Design and implementation of a cloud computing adoption decision tool: Generating a cloud road

Migrating to cloud computing is one of the current enterprise challenges. This technology provides a new paradigm based on "on-demand payment" for information and communication technologies. In this sense, the small and medium enterprise is supposed to be the most interested, since initial investments are avoided and the technology allows gradual implementation. However, even if the characteristics and capacities have been widely discussed, entry into the cloud is still lacking in terms of practical, real frameworks. This paper aims at filling this gap, presenting a real tool already implemented and tested, which can be used as a cloud computing adoption decision tool. This tool uses diagnosis based on specific questions to gather the required information and subsequently provide the user with valuable information to deploy the business within the cloud, specifically in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. This information allows the decision makers to generate their particular Cloud Road. A pilot study has been carried out with enterprises at a local level with a two-fold objective: To ascertain the degree of knowledge on cloud computing and to identify the most interesting business areas and their related tools for this technology. As expected, the results show high interest and low knowledge on this subject and the tool presented aims to readdress this mismatch, insofar as possible. Copyright: © 2015 Bildosola et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Image-Based Delineation and Classification of Built Heritage Masonry

Fundacion Zain is developing new built heritage assessment protocols. The goal is to objectivize and standardize the analysis and decision process that leads to determining the degree of protection of built heritage in the Basque Country. The ultimate step in this objectivization and standardization effort will be the development of an information and communication technology (ICT) tool for the assessment of built heritage. This paper presents the ground work carried out to make this tool possible: the automatic, image-based delineation of stone masonry. This is a necessary first step in the development of the tool, as the built heritage that will be assessed consists of stone masonry construction, and many of the features analyzed can be characterized according to the geometry and arrangement of the stones. Much of the assessment is carried out through visual inspection. Thus, this process will be automated by applying image processing on digital images of the elements under inspection. The principal contribution of this paper is the automatic delineation the framework proposed. The other contribution is the performance evaluation of this delineation as the input to a classifier for a geometrically characterized feature of a built heritage object. The element chosen to perform this evaluation is the stone arrangement of masonry walls. The validity of the proposed framework is assessed on real images of masonry walls.

Impact of Cyberprogram 2.0 on Different Types of School Violence and Aggressiveness

Some antibullying interventions have shown positive outcomes with regard to reducing violence. The aim of the study was to experimentally assess the effects on school violence and aggressiveness of a program to prevent and reduce cyberbullying. The sample was comprised of a randomly selected sample of 176 adolescents (93 experimental, 83 control), aged 13-15 years. The study used a repeated measures pre-posttest design with a control group. Before and after the program, two assessment instruments were administered: the "Cuestionario de Violencia Escolar-Revisado" (CUVE-R [School Violence Questionnaire- Revised]; Alvarez Garcia et al., 2011) and the "Cuestionario de agresividad premeditada e impulsiva" (CAPI-A [Premeditated and Impulsive Aggressiveness Questionnaire]; Andreu, 2010). The intervention consisted of 19 one-hour sessions carried out during the school term. The program contains 25 activities with the following objectives: (1) to identify and conceptualize bullying/cyberbullying; (2) to analyze the consequences of bullying/cyberbullying, promoting participants' capacity to report such actions when they are discovered; (3) to develop coping strategies to prevent and reduce bullying/cyberbullying; and (4) to achieve other transversal goals, such as developing positive variables (empathy, active listening, social skills, constructive conflict resolution, etc.). The pre-posttest ANCOVAs confirmed that the program stimulated a decrease in: (1) diverse types of school violence teachers' violence toward students (ridiculing or publicly humiliating students in front of the class, etc.); students' physical violence (fights, blows, shoves... aimed at the victim, or at his or her property, etc.); students' verbal violence (using offensive language, cruel, embarrassing, or insulting words... toward classmates and teachers); social exclusion (rejection or exclusion of a person or group, etc.), and violence through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT; violent behaviors by means of electronic instruments such as mobile phones and the Internet); and (2) premeditated and impulsive aggressiveness. Pre-posttest MANCOVA revealed differences between conditions with a medium effect size. This work contributes an efficacious intervention tool for the prevention and reduction of peer violence. The conclusions drawn from this study have interesting implications for educational and clinical intervention.

