Modeling of IoT devices in Business Processes: A Systematic Mapping Study

[EN] The Internet of Things (IoT) enables to connect the physical world to digital business processes (BP). By using the IoT, a BP can, e.g.: 1) take into account real-world data to take more informed business decisions, and 2) automate and/or improve BP tasks. To achieve these benefits, the integration of IoT and BPs needs to be successful. The first step to this end is to support the modeling of IoT-enhanced BPs. Although numerous researchers have studied this subject, it is unclear what is the current state of the art in terms of current modeling solutions and gaps. In this work, we carry out a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) to find out how current solutions are modelling IoT into business processes. After studying 600 papers, we identified and analyzed in depth a total of 36 different solutions. In addition, we report on some important issues that should be addressed in the near future, such as, for instance the lack of standardization.This research has been funded by Internal Funds KU Leuven (Interne Fondsen KU Leuven) and the financial support of the Spanish State Research Agency under the project TIN2017-84094-R and co-financed with ERDF.Torres Bosch, MV.; Serral, E.; Valderas, P.; Pelechano Ferragud, V.; Grefen, P. (2020). Modeling of IoT devices in Business Processes: A Systematic Mapping Study. IEEE. 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1109/CBI49978.2020.00031S22123

Networking Media Abstraction, Device Discovery, and Routing for the Pervasive Middleware PalCom

PalCom is a pervasive middleware that can be used to assemble services provided by networked devices into configurations, called assemblies, for specific use cases by the user. In this dissertation, we present the development of a networking media abstraction framework for PalCom that abstracts different network interfaces in a PalCom device to upper layers of PalCom. The media abstraction framework is documented in paper I. Over the media abstraction layer, we define a device discovery mechanism that enables a PalCom device to discover other devices on its local networks, where it has network interfaces, as well as across interconnected networks. The device discovery mechanism is documented in paper II. On top of the device discovery layer, we implemented support for distance vector routing that enables routing data among discovered devices via the least cost routes. The routing layer is documented in paper III. In the last phase of our work, we refined our device discovery mechanism for PalCom to include a distributed synchronization algorithm that two PalCom nodes can utilize to re-sync their exchanged views of the network to overcome possible loss of device discovery and undiscovery notifications over unreliable channels. The synchronization algorithm is documented in paper IV

Threshold concepts in web development: the impact of education and experience on the perceptions of practitioners

The Threshold Concepts (TCs) framework posits characteristics of critical concepts that enable a learner to see things in a new and unforgettable way that allows the incorporation of cognitive approaches and skills needed by professionals in the discipline. All previous research has been qualitatively oriented toward discovery of candidate TCs, without, so far, quantitative studies of the candidate TCs recognition within the professional ranks. An underrepresented group in previous research is that of Web development professionals. This proposal describes initial quantitative research utilizing the TCs framework in the Web development area to measure the perception of candidate TCs by professionals in the field. This study developed and utilized a new survey instrument to determine how a national sample of current Web development professionals perceive a candidate TC and how their work experience and level of education impact their perceptions. The particular candidate TC, Separation of Content, Presentation, and Behavior (SCPB), and its appropriate identifying characteristics were selected from results of previous qualitative research. An exploratory analysis using SPSS was done on results from an initial group surveyed and results from a later group were used for a confirmatory analysis using PLS-SEM. The exploratory analysis sought to reduce the contributing factors used to identify the TC, and these factors and their measures then were used with the latter group in the confirmatory analysis. The factors identified for use were the characteristics of Transformative, Troublesome, Irreversible, and Bounded. The PLS-SEM analysis confirmed that SCPB is perceived as a TC by working Web development professionals by virtue of it containing these characteristics, as the theory indicates. The study looked at work experience, in terms of years in computing and years specifically in Web development, and education, in terms of education level (degree(s) received, if any), degree in a computing field, and years since last in formal education. All of these indicated a significant influence on perception, either positively or negatively, except for the last item which did not exhibit statistical significance in this case

Global Issues – Local Alternatives

After realising their theses’ topics were all related to environmental and human sustainability, a group of young researchers from the Erasmus Mundus International Masters in Global Markets, Local Creativities decided they could take action by sharing their research findings in an easily-understandable, non-academic language, impacting communities outside the academic bubble by making knowledge accessible.This book is the result of the ambition of this group of researchers to critically discuss the main issues of our times: environmental emergency and social inequality. Through a collection of thought-provoking case studies, the reader is invited to reflect upon global issues, from the perspective of local initiatives, considering three main aspects of globalisation: space, global dynamics and social scene, and the role of institutions

Context-Aware Recommendation Systems in Mobile Environments

Nowadays, the huge amount of information available may easily overwhelm users when they need to take a decision that involves choosing among several options. As a solution to this problem, Recommendation Systems (RS) have emerged to offer relevant items to users. The main goal of these systems is to recommend certain items based on user preferences. Unfortunately, traditional recommendation systems do not consider the user’s context as an important dimension to ensure high-quality recommendations. Motivated by the need to incorporate contextual information during the recommendation process, Context-Aware Recommendation Systems (CARS) have emerged. However, these recent recommendation systems are not designed with mobile users in mind, where the context and the movements of the users and items may be important factors to consider when deciding which items should be recommended. Therefore, context-aware recommendation models should be able to effectively and efficiently exploit the dynamic context of the mobile user in order to offer her/him suitable recommendations and keep them up-to-date.The research area of this thesis belongs to the fields of context-aware recommendation systems and mobile computing. We focus on the following scientific problem: how could we facilitate the development of context-aware recommendation systems in mobile environments to provide users with relevant recommendations? This work is motivated by the lack of generic and flexible context-aware recommendation frameworks that consider aspects related to mobile users and mobile computing. In order to solve the identified problem, we pursue the following general goal: the design and implementation of a context-aware recommendation framework for mobile computing environments that facilitates the development of context-aware recommendation applications for mobile users. In the thesis, we contribute to bridge the gap not only between recommendation systems and context-aware computing, but also between CARS and mobile computing.<br /