Discover the Thracians - An Approach for Use of 2D and 3D Technologies for Digitization of Cultural Heritage in the Field of E-learning

Information and communication technologies (ICT) offer an easier access to and a multi-perspective view of cultural heritage artifacts and may also enrich and improve cultural heritage education through the adoption of innovative learning/teaching methods. This paper examines the different practices and opportunities for digitization of cultural artifacts with historical significance and describes the work on a pilot project concerning the development of e-learning materials in the Thracian cultural and historical heritage. The proposed method presents an approach based on a combination of 2D and 3D technologies to facilitate the overall process of digitization of individual objects. This approach not only provides greater opportunities for presenting the Thracian heritage but also new perspectives for studying it - students, scientists, PhD students will have the opportunity to work with the materials without having access to them.

Students’ Digital Archive at the State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Sofia

The paper describes the creation and content of the digital archive of photographs, films and materials from fieldwork (interviews, surveys, and observations) of students from the Information Funds of the Cultural and Historical Heritage program at the State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria. The text discusses the educational opportunities of the archive, and the plans for publishing it as CD and for conversion into an electronic archive on the Internet.

Linking design and manufacturing domains via web-based and enterprise integration technologies

The manufacturing industry faces many challenges such as reducing time-to-market and cutting costs. In order to meet these increasing demands, effective methods are need to support the early product development stages by bridging the gap of communicating early design ideas and the evaluation of manufacturing performance. This paper introduces methods of linking design and manufacturing domains using disparate technologies. The combined technologies include knowledge management supporting for product lifecycle management systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, aggregate process planning systems, workflow management and data exchange formats. A case study has been used to demonstrate the use of these technologies, illustrated by adding manufacturing knowledge to generate alternative early process plan which are in turn used by an ERP system to obtain and optimise a rough-cut capacity plan. Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Investigating factors influencing local government decision makers while adopting integration technologies (IntTech)

The emergence of innovative and revolutionary Integration Technologies (IntTech) has highly influenced the local government authorities (LGAs) in their decision-making process. LGAs that plan to adopt such IntTech may consider this as a serious investment. Advocates, however, claim that such IntTech have emerged to overcome the integration problems at all levels (e.g. data, object and process). With the emergence of electronic government (e-Government), LGAs have turned to IntTech to fully automate and offer their services on-line and integrate their IT infrastructures. While earlier research on the adoption of IntTech has considered several factors (e.g. pressure, technological, support, and financial), inadequate attention and resources have been applied in systematically investigating the individual, decision and organisational context factors, influencing top management's decisions for adopting IntTech in LGAs. It is a highly considered phenomenon that the success of an organisation's operations relies heavily on understanding an individual's attitudes and behaviours, the surrounding context and the type of decisions taken. Based on empirical evidence gathered through two intensive case studies, this paper attempts to investigate the factors that influence decision makers while adopting IntTech. The findings illustrate two different doctrines - one inclined and receptive towards taking risky decisions, the other disinclined. Several underlying rationales can be attributed to such mind-sets in LGAs. The authors aim to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring the factors influencing top management's decision-making process while adopting IntTech vital for facilitating LGAs' operational reforms.

Performance evaluation of reverse osmosis (RO) pre-treatment technologies for in-land brackish water treatment

Integration of renewable energy with desalination technologies has emerged as an attractive solution to augment fresh water supply sustainably. Fouling and scaling are still considered as limiting factors in membrane desalination processes. For brackish water treatment, pre-treatment of reverse osmosis (RO) feed water is a key step in designing RO plants avoiding membrane fouling. This study aims to compare at pilot scale the rejection efficiency of RO membranes with multiple pre-treatment options at different water recoveries (30, 35, 40, 45 and 50%) and TDS concentrations (3500, 4000, and 4500mg/L). Synthetic brackish water was prepared and performance evaluation were carried out using brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) membranes (Filmtec LC-LE-4040 and Hydranautics CPA5-LD-4040) preceded by 5 and 1μm cartridge filters, 0.02μm ultra-filtration (UF) membrane, and forward osmosis (FO) membrane using 0.25M NaCl and MgCl2 as draw solutions (DS). It was revealed that FO membrane with 0.25M MgCl2 used as a draw solution (DS) and Ultra-filtration (UF) membrane followed by Filmtec membrane gave overall 98% rejection but UF facing high fouling potential due to high applied pressure. Use of 5 and 1μm cartridge filter prior to Filmtec membrane also showed effective results with 95% salt rejection.

