466 research outputs found
Software Specification Based on Re-usable Business Components
No full textElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Incorporating Trust into Context-Aware Services
No full textEnabling technologies concerning hardware, networking, and sensing have inspired the development of context-aware IT services. These adapt to the situation of the user, such that service provisioning is specific to his/her corresponding needs. We have seen successful applications of context-aware services in healthcare, well-being, and smart homes. It is, however, always a question what level of trust the users can place in the fulfillment of their needs by a certain IT-service. Trust has two major variants: policy-based, where a reputed institution provides guarantees about the service, and reputation-based, where other users of the service provide insight into the level of fulfillment of user needs. Services that are accessible to a small and known set of users typically use policy-based trust only. Services that have a wide community of users can use reputation-based trust, policy-based trust, or a combination. For both types of trust, however, context awareness poses a problem. Policy-based trust works within certain boundaries, outside of which no guarantees can be given about satisfying the user needs, and context awareness can push a service out of these boundaries. For reputation-based trust, the fact that users in a certain context were adequately served, does not mean that the same would happen when the service adapts to another user’s needs. In this paper we consider the incorporation of trust into context-aware services, by proposing an ontological conceptualization for user-system trust. Analyzing service usage data for context parameters combined with the ability to fulfill user needs can help in eliciting components for the ontology.Policy Analysi
Combining Context-Awareness and Data Analytics in Support of Drone Technology
No full textDrones performing an autonomous mission need to adapt to frequent changes in their environment. In other words, they have to be context-aware. Most current context-aware systems are designed to distinguish between situations that have been pre-defined in terms of anticipated situation types and corresponding desired behavior types. This only partially benefits drone technology because many types of drone missions can be characterized by situations that are hard to predict at design time. We suggest combining context-awareness and data analytics for a better situation coverage. This could be achieved by using performance data (generated at real-time) as training data for supervised machine learning – it would allow relating situations to appropriate behaviors that a drone could follow. The conceptual ideas are presented in this position paper while validation is left for future work.</p
BUSINESS MODELS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
No full textBusinesses are expected to explore market opportunities in the area of sustainable development, thus contributing to finding solutions aiming at sustainable quality of life. This will require adaptation and innovation of business models and information systems, with challenges of particular interest to the business modeling and software design community. This paper briefly discusses two relevant topics in this respect, namely (i) goal and value modeling, and (ii) model-driven development. We mention existing work that can be taken as a starting point for addressing sustainability issues, and we make some observations that may be taken into account when extending existing work
Service-oriented coordination platform for technology-enhanced learning
No full textIt is currently difficult to coordinate learning processes, not only because multiple stakeholders are involved (such as students, teachers, administrative staff, technical staff), but also because these processes are driven by sophisticated rules (such as rules on how to provide learning material, rules on how to assess students’ progress, rules on how to share educational responsibilities). This is one of the reasons for the slow progress in technology-enhanced learning. Consequently, there is a clear demand for technological facilitation of the coordination of learning processes. In this work, we suggest some solution directions that are based on SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture). In particular, we propose a coordination service pattern consistent with SOA and based on requirements that follow from an analysis of both learning processes and potentially useful support technologies. We present the service pattern considering both functional and non-functional issues, and we address policy enforcement as well. Finally, we complement our proposed architecture-level solution directions with an example. The example illustrates our ideas and is also used to identify: (i) a short list of educational IT services; (ii) related non-functional concerns; they will be considered in future work
Integrated urban flood design in the United States and the Netherlands
No full textSpatial design integrates social, cultural, economic, and political perspectives with natural site conditions and man-made construction to plan for sustainable urban development. The current flood-risk-related challenges induced by climate change place pressure on designing cities in which both natural and man-made conditions can be imbalanced. Creating a purely engineered line of flood defense to restore this balance does not always work. The idea of living more closely with water includes the discipline of spatial design more into flood risk management than the current dominant paradigm. Following the probability approach defined as risk = probability × consequences, the current Dutch paradigm is focused on reducing the probability with dikes; the United States focuses on reduction of consequences by evacuation and recovery. This chapter focuses on urban design and planning strategies for reducing flood risk not just by a flood defense line such as a dike, but also reducing risk by means of urban development behind the dike. Integrated urban flood design must integrate site-built environment characteristics and natural systems, and simultaneously solve challenges posed by hazards. Effective design, therefore, must be conducted on the basis of hydraulic engineering knowledge, leading to spatial designs that introduce resilient urban qualities. Two cases for this approach are presented and compared: Vlissingen, the Netherlands and Galveston, Texas, United States.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Environmental Technology and DesignSpatial Planning and Strateg
Aesop's Fables: A Poetic Primer
No full textHere is an unusual book. A first unusual feature is that its nine traditional fables are in rhymed quatrains. A second is that it explicitly aims to help people be virtuous. Further unusual features include the opportunity to send copies free of charge to as many friends as one likes. The QR code that unlocks this offer also allows one to hear the book read aloud while one views the illustrations. This is an ambitious book, with an attractive dust-jacket and large format (8¾" x 11⅜"). For me, the verse sometimes labors. The illustrations are lively but may be slightly inhibited by their assigned role of framing pages of text. Good sample illustrations are the pairs early in this unpaginated book for both GA and DS. MM uses as its moral "Never, ever/Count your chickens before they hatch." The dust-jacket reveals that the author -- also the publisher -- was bored as an accountant and wanted better literature for his family to read. He aims to "help children grow in virtue, one moral lesson at a time." The milkmaid carrying her pail on the cover and flyleaf is spirited! After the fables, a next section offers for each fable a pair of pages. These pages present reflections on a virtue and a vice and several questions for personal appropriation of the fable. There are finally four pages of glossary.This is a hardbound book (hard cover)This book has a dustjacket (book cover)B.B. Gallaghe
No. . 338
No full textThis 16-page large-format (8¼ x 10) booklet with two staples is in such good condition that I have wondered if it is a reproduction. The rusty staples suggest that it is not. The front cover features a close-up of the old man and his son together on the donkey. The back cover shows the tortoise passing the hare. Inside there are four more full-page colored pictures and four part-page black-and-white illustrations for MSA. The final colored picture shows the donkey partially under water and comments The Ducks were most amused. LM has two full-page colored pictures and two part-page black-and-white designs. TH has two more of the former and one of the latter. The back cover's hare wears not only an athletic uniform with an H on the shirt but also blue shoes! The best illustrations may be the first two, including walking the donkey to market. I wish I could find more information about this very nice pamphlet
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