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An Ontology to Automate Learning Scenarios? An Approach to its Knowledge Domain




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Ontology of Learning Objects Repository for Pedagogical Knowledge Sharing




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Using a Collaborative Database to Enhance Students’ Knowledge Construction




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Teachers in a World of Change: Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes towards the Implementation of Innovative Technologies in Schools




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A Data Mining Approach to Improve Re-Accessibility and Delivery of Learning Knowledge Objects




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Collective Problem-Solving: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Skill, and Prior Knowledge

Self-efficacy is essential to learning but what happens when learning is done as a result of a collective process? What is the role of individual self-efficacy in collective problem solving? This research examines the manifestation of self-efficacy in prediction markets that are configured as collective problem-solving platforms and whether self-efficacy of traders affects the collective outcome. Prediction markets are collective-intelligence platforms that use a financial markets mechanism to combine knowledge and opinions of a group of people. Traders express their opinions or knowledge by buying and selling “stocks” related to questions or events. The collective outcome is derived from the final price of the stocks. Self-efficacy, one’s belief in his or her ability to act in a manner that leads to success, is known to affect personal performance in many domains. To date, its manifestation in computer-mediated collaborative environments and its effect on the collective outcome has not been studied. In a controlled experiment, 632 participants in 47 markets traded a solution to a complex problem, a naïve framing of the knapsack problem. Contrary to earlier research, we find that technical and functional self-efficacy perceptions are indistinguishable, probably due to a focus on outcomes rather than on resources. Further, results demonstrate that prediction markets are an effective collective problem-solving platform that correctly aggregates individual knowledge and is resilient to traders’ self-efficacy.




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Going Behind the Scenes at Teacher Colleges: Online Student Knowledge Sharing through Social Network Technologies

Aim/Purpose: The present study aims to describe existing peer-to-peer, social network-based sharing practices among adult students in teacher colleges. Background: Ubiquitous social network sites open up a wide array of possibilities for peer-to-peer information and knowledge sharing. College instructors are often unaware of such practices that happen behind the scenes. Methodology: An interpretative, qualitative research methodology was used. Thirty-seven Israeli students at a teacher college in Israel participated in either focus group discussions of (N = 29) or in-depth interviews (N = 8). Contribution: Whereas knowledge sharing has been a main focus of research in organizational and information sciences, its relevance to educational settings has thus far been underscored. Recent research shows that peer–to-peer knowledge sharing is wide-spread among teenage students. The current study extends that work to an adult student population. Findings: The findings show that knowledge sharing of this type is a common and even central feature of students’ college life and study behavior. It takes place through a variety of small and larger social network-based peer groups of different formations, including mostly college students but at time also practicing, experienced teachers. Sharing groups are formed on the spot for short term purposes or are stable, continuous over longer time periods. The contents shared are predominantly lesson summaries, material for exams, reading summaries, and lesson plans. They are used immediately or stored for future use, as students have access to vast data bases of stored materials that have been compiled throughout the years by students of previous cohorts. Teacher students mentioned a range of reasons for sharing, and overall regard it very positive. However, some downsides were also acknowledged (i.e., superficial learning, exclusion, attentional overload, and interruptions). Recommendations for Practitioners: College faculty and teaching staff should be cognizant and informed about these widespread peer-based knowledge sharing practices and consider whether perhaps changes in teaching formats and task assignments are required as a result. Future Research: Future research should extend this work to other higher education settings, cultures and countries, and should map the perceptions of higher education teaching staff about peer-to-peer, online knowledge sharing.




