Infosys v1n036 (September 21, 1994) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/infs-v1n036 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IIIII N N FFFFF OOO SSSSS Y Y SSSSS * * I NN N F O O S Y Y S * * I N N N FFF O O SSSSS Y SSSSS * * I N NN F O O S Y S * * IIIII N N F OOO SSSSS Y SSSSS * * * * INFOSYS: The Electronic Newsletter for Information Systems * * Volume 1, Number 36 September 21, 1994 * * * * Editor: Dennis W. Viehland, Massey University, New Zealand * * Listowner: Greg Welsh, American University, Washington DC * * * * Current Subscribers = 3,396 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From EDUPAGE * * ANNOUNCEMENT - CIGNA Wins SIM's 1994 Best Paper Contest * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Proceedings: IT Assurance and Trustworthiness * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Proceedings: Computers in Developing Countries * * ANNOUNCEMENT - International J of Applied Expert Systems on WWW * * REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE- Women's Work and Informatics * * REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - Perceptions of Knowledge Engineering * * CALL FOR PAPERS - ETHICOMP95: Ethical Issues of Using IT * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Advances in Geographic Information Systems * * CALL FOR PAPERS - TIMS: Dynamics in Business Systems Engineering * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Symposium on Software Reusability (SSR'95) * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Business Process Re-Engineering (INFOR) * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Faculty in Decision Sciences * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0302* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From EDUPAGE * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * COMPUTER SPENDING UP AMONG BUSINESSES: Spending on computers by Fortune 1,000 companies has hit record levels this summer, according to a Computer Reseller News survey. Expenditures on hardware and software averaged $370,000 per company in June and $394,000 in July, reversing a trend toward slower spending earlier in the year. "Things are moving right along, and I think we'll have a decent third quarter, and a strong fourth quarter," says a Dataquest analyst. (Wall Street Journal 9/12/94 B8) IBM LURES CUSTOMERS WITH LOW-COST MAINFRAMES: IBM introduced six new lower-cost mainframes in an attempt to forestall traditional customers from switching to workstations. The biggest machines cost about 25% less than they did a year ago. IBM's sales pitch? It's like selling a "1994 Mercedes to a guy who already has a 1986 Volkswagen for the same price, saving on power and energy consumption." (Investor's Business Daily 9/13/94 A2) DOWNTECHING: George Mason University professor Hugh Heclo calls for downteching -- "deliberate reductions in the amount and/or sophistication of technology so as to improve performance," and to counter the tendency of information technology to eliminate the natural limits on "blab" -- undigested information pretending to be knowledge. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 9/11/94 B1) 1-2-3: WINDOWS, MAC, DOS: The Software Publishers Association's sales figures for 2nd quarter 1994 are: Windows $1.05 billion, Mac OS $276 million, DOS $235 million. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 9/15/94) HIGH-TECH POLITICS: Of the estimated 120,000 to 140,000 daily recipients of electronic documents issued by the White House, 85% are under age 50; 80% are male; 75% are college educated; and 50% have a post-graduate degree, according to research done earlier this year at MIT. (Investor's Business Daily 9/15/94 A2) MOSAIC SPEEDS UP: The Mosaic Communications company says that their commercial versions of Mosaic, to be available this Fall, will be more than 10 times faster than the public-domain version. (Internet Business Report, Sept. 94, p.1) BOOK PUBLISHING IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE: Novelist Robert Coover believes that a majority of college courses will some day be taught using electronic text and that "if the main way we access information in the future is electronic, this means that book publishing becomes more about boutique objects." (Details Oct. 94 p.162) THE PRICE IS RIGHT FOR CLIENT-SERVER SYSTEMS: A survey of 305 information systems managers by Business Research Group shows client-server systems costing an average of 8% less than original mainframe systems. More than half of the respondents say they're saving an average of 29% on client-server systems, while 19% say costs have increased. (Information Week 9/19/94 p.22) Editor's Note: Edupage, a summary of news items on information technology, is a service of Educom. This is an abbreviated list of news items of interest to the IS community from the September 13, 15, and 18, 1994 issues. \EOA 0303* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - CIGNA Wins SIM's 1994 Best Paper Contest * * Blake Ives, Southern Methodist University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Society for Information Management (SIM) and the Management Information Systems Quarterly are pleased to announce the winner of the SIM 1994 Annual Paper Contest. The winning paper is "Business Reengineering at CIGNA Corporation: Learning the New Way of Thinking", by J. Raymond Caron, Senior Vice President, CIGNA Corporation; Sirkka Jarvenpaa, Marvin Bower Fellow, Harvard Business School and Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin; and Donna B. Stoddard, Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School. The SIM paper contest, administered by Ken Kozar of the University of Colorado at Boulder, is intended to recognize information systems or management practices that are unique, innovative, measurable, reapplicable and which have a significant impact on the organization. Reengineering projects at CIGNA Corporation have, thus far, resulted in savings of over $100 million. Information on the Society for Information Management's paper contest, including the call for papers for 1995, can be located on the World Wide Web at: http://www.cox.smu.edu/mis/misq/archivist/simcontest95.html. The paper will be published in the September issue of the Management Information Systems Quarterly and will also be immediately available from The Cox School's World Wide Web server at Southern Methodist University. The paper's address on the web is: http://www.cox.smu.edu/mis/misq/archivist/sim94/sim94.html \EOA 0304* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Proceedings: IT Assurance and Trustworthiness * * Marshall Abrams, The MITRE Corporation * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Announcing the availability of the Proceedings of an Invitational Workshop on Information Technology (IT) Assurance and Trustworthiness held March 21-23, 1994 at George Washington Inn Williamsburg, Virginia. The proceedings are available by FTP as an ASCII document from csrc.nist.gov. The path is /pub/nistir/assure.txt Hardcopy was published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology numbered NISTIR 5472. The purpose of the 1994 Invitational Workshop on Information Technology (IT) Assurance and Trustworthiness was to identify crucial issues on assurance in IT systems and to provide input into the development of policy guidance on determining the type and level of assurance appropriate in a given environment. The readers of these proceedings include those who handle sensitive information involving national security, privacy, commercial value, integrity, and availability. Existing IT security policy guidance is based on computer and communications architectures of the early 1980s. Technological changes since that time mandate a review and revision of policy guidance on assurance and trustworthiness, especially since the changes encompass such technologies as distributed systems, local area networks, the worldwide Internet, policy-enforcing applications, and public key cryptography. \EOA 0305* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Proceedings: Computers in Developing Countries * * Richard Heeks, University of Manchester * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In February this year, IFIP's WG9.4 (Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries) met for its third international conference, in Havana, Cuba. The main topics covered included: --Theories for information systems analysis --Culture and information systems --Networking in developing countries --Software production in developing countries --Computing in Cuba A detailed discussion of issues that arose at the conference is available from: Dr Richard Heeks Institute for Development Policy and Management University of Manchester, UK E-mail: richard.heeks@man.ac.uk Fax: +44-61-273-8829 \EOA 0306* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - International J of Applied Expert Systems on WWW * * Alan Sangster, Aberdeen University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Details of the contents of The International Journal of Applied Expert Systems is now available on World Wide Web at URL: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~acc025/ijaes.html Contents, abstracts, editorials, authors' biographies, editorial board, publishers instructions, and subscription information are all available at this site. \EOA 0307* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE- Women's Work and Informatics * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Women's Work and Informatics "Women's Work and Informatics" (Frauenarbeit und Informatik) is the name of a Special Interest Group founded eight years ago in the German Society for Informatics (Gesellschaft fuer Informatik). Today our group has about 500 members and is a forum for female computer professionals to exchange experiences in the discipline and in the various work situations. Our general aim is to increase the influence of women on the design and application of information technology. The next issue of our biannual journal "Frauenarbeit und Informatik" will focus on international perspectives and we hope to get your contributions from all over the world!!! In the following we summarize some possible aspects of the issue. We are interested in articles as well as in brief information boxes, statistics, comments, etc. The "One-Minute-Contribution": An international issue demands an international cover and here we need your help. Please send us the title "Women's Work and Informatics" in your native tongue and writing!! Figure data: General employment rate of women in your country? Women's proportion in technical studies? Women's proportion in the field of EDP professions? How does this field look like (job titles, the demanded education/ training, etc.)? Women's Advancement: At university in the field of computer science? In industrial or governmental EDP-area? in your company? Possibilities of part time work? of child care? of reengagement and further training? Amalgamations of women in computing: Do you join or know a professional organization, a network in your country? How is it organized, are there regular or irregular publications, what are the main aims and activities? (Addresses and short description welcome for the planned index!) Gender specific aspects of the influence of IT on the labour market? Women's Research in the computing field (possibilities, experiences, results...)? Finally, feel free to describe whatever is important for you. Formal conditions: Articles should not exceed 1,500 words and be in English or German. References in alphabetical order at the end of the article. Artwork should be in black and white and have copyright clearance. Deadline: September 30, 1994 Please send your contribution to one of the following addresses: Roswitha Behnke Mayskamp 8 D-45357 Essen Germany behnke@iug.uni-dortmund.de Veronika Oechtering oechteri@informatik.uni-bremen.de Doris Koehler koehler@rrz.uni-hamburg.de \EOA 0308* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - Perceptions of Knowledge Engineering * * W Scales, U of Sunderland * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I am a postgraduate student at the University of Sunderland trying to develop a view of how (and why) perceptions of Knowledge Engineering vary internationally. One of the methods I have chosen is the development of an interactive questionnaire form, designed for the Internet using xMosaic on the World Wide Web. The questionnaire is available at the following URL address: http://horus.sunderland.ac.uk/wsc/ I would really be delighted if INFOSYS subscribers completed the questionnaire for me - it will not take you very long, and it's a novel and interesting way of filling in such a form. If you have not got xMosaic, and are interested in completing the questionnaire, please let me know and I shall gladly send you the e-mail version. I do hope you will help me make this an interesting and worthwhile project by completing the form - otherwise developing my questionnaire form will prove to have been a somewhat arid exercise for me :-{ Thank you in advance. Editor's note: you must have Mosaic 2.0 and higher in order to complete this form; Mosaic 1.0 does not support forms. \EOA 0309* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - ETHICOMP95: Ethical Issues of Using IT * * Simon Rogerson, De Montfort University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ETHICOMP95: An international conference on the ethical issues of using Information Technology 28-30 March 1995 De Montfort University Leicester, UK The notice of intention to submit for ETHICOMP95 has been extended to 30 September 1994. A complete CFP can be found in INFOSYS article 233 in INFOSYS v1 n28 (July 19, 1994) or contact: Simon Rogerson Department of Information Systems De Montfort University srog@de-montfort.ac.uk \EOA 0310* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Advances in Geographic Information Systems * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Second ACM Workshop on Advances in Geographic Information Systems December 1-2, 1994 NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA GIS'94 will serve as a forum for disseminating research and experience in the rapidly advancing area of geographic information systems. The primary focus of the workshop is on new and original research results in the areas of theoretical foundations, design, implementation and applications of GIS as well as experience reports from application specialists and the commercial community. The goal is to exchange research ideas and results among participants. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following AS THEY RELATE TO GIS: --Query Processing and Optimization --Electronic geographical data interchange standards --GIS and cooperative work --GIS performance modeling and evaluation --Imprecise spatio-temporal information --Reasoning with GIS information --Parallel and Distributed GIS --Spatio-temporal data models and languages --Semantics of spatio-temporal data --GIS design and development --Requirements analysis for GIS applications --Real-time GIS systems --User Interfaces for GIS --Interoperability among heterogeneous GISs --Design of spatio-temporal data structures, spatial indexing and storage --Knowledge discovery --Reports on experience with real applications --GIS software tools and environments --Novel applications in scientific and environmental domains --Integration with existing commercial products --Multi-media GIS --GIS meta data --Digital libraries The complete call for papers with author's instructions, proposals for panels, and additional information about the Workshop can be obtained via anonymous ftp to cacs.usl.edu (/pub/GIS94) or World Wide Web server to http://www.cacs.usl.edu IMPORTANT DATES: Paper submission deadline (FIRM) September 30, 1994 Notification of acceptance October 21, 1994 Camera ready papers November 15, 1994 Workshop date December 1-2, 1994 To submit a paper or for further information, please contact: Dr. Niki Pissinou c/o ACM Workshop on Advances in GIS The Center For Advanced Computer Studies The University of Southwestern Louisiana 2 Rex Street P.O. Box 44330 Lafayette, LA 70504 E-mail: gis94@cacs.usl.edu Voice: (318) 231-6604 Fax : (318) 231-5791 \EOA 0311* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - TIMS: Dynamics in Business Systems Engineering * * A Verbraeck, Delft U of Tech * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS) Dynamics in Business Systems Engineering International Meeting - XXXIII Singapore, June 25-28, 1995 Presentation papers are invited for the session on Dynamics in Business Systems Engineering, with the following subtopics: --Dynamic Approaches for BPR --Support Environments for BPR --Models and Techniques for Workflow Management --Dynamics in Group Support --Modeling the Dynamics of Organizational Processes --Dynamic Enterprise Modeling Dynamic modelling is an approach for analyzing dynamic aspects of organizations and their information systems. The approach recognizes that activities happen concurrently in organizations, and that methods are needed to model concurrency within organizations and information systems. This TIMS session is an ideal platform for the exchange of recent developments and ideas. The expectation is that continued development of dynamic models of information systems and organizations will lead to better organizational problem solving and the solution of a number of real- world problems in information systems development and operation. Both theoretical papers and papers describing case studies are welcome. Abstracts should be submitted to the session coordinators, preferably by e-mail. Abstracts should provide title, author(s), full name(s) and address(es), phone, fax and e-mail; a brief description of the research, including aims, scope and current status (max. 400 words long). Deadline for submitting abstracts 1 October 1994 Notification of acceptance/rejection 1 November 1994 Three (3) copies of the paper to be presented 15 May 1995 Send all correspondence related to this session to the coordinators: Dr. Alexander Verbraeck and Henk G. Sol Delft University of Technology Faculty TWI, Dept. of Information Systems P.O. Box 356 2600 AJ Delft The Netherlands E-mail: a.verbraeck@is.twi.tudelft.nl Voice: +31 15 783805 Fax : +31 15 786632 For more information on related tracks contact: Prof. Margaret Tan Department of Decision Sciences Faculty of Business Administration National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 0511 E-mail: fbatanm@leonis.nus.sg Phone: +65 772-3157 Fax: +65 779-2621 \EOA 0312* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Symposium on Software Reusability (SSR'95) * * Mansour Zand, Univ of Nebraska-Omaha * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Symposium on Software Reusability (SSR'95) April 29-30, 1995 Seattle, Washington, USA The Symposium on Software Reusability was announced in INFOSYS article 233 in INFOSYS v1 n28 (July 19, 1994). The submission and other dates for SSR'95 have changed to: Paper and Panel Session Submission October 23, 1994 Author Notification January 5, 1995 Final Version of Paper Due February 11, 1995 A complete CFP can be found in the INFOSYS article cited above or from: Mansur Samadzadeh Computer Science Department Oklahoma State University 219 MS Building Stillwater, OK 74078 Voice: 405-744-5668 Fax: 405-744-7074 E-mail: samad@a.cs.okstate.edu \EOA 0313* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Business Process Re-Engineering (INFOR) * * David Wright, University of Ottawa * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INFOR: Information Systems and Operational Research Special issue on Business Process Re-Engineering Today's industry is experiencing a vast new opportunity as a result of emergence of technologies, new product introduction, globalization, and deregulation. The result is higher competition among suppliers and wider choice for customers. Establishment of an strategy based on a combination of excellent customer focus, high