte, in which 2 identical discs move from opposite sides of a monitor, steadily toward, and then past one another. Their coincidence generates an ambiguous percept of either "streaming" or "bouncing," which the subjects (34 schizophrenia spectrum patients and 34 controls with mean age 27.9 y) were instructed to report. The latter perception is a marker of the binding processes underlying perceived causality (type I binding). In addition to this visual task, acoustic stimuli were presented at different times during the task (150 ms before and after visual coincidence), which can modulate perceived causality. This modulation by intersensory and temporally delayed stimuli is viewed as a different type of binding (type II). We show here, using a mixed-effects hierarchical analysis, that type II binding distinguishes schizophrenia spectrum patients from healthy controls, whereas type I binding does not. Type I binding may even be excessive in some patients, especially those with positive symptoms; Type II binding, however, was generally attenuated in patients. The present findings point to ways in which the disconnection (or Gestalt) hypothesis of schizophrenia can be refined, suggesting more specific markers of neurocognitive functioning and potential targets of treatment.

Integration of WSNs into enterprise systems based on semantic physical business entities

Internet of Things based systems are anticipated to gain widespread use in industrial applications. Standardization efforts, like 6L0WPAN and the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) have made the integration of wireless sensor nodes possible using Internet technology and web-like access to data (RESTful service access). While there are still some open issues, the interoperability problem in the lower layers can now be considered solved from an enterprise software vendors' point of view. One possible next step towards integration of real-world objects into enterprise systems and solving the corresponding interoperability problems at higher levels is to use semantic web technologies. We introduce an abstraction of real-world objects, called Semantic Physical Business Entities (SPBE), using Linked Data principles. We show that this abstraction nicely fits into enterprise systems, as SPBEs allow a business object centric view on real-world objects, instead of a pure device centric view. The interdependencies between how currently services in an enterprise system are used and how this can be done in a semantic real-world aware enterprise system are outlined, arguing for the need of semantic services and semantic knowledge repositories. We introduce a lightweight query language, which we use to perform a quantitative analysis of our approach to demonstrate its feasibility.

Vertical integration and information sharing — an empirical investigation in the German apparel industry

Despite the astounding success of the fast fashion retailers, the management practices leading to these results have not been subject to extensive research so far. Given this background, we analyze the impact of information sharing and vertical integration on the performance of 51 German apparel companies. We find that the positive impact of vertical integration is mediated by information sharing, i.e. that the ability to improve the information flow is a key success factor of vertically integrated apparel supply chains. Thus, the success of an expansion strategy based on vertical integration critically depends on effective ways to share logistical information.