Adoption of vehicular ad hoc networking protocols by networked robots

This paper focuses on the utilization of wireless networking in the robotics domain. Many researchers have already equipped their robots with wireless communication capabilities, stimulated by the observation that multi-robot systems tend to have several advantages over their single-robot counterparts. Typically, this integration of wireless communication is tackled in a quite pragmatic manner, only a few authors presented novel Robotic Ad Hoc Network (RANET) protocols that were designed specifically with robotic use cases in mind. This is in sharp contrast with the domain of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). This observation is the starting point of this paper. If the results of previous efforts focusing on VANET protocols could be reused in the RANET domain, this could lead to rapid progress in the field of networked robots. To investigate this possibility, this paper provides a thorough overview of the related work in the domain of robotic and vehicular ad hoc networks. Based on this information, an exhaustive list of requirements is defined for both types. It is concluded that the most significant difference lies in the fact that VANET protocols are oriented towards low throughput messaging, while RANET protocols have to support high throughput media streaming as well. Although not always with equal importance, all other defined requirements are valid for both protocols. This leads to the conclusion that cross-fertilization between them is an appealing approach for future RANET research. To support such developments, this paper concludes with the definition of an appropriate working plan

A sustainability framework for mobile technology integration in resource-constrained schools: a case study in South Africa

The importance of sustainability for ICT4D projects has been acknowledged but there remains, however, a lack of frameworks to guide the long-term sustainability of mobile technology integration to support teaching. The diversity of contexts complicates the development of a consolidated view of how to sustain mobile technology integration into teaching. This study sought to investigate and develop a sustainability framework for mobile technology integration in schools in resource-constrained environments in South Africa (SFMTIS). The Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) was applied to answer the research questions and to iteratively develop the SFMTIS artifact. The main philosophy which guided the research is pragmatism. Interpretivism was applied, when a case study was used, to refine and validate the framework within the DSRM process model. This research was undertaken from 2014 to 2017 and the SFMTIS was developed in three phases. Based on the review of the existing literature, an initial framework was synthesised in Phase 1. A systematic literature review was conducted to investigate mobile technology integration in the South African basic education system as well as ICT4D sustainability models and frameworks. The SFMTIS sustainability dimensions, as abstracted from the literature, include financial, political, social/cultural, technological, environmental and pedagogical sustainability. In Phase 2 of the research a case study was done to investigate the perspectives held by teachers and district officials regarding mobile learning integration in the schools. The findings were used to improve the initial SFMTIS. The case study involved teachers from schools that had formerly participated in the ICT for rural education and development (ICT4RED) initiative who were selected through purposive sampling to participate in this research as well as district officials from the same school district. The ICT4RED initiative is a large-scale South African government research, development and implementation initiative which was carried out over a period of three years, from 2012 to 2014, at one of the school districts in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The initiative investigated ways in which ICTs can be integrated into teaching and learning in rural areas. The findings from the interviews with teachers and district officials, provided evidence which confirmed the value of the sustainability dimensions identified in literature. The study highlighted financial and technical support mechanisms required for the sustainable iv deployment of ICTs. The research findings indicate that communication and coordination at all levels of the education system, micro (school), meso (school circuit and district) and macro (provincial and national) are essential for ensuring sustainability. The findings highlighted some specific issues related to institutional challenges. This motivated the proposition of the institutional dimension to represent the structure, processes and practices at micro, meso and macro levels of the education system. The intermediate SFMTIS was refined by applying the findings of the case study to the initial framework. In Phase 3 the intermediate framework was presented to the teachers and district officials who had formerly been interviewed during the development of the SFMTIS, as well as other experienced individuals who had been involved in the implementation of the ICT4RED initiative, for their expert evaluations. The expert reviewers’ feedback was applied to refine the intermediate SFMTIS and aided in the development of the final SFMTIS. The research contributes to theory by developing the theoretically grounded, evidence-based SFMTIS, thus contributing to praxis and adding new knowledge of a focal theory that addresses sustainable mobile technology integration in schools in resource-constrained environments.Information SciencePh. D. (Information Systems

