Internet of robotic things : converging sensing/actuating, hypoconnectivity, artificial intelligence and IoT Platforms

The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is evolving rapidly and influencing newdevelopments in various application domains, such as the Internet of MobileThings (IoMT), Autonomous Internet of Things (A-IoT), Autonomous Systemof Things (ASoT), Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT), Internetof Things Clouds (IoT-C) and the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) etc.that are progressing/advancing by using IoT technology. The IoT influencerepresents new development and deployment challenges in different areassuch as seamless platform integration, context based cognitive network integration,new mobile sensor/actuator network paradigms, things identification(addressing, naming in IoT) and dynamic things discoverability and manyothers. The IoRT represents new convergence challenges and their need to be addressed, in one side the programmability and the communication ofmultiple heterogeneous mobile/autonomous/robotic things for cooperating,their coordination, configuration, exchange of information, security, safetyand protection. Developments in IoT heterogeneous parallel processing/communication and dynamic systems based on parallelism and concurrencyrequire new ideas for integrating the intelligent “devices”, collaborativerobots (COBOTS), into IoT applications. Dynamic maintainability, selfhealing,self-repair of resources, changing resource state, (re-) configurationand context based IoT systems for service implementation and integrationwith IoT network service composition are of paramount importance whennew “cognitive devices” are becoming active participants in IoT applications.This chapter aims to be an overview of the IoRT concept, technologies,architectures and applications and to provide a comprehensive coverage offuture challenges, developments and applications

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Delivering elder-care environments utilizing TV-channel based mechanisms

In this paper, we present a smart environment for elderly. What makes the development of such system challenging is that the concept of smartness for elderly brings to the extreme the idea of invisibility of the technology. In our experience, elders are well-disposed to new technologies, provided that those will not require significant changes - namely, they are invisible - to their habits. Starting from this consideration, 200 caregivers responses were collected by questionnaire, so as to better understand elders' needs and habits. A system was subsequently developed allowing elders to access a number of "modern web services" as standard TV channels: at channel 43 there is the health status, at channel 45 the photos of the family, at 46 the agenda of the week, just to mention few of the available services. The content of such services is automatically generated by the smart devices in the environment and is managed by the caregivers (e.g., family members) by simple web apps. Fourteen families were asked to install the system in their house. The results of these experiments confirm that the proposed system is considered effective and user-friendly by elders

Community Development Evaluation Storymap and Legend

Community based organizations, funders, and intermediary organizations working in the community development field have a shared interest in building stronger organizations and stronger communities. Through evaluation these organizations can learn how their programs and activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, and how to improve their effectiveness and the well-being of their communities. Yet, evaluation is rarely seen as part of a non-judgemental organizational learning process. Instead, the term "evaluation" has often generated anxiety and confusion. The Community Development Storymap project is a response to those concerns.Illustrations found in this document were produced by Grove Consultants

The Future of the University in the Digital Age (1.1)

