Proof-of-Concept Application - Annual Report Year 1

In this document the Cat-COVITE Application for use in the CATNETS Project is introduced and motivated. Furthermore an introduction to the catallactic middleware and Web Services Agreement (WS-Agreement) concepts is given as a basis for the future work. Requirements for the application of Cat-COVITE with in catallactic systems are analysed. Finally the integration of the Cat-COVITE application and the catallactic middleware is described. --Grid Computing

Quality of Service for High Performance IoT Systems

The fourth industrial generation brought both solutions as challenges. It allowed greater efficiency and effectiveness in manufacturing, reducing both costs and wastes. However, it consists in the deployment of innumerable devices for data collection and control processes. This brings challenges such as interoperability between all these heterogeneous systems. Thus, a group of partners, supported by the European Union, proposed a solution, the Arrowhead Framework. Its aim is to create a framework with a service-oriented architecture (SOA) enabling an abstract collaboration between all these different devices. While in development, the framework does not provide Quality of Service (QoS), which prevents its use in more demanding networks. This limitation was the central problem solved in this project. This project focus on developing an architecture that provides QoS support in Arrowhead compliant systems. Here the main challenges addressed are the following: developing an architecture capable of working with different communication protocols and technologies; develop an architecture capable of working with an unlimited number of QoS requirements. During the entire project, its development process consisted in two main iterations: the first was regarding the development of an architecture; the second consisted in the development of a pilot project based on the FTT-SE protocol that could test the architecture developed in the first iteration. At last, the final product consists in two systems, one for QoS configuration and other for monitoring. These two systems are independent of each other. Regarding QoS requirements, only delay and bandwidth were implemented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital Innovation Management and Path Dependence: An Integrated Perspective of Manufacturing Incumbents

Is digital innovation a big chance or a big threat for physical product-centric incumbents? Building on the unique characteristics of digital innovation, new market players can break the dominance of incumbents by providing digitally enabled products with distinct characteristics. Therefore, this paper empirically explores the dynamics within incumbents related to digital innovation management. Qualitative methods are used to systematically and inductively gain insights into how digital innovation is considered in the context of incumbents with physical product-driven business models. We use path dependence theory to explain the findings and support theoretical generalization of our results. The study contributes to the literature on digital innovation, how incumbents manage digital innovation under certain circumstances, and the related impacts on their business model. Further, we suggest three stages of digital innovation management in the context of path dependence

Analysis of current middleware used in peer-to-peer and grid implementations for enhancement by catallactic mechanisms

This deliverable describes the work done in task 3.1, Middleware analysis: Analysis of current middleware used in peer-to-peer and grid implementations for enhancement by catallactic mechanisms from work package 3, Middleware Implementation. The document is divided in four parts: The introduction with application scenarios and middleware requirements, Catnets middleware architecture, evaluation of existing middleware toolkits, and conclusions. -- Die Arbeit definiert Anforderungen an Grid und Peer-to-Peer Middleware Architekturen und analysiert diese auf ihre Eignung für die prototypische Umsetzung der Katallaxie. Eine Middleware-Architektur für die Umsetzung der Katallaxie in Application Layer Netzwerken wird vorgestellt.Grid Computing

Dynamic Resource Management in Virtualized Data Centres

In the last decade, Cloud Computing has become a disruptive force in the computing landscape, changing the way in which software is designed, deployed and used over the world. Its adoption has been substantial and it is only expected to continue growing. The growth of this new model is supported by the proliferation of large-scale data centres, built for the express purpose of hosting cloud workloads. These data centres rely on systems virtualization to host multiple workloads per physical server, thus increasing their infrastructures\u27 utilization and decreasing their power consumption. However, the owners of the cloud workloads expect their applications\u27 demand to be satisfied at all times, and placing too many workloads in one physical server can risk meeting those service expectations. These and other management goals make the task of managing a cloud-supporting data centre a complex challenge, but one that needs to be addressed. In this work, we address a few of the management challenges associated with dynamic resource management in virtualized data centres. We investigate the application of First Fit heuristics to the Virtual Machine Relocation problem (that is, the problem of migrating VMs away from stressed or overloaded hosts) and the effect that different heuristics have, as reflected in the performance metrics of the data centre. We also investigate how to pursue multiple goals in data centre management and propose a method to achieve precisely that by dynamically switching management strategies at runtime according to data centre state. In order to improve system scalability and decrease network management overhead, we propose architecting the management system as a topology-aware hierarchy of managing elements, which limits the flow of management data across the data centre. Finally, we address the challenge of managing multi-VM applications with placement constraints in data centres, while still trying to achieve high levels of resource utilization and client satisfaction

How do Multinationals Build Social Capital? Evidence from South Africa.

This paper looks at the self-reporting of social engagement by multinational firms in South Africa, developing previous measures of social capital to fit the unique context of the multinational firm in particular mapping the configurations of declared engagement and the firms' provision. It finds large intersectoral variation which cannot be predicted by one factor alone, and sometimes wide intrasectoral variation. In particular (and for different reasons) 'extractive' and 'industrial' sector firms traditionally criticised for their impact on communities - and 'medical' sector firms are engaged in practices conducive to the generation of social capital.Social Capital, Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, South Africa, Multinational Companies