On Holistic Multi-Step Cyberattack Detection via a Graph-based Correlation Approach

While digitization of distribution grids through information and communications technology brings numerous benefits, it also increases the grid's vulnerability to serious cyber attacks. Unlike conventional systems, attacks on many industrial control systems such as power grids often occur in multiple stages, with the attacker taking several steps at once to achieve its goal. Detection mechanisms with situational awareness are needed to detect orchestrated attack steps as part of a coherent attack campaign. To provide a foundation for detection and prevention of such attacks, this paper addresses the detection of multi-stage cyber attacks with the aid of a graph-based cyber intelligence database and alert correlation approach. Specifically, we propose an approach to detect multi-stage attacks by leveraging heterogeneous data to form a knowledge base and employ a model-based correlation approach on the generated alerts to identify multi-stage cyber attack sequences taking place in the network. We investigate the detection quality of the proposed approach by using a case study of a multi-stage cyber attack campaign in a future-orientated power grid pilot.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm) 202

Robotic process automation framework - The implementation of Robotic Process Automation in Business Processing Outsourcing Organizations

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Marketing Research and CRMDigital transformation is the digitalization of earlier analogue machine and material processes, service operations, and organizational tasks to aggregate new value for clients and employees. There is an increasing number of organizations that are taking advantage of digital transformation, competing in the market of the digital economy. The advances of the global market in competitiveness trigger organizations whose ambition is to distinguish themselves to develop more efficient and effective processes, delivering distinctive services or products to their consumers. When the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) processes are automated with Robot Process Automated (RPA), the organization can raise cost efficiency, acquire efficiency advantages, and increase their rank in the market. Additionally, when repetitive and tedious activities are automated, human employees have time and opportunity to enhance their cognitive judgment, creative thinking, and social skills. This research approaches the steps that lead to the elaboration of a framework that can be adopted in BPO processes, aiming to help in the knowledge of which processes are typical in BPO, and which of those processes can be fully automated, semi-automated or cannot be automated with Robotic Processing Outsourcing. Afterwards, are revealed the assumptions that were the base of the artifact elaboration, following the description of each component and stage that constitute the framework. Lastly, it is referred the validation of the framework by experts and the discussion of the obtained results, conclude the utility of the artifact as support to the automation of BPO with RPA

Climate Neutral and Resilient Farming Systems

This book presents evidence-based research on climate-neutral and resilient farming systems and further to provide innovative and practical solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impact of climate change. Intensive farming systems are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, thereby contributing to global warming and the acceleration of climate change. As paddy rice farming is one of the largest contributors, and most environmentally damaging farming systems, this will be a particular focus of the book. The mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions needs to be urgently addressed to achieve the 2 degrees Celsius target adopted by COP21 and the 2015 Paris Agreement, but this is not possible if local and national level innovations are not accompanied by international level cooperation, mutual learning and sharing of knowledge and technologies. This book, therefore, brings together international collaborative research on climate-neutral and resilient farming systems compiled by leading scientists and experts from Europe, Asia and Africa. The chapters present evidence-based research and innovative solutions that can be applied or upscaled in different farming systems and regions across the world. Chapters present models and technologies that can be used for practical implementation at the systemic level and advance state of the art knowledge on carbon neutral farming. Combining theory and practice, this interdisciplinary book provides guidance which can inform and increase cooperation between researchers from various countries on climate-neutral and resilient farming systems. Most importantly, the volume provides recommendations which can be put into practice by those working in the agricultural industry, especially in developing countries, where they are attempting to promote climate-neutral and resilient farming systems. The book will be of great interest to students and academics of sustainable agriculture, food security, climate mitigation and sustainable development, in addition to policymakers and practitioners working in these areas

