Taming the interoperability challenges of complex IoT systems

of communication protocols and data formats; hence ensuring diverse devices can interoperate with one another remains a significant challenge. Model-driven development and testing solutions have been proposed as methods to aid software developers achieve interoperability compliance in the face of this increasing complexity. However, current approaches often involve complicated and domain specific models (e.g. web services described by WSDL). In this paper, we explore a lightweight, middleware independent, model-driven development framework to help developers tame the challenges of composing IoT services that interoperate with one another. The framework is based upon two key contributions: i) patterns of interoperability behaviour, and ii) a software framework to monitor and reason about interoperability success or failure. We show using a case-study from the FI-WARE Future Internet Service domain that this interoperability framework can support non-expert developers address interoperability challenges. We also deployed tools built atop the framework and made them available in the XIFI large-scale FI-PPP test environment

Privacy enhanced and web based service composition

Service selection is a key issue in the Future Internet, where applications are built by composing services and content offered by different service providers. Most existing service selection schemas only focus on the functional QoS properties of services such as throughput, latency and response time, or on their trust and reputation level. By contrast, the risk of privacy breaches arising from the selection of component services whose privacy policy is not compliant with customers’ privacy preferences is largely ignored. In this paper, we propose a novel privacy-preserving Web service composition and selection approach which (i) makes it possible to verify the compliance between users’ privacy requirements and providers’ privacy policies and (ii) ranks the composite Web services with respect to the privacy level they offer. We demonstrate our approach using a travel agency Web service as an example of service composition

Enhancing Access to Research Materials on East Asia: An Interim Report on the East Asian Libraries Cooperative World Wide Web

The East Asian Libraries Cooperative World Wide Web (http:/pears.lib.ahio-statc.edu/) uses the World Wide Web to help researchers overcome geographical barriers which hinder access to resources, both print and electronic. This project, which is directed at the Ohio State University, has received funding from the Japan - United States Friendship Commission, the U.S. Department of Education Title II-A (Library Technology and Cooperation Program) and other sources. In addition to Ohio State, universities participating in the two major grant-funded projects which make up this effort include: UC-Berkeley, Columbia, Duke, Illinois. Indiana, Iowa, MIT, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, However, already the number of participants has grown to include librarians and scholars at other institutions. The presentation describes the origins of the project, its evolution, and its future plans. Particular emphasis is given to discussing the challenges that activities such us construction of a distributed database and development or proactive services for remote users pose for librarians, as well us the various strategies that are being used in this project to address them

Online dating and problematic use: a systematic review

Despite the constant growth in the use of online dating sites and mobile dating applications, research examining potential problematic use of online dating has remained scarce. Previous research has obviated problematic use of online dating in favour of users’ personality correlates and scams through online dating services. A systematic review was carried out using PsycINFO and Web of Science databases to gather previous findings that address potential problematic use of online dating by (i) identifying use and motivations, (ii) assessing users’ personality correlates, (iii) outlining negative correlates of use, (iv) examining sexual and impulsive behaviour, (v) exploring substance use and behavioural addictions in relation to online dating, and (vi) examining problematic use of online dating, resulting in 43 studies. Findings suggest that personality correlates such as neuroticism, sociability, sensation-seeking, and sexual permissiveness are related to greater use of online dating services. Sex-search and self-esteem enhancement are predictors of problematic use of online dating. Previous research coincides with online dating risks (e.g. fear of deception) and objectification tendency due to online dating services (sites and apps) design. Observations regarding methodological weaknesses and future research implications are included

The evolving landscape of sea-level rise science from 1990 to 2021

As sea-level rise (SLR) accelerates due to climate change, its multidisciplinary field of science has similarly expanded, from 41 articles published in 1990 to 1475 articles published in 2021, and nearly 15,000 articles published in the Web of Science over this 32-year period. Here, big-data bibliometric techniques are adopted to systematically analyse this large literature set. Four main research clusters (themes) emerge: (I) geological dimensions and sea-level indicators, (II) impacts, risks, and adaptation, (III) physical components of sea-level change, and (IV) coastal ecosystems and habitats, with 16 associated sub-themes. This analysis provides insights into the evolution of research agendas, the challenges and opportunities for future assessments (e.g. next IPCC reports), and growing focus on adaptation. For example, the relative importance of sub-themes evolves consistently with a relative decline in pure science analysis towards solution-focused topics associated with SLR risks such as high-end rises, declining ecosystem services, flood hazards, and coastal erosion/squeeze

