30 August 2007

Call for papers: Autonomous Vehicle Control and Intelligent Transportation in the Marine Field

Call for papers: Autonomous Vehicle Control and Intelligent Transportation in the Marine Field

A special issue of International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

This special issue will focus on new modelling and control methodology development and/or novel and challenging applications of autonomous vehicle control and intelligent transportation in the field of marine transportation.

The explosive demand in marine transportation, especially with the proliferation of world trading via ocean, indicates a great opportunity for autonomous surface vessels/vehicles and intelligent control. The next generation marine transportation has not only to allow for more exchanging of passengers and freight, but also to supply higher mobility and higher safety. These demands have promoted significant research and technology development motivation for scientists from the communities of navigation, control and mechatronics.

Special attention will be given to a number of topics such as propulsion, navigation, and control of automatic marine platforms and systems, including hybrid electric vehicles and autonomous surface and underwater vehicles.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Modelling and control of hybrid propulsion systems
  • Control of high speed vessels and vehicles
  • Offshore systems modelling and control
  • Surface ship track control
  • Intelligent marine navigation and control systems
  • ROV/AUV guidance and control
  • Autonomous surface craft control
  • Multi-vehicle navigation, mission assignment and control
Important Date

The deadline for submission is: 31 July 2008

Call for papers: Corporate Entrepreneurship and Front End Innovation

Call for papers: Corporate Entrepreneurship and Front End Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

The aim of this special issue is to look into the intersection of intra-organisational entrepreneurship and front end innovation activities. Corporate entrepreneurship, i.e., intrapreneurship can be defined as, e.g., entrepreneurship within an existing organisation, referring to emergent behavioural intentions and behaviours of an organisation that are related to departures from the customary. (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003). The understanding of corporate entrepreneurship is likely to evolve well through the introduction of new concepts such as the open innovation philosophy.

Open innovation philosophy is changing the innovation pattern in organisations radically. The value added in innovation takes often place outside the organisation, including the strong influence of customers. Therefore, innovation emerges often in very practical contexts, leading to rather “connect and develop” than “research and develop” innovation activities (see e.g. Huston & Sakkab, 2006). Promoting the front end innovation in these processes is suggested to be crucial for the success of an organisation. The innovating actors of an organisation meet totally new challenges in the new front end innovation environment. Managing these challenges seems to show the way to success in the process of modern “creative destruction”.

Exploiting the philosophy of open innovation, intrapreneurship is likely to play a key role in organisations. The current understanding of intrapreneurship, organisational citizenship behaviour and innovativeness suggests the importance of the weak links and personal initiatives in promoting intra-organisational innovations. Thus, practise-based innovation processes reflect the characteristics of self-organising systems. The relationship between front end innovations and organisational capabilities to carry out the innovative applications into practise is however largely unknown. It is the objective of this special issue to focus particularly on these intra-organisational processes of renewal and innovativeness.

The objectives of this issue are to shed light to the organisational demands of open innovation for the front end innovation management, and to seek new knowledge on the management of intra-organisational renewal processes.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Conceptual development of the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and front-end innovation processes
  • Supporting mechanisms for creativity and front end innovation
  • New approaches towards shop floor innovation management
  • Open innovation practices as examples of self-organising systems
  • Practice-based innovation networks and the shop floor employees
  • Management of new forms of customership and intrapreneurship
  • Initiativeness and responsibility in intrapreneurial processes
  • The role of corporate citizenship behaviour on the quality of practise-based innovative activities
Important Date

Paper Submission Deadline: 15 April 2008

Call for papers: Mobile Computing and Commerce

Call for papers: Mobile Computing and Commerce

A special issue of International Journal of Information Technology and Management

Mobile computing and commerce has advanced substantially in scope and use largely through new advances in ICT, affordable computer power and miniaturisation of chips. Mobile devices have become important not only in local but also in global communication. They have become part of our lives especially for data exchange, commerce, business and leisure time. However, literature in information systems rarely addresses the particulars of mobile computing from pure ICT view. This special issue encourages studies on technical, social and theoretical issues in mobile computing that will interest both practitioners and researchers.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Mobile commerce
  • Mobile business
  • Business models
  • Mobile services
  • Location-based services
  • Mobile applications
  • Mobile marketing
  • Mobile CRM
  • Mobile payment
  • Mobile banking
  • Mobile ticketing
  • Mobile government
  • Mobile content management
  • Mobile health services
  • Mobile entertainment
  • Mobile security
  • Opportunities and risks of mobile technologies
  • Success factors of mobile technologies and applications
  • Mobile enterprise
  • Mobile computing technologies
  • Wireless devices
  • Operating systems for mobile devices
  • Communication protocols and technologies standards
  • Infrastructure and interoperability issues
Important Date

Deadline for submission: 31 March 2008

Call for papers: Family and Cultural Factors Impacting Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Call for papers: Family and Cultural Factors Impacting Entrepreneurship and Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Family businesses are the engine that drives socioeconomic development and wealth creation around the world, and entrepreneurship is a key driver of family businesses. Entrepreneurial thinking and leadership are fundamental factors in the creation of new enterprises and the sustained competitive advantages of both large and small businesses. The ability to create and foster an entrepreneurial mindset across generations is a major element of family business continuity and longevity and is instrumental in effective strategic execution, innovation and growth.

Entrepreneurship links vision, commitment, passion, and people to a common cause. Entrepreneurs and families create family-based business networks in response to economic and social needs. Family businesses can be defined as owner-managed enterprises with family members exercising considerable financial and/or managerial control. An estimated 85% of businesses in the European Union, 90% of U.S. businesses and the majority of new private small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets (Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa) are family controlled.

In market economies (where resources are allocated via supply and demand), entrepreneurial family businesses are a primary source of job creation. In transition economies (in countries moving from a state-planned to a mixed market-based system, or recovering from civil strife), the family unit is often the only intact socio-economic institution capable of supporting entrepreneurial and innovation activities. The family also plays a leading role in new venture formation, often serving as the primary source of start-up capital, not to mention in expensive labour and know-how.

