The main goal of this book is to help organizations improve their effort estimates and effort estimation processes by providing a step-by-step methodology that takes them through the creation and validation of models that are based on their own knowledge and experience. Such models, once validated, can then be used to obtain predictions, carry out risk analyses, enhance their estimation processes for new projects and generally advance them as learning organizations. Emilia Mendes presents the Expert-Based Knowledge Engineering of Bayesian Networks (EKEBNs) methodology, which she has used and adapted during the course of several industry collaborations with different companies world-wide over more than 6 years. The book itself consists of two major parts: first, the methodology’s foundations in knowledge management, effort estimation (with special emphasis on the intricacies of software and Web development) and Bayesian networks are detailed; then six industry case studies are presented which illustrate the practical use of EKEBNs. Domain experts from each company participated in the elicitation of the bespoke models for effort estimation and all models were built employing the widely-used Netica TM tool. This part is rounded off with a chapter summarizing the experiences with the methodology and the derived models. Practitioners working on software project management, software process quality or effort estimation and risk analysis in general will find a thorough introduction into an industry-proven methodology as well as numerous experiences, tips and possible pitfalls invaluable for their daily work.

DITA expert Eliot Kimber takes you inside the DITA XML standard, explaining the architecture and technology that make DITA unique. Volume 1 of his two-volume exploration of DITA starts with a hands-on explanation of end-to-end DITA processing that will get you up and running fast. Then, he explores the DITA architecture, explaining maps and topics, structural patterns, metadata, linking and addressing, keys and key references, relationship tables, conditional processing, reuse, and more. DITA for Practitioners Volume 1: Architecture and Technology is for engineers, tool builders, and content strategists: anyone who designs, implements, or supports DITA-based systems and needs a deeper understanding of DITA technology. Kimber's unique perspective unwraps the puzzle that is DITA, explaining the rationale for its design and structure, and giving you an unvarnished, detailed look inside this important technology.

Knowledge representation is at the very core of a radical idea for understanding intelligence. This book talks about the central concepts of knowledge representation developed over the years. It is suitable for researchers and practitioners in database management, information retrieval, object-oriented systems and artificial intelligence.

This book provides valuable knowledge, useful fuzzy Petri nets (FPN) models, and practical examples that can be considered by mangers in supporting knowledge management of organizations to increase and sustain their competitive advantages. In this book, the authors proposed various improved FPN models to enhance the modeling power and applicability of FPNs in knowledge representation and reasoning. This book is useful for practitioners and researchers working in the fields of knowledge management, operation management, information science, industrial engineering, and management science. It can also be used as a textbook for postgraduate and senior undergraduate students.

Professional development of educators is an complex process through which teachers strive continuously for pedagogical improvement. In that sense, professional growth benefits learners and teachers while also promoting the quality of the schools, colleges, and academic departments where it takes place. Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education is an authoritative publication featuring the latest scholarly research on a wide range of professional advancement topics in STEM education with special emphasis on content, process, implementation, and impact, as well as on the implications for teachers, educators, and administrators. Highlighting comprehensive research across a broad scope of relevant issues including, but not limited to, teacher training, development models, and the implementation of leadership practices, this book is a seminal reference source for STEM professionals working in schools, colleges, and various science and mathematics departments at secondary and post-secondary institutions.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the Third Conference on Professional Knowledge Management - Experiences and Visions, WM 2005, held in Kaiserslautern, Germany in April 2005. The 82 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from the best contributions to the 15 workshops of the conference. Coverage includes intelligent office appliances, learning software organizations, learner-oriented knowledge management and KM-oriented e-learning.

This volume is authored by a mix of global contributors from across the landscape of academia, research institutions, police organizations, and experts in security policy and private industry to address some of the most contemporary challenges within the global security domain. The latter includes protection of critical infrastructures (CI), counter-terrorism, application of dark web, and analysis of a large volume of artificial intelligence data, cybercrime, serious and organised crime, border surveillance, and management of disasters and crises. This title explores various application scenarios of advanced ICT in the context of cybercrime, border security and crisis management, serious and organised crime, and protection of critical infrastructures. Readers will benefit from lessons learned from more than 30 large R&D projects within a security context. The book addresses not only theoretical narratives pertinent to the subject but also identifies current challenges and emerging security threats, provides analysis of operational capability gaps, and includes real-world applied solutions. Chapter 11 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO License via link.springer.com and Chapter 16 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com

This book challenges traditional organizational theory, looking to representations of work and organizations within popular culture and the ways in which these institutions have also been conceptualized and critiqued there. Through a series of essays, Rhodes and Westwood examine popular culture as a compelling and critical arena in which the complex and contradictory relations that people have with the organizations in which they work are played out. By articulating the knowledge in popular culture with that in theory, they provide new avenues for understanding work organizations as the dominant institutions in contemporary society. Rhodes and Westwood provide a critical review of how organizations are represented in various examples of contemporary popular culture. The book demonstrates how popular culture can be read as an embodiment of knowledge about organizations – often more compelling than those common to theory – and explores the critical potential of such knowledge and the way in which popular culture can reflect on the spirit of resistance, carnivalisation and rebellion.