Standardizing Geospatial Information for New England Conservation Lands: Data Capture Methods and Technology

In 2002 The New England Environmental Finance Center and Applied Geographics issued the Feasibility Study for a GIS Inventory of New England Conservation Lands 1 describing the conservation lands data status throughout EPA Region 1 (New England). This report identified stakeholders and technologies participating in the maintenance of conservation lands data within this region. In the four years since that initial report dramatic changes have occurred in the technical means by which geographic data are delivered from their respective repositories. These changes have been most pronounced and obvious in the area of web mapping services. Web mapping services are software utilities by which diverse and frequently unrelated geographic data sets are structured and symbolized for consumption by remote clients through the Internet. In a more general sense, these represent a kind of democratization of access to digitally mapped data, by providing tools and content (often free) from remote servers that can be consumed by an end user with only a web browser or a small software download (and with little or no technical expertise). This method of delivery is in striking contrast to the preceding era in GIS evolution where all data and tools were closely held and generally inaccessible by dint of their expense and technical complexity

Editorial

La evolución provocada en los últimos años por tecnologías como los componentes y los servicios Web está motivando el desarrollo de nuevos procesos productivos. El tejido empresarial debe adaptar los negocios a esta nueva era de globalidad, requiriendo nuevos servicios que cubran las necesidades que los clientes exigen. Estos servicios y los sistemas software que manejan los procesos productivos de las empresas deben ser desarrollados y adaptados en un corto espacio de tiempo para cubrir las necesidades del mercado. La sociedad del conocimiento a la cual nos acercamos requiere, por lo tanto, cada vez más de un aprovechamiento exhaustivo de todos los recursos disponibles. En este sentido, las utilización, generación y explotación de nuevas tecnologías se convierten en aspectos fundamentales del desarrollo económico y social en la actualidad. Sin embargo, conseguir unos estándares de utilización de nuevas tecnologías, y concretamente en tecnologías de la información, resulta una tarea idealista y casi utópica. Prueba de ello la encontramos actualmente en dos de estas nuevas tecnologías, componentes software y servicios Web, que se están convirtiendo en la punta de lanza.The evolution caused in recent years by technologies such as components and Web services is motivating the development of new production processes. The business fabric must adapt business to this new era of globality, requiring new services that meet the needs that customers demand. These services and the software systems that manage the productive processes of the companies must be developed and adapted in a short space of time to cover the needs of the market. The knowledge society to which we are approaching requires, therefore, more and more use exhaustive of all available resources. In this sense, the use, generation and exploitation of new technologies become fundamental aspects of economic and social development today. Without However, to achieve standards for the use of new technologies, and specifically in information technology, it is an idealistic and almost utopian task. proof of it We currently find it in two of these new technologies, software components and Web services, which are becoming the spearhead

Virtualització dels serveis d'una empresa

La virtualització és una tecnologia que permet l'abstracció del programari respecte dels recursos del maquinari, tant d'aplicacions com del sistema operatiu. Aquesta tecnologia està constantment en evolució, i el que fa pocs anys era un entorn de treball exclusiu per test de laboratori i aplicacions molt especifiques, ara permet oferir aplicacions i serveis d'entorns empresarials, permetent aprofitar el màxim els recursos disponibles. Aquest projecte tracta de plantejar la virtualització com a solució per a maximitzar el rendiments dels equips informàtics de una empresa. Introduirem la tecnologia de virtualització, planificarem la conversió dels serveis de l'empresa en màquines virtuals, detallarem els aspectes tècnics de la implementació i mostrarem els resultats d'aquesta virtualització.La virtualizacion es una tecnología que permite la abstracción del software respecto a los recursos de hardware, tanto a nivel de aplicaciones como de sistema operativo. Esta tecnología está en constante evolución, y lo que hace pocos años era un entorno de trabajo exclusivo para pruebas de laboratorio y aplicaciones muy especificas, ahora permite ofrecer aplicaciones y servicios de entornos empresariales, permitiendo aprovechar al máximo los recursos disponibles. Este proyecto trata de plantear la virtualización como una solución para maximizar el rendimiento de los equipos informáticos de una empresa. Introduciremos la tecnología de virtualización, planificares la conversión de los servicios de la empresa en máquinas virtuales, detallaremos los aspectos técnicos de la implementación y mostraremos los resultados de esta virtualización.Virtualization is a technology that allows to abstract software from the hardware resources, both for application and operating system. This technology is constantly evolving, in constant evolution, and what a few years ago was an workbench for laboratory test and very specific applications, now can offer applications and services for business and would maximize the hardware resources available. This project seeks to raise virtualization as a solution to maximize the performance of the hardware equipment of a company. Will introduce virtualization technology, plan how to convert the company's services in virtual machines, detail the technical implementation and show the results of this virtualization

Big Data, Cognitive Computing and the future of learning managements Systems

Since the early years, when they started to enter the market, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) demonstrated their utility inside learning environments, contributing to the diffusion of e-learning especially in those Institutions with a low budget or no internal knowledge for developing e-learning initiatives. Today, they have reached a high maturity level, providing professional solutions to almost any educational need referring to distance learning. However, in our opinion, there are two important evolutions that should profoundly change the architecture of these pillar software tools. First, the acquisition of an enormous amount of data related to educational tasks will be very interesting for all the actors involved in educational processes (teachers, students, researchers, administrative personnel), and this will be particularly evident when standards like Experience-API (xAPI) will help to provide a more pervasive experience for learners. Second, we are observing the rise of new era for software platforms, characterized by machine learning, deep learning, cognitive computing and many other technologies that substantially give the computer a much more active role in the respective processes. We believe that this new paradigm will apply to education too. What this will entail is mainly related to exponential learning, a process of exponential growth of training demand because new knowledge and skills must be delivered at a speed never seen before, and where big data contexts are fundamental. In this paper, we present an analysis of how LMSs should evolve in the future, in our opinion and according to our experience, in terms of functionalities and services provided to users. We believe that current LMSs and their software architectures, mainly based on traditional multi-tier, relational database-oriented architectures will not be enough to stand the impact of these two new paradigms for modern learning environments. We are in the process of re-designing a virtual community platform that we have created and developed along the years, used in our universities and in several public and private organizations. The platform is oriented towards the support of collaborative processes, where of course e-learning is one of the most important, but not the only one, and where we are adding new services supporting collaboration in different ways. In this paper we will present the software architectural changes and evolution according to the advent of big data and cognitive computing

