A study of a Java based framework for telecommunications services : a dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science, Massey University, New Zealand

Additional content held on disk with print copy in Library.In this report, we study some of the general issues surrounding the area of telecommunications service development including the history of telecommunications services, current service creation techniques and the network used by services. We also discuss the lack of service portability and reasons for it. The JAIN framework – a set of Java APIs for integrated networks – is introduced as an approach that elegantly addresses this. We present a survey of recent work in telecommunications services that relate to JAIN. This includes a discussion of the feature interaction problem, an overview of the Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture, in particular, its relationship with JAIN, and the rapidly advancing field of Internet Telephony. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the JAIN approach we present designs for two advanced services that use the JAIN framework. These services are Internet Call Waiting and Click-to-Dial. Finally, areas for future research are introduced

Patient-involved service innovation in elderly care - A case study of a Finnish elderly care nursing home

The population is aging with a considerable shortage of skilled nursing staff in Finland. The healthcare organizations are facing challenges with staying up-to-date in such an uncertain environment. Technology and advanced concepts would be the solution to solve the problem in the near future, and patient involvement has become a significant area of governmental policy administration in healthcare because of its fruitful benefits in recent years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of patient involvement in service innovation in elderly care through a case study in Finland. Previous works on service innovation, customer involvement, and patient-involved approach in elderly care provide preliminary background for this study. Using a qualitative approach with case study strategy, this study analyzed the role of the patient in service innovation in elderly care. Data were collected with interviews, observation, and documents from one Finnish elderly nursing home in 2018. The empirical study shows two primary types of patient involvement: active involvement and passive involvement. The evidence also indicates that the triangle concept (family members, patients, and healthcare professionals) facilitates the patient to take part in the service development process. The case study illustrates the adoption of the patient-involved approach in development activities towards service innovation. Further studies are needed to establish more profound and empirical knowledge on this phenomenon

End of life care in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: in search of a good death

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an incurable, progressive illness that is the fourth commonest cause of death worldwide. Death tends to occur after a prolonged functional decline associated with uncontrolled symptoms, emotional distress and social isolation. There is increasing evidence that the end of life needs of those with advanced COPD are not being met by existing services. Many barriers hinder the provision of good end of life care in COPD, including the inherent difficulties in determining prognosis. This review provides an evidence-based approach to overcoming these barriers, summarising current evidence and highlighting areas for future research. Topics include end of life needs, symptom control, advance care planning, and service development to improve the quality of end of life care

Development of an online collaborative working environment for design and manufacturing

This research is to develop a novel collaborative working environment (CWE) for manufacturing and design using advanced Web/Internet technologies such as Web Service, Grid Service and other related software tools/packages. To achieve the above, the following research modules are developed by the author: A service oriented framework for computer aid design, which acts as an online collaboration system, has been developed with the utilisation of the latest technology, Web Service. The concept of Service-Oriented Architecture has been implemented in the framework. Users from anywhere in the world can join the design process from their PCs, no matter what operation system they are using. The service-oriented system has the capability of going through firewalls and can afford multi-users due to the characteristics of Web service. Also the loose-coupling structure makes the system very easy to be updated. Another module for the CWE is to solve the software sharing problem when the platform is used among several geographically dispersed users or organisations. A software package bank system has been developed, which utilised the ideology of service oriented approach and successfully solved traditional problems in this field. Based on the outcomes mentioned above, the research finally developed a more powerful infrastructure using Grid service, which is a further development of Grid computing and Web service. The Grid service is considered to be the most important future solvent for Internet

Exploring the impact of customer feedback on the well-being of service entities - a TSR perspective

Purpose – Adopting the transformative service research (TSR) perspective, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of positive customer feedback on the well-being of front-line employees, companies, and society. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the overlooked area of “positive feedback” is explored resulting in the development of the “Positive Feedback Model” (PFM). The study also compares managers’ and employees’ perceptions of positive customer feedback. Design/methodology/approach – Two exploratory qualitative studies were conducted: Study 1 consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with managers working in the service industry and Study 2 consisted of seven focus groups with front-line service employees. The extensive literature review and the results of these two studies contributed to the development of the PFM. Findings – Positive customer feedback is an overlooked area of service research which offers potential for improving the well-being of the service entities. Front-line employees are the main recipients and topics of positive customer feedback. The developed PFM describes various forms, channels, and times of administration of positive customer feedback and its multitude of impacts on the well-being of service entities. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the literature on TSR and customer feedback management. The developed model presents possible positive feedback categories, their various outcomes and the outcomes for the concerned parties involved. By developing PFM and encouraging a multidisciplinary approach combined with advanced research methodologies, the researchers propose an agenda for further research insights within the TSR and customer feedback areas. The comparison of the managers’ and employees’ perceptions of positive customer feedback presents novel managerial implications and directions for future research. Originality/value – This study is the first to explore customer feedback from a TSR perspective. It examines the overlooked area of positive customer feedback. The well-being of service entities is prioritized as services have been extensively criticized for ignoring human well-being

Empowering, co-designing, scaling: A service design model for the sustainable future of textile artisans’ communities

The global economic and environmental crisis is creating momentum for designers to challenge the current “linear economy” based on a take-make-waste model, and explore strategies, services and systems inspired by new ethics of sustainability. Within this arena, textile artisanship is becoming an interesting opportunity for opening up resilient micro-enterprises, addressing the disruptive challenges posed by future trends (e.g. slow consumption, alternative economies, redistributed manufacturing, flexible production, circular economy, advanced artisanship, design entrepreneurship and enabling ecosystems). In particular, this research is focused on textile artisans’ communities, bottom-up and human-centred aggregations engaged in giving form and meaning to local natural fibres, by hands or by directly controlling mechanised and digital tools, and managing the process of making culturally and socially significant apparel. With this in mind, a theoretical framework has been developed, outlining barriers, enablers and a sustainable manifesto for textile artisans’ communities. Service design is here proposed as a key approach within this scenario, due to its user-centric, relational and systemic strength to co-create tangible and intangible value towards holistic sustainability. Using service design methods, participatory action research will be pursued to empower artisans’ communities, co-design collaborative services and scale up innovations within an enabling ecosystem. The overall aim of this research is to explore how service design can encourage textile artisans’ communities towards a sustainable future, providing social engagement, rescuing cultural heritage, boosting economic development and enhancing environmental stewardship

Malware in the Future? Forecasting of Analyst Detection of Cyber Events

There have been extensive efforts in government, academia, and industry to anticipate, forecast, and mitigate cyber attacks. A common approach is time-series forecasting of cyber attacks based on data from network telescopes, honeypots, and automated intrusion detection/prevention systems. This research has uncovered key insights such as systematicity in cyber attacks. Here, we propose an alternate perspective of this problem by performing forecasting of attacks that are analyst-detected and -verified occurrences of malware. We call these instances of malware cyber event data. Specifically, our dataset was analyst-detected incidents from a large operational Computer Security Service Provider (CSSP) for the U.S. Department of Defense, which rarely relies only on automated systems. Our data set consists of weekly counts of cyber events over approximately seven years. Since all cyber events were validated by analysts, our dataset is unlikely to have false positives which are often endemic in other sources of data. Further, the higher-quality data could be used for a number for resource allocation, estimation of security resources, and the development of effective risk-management strategies. We used a Bayesian State Space Model for forecasting and found that events one week ahead could be predicted. To quantify bursts, we used a Markov model. Our findings of systematicity in analyst-detected cyber attacks are consistent with previous work using other sources. The advanced information provided by a forecast may help with threat awareness by providing a probable value and range for future cyber events one week ahead. Other potential applications for cyber event forecasting include proactive allocation of resources and capabilities for cyber defense (e.g., analyst staffing and sensor configuration) in CSSPs. Enhanced threat awareness may improve cybersecurity.Comment: Revised version resubmitted to journa

Smart city concept in the strategic urban planning process. Case study of the city of Belgrade, Serbia

European regions and cities intensively apply the Smart City concept, pursuing to maximize the use of contemporary technologies and Internet of Things (IoT) in problem solving when it comes to transport, city logistics, environmental improvement, life quality for their citizens, and many other aspects. This concept has been elaborated through smart city strategies dealing specifically with the topics such as smart governance, smart economy, smart environment, smart living, smart people, and smart mobility, but often also as a part of comprehensive urban development strategies. In the case of the City of Belgrade, the Smart City concept has been introduced through several strategic development documents (e.g. City of Belgrade Development Strategy 2017-2021). The aim of this paper is to identify the future long-term development vision rooted in the Belgrade’s most recent strategic documents, by detecting the parts that lay fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurial culture, inherent elements of the Smart City model. This approach should reveal the city development domains that are the first to encompass innovations in strategic planning and enable the introduction of the Smart City concept on a larger scale. Having in mind that holistic approaches to urban development and resilience and global knowledge-based platforms can lead to important achievements for the future of the cities, it is also important to make, at this point, some useful links between Belgrade and other comparable and innovative European cities. For the purpose of making comparison between the City of Belgrade and advanced European cities of similar demographic and urban features (e.g. Barcelona, Vienna etc.) topics such as development of transparency in decision-making, or improved stakeholders’ participation and collaboration in service provision, will be used to demonstrate the existing gap between them, as well as to point out the direction on which Belgrade should embark on

Novel approach for validation of innovative modules for railway traffic management systems in a virtual environment

To increase operational efficiency, resilience and capacity of the railway system, the development of modern railway traffic management system (TMS) has attracted more and more attention in recent years. To support the development and implementation of the next generation of TMS and related applications, advanced data collection, transmission and processing approaches, digitalised databases, and virtual validation platforms, etc., are required. In the context of the TMS development (addressed by Technology Demonstrator 2.9 of Shift2Rail Innovation Programme 2), this support is to be provided by a scalable, interoperable and standardised communication platform for internal and external communication between different subsystems, applications and clients. This paper outlines the approach of the ongoing OPTIMA project aimed to develop a communication platform demonstrator for railway TMS based on a novel Integration Layer (IL) and its various interfaces to entities including integration layer services, TMS service, rail business service, external services and operator workstations. Further detailed discussion in this paper relates to the approach to validating the communication platform demonstrator as a functional entity, and as a virtual testing environment to validate railway traffic management and other applications. The validation approach for the applications tested on the communication platform demonstrator is also presented. The results of future implementation of this validation approach will be used to assess the functionality of the communications platform demonstrator developed, and the initial TMS applications tested on it, and form an important step towards developing and implementing IL based communications platforms for future TMSs