Information System Infrastructure Research Articles

Ontology-Based Semantic Checking of Data in Railway Infrastructure Information Systems

Abstract Semantic checking of railway infrastructure information support data is one of the ways to improve the consistency of information system data and, as a result, increase the safety of train traffic. Existing ontological developments have demonstrated the applicability of description logic for modelling railway transport, but have not paid enough attention to the data resources structure and the railway regulatory support. In this work, the formalization of the tabular presentation of data and the rules of railway transport regulations is carried out using the example of a connection track passport and temporary speed restrictions using ontological means, data wrangling and extraction tools. Ontologies of the various formats data resources and railway station infrastructure, tools for converting and extracting data have been developed. The semantic checking of the compliance of railway information system data with regulatory documents in terms of the connection track passport is carried out on the basis of a multi-level concretization model and integration of ontologies. The mechanisms for implementing the constituent ontologies and their integration are demonstrated by an example. Further research includes ontological checking of natural language normative documents of railway transport.

On-demand microtransit and paratransit service using autonomous vehicles: Gaps and opportunities in accessibility policy

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology can help disabled Americans achieve their desired level of mobility. However, realizing this potential depends on vehicle manufacturers, policymakers, and state and municipal agencies collaborating to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals at different stages of trip making through information system design, vehicle design, and infrastructure design. Integrating accessibility at this stage of the AV revolution would finally allow us an opportunity to develop a transportation system that treats accessibility as a guiding principle, not as an afterthought. This paper documents accessibility considerations for disabled individuals followed by a review of relevant Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. The review of regulations is followed by a review of nine case studies, five corresponding to the on-demand microtransit service model and four corresponding to the paratransit service model. These case studies are essentially different prototypes currently being deployed on a pilot basis. Each of these specific case studies is then evaluated for its ability to provide potential accessibility features that would fulfill the requirement set forth by relevant ADA regulations in the absence of an operator/driver. Based on this review of relevant research, ADA regulations, and case studies, recommendations are provided for researchers, private firms, policymakers, and agencies involved in AV development and deployment. The recommendations include better collaboration and adoption of best practices to address the needs of individuals with different disability types (e.g., Cognitive, Visual, Auditory). ADA regulations should be used as one of the tools in addition to universal design principles and assistive technologies in order to maximize accessibility.

An Investigation of Enterprise Resource Planning capabilities Influencing Performance of Uganda Universities: An Empirical Review

Public universities play an important role in economic development in Uganda. As the number of public universities increase, their performance becomes key competitive factor. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs) is seen as a solution for improved performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Enterprise Resource Planning System capabilities on performance of Uganda universities. Universities in Uganda have been performing poorly because of inadequate infrastructure, poor service delivery, lack of management support and unwarranted information insecurity. The objective of this study was to establish the role of information security, examine the influence of management support, evaluate the effect of information system infrastructure and to determine the relevance of service delivery on performance of universities in Uganda. The study was guided by the contingency theory and the Actor Network Theory. This paper discusses secondary data evidence that prevail on the role of Enterprise Resource Planning System integration in Public Universities in Uganda. A number of journal articles were reviewed. The study found out that management support, information security, service delivery, information system infrastructure has a positive effect on performance of universities. Results depicted that Enterprise Resource Planning System had strong effect on performance of organizations including public universities, though less studied in the Uganda context. Conclusively, the role of Enterprise Resource Planning System on performance of Public Universities in Uganda requires field-based empirical evidence by recent research attention. This could also be utilized to develop a model for assessing performance of organizations by Enterprise Resource Planning System.

