Observations and Comments on the Organization Studies of the Systems Research Laboratory

The growing availability of digital trace data has generated unprecedented opportunities for analyzing, explaining, and predicting the dynamics of process change. While research on process organization studies theorizes about process and change, and research on process mining rigorously measures and models business processes, there has so far been limited research that measures and theorizes about process dynamics. This gap represents an opportunity for new information systems research. This research note lays the foundation for such an endeavor by demonstrating the use of process mining for diachronic analysis of process dynamics. We detail the definitions, assumptions, and mechanics of an approach that is based on representing processes as weighted, directed graphs. Using this representation, we offer a precise definition of process dynamics that focuses attention on describing and measuring changes in process structure over time. We analyze process structure over two years at four dermatology clinics. Our analysis reveals process changes that were invisible to the medical staff in the clinics. This approach offers empirical insights that are relevant to many theoretical perspectives on process dynamics.

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The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL): A New Facility for UAV-Based Atmospheric Observations

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12081042 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 1042

Author(s):

Maria Kezoudi ◽

Christos Keleshis ◽

Panayiota Antoniou ◽

George Biskos ◽

Murat Bronz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Radiative Forcing ◽

Research Laboratory ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Point Sources ◽

Research Infrastructure ◽

Sensor Systems ◽

Unmanned Systems ◽

Systems Research ◽

Atmospheric Observations ◽

Observation Networks

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) of the Cyprus Institute is a new mobile exploratory platform of the EU Research Infrastructure Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS). USRL offers exclusive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-sensor solutions that can be deployed anywhere in Europe and beyond, e.g., during intensive field campaigns through a transnational access scheme in compliance with the drone regulation set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the research, innovation, and training. UAV sensor systems play a growing role in the portfolio of Earth observation systems. They can provide cost-effective, spatial in-situ atmospheric observations which are complementary to stationary observation networks. They also have strong potential for calibrating and validating remote-sensing sensors and retrieval algorithms, mapping close-to-the-ground emission point sources and dispersion plumes, and evaluating the performance of atmospheric models. They can provide unique information relevant to the short- and long-range transport of gas and aerosol pollutants, radiative forcing, cloud properties, emission factors and a variety of atmospheric parameters. Since its establishment in 2015, USRL is participating in major international research projects dedicated to (1) the better understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions, (2) the profiling of aerosol optical properties in different atmospheric environments, (3) the vertical distribution of air pollutants in and above the planetary boundary layer, (4) the validation of Aeolus satellite dust products by utilizing novel UAV-balloon-sensor systems, and (5) the chemical characterization of ship and stack emissions. A comprehensive overview of the new UAV-sensor systems developed by USRL and their field deployments is presented here. This paper aims to illustrate the strong scientific potential of UAV-borne measurements in the atmospheric sciences and the need for their integration in Earth observation networks.

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Useful Knowledge for Information Systems Practice: The Contribution of the Participatory Paradigm

Journal of Information Technology ◽

10.1080/0268396032000122141 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 177-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Karin Breu ◽

Joe Peppard

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Participatory Research ◽

Research Programme ◽

Research Process ◽

Research Strategies ◽

Organization Studies ◽

Philosophical Foundations ◽

Scholarly Output ◽

Systems Research ◽

Theory Practice Gap

Information systems research has become methodologically pluralistic, not least in the hope of achieving greater relevance of scholarly output to practice. Although interventionist approaches have considerable potential for bridging the theory–practice gap, they are dismissed as unscientific because of the purported absence of a philosophical foundation that would justify the interactive research process and the co-productive relationships between researchers and practitioners that are so defining of this type of inquiry. The intention in this paper is to demonstrate that philosophical foundations for interventionist research strategies do exist. This task is pursued by the introduction of the participatory worldview, as articulated in the fields of sociology, philosophy and organization studies. The paper shows its distinctness to other, non-positivist paradigms, describes the participatory research process, presents participatory inquiry methods and extrapolates the distinctness of the knowledge they produce. The application of its paradigmatic principles is illustrated through an empirical example of a participatory research programme and the challenges that this approach presents for research practice are indicated. … most of our knowledge, and all our primary knowledge, arises as an aspect of activities that have practical, not theoretical objectives; and it is this knowledge, itself an aspect of action, to which all reflective theory must refer. (Macmurray, 1957, p. 12)

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Middleware for Smart Environments Management

International Journal of Computers Communications & Control ◽

10.15837/ijccc.2010.2.2470 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 148 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ionut Anghel ◽

Tudor Cioara ◽

Ioan Salomie ◽

Mihaela Dinsoreanu ◽

Anca Rarau

Keyword(s):

Information Acquisition ◽

Research Laboratory ◽

Context Information ◽

Context Aware ◽

Smart Environment ◽

Context Model ◽

Systems Research ◽

Intelligent Software ◽

Intelligent Software Agents ◽

Closed Environment

This paper introduces a self-configuring middleware that manages the processes of context information acquisition and representation from smart closed environments, targeting the development of context aware applications. The environment context information is modeled using three sets: context resources, context actors and context policies. The context model artifacts are generated and administrated at run time by a management infrastructure based on intelligent software agents. The self-configuring property is enforced by monitoring the closed environment in order to detect variations or conditions for which the context model artifacts must be updated. The middleware was tested and validated within the premises of our Distributed Systems Research Laboratory smart environment.

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