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The Value of Information Systems Teaching and Research in the Knowledge Society




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Knowledge Management Systems: A Comparison of Law Firms and Consulting Firms




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The Prediction of Perceived Level of Computer Knowledge: The Role of Participant Characteristics and Aversion toward Computers




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Empirical Validation Procedure for the Knowledge Management Technology Stage Model




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Toward a Model of Growth Stages for Knowledge Management Technology in Law Firms




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Role of Information Professionals in Knowledge Management Programs: Empirical Evidence from Canada




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Value Creation through IT-supported Knowledge Management? The Utilisation of a Knowledge Management System in a Global Consulting Company




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Regional IS Knowledge Networks: Elaborating the Theme of Relevance of IS Research




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The Culture of Information Systems in Knowledge-Creating Contexts: The Role of User-Centred Design




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Sharing Tacit Knowledge:




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Organizational Practices That Foster Knowledge Sharing: Validation across Distinct National Cultures




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Understanding the Antecedents of Knowledge Sharing: An Organizational Justice Perspective




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The Helix of Human Cognition: Knowledge Management According to DIKW, E2E, and the Proposed View




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Evidence for Addressing the Unsolved through EdGe-ucating or Can Informing Science Promote Democratic Knowledge Production?




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Identifying the Knowledge Requirements of a New Project Entrant: An Informing Science Approach




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Disciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in the Study of Knowledge




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The Knowledge Innovation Matrix (KIM): A Clarifying Lens for Innovation




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Information and Knowledge: Combining Justification, Truth, and Belief




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Putting Personal Knowledge Management under the Macroscope of Informing Science

The paper introduces a novel Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) concept and prototype system. The system’s objective is to aid life-long-learning, resourcefulness, creativity, and teamwork of individuals throughout their academic and professional life and as contributors and beneficiaries of organizational and societal performance. Such a scope offers appealing and viable opportunities for stakeholders in the educational, professional, and developmental context. To further validate the underlying PKM application design, the systems thinking techniques of the transdiscipline of Informing Science (IS) are employed. By applying Cohen’s IS-Framework, Leavitt’s Diamond Model, the IS-Meta Approach, and Gill’s and Murphy’s Three Dimensions of Design Task Complexity, the more specific KM models and methodologies central to the PKMS concept are aligned, introduced, and visualized. The extent of this introduction offers an essential overview, which can be deepened and broadened by using the cited URL and DOI links pointing to the available resources of the author’s prior publications. The paper emphasizes the differences of the proposed meme-based PKM System compared to its traditional organizational document-centric counterparts as well as its inherent complementing synergies. As a result, it shows how the system is closing in on Vannevar Bush’s still unfulfilled vison of the ‘Memex’, an as-close-as-it-gets imaginary ancestor celebrating its 70th anniversary as an inspiring idea never realized. It also addresses the scenario recently put forward by Levy which foresees a decentralizing revolution of knowledge management that gives more power and autonomy to individuals and self-organized groups. Accordingly, it also touches on the PKM potential in terms of Kuhn’s Scientific Revolutions and Disruptive Innovations.




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Design Science Research For Personal Knowledge Management System Development - Revisited

The article presents Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) as an overdue individualized as well as a collaborative approach for knowledge workers. Designing a PKM-supporting system, however, resembles a so-called “wicked” problem (ill-defined; incomplete, contradictory, changing requirements, complex interdependencies) where the information needed to understand the challenges depends on upon one’s idea for solving them. Accordingly, three main areas are attended to. Firstly, in dealing with a range of growing complexities, the notion of Popper’s Worlds is applied as three distinct spheres of reality and further expanded into six digital ecosystems (technologies, extelligence, society, knowledge worker, institutions, and ideosphere) that not only form the basis for the PKM System Concept named ‘Knowcations’ but also form a closely related Personal Knowledge Management for Development (PKM4D) framework detailed in a separate dedicated paper. Reflecting back on a United Nations scenario of knowledge mass production (KMP) over time, the complexities closely related to the digital ecosystems and the inherent risks of today’s accelerating attention-consuming over-abundance of redundant information are scrutinized, concluding in a chain of meta-arguments favoring the idea of the PKM concept and system put forward. Secondly, in light of the digital ecosystems and complexities introduced, the findings of a prior article are further refined in order to assess the PKM concept and system as a potential General-Purpose-Technology. Thirdly, the development process and resulting prototype are verified against accepted general design science research (DSR) guidelines. DSR aims at creating innovative IT artifacts (that extend human and social capabilities and meet desired outcomes) and at validating design processes (as evidence of their relevance, utility, rigor, resonance, and publishability). Together with the incorporated references to around thirty prior publications covering technical and methodological details, a kind of ‘Long Discussion Case’ emerges aiming to potentially assist IT researchers and entrepreneurs engaged in similar projects.




