Developing front-end Web 2.0 technologies to access services, content and things in the future Internet

The future Internet is expected to be composed of a mesh of interoperable web services accessible from all over the web. This approach has not yet caught on since global user?service interaction is still an open issue. This paper states one vision with regard to next-generation front-end Web 2.0 technology that will enable integrated access to services, contents and things in the future Internet. In this paper, we illustrate how front-ends that wrap traditional services and resources can be tailored to the needs of end users, converting end users into prosumers (creators and consumers of service-based applications). To do this, we propose an architecture that end users without programming skills can use to create front-ends, consult catalogues of resources tailored to their needs, easily integrate and coordinate front-ends and create composite applications to orchestrate services in their back-end. The paper includes a case study illustrating that current user-centred web development tools are at a very early stage of evolution. We provide statistical data on how the proposed architecture improves these tools. This paper is based on research conducted by the Service Front End (SFE) Open Alliance initiative

Automated Rule-Based Selection and Instantiation of Layout Templates for Widget-Based Microsites

Veebi avatud arhitektuuron loonud soodsa pinnase veebisolevate andmete kasutamiseks nii keerulisemates kui lihtsamates veebirakendustes. Andmete kogumise ja visualiseerimise lihtsustamiseks lihtsates veebirakendustes on loodud hulganisti tööriistu, mille seas on ka mashup'ide loomise tööriistad. Olemasolevate tööriistadega kõrge kasutatavusega mashup veebilehe loomine võib aga paraku olla keerukas, kuna nõuab erinevate tehnoloogiate ning programmeerimiskeelte tundmist, rääkimata kasutatavuse juhtnööridega kursisolemist. Kuigi osad mashup'ide platvormid, a'la OpenAjax Hub, lihtsustavad olemasolevate komponentide kombineerimist, on lahendamata probleemiks siiani nende rakenduste kasutatavus. Käesolev magistritöö kirjeldab reeglipõhist lahendust andmete visualiseerimise vidinate jaoks sobiva veebilehe malli automaatseks valimiseks vastavalt enimlevinud veebilehtede kasutatavuse juhtnööridele. Selleks laetakse vidinate ning struktuurimallide kirjeldused koos kasutatavuse juhtnööridest saadud reeglitega reeglimootorisse ning kasutatakse reeglimootorit ekspertsüsteemina, mis soovitab sobivamaid malle vastavalt etteantud vidinate komplektile. Lahenduse reeglipõhine ülesehitus võimaldab uute vidinate ning mallide lisandumisel või juhtnööride muutumisel operatiivselt reageerida nendele muutustele reeglibaasi täiendamise kaudu. Väljapakutud lahendus realiseeriti käesoleva töö raames Auto Microsite rakendusena, mis koosneb serveri- ning kliendipoolsest osast. Serveri poolel toimub reeglite abil vidinate komplekti visualiseerimiseks sobiva malli valimine kasutades OO jDREW RuleML reeglimootorit ning rakenduse paketeerimiseks koodi genereerimine. Kliendi poolel kasutatakse OpenAjax Hub raamistikkuvidinate turvaliseks eraldamiseks ning omavahel suhtlemapanemisel. Samuti on kliendi poolel lahendatud genereeritud veebilehe vastavusse viimine brauseri võimalustega. Katsetamaks Auto Microsite rakendust praktikas loodi seda kasutades realisatsioonid kahele lihtsale stsenaariumile. Esimesel juhul viusaliseeriti Euroopa 1997-2008 tööjõukulude (Hourly labour costs in Euros (European Union 1997-2008) ing. k.) andmeid kaardi, tabeli, kokkuvõtte ja menüü vidinatega. Teisel juhul kasutati lisaks andmete visualiseerimise vidinatele ka väliseid andmeallikaid, mis olid realiseeritud mittevisuaalsete vidinatena. Saadud andmed visualiseeriti kahe tabeli ning ühe kaardi vidinaga. Näidisveebilehtede loomise tulemusena järeldub, et rakendus sobib lihtsate veebilehtede loomiseks. Lisaks on võimalik lahendust täiendada keerukamate veebirakenduste automaatseks loomiseks läbi vastavate mallide ning reeglite lisamise.This thesis proposes a rule-based widget and layout template matchmaking solution for widget-based microsites. The solution takes as an input a set of widget descriptions and a set of layout templates with widget placeholders and returns a microsite, where the most suitable template has been instantiated with corresponding widgets. Matchmaking is based on applying a rule engine to metadata of widgets and placeholders about their content categories and dimensions,. Additional usability rules are used to further improve the results with respect to commonly accepted usability guidelines. Such a solution makes it possible to modularly enhance the usability results in the future simply by adding new usability rules and layout templates. Furthermore, the solution can be applied in mashup creation tools for layout selection. The proposed solution has been implemented and is called Auto Microsite in this thesis. The system consists of a server-side and a client-side component. The server-side component matches widgets with layout template placeholders according to the given rules by using the OO jDREW RuleML engine. The client-side is responsible for presenting the mashup appropriately for the client device. The latter is based on OpenAjax Hub 2.0 framework, which enables secure sandboxing and communication of widgets in the generated microsite. Furthermore, OpenAjax Metadata 1.0 specification is used in this thesis to package the widgets such that they could be easily reused. In order to evaluate the Auto Microsite system in practice two proof of concept (PoC) scenarios were implemented. The first scenario visualized "Hourly labour costs in Euros (European Union 1997-2008)" data using widgets for a map, a table and a summary. In the second scenario, also data was queried through a SOAP service and a Web site. In the scenario data was visualized using two table widgets and a map widget. The SOAP service and queries to the Web site were packaged as non-visual widgets to fit the framework. The POCs demonstrate that the Auto Microsite system is able to construct widget-based microsites. Furthermore, the framework is capable of constructing also more complex Web applications, with several pages and more content widgets, by adding new rules and templates

