Clouds of Things. Data protection and consumer law at the intersection of cloud computing and the Internet of Things in the United Kingdom

The article critically analyses the Internet of Things (IoT) and its intersection with cloud computing, the so-called Clouds of Things (CoT). ‘Things’ are understood as any physical entity capable of connectivity that has a direct interface to the physical world (i.e. a sensing and/or actuating capability). From another perspective (especially product liability), Things can be seen as an inextricable mixture of hardware, software, and services. Alongside a clarification of the essentials, the six factors of the CoT complexity are described and light is shed on the regulatory options (regulation, co-regulation, self-regulation, holistic approach, fragmentation). Focussing on the British legal systems, the article reports on the state of the art of CoT deployment in the United Kingdom and deals with some of the main technical and legal issues emerging from CoT. Particularly, the core will be data protection, privacy, and consumer law. Indeed, these themes are considered the most relevant by the regulators. By mastering the relevant legal issues and following the example of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea will be able to unleash its extraordinary potential as to the IoT, thus retaining its position as the smartest country in the world

Trends in research on energy efficiency in appliances and correlations with energy policies

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment report, energy-efficient appliances can reduce global electricity consumption even though there is an expected increase in the number and ownership of appliances. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a high increase in energy efficiency in traditional appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, television, etc.), and in the number of new appliances installed (also called plug loads). The bibliometric study of publications related to energy-efficient appliances carried out in this paper shows that research on this topic is growing in developed regions (North America and Europe) and even more in some developing regions (Asia Pacific) with a high emphasis on China and India. The results indicate that, in general, policies are always implemented before the core of publications on the topic, with time spans ranging from 3 to 30 years. However, the trend seems to be changing with publications related to new appliances where the core research happens shortly after or in parallel to the establishment of policies.This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España (RTI2018-093849-B-C31—MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades—Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (RED2018-102431-T). This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme

An analysis of the potential impact of data protection and data security law reform to the position of employees in Indonesian cloud computing industry

Cloud computing has raised both technological and legal issues in its implementation. The readiness and the awareness of the legal effect of the implementation of cloud computing in the workplace should be distributed and applied among the employees, most importantly, the policy makers. They have a significant duty to create full legal awareness by making sure all the employees have complied with the regulations and policies. This study sought to determine whether there was adequate support from the Information and communications technology (ICT) companies in Indonesia for their employees, related to their understanding of and readiness for the implementation of cloud computing, data security and data protection. This thesis analyses the extent to which the Indonesian cloud computing industry would be affected by wide-ranging data protection and data security law reforms, and to evaluate the potential effect that data protection and data security law reform could have on the position of employees in the sector. This study uses empirical legal research to analyse the implications of the development of cloud computing, especially for data security and data protection frameworks in the ICT industry. It studies the relevant law and uses interviews to reveal up-to-date data and depict the real situation in the workplace. This thesis examine the regulation and policy in the European Union and United Kingdom, since they have developed a robust set of protections in data security and data protection. Classical content analysis is used to examine the transcripts from semi-structured interviews and data from legal documents and employment policies. The findings of the research support the growth of ICT employees’ skills and the growth of the cloud computing industry in Indonesia and highlight the implementation of legal aspects in ICT companies and the effect of the development of technology from the policy makers’ perspective

