Computer Engineering Commons^™

Transportation Safety Performance Of Us Bus Transit Agencies And Population Density: A Cross-Sectional Analysis (2008-2014), Ilker Karaca, Peter T. Savolainen

Ilker Karaca

The paper examines the transportation safety performance of transit agencies providing public bus service in the US by using data from the National Transit Database (NTD)

Uses NTD data for a seven-year period from 2008 to 2014 • 3,853 observations for 651 public transportation agencies in 50 states

Seven types of bus transit fatalities and injuries (including passengers, operators, pedestrians, bicyclists)

Main explanatory variable: urban density obtained from the US Census figures

Other explanatory variables: total agency revenue miles, unlinked passenger trips, agency fleet size, and urban population

Top-Down Construction Cost Estimating Model Using An Artificial Neural Network, Douglas D. Gransberg, H. David Jeong, Ilker Karaca, Brendon Gardner

Ilker Karaca

This report contains the information and background on top-down cost estimating using artificial neural networks (ANN)_to enhance the accuracy of MDT early estimates of construction costs. Upon conducting an extensive review of MDT’s budgeting and cost estimating efforts, and following a survey of agency experts on the identification of the most salient project attributes with the dual-objectives of low effort and high accuracy, a rational method for top-down variable selection is proposed. Selected variables were further tested in their explanatory power of construction costs through the application of two cost estimating methodologies—multiple regression and artificial neural network methodologies. Both methods …

Aviation Cybersecurity: An Overview, Gary C. Kessler, J. Philip Craiger

J. Philip Craiger, Ph.D.

Information security—aka cybersecurity—is the most rapidly growing threat to critical infrastructures, including the aviation industry. Due to the plethora of digital devices, ubiquity of the Internet and other networks, and the rapid growth in the adoption of technology, everyone is an information system security manager. Every professional in the aviation and aeronautics industry use computers, mobile devices, tablets, GPS devices, and/or other hardware on a daily basis, as well as go online for a variety of reasons.

Attacks on information have been ongoing since the inception of the industry a hundred years ago, in such forms as intellectual property theft …

Ransomware In Healthcare Facilities: The Future Is Now, Nikki Spence, David P. Paul Iii, Alberto Coustasse

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

Cybercriminals have begun to target the healthcare industry with a type of malware called ransomware, malware that encrypts an infected device and any attached devices or network drives. After encryption, cybercriminals demand a sum of money, also known as a “ransom,” to release the devices from encryption. Without adequate disaster recovery and backup plans, many businesses are forced to pay the ransom. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of recent ransomware infections in healthcare settings, the risk liabilities and cost associated with such infections, and to determine possible risk mitigation tactics. Financial costs associated with business …

Mobile Devices: The Case For Cyber Security Hardened Systems, Maurice Dawson, Jorja Wright, Marwan Omar

Maurice Dawson

Mobile devices are becoming a method to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. Currently, cyber threats range from Trojans and viruses to botnets and toolkits. Presently, 96% of mobile devices do not have pre-installed security software while approximately 65% of the vulnerabilities are found within the application layer. This lack in security and policy driven systems is an opportunity for malicious cyber attackers to hack into the various popular devices. Traditional security software found in desktop computing platforms, such as firewalls, …

The Digital Dionysus: Nietzsche & The Network-Centric Condition

Dan Mellamphy

No abstract provided.

Creating Business Value From Digital Data Streams: The Role Of Organizational Interventions, Rajeev Sharma, Abhijith Anand, Tim Coltman

Abhijith Anand

No abstract provided.

Institutional Maximization And Path Dependency – The Delay Of Implementation Of The Eu Public Sector Information Directive In Sweden, Jan Kallberg, Erik Lakomaa

Jan Kallberg

The implementation of the EU public sector information (PSI) directive was expected to open up European governmental data sources for commercialization and create, conservatively estimated, a € 32 billion European public information market. Institutional arrangements and governmental path dependency has delayed the directive’s implementation in several countries, most notably Poland and Sweden. In this paper we use the Swedish case to examine how bureaucratic inertia and path dependence can stall the implementation of EU directives that conflicts with the member state’s internal bureaucratic agenda. Sweden usually implements EU directives rapidly and extensively. In the case of the PSI-directive however, the …

Mobile Devices: The Case For Cyber Security Hardened Systems, Maurice Dawson, Jorja Wright, Marwan Omar

Maurice Dawson

Mobile devices are becoming a method to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. Currently, cyber threats range from Trojans and viruses to botnets and toolkits. Presently, 96% of mobile devices do not have pre-installed security software while approximately 65% of the vulnerabilities are found within the application layer. This lack in security and policy driven systems is an opportunity for malicious cyber attackers to hack into the various popular devices. Traditional security software found in desktop computing platforms, such as firewalls, …

