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Publication Open Access The Role of Social Capital and ICTs in Inter-Organizational Collaboration in a Developing Economy: An Empirical Study of the Finance Industry in Sri Lanka(Curtin University, 2017-09) Nawinna, Dasuni PriyanwadaIn the contemporary world of business, organizations cannot rely solely on their internal strengths to survive. Forming inter-organizational partnerships is becoming one of the most popular strategies available to an organization to share risks, resources and other capabilities with partners. Collaborative business strategies are especially beneficial in the emerging economies where organizations are constrained with lack of resources, technology, skills and infrastructure. Accordingly, explaining why and how some organizations do better in inter-organizational relationships (IORs) than others is a dominant challenge in the study of IORs. Social capital (SC) is an influential concept in understanding why and how some organizations do better in inter-organizational relationships. It is recognized as an important factor in developing relationships of trust, forming the foundation for greater collaboration and successful collective action. Social capital is a multi-dimensional, relational concept that turns into a powerful tool when combined with the network analysis approach and tools to study inter-organizational relationships such as alliances and joint ventures or collaborations of any form. While social capital has been found to support different firm-level value creations, such as creation of intellectual capital, resource exchange, innovation, knowledge sharing and performance, it has significance as the basis for the development of stakeholder relationships, which are essential to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is touted as a key enabler of both organizational performance and of sustainable development, which are also essential for developing economies. Information Systems (IS) researchers have increasingly become interested in exploring social capital in relation to Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). It is evident that social capital and ICT are mutually complementary in the interorganizational-level. While the role of social capital in the development or acceptance of ICTs and the role of ICTs in the formation of Social Capital is widely explored, the combined effect of SC and ICT on the IOR in developing contexts remains unexplored. Very little is known about the effect of ICT enabled Social Capital in the inter-bank context. The aim of this empirical research is to develop a model of how ICT-enabled social capital affects inter-bank strategic collaboration in a developing context, Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the multiple dimensions of social capital influence the strategic collaboration in the Sri Lankan banking context, and the enabling role of ICTs. In order to accomplish this objective, the researcher uses quantitative techniques, the structural modelling approach combined with network measurements. Data is gathered through a survey of high-level management of banks and from public sources such as annual reports and web sites. The network analysis tools (e.g. ORA) and the statistical analysis methods (PLS-SEM) and tools (e.g. SmartPLS) have been used to derive results. The results of this study suggest that structural, relational dimensions of social capital have a positive influence towards the degree of strategic collaboration of banks. It is also evident that higher ICT capabilities at the firm-level strengthen the effect of cognitive social capital on collaboration. The results of the other moderation tests indicate that firm-size, age, gender-ratio of directors, ownership, geographic spread, culture, organization structure and previous experience strengthen the effect of social capital on strategic collaboration. The results of further analysis indicate that the structural social capital is influential for the corporate social responsibility of banking organizations. Both the inter-organizational collaboration and the corporate social responsibility yield higher financial performance at the firm-level. The study also provides evidence that the use of network measurements as the indicators of social capital provides better predictability in comparison to regular indicators. These findings provide a valuable contribution to the theory of social capital, literature on ICT for development and and network theory, contributing to a more holistic perspective that incorporates social, technical and organizational aspects and provides insights useful for building effective strategies in similar developing contexts.Publication Open Access Realtime line parameter estimation using synchrophasor measurements and impact of sampling rates(Wichita State University, 2016) Hettiarachchige-Don, A. C. SThe installation of synchrophasor measurement units within the electrical grid system have provided utilities with the ability to monitor their transmission system in real time. These real time observations allow for better situational awareness and rapid responses to adverse system conditions. However, the real time impedance of the powerline is not one of the parameters that is transmitted to the control center and therefore, has to be calculated using the data received from multiple devices. This thesis proposes a simplified methodology for this analysis that requires lower computation power in comparison to most other proposed estimation techniques. Hence, this methodology is able to produce accurate results faster and by using a smaller quantity of stored data. Due to these reasons, this methodology can be implemented to provide near real time