bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building the Virtual into Teacher Education
Authors: Latham Gloria , Faulkner Julie
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes how two lecturers in teacher education (with the assistance of critical friends) developed a virtual primary school as a digital tool to help preservice teachers at the theory/HCI practice interface. The development and future directions of their online virtual environment will be discussed and will detail how scenario building in online learning communities fosters an alternative way of thinking about teaching and learning. Developing the virtual primary school was not based on a course requiring flexible delivery in distance education. The primary school was created to provide a place of learning not often available to preservice teachers on their professional practice placements. While the concept for a virtual school is not a new one, our goals for its design were different, and application was specifically oriented toward inquiry learning and new learning philosophies involving HCI. We will explore how a narrative-based scenario approach has been assisting our work at the edge of the traditional and the new.
Improving Virtual Teams through Creativity
Authors: Torres-Coronas Teresa , Gasco-Hernandez Mila
Published: May 2011

Many studies have already shown how a team can become more creative, and therefore more efficient, but only a few researchers have focused on how a virtual team can use creativity techniques to perform better. In this article, we study what differences there are (both in terms of processes and in terms of results) when creativity techniques are used in the management of traditional and virtual teams. To do this, we discuss three main elements: the definition of creativity and its relationships with team performance, the variables that enhance creativity in a virtual team, and the most suitable creativity techniques for a virtual environment.
eGovernance
Authors: Berce Jaro , Lanfranco Sam
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores how to formulate an ICT-enabled eGovernance action plan, including the necessary components of (a) a knowledge management (KM) strategy, and (b) the adoption of a culture of learning organization (LO) behavior. This strategy is based on lessons learned from a model designed and tested on data from 140 Slovenian public agencies. Slovenia, a small transition economy newly admitted to the European Union, faces both its own demands and the demands of the EU for good governance. Slovenia offers lessons relevant for both developed and developing countries. There are three progressively complex stages when integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into the operations of government. They start with the elementary process of integrating ICT into previously paper based governmental administrative systems (iGovernment), proceed to the online provision of government services to others (e-government), and finally arrive at online efforts to enhance accountability, consultation and transparency as part of good governance (eGovernance). This chapter concludes with the argument that successful eGovernance works hand-in-hand with e-democracy, whereas failed eGovernance will position eDemocracy as a force in opposition to the behaviour of Government.
Tracing the Implementation of Non-Functional Requirements
Authors: Bode Stephan , Riebisch Matthias
Published: May 2011

A software architecture has to enable the non-functional properties, such as flexibility, scalability, or security, because they constitute the decisive factors for its design. Unfortunately, the methodical support for the implementation of non-functional requirements into software architectures is still weak; solutions are not generally established. Recently, there are only few approaches that actually deal with non-functional requirements during design; even fewer take advantage of traceability, which supports a mapping of requirements to solutions through the development process. Therefore, in this chapter the new architectural design method TraGoSoMa is presented, which supports these issues. The method uses a so-called Goal Solution Scheme, which guides the design activities, supports conflict resolution, decision-making, and the classification of solutions. For illustration purposes the chapter uses a case study from a reengineering project for a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that is restructured according to the SOA principles and integrated with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
A Unified Deployment and Management Model for Dynamic and Distributed Software Architectures
Authors: Miladi Mohamed Nadhmi , Lahami Mariam , Jmaeil Mohamed , Drira Khalil
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a generic model called Unified deployment and management Model of Dynamic and Distributed software architectures (UMoDD) based on the D&C standard proposed by the OMG. UMoDD has been designed to be suitable to dynamic deployment and management for both architecture styles: the service-oriented and component-based architecture style. The proposed model is based on a model-driven approach. It offers two levels of modelling: a generic level and a specific level to an architecture style.
Sharing Knowledge through Communities of Practice
Authors: Campos Eduardo Bueno , Moreno Carlos Merino , Landaeta Reinaldo Plaz
Published: May 2011

There is a wide range of strategies to improve intangible assets management but practical side around two case studies is the main added value for this chapter. For this reason, the purpose is not about a model configuration but CoPs as a useful mechanism to knowledge governance. First of all, a reality based on consultancy activity inside military sector, Isdefe, with a three years project aimed to knowledge management as a core business plan, taking into account a technological development. Secondly, a framework related to nuclear power plants in Spain through “CoPs Project” an initiative aimed to improve organizational performance linked to tacit knowledge transfer.
Communities of Practice as Work Teams to Knowledge Management
Authors: Zárraga-Oberty Celia
Published: May 2011

In today’s competitive environment, it is widely accepted that knowledge is a key strategic resource. Nevertheless, to be a source of competitive advantage, the knowledge embedded in individuals must be transformed into organizational knowledge. This chapter defends the idea that this process can happen in work teams, but only if they have the necessary characteristics to be considered communities of practice. These characteristics are: self-managed teams whose members have individual autonomy, heterogeneous and complementary skills, a common understanding, with a leader that encourages work teams and a climate of trust which favors knowledge management.
Communities of Practice
Authors: Loyarte Edurne , Hernáez Olga Rivera
Published: May 2011

