An Architecture for Integrated Intelligence in Urban Management using Cloud Computing

With the emergence of new methodologies and technologies it has now become possible to manage large amounts of environmental sensing data and apply new integrated computing models to acquire information intelligence. This paper advocates the application of cloud capacity to support the information, communication and decision making needs of a wide variety of stakeholders in the complex business of the management of urban and regional development. The complexity lies in the interactions and impacts embodied in the concept of the urban-ecosystem at various governance levels. This highlights the need for more effective integrated environmental management systems. This paper offers a user-orientated approach based on requirements for an effective management of the urban-ecosystem and the potential contributions that can be supported by the cloud computing community. Furthermore, the commonality of the influence of the drivers of change at the urban level offers the opportunity for the cloud computing community to develop generic solutions that can serve the needs of hundreds of cities from Europe and indeed globally.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

What role does corporate governance play in the intention to use cloud computing technology?

This paper aims to investigate the factors which promote the adoption of cloud-based technology. It strives for a better understanding of the impact of corporate governance on the adoption of this technology. This study concentrated on executives in companies where the use of cloud computing may give a competitive advantage. The main contribution of this work is to propose a model for the influence of corporate governance and other factors that determine the adoption of this technology. A questionnaire was prepared after taking into consideration the reviewed literature. The sample consisted of 164 technology companies from Southern Spain that already use the new economic models for digital solutions. The methodology used to analyze the structural model was the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results of the survey showed the influence of Corporate Governance and the procedures and practices of the organization on the adoption of cloud computing and the associated business model. This study aims to point out the importance of corporate support and Knowledge Management for the correct and successful adoption of this technology and to show the effects on the new business model of billing for the use of available resources. View Full-Tex

The Country-specific Organizational and Information Architecture of ERP Systems at Globalised Enterprises

The competition on the market forces companies to adapt to the changing environment. Most recently, the economic and financial crisis has been accelerating the alteration of both business and IT models of enterprises. The forces of globalization and internationalization motivate the restructuring of business processes and consequently IT processes. To depict the changes in a unified framework, we need the concept of Enterprise Architecture as a theoretical approach that deals with various tiers, aspects and views of business processes and different layers of application, software and hardware systems. The paper outlines a wide-range theoretical background for analyzing the re-engineering and re-organization of ERP systems at international or transnational companies in the middle-sized EU member states. The research carried out up to now has unravelled the typical structural changes, the models for internal business networks and their modification that reflect the centralization, decentralization and hybrid approaches. Based on the results obtained recently, a future research program has been drawn up to deepen our understanding of the trends within the world of ERP systems.Information System; ERP; Enterprise Resource Planning; Enterprise Architecture; Globalization; Centralization; Decentralization; Hybrid

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

Explorando ferramentas de modelação digital, aumentada e orientada por dados em engenharia e design de produto

Tools are indispensable for all diligent professional practice. New concepts and possibilities for paradigm shifting are emerging with recent computational technological developments in digital tools. However, new tools from key concepts such as “Big-Data”, “Accessibility” and “Algorithmic Design” are fundamentally changing the input and position of the Product Engineer and Designer. After the context introduction, this dissertation document starts by extracting three pivotal criteria from the Product Design Engineering's State of the Art analysis. In each one of those criteria the new emergent, more relevant and paradigmatic concepts are explored and later on are positioned and compared within the Product Lifecycle Management wheel scheme, where the potential risks and gaps are pointed to be explored in the experience part. There are two types of empirical experiences: the first being of case studies from Architecture and Urban Planning — from the student's professional experience —, that served as a pretext and inspiration for the experiments directly made for Product Design Engineering. First with a set of isolated explorations and analysis, second with a hypothetical experience derived from the latter and, finally, a deliberative section that culminate in a listing of risks and changes concluded from all the previous work. The urgency to reflect on what will change in that role and position, what kind of ethical and/or conceptual reformulations should exist for the profession to maintain its intellectual integrity and, ultimately, to survive, are of the utmost evidence.As ferramentas são indispensáveis para toda a prática diligente profissional. Novos conceitos e possibilidades de mudança de paradigma estão a surgir com os recentes progressos tecnológicos a nível computacional nas ferramentas digitais. Contudo, novas ferramentas originadas sobre conceitos-chave como “Big Data”, “Acessibilidade” e “Design Algorítmico” estão a mudar de forma fundamental o contributo e posição do Engenheiro e Designer de Produto. Esta dissertação, após uma primeira introdução contextual, começa por extrair três conceitos-eixo duma análise ao Estado da Arte actual em Engenharia e Design de Produto. Em cada um desses conceitos explora-se os novos conceitos emergentes mais relevantes e paradigmáticos, que então são comparados e posicionados no círculo de Gestão de Ciclo de Vida de Produto, apontando aí potenciais riscos e falhas que possam ser explorados em experiências. As experiências empíricas têm duas índoles: a primeira de projetos e casos de estudo de arquitetura e planeamento urbanístico — experiência em contexto de trabalho do aluno —, que serviu de pretexto e inspiração para as experiências relacionadas com Engenharia e Design de Produto. Primeiro com uma série de análises e experiências isoladas, segundo com uma formulação hipotética com o compêndio dessas experiências e, finalmente, com uma secção de reflexão que culmina numa série de riscos e mudanças induzidas do trabalho anterior. A urgência em refletir sobre o que irá alterar nesse papel e posição, que género de reformulações éticas e/ou conceptuais deverão existir para que a profissão mantenha a sua integridade intelectual e, em última instância, sobreviva, são bastante evidentes.Mestrado em Engenharia e Design de Produt