The Future Implications of the Usedsoft Decision

Those were the days! Up to a decade ago exhaustion in copyright was strictly limited to the distribution of (multiple) hard copies of copyright works. Anything else was considered to be outside the exhaustion rules. E.g. multiple showings of a movie in movie theatres was seen as the essence of movie copyright and exhaustion had therefore no role to play in that area according to the Coditeldecision. [1] How wrong were we though when we assumed that the digital revolution that turned so many things upside down in copyright would have no impact in this area. Admittedly, the decoder cases [2] were potentially only about hard copies. Hard copies in the sense of cards for decoders for satellite broadcasts of football matches could easily be subjected to the exhaustion rules that enforce the free movement of goods provisions of the EU Treaty. But if the decoder cards that had been obtained in Greece could be used in the UK, such use gave access to the broadcasts. The real impetus to accept this and to breach the uncontested logic of the Coditel approach may have been in competition law in the decoder cases, but they show clearly that the logic of copyright is not the dominant factor in the digital era. [3] That dominance is on the basis of the EU Treaty given to the rules on free movement and on competition law. Usedsoft [4] clearly fits in with that evolution. The Usedsoft v Oracle case [5] was all about computer software wich Oracle develops and markets. Oracle is the proprietor of the exclusive user rights under copyright law in those programs. It distributes the software at issue in 85% of cases by downloading from the internet. The customer downloads a copy of the software directly to his computer from Oracle’s website. The user right for such a program, which is granted by a licence agreement, includes the right to store a copy of the program permanently on a server and to allow a certain number of users to access it by downloading it to the main memory of their work-station computers. UsedSoft markets used software licences, including user licences for Oracle computer programs. For that purpose UsedSoft acquires from customers of Oracle such user licences, or parts of them, where the original licences relate to a greater number of users than required by the first acquirer. Usedsoft’s practices involve the making of a copy of the computer program, which raises the question of the infringement of the right of reproduction. A further question that arises is whether the right to distribute a copy of the computer program is exhausted. A positive answer to the question may help to justify Usedsoft’s business model. And effectively, in the CJEU’s judgment one see the application of exhaustion rules, despite the absence of a sale of hard copies. But the special rules that are contained in the software Directive are, for fairly obvious reasons, rather omnipresent in the decision. Could it therefore be that Usedsoft is entirely software specific [6] and that even in that context a small change to existing business practices can overcome the impact of the decision? Or is this only a first example of the exhaustion logic to come and will the Court of Justice of the European Union apply the same logic to other copyright works? On-line distribution of music and licences granting access to on-line databases are then obvious candidates that attract attention. In essence I am asked whether I have a crystal ball and whether I can gaze in it. The straightforward answer is that I do not have a crystal ball. But let me nevertheless try to identify some guiding principles. [1] Case 62/79 Coditel SA v Ciné Vog Films SA [1980] ECR 881. [2] Case C-403/08 Football Association Premier League Ltd v QC Leisure and Case C-429/08 Murphy v Media Protection Services Ltd [2012] FSR 1, [2012] 1 CMLR 29. [3] For a fuller analysis, see P. Torremans, Holyoak and Torremans Intellectual Property Law, OUP (7th ed, 2013), pp. 344-349. [4] Case C-128/11 Usedsoft GmbH v Oracle International Corp., [2012] 3 CMLR 44, [2012] ECDR 19 and [2013] RPC 6. [5] Ibid. [6] In the first two cases that followed the CJEU’s decision the German Courts seem to give an affirmative answer to this question. The OLG Frankfurt confined the decision to cases based on the Software Directive (which was treated as lex specialis in relation to the Information Society Directive), see OLG Frankfurt, 18th December 2012 -11 U 68/11, [2013] GRUR 279-285. And the LG Bielefeld explicitly refused to apply the Usedsoftapproach to the on-line distribution of e-books, as the Software Directive did not apply to that case, see LG Bielefeld, 5th March 2013, [2013] GRUR Prax 207 (summary)

Mapping the knowledge of ecosystem service-based ecological risk assessment: scientometric analysis in CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and SciMAT

The ecosystem services approach offers a more ecologically relevant method to establish environmental conservation goals and implement ecological risk assessment (ERA). The emergence of bibliometrics has facilitated the development of new systematic review techniques. In this study, we utilised CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and SciMAT software, based on the Web of Science database, to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the ecosystem service-based ecological risk assessment (ESRA) literature knowledge map spanning from 1994 to 2023. This article explored the field’s evolution from macro to micro perspectives, incorporating background information, current trends, and knowledge structure. The findings demonstrate that ESRA has progressed from an initial stage to a phase of global cooperation and policy applications. This transition between stages has been characterised by a shift from focusing on natural processes to understanding human impacts on ecosystems. Key themes identified include ecosystem services, landscape ERA, aquatic ERA and ecosystem health. The overall development of ERA can be observed as a progression through different periods, namely, the traditional era, regional era, and landscape era. Currently, landscape ERA methods based on changes in land use and land cover are widely employed. The study also revealed various challenges in the ESRA field, such as data availability, scale issues, and uncertainty. Future ESRA studies should consider holistic ecosystem services, interdisciplinary approaches, ecological models, and advanced technologies to address complexity. Using big data and informatisation for research offers new opportunities but requires integration and innovation. It is anticipated that ESRA holds promise for ecological sustainability and human wellbeing

Software Engineering Timeline: major areas of interest and multidisciplinary trends

Ingeniería del software. EvolucionSociety today cannot run without software and by extension, without Software Engineering. Since this discipline emerged in 1968, practitioners have learned valuable lessons that have contributed to current practices. Some have become outdated but many are still relevant and widely used. From the personal and incomplete perspective of the authors, this paper not only reviews the major milestones and areas of interest in the Software Engineering timeline helping software engineers to appreciate the state of things, but also tries to give some insights into the trends that this complex engineering will see in the near future