This special issue will feature high quality research that explores the dynamics between entrepreneurship and innovation and the complexities and challenges associated with family and cultural during times of great global socio-economic, geo-political and technological change. This will include research that spans multiple disciplines including business administration, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology and law.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Exploring family and enterprise relationships and how culture affects entrepreneurship, innovation and business development
  • Probing the individual and societal forces shaping entrepreneurial motivations and how family and culture shape innovation and enterprise development
  • Comparing and contrasting the role of gender and culture in the processes of entrepreneurship and innovation management
  • Comparing and contrasting the characteristics, attributes and growth orientations of entrepreneurs in different cultures
  • Development and application of quantitative and qualitative research techniques to advance the understanding of the interrelationships between entrepreneurs, family and culture
  • Uncovering and probing the role that family and culture play in fostering entrepreneurial new venture formation, job creation and economic development
  • Identifying and assessing emerging themes, issues and topics related to entrepreneurial led family enterprises across different cultures
  • Advancing research methodologies and metrics related to multidisciplinary approaches to the study of entrepreneurship, innovation and family business
Important Dates

Paper Submission Deadline: 31 March 2008

Call for papers: Technological Innovation

Call for papers: Technological Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Collaborative Enterprise

The American Heritage Dictionary defines innovation as “the act of introducing something new.” Penicillin was discovered by the Sir Alexander Fleming in the 1928, although it was 15 years after the original discovery that Howard Walter Florey discovered the use of it as a medicine. Innovation matters. It is a key characteristic associated with the success of any society. Innovation is exploring new ideas based on existing technologies. The continuous improvement and advancement of the previously known technologies can result in developing new products, processes and systems which improves the quality of life for the society as the whole. Managing innovation consists of:
  • Identifying the opportunity for innovation
  • Setting the objectives and benefits
  • Background research and generating creative idea(s)
  • Feasibility and risk factors analysis
  • Design, development, prototypes and testing
  • Policies and strategies of new procedures and managements
  • Market research and analysis
  • Implementation
For organisations that are competing globally, innovation is the key for survival. Technological innovation requires a change in processes and how companies do business. As an example, manufacturing industry has been changing radically in order to reduce costs and waste, increase variety and improve productivity. Technological innovation is a must to maintain global competitiveness.

The goal of this special issue is to address this critical subject and its impact on the global market competition of the 21st century.

The objective of the special issue is to publish the latest articles on a variety of topics related to the technological innovations such as:

* Product innovation
* Process innovation
* Management processes
* Operational processes
* Supporting processes
* Organisational innovation
* Financial and marketing innovation
* Incremental innovation
* Breakthrough innovation
* Systemic innovations
* New techno-economic paradigms
* Supply chain innovation
* Distribution network configuration and strategies
* Integrated supply chain
* Inventory management
* Enterprise Reengineering
* Systems engineering paradigms
* Business model innovation
* Service innovation
* Learning organisation
* Case studies and other related topics

Important Dates

Abstract of proposed articles: 1 October, 2007
Full paper submission for the invited articles: 1 December, 2007
Notification of reviews: 1 February, 2008
Revised manuscript submission: 31 March, 2008
Notification of acceptance: 2 May, 2008
Final Paper: 30 May, 2008

Call for papers: The Lines of Growing/Transporting Entrepreneurship in/to Transition Economies

Call for papers: The Lines of Growing/Transporting Entrepreneurship in/to Transition Economies

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Encouraging entrepreneurship to flourish in transition economies is the theme of this special issue. With the rapidly increasing global integration of business, international assignments have come to play a central role in corporate careers and in the business strategies of multinational organisations.

While research has been conducted on these issues for years, recent changes in the competitive environment worldwide, business strategy, contractual arrangements and cross-border labour markets are producing new and relevant developments that directly impact theory and practice in this area. Drucker (1992) argued that virtually every aspect of innovation has relevance either directly or indirectly for entrepreneurial management, including structures and processes which encourage learning, differences in learning across the levels of the organisation and transfer mechanisms and learning.

Findings from the studies suggest that both internationalisation and entrepreneurs be important for internationalisation processes. Today, almost every university offers some sort of entrepreneurship course or programme.

The purpose of this special issue is to provide a state-of the art assessment of our knowledge and understanding of 21st century global assignments and their entrepreneurs’ correlates, and to directly link transition countries and entrepreneurship in the context of global economy. Faculty and instructors, doctoral students, professionals, professional association staff, and consultants from all subject areas broadly related to entrepreneurship and innovation management are encouraged to submit proposals.

In this Special Issue, we are interested in publishing papers that examine, conceptually and empirically, the process and outcomes of innovation in entrepreneurial contexts. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • The relationship between innovation and organisational effectiveness in entrepreneurial contexts
  • Entrepreneurships dynamic of Central and Eastern European EE post-communism countries
  • Gender position in entrepreneurship
  • Diffusing the entrepreneurship concept in transition economy
  • The learning advantages of newness in entrepreneurial start-up and development
  • Inter-organisational learning in entrepreneurial networks; entrepreneurship education across transition countries
  • The relationship between R&D and (knowledge) resources based views of the entrepreneurial firm
  • The role of gazelles for the transition economies
  • The application of learning theories to entrepreneurship
  • The development and application of alternative methodologies to access innovative processes and outcomes in entrepreneurial contexts
  • Cross-cultural dimensions of entrepreneurial learning
  • Entrepreneurial performance in a transition economy
  • Critical organisational elements in corporate entrepreneurship
  • Intellectual protection and small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
  • Entrepreneurs and technology diffusion
  • Entrepreneurship development through education
  • Technology strategy in SMEs
  • Innovative atmosphere
  • Business plans for teaching entrepreneurship behaviour
Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 1 February 2008

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

Computational intelligence will provide more powerful tools for analysing, predicting and understanding data from gene expression, and other emerging genomic and proteomic technologies. International Journal of Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology - to begin publication in 2008 - provides a forum for papers describing cutting edge research in the application of artificial and computational intelligence to the field of bioinformatics and systems biology.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences

International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences - to begin publication in 2008 - will promote the infusion of the functional and behavioural areas of business with the concepts and methodologies of the decision sciences and information systems. It distinguishes itself as a business journal with an explicit focus on modelling and applied decision-making.

The thrust of the journal is to provide practical guidance to decision makers and practicing managers by publishing papers that bridge the gap between theory and practice of decision sciences and information systems in business, industry, government and academia. Papers published in the journal must contain some link to practice through realistically detailed examples or real applications. Author(s) are required to demonstrate the managerial relevance and implications of the decision problem. The decision-making environment may include single or multiple decision makers considering single or multiple criteria in operational or strategic domains. The journal draws on a wide range of disciplines, including accounting, decision sciences and management science, finance, information systems, marketing, operations and business process management and strategic and organisational management.

