Актуальность темы магистерской диссертации обусловлена применением методик к организации, занимающейся инновациями в отраслевом секторе и при этом, имеющей потенциал для оптимизации трудозатрат. Цель данной работы – проектирование новой информационной системы для реализации инновационных технологий предприятия. Результаты работы: Представлен план по модернизации ИС с использованием информационных технологий, внедрение которых способно оптимизировать трудозатраты. / The relevance of the topic of the master's thesis is due to the application of methods to an organization that is engaged in innovation in the industry sector and, at the same time, has the potential to optimize labor costs. The purpose of this work is to design a new information system for the implementation of innovative technologies of the enterprise. Results of the work: A plan for the modernization of IS using information technologies was presented, the implementation of which can optimize labor costs.

Renewable energy, including offshore wind power, is expected to play a significant role in mitigating climate change and meeting a growing demand on electricity. Fiji, a Small Island Developing Nation in the South Pacific, needs large quantities of additional renewable energy to achieve its NDC goals and has good natural resources for offshore wind power. The purpose of the study is to analyse the technical potential for fixed and floating offshore wind power, identify the most suitable site (s), perform economic feasibility analysesfor different-sized offshore wind farms and determine possible emission reductions from offsetting electricity generation based on fossil fuels. The objectives are achieved through a literature study, interviews, a GIS-based multi-criteria site suitability analysis and feasibility calculations. In the study it was concluded that there is great potential for offshore wind power in Fiji. There are large areas with technical potential for fixed and floating offshore wind power and the most suitable sites, both located in the Bligh waters, have average wind speeds of 8.6 m/s and 8.5 m/s. The potential for offshore wind power was concluded to be large enough for Fiji’s needs, economically feasible and potentially competitive to invest in. The simple payback time would be approximately 13.5 years and the cost of electricity would be 0.13 USD/kWh, which is lower than the feed-in tariff for Fiji’s national grid at 0.15 USD/kWh. Different-sized offshore wind farms and its possible emission reductions could contribute with between 12-37% of Fiji’s NDC goal to reduce emissions from the energy sector by 30% compared to a business as usual scenario as well as contribute to have 99% renewable grid-connected electricity generation by 2030. However, during the study, it was concluded an implementation of offshore wind power in Fiji would require large investments, large capacities of energy storage, frequency regulating services and there are potential environmental and social impacts have to be taken into consideration. There is also a need for further research on how to cyclone-proof offshore wind farms in Fiji. / Förnybar energi, inklusive havsbaserad vindkraft, förväntas spela en avgörande roll för att minska klimatförändringarna och för att möta en ökande efterfrågan på elektricitet. Fiji, en liten önation i Stilla havet, behöver stora mängder ytterligare förnybar energi för att nå sina NDC mål och har bra naturresurser för havsbaserad vindkraft. Syftet med studien är att analysera den tekniska potentialen för fixerad och flytande havsbaserad vindkraft, identifiera de mest lämpliga platserna, utföra ekonomiska lönsamhetsanalyser för olika stora havsbaserade vindkraftsparker och avgöra möjliga utsläppsminskningar genom att avsätta elproduktion baserad på fossila bränslen. Målen uppfylls genom en litteraturstudie, intervjuer, GIS-baserad multikriterie platslämplighetsanalys och genomförbarhetsberäkningar. I studien drogs slutsatsen att det finns stor potential för havsbaserad vindkraft i Fiji. Det finns stora områden med teknisk potential för fixerad och flytande havsbaserad vindkraft och de mest lämpliga platserna, båda belägna i Bligh waters, har genomsnittliga vindhastigheter på 8.6 m/s och 8.5 m/s. Potentialen för havsbaserad vindkraft bedöms vara stor nof för Fijis behov, ekonomsikt genomförbart och potentiellt konkurrenskraftigt att investera i. Återbetalningstiden bedöms vara ungeför 13.5 år och elektricitetskostnaden 0.13 USD/kWh, vilket är lägre än inmatningstaxan till Fijis nationella elnät som är på 0.15 USD/kWh. De 12-37% av Fijis mål om att minska utsläppen från energisektorn med 30% jämfört med ett business as usual scenario liksom bidra till att ha 99% förnybar elnätsansluten elgeneration till 2030. Men, i studien drog också slutsatsen att en implementering av havsbaserad vindkraft i Fiji skulle kräva stora investeringar, stora mängder energilagring, frekvensreglerande tjänster och det finns potentiella miljömässiga och sociala effekter som måste tas i hänsyn. Det finns också behov av ytterligare forskning om hur man kan cyklon-säkra havsbaserade vindkraftsparker i Fiji.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Scott A. DeLoach / A geographic information system (GIS) allows an individual to map, model, query, and analyze large quantities of data from a database according to their spatial locations. This project uses the ArcGis Java software Development Kit (SDK) to visualize, manipulate, and comprehend large amounts of publicly available information relevant to a spatial location. The application developed uses a graphical user interface to examine the public data of Riley County, Kansas. The user is able to load shapefiles through the interface and then examine the many spatial locations. By examining a spatial location the user is able to view the associated attribute information, manipulate it, and add additional attributes. Beyond viewing information at selected geometric locations, a user can also query the layer(s) to return the spatial locations that fit the query. These abilities can allow a user to understand and visualize patterns that they would not have been able to easily see from looking at the raw data. Increasing users' understanding of the environment they are working with improves their likelihood of success in their desired objectives.