FIN-DM: finantsteenuste andmekaeve protsessi mudel

Andmekaeve hõlmab reeglite kogumit, protsesse ja algoritme, mis võimaldavad ettevõtetel iga päev kogutud andmetest rakendatavaid teadmisi ammutades suurendada tulusid, vähendada kulusid, optimeerida tooteid ja kliendisuhteid ning saavutada teisi eesmärke. Andmekaeves ja -analüütikas on vaja hästi määratletud metoodikat ja protsesse. Saadaval on mitu andmekaeve ja -analüütika standardset protsessimudelit. Kõige märkimisväärsem ja laialdaselt kasutusele võetud standardmudel on CRISP-DM. Tegu on tegevusalast sõltumatu protsessimudeliga, mida kohandatakse sageli sektorite erinõuetega. CRISP-DMi tegevusalast lähtuvaid kohandusi on pakutud mitmes valdkonnas, kaasa arvatud meditsiini-, haridus-, tööstus-, tarkvaraarendus- ja logistikavaldkonnas. Seni pole aga mudelit kohandatud finantsteenuste sektoris, millel on omad valdkonnapõhised erinõuded. Doktoritöös käsitletakse seda lünka finantsteenuste sektoripõhise andmekaeveprotsessi (FIN-DM) kavandamise, arendamise ja hindamise kaudu. Samuti uuritakse, kuidas kasutatakse andmekaeve standardprotsesse eri tegevussektorites ja finantsteenustes. Uurimise käigus tuvastati mitu tavapärase raamistiku kohandamise stsenaariumit. Lisaks ilmnes, et need meetodid ei keskendu piisavalt sellele, kuidas muuta andmekaevemudelid tarkvaratoodeteks, mida saab integreerida organisatsioonide IT-arhitektuuri ja äriprotsessi. Peamised finantsteenuste valdkonnas tuvastatud kohandamisstsenaariumid olid seotud andmekaeve tehnoloogiakesksete (skaleeritavus), ärikesksete (tegutsemisvõime) ja inimkesksete (diskrimineeriva mõju leevendus) aspektidega. Seejärel korraldati tegelikus finantsteenuste organisatsioonis juhtumiuuring, mis paljastas 18 tajutavat puudujääki CRISP- DMi protsessis. Uuringu andmete ja tulemuste abil esitatakse doktoritöös finantsvaldkonnale kohandatud CRISP-DM nimega FIN-DM ehk finantssektori andmekaeve protsess (Financial Industry Process for Data Mining). FIN-DM laiendab CRISP-DMi nii, et see toetab privaatsust säilitavat andmekaevet, ohjab tehisintellekti eetilisi ohte, täidab riskijuhtimisnõudeid ja hõlmab kvaliteedi tagamist kui osa andmekaeve elutsüklisData mining is a set of rules, processes, and algorithms that allow companies to increase revenues, reduce costs, optimize products and customer relationships, and achieve other business goals, by extracting actionable insights from the data they collect on a day-to-day basis. Data mining and analytics projects require well-defined methodology and processes. Several standard process models for conducting data mining and analytics projects are available. Among them, the most notable and widely adopted standard model is CRISP-DM. It is industry-agnostic and often is adapted to meet sector-specific requirements. Industry- specific adaptations of CRISP-DM have been proposed across several domains, including healthcare, education, industrial and software engineering, logistics, etc. However, until now, there is no existing adaptation of CRISP-DM for the financial services industry, which has its own set of domain-specific requirements. This PhD Thesis addresses this gap by designing, developing, and evaluating a sector-specific data mining process for financial services (FIN-DM). The PhD thesis investigates how standard data mining processes are used across various industry sectors and in financial services. The examination identified number of adaptations scenarios of traditional frameworks. It also suggested that these approaches do not pay sufficient attention to turning data mining models into software products integrated into the organizations' IT architectures and business processes. In the financial services domain, the main discovered adaptation scenarios concerned technology-centric aspects (scalability), business-centric aspects (actionability), and human-centric aspects (mitigating discriminatory effects) of data mining. Next, an examination by means of a case study in the actual financial services organization revealed 18 perceived gaps in the CRISP-DM process. Using the data and results from these studies, the PhD thesis outlines an adaptation of CRISP-DM for the financial sector, named the Financial Industry Process for Data Mining (FIN-DM). FIN-DM extends CRISP-DM to support privacy-compliant data mining, to tackle AI ethics risks, to fulfill risk management requirements, and to embed quality assurance as part of the data mining life-cyclehttps://www.ester.ee/record=b547227

Strategies for Reducing the Risk of Data Breach Within the Internet Cloud

Businesses are increasingly incorporating cloud computing into their current business models. With this increase, security breach exposure has also increased, causing business leaders to be concerned with financial hardship, operational disruption, customer turnover, and customer confidence loss due to personal data exposure. Grounded in the integrated system theory of information security management, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore successful strategies some information security leaders in the aerospace and defense contractor industry use to protect cloud-based data from security breaches. The participants were 7 information security leaders from 7 different aerospace and defense contractor companies located in the United States mid-Atlantic region. Data from semistructured interviews were analyzed and compared with 8 publicly available data sources for data triangulation. Emergent themes narrowing this knowledge gap was extracted through an analysis technique such as coding and then triangulated. The recurring themes were (a) strong authentication methods, (b) encryption, and (c) personnel training and awareness. A key recommendation includes information security leaders implementing preventative security measures while improving an organization\u27s ability to protect data lost within the Internet cloud. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase consumers confidence while protecting confidential consumer data and organizational resources, protecting customers from the costs, lost time, and recovery efforts associated with identity theft

