[AISWorld] IJITSA (Table of Contents of issue 3(1))

[Manuel Mora T.]

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The contents of the latest issue of: International Journal of Information
Technologies and Systems Approach (IJITSA)
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Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association
Volume 3, Issue 1, January-June 2010
Published: Semi-Annual in Print and Electronically
ISSN: 1935-570X EISSN: 1935-5718
Published by IGI Publishing, Hershey-New York, USA
www.igi-global.com/ijitsa

Editors-in-Chief:
Frank Stowell, University of Postmourth, UK
Manuel Mora, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, México

EDITORIAL PREFACE

Frank Stowell, Editor-in-Chief, IJITSA
Manuel Mora, Operational Editor-in-Chief, IJITSA

This issue of the International Journal of Information Technology and the
Systems Approach (IJITSA) contains four peer-reviewed articles to advance
scientific and practical knowledge on relevant theoretical and real
problems in the fields of information systems, software engineering,
systems engineering, complex systems, and philosophy of system, from an
interdisciplinary systems paradigm.  This issue investigates the problem
of how to plan and design IT mobile architectures, claims that software
engineering is a social human-intensive endeavor, and consequently demands
a social reading, as well as posits a research methodological process
aimed for theory testing within small-N research designs. In addition,
this issue also addresses the real problem of land management.

To read the preface, please consult this issue of IJITSA in your library.

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PAPER ONE

Mobile Enterprise Architecture Framework

Zongjun Li, Government of Ontario, Canada.
Annette Lerine Steenkamp, Lawrence Technological University, USA

The mobile enterprise is a new form of enterprise in the contemporary
mobile era. Although several well-known enterprise architecture frameworks
are used by enterprises, it is apparent that there is no industry standard
available to enable an enterprise to transform its business processes to
incorporate mobile technologies to an advantage. In this article, the
authors present a conceptual mobile enterprise architecture framework and
supporting methodology and process model to aid enterprise decision makers
to evaluate the business values, analyze the risks, and other critical
business and technical factors for enterprise mobile initiatives and
mobile transitions. The framework covers both the enterprise and mobile
enterprise architecture domains that represent the enterprise, business,
and mobile adoption levels. The methodology and process model cover the
strategy, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance stages for
each mobile initiative and are validated in a research project against
some Ontario government mobile initiatives.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=9310

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PAPER TWO

Towards Knowledge Evolution in Software Engineering: An Epistemological
Approach

Yves Wautelet, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Christophe Schinckus, Facultés Universitaires St-Louis, Belgium
Manuel Kolp, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium

In this article, the authors present an epistemological reading of
knowledge evolution in software engineering (SE) both within a software
project and into SE theoretical frameworks principally modeling languages
and software development life cycles (SDLC). This article envisages SE as
an artificial science and notably points to the use of iterative
development as a more adequate framework for the enterprise applications.
Iterative development has become popular in SE since it allows a more
efficient knowledge acquisition process, especially in user intensive
applications by continuous organizational modeling and requirements
acquisition, early implementation and testing, and modularity. The study
of software projects’ actors and stakeholders using Simon’s bounded
rationality points to the use of an iterative development life cycle.
Popper’s knowledge growth principle could at first seem suited for the
analysis of the knowledge evolution in the SE field; however, this
epistemology is better adapted to purely hard sciences as physics than to
SE which also takes roots in human activities and by the way in social
sciences. Consequently, the authors nuance the vision using Lakatosian
epistemology notably using his falsification principle criticism on SE as
an evolving science. This article also points to adaptive rationality for
a lecture of SE theorists and researchers’ rationality.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=9311

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PAPER THREE

Testable Theory Development for Small-N Studies: Critical Realism and
Middle-Range Theory

Matthew L. Smith, International Development Research Centre, Canada

Theory testing within small-N research designs is problematic.
Developments in the philosophy of social science have opened up new
methodological possibilities through, among other things, a novel notion
of contingent causality that allows for contextualized hypothesis
generation, hypothesis testing and refinement, and generalization. This
article contributes to the literature by providing an example of critical
realist (one such new development in the philosophy of social science)
theory development for a small-N comparative case study that includes
hypothesis testing. The author begins with the key ontological assumptions
of critical realism and its relation to theory and explanation. Then, this
article presents an illustrative example of an e-government comparative
case study, focusing on the concept of trust, which follows these
ontological assumptions.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=9312

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PAPER FOUR

Multi-Level Service Infrastructure for Geovisual Analytics in the Context
of Territorial Management

Giuseppe Conti, Fondazione Graphitech, Italy
Raffaele De Amicis, Fondazione Graphitech, Italy
Stefano Piffer, Fondazione Graphitech, Italy
Bruno Simões, Fondazione Graphitech, Italy

The management of a territory is a complex process, involving a number of
different operators, administrators, and decision makers. Territory
management requires accessing and processing a wide range of heterogeneous
and multi-dimensional GI (GI). Within a typical scenario, the process
involves departments at public administrations responsible for urban
planning, environmental control, infrastructure planning, and maintenance.
Additionally units such as civil protection, fire brigades also play a
vital role when dealing with emergencies. Data to be managed range from
alphanumerical information stored within enterprise-level databases to
satellite imagery, vector data, and information coming from on-site
sensors. This article illustrates the benefit of adopting a system
approach, which makes use of service-oriented architectures (SOA) and 3D
geobrowsers to provide an answer to the aforementioned shortcomings. The
authors present the client-server platform designed to support decision
makers and experts from local or regional administrations in the process
of managing their territory. This article illustrates the results of the
application of the infrastructure within a real-life scenario, thus
providing the chance to discuss the implications of adopting such an
approach.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.infosci-on-demand.com/content/details.asp?ID=9313

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For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the
International Journal of Information Technologies and the Systems Approach
(IJITSA) in your institution's library.  This journal is also included in
the IGI Global aggregated "InfoSci-Journals" database: 
www.infosci-journals.com.
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CALL FOR PAPERS: next deadline is March 15, 2001

Interested authors should consult the journal's manuscript submission
themes and guidelines at www.igi-global.com/ijitsa

All inquiries and submissions should be sent to:
Editors-in-Chief: Frank Stowell and Manuel Mora at
frank.stowell at port.ac.uk, ijitsa at gmail.com, and
dr.manuel.mora.uaa at gmail.com
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Manuel Mora, EngD.
Full Professor and Researcher "C" Level
Autonomous University of Aguascalientes
Ave. Universidad 940
Aguascalientes, Ags.
México 20100
www.uaa.mx
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