Towards fog-driven IoT eHealth:Promises and challenges of IoT in medicine and healthcare

Internet of Things (IoT) offers a seamless platform to connect people and objects to one another for enriching and making our lives easier. This vision carries us from compute-based centralized schemes to a more distributed environment offering a vast amount of applications such as smart wearables, smart home, smart mobility, and smart cities. In this paper we discuss applicability of IoT in healthcare and medicine by presenting a holistic architecture of IoT eHealth ecosystem. Healthcare is becoming increasingly difficult to manage due to insufficient and less effective healthcare services to meet the increasing demands of rising aging population with chronic diseases. We propose that this requires a transition from the clinic-centric treatment to patient-centric healthcare where each agent such as hospital, patient, and services are seamlessly connected to each other. This patient-centric IoT eHealth ecosystem needs a multi-layer architecture: (1) device, (2) fog computing and (3) cloud to empower handling of complex data in terms of its variety, speed, and latency. This fog-driven IoT architecture is followed by various case examples of services and applications that are implemented on those layers. Those examples range from mobile health, assisted living, e-medicine, implants, early warning systems, to population monitoring in smart cities. We then finally address the challenges of IoT eHealth such as data management, scalability, regulations, interoperability, device–network–human interfaces, security, and privacy

ECHO Information sharing models

As part of the ECHO project, the Early Warning System (EWS) is one of four technologies under development. The E-EWS will provide the capability to share information to provide up to date information to all constituents involved in the E-EWS. The development of the E-EWS will be rooted in a comprehensive review of information sharing and trust models from within the cyber domain as well as models from other domains

Computer-Mediated Communication

This book is an anthology of present research trends in Computer-mediated Communications (CMC) from the point of view of different application scenarios. Four different scenarios are considered: telecommunication networks, smart health, education, and human-computer interaction. The possibilities of interaction introduced by CMC provide a powerful environment for collaborative human-to-human, computer-mediated interaction across the globe

A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things

Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.Doctor of Philosoph

The business opportunities of implementing wearable based products in the health and life insurance industries

The ability to collect biometric data continuously was recently enabled by the development and massification of wearable technologies - computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can be worn on the body - unlocking huge opportunities for health and life insurers. Although a great deal of research has been done regarding the technical aspects of these devices, very few works explore the business and managerial implications of implementing wearables into insurance products. Through the combination of secondary data and in-depth expert interviews, this work analyses the impact of wearables and wearable data in the insurance value chain, identifying the main opportunities and challenges to leverage such a technology. This research concludes that in spite of the current narrow use of wearable devices as engagement tools in insurance wellness programs designed to drive user loyalty, this technology has the potential to accelerate the underwriting process, support preventive care, expand the customer base, enable dynamic pricing and enhance the customer experience as part of a connected health ecosystem. Customer adoption, data privacy and legislation are some of the main obstacles for insurers to leverage this technology, on top of the necessary IT infrastructure and data management capabilities which insurers are acquiring mainly through partnerships with innovative players. By implementing wearables technologies, health and life insurers may benefit from reductions in operational costs, new revenue streams and ultimately gains in competitive advantage.A recolha contínua de dados biométricos foi recentemente possibilitada pelo desenvolvimento e massificação dos wearables – computadores incorporados na roupa e acessórios que podem ser vestidos – que representam uma grande oportunidade para as seguradoras de vida e saúde. Apesar de já existir bastante pesquisa sobre os aspetos técnicos destes dispositivos, o mesmo não se verifica ao nível do negócio e da gestão, na implementação de wearables na indústria seguradora. Através da combinação de dados secundários e entrevistas a experts da indústria, este trabalho analisa o impacto dos wearables na cadeia de valor das seguradoras, identificando as principais oportunidades e desafios da sua implementação. A pesquisa conclui que apesar da atual aplicação dos wearables ser limitada, visto que são utilizados como pontos de contacto com o consumidor em programas de bem-estar promovidos pelas seguradoras para reforçar a lealdade à marca, esta tecnologia tem o potencial para acelerar a subscrição de seguros, promover ações de cuidado preventivo de saúde, expandir a base de clientes, possibilitar a prática de preços dinâmicos e melhorar a experiência do consumidor integrados num ecossistema conectado de saúde. A adoção, a privacidade de dados e a legislação são alguns dos principais obstáculos aquando da implementação destes dispositivos, a par da infraestrutura de TI e capacidades de gestão de dados que as seguradoras têm adquirido maioritariamente via parcerias com novas empresas. A implementação dos wearables pode assim contribuir para a redução de custos operacionais, criação de novas fontes de receita e ganhos de vantagem competitiva para as seguradoras

Investigando Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) : tecnologias e interação em contexto de acessibilidade

Orientador: Maria Cecília Calani BaranauskasTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) representam um novo paradigma de interação, com a promessa de ser mais intuitivo e fácil de usar do que seu antecessor, que utiliza mouse e teclado. Em um contexto no qual as tecnologias estão cada vez mais invisíveis e pervasivas, não só a quantidade mas também a diversidade de pessoas que participam deste contexto é crescente. Nesse caso, é preciso estudar como esse novo paradigma de interação de fato consegue ser acessível a todas as pessoas que podem utilizá-lo no dia-a-dia. Ademais, é preciso também caracterizar o paradigma em si, para entender o que o torna, de fato, natural. Portanto, nesta tese apresentamos o caminho que percorremos em busca dessas duas respostas: como caracterizar NUIs, no atual contexto tecnológico, e como tornar NUIs acessíveis para todos. Para tanto, primeiro apresentamos uma revisão sistemática de literatura com o estado da arte. Depois, mostramos um conjunto de heurísticas para o design e a avaliação de NUIs, que foram aplicadas em estudos de caso práticos. Em seguida, estruturamos as ideias desta pesquisa dentro dos artefatos da Semiótica Organizacional, e obtivemos esclarecimentos sobre como fazer o design de NUIs com Acessibilidade, seja por meio de Design Universal, seja para propor Tecnologias Assistivas. Depois, apresentamos três estudos de caso com sistemas NUI cujo design foi feito por nós. A partir desses estudos de caso, expandimos nosso referencial teórico e conseguimos, por fim, encontrar três elementos que resumem a nossa caracterização de NUI: diferenças, affordances e enaçãoAbstract: Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) represent a new interaction paradigm, with the promise of being more intuitive and easy to use than its predecessor, that utilizes mouse and keyboard. In a context where technology is becoming each time more invisible and pervasive, not only the amount but also the diversity of people who participate in this context is increasing. In this case, it must be studied how this new interaction paradigm can, in fact, be accessible to all the people who may use it on their daily routine. Furthermore, it is also necessary to characterize the paradigm itself, to understand what makes it, in fact, natural. Therefore, in this thesis we present the path we took in search of these two answers: how to characterize NUIs in the current technological context, and how to make NUIs accessible to all. To do so, first we present a systematic literature review with the state of the art. Then, we show a set of heuristics for the design and evaluation of NUIs, which were applied in practical study cases. Afterwards, we structure the ideas of this research into the Organizational Semiotics artifacts, and we obtain insights into how to design NUIs with Accessibility, be it through Universal Design, be it to propose Assistive Technologies. Then, we present three case studies with NUI systems which we designed. From these case studies, we expanded our theoretical references were able to, finally, find three elements that sum up our characterization of NUI: differences, affordances and enactionDoutoradoCiência da ComputaçãoDoutora em Ciência da Computação160911/2015-0CAPESCNP

Social, Private, and Trusted Wearable Technology under Cloud-Aided Intermittent Wireless Connectivity

There has been an unprecedented increase in the use of smart devices globally, together with novel forms of communication, computing, and control technologies that have paved the way for a new category of devices, known as high-end wearables. While massive deployments of these objects may improve the lives of people, unauthorized access to the said private equipment and its connectivity is potentially dangerous. Hence, communication enablers together with highly-secure human authentication mechanisms have to be designed.In addition, it is important to understand how human beings, as the primary users, interact with wearable devices on a day-to-day basis; usage should be comfortable, seamless, user-friendly, and mindful of urban dynamics. Usually the connectivity between wearables and the cloud is executed through the user’s more power independent gateway: this will usually be a smartphone, which may have potentially unreliable infrastructure connectivity. In response to these unique challenges, this thesis advocates for the adoption of direct, secure, proximity-based communication enablers enhanced with multi-factor authentication (hereafter refereed to MFA) that can integrate/interact with wearable technology. Their intelligent combination together with the connection establishment automation relying on the device/user social relations would allow to reliably grant or deny access in cases of both stable and intermittent connectivity to the trusted authority running in the cloud.The introduction will list the main communication paradigms, applications, conventional network architectures, and any relevant wearable-specific challenges. Next, the work examines the improved architecture and security enablers for clusterization between wearable gateways with a proximity-based communication as a baseline. Relying on this architecture, the author then elaborates on the social ties potentially overlaying the direct connectivity management in cases of both reliable and unreliable connection to the trusted cloud. The author discusses that social-aware cooperation and trust relations between users and/or the devices themselves are beneficial for the architecture under proposal. Next, the author introduces a protocol suite that enables temporary delegation of personal device use dependent on different connectivity conditions to the cloud.After these discussions, the wearable technology is analyzed as a biometric and behavior data provider for enabling MFA. The conventional approaches of the authentication factor combination strategies are compared with the ‘intelligent’ method proposed further. The assessment finds significant advantages to the developed solution over existing ones.On the practical side, the performance evaluation of existing cryptographic primitives, as part of the experimental work, shows the possibility of developing the experimental methods further on modern wearable devices.In summary, the set of enablers developed here for wearable technology connectivity is aimed at enriching people’s everyday lives in a secure and usable way, in cases when communication to the cloud is not consistently available

