Niclas Eberhagen

Human factor and information security in higher education

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association of lack of awareness and human factors and the association of lack of awareness and significant attacks that threat computer security in higher education. , – Five human factors and nine attacks are considered to investigate their relationship. A field research is conducted on Greek employees in higher education to identify the human factors that affect information security. The sample is consisted of 103 employees that use computers at work. Pearson correlation analysis between lack of awareness and nine (9) computer security risks is performed. , – Examining the association of lack of awareness with these attacks that threat the security of computers, all nine factors of important attacks exert significant and positive effect, apart from phishing. Considering the relationship of lack of awareness to human factors, all five human factors used are significantly and positively correlated with lack of awareness. Moreover, all nine important attacks, apart from one, exert a significant and positive effect. , – The paper extends understanding of the relationship of the human factors, the lack of awareness and information security. The study has focused on employees of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens, namely, teachers, administrators and working post-graduate students. , – The paper has used weighted factors based on data collection in higher education to calculate a global index for lack of awareness, as the result of the weighted aggregation of nine (9) risks, and extends the analysis performed in the literature to evaluate the effectiveness of security awareness in computer risk management.

Dynamic and Cost-effective Maintenance Decisions

In general, all the elements involved in a production process, such as tools, machinery, methods, competence and working environment are exposed to changes. Thus, to maintain and improve company profitability and competitiveness, it is necessary to reduce losses through maintaining and improving the quality of the elements involved in the production process. Therefore, the maintenance strategy applied should be dynamic to be suited for all these changes cost-effectively. In producing companies, the accuracy of maintenance decisions is essential for reducing economic losses generated due to unnecessary stoppages in companies of intensive capital investment where stoppage time is expensive, especially in paper and pulp mills, refineries, power stations and engineering manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary for maintenance and production managers to have a system providing the data required to achieve dynamic and cost-effective maintenance decisions.

On the Situated Nature of Designing Knowledge Work Supports Systems

There is a need to adopt a situated design perspective in designing computer-based tools that support knowledge work to better understand what it means for users, developers, and stakeholders to approach and capture the tacit knowing within the work context. The design situation is characterized as explorative and iteratively interpreted, a pursuit of the vision of the future system guided by local circumstances. Formal engineering methods, reducing development work to engineering endeavors based on a rationalistic perspective, are not sufficient. The situated design perspective is presented as a conceptual model of the design practice, highlighting its constituent worlds, processes, and relations. The model depicts designing as an explorative and sense-making process, navigating between what is wanted or envisioned and what may be negotiated and discovered. It emphasizes the importance of the artifact being designed as a means to capture, communicate, and discover what is possible in the work context. The model makes clear that the design process is highly situated, that it cannot take place outside the work context because of interdependent relationships. It is designing within the living work context, not design for an objectified one.

TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE ON DESIGNING ARTEFACTS SUPPORTING KNOWLEDGE WORK

The designing of computer-based artefacts to support knowledge work is far from a straightforward rational process. Characteristics of knowledge work have a bearing upon how developers (or designers), together with users, come to approach and capture the rich and tacit knowing of the practice. As all knowledge work is about the production of knowledge, transforming it, so is the design practice for developing artefacts to occupy space within that same practice. There is a need for providing a conceptual language to better reflect the nature of this design work that goes beyond those dressed in the managerial (or rational) language of planned activities and deliverables. Towards this end, a conceptual frame is presented that makes several important aspects of the design practice visible. The frame brings together both nature of design work and characteristics of knowledge work to extend the frame of knowledge in user-developer communication of Kensing and Munk-Madsen. Thereby, providing a means to focus attention and dress debate on what situated designing is. By using explicit concepts, such as types knowledge domains embedded in the design situation, the transitional paths between them, and design engagements, it arms practitioners with specific linguistic constructs to direct attention and efforts in planning and organizing development undertakings. Purpose – the purpose of this work is to present and argue for a perspective on designing of computer-based artefacts supporting knowledge work. This is done to inform practitioners, directing their attention and dressing debate, and providing a conceptual language to better capture design activities in planning and organizing development undertakings. Design/Methodology/Approach – The approach presented in this article is conceptual in so far that a model or frame providing linguistic constructs is constructed and argued, building upon scholarly work of knowledge communication and drawing upon previous findings from empirical encounters. Findings – A conceptual frame is presented that captures the design situation as a situated knowledge communication process. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual frame presented remains yet to be validated in practical application. This may be achieved either using it as a lens to uncover and explain phenomena in similar design work, thereby putting its explanatory power to the test, or using it to direct future development undertakings, thereby putting its predictive power to the test. Practical implications – The practical implications of the design frame lies in its power to provide linguistic constructs to direct one’s effort in planning and organizing development undertakings, and in extension to provide argument for decision-makers allocating resources. Originality/Value – By extending the model of knowledge communication of Kensing and Munk-Madsen, and framing it within a situated design context, it better reflects characteristics of knowledge work, providing practitioners with the means to better organize design activities. Research type – conceptual.