1.1 Scope This paper deals with the following subjects: 1. Introduction 2. Feasibility study definition in IT 3. Forming a feasibility study team 4. The feasibility study work 5. The feasibility study report 6. Discussion 1.2 Information Technology (IT) Information was defined as anything sensed by at least one of the human senses and that may change the level of his knowledge. The information may be true or false, sent by premeditation or generated by coincidence, needed by the interceptor or intended to create new needs. The creation of the information may be very costly or free of charge....

This state-of-the-art tutorial overview of computer-aided verification, hybrid systems, and publicly available tools for design and verification is based on a NATO workshop. It has two parts. Part 1 addresses the basics of computer-aided verification of discrete event systems from two perspectives: automated theorem proving and model checking. In model checking, the essential problem of computational complexity is addressed, and the basic heuristics for dealing with this problem are presented. Part 2 formulates and classifies hybrid systems that capture continuous dynamics interacting with...

This volume, arising from a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Greece in 1997, surveys latest research on computational electromagnetics and its applications. It presents the fundamental methods developed in the last 30 years as well as applications and comparisons of the various methods. Seven parts cover the following topics: integral equation techniques and method of moments solutions, finite element and boundary element techniques, finite difference time domain methods, transmission line methods, inverse scattering problems, semi-analytical and special numerical techniques, and...

This high-level collection of invited tutorial papers and contributed papers is based on a NATO workshop held in 1997. It surveys and discusses the latest techniques in the field of speech science and technology with a view to working toward a unifying theory of speech pattern processing. The tutorials presenting significant leading-edge research are a valuable resource for researchers and others wishing to extend their knowledge of the field. Most of the papers are sorted into two groups, approaching respectively from the acoustic and the linguistic perspectives. The acoustic papers include...

Issues relating to the emergence, persistence, and stability of cooperation among social agents of every type are widely recognized to be of paramount importance. They are also analytically difficult and intellectually challenging. This book, arising from a NATO Advanced Study Institute held at SUNY in 1994, is an up-to-date presentation of the contribution of game theory to the subject. The contributors are leading specialists who focus on the problem from the many different angles of game theory, including axiomatic bargaining theory, the Nash program of non-cooperative foundations, game...

Modern information processing systems show such complex properties as distribution, parallelism, interaction, time dependency, and nondeterminism. For critical applications, mathematical methods are needed to model the systems and to support their development and validation. Impressive progress in mathematical methods for programming software systems makes it possible to think about unifying the different approaches. This book gives a comprehensive overview of existing methods and presents some of the most recent results in applying them. The main topics are: advanced programming techniques,...

This volume presents the results of the capstone workshop in the NATO Special Programme on Advanced Educational Technology. It provides a state-of-the-art description, as well as a vision, of how technology can be used to enhance the learning experience. All the authors are active researchers or implementors of advanced educational technology systems. The book is also unique in that it provides an international perspective on how educational systems can be redesigned to take advantage of nascent information technologies. A clear consensus is presented with a focus on how technology-based...

Biology education, like science education in general, is in the midst of a revolution that is worldwide in scope. The changes in the ways science education researchers think about learning and understanding represent a major paradigm shift. In this book, international leaders in the field of biology education research give summaries of problems and solutions in biology learning and teaching at various grade levels. Based on a NATO workshop in the Special Programme on Advanced Educational Technology, it provides practical information for teachers, especially in using new interactive,...

Microcomputer-based labs, the use of real-time data capture and display in teaching, give the learner new ways to explore and understand the world. As this book shows, the international effort over a quarter-century to develop and understand microcomputer-based labs (MBL) has resulted in a rich array of innovative implementations and some convincing evidence for the value of computers for learning. The book is a sampler of MBL work by an outstanding international group of scientists and educators, based on papers they presented at a seminar held as part of the NATO Special Programme on...

Deductive program design aims at methods that guide and support the development of programs by techniques of deduction. Deduction is a well-known subject of study in logical theories. However, the application of deductive techniques in program design needs methods, heuristics, and understanding of the required forms and formats of the development result that go far beyond those found in logical theories. The summer school presents a very broad spectrum of approaches to these issues. Edsger W. Dijkstra gives a number of beautiful examples that show how to design proofs. Samson Abramsky, Simon...