Towards using intelligent techniques to assist software specialists in their tasks

L’automatisation et l’intelligence constituent des préoccupations majeures dans le domaine de l’Informatique. Avec l’évolution accrue de l’Intelligence Artificielle, les chercheurs et l’industrie se sont orientés vers l’utilisation des modèles d’apprentissage automatique et d’apprentissage profond pour optimiser les tâches, automatiser les pipelines et construire des systèmes intelligents. Les grandes capacités de l’Intelligence Artificielle ont rendu possible d’imiter et même surpasser l’intelligence humaine dans certains cas aussi bien que d’automatiser les tâches manuelles tout en augmentant la précision, la qualité et l’efficacité. En fait, l’accomplissement de tâches informatiques nécessite des connaissances, une expertise et des compétences bien spécifiques au domaine. Grâce aux puissantes capacités de l’intelligence artificielle, nous pouvons déduire ces connaissances en utilisant des techniques d’apprentissage automatique et profond appliquées à des données historiques représentant des expériences antérieures. Ceci permettra, éventuellement, d’alléger le fardeau des spécialistes logiciel et de débrider toute la puissance de l’intelligence humaine. Par conséquent, libérer les spécialistes de la corvée et des tâches ordinaires leurs permettra, certainement, de consacrer plus du temps à des activités plus précieuses. En particulier, l’Ingénierie dirigée par les modèles est un sous-domaine de l’informatique qui vise à élever le niveau d’abstraction des langages, d’automatiser la production des applications et de se concentrer davantage sur les spécificités du domaine. Ceci permet de déplacer l’effort mis sur l’implémentation vers un niveau plus élevé axé sur la conception, la prise de décision. Ainsi, ceci permet d’augmenter la qualité, l’efficacité et productivité de la création des applications. La conception des métamodèles est une tâche primordiale dans l’ingénierie dirigée par les modèles. Par conséquent, il est important de maintenir une bonne qualité des métamodèles étant donné qu’ils constituent un artéfact primaire et fondamental. Les mauvais choix de conception, ainsi que les changements conceptuels répétitifs dus à l’évolution permanente des exigences, pourraient dégrader la qualité du métamodèle. En effet, l’accumulation de mauvais choix de conception et la dégradation de la qualité pourraient entraîner des résultats négatifs sur le long terme. Ainsi, la restructuration des métamodèles est une tâche importante qui vise à améliorer et à maintenir une bonne qualité des métamodèles en termes de maintenabilité, réutilisabilité et extensibilité, etc. De plus, la tâche de restructuration des métamodèles est délicate et compliquée, notamment, lorsqu’il s’agit de grands modèles. De là, automatiser ou encore assister les architectes dans cette tâche est très bénéfique et avantageux. Par conséquent, les architectes de métamodèles pourraient se concentrer sur des tâches plus précieuses qui nécessitent de la créativité, de l’intuition et de l’intelligence humaine. Dans ce mémoire, nous proposons une cartographie des tâches qui pourraient être automatisées ou bien améliorées moyennant des techniques d’intelligence artificielle. Ensuite, nous sélectionnons la tâche de métamodélisation et nous essayons d’automatiser le processus de refactoring des métamodèles. A cet égard, nous proposons deux approches différentes: une première approche qui consiste à utiliser un algorithme génétique pour optimiser des critères de qualité et recommander des solutions de refactoring, et une seconde approche qui consiste à définir une spécification d’un métamodèle en entrée, encoder les attributs de qualité et l’absence des design smells comme un ensemble de contraintes et les satisfaire en utilisant Alloy.Automation and intelligence constitute a major preoccupation in the field of software engineering. With the great evolution of Artificial Intelligence, researchers and industry were steered to the use of Machine Learning and Deep Learning models to optimize tasks, automate pipelines, and build intelligent systems. The big capabilities of Artificial Intelligence make it possible to imitate and even outperform human intelligence in some cases as well as to automate manual tasks while rising accuracy, quality, and efficiency. In fact, accomplishing software-related tasks requires specific knowledge and skills. Thanks to the powerful capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, we could infer that expertise from historical experience using machine learning techniques. This would alleviate the burden on software specialists and allow them to focus on valuable tasks. In particular, Model-Driven Engineering is an evolving field that aims to raise the abstraction level of languages and to focus more on domain specificities. This allows shifting the effort put on the implementation and low-level programming to a higher point of view focused on design, architecture, and decision making. Thereby, this will increase the efficiency and productivity of creating applications. For its part, the design of metamodels is a substantial task in Model-Driven Engineering. Accordingly, it is important to maintain a high-level quality of metamodels because they constitute a primary and fundamental artifact. However, the bad design choices as well as the repetitive design modifications, due to the evolution of requirements, could deteriorate the quality of the metamodel. The accumulation of bad design choices and quality degradation could imply negative outcomes in the long term. Thus, refactoring metamodels is a very important task. It aims to improve and maintain good quality characteristics of metamodels such as maintainability, reusability, extendibility, etc. Moreover, the refactoring task of metamodels is complex, especially, when dealing with large designs. Therefore, automating and assisting architects in this task is advantageous since they could focus on more valuable tasks that require human intuition. In this thesis, we propose a cartography of the potential tasks that we could either automate or improve using Artificial Intelligence techniques. Then, we select the metamodeling task and we tackle the problem of metamodel refactoring. We suggest two different approaches: A first approach that consists of using a genetic algorithm to optimize set quality attributes and recommend candidate metamodel refactoring solutions. A second approach based on mathematical logic that consists of defining the specification of an input metamodel, encoding the quality attributes and the absence of smells as a set of constraints and finally satisfying these constraints using Alloy

