Structural shifts in the Chinese software industry

The Chinese commercial software industry, although lagging behind India's, has recently been undergoing major structural shifts that could make it the Asian industry leader. As in any economic sector, companies in the software industry need to realign and adapt to major technological and market changes. The Indian software industry doesn't seem to make efforts to realign and adapt to technology and market changes. On the other hand, the Chinese software industry is undergoing major interrelated structural shifts in many respects.     

面向中亚的大学汉语辅助学习软件设计与教学应用

随着中国国际地位的提高,汉语在与中亚各国的交流中的交际价值得到凸显,世界上很多实体学校和教育机构在开展汉语教学,但外派汉语教师困难及海外本土教师自身汉语水平及发音问题,成为制约汉语学习发展的重要因素。针对这些问题,本文设计并开发了面向中亚的大学汉语辅助学习软件,利用HTML5Plus、MUI框架、百度语音合成等技术,利用移动学习的特点,为汉语学习者提供课文朗读、课文跟读、单词学习等功能模块进行汉语学习,并且利用课程资源云平台及时更新课程资源,克服了许多软件存在的课程资源不可更新的缺点。此软件的开发应用,缓解了中亚各国汉语教师匮乏的问题,提高了学习者的学习效率与汉语教学质量,有利于汉语在中亚各国的传播。     

The computerization,of Burina

Abstract

The information industry is becoming a major source of wealth for many nations; the software industry, in particular, can play an important role in the economies of the developing nations. The Arab countries have a large number of university graduates in computer‐related disciplines; however, the status of the information industry in these countries is far below expectations. One obstacle to the proliferation of computer technology in the Arab societies has been the language barrier. Efforts to Arabize the technology, be it Arabization of software, hardware, user manuals or textbooks and references, are very weak and cannot cope with the rate of advancement in the technology. Furthermore, most Arab countries do not have clear computerization policies, and this has often resulted in the following: nonexistence of serious computer literacy programs, low utilization of information technology in the society, unawareness of the economic and strategic importance of the technology, weak support from higher authorities, weak R &; D efforts and hesitation of the private capital to venture into the information technology sector.     

A framework for creating hybrid-open source software communities

Abstract The open source software (OSS) model is a fundamentally new and revolutionary way to develop software. The success of the OSS model is also setting the stage for a structural change in the software industry; it is beginning to transform software industry from manufacturing to a service industry. Despite the success of the OSS model, for‐profit organizations are having difficulty building a business model around the open source paradigm. Whereas there are some isolated empirical studies, little rigorous research has been done on how traditional organizations can implement and benefit from OSS practices. This research explores how organizations can foster an environment similar to OSS to manage their software development efforts to reap its numerous advantages. Drawing on organizational theory, we develop a framework that guides the creation and management of a hybrid‐OSS community within an organization. We discuss the implications of this framework and suggest areas for future research.     

A framework for integrated assessment of food production economics in South Asia under climate change

Agriculture is a sector vulnerable to climate change. The potential decline of crop yields from this vulnerability has important policy implications for food security in South Asia. In this study an integrated assessment modelling framework is proposed to link a global economic model with global climate models via an econometric model of crop productivity. It is then used to examine the impact of climate change on food security in individual South Asian countries by exploring the interaction between climate-induced productivity change and changes in food production and food prices. The results of our simulations suggest that unfavourable climate change can reduce food production significantly from the historical trend and create upward pressure on food prices. This, in turn, will have serious adverse impacts on food security in the South Asian region.     

Software process improvement in small and medium software enterprises: a systematic review

Small and medium enterprises are a very important cog in the gears of the world economy. The software industry in most countries is composed of an industrial scheme that is made up mainly of small and medium software enterprises—SMEs. To strengthen these types of organizations, efficient Software Engineering practices are needed—practices which have been adapted to their size and type of business. Over the last two decades, the Software Engineering community has expressed special interest in software process improvement (SPI) in an effort to increase software product quality, as well as the productivity of software development. However, there is a widespread tendency to make a point of stressing that the success of SPI is only possible for large companies. In this article, a systematic review of published case studies on the SPI efforts carried out in SMEs is presented. Its objective is to analyse the existing approaches towards SPI which focus on SMEs and which report a case study carried out in industry. A further objective is that of discussing the significant issues related to this area of knowledge, and to provide an up-to-date state of the art, from which innovative research activities can be thought of and planned.