estimation and reporting of impedance values. For the purposes of this research, only the reactance information will be calculated but a similar approach can be used to obtain resistance information as well. The methodology consists of an algorithm to calculate and estimate the reactance of a line using the reported PMU data. It includes an outlier detection and elimination algorithm as well as a denoising technique that makes use of regularized least square estimation to accurately estimate the reactance over the analysis period. The methodology proposed is tested using real synchrophasor measurement data from a utility provider. The proposed mythology can easily be adapted and applied for the estimation and calculation of other parameters using PMU data.Publication Open Access Dynamic line parameter estimation using Synchrophasor Measurements(Wichita State University, 2021-05) Hettiarachchige-Don, A. C. SThe worldwide push towards a more intelligent, connected and reliable electric power delivery system has led to the propagation of a wide range of new technologies and ideas within the power grid infrastructure. Thus, the power grid is becoming more adaptable to changes and more reliable under distress. However, these benefits are only possible with vastly improved observability in the system. The traditional methods and technologies for grid monitoring were simply too slow and newer, faster and more accurate monitoring technologies became essential over the turn of the century. With the advancement of micro processing and communication technologies at an incredibly fast pace, this became possible in the form of smart monitoring devices. These devices include Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), smart meters for homes and, at the transmission level, the use of Synchrophasor Measurement Units (PMUs). Over the past decade, transmission utilities were quick to adopt these PMU networks and they are now common among most major utilities. Compared to traditional monitoring systems, PMUs provide information at a much higher resolution and have the advantage of being time synchronized. The benefits of these networks are numerous, but they are not without certain drawbacks. PMU devices only report some basic system parameters from the field. While these are useful on their own, it is possible to use this data, in combination with other information, to extrapolate additional parameters about the grid. However, in this process, inherent errors present in PMU estimated data become an issue and renders the results of this extrapolated information unusable. In this work, of particular focus from these additional parameters is transmission line resistance. The fundamental cause of error will be investigated, and this knowledge will be applied to create a correction algorithm to output corrected transmission line resistance estimates that are more useful to utilities for a range of auxiliary applications such as dynamic line rating, determination of line sag, and conductor temperature estimation. This advancement would allow utilities to compound the economic benefits of their investment in PMU networks.Publication Open Access Investigating the enabling role of web 2.0 technology for interactive e-learning in australian and sri lankan higher education(RMIT University, 2015) Karunasena, AInteractions are at the heart of e-learning as they enable learners to actively develop knowledge, acquire skills and develop the sense of belonging and satisfaction. Much attention is paid on developing interactive e-learning systems for facilitating active interactions between learners and learning resources, instructors and peer learners. Numerous technologies such as simulation technology and Web 2.0 technology are used to facilitate interactive e-learning to date. Those technologies support learners to interact with learning resources, instructors and peer learners to different extents. To facilitate interactive e-learning, it is important for educators and e-learning developers to understand how well technologies as above support interactions in e-learning. Web 2.0 technology has become popular around the world recently due to their ease of use, portability and high availability. Much research has been done on how Web 2.0 technology could be used for interactive e-learning. Existing research, however, has several limitations. For example, a majority of research has investigated how a specific Web 2.0 tool supports a specific kind of interactions in e-learning such as learner-learner interaction. Furthermore, much of existing research on Web 2.0 based interactive e-learning is conducted in developed countries. Whether Web 2.0 technology supports interactive e-learning in developing countries in a similar manner to developed countries, or whether developing countries could learn lessons from developed countries on using Web 2.0 technology for interactive e-learning are, therefore, not clear. This research aims to investigate the enabling role of Web 2.0 technology for interactive e-learning in higher education in Australia, a developed country and Sri Lanka, a developing country. To meet this aim, a quantitative research approach is adopted. Following this research approach, a conceptual framework on Web 2.0 based interactive e-learning developed based on a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, is validated using the survey data collected from learners in universities in Australia and Sri Lanka. The validation of the conceptual framework reveals that Web 2.0 technology supports the three major types of interactions in learning, namely, learner-learning resources, learner-instructor and learner-learner interactions in both Australia and Sri Lanka to a great extent. Furthermore, no significant