Modelado de estrategias de personalización en OO-H

The consideration of personalization politics in the context of any web application modelling method obliges to the revision of its different modelling activities, which must be adapted to take into account the information regarding the user (usually gathered in a user model) to define aspects such as navigation or presentation. Additionally, they must provide a set of techniques to populate such user model. Finally, and because of the rapid pace at which personalization politics usually change, the modelling process should provide support not only for static personalization rules (known at design time) but also for the definition or change of these rules once the application has been deployed. This article presents, in the context of the Object Oriented Hypermedia Method (OO-H), a personalization framework that fulfils these requirements, and is organized around four main concepts: (1) a set of design activities that capture the personalization requirements known at design time, (2) a mechanism for the specification of personalization rules, defined by means of an XML template, that decouples the definition of the personalization model from the remaining models, (3) an execution architecture that supports the change at execution time of these rules and (4) an extensible repository that includes a set of register mechanisms for the user activity in the system. The possibility of extension of this repository facilitates its adaptation to the particular characteristics of any particular application.

Empowering global software development with business intelligence

Context: Global Software Development (GSD) allows companies to take advantage of talent spread across the world. Most research has been focused on the development aspect. However, little if any attention has been paid to the management of GSD projects. Studies report a lack of adequate support for management’s decisions made during software development, further accentuated in GSD since information is scattered throughout multiple factories, stored in different formats and standards. Objective: This paper aims to improve GSD management by proposing a systematic method for adapting Business Intelligence techniques to software development environments. This would enhance the visibility of the development process and enable software managers to make informed decisions regarding how to proceed with GSD projects. Method: A combination of formal goal-modeling frameworks and data modeling techniques is used to elicitate the most relevant aspects to be measured by managers in GSD. The process is described in detail and applied to a real case study throughout the paper. A discussion regarding the generalisability of the method is presented afterwards. Results: The application of the approach generates an adapted BI framework tailored to software development according to the requirements posed by GSD managers. The resulting framework is capable of presenting previously inaccessible data through common and specific views and enabling data navigation according to the organization of software factories and projects in GSD. Conclusions: We can conclude that the proposed systematic approach allows us to successfully adapt Business Intelligence techniques to enhance GSD management beyond the information provided by traditional tools. The resulting framework is able to integrate and present the information in a single place, thereby enabling easy comparisons across multiple projects and factories and providing support for informed decisions in GSD management.

Tourism dependence and host community perceptions: notes on the social exchange theory

This article examines the opinions of the local population on the south coast of the Spanish province of Alicante regarding the development of tourism in recent years, analysing their perception of the benefits of tourism using the social exchange theory. This study is presented in two stages. The qualitative stage, which is based on in-depth interviews and focus groups, acts as a guide for the second stage, which consists of a survey conducted with the resident Spanish population. It was found that people linked to the tourist sector through their work view tourism as the driving force behind the economic and social development of their towns, although they are more critical than others of the model that has been established. They defend the development process that has taken place, but feel that overcrowding brings their towns to a standstill and needs to be resolved.

Diversité floristique du peuplement à Pistacia atlantica Desf. dans la région de Béchar (Sud-ouest algérien)

La conservation des groupements à Pistacia atlantica dans la région de Béchar est actuellement menacée par une forte pression humaine et animale. Ce travail consiste à proposer une analyse phyto-écologique fine en se basant sur la dynamique de végétation et les inventaires floristiques. Les explications sont étayées par une analyse statistique (AFC) afin de mieux cerner les facteurs écologiques prépondérants. Nous savons très bien que Pistacia atlantica est une espèce d’avenir pour l’Algérie occidentale, son adaptation au stress écologique lui permet une dynamique et une remontée biologique certaine. Cette espèce peut vivre dans des endroits très secs, de 700 à 1200m d’altitude où la pluviométrie ne dépasse guère les 100 mm/an, avec une température maximale de 42°C et un quotient pluviothermique (Q2) supérieur à 7. La diversité floristique du groupement à Pistacia atlantica est très particulière du fait de sa caractérisation biologique, systématique et phytogéographique. Cet examen fait ressortir l’importance des espèces Saharienne-Endémiques grâce à une adaptation et une résistance plus favorables sous bioclimat typiquement saharien.