This book examines how digital technologies enable collaboration as a way for individuals, teams and businesses to connect, create value, and harness new opportunities. Digital technologies have brought the world closer together but also created new barriers and divides. While it is now possible to connect almost instantly and seamlessly across the globe, collaboration comes at a cost; it requires new skills and hidden 'collaboration work', and the need to renegotiate the fair distribution of value in multi-stakeholder network arrangements. Presenting state-of-the-art research, case studies, and leading voices in the field, the book provides academics and professionals with insights into the diverse powers of collaboration in the digital age, spanning collaboration among professionals, organisations, and consumers. It brings together contributions from scholars interested in the collaboration of teams, cooperatives, projects, and new cooperative systems, covering a range of sectors from the sharing economy, health care, large project businesses to public sector collaboration.

The intricate fields of information systems and information technology consist of innumerable interrelated facets from hardware to software and creators to end users. All systems inevitably encounter errors or problems, and as new solutions are found and created in today s complex world of technology, it is essential to look at systems as complete entities when searching for solutions and answers. Systems Approach Applications for Developments in Information Technology addresses the essential need to look at systems as a complete unit through using systems approach in the field of IT. This complete reference is designed for all information technology professionals to better understand their current jobs and future goals through the pivotal idea of systems approach as applied in software engineering, systems engineering, and complex systems.

Global markets and competition have forced companies to operate in a physically distributed environment to take the advantage of benefits of strategic alliances between partnering firms. With global operations in place, there is a need for suitable Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and E-Commerce (EC) for the integration of extended enterprises along the supply chain with the objective of achieving flexibility and responsiveness. Enterprise Information Systems and Advancing Business Solutions: Emerging Models is to provide comprehensive coverage and understanding of various enterprise information systems (EIS) such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and electronic commerce (EC) and their implications on supply chain management and organizational competitiveness. Design, development, and implementation issues of EIS including ERP and EC will be discussed. These include organizational, people, and technological issues of EIS. This title will also expand the knowledge on ERP and EC and in turn help researchers and practitioners to develop suitable strategies, tactics, and operational policies for EIS and for improving communication in organizations.

Most biologists use nonlinear regression more than any other statistical technique, but there are very few places to learn about curve-fitting. This book, by the author of the very successful Intuitive Biostatistics, addresses this relatively focused need of an extraordinarily broad range of scientists.

Game design has shifted from the development of games for entertainment to the creation of games with a more meaningful purpose. Game principles and theories can be applied to interactive programs in a variety of fields and professions. Researchers continue to examine the many ways games can be applied to real-world settings. Emerging Research and Trends in Gamification brings together innovative and scholarly research on the use of game-based design and technology in a variety of settings. Including discussions from both industry and academic perspectives, this publication explores the growing research in this interesting and dynamic field, serving as an essential reference source for academicians, professionals, researchers, and upper level students interested in the applications of game-thinking and gaming dynamics across various disciplines including marketing, journalism, education, and human resources. This publication presents timely, research-based chapters on the development of games and the real-world applications of game-thinking and game dynamics, as well as additional topics including, but not limited to, digital development, game design, human resource processes, market research, online journalism, social change, and video game learning.

Enterprise Modeling and Computing with UML bridges two fields that are closely related, but are often studied in isolation: enterprise modeling and information systems modeling. The principal idea is to use a standard language for modeling information systems, UML, as a catalyst, and investigate its potential for modeling enterprises. ""Enterprise Modeling and Computing with UML"" shows both the potential and the limit of using UML in an enterprise modeling context and a broad spectrum of ideas for aligning the development of information systems with the management of an enterprise.

This book introduces the reader to a new method of data assimilation with deterministic constraints (exact satisfaction of dynamic constraints)-an optimal assimilation strategy called Forecast Sensitivity Method (FSM), as an alternative to the well-known four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation method. 4D-Var works with a forward in time prediction model and a backward in time tangent linear model (TLM). The equivalence of data assimilation via 4D-Var and FSM is proven and problems using low-order dynamics clarify the process of data assimilation by the two methods. The problem of return flow over the Gulf of Mexico that includes upper-air observations and realistic dynamical constraints gives the reader a good idea of how the FSM can be implemented in a real-world situation.

