Digital orthophotography: mapping with pictures

Aerial photographs and maps would seem a natural combination to record and analyze geographical information: maps provide geometric information and photographs add realistic, timely detail. But cameras record images on a flat plane, whereas the earth is curved and its terrain takes on many varied shapes-all of which distort the image geometry and render it invalid for mapping and geographic analysis. Digital orthophotographs solve this problem. A digital orthophoto starts with a rasterized (scanned) aerial photograph; a process called rectification (described below) removes distortions arising from the camera lens, the aircraft's position, and elevation and other topographical features. This transforms aerial photos into high-resolution digital images that correctly represent the geometry of an area and its terrain. These images can be used as standard true-scale representations of geographic sectors-a function already served by analog orthophotos, which must be painstakingly scanned and rectified in small strips or patches. Their fully digital format makes digital orthophotos useful as base maps in geographical information systems (GIS) used for creating and revising topographic and planimetric maps, vegetation and timber management, environmental impact assessments, and infrastructure assessment     

Digital entrepreneurship: Innovative business models for the sharing economy

What's mine is yours. An increasing number of people are participating in sharing and exchanging information, knowledge, data and goods. As research addressing the so‐called ‘sharing economy’ is still in its infancy, this article aims to shed light on it. To do this, a qualitative research approach comprising guided interviews with 14 companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland provides detailed insights into different aspects of the sharing economy phenomenon. Our results make a direct contribution to sharing economy research, especially regarding the new business models of start‐ups. Here, we find a clear difference between the relevance of economic and social orientation. The latter appears to be in higher demand among customers than entrepreneurs. The increasingly digitalized environment has led to a changed living situation characterized by urbanity, openness to new solutions, changed working situations and new mindsets. All of these aspects drive the sharing economy. The results of this paper are summarized in a framework highlighting the requirements, drivers and goals of the sharing economy. Considering the limited research in this field, the developed framework is a strong basis for discussion, critique and/or support of future research.     

Why does Digital participate in standards?

The IT industry spends billions of dollars every year in support of standards. Companies, governments and universities send hundreds, if not thousands, of people to meetings all over the world to develop standards and define specifications for information technology. These people meet, share information, debate, discuss and even argue. Then they write the standards that define many key aspects of our industry. In an environment where technology is often considered old after only six months, the process of developing a standard can take years. So why is all this money, energy and time spent in pursuit of an often illusive and frequently imperfect solution? What is the value of this work? Why do we do it? Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) answers this question by looking at the information flows associated with the standards process. Doing so is not simply a linear process of standardization-from organization to vendor-but rather a process consisting of multiple links that include standards participants, standards organizations, the information shared within each vendor company, vendor partners and competitors, and customers. Digital believes that participating in the standardization process and using the information gathered and generated provides the company with a valuable business advantage in product planning and sales     

Digital business transformation in innovation and entrepreneurship

This editorial is written at an unprecedented time in human history, when the entire world is engulfed with the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has taken lives of millions of people, destroyed families, and disrupted the livelihoods of hundreds of millions more. Isolations, lockdowns, and restricted movements threaten to hamper business and unravel the social fabric of the contemporary world. With widespread movement restrictions, human resilience is put to the test, manifesting through the digitalization of businesses, governments, and societies. Consequently, digital business transformation can be conceived as the single most important force to thrive in an exceptional time. In this special issue, we include seven insightful and well-executed research articles that advances contemporary knowledge on digital business transformation in the domains of innovation and entrepreneurship. We believe that these articles are only pertinent to the current circumstances where innovation and entrepreneurship are inevitably digitally-driven, but they are also likely to be relevant beyond the pandemic where digitalization would become the new norm in business transformation.     

From fever to flu: The rhetoric of reporting Asia in a Swedish business magazine

In this paper some aspects of the stereotyping of China and Japan are explored by using a sample of articles from a Swedish business magazine. The main objective is to show how stereotypes are adapted to capture new developments in economy and technology. During the years of high hopes for the largest Asian economies, stereotypes proved to be far from timeless and unchanging. Also a large number of metaphors were used to express perceived similarities between East and West, further undermining tradi-tional Western understanding of Asia as inert and eternally different. The recent decline of Japan put an end to this, creating a return to a vocabulary of cultural characterisations and explanations.     

Digital transformation of business ecosystems: Evidence from the Korean pop industry

The notion of business ecosystems is gaining prominence among academics and practitioners. Scholars advise that business ecosystems are inherently fluid, unbounded and amorphous and thus that their boundaries can shift. Practitioners further suggest that business ecosystems are characterised by inter‐network – as opposed to inter‐firm – competition, and, moreover, that they are mainly driven by technological advancements. And yet few studies examine the role of information technology (IT) in driving boundary practices that enable the formation and transformation of business ecosystems. Through an in‐depth case study of technology‐enabled transformations within the Korean pop music (K‐pop) industry, our study examines how the digital transformation of business ecosystems unfolded. Our study contributes to the emergent body of knowledge on business ecosystems in a number of ways. Our investigations uncover the conditions under which the constituent firms operate and analyse the role of IT and its implications on new organisational forms. From our analysis, we present a framework that reveals insights on critical boundary practices and formative strategies for digital business ecosystems. We illustrate how these boundary practices drive industry change, from a largely linear content delivery system resembling a value chain to a new value network of co‐specialisation and self‐organisation among firms in a new digital business ecosystem.     

Business to business interoperability: A current review of XML data integration standards

Despite the dawn of the XML era, semantic interoperability issues still remain unsolved. As various initiatives trying to address how the underlying business information should be modelled, named and structured are being realised throughout the world, the importance of moving towards a holistic approach in eBusiness magnifies. In this paper, an attempt to clarify between the standards prevailing in the area is performed and the XML Data Standards providing generic XML Schemas are presented. Based on this “XML Data Standards Map”, a multi-faceted classification mechanism is proposed, leading to an extensible taxonomy of standards. A set of facets is analyzed for each standard, allowing for their classification based on their scope, completeness, compatibility with other standards, openness, ability to modify the schemas and maturity, to name a few. Through populating and querying this multi-faceted classification, a common understanding of Data Integration Standards can be ensured and the choice of a standard according to the requirements of each business can be systematically addressed.     

面向服务环境下基于本体映射的多领域业务过程协同*

为解决面向服务环境下多领域业务过程协同中的语义不一致问题,使不同领域提供的Web服务实现无障碍交互以及数据和知识共享,提出基于本体映射的多领域业务过程协同框架。首先根据领域知识建立参考本体,然后根据各领域的参考本体生成领域间的协同本体,最后将协同本体通过映射转换到BPEL和WSDL文件。该方法能够保留流程与Web服务中的原始语义信息,从而保证不同领域业务过程协同地顺利进行。原型系统在欧盟ImportNET项目中得到了验证。     

Digital systems and competitive responsiveness: The dynamics of IT business value

The mechanics of competition involve perception and reaction to competitor moves. Both incur delays that can be reduced by digital systems. Using system dynamics and the Red Queen paradigm, we modeled the impact of IT investments on response delays and business value, with the following results: (a) value has significant transient components; (b) value depends on investment level and the relative delays of competitors; and (c) relative delays affect the first-mover advantage. These results show that when assessing the value of IT investments, it is important to consider (a) the temporal pattern of benefits, not just their total magnitude, and (b) the impact of ongoing moves by competitors.     

