Dissertations / Theses on the topic '4609 Information systems'

Medical area has been benefited by the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in recent days. CMIS (Combined Mobile Information System), our proposed model system, is such a system targeted for health care system. IMIS (Integrated Mobile Information System), a system for diabetic healthcare, which is being developed in Blekinge Institute of Technology will be taken as a case study for our proposed system. CMIS is a multi-role system with core service being medical-care related and others like self-monitoring, journal-writing, communicating with fellow patients, relatives, etc. The main reason for not using CMIS could be the security and privacy of the users' information. Any system connected to Internet is always prone to attack, and we think CMIS is no exception. The security and privacy is even more important considering the legal and ethical issues of the sensitive medical data. The CMIS system can be accessed through PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), smart phones or computer via Internet using GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)/UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) and wired-communication respectively. On the other hand, it also increases the burden for security and privacy, related to the use of such communications. This thesis discusses various security and privacy issues arising from the use of mobile communication and wired communication in context of CMIS i.e., issues related to GPRS (mobile) and web application (using wired communication). Along with the threats and vulnerabilities, possible countermeasures are also discussed. This thesis also discusses the prospect of using MP2P (Mobile Peer-to-Peer) as a service for some services (for example, instant messaging system between patients) in CMIS. However, our main concern is to study MP2P feasibility with prospect to privacy. In this thesis, we have tried to identify various security and privacy threats and vulnerabilities CMIS could face, security services required to be achieved and countermeasure against those threats and vulnerabilities. In order to accomplish the goal, a literature survey was carried out to find potential vulnerabilities and threats and their solution for our proposed system. We found out that XSS (cross-site scripting), SQL injection and DoS attack being common for a web application. We also found that attack against mobile communication is relatively complex thus difficult to materialize. In short, we think that an overall planned security approach (routinely testing system for vulnerabilities, applying patches, etc) should be used to keep threats and attacks at bay.

Shared electronic health record (EHR) systems constitute an important Telemedicine and e-Health application. Successful implementation of shared health records calls for a satisfactory level of security. This is invariably achieved through applying and enforcing strict, and often quite complicated, rules and procedures in the access process. For this reason, information security strategy for EHR systems is needed to be in place. This research reviewed the definition of different terms that related to electronically stored and shared health records and delineated related information security terms leading to a definition of an information security strategy. This research also made a contribution to understanding information security strategy as a significant need in EHR systems. A major case study of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in England is used to be the container of other two sub-case studies in two different Acute Trusts. Different research methods used: participant observation and networking, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis. This research aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding to the information security strategy of England’s EHR system by presenting its different information security issues such as consent mechanisms, access control, sharing level, and related legal and regulatory documents. Six factors that influence the building of an information security strategy in EHR systems, were identified in this research, political, social, financial, technical, clinical and legal. Those factors are considered to be driving the strategy directly or indirectly. EHR systems are technical-clinical systems, but having other factors (than technical and clinical) that drive this technical-clinical system is a big concern. This research makes a significant contribution by identifying these factors, and in addition, this research shows not only how these factors can influence building the information security strategy, but also how they can influence each other. The study of the mutual influence among the six factors led to the argument that the most powerful factor is the political factor, as it directly or indirectly influences the remaining five factors. Finally, this research proposes guidelines for building an information security strategy in EHR systems. These guidelines are presented and discussed in the form of a framework. This framework was designed after literature analysis and after completing the whole research journey. It provides a tool to help putting the strategy in line by minimising the influence of various factors that may steer the strategy to undesirable directions.

ABSTRACT Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) is an alphavirus with high pathogenicity in both humans and horses. Florida continues to have the highest occurrence of human cases in the USA, with four fatalities recorded in 2010. Unlike other states, Florida supports year-round EEEV transmission. This research uses Geographic Information Science (GIS) to examine spatial patterns of documented sentinel seroconversions and horse cases in order to understand the relationships between habitat and transmission intensity of EEEV in Florida. Sentinel sites were categorized as enzootic, periodically enzootic, and negative based on the amount of chicken seroconversions to EEEV. Sentinel sites were analyzed based on land classification data d using the Kruskal-Wallis test to determine which habitats were associated with disease transmission. Cluster analyses were performed for the horse cases using density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN). Ecological associations of EEEV were examined using compositional analysis and Euclidean distance analysis to determine if the proportion or proximity of certain habitats played a role in transmission. The research in these studies provides evidence of ecological associations for EEEV transmission in Florida that hasn't been previously analyzed. Furthermore, these studies provide the groundwork for better understanding of why there is a disproportionate number of horse and human cases of EEEV in Florida than in any other state.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006.
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Managerial simulators enable us to experiment easily with all possible variants of alternative decisions. This facilitates the process of assessing the effective policies and strategies formed by the managers. The creation of simulators based on the principles of system dynamics in the background is the main point of interest of this diploma thesis. This paper is focused on building a simulator which would simulate policies of communication from the position of Information manager, depending on the variable settings of its parameters. The structure of the model and the parametrization of the simulator comes from practical experiences from the company called NETservis s.r.o., which specializes on the development of internet applications for large international companies. The simulator is therefore intended for the simulation of policies in this particular company, however can also serve as a referential model and be used by other companies.

