Papers by Irma Leticia Becerra
Southcon/96 Conference Record
We discuss possible standards for ISDN security that allow data transmitted over ISDN to be encry... more We discuss possible standards for ISDN security that allow data transmitted over ISDN to be encrypted so that only the intended receiver can decipher it. This will make the public ISDN behave like a private network and allow ISDN to be a solution in applications that require authentication, privacy and confidentiality. The authors describe the properties of data encryption schemes required to impose a secure architecture upon the public network. Furthermore, the paper describes the software and hardware realization concepts which can be embedded into the ISDN customer premises equipment (CPE) and require no software upgrades of the switching equipment. This will make the public ISDN network look like a private network to the security conscious user
Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Because the execution of many complex tasks is increasingly relying on human-agent teams it is cr... more Because the execution of many complex tasks is increasingly relying on human-agent teams it is critical that we understand the processes arising from such interaction and the specific conditions affecting them. Despite findings surrounding effective interaction and coordination for expert teams in general, little is known about what is important in expert human-agent teams. Paramount to the effective utilization of human-agent teams is the appropriate blend of research to investigate the boundary conditions within which training must be tailored and delivered. In this paper we describe a representative framework through which the research community can investigate human-agent teams. Our framework involves a blending of laboratory and field research methods with training research. We describe how coordination demand analysis in conjunction with lessons learned systems can be used to capture critical incidents and data from expert human-agent teams performing in context and how this information can form the foundation for effective human-agent team training.
IEEE International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE'07), 2007
Knowledge harvesting is a knowledge management approach focusing on the elicitation and explicati... more Knowledge harvesting is a knowledge management approach focusing on the elicitation and explication of the tacit knowledge residing in an expert. The objectives of knowledge harvesting are to not only succeed in eliciting experts' knowledge but also develop effective training ...
2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2009
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most expensive and devastating natural disasters in American his... more Hurricane Katrina was one of the most expensive and devastating natural disasters in American history [41]. Over half a million people were affected by the hurricane, and the US energy infrastructure was severely damaged [41]. Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters clearly show the need for improvements in crisis management, especially in training and collaboration among federal, state, and local governments [1,41]. In this paper, we describe Project Ensayo: a socio-cognitive-technical simulator and training facility for upper level emergency managers and a tool for cognitive scientists to study the decision making process under emergency conditions. In particular, we describe how the underlying architecture accommodates the various learning requirements inherent in a dynamic, evolving, and unique organizational structure situated in a highly variable complex threat environment.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2005
Expertise locator systems (ELS) are a special type of knowledge management systems that are used ... more Expertise locator systems (ELS) are a special type of knowledge management systems that are used to help locate intellectual capital. The searchable answer-generating environment (SAGE) is an expertise locator system that was developed to identify experts in the state of Florida. This presentation describes an application of the actor model of computation to the development of expertise locator systems (ELS). The actor model describes an approach to modeling intelligence in terms of a society of communicating knowledge-based problem experts where each expert may in turn be viewed as a society of primitive actors. A conceptual implementation for SAGE, and ELS in general, based on the actor model as a design paradigm is described. Practical applications for an actor-model based ELS are also discussed.
Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008), 2008
This paper describes the implementation plans and research activities of Project Ensayo, which is... more This paper describes the implementation plans and research activities of Project Ensayo, which is developing a virtual Emergency Operations Center (vEOC) based on one of the Nation's premier EOC's, that of Miami-Dade County. The goal of the EOC is to coordinate for 'community continuity', in other words help communities remain resilient in the face of disaster events. Organizations of this sort suffer from the lack of normal conditions that permit organizational learning in the traditional sense. The development of the Ensayo vEOC will support a portfolio of research projects including topics related to sensor data, knowledge and social networking modeling, decision-making, software approaches to commitment-based collaboration and coordination, time-critical negotiations under emergencies, and cyber-infrastructure resources.
Second International Conference on Internet Monitoring and Protection (ICIMP 2007), 2007
Disaster management, before, during, and after the event, is dynamic, complex, and ill-defined, a... more Disaster management, before, during, and after the event, is dynamic, complex, and ill-defined, and the events themselves are rare and diverse due to the many characteristics that define them. Prior decisions may be thoroughly documented via after action reports, but these may not cover every issue as frequently unique and unanticipated events arise during each emergency. The nature of the decisions, where they are made, who makes them, the data and information resources required to make and monitor them, and the location of available knowledge to drive them may sometimes be unknown, unavailable, or both. This paper describes the research activities of Project Ensayo, which seeks to support and enable multiple research projects investigating processes, functions and structures present at Emergency Operations Centers, including situational awareness, knowledge management, inferences from dynamic data, disaster management and mechanisms of command, control, communication and coordination. Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center Activation floor plan NOTE: REP Only=Agencies that only are present for radiological emergencies.
Initiating and Managing Distributed Projects
Today, organizations rely on decision makers to make mission-critical decisions that are based on... more Today, organizations rely on decision makers to make mission-critical decisions that are based on input from multiple domains. The ideal decision maker has a profound understanding of specific domains coupled with the experience that allows him or her to act quickly and decisively on the information. Daily, decision makers face problems and failures that are too difficult for any individual person to solve; therefore, teams are now required who share their knowledge in spontaneous collaborations. Since requisite expertise may not all reside in the same organization, nor be geographically colocated, virtual networked teams are needed. This chapter presents a case study describing the development and use of Postdoc, the first Web-based collaborative and knowledge management platform deployed at NASA.
International Journal of e-Collaboration, 2006
Today, organizations rely on decision makers to produce “mission critical” decisions that are bas... more Today, organizations rely on decision makers to produce “mission critical” decisions that are based on inputs from multiple domains. The ideal decision maker has a profound understanding of specific domains, coupled with the experience that allows them to act quickly and decisively on the information. Daily they face problems and failures that are too difficult for any individual person to solve; therefore, teams are now required to share their knowledge in spontaneous collaborations. Since requisite expertise may not all reside in the same organization, nor be geographically colocated, virtual networked teams are needed. This paper presents a case study describing the development and use of Postdoc, NASA’s Web-based collaborative and knowledge management platform.
Knowledge-Based Systems, 2000
The development of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) demands that knowledge be obtained, shared,... more The development of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) demands that knowledge be obtained, shared, and regulated by individuals and knowledge-sharing organizational systems such as Knowledge Repositories. One kind of Knowledge Repository, known as Knowledge Yellow Pages or People-Finder Systems, are repositories that attempt to manage knowledge by pointing to experts possessing specific knowledge within an organization. This paper presents the insights, challenges and future plans for the development of two People-Finder KMS: the Searchable Answer Generating Environment (SAGE), and the Expert Seeker. Here we also discuss the role that Artificial Intelligence technologies play in the development of People-Finder KMS and in automating the profile-maintenance.
International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2002
Challenging yet extending extant efforts in organisation studies to disrupt the gender divide, we... more Challenging yet extending extant efforts in organisation studies to disrupt the gender divide, we develop an embodied account to more fundamentally dissolve the binaries that divide conventional forms of female and male embodiment. Despite a proliferation of literature on the body and emotion in sociology and organisation studies, it is our view that much of it remains deeply disembodied, treating the body pretty much like any other sociological phenomenon, i.e., as a mere object of study. In seeking to dissolve the gender divide, we incorporate a number of vignettes in an attempt to write our own bodies into the text. While reflecting about our own masculine (David and Torkild) and transgender (Torkild) embodiment, we critically discuss how transgender, in particular, may constitute a vehicle for challenging and disrupting the gender divide.
International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2007
... J. Mobile Learning and Organisations, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.103121. Biographical notes: Irma Bec... more ... J. Mobile Learning and Organisations, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.103121. Biographical notes: Irma Becerra-Fernandez is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at Florida International University. She received her PhD, Masters and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering. ...
