An ecosystem of products and systems for ambient intelligence – the AAL4ALL users perspective

Developed societies are currently facing severe demographic changes: the world is getting older at an unprecedented rate. In 2000, about 420 million people, or approximately 7 percent of the world population, were aged 65 or older. By 2050, that number will be nearly 1.5 billion people, about 16 percent of the world population. This demographic trend will be also followed by an increase of people with physical limitations. New challenges will be raised to the traditional health care systems, not only in Portugal, but also in all other European states. There is an urgent need to find solutions that allow extending the time people can live in their preferred environment by increasing their autonomy, self-confidence and mobility. AAL4ALL presents an idea for an answer through the development of an ecosystem of products and services for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) associated to a business model and validated through large scale trial. This paper presents the results of the first survey developed within the AAL4ALL project: the users’ survey targeted at the Portuguese seniors and pre-seniors. This paper is, thus, about the lives of the Portuguese population aged 50 and over.

Prototyping Concurrent Systems in Cw

Software architecture is currently recognized as one of the most critical design steps in Software Engineering. The specification of the overall system structure, on the one hand, and of the interactions patterns between its components, on the other, became a major concern for the working developer. Although a number of formalisms to express behaviour and supply the indispensable calculational power to reason about designs, are available, the task of deriving architectural designs on top of popular component platforms has remained largely informal. This paper introduces a systematic approach to derive, from behavioural specifications written in Cw, the corresponding architectural skeletons in the Microsoft .NET framework in the form of executable code

Promoting Success in the Introduction of Health Information Systems

The significant number of publications describing unsuccessful cases in the introduction of health information systems makes it advisable to analyze the factors that may be contributing to such failures. However, the very notion of success is not equally assumed in all publications. Based in a literature review, the authors argue that the introduction of systems must be based in an eclectic combination of knowledge fields, adopting methodologies that strengthen the role of organizational culture and human resources in this project, as a whole. On the other hand, the authors argue that the introduction of systems should be oriented by a previously defined matrix of factors, against which the success can be measured.

Analysis of computing open source systems

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are critical components of today's open source software. Given their increased relevance, the correctness and usability of GUIs are becoming essential. This paper describes the latest results in the development of our tool to reverse engineer the GUI layer of interactive computing open source systems. We use static analysis techniques to generate models of the user interface behavior from source code. Models help in graphical user interface inspection by allowing designers to concentrate on its more important aspects. One particular type of model that the tool is able to generate is state machines. The paper shows how graph theory can be useful when applied to these models. A number of metrics and algorithms are used in the analysis of aspects of the user interface's quality. The ultimate goal of the tool is to enable analysis of interactive system through GUIs source code inspection.

A generic model for integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a generic model of Integrated Management System of Quality, Environment and Safety (IMS-QES) that can be adapted and progressively to assimilate various Management Systems, of which highlights: ISO 9001 for Quality; ISO 14001 for Environment; OHSAS 18001 for Occupational Health and Safety. Design/methodology/approach – The model was designed in the real environment of a Portuguese Organization and 160 employees were surveyed. The rate response was equal to 86 percent. The conceived model was implemented in a first phase for the integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems. Findings – Among the main findings of the survey the paper highlights: the elimination of conflicts between individual systems with resources optimization; creation of added value to the business by eliminating several types of wastes; the integrated management of sustainability components in a global market; the improvement of partnerships with suppliers of goods and services; reducing the number of internal and external audits. Originality/value – This case study is one of the first Portuguese empirical researches about IMS-QES and the paper believes that it can be useful in the creation of a Portuguese guideline for integration, namely the Quality Management Systems; Environmental Management Systems and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems among others.