The use of information technology in aquaculture management

The recent advances in information technology (IT) have had profound impacts on all walks of life and aquaculture is no exception. The growing importance of aquaculture as an alternative source of protein has further emphasized the need to adapt and develop advanced IT for the better management of aquaculture facilities as well as the regional planning for aquaculture development. It is the objective of this paper to review the use and potential prospects of IT in aquaculture management. The information technologies considered are instrumentation and process control, data management, computerized models, decision support systems, artificial intelligence and expert systems, image processing and pattern recognition, geographical information systems, and information centres and networks. The review includes a brief introduction of each of the aforementioned technologies, followed by a survey of their current application as well as their potential use in aquaculture management. Abstract The recent advances in information technology (IT) have had profound impacts on all walks of life and aquaculture is no exception. The growing importance of aquaculture as an alternative source of protein has further emphasized the need to adapt and develop advanced IT for the better management of aquaculture facilities as well as the regional planning for aquaculture development. It is the objective of this paper to review the use and potential prospects of IT in aquaculture management. The information technologies considered are instrumentation and process control, data management, computerized models, decision support systems, artificial intelligence and expert systems, image processing and pattern recognition, geographical information systems, and information centres and networks. The review includes a brief introduction of each of the aforementioned technologies, followed by a survey of their current application as well as their potential use in aquaculture management

Assessments of Information Systems at Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Agri-food Sector

Integrated information systems under large-scale company conditions have become widespread over the past decades. Information, data management and systematic information produced from these data and arranged according to needs, however, are required by not only large-scale companies but small- and medium-sized enterprises as well in the agri-food sector. The improvement of information and communication technologies continuously influence the development of information systems, the introduction of different solutions in architecture and the application of new business models. Our research goals was to analyse the evolution of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), functional analysing of SME’s (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) information systems and developing decision support tools for selection, comparison of ERPs and economical evaluation of ERP investment. This tools are partly developed and usable for SMEs in the agri-food sector

Prerequisites for Process Management Implementation in the Public Administration of Ukraine

The main objective of the study is to analyse the prerequisites for the implementation of process management in public administration of Ukraine. In the process of identifying the presence of certain prerequisites in modern Ukrainian realities, methods of analysis of economic statistics and international indices that determine the level of technological and economic development of the country, as well as readiness to use information and communication technologies have been used. It has been determined that the evolution of management systems is derived from the development of managed objects. Therefore, the development of technologies as a way to transform matter, energy and information is the main determinant of the quality characteristics of management systems. It has been proved that given the global openness of the national economy and in a situation of insufficient technological level, there are opportunities for catch-up development in Ukraine, based on the introduction of digitalization technologies, which are used mainly in the sphere of services – financial, educational, public, etc. As a result, the introduction of information technologies will facilitate the transition to new rules for companies, organizations and government agencies. Taking this into account, there is an urgent opportunity in Ukraine to introduce process management tools and improve the efficiency of public administration and local self-government systems. However, changing the management system, in addition to process modelling and optimization, will require the transformation of cognitive models of civil servants as a sufficient condition for the effectiveness of the implemented system

Tutorial: Using Content Management Systems (CMS) and Web Analytics in Information Systems Assignments

The proposed tutorial is an introduction to using Content Management Systems (CMS) and Web Analytics for assignments in Information Systems courses. The tutorial presents the advantages of using these technologies versus alternatives, provides a brief hands-on introduction to CMS and Analytics, and describes how to use them together to increase student IS skills and motivation. The tutorial will also share practical tips based on years of undergraduate and graduate teaching experience

eBank UK: linking research data, scholarly communication and learning

This paper includes an overview of the changing landscape of scholarly communication and describes outcomes from the innovative eBank UK project, which seeks to build links from e-research through to e-learning. As introduction, the scholarly knowledge cycle is described and the role of digital repositories and aggregator services in linking data-sets from Grid-enabled projects to e-prints through to peer-reviewed articles as resources in portals and Learning Management Systems, are assessed. The development outcomes from the eBank UK project are presented including the distributed information architecture, requirements for common ontologies, data models, metadata schema, open linking technologies, provenance and workflows. Some emerging challenges for the future are presented in conclusion

Trends for the development of anthropocentric production systems in small less industrialised countries: The case of Portugal

This paper analyses the problems and trends of the introduction of anthropocentric production systems (APS) in small less industrialized member states of the European Union, specifically the case of Portugal, based on the report for the FAST-Anthropocentric Technology Assessment Project (Monitor Programme) on “Prospects and conditions for APS in Europe by the 21st century”. Research teams from all countries of the European Community, as well as researchers from USA, Japan and Australia were participating in this project. The aim of this paper is to characterize APS and to present some special considerations related to the socioeconomic factors affecting the prospects and conditions for APS in Portugal. APS is defined as a system based on the utilization of skilled human resources and flexible technology adapted to the needs of flexible and participative organization. Among socioeconomic factors, some critical aspects for the development of APS will be focused, namely technological infrastructure, management strategies, perceived impact of introduction of automated systems on the division of labor and organizational structure, educational and vocational training and social actors strategies towards industrial automation. This analysis is based on a sample of industrial firms, built up for qualitative analysis, and on case studies analysis that can be reference examples for further development of APS, and not just for economic policy purposes alone. We have also analyzed the type of existing industrial relations, the union and employer strategies and some aspects of public policies towards the introduction of new technologies in the order to understand the extent to which there exist obstacles to and favorable conditions for the diffusion of anthropocentric systems. Finally some recommendations are presented to stress the trends for the implementation and development of anthropocentric production systems in Portugal.production systems; Portugal; Technology Assessment; human resources; organization; management strategies; automation;

