Design and Implementation of a Measurement-Based Policy-Driven Resource Management Framework For Converged Networks

This paper presents the design and implementation of a measurement-based QoS and resource management framework, CNQF (Converged Networks QoS Management Framework). CNQF is designed to provide unified, scalable QoS control and resource management through the use of a policy-based network management paradigm. It achieves this via distributed functional entities that are deployed to co-ordinate the resources of the transport network through centralized policy-driven decisions supported by measurement-based control architecture. We present the CNQF architecture, implementation of the prototype and validation of various inbuilt QoS control mechanisms using real traffic flows on a Linux-based experimental test bed.Comment: in Ictact Journal On Communication Technology: Special Issue On Next Generation Wireless Networks And Applications, June 2011, Volume 2, Issue 2, Issn: 2229-6948(Online

Developing a dominant logic of strategic innovation

Purpose: This paper aims to lay the foundations to develop a dominant logic and a common thematic framework of strategic innovation (SI) and to encourage consensus over the field’s core foundation of main themes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores the intersection between the constituent fields of strategic management and innovation management through a concept mapping process. The paper categorizes the main themes and search for common ground in order to develop the core thematic framework of SI. The paper looks at the sub-themes of SI in published research and develops a more detailed framework. The conceptual categories derived from the process are then placed in a logical sequence according to how they occur in practice or in the order of how the concepts develop from one other. Findings: The results yield seven main themes that form the main taxonomy of SI: types of SI, environmental analysis of SI, SI planning, enabling SI, collaborative networks, managing knowledge, and strategic outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The new thematic framework the paper is proposing for SI remains preliminary in nature and would need to be tried and tested by researchers and practitioners in order to gain acceptability. Academic rigor and methodological structure are not sufficient to determine whether our conceptual framework will become widely diffused in academia and industry. It would have to pass through an emergent, evolutionary process of selection, adoption and an inevitable degree of change and adaptation, just like any other innovation. Practical implications: The practical implications concern the production of instructive material and the application of strategic management initiatives in industry. The proposed themes and sub-themes can serve as a logical framework to develop and update publications, which have been instrumental in their own right to shape the field. The paper also provides a checklist of potential research projects in SI, which will improve and strengthen the field. The new framework provides a comprehensive checklist of strategic management initiatives that will help industry to initiate, plan and execute effective innovation strategies. Originality/value: The concept mapping of the themes of SI yields a new dominant logic, which will influence the evolution of the field and its relevance to both academia and industry

Innovative public governance through cloud computing: Information privacy, business models and performance measurement challenges

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze challenges and to discuss proposed solutions for innovative public governance through cloud computing. Innovative technologies, such as federation of services and cloud computing, can greatly contribute to the provision of e-government services, through scaleable and flexible systems. Furthermore, they can facilitate in reducing costs and overcoming public information segmentation. Nonetheless, when public agencies use these technologies, they encounter several associated organizational and technical changes, as well as significant challenges. Design/methodology/approach: We followed a multidisciplinary perspective (social, behavioral, business and technical) and conducted a conceptual analysis for analyzing the associated challenges. We conducted focus group interviews in two countries for evaluating the performance models that resulted from the conceptual analysis. Findings: This study identifies and analyzes several challenges that may emerge while adopting innovative technologies for public governance and e-government services. Furthermore, it presents suggested solutions deriving from the experience of designing a related platform for public governance, including issues of privacy requirements, proposed business models and key performance indicators for public services on cloud computing. Research limitations/implications: The challenges and solutions discussed are based on the experience gained by designing one platform. However, we rely on issues and challenges collected from four countries. Practical implications: The identification of challenges for innovative design of e-government services through a central portal in Europe and using service federation is expected to inform practitioners in different roles about significant changes across multiple levels that are implied and may accelerate the challenges' resolution. Originality/value: This is the first study that discusses from multiple perspectives and through empirical investigation the challenges to realize public governance through innovative technologies. The results emerge from an actual portal that will function at a European level. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Farm SMEs sustainability assessment based on Bellagio Principles. The case of Messinian Region, Greece

Purpose: Sufficient support of the sustainability of farm products embedded in a region (such as Products of Designated Origin / PDOs) to overcome significant obstacles to access domestic and remote markets. Main research question is how to overcome such inherent difficulties and transform them into challenges and opportunities to the new market environment. Design/methodology /approach: Combination of simplicity with the complicated issue of sustainability for awareness of small farmers SMEs and their collective representatives. Improve the understanding of the Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM), to facilitate sustainability through use of the ‘Bellagio Principles’ for assessing sustainability of local farm products and facilitating further enhancement. Use of certain PDOs farm products of the Messinian region of Greece, such as local Sfela Feta cheese, olive oil, olives and raisins, to assess sustainability and improvement. Formation of a conceptual constructive action R&D framework of broader use in building-up and performing implementation of holistic supply chain strategy. Expected Findings: Providing better understanding of the SSCM. Insights on how SMEs co-operatives can collectively apply holistic strategies concerning local farm PDOs to fulfil competitiveness and sustainability requirements, under variant product and market conditions. Originality / Value : Improving the know-how, focusing on the sustainability of regional, traditional products and its effects upon supply chain performance and market access. Practical implications for regional-based farm SMEs in the design of holistic value creation strategies to produce sustainable competitive advantage. Interactive cause and effect dynamic implications of sustainable development on social, economic and physical environment

Intersystem soft handover for converged DVB-H and UMTS networks

Digital video broadcasting for handhelds (DVB-H) is the standard for broadcasting Internet Protocol (IP) data services to mobile portable devices. To provide interactive services for DVB-H, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) can be used as a terrestrial interaction channel for the unidirectional DVB-H network. The converged DVB-H and UMTS network can be used to address the congestion problems due to the limited multimedia channel accesses of the UMTS network. In the converged network, intersystem soft handover between DVB-H and UMTS is needed for an optimum radio resource allocation, which reduces network operation cost while providing the required quality of service. This paper deals with the intersystem soft handover between DVB-H and UMTS in such a converged network. The converged network structure is presented. A novel soft handover scheme is proposed and evaluated. After considering the network operation cost, the performance tradeoff between the network quality of service and the network operation cost for the intersystem soft handover in the converged network is modeled using a stochastic tree and analyzed using a numerical simulation. The results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and has the potential to be used for implementation in the real environment

Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships. Four Impact Loops for Channeling Partnership Studies

This paper addresses the topic of this special symposium issue: how to enhance the impact of cross-sector partnerships. The paper takes stock of two related discussions: the discourse in cross-sector partnership research on how to assess impact and the discourse in impact assessment research on how to deal with more complex organizations and projects. We argue that there is growing need and recognition for cross-fertilization between the two areas. Cross-sector partnerships are reaching a paradigmatic status in society, but both research and practice need more thorough evidence of their impacts and of the conditions under which these impacts can be enhanced. This paper develops a framework that should enable a constructive interchange between the two research areas, while also framing existing research into more precise categories that can lead to knowledge accumulation. We address the preconditions for such a framework and discuss how the constituent parts of this framework interact. We distinguish four different pathways or impact loops that refer to four distinct orders of impact. The paper concludes by applying these insights to the four papers included in this special issue