The Role of Web Services at Home

The increase in computational power and the networking abilities of home appliances are revolutionizing the way we interact with our homes. This trend is growing stronger and opening a number of technological challenges. From the point of view of distributed systems, there is a need to design architectures for enhancing the comfort and safety of the home, which deal with issues of heterogeneity, scalability and openness. By considering the evolution of domotic research and projects, we advocate a role for web services in the domestic network, and propose an infrastructure based on web services. As a case study, we present an implementation for monitoring the health of an elder adult using multiple sensors and clients

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review

Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid. It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers. The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.

Korean approach to online protection for children in digital era

Children are the most cherished members of our society but most vulnerable to harm, abuse, violence and exploitation in both online and offline world. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) prescribes the fundamental rights of children particularly to safeguard the liberty and protect the safety, security and privacy of the children. It imposed obligation on the state parties to protect the fundamental rights of children, which includes the right to life, survival and development; the right to be free and protected from harm, abuse, violence and exploitation; and the right to a fair trial and appropriate redress for children that have infringed or violated any law. These fundamental rights of the children particularly the right to be free from harm, abuse, violence and exploitation are being threatened with the existence of the internet and the digital technology. Without doubt internet is an important source of information, education and communication for children and young people but it also bring threats and risks to children's safety, security and privacy. It exposes children not only to harmful violence and inappropriate content but also to strangers and pedophiles, who sexually exploit children and expose them to online abuse such as child pornography and child prostitution. The Internet also provides avenue for harassing, stalking and bullying online that threaten the physical and emotional security as well as privacy of the children. Awareness of these online threats and risks is important but in order to provide a safer internet environment for children and young people, the law and regulation should be adequately comprehensive and enforceable to protect the children from the online threat and risks. such protection is important particularly to safeguard the rights to life, survival and development of the children. The presentation will highlight the approach adopted by South Korea being the most wired country in the world in addressing the issue on online protection for children from the legal perspective

Design of a Fog Computing, Blockchain and IoT-Based Continuous Glucose Monitoring System for Crowdsourcing mHealth

[Abstract] Diabetes Mellitus, usually called only Diabetes, is a worldwide chronic metabolic disorder that is characterized by abnormal oscillations in blood sugar levels. Such levels should be monitored by diabetes patients, which traditionally have had to take blood samples by finger-pricking, at least between twice and four times a day. Finger-pricking has a number of drawbacks that can be tackled by Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs), which are able to determine blood sugar levels throughout the day and not only at specific time instants. In this paper, the design of an IoT CGM-based system is proposed, whose collected blood sugar sample values can be accessed remotely; thus being able to monitor patients, specifically dependent ones (e.g., children, elders, and pregnant women) and warn them in the case where a dangerous situation is detected. In order to create such a system, a fog computing system, based on distributed mobile smart phones, has been devised to collect data from the CGMs. Moreover, the use of a blockchain is proposed, to receive, validate, and store the collected data with the objective of avoiding untrusted sources and, thus, to provide a transparent and trustworthy data source of a population, which can vary in age, ethnicity, psychology, education, self-care, and/or geographic location, in a rapid, flexible, scalable, and low-cost way. These crowdsourced data can enable novel mHealth applications for diagnosis, patient monitoring, or even public health actions, which can help to advance in the control of the disease and raise global awareness on the increasing prevalence of diabetes.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación de España; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

DISINFORMATION TARGETING DEMOCRACY: VIOLENT EFFECTS OF RUSSIA’S ACTIVE MEASURES CAMPAIGNS IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND THE UNITED STATES

Russia has used active measures—economic, cyber, and disinformation efforts—to target democratic populations and polarize political opinions. This polarization erodes democratic political processes from within, achieving Russia’s goals to make Western democracy appear fragile when contrasted with the strength of Putin’s autocracy. The effects of active measures are difficult to quantify, but analysis of recent events in France, Germany, and the United States suggest that the Kremlin’s efforts have made an impact: some members of extreme movements use violence in support of goals that echo Russian disinformation. It can be demonstrated that Russian active measures targeting far-right extremists, and violent acts committed by some of those extremists—such as the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021—can be correlated to the rise in far-right violence in France, Germany, and the United States, but causation cannot be demonstrated at this time.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review

Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication management as well as policy for animal welfare

The Clash of Cultures: Digerati and Devolution in the Twenty-First Century

For over two decades, evolving digital platforms have connected human societies and nations enabling the rapid diffusion of information in patterns mimicking starling murmuration. Despite technological prowess, the digerati of the twenty-first century (Gens X, Y, Z), can be both informed and fooled by well-placed memes. Take a lesson from scientists Henri Milne-Edwards and Emile Durkheim in the 1800s. Their world of connection was nascent. Yet, they grappled with similar issues regarding the intended and unintended consequences of the interrelationship between the size and complexity of connection. For Milne-Edwards, he focused on the size and complexity of organisms later influencing Darwin and Durkheim. As for Durkheim, he examined society and its divisions of labor and the unintended consequence of social isolation and suicide. The malady of the infinite, as Durkheim labeled the socially disengaged, dealt with societal segmentation and isolation of individuals. This commentary addresses the elementary network structures of societal segmentation. Today’s digital society is wildly connected as never before, and yet, the social ills of isolationism linger. Regardless of the ubiquitous connection, individuals are wantonly socially isolated. It is further suggested here that passively monitoring digitized data, such as that being explored and tested in China, may provide a viable, implementable and corrective course for isolationism

Youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

Young people ages 15 to 24 are 1.2 billion of the world’s human capital. Around the world, many of them are already making contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and their work should be further acknowledged and strengthened. Increasingly, youth are recognized as key participants in decision-making and development, as reflected in the growing presence of non-governmental youth organizations and the upsurge of youth advisory boards and committees to international institutions and programmes. Yet building the capacity of and creating sustained partnerships with young people are crucial strategies to achieving the MDGs that have not been fully realized by the international community. This paper aims to provide an overview of youth participation as it currently exists, to outline the ways in which youth are directly involved and affected by each Goal, to demonstrate the ways in which young people are contributing to the MDGs, and to provide ‘Options for Action’ that governments, the United Nations system, donors and other actors can harness, support, and scale-up in order to support young people in making significant contributions to achieving the MDGs. Part I outlines the existing mechanisms for youth participation in development policy. These channels can be used by governments and institutions to strengthen and mobilize young people as partners in policy formulation. Successful modes of participation should be recognized and replicated, and also adapted to the challenging political and socio-economic realities facing many youth-led and youth-serving organizations. Part II presents youth participation as it relates directly to the MDGs. Each goal is analyzed with respect to its effect on young peoples lives as well as how young people can play – and indeed are playing — a role in its implementation. Under each goal are a number of “Options for Action” that governments, the UN and multilateral organizations can use to fully harness the contributions that youth can make to achieving the MDGs. Part III outlines the synergies between the Options for Action presented in this report and the Quick Wins proposed by the Millennium Project. The Options for Action are complimentary and provide a process to implement the Quick Win actions, using young people as key implementing agents and service providers. Part III also outlines a number of youth-focused Quick Wins that can make a significant and measurable difference to the state of young people in target countries. Part IV elaborates on how youth can participate in achieving the MDGs and contains cross-cutting recommendations on youth engagement in all 8 Goals. Overall, the report demonstrates that investing in youth will provide the longest and most effective dividend towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by building the social capital needed to foster pragmatic development. Indeed, without the involvement of young people, a demographic that comprises one fifth of the world’s total population, the full achievement of the MDGs will remain elusive and their long-term sustainability will be compromised. Youth participation is currently quite varied, ranging from effective, to sometimes tokenistic, to often non-existent. There are specific ways in which youth and youth organizations can contribute to the design and implementation of MDG-based strategies, some of which are outlined in this document. Many projects are already happening, but there is much work left still to be done.Youth participation; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Poverty Eradication