Workflow‑Based Information Management Framework for Multicenter Research Studies: Design and Development.

Goal: Information management frameworks, models, and software’s have the capacity to enhance the competitiveness of logistics operations by maximizing information management. The study objectively examined information management role in logistics operations in medical supply stores. Methodology: The methodology utilized in this review includes; quantitative philosophy such as smart partial least square(PLS).An aggregate of five hundred and twenty-eight (528) questionnaires were duly completed of the six hundred and fifty-nine (659) administered to various participants. Results: The Findings based on the statistical outcome shows that maximal product tracking, optimal information transfer, expanded echelons, prompt distribution, and delivery are the indicating roles of information management in logistics operations. It is suggested that medical supply stores utilize information management models, frameworks, and software to aid effective distribution and flow in logistics operations echelons. Limitations: The limitations to this study is the coverage of post-utilization stage by comparing the expected outcome to the actual outcome after enhancing the information management procedures. Originality: The study demonstrates its novelty and pertinency by introducing a framework fixated on a comprehensive methodology, as it gives a viewpoint of information management in logistics operations. Thus, information management frameworks in logistics operations are optimized and analysed from the source to the destination. Finally, the development of medical supply stores and their capacity to survive depends on the proficiency of information management.

Purpose This study investigates how Karen weaving knowledge is managed and sustained within the Ban Laikaew community, Doi Tao District, Chiang Mai Province. Drawing on Choo’s information management framework and Community-Based Heritage Management (CBHM), the study examines how weaving knowledge is identified, organized, stored, and disseminated, while also conceptualizing textiles as cultural and embodied forms of information through semiotic analysis. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was employed, combining semi-structured interviews with eleven key informants selected through purposive and snowball sampling, and non-participant observations. Data were analyzed thematically using information management and heritage frameworks, with Barthes’ semiotic theory employed to interpret the cultural meanings embedded in woven textiles. Findings The findings show that Karen weaving knowledge is locally grounded and practice-based, with raw materials such as cotton and natural dyes sourced within the community and knowledge transmitted primarily through embodied learning and intergenerational participation. Knowledge is organized and preserved through a combination of memory, handwritten records, photographs, digital media, and artifacts, with the community learning center functioning as a key hub for curation and transmission. Strong local ownership, leadership, and participatory decision-making support structured yet flexible knowledge management processes. At the same time, adaptation is evident in the integration of contemporary designs and digital platforms, including social media and live-streamed sales, which expand networks and sustain livelihoods. Semiotic analysis reveals Karen textiles as cultural texts that embody identity, ecological wisdom, and spiritual beliefs. Research limitations/implications Although focused on a single community, the study provides transferable insights for managing other indigenous knowledge systems and offers guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders. Originality/value The study advances understanding of how indigenous knowledge can be sustained and enacted through the integration of information management frameworks with CBHM, while also showing the value of semiotic analysis in interpreting heritage as embodied and multidimensional information.

Purpose — The chapter discusses the challenges of developing a three year bachelor's programme in information management. The argument focuses on creating a programme that (1) facilitates cooperation with the business community, (2) represents a coherent whole that fosters student identity and (3) provides an explanatory framework for information management.Design/methodology/approach — A model for curriculum development is presented which takes its starting point in the business community's perception of the graduates’ future practice. Interdisciplinary theory, and its continuum of integration from multidisciplinarity to interdisciplinarity to transdisciplinary is applied as the backbone of the programme structure, and its role in creating progression is discussed, together with the importance of problem-oriented work, and the interplay between problem-based and discipline-based elements of the programme. The information management programme distinguishes between ‘information management’ as an umbrella term for the whole programme and ‘information management’ in a more narrow and discipline-specific perspective rooted in information science.Findings — It is shown how the programme elements (projects, internship, semester themes and courses) are combined so that each single element contributes to gradually build up a holistic view of information processes and practices in organisations. The underlying structure of the programme contributes to a coherent, theoretically based explanatory framework for information management.Practical implications — The chapter describes benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary curriculum development and may be provide inspiration for curriculum developers.Originality/value — Interdisciplinary theory may be useful to respond to the challenges of engaging several disciplines in the information management field. It is suggested that multidisciplinarity may be supplemented or replaced by more interdisciplinary approaches in the future.

