Information Society in Croatia, Landsc@pes of Knowledge for Development

Sabbatical Studies ReportCroatia has overcome a series of historical and cultural happenings. A war and serious internal conflicts after the break of Yugoslavia have left the country with structural problems that will need a few years to solve. With astonishing landscapes and a large stretch of coastline, Croatia has opened itself to tourism. Presidential and parliamentary elections at the beginning of 2000 ushered in politicians who pledged commitment to Croatia's integration into the European mainstream. Croatia Constitution was changed to accommodate the shift of power away from the President to the Parliament. Croatia joined the World Trade Organization and opened the economy. European Union accession talks were held up because the country's most prominent war crimes suspect, Ante Gotovina, remained at large until 2005. When finally convicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague in April 2011, Croatia successfully completed its EU accession negotiations. It is due to become the EU's 28th member state in 2013. A dispute with Slovenia over the sea and land borders - dating back to the break-up of Yugoslavia - also threatened to delay Croatia's membership until June 2010. The country's EU accession treaty was finally signed in December 2011, after years of tortuous negotiations. A referendum was made on the following month. Croatia was badly affected by the global financial crisis from 2008 up to 2009 and its tourism-oriented economy has suffered tremendous effects and the country has mostly been in recession since 2009. Confronted like other countries in transition periods, with fast privatizations, inefficient legal and administrative system, high unemployment rates, Croatia has imposed itself has one of the leading countries in the Balkans. After the conflicts that broke Yugoslavia apart, Croatia established his monetary and fiscal system initiating the first steps into a market economy. But the rigid mechanism used to regulate the national Kuna introduced several problems and generated an overvalued currency. The situation worsened the trade deficit and threatened the economic stability. The success of tourism, foreign investment and a considerable growth domestic product (above some European countries) can guarantee to Croatia a place among the EU like a modern democracy and a truly free market economy. The European Council granted the status of “candidate country” to Croatia in 2004 and Croatia opened EU accession negotiations on October 2005 and concluded them on June 2011. From an external observer, that is to be considered a tremendous success. However weaknesses in competitiveness have turned Croatia in a relatively small competitor when it comes to global markets. But although good results have been achieved by a strategic country alignment, the business’ location remains traditional - near big cities and large metropolitan areas, mainly Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Dubrovnik. Like Portugal, Croatia seems to suffer from urban macrocephaly and rural exodus. Croatia remains a country with an historical problem concerning development asymmetries. That is also true when it comes to knowledge dissemination. But the Information and Communication Technologies sector (ICT) has to be considered crucial to leverage economic growth assuming at the same time an important role in particular aspects of the so called Information Society (IS). The ICT sector is also crucial for the decrease of territorial asymmetries. But the difference between numbers is larger when it comes to the big cities or metropolitan areas compared with its peripheries or rural regions

Telecom Policy Across the Former Yugoslavia: Incentives, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

What is the recipe for good information policy? Hosman and Howard address this in an emerging economy context through case studies of six states that arose following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. These new nations pursued differing information policy paths that led to diverse outcomes. The authors find, in general, conventional positive outcomes supporting policies for privatization, liberalization, and competition; but at the same time discover many counterintuitive outcomes based on each country’s unique circumstances. General rules are good, but in specific cases alternative paths can also lead to success

Implementation of basic QoS mechanisms on videoconferencing network model

Ovo istraživanje je posljedica višegodišnjeg korištenja videokonferencijske veze te pojave raznih problema koji prate istu. Kašnjenje slike i zvuka, pucanje veze, prekid slike ili zvuka samo su neki od razloga zbog kojih je nastao ovaj rad. U ovom radu pokušava se primjenom mehanizama kvalitete usluge na modelu CARNet-ove mreže poboljšati kvaliteta videokonferencijske veze. Na osnovu dobivenih rezultata simulacije videokonferencijske veze prikazani su grafovi ispuštanja paketa, kašnjenja te ostalih parametara bitnih za videokonferencijsku vezu.This research is the outcome of multiannual use of videoconferencing services and the emersion of various problems that come with videoconferencing applications. Video and audio delay, dropped connection, missing audio or video, are just some of the reasons for creating this paper. In this article quality of videoconferencing link in CARNet network is improved by implementing various QoS mechanisms. The obtained results of the videoconferencing simulation are represented in graphs which display dropped packets, delay and other videoconferencing parameters