Ii is the flagship journal of Alpha Iota Delta, the international honor society in decision sciences and information systems.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies

Many of current data analysis techniques are beyond reach for most managers and practitioners. Obscure maths and daunting algorithms have created an impassable chasm for problem solvers and decision makers. International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies - to begin publication in 2008 - bridges three gaps: between academic ivory tower and the real world; between quantitative data analysis techniques and qualitative data analysis techniques; and between a specific technique and an overall strategy.

Special issue: Managing knowledge in the auto industry: pathway to excellence?

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 7(2/3) 2007 is a special issue: Managing knowledge in the auto industry: pathway to excellence?

* The Toyota way of global knowledge creation the 'learn local, act global' strategy
* Global technology and Knowledge Management: product development in Brazilian car industry
* Implementation of Corporate Production Systems in the Brazilian auto industry: managing knowledge through practice
* Chambre separee in product development: vertically mediated coopetition in the automotive supply chain
* Knowledge Management in the automotive supply chain: exploring suppliers' point of view
* Innovative capacity maintenance by automakers in a product development outsourcing scenario: the case of VW in Brazil
* Model for mapping Knowledge Management in product development: a case study at a truck and bus manufacturer
* Knowledge Management projects valorisation in an automotive company
* Knowledge management in auto ancillary industry: the case of grinding wheel manufacturing

29 August 2007

Special issue: Human factors in vehicle design

International Journal of Vehicle Design 45(3) 2007 is a special issue: Human factors in vehicle design.

Article titles:
* The psychology of driving automation: a discussion with Professor Don Norman
* Easy rider meets knight rider: an on-road exploratory study of situation awareness in car drivers and motorcyclists
* Driving automation: learning from aviation about design philosophies
* Designer driving: drivers' conceptual models and level of trust in adaptive cruise control
* Driver response to controllable failures of fixed and variable gain steering
* A new approach to designing lateral collision warning systems
* Safety implications of a pedestrian protection system: the driver's point of view
* Head injury criterion: the best way to evaluate head damage?
* Work domain analysis and intelligent transport systems: implications for vehicle design

Special issue: Grid testbeds

International Journal of Web and Grid Services 3(3) 2007 is a special issue: Grid testbeds, including extended versions of papers from the 1st International Workshop on Grid Testbeds held in May 2006 in Singapore with the 6th International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid (CCGrid 2006).

Article titles:
* The many faces of the integration of instruments and the grid
* The CoBRA grid: a highly configurable lightweight grid
* Lessons learned through driving science applications in the PRAGMA grid
* DotGrid: a .NET-based cross-platform software for desktop grids
* Uniform job monitoring in the HPC-Europa project: data model, API and services
*A survey of desktop grid applications for e-science

Special issue: Mathematical modelling of engineering, physical and biological science problems

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 2(3) 2007 is a special issue: Mathematical modelling of engineering, physical and biological science problems.

Article titles:
* Challenges in the determination of strength parameters for simulation models of human movements
* A constitutive formulation to elastic media having different Young's moduli and Poisson's values in tension and compression
* Mathematical modelling of a ''post-Northridge'' steel connection
* Experimental and numerical modelling of interfacial behaviour between galvanised steel and aerated concrete
* A genetic-based hybrid intelligent controller for looper tension in steel rolling mills
* Computational fluid dynamic modelling of water-cooling mechanism during thermal spraying process
* Modelling, identification and simulation applied to neutralisation system
* The simulation of temperature field in the laser forming of steel plates
* Simulation results on the reactive power compensation process on electric arc furnace using PSCAD-EMTDC

Special issue: Technical and economic issues of electrical distribution systems in open energy markets

International Journal of Global Energy Issues 28(1) 2007 is a special issue: Technical and economic issues of electrical distribution systems in open energy markets.

Article titles:
* Power quality evaluation in deregulated power system using matrix method
* Network-cost-loss-allocation methods evaluation under the perspective of the social welfare theory
* Development and application of global techno-economic parameters for selection and operation of transmission line conductors
* Protection requirement graph for interconnection of distributed generation on distribution level
* Genetic algorithm-based simulated annealing method for solving unit commitment problem in utility system
* Methodological basis to decide short-term investments in distribution systems under uncertainty in performance-based regulatory frameworks

Special issue: Integrated vehicle control: control methodologies and experimentation

International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems 5(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Integrated vehicle control: control methodologies and experimentation.

Article titles:
* Model-based predictive control of vehicle dynamics
* Towards vehicle trajectory planning for collision avoidance based on elastic bands
* Two-degree-of-freedom vehicle steering controllers design based on four-wheel-steering-by-wire
* Active handling enhancement for chassis control systems
* Study on vehicle chassis control integration based on vehicle dynamics and separate loop design approach
* Advanced headway control via adaptive seeking sliding mode for autonomous off-road vehicles
* Longitudinal and horizontal stabilisation of an unmanned blimp
* A HIL simulation experiment design based on a hierarchical modelling method
* Systems architecting for real-time vehicle controls evaluation

17 August 2007

Newly announced title: International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish a broad range of original experimental and theoretical papers that deal with behavioural and healthcare concerns. It welcomes high-quality research papers from scientists in academic and non-academic organisations as well as business and government from any part of the world; it aspires to facilitate the exchange of information and collaboration among scientists and serve as essential reading for all interested.

The journal is sponsored by the Business and Economics Society International and the Frontiers in Immunology Research Network.

Special issue: Human perception of combined sound and vibration

International Journal of Vehicle Noise and Vibration 3(2) 2007 is a special issue: Human perception of combined sound and vibration.

Article titles:
* The influence of combined environmental stimuli on the evaluation of acoustical comfort: case studies carried out in an interactive simulation environment
* Cognitive degradation after exposure to combined noise and whole-body vibration in a simulated vehicle ride
* Vibro-acoustical comfort in cars at idle: human perception of simulated sounds and vibrations from 3- and 4-cylinder diesel engines
* Sound and vibration perceptual contributions during vehicle transient and steady-state road inputs
* Vibrations can have both negative and positive effects on the perception of sound
* Changes in subjective ratings of impulsive steering wheel vibration due to changes in noise level: a cross-modal interaction
* Effect of automobile operating condition on the subjective equivalence of steering wheel vibration and sound

16 August 2007

Call for papers: The Information Revolution and Technology Transfer in E-Government

Call for papers: The Information Revolution and Technology Transfer in E-Government

A special issue of International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation

The advent of new information and communication technologies such as the internet speeds up information circulation and generates new organisational models built on technological development and transfer. The public sector is not immune to such driving forces; therefore, e-government, which highly leverages new technologies to redefine and to redistribute information circulation, has become an inevitable trend.

The arena of e-government is fraught with many implications and issues worth further discussion and exploration especially with regard to the information revolution and technology transfer. The aim of this special issue is to provide a unique forum for the consideration of all issues related to the information revolution and technology transfer in e-government.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Information Revolution in the Public Sector
  • Categorisation of government information
  • Content-based search and text mining
  • IT governance
  • Innovating and transforming government through information
  • Portal service and quality management
  • Digital divide
Technology Transfer in the Public Sector
  • Service operations design, development and management
  • Service delivery, deployment and maintenance
  • Policy and implementation in small and medium enterprise development
  • Technology transfer management and implementation
  • Technology valuation
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 30 December, 2007
Notification of the Initial Decision: 28 February, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 30 April, 2008

Call for papers: Information and Communication Technologies in Vehicle Navigation

Call for papers: Information and Communication Technologies in Vehicle Navigation

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Information and Communication Systems

Land vehicle navigation systems provide drivers with route guidance information via vehicle borne or portable devices. They have become indispensable in many of the new automobile models, and their design concepts have evolved to include functionalities that make them more than just a vehicle location and map displaying system.

At present, intensive R&D activities are being conducted to develop and deploy next-generation vehicle navigation systems which will integrate application modules for enhancing driver-assist capabilities such as real-time traffic information, driver comfort and safety, with a projected increase in worldwide demand and reduction in costs.

The goal of this special issue is to collect recent studies in development, test and evaluation of latest vehicle information and communication enabling technologies, and mathematical models and computational algorithms for next generation vehicle navigation systems. The organisers welcome submission of papers in all areas pertaining to the theoretical and practical aspects of vehicle navigation.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
  • Research for new technology sensors and systems for application in land vehicle navigation
  • Traffic responsive route guidance models and algorithms
  • Advanced map-matching models and algorithms
  • Technologies and control algorithms that may lead to low-cost vehicle navigation systems
  • Research in cognitive psychology relevant to vehicle navigation
  • Models and application of vehicle arrival time estimation
  • Sensor networks for vehicle health monitoring
  • On-board monitoring for safety assessment
  • Broader area of vehicle information system
Important Dates
Submission due to Guest Editors: 30 December, 2007
Papers reviewed: 1 March, 2008
Notification to authors: 15 March, 2008
Final version due: 15 June, 2008

Call for papers: Performance Assessment of New Internet Services

Call for papers: Performance Assessment of New Internet Services

A special issue of International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems

The internet has shown to be the major enabler for all kinds of services via a common infrastructure. Since the early applications, such as remote login, e-mail, file transfer and web browsing, many new applications and services have entered the stage, where overlay networks play an important role. When broadband access technologies reached private users, file sharing became popular. Telecommunication providers have discovered internet technology as a cost-saving alternative to classical telecom technology. 3GPP has standardised the internet multimedia system (IMS), which is nowadays even used in the world of fixed access networks to handle the co-existence of voice, TV and internet (so-called Triple Play) on access links.

New application domains, such as e-health, e-government, e-tourism etc., have appeared. Many new services use other services, forming composite services or service supply chains based on the internet. Thus, the "anything-over-IP-over-anything" principle has become a reality.

This emergence of new applications raises challenges. The internet has never been designed for fulfilling all imaginable application needs. Over the years, the basic best-effort paradigm has been enhanced by network-level quality of service (QoS) measures. Even so, internet packet delivery cannot be guaranteed. Applications try to adapt themselves to these volatile conditions, e.g. by modifying the intensity of the data flows or adding some kind of redundancy to be used for error correction which fits the Internet principle of end-to-end control. However, in order to reach the right interplay between applications and services and the internet infrastructure, a good understanding of the characteristics of both is mandatory.

Against this background, this Special Issue focuses on performance assessment of emerging applications and services using the internet.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • Overlay-based services
  • Services in triple play scenarios
  • Composite services and service supply chains
  • Mission-critical services
Within these topics may be reported, among others:
  • Measurement methods and results
  • Characterisation of application traffic, including identification of suitable parameters
  • Relationships between user perception and network-level parameters
  • Traffic modelling, including matching methods
  • Assessment of quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE)
  • Queuing models, taking particularities of service and networks into account
  • Simulation studies
Important Dates
Full papers due: 15 November, 2007
Notification of acceptance: 10 January, 2008
Camera-ready papers due: 10 February, 2008

Call for papers: Innovative Environmental Decision Analysis towards Sustainable Development

Call for papers: Innovative Environmental Decision Analysis towards Sustainable Development

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Policy and Decision Making

In the new century, it is crucial to put forward innovative approaches to assist viable decision-making procedures, address the critical environmental issues, and facilitate the sustainable development. Effective decision making is desired in all sectors to resolve multi-stage, multi-layer, and multi-criteria environmental problems.

Uncertainty quantification is a key component of decision science, which is associated with the effectiveness of constantly made decisions. With sophisticated characteristics of regional and global environmental problems, more efforts are being paid to deal with the system uncertainties while undertaking modelling studies and recommending environmentally friendly alternatives in environmental management.

This special issue provides an interdisciplinary and international venue for the publication of well-researched articles on the above-mentioned topics.

