Information services are economic and organizational activities for informing people. Because informing is changing rapidly under the influence of internet-technologies, this book presents in Chapter 1 fundamental notions of information and knowledge, based on philosopher C.W. Churchman's inquiring systems. This results in the identification of three product-oriented design theory aspects: content, use value and revenue. Chapter 2 describes how one can cope with these aspects by presenting process-oriented design theory. Both design theory insights are applied in chapters on information services challenges, their business concepts and processes, their architectures and exploitation. The final chapter discusses three case studies that integrate the insights from previous chapters, and it discusses some ideas for future research. This book gives students a coherent start to the topic of information services from a design science perspective, with a balance between technical and managerial aspects. Therefore, this book is useful for modern curricula of management, communication science and information systems. Because of its design science approach, it also explains design science principles. The book also serves professionals and academics in search of a foundational understanding of informing as a science and management practice.

The Stafford Beer Classic Library "Stafford Beer is undoubtedly among the worlds most provocative, creative, and profound thinkers on the subject of management, and he records his thinking with a flair that is unmatched. His writing is as much art as it is science. He is the most viable system I know." Dr Russell L Ackoff, The Institute for Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, USA. "If...anyone can make it [Operations Research] understandably readable and positively interesting it is Stafford Beer...everyone in management...should be grateful to him for using clear and at times elegant English and...even elegant diagrams." The Economist This is a highly original book both in content and format. It presents thirteen 'arguments for change', these are linked by a personal commentary, and by a deeper, 'metalinguistic', commentary. Platform for Change is completely self-contained, does not deal at all with the nature of viable systems, but is directed towards the hope that our planet may yet remain viable -- and the human race survive.

This unique volume presents a new approach ??? the general theory of information ??? to scientific understanding of information phenomena. Based on a thorough analysis of information processes in nature, technology, and society, as well as on the main directions in information theory, this theory synthesizes existing directions into a unified system. The book explains how this theory opens new kinds of possibilities for information technology, information sciences, computer science, knowledge engineering, psychology, linguistics, social sciences, and education. The book also gives a broad introduction to the main mathematically-based directions in information theory. The general theory of information provides a unified context for existing directions in information studies, making it possible to elaborate on a comprehensive definition of information; explain relations between information, data, and knowledge; and demonstrate how different mathematical models of information and information processes are related. Explanation of information essence and functioning is given, as well as answers to the following questions: ??? how information is related to knowledge and data; ??? how information is modeled by mathematical structures; ??? how these models are used to better understand computers and the Internet, cognition and education, communication and computation.

This book is a useful text for advanced students of MIS and ICT courses, and for those studying ICT in related areas: Management and Organization Studies, Cultural Studies, and Technology and Innovation. As ICT's permeate every sphere of society-business, education, leisure, government, etc.-it is important to reflect the character and complexity of the interaction between people and computer, between society and technology. For example, the user may represent a much broader set of actors than 'the user' conventionally found in many texts: the operator, the customer, the citizen, the gendered individual, the entrepreneur, the 'poor', the student. Each actor uses ICT in different ways. This book examines these issues, deploying a number of methods such as Actor Network Theory, Socio-Technical Systems, and phenomenological approaches. Management concerns about strategy and productivity are covered together with issues of power, politics, and globalization. Topics range from long-standing themes in the study of IT in organizations such as implementation, strategy, and evaluation, to general analysis of IT as socio-economic change. A distinguished group of contributors, including Bruno Latour, Saskia Sassen, Robert Galliers, Frank Land, Ian Angel, and Richard Boland, offer the reader a rich set of perspectives and ideas on the relationship between ICT and society, organizational knowledge and innovation.

This book describes a complete revolution in software engineering based on complexity science through the establishment of NSE - Nonlinear Software Engineering paradigm which complies with the essential principles of complexity science, including the Nonlinearity principle, the Holism principle, the Complexity Arises From Simple Rules principle, the Initial Condition Sensitivity principle, the Sensitivity to Change principle, the Dynamics principle, the Openness principle, the Self-organization principle, and the Self-adaptation principle. The aims of this book are to offer revolutionary solutions to solve the critical problems existing with the old-established software engineering paradigm based on linear thinking and simplistic science complied with the superposition principle, and make it possible tohelp software development organizations double their productivity, halve their cost, and remove 99% to 99.99% of the defects in their software products, and efficiently handle software complexity, conformity, visibility, and changeability. It covers almost all areas in software engineering.