"They Come, They Fish, and They Go:” EC Fisheries Agreements with Cape Verde and São Tomé e Príncipe

Fisheries agreements with the European Community (EC) are an important component of the fisheries sector in Cape Verde and São Tomé e Príncipe, constituting today a key source of income for the respective fisheries administration. In spite of this, and of the fact that these agreements have been renewed several times over the past decades, challenges remain in domains such as control and communication of fishing activities, follow-up of financial counterparts, and integration of European fleets’ operations with the Cape Verdean and Santomean economies. This paper analyzes the EC fisheries agreements with Cape Verde and São Tomé e Príncipe in terms of those domains, considering both the contents of the agreements and their practical implementation. The fisheries sector in each of these countries is reviewed, as are some of the fundamentals and criticisms of EC fisheries agreements. It is argued that the agreements with Cape Verde and São Tomé e Príncipe will not live up to the stated objectives of sustainability and responsibility in fisheries until improvements are made to the control of EC vessels, the follow-up of funds paid by the EC, and the size and diversity of benefits accruing to the fisheries and related sectors in the two countries

Graphene-driven revolutions in ICT and beyond

This session described the FET Flagship Pilot on graphene and related two-dimensional materials. The flagship targets a revolution in information and communication technology, with impacts reaching into other areas of the society. The session featured four talks on the scientific and technological potential and open research challenges within the scope of the proposed flagship, industrial view on possibilities and challenges posed by graphene and related materials, and presentation on the implementation and structure of the flagship pilot. © Selection and peer-review under responsibility of FET11 conference organizers and published by Elsevier B.V.

FEEDING AND VOCAL BEHAVIORS OF BLACK GIBBONS (HYLOBATES-CONCOLOR) IN YUNNAN - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

Feeding and vocal behaviours of wild black gibbons (Hylobates concolor) were observed from 1987 to 1989 in south-western Yunnan, notably H. concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang (24-degrees 18-42'N, 100-degrees 30-50'E) in the early spring of 1989. 12 plant species were observed to have been eaten by the gibbons; these included tree species, lianas and epiphytes. Approximately 21 % of feeding time was devoted to eating fruits, 61 % to leaf buds and shoots, 7 % to flowers and 11 % to leaves. The gibbons preferred fruits to leaves even though they commonly ate leaves. In this study, the morning songs (duet and solo), reponsive (territorial) songs, alarm calls and communication calls were recorded. The gibbons sang their morning songs mainly in the early morning, with a single bout lasting more than 10 min on average. The singing of a group would trigger other groups, and all groups in an area tended to sing sequentially. The morning duet song bout was dominated by an adult male. The male emitted booms, aa notes, early multimodulated figures, intermediate multimodulated figures and codas, the latter occurring only in duets following the female's great call. The female uttered great calls and abortive great calls. The subadults or juveniles also took part in the morning songs. Lone males were heard to utter solos which lasted longer than the duets of the pairs.

Everywhere and nowhere: nearshore software development in the context of globalisation

Offshore software development has been identified as one of the most striking manifestations of contemporary globalisation and as evidence of placelessness, the idea that information and communication technologies have rendered location irrelevant. Research in the International Business and Information Systems fields, in contrast, has suggested that all locations are not equal and has identified a number of characteristics that may influence the attractiveness of a location for multinational investment and offshoring, respectively. These literatures, however, focus almost exclusively on quantitative, economic characteristics that are seen as fixed and applying uniformly throughout a whole country. They therefore offer little guidance on the suitability of particular locations as offshoring destinations, especially in countries without a track record in offshore software development. Drawing on two cases of nearshore software development centres set up by offshore service providers in the Caribbean, this paper illustrates that, while the initial decision to establish the ventures reflected a logic of placelessness, characteristics of these particular locations affected their subsequent success. Through the findings, we therefore develop a typology of espoused, unanticipated and remediable locational characteristics, which illustrates that locational attractiveness may vary significantly within countries and that offshore service providers and government agencies can modify locational characteristics to their advantage.

Intrinsic motivation and design of ICT for the ageing population

Chapter 11 Intrinsic Motivation and Design of ICT for ... Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems provide an increasingly promising platform with which to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare, ...

Micro-measurement and monitoring system for ageing underground infrastructure (Underground M3)

Advances in the development of computer vision, miniature Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) offer intriguing possibilities that can radically alter the paradigms underlying existing methods of condition assessment and monitoring of ageing civil engineering infrastructure. This paper describes some of the outcomes of the European Science Foundation project "Micro-Measurement and Monitoring System for Ageing Underground Infrastructures (Underground M3)". The main aim of the project was to develop a system that uses a tiered approach to monitor the degree and rate of tunnel deterioration. The system comprises of (1) Tier 1: Micro-detection using advances in computer vision and (2) Tier 2: Micro-monitoring and communication using advances in MEMS and WSN. These potentially low-cost technologies will be able to reduce costs associated with end-of-life structures, which is essential to the viability of rehabilitation, repair and reuse. The paper describes the actual deployment and testing of these innovative monitoring tools in tunnels of London Underground, Prague Metro and Barcelona Metro. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.