Advances In Technology Project Management: Review Of Open Source Software Integration, Maurice Dawson, Brian Leonard, Emad Rahim

Maurice Dawson

As organizations must continually drive down costs of software-driven projects, they need to evaluate the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and other software-based design methodologies. These methodologies include looking at software-based alternatives that could save a significant amount of money by reducing the amount of proprietary software. This chapter explores the use and integration of Open Source Software (OSS) in software-driven projects to include in enterprise organizations. Additionally, the legalities of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and Creative Commons are explored with the integration of these OSS solutions into organizations. …

A Brief Review Of New Threats And Countermeasures In Digital Crime And Cyber Terrorism, Maurice Dawson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security is becoming the cornerstone of national security policies in many countries around the world as it is an interest to many stakeholders, including utilities, regulators, energy markets, government entities, and even those that wish to exploit the cyber infrastructure. Cyber warfare is quickly becoming the method of warfare and the tool of military strategists. Additionally, it is has become a tool for governments to aid or exploit for their own personal benefits. For cyber terrorists there has been an overwhelmingly abundance of new tools and technologies available that have allowed criminal acts to occur virtually anywhere in the …

Understanding The Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism, Maurice E. Dawson Jr., Marwan Omar, Jonathan Abramson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security has become a matter of national, international, economic, and societal importance that affects multiple nations (Walker, 2012). Since the 1990s users have exploited vulnerabilities to gain access to networks for malicious purposes. In recent years the number of attacks on U.S. networks has continued to grow at an exponential rate. This includes malicious embedded code, exploitation of backdoors, and more. These attacks can be initiated from anywhere in the world from behind a computer with a masked Internet Protocol (IP) address. This type of warfare, cyber warfare, changes the landscape of war itself (Beidleman, 2009). This type of …

Advances In Technology Project Management: Review Of Open Source Software Integration, Maurice Dawson, Brian Leonard, Emad Rahim

Maurice Dawson

As organizations must continually drive down costs of software-driven projects, they need to evaluate the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and other software-based design methodologies. These methodologies include looking at software-based alternatives that could save a significant amount of money by reducing the amount of proprietary software. This chapter explores the use and integration of Open Source Software (OSS) in software-driven projects to include in enterprise organizations. Additionally, the legalities of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and Creative Commons are explored with the integration of these OSS solutions into organizations. …

Understanding The Influence Of Blog On The Development Of Social Capital, Reza Vaezi, Gholamreza Torkzadeh, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang

Reza Vaezi

The rapid use and application of blogs in diverse areas such as education, marketing, journalism, and human resource management in recent years underlines the need for a better understanding of the impact of this new technology on social capital. Social capital reflects the norm of reciprocity and the level of trust among individuals who connect, interact, and benefit from one another. Blog is expected to influence the extent and the scope of this interaction by providing new means of networking among people. This paper examines the relationship between blog use and social capital and reports on the results of an …

Why Hybrid Mail Has Got The International Factor, Jacob Johnsen

Jacob Johnsen, MSc

Hybrid mail is instrumental to the development of international mail, as Jacob Johnsen explains in this article

Teaching Evaluation (Spring 2014), Hwee-Joo Kam

Hwee-Joo Kam

No abstract provided.

The Future Of National And International Security On The Internet, Maurice Dawson, Marwan Omar, Jonathan Abramson, Dustin Bessette

Maurice Dawson

Hyperconnectivity is a growing trend that is driving cyber security experts to develop new security architectures for multiple platforms such as mobile devices, laptops, and even wearable displays. The futures of national and international security rely on complex countermeasures to ensure that a proper security posture is maintained during this state of hyperconnectivity. To protect these systems from exploitation of vulnerabilities it is essential to understand current and future threats to include the laws that drive their need to be secured. Examined within this chapter are the potential security-related threats with the use of social media, mobile devices, virtual worlds, …

Student Feedback (Spring 2014), Hwee-Joo Kam

Hwee-Joo Kam

No abstract provided.

Big Data, Predictive Analytics, And Data Visualization In The Construction Engineering, Joseph Shrestha

Joseph Shrestha

Innovation And Learning Through Knowledge Gatekeepers:A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Betweentrust, Openness, And The Use Of Gatekeepers, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The term ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who collect information, knowledge and contextualise this before they can share with the rest of the members of the organisation knowledge networks-both formal and informal organisations. In this study, it was found:

1 that there is a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its knowledge sharing culture and level trust, and that firm’s use of knowledge gatekeepers

2 that the stage of a given firm’s growth corresponds to its strategic use of different types of gatekeeping.