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Devising Enabling Spaces and Affordances for Personal Knowledge Management System Design

Aim/Purpose: Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) has been envisaged as a crucial tool for the growing creative class of knowledge workers, but adequate technological solutions have not been forthcoming. Background: Based on former affordance-related publications (primarily concerned with communication, community-building, collaboration, and social knowledge sharing), the common and differing narratives in relation to PKM are investigated in order to suggest further PKM capabilities and affordances in need to be conferred. Methodology: The paper follows up on a series of the author’s PKM-related publications, firmly rooted in design science research (DSR) methods and aimed at creating an innovative PKM concept and prototype system. Contribution: The affordances presented offer PKM system users the means to retain and build upon knowledge acquired in order to sustain personal growth and facilitate productive collaborations between fellow learners and/or professional acquaintances. Findings: The results call for an extension of Nonaka’s SECI model and ‘ba’ concept and provide arguments for and evidence supporting the claims that the PKM concept and system is able to facilitate better knowledge traceability and KM practices. Recommendations and Impact on Society: Together with the prior publications, the paper points to current KM shortcomings and presents a novel trans-disciplinary approach offering appealing opportunities for stakeholders engaged in the context of curation, education, research, development, business, and entrepreneurship. Its potential to tackle opportunity divides has been addressed via a PKM for Development (PKM4D) Framework. Future DSR Activities: After completing the test phase of the prototype, its transformation into a viable PKM system and cloud-based server based on a rapid development platform and a noSQL-database is estimated to take 12 months.




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Shifting Paradigms in Information Flow: An Open Science Framework (OSF) for Knowledge Sharing Teams

Aim/Purpose: This paper explores the implications of machine-mediated communication on human interaction in cross-disciplinary teams. The authors explore the relationships between Open Science Theory, its contributions to team science, and the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting open science principles. Background: Open Science Theory impacts many aspects of human interaction throughout the scholarly life cycle and can be seen in action through various technologies, which each typically touch only one such aspect. By serving multiple aspects of Open Science Theory at once, the Open Science Framework (OSF) serves as an exemplar technology. As such it illustrates how Open Science Theory can inform and expand cognitive and behavioral dynamics in teams at multiple levels in a single tool. Methodology: This concept paper provides a theoretical rationale for recommendations for exploring the connections between an open science paradigm and the dynamics of team communication. As such theory and evidence have been culled to initiate a synthesis of the nascent literature, current practice and theory. Contribution: This paper aims to illuminate the shared goals between open science and the study of teams by focusing on science team activities (data management, methods, algorithms, and outputs) as focal objects for further combined study. Findings: Team dynamics and characteristics that will affect successful human/machine assisted interactions through mediators of workflow culture, attitudes about ownership of knowledge, readiness to share openly, shifts from group-driven to user-driven functionality, group-organizing to self-organizing structures, and the development of trust as teams regulate between traditional and open science dissemination. Recommendations for Practitioners: Participation in open science practices through machine-assisted technologies in team projects/scholarship should be encouraged. Recommendation for Researchers: The information provided highlights areas in need of further study in team science as well as new primary sources of material in the study of teams utilizing machine-assisted methods in their work. Impact on Society: As researchers take on more complex social problems, new technology and open science practices can complement the work of diverse stakeholders while also providing opportunities to broaden impact and intensify scholarly contributions. Future Research: Future investigation into the cognitive and behavioral research conducted with teams that employ machine-assisted technologies in their workflows would offer researchers the opportunity to understand better the relationships between intelligent machines and science teams’ impacts on their communities as well as the necessary paradigmatic shifts inherent when utilizing these technologies.