Secure and efficient cloud computing environment

The cloud computing environments are cost and productivity efficient, they are quickly replacing the traditional centralized systems. These “clouds” inherit a lot of security concerns of the older systems, but also bring the new ones. This paper examines 3 most popular cloud vulnerabilities, as well as a vulnerability intrinsic to the cloud environments. It proposes solutions and classifies the risks

O papel da quarta revolução industrial no turismo acessível: estudo e conceptualização de uma aplicação web

The world is experiencing the beginning of the fourth Industrial Revolution, responsible for implementing a new digitalization era. This revolution originated in manufacturing, with industry 4.0 bringing a new reality to organizations. However, the scope of this new technological revolution is vast, and other sectors can benefit from the new digital era. In the Services Industry, tourism is an example of that, as Tourism 4.0 is the result of the impact of the fourth industrial revolution in this sector. Tourism 4.0 is the result of the impact of the fourth industrial revolution in tourism. An interesting challenge that this technological era brings to tourism is the social inclusion of people with disabilities. The accessible tourism market reveals huge potential, but despite this, this market is still largely ignored. Several technologies that promoted the fourth industrial revolution present capabilities to promote accessible tourism by improving tourism’s access conditions to people with disabilities. The present work developed a study in accessible tourism, understanding the main requirements for this market, and conceptualizing a Web application, for promoting accessibility in tourism. This Web application work as a mediator between the principal stakeholders. To gather requirements for the system, a triangulation matrix was elaborated using three methodological approaches: i) Literature Review; ii) website accessibility analysis of hotels located in the central region of Portugal; and iii) content analysis of some concurrent platforms. The requirements triangulation matrix allowed the identification of what requirements are crucial for the system success, which were used to conceptualize the solution with UML notation. This work intends to demonstrate the technological impacts of the fourth industrial revolution on society, especially on the promotion of a more accessible tourismO mundo encontra-se hoje no início da quarta revolução industrial, responsável pela promoção de uma nova era caracterizada pela digitalização. Apesar desta revolução ter surgido no setor industrial, com o conceito de Indústria 4.0, a sua aplicação é muito mais vasta, existindo outros sectores que podem igualmente beneficiar desta nova era tecnológica. O setor dos serviços, nomeadamente o Turismo, é um exemplo disso, e o conceito de Turismo 4.0 é o resultado do impacto da quarta revolução industrial nesse setor. Um desafio interessante que esta nova era tecnológica traz para o turismo é o da inclusão social, promovendo o turismo para todos. De facto, o mercado do turismo acessível, apesar de ter imenso potencial, tem sido relegado no contexto dos negócios. Por outro lado, o potencial tecnológico associado a esta nova revolução industrial sugere uma grande capacidade na promoção do turismo acessível, na medida em que podem facilitar as condições de acesso ao turismo, por parte de pessoas com algum tipo de incapacidade e ou necessidade especial. O presente trabalho visa conduzir um estudo na área do turismo acessível, por forma compreender os principais requisitos deste tipo de mercado e, consequentemente, conceptualizar uma aplicação Web, com o propósito de promover a acessibilidade no turismo, funcionando como um mediador de informação entre os principais stakeholders. Para a obtenção dos requisitos do sistema foi feita: i) uma revisão da literatura; ii) um estudo que avalia a acessibilidade dos websites dos hotéis da zona centro de Portugal, e, ainda iii) um estudo com base em análise de conteúdo de algumas plataformas potencialmente concorrentes. Os resultados são apresentados na forma de uma matriz de triangulação, onde é possível identificar a fonte dos requisitos identificados, sendo posteriormente utilizados para conceptualizar a solução proposta com recurso à notação UML. Pretende-se com este trabalho demonstrar o potencial e o efeito que as tecnologias existentes na era designada por quarta revolução industrial podem ter na sociedade, nomeadamente na promoção de um turismo para todosMestrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industria

Big Data Privacy Context: Literature Effects On Secure Informational Assets

This article's objective is the identification of research opportunities in the current big data privacy domain, evaluating literature effects on secure informational assets. Until now, no study has analyzed such relation. Its results can foster science, technologies and businesses. To achieve these objectives, a big data privacy Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is performed on the main scientific peer reviewed journals in Scopus database. Bibliometrics and text mining analysis complement the SLR. This study provides support to big data privacy researchers on: most and least researched themes, research novelty, most cited works and authors, themes evolution through time and many others. In addition, TOPSIS and VIKOR ranks were developed to evaluate literature effects versus informational assets indicators. Secure Internet Servers (SIS) was chosen as decision criteria. Results show that big data privacy literature is strongly focused on computational aspects. However, individuals, societies, organizations and governments face a technological change that has just started to be investigated, with growing concerns on law and regulation aspects. TOPSIS and VIKOR Ranks differed in several positions and the only consistent country between literature and SIS adoption is the United States. Countries in the lowest ranking positions represent future research opportunities.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure