Evolving an efficient and effective off-the-shelf computing infrastructure for schools in rural areas of South Africa

Upliftment of rural areas and poverty alleviation are priorities for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development and ICTs act as tools to support them, enabling innovative and more cost effective approaches. In order for ICT interventions to be possible, infrastructure has to be deployed. For the deployment to be effective and sustainable, the local community needs to be involved in shaping and supporting it. This study describes the technical work done in the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), a long-term ICT4D experiment in the Mbashe Municipality, with a focus on the deployment of ICT infrastructure in schools, for teaching and learning but also for use by the communities surrounding the schools. As a result of this work, computing infrastructure was deployed, in various phases, in 17 schools in the area and a “broadband island” connecting them was created. The dissertation reports on the initial deployment phases, discussing theoretical underpinnings and policies for using technology in education as well various computing and networking technologies and associated policies available and appropriate for use in rural South African schools. This information forms the backdrop of a survey conducted with teachers from six schools in the SLL, together with experimental work towards the provision of an evolved, efficient and effective off-the-shelf computing infrastructure in selected schools, in order to attempt to address the shortcomings of the computing infrastructure deployed initially in the SLL. The result of the study is the proposal of an evolved computing infrastructure model for use in rural South African schools

Linking Heterogeneous Biodiversity Information Systems on the GRID: the GRAB Prototype

In the field of biodiversity informatics a wide range of diverse databases and tools already exists. The challenge is to integrate such resources in order to support scientists wishing to explore complex problems of relevance to biodiversity, and to create new resources where necessary. In this paper we outline the relevance of biodiversity informatics requirements to the future development of the GRID, identifying the main issues that need to be addressed in this area. We present GRAB (GRid And Biodiversity), which is a prototype demonstrator illustrating how one particular biodiversity-related task, namely bioclimatic modelling, can be supported in a Globus-based environment. We also describe a much larger-scale GRID application project that is just commencing (BiodiversityWorld) in which a flexible problem-solving environment is to be built for full-scale investigations by scientists working in a number of biodiversity research areas

Adaptation of the AcubeSAT nanosatellite project into remote working during the COVID-19 era

The global COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly forced the global community to embrace the transition to a world where remote and hybrid work models are becoming the new standard. But for the space engineering community, this change is more impactful than other engineering fields. Switching the entire workload from in-person concurrent design and verification activities to a hybrid or an online model has dominated the discussions in relevant symposia since the start of the pandemic. This switch is also more challenging when you must accommodate more than 50 developers who are volunteer students. The AcubeSAT team underwent this transition during 2020-2021, where all design and pro- totyping activities for the team’s nanosatellite were moved to a remote work scheme. After several adaptations, this scheme has been fine-tuned and experimented upon to ensure that development activities could continue at a normal pace, and that the physical and mental health of the entire team was guaranteed. These adaptations include changes in infrastructure, team structure and meetings, but most notably they attempt to answer the question of how the concurrent design technique and the review processes can be implemented in an online world. More specifically, a number of ready-made and in-house platforms and utilities, mostly based on the open-source philosophy, were used to bridge the gap between in-person and on-line workloads. In an attempt to combine the advantages of online conferencing with the casualness, directness and availability of in-person meetings, we analysed and experimented with various online platforms and project management tools to foster organic collaboration. Furthermore, the use of version control systems as a main tool for internal and external reviews and the documentation produced by the team allowed for a more transparent, reliable and streamlined review process. All of these changes enabled the conclusion of AcubeSAT’s Critical Design Review remotely in summer 2021. The project is now in the manufacturing and verification phase, with the hybrid work model still in place. With this contribution, lessons learned from the project’s transition to an online and subsequently to a hybrid work scheme will be shared, showing how a large-scale educational project can be implemented under these conditions. The changes performed to accommodate this scheme, along with the rationale behind them and the subsequent challenges posed by them, will also be discussed. Finally, the benefits of such a transition will also be presented, which include more efficient use of time, superior project documentation and the enlargement of the project to students from international universities

A Semantic Wiki-based Platform for IT Service Management

The book researches the use of a semantic wiki in the area of IT Service Management within the IT department of an SME. An emphasis of the book lies in the design and prototypical implementation of tools for the integration of ITSM-relevant information into the semantic wiki, as well as tools for interactions between the wiki and external programs. The result of the book is a platform for agile, semantic wiki-based ITSM for IT administration teams of SMEs

A DISTRIBUTED E-LEARNING SERVICE FOR REMOTE AREAS

The cloud-compatible architecture of a distributed distance e-learning system which has been deployed and is being utilized in five remote areas in Eastern Europe (Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus) is presented and discussed as a case study of e-learning. A series of e-courses is being conducted with a variety of learning tools and techniques: a Virtual World, Web 2.0 tools, a web conference platform and a learning management system. Emphasis is placed on the feasibility of the delivery of the integrated Distance Learning (DL) service through distributed web services; an architecture is proposed that extends the existing one by implementing the DL service in the form of a SOA in a hybrid cloud

Taxonomy Working Group Final Report

The purpose of the Taxonomy Working Group was to develop a proposal for a common taxonomy to be used by all NASA projects in the classifying of nonconformances, anomalies, and problems. Specifically, the group developed a recommended list of data elements along with general suggestions for the development of a problem reporting system to better serve NASA's need for managing, reporting, and trending project aberrant events. The Group's recommendations are reported in this document

3TZ collaborative team environments incorporating the hybrid holonic architecture

The paper describes a business reengineering process (BPR) approach to address multi-timezone (3-timezone or 3TZ) collaborative teamwork environments by combining the Holonic architecture with the Zachman Metamodel Framework. While the use of collaborative project systems is not new, the methodology to share time resources from different timezones seeks to address pedagogical and engineering process concerns in team-based project development. The benefits of collaborative project management tools go beyond a uniform platform to deploy project resources, but to also enhance systemic processes and engineering practice. This facilitates team members to dedicate their time towards common work tasks, delineates individual and shared work packages, and improves student-tutor feedback techniques as teachers can actively monitor progress of development throughout the project lifecycle. © 2010 IEEE

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue Network Security: An Achilles Heel for Organizations of All Sizes Providing Backup in a VolP World Security Concerns Shift lnward Cell Phones, Land Lines, and E911 Security Checklists Higher Ed\u27s Tricky Equation: Directories Help Balance Availability with Security Disaster Recovery Planning Essentials Passing the Test of productivity Interview President\u27s Message From the Executive Director Here\u27s My Advic

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue The Buzz on E-Biz Eliminating the Paper Trail SAM Comes to UMC B2B and Directory Services: Opportunities and Challenges Telecommunications and the Digital Campus Managing E-Business at UCSB Binghamton lnstalls a High- Speed Optical Fiber Network Amherst Takes to the Air Columns Intervie