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The state of computing science and, particularly, software engineering and knowledge engineering is generally considered immature. The best starting point for achieving a mature engineering discipline is a solid scientific theory, and the primary reason behind the immaturity in these fields is precisely that computing science still has no such agreed upon underlying theory. As theories in other fields of science do, this paper formally establishes the fundamental elements and postulates making up a first attempt at a theory in this field, considering the features and peculiarities of computing science. The fundamental elements of this approach are informons and holons, and it is a general and comprehensive theory of software engineering and knowledge engineering that related disciplines (e.g., information systems) can particularise and/or extend to take benefit from it (Lakatos' concepts of core theory and protective belt theories)., Author(s): F. David de la Peña [sup.1] , Juan A. Lara [sup.1] , David Lizcano [sup.1] , María Aurora Martínez [sup.1] , Juan Pazos [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.460076.3, 0000 [...]

ABSTRACT The current heterogeneity of the existing global collection of measuring assets, satellite and surface based, is a major obstacle to creating a truly integrated, globally uniform information system. Many [...]

IT experts talk about interoperability in terms of great progress, new opportunities, and advances in patient care. With doctors, the same topic tends to generate eyerolls, skepticism, and even fear--fear [...]

Medical specialists treating chronic conditions typically face a heterogeneous set of patients. Such heterogeneity arises because of differences in medical conditions as well as the travel burden each patient faces to visit the clinic periodically. Given this heterogeneity, we compare the strategic behavior of revenue-maximizing and welfare-maximizing specialists and prove that the former will serve a smaller patient population, spend more time with the patients, and have shorter waiting times. We also analyze the impact of telemedicine technology on patient utility and the specialists' operating decisions. We consider both the case when specialists can freely set their own fee for service and the case when fees are set exogenously by a third-party payer. We prove that with the introduction of telemedicine, the specialists become more productive and the overall social welfare increases, although some patients, unexpectedly, will be worse off. Our analytical results lead to some important policy implications for facilitating the further deployment of telemedicine in the care of chronically ill patients. History: Accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management. Keywords: healthcare * treatment * enabling technologies * information technology policy and management * economics of information systems * service operations * telemedicine, 1. Introduction Service quality, unlike product quality, largely depends on perception. Service providers have employed different mechanisms to signal quality, ranging from price (Chen et al. 1994) to service environment [...]

One sentence. Just one sentence in a five-year-old case file can drastically change the life of a child. Identify the best placement for a child entering care. Ensure a family [...]

This research explores and attempts to understand transit riders' behavioural responses towards real-time transit information for two specific situations: the presence of inconsistent information on transit service recovery and the effects of crowded trains during rush hours. A survey was designed and conducted to collect light rail transit (LRT) riders' behavioural responses in Calgary, Alberta. Multinomial logit models were developed and calibrated to explore the effects of the described scenarios on riders' responses. The results led to the conclusion that socioeconomic attributes, experience with advanced passenger information system (APIS) system, familiarity with public transit in general and Calgary's LRT system in particular, and the characteristics of origin LRT stations had strong influences on travellers' behavioural responses. It was also determined that travellers' actions vary significantly depending on the purpose of the trip, time of the trip, and weather conditions. Key words: multinomial logistic model, stated preference, real-time transit information, crowded train, inconsistent information. Cette recherche explore et tente de comprendre la reponse comportementale des usagers du transport en reaction a des informations sur le transport en temps reel pour deux situations specifiques: la presence d'informations contradictoires sur le retablissement du service de transport et les effets de la presence de trains bondes pendant les heures de pointe. Un sondage a ete concu et mene pour rassembler les reponses comportementales des usagers du << Light Rail Transit >> (LRT) a Calgary en Alberta. Des modeles logistiques multinomiaux ont ete developpes et calibres dans le but d'explorer les effets des scenarios decrits sur les reponses des usagers. Les resultats ont mene a la conclusion que des attributs socio-economiques, l'experience avec le systeme d'information prealable sur les voyageurs (APIS), la bonne connaissance du transport en commun en general et du systeme LRT de Calgary en particulier, et les caracteristiques d'origine des stations de LRT avaient des effets importants sur les reponses comportementales des voyageurs. Il a aussi ete determine que les actions des voyageurs varient de facon importante selon le but du deplacement, le temps du deplacement et les conditions meteorologiques. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: modele logistique multinomial, preference declaree, information sur le transport en temps reel, train bonde, informations incompatibles., Introduction Over the past two decades, public transit agencies across North America and Europe have increasingly implemented advanced passenger information systems (APIS). APIS offers considerable benefits in terms of customer [...]