Key Drivers of Urban Digital Economy Sustainable Development: The China Case

Digitalisation is a modern social and economic reality. The search for efficient pathways to move towards high-quality digital communities’ sustainable development constitutes the scope of current urban research worldwide. Given the need to move towards sustainable urban digitalisation, investigation of its critical influencing factors deserves special attention. However, quantitative empirical studies that avoid subjective judgement on the drivers of sustainable urban digitalisation are lacking. The purpose of this study is to fill this knowledge gap by outlining and quantifying the key factors affecting the sustainable development of the urban digital economy through entropy-TOPSIS modelling. The study takes China’s provinces and cities as an example due to China’s success in digital economy development. It is proposed to use the complex four-dimensional (scientific and technological innovation, economic growth, social development, information infrastructure) system involving 16 sub-indices to measure urban digital economy sustainability. Applying data from 31 Chinese provinces and cities for 2016-2019 and the entropy-TOPSIS model, the development of the technological innovations was found to be the most impacting factor on the urban digital economy sustainability path. The R&D staff engagement and expenditures, goods export and import, and e-commerce sales fuel the urban digital economy sustainability the most, while the number of students, public financial expenditures, and unemployment are the least significant. Results show that the urban digital economy is more a business-driven process than pushed by authorities. The gap between Chinese regions’ digital economy development was identified. This could be explained by the prevalence of conventional industries in several areas and the low level of their digitalisation and indicates the need to enhance interregional cooperation and partnership to promote sustainable development of the country under the digital economy paradigm. Despite China’s context, this research contributes to further science and policy development in this field globally, covering the role of talents, innovations, business R&D investments, interregional cooperation, and multiscale partnership in the promotion of urban digitalisation conducive to sustainability ideas

The concept of assessing the risks of cybersecurity of the information system of the critical infrastructure object

Ensuring cyber and information security for critical infrastructure is achieved through the implementation of an appropriate set of information security management measures, which can be provided in the form of software policies, methods, procedures, organizational structures and functions. Information security requirements are determined, in particular, by systematic risk assessment of information security, which can be one of the elements of the predicted approach to identifying hazards in the provision of services to service participants in the information interaction of the information system. The paper presents conceptual provisions for assessing and managing cybersecurity risks of the critical infrastructure information system. The proposed concept involves the definition of: areas of security threats to the information system; involved information assets and calculation of their value; assessment of the probability of attacks on the information system; assessment of the probability of success of attacks on the information system and more. Risk assessment methods are proposed that take into account the probability of success of an attack and the probability of an attack occurring, which makes it possible to eliminate the shortcomings inherent in known approaches and provide more accurate identification of attack methods associated with the attacker's behavior. The concept of cybersecurity risk assessment and the methodology for analyzing and assessing security threats that are presented in the work correspond to approaches to building risk-oriented information security management systems and can become the basis for developing an information security system in the information system of a critical infrastructure object.

Factors influencing adoption of antidote tracking system among healthcare providers in Malaysian hospital setting

ABSTRACT The timely availability of antidotes is crucial as it is helpful for saving lives. There is a lack of studies focused on the use of tracking systems in antidote management, especially in Malaysia. Thus, this study is aimed at examining the factors influencing the adoption of antidote tracking systems among hospitals in Malaysia. A research model derived from the Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework. Data was collected via a cross-sectional survey from 133 hospitals in Malaysia. The Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis was employed to analyse the data. The results indicate that perceived benefits, compatibility, complexity, security concern, top management support, information system infrastructure, perceived cost and vendor support play a significant role in motivating hospitals to adopt a tracking system for the management of antidotes. This study identified key factors influencing the adoption decision of antidote tracking systems among hospitals in Malaysia and can be used as a reference for future studies.

Evaluation of the European Health Information Training Programme (EHITP): results from InfAct Joint Action.

BackgroundThe InfAct (Information for Action) is a Joint Action of the European Commission’s 3rd Health Programme with the main goal to build an infrastructure of a health information system for a stronger European Union and to strengthen its core elements.The InfAct Joint Action was developed along 36 months and structured in 10 work packages.Portugal co-led the Work Package 6 (WP6) of this project, which included the development of the proposal of a flagship capacity building programme - the European Health Information Training Programme - and its evaluation. The evaluation objectives included: to evaluate the adequacy of the training programme to the health information needs in the European Member States; to identify possible changes regarding the participants selection process, the training activities and the pedagogical project; and to contribute to the understanding of the potential of the programme to add to available offers in learning on the topics of Public Health information, on the capacity building and behavioural changes in Public Health activities which can be attributed to the course, and of the potential of the programme to contribute to the alignment of health information criteria and procedures between the European Member States.MethodsThe evaluation process was developed using an observational descriptive study design using a mixed methodological approach with both document analysis and primary data collected by questionnaires and interviews analysis. Mixed quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analysis were used.ResultsThe proposal of the European Health Information Training Programme seemed adequate to the formative needs and capacities in line with the work performed by the InfAct project. In what concerns about its main thematic areas, it was also aligned with the areas identified in the previous formative needs and capacities mapping. The participants selection process proposed seemed, in general, adequate. The potential of the European Health Information Training Programme proposal to learning, capacity building and behavioral changes at work attributable to the course was considered positive, as well as the potential to the alignment of health information criteria and procedures between European Union Member States.DiscussionIn general, we found high consistency between the results obtained from data collected by the techniques used. However, different suggestions for improvement were outlined by the evaluation study population.ConclusionsThe proposed European Health Information Training Programme was a dynamic, flexible, sustainable formative programme in health information and focused on reducing inequalities.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13690-022-00895-2.