Journal of Technology Transfer, 2000
The NASA/Florida Minority Institution Entrepreneurial Partnership (FMIEP) represents a new infras... more The NASA/Florida Minority Institution Entrepreneurial Partnership (FMIEP) represents a new infrastructure for technology transfer based on an alliance between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA), and four Minority Institutions in the State of Florida. This paper describes this partnership, their key activities, and some of the initial results accomplished.
IEEE Intelligent Systems, 2008
Expert Systems with Applications, 2001
Lessons learned processes have been deployed in commercial, government, and military organization... more Lessons learned processes have been deployed in commercial, government, and military organizations since the late 1980s to capture, store, disseminate, and share experiential working knowledge. However, recent studies have shown that software systems for supporting lesson dissemination do not effectively promote knowledge sharing. We found that the problems with these systems are related to their textual representation for lessons and that they are not incorporated into the processes they are intended to support. In this article, we survey lessons learned processes and systems, detail their capabilities and limitations, examine lessons learned system design issues, and identify how artificial intelligence technologies can contribute to knowledge management solutions for these systems.
Decision Support Systems, 2007
While relationships and trust are now commonly accepted as central to conducting business both wi... more While relationships and trust are now commonly accepted as central to conducting business both within and across organizations, literature provides only minimal guidance as to how relationships and trust in inter and intra-organizations are created. Moreover, the role that information technology could play in building trust has largely been ignored. This paper describes an Internet-based process for building trust between collaborative commerce partners. Integrating concepts from Winograd and Flores' concept of speech act theory based bconversations for actionQ with research on bclosed loop cyclesQ of trust and relationships in the disciplines of management and marketing, the paper first develops a framework for understanding trust and trust-building processes. The framework characterizes the process of building of trust as the management of commitments inherent in speech acts between requesters (customers) and performers. Furthermore, joint sense making during the conversation for action contributes to greater transparency thereby also increasing the levels of mutual trust. The process framework is used to develop requirements for information technology support for a process and tool for building trust. The paper then goes on to describe an implementation of the conversations for action and the closed loop cycles through a web-based software tool based upon Winograd and Flores' work. Experiences with managing commitments and closing the loop are presented through a case study in an organization that develops and maintains menu-driven voice applications for the call center industry. The case study shows the inadequacy of traditional communication technologies in managing complex, geographically distributed collaborative commitments, and shows how the use of the software tool contributes to a greater level of satisfaction and closing of the performance loop. The paper ends with a reflection on the nature of the tool, its possible uses and misuses, and the role of human wisdom in its use.
Decision Sciences, 2003
ABSTRACT To enhance our understanding of knowledge management, this paper focuses on a specific q... more ABSTRACT To enhance our understanding of knowledge management, this paper focuses on a specific question: How do knowledge management processes influence perceived knowledge management effectiveness? Prior literature is used to develop the research model, including hypotheses about the effects of four knowledge management processes (internalization, externalization, socialization, and combination) on perceived individual-level, group-level, and organizational-level knowledge management effectiveness. The ...
Computers & Industrial Engineering, 2002
... Furthermore, neural networks provide their results instantaneously and continue learning as n... more ... Furthermore, neural networks provide their results instantaneously and continue learning as new data is presented, thus facilitating the reclassification of a country's investmentrisk as economic, political, and other conditions change. ...
Communications of the ACM, 2010
Introduction There is growing concern that a technologically educated workforce will not be avail... more Introduction There is growing concern that a technologically educated workforce will not be available to meet the needs of the job market in information technology in the coming years, primarily because students are turning away from academic programs in computer-related disciplines, including computer science (CS), information technology (IT), and management information systems (MIS). We will collectively refer to these academic units as Computer and Information Science/Systems (CIS). Numerous surveys have documented the steep decline: as much as 50% over the last four years of both the number of graduates in these programs as well as the enrollment in courses associated with these degree programs. The popularity of computer science as an intended major among incoming freshmen continues the decline that started in 2000. By 2004, it had further declined by over 60%. This lack of interest in computer science by incoming students translates to a downward trend in the number of enrolle...
Communications of the ACM, 2000
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Papers by Irma Leticia Becerra