Many organizations have developed Communities of Practice and they are one of the most important vehicles of knowledge management in the 21st century. Organizations use Communities of Practice for different purposes, but both, organizations and Communities, are limited by different context factors. Therefore, different goals are achieved with them: sometimes the intended goals and sometimes unintended goals. With this in mind, this chapter focuses on the context factors that influence the development of Communities of Practice. To this end, we review different cases of Communities of Practice within various organizations. Our analysis provides: (a) a reflection on the Context factors in the process of integrating Communities of Practice, (b) an analysis of the impact of these factors on the development of Communities of Practice in different organizations and (c) the conclusions of the study. This study is based on the general idea that Communities of Practice are a valid management tool for organizations. This chapter is therefore based on the study of Communities of Practice from the perspective of organizational management.
People-Focused Knowledge Sharing Initiatives in Medium-High and High Technology Companies
Authors: Aramburu Nekane , Sáenz Josune
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the organizational conditions that foster the development of different people-focused knowledge sharing initiatives in medium-high and high technology companies, as well as the degree of influence of those initiatives on the ideation stage of innovation processes. Finally, considering that successful innovation is the one that helps to improve business competitiveness, the degree of influence of this innovation capability dimension on company performance is examined. For these relationships to be tested, an empirical study has been carried out among medium-high and high technology Spanish manufacturing firms with more than 50 employees and which carry out R&D activities. To this end, a questionnaire has been designed and submitted to the CEOs of the companies making up the target population of the research. Structural equation modelling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) has then been applied in order to test the main hypotheses of the research.
Within- and Between- CoP Knowledge Sharing in Knowledge-Intensive Firms
Authors: Garavan Thomas , Carbery Ronan , O’Brien Fergal , Whelan Karen
Published: May 2011

Knowledge is an important source of competitive advantage in knowledge-intensive firms. However, these firms experience problems in sharing tacit knowledge. Communities of practice (CoPs) are viewed as effective mechanisms to enable knowledge sharing through an emphasis on learning rather than structural imperatives. This chapter investigates knowledge sharing within- and between- CoPs in knowledge-intensive firms. Knowledge sharing in CoPs is influenced by a multiplicity of factors which we categorised as cognitive, relational and structural. Data collected from 40 members of eight CoPs support the view that knowledge sharing occurs more effectively within CoPs rather than between them. Such knowledge sharing is context driven and strongly dependent on shared mindsets, relationships and networks. We explore the implications for both researching CoPs and the facilitation of CoPs in knowledge-intensive firms.
Creativity in Action
Authors: Calvey David
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the concept of communities of practice (CoP), with reference to ethnographic data from a range of creative multi-media SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) in Manchester in the UK. The central argument is that many of these communities are profoundly mediated by the interplay of competitive commercial imperatives with professional obligations and constructions of identity. Hence, the concept of community is a more fragmented and fractured one. Ultimately, CoP is a robust metaphor to analysis organisational life but more descriptive detail of situated lived practices and mundane realities of various work settings is called for. Ethnographic data is drawn on to demonstrate the participant’s accounts of their lived experiences, which include reflections on the process of creativity, collaborative negotiations with clients and organisational learning. Ethnomethodology, a form of sociological analysis, is then used to suggest alternative ways to analyse the situated nature of practice, learning and community.
Integrated Supply Chain Intelligence through Collaborative Planning, Analytics and Monitoring
Authors: Stefanovic Nenad , Stefanovic Dusan , Radenkovic Bozidar
Published: May 2011

As supply chains are growing increasingly complex, from linear arrangements to interconnected, multi-echelon, collaborative networks of companies, there is much more information that needs to be stored and analyzed than there was just a few years ago. Today, there are variety of business initiatives and technologies such as joint planning and execution, business intelligence, performance management, data mining and alerting that can be used for more efficient supply chain management. However, organizations still lack methods, processes and tools to successfully design and implement these systems. In this chapter, the authors present the integrated supply chain intelligence (SCI) system that enables collaborative planning and decision making through web-based analytics and process monitoring. The system is process based and utilizes business intelligence and Internet technologies. Multi-layered and service-oriented architecture enables composition of the new breed of SCI applications. They describe main elements and capabilities of the system, its advantages over existing systems and also discuss future research trends and opportunities.
Reverse Logistics Network Design Using a Hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing Methodology
Authors: Tuzkaya Gülfem , Gülsün Bahadir , Bildik Ender
Published: May 2011

Reverse logistics network design (RLND) effectiveness has an important impact on the effectiveness of the whole supply network coordination. Considering that, in this study, the RLND problem is investigated and a hybrid genetic algorithms and simulated annealing (HGASA) methodology is proposed. This problem is applied to a preceding study which utilized genetic algorithms (GA) for the optimization. HGASA and GA results are tested with Wilcoxon rank-sum test for hundred runs and the results prove the difference between two approaches. Additionally, the averages and the standard deviations support that, the HGASA algorithm increases the probability of obtaining better solutions.
Modeling and Simulation of Partnership Network for ?an Intelligent Supply Chain
Authors: Ounnar Fouzia , Pujo Patrick , Mansar Selma Limam
Published: May 2011

