In the last few years the demand for organic products has increased rapidly resulting in a strong growth of the organic industry worldwide. Organic certification is globally used to guarantee that 'organic' labelled produce follow the principles and standards of organic agriculture set by international and national organic certification bodies. Currently the lengthy and complex process of organic certification is entirely paper based and requires multiple access by organic primary producers to the certifying body involving precise data capture and transfer over a long period of time. The paper based organic certification has some significant disadvantages such as being time-consuming, error-prone (in particular transcription errors) and complex. Any improvement of the paper based organic certification process can lead to higher efficiency, lower costs and time savings for primary producers and certifying bodies. Australia is a major supplier of organic produce holding almost half of the organic farmland worldwide. However, Australia?s unique geography provides challenges by means of huge distances and poor rural telecommunication coverage for the sustainable agriculture sector. The disadvantages of the paper based organic certification are this kind of environment more severe. Up until now, there has not been a software solution supporting organic primary producers in their certification process, let alone a mobile software solution. In any case there are many farm management software solutions available but they do not take into account the specific issues in organic agriculture such as soil management, pest control, or fertilisation of land/animals. The Mobile Organic Certification (MobiCert) project was created to overcome these disadvantages focussing on the development of a mobile information portal which can be accessed through mobile Internet using GPRS or 3G technology enabling primary producers access and provision to organic certification related information in field using their mobile phones. The MobiCert project investigates the effectiveness of mobile devices (mobile phones/PDAs) for (some of) the stages of the computerised organic certification, in particular in terms of information access and provision. Designed as a proof-of-concept project the investigation takes place in South Australia targeting the NASAA organic certified primary producers there. The MobiCert project is a pilot project within the SAmCom (Sustainable Agriculture m-Commerce) project framework, which aims to enhance the information access and provision for primary producers through m-Commerce. It is a joint project of the University of South Australia, m.Net, NASAA, e-Cert and the Fraunhofer Institute Using a qualitative approach in a rapid appraisal case study the goals of the MobiCert project are: to create a theoretical model (RuTADIM) for the mobile technology acceptance and diffusion of innovation in remote and rural areas; and to develop and test a prototype mobile information community for organic certification which provides access to data and information related to organic certification, (online and offline) record keeping functionalities, as well as community functionalities for communication and experience exchange of primary producers. The results of the proof-of-concept MobiCert project suggest that organic primary producers can benefit from a mobile information platform to access and provide information in rural and remote areas. The high acceptance of organic primary producer to use the mobile information community indicates the willingness to embrace new technology and solutions in the existing organic certification process. The benefits and acceptance of the MobiCert solution have to bee affirmed in follow on field studies incorporating other issues such as the underlying business models. The contributions of the MobiCert project are two-fold: firstly, it provides a theoretical model (RuTADIM) which gives insights of key influence factors for the acceptance of mobile technology and the diffusion of innovation in rural and remote areas. The RuTADIM model can be foundation for future research projects involving mobile technology rural and remote areas. Secondly, the MobiCert information community displayed the potential of mobile solutions for primary producers in remote and rural areas. The MobiCert platform is a stepping stone for future mobile solution which can build upon this platform.

p. 1 - 159 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-01-16T19:55:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 gggggg.pdf: 1451452 bytes, checksum: 8dc3b0023ed9f1932169d07d03967420 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-16T19:55:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 gggggg.pdf: 1451452 bytes, checksum: 8dc3b0023ed9f1932169d07d03967420 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / A pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar os efeitos da terceirização para a Gestão do Conhecimento em uma estrutura administrativa de desenvolvimento de sistemas em tecnologia da informação, no setor público. Esta perspectiva abrange o entendimento sobre os mecanismos da gestão do conhecimento e o papel dos profissionais de tecnologia da informação na Organização, na Área e no ciclo de desenvolvimento de sistemas; busca analisar os ativos intangíveis representados pelo capital estrutural, de relacionamento e intelectual e o modelos de terceirização utilizados na Secretaria da Fazenda, Órgão integrante da Administração Pública Direta do Estado da Bahia, para a contratação de desenvolvimento e manutenção de sistemas em tecnologia da informação. O trabalho está fundamentado por um quadro teórico, baseado nos conceitos sobre gestão do conhecimento e seus ativos intangíveis, sobre a terceirização, os modelos e restrições legais no âmbito público e o contexto organizacional da tecnologia da informação, tendo como foco o desenvolvimento de sistemas. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo aplicada, na qual se abordou o problema como um estudo de caso exploratório e de cunho quali-quantitativo, privilegiando um entendimento analítico e suportado por observação, pesquisa documental e entrevistas efetuadas com o superintendente, diretor, gerentes, líderes de sistemas e gestores de sistemas da Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado da Bahia (SEFAZ-BA). O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado baseia-se em Rossatto (2003), que propõe três constructos: capital estrutural, capital de relacionamento e capital intelectual. Foram aplicados questionários seguindo o enquadre desses constructos e as respostas foram categorizadas e analisadas. Os resultados encontrados indicam a necessidade de uma efetiva gestão dos ativos intangíveis, apresentam os efeitos gerados pela terceirização nas fases do ciclo de desenvolvimento de sistemas e como o modelo de terceirização atual tem contribuído para o escape do conhecimento da Instituição e entrega de serviços em desacordo com o prazo e qualidade. Traz também contribuições de melhoria tendo em perspectiva o ambiente de desenvolvimento de sistemas e o processo “fim a fim” de gestão das demandas em tecnologia da informação. / Salvador