differences are found on how Web 2.0 technology supports interactive e-learning in the above countries. The implication of these findings is that Web 2.0 tools could be used to improve the interactivity of e-learning. Another implication of this research is that new and more interactive e-learning systems can be developed by using Web 2.0 technology, in particular, for the purposes of managing learning resources, managing personal knowledge, delivering instructional support and collaborating in order to improve the effectiveness of e-learning. From a practical perspective, this study presents an in-depth investigation of how Web 2.0 technology can be used for improving the interactivity of e-learning in Australia and Sri Lanka. It also provides specific guidelines for developing interactive e-learning environments using Web 2.0 technology. From a theoretical perspective, this research finds that Web 2.0 technology could be used in developing countries and developed countries to improve the three major interactions in e-learning.Publication Open Access Synthesis, characterization and applications of metal nanoparticles supported on porous carbon(ProQuest LLC, 2017) Thambiliyagodage, C. JPorous carbon incorporating metal nanoparticles has been synthesized by nanocasting. The main two methods of synthesis were used: the formation of nanoparticles during the carbonization of carbon, and the formation of nanoparticles by metal precursor infiltration and reduction on porous carbon. The catalytic activity of nickel nanoparticles incorporated onto hierarchically porous carbon monoliths for the reduction of p-nitrophenol was studied. p-Quinoimine was identified as the stable intermediate. Catalytic graphitization of monolithic hierarchically porous carbon by iron, cobalt and nickel nanoparticles was investigated. The catalytic graphitization of amorphous carbon increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature. Iron was capable of graphitizing carbon more effectively than cobalt and nickel, with cobalt being higher in activity than nickel. Oxygen and nitrogen rich mesoporous carbon were used to support gold nanoparticles and their catalytic activity was investigated for oxidation of benzyl alcohol in water. The catalysts showed significant catalytic activity, but loss of activity were found, resulting in decreasing conversion of benzyl alcohol on subsequent cycles.Publication Open Access “AccessBIM” - A Model of Environmental Characteristics for Vision Impaired Indoor Navigation and Way Finding(Curtin University, 2018-06) Jayakody, AThe navigation of indoor and outdoor environments play a pivotal role in the daily routine of humans. Navigation systems that provide path planning and exploration services for outdoor environments are readily available while navigation within a building is still a challenge due to limited information availability and the poor quality of GPS signals, which makes it difficult to capture characteristics within the indoor environment. Consequently, the use of GPS tracking devices for real-time map generation is not feasible. Indoor navigation is particularly difficult for people with vision impairment. According to the factsheet of the World Health Organization (WHO) as of October 2017, over 253 million people are estimated to be vision impaired: 36 million to be blind, and 217 to have poor vision. Currently, most blind and vision-impaired individuals use the white cane as an assistive tool and are often accompanied by care takers or voluntary helpers. Most modern indoor environments consist of complex architectural structures with varying arrangement of physical objects. Since retrieving indoor location information has been challenging for the vision impaired, it would be helpful if spatial information of doors, walls and staircases were made available. To address the above-mentioned problem, this thesis presents an improved schema design, an Accessible Building Information Model (AccessBIM) which could be used for generating an indoor map that could instruct vision impaired individuals in navigation, by the classification of real world objects and their locations. AccessBIM is a real-time relational database, which acts as the main component of the central system implemented to manipulate crowdsourced data such as the floor plan and architectural data along with semantic information within the built environment. The AccessBIM database stores information on the indoor arrangement of objects within buildings to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of real-time information. The database is equipped with an optimization algorithm that reduces the query execution time with the support of indexing, query re-writing, schema redesigning and a memory optimization technique introduced as “BIMcache”. vi In order to create a real-time map, the AccessBIM manipulates crowdsourced data from “smart devices” or AccessBIM users. The collection and storage of crowdsourced data, database optimization, API functions and the map construction algorithms were tested using a simulated test engine. The AccessBIM framework has the potential to play an integral role in assistive technologies related to localization and mapping, thus significantly improving the independence and quality of life for people with vision impairment whilst also decreasing the cost to the community related to support workersPublication Open Access Reinforcement learning based trust framework for MANET environment(Curtin University, 2018) Rupasinghe, LMobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANET) are design and implemented without the need for any infrastructure support. The properties of MANET inherently provide greater challenges in areas like security and reliability. This thesis