The tools NSE_CLICK- an automatic acceptance testing platform for outsourcing (or internally developed) C/C++ products, and NSE_CLICK_J - an automatic acceptance testing platform for outsourcing (or internally developed) Java products are particularly designed for non-technical readers to view/review how the acceptance testing of a software product developed with NSE can be performed automatically, and how the product developed with NSE is truly maintainable at the customer site. "

This book is a history of the future. It shows how our contemporary understanding of the Internet is shaped by visions of the future that were put together in the 1950s and 1960s. At the height of the Cold War, the Americans invented the only working model of communism in human history: the Internet. Yet, for all of its libertarian potential, the goal of this hi-tech project was geopolitical dominance: the ownership of time was control over the destiny of humanity. The potentially subversive theory of cybernetics was transformed into the military-friendly project of 'artificial intelligence'. Capitalist growth became the fastest route to the 'information society'. The rest of the world was expected to follow America's path into the networked future. Today, we're still being told that the Internet is creating the information society - and that America today is everywhere else tomorrow. Thankfully, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the DIY ethic of the Internet shows that people can resist these authoritarian prophecies by shaping information technologies in their own interest. Ultimately, if we don't want the future to be what it used to be, we must invent our own, improved and truly revolutionary future.

This monograph discusses the issues of stability and the control of impulsive systems on hybrid time domains, with systems presented on discrete-time domains, continuous-time domains, and hybrid-time domains (time scales). Research on impulsive systems has recently attracted increased interest around the globe, and significant progress has been made in the theory and application of these systems. This book introduces recent developments in impulsive systems and fundamentals of various types of differential and difference equations. It also covers studies in stability related to time delays and other various control applications on the different impulsive systems. In addition to the analyses presented on dynamical systems that are with or without delays or impulses, this book concludes with possible future directions pertaining to this research.

Recounting the history of the study of organization conflict, the book presents alternative views to the traditional positivistic approach and the traditional assumption that conflict is destructive. The book also focus on the individual, showing how predisposition or skills impact on conflict in the organization, and vice versa.

This book creates the emergence of disruptive technologies that have led to a significant change in the role of mathematics and statistics for problem solving, with the use of sophisticated software and hardware in solving complex systems and process. In the era of digital technology, mathematics and statistics need to be highly relevant to be able to cater for the needs of IR4.0 such as big data analytics, simulation, autonomous system, and cloud computing. Motivated by this development, a total of 26 chapters are contributed by respectable experts for this book. The main scope of the book is to conduct a new system of modeling and simulations on solving differential equations, nonlinear equations, energy, epidemiology, and risk assessment. This book is of interest for postgraduate students, researchers as well as other scientists who are working in numerical modeling and simulations based on efficient mathematical and statistical techniques.

This guide represents the first serious academic assessment of the relationships between peoples in Africa and of African descent and Afro mass media around the world. Experts on communications in sub-Saharan and North Africa and the Caribbean and African-American media in the United States characterize the settings and philosophical contexts for media in the countries that they survey; the development of often difficult relationships between government, society, and the media; the education and training of media personnel; and the implications of new technologies and future challenges. Designed for students, teachers, and professionals in communications and in the social sciences broadly.

This comparative study of Afro mass media, the impact of social and political systems, of culture and ideology, of different communications mechanisms, and of special problems is designed for students, teachers, and professionals in all areas of communications and mass media, and in government, sociology, economics, and African and African-American studies.

"Stafford Beer is undoubtedly among the world’s most provocative, creative, and profound thinkers on the subject of management, and he records his thinking with a flair that is unmatched. His writing is as much art as it is science. He is the most viable system I know." Dr Russell L Ackoff, The Institute for Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, USA.

"If…anyone can make it [Operations Research] understandably readable and positively interesting it is Stafford Beer … everyone in management…should be grateful to him for using clear and at times elegant English and … even elegant diagrams." The Economist Awarded the 1966 Lanchester Prize by the Operations Research Society of America for the best work published in 1966 in the field of management science this book has been regarded as a ‘Classic’ ever since.