For the past few decades researchers, development agencies and government have focussed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies to improve the socio-economic status of people in underdeveloped rural communities. In recent years there has been remarkable recognition of the importance of developing systems that address the specific needs of rural communities. Education, health, commerce, government and agriculture are amongst the needs of rural communities that could well be addressed by these systems. System development is a complex process and studies have shown that if poorly conducted, the process could lead to the failure of the system being developed. Due to differences in context and application, the processes followed in the development of the rural community systems need to differ from those of commercial applications. One such difference is the choice of the Information System Development Methodology (SDM) used. Following a methodical approach to Information Systems development is important as it improves discipline, standardization and monitoring of a quality system. There are hundreds of SDM available for use during development and choosing the wrong SDM has been linked to problems such as systems being delivered late, being over budget or not meeting the needs of the users. Developing systems for disadvantaged communities is different from developing system for organisations or even affluent communities. Some of the challenges that developers encounter include lack of structure, poor computer literacy, and poor infrastructure. Lack of user involvement during system development has been linked to system failures. A Living Labs approach to socio-economic development is aimed at involving multiple stakeholders towards improving the living standards. Developing Community Information Systems aimed at solving varying community problems is one of the objectives of the Living Labs. There are only few CISs that are fully operational from South African Living Labs, and a number of systems developed are not in use. Poor user involvement and lack of use of system development are some of the reasons for system failures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of System Development Methodologies when developing community information systems aimed at socio-economic development of disadvantaged communities. To achieve the objectives of this study, an interpretive, multiple case study research was conducted in three Living Labs around South Africa. To improve the chances for success during the development of Community Information Systems for use by disadvantage communities, this study proposes a framework for evaluating use and effectiveness of SDMs. The second output of the Study is an SDM framework that could be adopted specifically for Living Labs which adopts an agile approach and prototyping. These frameworks takes into account the social attributes of people in disadvantaged communities, the nature of the living lab, the nature of the systems being developed and the role of the users in the systems being developed. / PhD (Computer Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

For the past few decades researchers, development agencies and government have focussed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies to improve the socio-economic status of people in underdeveloped rural communities. In recent years there has been remarkable recognition of the importance of developing systems that address the specific needs of rural communities. Education, health, commerce, government and agriculture are amongst the needs of rural communities that could well be addressed by these systems. System development is a complex process and studies have shown that if poorly conducted, the process could lead to the failure of the system being developed. Due to differences in context and application, the processes followed in the development of the rural community systems need to differ from those of commercial applications. One such difference is the choice of the Information System Development Methodology (SDM) used. Following a methodical approach to Information Systems development is important as it improves discipline, standardization and monitoring of a quality system. There are hundreds of SDM available for use during development and choosing the wrong SDM has been linked to problems such as systems being delivered late, being over budget or not meeting the needs of the users. Developing systems for disadvantaged communities is different from developing system for organisations or even affluent communities. Some of the challenges that developers encounter include lack of structure, poor computer literacy, and poor infrastructure. Lack of user involvement during system development has been linked to system failures. A Living Labs approach to socio-economic development is aimed at involving multiple stakeholders towards improving the living standards. Developing Community Information Systems aimed at solving varying community problems is one of the objectives of the Living Labs. There are only few CISs that are fully operational from South African Living Labs, and a number of systems developed are not in use. Poor user involvement and lack of use of system