Gaps between assistive technologies and dementia care

A growing number of people are now entering the elderly age category in Japan; this raises the likelihood of more persons with dementia, as the probability of becoming cognitively impaired increases with age. There is an increasing need for caregivers who are well trained and experienced and who can pay special attention to the needs of people with dementia. Technology can play an important role in helping such people and their caregivers. A lack of mutual understanding between caregivers and researchers regarding the appropriate uses of assistive technologies is another problem. We have described the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT), especially assistive technologies, and social issues as a first step towards developing a technology roadmap. © 2012 IEEE.

Ageing, Adaption and Accessibility: Time for the Inclusive Revolution!

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is becoming increasingly central to many people’s lives, making it possible to be connected in any place at any time, be unceasingly and instantly informed, and benefit from greater economic and educational opportunities. With all the benefits afforded by these new-found capabilities, however, come potential drawbacks. A plethora of new PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, Bluetooth, the internet, Wi-Fi (the list goes on) expect us to know or be able to guess, what, where and when to connect, click, double-click, tap, flick, scroll, in order to realise these benefits, and to have the physical and cognitive capability to do all these things. One of the groups most affected by this increase in high-demand technology is older people. They do not understand and use technology in the same way that younger generations do, because they grew up in the simpler electro-mechanical era and embedded that particular model of the world in their minds. Any consequential difficulty in familiarising themselves with modern ICT and effectively applying it to their needs can also be exacerbated by age-related changes in vision, motor control and cognitive functioning. Such challenges lead to digital exclusion. Much has been written about this topic over the years, usually by academics from the area of inclusive product design. The issue is complex and it is fair to say that no one researcher has the whole picture. It is difficult to understand and adequately address the issue of digital exclusion among the older generation without looking across disciplines and at industry’s and government’s understanding, motivation and efforts toward resolving this important problem. To do otherwise is to risk misunderstanding the true impact that ICT has and could have on people’s lives across all generations. In this European year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations and as the British government is moving forward with its Digital by Default initiative as part of a wider objective to make ICT accessible to as many people as possible by 2015, the Engineering Design Centre (EDC) at the University of Cambridge collaborated with BT to produce a book of thought pieces to address, and where appropriate redress, these important and long-standing issues. “Ageing, Adaption and Accessibility: Time for the Inclusive Revolution!” brings together opinions and insights from twenty one prominent thought leaders from government, industry and academia regarding the problems, opportunities and strategies for combating digital exclusion among senior citizens. The contributing experts were selected as individuals, rather than representatives of organisations, to provide the broadest possible range of perspectives. They are renowned in their respective fields and their opinions are formed not only from their own work, but also from the contributions of others in their area. Their views were elicited through conversations conducted by the editors of this book who then drafted the thought pieces to be edited and approved by the experts. We hope that this unique collection of thought pieces will give you a broader perspective on ageing, people’s adaption to the ever changing world of technology and insights into better ways of designing digital devices and services for the older population.

A systematic approach for improving the quality of official statistics: Case of Korean information and telecommunication industry

With the rapid growth of information and communication technology (ICT) in Korea, there was a need to improve the quality of official ICT statistics. In order to do this, various factors had to be considered, such as the quality of surveying, processing, and output as well as the reputation of the statistical agency. We used PLS estimation to determine how these factors might influence customer satisfaction. Furthermore, through a comparison of associated satisfaction indices, we provided feedback to the responsible statistics agency. It appears that our model can be used as a tool for improving the quality of official ICT statistics. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Hybrid Random Number Generator Using Single Electron Tunneling Junctions and MOS Transistors

This paper proposes a novel single electron random number generator (RNG). The generator consists of multiple tunneling junctions (MTJ) and a hybrid single electron transistor (SET)/MOS output circuit. It is an oscillator-based RNG. MTJ is used to implement a high-frequency oscillator,which uses the inherent physical randomness in tunneling events of the MTJ to achieve large frequency drift. The hybrid SET and MOS output circuit is used to amplify and buffer the output signal of the MTJ oscillator. The RNG circuit generates high-quality random digital sequences with a simple structure. The operation speed of this circuit is as high as 1GHz. The circuit also has good driven capability and low power dissipation. This novel random number generator is a promising device for future cryptographic systems and communication applications.