Keynote Speakers

Martin Hepp

The Semantic Web Through Business Information Systems Glasses

The Semantic Web vision is already much more than a buzzword. Within the past five years, various research communities and early industrial adopters have brought to maturity a comprehensive set of foundational technology components, and this both at the conceptual level and in the form of prototypes and software However, in order for these research achievements to materialize into large scale corporate applications, they must be complemented by prototypes, methods, and best practices which support enterprises in the adoption of Semantic Web technology.

The talk introduces the vision and core components of the Semantic Web, illustrates how it can be applied to typical Business Information Systems challenges, in particular in ERP-centric IT landscapes, and discusses the open research and implementation issues that need to be solved prior to the broad diffusion of semantic technology into BIS as a discipline.

Slides are available [here]

About the Speaker

Dr. Martin Hepp is a Senior Researcher at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at the University of Innsbruck in Innsbruck, Austria, where he heads the research cluster “Semantics in Business Information Systems”. He created eClassOWL, the first industry-strength ontology for products and services and is currently working on using Semantic Web technology for Business Process Management and Business Intelligence. Before joining DERI, he was an Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems at Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers (FL) and a Visiting Scientist with the e-Business Solutions Group at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory. Martin holds a Master’s degree in Business Management and Business Information Systems and a Ph.D. in Business Information Systems from the University of Würzburg (Germany).

Contact him at mhepp@computer.org or check http://www.heppnetz.de.

Janice Sipior

Biography

Janice C. Sipior is Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Villanova University, an Augustinian university located in Pennsylvania, USA. Her academic experience also includes faculty positions at Canisius College, USA; University of North Carolina, USA; Moscow State Linguistic University, Russia; and University of Warsaw, Poland. She was previously employed in computer planning at HSBC (Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank Corporation).

Her research interests include ethical and legal aspects of information technology, system development strategies, and knowledge management. Her research has been published in over 65 refereed journals, international conference proceedings, and books.

She is Chair of the Association for Computing Machinery - Special Interest Group on Management Information Systems (ACM-SIGMIS) and serves as a Senior Editor of Data Base, an Associate Editor of Information Resources Management Journal, and Editorial Board Member of Information Systems Management.

Abstract: Ethical & Social Responsibility Issues of Information Technology Use

Organizations have a responsibility to protect online consumer privacy and organizational proprietary information while ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. However, the explosive growth of internet use for business has brought about an escalation of concerns including consumer confidence in online business activities, threats to data integrity, legal liability, and risk of financial loss from sources categorized as both external and internal to the organization. These, andother types of risks result in ever-increasing threats to organizations.

Organizations must formulate a strategic response to oversee internet privacy concerns. This entails formulating, or reformulating, an expressed internet use policy, undertaking on-going training and other means to maintain awareness of issues, monitoring internal sources, implementing defenses against external sources, and securing adequate liability insurance. The effectiveness of this strategic response would be determined by assessing current operations, implementing proactive measures to reduce potential misuse, and continuously keeping abreast of technological advances, legislative and regulatory initiatives, and new areas of vulnerability.