Creative trans-border cooperation in the field of operations research and sustainable development in civil engineering

The paper presents an overview of the history and achievements of trans-border cooperation in the Lithuania-Germany-Poland triangle in planning instruments in Construction Management, decision-making theory, application of Operational Research, and Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods in Civil Engineering and sustainable development. The cooperation and results of the Colloquiums with 35 years of tradition, their multidimensional nature is underlined. The research instruments, methods, studied phenomena are reviewed and characteristic applications in engineering and economics are presented. The knowledge and combined efforts of three academic centers have created a synergy which set in motion many original methods and spectacular implementations. The Colloquium calendar and the evolution of organizational forms are presented along with the inclusion of the informal EURO Working Group on Operations Research in Sustainable Development and Civil Engineering

IOT-Enhanced Digital Marketing Conceptual Framework

The research proposed in this paper regards the appropriateness and possibility of enhancing digital marketing with IoT technologies. The contribution of this paper is a novel digital marketing conceptual framework based on the ubiquitous and pervasive IoT technologies, empowered by the synergies of edge, fog and cloud computing. Our proposal is grounded into the general framework of digital marketing research proposed by Kannan and Li, as well as on the comprehensive agent-based IoT paradigm, thoroughly analysed by Savaglio et al. This framework is capable to seamlessly support the emergent marketing approaches including: contextual marketing, intelligent marketing, and omniscient marketing. On the other hand, this proposal can also benefit from the techniques and methodologies for building secure and robust IoT systems that were recently proposed by Pešić et al, for increasing the security and trust of IoT-based digital marketing ecosystems.</em

Artificial intelligence in cyber physical systems

This article conducts a literature review of current and future challenges in the use of artifcial intelligence (AI) in cyber physical systems. The literature review is focused on identifying a conceptual framework for increasing resilience with AI through automation supporting both, a technical and human level. The methodology applied resembled a literature review and taxonomic analysis of complex internet of things (IoT) interconnected and coupled cyber physical systems. There is an increased attention on propositions on models, infrastructures and frameworks of IoT in both academic and technical papers. These reports and publications frequently represent a juxtaposition of other related systems and technologies (e.g. Industrial Internet of Things, Cyber Physical Systems, Industry 4.0 etc.). We review academic and industry papers published between 2010 and 2020. The results determine a new hierarchical cascading conceptual framework for analysing the evolution of AI decision-making in cyber physical systems. We argue that such evolution is inevitable and autonomous because of the increased integration of connected devices (IoT) in cyber physical systems. To support this argument, taxonomic methodology is adapted and applied for transparency and justifcations of concepts selection decisions through building summary maps that are applied for designing the hierarchical cascading conceptual framework

Eye-tracking assistive technologies for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in the loss of muscle control. For individuals with ALS, where mobility is limited to the movement of the eyes, the use of eye-tracking-based applications can be applied to achieve some basic tasks with certain digital interfaces. This paper presents a review of existing eye-tracking software and hardware through which eye-tracking their application is sketched as an assistive technology to cope with ALS. Eye-tracking also provides a suitable alternative as control of game elements. Furthermore, artificial intelligence has been utilized to improve eye-tracking technology with significant improvement in calibration and accuracy. Gaps in literature are highlighted in the study to offer a direction for future research

Marketing Research 2.0

Authors: Krisztián Szűcs; Erika Lázár; Péter Németh | Title: Marketing Research 2.0 | Publisher: University of Pécs Faculty of Business and Economics Department of Marketing and Tourism Pécs, 2020 | ISBN (pdf) 978-963-429-630-0 --- Marketing research always follows the trends and improves its methods according to the ever-changing demands of companies. Thus, consecutive periods, alternating between growth and decrease, enliven the days of researchers. We can already see that the mid-‘90s and the second half of the decade were an end of an era, or rather the beginning of a new chapter that has been evolving steadily until today, changing everything we had learned. The changes were hard to detect in the Hungary of the late ‘90s and the turn of the millennium, yet they had already started in the field of applied marketing research in economically developed countries. The changes presented themselves mainly due to technological development and were later amplified by the global economic crisis in the first decade of the new millennium. These two effects triggered fundamental changes in the industry and its research methods. First, the efficiency of traditional techniques and the novelty of results were questioned, then, by the years of the crisis, even the value-creating potential of research firms was disputed. The past decade witnessed a kind of renewal, that entails a significant transformation of methodologies on the one hand, while on the other, it has enforced research companies on the market to identify and augment new skills and competencies. Our book summarises this process with the main stages and levelling points while drawing upon some limitations to set our frame of reference. Consequently, we will not discuss the methodological transformation of fundamental research, the changes of mathematical and statistical devices, or the developments in B2B, and other fields of research. We will try to provide, however, insights to a wide range of topics such as the current status of consumer research, the trends setting the near future, and we will also draw a generic model that has taken the place of the former cooperation among the actors of the industry ultimately changing the points of references for researchers to appear on the market with competitive services