Abstract. We integrate control theory and the information systems (IS) project management literature using a multilevel lens to theorize the cross-level effects of technical IS project risk on individual developer [...]

Problem Bangladesh has yet to develop a fully integrated health information system infrastructure that is critical to guiding policy development and planning. Approach Initial pilot telemedicine and eHealth programmes were not coordinated at national level. However, in 2011, a national eHealth policy was implemented. Local setting Bangladesh has made substantial improvements to its health system. However, the country still faces public health challenges with limited and inequitable access to health services and lack of adequate resources to meet the demands of the population. Relevant changes In 2008, eHealth services were introduced, including computerization of health facilities at sub-district levels, internet connections, internet servers and an mHealth service for communicating with health-care providers. Health facilities at sub- district levels were provided with internet connections and servers. In 482 upazila health complexes and district hospitals, an mHealth service was set-up where an on-duty doctor is available for patients at all hours to provide consultations by mobile phone. A government operated telemedicine service was initiated and by 2014, 43 fully equipped centres were in service.These centres provide medical consultations by qualified physicians to patients visiting rural and remote community clinics and union health centres. Lessons learnt Despite early pilot interventions and successful implementation, progress in adopting eHealth strategies in Bangladesh has been slow. There is a lack of common standards on information technology for health, which causes difficulties in data management and sharing among different databases. Limited internet bandwidth and the high cost of infrastructure and software development are barriers to adoption of these technologies. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Probleme Le Bangladesh n'a pas encore developpe d'infrastructure pour mettre en place un systeme d'information sanitaire totalement Integre, essentiel pour orienter l'elaboration des politiques et la planification. Approche Les premiers programmes pilotes de telemedecine et de telesante n'ont pas ete coordonnes a l'echelle nationale. Cependant, en 2011, une politique nationale de telesante a ete mise en oeuvre. Environnement local Le Bangladesh a apporte des ameliorations significatives a son systeme de sante. Toutefois, le pays rencontre encore des difficultes en matiere de sante publique, avec un acces limite et inequitable aux services de sante et des ressources insuffisantes pour repondre aux demandes de la population. Changements significatifs En 2008, des services de telesante ont ete mis en place, notamment l'informatisation des etablissements de sante au niveau des sous-districts, des connexions Internet, des serveurs Internet et un service de sante mobile permettant de communiquer avec les professionnels de sante. Dans les sous-districts, les etablissements de sante ont ete dotes de serveurs et de connexions Internet. Dans 482 centres de sante d'upazilas et hopitaux de districts, un service de sante mobile a ete mis en place : un medecin est a la disposition des patients a toute heure pour realiser des consultations par telephone mobile. Un service de telemedecine gere par le gouvernement a ete lance et, en 2014, 43 centres totalement equipes etaient en service. Grace a ces centres, les patients peuvent se rendre dans des centres de sante ou des cliniques communautaires ruraux et isoles et beneficier de consultations medicales assurees par des medecins qualifies. Lecons tirees En depit d'interventions pilotes precoces et d'une mise en oeuvre reussie, l'adoption de strategies de telesante au Bangladesh progresse lentement. Le pays n'a pas de normes communes en matiere de technologies de l'information pour la sante, ce qui entraine des difficultes dans la gestion et le partage de donnees entre differentes bases de donnees. Le debit limite d'Internet ainsi que le cout eleve du developpement d'infrastructures et de logiciels freinent l'adoption de ces technologies. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Situacion Bangladesh aun debe desarrollar una infraestructura de sistema de Informacion sanitaria totalmente integrado, cosa que es crucial para tener guias sobre la politica de desarrollo y la planificacion. Enfoque Los programas pilotos iniciales en telemedicina y sanidad electronica no se coordinaron a nivel nacional. Sin embargo, en 2011 se implemento una politica nacional de sanidad electronica. Marco regional Bangladesh ha hecho notables mejoras en su sistema sanitario. Sin embargo, el pais sigue afrontando retos en la sanidad publica debido al acceso limitado y desigual a los servicios sanitarios, asi como una falta de recursos adecuados para cumplir con las demandas de la poblacion. Cambios importantes En 2008, se introdujeron servicios de sanidad electronica, incluyendo la informatizacion de los centros sanitarios a nivel de los subdistritos, la conexion y los servidores de Internet y el servicio de sanidad movil para comunicarse con los profesionales sanitarios. A los centros sanitarios a nivel de los subdistritos se les suministraron servidores y conexion a Internet. En 482 de los complejos sanitarios de las upazila y hospitales de distrito se instalo un servicio de sanidad movil mediante el cual un doctor de servicio esta disponible a todas horas para consultas a traves de un telefono movil. Se inicio un servicio de telemedlcina operado por el gobierno y en 2014 ya habia capacitados 43 centros totalmente equipados. Dichos centros ofrecen consultas medicas hechas por medicos cualificados a pacientes mediante visitas a clinicas comunitarias en zonas rurales y remotas, asi como a centros de asistencia medica sindicales. Lecciones aprendidas A pesar de las intervenciones piloto iniciales y la exitosa implementacion, el progreso de adopcion de servicios de sanidad electronica en Bangladesh ha sido lento. Hay una falta de normas comunes en tecnologias de la informacion sanitaria, cosa que hace que haya dificultades en la gestion de los datos y en compartirlos entre diferentes bases de datos. El limitado ancho de banda de Internet y los altos costes de la infraestructura y el desarrollo de programas representan barreras para adoptar dichas tecnologias., Introduction Despite substantial improvements in health in recent years, Bangladesh faces several challenges, including limited and inequitable access to health services, lack of adequate resources to meet the demands of [...]

