Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

The prospects of non-volatile phase-change RAM

Phase-change read-and-write memory (PRAM) is a promising memory that can solve the problems of conventional memory—scalability, read/write speed, and reliability. We will review the opportunities and technical challenges of PRAM. The most important challenge of PRAM is the reduction of the writing current. Various approaches to reduce the writing current will be reviewed and the prospects of PRAM are discussed.     

Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor Cluster: communication linkages among stakeholders in a national system of innovation

As the wave of globalization washes over geographical boundaries, the world steps into the era of a new knowledge-based economy with governments striving to encourage innovation in industry especially through national systems of innovation. A national system of innovation (NSI) is considered important because how a nation utilizes and exploits its NSI will determine whether it can compete and ride the wave of globalization or be carried by it and thrashed onto the shores of the new economy. This paper seeks to highlight the linkages developed for enabling communication among the various NSI stakeholders for achieving goals in one such effort, viz. the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Cluster of Malaysia. The MSC offers a vision to create a global multimedia climate through an integrated environment of interlinked elements and attributes. The government of Malaysia, realising the significance of the NSI as a way to better utilize, exploit, and enhance systems, is making efforts to this effect. The efforts include bringing together various stakeholder organizations under the "Multimedia Flagship Applications" to develop flagship applications. This is for the development of information technology applications to pave the way toward a knowledge-based economy. The MSC Cluster is presented here as a physical manifestation of the NSI, and it gives an idea as to how policy makers can design linkages for communication among the various stakeholders to further national innovative performance and competitiveness in general.