Getting Things Done: The Science behind Stress-Free Productivity

Allen (2001) proposed the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method for personal productivity enhancement, and reduction of the stress caused by information overload. This paper argues that recent insights in psychology and cognitive science support and extend GTD’s recommendations. We first summarize GTD with the help of a flowchart. We then review the theories of situated, embodied and distributed cognition that purport to explain how the brain processes information and plans actions in the real world. The conclusion is that the brain heavily relies on the environment, to function as an external memory, a trigger for actions, and a source of affordances, disturbances and feedback. We then show how these principles are practically implemented in GTD, with its focus on organizing tasks into “actionable” external memories, and on opportunistic, situation-dependent execution. Finally, we propose an extension of GTD to support collaborative work, inspired by the concept of stigmergy

Organization and Management of the Sead Help Desk

ARNe (Regis University Academic Research Network Enterprise), is the graduate student run and managed intranet which is organized as an IT company. The operating structure is based upon a Service Oriented Architecture where each student is involved in an operating portion of the network. New students participating in the SEAD practicum are required to work the ARNe help desk as a requirement of their project. They are expected to login to Track-It! on a daily basis and check for new tickets in the queue. The tickets are submitted by students as well as faculty. Without having a defined walk through on what the duties and responsibilities are required of working the help desk, transitioning students may not know what is expected of them. By creating a tiered escalation structure with set demarcations, students will be able to utilize a process flow and work the trouble tickets accordingly. My thesis is that by establishing a clear and concise help desk schedule and having processes for working, escalating and resolving Track-It tickets, the mean time to repair (MTTR) will decrease significantly which will increase the amount of work that the practicum participants can complete. Also, by running reports that look for trends on customer reported problems, processes and procedures can be developed which will help identify and resolve these issues in a timely manner. It is also hoped that by implementing a root cause analysis (RCA) tool, the likelihood of future occurrences can be minimized