"in the literature of management there is nothing to be compared with it…" Operational Research Quarterly

"This superb book is one of the very best I have ever read on management science." Management Science

"A brilliant book… which rose far above the ruck of jargon-ridden ephemera. This is a study—profound, wide ranging, witty, graceful and self-critical of the working of managerial systems…" The Sunday Times

"The sheer scale and scope of Beer’s book would rate it management text of the year in any list" The Statist

"Decision and Control is a major work, both elegant and erudite." The Guardian

"Beer’s imagination and enthusiasm stimulate those with whom he works to seek and cause improvements…" The Director

Since the 1950s control theory has established itself as a major mathematical discipline, particularly suitable for application in a number of research fields, including advanced engineering design, economics and the medical sciences. However, since its emergence, there has been a need to rethink and extend fields such as calculus of variations, differential geometry and nonsmooth analysis, which are closely tied to research on applications. Today control theory is a rich source of basic abstract problems arising from applications, and provides an important frame of reference for investigating purely mathematical issues. In many fields of mathematics, the huge and growing scope of activity has been accompanied by fragmentation into a multitude of narrow specialties. However, outstanding advances are often the result of the quest for unifying themes and a synthesis of different approaches. Control theory and its applications are no exception. Here, the interaction between analysis and geometry has played a crucial role in the evolution of the field. This book collects some recent results, highlighting geometrical and analytical aspects and the possible connections between them. Applications provide the background, in the classical spirit of mutual interplay between abstract theory and problem-solving practice.

Niklas Luhmann ranks as one of the most important sociologists and social theorists of the twentieth century. Through his many books he developed a highly original form of systems theory that has been hugely influential in a wide variety of disciplines.

In "Introduction to Systems Theory," Luhmann explains the key ideas of general and sociological systems theory and supplies a wealth of examples to illustrate his approach. The book offers a wide range of concepts and theorems that can be applied to politics and the economy, religion and science, art and education, organization and the family. Moreover, Luhmann's ideas address important contemporary issues in such diverse fields as cognitive science, ecology, and the study of social movements.

This book provides all the necessary resources for readers to work through the foundations of systems theory - no other work by Luhmann is as clear and accessible as this. There is also much here that will be of great interest to more advanced scholars and practitioners in sociology and the social sciences.

Deal with information and uncertainty properly and efficiently using tools emerging from generalized information theory
Uncertainty and Information: Foundations of Generalized Information Theory contains comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of results that have emerged from a research program begun by the author in the early 1990s under the name "generalized information theory" (GIT). This ongoing research program aims to develop a formal mathematical treatment of the interrelated concepts of uncertainty and information in all their varieties. In GIT, as in classical information theory, uncertainty (predictive, retrodictive, diagnostic, prescriptive, and the like) is viewed as a manifestation of information deficiency, while information is viewed as anything capable of reducing the uncertainty. A broad conceptual framework for GIT is obtained by expanding the formalized language of classical set theory to include more expressive formalized languages based on fuzzy sets of various types, and by expanding classical theory of additive measures to include more expressive non-additive measures of various types.
This landmark book examines each of several theories for dealing with particular types of uncertainty at the following four levels:
* Mathematical formalization of the conceived type of uncertainty
* Calculus for manipulating this particular type of uncertainty
* Justifiable ways of measuring the amount of uncertainty in any situation formalizable in the theory
* Methodological aspects of the theory
With extensive use of examples and illustrations to clarify complex material and demonstrate practical applications, generous historical and bibliographical notes, end-of-chapter exercises to test readers' newfound knowledge, glossaries, and an Instructor's Manual, this is an excellent graduate-level textbook, as well as an outstanding reference for researchers and practitioners who deal with the various problems involving uncertainty and information.An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.

The book is a unique exploration of a spectrum of unexpected analogs to psychopathologies likely to afflict real-time critical systems, written by a specialist in the epidemiology of mental disorders. The purpose of this book is to develop a set of information-theoretic statistical tools for analyzing the instabilities of real-time cognitive systems at those varying scales and levels of organization, with special focus on high level machine function.The book should be of particular interest to both industry and academic scientists, and government regulators, concerned with driverless cars on intelligent roads. Many of the same concerns also afflict high-end automated weapons systems. The book should appeal to students, researchers, and industrial and governmental administrators facing the design, operation, and maintenance of real time critical systems ranging across manufacturing facilities, transportation, finance, and military operations.