Dinamičko formiranje distribuiranog mikro okruženja u računarstvu u oblaku

This thesis presents research in the field of distributed systems. We present the dynamic organization of geodistributed edge nodes into micro data-centers forming micro clouds to cover any arbitrary area and expand capacity, availability, and reliability. A cloud organization is used as an influence with adaptations for a different environment with a clear separation of concerns, and native applications model that can leverage the newly formed system. With the separation of concerns setup, edge-native applications model, and a unified node organization, we are moving towards the idea of edge computing as a service, like any other utility in cloud computing. We also give formal models for all protocols used for the creation of such a system.U sklopu disertacije izvršeno je istraživanje u oblasti distribuiranih sistema. Predstavili smo dinamičku organizaciju geo-distribuiranih čvorova u mikro centre za obradu podataka koji formiraju mikro okruženja računarstva u oblaku kako bi pokrili bilo koje proizvoljno područje i proširili kapacitet, dostupnost i pouzdanost. Koristili smo organizaciju računarstva u oblaku kao inspiraciju, sa adaptacijama za drugačije okruženje sa jasnom podelom nadležnosti, i modelom aplikacija koji može da iskoristi novoformirani sistem. Jasna podela nadležnosti, model aplikacija i dinamička organizacijom čvorova, čine da se predstavljeni model ponude kao i bilo koji drugi uslužni servis. Takođe dajemo formalne modele za sve protokole koji se koriste za stvaranje takvog sistema