Going soft on quality?:Process management in the Scottish software industry

Despite their proliferation within the industry, quality assurance standards are insufficient to ensure effective software development. Scottish software companies are now highly sensitive to limitations imposed by the standards movement, flagging the need for more explicit attention to work organization and human resource issues. This article examines efforts to broaden the focus of quality management within the software industry, charting the impact of theoretical and practical initiatives and identifying the mediating role of commercial pressures, the consultancy marketplace and, crucially, staff reactions.     

论复杂科研生产领域如何应用专业软件

随着软件行业的不断发展,各个行业都出现了适应各自行业发展的专业软件。在发达国家,应用专业软件辅助科研生产已成为非常普遍的事。但在我国的各个行业中,应用专业软件辅助科研生产仍处在研究阶段。对此,笔者参考相关资料,并结合自己的工作经验,提出了如何应用专业软件辅助科研生产的方法。     

Economics of Linux adoption in developing countries

Software globalization affects build-versus-buy decisions at every level and phase of the software development process. One of the most interesting and controversial issues is the expansion of Linux, an open source operating system, into software development efforts in developing countries. Linux is an interesting example of a globally available software product that has nontrivial choice and productivity implications for software projects in developing countries. We examine the positive and negative effects of adopting Linux and ways to achieve the greatest benefits for developing countries and policy makers. Linux communities and Linux-friendly companies can also help promote diversity and flexible options by working to make proprietary and open source operating systems more interoperable.     

Onboarding inexperienced developers: struggles and perceptions regarding automated testing

Previous research found that inexperienced software engineers may tend to view automatic testing as a waste of time and as an activity completely separate from programming. This could have a negative impact on their later careers and could be a sign that improvements in software engineering education are needed when it comes to testing. At the same time, this stance could negatively influence the perception that practitioners have of recent university graduates. To explore this issue, we conducted a qualitative study and surveyed 170 and interviewed 22 practitioners about their experiences with recent graduates, focusing on software testing skills. We find that practitioners do recognize a skill gap between university graduates and industry expectations and that this perception could be engrained deeply enough already to influence hiring practices. Practitioners use different and at times costly strategies to alleviate this skill gap, such as training and mentoring efforts. We validated core findings in a survey with 698 professional software developers. Our qualitative insights can help industry, research, and educational institutions guide in-depth studies that explore the severity of the effects we have found. The coping strategies we have found can provide valuable starting points that can inform changes in how we educate the software engineers of the future.     

Population Ageing in Asia and Its Implications for Mobility

Many aspects of population mobility within and between the countries of Asia have been discussed widely in the literature. However, the emphasis has been on mobility of the young working-age population (especially rural–urban mobility and international labour migration). Mobility of those past retirement age (say, 65+) has been little addressed. This paper will focus on a particularly neglected aspect of mobility related to the elderly: international mobility both of the elderly and of potential caregivers for the elderly. It develops a conceptual framework for analysing and forecasting international retirement migration in East and Southeast Asia, where this phenomenon is still in its infancy. It relates this to the potential for international movement of care workers. Basic to both kinds of mobility is the enormous differences in income and in cost of living between Asian countries.     

Augmented and Virtual Reality techniques for footwear

The use of 3D imaging techniques has been early adopted in the footwear industry. In particular, 3D imaging could be used to aid commerce and improve the quality and sales of shoes. Footwear customization is an added value aimed not only to improve product quality, but also consumer comfort. Moreover, customisation implies a new business model that avoids the competition of mass production coming from new manufacturers settled mainly in Asian countries.     

Changes of Major Lakes in Central Asia and Analysis of Key Influencing Factors

The five Central Asian countries are located in the inland areas with a serious shortage of water resources and the lakes are the main support for the ecosystem in the area.Due to the lack of long-term information support both in the year and in the intervening years，it is difficult to fully understand the characteristics of the major lakes in the five Central Asian countries.In this study，MODIS 8-day reflectivity products were used as data sources from 2001 to 2016，and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) method was used to extract the water body area.The annual and inter-annual water surface of 9 major lakes in Central Asia Change Characteristics and Key Influence Factors.The results show that:(1) Lake water surface changes in the five Central Asian countries are affected by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change.The annual and interannual time series of the lake tail and alpine enclosed lake show different trend and fluctuation characteristics;(2) the changes of the Aral sea in the south and north are most obvious.The surface area of the South Aral Sea has decreased obviously in recent 15 years，reducing the area by more than 70%，while the North Aral Sea fluctuates with the variation of precipitation.(3) the total area of the sub-main lakes has been declining.The area has shrunk by 23.51% over the past 15 years.The South Aral Sea is a contributor to the statistical decrease of all lakes.However，the surface area of other lakes shows an increasing trend.     

