Report from GI-Dagstuhl Seminar 16394: Software Performance Engineering in the DevOps World

This report documents the program and the outcomes of GI-Dagstuhl Seminar 16394 "Software Performance Engineering in the DevOps World". The seminar addressed the problem of performance-aware DevOps. Both, DevOps and performance engineering have been growing trends over the past one to two years, in no small part due to the rise in importance of identifying performance anomalies in the operations (Ops) of cloud and big data systems and feeding these back to the development (Dev). However, so far, the research community has treated software engineering, performance engineering, and cloud computing mostly as individual research areas. We aimed to identify cross-community collaboration, and to set the path for long-lasting collaborations towards performance-aware DevOps. The main goal of the seminar was to bring together young researchers (PhD students in a later stage of their PhD, as well as PostDocs or Junior Professors) in the areas of (i) software engineering, (ii) performance engineering, and (iii) cloud computing and big data to present their current research projects, to exchange experience and expertise, to discuss research challenges, and to develop ideas for future collaborations

Blockchain, AI and IoT to Improve Governance, Financial Management and Control of Crisis: Case Study COVID-19

Today, the coronavirus infection COVID-2019 deals a devastating blow to the economies of most countries due to disruption of production chains, bankruptcy of small and medium-sized businesses, increasing the number of unemployed and more. Under these conditions, the coverage of digitalization of all sectors of the economy and basic spheres of life of citizens becomes especially important

Analysis of Blockchain-Based Security Solutions for IoT Communication Networks

In recent years, the concept of blockchain technology has garnered substantial attention owing to its pivotal role as the underlying innovation powering cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This surge in interest is particularly notable due to the manifold applications of blockchain technology across diverse domains, including but not limited to, bolstering the security landscape of the Internet of Things (IoT), fortifying the banking sector, optimizing industrial operations, and enhancing clinical establishments. Furthermore, the IoT paradigm has witnessed exponential growth in its adoption, primarily attributed to its seamless integration within smart homes and urban infrastructure projects on a global scale. However, a notable drawback within IoT lies in the inherent limitations of processing power, constrained data storage capacities, and limited network bandwidth of IoT devices. Because of these limitations, IoT devices stand more vulnerable to various forms of cyberattacks in comparison to their counterparts such as smartphones, tablets, or personal computers. This scholarly paper critically delves into the profound security challenges prevalent within the IoT ecosystem and meticulously examines the intricacies of addressing these challenges through the integration of blockchain technology. Additionally, this study identifies and elucidates certain dimensions that remain inadequately covered by existing blockchain implementations in IoT security contexts. Through this comprehensive exploration, the research aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations of blockchain in fortifying IoT security, shedding light on unexplored avenues and underscoring the imperatives for future research and technological enhancements

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

A Framework for Prediction and Storage of Battery Life in IoT Devices using DNN and Blockchain

As digitization increases, the need to automate various entities becomes crucial for development. The data generated by the IoT devices need to be processed accurately and in a secure manner. The basis for the success of such a scenario requires blockchain as a means of unalterable data storage to improve the overall security and trust in the system. By providing trust in an automated system, with real-time data updates to all stakeholders, an improved form of implementation takes the stage and can help reduce the stress of adaptability to complete automated systems. This research focuses on a use case with respect to the real time Internet of Things (IoT) network which is deployed at the beach of Chicago Park District. This real time data which is collected from various sensors is then used to design a predictive model using Deep Neural Networks for estimating the battery life of IoT sensors that is deployed at the beach. This proposed model could help the government to plan for placing orders of replaceable batteries before time so that there can be an uninterrupted service. Since this data is sensitive and requires to be secured, the predicted battery life value is stored in blockchain which would be a tamper-proof record of the data.Comment: Accepted for presentation at IEEE GLOBECOM 202