Today’s market for companies doing statistical surveys is a market consisting of mostly standardized methods where differentiating your company from the competitors is hard. Simultaneously both the society at large and technology in specific is under constant development and everything needs to be done at a faster pace with better precision.

 

One of the companies on the market mentioned above is Tradewell Group AB. During 2008/2009 Tradewell has developed a new method for doing statistical surveys. The method named by Tradewell is called Cellphone Survey System, CSS and include using existing technology in a, for this market, unknown way. By doing so Tradewell offer their customers fast and price worthy surveys where the results can be viewed online where they are constantly being updated.

 

At this very moment CSS is about to be launched och so the purpose of this master thesis is to identify and analyse those factors impacting the success of product development and product launching and also to do a mapping over the market at which Tradewell is an actor. The goal is then to combine the above mentioned analyse and mapping with results given from my own market survey to discuss Tradewell at large and CSS in more detail which then will lead to recommendations regarding how to move further, both as a company and with their launch of CSS.

 

The master thesis consists of a literature study where product development and product launching has been researched. It also includes a mapping over those methods most frequently used and offered on today’s market. Finally I did my own market survey among 72 of Tradewell’s potential customers, all respondents chosen in collaboration with the management at Tradewell. The purpose of the survey was to gain knowledge about potential customers and to see if there is any interest for a service like CSS.

 

Some of the most important factors when launching a product that were identified during the work of the thesis were pricing, timing, market orientation and market communication. The results from the survey showed, among other things, that most of the respondents already do customer surveys and also that there is an interest for a service like CSS. The conclusions drawn from the results of the survey together with the literature study lead to the final discussion. The discussion brings up how Tradewell are doing today, seen in the light of the different factors; what they do well and what needs improvement. Finally it is discussed what can be done to make these improvements and why they are necessary and I give recommendations for how to move along with the launch of CSS.

Dagens marknad för företag som genomför statistiska undersökningar är en marknad med många standardiserade metoder och det är svårt att differentiera sig gentemot konkurrenterna. Samtidigt utvecklas både samhället i allmänhet och tekniken i synnerhet hela tiden och allt skall ständigt utföras med bättre precision på mindre tid.

 

Ett av företagen på den ovan nämnda marknaden är Tradewell Group AB. Tradewell har under 2008/2009 utvecklat en ny metod att genomföra statistiska undersökningar med. Metoden, som de själva döpt, kallas Cellphone Survey System, CSS. Metoden utnyttjar den teknik som finns tillgänglig på ett, på denna marknad, ovanligt sätt och erbjuder kunderna snabba och kostnadseffektiva undersökningar där resultaten uppdateras i realtid online.

 

CSS befinner sig i skrivande stund i lanseringsstadiet och syftet med examensarbetet är att identifiera och analysera de framgångsfaktorer som styr produktutveckling och produktlansering samt att kartlägga den marknad på vilken Tradewell är en aktör. Målet med examensarbete är sedan att kombinera den ovan nämnda analysen och kartläggningen med de resultat som fås från min marknadsundersökning för att föra en diskussion kring Tradewell i allmänhet och CSS i synnerhet och sedermera komma med rekommendationer för hur Tradewell skall gå vidare, dels som företag, dels med lanseringen av CSS.

 

Examensarbetet har genomförts genom en litteraturstudie där teori om produktutveckling och produktlansering har behandlats. Arbetet innefattar också en kartläggning över de metoder på marknaden som i dagsläget är de vanligast förekommande och som flest undersökningsföretag erbjuder sina kunder. Slutligen gjordes även en marknadsundersökning bland 72 av Tradewells potentiella kunder, alla respondenter framtagna i samråd mellan mig och Tradewell, för att ge större kunskap om kunderna på marknaden och se om det finns intresse för en tjänst som CSS.

