Accessibility and Usability of Government Websites in Tanzania

The government of Tanzania has been embracing information systems specifically websites in order to widen access to government services, lower administrative costs, and to increase public participation in decision making. As a result, almost every ministry, department, and agency (MDA) has developed a website of different kind. However, the majority of existing websites were developed without sufficiently considering user needs which indicates that they do have some usability and accessibility problems. This study used SortSite tool to evaluate accessibility and usability of government websites taking a sample of 22 websites. The report from the SortSite tool was then checked against the W3 WCAG accessibility standards and Section 508 guidelines, and usability issues based on the US Federal (Usability.gov) guidelines. The results show that the majority of websites have many accessibility and usability problems that hinder citizens from accessing them. This study provides recommendations on how to improve usability and accessibility of these websites

A Low Latency Secure Communication Architecture for Microgrid Control

The availability of secure, efficient, and reliable communication systems is critical for the successful deployment and operations of new power systems such as microgrids. These systems provide a platform for implementing intelligent and autonomous algorithms that improve the power control process. However, building a secure communication system for microgrid purposes that is also efficient and reliable remains a challenge. Conventional security mechanisms introduce extra processing steps that affect performance by increasing the latency of microgrid communication beyond acceptable limits. They also do not scale well and can impact the reliability of power operations as the size of a microgrid grows. This paper proposes a low latency secure communication architecture for control operations in an islanded IoT-based microgrid that solves these problems. The architecture provides a secure platform that optimises the standard CoAP/DTLS implementation to reduce communication latency. It also introduces a traffic scheduler component that uses a fixed priority preemptive algorithm to ensure reliability as the microgrid scales up. The architecture is implemented on a lab-scale IoT-based microgrid prototype to test for performance and security. Results show that the proposed architecture can mitigate the main security threats and provide security services necessary for power control operations with minimal latency performance. Compared to other implementations using existing secure IoT protocols, our secure architecture was the only one to satisfy and maintain the recommended latency requirements for power control operations, i.e., 100 ms under all conditions.</p

Tools and Technologies for the Development of Cyber-Physical Systems

Smart grid is a new revolution in the energy sector in which the aging utility grid will be replaced with a grid that supports two-way communication between customers and the utility company. There are two popular smart-grid reference architectures. NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) has drafted a reference architecture in which seven domains and actors have been identified. The second reference architecture is elaborated by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), which is an extension of the NIST model where a new domain named distributed energy resources has been added. This chapter aims at identifying the use of IoT and IoT-enabled technologies in the design of a secure smart grid using the ETSI reference model. Based on the discussion and analysis in the chapter, the authors offer two collaborative and development frameworks. One framework draws parallels' between IoT and smart grids and the second one between smart grids and edge computing. These frameworks can be used to broaden collaboration between the stakeholders and identify research gaps. </p

A Demand-Response Scheme Using Multi-Agent System for Smart DC Microgrid

This article describes a framework for load shedding techniques using dynamic pricing and multi-agent system. The islanded microgrid uses solar panels and battery energy management system as a source of energy to serve remote communities who have no access to the grid with a randomized type of power in terms of individual load. The generated framework includes modeling of solar panels, battery storage and loads to optimize the energy usage and reduce the electricity bills. In this work, the loads are classified as critical and non-critical. The agents are designed in a decentralized manner, which includes solar agent, storage agent and load agent. The load shedding experiment of the framework is mapped with the manual operation done at Kisiju village, Pwani, Tanzania. Experiment results show that the use of pricing factor as a demand response makes the microgrid sustainable as it manages to control and monitor its supply and demand, hence, the load being capable of shedding its own appliances when the power supplied is not enough.</p

Developing a Security-Enhanced Internet-of-Things Based Communication System for Smart Microgrids