Dissection of Mobility Model Routing Protocols in MANET on QoS Criterion

Essential difficulties in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET) are routing selection and Quality of Service(QoS) support. Several different approaches have been described in the literature, and a number of performance simulations have been produced, in an attempt to tackle this challenging problem. In this study, we take a close look at the relative merits of several popular routing protocols. In this research, we looked into how changing QoS parameters in tandem with routing protocol choices affected network throughput. Typical measures for measuring network efficiency include average throughput, packet delivery ratio (PDR), average delay, and power usage. NS-3 is used to run the simulations

Energy Aware Ant Colony Optimization (ENAANT) to Enhance Throughput in Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a network of mobile nodes having communication without a predefined infrastructure. The applications of MANETs are increasing from home appliances to defense communications. As the mobile nodes are operated by the batteries, all the processes which are taking place in the node should aware of the consumed energy. Maintaining the link stability is one of the challenges and it is one of the factors to ensure the high throughput in the networks. Due to the limited energy, the links of the networks often goes off which affects the throughput of MANETs. Energy aware ACO is proposed to optimize the utilization of energy that is available in the mobile nodes to increase throughput by ensuring link stability. Based on the remaining energy and the amount of packets to be sent, the nodes are selected for routing. The simulation is done through Network Simulator 2 and the results show that the proposed research work performs well in increasing the throughput

Designing a Thrifty Approach for SME Business Continuity: Practices for Transparency of the Design Process

Business continuity (BC) management is an organizational approach to preparing information systems (IS) for incidents, but such approaches are uncommon among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Past research has indicated a gap in approaches that are designed for SMEs since BC management approaches tend to originate from larger organizations and SMEs lack the resources to implement them. To fill this gap, and to respond to a practical need by an IT consultancy company, we employed design science research (DSR) to develop a BC approach for SMEs coined as the thrifty BC management approach. Jointly with the company’s practitioners, we developed a set of meta-requirements for BC approaches for SMEs anchored in prior BC literature, practitioners’ practical expertise, and the theories of collective mindfulness and sociotechnical systems. We evaluated our thrifty BC management approach with multiple SMEs. These evaluations suggest that the designed approach mostly meets the defined meta-requirements. Moreover, the evaluations offered ample opportunities for learning. The design process, unfolding in a real-world setting, was precarious, rife with contingencies and ad hoc decisions. To render the design process transparent, we adapted four writing conventions from the confessional research genre familiar to ethnographic research but novel to DSR. We offer a threefold contribution. First, we contribute to SMEs’ BC with meta-requirements and their instantiation in a new BC approach (artifact); second, we contribute with four practices of confessional writing for transparency of DSR research; and third, we contribute with reflections on our theoretical learning from throughout the design process

Lean Management Framework for Healthcare Facilities Integrating BIM, BEPS and Big Data Analytics

An increase in the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in Facility Management (FM) induces a huge data stack. Even though these data bring opportunities such as cost savings, time savings, increase in user comfort, space optimization, energy savings, inventory management, etc., these data sources cannot be managed and manipulated effectively to increase efficiency at the FM stage. In addition to data management issues, FM practices, or developed solutions, need to be supported with the implementation of lean management philosophy to reveal organizational and managerial wastes. In the literature, some researchers performed studies about awareness about building information modeling (BIM)-FM, and FM-related data management problems in terms of lean philosophy. However, the comprehensive solution for effective FM has not been investigated with the application of lean management philosophy yet. Therefore, this study aims to develop an FM framework for healthcare facilities by considering lean management philosophy since more stable workflow, continuous improvement, and creating more value to customers will help to deliver a more acceptable solution for the FM industry. Within this context, the integration of BIM, Building Energy Performance Simulations, and Big Data Analytics are proposed as a solution. In the study, the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology was followed to develop the FM framework. Depending on the DSR methodology, two scenarios were used to investigate the issue in a real healthcare facility and develop the FM framework. The developed framework was evaluated by four experts, and the revisions of the proposed framework were realized