Corporate Standard of ICT competence of masters

Current labor market demand determine the modification of the system of higher education, including the transfer of emphasis on the educational process in its final qualitative result, a paradigm shift from knowledge education to competency. Student must possess ICT competence that today has become a part of professional competence of professionals of any type. The purpose of the study is to develop standards in the ICT competence of all members of the educational process to ensure the quality of university education and the creation and subsequent implementation of educational policies of the University. The paper highlights the need to develop a corporate standard of ICT competence of masters based on UNESCO scientific approaches. It describes model, the level of ICT competence and tools for monitoring its formation in the future for today's professionals. For each of the selected three levels of ICT competence (basic, advanced and professional) determined necessary knowledge and skills, talents and ideas to master. The necessary and sufficient conditions are determined for the formation of the ICT competence of masters in modern university, proffered examples of tasks and competency requirements for the personal educational electronic space for student and educational electronic space of university. Developed and approved corporate standard provides appropriate expertise contemporary specialist who meets the requirements of the labor market and will allow the graduate to be successful in today's information society.Поточний попит на ринку праці визначає модифікацію системи вищої освіти, в тому числі, передачу акцентів на освітній процес в його остаточному якісному результаті, парадигми від утворення знань до компетентності. Студент повинен володіти компетенцією у сфері ІКТ, що сьогодні стало частиною професійної компетентності фахівців будь-якого типу. Мета дослідження полягає у розробці стандартів ІКТ-компетентності всіх членів освітнього процесу для забезпечення якості університетської освіти та створення та подальшого здійснення освітньої політики університету. У статті підкреслюється необхідність розробки корпоративного стандарту ІКТ компетентності магістрів на основі наукових підходів ЮНЕСКО. Описується модель, рівень компетентності та інструментів ІКТ для моніторингу її формування в майбутньому для сучасних професіоналів. Для кожного з обраних трьох рівнів компетенції у сфері ІКТ (базовий, просунутий і професійний) визначаються необхідні знання та навички, таланти і ідеї в освоєнні. Визначаються необхідні і достатні умови для формування ІКТ-компетентності магістрів в сучасному університеті, запропоновано приклади завдань і вимог до компетентності для персонального освітнього електронного простору для студента і навчального електронного простору університету. Розроблений і затверджений корпоративний стандарт забезпечує відповідну експертизу сучасного фахівця, який відповідає вимогам ринку праці і дозволить випускнику бути успішним у сучасному інформаційному суспільствіТекущий спрос на рынке труда определяет модификацию системы высшего образования, в том числе передачу акцентов на образовательный процесс в его окончательном качественном результате, парадигмы от образования знаний к компетентности. Студент должен обладать компетенцией в области ИКТ, что сегодня стало частью профессиональной компетентности профессионалов любого типа. Цель исследования заключается в разработке стандартов ИКТ-компетентности всех членов образовательного процесса для обеспечения качества университетского образования и создания и последующего осуществления образовательной политики университета. В статье подчеркивается необходимость разработки корпоративного стандарта ИКТ компетентности магистров на основе научных подходов ЮНЕСКО. Описывается модель, уровень компетентности и инструментов ИКТ для мониторинга ее формирования в будущем для современных профессионалов. Для каждого из выбранных трех уровней компетенции в области ИКТ (базовый, продвинутый и профессиональный) определяются необходимые знания и навыки, таланты и идеи в освоении. Определяются необходимые и достаточные условия для формирования ИКТ-компетентности магистров в современном университете, предложено примеры задач и требований к компетентности для персонального образовательного электронного пространства для студента и учебного электронного пространства университета. Разработанный и утвержденный корпоративный стандарт обеспечивает соответствующую экспертизу современного специалиста, который отвечает требованиям рынка труда и позволит выпускнику быть успешным в современном информационном обществ

An Action Design Research

This master’s thesis focuses on studying how modularity can be applied in designing robotic process automation (RPA) solutions and what effects it has to the RPA implementations. Past research has found several benefits of increasing modularity in designing, coordinating, and managing complex systems and many kinds of design problems have been solved with it. This thesis examines how the principles of modularity resonate with RPA. The study follows the Action Design Research method to examine a case in real-life context and to enable the participation of practitioners and end users in the case organization. It describes in detail how a modular RPA solution was created for automating an entity consisting of several different tasks in the case organization. The solution can be viewed as an artifact that can be utilized to calibrate an organization’s RPA journey by adding efficiency in RPA projects. This is achieved by enhancing the scalability and reusability of the RPA components. The results of this study suggest that RPA solutions can be viewed as complex systems into which modularity principles can be adapted, generating a variety of benefits from the viewpoints of automation development and administration. The main benefits include decreased implementation time and cost, enhanced error management, increased control of automation, increased capability to respond to versatile automation demand, and enhanced automation complexity management

The Chronicle [August 6, 1997]

The Chronicle, August 6, 1997https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/chron/4272/thumbnail.jp

The role of a tour guide in tourism experiences the case of a DMC in Bergen, Norway