Access to clean and reliable electric power is still a challenge for many local communities in developing countries. Smart micro-grids are one of the new practical solutions that can take advantage of locally available resources to satisfy the energy demands of these communities. They are local low-voltage autonomous power system that consist of renewable power sources, storage systems, and a set of local loads. One of the main challenges in realizing these micro-grids is a robust, ubiquitous and reliable information and communication infrastructure for the control, coordination and monitoring of the power generation and distribution process. The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies provide a key set of tools to solve this challenge. They facilitate the integration of computational and communication capabilities within power system components. However, integrating these technologies in micro-grids is still a challenge due to stringent security, reliability, and performance requirements of power systems. In this thesis, we develop a security enhanced communication system for IoT based micro-grids that provides comprehensive security services of confidentiality, availability, integrity, and privacy that can be implemented in a resource constrained environment while satisfying the reliability and performance requirements of micro-grid functions. We utilize fog-based communication architectures to reduce latency of data exchanges and improve the efficiency of the communication process. We use security extensions of standard IoT communication protocols to implement a lightweight and performance-aware security system. First, we analyze how the integration of IoT in power systems introduces security vulnerabilities in the power generation and distribution process. We develop a simulation model that is used to evaluate the impact of security attacks on different parts of a power system. Using the model, we demonstrate several attack scenarios that can lead to theft of power, loss of privacy, and power outage. This information is used to determine the security requirements for the new system. Then, we build a lab-scale hardware based micro-grid communication system prototype and demonstrate the performance limitations of existing IoT communication security standards. We show that existing standards do not scale and fail to meet the timing requirements for microgrid protection and control operations. We propose new communication specifications and modifications needed to pass the standard power system requirements. Finally, using the security requirements and communication specifications, we develop a secure IoT based communication system that provides encryption, integrity, privacy, and authentication features with minimal impact to performance. We implement and evaluate the design on the lab-scale hardware prototype. We show how the system can support micro-grid protection, control and monitoring using secure communication channels without exceeding the required performance limitations.Tillgång till ren och pålitlig elkraft är fortfarande en utmaning för många lokala samhällen i utvecklingsländerna. Smarta mikronät är en av de nya praktiskalösningarna som kan dra nytta av lokalt tillgängliga resurser för att tillgodoseenergikraven i dessa samhällen. De är lokala lågspännings autonoma kraftsystemsom består av förnybara kraftkällor, lagringssystem och en uppsättning lokalalaster. En av de viktigaste utmaningarna för att förverkliga dessa mikronät är enrobust, allestädes närvarande och tillförlitlig informations- och kommunikationsinfrastruktur för kontroll, samordning och övervakning av kraftproduktions- ochdistributionsprocessen. Framväxten av Internet of Things (IoT) -teknologier ger enviktig uppsättning verktyg för att lösa denna utmaning. De underlättar integrationen av beräknings- och kommunikationsfunktioner i kraftsystemkomponenter. Attintegrera dessa teknologier i mikronät är dock fortfarande en utmaning på grundav stränga säkerhets-, tillförlitlighet- och prestandakrav för kraftsystem.I den här avhandlingen utvecklar vi ett säkerhetsförbättrat kommunikationssystem för IoT-baserade mikronät som tillhandahåller omfattande säkerhetstjänster avkonfidentialitet, tillgänglighet, integritet och integritet som kan implementeras ien resursbegränsad miljö samtidigt som tillförlitligheten och prestandakraven förmikro- rutnätfunktioner. Vi använder dimbaserade kommunikationsarkitekturer föratt minska latens för datautbyte och förbättra effektiviteten i kommunikationsprocessen. Vi använder säkerhetsförlängningar av standard IoT-kommunikationsprotokollför att implementera ett lätt och prestationsmedvetet säkerhetssystem.Först analyserar vi hur integrationen av IoT i kraftsystem introducerar säkerhetsproblem i kraftproduktions- och distributionsprocessen. Vi utvecklar ensimuleringsmodell som används för att utvärdera effekterna av säkerhetsattacker på olika delar av ett kraftsystem. Med hjälp av modellen demonstrerar viflera attackscenarier som kan leda till stöld av ström, förlust av privatliv ochströmavbrott. Denna information används för att fastställa säkerhetskraven fördet nya systemet. Sedan bygger vi en laboratorieskala hårdvarubaserad mikronätkommunikationssystemprototyp och demonstrerar prestandabegränsningarna för befintliga IoT-kommunikationssäkerhetsstandarder. Vi visar att befintligastandarder inte skalar och inte uppfyller tidskraven för mikrogridskydd och kontrollåtgärder. Vi föreslår nya kommunikationsspecifikationer och modifieringar sombehövs för att klara standardkraftsystemkraven. Slutligen, med säkerhetskraven ochkommunikationsspecifikationerna, utvecklar vi ett säkert IoT-baserat kommunikationssystem som ger kryptering, integritet, integritet och autentiseringsfunktionermed minimal inverkan på prestanda. Vi implementerar och utvärderar designen påmaskinvaruprototypen i laboratorieskala. Vi visar hur systemet kan stödja skydd,styrning och övervakning av mikronätet med säkra kommunikationskanaler utanatt överskrida de nödvändiga prestandabegränsningarna.QC 20211004</p

Location-based authentication and authorization using smart phones

Authentication and authorization are two of the most important security features for mobile transaction systems. Most commonly, these schemes depend on three factors: what you know (secret), what you have (token), and what you are (biometrics). In this paper, we propose a location-based authentication and authorization scheme for mobile transactions using smart phones. The paper first describes the distinguished features and the architecture of our proposed solution. Second, the core of our design, including three parts: location registration, authentication and authorization as well as location verification, are described.QC 20121214</p

Mining Students’ Data to Analyse Usage Patterns in eLearning System of Secondary Schools in Tanzania

The adoption and use of various eLearning systems to enhance the quality of education in secondary schools in Tanzania is becoming common. However, there is little evidence to suggest that students are actually use them. Existing studies tend to focused on investigating students’ attitude towards using these systems through surveys. Nonetheless, data from surveys is normally subject to the possibility of distortion, low reliability, and rarely indicate the causal effects. This study adopted WEKA and Keel as data mining tools to analyze students’ usage patterns and trends using 6,8827 individual records from log file of Halostudy system implemented in secondary schools in Tanzania. The study found that the system usage is moderate and, in the decline. There is also variability in the usage of multimedia elements with biology having the highest number while mathematics had the lowest. Students from Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Arusha in that order had the highest system usage with the lowest being from the peripheral regions. The possible challenges limiting system usage are discussed. These findings show that data mining tools can be used to indicate usage patterns of systems implemented in sub-Saharan Africa and help educators to find ways of maximizing systems usage

Mining Students’ Data to Analyse Usage Patterns in eLearning System of Secondary Schools in Tanzania

The adoption and use of various eLearning systems to enhance the quality of education in secondary schools in Tanzania is becoming common. However, there is little evidence to suggest that students are actually use them. Existing studies tend to focused on investigating students’ attitude towards using these systems through surveys. Nonetheless, data from surveys is normally subject to the possibility of distortion, low reliability, and rarely indicate the causal effects. This study adopted WEKA and Keel as data mining tools to analyze students’ usage patterns and trends using 6,8827 individual records from log file of Halostudy system implemented in secondary schools in Tanzania. The study found that the system usage is moderate and, in the decline. There is also variability in the usage of multimedia elements with biology having the highest number while mathematics had the lowest. Students from Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Arusha in that order had the highest system usage with the lowest being from the peripheral regions. The possible challenges limiting system usage are discussed. These findings show that data mining tools can be used to indicate usage patterns of systems implemented in sub-Saharan Africa and help educators to find ways of maximizing systems usage

Blockchain-Based Authentication Scheme for Collaborative Traffic Light Systems Using Fog Computing

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, cybercriminals are targeting critical infrastructures such as traffic light systems and smart grids. A major concern is the security of such systems, which can be broken down into a number of categories, such as the authentication of data collection devices, secure data transmission, and use of the data by authorized and authenticated parties. The majority of research studies in the literature have largely focused on data integrity and user authentication. So far, no published work has addressed the security of a traffic light system from data collection to data access. Furthermore, it is evident that the conventional cloud computing architecture is incapable of analyzing and managing the massive amount of generated data. As a result, the fog computing paradigm combined with blockchain technology may be the best way to ensure data privacy in a decentralized manner while reducing overheads, latency, and maintaining security. This paper presents a blockchain-based authentication scheme named VDAS using the fog computing paradigm. The formal and informal verifications of the proposed solution are presented. The evaluation of the proposed scheme VDAS showed that it has low communication and computation costs compared to existing lightweight authentication techniques