development are some of the reasons for system failures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of System Development Methodologies when developing community information systems aimed at socio-economic development of disadvantaged communities. To achieve the objectives of this study, an interpretive, multiple case study research was conducted in three Living Labs around South Africa. To improve the chances for success during the development of Community Information Systems for use by disadvantage communities, this study proposes a framework for evaluating use and effectiveness of SDMs. The second output of the Study is an SDM framework that could be adopted specifically for Living Labs which adopts an agile approach and prototyping. These frameworks takes into account the social attributes of people in disadvantaged communities, the nature of the living lab, the nature of the systems being developed and the role of the users in the systems being developed. / PhD (Computer Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Masters Degree of Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / This research emerges within the context of changes that occurred in the public sector post apartheid, which meant invariable changes within the organisation’s structure and processes. More specifically, it brought with it a changing role of communication in managing change. With communication being the lifeblood and binding element within an organisation, having effective and efficient communication within the organisation can therefore assist in keeping the various parts of an organisation together, making it easier for the organisation to maintain itself during change. This study locates Senior Communication Officers within Thusong Service Centres in the GCIS and investigates the role communication plays in managing change within the organisation. The study critically examines Lundwig Von Bertalanffy’s (1968) Systems Theory in understanding the interrelatedness of a system such as the GCIS and the role organisational communication channels play in maintaining the process of change. Furthermore, this study analyses the influence of the Chaos Theory within the concept of managing change and the flow of communication within an organisation. This study suggests ways in which Senior Communication Officers can play a vital role in managing change by analysing the underlying principles and concepts of the Chaos Theory and incorporating them within the role of communication during the change process.

This dissertation investigated how senior management is motivated to commit to information system security (ISS). Research shows senior management participation is critical to successful ISS, but has not explained how senior managers are motivated to participate in ISS. Information systems research shows pressures external to the organization have greater influence on senior managers than internal pressures. However, research has not fully examined how external pressures motivate senior management participation in ISS. This study addressed that gap by examining how external pressures motivate senior management participation in ISS through the lens of neo-institutional theory. The research design was survey research. Data collection was through an online survey, and PLS was used for data analysis. Sample size was 167 from a study population of small- and medium-sized organizations in a mix of industries in the south-central United States. Results supported three of six hypotheses. Mimetic mechanisms were found to influence senior management belief in ISS, and senior management belief in ISS was found to increase senior management participation in ISS. Greater senior management participation in ISS led to greater ISS assimilation in organizations. Three hypotheses were not supported. Correlation was not found between normative influences and senior management belief, normative influences and senior management participation, and coercive influences and senior management participation. Limitations with the study included a high occurrence of weak effect sizes on relationships within the model and heterogeneity based on industry, organization size, and regulatory requirements in the sample. This study contributes to ISS research by providing a theoretical model to explain how external influences contribute to senior management belief and participation in ISS, and ultimately ISS assimilation in organizations. Empirical evidence supports the mediating role by senior management between external influences and ISS assimilation. The findings also suggest some limitations that may exist with survey research in this area. This study benefits practitioners in three ways. First, it reinforces the argument that senior management support is critical to ISS success. Second, it extends understanding of senior management's role with ISS by explaining how IS and ISS management might nurture senior management belief and participation in ISS through industry groups and business partnerships. Third, the results inform government regulators and industry groups how they can supplement regulatory pressures with educational and awareness campaigns targeted at senior management to improve senior management commitment to ISS.