Fault Management For Service-Oriented Systems

Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) enable the automatic creation of business applications from independently developed and deployed Web services. As Web services are inherently unreliable, how to deliver reliable Web services composition over unreliable Web services is a significant and challenging problem. The process requires monitoring the system\u27s behavior, determining when and why faults occur, and then applying fault prevention/recovery mechanisms to minimize the impact and/or recover from these faults. However, it is hard to apply a non-distributed management approach to SOA, since a manager needs to communicate with the different components through authentications. In SOA, a business process can terminate successfully if all services finish their work correctly through providing alternative plans in case of fault. However, the business process itself may encounter different faults because the fault may occur anywhere at any time due to SOA specifications. In this work, we propose new fault management technique (FLEX) and we identify several improvements over existing techniques. First, existing techniques rely mainly on static information while FLEX is based on dynamic information. Second, existing frameworks use a limited number of attributes; while we use all possible attributes by identify them as either required or optional. Third, FLEX reduces the comparison cost (time and space) by filtering out services at each level needed for evaluation. In general, FLEX is divided into two phases: Phase I, computes service reliability and utility, while in Phase II, runtime planning and evaluation. In Phase I, we assess the fault likelihood of the service using a combination of techniques (e.g., Hidden Marcov Model, Reputation, and Clustering). In Phase II, we build a recovery plan to execute in case of fault(s) and we calculate the overall system reliability based on the fault occurrence likelihoods assessed for all the services that are part of the current composition. FLEX is novel because it relies on key activities of the autonomic control loop (i.e., collect, analyze, decide, plan, and execute) to support dynamic management based on the changes of user requirements and QoS level. Our technique dynamically evaluates the performance of Web services based on their previous history and user requirements, assess the likelihood of fault occurrence, and uses the result to create (multiple) recovery plans. Moreover, we define a method to assess the overall system reliability by evaluating the performance of individual recovery plans, when invoked together. The Experiment results show that our technique improves the service selection quality by selecting the services with the highest score and improves the overall system performance in comparison with existing works. In the future, we plan to investigate techniques for monitoring service oriented systems and assess the online negotiation possibilities for combining different services to create high performance systems

CHORUS Deliverable 3.4: Vision Document

The goal of the CHORUS Vision Document is to create a high level vision on audio-visual search engines in order to give guidance to the future R&D work in this area and to highlight trends and challenges in this domain. The vision of CHORUS is strongly connected to the CHORUS Roadmap Document (D2.3). A concise document integrating the outcomes of the two deliverables will be prepared for the end of the project (NEM Summit)

From Sensor to Observation Web with Environmental Enablers in the Future Internet

This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communities’ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term ?envirofied? Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management)

Digital marketing actions that achieve a better attraction and loyalty of users: an analytical study

Currently, the digital economy contributes decisively to an increase in competitiveness, especially as a digital transformation involves migrating to new technological models where digital marketing is a key part of growth and user loyalty strategies. Internet and Digital Marketing have become important factors in campaigns, which attract and retain Internet users. This study aims to identify the main ways in which users can be gained and retained by using Digital Marketing. The Delphi method with in-depth interviews was the methodology used in this study. The results of the research show the most important actions for achieving user recruitment and loyalty with Digital Marketing from the opinions of consulted experts. The limitations of this study are those related to the number of experts included in the study, and the number of research papers consulted in the literature review. The literature review and the results of this research are used to propose new solid research with a consolidated critical methodology. This research deals with a new approach that will optimize web technologies for the evolution of user trends, and therefore, will be of academic and professional use for marketing managers and web solution developers. The conclusions of the investigation show the key factors, discarding others that do not affect the optimization of conversions in B2C businesses such as the duration of the session and the rebound percentage. Likewise, the results of the research identify the specific actions that must be carried out to attract and retain users in B2C companies that use the Digital Marketing ecosystem on the Internet. The requirements for companies that wish to implement a model to optimize conversions using the current digital economy are also shown.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio