Infosys v2n037 (November 29, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/infs-v2n037 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INFOSYS: The Electronic Newsletter for Information Systems * * Volume 2, Number 37 ISSN: 1173-3764 November 29, 1995 * * * * Editor: Dennis W. Viehland, Massey University, New Zealand * * Listowners: Greg Welsh, American University, Washington DC * * Peter M. Weiss, Penn State * * Sponsor: boyd & fraser publishing, Danvers, Massachusetts * * * * Current Subscribers = 4,952 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - INFOSYS Catch-up * * NEWS - From Innovation * * ANNOUNCEMENT - INFORMS College on Organizational Sci (Web site) * * CONFERENCE - Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference * * CONFERENCE - Diffusion Interest Group in Info Technology (DIGIT) * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Tools and Methods for Business Engineering 1996 * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Business Geographics for Educators and Rsrchrs * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Cases on IT Management in Modern Organizations * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Software Tech for DSS for Sustainable Developmt * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - INFOSYS Catch-up * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * End-of-year exams, travel, and other pressing commitments delayed the publication of this INFOSYS for ten days. However, the articles continued to flow in during my absence. To clear the backlog an extra issue of INFOSYS, mostly position announcements, will follow in a few days. Regular publication resumes early next week. \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From Innovation * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THE IMAGING OF CYBERSPACE: Computer scientists intent on creating cyberspace have instead focused on virtual realities -- realistic representations of conventional places and objects -- a far cry from William Gibson's description of "a consensual hallucination -- lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding." Whereas virtual reality is useful for some functions such as shopping and banking, creating computerized images corresponding to complex subjects such as nuclear physics or literature remain problematic. "As graphics improve, people's attention is inevitably shifting from pixel pushing to the hard problems of making worlds that seem natural and intuitive, although they convey information that has nothing to do with nature or intuition... If the quandary can be solved with familiar ideas, there is no need to invent other ones or new symbols to represent them. And if the old symbols are borrowed to represent new ideas, confusion is likely to result." (Scientific American Oct 95 p44) TELECOMMUTING CATCHING ON: The federal government sponsored the first annual Telecommute America! celebration last week. In honor of the occasion, the General Services Administration released a survey of Fortune 1000 executives showing that 92% of the executives questioned who have experience with telecommuting said it produced some advantages for their companies. Fifty-eight percent cited increased productivity, 61% reduced absenteeism, 63% improved employee retention, 64% savings on office space costs, 63% reduced employee stress, and 79% improved employee morale. For example, AT&T's 35,000 telecommuters saved the company $80 million in real estate costs last year. (BNA Daily Labor Report 24 Oct 95 A4) MANAGING INFOGLUT: Paul Saffo, of the Institute of the Future, points out that "Information overload is not a function of the volume of information out there. It's a gap between the volume of information and the tools we have to assimilate that information into useful knowledge." Data-filtering techniques such as collaborative filtering could ease the crunch a little -- while feature-based filtering tailors information to the needs of one individual based on a user profile, collaborative filtering allows software agents "to talk to one another," to meet the information needs of like-minded individuals. Still, Saffo may have the most practical, nontechnical approach to paring down the time he devotes to browsing: "I read my magazines standing up." (Information Week 30 Oct 95 p30) NETWORKING BEGINS AT HOME: As more homes become cluttered with multiple PCs and peripherals, people will turn to networking for sharing equipment and online capacity. But no one wants ugly cables running through their interior decorating. Novell's new Powerline solution uses the cables already inside the walls -- electric wiring -- to connect PCs and other electronic gear. If the company can persuade PC makers and other appliance manufacturers to go along, connecting a PC with a printer in the next room will be as easy as plugging into an outlet. The electronic signals travel along the electric wires at the same time the wires are carrying power throughout the house. (Forbes 20 Nov 95 p196) INTERNETWORKED LEADERSHIP: Don Tapscott, in his book "The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence," extols the virtues of "internetworked leadership": "In the age of networked intelligence, leadership is internetworked. This approach to leadership is the antithesis of the old-style, brilliant- visionary, take-charge, rally-the-troops type. In the past, Winston Churchill, Thomas Watson and Lee Iococca embodied the single dominant leader. Today, the leader is a collective, networked, virtual force with powers flowing from a jointly created and shared vision. Just as the internetworked business is not under one roof or corporate structure, leadership is not necessarily embodied in a single individual. In the past, vision was transmitted one way. In the future, vision will be achieved and transmitted collectively. Information technology is creating whole networks of human intelligence and new knowledge power deep inside the organization as people work to transform both the enterprise and themselves." (Information Week 13 Nov 95 p65) SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE FACTORIES: If you're making widgets, you achieve quality by learning from massive repetitions of the manufacturing process, but if you're making software you can't repeat the process because software is developed once and every software project is unique. So what do you have to do? "The key is to build or package models so that they are reusable by other projects in the organization -- that is, to reuse knowledge and experience." What you need to try to develop is an experience factory: "A software organization that manages quality should have a corporate infrastructure that links together and transcends the single projects by capitalizing on successes and learning from failures." The primary focus changes from delivery of specific products and services to the development of organizational capabilities. You need to take your experience, learn from it, and generalize from it. (V.R. Basili & G. Caldiera, "Improve Software Quality By Reusing Knowledge And Experience," Sloan Management Review Fall 95 p55) SCREEN GETTING DIM ON INTERACTIVE TV: Of the various overheated forecasts about the "convergence" of the communications, publications, and entertainment industries, one group that's now being revised includes all the predictions about how interactive TV and video-on-demand would become economically viable by the year 2000. Now all bets are off. Americans apparently watch an average of two-and-a-half movies a month, which at a $4 rental price translates to $120 or less per subscriber, which is nowhere close to the $500-1000 cost of wiring a home to receive the service. Does the answer lie in advertising? Not likely. The cable industry raises less than 20% of its revenue from advertising, and there's no good reason to think that advertisers would put more money into interactive TV than they do into cable. (The Economist 4-11 Nov 95 p65) Editor's Note: Innovation offers a weekly summary of trends, strategies, and innovations in business and technology. This is an abbreviated list of news items of interest to the IS community from the October 23, 30, November 13 and 20, 1995 issues. Subscriptions are available at $15 a year. For a trial copy of Innovation, type the word "subscribe" in the body (not subject) of a message to innovation-request@newsscan.com. \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - INFORMS College on Organizational Sci (Web site) * * Terri Griffith, Purdue University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The INFORMS College on Organization Science has a new World Wide Web home page that serves as our electronic reference book of college events. It contains the full text of our print newsletter as well as up-to-the-minute announcements and updates on events. It provides news and announcements as they happen. Current articles include descriptions of the Organization Science Winter Conference and the Proposal Award process (just completed at the New Orleans INFORMS meetings). Our address is: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/informs/ (all lower case) If you have any trouble or questions, or would like to submit an article to the newsletter -- please contact either Terri L. Griffith (griffith@mgmt.purdue.edu) or Alan Eisner (aeisner@stern.nyu.edu), Information Editors. \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The 1995 Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference (APSEC'95) December 6-9, 1995 Brisbane, Australia The Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference 1995 (APSEC'95) will be held at the Park Royal Hotel in Brisbane from Thursday December 7 to Saturday December 9 with a Tutorial Day on Wednesday December 6. APSEC'95 is the second in the APSEC series, the first being held in Tokyo in 1994. APSEC has an international Steering Committee and Program Committee and will bring together leading researchers, developers and practitioners from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Keynote speakers will be: --Prof Dines Bjorner of the United Nations University in Macau --Prof Motoshi Saeki of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan --Steve Muench, Principal Product Manager, Object Technology Development, Oracle Corporation, USA. Other highlights will be three panels, eight tutorials of international standard, over fifty technical papers, and opportunities to meet professionals with kindred interests from a wide geographic region and discuss the state-of-the-art and emerging developments. Registration Fees: Paymt by 30 Oct Paymt after 30 Oct EPS Non-EPS EPS Non-EPS Student Tutorial Day (Dec 6) $230 $250 $280 $300 $140 Conference (Dec 7-9) $570 $660 $660 $720 $330 Eligible Professional Society (EPS) discount requires membership details to be provided. Full details of the program and registration are on the web at http://www.cs.uq.edu.au/conferences/apsec95/ A registration form is available from: APSEC'95 Secretariat PO Box 135 Aspley, Qld 4034 Australia Voice: +61 7 3263 9777 Fax: +61 7 3263 7020 E-mail: angie@acslink.net.au \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - Diffusion Interest Group in Info Technology (DIGIT) * * Mary Prescott, Univ of South Florida * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Diffusion Interest Group in Information Technology (DIGIT) Workshop December 13, 1995 Amsterdam, Holland The sixth annual DIGIT meeting will be held after ICIS on Wednesday, December 13, 1995 at Nijenrode University, located about 20 minutes from the ICIS conference site. The fee for the workshop, which includes lunch and transportation to the workshop, will be $25. The deadline for registration has past. Participation is limited to the first twenty-five registrations received. Contact Mary Prescott to inquire about available registrations, if any. The workshop will take place from 12:30 TO 7:00pm. Lunch will be available at 12:30 and the first formal session will begin at 1:15. The format includes two paper presentations, each limited to 15-20 minutes, followed by approximately 40 minutes of discussion. Copies of the papers will be mailed in advance to registrants. Papers to be presented are: --Adapting an IS Curriculum to Facilitate IT Diffusion in Developing Countries, J.D. Roode and L. Froneman, University of Pretoria, South Africa --Factors Affecting Computer Education Requirements in Small Business, Rob MacGregor and Deborah Bunker, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia. Time will also be devoted to a group discussion of current research questions and problems we are facing. Topics for this discussion will be partially determined by discussion on DIGIT-L during late November and December. Program Chairman John Borton, University of Southern Colorado (Borton@uscolo.edu) will facilitate this discussion, both over DIGIT-L and at the workshop. All DIGIT members are encouraged to participate in the DIGIT-L discussion, whether or not you will be attending the workshop. \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Tools and Methods for Business Engineering 1996 * * Stowe Boyd, Work Media * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tools and Methods for Business Engineering 1996 3-6 June 1996 Renaissance Hotel Washington DC USA Business Engineering (or Business Process Reengineering) has become the cornerstone of modern strategic planning. This represents a fundamental shift in the organization, management, and conduct of business, as basic as the adoption of the industrial system in the later part of the 1800s. Information technology is the driver and enabler of this revolution, since it is the communication medium provided by computer automation that has unmade and remade our concept of business, of work, and ultimately, of ourselves. We have entered the second cycle of business engineering: the first cycle spiraled into our awareness with Hammer and Champy's manifesto for a new corporate mindset. Now, we are confronted with the mismatch between our new forms of business planning and our existing information technology as we move forward seeking to manage the process-centered enterprise. The Second Cycle is the theme for the 1996 Tools and Methods for Business Engineering. Business process reengineering has become a pervasive, worldwide discipline, with mounting evidence of the advantages of a comprehensive application of its principles, as well as the difficulties inherent in reapplying conventional information technology to its ends. A new wave of software is being developed and fielded to counter those difficulties, the first generation designed to support the engineered organization. Any and all software used in today's business will be reworked to support process, which is now the central metaphor for business organization and control. All functions of the organization -- finance, manufacturing, engineering, software development, sales and marketing, customer support, and management -- all require process- oriented information systems. Document management, application frameworks, database management systems, manufacturing systems, CASE tools, sales automation tools, project management systems, and even personal information managers are now incorporating process as a primary aspect. With these dizzying changes, and the rapid rate of product introductions, business professionals involved in IT or BPR in their firms must stay aware of trends, players, and recent innovations. TMBE '96 will provide the opportunity to gain understanding of these fundamental technological advances, and to consider methods and techniques of succeeding in their introduction into today's business. If you wish to propose a presentation, tutorial, or case study, please send a short abstract (<100 words) via