Roles of Land Information Systems (LIS) and Geodetic Spatial Reference Frames In Property Taxation and Revenue Drive in Rivers State: A Case Study of Portharcourt Cadastre

Land management is becoming more recognized as a community-wide if not global need. Landed assets are an important source of government revenue in Rivers state, and they necessitate a land information systems infrastructure. The creation of LIS of Port Harcourt property layouts is critical to realizing that ambition. Results of this research paper has lots of potential in providing sustainable land relationships and information to decision makers (land administrators and revenue drivers) in Rivers state so that they can make decisions that are beneficial to sustainable development in the context of efficient land administration and management. This study used geospatial methodologies to document, create, and populate land information in Trans-Amadi and GRA phases 1 and 2 of Port Harcourt's cadastral layouts. According to the findings of this study's analysis, discussions, and queries, effective usage of the LIS, which is driven by many aspects of services supplied by government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, will increase efficiency and productivity in property taxation in capital city of Port Harcourt.The following recommendations were made as a result of this research: Information decentralization to make it easier to keep track of and recollect data. Fees charged for various services given are published and displayed. Official procedures should be simplified, and a faster and more efficient method of moving files should be established. In Rivers state, there has been a reduction in the time it takes to complete title paperwork for landed properties. All occupants of government lands in Port Harcourt will get a formal allocation of encroached lands and a certificate of title. A chart for employee training, particularly in ICT, should be prepared. External consultants should be taught customer service, change management, time management, project management, supervisory management, and systems administration. The state's Ministry of Lands and Survey should develop a website that enables for e-payment of grand rents, C of O applications, and land mapping. Finally, the LIS of cadastral layouts in Port Harcourt as a pilot project should be implemented in major towns and cities across the LGAs of Rivers state for efficient land administration, property taxation, and revenue generation, in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria's current land reform programme.
 Keyword: Taxation, information, land, systems, cadastre, and revenue are some of the key phrases.

Measures and Suggestions for Smart Community Development Based on Urban Renewal

The development mode of urban construction has gradually changed from the rapid development and construction mode of new areas to the renewal of old urban areas. The old urban areas are demolished, transformed, upgraded, invested, and constructed, and the backward urban functions are replaced with new urban functions and then restore vitality and prosperity. In urban renewal, the upgrading and transformation of urban information infrastructure and intelligent systems is an important part of urban development, and the smart community construction system is a new development concept after urbanization has been updated to a certain extent. The goal is to address the disparity between the material and cultural needs of a growing population and the unbalanced and unplanned management of cities. In addition, with the rapid development of information technology, new applications and demands emerge. Based on urban renewal, this paper proposes corresponding countermeasures for the upgrading and transformation of intelligent facilities and intelligent application in the development of smart communities in combination with new technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, 5G, and AI for reference in planning and design.

Operationalizing and Implementing Pretrained, Large Artificial Intelligence Linguistic Models in the US Health Care System: Outlook of Generative Pretrained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) as a Service Model.

Generative pretrained transformer models have been popular recently due to their enhanced capabilities and performance. In contrast to many existing artificial intelligence models, generative pretrained transformer models can perform with very limited training data. Generative pretrained transformer 3 (GPT-3) is one of the latest releases in this pipeline, demonstrating human-like logical and intellectual responses to prompts. Some examples include writing essays, answering complex questions, matching pronouns to their nouns, and conducting sentiment analyses. However, questions remain with regard to its implementation in health care, specifically in terms of operationalization and its use in clinical practice and research. In this viewpoint paper, we briefly introduce GPT-3 and its capabilities and outline considerations for its implementation and operationalization in clinical practice through a use case. The implementation considerations include (1) processing needs and information systems infrastructure, (2) operating costs, (3) model biases, and (4) evaluation metrics. In addition, we outline the following three major operational factors that drive the adoption of GPT-3 in the US health care system: (1) ensuring Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance, (2) building trust with health care providers, and (3) establishing broader access to the GPT-3 tools. This viewpoint can inform health care practitioners, developers, clinicians, and decision makers toward understanding the use of the powerful artificial intelligence tools integrated into hospital systems and health care.

Branded Foods Databases as a Tool to Support Nutrition Research and Monitoring of the Food Supply: Insights From the Slovenian Composition and Labeling Information System.

Branded foods databases are becoming very valuable not only in nutrition research but also for clinical practice, policymakers, businesses, and general population. In contrast to generic foods, branded foods are marked by rapid changes in the food supply because of reformulations, the introduction of new foods, and the removal of existing ones from the market. Also, different branded foods are available in different countries. This not only complicates the compilation of branded foods datasets but also causes such datasets to become out of date quickly. In this review, we present different approaches to the compilation of branded foods datasets, describe the history and progress of building and updating such datasets in Slovenia, and present data to support nutrition research and monitoring of the food supply. Manufacturers are key sources of information for the compilation of branded foods databases, most commonly through food labels. In Slovenia, the branded food dataset is compiled using standard food monitoring studies conducted at all major retailers. Cross-sectional studies are conducted every few years, in which the food labels of all available branded foods are photographed. Studies are conducted using the Composition and Labeling Information System (CLAS) infrastructure, composed of a smartphone application for data collection and online data extraction and management tool. We reviewed various uses of branded foods datasets. Datasets can be used to assess the nutritional composition of food in the food supply (i.e., salt, sugar content), the use of specific ingredients, for example, food additives, for nutrient profiling, and assessment of marketing techniques on food labels. Such datasets are also valuable for other studies, for example, assessing nutrient intakes in dietary surveys. Additional approaches are also being tested to keep datasets updated between food monitoring studies. A promising approach is the exploitation of crowdsourcing through the mobile application VešKajJeš, which was launched in Slovenia to support consumers in making healthier dietary choices.

Effect of using Cloud Computing technology on the accounting job

The study aimed to demonstrate the importance of the concept of cloud accounting and its advantages over the accounting profession and compare it with traditional accounting systems, and to study the risks and downsides of adopting cloud computing technology, the study concluded that cloud computing technology affects the organization and measurement of accounting work by reducing the costs of the information technology infrastructure, which is getting more and more complex daily due to the huge changes that currently exist, such as the increase in the number of devices and the increase in the consumption of electrical energy. Significant cost savings and enhanced operational efficiency, where many companies have invested in computing capabilities and capabilities to improve their business and take advantage of the capabilities of cloud storage and database management, so it is necessary to use cloud computing technology, as it greatly reduces the costs of the company’s information system infrastructure, and the study recommended the need to rely on modern technologies at work accounting and preparing trained cadres ready to work with these techniques.

Effect of An Information and Communication Technology Utilization Program for Leisure Activities on the Anxiety of Device use and Health-Related Quality of Life

Purpose: With the aging of the population and the development of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and education systems, methods to maintain social networks among the older adults are attracting attention. In this study, familiar leisure activities were introduced into the process of learning how to use devices, as anxiety about using devices has been considered one of the factors that hinder the spread of ICT among older adults. This study aimed to explore the effects of an ICT utilization program on device use anxiety and health-related quality of life quality and how ICT use affects social participation. Participants and Methods: Twenty-two community-dwelling older adults participated in a social network service group exchange for 1 month, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on ICT utilization and WHO-5 before and after the program. From the survey, we examined the effects of ICT use on older adults anxiety about device use and life satisfaction. Results: Before and after the program, a change in the WHO-5 total score and anxiety about using a device was found. In addition, not only positive opinions were heard regarding the impressions of the program, but many wished to continue the program in the future. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed that a style in which participants naturally learn how to use a device while interacting with each other based on themes that include elements of enjoyment leads to a reduction in anxiety about device use and increase the degree of satisfaction.

