Browsing by Author "Luokkala, Pekka"

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Kontekstisidonnainen informaatio kaupunginjohtoa tukevassa tilannekuvajärjestelmässä
(2011) Sorvari, Olli Oskari
School of Engineering | Master's thesis
The goal of this research was to create a product concept for a certain company. With the help of this conceptual model the company tries to develop a better geographic information system to support civic leaders in their decision making. The purpose of the research is to present the required theories and terms, which can be utilized in the company's product development and marketing. This research has been carried out by using the Delphi-method. The research is based on the assumption that the city is a system which consists of different subsystems and their interactions. The result of this study is a conceptual model, in which the city and its management are viewed as a two-level system model. These levels consist of the physical city system and the managing intellectual city system. In this model the decision making in the intellectual city system is supported with the informational system which describes the situation in the physical city system. Such a description is called a situational picture. The intellectual system of the model is defined to consist of constant subsystems (Silos) and temporary subsystems (contexts) which form around the Silos when they interact. The model emphasizes the importance of creating the situational picture directly to the context. The model provides the required theoretical backgrounds and terminology for the company's product development and marketing. Thus it helps the company in implementing a more advantaged situational picture system to support city management.
Knowledge visualization in spatial analysis
(2011) Hall, Andreas
School of Engineering | Master's thesis
Knowledge visualization is a research direction that examines the use of visual representations to improve the transfer and creation of knowledge between people. In this study, knowledge visualization was applied to the spatial analysis process in order to develop knowledge representations for the capture, storage and reuse of knowledge input throughout the spatial analysis process. Focus was on improving the transparency of analysis results by developing ways to visualize the knowledge input of the analyst. The research was motivated by a need for these kinds of visualizations both in the scientific community in general and in the Geomatics research group at Aalto University where this study was realized. First a literature review was done and then the findings were applied to spatial analysis in a case study. In the case study, an example of the spatial analysis process was investigated in detail. The knowledge input was identified and an outline for the visualization of the knowledge input was introduced. Two specific knowledge visualization methods were developed: sketches on top of reasoning artefacts and a variant of the causal graph. In addition to these, a conceptual design of a user interface for the reuse of the recorded knowledge was suggested. Findings show that knowledge visualization has big potential for application in spatial analysis and can be used in developing knowledge representations for the capture, storage and reuse of knowledge input throughout the spatial analysis process. Tacit spatial knowledge can be made explicit by drawing sketches on top of maps while causal graphs allow the reasoning behind an analysis to be studied and traced back to its origin. The nature of the knowledge input in the case study is also discussed. The fact that knowledge visualizations have big potential in the management of knowledge in spatial analysis motivates future research on the subject.
Jaetut kontekstit METO-yhteistyössä
(2009) Luokkala, Pekka
Helsinki University of Technology | Master's thesis
Social contexts and narratives in knowledge management for situational awareness
(2017) Luokkala, Pekka
School of Engineering | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)
Crises require a quick and effective response performed by the response organization in order to minimize the negative consequences of the crisis, such as societal and economic costs and the number of deaths. The response actors and the response organization have to create and share situational information and to achieve situational awareness (SA). These goals are usually supported by information systems, such as common operational pictures (COP). However, the information systems also have problems which impede the user's achievement of SA: information overload and the complexity of the situational information. The problem of information overload refers to the challenges involved in perceiving the relevant situational information when a large amount of information are created and shared. The problem of the complexity of the situational information refers to the challenges involved in the comprehension of how the elements of situational information constitute an overall picture of the situation when put together. Reducing these problems would make the response more effective and reduce the negative effects of the crisis. The main goal of this research is to reduce the problems of information overload and the complexity of the situational information in a crisis response. This research focuses on: 1) how SA is created both at the individual and organizational levels in the interactions that occur in a decentralized manner in several parts of the response organization and 2) how to reduce the problems of information overload and the complexity of the situational information. The analysis part of the research process includes data collection from four case studies and literature research. The design part includes developing a concept of a context-aware common operational picture (CACOP). The methods used in the development of the CACOP concept are conceptual and theoretical research and analogical reasoning in which human cognition is imitated. The demonstration of the conceptual solution is developed in a case study where the situational information relates to critical infrastructure failures. The CACOP concept potentially reduces the above-mentioned problems. Based on the analysis of response organizations, SA is created in the form of a situational narrative in social contexts. In contrast to the many traditional COPs, the CACOP concept is developed on the basis of the analysis of the response organization from the perspective of knowledge management. CACOP identifies the context and supports the user in perceiving the elements of situational information relevant in that context and combining the elements of the situational information into the form of a situational narrative. Situational narratives support the CACOP user's comprehension of the overall picture of the situation.