Project Management Information Systems


Book Description

The modern complicated project environment has encouraged management and computer scientists to explore for solution approaches and support systems that could aid project managers in handling project challenges throughout all project phases (project planning, scheduling, monitoring and controlling). Project management software have become one of the crucial points in the attempts tominimize cost, effort and time, and to maximize the advantages of project management methods that are required to use scientific solutions in all project phases.This book presents a series of practices, processes and techniques that could aid project managers and project teams to manage projects' information in a systematic way in order to achieve better project outcomes. This book includes an overview on project management information systems; project management environment; managing project information (project information cycle); managingproject management information systems; and project management software and its role in the project success.




Cooperative Environments for Distributed Systems Engineering


Book Description

The engineering life cycle for complex systems design and development, where partners are dispersed in different locations, requires the set-up of adequate and controlled processes involving many different disciplines. The “design integration” and the final “system physical/functional integration and qualification” imply a high degree of cross-interaction among the partners. The - place technical information systems supporting the life cycle activities are specialized with respect to the needs of each actor in the process chain and are highly heterogeneous between them. To globally innovate in-place processes, specialists must be able to work as a unique team, in a virtual enterprise model. To this aim, it is necessary to make interoperable the different technical information systems and to define co-operative engineering processes, which take into account “distributed roles”, “shared activities”, and “distributed process controls”. In this frame an innovative study, aimed at addressing this process with the goal of identifying proper solutions – in terms of design, implementation, and deployment – has been carried out with the support of the European Community and the participation of major industrial companies and research centers.




Video Systems in an IT Environment


Book Description

Audio/Video (AV) systems and Information Technology (IT) have collided. IT is being leveraged to create compelling networked media and file-based workflows. Video Systems in an IT Environment has helped thousands of professionals in broadcast, post and other media disciplines to understand the key aspects the AV/IT "tapeless convergence. World-renowned educator and speaker Al Kovalick adds his conversational and witty style to this text making the book an enjoyable learning experience. Now in its second edition, this book includes: basics of networked media, storage systems for AV, MXF and other file formats, Web services and SOA, software platforms, 14 methods for high availability design, element management, security, AV technology, transition issues, real-world case studies and much more. Each chapter weaves together IT and AV techniques providing the reader with actionable information on the issues, best practices, processes and principles of seamless AV/IT systems integration.




How to Avoid a Climate Disaster


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.




Advances in Networked-Based Information Systems


Book Description

This book aims to provide the latest research findings, innovative research results, methods, and development techniques from both theoretical and practical perspectives related to the emerging areas of information networking and their applications. The networks and information systems of today are evolving rapidly. There are new trends and applications in information networking such as wireless sensor networks, ad hoc networks, peer-to-peer systems, vehicular networks, opportunistic networks, grid and cloud computing, pervasive and ubiquitous computing, multimedia systems, security, multi-agent systems, high-speed networks, and web-based systems. These kinds of networks need to manage the increasing number of users, provide support for different services, guarantee the QoS, and optimize the network resources. For these networks, there are many research issues and challenges that should be considered and find solutions.




E-Learning Systems, Environments and Approaches


Book Description

The volume consists of twenty-five chapters selected from among peer-reviewed papers presented at the CELDA (Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age) 2013 Conference held in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, in October 2013 and also from world class scholars in e-learning systems, environments and approaches. The following sub-topics are included: Exploratory Learning Technologies (Part I), e-Learning social web design (Part II), Learner communities through e-Learning implementations (Part III), Collaborative and student-centered e-Learning design (Part IV). E-Learning has been, since its initial stages, a synonym for flexibility. While this dynamic nature has mainly been associated with time and space it is safe to argue that currently it embraces other aspects such as the learners’ profile, the scope of subjects that can be taught electronically and the technology it employs. New technologies also widen the range of activities and skills developed in e-Learning. Electronic learning environments have evolved past the exclusive delivery of knowledge. Technology has endowed e-Learning with the possibility of remotely fomenting problem solving skills, critical thinking and team work, by investing in information exchange, collaboration, personalisation and community building.