O presente trabalho é composto de duas partes: revisão de literatura e relatório de estágio. A revisão de literatura foca o turismo de experiências e a economia das experiências, destacando a sua importância para a satisfação e para as memórias dos turistas. Em segundo lugar, a revisão da literatura aborda o turismo de natureza, visto que a Noruega constitui um país atrativo relativamente a este tipo de oferta, levando a que muitos turistas procurem viver e experienciar diversas atividades turísticas relacionadas com a natureza. A revisão da literatura e o relatório de estágio destacam a importância que o guia turístico tem na prestação de serviços e experiências de qualidade para satisfazer as necessidades dos turistas. O estágio decorreu no operador de turismo Easy Travel Ltd, em Bergen, na Noruega, por um período de quatro meses. A Company Easy Travel Ltd é um operador turístico com sede na Finlândia. Todos os anos a empresa recebe 2500 turistas e colabora com inúmeras agências de turismo de todo o mundo. Neste contexto, o relatório de estágio visa descrever as funções de um guia turístico de uma DMC durante a experiência turística. O estágio foi concluído sob a supervisão de Artūrs Kisiļevs, sócio-gerente na Noruega da empresa anfitriã, e de Nelson Matos, professor da Universidade do Algarve. A equipa na Noruega era composta por cinco funcionários. Durante quatro meses - junho a outubro de 2018, as principais tarefas desempenhadas durante o estágio de guia turístico na Easy Tour Ltd, consistiram em: 1) Receber turistas, serviço de meet and greet e conduzir. A condução envolveu transferes para o aeroporto, para os hotéis, para a estação de comboios, para o terminal de cruzeiros e muitos outros locais; 2) Agir como guia local, orientando os turistas pela Noruega durante as excursões (de um ou cinco dias); 3) Comunicação interna e externa: Comunicação constante com os turistas, outros guias turísticos e supervisores da empresa; 4) Limpeza de veículos, por exemplo, a preparação do veículo antes e depois da excursão (aspiração, limpeza das janelas, limpeza do interior com guardanapos molhados, lavagem do veículo); 5) Pesquisa e planeamento antes, durante e depois das experiências; 6) Compra e pagamento de bens e produtos relacionados com a atividade de guia turístico; 7) manter sempre uma atitude profissional, cortês, de apoio e ajuda ao cliente durante a experiência. O cliente típico da Easy Travel Ltd é composto por casais jovens e idosos, embora o principal grupo etário seja o dos turistas com mais de 50 anos, aposentados e de nacionalidade americana. A Easy Travel Ltd opera com grupos exclusivos, oferecendo aos turistas conforto e privacidade pelo que pagaram. Constatou-se que uma característica comum para os diferentes grupos de turistas é que eles estão dispostos a gastar mais dinheiro, desde que a experiência seja gratificante. Verificou-se também que alguns turistas não são as pessoas mais aventureiras, e por esse motivo, apoiam-se na segurança e no conforto das empresas para terem profissionais em quem confiam a orientar a sua experiência de férias. No geral, estar numa equipa pequena e gerir um grande número de clientes em viagem constante, todos os dias, por toda a Noruega, foi um desafio e uma responsabilidade diária de toda a equipa. O estágio foi uma oportunidade de aprender com outros profissionais e colegas, e permitiu desenvolver novas skills no mercado de trabalho. Por último, o estágio juntamente com o mestrado de gestão, possibilitou o crescimento pessoal, profissional e académico do estagiário.The present work is composed of two parts: a literature review and the internship report. Firstly, the literature review is focused on tourism experiences and experience economy highlighting its importance to tourists’ satisfaction and memories. Secondly, the literature review also addresses nature experiences. In the fact, Norway is one of the most sought countries by tourists for nature-based tourism experiences. The review of the literature and the internship both point out the importance of the role of a tour guide, more precisely delivering and providing rich and quality experiences to satisfy tourists’ needs. The internship was in the Tour operator Easy Travel Ltd in Bergen, Norway for a duration of four months. The Easy Travel Ltd is a tour operator from Finland. Every year the company receives more than 2500 tourists and cooperates with many international tourism agencies. The goal of the internship is to describe the role and tasks of a DMC tour guide during experiences. The internship has been completed under the supervision of Artūrs Kisiļevs (Managing Partner Norway) for the hosting company, and Nelson Matos, Professor at the University of Algarve. For four months – June to October 2018, the main tasks of the internship as tour guide at the Tour operator Easy Travel Ltd, consisted of: 1) Welcoming and meeting tourists - meet and greet service and driving, which included hotel transfers, airport transfers, train station transfers, cruise transfers and many other; 2) Acting as a local guide: Tour guiding for a day or five-day trip, with the same group family across Norway. 3) Internal and external communication: between tourists, tour guides and supervisors to solves occurrences and unplanned events. 4) Cleaning vehicles; 5) Research and planning before, during and after tours. 6) Buying and paying for services during the experiences (e.g., gasoline, food, sightseeing tickets); 7) keeping a professional, kind and helpful attitude. The internship along with the master course allowed the intern to growth academically, professional and personally

Security Champions Without Support: Results from a Case Study with OWASP SAMM in a Large-Scale E-Commerce Enterprise

Developer-centered security research has identified a variety of reasons why software developers do not follow recommended security practices: lack of knowledge, outdated information sources, time pressure, and low usability of security mechanisms and tools. Contextual factors play an important role in security, but few studies have investigated security interventions with developers in organizational settings. In this case study, we track the impact of appointing security champions in a large e-commerce company with five software development teams, using the OWASP Security Assurance Maturity Model (OWASP SAMM) to measure the extent to which security practices were adopted. We also elicited the experiences of the security champions and developers in each team in 15 qualitative interviews. The results of the OWASP SAMM assessment show the adoption of secure practices varied widely between the different teams. Results from the interviews revealed different levels of security knowledge and commitment to the role between the security champions - but they agree in their perceived lack of support from company security experts and management. We conclude that secure software development requires more than appointing individuals such as security champions - to transform software development practices requires an organization-wide commitment, including access to resources and support