This book offers a systematic introduction to an understanding-oriented approach to multimedia content analysis. It integrates the visual understanding and learning models into a unified framework, within which the visual understanding guides the model learning while the learned models improve the visual understanding. More specifically, it discusses multimedia content representations and analysis including feature selection, feature extraction, image tagging, user-oriented tag recommendation and understanding-oriented multimedia applications. The book was nominated by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Computer Federation as an outstanding PhD thesis. By providing the fundamental technologies and state-of-the-art methods, it is a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers working in the field computer vision and machine learning.

Effective technologies and tools for e-collaboration are central to the development and evolution of modern work and educational landscapes. Studies on the design, implementation, and evaluation of e-collaboration applications help individuals and businesses in their pursuit of effective tools for increasingly virtual modes of communication. Advancing Collaborative Knowledge Environments: New Trends in E-Collaboration discusses the latest findings in knowledge-intensive, collaborative environments, focusing on frameworks and solutions for improving collaboration online. Uniting research on the effectiveness of instant messaging, the role of presence and awareness in real-time collaboration, and other key concepts, this reference is useful for those interested in frameworks for new collaboration technologies, as well as existing users of new technologies and applications.

Interest in the area of control of systems defined by partial differential Equations has increased strongly in recent years. A major reason has been the requirement of these systems for sensible continuum mechanical modelling and optimization or control techniques which account for typical physical phenomena. Particular examples of problems on which substantial progress has been made are the control and stabilization of mechatronic structures, the control of growth of thin films and crystals, the control of Laser and semi-conductor devices, and shape optimization problems for turbomachine blades, shells, smart materials and microdiffractive optics. This volume contains original articles by world reknowned experts in the fields of optimal control of partial differential equations, shape optimization, numerical methods for partial differential equations and fluid dynamics, all of whom have contributed to the analysis and solution of many of the problems discussed. The collection provides a state-of-the-art overview of the most challenging and exciting recent developments in the field. It is geared towards postgraduate students and researchers dealing with the theoretical and practical aspects of a wide variety of high technology problems in applied mathematics, fluid control, optimal design, and computer modelling.

In order to be useful and transfer adequate knowledge skills to the learner, a multimedia program design needs to have a sound pedagogical base. Technology-Assisted Problem Solving for Engineering Education: Interactive Multimedia Applications explores best practices in assisting students in understanding engineering concepts through interactive and virtual environments. A critical mass of leading international findings, this advanced publication delivers quality research using learning and consultancy for developing tactics to decipher dilemmas within the field.

The advent of high-speed, affordable computers in the last two decades has given a new boost to the nonparametric way of thinking. Classical nonparametric procedures, such as function smoothing, suddenly lost their abstract flavour as they became practically implementable. In addition, many previously unthinkable possibilities became mainstream; prime examples include the bootstrap and resampling methods, wavelets and nonlinear smoothers, graphical methods, data mining, bioinformatics, as well as the more recent algorithmic approaches such as bagging and boosting. This volume is a collection of short articles - most of which having a review component - describing the state-of-the art of Nonparametric Statistics at the beginning of a new millennium.

Key features:

algorithic approaches
wavelets and nonlinear smoothers
graphical methods and data mining
biostatistics and bioinformatics
bagging and boosting
support vector machines
resampling methods
"

This volume of selected and peer-reviewed contributions on the latest developments in time series analysis and forecasting updates the reader on topics such as analysis of irregularly sampled time series, multi-scale analysis of univariate and multivariate time series, linear and non-linear time series models, advanced time series forecasting methods, applications in time series analysis and forecasting, advanced methods and online learning in time series and high-dimensional and complex/big data time series. The contributions were originally presented at the International Work-Conference on Time Series, ITISE 2016, held in Granada, Spain, June 27-29, 2016. The series of ITISE conferences provides a forum for scientists, engineers, educators and students to discuss the latest ideas and implementations in the foundations, theory, models and applications in the field of time series analysis and forecasting. It focuses on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research encompassing the disciplines of computer science, mathematics, statistics and econometrics.

Numerical partial differential equations (PDEs) are an important part of numerical simulation, the third component of the modern methodology for science and engineering, besides the traditional theory and experiment. This volume contains papers that originated with the collaborative research of the teams that participated in the IMA Workshop for Women in Applied Mathematics: Numerical Partial Differential Equations and Scientific Computing in August 2014.