ОБНАРУЖЕНИЕ ИНЦИДЕНТОВ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ НА ОСНОВЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ НЕЙРОННЫХ СЕТЕЙ

Objective: develop model, algorithmic and software for detecting in real time attempts to disrupt the correct functioning of critical information infrastructure systems with neural network technologies. Methods analysis of modern machine learning methods and neural network technologies, synthesis and modeling of correct behavior of programs, algorithmization of learning processes and application of neural networks, experimental studies of developed algorithms and programs on the stand. Study results: The characteristics of machine learning methods and neural network technologies used to detect software and technical impacts and information security incidents are given. The method for solving this problem based on neural networks with LSTM and FFN architectures has been developed. The description of the algorithm and fragments of the software implementation of the method in the programming languages Python3 and Go using Tensorflow and Keras libraries is given. An important advantage of the proposed approach is the possibility of adapting the neural network in the event of a change in the mode and conditions of operation of the system. The results obtained during the experiments indicate the possibility and expediency of using this approach to detect software and technical impacts on critical information infrastructure systems on a time scale close to real with a high level of reliability. Scientific novelty: consists in the application of deep learning technology based on a long-term short-term neural network LSTM, which has the ability to adapt to changing modes and conditions, to solve the problem of detecting signs of a violation of the correct functioning of nodes of information and telecommunications systems in real time.

INFORMATION TERRORISM AS A CONTEMPORARY THREAT TO THE INFORMATION SECURITY OF MAN, SOCIETY AND THE STATE

The article discusses the content and characteristics of information terrorism as a threat to national and international security in contemporary circumstances. The relevance of the topic stems from the fact that information is currently considered a strategic resource, and deliberate manipulation of public opinion and the commission of terrorist acts to that end has become one of the most dangerous manifestations of hybrid confrontation in the contemporary international arena. Due to the impossibility of clear distinction with ordinary computer crimes and domestic manipulation in mass media, the concepts of «information terrorism» and «cyberterrorism» do not have a clear interpretation. Therefore, information terrorism is viewed in a broad sense (manipulation of public consciousness to create tension, instability, chaos aimed at achieving political or economic objectives in the interests of terrorists) and in narrow terms (cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure information systems to disable them, which can lead to economic, environmental and other disasters). The general characteristics of information terrorism (organized form of violence, psychological influence, drawing attention to a particular problem, demonstrative nature) are defined and specific characteristics inherent only in terrorist acts in the information sphere: (secrecy, size, synchrony, remoteness, internationality and publicity) are singled out. The methods of information terrorism are described, which are aimed at influencing people’s consciousness on a large scale and at imposing their will on society and State institutions through the use of disinformation, propaganda, diversification of public opinion, psychological pressure, rumours, manipulation, intimidation. The forms of information terrorism are described: in particular: information-psychological (media-terrorism) and information-technical (cyberterrorism). It is noted that media terrorism / media killer activity involves the organization of special media campaigns to create an atmosphere of civil disobedience, public distrust of the actions and intentions of the government and its law enforcement agencies by using a number of models of communicative influence (nationalist, religious, inciting model). Cyberterrorism is presented as a socially dangerous activity with the use of computers and telecommunication networks to harm or commit actions / threats that threaten society and lead to other serious consequences, through the use of the following methods: APT-attacks, malware, DoS / DDoS-attacks, unauthorized access, ransomware. It is summarized and concluded that today virtual space and mass media are widely used by various terrorist-oriented groups for their own purposes, because accessibility, the absence of censorship, the large potential audience of users, the speed with which information is disseminated and the complexity with which it is presented and received are all contributing to the spread of information terrorism in today’s world. The threat of terrorism through the use of media and cyberspace is a complex challenge of our time. The danger of such terrorism lies in the absence of geographical and national borders, since terrorist acts can be carried out from anywhere in the world, as well as in the difficulty of identifying the identity of the terrorist in the information space and establishing his whereabouts, because cyber and media attacks are carried out by hackers indirectly through the use of computer technology. Therefore, in view of the further development of technology and mass media, the issue of countering information terrorism will be particularly relevant.