Abstract In this thesis we aim to extend the current theories about a concept called persona. A persona is a model of a user, mostly based on qualitative research and made with such accuracy that it to some extent can be used as a replacement of a real user in a development process and as a communicative tool. We will present a way of constructing this persona without meeting the actual users and follow up with interviews from the organization using them. This will lead to a model over the process of introducing personas as a concept in an organization,previously not familiar with the concept. The model is adapted to also work for projects and organizations where the concept is already known. / Executive summary When developing and designing systems or products to be used directly by end users,it is important that these are developed with people in mind. One way to do this is to have close contact between the end user and the developer as can be seen in for example agile development methods. This is however not applicable at all times and therefore the developer need to get the information about the end user some other way. Often this is done by a spokesman or project manager for the ordering company who delivers the information to a project manager or spokesman for the systems development company who in turn make sure the developer get the relevant information. Of course this means that sometimes information that could be relevant is missed and sometimes even altered due to misunderstandings or even personal interest. One way to deal with this is to have a written description or model of the primary end user that is so correct and accurate that it to some extent could be used as a replacement of the real user. Especially effective is this when making design decisions and as a communicative tool to ensure a common and shared picture of the different needs of the users. Even if a description of the end user has been made, the view of the user is not always shared. This thesis will address the problem of creating this description of a user by using the concept of persona, first presented by Alan Cooper 1999 in his book “The Inmates are running the Asylum – Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity”. In our research we show that under certain circumstances, this can be done without actually meeting the real end users by interviewing and observing other people with very similar roles. Using this persona as a development tool requires introduction of the concept in the organization as well as introduction of the personas for the actual project. This research is summarized in a model that includes the different steps of creating a persona using several methods and also how to implement this tool in an organization or project. For each general step in the model there is a short description which includes the construction of personas and which activities to include in the introduction, either if personas is previously known or not. Appendix 10 in this thesis consists of a brief and more hands on guide of the process of creating personas and introducing the concept in an organization. This guide could serve as a quick introduction to the subject and could also be used at a later time to refresh some of the highlights in the process. / Sammanfattning Denna uppsats avser utöka befintliga teorier runt konceptet persona. En persona är en modell av en användare, baserad främst på kvalitativa studier, och utvecklad med sådan precision att den till vissa delar kan ersätta en riktig slutanvändare i en utvecklingsprocess samt som ett kommunikationsverktyg. Vi kommer att presentera ett sätt att utveckla denna persona utan att träffa den riktiga slutanvändaren och följa upp med intervjuer från organisationen som använder dem. Detta leder fram till en modell över processen med att utveckla personas samt införandet i en utvecklingsorganisation som tidigare inte har använt sig av konceptet. Modellen är anpassad för att fungera vid införande av persona även i projekt och organisationer där konceptet är känt sedan tidigare.

C­lem t©to prce je zvit vkon sekvenÄn­ho prochzen­ adres v souborov©m syst©mu ext4. Datov struktura HTree, jen je v souÄasn© dobÄ pouita k implementaci adresu v ext4 zvld velmi dobe nhodn© p­stupy do adrese, avak nen­ optimalizovna pro sekvenÄn­ prochzen­. Tato prce pin­ analzu tohoto probl©mu. Nejprve studuje implementaci souborov©ho syst©mu ext4 a dal­ch subsyst©mu Linuxov©ho jdra, kter© s n­m souvis­. Pro vyhodnocen­ vkonu souÄasn© implementace adresov©ho indexu byla vytvoena sada test. Na zkladÄ vsledk tÄchto test bylo navreno een­, kter© bylo nslednÄ implementovno do Linuxov©ho jdra. V zvÄru t©to prce naleznete vyhodnocen­ p­nosu a porovnn­ vkonu nov© implementace s dal­mi souborovmi syst©my v Linuxu.