Multimedia Databases and Image Communication


Book Description

Multimedia technologies are rapidly attracting more and more interest every day. The Internet as seen from the end user is one of the reasons for this phenomenon, but not the only one. Video on Demand is one of the buzzwords today, but its real availability to the general public is yet to come. Content providers – such as publishers, broadcasting companies, and audio/video production ?rms – must be able to archive and index their productions for later retrieval. This is a formidable task, even more so when the material to be sorted encompasses many di?erent types of several media and covers a time span of several years. In order for such a vast amount of data to be easily available, existing database design models and indexing methodologies have to be improved and re?ned. In addition, new techniques especially tailored to the various types of multimedia must be devised and evaluated. For archiving and trasmission, data compression is another issue that needs to be addressed. In many cases, it has been found that compression and indexing can be successfully integrated, since compressing the data by ?ltering out irrelevancy implies some degree of und- standing of the content structure.




Heroes of the Environment


Book Description

This inspiring book presents the true stories of 12 people from across North America who have done great things for the environment. Heroes include a teenage girl who figured out how to remove an industrial pollutant from the Ohio River, a Mexican superstar wrestler who works to protect turtles and whales, and a teenage boy from Rhode Island who helped his community and his state develop effective e-waste recycling programs. Plenty of photographs and illustrations bring each compelling story vividly to life.




Water-Quality Engineering in Natural Systems


Book Description

FOCUSING ON CONTAMINANT FATE AND TRANSPORT, DESIGN OF ENVIRONMENTAL-CONTROL SYSTEMS, AND REGULATORY CONSTRAINTS This textbook details the fundamental equations that describe the fate and transport of contaminantsin the water environment. The application of these fundamental equations to the design of environmental-control systems and methodologies for assessing the impact of contaminant discharges into rivers, lakes, wetlands, ground water, and oceans are all covered. Readers learn to assess how much waste can be safely assimilatedinto a water body by developing a solid understanding of the relationship between the type of pollutant discharged, the characteristics of the receiving water, and physical, chemical, and biological impacts. In cases of surface runoff from urban and agricultural watersheds, quantitative relationships between the quality of surface runoff and the characteristics of contaminant sources located within the watersheds are presented. Some of the text's distinguishing features include its emphasis on the engineering design of systems that control the fate and transport of contaminants in the water environment, the design of remediation systems, and regulatory constraints. Particular attention is given to use-attainability analyses and the estimation of total maximum daily loads, both of which are essential components of water-quality control in natural systems. Readers are provided with a thorough explanation of the complex set of laws and regulations governing water-quality control in the United States. Proven as an effective textbook in several offerings of the author's class "Water Quality Control in Natural Systems," the flow of the text is carefully structured to facilitate learning. Moreover, a number of practical pedagogical tools are offered: * Practical examples used throughout the text illustrate the effects of controlling the quality, quantity, timing, and distribution of contaminant discharges into the environment * End-of-chapter problems, and an accompanying solutions manual, help readers assess their grasp of each topic as they progress through the text * Several appendices with useful reference material are provided, including current U.S. Water Quality Standards * Detailed bibliography guides readers to additional resources to explore particular topics in greater depth With its emphasis on contaminant fate and transport and design of environmental-control systems, this text is ideal for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in environmental and civil engineering programs.Environmental scientists and practicing environmental/civil engineers will also find the text relevant and useful.




The Internet and Telecommunications Policy


Book Description

This book is based on the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference which reports on research into telecommunications policy issues. While the conference is now a respectable 23 years old, this is only the second printed edition of selected papers. A new law, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, accelerated the process of integration in the communication industry and made major revisions to the Communications Act of 1934 that increase the incentive for integration within the industry. Although the papers in this volume were written prior to the passage of the new law, their importance is merely enhanced by it. They deal with fundamental, complex policy problems that arise when previously separate segments of the telecommunications industry are integrated, rather than specific regulatory rules that are likely to be changed under the new law. With the passage of this law, the timeframe for developing appropriate policies for an integrated industry has been shortened. Changes expected to occur over a period of several years will now likely occur much more rapidly. These papers provide insights to help guide the transition in the industry. Divided into five parts, this volume: * deals with problems of transforming local exchange telephone service from a monopoly in each geographical area to an interconnected competitive network of networks, * considers the pricing problems that arise in an integrated network carrying traffic of different types across multiple service providers, * examines the problem of achieving interoperability in complex networks, * considers issues of intellectual property that arise in expected integrated networks of the future, and * discusses electronic publication of scholarly journals, copyright protection, and the applicability of copyright law in the digital age.