The Role of Information Systems in Enhancing the Implementation of Administrative Decisions

Information systems are currently used in all organizations due to their effectiveness in the implementation of administrative decisions. This study attempted to examine availability of information systems infrastructure, the impact of information systems on enhancing the procedures of the implementation of administrative decisions, and the obstacles that hinder the use of information systems to implement administrative decisions at Tabuk University in Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve these goals, the researcher used the descriptive analytical approach and used the questionnaire instrument in order to collect the data from the research sample. Population of the study comprised all the administrative employees at Tabuk University. The researcher distributed (325) questionnaires on the research sample and (252) questionnaires were put for study. The findings of the study showed that Tabuk University have a good infrastructure of information system that fit the work requirements and that help the employees to get accurate and timely reports. Also, the findings showed that the information systems have a robust role in enhancing the procedures of the implementation of the administrative decisions in terms of the availability of accurate, correct, and timely data to implement the administrative decisions properly. On the other hand, it was shown that there are obstacles for the use of information systems to implement administrative decisions such as the inappropriate organizational structures, lack of training, routine procedures, lack of funds to update the systems regularly, and employees’ resistance. Based on these results, the researcher recommended having a proper organizational structure that support information systems, holding regular training courses for the employees, motivating employees to avoid resistance, and ensuring the allocation of resources to get the new modern systems.

Legacy in the Making – A Knowledge Infrastructural Perspective on Systems for Archeological Information Sharing

AbstractArcheological research depends on a complex infrastructure of information systems and services built on different funding models. The information systems enable innovative approaches and progress in information making, but each system also organizes information by means of the system design, the structures, and relations established and the terminologies promoted. This article adopts a knowledge infrastructural perspective on systems used for information sharing in archeology. The purpose is first to expand the perspective on the systems for research information sharing in archeology and second to discuss the potential impact of the knowledge infrastructure on disciplinary knowledge-making, the shaping of archeological information, and legacy data. Based on an analysis of qualitative interviews (N= 31) with archeologists from Europe and the United States, the results show that the interviewees use sharing solutions developed within the archeology discipline as well as general information sharing systems. One important task for further research is to better understand how archeologists choose information sharing systems and how their choices impact what information they share. Also, information sharing for specific topics or with specific coverage appears to be developed with project funding outside of the more established sharing institutions. A key question for the infrastructural sustainability is how to support the inclusion of innovative sharing solutions in institutionalized sharing environments. The results emphasize the need for further studies of how information systems shape archeological legacy in the making, which in turn will support data literacy awareness and training.

Geospatial Assessment of Ambient Air Quality Footprints in Relation to Urban Landuses in Nigeria

Ambient air pollution is a global concern. It accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths yearly as a result of its ability to cause stroke, lung cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory diseases. It has also been estimated that about 91 percent of the world's population lives in places, mostly urban centres, where air quality levels exceed World Health Organization (WHO) limits. Fortunately, efforts are regularly made in most developed countries to monitor and reduce the level of air pollution and ameliorate its negative consequences. Unfortunately, the case is not the same in most developing countries of which Nigeria is a member, as air pollution status is rarely monitored religiously. This study geospatially assessed ambient air quality footprints vis-à-vis urban land uses in Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria. Data on emission level of CO, NO₂, SO₂, H₂S, and SPM_2.5 were collected for 6 months in both dry and wet seasons in the year 2020, using Crowcon Gasman, while point coordinates were collected using Garmin GPSMap 60CSx device. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) infrastructure was deployed to generate the ambient air quality maps for the metropolis. Descriptive and parametric analytical techniques were also deployed, based on the objectives of the study. From findings, F-ratio is significant for both season and land use for all the tested parameters (F-ratio for season is F(1,3224)=574.516, at p<0.05, while for land use, F(3,3224)=429.946, at p<0.05). The interaction between seasons and land use (season * land use) for all the parameters is also significant. It was concluded that there is a significant variation in air quality (CO, NO₂, SO₂, H₂S, and SPM_2.5) in Calabar Metropolis in relation to either land use types or seasons of the year. It was therefore recommended that there should be protection of residential land uses to avoid encroachment by incompatible uses that cause pollution.