In early and decline (renewal) stages, for …

Engineering Innovative Mobile Data Services: Developing A Model For Value Network Analysis And Design, Mutaz M. Al-Debei, Enas M. Al-Lozi, Guy Fitzgerald

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Purpose – This study aims to analytically develop a reference model for engineering (i.e. analysis, design, development, evaluation, delivery, maintenance, modification, and management) powerful value networks capable of creating innovative mobile data services. Design/methodology/approach – The paradigm followed is that of Design-Science Research (DSR) which incorporates two main iterative processes: build and evaluate. For building the model (i.e. the design science artifact in this research), we followed three iterations: (1) Literature Review Analysis; (2) Semi-Structured Interviews analyzed through content analysis; and (3) examination of real-life case studies. But for evaluating the model, we utilized the NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode case. Findings …

A Value-Based Approach For Explaining The Adoption Intention Of Mobile Data Services, Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

This study aims at explaining the factors affecting the adoption intention of mobile data services from the perspective of consumers as users. In this study we focus on the value users can potentially gain from using these services. We hypothesize that if we can examine users' utilitarian, hedonic, uniqueness, epistemic and economic value, then we can explain and predict their intention to use mobile data services. Our results show that utilitarian value is according to previous studies an important adoption factor. Additionally, economic value is also important and significant. Nevertheless, it seems that in our context, hedonic, uniqueness, and epistemic …

Cfp: Handbook Of Research On Technological Applications And Innovation For Economic Development, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The innovation in the 21st century goes significantly beyond the high-tech picture driven by small or large industry clusters in a specific region-typically Silicon Valley and M4Corridor. The future of innovation will lie within knowledge management and seamless technological applications. These will be supported by planned funding strategies, possibly with clients as drivers of the innovation. This view seems to be supported by the UK government “Technology and Innovation Futures” (2011); the USA government (2011), study into which leading scholars concede that the future innovation and technological applications for economic growth will include products and processes, improvements in areas such …

The Effective Use Of Research Tools And Resources, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This presentation is prepared to help scholars who seek to reduce the search time by extending the knowledge of researchers to more effectively use the “Research Tools" that are available through the Net.

The Quality And Acceptance Of Websites: An Empirical Investigation In The Context Of Higher Education, Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

The aim of this study is to explain the main factors affecting behavioural intentions of students to regularly use university websites in the future. Universities are investing millions of dollars in developing high quality websites as they believe that this course of action can provide them with significant strategic benefits. Notwithstanding, little is known about what attracts students to regularly use university websites and our understanding in this context is by no means complete. Aiming to advance our knowledge in this domain, this study utilises a novel model that is developed on the basis of three well-established theories in the …

Developing And Implementing A Web Portal Success Model, Dima Jalal, Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

The emergence and subsequent spreading of new technologies, such as Web portals, has changed the way people handle information, communicate, share knowledge, and perform tasks. The use of different information technologies and systems offers the potential for substantially improving performance not only at the organizational level but also at the individual level. However, performance gains are often obstructed by users' unwillingness to accept and use available systems and technologies. This paper aims at examining the role of Web portals in improving the overall performance at the individual level in terms of task productivity and innovation, customer satisfaction, and management control. …

Measuring Web Portals Success: A Respecification And Validation Of The Delone And Mclean Information Systems Success Model, Mutaz M. Al-Debei, Dima Jalal, Enas Al-Lozi

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

The main aim of this research is to investigate the role of web portals in improving job performance at the individual level from the perspective of employees as users. This is deemed significant as yet little research has assessed the success of web portals in delivering benefits at the individual level in terms of improved performance in developing countries. The DeLone and McLean IS success model was used as a foundational theory and then was refined to match the context of the current research. In fact, the functions and features of portals were identified, clustered and then linked to portals’ …

Energy Costs For Data Center Operations, Heather M. Brotherton

Heather M Brotherton

This document answers the questions: What are relative energy costs for data center operations (energy per unit computing) and how do sources of fuel impact data center operation costs geographically across the US?

Transforming Information Systems And Computer Science Education With Virtualization, Maurice E. Dawson Jr., Jorja Wright, Jonathan Abramson

Maurice Dawson

This paper will propose an innovative method to transform information systems (IS) and computer science education on a global scale. This method will introduce the use of virtualization and cloud computing combined with open source software (OSS) in higher education. This will allow for those studying IS and computer science to work independently on projects anywhere in the world from a baseline image that has been developed with information assurance (IA) controls. Additionally, this will allow professors and course developers to deploy their own customized virtual machines (VMs) to be used with the course. These VMs will host their own …

Research In Progress-Defending Android Smartphones From Malware Attacks, Marwan Omar, Maurice E. Dawson Jr.

Maurice Dawson

Smart phones are becoming enriched with confidential information due to their powerful computational capabilities and attractive communications features. The Android smart phone is one of the most widely used platforms by businesses and users alike. This is partially because Android smart phones use the free, open-source Linux as the underlying operating system, which allows development of applications by any software developer. This research study aims to explore security risks associated with the use of Android smart phones and the sensitive information they contain, the researcher devised a survey questionnaire to investigate and further understand security threats targeting Android smart phones. …