Sustainable Information Systems Research Articles

INFORMATION ASSURANCE: EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AT BACHELORS LEVEL—AN INTERNATIONAL LOOK

Security is become an important name these days for different reasons. Today organizations and institutions are engaged in information affairs and in which IT Components become important and valuable. Worldwide manpower requirement in this field is highly solicited, different educational institutions viz. colleges, universities, technical institutions are doing well in this context. There are different areas closely related with the Information Assurance such as Cyber Security, Information Security, IT Security, Computer Security etc. Information Assurance is a broader version of IT Security which talks and deals with both manual and computational security related affairs. Information Assurance moreover comes with the topics in policy designing for healthy information systems designing and development. The framework, guidelines for sustainable information systems designing is also part of Information Assurance. Initially different universities have been started Information Assurance program at Doctoral level and in recent past apart from Masters degrees few have started Bachelors as well. This paper is highlighted the basics of Information Assurance and mainly the available programs of Information Assurance at Bachelors degree level. Paper mentioned the emerging areas and topic of interest as well. It is noted that few universities offers the areas as a full-fledged manner and few as a specialization within a broader domain.

Digitally Sustainable Information Systems in Axiomatic Design

Nowadays, information systems are evolving towards increasingly interconnected, smart, and self-adaptive models. This transformation has led to the representation of the systems themselves in terms of natural ecosystems. Similar to the natural environment, the virtual world can be threatened by specific forms of pollution, such as illegitimate access to the system, unwanted changes to data, and loss of information, which affect the only resource it possesses, i.e., data. In order to provide proactive protection of data integrity and confidentiality, in this paper we consider the well-known principles of privacy by design and privacy by default in the design phase of system development. To this end, we propose an approach based on axiomatic design, which allows us to implement these two principles through an appropriate reinterpretation of the information axiom, in terms of privacy impact assessment. We illustrate our approach by a case study, which implements the process of managing patients in home care. However, the proposed method can be applied to processing systems that provide services. The main result achieved is to select the most digitally sustainable design solution, i.e., the one that best prevents the threats mentioned above.

Prioritizing health information for national health reporting - a Delphi study of the Joint Action on Health Information (InfAct)

BackgroundHealth information (HI) strategies exist in several EU Member States, however, they mainly focus on technical issues and improving governance rather than on content-related priority setting. There is also little research available about national prioritization processes underlying HI development for policy support in the EU. The aim of this study was to broaden the knowledge base on HI prioritization strategies and to encourage expert exchange towards good practice models. A specific focus was put on HI produced for national health reporting, this being a crucial tool for policy advice.MethodsWe conducted a literature search to identify published and grey literature on national HI prioritization. This was followed by a two-round Policy Delphi study, where we explored which processes and methods exist in EU Member States and associated countries for the prioritization of HI collection. In the first round, information about these processes was gathered in semi-structured questions; in the second round, participants were asked to rank the identified approaches for desirability and feasibility. The survey was conducted online; participants were recruited from the membership of the Joint Action on Health Information (InfAct – Information for Action).Results119 experts were contacted, representing 40 InfAct partner institutions in 28 EU Member States and associated countries. Of these, 28 experts responded fully or partially to the first round, and six to the second round. In the first round, more than half of the respondents reported the existence of structured HI prioritization processes in their countries. To prioritize HI, a clear preference was given in the second round for a formal, horizontal process which includes different experts and stakeholders. National public health institutes were named desirable key stakeholders in this process, and also desirable and feasible coordinators for stakeholder coordination.ConclusionHealth information prioritization methods and procedures reflect the heterogeneity of national public health systems in European countries. Mapping, sharing and ranking prioritization methods and procedures for “good practices” provides a meaningful basis for expert knowledge exchange on HI development. We recommend to make this process part of a future sustainable EU health information system and to use the information gathered in this project to initiate the development of a guidance “Good Practice HI Prioritization” among EU Member States and associated countries.

Framework to Develop a Resilient and Sustainable Integrated Information System for Health Care Applications: A Review

The reconstruction of the health sector amidst the forth industrial revolution has been confronted with many challenges. Many benefits have been attributed to the vital role played by technology in realizing and constructing a robust health information system. However, amidst the digitalization in the healthcare system, several challenges such as integration and fragmentation have been affecting the structure of the Health Information Systems (HIS) which subsequently influences decision making and resource allocation. Therefore, this paper through a comprehensive systematic review afford a proposition for a develop a resilient and sustainable information system for Health Care applications. The study reveals the parallel impact of health information technology application in the healthcare arena and highlight the need for more in-depth research on HIS that incorporate novel scientific methods. Additional this study also presents a body of evident that reveal the inadequacies of the HIS to tackle the constant transformative changes presently confronting the global healthcare systems.