Coping with interoperability in the development of a federated research infrastructure: achievements, challenges and recommendations from the JA-InfAct

BackgroundInformation for Action! is a Joint Action (JA-InfAct) on Health Information promoted by the EU Member States and funded by the European Commission within the Third EU Health Programme (2014–2020) to create and develop solid sustainable infrastructure on EU health information. The main objective of this the JA-InfAct is to build an EU health information system infrastructure and strengthen its core elements by a) establishing a sustainable research infrastructure to support population health and health system performance assessment, b) enhancing the European health information and knowledge bases, as well as health information research capacities to reduce health information inequalities, and c) supporting health information interoperability and innovative health information tools and data sources.MethodsFollowing a federated analysis approach, JA-InfAct developed an ad hoc federated infrastructure based on distributing a well-defined process-mining analysis methodology to be deployed at each participating partners’ systems to reproduce the analysis and pool the aggregated results from the analyses. To overcome the legal interoperability issues on international data sharing, data linkage and management, partners (EU regions) participating in the case studies worked coordinately to query their real-world healthcare data sources complying with a common data model, executed the process-mining analysis pipeline on their premises, and shared the results enabling international comparison and the identification of best practices on stroke care.ResultsThe ad hoc federated infrastructure was designed and built upon open source technologies, providing partners with the capacity to exploit their data and generate dashboards exploring the stroke care pathways. These dashboards can be shared among the participating partners or to a coordination hub without legal issues, enabling the comparative evaluation of the caregiving activities for acute stroke across regions.Nonetheless, the approach is not free of a number of challenges that have been solved, and new challenges that should be addressed in the eventual case of scaling up. For that eventual case, 12 recommendations considering the different layers of interoperability have been provided.ConclusionThe proposed approach, when successfully deployed as a federated analysis infrastructure, such as the one developed within the JA-InfAct, can concisely tackle all levels of the interoperability requirements from organisational to technical interoperability, supported by the close collaboration of the partners participating in the study. Any proposal for extension, should require further thinking on how to deal with new challenges on interoperability.

Amalsad cooperative ltd: total cost of ownership for digital services

Structured abstract Rendering digital services have taken centerstage in the current ICT for development discourse. E-Government services are mostly under this discourse with the aim to provide citizen centric services in the public domain. Business and development organizations alike are also investing in developing their own digital infrastructure for rendering services to its stakeholders. This case describes scenario in which a cooperative organization wishes to use digital infrastructure and provide digital services to its farmer members. The cooperative continued investing in ICT since the last couple of decades and constantly upgraded it to ease the transaction and bring efficiency and reduce information asymmetry. This had greatly benefitted the members. However, the cooperative is aware that its communication network built on the wireless medium has its own limitations in introducing new services and integrating its databases and applications. The cooperative took note of “Digital India (DI)” initiatives to provide digital services to rural areas and build an ecosystem to empower the citizens in its governance set up. This DI policy has implicit provisions of better networking protocols with improved bandwidth. The organization has a dilemma to continue with investing its own resources or explore possibility of piggybacking on the DI initiative. The cooperative wished to examine the total cost of ownership in either case and assess the feasibility of converging with the infrastructure created by the government. Case synopsis The Government Information Technology Policies are increasingly favouring citizens and in favour of shared infrastructure and services. It is worth the examination to evaluate strategies to deploy IT infrastructure and services with optimized cost and better returns in an enterprise. This is far more important for a social enterprise like AMALSAD cooperative (user-owned firm) that has deployed its own IT infrastructure and ITeS. AMALSAD cooperative deployed its IT assets long back and in the meanwhile, the Government policy is in favour of providing services over the internet. Leaning objectives The case serves to help students to understand the theoretical concept of Enterprise information systems infrastructure and services. It brings to the students understanding: the drivers of IT infrastructure to provide digital services; challenges that would make the social enterprise (in this case user-owned firm) to understand the opportunities and challenges of deploying the right digital infrastructure and get services on demand. The case presents the scenarios for the students to deliberate and find answers to the right approach for estimating the total cost of ownership (TCO). Social implications The case situation presents a scenario for digital government services. Most of the customer-facing enterprises including social enterprises are also providing digital services. It is important that such services converge at an optimized TCO. Complexity academic level Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.