Enhancement of the usability of SOA services for novice users

Recently, the automation of service integration has provided a significant advantage in delivering services to novice users. This art of integrating various services is known as Service Composition and its main purpose is to simplify the development process for web applications and facilitates reuse of services. It is one of the paradigms that enables services to end-users (i.e.service provisioning) through the outsourcing of web contents and it requires users to share and reuse services in more collaborative ways. Most service composers are effective at enabling integration of web contents, but they do not enable universal access across different groups of users. This is because, the currently existing content aggregators require complex interactions in order to create web applications (e.g., Web Service Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL)) as a result not all users are able to use such web tools. This trend demands changes in the web tools that end-users use to gain and share information, hence this research uses Mashups as a service composition technique to allow novice users to integrate publicly available Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) services, where there is a minimal active web application development. Mashups being the platforms that integrate disparate web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to create user defined web applications; presents a great opportunity for service provisioning. However, their usability for novice users remains invalidated since Mashup tools are not easy to use they require basic programming skills which makes the process of designing and creating Mashups difficult. This is because Mashup tools access heterogeneous web contents using public web APIs and the process of integrating them become complex since web APIs are tailored by different vendors. Moreover, the design of Mashup editors is unnecessary complex; as a result, users do not know where to start when creating Mashups. This research address the gap between Mashup tools and usability by the designing and implementing a semantically enriched Mashup tool to discover, annotate and compose APIs to improve the utilization of SOA services by novice users. The researchers conducted an analysis of the already existing Mashup tools to identify challenges and weaknesses experienced by novice Mashup users. The findings from the requirement analysis formulated the system usability requirements that informed the design and implementation of the proposed Mashup tool. The proposed architecture addressed three layers: composition, annotation and discovery. The researchers developed a simple Mashup tool referred to as soa-Services Provisioner (SerPro) that allowed novice users to create web application flexibly. Its usability and effectiveness was validated. The proposed Mashup tool enhanced the usability of SOA services, since data analysis and results showed that it was usable to novice users by scoring a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 72.08. Furthermore, this research discusses the research limitations and future work for further improvements

A Framework for Collaborative Content Mashup with Pervasive Services

Kombineerides erinevaid teenuseid saavad mobiiltelefonid rahuldada paljusid tööstus ja ärivajadusi.Samas tuleb teenuste kombineerimise raames sisu õigesti tuvastamiseks ja tõlgendamiseks avastada ja töödelda suurt hulka andmeid. Kuna ainult ühe seadme kasu-tamine mingi ülesande lahendamiseks ei ole väga efektiivne on ühiste eesmärkide saa-vutamiseks soovitatav tööd mitme seadme vahel jagada. Pakume välja ja arendame üldraamistikku, mis toetab teenustele orienteeritud sisu segunemist ning laialt levinud teenuste loomise integreerimist, mis toimuks Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)-tuginevale kollaboratsioonile. Esitasime kollaboratsioonis seadmetele ressursi-säästliku teisaldamise plaani ja implementeerimise selle proof of concept'ina (kontseptsiooni tõestus). Hinnangu tulemused näitavad, et raamistik toetab kollaboratiivset ülesannete teisaldamise kava, mis vähendab mobiilsete seadete ressursside kasutamist.By composing pervasive services, mobile phones can support various industrial and commercial needs. However, the pervasive services composition involves discovering and processing a large amount of data in order to identify and interpret the content. Due to the limitation of the single device capability, it is advisable to collaborate with other devices via a wireless network to accomplish common goals. In this thesis, we propose and develop a generic framework that supports service-oriented content mashup and integrating pervasive services composition in the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)-based collaboration. A resource-aware offloading scheme to collaborative devices has been proposed and implemented as a proof of concept. The evaluation results have shown that the framework supports collaborative task-offloading scheme that reduces the resource usage of mobile devices

Implementation of end-user development success factors in mashup development environments

[EN] The Future Internet is expected to be composed of a mesh of interoperable web services accessed from all over the Web. This approach has been supported by many software providers who have provided a wide range of mash up tools for creating composite applications based on components prepared by the respective provider. These tools aim to achieve the end-user development (EUD) of rich internet applications (RIA); however, most, having failed to meet the needs of end users without programming knowledge, have been unsuccessful. Thus, many studies have investigated success factors in order to propose scales of success factor objectives and assess the adequacy of mashup tools for their purpose. After reviewing much of the available literature, this paper proposes a new success factor scale based on human factors, human-computer interaction (HCI) factors and the specialization-functionality relationship. It brings together all these factors, offering a general conception of EUD success factors. The proposed scale was applied in an empirical study on current EUD tools, which found that today's EUD tools have many shortcomings. In order to achieve an acceptable success rate among end users, we then designed a mashup tool architecture, called FAST-Wirecloud, which was built taking into account the proposed EUD success factor scale. The results of a new empirical study carried out using this tool have demonstrated that users are better able to successfully develop their composite applications and that FAST-Wirecloud has scored higher than all the other tools under study on all scales of measurement, and particularly on the scale proposed in this paper. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This research was partially supported by the European Union co-funded IST projects FAST: Fast and Advanced Storyboard Tools (GA 216048), FI-WARE: Future Internet Core Platform (GA 285248) and FI-CORE: Future Internet - Core (GA 632893). The FI-WARE and FI-CORE projects are part of the European Commission's Futuree Internet Public-Private Partnership (FI-PPP) initiative.Lizcano, D.; López, G.; Soriano, J.; Lloret, J. (2016). Implementation of end-user development success factors in mashup development environments. Computer Standards & Interfaces. 47:1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csi.2016.02.006S1184

Information and communication technologies for knowledge management processes in the public sector in Kenya : a case study of the State Department of Infrastructure

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are considered facilitators of knowledge management processes in organizations. This study investigated ICTs for knowledge management processes at the State Department of Infrastructure in Kenya. The study’s objectives were to: establish the level of knowledge management awareness, find out knowledge management processes, identify types of ICTs used for knowledge management processes, and identify challenges experienced by State Department of Infrastructure in the use of ICTs for knowledge management processes. The study findings were determined after applying a qualitative research approach and a case study research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 21 participants who were heads of sections at the State Department of Infrastructure in Kenya. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, analyzed and interpreted thematically according to the objectives of the study. Findings of the study revealed that most participants were aware of the meanings of the concepts of knowledge and knowledge management, types of knowledge and importance of knowledge management in the department. Knowledge management processes in the State Department of Infrastructure entail knowledge creation, codification, retention, sharing and storage. ICTs mostly used for knowledge management processes in the department include: emails, mobile phones, desktop computers, computer servers, and flash disks. The department is faced with the challenges of lack of knowledge management strategies, policies and adequate staff awareness on the use of ICTs for knowledge management processes. In conclusion, the State Department of Infrastructure has a functional ICT infrastructure. However, the department is not using ICTs provided by this study’s Web 2.0 driven SECI model for knowledge management processes such as blogs, wikis, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. The study therefore proposes that the State Department of Infrastructure should increase its use of Web 2.0 technologies, collaborative content systems and e-learning technologies. The department should also digitize its records; automate its library services; set up intranet, and adopt a centralized knowledge-based system. Further, Public Service Commission of Kenya should formulate a knowledge management strategy and policy to guide on the use of ICTs for knowledge management processes. This strategy and policy can then be cascaded to public sector organizations such as the State Department of Infrastructure.Information ScienceM.A. (Information Science

24 th Bled eConference eFuture: Creating Solutions for the Individual, Organisations and Society

Abstract This paper describes the development of a maturity model to assess th

Co-Creation in Business Service Lifecycle Management

Co-creation between customers and providers has recently gained more attention by business service providers as a promising endeavour. The different perspectives of co-creation - innovation, sourcing and marketing - are well deployed. From a provider’s point of view, the question of how to manage business services with respect to co-creation is vitally important. However, service engineering and service lifecycle management typically take a mostly internal, closed-loop approach, although a logical implication of acknowledging the value co-creation perspective on “service” would be to leverage customer and other stakeholder competences to the full extent. This paper aims at reconciling the perspectives of co-creation and makes a contribution by analysing where and how co-creation can be effectively utilised throughout the various stages of a generic business service lifecycle. The result will be a framework guiding companies in using co-creation when managing their business services

Personalizing the web: A tool for empowering end-users to customize the web through browser-side modification

167 p.Web applications delegate to the browser the final rendering of their pages. Thispermits browser-based transcoding (a.k.a. Web Augmentation) that can be ultimately singularized for eachbrowser installation. This creates an opportunity for Web consumers to customize their Web experiences.This vision requires provisioning adequate tooling that makes Web Augmentation affordable to laymen.We consider this a special class of End-User Development, integrating Web Augmentation paradigms.The dominant paradigm in End-User Development is scripting languages through visual languages.This thesis advocates for a Google Chrome browser extension for Web Augmentation. This is carried outthrough WebMakeup, a visual DSL programming tool for end-users to customize their own websites.WebMakeup removes, moves and adds web nodes from different web pages in order to avoid tabswitching, scrolling, the number of clicks and cutting and pasting. Moreover, Web Augmentationextensions has difficulties in finding web elements after a website updating. As a consequence, browserextensions give up working and users might stop using these extensions. This is why two differentlocators have been implemented with the aim of improving web locator robustness