In modern organisations business process modelling has become fundamental due to the increasing rate of organisational change. As a consequence, an organisation needs to continuously redesign its business processes on a regular basis. One major problem associated with the way business process modelling (BPM) is carried out today is the lack of explicit and systematic reuse of previously developed models. Enabling the reuse of previously modelled behaviour can have a beneficial impact on the quality and efficiency of the overall information systems development process and also improve the effectiveness of an organisation’s business processes. In related disciplines, like software engineering, patterns have emerged as a widely accepted architectural mechanism for reusing solutions. In business process modelling the use of patterns is quite limited apart from few sporadic attempts proposed by the literature. Thus, pattern-based BPM is not commonplace. Business process patterns should ideally be discovered from the empirical analysis of organisational processes. Empiricism is currently not the basis for the discovery of patterns for business process modelling and no systematic methodology for collecting and analysing process models of business organisations currently exists. The purpose of the presented research project is to develop a methodological framework for achieving reuse in BPM via the discovery and adoption of patterns. The framework is called Semantic Discovery and Reuse of Business Process Patterns (SDR). SDR provides a systematic method for identifying patterns among organisational data assets representing business behaviour. The framework adopts ontologies (i.e., formalised conceptual models of real-world domains) in order to facilitate such discovery. The research has also produced an ontology of business processes that provides the underlying semantic definitions of processes and their constituent parts. The use of ontologies to model business processes represents a novel approach and combines advances achieved by the Semantic Web and BPM communities. The methodological framework also relates to a new line of research in BPM on declarative business processes in which the models specify what should be done rather than how to ‘prescriptively’ do it. The research follows a design science method for designing and evaluating SDR. Evaluation is carried out using real world sources and reuse scenarios taken from both the financial and educational domains.

Η εργασία αυτή εκπονήθηκε στα πλαίσια του Μεταπτυχιακού Προγράμματος Σπουδών «Εφαρμοσμένη και Περιβαλλοντική Γεωλογία και Γεωφυσική». Αντικείμενο της εργασίας είναι η εφαρμογή των Γεωγραφικών Συστημάτων Πληροφοριών στο σχεδιασμό μιας Γεωγραφικής Βάσης Υδρογεωλογικών δεδομένων με εφαρμογή στο νομό Αιτωλοακαρνανίας. Η βάση αυτή θα αποτελέσει ένα εργαλείο με το οποίο θα γίνεται η διαχείριση μεγάλου όγκου υδρογεωλογικών πληροφοριών (στάθμες, στοιχεία ποιότητας των νερών κ.α.) με τρόπο απλό και γρήγορο. Τα πρώτο στάδιο της εργασίας ήταν ο καθορισμός των στόχων που έπρεπε να επιτευχθούν μέσω αυτής για τη σωστή δημιουργία της γεωβάσης. Το επόμενο βήμα έρχεται να γίνει με τη συλλογή των δεδομένων που θα τοποθετηθούν στη βάση αυτή. Οι πληροφορίες αυτές προέρχονται από εγκεκριμένες τεχνικές μελέτες που δόθηκαν από δημόσιες υπηρεσίες, ιδιώτες ή ήταν ανηρτημένες σε επίσημες κυβερνητικές ιστοσελίδες. Τα στοιχεία αυτά ήταν τόσο χωρικά (διοικητικά όρια νομών, υδρολογικές λεκάνες κ.α.) όσο και μη - χωρικά (περιγραφικές πληροφορίες όπως πληθυσμιακά δεδομένα ονομασία ή κωδικοποίηση λεκανών, υδροχημικές μετρήσεις κ.α.). Κάποια στοιχεία αποκτήθηκαν από την επί τόπου έρευνα που έγινε στα πλαίσια αυτής της εργασίας σε ένα κομμάτι της υδρολογικής λεκάνης της λίμνης Τριχωνίδας. Στη συνέχεια δημιουργείται η βάση χωρικών δεδομένων. Για να επιτευχθεί αυτός ο στόχος έπρεπε τα συλλεγμένα δεδομένα να ταξινομηθούν σε διαφορετικούς φακέλους ανάλογα με τις κοινές ιδιότητες που έχουν καθώς και σε διαφορετικό είδος αρχείων, ανάλογα με την επιθυμητή χρήση τους. Ακολουθεί, σε ένα μέρος αυτών, η δημιουργία υπέρ – συνδέσεων οι οποίες έχουν ως στόχο την άμεση πρόσβαση σε πίνακες βροχομετρικών και χημικών δεδομένων. Έπειτα με τη βοήθεια της γλώσσας SQL έχουν τεθεί ερωτήματα (queries) που οδηγούν στην ανάκτηση δεδομένων. Τέλος, δεν πρέπει να παραλείψουμε και το κομμάτι της επεξεργασίας μέρους των δεδομένων για την παραγωγή χαρτών και διαγραμμάτων. Αυτό πραγματοποιήθηκε τη βοήθεια εργαλείων του ArcMap. Σημαντικό είναι και το γεγονός ότι για τη δημιουργία των χαρτών έγινε χρήση διαφόρων μεθόδων ώστε να έχουμε τη δυνατότητα σύγκρισης των αποτελεσμάτων για την ορθή διεξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων. Η κατασκευή της βάσης αυτής είχε ως αποτέλεσμα την αποθήκευση ενός μεγάλου όγκου δεδομένων που είναι ταξινομημένα σε διαφορετικά επίπεδα και την παραγωγή χαρτών που καλύπτουν ένα μεγάλο εύρος των προαναφερθέντων θεματικών επιπέδων. / This project was produced within the Post-graduate studies program “Applied and Environmental Geology and Geophysics”. Object of this work is the application of Geographic Information Systems in designing a geographic hydro-geological data base with application to the Aitoloakarnania district. This data base will be used as a tool with which we will be able to manage a vast amount of hydro-geological information (elevation, water quality data etc.) in a very simple and fast way. The first stage of the study was to define the objectives to be achieved through this, for the proper creation of the geo-database. The next step was the collection of the data that would be added in this data base. This information came from approved technical studies provided by public services, individuals or was posted on official governmental websites. These elements were spatial (administrative district boundaries, basins, etc.) and also aspatial (descriptive information such as demographic data, basins names or codes, hydro-chemical measurements, etc). Some other elements were obtained by in - situ investigation, conducted for this project at a part of the hydrological basin of Trichonida lake. Next the spatial data base was produced. In order to achieve this we had to put the collected data in different folders according to their common properties and in different file types according to their desired use. Then a part of these files were used to make hyper- links whose objective was to give direct access to tables of precipitation and chemical data. With the SQL, various queries have been set in order to lead to the data retrieval. Finally, we must not omit the process of a part of the data for the production of maps and diagrams for which we used the ArcMap tools. An important fact is that for the production of these maps, we used various methods so that we can have the possibility to compare the results and make correct conclusions. The results of this data base production are, the storage of a vast quantity of data that is classified in different levels and the production of maps that cover a big part of all the above mentioned thematic levels.

E-learning systems provide a promising solution as an information exchanging channel. Improved technology could mean faster and easier access to information but does not necessarily ensure the quality of this information. Therefore it is essential to develop valid and reliable methods of quality measurement and carry out careful information quality evaluations. Information quality frameworks are developed to measure the quality of information systems, generally from the designers' viewpoint. The recent proliferation of e-services, and e-learning particularly, raises the need for a new quality framework in the context of e-learning systems. The main contribution of this thesis is to propose a new information quality framework, with 14 information quality attributes grouped in three quality dimensions: intrinsic, contextual representation and accessibility. We report results based on original questionnaire data and factor analysis. Moreover, we validate the proposed framework using an empirical approach. We report our validation results on the basis of data collected from an original questionnaire and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in particular. However, it is difficult to measure information quality in an e-learning context because the concept of information quality is complex and it is expected that the measurements will be multidimensional in nature. Reliable measures need to be obtained in a systematic way, whilst considering the purpose of the measurement. Therefore, we start by adopting a Goal Question Metrics (GQM) approach to develop a set of quality metrics for the identified quality attributes within the proposed framework. We then define an assessment model and measurement scheme, based on a multi element analysis technique. The obtained results can be considered to be promising and positive, and revealed that the framework and assessment scheme could give good predictions for information quality within e-learning context. This research generates novel contributions as it proposes a solution to the problems raised from the absence of consensus regarding evaluation standards and methods for measuring information quality within an e-learning context. Also, it anticipates the feasibility of taking advantage of web mining techniques to automate the retrieval process of the information required for quality measurement. This assessment model is useful to e-learning systems designers, providers and users as it gives a comprehensive indication of the quality of information in such systems, and also facilitates the evaluation, allows comparisons and analysis of information quality.