quality, low cost goods and services is essential for remaining competitive. Such a strategy calls for an organization to examine their current structures and procedures and to consider business process re- engineering. This special issue addresses practical management approach to re-engineering business processes including critical success factors, priority areas, and key enablers for achieving business objectives. Areas of interest include but are not limited to: --Practical implementation examples --Value of end-to-end versus piece-meal re-engineering --Role of information technology --Impact of standards and deregulation --Selection of pilot projects --From specification to Beta site --Requirements for successful re-engineering --Matching up corporate culture and strategic vision with re- engineering INFOR: Information Systems and Operational Research is published by the Canadian Operational Research Society and the Canadian Information Processing Society. Submissions are independently reviewed. Please note the following dates: Deadline for submissions November 30, 1994 Referees reports March 30, 1995 Revised papers due May 30, 1995 For more information write the Editors: Mina Wright Bell Northern Research 3500 Carling Ave, Lab 5 Nepean, K2H 8E9 Ontario Canada Peter Adams British Telecommunications Laboratories B67 215 Martlesham Heath Ipswich, IP5 7RE UK Arvind Sathi Carnegie Group Suite 2100 707 17th Street Denver, CO 80202 USA \EOA 0314* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Faculty in Decision Sciences * * Young U. Ryu, Univ of Texas at Dallas * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * School of Management Faculty Position in Decision Sciences Management Information Systems Area University of Texas at Dallas The School is recruiting to fill a tenured/tenure track position in the Decision Sciences program. The position will be in the area of Information Systems. Candidates for this position should have a strong research interest in Telecommunications. Appointment at either the Assistant, Associate or Full Professor level will be considered, depending upon the qualifications of the candidate. Appointee must have a Ph.D. degree and demonstrate evidence of the ability to conduct a nationally competitive research program. Graduate education in a university emphasizing research training, evidence of excellent teaching, of successful scholarly writing and of a quantitative orientation on research are desirable. Candidates for other than entry-level appointment must present a significant record of research and scholarly publication in refereed journals. Appointment will be effective September 1, 1995. Applicants should send complete CV (educational history, teaching, research and other pertinent work experience, list of publications and presentations, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three references) to: Academic Search #4032 The University of Texas at Dallas P.O. Box 830688 M.S. MP1.2 Richardson, Texas 75083-0688 USA Review of applicant materials will commence on November 1, 1994, and continue until the positions are filled or the search closed. The University of Texas at Dallas is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS * * The INFOSYS Calendar of Upcoming Events is updated fortnightly * * and can be obtained in the following ways: * * * * --E-mail: send the following one-line message to * * listserv@american.edu: get infosys calendar * * --FTP: anonymous FTP to ftp.american.edu; file is \infosys\ * * infosys.calendar * * --Gopher: gopher to auvm.american.edu; choose INFOSYS * * --WWW: http://gopher://auvm.american.edu/INFOSYS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ABOUT INFOSYS * * INFOSYS is an electronic newsletter for faculty, students, and * * practitioners in the field of Information Systems. INFOSYS * * publishes news items, requests for assistance, announcements of * * professional meetings and conferences, position notices, a * * calendar of upcoming events, comments on recent publications, * * abstracts of papers that authors are willing to share, and other * * items of interest to the Information Systems community. * * * * INFOSYS is published biweekly, more frequently if volume requires * * it. INFOSYS operates as an electronic mailing list on listserv * * software at American University in Washington, DC. The editor is * * Dennis W. Viehland . * * * * To subscribe to INFOSYS send the following one-line electronic * * mail message to listserv@american.edu (Internet) or listserv@auvm * * (Bitnet): subscribe infosys yourfirstname yourlastname * * (e.g., subscribe infosys John Smith). You will receive a welcome * * letter that will tell you more about INFOSYS and listserv. * * * * Guidelines for submitting articles to INFOSYS are published in * * the Welcome message each new subscriber receives (or e-mail "GET * * infosys welcome" to listserv@american.edu). Send articles to * * infosys@american.edu or d.viehland@massey.ac.nz. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *