SAsSy – Scrutable Autonomous Systems

Abstract. An autonomous system consists of physical or virtual systems that can perform tasks without continuous human guidance. Autonomous systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, ranging from unmanned vehicles, to robotic surgery devices, to virtual agents which collate and process information on the internet. Existing autonomous systems are opaque, limiting their usefulness in many situations. In order to realise their promise, techniques for making such autonomous systems scrutable are therefore required. We believe that the creation of such scrutable autonomous systems rests on four foundations, namely an appropriate planning representation; the use of a human understandable reasoning mechanism, such as argumentation theory; appropriate natural language generation tools to translate logical statements into natural ones; and information presentation techniques to enable the user to cope with the deluge of information that autonomous systems can provide. Each of these foundations has its own unique challenges, as does the integration of all of these into a single system.

Secure and Reconfigurable Network Design for Critical Information Dissemination in the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT)

The Internet of things (IoT) is revolutionizing the management and control of automated systems leading to a paradigm shift in areas such as smart homes, smart cities, health care, transportation, etc. The IoT technology is also envisioned to play an important role in improving the effectiveness of military operations in battlefields. The interconnection of combat equipment and other battlefield resources for coordinated automated decisions is referred to as the Internet of battlefield things (IoBT). IoBT networks are significantly different from traditional IoT networks due to the battlefield specific challenges such as the absence of communication infrastructure, and the susceptibility of devices to cyber and physical attacks. The combat efficiency and coordinated decision-making in war scenarios depends highly on real-time data collection, which in turn relies on the connectivity of the network and the information dissemination in the presence of adversaries. This work aims to build the theoretical foundations of designing secure and reconfigurable IoBT networks. Leveraging the theories of stochastic geometry and mathematical epidemiology, we develop an integrated framework to study the communication of mission-critical data among different types of network devices and consequently design the network in a cost effective manner.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

2012 Grantmakers Information Technology Survey Report

Together the Technology Affinity Group (TAG) and Grants Managers Network (GMN) conducted an information technology survey of grantmaking organizations in July 2012. This survey serves as a follow?up to similar surveys TAG has conducted in collaboration with the Council on Foundation (The Council) in April 2003, July 2005, and June 2007, and then independently in 2010

New Media Art/ New Funding Models

Investigates the current state of funding for new media artists, with an emphasis on the support structures for innovative creative work that utilizes advanced technologies as the main vehicle for artistic practice

Effect of Values and Technology Use on Exercise: Implications for Personalized Behavior Change Interventions

Technology has recently been recruited in the war against the ongoing obesity crisis; however, the adoption of Health & Fitness applications for regular exercise is a struggle. In this study, we present a unique demographically representative dataset of 15k US residents that combines technology use logs with surveys on moral views, human values, and emotional contagion. Combining these data, we provide a holistic view of individuals to model their physical exercise behavior. First, we show which values determine the adoption of Health & Fitness mobile applications, finding that users who prioritize the value of purity and de-emphasize values of conformity, hedonism, and security are more likely to use such apps. Further, we achieve a weighted AUROC of .673 in predicting whether individual exercises, and we also show that the application usage data allows for substantially better classification performance (.608) compared to using basic demographics (.513) or internet browsing data (.546). We also find a strong link of exercise to respondent socioeconomic status, as well as the value of happiness. Using these insights, we propose actionable design guidelines for persuasive technologies targeting health behavior modification

Modernization of school educational experiment based on Internet-oriented educational technologies

Вперше обґрунтувано теоретико-методичні засади модернізації шкільного навчального експерименту на основі Інтернет-орієнтованих педагогічних технологій. Розроблено теоретичні моделі та окремі методики використання Інтернет орієнтованих педагогічних технологій в процесі модернізації шкільного навчального експерименту з предметів природничо-математичного циклу. Визначено науково-методичні вимоги до Інтернет-орієнтованих систем підготовки навчального експерименту з природничих дисциплін загальноосвіньої школи. Розроблені та експериментально апробовані методичні рекомендації щодо використанням інтерактивних інтернет-моделювань при виконанні демонстраційного експерименту з фізики, лабораторних робіт та виконання фізичного практикуму. Експериментально апробовані форми навчальних занять, де використання Інтернет-ресурсів є педагогічно доречним. Розроблено методику оцінювання рівня сформованості в учнів вміння критично оцінювати ресурси Інтернету.First substantiated theoretical and methodological foundations of the new school modernization eksperimenta based Internet-oriented educational technologies. Theoretical models and methods of using certain Internet-oriented educational technologies in the process of modernization of school educational experiment in science and math cycle. The scientific and methodological requirements for the Internet-based systems for the preparation of educational experiment in natural sciences at secondary school. Developed and experimentally tested guidelines regarding the use of interactive online simulations when the demonstration experiment in physics, laboratory work and physical workshop. Experimentally validated form of training sessions, where the use of Internet resources is pedagogically useful. The technique of assessing the level of formation of the students skills to critically evaluate Internet resources