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Requirements Engineering (RE) plays a vital role in Information Systems (IS) development. The collaboration of requirements engineers is at the core of RE activities and is typically supported by technology tools, with Jira being an example of such a tool. Since these technology tools, like Jira, are focused on the execution of traditional duties, the collaboration functionalities of these technology tools are unseen. Moreover, little research has been carried out to explore how requirements engineers’ collaboration is supported and the challenges are created by the technology tools. Interpretive qualitative research was conducted to understand the nature of requirements engineers’ collaboration in three IS development organisations in Sweden to better support it with technology tools. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews and observations and was analysed thematically to generate seven themes.  The findings revealed that the technology tools facilitate requirements engineers’ cooperation, communication among multiple collaborating parties in one platform, coordination of work activities and information sharing among other collaborating parties. Additionally, it discovered that the inability to support real-time communication, high configurability, limited sharing possibilities, compatibility, technicality and complexity challenge and interrupt the requirement engineers’ collaboration.  Moreover, the theoretical frame findings are discussed with the help of the theoretical framework, including the activity theory. Requirements engineers’ collaboration is presented as a purposeful interaction among them and other people with the support of technology tools to complete the process of RE in information systems development. Their interactions and the importance of the technology tools are underlined. Hence, the outcome of the master’s thesis research shows that the collaborative technology tools enable the requirement engineers’ collaboration through supporting and facilitating their effective communication, cooperation, coordination, information sharing, and through facilitating their awareness, allowing them in this way to drive the information systems projects and/or products development into successful completion. The extended collaboration model presented in this research in combination with activity theory is used to understand the transformation of the enabling collaboration of requirements engineers.

A Phenomenological Analysis of Emergent Design is performed based on the foundations of General Schemas Theory. The concept of Sign Engineering is explored in terms of Hermeneutics, Dialectics, and Ontology in order to define Emergent Systems and Meta-systems Engineering based on the concept of Meta-dialectics. Phenomenology, Ontology, Hermeneutics, and Dialectics will dominate our inquiry into the nature of the Emergent Design of the System and its inverse dual, the Meta-system. This is an speculative dissertation that attempts to produce a philosophical, mathematical, and theoretical view of the nature of Systems Engineering Design. Emergent System Design, i.e., the design of yet unheard of and/or hitherto non-existent Systems and Meta-systems is the focus. This study is a frontal assault on the hard problem of explaining how Engineering produces new things, rather than a repetition or reordering of concepts that already exist. In this work the philosophies of E. Husserl, A. Gurwitsch, M. Heidegger, J. Derrida, G. Deleuze, A. Badiou, G. Hegel, I. Kant and other Continental Philosophers are brought to bear on different aspects of how new technological systems come into existence through the midwifery of Systems Engineering. Sign Engineering is singled out as the most important aspect of Systems Engineering. We will build on the work of Pieter Wisse and extend his theory of Sign Engineering to define Meta-dialectics in the form of Quadralectics and then Pentalectics . Along the way the various ontological levels of Being are explored in conjunction with the discovery that the Quadralectic is related to the possibility of design primarily at the Third Meta-level of Being, called Hyper Being. Design Process is dependent upon the emergent possibilities that appear in Hyper Being. Hyper Being, termed by Heidegger as Being (Being crossed-out) and termed by Derrida as Differance, also appears as the widest space within the Design Field at the third meta-level of Being and therefore provides the most leverage that is needed to produce emergent effects. Hyper Being is where possibilities appear within our worldview. Possibility is necessary for emergent events to occur. Hyper Being possibilities are extended by Wild Being propensities to allow the embodiment of new things. We discuss how this philosophical background relates to meta-methods such as the Gurevich Abstract State Machine and the Wisse Metapattern methods, as well as real-time architectural design methods as described in the Integral Software Engineering Methodology . One aim of this research is to find the foundation for extending the ISEM methodology to become a general purpose Systems Design Methodology. Our purpose is also to bring these philosophical considerations into the practical realm by examining P. Bourdieu?s ideas on the relationship between theoretical and practical reason and M. de Certeau?s ideas on practice. The relationship between design and implementation is seen in terms of the Set/Mass conceptual opposition. General Schemas Theory is used as a way of critiquing the dependence of Set based mathematics as a basis for Design. The dissertation delineates a new foundation for Systems Engineering as Emergent Engineering based on General Schemas Theory, and provides an advanced theory of Design based on the understanding of the meta-levels of Being, particularly focusing upon the relationship between Hyper Being and Wild Being in the context of Pure and Process Being.