The claim that genes encode and transmit information is a central conceptual tenet in biomedicine. Historians have placed the origins of this claim in the rise of molecular biology after [...]

The first part of the paper develops a framework explaining the need to disambiguate user inquiries to improve information systems and services. Theoretical grounds for this framework are explained for how questions are categorized on the basis of their ambiguity type, while the relevant literature is reviewed including both the traditional and the digital information service environment. The second part of the paper categorizes a set of questions (400 Qs), originally collected for TREC 8 and 9 QA Tracks, according to ambiguity type. Three types and two dimensions of ambiguity are identified by the author with the acceptable levels of inter-coder agreements presented. The last part of the paper discusses three aspects of information systems and services, mainly related to user-system and user-information intermediary (i.e., a reference librarian) interactions, on the basis of the results of categorization. Those three aspects include (1) increasing user input to make initial queries less ambiguous, (2) reducing search space by disambiguating queries, and (3) clustering search results based on the characteristics of prospective answers. In each of the three aspects, discussions on the evolving environments of virtual reference services were presented. (1), Disambiguating human inquiries, either in a semantic or lexical approach, is an essential process to consider in developing information systems and services. This paper discusses this process for design in [...]

We identify two post-acceptance information system (IS) usage behaviors related to how employees leverage implemented systems. Routine use (RTN) refers to employees' using IS in a routine and standardized manner [...]

