A Service-Oriented Approach for Sensing in the Internet of Things: Intelligent Transportation Systems and Privacy Use Cases

This paper presents a Sensing-as-a-Service run-time Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), called 3SOA, for the development of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. 3SOA aims to allow interoperability among various IoT platforms and support service-oriented modelling at high levels of abstraction where fundamental SOA theories and techniques are fully integrated into a practical software engineering approach. 3SOA abstracts the dependencies of the middleware programming model from the application logic. This abstraction allows the development efforts to focus on writing the application logic independently from hardware platforms, middleware, and languages in which applications are programmed. To achieve this result, IoT objects are treated as independent entities that may interact with each other using a well-defined message exchange sequence. Each object is defined by the services it provides and the coordination protocol it supports. Objects are then able to coordinate their resources to address the global objectives of the system. To practically validate our proposals, we demonstrate an intelligent transportation system and data privacy functional prototypes as proof of concepts. The use cases show that 3SOA and the presented abstraction language allow the amalgamation of macroprogramming and node-centric programming to develop real-time and efficient applications over IoT

When to Utilize Software as a Service

Cloud computing enables on-demand network access to shared resources (e.g., computation, networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. Cloud computing refers to both the applications delivered as services over the Internet and the hardware and system software in the data centers. Software as a service (SaaS) is part of cloud computing. It is one of the cloud service models. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted service and accessed over the Internet. In SaaS, the consumer uses the provider‘s applications running in the cloud. SaaS separates the possession and ownership of software from its use. The applications can be accessed from any device through a thin client interface. A typical SaaS application is used with a web browser based on monthly pricing. In this thesis, the characteristics of cloud computing and SaaS are presented. Also, a few implementation platforms for SaaS are discussed. Then, four different SaaS implementation cases and one transformation case are deliberated. The pros and cons of SaaS are studied. This is done based on literature references and analysis of the SaaS implementations and the transformation case. The analysis is done both from the customer‘s and service provider‘s point of view. In addition, the pros and cons of on-premises software are listed. The purpose of this thesis is to find when SaaS should be utilized and when it is better to choose a traditional on-premises software. The qualities of SaaS bring many benefits both for the customer as well as the provider. A customer should utilize SaaS when it provides cost savings, ease, and scalability over on-premises software. SaaS is reasonable when the customer does not need tailoring, but he only needs a simple, general-purpose service, and the application supports customer‘s core business. A provider should utilize SaaS when it offers cost savings, scalability, faster development, and wider customer base over on-premises software. It is wise to choose SaaS when the application is cheap, aimed at mass market, needs frequent updating, needs high performance computing, needs storing large amounts of data, or there is some other direct value from the cloud infrastructure.Siirretty Doriast

uOS : A resource rerouting middleware for ubiquitous games

Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) relies on the computation distributed over the environment to simplify the tasks performed by its users. A smart space is an instance of a ubiquitous environment, composed of a dynamic and heterogeneous set of devices that interact to support the execution of distributed smart applications. In this context, mobile devices provide new resources when they join the environment, which disappear when they leave it. This introduces the challenge of self-adaptation, in which smart applications may either include new resources as they become available or replace them when they become unavailable. Ubiquitous games combine ubicomp and computer game technologies to enrich user’s experience and fun. Such games may benefit from different input and output resources offered by mobile devices. To support the development and deployment of ubiquitous games, this work presents the uOS middleware. Using a DSOA (Device Service Oriented Architecture) based architecture and lightweight service discovery protocols, uOS ensures compatibility among resources, providing resource rerouting between heterogeneous and limited software and hardware platforms. The uMoleHunt game is presented to illustrate the practical application of uOS

The Industry and Policy Context for Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion:Market Analysis, Future Prospects and Key Challenges in Videogames, Serious Games and Gamification

The effective use of digital games for empowerment and social inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the 'videogames' industry, and an emerging 'serious games' industry. The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The 'serious games' industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors. This emerging industry is are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games, and products inspired by digital games, for a range of non-leisure applications. This report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution they could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion. Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

A gap analysis of Internet-of-Things platforms

We are experiencing an abundance of Internet-of-Things (IoT) middleware solutions that provide connectivity for sensors and actuators to the Internet. To gain a widespread adoption, these middleware solutions, referred to as platforms, have to meet the expectations of different players in the IoT ecosystem, including device providers, application developers, and end-users, among others. In this article, we evaluate a representative sample of these platforms, both proprietary and open-source, on the basis of their ability to meet the expectations of different IoT users. The evaluation is thus more focused on how ready and usable these platforms are for IoT ecosystem players, rather than on the peculiarities of the underlying technological layers. The evaluation is carried out as a gap analysis of the current IoT landscape with respect to (i) the support for heterogeneous sensing and actuating technologies, (ii) the data ownership and its implications for security and privacy, (iii) data processing and data sharing capabilities, (iv) the support offered to application developers, (v) the completeness of an IoT ecosystem, and (vi) the availability of dedicated IoT marketplaces. The gap analysis aims to highlight the deficiencies of today's solutions to improve their integration to tomorrow's ecosystems. In order to strengthen the finding of our analysis, we conducted a survey among the partners of the Finnish IoT program, counting over 350 experts, to evaluate the most critical issues for the development of future IoT platforms. Based on the results of our analysis and our survey, we conclude this article with a list of recommendations for extending these IoT platforms in order to fill in the gaps.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in Computer Communications, special issue on the Internet of Things: Research challenges and solution

Cloud Computing: TOE Adoption Factors By Service Model In Manufacturing

Organizations are adopting cloud technologies for two primary reasons: to reduce costs and to enhance business agility. The pressure to innovate, reduce costs and respond quickly to changes in market demand brought about by intense global competition has U.S. manufacturing firms turning to cloud computing as an enabling strategy. Cloud computing is a service based information technology model that enables on-demand access to a shared pool of computing services provisioned over a broadband network. Cloud is categorized across three primary service models, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), differentiated by the cloud provider’s level of responsibility for managing hardware services, development platforms and application services. While prior research in cloud computing has sought to define the concept and explore the business value, empirical studies in the Information Systems literature stream are sparse, limited to exploratory case studies and SaaS research. Using the Technology, Organization, and Environment framework as a theoretical foundation, this research provides a holistic cloud adoption model inclusive of all cloud service layers. The study analyzes factors influencing organizational cloud adoption utilizing survey data from 150 U.S. manufacturing firms. The results find organizational innovativeness as a crucial factor to cloud computing adoption in manufacturing. An inverse factor relationship suggests the more innovative the firm culture, the less likely it is to adopt cloud. Other significant adoption factors include trust and technical competency. Findings also suggest variations in adoption influences based on the cloud service model deployed. The study has strategic implications for both researchers and managers seeking to understand the antecedents to adoption, and for practitioners developing an organizational cloud strategy spanning multiple cloud service models. For vendors, the study provides insights that can be leveraged to inform product design, solution strategy, and value proposition creation for future cloud service offerings

Software Platforms for Smart Cities: Concepts, Requirements, Challenges, and a Unified Reference Architecture

Making cities smarter help improve city services and increase citizens' quality of life. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are fundamental for progressing towards smarter city environments. Smart City software platforms potentially support the development and integration of Smart City applications. However, the ICT community must overcome current significant technological and scientific challenges before these platforms can be widely used. This paper surveys the state-of-the-art in software platforms for Smart Cities. We analyzed 23 projects with respect to the most used enabling technologies, as well as functional and non-functional requirements, classifying them into four categories: Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Big Data, and Cloud Computing. Based on these results, we derived a reference architecture to guide the development of next-generation software platforms for Smart Cities. Finally, we enumerated the most frequently cited open research challenges, and discussed future opportunities. This survey gives important references for helping application developers, city managers, system operators, end-users, and Smart City researchers to make project, investment, and research decisions.Comment: Accepted for publication in ACM Computing Survey

The Dynamics of Transformation in the Development of Digital Services

Service providers are increasingly depending and using digital infrastructure and tools provided by digital platforms to transform their services and develop digital ones that meet the needs of heterogeneous end users. However, while there is an emerging literature of developing digital services, little is known about the dynamics of transformation. Using multiple cases of firms that develop digital services, the digital service taxonomy was synthesized to understand the dynamics of transformation in developing digital services. This study identifies five main dynamics: the services experience, the service process, the service capabilities, the service environment and the service delivery.  Each of those dynamics and their associated factors is explored under the objectives of business, interaction and technology. This enables us to extend the existing literature on digital service development in particular and contributes to the research of digital innovation in general

Technical pre-study for the ExMS project

This report aims to give an overview of software and hardware platforms available now or in the near future for building a prototype of an ExMS application (for an overview of the ExMS project, see Appendix). The report also gives an overview of the different technologies for building third-party mobile client software applications that are in use today. The report is composed of three sections. The first section is a general discussion on mobile client software and the different technologies that can be used to develop third-party mobile client software. The next section continues with a specific discussion on ExMS and answers the following questions: What is the general architecture of the ExMS application? What alternatives exist for implementing the ExMS prototype? The final section of the report is a recommendation of hardware and software platform for building the ExMS prototype