Modular Digital Watermarking for Image Verification and Secure Data Storage in Web Applications

Our modular approach to data hiding is an innovative concept in the data hiding research field. It enables the creation of modular digital watermarking methods that have extendable features and are designed for use in web applications. The methods consist of two types of modules – a basic module and an application-specific module. The basic module mainly provides features which are connected with the specific image format. As JPEG is a preferred image format on the Internet, we have put a focus on the achievement of a robust and error-free embedding and retrieval of the embedded data in JPEG images. The application-specific modules are adaptable to user requirements in the concrete web application. The experimental results of the modular data watermarking are very promising. They indicate excellent image quality, satisfactory size of the embedded data and perfect robustness against JPEG transformations with prespecified compression ratios. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): C.2.0

Airport information system integration by using message broker

Modern airports are being equipped with an ever growing number of modern electronic systems for specific tasks: Baggage Handling Systems (BHS), Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS), Departure Control Systems (DCS), Weight & Balance Systems; Common Used Terminal Equipment (CUTE) Systems; Building Management Systems (BMS), Access Control Systems (ACS), Airport Operation Databases (AODB), Resource Management Systems (RMS) ... there is virtually no end to the list. Nevertheless, many airports are still difficult to navigate for passengers, still have to face departure delays and frequent changes in operations, and still miss substantial revenue opportunities or waste money because of unused resources of every kind. Key to using all those powerful systems to their full capacity and reaping all their benefits is bringing them into tune. A task that is commonly known is the System Integration by using Message Broker solutions. This rather technical term subsumes all activities aimed at establishing the physical connection of disparate systems. The concept of system integration is one step beyond the simple installation of cables and the translation of a few protocols. This paper provides details on the Integration Message Broker solutions in the airport information system industry

Application Virtualization for Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria

Information technology has improved operationsmanagement globally. The health sector has benefited fromthis revolution through the introduction of eHealthsolutions. The cost-effective utilization of InformationTechnology and flexibility in adapting and adoptingorganizational changes has posed some challenges to healthinstitutions in developing countries. In the case of Nigeria,the implementation of the National Health Policy entailsthe delivery of a full-packaged health care system; thispackage includes health education, maternal, newborn andchild healthcare, nutrition and immunization. All these,require record keeping and data storage. The managementof massive data storage and its availability on-demand hasbeen sources of concern to health institutions in thecountry. This has brought about a slow rate in hospital-tohospitalcollaboration, insecure information exchangebetween and across institutions and lack of properaccountability in the health sector amongst otherchallenges.In this paper we propose a Cloud computing infrastructurewhich will adopt application virtualization to address thechallenges in health care delivery in the country. This is anemerging technology that will provide eHealth solutions asservices to tenants; a process known as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The infrastructure should deliver a singleapplication through the browser to thousands of clients orstakeholders using scalable multitenant architecture. Thiswill help to minimize cost, manage healthcare resourceseffectively, and help with the realization of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) on healthcare

GUISET: A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A GRID-ENABLED PORTAL FOR E-COMMERCE ON-DEMAND SERVICES

Conventional grid-enabled portal designs have been largely influenced by the usual functional requirements such as security requirements, grid resource requirements and job management requirements. However, the pay-as-you-use service provisioning model of utility computing platforms mean that additional requirements must be considered in order to realize effective grid-enabled portals design for such platforms. This work investigates those relevant additional requirements that must be considered for the design of grid-enabled portals for utility computing contexts. Based on a thorough review of literature, we identified a number of those relevant additional requirements, and developed a grid-enabled portal prototype for the Grid-based Utility Infrastructure for SMME-enabling Technology (GUISET) initiative – a utility computing platform. The GUISET portal was designed to cater for both the traditional grid requirements and some of the relevant additional requirements for utility computing contexts. The result of the evaluation of the GUISET portal prototype using a set of benchmark requirements (standards) revealed that it fulfilled the minimum requirements to be suitable for the utility context

An Exploratory Study of the Air Force\u27s Technical IT Infrastructure Flexibility

Over the past decade, a considerable amount of attention has been given to federal legislation in making the federal government operate more efficiently and effectively by concentrating on Information Resource Management and Information Technology. In 1996, the Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) was passed, creating the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) in each agency of the Federal Government. This study assesses the impacts of the CCA on the USAF, with an emphasis on the Federal CIO Council Core Competencies. Given that this law and supporting policies have been in place for nearly six year, it would be valuable to assess USAF compliance with CCA as well as its impact on the USAF. It is intended that the information gathered may help the USAF to be a better steward of the nation’s critical information and financial resources, and to better provide critical information capabilities to the warfighter, thus ensuring information superiority over our nation’s adversaries. Findings of this survey provide evidence that the USAF is in compliance with the CCA, and identifies impacts of the CCA on the USAF. Among these impacts are: IRM responsiveness has contributed to mission accomplishment, strategic planning includes information as well as IT, Technology has improved efficiency, Baseline performance measures are more realistic, Alignment of organizational structure improves critical services, and Standardization of policy and processes optimizes IT resources

INDIGO-Datacloud: foundations and architectural description of a Platform as a Service oriented to scientific computing

Software Engineering.-- et al.In this paper we describe the architecture of a Platform as a Service (PaaS) oriented to computing and data analysis. In order to clarify the choices we made, we explain the features using practical examples, applied to several known usage patterns in the area of HEP computing. The proposed architecture is devised to provide researchers with a unified view of distributed computing infrastructures, focusing in facilitating seamless access. In this respect the Platform is able to profit from the most recent developments for computing and processing large amounts of data, and to exploit current storage and preservation technologies, with the appropriate mechanisms to ensure security and privacy.INDIGO-DataCloud is co-founded by the Horizon 2020Framework Programme.Peer reviewe