The Internet-driven world we now live in has profound implications for every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Over the past two decades or so, an enormous amount of information has been made accessible over the Internet, thanks to advanced search and retrieval technologies. Over the last five years 1200 Exabyte’s (1 Exabyte – 1 billion Gigabyte) of data have been put online. As a result, an increasing amount of professional work within the domain of sustainable design and construction is becoming dependent on retrieving regulatory and advisory information over the web quickly. Designers and builders are finding it increasingly difficult to identify this information and assimilate them in their activities. Generic search engines like Google do not retrieve relevant information for domain-specific needs in a focussed manner. Therefore, there is a need for developing smarter domain-specific search and retrieval technologies under an information management framework. This paper presents a web-based information search and retrieval application which employs domain specific ontology to identify (in particular) relevant energy performance building regulations. The paper will focus on our development of a customised, domain specific web search platform providing information on (i) the choice of technologies used within this research and the basic construction of the search application, (ii) the construction of the domain dependant ontology which is used to enhance search results, (iii) initial observations relating to ongoing experiments. Our proposed framework is being developed in collaboration with a Scottish City Council’s building control department who are actively validating the value of our approach in their daily activity of checking and approving designs for construction.

COVID-19 Highlights Critical Need for Public Health Data Modernization to Remain a Priority.

SummaryObjectives:To identify gaps and challenges in health informatics and health information management during the COVID-19 pandemic. To describe solutions and offer recommendations that can address the identified gaps and challenges.Methods:A literature review of relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature published from January 2020 to December 2020 was conducted to inform the paper.Results:The literature revealed several themes regarding health information management and health informatics challenges and gaps: information systems and information technology infrastructure; data collection, quality, and standardization; and information governance and use. These challenges and gaps were often driven by public policy and funding constraints.Conclusions:COVID-19 exposed complexities related to responding to a world-wide, fast moving, quickly spreading novel virus. Longstanding gaps and ongoing challenges in the local, national, and global health and public health information systems and data infrastructure must be addressed before we are faced with another global pandemic.

FAIRification of personal health data is of utmost importance to improve health research and political as well as medical decision-making, which ultimately contributes to a better health of the general population. Despite the many advances in information technology, several obstacles such as interoperability problems remain and relevant research on the health topic of interest is likely to be missed out due to time-consuming search and access processes. A recent example is the COVID-19 pandemic, where a better understanding of the virus’ transmission dynamics as well as preventive and therapeutic options would have improved public health and medical decision-making. Consequently, the NFDI4Health Task Force COVID-19 was established to foster the FAIRification of German COVID-19 studies.This paper describes the various steps that have been taken to create low barrier workflows for scientists in finding and accessing German COVID-19 research. It provides an overview on the building blocks for FAIR health research within the Task Force COVID-19 and how this initial work was subsequently expanded by the German consortium National Research Data Infrastructure for Personal Health Data (NFDI4Health) to cover a wider range of studies and research areas in epidemiological, public health and clinical research. Lessons learned from the Task Force helped to improve the respective tasks of NFDI4Health.

It has come as a fact that the use of Information and Communication Technologies has come to stay in this world. It aids the implementation of the emerging and irresistible e-government concept that seems to be the in-thing the world over. Zimbabwe has also joined the world by ascertaining its commitment to e-government as witnessed by its promulgation of various e-government services. However, despite the government of Zimbabwe having committed itself to e-government, it is of concern to note that up to this day, the country is operating without a clear information management policy or strategy that will guide and direct all the information management practitioners in the country. This comes as a great weakness in this day and age when the government of Zimbabwe has declared its intentions to subscribe to the e-government concept both in principle and in practice. Although the country has managed to survive without a clearly defined information policy in the pre e-government era, chances of it rolling out an effective and sustainable e-government policy on the same foundation are very slim, given the importance of well managed information as a pillar of sound e-government. The paper employed document analysis as its methodology in which Zimbabwe National Information and Communication Policy (ICT) Policy Framework of 2005 and the Ministry of Information Communication Technology’s (MICT) Strategic Plan (2010-2014) were reviewed and assessed the extent to which they sufficed to serve as information management frameworks that can support e-governance in Zimbabwe. The study revealed that there are ICT policies that are meant to serve as ICT strategies for the country but none of them has been put to test and such policies are very piecemeal at best as far as their coverage of information management is concerned. The first policy of such nature was the Zimbabwe National Information and Communication Policy (ICT) Policy Framework of 2005 that was developed by the government of Zimbabwe. This was followed by the Ministry of Information Communication Technology’s (MICT) Strategic Plan (2010-2014) which was being led by the then Minister Nelson Chamisa in the Government of National Unity (GNU). Following the dismantling of the GNU, the MICT was also dismantled and a new Ministry known as the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services that was headed by then Minister Webster Shamu came up with a new draft policy to guide ICT in Zimbabwe. Ironically, that new policy did not see the light as the then Minister was relieved of his duties and the new and incumbent Minister; Mr Supa Mandiwanzira came up with a new draft to guide the ICT operations in Zimbabwe. Despite all these developments, it remains of concern to notice that none of these policies ever prioritised information management as a strategic pillar of e-government. It is the argument of these authors that without the country’s e-government strategy being governed by a sound information management policy that will ensure the creation, management, and preservation of information, the concept will suffer the consequences in retrospect, to the detriment of the concept and the citizens. The study further revealed that the present policies are only addressing technical issues such as network and infrastructural issues of information management, yet other important aspects such as preservation, disposal and legal issues of information management are neglected. The study recommends a new framework that is comprehensive in terms of all the facets of information management. The framework covers all the relevant information management players such as archivists, librarians, records managers and the ICT personnel who should work together so as to collectively manage national information that support e-governance which Zimbabwe has just embarked on. The study further recommends that every government department has an information manager and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services should be the one in charge of the information management framework and oversee its implementation.

