Ioannis Chalaris

Secure and distributed knowledge management in pervasive environments

Pervasive environments are mostly based on the ad hoc networking paradigm and are characterized by ubiquity in both users and devices and artefacts. In these inherently unstable conditions and bearing in mind the resources limitations that are attributed to participating devices, the deployment of knowledge management techniques is considered complicated due to the particular requirements. This paper addresses the issue of secure and distributed knowledge management applications in pervasive environments. We present a prototype implementation after having presented detailed design principles as far as the communications and the application itself is regarded. Robustness and lightweight implementation are the cornerstones of the proposed solution.

Deploying pervasive secure knowledge management infrastructures

Pervasive environments are mostly based on the ad hoc networking paradigm and are characterized by ubiquity in both users and devices and artifacts. In these inherently unstable conditions and bearing in mind the resource’s limitations that are attributed to participating devices, the deployment of Knowledge Management techniques is considered complicated due to the particular requirements. Security considerations are also very important since the distribution of knowledge information to multiple locations over a network, poses inherent problems and calls for advanced methods in order to mitigate node misbehaviour and in order to enforce authorized and authenticated access to this information. This paper addresses the issue of secure and distributed knowledge management applications in pervasive environments. We present a prototype implementation after having discussed detailed design principles as far as the communications and the application itself is regarded. Robustness and lightweight implementation are the cornerstones of the proposed solution. The approach we have undertaken makes use of overlay networks to achieve efficiency and performance optimization, exploiting ontologies. The work presented in this paper extends our initial work to tackle this problem, as this was described in (28).

Developing an Information System for Quality Assurance in Higher Education Using the Balanced Scorecard Technique - The Case Study of TEI-A

Higher education institutions need to have a clear mission and attainable objectives that can be interpreted and analysed by using terms of strategic planning. Our work is part of prototype system that supports academic evaluation and strategy management using the balanced scorecard methodology. This study aims to describe the design of a campus-wide management information system in the Technological Educational Institute of Athens which can be used to evaluate quality and institutional performance in higher education.

Enhancing Knowledge Management through the use of GIS and Multimedia

Knowledge is probably the most important capital for an organization, constituting thus its management an issue of high significance. The majority of existing solutions utilize static sources for knowledge (document repositories), allowing for minimum support for tacit knowledge that is an outcome of an on demand cooperation with an appropriate expert. In this paper we describe a system that introduces the concurrent integration of Multimedia and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) functions in Knowledge Management (KM) applications. In most Knowledge Management systems one of the real challenges is expert’s knowledge utilization. Towards this direction, we exploit possible technological prospects and we present the architecture of a prototype developed to implement selected innovative KM components by embedding state-of-the-art multimedia Java-based applications integrated in parallel with GIS functionality.

A holistic approach for quality assurance and advanced decision making for academic institutions using the balanced scorecard technique

Quality assurance in higher education has been established officially, through the establishment of appropriate procedures and through the appointment of supervising bodies. After an initial period of experimental application of evaluation activities, the need for optimization of processes and exploitation of recorded observation has arisen; the obvious aim is the provision of educational processes in accordance with the quality standards. Within the aforementioned framework the Balanced Scorecard technique provides a useful framework that assists in converting the organizational scope to measurable indexes and processes. This procedure however, in order to be applied to the educational domain, demands an appropriate adjustment of the model to the educational needs. Within this framework, this work describes an attempt to develop the required infrastructure in processes, information systems and regulations for a technological institution, in order to ensure quality in relation to the goals agreed by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency and support the administration of a higher education institution in taking decisions in a contemporary and continuously improved manner.

Interactive Visualization in Knowledge Discovery for Academic Evaluation and Accreditation

Academic evaluation is a process that gains continuously attention. As a process it requires complex associations discovery and data processing that most of the times are performed by an ad-hoc, manual process by experts. The creation of a theoretical model and support by means of software is a challenging task. In this paper we present VIS-ACC (visualization --- accreditation) a methodology that focuses on the processing and extraction of semantic representations from accreditation data. We also present a tool that facilitates the visualization thus automating the evaluation process.

Maturity Level of the Quality Assurance Evaluation Procedures in Higher Education: A qualitative research

The establishment of mature operational procedures to support the educational process and the attempt to standardize and certificate these procedures is a very arduous and a demanding task that requires ensuring conditions in several levels of government. At the same time, according to the latest requirements of HQAA (Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency) regarding the certification of study programs and the gradual establishment of quality assurance mechanisms, it is a necessity for all educational institutions to establish such operational procedures. Standardization of procedures and effective change management are the critical issues. In this work we measured the maturity level of the current evaluation processes in an advanced academic department of a HEI (Higher Education Institute) as well as of the new procedures proposed by HQAA for the Certification of Curricula and of the establishment of a Quality Assurance System (QAS). Based on the results of our research it is possible to draw conclusions about the feasibility of implementing the new required procedures and the degree of difficulty of their application and exploitation. At the same time, an assessment of the level of process maturity in the academic department is possible, using Capability Maturity Models. At the end of this work we present a road map for the development of a QAS for a HEI.

Process’ standardization and change management in higher education. The case of TEI of Athens

The establishment of mature operational procedures and the effort of standardizing and certifying these procedures is a particularly arduous and demanding task which requires strong commitment from management to the existing objectives, administrative stability and continuity, availability of resources, an adequate implementation team with support from all stakeholders and of course great tolerance until tangible results of the investment are shown. Ensuring these conditions, particularly in times of economic crisis, is an extremely difficult task for large organizations such as TEI of Athens where there is heterogeneity in personnel and changes in the administrative hierarchy arise plethora of additional difficulties and require an effective change management. In this work we depict the path of standardization and certification of administrative functions of TEI of Athens, with emphasis on difficulties encountered and how to address them and in particular issues of change management and the culture relat...

Sec-shield: security preserved distributed knowledge management between autonomous domains

Knowledge Management (KM) comprises of a variety of distinct technologies and techniques, relative to the uniform treatment of tangible and intangible resources. Attempts to extend the traditional single organizational resource-sharing scheme, confront various challenges, relative to the management of security and heterogeneity issues. In this paper we discuss the various security models, presenting potential limitations – as well as the advantages – relative to their support to extend the single-domain security management framework, to a resilient and robust distributed multi-domain Knowledge Management scheme. We present the architecture of a security enhanced prototype that supports decentralization, while it maintains the autonomic character of the participating domains. We also argue about the implementation dependent choices relative to the alleviation of the multifaceted problems that a collaborative Inter-organizational knowledge asset exchange framework arises.