 

Några av de viktigaste faktorerna vid en produktlansering som identifierades är prissättning, timing, marknadsorientering och marknadskommunikation. Marknadsundersökningen som gjordes visade att utav respondenterna så gör en stor del av dem i dagsläget undersökningar. Den visade också att det finns ett intresse för undersökningar gjorda med CSS. Utifrån resultaten som marknadsundersökningen gav dras sedan slutsatser som tillsammans med den litterära studien utgör grunden för den slutliga diskussionen. Där diskuteras Tradewells nuvarande läge sett till de olika faktorerna; vad de redan i dagsläget gör bra och vad jag anser kan bli bättre. Slutligen diskuteras också hur och varför de skall förbättra dessa faktorer och rekommendationer ges för hur de skall gå vidare med lanseringen av CSS.

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The information and communication technologies havebeen increasingly incorporated to nursing practices, to support the use and the record of nursing process, demanding the monitoring of its results achieved and intervenient factors on a continuous basis. The present study had the objective of providing an analysis of record of nursing process supported by communication and information technologies and the intervenient factors intervenient factors in the nurses’ perception. It is a study of a single integrated case, carried out at the neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital, located at the Midwest region of the country, from January to April 2014. The new technologies consisted of a data collection/nursing development protocol, specific for a neonatal intensive care unit, and the use of support software to the diagnostic steps, health care planning (target, objective and prescription statements), implementation and evaluation. The data collection was held through the application of a questionnaire and data collected from nurses’ records at patients’ medical files. The study integrated unit consisted of seven nurses, who worked in the section before (from September to November 2010) and after (from September to November 2012) the implementation of the communication and information technologies to support the use and record of the nursing process. The level of application of the nursing process (NAPE) was classified from 1 to 5, according to its accuracy. The records number in each stage of the nursing process was calculated for each day of nursing attendance during the study period. The quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics. The nurses’ statements on intervenient factors were analyzed using the Donabedian health assessment model (1984). There was an increase of records units by nursing service delivery days (UR/DAY), during data collection stages from 55.2 UR/DAE to 80.4% UR/DAE, new nursing diagnostic records to 0.3 UR/DAE, of targets and objectives (1.0 UR/DAE), and of nursing evaluation (0.2 UR/DAE). The stage of nursing prescription had a decrease from 2.1 UR/DAE to 1.9% UR/DAE and the implementation from 4.4 UR/DAE to 3.1 UR/DAE. It was possible to identify the record of more stages of the nursing process if compared with the period before the new technologies started to be used. Nevertheless this increase was not so significant. Among the intervenient factors, time availability was considered enough for the nursing process (PE) application, and besides that, the record remained incipient. Nurses that reported receiving satisfactory or very satisfactory training on the PE or on the use of new communication and information technologies, also reported more stages of the PE. Considering the strategic relevance of adequate record of nursing service delivery and of the legal and ethical requirement of the nursing process, even small improvements may be relevant. However, in general, it is possible to conclude that the insertion of new technologies associated to the training process did not have a significant impact in the stages of the nursing process at the context of the study.
Tecnologias de comunicação e informação de diferentes tipos estão sendo empregadas na enfermagem para apoiar o uso e o registro do processo de enfermagem, gerando a necessidade de análise contínua dos resultados alcançados e dos fatores intervenientes. Esse estudo teve como objetivo analisar o registro do processo de enfermagem apoiado por tecnologias de informação e comunicação e os fatores intervenientes na percepção dos enfermeiros. Trata-se de um estudo de caso único integrado, realizado na UTI neonatal de um hospital de ensino da região centro-oeste do Brasil, de janeiro a abril de 2014. As novas tecnologias consistiram em um protocolo de coleta de dados/evolução de enfermagem, específico para o cenário de UTI neonatal, e um software de apoio ao uso das etapas de diagnóstico, planejamento (declaração de metas, objetivos, prescrições) e implementação e avaliação da assistência. Realizou-se coleta de dados mediante aplicação de questionário e extração de dados das anotações das enfermeiras nos prontuários. As unidades integradas do estudo de caso foram sete enfermeiras, que atuaram no setor antes (setembro a novembro de 2010) e após (setembro a novembro de 2012) a implantação das novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação para apoio ao uso e registro do processo de enfermagem. O nível de aplicação do processo de enfermagem (NAPE) foi classificado de 1 até 5, de acordo com sua completude. O número de registros de cada etapa do processo de enfermagem foi calculado para cada dia de atendimento de enfermagem no período estudado. Os dados quantitativos foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva. Os depoimentos dos enfermeiros sobre os fatores intervenientes foram analisados à luz do modelo de avaliação em saúde de Donabedian (1984). Verificou-se aumento das unidades de registro por dias de atendimento de enfermagem (UR/DIA) na etapa de coleta de dados de 55,2 UR/DAE para 80,4 UR/DAE, surgimento de registros de diagnóstico de enfermagem para 0,3 UR/DAE, das metas e objetivos (1,0 UR/DAE), e da avaliação de enfermagem (0,2 UR/DAE). A etapa de prescrições de enfermagem apresentou diminuição de 2,1 UR/DAE para 1,9UR/DAE e a implementação de 4,4 UR/DAE para 3,1 UR/DAE. Verificou-se o registro de mais etapas do processo de enfermagem em comparação com o período em que as novas tecnologias não eram utilizadas. Contudo esse incremento foi pouco expressivo. Entre os fatores intervenientes, disponibilidade do tempo foi considerada suficiente para aplicação do PE e apesar disso,o registro permaneceu incipiente. Enfermeiras que relataram ter recebido capacitaçãosatisfatória ou muito satisfatória em PE e no uso das novas tecnologias de comunicação e informação registraram mais etapas do PE.Tendo em vista a importância estratégica do registro adequado do atendimento de enfermagem e da exigência ético legal do uso do processo de enfermagem, pequenos avanços podem ser relevantes, contudo, de modo geral, conclui-se que a inserção das novas tecnologias associada ao processo de capacitação não obteve impacto expressivo no registro das etapas do processo de enfermagem no cenário estudado.