Contemporary Issues in Digital Marketing

Web-marketing;Customer services;International busines

Thermal energy storage solutions for building applications

El canvi climàtic constitueix un dels reptes més importants per a les generacions actuals i futures. El Grup Intergovernamental d'Experts sobre el Canvi Climàtic (IPCC) estima que les activitats humanes han estat responsables aproximadament de 1.0 ºC d'escalfament global per sobre dels nivells preindustrials, portant grans impactes negatius. En aquest context, l'IPCC ha fixat l'objectiu de limitar l'escalfament global a 1.5 ºC per al 2050; per sobre d'aquest valor, els danys serien irreversibles. Les emissions de gasos amb efecte d'hivernacle (GHG) són els principals impulsors del canvi climàtic. El període 2010-2019 va donar els seus valors més alts de la història. Durant aquest període, el sector dels edificis va aportar el 21% de les emissions mundials de GHG. Aquestes dades van impulsar aquesta tesi, emmarcada en l’estudi dels sistemes que componen les emissions de GHG en edificis, així com el desenvolupament de les tecnologies que permetin mitigar-les. La primera secció analitza, mitjançant tècniques d’anàlisi bibliomètrica, els principals sistemes que componen la demanda energètica dels edificis. Per això, es van estudiar els serveis dels edificis i el seu impacte sobre el canvi climàtic. A més, es van estudiar els electrodomèstics i les seues tendències en eficiència energètica, correlacionades amb les polítiques implementades a nivell global. Així mateix, es van estudiar els co-beneficis de l'emmagatzematge d'energia tèrmica (TES) extrapolats des del camp de les energies renovables, identificant el TES com a transcendental en la transició energètica. La segona secció de la tesi es va embrancar en l’anàlisi experimental i mitjançant simulacions de tres sistemes d’emmagatzematge tèrmic. El primer sistema es va enfocar a disminuir les pèrdues tèrmiques d’un dipòsit d’emmagatzematge per a calefacció mitjançant l’ús d’aïllament al buit. Es va demostrar que aquest aïllament pot disminuir fins a 10 vegades les pèrdues tèrmiques respecte al convencional. El segon estudi va realitzar una avaluació comparativa entre dos dissenys de materials de canvi de fase (PCM) macro-encapsulats en un TES. Es va concloure que el disseny a utilitzar dependrà de l'aplicació i d’un compromís entre més densitat energètica o més entrega de calor. El tercer estudi va identificar els principals reptes en la utilització del concret per emmagatzemar energia a alta temperatura, alhora que es va proposar i analitzar un nou disseny per superar aquests reptes. Els resultats d’aquesta tesi han demostrat que l’emmagatzematge d’energia tèrmica té un gran potencial en la transició energètica de manera general i dels edificis de manera particular.El cambio climático constituye uno de los retos más importantes para las actuales y futuras generaciones. El Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC) estima que las actividades humanas han sido responsables aproximadamente de 1,0 ºC de calentamiento global por encima de los niveles preindustriales, trayendo consigo grandes impactos negativos. En este contexto, el IPCC ha fijado el objetivo de limitar el calentamiento global en 1.5 ºC para el 2050; por encima de este valor los daños serían irreversibles. Las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GHG) son los principales impulsores del cambio climático. El período 2010-2019 arrojó sus valores más altos de la historia. Durante este período, el sector de los edificios aportó el 21% de las emisiones mundiales de GHG. Tales datos impulsaron esta tesis, enmarcada en el estudio de los sistemas que componen las emisiones de GHG en edificios, así como el desarrollo de las tecnologías que permitan mitigarlas. La primera sección analiza, mediante técnicas de análisis bibliométricos, los principales sistemas que componen la demanda energética de los edificios. Para esto, se estudiaron los servicios de los edificios y su impacto sobre el cambio climático. Así como, los electrodomésticos y sus tendencias en eficiencia energética, correlacionadas con las políticas implementadas a nivel global. Al igual que, los co-beneficios del almacenamiento de energía térmica (TES) extrapolados desde el campo de las energías renovables, identificando al TES como trascendental en la transición energética. La segunda sección de la tesis se centró en el análisis experimental y mediante simulaciones de tres sistemas de almacenamiento térmico. El primer sistema se enfocó en disminuir las pérdidas térmicas de un depósito de almacenamiento para calefacción mediante el uso de aislamiento al vacío. Se demostró que este aislamiento puede disminuir hasta en 10 veces las pérdidas térmicas con respecto al convencional. El segundo estudio realizó una evaluación comparativa entre dos diseños de materiales de cambio de fase (PCM) macro-encapsulados en un TES. Se concluyó que el diseño a utilizar dependerá de la aplicación y de un compromiso entre mayor densidad energética o mayor entrega de calor. El tercer estudio identificó los principales retos en la utilización del hormigón para almacenar energía a alta temperatura, a la vez que se propuso y analizó un nuevo diseño para superar dichos retos. Los resultados de esta tesis han demostrado que el almacenamiento de energía térmica tiene un gran potencial en la transición energética de manera general y de los edificios de manera particular.Climate change is one of the most important challenges for current and future generations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that human activities are responsible for approximately 1.0 °C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, resulting in major negative impacts. In this context, the IPCC has set a target of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C by 2050, above which the damage will become irreversible. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main drivers of climate change. The period 2010-2019 showed their highest values in history. During this period, the buildings sector accounted for 21% of global GHG emissions. Such data motivated this thesis, framed in the study of the systems that comprise GHG emissions in buildings, as well as the development of technologies to mitigate them. The first section analyses, using bibliometric analysis techniques, the main systems that drive the energy demand of buildings. Therefore, building services and their impact on climate change were studied. In addition, household appliances and their trends in energy efficiency, correlated with the policies implemented at global level, were also studied. Likewise, the co-benefits of thermal energy storage (TES) extrapolated from the field of renewable energies were also studied, identifying TES as transcendental in the energy transition. The second section of the thesis focused on the experimental and simulation analysis of three thermal energy storage systems. The first system focused on decreasing the thermal losses of a heating storage tank by using vacuum insulation. It was found that vacuum insulation can reduce thermal losses by up to 10 times compared to conventional insulation. The second study performed a benchmark evaluation between two designs of phase change material (PCM) macro-encapsulation in a TES. It was concluded that the design to be used will be determined by the application and a trade-off between higher energy density or higher heat transfer. The third study identified the main challenges in using concrete to store energy at high temperature, and a new design was proposed and analysed to overcome these challenges. The results of this thesis have demonstrated that thermal energy storage represents a great potential in the energy transition in general and in buildings in particular