The rapid growth of large-scale information and the dynamic nature of user behaviors pose significant challenges for modern information retrieval systems, which often struggle to adapt to non-stationary environments and fail to fully utilize multimodal data, leading to suboptimal performance. To address these issues, this study proposes the adaptive deep reinforcement learning (RL) framework for information retrieval and management, which combines RL, multimodal data fusion, and an adaptive update mechanism to dynamically adjust to evolving user preferences and document collections. The adaptive deep RL framework for information retrieval and management employs a RL-based policy network to optimize retrieval strategies, a multimodal encoder to integrate diverse data sources, and an adaptive mechanism to maintain robustness in dynamic scenarios.

Plain English summaryIntegrated knowledge translation is a research approach in which researchers work as partners with the people for whom the research is meant to be of use. A partnered approach can support the use of Indigenous ways of knowing in health research that may then be used in health care. This is important as current health care models do not often support Indigenous values, ways of knowing, and care practices. We describe 1) why it is necessary to co-create knowledge that includes the voices of Indigenous community members, 2) how integrated knowledge translation is a way of doing research that includes many views and 3) how integrated knowledge translation can help those involved in research to agree upon and uphold ethical ways of doing research. Integrated knowledge translation may be used to include Indigenous ways of knowing into mainstream health research and to improve health systems. The use of an integrated knowledge translation approach in research may guide researchers to be research partners with Indigenous people and groups. Integrated knowledge translation may be a way to do research that is respectful and to ensure that Indigenous ways of knowing are included in both health research and health care systems.BackgroundIndigenous people are affected by major health issues at much higher rates than for general populations, and Western health care models do not respond or align with Indigenous values, knowledge systems, and care practices. Knowledge translation (KT) describes ways of moving knowledge from theory into health systems’ applications, although there are limitations and concerns related to the effectiveness and contributions of Western-informed approaches to research and KT practices that promote health with Indigenous groups. Integrated KT is an approach to research that engages researchers with the people for whom the research is ultimately meant to be of use (“knowledge users”) throughout the entire research process. Integrated KT is done in ways that knowledge users may define as useful, relevant, and applicable in practice, and may also be viewed as complementary to Indigenous health research principles.MainIn this paper, we raise and discuss questions posed to researchers by Indigenous knowledge-users about perspectives on health research, researchers, and research institutions, and focus on the role and ethical imperative for integrated KT in Indigenous health research. We describe: 1) why it is necessary to co-create knowledge that includes the voices of Indigenous community members within institutional academic spaces such as universities; 2) how integrated KT accommodates Indigenous and Western-informed perspectives in community-research partnerships throughout the research process; and 3) how an integrated KT approach can help those involved in research to define, agree upon and uphold ethical practices. We argue that integrated KT as a collaborative research practice can create opportunities and space within institutional academic settings for different knowledges to coexist and improve health systems. Most importantly, we argue that integrated KT in Indigenous research contexts includes Indigenous KT.ConclusionThe use of integrated KT facilitates opportunities to further define and develop understandings about collaborative approaches to research with Indigenous research partners and that may contribute to respectful inclusion of Indigenous KT practices and processes within institutional academic settings. In the pursuit of useful, relevant and applicable knowledge, those within Western research and health systems must examine and expand upon collaborative approaches to KT.

