First experiences with Personal Networks as an enabling platform for service providers

By developing demonstrators and performing small-scale user trials, we found various opportunities and pitfalls for deploying personal networks (PNs) on a commercial basis. The demonstrators were created using as many as possible legacy devices and proven technologies. They deal with applications in the health sector, home services, tourism, and the transportation sector. This paper describes the various architectures and our experiences with the end users and the technology. We conclude that context awareness, service discovery, and content management are very important in PNs and that a personal network provider role is necessary to realize these functions under the assumptions we made. The PNPay Travel demonstrator suggests that PN service platforms provide an opportunity to develop true trans-sector services

Designing the Dragon or does the Dragon Design? An Analysis of the Impact of the Creative Industry on the Process of Urban Development of Beijing, China

After reading Richard Florida’s work (e.g. Florida, 2003) on the creative industry and on the importance of the creative class for urban development in post-industrial economies, many cities in Europe and the USA have started to invest in creativity in general and in design in particular. Much less is known about the role of creativity in industrial economies. This paper analyses the role of design in the economic and social development of China’s political and cultural capital Beijing. We will try to identify the main success factors and barriers for the design business and show how design can be further used for social and economic development of the city. Backed up by conspicuous state investments and by fast decision making, industrial areas have been transformed and neighbourhoods have been revitalised, infrastructure has been upgraded, and some modern iconic landmarks are added to the collection of old monuments. Moreover, priority has changed from “Made in China” to “Create in China”, allowing economic activities to move upwards in the value chain. Nevertheless, and despite the presence of key research and art institutes, further developments of the design sector and the use of design in other (manufacturing) sectors will still be a huge challenge.Creative Industry, Design, Urban Development, Industrial Economy, Beijing, China

Application for a barrier free tourism in Valencia

Barrier free tourism is increasingly getting a greater attention by the tourist industry, not just for the added value given to the touristic experience, but because of the difference and specialization on a wide market share that the Spanish touristic sector has not been able to fully take advantage of yet. Following this idea, the National Plan for Smart cities (Plan Nacional de Ciudades Inteligentes) stands up for smart touristic destinations where innovative technologies should play an important role to improve accessibility. The development of the mobile phone App “Barrier Free-Valencia” intents to offer a useful tool to walk through the city of Valencia guaranteeing a 100% barrier free route. The methodology used for the development is based on the combination of a systematic field work, using free access information provided by the Municipality of Valencia, and calculations based on the Dijkstra algorithm (1959) implemented on a GIS software. To calculate the route, it is used the impedance or crossing difficulty concept where the different urban barriers and low comfort situation areas are identified. The main data used are: presence of lower sidewalks, path narrowing, slopes, steps and noisy pavement. After this data has been identified, the routes are divided into accessible, passable, and not accessible. It is necessary to work on the idea of creating representative single line grids of sidewalks and, therefore, of real paths followed by urban citizens. By doing so, more data can be collected to build a complete Smart City grid. The development of Apps such as Barrier Free will help on the evolution towards more inclusive cities. An idea that is the basic line of our investigation

Tactile paving surfaces at bus stops : The need of homogeneous technical solutions for accessible tourism

Accessible tourism promotes the right of all citizens to visit places and experience tourism. Therefore, universal accessibility must exist within the tourism value chain, where the public transport system is an important element. The research project "Accessibility for All in Tourism" focused on the attributes of inclusive bus stops and considered "Universal Design" and “Age Sensitive Design” approaches. In the built environment, products and spaces must consider the needs of all people to the greatest extent possible. In particular, adequate wayfinders to help people with visual disabilities in terms of orientation and danger alerts. Tactile paving surfaces are one of the fundamental elements of accessibility for people with visual disabilities, ensuring they have an independent life, whether they are residents in their city or tourists in another country. However, when considering these tactile surfaces, the needs of elderly people and individuals with visual disabilities are divergent. This study is intended to present international examples of tactile surfaces used at bus stops, in some cases based on bibliographic research and direct observation. For a better understanding of the constituent elements of tactile surfaces, established examples were compiled. The results indicate that there is a great diversity of technical solutions for tactile surfaces at bus stops that attend to the needs of people with visual disabilities, some more age-friendly than others. In a context of equitable use and accessible tourism, homogeneous technical solutions, inclusive for all, should be implemented in all countries.Peer Reviewe

Progress in airline distribution systems: The threat of new entrants to incumbent players

For decades, distribution has been a key ICT (Information and Communication Technology) area for airlines and this sector has been dominated by four (now three)Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) whose primacy has been threatened over the last four years by a set of new players, the so called GDS New Entrants (GNEs). GNEs emerged with the advent of the Internet and open source technology as ‘disintermediation ‘facilitators and generated vast interest from airlines because they promised to reduce the cost of distribution. This paper explores the impact of ICTs on airlines with a focus on GDSs. It provides an overview of the changing market dynamics, analyses the environment that led to the appearance of GNEs and pinpoints the issues behind their until now failure to provide a true alternative to the GDSs. This analysis complements existing academic research in that it clarifies critical issues in the air travel distribution field and provides an overview of current industry development

PASSENGER FERRY TERMINAL, MILE TWO, LAGOS STATE: ACHIEVING GOOD ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Ferry terminals have served as transport infrastructure buildings that act as the connection point between land and water for fast, efficient movement of people, goods and merchandize through water transportation. Despite the advances and promulgations made with barrier free design in the built environment, the viability of the Ferry terminals has been limited by poor adoption and implementation of inclusive approaches to planning access and amenities for all users to enjoy water transport that is comfortable, safe and most importantly accessible to the public. The aim of this research is to propose a Passenger Ferry Terminal in Mile Two, Lagos state Nigeria, using the Universal design principles to ensure it is accessible by all categories of users without discrimination to age and ability or disability. To achieve this, the study hinges on the existing relevant literature to examine the current approaches to the planning and design of Ferry terminals; the universal design principles and applications to accessibility; review existing case studies for functional need and spatial demands. Finds from case studies and Observations indicate complete lacunae in the provision of accessible Ferry terminals, coupled with lack of necessary amenities that make for effective function of Ferry terminals to endear passenger comfort and ridership. This research is concluded with an architectural design proposal of a passenger Ferry terminal that incorporates the principles of universal design in achieving true mobility of all users

Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Communication Networks for the Maritime Internet of Things: Key Technologies, Opportunities, and Challenges

With the rapid development of marine activities, there has been an increasing number of maritime mobile terminals, as well as a growing demand for high-speed and ultra-reliable maritime communications to keep them connected. Traditionally, the maritime Internet of Things (IoT) is enabled by maritime satellites. However, satellites are seriously restricted by their high latency and relatively low data rate. As an alternative, shore & island-based base stations (BSs) can be built to extend the coverage of terrestrial networks using fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), and beyond 5G services. Unmanned aerial vehicles can also be exploited to serve as aerial maritime BSs. Despite of all these approaches, there are still open issues for an efficient maritime communication network (MCN). For example, due to the complicated electromagnetic propagation environment, the limited geometrically available BS sites, and rigorous service demands from mission-critical applications, conventional communication and networking theories and methods should be tailored for maritime scenarios. Towards this end, we provide a survey on the demand for maritime communications, the state-of-the-art MCNs, and key technologies for enhancing transmission efficiency, extending network coverage, and provisioning maritime-specific services. Future challenges in developing an environment-aware, service-driven, and integrated satellite-air-ground MCN to be smart enough to utilize external auxiliary information, e.g., sea state and atmosphere conditions, are also discussed