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Transdisciplinary Knowledge Producing Teams: Toward a Complex Systems Perspective

Aim/Purpose: Transdisciplinarity is considered as a framework for understanding knowledge producing teams (KPTs). Features of transdisciplinary knowledge producing teams (TDKPTs) are provided using a complex adaptive systems (CAS) lens. TDKPT features are defined and linked to complexity theory to show how team participants might develop skills that more truly express complex adaptive conditions. Background: TDKPTs are groups of stakeholder participants tasked with producing knowledge across disciplinary, sectoral, and ecological boundaries. TDKPTs reflect components of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and exemplify how CAS behave and function. Methodology: The paper accesses literature from the Science-of-Team-Science (SciTS), complexity theory, and systems theory to construct a typology of the features of TDKPTs. Contribution: This paper provides a list of features developed from a diverse body of literature useful for considering complexity within TDKPTs. Findings: The paper proposes a series of features of transdisciplinary knowledge producing teams. In addition, the authors identify important skill building aspects needed for TDKPTs to be successful. Recommendations for Practitioners: The paper provides a framework by which team functioning can be considered and enhanced within TDKPTs. Recommendation for Researchers: The paper suggests categorical features of transdisciplinary teams for research on the collaborative processes and outcomes of TD teams. Future Research: Knowledge producing team members need to engage in theoretical, episte-mological, and methodological reflections to elucidate the dynamic nature of TD knowledge producing teams. Understanding how conflict, dissonance, and reciprocal interdependencies contribute to knowledge generation are key areas of future research and inquiry.




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Synthesizing Design and Informing Science Rationales for Driving a Decentralized Generative Knowledge Management Agenda

Aim/Purpose: In a world of rapidly expanding complexity and exponentially increasing data availability, IT-based knowledge management tools will be needed to manage and curate available information. This paper looks at a particular tool architecture that has been previously proposed: The Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS). The specific focus is on how the proposed architecture conforms to design science principles that relate to how it is likely to evolve. Background: We first introduce some recent informing science and design science research frameworks, then examine how the PKMS architecture would conform to these. Methodology: The approach taken is conceptual analysis. Contribution: The analysis provides a clearer understanding of how the proposed PKMS would serve the diverse-client ambiguous-target (DCAT) informing scenario and how it could be expected to evolve. Findings: We demonstrate how the PKMS informing architecture can be characterized as a “social machine” that appears to conform to a number of principles that would facilitate its long-term evolution. Future Research: The example provided by the paper could serve as a model future research seeking to integrate design science and informing science in the study of IT artefacts.




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Gifts, Contexts, Means, and Ends Differing: Informing Task Scenarios to Serve Knowledge Workers’ Needs in Dynamic Complex Settings

Aim/Purpose: As traditional Knowledge Management (KM) struggles to support the personal needs of knowledge workers in a new era of accelerating information abundance, we examine the shortcomings and put forward alternative scenarios and architectures for developing a novel Personal KM System (PKMS). Background: While prior publications focused on the complementing features compared to conventional dynamic KM models, our emphasis shifts to instantiating a flourishing PKMS community supported by a Digital Platform Ecosystem. Methodology: Design science research focusing on conceptual analysis and prototyping. Contribution: The PKMS concept advances the understanding of how digital platform communities may serve members with highly diverse skills and ambitions better to gainfully utilize the platform’s resources and generative potential in their personal and local settings. Findings: We demonstrate how the needs to tackle attention-consuming rising entropy and to benefit from generative innovation potentials can be addressed. Future Research: As this article has iteratively co-evolved with the preparing of a PKMS implementation, business, and roll-out plan, the prototype’s testing, completion, and subsequent migration to a viable system is of primary concern.




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Knowledge-Oriented Leadership, Psychological Safety, Employee Voice, and Innovation

Aim/Purpose: The truism is that leadership fosters or restricts innovation behaviours in organisations, but the extent to which it does depends on the leadership style in practice. This study focuses on one of the contemporary leadership styles, knowledge-oriented leadership [KOL], which has received scant attention in research. In doing so, the contextual factors of psychological safety [PS] and employee voice [EV] were applied to determine how KOL influences are channeled to innovation at the individual level. Methodology: Data were collected from 347 academic staff in public universities in Southern Nigeria and subjected to a partial least square [PLS] analytical procedure for data treatment and hypotheses testing using the SmartPLS 3 software for variance-based structural equation modelling. Contribution: The study formed an integrated research framework that links knowledge-oriented leadership and innovation by accounting for the contextual mechanisms of psychological safety and employee voice. Findings: The PLS results demonstrated that the knowledge-oriented leadership and innovation relationship was positive and significant, and this relationship was partially mediated by two variables, namely, PS and EV. Furthermore, the two mediating variables channeled KOL’s influence on innovation in a sequence. Recommendation for Researchers: Organisations need to consider the practical application of KOL to improve innovation outcomes considerably. By this, leadership training programs should include modules, courses, or topics on KOL to engender the formation of requisite managerial skills. More so, they should consider the criterion of demonstrable KOL abilities for leadership selection and recruitment. As a personal development initiative, managers can attend leadership development programmes as well as obtain certification in knowledge management to improve their KOL abilities. This initiative should be encouraged and supported by organisations. In all, the human resource management framework should be responsive to the dynamics of the knowledge economy regarding leadership. Given that PS and EV function as mediators, organisations should actively cultivate an environment enabling interpersonal risky behaviours founded on trust, respect, and cooperation and encourage/support employees who demonstrate such behaviour accordingly. In this line, they should create and sustain a supportive environment that positively reinforces voice decisions and behaviours. Future Research: The study only determined the links between KOL, PS, EV, and innovation in public universities in Southern Nigeria. Other studies may examine the linkages in other knowledge-intensive organisations as well as expand the geographic scope to make for better generality of findings. Future studies should look at other underlying mechanisms that can affect the KOL-innovation relationship, such as psychological capital, work engagement, work commitment, etc. The role of moderators can be identified and introduced to this integrative framework to demonstrate the conditions affecting the linkages.




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TALK: Real-time knowledge extraction from short semi-structured documents

A semantically rich framework to enable real-time knowledge extraction from short length semi-structured documents Lavana Elluri 10:30-11:30 Monday, 4 November 2019, ITE346 Knowledge is currently maintained as a large volume of unstructured text data in books, laws, regulations and policies, news and social media, academic and scientific reports, conversation and correspondence, etc. Most of these […]

The post TALK: Real-time knowledge extraction from short semi-structured documents appeared first on UMBC ebiquity.




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COORDINATING KNOWLEDGE CREATION IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS: EVIDENCE FROM EARLY-STAGE DRUG DISCOVERY

Based on a multi-year field study of early-stage drug discovery project teams at a global pharmaceutical company, this paper examines how multidisciplinary teams engaged in knowledge creation combine formal and informal coordination mechanisms when faced with unpredictable interdependencies among specialists' knowledge domains. While multidisciplinary teams are critical for knowledge creation in increasingly specialized work environments, the coordination literature has been divided with respect to the extent to which such teams rely on formal coordination structures and informal coordination practices. Our findings show that when interdependencies among knowledge domains are dynamic and unpredictable, specialists design self-managed (sub-)teams around collectively held assumptions about interdependencies based on incomplete information (conjectural interdependencies). These team structures establish the grounds for informal coordination practices that enable specialists to both manage known interdependencies and reveal new interdependencies. Newly revealed interdependencies among knowledge domains, in turn, promote structural adaptation. Drawing on these findings, we advance an integrative model explaining how team-based knowledge creation relies on the mutual constitution of formal coordination structures and informal coordination practices. The model contributes to theory on organizational design and practice-based research on coordination in cross-disciplinary knowledge creation.




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A Study of Anglo Expatriate Managers' Learning, Knowledge Acquisition, and Adjustment in Multi-National Companies in China

This study investigates Anglo expatriate managers learning, knowledge acquisition, and adjustment to the host culture when working within Anglo multi-national companies operating in China. A structural equation model based on data from 121 expatriate managers reveal that Anglo managers adjust more effectively when their learning styles are congruent with the demands of the host culture. Their levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge and adaptive flexibility were also associated with their learning styles which in turn led to more effective adjustment to the host culture. Implications for theory, global manager development, and expatriate management are provided.