Using body sensors for evaluating the impact of smart cycling technologies on cycling experiences:a systematic literature review and conceptual framework

Digital technologies in, on, and around bicycles and cyclists are gaining ground. Collectively called Smart Cycling Technologies (SCTs), it is important to evaluate their impact on subjective cycling experiences. Future evaluations can inform the design of SCTs, which in turn can help to realize the abundant benefits of cycling. Wearable body sensors and advanced driver assistance systems are increasingly studied in other domains, however evaluation methods integrating such sensors and systems in the field of cycling research were under-reviewed and under-conceptualized. This paper therefore presents a systematic literature review and conceptual framework to support the use of body sensors in evaluations of the impact of SCTs on perceptions, emotions, feelings, affect, and more, during outdoor bicycle rides. The literature review (n = 40) showed that there is scarce research on this specific use of body sensors. Moreover, existing research designs are typically not tailored to determine impact of SCTs on cycling experience at large scale. Most studies had small sample sizes and explored limited sensors in chest belts and wristbands for evaluating stress response. The evaluation framework helps to overcome these limitations, by synthesizing crucial factors and methods for future evaluations in four categories: (1) experiences with SCTs, (2) experience measurements, (3) causal analysis, (4) confounding variables. The framework also identifies which types of sensors fit well to which types of experiences and SCTs. The seven directions for future research include, for example, experiences of psychological flow, sensors in e-textiles, and cycling with biofeedback. Future interactions between cyclists and SCTs will likely resemble a collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence. Altogether, this paper helps to understand if future support systems for cyclists truly make cycling safer and more attractive

Analysing IoT cyber risk for estimating IoT cyber insurance

This paper is focused on mapping the current evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) and its associated cyber risks for the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) sector. We report the results of a qualitative empirical study that correlates academic literature with 14 - I4.0 frameworks and initiatives. We apply the grounded theory approach to synthesise the findings from our literature review, to compare the cyber security frameworks and cyber security quantitative impact assessment models, with the world leading I4.0 technological trends. From the findings, we build a new impact assessment model of IoT cyber risk in Industry 4.0. We therefore advance the efforts of integrating standards and governance into Industry 4.0 and offer a better understanding of economics impact assessment models for I4.0

Future developments in cyber risk assessment for the internet of things

This article is focused on the economic impact assessment of Internet of Things (IoT) and its associated cyber risks vectors and vertices – a reinterpretation of IoT verticals. We adapt to IoT both the Cyber Value at Risk model, a well-established model for measuring the maximum possible loss over a given time period, and the MicroMort model, a widely used model for predicting uncertainty through units of mortality risk. The resulting new IoT MicroMort for calculating IoT risk is tested and validated with real data from the BullGuard's IoT Scanner (over 310,000 scans) and the Garner report on IoT connected devices. Two calculations are developed, the current state of IoT cyber risk and the future forecasts of IoT cyber risk. Our work therefore advances the efforts of integrating cyber risk impact assessments and offer a better understanding of economic impact assessment for IoT cyber risk

Glossary of terms relating to children’s digital lives

The Digital Futures Commission created this glossary for researchers, policymakers and practitioners concerned with children’s digital lives. It concentrates on the topics addressed in our three workstreams: play, education data and innovation. To construct the glossary, we have been informed by definitions developed across different disciplines and domains