Nowadays, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are attracting more and more interest. Thus, many countries aim to increase the share of green energy and have to face with several challenges (e.g., balancing, storage, pricing). In this paper, we address the balancing challenge and present the MIRABEL project which aims to prototype an Energy Data Management System (EDMS) which takes benefit of flexibilities to efficiently balance energy demand and supply. The EDMS consists of millions of heterogeneous nodes that each incorporates advanced components (e.g., aggregation, forecasting, scheduling, negotiation). We describe each of these components and their interaction. Preliminary experimental results confirm the feasibility of our EDMS.

The SAP HANA database is positioned as the core of the SAP HANA Appliance to support complex business analytical processes in combination with transactionally consistent operational workloads. Within this paper, we outline the basic characteristics of the SAP HANA database, emphasizing the distinctive features that differentiate the SAP HANA database from other classical relational database management systems. On the technical side, the SAP HANA database consists of multiple data processing engines with a distributed query processing environment to provide the full spectrum of data processing -- from classical relational data supporting both row- and column-oriented physical representations in a hybrid engine, to graph and text processing for semi- and unstructured data management within the same system. From a more application-oriented perspective, we outline the specific support provided by the SAP HANA database of multiple domain-specific languages with a built-in set of natively implemented business functions. SQL -- as the lingua franca for relational database systems -- can no longer be considered to meet all requirements of modern applications, which demand the tight interaction with the data management layer. Therefore, the SAP HANA database permits the exchange of application semantics with the underlying data management platform that can be exploited to increase query expressiveness and to reduce the number of individual application-to-database round trips.

M. Tech. (Department of Information Communication Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Too many options on the internet are the reason for the information overload problem to obtain relevant information. A recommender system is a technique that filters information from large sets of data and recommends the most relevant ones based on people‟s preferences. Collaborative and content-based techniques are the core techniques used to implement a recommender system. A combined use of both collaborative and content-based techniques called hybrid techniques provide relatively good recommendations by avoiding common problems arising from each technique. In this research, a proactive University Library Book Recommender System has been proposed in which hybrid filtering is used for enhanced and more accurate recommendations. The prototype designed was able to recommend the highest ten books for each user. We evaluated the accuracy of the results using Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). A measure value of 0.84904 MAE and 0.9579 RMSE found by our system shows that the combined use of both techniques gives an improved prediction accuracy for the University Library Book Recommender System.

No description available.

Os sistemas integrados de gestão, originalmente conhecidos como ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), provocam grandes impactos nas organizações em que são implementados. Os efeitos, tanto de natureza positiva em termos de benefícios, contribuições e vantagens que o sistema pode proporcionar, quanto negativos, no que se refere às dificuldades, barreiras e problemas enfrentados na implementação do sistema, assim como os desafios que se impõem com a adoção e uso do ERP, têm sido discutidos em diferentes estudos. No entanto, grande parte das pesquisas que tratam dos efeitos e impactos decorrentes da adoção dos sistemas ERP tem focado os processos e resultados de implementações realizadas em empresas de grande porte, apesar da participação crescente das pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) na aquisição desse tipo de sistema. Considerando as características específicas e diferenciadas das PMEs em relação às empresas de grande porte, o crescente interesse dos fornecedores de ERP nesse segmento de empresas e o aumento da participação do segmento das PMEs na aquisição de sistemas integrados de gestão, este estudo foi conduzido com o propósito de responder à seguinte questão: Como se desenvolve o processo de implementação de ERP em PMEs? Utilizando a estratégia de pesquisa estudo de caso, do tipo único e incorporado, analisou-se o processo de implementação de um sistema ERP em empresa do setor da construção civil, enquadrada como de pequeno porte, de acordo com os critérios dos fornecedores de ERP, e de porte médio, se considerados os demais parâmetros vigentes no Brasil. O estudo teve como propósito investigar como se desenvolveu o processo de implementação do sistema ERP na empresa pesquisada tomando por base as seguintes proposições teóricas: contexto da empresa antes da adoção do ERP, fatores que levaram à adoção do ERP, impactos e efeitos da implementação do ERP, dificuldades e problemas enfrentados na sua implementação, vantagens e desvantagens obtidas com o ERP, desafios que se impuseram com sua adoção, acrescentando-se ainda o nível de satisfação da empresa com o sistema ERP. As evidências, obtidas neste estudo de caso, permitiram constatar que alguns aspectos relevantes, presentes no processo de implementação de ERP na empresa pesquisada, confirmam aspectos já observados em estudos anteriores, outros se apresentam de forma diferente, alguns não condizem com o que diz a literatura, constatando-se, também, alguns aspectos novos, ainda não mencionados pela literatura que trata do assunto. / Integrated Management Systems, originally known as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) provoke massive impact in the companies where they are implemented. The effects, both positive - benefits, contributions and advantages, and negative - difficulties, barriers and problems faced along implementation, as well as the challenges posed by the execution and use of ERP, have been discussed in many studies. However, much of the research on the effects and the impact resulting from the adoption of ERP has focused on processes and results derived from the implementation of that system in large enterprises, in spite of the increasing participation of small and medium size businesses (SMEs) in the acquisition of such system. Considering that: SMEs display distinctive characteristics from the larger enterprises; suppliers have shown increasing interest on this segment; there has been a swell in the participation of these enterprises in the acquisition of integrated enterprise systems, this work aimed at answering the following question: How does the ERP implementation process take place in SMEs? Case study of the type unique and incorporated was the kind of research chosen to investigate the implementation process of an ERP system in a construction enterprise considered small according to ERP suppliers criteria, and medium size if Brazilian current parameters are to be taken into account. The study aimed at investigating the way the process evolved in the above-mentioned enterprise, based on the following theoretical proposition: enterprise context prior to the adoption of ERP; difficulties and troubles faced along implementation; advantages and disadvantages obtained through ERP; challenges imposed by its implementation; level of satisfaction of the enterprise with the system. The evidence allowed us to ascertain that: some relevant aspects present in the process of implementation of ERP validate facts already observed in previous studies, some others consubstantiate differences, some do not comply with the present written material available, and some are new aspects, still not mentioned in studies on the subject.

