Japanese Scientific And Technology Information in the United States - Public Policy and Private Initiatives

In January 1983 a group of US government, industry and university information specialists gathered at MIT to take stock of efforts to monitor, acquire, assess, and disseminate Japanese scientific and technical information (JSTI). It was agreed that these efforts were uncoordinated and poorly conceived, and that a clearer understanding of Japanese technical information systems and a clearer sense of its importance to end users was necessary. That meeting led to formal technology assessments, Congressinal hearings, and legislation; it also helped stimulate several private initiatives in JSTI provision. Four years later there exist better coordinated and better conceived JSTI programs in both the public and private sectors, but there remains much room for improvement. This paper will recount their development and assess future directions.

SIDUR: development of an information system, using controlled vocabulary designed to the characterization and sample of population with and without disability, attended by Rehabilitation programs, University of Rosario

Introduction: the statistical record used in the Field Academic Programs (PAC for it’s initials in Spanish) of Rehabilitation denotes generalities in the data conceptualization, which complicates the reliable guidance in making decisions and provides a low support for research in rehabilitation and disability. In response, the Research Group in Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities has worked on the creation of a registry to characterize the population seen by Rehabilitation PAC. This registry includes the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the WHO. Methodology: the proposed methodology includes two phases: the first one is a descriptive study and the second one involves performing methodology Methontology, which integrates the identification and development of ontology knowledge. This article contextualizes the progress made in the second phase. Results: the development of the registry in 2008, as an information system, included documentary review and the analysis of possible use scenarios to help guide the design and development of the SIDUR system. The system uses the ICF given that it is a terminology standardization that allows the reduction of ambiguity and that makes easier the transformation of health facts into data translatable to information systems. The record raises three categories and a total of 129 variables Conclusions: SIDUR facilitates accessibility to accurate and updated information, useful for decision making and research.

Análisis financiero de la empresa Neoris Colombia S.A.S. y el sector de tecnologías de información en Colombia

El siguiente trabajo de grado para la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad del Rosario, tiene como objetivo principal realizar un análisis financiero de la compañía NEORIS COLOMBIA S.A.S., empresa resultante de las soluciones innovadoras que creó CEMEX, uno de los productores de cemento más grandes y rentables del mundo, y que se dedica a brindar consultoría interna de tecnología. Asimismo, indagar las implicaciones que tienen los cambios y el avance en los sistemas de implementación tecnológico de empresas dedicadas a TI en las finanzas de esta compañía. El presente trabajo busca determinar de qué manera NEORIS COLOMBIA S.A.S. implementa sus recursos para ser una de las empresas de consultoría más importantes de Colombia a pesar del incremento de la competencia en el sector dedicado a consultoría de TI brindando soluciones de tecnología emergente y servicios de outsourcing, que va de la mano con los avances tecnológicos que exige cada vez más el mundo actual. Aunque dentro del mercado la competencia es infaltable, NEORIS busca crear relaciones a largo plazo con proveedores de servicios generales, personas con la experiencia y el conocimiento y excelencia técnica necesaria para desarrollar aplicaciones y servicios especializados en una diversidad de plataformas tecnológicas que le permita seguir siendo una empresa líder. Para este análisis financiero, se utilizarán diferentes herramientas e indicadores financieros que ayudarán a identificar, analizar y evaluar si la compañía es viable o no.

Information and communication technology for ISEB certificate of achievement (ages 8-13).

Libro de texto para alumnos de Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación de enseñanza primaria y primer ciclo de enseñanza secundaria, orientado a la consecución del certificado de ISEB (Information Systems Examinations Board). Está estructurado en seis módulos: presentación de la información (procesadores de texto y software de presentación de contenidos), tratamiento de datos, gráficos, programación y sistemas de control, uso de ordenadores, Internet y correo electrónico (búsqueda de información, diseño de páginas web y e-mail). Incluye un cd-rom con material de apoyo para el desarrollo de los contenidos del libro.

Unlocking Geographical Information from Academia: an Open Source WebGIS Solution

Los Centros de Investigación de Geografía son por lo general productores de un gran volumen de Información Geográfica (IG), los cuales generan tanto proyectos financiados como iniciativas de investigación individuales. El Centro de Estudos de Geografia e Planeamento Regional (e-GEO) ha estado involucrado en varios proyectos a escala local, regional, nacional e internacional. Recientemente, dos cuestiones fueron objeto de debate. Una de ellas fue el hecho de que la información espacial obtenida a partir del desarrollo de tales proyectos de investigación no ha tenido la visibilidad que se esperaba. En la mayoría de las veces, la IG de estos proyectos no estaba en el formato adecuado para que los investigadores -o incluso el público en general o grupos de interés- pudieran pesquisar fácilmente. La segunda cuestión era sobre cómo hacer que estos resultados pudieran ser accesibles al alcance de todos, en todos los lugares, fácilmente y con los mínimos costes para el Centro, teniendo en cuenta el actual contexto económico portugués y los intereses de e-GEO. Estas dos cuestiones se resuelven con una sola respuesta: la puesta en marcha de un WebGIS en una plataforma Open Source. En este trabajo se ilustra la producción de un instrumento para la difusión de las indicaciones geográficas en el World Wide Web, utilizando únicamente software libre y freeware. Esta herramienta permite a todos los investigadores del Centro publicar su IG, la cual aparece como plenamente accesible a cualquier usuario final. Potencialmente, el hecho de permitir que este tipo de información sea plenamente accesible debería generar un gran impacto, acortando las distancias entre el trabajo realizado por los académicos y el usuario final. Creemos que es una óptima manera para que el público pueda acceder e interpretar la información espacial. En conclusión, esta plataforma debería servir para cerrar la brecha entre productores y usuarios de la información geográfica, permitiendo la interacción entre todas las partes así como la carga de nuevos datos dado un conjunto de normas destinadas a control de calidad