This absorbing book provides a broad introduction to the surprising nature of change, and explains how the Law of Unintended Consequences arises from the waves of change following one simple change. Change is a constant topic of discussion, whether be it on climate, politics, technology, or any of the many other changes in our lives. However, does anyone truly understand what change is?Over time, mankind has deliberately built social and technology based systems that are goal-directed - there are goals to achieve and requirements to be met. Building such systems is man's way of planning for the future, and these plans are based on predicting the behavior of the system and its environment, at specified times in the future. Unfortunately, in a truly complex social or technical environment, this planned predictability can break down into a morass of surprising and unexpected consequences. Such unpredictability stems from the propagation of the effects of change through the influence of one event on another.The Nature of Change explains in detail the mechanism of change and will serve as an introduction to complex systems, or as complementary reading for systems engineering. This textbook will be especially useful to professionals in system building or business change management, and to students studying systems in a variety of fields such as information technology, business, law and society.

Intelligent technical systems are networked, embedded systems incorporating real-time capacities that are able to interact with and adapt to their environments. These systems need innovative approaches in order to meet requirements like cost, size, power and memory consumption, as well as real-time compliance and security.

Intelligent Technical Systems covers different levels like multimedia systems, embedded programming, middleware platforms, sensor networks and autonomous systems and applications for intelligent engineering.

Each level is discussed by a set of original articles summarizing the state of the art and presenting a concrete application; they include a deep discussion of their model and explain all design decisions relevant to obtain a mature solution.

From the reviews: "The 2nd (slightly enlarged) edition of the van Lint's book is a short, concise, mathematically rigorous introduction to the subject. Basic notions and ideas are clearly presented from the mathematician's point of view and illustrated on various special classes of codes...This nice book is a must for every mathematician wishing to introduce himself to the algebraic theory of coding." European Mathematical Society Newsletter, 1993 "Despite the existence of so many other books on coding theory, this present volume will continue to hold its place as one of the standard texts...." The Mathematical Gazette, 1993

For the Love of Cybernetics: Personal Narratives by Cyberneticians is a collection of personal accounts that offer unique insights into cybernetics via the personal journeys of nine individuals. For the authors in this collection, cybernetics is not their "area of interest"-it is how they think about what they do, and it is their practice. Ray Ison, Bruce Clarke, Frank Galuzska, Paul Pangaro, Klaus Krippendorff, Peter Tuddenham, Lucas Pawlik, Bernard Scott, and Jocelyn Chapman differ in their lineage, emphasis, and engagement with cybernetics. What they have in common is that they share the belief that cybernetics is not a tool to apply here and there, but a unifying way of seeing the world that transforms how we behave, thus increasing possibilities for positive systemic change. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, World Futures.

The future obviously matters to us. It is, after all, where we'll be spending the rest of our lives. We need some degree of foresight if we are to make effective plans for managing our affairs. Much that we would like to know in advance cannot be predicted. But a vast amount of successful prediction is nonetheless possible, especially in the context of applied sciences such as medicine, meteorology, and engineering. This book examines our prospects for finding out about the future in advance. It addresses questions such as why prediction is possible in some areas and not others; what sorts of methods and resources make successful prediction possible; and what obstacles limit the predictive venture.

Nicholas Rescher develops a general theory of prediction that encompasses its fundamental principles, methodology, and practice and gives an overview of its promises and problems. Predicting the future considers the anthropological and historical background of the predictive enterprise. It also examines the conceptual, epistemic, and ontological principles that set the stage for predictive efforts. In short, Rescher explores the basic features of the predictive situation and considers their broader implications in science, in philosophy, and in the management of our daily affairs.

We are surrounded by information. Even the most routine situations in which we find ourselves conceal a hidden information flow. Every step we take, a host of signals meet us, providing information about what is happening in other parts of reality. The cherry tree in bloom reveals that spring has arrived. The footprint left on wet sand indicates that someone has walked along the beach. A red traffic light signals that we must bring our car to a halt. In The Phenomenon of Information, author Mario Perez-Montoro addresses the problems of providing a theoretical explanation of how a signal carries informational content, how to identify its characteristics, and how to define the mechanisms for describing it. To do this, Perez-Montoro examines several theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of information: the mathematical theory of communication, Dretske's approach, and the relational theory of meaning. A critique of these efforts leads to the author's definition of informational content, named "the extensional approach," which is designed to overcome the conceptual limitations of the previous theories. The author proposes that his definition might serve as a basis on which a satisfactory analysis of the concept of information can be developed.