Information systems must be used effectively to obtain maximum benefits from them. However, despite a great Ideal of research on when and why systems are used, very little research has [...]

Geographic variation in consumer use of Internet retailers is partly explained by variation in offline shop-.ping costs. Explanations for geographic variation in the efficacy of different customer acquisition methods including traditional methods of offline word-of-mouth (WOM) and magazine advertising and information systems (IS)-enabled methods of online WOM and online search remain unexplored. We estimate a multivariate negative binomial distribution (NBD) model on zip code-level customer counts from a leading Internet retailer and provide new insights into factors explaining geographic variation in the success of these methods. First, we show that target customer density explains geographic variation over and above the impact due to the number of potential customers. Moreover, the effect of density is greatest for offline and online WOM acquisitions; this suggests that density contributes to contagion, connectivity, and a hypothesized 'social multiplier.' Second, when senders and recipients of WOM share consumption benefits, WOM is more powerful and compelling. We find that location-based convenience benefits have stronger effects on location-dependent offline WOM acquisi tions than on location-independent online WOM acquisitions. Third, acquisition channels contribute differently to the total customer pool--offline WOM acquisitions are clustered, whereas magazine acquisitions are dispersed. Finally, separate click-to-conversion data from Coremetrics.com indicates that using the model-based predictions to target specific markets delivers a twofold improvement in actual click-to-order rates. Key words: count model; Internet retailing; search; spatial analysis; word-of-mouth History: Received July 14, 2009; accepted June 28, 2011, by Sandra Slaughter, information systems. Published online in Articles in Advance December 22, 2011., Introduction Physical stores have relatively small trading areas (Fotheringham 1988, Huff 1964, Reilly 1931); this 'downside' is, however, counterbalanced by the fact that customer acquisition efforts can be focused in [...]

An important area of information systems (IS) research has been the identification of the individual-level beliefs that enable technology acceptance such as the usefulness, reliability, and flexibility of a system. [...]

Online communities (OCs) are a virtual organizational form in which knowledge collaboration can occur in unparalleled scale and scope, in ways not heretofore theorized. For example, collaboration can occur among [...]

With the strong ongoing push toward investment in and deployment of electronic healthcare (e-healthcare) systems, understanding the factors that drive the use of such systems and the consequences of using [...]

In this paper we examine the use of electronic patient records (EPR) by clinical specialists in their development of multidisciplinary care for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. We develop [...]

The information systems (IS) literature has focused considerable research on IS resistance, particularly in the health-care industry. Most of this attention has focused on the impact of IS resistance on [...]

Past research has studied how the selection and use of control portfolios in software projects is based on environmental and task characteristics. However, little research has examined the consequences of [...]

Interest in the area of virtual work continues to increase with articles being written from different disciplinary perspectives--e.g., information systems (IS), management, psychology, and transportation. In this paper, we map [...]

Research on software piracy often relies on self-reports by individual users and thus suffers from possible response distortion attributable to a variety of human motivations. Conclusions drawn directly from distorted [...]

A growing number of vendors are using a sequence of online auctions to sell large inventories of identical items. Although bidding strategies and bidder behavior in single auctions have been [...]

Current knowledge management (KM) technologies and strategies advocate two different approaches: knowledge codification and knowledge-sharing networks. However, the extant literature has paid limited attention to the interaction between them. This [...]

Virtual worlds are immersive, simulated, persistent, and dynamic environments that include rich graphical three dimensional spaces, high fidelity audio, motion, viewpoint, and interactivity. Initially dismissed as environments of play, virtual [...]

This study examines why firms fail or survive in the volatile software industry. We provide a novel perspective by considering how software firms' capabilities and their competitive actions affect their [...]

As more and more firms seek to digitize their business processes and develop new digital capabilities, the enterprise systems software (ESS) has emerged as a significant industry. ESS firms offer [...]