A review of cyber threats and defence approaches in emergency management

Emergency planners, first responders and relief workers increasingly rely on computational and communication systems that support all aspects of emergency management, from mitigation and preparedness to response and recovery. Failure of these systems, whether accidental or because of malicious action, can have severe implications for emergency management. Accidental failures have been extensively documented in the past and significant effort has been put into the development and introduction of more resilient technologies. At the same time researchers have been raising concerns about the potential of cyber attacks to cause physical disasters or to maximise the impact of one by intentionally impeding the work of the emergency services. Here, we provide a review of current research on the cyber threats to communication, sensing, information management and vehicular technologies used in emergency management. We emphasise on open issues for research, which are the cyber threats that have the potential to affect emergency management severely and for which solutions have not yet been proposed in the literature

Evaluation of the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security in developing countries

Fish contain important nutrients such as essential fatty acids, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. Production of freshwater fish depends on the strategic application of various management techniques. The demand for fish products has increased beyond the natural supply, resulting in a high pressure on fisheries. Development of aquaculture is necessary for a rapid growth in fish production. A number of constraints hamper the development of aquaculture. Introduction of polyculture technologies in some countries is a way of maximizing production from different levels of the food chain. The roles of women in making fish products available to consumers is frequently over-looked by policy makers. Gender equity in policy-making and management of fisheries and in capacity building is an important issue. Fish production from inland waters and coastal areas can be increased by adopting cage and pen culture systems. Input subsidies and loans to resource poor farmers can boost fish production

A framework for effective management of condition based maintenance programs in the context of industrial development of E-Maintenance strategies

CBM (Condition Based Maintenance) solutions are increasingly present in industrial systems due to two main circumstances: rapid evolution, without precedents, in the capture and analysis of data and significant cost reduction of supporting technologies. CBM programs in industrial systems can become extremely complex, especially when considering the effective introduction of new capabilities provided by PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) and E-maintenance disciplines. In this scenario, any CBM solution involves the management of numerous technical aspects, that the maintenance manager needs to understand, in order to be implemented properly and effectively, according to the company’s strategy. This paper provides a comprehensive representation of the key components of a generic CBM solution, this is presented using a framework or supporting structure for an effective management of the CBM programs. The concept “symptom of failure”, its corresponding analysis techniques (introduced by ISO 13379-1 and linked with RCM/FMEA analysis), and other international standard for CBM open-software application development (for instance, ISO 13374 and OSA-CBM), are used in the paper for the development of the framework. An original template has been developed, adopting the formal structure of RCM analysis templates, to integrate the information of the PHM techniques used to capture the failure mode behaviour and to manage maintenance. Finally, a case study describes the framework using the referred template.Gobierno de Andalucía P11-TEP-7303 M

Smart Home and Artificial Intelligence as Environment for the Implementation of New Technologies

The technologies of a smart home and artificial intelligence (AI) are now inextricably linked. The perception and consideration of these technologies as a single system will make it possible to significantly simplify the approach to their study, design and implementation. The introduction of AI in managing the infrastructure of a smart home is a process of irreversible close future at the level with personal assistants and autopilots. It is extremely important to standardize, create and follow the typical models of information gathering and device management in a smart home, which should lead in the future to create a data analysis model and decision making through the software implementation of a specialized AI. AI techniques such as multi-agent systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic will form the basis for the functioning of a smart home in the future. The problems of diversity of data and models and the absence of centralized popular team decisions in this area significantly slow down further development. A big problem is a low percentage of open source data and code in the smart home and the AI when the research results are mostly unpublished and difficult to reproduce and implement independently. The proposed ways of finding solutions to models and standards can significantly accelerate the development of specialized AIs to manage a smart home and create an environment for the emergence of native innovative solutions based on analysis of data from sensors collected by monitoring systems of smart home. Particular attention should be paid to the search for resource savings and the profit from surpluses that will push for the development of these technologies and the transition from a level of prospect to technology exchange and the acquisition of benefits.The technologies of a smart home and artificial intelligence (AI) are now inextricably linked. The perception and consideration of these technologies as a single system will make it possible to significantly simplify the approach to their study, design and implementation. The introduction of AI in managing the infrastructure of a smart home is a process of irreversible close future at the level with personal assistants and autopilots. It is extremely important to standardize, create and follow the typical models of information gathering and device management in a smart home, which should lead in the future to create a data analysis model and decision making through the software implementation of a specialized AI. AI techniques such as multi-agent systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic will form the basis for the functioning of a smart home in the future. The problems of diversity of data and models and the absence of centralized popular team decisions in this area significantly slow down further development. A big problem is a low percentage of open source data and code in the smart home and the AI when the research results are mostly unpublished and difficult to reproduce and implement independently. The proposed ways of finding solutions to models and standards can significantly accelerate the development of specialized AIs to manage a smart home and create an environment for the emergence of native innovative solutions based on analysis of data from sensors collected by monitoring systems of smart home. Particular attention should be paid to the search for resource savings and the profit from surpluses that will push for the development of these technologies and the transition from a level of prospect to technology exchange and the acquisition of benefits