Work process knowledge (WPK) is a concept for systems-level knowledge of the workplace and has been shown to be most important in organisations requiring multi-functional working. Most of the previous body of knowledge on WPK has focussed mainly on manufacturing industries; there has been less investigation of WPK in the service sector and none in the visitor attraction (VA) industry, an important employer in Scotland. The VA industry is extremely dynamic and many businesses are rapidly moving towards multi-functional team working, driven by an urgent need to develop quality, customer-focussed strategies to survive in an over-supplied and very competitive market. This study identifies the nature of WPK in Scottish VAs, what relationship WPK has to customer service, how WPK in this service sector differs from selected published studies in manufacturing and other service sector contexts and what factors affect the development of WPK in VAs. Following recruitment of a number of VAs using an online questionnaire and subsequent site visits, six sites were selected for case study, on the basis that they demonstrated most evidence of multi-functional working and staff with developed WPK. The research design was comparative case studies of the work processes and knowledge within these six VAs, based on a social constructivist framework, using the methods of key informant interviews and shadowing. Although these six sites represent a cross-spread of attractions in terms of types, location and size, they nonetheless show strong similarities in their basic business structure. The data show that WPK is an essential element of workers’ roles and a vital requirement in providing good customer service. Although VA managers do not use the term ‘work process knowledge’, they nonetheless recognise the importance of having staff with a wider view of their business and are actively encouraging its rapid development. Multi-functionality and job rotation are main ways of developing WPK but sites also use key workers with job roles that help develop high levels of WPK, who are then used as a staff resource. The main factor contributing to the development of WPK is communication, especially of systems-level information. Cultural information-sharing is an essential pre-condition for the development of WPK in this context. Other determining factors are flexibility, employee biographies, seasonality issues, how weddings and functions are handled on-site and the size and complexity of the site. WPK is the foundation on which good customer service is based and elements of it deliver customer service. It is the closely integrated nature of the employee-customer relationship that has such a profound effect on WPK development in this service sector industry and is essentially what differentiates it from previously published studies. The identification of the customer as a hitherto unrecognised key driver of WPK is the most important contribution to knowledge made by this work.

No description available.