Spatial analyses of shoreline recession and accretion, and future shoreline position predictions in coastal countries have considerable importance due to engineering, planning, management and environmental concerns. In spite of this importance, there are only a few studies in Turkey. The aim of this thesis are to determine the shoreline rate-of-change of Bü
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k Menderes Delta, by geographical information systems for the last fifty-year period, in order to approximate future shoreline position of Bü
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k Menderes Delta shoreline, and to evaluate appropriate models while predicting the future shoreline position. To achieve the purpose of the study time series shoreline position data is extracted from three sets of topographic maps belonging to 1954-1957, 1977-1978 and 1993 aerial photographs and two sets of high resolution satellite imageries (January 2002 Ikonos, August 2004 QuickBird). Then Coastal script of TNTMips, which uses some statistical shoreline analyses methods, that are End Point Rate (EPR), Average of Rates (AOR), Linear Regression (LR) and Jackknifing (JK) is edited so that it can locate the future shoreline positions on the map. Suitable baselines are created and appropriate transect intervals are decided to analyze the shoreline. Finally, some additional analyses that are Backward Analysis and Oscillation Analysis are done to obtain most suitable future shoreline position with rate-of-changes. The results showed that, shorelines having different geomorphologic characteristics needed to be analyzed separately and the linear methods to model the future shoreline position differ from one geomorphologic region to another.

