Open Data

Open data is freely usable, reusable, or redistributable by anybody, provided there are safeguards in place that protect the data’s integrity and transparency. This book describes how data retrieved from public open data repositories can improve the learning qualities of digital networking, particularly performance and reliability. Chapters address such topics as knowledge extraction, Open Government Data (OGD), public dashboards, intrusion detection, and artificial intelligence in healthcare

Sensemaking and lens-shaping : Identifying citizen contributions to foresight through comparative topic modelling

As foresight activities continue to increase across multiple arenas and types of organizations, the need to develop effective modes of reviewing future-oriented information against long-term goals and policies becomes more pressing. The activities of institutional sensemaking are vital in constructing potential and desired futures, but remain sensitive to organizational culture and ethos, thus raising concerns about whose futures are being constructed. In viewing foresight studies as a critical component in such sensemaking, this research investigates a method of textual analysis that deploys natural language processing algorithms (NLP). In this research, we introduce and apply the methodology of topic modelling for conducting a comparative analysis to explore how citizen-derived foresight differs from other institutional foresight. Finally we present pros-pects for further employing NLP for strategic foresight and futures studies.Peer reviewe

What Lies Beneath: Unraveling the Generative Mechanisms of Smart Technology and Service Design

The rapid digitalization of products and services has given rise to smart, technological products and services in various industries. While researchers recognize the complexity of digital components embedded in smart services, there exists scarce research on the evolution of product development, smart technology’s use, and the mechanisms wherein changes in products and services are triggered and implemented. In this research, grounded on the theoretical basis of layered modular architecture, we study a digital venture in an event management industry and offer a substantive look at the three mechanisms—system-environment fitness, data exploitation, and user expansion—that are responsible for transforming smart technology from a conceptual idea into a real product and from a simple digital device into an integrated smart system. Our research findings offer theoretical insight into the dynamics and fluidity of mechanisms that are relevant to smart technology’s design, use, and outcomes

Evolution of education principles in accordance with a Smart City strategy

The paper analyses the transformation of modern cities into intellectual systems, emphasizing the role of life-long format of education. However, there is still a gap in implementation of continuous training, essential for new intellectual resources. Continuous training is substantiated as the means of a Smart City strategy implementation through modifying education. The principles of continuous training, which include reciprocity among students, efficient time management, high expectations, and intense academic activities, are represented in a flipped learning model. The model is especially effective during English for specific purposes instruction. English language, which has the status of lingua franca of today’s science and international employment, becomes a tool for successful career. The model helps to streamline instruction, enhance ESP competence, and save resources. It enriches ESP training thus fostering the teaching process and bringing the communication in a target language closer to today’s employment requirements

Connected Health Living Lab

The school of computing, in collaboration with the institute of nursing and health research and the school of engineering, recently established the connected health living lab (CH:LL) at Ulster University. CH:LL offers a dedicated environment to support user and clinical engagement, access to state-of-the-art technology to assess usability and interaction with innovative technologies, in addition to being a dedicated environment to record user behaviours with new connected health solutions. The creation of such a dedicated environment offers a range of benefits to support multi-disciplinary research in the area of connected health. This paper illustrates the design, development, and implementation of CH:LL, including a description of the various technologies associated with the living lab at Ulster University. To conclude, the paper highlights how these resources have been used to date within various research projects