Examining Information System’s Usage and Performance Indicators Using Technology Utilization, Satisfaction and Performance

While the development of information systems in workplaces with the aim of achieving cost-effectiveness, efficiency and quality of service delivery remain sacrosanct, issues of effective utilization and its resultant implications on organizational performance remain critical from one context to another. Unfortunately, few studies had considered focusing on these causal relationships among information system deployments in the construction industry especially in developing countries like Nigeria. This work modelled the interactions causal relationships associated with task technology fit, system usage and performance variables using the TUSPEM model. Through convenience and stratified sampling techniques, the views of 136 senior staff including top level management staff, sectional heads and other senior staff of a construction firm in Nigeria were sought. Smart PLS structural equation modeling software was used for the analysis of the dataset. The result showed significant relationships between causal variables in the TUSPEM model such as Application utilization to performance (t-value 2.44, P< 0.02), utilization to user satisfaction (t-value 2.87, P< 0.01). TTF to performance (t-value 2.86, P< 0.06), satisfaction (t-value 4.40, P< 0.00), User attitude to utilization (t-value 5.40, P< 0.00). Computer 2self-efficacy to utilization (t-value 4.47, P< 0.00). User satisfaction to performance (t-value 2.47, P< 0.01). Critical appraisal and integration of quality feedback on information system usage and its resultant effects on the numerous information systems being deployed must not be sideline if the sustainability of information system is anything to go by. Other implications are discussed.

Анализ закритической устойчивости распределенных информационных систем реального времени

The article describes an approach to the numerical analysis of the stability of distributed information systems under a load that varies over time allowing for a short-term load exceeding critical values. Information systems are considered as imperfect queuing systems in which the intensity of the message flow may depend on the size of the queues of applications. Based on this approach, criteria for the stable and unstable behavior of the system under load are formulated, where the stable behavior of the system is understood as the ability of the system to return to its normal mode of operation independently when the external load drops below the critical value, and unstable one when there is the transition to an emergency state. As examples, the most common types of unstable systems are considered, as well as an example of a distributed system that implements a complex queuing system, which, depending on the characteristics of the service, can be either stable or unstable. The analysis of such a system is carried out, which is confirmed by the results of numerical simulation. Based on the analysis results, zones of stability and instability are determined. Features of the implementation of distributed real-time information systems are considered, practical recommendations for the implementation of sustainable information systems are given

From science to sustainable systems: Evidence based-decision making for adolescent fertility in Zambia

BackgroundAdolescent fertility is a global health and sustainable development indicator, and requires robust information systems for priority setting and decision-making to control. Evidence-based decision making for health stresses the use of scientific objective data and methodologies, which typically sieve out the more contextually understood social and economic factors that impact health.Main Text: The rising adolescent fertility rates in Zambia warrant the use of robust information systems for planning and resource allocation. In addition to the shortage of information on adolescent health in general, the existing information systems are limited. Sustainable information systems require an investment in data collection that transcends the existing and heavily relied on quantitative evidence base on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, arguing for the need to include data generated through qualitative and participatory methodologies, generating a more holistic understanding of health phenomena.Conclusion: There is a need to collect data on adolescent fertility using alternative methods to make decisions that work for adolescents.

Social media intention mining for sustainable information systems: categories, taxonomy, datasets and challenges

Intention mining is a promising research area of data mining that aims to determine end-users’ intentions from their past activities stored in the logs, which note users’ interaction with the system. Search engines are a major source to infer users’ past searching activities to predict their intention, facilitating the vendors and manufacturers to present their products to the user in a promising manner. This area has been consistently getting pertinence with an increasing trend for online purchasing. Noticeable research work has been accomplished in this area for the last two decades. There is no such systematic literature review available that provides a comprehensive review in intension mining domain to the best of our knowledge. This article presents a systematic literature review based on 109 high-quality research papers selected after rigorous screening. The analysis reveals that there exist eight prominent categories of intention. Furthermore, a taxonomy of the approaches and techniques used for intention mining have been discussed in this article. Similarly, six important types of data sets used for this purpose have also been discussed in this work. Lastly, future challenges and research gaps have also been presented for the researchers working in this domain.

Information Technology for Business Sustainability: A Literature Review with Automated Content Analysis

An extremely dynamic and fast-moving environment is pushing enterprises to continuous innovation and change. Managing sustainability in a digitalized environment seems to be of central importance for policy makers, as information technologies (IT), in combination with sustainability objectives, offer a wide range of opportunities for positive change. Through a systematic literature review and the application of automated content analysis, this study aims to provide insights into the latest research in the interdisciplinary field of sustainable business models and information systems. The results of the analysis, combined with a researcher’s perspective, suggest that IT, which can be used to achieve sustainability objectives, are already in place and have an infinite number of potential implications in the future. The results suggest that positive economic, social, and environmental changes can be achieved by using IT as long as they are used to identify unsustainable actions and enable positive change. The analysis of research trends revealed a discrepancy between the research in the European Union and the rest of the world and pointed to several avenues for future research.

A Linked Open Data-Oriented Sustainable System for Transparency and Open Access to Government Data: A Case Study of the Public’s Response to Women’s Driving in Saudi Arabia

Due to the wide-ranging development of data-oriented sustainable systems in the government and the public sectors, the development of such sustainable systems is replete with potential. The ultimate focus of developing these sustainable systems is to provide citizens with transparency, accountability, awareness as well as a single point of query for asking integrated and smart queries. In view of these benefits, the Saudi government has taken the initiative to publish and develop sustainable open data-oriented information systems. However some major challenges in the Saudi Government Open Data are that the (1) data are published and available in different formats such as Excel sheets, CSV files (Comma Separated Values), images, scanned documents and social media sources such as Twitter, (2) datasets from different government departments are not linked with each other or to existing datasets in Linked Open Data Cloud (even though they have strong links with each other), and (3) there is no SPARQL Endpoint that can be used to pose smart semantic-based queries to Saudi Government Data. This paper is part of an ongoing research project to present a framework that can be used to transfer the government data from different sources to RDF format. The framework can also be used to clean and classify/map the data according to the Saudi Government Ontology. We also describe our approach for semiautomatically linking Saudi Government Datasets with one another as well as with other existing open datasets, thus resulting in the Saudi Linked Open Government Data Cloud (SLOGDC). Finally, taking the topic “Public’s Response to Women’s Driving in Saudi Arabia” as a case study, we demonstrate the SLOGD SPARQL Endpoint as a data-oriented system by executing different queries and analyzing results of these queries. This work also contributes new insights into women’s driving in Saudi Arabia using the SLOGDC, thus suggesting the way forward in shaping policies for decision-making.

A machine learning approach for performance-oriented decision support in service-oriented architectures

Enterprise IT performance can be improved by providing reactive and predictive monitoring tools that anticipate problem detection. It requires advanced approaches for creating more agile, adaptable, sustainable and intelligent information systems. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been used in significant performance-based approaches by information system practitioners. Organizations are interested in performance-based decision support along the layers of SOA to maintain their sustainability for service reuse. Reusability is a very important aspect of Service-based systems (SBS) to analyze service or process reuse. This helps in achieving business agility to meet changing marketplace needs. However currently, there are many challenges pertaining tothe complexities of service reuse evolution along SBS. These challenges are related to the sustainability of service behavior during its lifecycle and the limitations of existing monitoring tools. There is a need for a consolidated classified knowledge-based performance profile, analytical assessment, prediction and recommendation. Therefore, this paper provides a semantic performance-oriented decision support system (SPODSS) for SOA. SPODSS provides recommendations for suggesting service reuse during its evolution. SPODSS is supported by five building blocks. These blocks are data, semantic, traces, machine learning, and decision. SPODSS classify data, validate (analytical assessment, traces, semantic enrichment) at different time intervals and increased consumption and prediction based on consolidated results. It handles the dynamic evolution of SBS and new or changed user requirements by ontology development. Finally, SPODSS generates recommendations for atomic service, composite service, and resourceallocation provisioning. To motivate this approach, we illustrate the implementation of the proposed algorithms for all the five blocks by a business process use case and public data set repositories of shared services. Sustainability and adaptability of service-based systems areensured by handling new business requirements, dynamicity issues and ensuring performance. Performance criterion includes functional suitability, time behavior, resource utilization, and reliability in terms of availability, maturity, and risk.