Working in the house that FACT built

The 1960's was a period of growth-and turmoil for newly minted firms in the fledgling, independent software industry. Here is an inside view of expansion efforts by Computer Sciences Corporation as it groped for strategies to maintain its position as one of the leaders in this emerging industry.     

ESPITI - a european challenge

In a dynamic and global market the innovation speed is a crucial factor for competitiveness. Innovations are needed not only for products, but also and increasingly for production processes. This is also true for software production. Considering that the software included in many products is providing an increasing portion of the whole added value and that in many countries, especially in Asia, there are emerging software industries, then the European initiative called European Software Process Improvement Training Initiative (ESPITI) is addressing the right subject at the right moment. This paper gives an overview of motivations and intentions of the initiative.     

Integration by communication: knowledge exchange in global outsourcing of product software development

Global outsourcing is a growing trend among independent software vendors. In these projects like other distributed work, distances have negative effects on communication and coordination, directly impacting performance. We present a normative model designed to address this issue by improving communication and knowledge exchange. The model consists of six distinct practices and a tool blueprint, each coming with practical guidelines. It is based in part on two case studies of Dutch software vendors who have successfully outsourced part of their activities to an Eastern European outsourcing vendor, and validated by a panel of six experts from industry and the scientific community. It is concluded that knowledge exchange in global software outsourcing is a by‐product of efforts to enhance communication and coordination, rather than specific technical solutions. By committing to sharing knowledge, emphasizing transparency and integrating the outsourcing team into their organizations, customers from the product software business can realize the benefits of global outsourcing.     

IT spending in the midst of the Asian economic downturn: a Singapore perspective

The Asian economic downturn has severely affected the revenue and profitability of companies operating in Asia. This has in turn caused a significant number of companies to reduce their spending on IT, particularly in the countries that have been most affected by the downturn. While IT spending is an immediate and visible effect of the downturn, less visible changes in managerial attitudes towards IT, and approaches to controlling IT spending are likely to have longer term implications to the IT capabilities of companies in the region. In this paper, we examine these issues in the Singapore context, paying particular attention to how companies plan to control and reduce IT infrastructure spending. We found that in the participating firms, managers appear to pay more attention to the links between business strategy and IT after the downturn. We also found that deferring investments in physical infrastructure and outsourcing were the main approaches to IT cost reduction.     

Global influenza surveillance with Laplacian multidimensional scaling

The Global Influenza Surveillance Network is crucial for monitoring epidemic risk in participating countries. However, at present, the network has notable gaps in the developing world, principally in Africa and Asia where laboratory capabilities are limited. Moreover, for the last few years, various influenza viruses have been continuously emerging in the resource-limited countries, making these surveillance gaps a more imminent challenge. We present a spatial-transmission model to estimate epidemic risks in the countries where only partial or even no surveillance data are available. Motivated by the observation that countries in the same influenza transmission zone divided by the World Health Organization had similar transmission patterns, we propose to estimate the influenza epidemic risk of an unmonitored country by incorporating the surveillance data reported by countries of the same transmission zone. Experiments show that the risk estimates are highly correlated with the actual influenza morbidity trends for African and Asian countries. The proposed method may provide the much-needed capability to detect, assess, and notify potential influenza epidemics to the developing world.     

Managing vulnerabilities in networked systems

Most organizations recognize the importance of cyber security and are implementing various forms of protection. However, many are failing to find and fix known security problems in the software packages they use as the building blocks of their networks and systems, a vulnerability that a hacker can exploit to bypass all other efforts to secure the enterprise. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) initiative seeks to avoid such disasters and transform this area from a liability to a key asset in the fight to build and maintain secure systems. Coordinating international, community-based efforts from industry, government and academia, CVE strives to find and fix software product vulnerabilities more rapidly, predictably, and efficiently. The initiative seeks the adoption of a common naming practice for describing software vulnerabilities. Once adopted, these names will be included within security tools and services and on the fix sites of commercial and open source software package providers. As vendors respond to more users requests for CVE-compatible fix sites, securing the enterprise will gradually include the complete cycle of finding, analyzing, and fixing vulnerabilities