presents three security protocols which were developed for addressing the MANET security needs. A novel trust calculation methodology and intelligent secure route prediction was designed to an existing MANET routing protocol. These protocols will help to implement a trustworthy MANET, providing a dynamic and secure environment.Publication Open Access Human gait modelling with step estimation and phase classification utilising a single thigh mounted IMU for vision impaired indoor navigation(Curtin University, 2016) Abhayasinghe, NThis research is focused on human gait modelling for infrastructure free inertial navigation for vision impaired. A pedometer based on a single thigh mounted gyroscope, an efficient algorithm to estimate thigh flexion and extension, gait models for level walking, a model to estimate step length and a technique to detect gait phases based on a single thigh mounted Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) were developed and confirmed higher accuracies.Publication Open Access Enhanced Content Navigation Using Edge Routers in Content Delivery Network(Keio University Japan, 2016-08) Wijekoon, JThe Internet can be defined as a network composed of geographically dispersed servers and clients. In principle, clients request content from servers, and the servers respond to the requests by sending the requested content to the clients. The content should be navigated among networks, and certain rules and methods have been developed to achieve optimized navigation. Navigation is definable as the process of finding a destination and reaching that destination using a preferable route. Hence, the main challenges for achieving content navigation on the Internet can be summarized in the following two directions: 1) to determine and select service points and 2) to route users to selected service points. The need for optimized content delivery accelerates the development of the Internet by proposing content delivery networks (CDNs). CDNs use content cache servers within Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks …Publication Open Access Development and testing of a high speed hydraulic manipulator with single time scale visual servoing(Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2014) Liyanage, M. HAutomation of production processes has enabled to meet the dramatic demand for manufactured products that has grown out of the increase in world population. In existing industries greater production requirements and improvement in product quality call for faster industrial robots. This study details the design and development of a high-speed visual servoing system for industrial applications. The proposed visual servoing system consists of a high speed robotic manipulator, a high-speed camera system and an embedded controller. The proposed robotic manipulator has the configuration of a Selective Compliant Assembly Robotic Arm (SCARA). It uses two custom-designed double vane rotary hydraulic actuators for driving the links of the robot. The SCARA system was mathematically modeled and simulated. Based on the simulation results, the hydraulic actuators were sized for optimal performance. A prototype actuator was subsequently designed, manufactured and experimentally evaluated. The test results show that the proposed actuator is capable of reaching torques of up to 460 Nm in 30 ms with a payload of 12 kg. This is not possible with electric motors of similar size. Then the proposed SCARA was designed and fabricated using the proposed actuators. The end effector of this manipulator was capable of reaching velocities of up to 2.7 ms⁻¹ with a payload of 5.3 kg. Comparable performance is not feasible with contemporary SCARA type robots. The proposed robot was designed for handling payloads up to 15 kg with speeds of up to 2 ms⁻¹. This often results in flexing of the links and twisting of the support column, adding external disturbances to the system. A high-speed camera system was designed and built to obtain the position of the end effector as feedback for the controller. It uses a two dimensional Position Sensitive Detector as the image sensor. An electronic circuit was designed and built for signal conditioning and data acquisition from the Position Sensitive Detector. It was then calibrated to account for non-linearities on the image sensor. The camera was constructed using this Position Sensitive Detector circuit, a lens and an infra red filter.It was then calibrated to estimate the extrinsic and intrinsic parameters. This camera was capable of carrying out measurements at frequencies of up to 1350 Hz. The measurements made by this camera produced an average absolute accuracy of 0.31 mm and 0.37 mm in x and y directions, respectively. A Field Programmable Gate Array was used in this study as the platform for developing an embedded controller for the robot. Using contemporary Field Programmable Gate Array technology, a powerful virtual processor can be synthesized and integrated with custom hardware to create a dedicated controller that out performs some of the conventional microcontroller and microprocessor based designs. The Field Programmable Gate Array based controller takes advantage of both hardware features and virtual processor technology. The input, output interfaces for this controller were implemented using hardware. Complex functions that are difficult to be implemented in hardware were implemented using a virtual soft processor. Four different types of controllers were implemented and tested. These include hardware proportional-derivative, software proportional-derivative, single time scale visual servoing and set point modification type controllers. The proposed implementation carried out single time scale visual servoing at frequencies of up to 330 Hz.