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KNOWLEDGE INHERITANCE, VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND ENTRANT SURVIVAL IN THE EARLY U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY

A key finding in the literature on industry evolution and strategy is that knowledge "inherited" from the founder's previous employer can be an important source of a new firm's capabilities. We analyze the conditions under which knowledge that is useful for carrying out a key value chain activity is inherited, and explore the mechanism through which such an inheritance shapes an entrant's strategies and, in the process, influences its performance. Evidence from the early U.S. auto industry indicates that employee spinoffs generated from incumbents that had integrated a key value chain activity were also more likely to integrate that activity than other entrants, which, we suggest, reflects the application of knowledge inheritance relative to that activity. Moreover, we find that the integration of this key activity, stimulated by knowledge inheritance, contributed to the establishment of defensible strategic positioning, thereby enhancing the survival duration of inheriting spinoffs. We thus link together the phenomena of knowledge inheritance, vertical integration, and strategic positioning to explain entrant performance. These three phenomena tend to be treated disparately in the literature, rather than in combination.




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Devolution of Researcher Care in Organization Studies and the Moderation of Organizational Knowledge

In this paper, we critically assess how the devolution of researcher care moderates knowledge development in organization studies. Defining researcher care as what scholars are concerned and passionate about, we consider the extent to which individuals researchers lose their personal voice in researching organizations. This bounding of care by the research community is a reflection of the way that researchers knowingly alter their care in researching organizations to gain associated career and reputational benefits. We describe how the field's institutional logic for researching organizations enables this devolution to take hold and how larger institutional forces reinforce how it progressively moderates organizational knowledge. We offer preliminary suggestions for addressing the devolution of researcher care in organization studies and ameliorating its threat to knowledge development.




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Indonesian president meets Biden and speaks with Trump, pledges cooperation

JAKARTA: Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday and offered his congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump by phone during an official visit to Washington.

“I will work very hard to strengthen Indonesian-United States relationship, and I would like to work towards this end that we have a strong cooperation,“ said Prabowo.

Prabowo, who has said he will pursue a non-aligned foreign policy, met with Biden in the Oval Office after posting a video of his call to Trump.

He arrived in Washington straight from China, where he had met with President Xi Jinping on his first overseas trip since taking office last month.

Washington sees Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, as an important partner in a region where its rival Beijing has deep trade and investment ties. Indonesia is also the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

While China is a key economic partner for Indonesia, Jakarta has also become a big buyer of U.S. arms, and it wants to sell the West more metals from its mines.

At the White House, Biden said the two leaders were discussing climate, conflict in the Middle East and the South China Sea.

Indonesia said on Monday it does not recognize China's claims over the vast majority of the South China Sea, despite signing a maritime development deal with Beijing.

“We continue to encourage Indonesia to work with their legal experts to make sure any agreement they make with (the People’s Republic of China) is in accordance with international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,“ said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre at a press briefing.

TRUMP CALL

Prabowo's office said he made the call to Trump on Monday after arriving in Washington. It did not immediately respond when asked if he is scheduled to meet Trump in person.

“Wherever you are, I’m willing to fly to congratulate you personally, sir,“ Prabowo said in the video of the call posted on his social media accounts.

“We’ll do that, anytime you want,“ Trump replied.

Trump described his own election victory as amazing, and said it gave him a big mandate.

He also said the Indonesian president was “very respected,“ and praised his English, to which Prabowo, a former special forces commander, replied: “All my training is American, sir.”

Prabowo also met with several U.S. company representatives in Washington, his office said, including from Freeport McMoRan and energy company Chevron, and urged the companies to invest in Indonesia. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta and Jeff Mason in Washington; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by John Mair, David Gregorio and Rosalba O'Brien)




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Hyundai acknowledges touchscreen woes, brings back physical controls

HYUNDAI’S recent acknowledgement of the challenges with touchscreens in vehicles highlights a growing trend that some are calling the “Tesla Effect.” Following in Tesla’s footsteps, many automakers have phased out traditional physical controls for digital interfaces on touchscreens, aiming to create sleek, tech-centric cabins. However, Hyundai has found that American buyers aren’t entirely on board with the touchscreen-only setup.