Digital geological mapping with tablet PC and PDA: A comparison

Both the hardware and software available for digital geological mapping (DGM) have advanced considerably in recent years. Mobile computers have become cheaper, lighter, faster and more power efficient. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have become cheaper, smaller and more accurate, and software specifically designed for geological mapping has become available. These advances have now reached a stage where it is effective to replace traditional paper-based mapping techniques with those employing DGM methodologies. This paper attempts to assess and evaluate two currently available DGM systems for geological outcrop mapping: one based on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) running ESRI “ArcPad”, and the second based on a Tablet PC running “Map IT” software. Evaluation was based on field assessment during mapping of a well-exposed coastal section of deformed Carboniferous and Permian rocks at N. Tynemouth in NE England. Prior to the field assessment, several key criteria were identified as essential attributes of an effective DGM system. These criteria were used as the basis for the assessment and evaluation process. Our findings suggest that the main concerns presented by sceptics opposed to DGM have largely been resolved.In general, DGM systems using a Tablet PC were found to be most suitable for a wide range of geological data collection tasks, including detailed outcrop mapping. In contrast, systems based on a PDA, due to small screen and limited processing power, were best suited for more basic mapping and simple data collection tasks. In addition, PDA-based systems can be particularly advantageous for mapping projects in remote regions, in situations where there is a limited power supply or where total weight of equipment is an important consideration.     

Cognitive hacking: a battle for the mind

On 25 August 2000, stockholders were stunned by news that server and storage provider Emulex was revising its earnings from a per-share gain to a loss, while lowering its reported net earnings from the previous quarter as well. Within minutes, Emulex shares plummeted. Yet none of this news fostered by a hacker's bogus press release - was true. The Emulex case illustrates the speed, scale, and subtlety with which networked information can propagate and how quickly severe consequences can occur. This rapid dissemination, which makes such cognitive hacking possible, is forcing security researchers to look at yet another class of countermeasures - a class far different from solutions that seek to secure technology and network infrastructure.     

OSs battle in the smart-phone market

Cellular phones are no longer just for making calls. They also function as PDAs, digital cameras, Internet consoles, and e-mail and instant messaging clients. Because of this, the operating systems used in phones have had to improve. This demand for better mobile OSs has changed the nature of the marketplace. And that marketplace is healthy, despite global economic problems, largely because smart-phone sales are increasing.     

Understanding the IT/business partnership: A business process perspective

From a business process perspective, the business value of information technologies (IT) stems from how they improve or enable business processes. At the same time, in the field of strategic IT/business alignment, the locus of discussion has been how IT/business partnerships enhance the value of IT. Despite this apparent relationship, the business process perspective has been absent from the IT/business alignment discussion. In this paper, we use the case of an industrial company to develop a model for understanding IT/business partnerships in business process terms. Based on our findings, we define these partnerships by allocating responsibilities between central IT and the local business during two stages of a process lifecycle: formation and standardization. The significance of the findings lies in how the model’s configuration leads to different types of IT units’ process centricity. This in turn affects the ability of the company as a whole to transform its operations with IT.     

数字化校园环境下异构数据映射维护关键技术分析

异构数据的集成问题是数字化校园建设首要解决的问题之一,而其关键在于通过映射技术建立异构数据之间的一致性。映射失效检测是数据集成中维护系统有效运行的重要基础,是进行映射维护的关键。根据学校数据集成特点,通过引入模糊聚集算子,提出了一种映射失效检测的方法。     

Binary trading relations and the limits of EDI standards: the Procrustean bed of standards

This paper provides a critical examination of electronic data interchange (EDI) standards and their application in different types of trading relationships. It argues that EDI standards are not directly comparable to more stable sets of technical standards in that they are dynamically tested and negotiated in use with each trading exchange. It takes the position that EDI standards are an emergent language form and must mean different things at the institutional and local levels. Using the lens of emergent linguistic analysis it shows how the institutional and local levels must always be distinct and yet can coexist. EDI standards can never represent the creation of an ‘Esperanto of institutional communication’. Instead we believe that standards must be developed such that they support and accommodate general basic grammatical forms that can be customised to individual needs. The analysis is supported by a set of exemplary cases.     

IEEE standards: mechanizing the standardization process

The IEEE has underway currently an effort to mechanize the processes of developing, producing, and delivering consensus standards. The effort is built upon existing standards. Several important issues remain to be solved but the rewards and benefits to standardization are clear.