Original paper contributions are welcome on, but not limited to:

Development and/or application of the following state-of-the art techniques to address either regional or global environmental issues, including
- integrated environmental modelling and risk assessment
- multi-objective optimisation
- environmental decision analysis under uncertainty
- multi-criteria decision making
- environmental application of geoinformatics
- non-classical decision science approaches
Up-to-date literature review or survey analysis of the socioeconomic issues and/or the environmental impacts resulting from global warming and chemical contamination, which are intended to support environmental decision making.
Report of new development of environmental decision support tool or system
Other original studies on environmental decision making and quantitative analysis for sustainable development

Important Date
Submission of full paper: 30 April 2008

Call for papers: Recent Trends in Global Banking

Call for papers: Recent Trends in Global Banking

A special issue of International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance

Two decades ago global banking was traditionally characterised by relatively high levels of controls where regulatory authorities maintained a protected banking environment that inhibited competition. However, market conditions have undergone extensive changes over recent years. On the demand side, customer preferences have changed substantially, becoming more sophisticated and price conscious. On the supply side, the globalisation of financial markets has been accompanied by governmental deregulation, financial innovation and automation. These factors imply an increase in the number of competitors and a tougher operating environment. In addition, progress in technology, both back and front-office has enabled financial firms to extend their activities beyond narrow local or national boundaries and to increase their market share by providing competitive products to wider markets at a lower price. New suppliers of financial services have entered the market. As such, banks are now faced with strong competition from both banks and non-bank institutions.

Deregulation has also allowed banks to seek new business in much wider fields of activity such as in insurance, loan purchase, hedge funds, private equity and other off-balance sheet transactions. Moves into new business areas and an increased competitive environment have implications for the nature of banks' and systemic risks – the growing emphasis on investment banking by some major commercial banks have obvious market risk implications. The changing environment has promulgated a regulatory response in the form of Basel 2, where market discipline complements rule-based regulations. Risk management has become the key to success for banks to manage risk-return pay-offs accurately and manage their capital effectively. The growth in new balance sheet and risk management practises characterised by VAR modelling and the use of sophisticated securitisation and credit risk management techniques has developed in-line with the desire to manage economic capital more effectively.

Structural developments in global banking markets have encouraged a trend towards greater market concentration. This preference for national consolidation is predicated on performance, efficiency or/and managerial grounds. Consolidation may offer opportunities for efficiency gains and risk diversification and also can create a platform for cross-country consolidation. However, the growing inter-linkages between large banks raise concerns about contagion and systemic risk, market power in the supply of financial services and implications for 'too-big-to-fail' implicit guarantees.

This special edition seeks to attract theoretical and empirical studies that relate to the above themes.

Papers are encouraged in areas which include but are not limited to:
  • Integration and globalization of banking systems;
  • Consolidation and its consequences for banking and financial services;
  • Risk and price competition in banking
  • Regulation, market discipline and deposit insurance
  • Foreign banks and cross-border activities.
  • Efficiency and technological progress
  • Financial innovation
  • Financing decisions of banks
  • Efficiency and performance of investment versus commercial banking
  • Management of financial institutions
  • The cost of deregulation and regulation in banking
  • Value creation and the cost of capital
  • Bancassurance and other diversification trends
Important Dates
Deadline for submissions of completed papers: 31st December 2007
Double blind review of paper and feedback from review given to the author(s) by: 15 March, 2008
Deadline for final submission of corrected papers: 15 July 2008
No changes can be made to the papers after: 15 September, 2008

Call for papers: Trends in Innovation and Competition in the Financial Services Industry – Can Banks Gain Competitive Advantage Over Non-Bank Competit

Call for papers: Trends in Innovation and Competition in the Financial Services Industry – Can Banks Gain Competitive Advantage Over Non-Bank Competitors?

A special issue of International Journal of Financial Services Management

In the past, one traditional strategy of banks has been the competitive strategy of competing on the basis of size. Competitiveness means that banks with extensive branch networks tended to capture more customers than those with fewer branches. However, the banks are currently facing competitive pressures which are forcing them to move from single delivery channel towards integrated delivery channels in order to meet changing customer demands.

In addition, competitors today in the financial service industry are no longer just rival banks. Non-banks have entered the financial services market and now compete in launching banking innovations. Having an extensive number of brick-and-mortar branches and controlling a network for clearing and settlements no longer guarantees that banks will have a competitive advantage over non-banks.

In this special issue, we will focus on how the banks could leverage their strategies to compete in an environment of increased competition within the financial services industry. We also encourage contributions that analyse the direction of competition and innovation under changing market conditions (competition among banks and between banks and non-banks). The issue brings together academics, practitioners, researchers, and aims to deliver a reference edition for all those interested in the management of innovations and increased competition in the financial service industry.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Payment innovations in the banking industry
  • Direction of payment innovations
  • Strategies of competition under the changing market direction of the financial service industry
  • Innovation process of the smart card e-cash market
  • Competition in the e-payment market
  • Difficulties in market competition in the financial service industry
  • Customer relationship management for e-banking
  • Competition analysis in e-banking
  • New entrant strategies
Important Dates
1-2 Page Abstract: 30 October 2007
Submission of Manuscripts: 30 April 2008
Notification to Authors: 30 May 2008
Final Versions Due: 30 August 2008

Call for papers: Recent Advances of Utilising Technologies of Solar Energy

Call for papers: Recent Advances of Utilising Technologies of Solar Energy

A special issue of International Journal of Global Energy Issues

Global warming as a result of the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation has attracted more of the world’s attention since the Stern Review pointed out that the overall costs and risks of climate change could rise up to 20% of GDP or more if no effective action is taken. Therefore, prompt and strong action to develop technologies for utilising clean and renewable energy on a large scale is clearly warranted.

Solar energy is the most source of clean energy free of GHG emission. There are a variety of technologies developed to take advantage of solar energy including power generation (e.g., PV and thermal power generations), heating, drying, cooling, ventilation, etc. Development of the utilising technologies of solar energy focuses on improving the efficiency and reducing the cost.

The objective of this special issue is to provide a platform for interchanging the information on recent advances in the field of utilising technologies of solar energy.

Topics of papers to be covered include, but are not limited to:
  • Research
  • Development
  • Application
  • Economic analysis
  • Policy
  • Review on solar energy
Important Date
Deadline for submission of full papers: 31 January 2008

Call for papers: The Role of Public Venture Capital Financing Towards Creating New Entrepreneurial Businesses and Innovations

Call for papers: The Role of Public Venture Capital Financing Towards Creating New Entrepreneurial Businesses and Innovations

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

There have long been problems which mean that entrepreneurial companies are not able to raise all the capital they need and that good companies are not getting funded. Therefore, governments in many countries have tried to solve these problems by taking on the role of venture capital investor to support entrepreneurial development and early stage investments. The environment where there is a lack of private equity financing has highlighted the need for public VC financing.

Currently, there is a growing search for capital (other than the financing mechanisms offered by the typical banking system) among entrepreneurial ventures. It would be valuable to understand the role of the government acting as a major venture capitalist supporting entrepreneurial businesses, with the aim to engender economic advantages.

In this special issue, we focus on the entrepreneurial management of VC financing to help small innovative businesses develop products and bring them to market. The issue brings together academics, practitioners, researchers, and aims to deliver a reference edition for all those interested in the entrepreneurial financing.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Management of entrepreneurial financing to assist firms in the early stages of development
  • Financing innovations
  • Venture capital to support innovation and growth
  • Risk management to engender economic growth through entrepreneurship
  • Policies to help entrepreneurs take advantage of emerging ventures and establish new businesses
  • Mechanisms for replicating the economic success of US Silicon Valley
  • Alternative mechanisms to improve the venture capital industry, other than bank finance
Important Dates
1-2 Page Abstract: 15 December 2007
Submission of Manuscripts: 15 June 2008
Notification to Authors: 15 July 2008
Final Versions Due: 15 October 2008

First issue: International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions

The first issue of International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions has just been published.

It is an international refereed journal dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practical implementation of secured internet transactions and to fostering discussions on information technology evolution. It aims to provide a highly professional and comparative academic research forum that promotes collaborative excellence between academia and industry.

There is a free download of papers from this first issue.

First issue: International Journal of Business and Systems Research

The first issue of International Journal of Business and Systems Research has just been published.

With the business environment becoming global, complex and rapidly changing, organisations and companies will need new business models, strategies, and systems to compete effectively and efficiently in their respective field. International Journal of Business and Systems Research is a refereed, multidisciplinary journal for bridging the latest advances in business and systems research. It provides an international forum for presenting authoritative references, academically rigorous research, and case studies. It publishes well-written and academically validated manuscripts in both theoretical development and application research.

There is a free download of papers from this issue.

Special issue: Mathematical optimisation techniques applied to power system operation and planning

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 5(4) 2007 is a special issue: Mathematical optimisation techniques applied to power system operation and planning.

Article titles:
* Mathematical optimisation techniques applied to power system operation and planning
* Transient stability improvement by optimally located STATCOMs employing genetic algorithm
* Hydrothermal coordination using modified mixed integer hybrid differential evolution
* Fast solution technique for unit commitment by particle swarm optimisation and genetic algorithm
* Damping power system oscillations by genetically optimised PSS and TCSC controller
* Improved genetic algorithm for voltage security constrained optimal power flow problem
* Neural-based Tabu Search method for solving unit commitment problem for utility system
* An optimal energy allocation model using fuzzy linear programming for energy planning in India for the year 2020

Special issue: Design and verification of real-time embedded software

International Journal of Embedded Systems 2(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Design and verification of real-time embedded software.

Article titles:
* Applying model-driven development to distributed real-time and embedded avionics systems
* Real-time virtual machines for avionics software migration
* Scoped, coarse-grain memory management and the RTSJ scoped memory model in the development of real-time applications
* A survey of formal verification methods and tools for embedded and real-time systems
* Partitioning bin-packing algorithms for distributed real-time systems
* Performance analysis of hard-real-time embedded software
* The adaptive layer-based scheduling system for embedded real-time transmission on scalable multimedia stream
* Syntax-driven optimisations for reachable state space construction of ESTEREL programs
* The MILS architecture for high-assurance embedded systems
* LyraFILE: a component-based VFAT file system for embedded systems

Special issue: Internal and external housing environments

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 30(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Internal and external housing environments, with papers from the 2nd WHO International Housing and Health Symposium, Vilnius, Lithuania, 29th September to 1st October 2004.

Article titles:
* A pan-European housing and health survey: description and evaluation of methods and approaches
* Residential conditions and their impact on residential environment satisfaction and health: results of the WHO large analysis and review of European housing and health status (LARES) study
* Home: haven or accident black spot? A review of the causes of home accidents
* Inadequate housing and health: an overview
* Development of a rational housing model: the Lithuanian case
* An economic impact assessment of lead exposure in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, USA: making the case for statewide remediation
* Housing maintenance management: the key-factor when creating healthy environment
* Quality factors of the residential environment in urban planning
* Modelling and forecasting of a rational and sustainable development of Vilnius: emphasis on pollution
* Variability and the relationship between quality of life and real estate prices in Lithuania
* Decision support system for innovation with a special emphasis on pollution

Submitted papers:
* Spatial distribution of groundwater pollution in the Porsuk River Basin (PRB), Turkey
* An investigation of the surface and groundwater leachate from an old waste disposal site at Mamak, Ankara, Turkey
* Developing new correlations and uncertainty analysis for the prediction of ground-level and maximum ground-level concentrations
* Towards an understanding of the effect of road pollution on adjacent food crops: Zea mays as an example
* Effect of cadmium on some biomarkers in the clam Ruditapes decussatus: metallothionein quantification using two techniques

Special issue: Selected papers on emarketing from the Thirty-Fifth European Marketing Academy Conference

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising 4(1) 2007 is a special issue: Selected papers on emarketing from the Thirty-Fifth European Marketing Academy Conference, with extended versions of top-rated papers from the Conference held in Athens, Greece, 23–26 May 2006.

Article titles:
* Do resources mediate the relationships between the internet and performance in the marketing domain? Testing the role of customer orientation and brand equity
* Consumer mind-sets and attitudes towards online marketing messages
* Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in the use of the internet as a tourist information source
* Innovative products on the internet: the role of trust and perceived risk
* New insights into the acceptance of mobile internet services: a mixed-method approach
* PVRs and advertising exposure: a video ethnographic study
* Website design and e-consumer: effects and responses

Special issue: Project management and information systems evaluation in electronic business

International Journal of Electronic Business 5(4) 2007 is a special issue: Project management and information systems evaluation in electronic business.

Article titles:
* An integrated framework for managing eCRM evaluation process
* Heightened expectations for Information Systems project success: an exploratory study
* Layered and weighted methodology to Workflow evaluation
* Constructing a perceived and expected quality model between system supplier and end user to evaluate supply chain system
* The measurement of performance in IT projects
* Multi-agent-oriented approach to supply chain planning and scheduling in make-to-order manufacturing

Special issue: Indigenous cultures and diffusion of innovations

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology 6(6) 2007 is a special issue: Indigenous cultures and diffusion of innovations.

Article titles:
* Diffusion of innovations and indigenous cultures: a step towards adaptability
* Indigenous knowledge and fast moving consumer goods: are we seeing some tradeoffs?
* In search of solvency: changing agricultural governance in an ethnic minority autonomous region of southwest China
* Technology transfer for agro-industries in developing nations: a Caribbean perspective
* Forces of globalisation, dynamism and diversity in the agro-ecological production system: a study in sustainable development from a hill tribe in Western Himalayas
* Cows and kin: innovations and issues in post-Soviet indigenous communities
* Technology producers meeting indigenous users: the case of Sami network connectivity

8 August 2007

Call for papers: Human Adaptive Mechatronics (HAM)

Call for papers: Human Adaptive Mechatronics (HAM)

A special issue of International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

Mechatronics is said to be the synergetic integration of key technologies such as mechanical, electrical, control, information and other diverse technologies to achieve the useful end. It aims to study automata from an engineering perspective and to serve the purposes of controlling advanced engineering systems. Mechatronics has not only improved the efficiency of industry but also contributed to make the human life more comfortable.

The improvement in human-machine interfaces has made advanced intelligent machines possible without special education and training. Such intelligent machines with advanced human-machine interfaces are typical examples of mechatronics. In order that these human-mechatronics systems can achieve high performance, the human-machine function should adapt to the skill-levels of the user and especially include the ability to assist in improving their skills.

Mechatronics that not only adapts to the level of the skill or dexterity but also assists users to improve their skills should be developed. The total mechatronics system including human performance must be studied. Such study is entitled “Human Adaptive Mechatronics” which is a new discipline of the synergetic integration of mechanical, electrical, information technology and human sciences, including aspects of medical science and psychology.

This special issue aims to provide the current a perspective on Human Adaptive Mechatronics, including fundamental aspects of the theory, illustrative applications and associated technologies.

Papers on the following topics on Human Adaptive Mechtronics include but are not limited to:
  • Fundamental theory of human adaptive mechatronics
  • Contributions to supporting modelling and control methodologies
  • Identification of human behavior and operation
  • Human intelligence, learning, and understanding including cognition
  • Assistive robotics and mechatronics
  • Human-machine, computer and mechatronics interface
  • Medical applications of human adaptive mechatronics
  • Sensors and actuators in human adaptive mechatronics
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 1 November 2007
Notification of the Initial Decision: 10 December 2007
Notification of Acceptance: 10 January 2008
Final Manuscript submission: 1 February 2008

7 August 2007

Call for papers: Design and Management Within New Product Development Projects

Call for papers: Design and Management Within New Product Development Projects

A special issue of International Journal of Design Engineering

New product development (NPD) projects constitute one of the key success factors of firms. It is therefore necessary to manage them as efficiently as possible in order to deliver successful products on time and to budget; and assess risks in NPD processes. Many NPD projects deviate from their initial target due to modifications or changes to customer needs as well as internal or external constraints. Other NPD projects may be simply stopped due to uncontrolled parameters and unidentified constraints arising from various processes within the NPD project such as the product design process or the supply chain design, and through identification of the most relevant network of partners and networking or the NPD project management by itself.

Researchers from a number of different communities have been addressing these problems. While research has yielded rich results, providing new insights and effective tools and techniques, the research is still fragmented. Academics have begun working to bring these parallel processes together since the mid-90s but further research is required before providing satisfactory answers of these real problems.

The main idea of this special issue is to gather original research results which will foster more efficient new product development projects by focusing mainly on the coupling of internal and external processes of NPD projects.

Topics of relevance include, but are not limited to, NDP and related issues in the following subject areas:
  • Choice and management of partners of an NPD project
  • 3D concurrent engineering
  • Product design
  • Engineering design
  • Product development project management
  • Design of network of partners
  • Product design management
  • Change management
  • Innovative and collaborative design
  • Product strategy
  • Strategic planning
Important Dates
Submission of papers: 15 April 2008
First decision notification: 15 June 2008
Submission of revised papers: 15 September 2008
Final decision notification: 15 October2008

Special issue: Perspectives in energy technology

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 5(3) 2007 is a special issue: Perspectives in energy technology.

Article titles:
* Solar thermal power plants for the Spanish electricity market
* Increasing of the quality of energy from stochastic fluctuating sources using dynamic power conditioning
* Polygeneration-IGCC concepts for the production of hydrogen rich fuels based on lignite
* Biofuel from algae – photobiological hydrogen production and CO2-fixation
* Adiabatic compressed air energy storage plants for efficient peak load power supply from wind energy: the European project AA-CAES
* Combined fuel cell–gas turbine plant for highly efficient power generation from renewable energy sources
* How sustainable are our energy technologies? Photovoltaics and wind energy systems as examples
* The viessmann domestic fuel cell energy centre in its trial phase
* Combined cycles for CO2-capture with high efficiency
* Energy technologies for rural areas – decentralised power generation through MARKAL modelling: a case study
* The 700°C steam turbine power plant – status of development and outlook
* Pressurised pulverised coal combustion – a coal-based combined-cycle state of the cooperative project: cleaned flue gas matches specifications for use with gas turbines

Special issue: Australia-Brazil bio-nanotechnology

International Journal of Nanotechnology 4(5) 2007 is a special issue: Australia-Brazil bio-nanotechnology, with papers from the first Australia-Brazil Bio-Nanotechnology Conference (ABBINTech 2006) held in Brisbane (Australia) 27–28 March 2006.