According to HDNA Vice President Ha Hak-soo, Hyundai’s experience with touchscreen-based controls revealed that drivers often feel frustrated when trying to quickly adjust settings on the go, especially when physical dials or buttons could have made adjustments more straightforward. Hyundai’s internal testing with focus groups found that drivers found it stressful to control certain functions on a touchscreen when needing immediate responsiveness.

Touchscreens undoubtedly allow designers more flexibility to achieve minimalist interiors and offer a greater range of functions than physical controls alone. But when it comes to real-world driving, bumping along a rough road can make it challenging to find and tap digital controls accurately. A simple adjustment that could once be handled by feel now demands more focus, taking the driver’s attention off the road.

In response, Hyundai has started reintroducing physical controls on some models, including the facelifted Ioniq 5. While Hyundai’s North American team believes driver attitudes might shift once advanced driver-assistance systems become more common, allowing drivers to focus less on the road, for now, it seems Hyundai is listening to the call for a balance between digital and physical controls.




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Another example of Google’s Knowledge Graph getting it wrong

Voting in the UK election has finished and the results are in, but the dust has most definitely not settled. It looks as we in the UK are in for interesting times ahead. It would help those of us researching the various political parties and policies if Google could at least get the basics right, … Continue reading Another example of Google’s Knowledge Graph getting it wrong




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Thirst for knowledge knows no bounds

With no public or private school available, Safarabad's residents look to an informal school to fill the gap




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Sarah Ferguson takes a pledge as Princess Beatrice prepares for childbirth

Sarah Ferguson he reportedly working on a new cause before Princess Beatrice gives birth the second time.

The Duchess of York is working to eliminate plastic diapers under a new initiative called The Greater Good.

Writing about it in a special piece for...




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India, China pledge to intensify efforts for full disengagement on Himalayan border

Separately, Indian FM said India's economic relationship with China has been very "unfair" and "imbalanced"




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Pakistan edge past Japan in Asian hockey event

The Green Shirts meet arch-rivals India on Saturday




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Review: Shadow the Hedgehog

As discussed in the Mona Lisa review, organic figures and faces are challenging to represent in a brick-built format. However, at least in my experience, one of the most enjoyable aspects of building with LEGO is the challenge of designing something within limitations. With the growing palette of elements available these days, designers can tackle much more intricate forms.

Previously known for his work on Minecraft and Sonic sets with a younger target age range, LEGO Designer Aron Gerencser has now taken his first step into 18+ sets with 77000 Shadow the Hedgehog.

Continue reading »

© 2024 Brickset.com. Republication prohibited without prior permission.




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Catcher Austin Hedges re-signs with AL Central champion Guardians

Popular veteran catcher Austin Hedges signed a one-year contract and will return to the Cleveland Guardians next season.




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New framework to deliver biodiversity knowledge

Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook sets out key steps to harness IT and open data to inform better decisions

Copenhagen, Denmark – A new initiative launched today (2 Oct) aims to coordinate global efforts and funding to deliver the best possible information about life on Earth, and our impacts upon it.

The Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook sets out a framework to harness the immense power of information technology and an open data culture to gather unprecedented evidence about biodiversity and to inform better decisions.

The framework is outlined in a document and website entitled Delivering Biodiversity Knowledge in the Information Age, inviting policy makers, funders, researchers, informatics specialists, data holders and others to unite around four key focus areas where progress is needed.

The focus areas, each consisting of several specific components, are:

  • Culture – promoting practices and infrastructure for sharing data, using common standards and persistent archives, backed up by strong policy incentives and a community of willing specialists;
  • Data – addressing the need to transform all data about species, past and present, into usable and accessible digital formats; from historic collections and literature to citizen science observations, remote sensors and gene sequencing;
  • Evidence – organizing and assessing data from all sources to provide clear, consistent views giving them context; including taxonomic organization, integrated occurrences in time and space, capturing information about species interactions, and improving data quality through collaborative curation; and
  • Understanding – building models from recorded measurements and observations to support data-driven research and evidence-based planning, including predictive tools, better visualization and feedbacks to prioritize new data capture.