Technology and Media in Education

The aim of this paper is showing the importance of using modern communication technologies, as well as the media in educational development. The introductory will show importance of technological changes in educational development with special emphasis on the development of online learning and its basic features. Here, the importance of informational infrastructure development will also be shown, as a critical element for Internet learning development. Furthermore, different media used in education, related to their characteristics, will also be analyzed. The paper will use descriptive method, method of analysis, induction and deduction. Conclusion will show current trends and technologies, as well as a critical overview of entire paper. Results will be used as a reference frame for future continuous research. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

A Stable Routing Protocol to Support ITS Services in VANET Networks

科研費報告書収録論文(課題番号:17500030/研究代表者:加藤寧/インターネットと高親和性を有する次世代低軌道衛星ネットワークに関する基盤研究

Implementation of Telemedicine in Otorhinolaryngology

Telemedicine is a term that covers all procedures supported by communication technology, which has the purpose of providing health services at a specific spatial distance. This is an area that is developing rapidly and has found particular application in otorhinolaryngology, given that a large number of surgeries are performed with the help of endoscopes and microscopes. Telemedicine also represents a significant advantage during the coronavirus pandemic, both in terms of treating patients and monitoring them more effectively. For the purpose of preparing this article, research published on Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google was reviewed using the keywords “telemedicine” and “otorhinolaryngology”. This review article provides a summary and the latest insights in this broad and fast-growing area. The development of telemedicine in Croatia as well as a special review of the application of telemedicine during the coronavirus pandemic is also presented in this article

Infraestructure readiness for autonomous vehicles

This study is aimed at identifying the major challenges in the infraestructure design, operation and maintenance to allow the implementation of Autonomous Vehicles in interurban and urban road network

Digitalna zrelost škola

The successful integration of digital technologies in educational institutions is an imperative of any educational system in a developed society. Activities leading to the integration of digital technologies, i.e. implementation models, represent a challenge for developed countries as well as developing ones. In the European context, e-maturity in schools, is recognized as one of the key issues. The aim of this paper is to determine the indicators for assessing the level of e-maturity in Serbian schools and creating an evaluation model. In addition to a reinterpretation of the existing research and a comparative analysis, the method of modeling has been used in this paper. The proposed evaluation model can provide a basis for self-evaluation of e-maturity in schools and planning for the improvement of: digital culture at school; security and technical requirements and support; digital skills of teachers, students and employees in professional services; digital learning environment; inclusion of digital technology into the curriculum, as well as the effective implementation of digital technologies in the school organization. The evaluation model for e-maturity in schools is not only an instrument for evaluation, but also a model for effective management and decision-making.Uspješna integracija digitalnih tehnologija u obrazovne institucije imperativ je svakog obrazovnog sustava u razvijenom društvu. Aktivnosti koje vode do integracije digitalnih tehnologija, tj. modela implementacije, predstavljaju izazov za razvijene zemlje, kao i za one u razvoju. Pitanje digitalne zrelosti u školama, u europskom kontekstu, prepoznato je kao jedno od ključnih pitanja. Cilj je ovog rada utvrditi pokazatelje za procjenu razine digitalne zrelosti srpskih škola i stvaranje modela evaluacije. Osim reinterpretacije postojećih istraživanja i usporedne analize, u ovom se radu koristila metoda modeliranja. Predloženi model vrednovanja može pružiti osnovu za samoevaluaciju digitalne zrelosti u školama i planiranje poboljšanja digitalne kulture u školi; poboljšanja sigurnosti, tehničkih zahtjeva i podrške; digitalne vještine nastavnika, učenika i zaposlenika u stručnim službama; pružiti osnovu za digitalno okruženje za učenje; uključivanje digitalne tehnologije u nastavni plan i program, kao i osnovu za učinkovitu primjenu digitalnih tehnologija u organizaciji škole. Model ocjenjivanja digitalne zrelosti u školama nije samo instrument evaluacije već i model za učinkovito upravljanje i donošenje odluka