The Future of Human Service Information Technology

The immediate future of human services and information technology is examined in terms of their unifying principles and potentials. Effects on human relationships are used as a departure point to forecast changes in professional training and work and changes in the problems people experience. Professional training will incorporate high skill levels in the use and application of information technology. Changes in professional work may include more home based work and more automation of professional tasks. Changes in the problems people experience are addressed in four areas: (1) near consequences of life in an intellect intensive society; (2) human services subject to dramatic improvement; (3) information technology as a "male" technology; and (4) the growth in social support networks. Suggestions are made to explore the conjunction of human service work and information technology.     

The dual network structure of organizational problem solving: A case study on open source software development

We reconstruct the dual network structure generated by the association between 72 contributors and 737 software bugs engaged during a full development cycle of the free/open source software project Epiphany. Estimates of structural parameters of Exponential Random Graph Models for two-mode networks reveal the structural logics shaping activities of collaborative problem solving. After controlling for contributor-specific and software bug-specific characteristics, we find that contributors (“problem solvers”) tend to distribute their activity over multiple software bugs. At the same time, however, we find that software bugs (“problems”) tend not to share multiple contributors. This dual tendency toward de-specialization and exclusivity is sustained by specific local network dependencies revealed by our analysis which also suggests possible organizational mechanisms that may be underlying the puzzling macro-structural regularities frequently observed, but rarely explained, in the production of open source software. By combining these mechanisms with the influence of contributors characterized by different levels of involvement in the project, we provide micro-level evidence of structural interdependence between “core” and “peripheral” members identified exclusively on the basis of their individual level of contribution to the project.     

What do highly qualified professionally achieving women do after retirement in India? Exploring time use,leisure, and volunteering

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the time use of highly qualified professionally achieving (HQPA) women after retirement. Data were collected from a random sample of 1,023 HQPA women in the city of Mumbai, India. HQPA women spent their postretirement time in caregiving and family responsibilities, leisure activities, and volunteer work. Several HQPA women volunteered at social service organizations as the main postretirement activity. In a developing country like India, which is still growing in terms of skilled human resources, this voluntary engagement of experienced and skilled older women is crucial. Policy makers in India and developing nations can promote this.     

A Review of Eight Statistics Software Packages for General Use

Eight statistical software packages for general use by non-statisticians are reviewed. The packages are GraphPad Prism, InStat, ISP, NCSS, SigmaStat, Statistix, Statmost, and Winks. Summary tables of statistical capabilities and “usability” features are followed by discussions of each package. Discussions include system requirements, data import capabilities, statistical capabilities, and user interface. Recommendations, based on user needs and sophistication, are presented following the reviews.     

Unpacking Team Familiarity: The Effects of Geographic Location and Hierarchical Role

Examination of team productivity finds that team familiarity, i.e., individuals' prior shared work experience, can positively impact the efficiency and quality of team output. Despite the attention given to team familiarity and its contingencies, prior work has focused on whether team members have worked together, not on which team members have worked together, and under what conditions. In this paper, I parse overall team familiarity to consider effects of geographic location and the hierarchical roles of team members. Using data on all software‐development projects completed over 3 years at a large Indian firm in the global outsourced software services industry, I find that team familiarity gained when team members work together in the same location has a significantly more positive effect on team performance compared with team familiarity gained while members were collaborating in different locations. Additionally, I find that hierarchical team familiarity (a manager's experience with front‐line team members) and horizontal team familiarity (front‐line team members' experience gained with one another) have differential effects on project team performance. These findings provide insight into the relationship between team experience and team performance.     

