1522 research outputs found
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DEVELOPING THE POSITIONING OF THE IRISH RURAL TOURISM PRODUCT – THE ROLE OF IMAGE AND MARKET FOCUS
Get PDFWhile the Irish tourism industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years, the demand for rural tourism has effectively declined. Therefore, it is an opportune time to examine how the positioning of the Irish rural tourism experience can be improved. To achieve this improvement means examining the role of image in supporting the positioning strategy. We do know that image is valuable in understanding the destination selection process of tourists (Baloglu and McCleary 1999). This is of itself complex, as image is composed of not simply the image of the destination, as projected by the Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO), but also the image of the service provider – and not least, the self-image of the visitor. Tourists who perceive little difference between a destination’s image and their actual or ideal self-image are more satisfied with the destination (Chon, 1992). Ideally, there should be congruence between the image of the destination, the image of the service provider and the self-image of the visitor. The key question then arises – how do we determine what this image is?
This paper proposes that market orientation, with its emphasis on the generation and dissemination of market intelligence (Kohli and Jaworski 1990) facilitates an understanding of visitor self-image, and contributes to achieving congruence between this self-image, and the image projected by the DMOs and the service provider. A conceptual model and a number of propositions are presented which link image and market orientation to the positioning of the rural destination. The focus in this paper on understanding the complexity of image at visitor, service provider and destination level will also address the lack of research examining the role of different stakeholders in the development of destination brands (Hankinson, 2004)
A service-centric approach to access control and monitoring based on distributed trust
No full textA service-oriented approach to dynamic refinement of security enforcement is described in this paper. This is based on a closed loop feedback system where live distributed trust measures are used to adapt access control settings in a changing threat environment. A general trust overlay architecture and model are presented. Some specific application scenarios are discussed, in particular spam filtering and distributed intrusion detection in mobile ad hoc networks. It is shown using simulations of some specific scenarios that this dynamic system is robust and has the potential to enhance security and access control efficiency
m-Mag: The Mobile Magazine Services Platform
Get PDFThe m-Mag platform advances the state of the art in mobile services by bridging the gap between mobile Operators and content Publishers, enabling the creation of a new category of mobile service called a mobile magazine. An m-Mag mobile magazine is a next generation mobile publishing service that is made available from a mobile operator's portal, that is integrated with value added mobile data services and that uses the operator's billing capabilities to charge consumers for access to the magazine. Using Parlay/OSA as an open approach, the m-Mag platform can integrate into an operator's network using standardised APIs and is portable across different operator networks. A discussion of the commercial potential analyses the route to the market
Ontology Based Policy Mobility for Pervasive Computing
Get PDFThe array of devices, networks and resources available in pervasive computing environments, or smart spaces, will require effective self-management systems controlled via user-level policies. However, the local nature of smart spaces means that they present a potentially huge increase in the number of and nature of management domains, e.g. representing individual homes, shops, businesses, schools, hospitals etc. However, differences in local domain models and local resource models means that policies relevant to one smart space will often use different semantics for subject and target objects compared to other pervasive computing domains. To allow users to capture personal preferences in terms of policies that can be consistently applied as they roam between smart spaces, the semantic interoperability problem resulting from different models for policy subjects and targets must be overcome. In this paper we present a framework where the use of ontology-based semantics for policy elements allows dynamic ontology mapping capabilities to support policy mobility. We demonstrate its operation with a case study showing policy mobility in a policy-driven smart space management system
Context-Driven, User-Centric Access Control for Smart Spaces
Get PDFIn this paper, we describe a user-centric access control process for devices and services in smart space environments. The M-Zones Access Control (MAC) Process is driven by context information relating to the activities of the users present in a smart space, and by user-defined policies reflecting these users' preferences. As well as dynamically assigning access rights in response to context changes, the process provides for automatic reconfiguration of resources in order to protect a user's privacy as other users enter/leave his/her vicinity. To illustrate the implementation of the process we discuss its realisation in a test bed emulating an office-based smart space