Os sistemas integrados de gestão, originalmente conhecidos como ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), provocam grandes impactos nas organizações em que são implementados. Os efeitos, tanto de natureza positiva em termos de benefícios, contribuições e vantagens que o sistema pode proporcionar, quanto negativos, no que se refere às dificuldades, barreiras e problemas enfrentados na implementação do sistema, assim como os desafios que se impõem com a adoção e uso do ERP, têm sido discutidos em diferentes estudos. No entanto, grande parte das pesquisas que tratam dos efeitos e impactos decorrentes da adoção dos sistemas ERP tem focado os processos e resultados de implementações realizadas em empresas de grande porte, apesar da participação crescente das pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) na aquisição desse tipo de sistema. Considerando as características específicas e diferenciadas das PMEs em relação às empresas de grande porte, o crescente interesse dos fornecedores de ERP nesse segmento de empresas e o aumento da participação do segmento das PMEs na aquisição de sistemas integrados de gestão, este estudo foi conduzido com o propósito de responder à seguinte questão: Como se desenvolve o processo de implementação de ERP em PMEs? Utilizando a estratégia de pesquisa estudo de caso, do tipo único e incorporado, analisou-se o processo de implementação de um sistema ERP em empresa do setor da construção civil, enquadrada como de pequeno porte, de acordo com os critérios dos fornecedores de ERP, e de porte médio, se considerados os demais parâmetros vigentes no Brasil. O estudo teve como propósito investigar como se desenvolveu o processo de implementação do sistema ERP na empresa pesquisada tomando por base as seguintes proposições teóricas: contexto da empresa antes da adoção do ERP, fatores que levaram à adoção do ERP, impactos e efeitos da implementação do ERP, dificuldades e problemas enfrentados na sua implementação, vantagens e desvantagens obtidas com o ERP, desafios que se impuseram com sua adoção, acrescentando-se ainda o nível de satisfação da empresa com o sistema ERP. As evidências, obtidas neste estudo de caso, permitiram constatar que alguns aspectos relevantes, presentes no processo de implementação de ERP na empresa pesquisada, confirmam aspectos já observados em estudos anteriores, outros se apresentam de forma diferente, alguns não condizem com o que diz a literatura, constatando-se, também, alguns aspectos novos, ainda não mencionados pela literatura que trata do assunto. / Integrated Management Systems, originally known as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) provoke massive impact in the companies where they are implemented. The effects, both positive - benefits, contributions and advantages, and negative - difficulties, barriers and problems faced along implementation, as well as the challenges posed by the execution and use of ERP, have been discussed in many studies. However, much of the research on the effects and the impact resulting from the adoption of ERP has focused on processes and results derived from the implementation of that system in large enterprises, in spite of the increasing participation of small and medium size businesses (SMEs) in the acquisition of such system. Considering that: SMEs display distinctive characteristics from the larger enterprises; suppliers have shown increasing interest on this segment; there has been a swell in the participation of these enterprises in the acquisition of integrated enterprise systems, this work aimed at answering the following question: How does the ERP implementation process take place in SMEs? Case study of the type unique and incorporated was the kind of research chosen to investigate the implementation process of an ERP system in a construction enterprise considered small according to ERP suppliers criteria, and medium size if Brazilian current parameters are to be taken into account. The study aimed at investigating the way the process evolved in the above-mentioned enterprise, based on the following theoretical proposition: enterprise context prior to the adoption of ERP; difficulties and troubles faced along implementation; advantages and disadvantages obtained through ERP; challenges imposed by its implementation; level of satisfaction of the enterprise with the system. The evidence allowed us to ascertain that: some relevant aspects present in the process of implementation of ERP validate facts already observed in previous studies, some others consubstantiate differences, some do not comply with the present written material available, and some are new aspects, still not mentioned in studies on the subject.

This thesis deals with the introduction of information security management system in IT enterprise. It includes theoretical knowledge which are necessary for the understanding of this issue and their application for the analysis of the current state of information security, risk analysis and risk management. Last but not least for the actual implementation of information security management system in the company. The implementation of ISMS was divided into two phases. This thesis details the first phase.

Background: Policy initiatives to promote sustainable travel through the use of Internet based public information systems have increased during the last decade. Stockholm, in being one of the first cities in Europe to implement an Internet based service for facilitating sustainable travel is believed to be a good candidate for an analysis of key issues for developing sustainable travel planning services to the public. Aim: This thesis investigates the past development of two Stockholm based public information systems and their services in order to draw lessons on how to better provide for a public information service geared towards facilitating  environmentally sustainable travel planning through information and communications technology. The overall goal of the thesis is to contribute to an understanding on how to better design and manage current and future attempts at facilitating sustainable travel planning services based on historical case studies. Approach: The thesis draws ideas from the concept of organizational responsiveness – an organization’s ability to listen, understand and respond to demands put to it by its internal and external stakeholders – in order to depict how well or not the two public information systems and their owners have adapted to established norms and values of their surroundings. Results: Overall, the findings from the historical case studies suggest that organizations attempting to provide sustainable travel planning to the public need to design and manage their systems in such a way that it responds to shifting demands on how to provide for information. Implementing and embedding new technologies involves complex processes of change both at the micro level – for users and practitioners of the service – and at the meso level for the involved public service organizations themselves. This condition requires a contextualist framework to analyze and understand organizational, contextual and cultural issues involved in the adoption of new technologies and procedures. Conclusions: The thesis concludes with a discussion on how the findings from the historical case studies may provide lessons for both current and future attempts at providing public information systems geared towards facilitating environmentally sustainable travel planning to the public. Historical examples and issues concerning collective intelligence and peer to peer based forms of designing, producing and supervising public information services identified throughout the study are looked upon and discussed in terms of their possible role in increasing the potential for public information services to facilitate sustainable urban transport. / <p>QC 20140319</p> / TRACS, Travel Planner for Sustainable Cities