See How to Unobtrusively Incorporate Good Teaching into Your Game's Mechanics Learn to Play: Designing Tutorials for Video Games shows how to embed a tutorial directly into your game design mechanics so that your games naturally and comfortably teach players to have fun. The author deciphers years of research in game studies, education, psychology, human computer interaction, and user interface and experience that equip you to make dynamic tutorials that help players enjoy your games. The book links game design principles with psychology through the game tutorial. It offers easy-to-implement changes that can make a huge difference in how players receive your games. It explains how you can educate new players and engage experienced players at the same time through a combination of good design and basic understanding of human educational, motivational, and cognitive psychologies. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, this book improves your understanding of the science of learning and the art of teaching. It helps you design game mechanics, or tutorials, that teach people how to have fun with your games without ever feeling as though they re being instructed.

Six Sigma statistical methodology using Minitab

"Problem Solving and Data Analysis using Minitab "presents example-based learning to aid readers in understanding how to use MINITAB 16 for statistical analysis and problem solving. Each example and exercise is broken down into the exact steps that must be followed in order to take the reader through key learning points and work through complex analyses. Exercises are featured at the end of each example so that the reader can be assured that they have understood the key learning points.

"Key features: "Provides readers with a step by step guide to problem solving and statistical analysis using Minitab 16 which is also compatible with version 15.Includes fully worked examples with graphics showing menu selections and Minitab outputs.Uses example based learning that the reader can work through at their pace.Contains hundreds of screenshots to aid the reader, along with explanations of the statistics being performed and interpretation of results.Presents the core statistical techniques used by Six Sigma Black Belts. Contains examples, exercises and solutions throughout, and is supported by an accompanying website featuring the numerous example data sets.

Making Six Sigma statistical methodology accessible to beginners, this book is aimed at numerical professionals, students or academics who wish to learn and apply statistical techniques for problem solving, process improvement or data analysis whilst keeping mathematical theory to a minimum.

As information technology is rapidly progressing, an enormous amount of media can be easily exchanged through Internet and other communication networks. Increasing amounts of digital image, video, and music have created numerous information security issues and is now taken as one of the top research and development agendas for researchers, organizations, and governments worldwide. ""Multimedia Forensics and Security"" provides an in-depth treatment of advancements in the emerging field of multimedia forensics and security by tackling challenging issues such as digital watermarking for copyright protection, digital fingerprinting for transaction tracking, and digital camera source identification.

Growth curve models in longitudinal studies are widely used to model population size, body height, biomass, fungal growth, and other variables in the biological sciences, but these statistical methods for modeling growth curves and analyzing longitudinal data also extend to general statistics, economics, public health, demographics, epidemiology, SQC, sociology, nano-biotechnology, fluid mechanics, and other applied areas. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to growth measurement. The selected papers in this volume build on presentations from the GCM workshop held at the Indian Statistical Institute, Giridih, on March 28-29, 2016. They represent recent trends in GCM research on different subject areas, both theoretical and applied. This book includes tools and possibilities for further work through new techniques and modification of existing ones. The volume includes original studies, theoretical findings and case studies from a wide range of applied work, and these contributions have been externally refereed to the high quality standards of leading journals in the field.

This monograph presents urban simulation methods that help in better understanding urban dynamics. Over historical times, cities have progressively absorbed a larger part of human population and will concentrate three quarters of humankind before the end of the century. This "urban transition" that has totally transformed the way we inhabit the planet is globally understood in its socio-economic rationales but is less frequently questioned as a spatio-temporal process. However, the cities, because they are intrinsically linked in a game of competition for resources and development, self organize in "systems of cities" where their future becomes more and more interdependent. The high frequency and intensity of interactions between cities explain that urban systems all over the world exhibit large similarities in their hierarchical and functional structure and rather regular dynamics. They are complex systems whose emergence, structure and further evolution are widely governed by the multiple kinds of interaction that link the various actors and institutions investing in cities their efforts, capital, knowledge and intelligence. Simulation models that reconstruct this dynamics may help in better understanding it and exploring future plausible evolutions of urban systems. This would provide better insight about how societies can manage the ecological transition at local, regional and global scales. The author has developed a series of instruments that greatly improve the techniques of validation for such models of social sciences that can be submitted to many applications in a variety of geographical situations. Examples are given for several BRICS countries, Europe and United States. The target audience primarily comprises research experts in the field of urban dynamics, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.