Applications of Narrative Ethics to Engineering
Get PDFSince information and communication systems provide the underlying infrastructure of modern society, ethical behaviour by engineers, computer scientists and others working with and developing these systems is central to social stability. At the same time there is a range of increasing pressures and temptations to behave unethically or, at the least, to cut corners. Despite the very welcome development of codes of ethics or professional conduct by a number of engineering and other professional societies, there is still a lack of support mechanisms for engineering and information technology professionals who want to behave ethically. Narrative ethics provides an alternative view of ethics in which codes of ethics are de-emphasised in favour of a process-based approach. This paper unpacks this concept and proposes narrative ethics as an important way forward in the ethics debate for engineering and social stability
Polyamide/silver antimicrobials: effect of crystallinity on the silver ion release
Get PDFAbstract: Polyamide/silver (PA/Ag) compositematerials are regarded as potential antimicrobials by virtue
of their efficacy to release the Ag+ ions in an aqueous medium. The effects of the matrix crystallinity on
the Ag+ ion release characteristics of PA/Ag composites are discussed. It is found that matrix crystallinity
is very decisive for the silver ion releasing properties and hence the antimicrobial efficacy of silver-based
antimicrobial polyamides. The crystallinities of the composites were evaluated using differential scanning
calorimetry. The silver ion release characteristics of these composites were measured by anode stripping
voltammetry. Silver ion release was higher in systems possessing lower degrees of crystallinity. Waterdiffusion
characteristics of the composites control the silver ion release. The effect of crystallinity on silver
ion release rate depends on the time of soaking of the specimens in water.
2005 Society of Chemical Industr
Polyamide/silver antimicrobials: Effect of filler types on the silver ion release
Get PDFAbstract: The efficiency of various silver-based antimicrobial fillers (elementary silver and silver substituted materials) in polyamide (PA) toward their silver ion (Ag�) release characteristics in an aqueous medium was investigated and discussed. Anode stripping voltammetry (ASV) was used for the quantitative estimation of Ag� release from these composites. The biocidal (Ag�) release from the composites was found to be dependent on the time of soaking in water and the nature of the filler. The long-term Ag� release capability of the elementary silver-based PA/Ag composite is promising compared with the commercial counterparts. The silver ion release potential of polyamide composites where the silver filling was performed by using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is also discussed. The composites release Ag� at a concentration level capable of rendering antimicrobial efficacy and proved to be active against the microbes. A good agreement exists between the Ag� release experiments and antimicrobial test results. The observed results on the influence of the nature of the filler and crystallinity on the biocidal release and the varying long-term release properties could be helpful in the design of industrially relevant biomaterials. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 75B: 311–319, 200
A Risk Driven Framework for Open Source Information Systems Development
Get PDFThis paper attempts to justify the need for a framework to address concerns with the use of open source software for information systems development (ISD). The premise of this argument is that the open source paradigm primarily addresses technical concerns while IS failures tend to be multifaceted in nature. OSS may improve but will not ultimately solve the problems of ISD due to its inherent sociotechnical complexities. Issues of concern for open source ISD are identified in this paper and a theoretical framework is outlined allowing organisations to take a more balanced approach to open source ISD. The framework is predicated upon risk management and a lifecycle that addresses social and organisational concerns throughout the ISD process. The objective of this framework is to aid in avoidance of the social and organisational pitfalls of ISD while leveraging the ability of the OSS paradigm to address software crisis issues. Finally, the implications of this framework and future directions for research are discussed
Delay-Induced Excitability
No full textWe analyze the stochastic dynamics of a bistable system under the influence of time-delayed feedback. Assuming an asymmetric potential, we show the existence of a regime in which the system dynamics displays excitability by calculating the relevant residence time distributions and power spectra. Experimentally we then observe this behavior in the polarization dynamics of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser with optoelectronic feedback. Extending these observations to two-dimensional systems with diffusive coupling, we finally show numerically that delay-induced excitability can lead to the appearance of propagating wave fronts and spirals