This sweeping introduction to the science of virtual environment technology masterfully integrates research and practical applications culled from a range of disciplines, including psychology, engineering, and computer science. With contributions from the field's foremost researchers and theorists, the book focuses in particular on how virtual technology and interface design can better accommodate human cognitive, motor, and perceptual capabilities. Throughout, it brings the reader up-to-date with the latest design strategies and cutting-edge virtual environments, and points to promising avenues for future development. The book is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the reader to the subject by defining basic terms, identifying key components of the virtual environment, and reviewing the origins and elements of virtual environments. The second part focuses of current technologies used to present visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic information. The book concludes with an in-depth analysis of how environments and human perception are integrated to create effective virtual systems. Comprehensive and splendidly written, Virtual Environmentsand Advanced Interface Design will be the "bible" on the subject for years to come. Students and researchers in computer science, psychology, and cognitive science will all want to have a copy on their shelves.

Offers Both Standard and Novel Approaches for the Modeling of SystemsExamines the Interesting Behavior of Particular Classes of Models Chaotic Modelling and Simulation: Analysis of Chaotic Models, Attractors and Forms presents the main models developed by pioneers of chaos theory, along with new extensions and variations of these models. Using more than 500 graphs and illustrations, the authors show how to design, estimate, and test an array of models. Requiring little prior knowledge of mathematics, the book focuses on classical forms and attractors as well as new simulation methods and techniques. Ideas clearly progress from the most elementary to the most advanced. The authors cover deterministic, stochastic, logistic, Gaussian, delay, Henon, Holmes, Lorenz, Roessler, and rotation models. They also look at chaotic analysis as a tool to design forms that appear in physical systems; simulate complicated and chaotic orbits and paths in the solar system; explore the Henon-Heiles, Contopoulos, and Hamiltonian systems; and provide a compilation of interesting systems and variations of systems, including the very intriguing Lotka-Volterra system. Making a complex topic accessible through a visual and geometric style, this book should inspire new developments in the field of chaotic models and encourage more readers to become involved in this rapidly advancing area.

This volume features recent development and techniques in evolution equations by renown experts in the field. Each contribution emphasizes the relevance and depth of this important area of mathematics and its expanding reach into the physical, biological, social, and computational sciences as well as into engineering and technology. The reader will find an accessible summary of a wide range of active research topics, along with exciting new results. Topics include: Impulsive implicit Caputo fractional q-difference equations in finite and infinite dimensional Banach spaces; optimal control of averaged state of a population dynamic model; structural stability of nonlinear elliptic p(u)-Laplacian problem with Robin-type boundary condition; exponential dichotomy and partial neutral functional differential equations, stable and center-stable manifolds of admissible class; global attractor in Alpha-norm for some partial functional differential equations of neutral and retarded type; and more. Researchers in mathematical sciences, biosciences, computational sciences and related fields, will benefit from the rich and useful resources provided. Upper undergraduate and graduate students may be inspired to contribute to this active and stimulating field.

This textbook for courses in Embedded Systems introduces students to necessary concepts, through a hands-on approach. LEARN BY EXAMPLE - This book is designed to teach the material the way it is learned, through example. Every concept is supported by numerous programming examples that provide the reader with a step-by-step explanation for how and why the computer is doing what it is doing. LEARN BY DOING - This book targets the Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller. This platform is a widely popular, low-cost embedded system that is used to illustrate each concept in the book. The book is designed for a reader that is at their computer with an MSP430FR2355 LaunchPadTM Development Kit plugged in so that each example can be coded and run as they learn. LEARN BOTH ASSEMBLY AND C - The book teaches the basic operation of an embedded computer using assembly language so that the computer operation can be explored at a low-level. Once more complicated systems are introduced (i.e., timers, analog-to-digital converters, and serial interfaces), the book moves into the C programming language. Moving to C allows the learner to abstract the operation of the lower-level hardware and focus on understanding how to "make things work". BASED ON SOUND PEDAGOGY - This book is designed with learning outcomes and assessment at its core. Each section addresses a specific learning outcome that the student should be able to "do" after its completion. The concept checks and exercise problems provide a rich set of assessment tools to measure student performance on each outcome.