Erman Coskun

Software complexity and its impacts in embedded intelligent real-time systems

Applications of intelligent software systems are proliferating. As these systems proliferate, understanding and measuring their complexity becomes vital, especially in safety-critical environments. This paper proposes a model assessing the impacts of complexity for a particular type of intelligent software system, embedded intelligent real-time systems (EIRTS), and answers two research questions. (1) How should the complexity of embedded intelligent real-time systems be measured?, and (2) What are the impacts of differing levels of EIRTS complexity on software, operator and system performance when EIRTS are deployed in a safety-critical large-scale system? The model is tested and operationalized using an operational EIRTS in a safety-critical environment. The results suggest that users significantly prefer simple decision support and user interfaces, even when sophisticated user interfaces and complex decision support capabilities have been embedded in the system. These results have interesting implications for operators using complex EIRTS in safety-critical settings.

An interdisciplinary model of complexity in embedded intelligent real-time systems

Abstract Embedded Intelligent Real-Time Systems (EIRTS) are proliferating in many safety-critical large-scale systems where safety and reliability are important. EIRTS are often introduced in safety-critical large-scale systems to improve the reliability and safety, although, in many cases, they also increase the systems complexity. Defining, understanding, and measuring the complexity in EIRTS can aid us in designing and building more reliable and effective EIRTS, particularly in safety-critical settings. In this paper, we focus on the challenges associated with modeling and measurement of complexity in EIRTS and the possible impact areas of this complexity in safety-critical large-scale settings. We propose an interdisciplinary model for EIRTS complexity that shows four different complexities, metrics for measuring them, and impact areas for each complexity type. An application of our model to a real-life EIRTS is also shown along with quantification and operationalization of architectural/structural complexity which is one of four proposed complexities in our model.

The Relationship between Turkey's Provinces' Development Levels and Social and Economic Vulnerability to Disasters

Disasters are constantly happening in the world and people suffer as a result of these disasters. The Van Earthquake and many others which have occurred in the past few years in Turkey, and disasters around the world like the South Asian Earthquake and the tsunami which followed in 2004, the earthquake in Pakistan, Hurricane Katrina and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur in 2005, the Chinese earthquake in 2009, the Haitian and Chilean earthquakes, and floods in Pakistan in 2010, and finally the Japanese Earthquake and East African drought this year have all shown the extent of the losses caused by disasters.The fact that the level of damage and losses in those disasters are not the same in each country and even in different provinces of a country, and that underdeveloped and developing countries and regions have suffered more damage, suggest the possibility that disaster vulnerability is a problem caused or exasperated by a lower level of development.The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between vulnerability and social and economic development by analyzing a region’s socioeconomic development (SED) level and social and economic vulnerability (SEV) level, and to show the direction and the power of this correlation. In literature there are studies supporting this correlation. Some of these studies claim that social and economic development adds some new dimensions to vulnerability. This study which has been done with data on Turkey’s provinces, uses four different types of analysis to see different dimensions of this correlation. The results show that SEV is partially correlated with SED, yet there are other aspects that appear to be unrelated. Thus in order to reduce future damage and make better planning, detailed vulnerability analyses have to be conducted.

Determining the best performing benchmarks for transit routes with a multi-objective model: the implementation and a critique of the two-model approach

In addition to their operational efficiency, the service level based performance dimensions of transit systems has begun to attract the attention of several researchers in recent years. The consideration of both operational efficiency and service level performance enables a more comprehensive performance evaluation for bus transit operators. This study aims to investigate the operational efficiency and service level performance of public transportation companies with data envelopment analysis (DEA). However, DEA might assign some highly efficiently operating routes as benchmarks to inefficient ones despite some unsatisfactory service level performance, and vice versa. This benchmarking might help to improve one performance dimension but can result in worsening the other. To overcome this problem, the two-model approach introduced by Shimshak and Lenard (INFOR 45(3):143–151, 2007) is utilized to determine the best performing routes. This approach removes the high operational efficient routes with low service level performance and high service level performers but operationally inefficient routes from the analysis and helps to define best performing benchmarks being able to enhance both operational efficiency and service level performance. At the end of the study, a critique of the two-model approach is presented. This paper makes three contributions to the practice of transit performance evaluation. First, it puts forward the necessity of multi-objectivity for the subunits of transit systems. Second, it demonstrates the applicability of the two-model approach in the transportation industry. And third, it points out that despite the usefulness of the two-model approach to determine the best benchmarks in a multi-objective model, the model suffers to assign input/output goals for inefficient decision making units where input/output variables of distinct objectives are the same or related to each other.

Kucuk ve Orta Olcekli Isletmelerin Cevre Algilari ve Alici-Tedarikci Iliskilerinin Cevreci Uygulamalar Uzerindeki Etkisi

Bu arastirma, kucuk ve orta olcekli isletmelerin cevrecilik al-gilarini aciklamak ve onlarin perspektifinden tedarikcilerinin ve musterilerinin cevrecilik hakkindaki tutum ve goruslerini ortaya koymak amaciyla yapilmistir. Arastirma sonuclarina gore, kucuk ve orta olcekli isletmelerin cevrecilik konusunda yeterince bilgi sahibi olmadiklari ve rekabet avantaji olarak kullanabilecekleri bazi ozelliklerinden istifade edemedikleri ortaya konmustur. Ayrica, musterilerin cevre hassasiyetlerinin, firmalarin cevreci uygulamalarina ve tedarikci secimlerine etki ettigi sonucuna ulasilmistir.

Proposal of a Framework for the Assessment of ICT Literacy and Examining the Structure of High School Students' ICT Literacy: A Case of Turkey.

Development levels of societies are highly correlated with the efficiency in usage of information and communication technologies between people belonging to those particular societies. For this reason, this study aims to investigate ICT literacy levels of high school students, to find out the general profile in terms of literacy levels and to reveal the students’ internet usage purposes according to their ICT literacy levels. So as to achieve this goal a questionnaire developed by the researchers was conducted among the students at their 9, 10, 11 and 12 levels of study. Sample of the study encompassed different types of high schools in the Sakarya province of Turkey including Anatolian High School, Science High School, Vocational & Technical High School, Private Anatolian High School and Sports School. Students were questioned so as to determine their ICT literacy levels and to find out reasons behind their internet usage by means of variables representing school type, gender, level of study (9, 10, 11, 12), average success score and frequency of usage. As a result, even though the purpose of internet usage demonstrated a common trend among groups having different levels of ICT literacy, priorities for the usage of internet changed among different levels.