У дисертаційній роботі висвітлено хід і результати дослідження впливу хімічного складу грунтів міста Івано-Франківська на здоров’я людей. Проаналізовано екологічний стан грунтів у місті. Встановлено статистичний зв’язок між концентраціями мікроелементів та хворобами людей. Запропоновано математичні моделі показників рівня екологічної безпеки з медичної точки зору. На основі знайдених залежностей розроблено екологічно-медичні індекси та динамічні екологічно-медичні індекси, які чисельно виражають рівень безпеки співвідношень концентрацій окремих мікроелементів у грунтах для здоров’я людей. Структура загальних індексів відповідає структурі хвороб - екологічних маркерів -та смертності від них. Загальні індекси визначені як лінійна згортка екологічно-медичних індексів типів хвороб. Розроблено методологію визначення показників екологічної безпеки території, на основі якої розроблено математичну модель. Вона враховує стан літосфери та мінерально-сировинних ресурсів; геофізсфери та космічних ресурсів; геоморфосфери та територіальних ресурсів; поверхневої та підземної гідросфери, динаміки та якості водних ресурсів; атмосфери та кліматичних ресурсів; педосфери та земельних ресурсів; фітосфери, рослинних і рекреаційних ресурсів; зоосфери, ресурсів тваринного світу; демосфери, захворюваності населення у зв’язку з екологічними чинниками та показника екологічного впливу техносфери на природні компоненти. Запропоновано їх звести до інтегрального показника рівня екологічної безпеки, попередньо нормувавши виміряні та розраховані параметри. Спроектовано та розроблено інформаційну аналітичну систему для екологічних служб. Функціонально інформаційна система реалізована 6-ма програмними блоками: вводу вхідної інформації, моделювання, аналізу та прогнозування, генерації документів, інтеграторі та генераторі звіту. Інтелектуальна частина цієї системи використовує семантичну мережу, яка є нечітким орієнтованим графом з розміченими вершинами та ребрами. Прийняття рішень нормується двома методами. Перший метод базується на корисності альтернатив, а другий - на ризиках альтернатив.
В диссертационной работе отображены ход и результаты исследования влияния микроэлементного состава почв города Ивано-Франковска на здоровье его жителей. Проанализировано экологическое состояние почв в городе. Исходя из анализа выполненных расчетов, сделаны выводы о том, что концентрации исследуемых микроэлементов в почвах всей территории города Ивано-Франковска отражают умеренный уровень опасности. Есть некоторое незначительное отклонение по отдельным химическим элементам и участкам, но они несущественно влияет на ситуацию состояния экологической безопасности города. Выявлена статистическая связь между концентрациями микроэлементов и болезнями людей. Для этого использовались непараметрические методы с исользованием ранговых корреляций. Предложены математические модели показателей уровня экологической безопасности с медицинской точки зрения. Для этого была выполненен предварительный анализ геометрической структуры сооокупности рассчитаных данных, проанализирована геометрия парных корреляций. Были использованы линейная функция; параметрических функции, которые с помощью несложных преобразований сводятся к линейной; степенные и тригонометрические полиномы. На основе найденных зависимостей разработаны эколого-медицинские индексы и динамические эколого-медицинские индексы, которые численно выражают уровень безопасности соотношений концентраций отдельных микроэлементов в почвах для здоровья людей. Динамические индексы учитывают развитие процессов во времени, что позволяет прогнозировать изменения состояния здоровья. Структура общих индексов соответствует структуре болезней - экологических маркеров - и смертности от них. Общие индексы определены как линейная свертка экологически медицинских индексов типов болезней. Разработана методология определения показателей уровня экологической безопасности территории с числовыми показателями экологического состояния литосферы и минерально-сырьевых ресурсов; геофизсферы и космических ресурсов; геоморфосферы и территориальных ресурсов; поверхностной и подземной гидросферы, динамики и качества водных ресурсов; атмосферы и климатических ресурсов; педосферы и земельных ресурсов; фитосферы, растительных и рекреационных ресурсов; зоосферы, ресурсов животного мира; демосферы, заболеваемости населения в связи с экологическими факторами и показателя экологического воздействия техносферы на природные компоненты. Предложено их свести к интегральному показателю уровня экологической безопасности, предварительно номировав измерянные и рассчитанные параметры. Спроектирована и разработана информационная аналитическая система для экологических служб. Она состоит из 6 основных программ расчета: фоновых значений загрязнения ЕсоPhone, статистических параметров ЕсоStat, концентрационных интервалов безопасности жизнедеятельности InterConcSafetyLife, экологически безопасных для существования геосистем интервалов концентрации загрязнителей ЕсоSafetyGeosystems, эколого-медицинских показателей состояния почв ЕсоМеdIndeх и прогнозирования заболеваемости и смертности ЕсоМеdIndeх. Интеллектуальная часть информационной системы представлена семантической сетью. Реализована эта семантическая сеть нечетким графом, который описан нечеткими множествами вершин и ребер, задающими, соответственно, объекты урбоэкосистемы и отношения между ними. Нормирование принятия решений использует две нормы. Норма полезностей альтернатив определена отношением полезности альтернативы и максимально возможной полезности, а норма риска - как риск потерять полезность.
The thesis displays the progress and results of investigation of the chemical composition of the soil of the city of Ivano-Frankivsk on the health of its inhabitants. Analyzed the ecological condition of the soil in the city. Found a statistical association between the concentrations of trace elements and human disease. The mathematical models of indicators of environmental safety from a medical point of view. On the basis of the found dependencies developed ecological and health codes and dynamic ecological and health codes that numerically express the security level concentration ratios of individual trace elements in the soil to human health. Dynamic indexes take into account the development of processes in time, which allows to predict changes in health status. The structure corresponds to the structure of the general indexes of disease - ecological markers - and mortality. General indices are defined as a linear convolution of environmentally medical indexes types of diseases. Developed methodology of measuring indicators of environmental safety grounds with numerical indicators of ecological condition of the lithosphere and mineral resources, the ecological state geofizsphere and space resources; geomorfosphere ecological state and territorial resources, the ecological state of the surface and underground hydrosphere, dynamics and quality of water resources, the ecological state of the atmosphere and climatic resources ecological status pedosphere and land resources; environmental condition phytosphere plant and recreational resources; ecological state of the zoosphere, wildlife resources; demosphere ecological status, morbidity due to environmental factors and indicators of environmental impact on natural components of the technosphere. Proposed are reduced to the integral indicator of the level of ecological safety. Designed and developed an information system for environmental analytical services. Functional information system implemented by 6 program blocks: input input data, modeling, analysis and forecasting, generating documents, integrators and report generator. The intelligent part of the system uses a semantic network that is fuzzy directed graph with vertices and edges marked. Decision-making is normalized by two methods. The first method is based on the utility of alternatives, and the second - on the risks of alternatives.