Towards a Sustainable Life: Smart and Green Design in Buildings and Community

This Special Issue includes contributions about occupants’ sustainable living in buildings and communities, highlighting issues surrounding the sustainable development of our environments and lives by emphasizing smart and green design perspectives. This Special Issue specifically focuses on research and case studies that develop promising methods for the sustainable development of our environment and identify factors critical to the application of a sustainable paradigm for quality of life from a user-oriented perspective. After a rigorous review of the submissions by experts, fourteen articles concerning sustainable living and development are published in this Special Issue, written by authors sharing their expertise and approaches to the concept and application of sustainability in their fields. The fourteen contributions to this special issue can be categorized into four groups, depending on the issues that they address. All the proposed methods, models, and applications in these studies contribute to the current understanding of the adoption of the sustainability paradigm and are likely to inspire further research addressing the challenges of constructing sustainable buildings and communities resulting in a sustainable life for all of society

A business model framework for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology with research interests transcending disciplines of computer sciences and computer engineering to agriculture, business management, civil engineering, architecture, medical sciences, social science etc. This is because of the potential expanding range of its application areas of wind mill operation and irrigation control, supply chain and logistics, manufacturing, home and office environment, healthcare, social care, etc. As it is usually the case with emerging technologies, IoT is faced with the challenge of bridging the gap between the technology development and corresponding business model design. Without a workable business model, the IoT paradigm may end up in research labs and subsequently fade away. A business model should show how lucrative it is to be in the IoT business by adding value to the customer and generating revenue for the business firm. This research is a contribution towards the goal of developing a business model for IoT, with customer/user value potential as the focal point. The comprehensive literature review carried out during this research (i) outlines the concept of business models; (ii) investigates through desk research, existing digital technology business models with focus on two (2) established digital technology firms and identified five generic components of their business models including but not limited to subscription, training, price, satisfaction, and trust, which were used for the primary investigation; (iii) investigates the IoT state-of-the-arts by elaborating on the IoT space and precursor technologies that are part of its ecosystem with the aim of describing, illustrating and developing application prototypes for three IoT scenarios of health monitoring, the use of the library and borrowing of books (a novel idea), and home environment; (iv) evaluates business model framework representation maps in current use, and specifically modified the general structure, content, and performance framework map to design an adoption framework map called a customer-focused business model framework map for IoT (CBMF4IoT). The unique approach to business model research involved conducting a user-led experiment to investigate the likelihood of IoT adoption of existing digital technology business models, as the customer value potential aspect of a business model design was the focal point of this research. Specifically, the experiment was aimed at determining if there was any significant differences in user inclinations towards the five generic components of existing digital technology business models based on smartphone context and IoT products context in a within-subjects design, with sample population drawn from University of Sussex community. The experimental design relied on participants' past experiences with smartphone for them to indicate their pre-purchase inclinations towards the five generics components. For the IoT products context, descriptions and diagrammatic illustration of the three IoT scenarios with their corresponding Just-in-Mind clickable prototypes served as educational tools to enable participants to be acquainted with IoT in order for them to indicate their potential pre-purchase inclinations towards the five generic components. A unique procedure for business model adoption likelihood was designed using the Sign test for high, low, and medium likelihood of adoption. The results of this test indicate medium likelihood of adoption for three of the generic components and low likelihood of adoption for two of the generic components. The results of this test was then fed to the CBMF4IoT. This thesis demonstrates that reusability of successful digital technology business models could potentially result in market success for an emerging digital technology in a B2C context, as users opinion formed the bases for the conclusions, instead of the conventional opinion gathering from only experts, business owners, and practitioners for a BM research