This paper examines two important questions in the context of the social networking services (SNS) firms: what kind of competitive moves do SNS firms undertake and to what extent do [...]

This paper is seeking to make a contribution through exploring project management from the perspective of information systems (IS) investment evaluation. Organizational investments in IS are significant in financial terms and, as a result, management would appear set to increasingly scrutinize such expenditure through tighter forms of decision-making and corporate governance. In turn, this has increased the motivation of project managers to appropriately evaluate the impact of their IS before, during and after the investments are signed off. This perspective is not restricted to any one industry sector, with the author seeking motivation for a better understanding of investment evaluation within a project management context. This paper sets out to explain why and how investment evaluation should be embedded in project management in order to support an increase in the effectiveness of project management, thereby increasing the prospects of project success. While doing so, the reader will be provided with several touch-points that serve to outline the purpose and challenges facing those seeking to evaluate their investments. The author starts off with a contextualization of project management and its phased activities, such that a clear understanding of the contribution that investment evaluation plays within robust project management can be demonstrated. Then, the perspective of investment versus consumption is presented, grounded within the strategic grid, which classifies information technology-based projects as either: strategic, turnaround, factory or support. The author then presents evaluation as a lifecycle process, where evaluation is classified into four distinctive phases, namely ex-ante evaluation, metrics, command and control and ex-post evaluation, in doing so, emphasizing that evaluation needs to be seen as a process that runs through the life cycle of a project rather than as a hurdle that needs to be cleared to ensure financial approval. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2010) 61, 917-928. doi: 10.1057/jors.2010.10 Published online 17 March 2010 Keywords: project management; evaluation; information systems

A common phenomenon that occurs in any decentralized multilocation system is stock imbalance, whereby some locations have unsatisfied demands while others are overstocked. The system can be rebalanced by using [...]

Outsourcing of information technology (IT) services has received much attention in the information systems (IS) literature. However, considerably less attention has been paid to actual contract structures used in IT […]

Information technology (IT) has been used to increase automation and integration of information systems on construction projects for over two decades. However, evidence that overall costs have been reduced or project performance has been improved with IT in construction is limited and mostly focused on application specific studies. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between IT and project performance helps industry practitioners better understand the likely outcomes of implementation of IT application and likewise benefits researchers in improving the effectiveness in their IT development efforts. An opportunity to examine new evidence exists with the emergence of the Construction Industry Institute's Benchmarking and Metrics database on construction productivity and practices. This article presents an analysis of that data to determine if there is a relationship between labor productivity and level of IT implementation and integration. Data from industrial construction projects are used to measure the relationships between the automation and integration of construction information systems with productivity. Using the independent sample t-test, the relationship was examined between jobsite productivity across four trades (concrete, structural steel, electrical, and piping) and the automation and integration of various work functions on the sampled projects. The results showed that construction labor productivity was positively related to the use of automation and integration on the sampled projects. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO. 1943-7862.0000024 CE Database subject headings: Construction management; Productivity; Information technology (IT); Automation; Labor.

Value of information (VOI) methods were used to guide changes to recurrent organizational decision processes under a reengineering effort at a major automobile manufacturer to reduce supply and demand imbalances involving capacity for parts and products. We modeled representative decisions assuming that they would be made with and without the benefit of improved information flows and calculated the resulting increase in expected value. By factoring in the entire range of decisions affected by a process change, we scaled the value of each organizational change to a life cycle value. The results quantified the impact of organizational changes in order to refine and prioritize a portfolio of change projects., INTRODUCTION Value of Change as Value of Information This article applies the decision analytic idea of value of information (VOI) to plan improvements to an organization's decision processes and information [...]

Despite the importance of causal analysis in building a valid knowledge base and in answering managerial questions, the issue of causality rarely receives the attention it deserves in information systems […]

This study addresses the theoretically underexplored question of how fit between project governance configurations, and the knowledge of specialized information technology (IT) and client departments, influences information systems development (ISD) […]