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88267/1/ALN_Article_1.1.pd

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation

Cognitive Hyperconnected Digital Transformation provides an overview of the current Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, ranging from research, innovation and development priorities to enabling technologies in a global context. It is intended as a standalone book in a series that covers the Internet of Things activities of the IERC-Internet of Things European Research Cluster, including both research and technological innovation, validation and deployment. The book builds on the ideas put forward by the European Research Cluster, the IoT European Platform Initiative (IoT-EPI) and the IoT European Large-Scale Pilots Programme, presenting global views and state-of-the-art results regarding the challenges facing IoT research, innovation, development and deployment in the next years. Hyperconnected environments integrating industrial/business/consumer IoT technologies and applications require new IoT open systems architectures integrated with network architecture (a knowledge-centric network for IoT), IoT system design and open, horizontal and interoperable platforms managing things that are digital, automated and connected and that function in real-time with remote access and control based on Internet-enabled tools. The IoT is bridging the physical world with the virtual world by combining augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to support the physical-digital integrations in the Internet of mobile things based on sensors/actuators, communication, analytics technologies, cyber-physical systems, software, cognitive systems and IoT platforms with multiple functionalities. These IoT systems have the potential to understand, learn, predict, adapt and operate autonomously. They can change future behaviour, while the combination of extensive parallel processing power, advanced algorithms and data sets feed the cognitive algorithms that allow the IoT systems to develop new services and propose new solutions. IoT technologies are moving into the industrial space and enhancing traditional industrial platforms with solutions that break free of device-, operating system- and protocol-dependency. Secure edge computing solutions replace local networks, web services replace software, and devices with networked programmable logic controllers (NPLCs) based on Internet protocols replace devices that use proprietary protocols. Information captured by edge devices on the factory floor is secure and accessible from any location in real time, opening the communication gateway both vertically (connecting machines across the factory and enabling the instant availability of data to stakeholders within operational silos) and horizontally (with one framework for the entire supply chain, across departments, business units, global factory locations and other markets). End-to-end security and privacy solutions in IoT space require agile, context-aware and scalable components with mechanisms that are both fluid and adaptive. The convergence of IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) makes security and privacy by default a new important element where security is addressed at the architecture level, across applications and domains, using multi-layered distributed security measures. Blockchain is transforming industry operating models by adding trust to untrusted environments, providing distributed security mechanisms and transparent access to the information in the chain. Digital technology platforms are evolving, with IoT platforms integrating complex information systems, customer experience, analytics and intelligence to enable new capabilities and business models for digital business

Screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

This chapter discusses screening of energy efficient technologies for industrial buildings' retrofit

Challenges faced by a portuguese it company on the decision of entering and competing in international markets

The aim of this corporate project is to exemplify the methodology that companies can adopt in an eventual internationalization strategy, regardless of their origin, culture, size and resources. In recent years, domestic and international economic environments have provoked great instability in society at all levels and in several areas of business. People and companies feel the need to change strategies, reinvent processes, implement solutions and find new markets across borders. This paradigm shift is felt so much more by a Company; the more increasing globalisation is, in the consumption and operations in the sector where it operates. In product development and computer services and information management, competitive advantage is highly dependent on the development of technology and standardization of globally compatible operations, but it also has to adapt to a business customer that increasingly operates in an international environment. In this context, this project aims to identify the products and services of a Portuguese IT Company, susceptible to internationalize without suffering adaptation and significant investment in the respective markets. During the process of data collection questionnaires were used and interviews with managers from all Business Units of the Company were undertaken. Subsequently, the information gathered was presented to the Company's CEO, representative of the Executive Committee, in order to match the perspectives of those managers with the strategic objectives of the board. Since the Company being analysed is Portuguese it should be noted that PALOPS and LATAM markets are of interest.Pretende-se com este Projeto Corporativo exemplificar a metodologia que as empresas podem adotar numa eventual estratégia de internacionalização, independentemente da sua origem, cultura, dimensão e recursos. Nos últimos anos a conjuntura económica nacional e internacional têm provocado grandes instabilidades na sociedade a todos os níveis e nas mais diversas áreas de negócio. As pessoas e as empresas sentem a necessidade de mudar estratégias, reinventar processos, implementar soluções e descobrir novos mercados além-fronteiras. Esta viragem de paradigma é tanto mais sentida por uma empresa, quanto mais crescente a globalização no consumo e operações do sector onde se insere. No desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços informáticos e de gestão de informação, a vantagem competitiva está muito dependente do desenvolvimento de uma tecnologia e padronização de operações compatíveis mundialmente, mas também de se adaptar a um cliente empresarial que opera cada vez mais num contexto internacional. Neste contexto, este projeto tem como objetivo identificar os produtos e serviços de uma empresa portuguesa de IT, suscetíveis de internacionalizar sem que tenham de sofrer adaptações e investimento significativos nos respetivos mercados. Durante o processo de recolha de informação foram aplicados questionários e realizadas entrevistas aos gestores de todas as unidades de negócio da empresa. Posteriormente, a informação recolhida foi apresentada à ao CEO, representante da Comissão Executiva da empresa com o intuito de fazer o match das perspetivas dos gestores com os objetivos estratégicos da comissão. Sendo a empresa em análise portuguesa importa referir que os PALOPS e os LATAM são mercados de interesse