Innovative use of data sources: a cross-sectional study of data linkage and artificial intelligence practices across European countries

BackgroundThe availability of data generated from different sources is increasing with the possibility to link these data sources with each other. However, linked administrative data can be complex to use and may require advanced expertise and skills in statistical analysis. The main objectives of this study were to describe the current use of data linkage at the individual level and artificial intelligence (AI) in routine public health activities, to identify the related estimated health indicators (i.e., outcome and intervention indicators) and health determinants of non-communicable diseases and the obstacles to linking different data sources.MethodWe performed a survey across European countries to explore the current practices applied by national institutes of public health, health information and statistics for innovative use of data sources (i.e., the use of data linkage and/or AI).ResultsThe use of data linkage and AI at national institutes of public health, health information and statistics in Europe varies. The majority of European countries use data linkage in routine by applying a deterministic method or a combination of two types of linkages (i.e., deterministic & probabilistic) for public health surveillance and research purposes. The use of AI to estimate health indicators is not frequent at national institutes of public health, health information and statistics. Using linked data, 46 health outcome indicators, 34 health determinants and 23 health intervention indicators were estimated in routine. The complex data regulation laws, lack of human resources, skills and problems with data governance, were reported by European countries as obstacles to routine data linkage for public health surveillance and research.ConclusionsOur results highlight that the majority of European countries have integrated data linkage in their routine public health activities but only a few use AI. A sustainable national health information system and a robust data governance framework allowing to link different data sources are essential to support evidence-informed health policy development. Building analytical capacity and raising awareness of the added value of data linkage in national institutes is necessary for improving the use of linked data in order to improve the quality of public health surveillance and monitoring activities.

Organizational Information Security Management for Sustainable Information Systems: An Unethical Employee Information Security Behavior Perspective

This article examines the occurrences of four types of unethical employee information security behavior—misbehavior in networks/applications, dangerous Web use, omissive security behavior, and poor access control—and their relationships with employees’ information security management efforts to maintain sustainable information systems in the workplace. In terms of theoretical contributions, this article identifies and develops reliable and valid instruments to measure different types of unethical employee information security behavior. In addition, it investigates factors affecting different types of such behavior and how such behavior can be used to predict employees’ willingness to report information security incidents. In terms of managerial contributions, the article suggests that information security awareness programs and perceived punishment have differential effects on the four types of unethical behavior and that certain types of unethical information security behavior exert negative effects on employees’ willingness to report information security incidents. The findings will help managers to derive better security rules and policies, which are important for business continuity.

How green is accounting? Brazilian students’ perception

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the undergraduate and graduate accounting students’ perceptions of sustainable (or green) information technology (IT) and information system (IS) practices and their contribution to its implementation. Design/methodology/approach A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was applied to 361 undergraduate and graduate accounting students in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in eight higher education institutions (HEIs). Data are analyzed with SPSS. Findings There is a high perception of importance regarding IT/IS sustainability practices among the accounting students tested, although respondents are not comfortable with predominantly technical IT/IS topics. However, students are divided on the significance of the accountant’s contribution to these practices, confirming that reflection on their future role is still a challenge for them and their HEIs. The female sub-sample attaches significantly greater importance than the male sample to the accountant role in the implementation of green IT practices. Research limitations/implications The authors have proposed a novel integrative framework of IT/IS theories related to sustainability and accounting, and how accounting professionals could participate in the “neutral arena” of the education for sustainable development (SD). Practical implications Findings could be useful for educators and coordinators of sustainability of IT/IS in accounting courses, stimulating brainstorming on the accountant’s role in assisting organizations in green IT/IS strategies, best practice and implementation. Originality/value This study makes an original contribution to the research base of SD in HEIs. The lack of awareness identified in the study could be elaborated to stimulate discussion about the central role of the accountant in SD processes within organizations.

Prioritizing Health Information in Europe – What do we want and need to know?

Abstract Background Prioritization of Health information (HI) involves the establishment of methodological standards, and the development of political momentum to reliably track health status and health determinants. This is important in order to strengthen the evidence base for public health policies and facilitate effective delivery of healthcare services. In support of the establishment of a sustainable EU-wide Health information system, this consortium explores how HI is prioritized in EU and associated countries. Methods The Robert Koch Institute is conducting an online Policy Delphi survey among InfAct project partners, stakeholders from EU-Member States and associated countries. The Delphi methodology allows for rankings and priority-setting among a group of experts. The Policy Delphi facilitates the analysis of the impact and acceptability of a proposed policy option. The survey targets experts in national public health institutes and agencies, ministries of health and research. Participants are invited to provide information regarding their national HI prioritization processes, and to rank prioritization strategies and criteria, according to their degree of “desirability”, “feasibility”, “importance” and “confidence”. Results The Delphi survey will compile and assess processes and methods used to prioritize health information at national level in the EU and associated countries. The expected outcome is a list of good-practices in health information development and prioritization within countries, which could be further integrated to a health information prioritization strategy at the European level. Conclusions Prioritizing health information ensures that the right data is collected, is used to support ongoing public health policy action, and to capture emerging public health issues. This overview of prioritization strategies and methods aims to promote evidence-based public health by structuring exchanges about national HI prioritization in Europe.

An experimental test of green management information system effects on carrier selection: weigh station and tollbooth bypass technology adoption

In a highly competitive price-driven industry, carriers are continuously searching for opportunities to differentiate their offerings, minimize operational costs, and appeal to shippers. At the same time, environmental sustainability has evolved from being trendy jargon into a requirement for competitive supply chain management. It is at the intersection of these two modern topics that the current study identifies a new carrier selection attribute based on a specialized type of green management information system. We apply social exchange theory to hypothesize carrier price and green technology adoption effects on shipper purchase intent. The hypothesized direct and interaction effects are tested by way of a vignette-based experiment, with a sample of full-time working professionals. The supported hypotheses collectively suggest that the adoption of weigh station and tollbooth bypass technology, as a type of environmentally sustainable information system, positively affects transportation carrier selection and attenuates the negative effect of a carrier’s price on shippers’ purchase intentions. These research findings offer unique theoretical, practical, and policy implications surrounding the trucking carrier selection decision.

Framework proposal for the environmental impact assessment of universities in the context of Green IT

Abstract The concept of Green IT refers to sustainable technologies and information systems as well as environmentally friendly IT practices. Universities, which hold responsibility for propagating and applying knowledge, play an important role as disseminators of ideas related to Green IT. A framework that considers an environmental impact assessment to assist universities in the adoption of measures related to Green IT is proposed. The proposed framework consists of ten steps aligned with one another and with the goals of Green IT and highlights the possibility of using computer simulation to analyze environmental metrics. To exemplify the use of simulation, a case study was performed in the context of Green IT linked to sustainable universities. The environmental impact evaluation measured total consumption of electric energy, total energy cost and CO2 emission of three computer laboratories in a university. It was verified that the laboratory that obtained the largest CO2 emission was the Mining Engineering Laboratory in the second semester of 2018, totaling 0.0761 tCO2. By measuring the environmental metrics, it was possible to have an awareness of the quantitative environmental impact and to identify probable actions to continuously monitor and mitigate such impacts. Furthermore, by using computer simulation to compare base scenarios already programmed in a previous evaluation to newly generated scenarios, greater agility is afforded in the process of new evaluations.

Human Values as the Basis for Sustainable Information System Design

Information systems (IS) play an increasing role for individual well-being [3], for the environment [4], and for society at large [5]. Considering sustainability in IS development is therefore becoming paramount. However, companies today associate sustainability with extra cost and burden on their operations. As a result, many view sustainability more as a demand and a challenge rather than an opportunity. In this article, we argue that companies should rethink this attitude, as both sustainability and a business model can be understood as deeply rooted in human values.

Sustainable Health Informatics: Health Informaticians as Alchemists.

The digital transformation of health care delivery remains an elusive work in progress. Contextual variation continues to be a significant barrier to the development of sustainable health information systems. In this paper we characterize health informaticians as modern alchemists and use this characterization to describe informatics progress in addressing four key healthcare challenges. We highlight the need for informaticians to be diligent and loyal to basic methodological principles while also appreciating the role that contextual variation plays in informatics research. We also emphasize that meaningful health systems transformation takes time. The insight presented in this paper helps informaticians in our quest to develop sustainable health information systems.

Sustainable maintainability management practices for offshore assets: A data-driven decision strategy

Efficient and reliable maintainability management is a basic element behind ensuring sustainable practices for offshore assets. A method for easily implementing offshore asset maintainability management is proposed and described in terms of the maintainability decision-making process based on data-mining technology. A dataset of historical logs from operational systems drawn from offshore oil and gas service firms that have adopted sustainable maintenance management information system practices, including 12 main systems and 91 auxiliary systems, is used to inform a case study describing maintainability management and the decision-making process. The method uses the optimal values from a multicore classification model that adopts a goal-oriented data mining decision-making approach. Based on maintenance feature attributes, fault duration, fault loss, and frequency of occurrence in maintenance management are the three most important predictors of decision objectives. The decision tree classification results also indicate that the total average maintainability of assets in the key assets component is 53.4%, and the total average maintainability of noncritical assets is 37.9%. The five most important characteristic events found during maintenance and configuration processes were flaws in the tubing for A-annulus communication, leakage in the closed position, external leakage, failure to close on demand, and hydraulic failures that cause safety loss. The results provide unique insights into how offshore enterprise operators can improve maintainability management and decision-making performance using a data-driven decision strategy perspective. Furthermore, it provides a solution for visual proactive maintenance management and decision making under a data-driven framework, making it easier to implement maintenance management and decision-making tasks.