The use of information to guide public health practice extends back to John Graunt’s pioneering work in the 17th century. It has been only in the past 2 decades that dramatic advances in information technology, including the nearly universal access to computers, the immediacy of instantaneous global communications, and the capacity to manage vast amounts of information have brought new and powerful tools to the desks (and the airborne tray-tables) of the public health practitioner and managers. Advances have enabled major information systems to share information. Today, the management of electronic information now underlies nearly all aspects of public health practice, research, and policy development. A basic understanding of how the major information systems work is essential. Those who are unable to maneuver in the world of information and information technology become marginalized. The Institute of Medicines (IOM) 2002 report, The Future of the Public’s Health, declares the “emphasis on communication as a critical core competency of public health practice.” The companion IOM report, Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? Education of Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century, calls for informatics as a core area in graduate-level public health education. The present book is most timely. It builds on a prior initiative, duly cited in the book. In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Washington School of Public Health developed training materials in public health informatics, then a new field. This book is very much grounded in the specifics of the disciplines unique to public health, starting with its core functions, and admirably fills an important niche that is not otherwise addressed, such as the literature on medical informatics. Public health informatics is defined in the opening chapter as “the systematic application of information and computer science and technology to public health practice, research and learning.” The book is organized into five parts: The Context for Public Health Informatics; The Science of Public Health Informatics; Key Public Health Information Systems; New Challenges, Emerging Systems; and Case Studies: Applications of Information Systems Development. Examples of covered topics include the historical roots of public health informatics, the public health framework, the legislative context, information systems in the contexts of organization, systems management, program development, critical competency areas, data standards, privacy, confidentiality, and ethics. Also included are descriptions of the major data systems presently in use as well as newly emerging applications in such areas as surveillance, registries, networking, and international health. Sixty authors have contributed to the book’s 34 well-referenced chapters. The editors have done a creditable job in smoothing differences in writing styles and in providing coherence, flow, and internal crossreferences, which keeps repetitions to an acceptable level. Most chapters move into their subject matter deliberately, so that the material becomes readily accessible for the informatics novice. The formatting is excellent, with clear section and subsection headings that allow for self-pacing through areas of greater or lesser interest. People already comfortable in the world of informatics will be able to move quickly across the breadth of topics to areas of specific interest. The book serves best as an overall introduction and orientation to the field for the student or those in careers who feel overtaken, bewildered, or intimidated by the explosion of information technology. The presentation is not at all technical. Rather, the book lays out the conceptual breadth of the field, showing how the pieces fit together and are used across the many aspects of public health. Readers new to informatics will find elements that are familiar, and will learn how these fit in a broader context of basic concepts, components of a system, issues, opportunities, and limitations. Hoping to be of benefit in the classroom, each chapter starts with a brief list of learning objectives and closes with questions for review. (The publisher provides a separate instructor’s manual, retrievable in portable document format [pdf] online.) While well indexed, the book does not work particularly well as an off-the-shelf reference. This is an important book that can serve a wide audience, including public health practitioners and managers as well as students and teachers. Even the experienced information technologist will benefit from its clear framing of issues around the principles of public health and the contexts of public health practice.

A framework for information management: Using case studies to test application

The investigation proposes the application of an ontological semantic approach to describing workflow control patterns, research workflow step patterns, and the meaning of the workflows in terms of domain knowledge. The approach can provide wide opportunities for semantic refinement, reuse, and composition of workflows. Automatic reasoning allows verifying those compositions and implementations and provides machine-actionable workflow manipulation and problem-solving using workflows. The described approach can take into account the implementation of workflows in different workflow management systems, the organization of workflows collections in data infrastructures and the search for them, the semantic approach to the selection of workflows and resources in the research domain, the creation of research step patterns and their implementation reusing fragments of existing workflows, the possibility of automation of problemsolving based on the reuse of workflows. The application of the approach to CWFR conceptions is proposed.

Comprehensive organizational-level information management (IM) performance assessment has the potential to improve IM performance in construction organizations. However, the organizational-level IM components and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure each component are not adequately developed in construction IM literature. This paper proposes an organizational-level IM framework, which identifies the IM components, IM activities, and KPIs required for comprehensive organizational-level IM performance measurement in construction-owner organizations. The eight IM components (IM processes, ICT resources, practice resources, people resources, IM inputs, IM outputs, IM constraints, and IM objectives) are developed and defined on the basis of the analysis of 55 documents related to IM frameworks published from 1990 to 2010 inclusive. In addition, a total of six IM activities and 40 lagging and leading KPIs are developed and defined on the basis of the analysis and synthesis of IM characteristics...

Heterogeneity and Interoperability in Local Public Health Information Systems.