Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100). / The role of data fusion in sensor platforms is becoming increasingly important in various domains of science, technology and business. Fusion pertains to the merging or integration of information towards an enhanced level of awareness. This thesis provides a canonical overview of several major fusion architectures developed from the remote sensing and defense community. Additionally, it provides an assessment of current sensors and their platforms, the influence of reliability measures, and the connection to fusion applications. We present several types of architecture for managing multi-sensor data fusion, specifically as they relate to the tracking-correlation function and blackboard processing representations in knowledge engineering. Object-Process Methods are used to model the information fusion process and supporting systems. Several mathematical techniques are shown to be useful in the fusion of numerical properties, sensor data updating and the implementation of unique detection probabilities. Finally, we discuss the importance of fusion to the concept and operation of the Semantic Web, which promises new ways to exploit the synergy of multi-sensor data platforms. This requires the synthesis of fusion with ontology models for knowledge representation. We discuss the importance of fusion as a reuse process in ontological engineering, and review key lifecycle models in ontology development. The evolutionary approach to ontology development is considered the most useful and adaptable to the complexities of semantic networks. Several potential applications for data fusion are screened and ranked according to the Joint Directors of Laboratories (JDL) process model for information fusion. Based on these predetermined criteria, the case of medical diagnostic imaging was found to offer the most promising applications for fusion, on which future product platforms can be built. / by Atif R. Mirza. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-111). / Delays and cost overruns are the rule rather than the exception in the construction industry. Design changes due to lack of constructability late in the construction phase generating costly ripple effect which create delay and disruption throughout the entire organization, are the largest contributors to the stated rule. In the building construction industry, of increased competitiveness, demand from many companies continued effort to develop new methods and tools, in which the design for quality, cost, construability and reliability play an important role. The planning and management of building design has historically focused upon traditional methods of planning such as Critical Path Method (CPM). Little effort is made to understand the complexities of the design process; instead design managers focus on allocating work packages where the planned output is a set of deliverables. This current design method forces design teams to manage their work on a discipline basis, each working on achieving their deliverable as dictated by the design program with little regard of the relationship with other disciplines and organizations. In addition, because Architect and Engineering firms view design and construction as two separate independent phases of work in project it makes it difficult to verify constructability in a design and create flow in the overall process. The goal of this study is to look at how aligning interests, objectives and practices based on lean fundamentals, during the earliest stages of a project, as a method of improving construction performance. / by Leticia Soto. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-116). / by Marco Serra. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-130). / by Craig T. Stambaugh, Sr. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-96). / The extreme importance of critical infrastructures to modern society is widely known. Recognizing that society cannot afford the costs associated with absolute protection, it is necessary to prioritize the vulnerabilities in these infrastructures. This Thesis presents a methodology for the identification and prioritization of vulnerabilities in a water supply system. Existing methods are mostly based either on an adaptation of the minimal-cut-set concept or rely on experts to do this. We suggest that for complex systems a systematic scenario-based approach is possible. We argue that the infrastructure system's capacity constraints both on the production resources and on the carrying network need to be considered in this approach. We model the infrastructure as a network, making use of its natural hierarchical structure to aggregate users into groups. We create one scenario for each system's element, seeking to understand its related vulnerability. For any given scenario, we employ short path algorithms to evaluate the supply level to each user considering the capacity of the paths connecting it to the resources. We then proceed to compute the disutility of each scenario using multiattribute utility theory. The impact of losing service to a given number of users is evaluated using a value tree that reflects the perceptions and values of the decision maker and the relevant stakeholders. These results are provided to the decision maker for use in risk management. The methodology is illustrated through the presentation of the analysis conducted on the water supply network of a 250,000 inhabitants city. Keywords: Risk Assessment, Infrastructure, Vulnerability, Water Supply / by David Michaud. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-92). / The mobile services ecosystem has evolved and continues to evolve at a rapid pace adjusting to the different players competing to be part of the value creation and capture. This thesis attempts to capture a holistic view of the entire ecosystem and performs a stakeholder value network analysis on the ecosystem and its members. The qualitative model lists, maps and identifies the stakeholders and the monetary, goods / services, information, participation and public benefit value flows between the stakeholders in the ecosystem. The quantitative model attaches numerical values to the different value flows based on a characterization of needs and the importance of the sources fulfilling those needs and creates a value network that is then analyzed to produce relative importance of stakeholders from various perspectives and a ranking of the importance of different types of direct and indirect value flow loops in the system thus creating a framework for strategic ecosystem analysis. / by A. S. Arvind. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-57). / Unified Communication and Collaboration (UCC) is a product offer that is the result of fixed and mobile networks convergence and the possibility of development of applications which are interoperable. Currently there are stand-alone products such as VoIP, VPN, Contact Center, Conferencing, Security Services, Email, IM, Presence and others which operate in silos and have complicated and difficult interoperability. In addition, applications are difficult to develop on top of this disparate infrastructure. The convergence of all communication networks on Internet Protocol (IP) and the emergence of more open software platforms have enabled a new paradigm- UCC - to emerge that will change how people communicate and collaborate.The purpose of this paper to analyze the impact of changing communication needs on vendors in general, with a specific emphasis on incumbent telecommunication carriers - network operators and service providers - so-called "telcos". It further illustrates a framework through which an incumbent telco can clearly identify an appropriate strategy for Unified Communication and Collaboration which utilizes its legacy strengths while moving towards innovation.In this paper, an analysis of publicly available data from research companies is performed; Unified Communication and Collaboration is fully defined; market drivers in large enterprise (often known as just Enterprise), and in small and medium business (also called SMB) are analyzed; competitive analysis of Unified Communication and Collaboration equipment vendors and carriers is illustrated; and an appropriate architecture for UCC is outlined. Special focus is given to incumbent telco's role, in comparison to equipment vendors, in the emerging Internet Protocol (IP) based communication technologies which are undergoing active diffusion. / (cont.) The result shows that carriers have more opportunity to capture value through hosted UCC in small and medium business (SMB) market as compared to large Enterprise. Existing hardware communication vendors are better positioned to get the major share of large Enterprise through software based customer premises equipment (CPE) UCC but carriers have an opportunity to provide software as a service (SAAS) services and to exploit their existing distribution channels. / by Bilal Wahid. / S.M.

This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-104). / This thesis discusses different ways to increase the ability of OPN (Object-Process- Network), a system-architecture meta-language, to model complex systems and identify architectures to address those systems. It proposes ways to generate "out-of-the-box" solutions to technical problems, to weight a portfolio of objects as a possible way to achieve system functionality, to examine which of the possible subsystems should be within the system boundary and to rank architectures based on the value they create for the system stakeholders. The thesis also provides case studies to examine the practical aspects of those proposals. / by Ziv Rozenblum. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73). / by Milind Oak. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 124). / In the year 2004 amidst the hype against outsourcing heard in the wake of elections something important happened: the first few IT outsourcing companies crossed the threshold of billion dollars in revenue (viz. TCS, Infosys, Wipro). Although there has been much attention given to the outsourcing and the models of IT outsourcing, not much has been heard on the actual players and their dynamics. The primary objective of this thesis is to explore the outlook and behavior of the IT outsourcing companies, the factors driving their growth, their business and marketing strategies, threats from competition, and limitations to growth. 1 have tried to study the factors to which the success and failure of IT firms can be attributed. For the ease of study, I have categorized them under Marketing, Strategy and Organizational factors. Case studies have been developed to present the happenings of the business, its key players, project scenarios, milestones, organizational structures etc. and relevant data in a narrative fashion, which then is laid open to exploration and further investigation using a variety of tools. The approach of system dynamics meshes well with the case study method as in essence it tries to model the real world descriptively. I have used system dynamics to study the inter-relations between the various factors in play. The end objective of this study is to deliver a set of recommendations and frameworks for success and failure in the IT outsourcing space, which can be used as recommendations for: Existing players in the IT outsourcing space. New entrants to the IT outsourcing industry. Employees working in IT outsourcing companies. HR and Project Managers of IT outsourcing companies. / by Atish Banerjee. / S.M.