The document is being promoted through a number of upcoming events this month, including the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD SBSTTA) where it forms part of the discussion on meeting global targets to end biodiversity loss.

The framework arose from the Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference which gathered around 100 experts in Copenhagen in July, 2012, to identify critical questions relating to biodiversity and tools needed answer them. Workshop leaders at that conference went on to draw up and author the current document.

The Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook includes examples of projects and initiatives contributing to its objectives, and the accompanying website www.biodiversityinformatics.org invites feedback from others wishing to align their own activities to the framework.

A deck of slides for presentations about GBIO is available at http://www.slideshare.net/GBIF/global-biodiversity-informatics-outlook





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EU BON acknowledged paper is classified as the fourth hottest article in Ecological Informatics

A recent paper by Duccio Rocchini et al. (2015) has been classified as the fourth hottest article in Ecological Informatics. The paper is part of the EU BON project, and discusses from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements. 

Abstract:

Many geospatial tools have been advocated in spatial ecology to estimate biodiversity and its changes over space and time. Such information is essential in designing effective strategies for biodiversity conservation and management. Remote sensing is one of the most powerful approaches to identify biodiversity hotspots and predict changes in species composition in reduced time and costs. This is because, with respect to field-based methods, it allows to derive complete spatial coverages of the Earth surface under study in a short period of time. Furthermore, remote sensing provides repeated coverages of field sites, thus making studies of temporal changes in biodiversity possible. In this paper we discuss, from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements.

Original source:

Rocchini D, Hernández Stefanoni JL, He, KS (2015) Advancing species diversity estimate by remotely sensed proxies: a conceptual review. Ecological Informatics, 25: 22-28. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.10.006

 

 





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How Ecosystem and Biodiversity data and knowledge can support the GEO objectives: EU BON’s session at the European GEO Workshop

The 11th European Projects GEO Workshop took place between 19-21 June 2017, in Helsinki, Finland, bringing together European stakeholders interested in and actively contributing to the Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS).

Alongside the plenary (see presentations here), the conference featured 20 sessions looking at various aspects GEOSS, its objectives and their implementation.

Among those EU BON took part in a dedicated session titled ‘How Ecosystem and Biodiversity data and knowledge can support the GEO objectives’, alongside fellow projects and initiatives, and associated partners ECOPOTENTIAL, LTER-Europe, GLOBIS-B, EKLIPSE and ENEON.


Credit: F. Wetzel

The session aimed to inform about recent developments of relevant projects that focus on Ecosystems and Biodiversity and also outline how the generated data and knowledge can support the GEO objectives and inform relevant policies on a European and global scale.  

EU BON, as a now completed project, opened the session by presenting its major products in particular the European Biodiversity Portal and how current and future projects can build on the outcomes achieved.

Overall, the session gave the opportunity to learn about the different approaches of selected EU-projects that address the mobilization, integration and analysis of biodiversity and ecosystem data, their current achievements and existing barriers. Here are some of the Key Messages that emerged from the session: 

  • For biodiversity and ecosystem approaches, European level efforts are needed to achieve comprehensive data coverage and full open access, especially for in situ data integration.
  • Existing European-level data portals and information platforms need to be sustained and considered as integration points for national and local data hubs. 
  • Systematic approaches for biodiversity are needed, which means linking biotic and abiotic data and improving harmonization efforts for the whole data cycle/ workflows from data collection, analysis and dissemination for different disciplines (SBAs). 
  • Essential (Biodiversity) Variables (EBVs) are a key concept / framework especially for monitoring / long-term observations that should be applied for all available biodiversity/ecosystem data fields.
  • Use examples from existing projects and networks as successful blueprints for bottom-up/user-driven approaches in GEOSS that relate to knowledge and user needs at the local scale.