El sistema d'informació de campus per a estudiants en les universitats espanyoles: caracterització i anàlisi

La disponibilitat de caracteritzacions àmplies dels sistemes d'informació dels campus per a estudiants pot ser tan útil per als responsables de la gestió estratègica dels centres d'educació superior com per a l'orientació d'estudiants universitaris potencials. Primer descrivim i contextualitzem un model de caracterització per als sistemes d'informació dels campus en línia per a estudiants. Això serveix com a marc de referència conceptual per al treball en l'àmbit de les universitats espanyoles. La informació es va reunir amb visites estructurades als llocs web institucionals i en entrevistes estructurades amb estudiants de llicenciatura. Analitzar la informació obtinguda ens permet situar les institucions individualment i comparar-les, a més d'obtenir una visió descriptiva de tot el conjunt de les universitats espanyoles amb una perspectiva informacional. Les universitats també es van classificar en grups amb característiques homogènies, en el sentit dels aspectes organitzatius i informacionals. Finalment, tractem investigacions futures en la matèria.

Global navigation satellite systems e a gestão do espaço aéreo

- Introdução - Sistemas actuais - Galileo - Comparação - Aplicabilidade - Futuro - Referências

A Conceptual Model for Group Support Systems in Local Councils

This paper proposes a conceptual model of a context-aware group support system (GSS) to assist local council employees to perform collaborative tasks in conjunction with inter- and intra-organisational stakeholders. Most discussions about e-government focus on the use of ICT to improve the relationship between government and citizen, not on the relationship between government and employees. This paper seeks to expose the unique culture of UK local councils and to show how a GSS could support local government employer and employee needs.

Semiotic modelling for complex enterprise systems

An enterprise is viewed as a complex system which can be engineered to accomplish organisational objectives. Systems analysis and modelling will enable to the planning and development of the enterprise and IT systems. Many IT systems design methods focus on functional and non-functional requirements of the IT systems. Most methods are normally capable of one but leave out other aspects. Analysing and modelling of both business and IT systems may often have to call on techniques from various suites of methods which may be placed on different philosophic and methodological underpinnings. Coherence and consistency between the analyses are hard to ensure. This paper introduces the Problem Articulation Method (PAM) which facilitates the design of an enterprise system infrastructure on which an IT system is built. Outcomes of this analysis represent requirements which can be further used for planning and designing a technical system. As a case study, a finance system, Agresso, for e-procurement has been used in this paper to illustrate the applicability of PAM in modelling complex systems.

Analysis of the dominant enterprise information assurance mechanisms

The purpose of this study is to analyse current data continuity mechanisms employed by the target group of businesses and to identify any inadequacies in the mechanisms as a whole. The questionnaire responses indicate that 47% of respondents do perceive backup methodologies as important, with a total of 70% of respondents having some backup methodology already in place. Businesses in Moulton Park perceive the loss of data to have a significant effect upon their business’ ability to function. Only 14% of respondents indicated that loss of data on computer systems would not affect their business at all, with 54% of respondents indicating that there would be either a “major effect” (or greater) on their ability to operate. Respondents that have experienced data loss were more likely to have backup methodologies in place (53%) than respondents that had not experienced data loss (18%). Although the number of respondents clearly affected the quality and conclusiveness of the results returned, the level of backup methodologies in place appears to be proportional to the company size. Further investigation is recommended into the subject in order to validate the information gleaned from the small number of respondents.

A conceptual model for group support systems in local councils

This paper proposes a conceptual model of a context-aware group support system (GSS) to assist local council employees to perform collaborative tasks in conjunction with inter- and intra-organisational stakeholders. Most discussions about e-government focus on the use of ICT to improve the relationship between government and citizen, not on the relationship between government and employees. This paper seeks to expose the unique culture of UK local councils and to show how a GSS could support local government employer and employee needs.

Applying semiotic analysis to the design and modeling of distributed multimedia systems

Semiotics is the study of signs. Application of semiotics in information systems design is based on the notion that information systems are organizations within which agents deploy signs in the form of actions according to a set of norms. An analysis of the relationships among the agents, their actions and the norms would give a better specification of the system. Distributed multimedia systems (DMMS) could be viewed as a system consisted of many dynamic, self-controlled normative agents engaging in complex interaction and processing of multimedia information. This paper reports the work of applying the semiotic approach to the design and modeling of DMMS, with emphasis on using semantic analysis under the semiotic framework. A semantic model of DMMS describing various components and their ontological dependencies is presented, which then serves as a design model and implemented in a semantic database. Benefits of using the semantic database are discussed with reference to various design scenarios.

Information system evolvability, feedback and pattern languages

Information systems for business are frequently heavily reliant on software. Two important feedback-related effects of embedding software in a business process are identified. First, the system dynamics of the software maintenance process can become complex, particularly in the number and scope of the feedback loops. Secondly, responsiveness to feedback can have a big effect on the evolvability of the information system. Ways have been explored to provide an effective mechanism for improving the quality of feedback between stakeholders during software maintenance. Understanding can be improved by using representations of information systems that are both service-based and architectural in scope. The conflicting forces that encourage change or stability can be resolved using patterns and pattern languages. A morphology of information systems pattern languages has been described to facilitate the identification and reuse of patterns and pattern languages. The kind of planning process needed to achieve consensus on a system's evolution is also considered.