Article titles:
* Structural model of polymeric nanospheres containing indomethacin ethyl ester and in vivo antiedematogenic activity
* Energetics for gas separation in microporous membranes
* Spin pumping with quantum dots
* Impact of controlled particle size nanofillers on the mechanical properties of segmented polyurethane nanocomposites
* Molecular structure reorganisation of Fe-, Co- and Ni-phthalocyanines upon milling
* Preparation of monodisperse functionalised superparamagnetic nanoparticles
* Role of interactions in layered nanorings
* The location of Ti atom in sodium alanate: an ab initio spin-polarised study
* Dense TiO2 thin film: photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties
* Controllable cathodic electrodeposition of cobalt films and their electrochemical behaviour
* Proton conductive composite membranes
* Nanomanipulation and characterisation of individual nano-objects inside a SEM
* Shortened double-walled carbon nanotubes by high-energy ball milling

Call for papers: Adaptive Neural Control Techniques with Engineering Applications

Call for papers: Adaptive Neural Control Techniques with Engineering Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

This special issue focuses on nonlinear systems modelling and control techniques with engineering applications using neural networks. Original research articles covering either theoretical contributions such as learning convergence, robustness issue in modelling and control, and closed-loop systems stability analysis, or successful real-world applications in control engineering and computer networking management, but not limited to these domains, are highly appreciated and solicited.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Architecture and learning techniques - new neural network models and advanced learning algorithms that fit systems modelling and adaptive control
  • Convergence analysis for nonlinear systems modelling and identification - persistence conditions, structure and weights convergence
  • Robustness issues in learning algorithms and control strategies - effects of parameters perturbations in both learning process and controller design
  • Stability analysis - Under realistic assumptions to carry out this performance analysis
  • Applications - successful examples in control engineering, computer networking management, and other domains
Important Date
Submission deadline : 17 May 2008

Call for papers: Telehealthcare System Implementation, Challenges and Issues

Call for papers: Telehealthcare System Implementation, Challenges and Issues

A special issue of International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management

The promotion of telemedicine will contribute to the availability of high quality medical services to the needy, irrespective of socioeconomic and geographical disparity. With the advances in technology, the delivery of healthcare to even remote locations has become feasible through methods such as telemedicine interoperability and interconnection.

Setting up a telemedicine centre is always a critical component of any telemedicine project. This special issue will focus on the positive and encouraging aspects of telemedicine. The focus will be on whether the implementation and use of this facility are smooth and flawless. There are the inevitable difficulties associated with the introduction of new systems and technologies.

Being dependent on the synergy of information technology, medical devices, connectivity, communication technology and medical manware, the implementation and operational management can be complex and prone to failure, if not planned well. This issue briefly touches upon the different systems and elements in the telemedicine network and considerations in their selection which touches the issues involved in telemedicine implementation.

The issue will provide an overview of the different challenges and issues in the implementation of telemedicine systems and networks, which can be categorised under technical, managerial, ethical, legal and financial aspects and need to be addressed systematically for establishing a successful telemedicine network.

Authors are requested to submit manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:
  • Issues and challenges of telehealthcare implementation in rural and remote places.
  • Healthcare technology management and technology assessment in rural and remote places.
  • Funding and self sustenance of telehealthcare implementations
  • Strategic planning for successful implementation of healthcare and healthcare technology (HC/HCT)
  • Human resource management in telehealthcare
  • Cost and operability considerations in telehealthcare technology
  • Safety, security and confidentiality in telehealthcare technology
  • Acceptance and awareness of telehealthcare technology by patients and doctors.
  • Innovations in revenue model for sustenance of telehealthcare implementations
Important Dates
Deadline for submission of full paper: 3 November, 2007
Final acceptance/rejection notification: 3 December, 2007
Deadline for submitting revised manuscripts: 15 December, 2007

4 August 2007

Call for papers: Optimisation Techniques in Manufacturing Processes

Call for papers: Optimisation Techniques in Manufacturing Processes

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

Manufacturing engineers are involved with the process of manufacturing from planning to packaging of the finished product. In this world of global competition, manufacturing processes need continuous improvement to cater the demand of increasing productivity, flexibility and quality of the product. The need for dimensional accuracy, superior mechanical and surface properties of the product has imposed a major change in the manufacturing industries.

The manufacturers are therefore under pressure to improve their productivity by automating the production system and optimising their process parameters to achieve maximum efficiency and quality. This state of affairs demands application of different optimisation techniques in the manufacturing processes to figure out methods and systems to produce in an efficient and cost-effective way and provide a marketing edge for the final product.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to the area of application of optimisation techniques in the manufacturing processes. Special interest will be on applications of new and advanced (soft computational) techniques of optimisation, viz. genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks, simulated annealing, ant colony optimisation, particle swarm optimisation etc. in the domain of single or multi-objective optimisation.

Topics covered by this special issue include, but are not limited to, applications of classical as well as modern optimisation techniques in the following manufacturing processes:
  • Material synthesis
  • Net shape forming
  • Deformation processes: drawing and stretching
  • Traditional and non-traditional machining
  • Joining, rapid prototyping, layered and composite manufacturing
  • Manufacturing of semiconductors
  • Emerging manufacturing technologies of nano and biomaterials
  • Manufacturing of alternative energy sources
Important Dates
Submission: 30 September 2008
Decision: 31 October 2008
Revised manuscripts: 31 December 2008

1 August 2007

Call for papers: Web Intelligence and Applications

Call for papers: Web Intelligence and Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Intelligent Information and Database Systems

Web intelligence explores the fundamental roles as well as practical impacts of artificial intelligence and advanced information technology on the next generation of web-related products, systems, and activities. As a direction for scientific research and development, web intelligence can be extremely beneficial for the field of artificial intelligence in many areas, such as e-learning, e-commerce, e-government and so on. Web intelligence is regarded as the key research field for the development of the wisdom web (including the semantic web).

This special issue on web intelligence provides an opportunity for international researchers and to present web intelligence technologies, to examine performance characteristics of various approaches in web-based intelligent information technology, and to cross-fertilize ideas on the development of web-based intelligent information systems among different domains. It will capture new models, new methodologies and new tools for building a variety of embodiments of web-based intelligent information systems. We also welcome web intelligence innovation applications.

Papers should address research questions in the area, including but not limited to the following topics:
  • Knowledge grids and grid intelligence
  • Semantics and ontology engineering
  • Social networks and social intelligence
  • Ubiquitous computing and web agents
  • Web information filtering and retrieval
  • Web mining and farming
  • Web security, integrity, privacy and trust
  • Web services and grid services
  • Web support systems
  • World wide wisdom web
  • Intelligent e-technology
  • Web application (e-learning, e-business, e-government, physical training and evaluation)
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 30 November 2007
First Notification: 30 January 2008
Second Notification: 30 March 2008
Final manuscript due: 30 June 2008