In this study a case study was conducted at the Transport Agency. The government agency is seeking better alternatives to its current ways of keeping track of important dates stated in legal documents. The agency wants to explore the possibility for an IT-solution for keeping track on those dates. In the case study change analysis was conducted on the vehicle type approval process. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a section manager, vehicle type and component approvers, and with a system administrator and a system manager at the Transport Agency in Borlänge. The study describes an information environment in an organization in which date-controlled conditions apply and challenges with such an environment.The study also provides a proposal for designing an IT-solution for such an environment. The result that emerged showed that the information environment in terms of the legal documents and the institutions’ (EU and UNECE) websites where they are distributed is challenging for keeping track on dates. The challenges of the websites are that they are limited and complicated in terms of information search. The challenges with the legal documents are that date-controlled conditions apply. In other words, the dates themselves determine which dates and what applies and not. The legal documents are also many, retroactive, refer to each other and contain regulations for different kinds of areas, which makes difficult to find the relevant dates. The design proposal that emerged was made based on the existing IT environment at the Transport Agency. It was proposed that important key concepts are identified, categorized and realized in a database with searchability on the most important common concepts as denominators, and that it the information conforms with E-message. The developed database was based on date, date type, vehicle category, legal document, minor version and other info. A web interface was created in ASP.NET and C # for access to the database, with the message that a webbbased IT-solution should be considered. / I denna studie har en fallstudie genomförts på Transportstyrelsen. Myndigheten söker bättre alternativ till sin nuvarande hantering av viktiga datum som står i de juridiska dokumenten och vill undersöka möjligheten för ett IT-stöd. I fallstudien genomfördes en förändringsanalys på processen typgodkännande av fordon. Kvalitativa intervjuer gjordes med en sektionschef, handläggare för typgodkännande av fordon och komponenter samt med en systemansvarig och en systemförvaltare på Transportstyrelsen i Borlänge. Studien beskriver en informationsmiljö i en verksamhet där datumstyrda förhållanden råder samt vilka utmaningar som finns med sådan miljö. Studien ger även förslag på utformning på ett IT-stöd för sådan miljö. Resultatet som framkom är att informationsmiljön vad gäller rättsakterna i sig och institutionernas (EU och UNECE) webbsidor där de distribueras är utmanande för datumbevakning. Utmaningarna med webbsidorna är att de har begränsad och komplicerad sökning. Utmaningarna med rättsakterna är att datumstyrda förhållanden råder, det vill säga att datumen styr över varandra vad som gäller. Rättsakterna är även många, retroaktiva, hänvisar till varandra och innehåller krav om flera olika områden vilket gör det svårt att hitta de relevanta datumen. Förslaget på utformning av IT-stöd togs fram utifrån den befintliga IT-miljön på Transportstyrelsen. Förslaget var att viktiga begrepp identifieras, kategoriseras och sedan realiseras i en databas med sökbarhet på de viktigaste gemensamma begreppen som nämnare och att E-meddelande uppfylls gällande informationen. Databasen som togs fram utgick efter datum, datumtyp, fordonskategori, rättsakt, delversion och övrig info. För kommunikation mot databasen gjordes ett webbgränssnitt i ASP.NET och C# med budskapet att en webbbaserad IT-lösning bör övervägas.

<p>This dissertation examines the impact of active shooters upon patrons attending large outdoor events. There has been a spike in shooters targeting densely populated spaces in recent years, to include open-air venues. The 2019 Gilroy Garlic Festival was selected for modeling replication using AnyLogic software to test various experiments designed to reduce casualties in the event of an active shooter situation. Through achievement of validation to produce identical outcomes of the real-world Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, the researcher established a reliable foundational model for experimental purposes. This active shooter research project identifies the need for rapid response efforts to neutralize the shooter(s) as quickly as possible to minimize casualties. Key findings include the importance of armed officers patrolling event grounds to reduce response time, the need for adequate exits during emergency evacuations, incorporation of modern technology to identify the shooter’s location, and applicability of a 1:548 police to patron ratio.</p>