基于公理设计理论的仿真软件评价方法研究

针对仿真软件评价优选问题,提出一种基于公理设计理论的仿真软件评价方法。以公理设计理论为指导建立仿真软件评价模型,通过信息公理以信息量大小为测度来度量仿真软件产品的优劣。考虑到备选方案评价指标信息具有不完全性和模糊性特征,采用信息公理中的经典信息量计算方法存在局限性,对信息公理中的信息量计算方法进行拓展,提出基于单值点、区间数相离度、满意度和模糊信息的信息量计算方法。结合经典的和拓展的信息量计算方法,给出仿真软件评价流程。以某生产制造企业选择仿真软件产品为例,说明所提出方法的可行性和有效性,实验结果也揭示了在仿真软件商业领域竞争中软件质量起到至关重要的作用。     

Evaluating and improving risk formulas for allocating limited budgets to expensive risk-reduction opportunities

Simple risk formulas, such as risk = probability × impact, or risk = exposure × probability × consequence, or risk = threat × vulnerability × consequence, are built into many commercial risk management software products deployed in public and private organizations. These formulas, which we call risk indices, together with risk matrices, “heat maps,” and other displays based on them, are widely used in applications such as enterprise risk management (ERM), terrorism risk analysis, and occupational safety. But, how well do they serve to guide allocation of limited risk management resources? This article evaluates and compares different risk indices under simplifying conditions favorable to their use (statistically independent, uniformly distributed values of their components; and noninteracting risk‐reduction opportunities). Compared to an optimal (nonindex) approach, simple indices produce inferior resource allocations that for a given cost may reduce risk by as little as 60% of what the optimal decisions would provide, at least in our simple simulations. This article suggests a better risk reduction per unit cost index that achieves 98–100% of the maximum possible risk reduction on these problems for all budget levels except the smallest, which allow very few risks to be addressed. Substantial gains in risk reduction achieved for resources spent can be obtained on our test problems by using this improved index instead of simpler ones that focus only on relative sizes of risk (or of components of risk) in informing risk management priorities and allocating limited risk management resources. This work suggests the need for risk management tools to explicitly consider costs in prioritization activities, particularly in situations where budget restrictions make careful allocation of resources essential for achieving close‐to‐maximum risk‐reduction benefits.     

恶意软件带来的侵权问题之法律思考

With the widespread use of computer, network security is becoming increasingly conspicuous, and the invasion of malicious software has been the most urgent problem for the computer network security. The malicious software occupies the computer memory which slows the operation speed, wastes the resources of computer hardware, hijacks the users' browser, compels the advertisement to appear, steals the users’information, infringes the users’privacy, and brings huge spiritual and economic harms to users. The malicious software is growing that has seriously endangered the healthy development of Internet industry and network environment. The diffusion of the malicious software has greatly challenged the network infringement and provides the reference for us to reflect on the cause of infringement.     

SaaS供应商定价策略选择:一种捆绑视角

软件即服务是云计算背景下捆绑IT基础设施和软件并通过互联网递交服务的一种新的IT服务形式。基于服务内容捆绑特性,研究垄断软件供应商面临捆绑定价策略和分开定价策略时的策略选择问题。通过建立模型并应用价格优化方法得出了两种策略下软件供应商的最优价格和最大利润,分析了供应商进行不同策略选择的边界条件。运用数值模拟探讨了供应商利润最大化策略选择对消费者剩余和社会福利的影响。研究发现捆绑策略并不一定损害消费者剩余,当服务可变成本较低时,利润最大化策略和社会福利最大化策略在捆绑策略处取得一致,并处于较高水平;当服务可变成本较高时,在分开定价策略处取得一致,并处于较低水平。供应商可通过不断降低可变成本提高利润及福利水平。     

以“软件外包”促进陕西影视衍生产品开发的实现

在影视衍生产品的创作和开发过程中,计算机科学的最新发展与艺术家的无边想象力得到完美的结合。"西部影视"有一定国际知名度的品牌,且产量又形成了相当的规模,加上密集的科技人才和相对较低的制作成本,陕西的影视产业可以"软件外包"作为动漫产品与网络游戏实现的突破口,从而促进陕西影视产业价值链向高端提升。