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die historische Konstruktion des Datenschutzproblems, des Datenschutzes als seiner (abstrakten) Lösung sowie die Architektur seiner rechtlichen Implementation aufzudecken und einer kritischen Revision aus informatischer Sicht zu unterziehen, um daraus Folgerungen für die Technikgestaltung zu ziehen. Die Arbeit legt offen, welches Verständnis vom Menschen und von der Gesellschaft, von Organisationen, von der Informationstechnik und von der Informationsverarbeitung, welche informatischen, informationswissenschaftlichen, soziologischen und rechtswissenschaftlichen Konzepte, Denkschulen und Theoriegebäude und welche wissenschaftlichen und vorwissenschaftlichen Annahmen und Prämissen der Analyse des Datenschutzproblems zugrunde liegen und wie sie darüber hinaus die spezifische Lösung des Datenschutzproblems – den Datenschutz – gespeist haben. Auf der Basis einer informatisch fundierten Kritik zieht die Arbeit den Schluss, dass der Datenschutz als Lösung des durch die Industrialisierung der gesellschaftlichen Informationsverarbeitung erzeugten Datenmachtproblems neu abgeleitet werden muss, und legt dafür ein dem Stand der wissenschaftlichen Debatte entsprechendes, abstraktes – und damit jeweils noch anwendungsbereichsspezifisch zu konkretisierendes – Datenschutz-Angreifermodell, ein analytisches Raster für eine darauf aufbauende Bedrohungsanalyse sowie einen prozeduralen Operationalisierungsansatz, der die Vorgehensweise und die jeweils zu analysierenden oder zu prüfenden inhaltlichen Fragen deutlich werden lässt, vor. Abschließend zieht die Arbeit Folgerungen für die Gestaltung datenschutzfreundlicher – und dabei nicht notwendig nur datenschutzrechtskonformer – informationstechnischer Systeme.
The aim of this thesis is to uncover the historical construction of the data protection problem, of data protection as its (abstract) solution, as well as the architecture of its legal implementation, in order to critically assess this construction and to draw conclusions for the design of ICT systems. The thesis reveals which concepts of humankind and society, organizations, information technology and information processing, which informatics, information science, sociological and jurisprudential concepts, schools of thought and theories, and which scientific and pre-scientific assumptions and premises underlie the analysis of the data protection problem, and how they have influenced the specific solution of this problem. Based on a critical assessment of this construction the thesis concludes that data protection must be re-derived as a solution for the information power problem, which is generated by the industrialization of social information processing, and presents an abstract, state-of-the-art data protection attacker model, an analytical framework for a data protection impact assessment as well as a procedural operationalization approach illustrating the sequence as well as the substantive issues to be examined and addressed in this process. The thesis then draws conclusions for the design of data protection friendly—and not necessarily just legally compliant—ICT systems.

The right to privacy is the most fundamental right of a citizen in any country. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in healthcare has faced problems with privacy breaches, insider outsider attacks and unauthenticated record access in recent years, the most serious being related to the privacy and security of medical data. Ensuring privacy and security while handling patient data is of the utmost importance as a patient’s information should only be released to others with the patient’s permission or if it is allowed by law. Electronic health data (EHD) is an emerging health information exchange model that enables healthcare providers and patients to efficiently store and share their private healthcare information from any place and at any time as required. Generally, cloud services provide the infrastructure by reducing the cost of storing, processing and updating information with improved efficiency and quality. However, the privacy of EHRs is a significant hurdle when outsourcing private health data in the cloud because there is a higher risk of health information being leaked to unauthorized parties. Several existing techniques can analyse the security and privacy issues associated with e-healthcare services. These methods are designed for single databases, or databases with an authentication centre and thus cannot adequately protect the data from insider attacks. In fact, storing EHRs on centralized databases increases the security risk footprint and requires trust in a single authority. Therefore, this research study mainly focuses on how to ensure patient privacy and security while sharing sensitive data between the same or different organisations as well as healthcare providers in a distributed environment. This research successfully proposes and implements a permissioned blockchain framework named Healthchain, which maintains the security, privacy, scalability and integrity of the e-health data. The blockchain is built on Hyperledger Fabric, a permissioned distributed ledger solution by employing Hyperledger Composer and stores EHRs by utilizing InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to build the decentralized web applications. Healthchain builds a two-pronged solution (i) an on-chain solution implemented on the secure network of Hyperledger Fabric which utilizes the state database Couch DB, (ii) an off-chain solution to securely store encrypted data via IPFS. The Healthchain architecture employs Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) as the distributed network consensus processes to determine which block is to be added to the blockchain. Healthchain Hyperledger Fabric leverages container technology to host smart contracts called “chaincode” that comprises the application logic of this system. This research aimed at contributing towards the scalability in blockchain by storing the data hashes of health records on chain and the actual data is stored cryptographically off chain in IPFS, the decentralized storage. Moreover, the data stored in the IPFS will be encrypted by using special public key cryptographic algorithms to create robust blockchain solutions for EHD. This research study develops a privacy preserving framework with three main core contributions to the e-Health ecosystem: (i) it contributes a privacy preserving patient-centric framework namely Healthchain; (ii) introduces an efficient referral mechanism for the effective sharing of healthcare records; and (iii) prevents prescription drug abuse by performing drug tracking transactions employing smart contract functionality to create a smart health care ecosystem. The results demonstrates that the developed prototype ensures that healthcare records are not traceable to illegal disclosure as the model only stores the encrypted hash of records and is proven to be effective in terms of enhanced data privacy, data security, improved data scalability, interoperability and data integrity when accessing and sharing medical records among stakeholders across the Healthchain network. This research develops a foolproof security solution against cyber-attacks by exploiting the inherent features of the blockchain, thereby contributing to the robustness of healthcare information sharing systems and also unravels the potential for blockchain in health IT solutions.