e-mail to the Program Chair as soon as possible: Program Chair: Stowe Boyd, Work Media 209 Elden Street 202 Herndon VA 22070 Voice: 703 708 9050 Fax: 703 708 9055 E-mail: stowe@workmedia.com For more information about the conference contact: Emily Painter, Enterprise Reengineering 777 Leesburg Pike 315N Falls Church VA 22043 Voice: 703 761 0646 Fax: 703 761 0766 E-mail: bprmail@aol.com \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Business Geographics for Educators and Rsrchrs * * Brian Mennecke, East Carolina Univ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Business Geographics for Educators and Researchers May 30, 1996 Chicago, Illinois USA Business geographics is the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) technology focused on business users. While GIS traditionally has been applied in government, natural resource and utilities, it only recently found acceptance in the business world. The last five years saw major growth in the number of business users (both small businesses and corporations). The number of companies providing products and services has grown tremendously, as well. This technology represents one of the fastest growing technology fields today. Typical program elements consist of case studies presented by users, methodologies presented by consultants and technology advances presented by product and service providers. The Business Geographics for Educators and Researchers program committee identified the following conference objectives. --Provide a forum for geography, business and management information systems academicians to describe and share current, cutting-edge research, case studies and methodologies with each other and with practitioners. --Discuss the business geographics research agenda. --Educate academics not currently teaching business geographics about the technology and the market demand for knowledgeable students. --Discuss practical "how-to's" of setting up courses, programs, etc. Sample topics: --Automated geographic analysis methodology applied to business problems --New research in business geographics --Current educational programs and labs --Software and data licensing for academia The abstract must: --be clear and concise --convey the value to be gained by attending the session --address one of the topics listed above --address one or more of the four conference objectives. In addition, we particularly are interested in papers that present new, improved and advanced methodologies. If your paper is selected, you will be forwarded information about proceedings paper submission from AAG. Papers should be 15 to 20 double-spaced pages and planned for a 30-minute time slot. Submission Process Abstracts must be received by December 1, 1995 Selection process complete by January 31, 1996 Papers due by March 1, 1996 Please include the following information with your abstract submission: Title, author's name and complete contact information, abstract of 400-800 words, and digital copy of abstract on DOS or Mac-compatible diskette. Please send abstracts to: Business Geographics for Educators and Researchers GIS World, Inc. 155 E. Boardwalk Drive, Suite 250 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Voice: (970) 223-4848 Fax: (970) 223-5700 E-mail: sylvia@gisworld.com Registration policies The registration fees to attend the one-day mini-conference are: Early registration: US$175 (received by April 26, 1996) Late registration: US$200 If your paper is accepted for inclusion in the program, you will be eligible for a speaker discount of 50% off (US$90 and US$100). \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Cases on IT Management in Modern Organizations * * Larry Persaud, Penn State University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Technology advances in our modern global society have led to organizational needs. The result is a new set of challenges to organizations as they integrate technology into all functions and activities of the modern organization. Today's managers must be alert to opportunities afforded and, in fact, cannot solve problems without both technology and total company processes. Thus, the objective of "Cases on Information Technology Management in Modern Organizations" is to provide a means to examine experiences of the individual organizations who have addressed prevailing issues in the technology revolution. You are cordially invited to submit a case for possible inclusion in the above book, edited by Mehdi Khosrowpour of Penn State University at Harrisburg and Jay Liebowitz of the U.S. Army War College. Cases should be comprehensive and include factual data recounted from actual experience but need not include the name of the organization, unless the company's consent is obtained in w riting. Suggested case emphasis areas include (but are not limited to): --Software Engineering --Legal Issues --Global Information Resources --End-User Computing --Human Factors --Emerging Technologies --Strategic Information Systems --Telecommunications --Decision Support --Executive Information Systems --Artificial Intelligence --Multimedia If you are interested in contributing a case to this book, please submit a proposal of 3-4 pages outlining your proposed case before December 1, 1995. Authors of selected proposals will be notified by January 15, 1996 and are expected to submit their manuscripts by April 1, 1996. Final revisions will be due by August 1, 1996. The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group Publishing in Winter 1997. All submissions and inquiries should be directed to: Mehdi Khosrowpour, D.B.A. School of Business Administration Penn State University, Harrisburg 777 West Harrisburg Pike Middletown, PA 17057 USA Voice: 717/948-6344 Fax: 717/948-6456 E-mail: m1k@psuvm.psu.edu Jay Liebowitz, D.Sc U.S. Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership - STD Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5050 Voice: 717/245-3251 Fax: 717/245-3030 E-mail: liebowij@csl-emh1.army.mil \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Software Tech for DSS for Sustainable Developmt * * Mohd Rais, United Nations University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Software Technology for Decision Support Systems for Sustainable Development February 26 - March 8, 1996 UNUIIST, Macau Participants: --End users: public and private sector decision makers --Domain specialists / planners --Scientists/researchers in the area of DSS --Software technologists and developers Aims and objectives: --Awareness in developing countries of DSSfSD and requirements to supporting software technologies. --A proposal for software architecture requirements for a next generation DSSfSD. --A proposal for broadly based training and awareness courses on DSSfSD --A worldwide net of collaborators around the topic of DSSfSD Domains of DSS for sustainable development include environmental, economic, disaster management, community and urban and regional planning. For the suggested topics below we emphasize their implications for software architecture such that this software is problem and user oriented. --Decision Making Processes and Theory of Decision Making --Issues for successful DSS deployment --Advanced Technology in DSS Development --Software Integration and User Interface Issues --Multi-lingual Software Development: Methods & Tools --Domain Specific DSS: Examples --Various information systems and their role as DSS Submission Guidelines: Please submit title and extended abstract, 5-10 pages at the least, and especially the relevance to the Expert Group Workshop. This is to be a draft version of a full length paper to be ready by the time of the Expert Group Workshop. --Please adhere strictly to the DSS for SD thematic and Software Technology orientation details given under Aims and Objectives, domains for DSS for SD, and Synopsis. Papers that do not adhere will not be considered. Please summarize, in your extended abstract, how your paper contributes to this aspect of Software Technology for Agenda'21 . --Please rush this paper, in one copy, in envelope marked: Software Technology for Agenda'21 before December 15, 1995 to both: Dr. Mohd Rais, Fellow, UNU/IIST P.O. Box 3058 Macau Fax: +853-712.940 Dr. Z. Mikolajuk, IDRC 250 Albert St. P.O.Box 8500 Ottawa, Canada K1G 3H9 Fax: +1-613-563.3858 --Please let us know now whether you intend to submit and participate: rough title and 10 line abstract. Please indicate any funding needs. --To help us evaluate your paper submit also - right now - a brief, 1-2 page CV: Bio-data with references to current work relevant to the Theme of the Expert Group Workshop. --If your paper is accepted - and funding can be made available - then bring your final paper in 2-3 good quality copies with you to the Expert Group Workshop. Workshop address for further information: The UNU/IIST, P.O. Box. 3058 MACAU E-mail: stfagenda21@iist.unu.edu Fax: +853-712-940 Voice: +853-712-930 \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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, calls for papers * * announcements of professional meetings and conferences, position * * announcements, journal table of contents, 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 . * * * * INFOSYS is sponsored by boyd & fraser, publishers of educational * * materials for computer and information education. Contact Bill * * Lisowski or visit http://www.bf.com/bf.html * * or gopher.bf.com for more information about boyd & fraser. * * * * To subscribe to INFOSYS send the following one-line e-mail * * message to listserv@american.edu: 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. To cancel your subscription send the following * * message to listserv@american.edu: unsubscribe infosys * * * * 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. * * * * 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 pub/infosys/ * * infosys.calendar * * --Gopher: gopher to listserv.american.edu; choose INFOSYS * * --WWW: forthcoming * * * * INFOSYS Back Issues are archived by Robert McArthur at: * * AUSTRALIA: http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/~mcarthur/infosys/ * * by Eric Morgan (N Carolina State Univ) at: * * USA: ftp://ftp.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/ * * USA: wais://wais.lib.ncsu.edu/infosys * * USA: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/infosys-index.html * * by Brian Fitzgerald (University College Cork) at: * * EUROPE: http://www.ucc.ie/htbin/infosys * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *