WESONet: Applying semantic web technologies and collaborative tagging to multimedia web information systems

The publication of different media types, like images, audio and video in the World Wide Web is getting more importance each day. However, searching and locating content in multimedia sites is challenging. In this paper, we propose a platform for the development of multimedia web information systems. Our approach is based on the combination between semantic web technologies and collaborative tagging. Producers can add meta-data to multimedia content associating it with different domain-specific ontologies. At the same time, users can tag the content in a collaborative way. The proposed system uses a search engine that combines both kinds of meta-data to locate the desired content. It will also provide browsing capabilities through the ontology concepts and the developed tags.     

A structure-based approach for multimedia information filtering

While multimedia documents are sequentially presented to users, an information filtering (IF) system is useful to achieve a good retrieval performance in terms of both quality and efficiency. Conventional approaches for designing an IF system are based on the user's evaluation on information relevance degree (IRD), but ignore other attributes in system design such as relative importance of the data in a collection of multimedia documents. In this paper, we aim at developing a framework of designing structure-based multimedia IF systems, which incorporates the characteristics of the importance and relevance of multimedia documents. A method of calculating the values of relative importance degree of multimedia documents is proposed. Furthermore, these values are combined into the IRD of multimedia documents to improve the representation of user profiles. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the proposed techniques.     

Dynamic end-to-end QoS management middleware for distributed multimedia systems

In this paper, we present a separable, reusable middleware solution that provides coordinated, end-to-end QoS management over any type of service component, and can use existing (legacy) QoS management solutions (by using wrappers) in a distributed multimedia system. Our middleware solution incorporates strategic and tactical QoS managers, and supports protocols and messages between tactical managers and managed application components, and between QoS managers in the management hierarchy. Strategic QoS managers take a global view of QoS provided by a set of application components within the manager's policy domain. Tactical QoS managers provide local control over application components. We introduce the concept of QoS policy domains to scope the authority of a strategic QoS manager. We describe how the management hierarchy is dynamically configured and reconfigured based on runtime needs of the application.     

Optimal capacity allocation for Web systems with end-to-end delay guarantees

Providing quality of service guarantees have become a critical issue during the rapid expansion of the e-Commerce area. We consider the problem of finding the optimal capacity allocation in a clustered Web system environment so as to minimize the cost while providing the end-to-end performance guarantees. In particular, we consider constraints on both the average and the tail distribution of the end-to-end response times. We formulate the problem as a nonlinear program to minimize a convex separable function of the capacity assignment vector. We show that under the mean response time guarantees alone, the solution has a nice geometric interpretation. Various methods to solve the problem are presented in detail. For the problem with tail distribution guarantees, we develop an approximation method to solve the problem. We also derive bounds and show that the solution is asymptotically optimal when the service requirement becomes stringent. Numerical results are presented to further demonstrate the robustness of our solutions under data uncertainty.     

Issues in information systems planning

Numerous difficulties face information systems managers as they develop IS plans. Three nominal group technique sessions used IS practitioners from different levels of management to identify specific difficulties. The findings indicate a wide variety of problems faced by these managers. Top IS managers were concerned most with learning the objectives of top general management. Middle IS managers were concerned most with adopting a methodology for planning. Operating IS managers were concerned most with understanding the perceived needs of the user. These results suggest the need for more sophisticated management techniques (or the better use of existing techniques) and the need for research to address the development, utilization and evaluation of such techniques.     

Decomposition of information systems for production management

This paper approaches the issue of decentralization and decomposition of information systems from two angles, viz. from an organizational and from an infological point of view. Current information systems tend to become more and more integrated. However, this integration causes organizational complexity, which, in turn, becomes prohibitive for organizational change. Thus, there is a need for decomposition of the information system from an organizational point of view. A strategy for such a decomposition in a production environment is given.     

The paradox of information systems: strategic value and low status

Information systems (IS) have provided dramatic returns for some organisations. For many others, IS underpin most of their activities. Spending on IS can be very high. Few organisations can function without adequate IS. Yet, there is an apparent paradox in the reliance on information systems and supporting information technologies (IT) on the one hand and the status of the information systems function on the other. While information systems can be critical to an organisation's ability to conduct and develop business, the information systems function is often considered as a secondary activity. To explore the paradox, this paper uses a cultural web model to assess the status of IS and IT activities as evidenced in the literature and through the study of four organisations. These serve to demonstrate the contradiction between the extent to which large organisations appear to rely on information systems and the low status of the information systems function. The implications of this are explored, and it is suggested that IS can be exploited fully only if there is a change in attitude and thereby an increase in status of the information systems function.     

Distributed identification and control of spatially interconnected systems with application to an actuated beam

This paper presents a case study on modelling and control of spatially interconnected systems. Considered is a vibration control problem, with experimental results on a flexible beam that is equipped with an array of piezo sensors and actuators. The sensor–actuator array induces a spatial discretization of the beam into an array of interconnected subsystems. Models are experimentally identified that have the structure of spatially interconnected systems. Based on the identified models, distributed control schemes are designed by solving a linear matrix inequality (LMI) problem that has the size of a single subsystem. Modelling and control is considered for both spatially invariant and spatially varying systems; in the latter case the system is represented as linear parameter-varying (LPV) system that is scheduled not over time but over space. Simulation and experimental closed-loop results demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the underlying framework.     

Web information fusion: A review of the state of the art

In this paper, we introduce and overview advances in the field of Web information fusion and integration. As it is such a broad and diverse topic that is researched in many different fields, we choose to provide a unified view by focusing on selected survey articles that extensively cover earlier research contributions. Given the important role that ontologies are playing in Web information fusion and the emergence and fast development of the Semantic Web and Web 3.0 technologies, a separate section is devoted to the topic of ontology research and the Semantic Web. Then, in the section on Web-based support systems, several applications that are enabled as the result of advances in Web information fusion are discussed.     

MING-I: a distributed interactive multimedia document development mechanism

The next generation of interactive multimedia documents can contain both static media, e.g., text, graph, image, and continuous media, e.g., audio and video, and can provide user interactions in distributed environments. However, the temporal information of multimedia documents cannot be described using traditional document structures, e.g., Open Document Architecture (ODA) and Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (SGML); the continuous transmission of media units also raises some new synchronization problems, which have not been met before, for processing user interactions. Thus, developing a distributed interactive multimedia document system should resolve the issues of document model, presentation control architecture, and control scheme. In this paper, we (i) propose a new multimedia document model that contains the logical structure, the layout structure, and the temporal structure to formally describe multimedia documents, and (ii) point out main interaction-based synchronization problems, and propose a control architecture and a token-based control scheme to solve these interaction-based synchronization problems. Based on the proposed document model, control architecture, and control scheme, a distributed interactive multimedia document development mechanism, which is called MING-I, is developed on SUN workstations.     

On agents and grids: Creating the fabric for a new generation of distributed intelligent systems

The semantic grid is the result of semantic web and grid researchers building bridges in recognition of the shared vision and research agenda of both fields. This paper builds on prior experiences with both agents and grids to illustrate the benefits of bringing agents into the mix. Because semantic grids represent and reason about knowledge declaratively, additional capabilities typical of agents are then possible including learning, planning, self-repair, memory organization, meta-reasoning, and task-level coordination. These capabilities would turn semantic grids into cognitive grids. Only a convergence of these technologies will provide the ingredients to create the fabric for a new generation of distributed intelligent systems.     

ConKMeL: a contextual knowledge management framework to support multimedia e-Learning

As the latest stage of learning and training evolution, e-Learning is supposed to provide intelligent functionalities not only in processing multi-media education resources but also in supporting context-sensitive pedagogical education processes. Towards providing an integrated solution for intelligent multimedia e-Learning, this paper presents a context-aware knowledge management framework named ConKMeL. Proposed framework features a semantic context-based approach for representing and integrating information and knowledge in e-Learning. Requirement analysis in university e-Learning environments shows that knowledge communications are usually in a hybrid mode across different conceptual levels. Based on the fact, a multi-layer contextual knowledge representation model called KG (knowledge graph) is presented. Corresponding key issues in development such as context-based knowledge retrieval and logical knowledge interpretation are discussed. On the application side, a scenario-based learning case study is shown to demonstrate the concepts and techniques developed in the ConKMeL framework.

Security and privacy for multimedia database management systems

This paper describes security and privacy issues for multimedia database management systems. Multimedia data includes text, images, audio and video. It describes access control for multimedia database management systems and describes security policies and security architectures for such systems. Privacy problems that result from multimedia data mining are also discussed.

A motivational approach to information providing: A resource exchange perspective

Although the use of information resources is a competitive advantage for many firms, empirical research on individuals’ motivations for information providing is complex. We therefore assess both intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations and relevant work conditions that moderate the effects of motivation on information providing. The results of this study of employees from 51 firms in Korea show that altruistic traits, social rewards, and reciprocity all positively influence willingness to provide information. These effects are moderated by individuals’ tenure in the organization. The results of this study help shed light on intrapersonal motivations and the dynamic role of interpersonal motivations in information providing.     

工业控制系统信息安全管理措施研究

由于当前工业控制系统正面临着严峻的信息安全风险,作为国家经济命脉的重要基础设施,工业控制系统必须要进行系统信息安全防护建设。本文在对工业控制系统信息安全和信息安全风险来源分析的基础上,从管理的角度提出了相关的建议措施。     

Internet-based information systems use in organizations: an information studies perspective

Abstract. This case study investigates various ways in which different internet-based information systems (IS) are used by organizational participants. Borrowing theoretical insights on information behaviour accumulated over 50 years of information studies research, a conceptual framework is presented to help understand and assess the social and organizational impacts of internet-based IS. The framework describes the use of internet-based IS as a dynamic cycle of information needs–seeking–use activity situated in the context of a firm's information environment. Research questions pertain to the process of how individuals in organizations seek and use information from internet-based IS to satisfy information needs. In terms of information needs, this involves understanding the problem situations that lead participants to use internet-based IS, as well as the characteristics of those problems beyond subject matter. With respect to information seeking, this involves analysing how information from internet-based systems is displayed and formatted to signal their potential usefulness. In terms of information use, this involves how information obtained from internet-based systems is used in practice to resolve or redefine problems. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. Data collection involves web tracking to identify significant episodes of internet-based IS activity, as well as one-on-one interviews to explore the context behind these episodes. Results suggest that it is possible and valuable to identify scenarios of internet-based IS use dominant in an organizational work setting. Doing so can help to identify ways to improve the situated use of internet-based IS that ameliorate the information needs–seeking–use cycle in firms.     

Next generation networking: distributed multimedia information for healthcare

This paper is derived from a keynote address given that the DMS-03 meeting. It chronicles the need and development of next generation networks (NGN) in the United States. Specific organizational examples are derived from the Internet2-Abilene Network. The technical characteristics of a next generation network versus the Internet are discussed. Examples are given from the point of view of the need for a quality of service based network to deliver distributed multimedia healthcare information to the point of need. The concepts of network trust and of a network based scalable information infrastructure for the reliable delivery of distributed multimedia information is also introduced.

Information security management standards: Problems and solutions

International information security management guidelines play a key role in managing and certifying organizational IS. We analyzed BS7799, BS ISO/IEC17799: 2000, GASPP/GAISP, and the SSE-CMM to determine and compare how these guidelines are validated, and how widely they can be applied. First, we found that BS7799, BS ISO/IEC17799: 2000, GASPP/GAISP and the SSE-CMM were generic or universal in scope; consequently they do not pay enough attention to the differences between organizations and the fact that their security requirements are different. Second, we noted that these guidelines were validated by appeal to common practice and authority and that this was not a sound basis for important international information security guidelines. To address these shortcomings, we believe that information security management guidelines should be seen as a library of material on information security management for practitioners.