Although YouTube, the world’s second most popular website, is mainlyan entertainment provider, it is also the most frequently used educational resource provider in many areas of university study. Since YouTube videos in general are not considered very reliable for university education, this thesis argues that it is YouTube’ User Experience (UX) that largely accounts for its popularity among university students and educators. The aim of this study is to find out what educational platforms such as LMS (Learning Management System) and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) can learn from YouTube on the UX level. This project’s data collection includes observation of five participants’ use of YouTube, LMS and MOOCs and semi-structured interviews with the participants. This is a low-risk human research project whose ethics has been cleared by the University Human Research Ethics Committee. The ethics approval number is HRE18-179. It is argued that in order to improve UX, universities should integrate in their design of LMS and MOOCs a Recommender System (RS) and a user-friendly Search Engine (SE), elements that can be borrowed from the design of YouTube. The design follows three principles: interactive, motivating and standard. The research outcome is presented by an exegesis and a creative demonstration of LMS/MOOCs interface design through flowcharts and wireframes (See Illustration 1- 6, Page 129- 135). As this is a PhD by creative project, the exegesis accounts for 70% of the project and the creative piece weighs 30%. This project has brought the study of UX into educational technology, an area where researchers have called for more adoption of UX. This thesis provides guiding principles and practical suggestions for university learning designers and educational platform designers. Such suggestions can improve the digital experience for university students.

O presente projeto empresa aborda a temática da melhoria de desempenho para a Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa baseada na reengenharia de processos organizacionais e na implementação de um plano estratégico de sistemas de informação. O objetivo é analisar a forma como os sistemas de informação podem contribuir para a melhoria de desempenho desta organização e quais deverão ser as caraterísticas destes sistemas. Dada a importância do alinhamento entre os sistemas de informação e a estratégia organizacional foi efetuada a análise da visão, missão, objetivos estratégicos e fatores críticos de sucesso da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa. Efetua-se, ainda, o levantamento dos processos organizacionais, através de análise documental, entrevistas e observação direta, procedendo-se à análise e reengenharia dos processos organizacionais prioritários. A definição da prioridade teve em consideração a importância de cada processo para os fatores críticos de sucesso e o seu desempenho atual. O plano de implementação de sistemas de informação tem em conta as prioridades identificadas, os custos envolvidos, os benefícios a atingir e os processos organizacionais sobre os quais se pretende intervir. Para além da definição de um plano de implementação assente em três fases distintas são, ainda, apresentadas orientações gerais e ações efetivas de gestão da mudança que têm como objetivo garantir o envolvimento de todos os dirigentes e colaboradores bem como ultrapassar resistências à mudança.
This project addresses the business performance improvement subject in the Portuguese Red Cross (PRC) based on the reengineering of organizational processes and in the implementation of an information systems strategic plan. The goal is to examine how information systems can help improving the performance of this organization and what should be the characteristics of these systems. Due to the importance of alignment between information systems and organizational strategy the analysis of the vision, mission, strategic goals and critical success factors of the Portuguese Red Cross is also performed. A survey of the organizational processes, through document analysis, interviews and direct observation, proceeding to the analysis and reengineering of organizational processes that have top priority is also made. The definition of the process priority took into account the importance of each process for the critical success factors and its current performance. The information systems implementation plan has considered the identified priorities, the costs involved, the benefits to be achieved and the key organizational processes on which the PRC intends to intervene. In addition to define an implementation plan based on three distinct phases recommendations and effective actions of change management are also presented aiming to ensure the involvement of all the stakeholders and to overcome resistances to change.

Trabalho de projecto de mestrado em Contabilidade
Este trabalho de projecto aproveita a circunstância do Exército Português estar a realizar uma experiência piloto em três Unidades a nível nacional, no âmbito da adopção de um sistema de Contabilidade Analítica. Neste sentido esta investigação debruça-se sobre o estudo da fase inicial de implementação desse sistema contabilístico numa das três Unidades Piloto seleccionadas para o efeito (Escola Prática dos Serviços - EPS). Pretende-se explicar porque está a ser implementado um sistema de Contabilidade Analítica no Exército Português, descrever como está a ser implementado esse sistema e explorar quais os impactos verificados ao nível da fase inicial de implementação. Os imperativos legais que emergiram com a Reforma da Administração Financeira do Estado, nomeadamente os que se encontram estipulados no Plano Oficial de Contabilidade Pública, constituíram a principal força motriz para que o Ministério da Defesa Nacional colocasse ao dispor dos vários organismos que compõe a sua estrutura, incluindo o Exército Português, um Sistema de Informação integrado assente nas Tecnologias da Informação, capaz de responder às actuais necessidades e exigências quanto ao desenvolvimento de um novo modelo de gestão. Tal iniciativa, iniciada em 2004, traduziu-se no desenvolvimento de um projecto designado por Projecto SIG – Sistema Integrado de Gestão. Este projecto colocou ao dispor das várias entidades um software (SAP R/3), composto por diversos módulos, no qual se destaca o Módulo CO – Controlling que constitui a principal ferramenta ao alcance do Exército Português para o desenvolvimento da Contabilidade Analítica. Nesta fase inicial de implementação as Unidades Piloto terão de desenvolver trabalhos de implementação e parametrização do referido módulo, atendendo a um modelo experimental de Contabilidade Analítica previamente definido, para ser possível a sua entrada em funcionamento. Através da análise documental e a realização de observações e entrevistas, com este estudo de caso, tomou-se consciência do trabalho desenvolvido pela EPS que contribuiu para a devida entrada em funcionamento do Módulo CO – Controlling, tornando assim possível a implementação da Contabilidade Analítica. Os resultados apurados com esta experiência piloto indicam que este exemplo pode ser tomado como referência e ponto de partida, em fases subsequentes, para a devida orientação e difusão da informação na implementação de um sistema de Contabilidade Analítica no Exército Português a nível global. Através do Módulo CO – Controlling, a EPS conseguiu reflectir a sua realidade em termos organizacionais e os objectivos de informação pretendidos no âmbito deste sistema de informação contabilístico. O desenvolvimento deste trabalho contribuiu também para enriquecer os conhecimentos do investigador no âmbito da implementação do Módulo CO – Controlling numa Unidade, Estabelecimento e Órgão do Exército, facto esse que irá ocorrer no futuro próximo na sua própria Unidade de prestação de serviço.
This study project takes advantage of the circumstance of the fact that the Portuguese Army is conducting a pilot experiment in three Units at national level in the intent of the adoption of a system of Cost Accounting. In this sense, this research focuses on the study of the initial stage of implementation of this accounting system in one of three Pilot Units selected for this purpose (Escola Prática dos Serviços - EPS). We attempt to explain why a Cost Accounting system is being implemented in the Portuguese Army, describe how it is being implemented and explore the impacts occurred at the early stage of implementation. The legal requirements that emerged from the Reform of State Financial Administration, including those that are stipulated in the Official Plan of Public Accounting, where the major driving force for the Ministry of National Defence puts at the disposal of the various agencies that make its structure including the Portuguese Army up, an integrated Information System based on the Information Technology, able to meet current needs and requirements for the development of a new management model. Such initiative, begun in 2004, resulted in the development of a project called Project SIG – Integrated Management System. This project has placed at the disposal of various entities software (SAP R / 3), composed of several modules, in which we emphasize Module CO - Controlling, the main tool at the reach of Portuguese Army in the development of Cost Accounting. At this early stage of implementing the Pilot Units will develop some implementation works and parameterization of the given module, attending to an experimental model of Cost Accounting as previously defined, so that it can enter into operation. Through documental analysis, observations and interviews, in this case study we became aware of the work of the EPS which contributed to the entry into operation of the Module CO – Controlling itself, thus making possible the implementation of Cost Accounting. The results obtained with this pilot experiment indicate that this example can be taken as a reference and starting point in subsequent stages, for proper guidance and dissemination of information on implementing a cost accounting system in the Portuguese Army overall. Through Module CO - Controlling, EPS was able to reflect its reality in organizational terms and objectives of information according to such an accounting information system. The development of this work has also contributed to enrich the knowledge of the researcher in the implementation of Module CO - Controlling a Unit, Establishment and Authority of the Army, a fact that this will occur in the near future in his own service Unit.