A jövő intelligens technológiai és menedzsmentkérdései-avagy semmilyen szél nem jó annak, aki nem tudja milyen kikötőbe tart (Managerial questions of the future intelligent technologies, or there is no good wind for those who do not know which port they want to sail)

Az elmúlt évtizedek felgyorsult technológiai fejlődése komoly kihívásokat jelent mind a cégeknek, mind az egyéneknek. Intézményesített „jövőkezelésre” és ennek menedzselésére van szükség. A szerzők tanulmányukban át kívánják tekinteni a jövőkutatás, a technológiamenedzsment, az innovációmenedzsment és egyéb megközelítések releváns alapjait, viszonyait és lehetséges integrációjukat. Be kívánják mutatni a meghatározó területeket és trendeket. Keresik azokat a menedzsment-alapkérdéseket, tanulságokat és dilemmákat, amelyek minden olyan vállalatnak érdekesek és hasznosak lehetnek, amelyek a fejlődő technológia lehetőségeit szeretnék kiaknázni, vagy csak egyszerűen szeretnének a követhetetlenül gyors fejlődésben talpon maradni. _____________ The fast pace technology development creates a serious challenge both for individuals and for companies. There is a concept which attempts to handle this challenge by “institutional future management”. In their paper the authors survey the relevant concepts of future studies, technology management and other areas, and explore their connections and integration possibilities. They also would like to introduce some key technology trends, and at the same time some basic managerial questions, dilemmas, conclusions which might have importance to those corporations which have to survive in an environment determined by accelerated technology based innovation.

A technológiák szerepe a tudásmenedzsment folyamatok támogatásában (The role of technologies in the support of knowledge management processes)

Az elmúlt évtized folyamán a szervezetek számára a tudás kiemelt stratégiai erőforrássá vált. A tudás kezelésére irányuló törekvések alapvetően az szervezeti megoldásokat, illetve az technológiai-informatikai megoldásokat középpontba helyező megközelítésre oszthatóak. A technológiai szerepéről mind a kutatók, mind a gyakorlati szakemberek között megoszlanak a vélemények, ugyanakkor a lehetőségeket legtöbbször nem is ismerik a döntéshozók és vezetők. Az információs és kommunikációs technológiák (ICT) legnagyobb szerepe abban van, hogy radikálisan csökkentik a tudás megosztását és átadását gátló tényezők hatását. ______ The author in his essay examines how the knowledge-based companies use the numerous technologies avaible to support knowledge management processes. He comes to the conclusion that the use of this technologies are restricted even at companies which are not averse to technological solutions.

Doctor-Patient Knowledge Transfer: Innovative Technologies and Policy Implications

The aim of this study was to empirically investigate the barriers in doctor-patient communication and knowledge transfer and the role of innovative technologies in overcoming these barriers. We applied qualitative research methods. Our results show that patients extensively use information sources, primarily the Internet before the visits. Patients regularly apply a self-diagnosis regarding their diseases. This implies several risks as many of them are not able to properly interpret the found information and at the same time the information might not be reliable. To overcome these risks efforts are required within the fields of technology developments for making web sites more reliable and improvement of the health culture of patients, as well. Our research identified the most significant barriers of doctor-patient communication including limited time, the patients’ distress, inadequate health culture and prior knowledge, as well as poor communication skills of some clinicians. Technology might help clinicians to use their limited time more effectively. In the long term, innovative technology solutions might take over some tasks of the health care personnel if they provide reliable health information adapted to the patient’s health, emotional and psychosocial status. Barriers of access to the new technology should be identified and addressed otherwise it would increase the already existing knowledge gap between patients and doctors.