Contrary to actual logistics networks in which chains are frozen, in the proposed partnership network, a dynamic chain is only built each time an order is requested; nothing is planned ahead of time. An isoarchic control model based on the holonic paradigm is proposed. The control of the partnership network can be seen through a simultaneous analysis of the holon views. The proposed control is based on a multicriteria analysis method by complete aggregation (Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)). The assignment of orders is based on the search for the best response to a Call For Proposals submitted by a customer. The solution that appears to be the most efficient in terms of the evaluation criteria will be adopted. For validation purposes, a simulation of the proposed approach was implemented using a distributed simulation environment HLA (High Level Architecture). A set of realistic tests were used to evaluate the proposed approach.
e-Supply Network
Authors: Mohebbi Shima , Shafaei Rasoul , Cho Namjae
Published: May 2011

The automation of negotiation among buyer-supplier-supplier triad is an important policy in e-supply network coordination (e-SNC). In addition to the buyer-supplier coordination advantages, a further coordination among suppliers is also highly important in order to maximize the network supply capacity utilization especially when the suppliers are geographically decentralized. This chapter focuses on the impact of suppliers’ coordination in a network where the coordination among buyers and suppliers is in place. The proposed agent-based model is composed of two negotiator agents, one monitor agent, and one coordinator agent. The model begins with buyer-supplier negotiation and coordination mechanism adopted from the approach developed by Mohebbi and Shafaei (2010). Then, the suppliers’ coordination mechanism is developed to investigate the interaction among suppliers and evaluate the subsequent benefit obtained in the global network. The efficiency of the proposed approach is evaluated using a simulation model. The results demonstrate that in a network where the coordination among buyers and suppliers is in place, a further coordination among suppliers leads to the reduction of total network cost.
A Multi Agent/HLA Platform for Enterprises Interoperability
Authors: Zacharewicz Gregory , Labarthe Olivier , Chen David , Vallespir Bruno
Published: May 2011

This chapter aims at proposing an implementation of the federation interoperability concept for information exchange between networked enterprises. This implementation makes use of Multi Agent / HLA paradigm and the emerging concept of Short-Lived Ontology. The authors give first, a review of ongoing researches on Enterprise Interoperability. Then, they recall on Artificial Agent Concept and HLA Standard that appear to be adequate to support simulation and execution of the studied concept. Indeed, on the one hand Agent dialogue fits the concept of information exchange in a federated enterprise interoperability approach, on the other hand the HLA standard, initially designed for military M&S purpose, can be transposed for enterprise interoperability at the implementation level, reusing the years of experiences in distributed systems. From these postulates, we propose the first Agent/HLA Short-Lived Ontology based framework to implement distributed enterprise models from the conceptual level of federated enterprise interoperability approach.
A Biologically Inspired Evolving Spiking Neural Model with Rank-Order Population Coding and a Taste Recognition System Case Study
Authors: Soltic S. , Kasabov N.
Published: May 2011

The human brain has an amazing ability to recognize hundreds of thousands of different tastes. The question is: can we build artificial systems that can achieve this level of complexity? Such systems would be useful in biosecurity, the chemical and food industry, security, in home automation, etc. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how spiking neurons could be employed for building biologically plausible and efficient taste recognition systems. It presents an approach based on a novel spiking neural network model, the evolving spiking neural network with population coding (ESNN-PC), which is characterized by: (i) adaptive learning, (ii) knowledge discovery and (iii) accurate classification. ESNN-PC is used on a benchmark taste problem where the effectiveness of the information encoding, the quality of extracted rules and the model’s adaptive properties are explored. Finally, applications of ESNN-PC in recognition of the increasing interest in robotics and pervasive computing are suggested.
Neural Network Circuits for Embedded Sensors Applications
Authors: Medrano N. , Zatorre G. , Sanz M. T. , Calvo B. , Celma S.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the suitability, development and implementation of programmable analogue artificial neural networks for sensor conditioning in embedded systems. Comments on the use of analogue instead of digital electronics due to the size and power constraints of these applications are included. Performance of an ad-hoc analogue architecture is evaluated, and its characteristics are analyzed. We will verify its low sensitivity to undesired effects, such as component mismatching, due to the capability of selecting and programming the proper weights for a given task. In addition, a brief discussion is offered on the selection of perturbative algorithms instead of classical error back-propagation techniques for weight tuning. At the end of the chapter, we will show the main characteristics of the proposed arithmetic cells implemented in a low-cost CMOS technology.
Parallel Hardware for Artificial Neural Networks Using Fixed Floating Point Representation
Authors: Nedjah Nadia , Martins da Silva Rodrigo , Mourelle Luiza de Macedo
Published: May 2011

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is a well known bio-inspired model that simulates human brain capabilities such as learning and generalization. ANNs consist of a number of interconnected processing units, wherein each unit performs a weighted sum followed by the evaluation of a given activation function. The involved computation has a tremendous impact on the implementation efficiency. Existing hardware implementations of ANNs attempt to speed up the computational process. However, these implementations require a huge silicon area that makes it almost impossible to fit within the resources available on a state-of-the-art FPGAs. In this chapter, a hardware architecture for ANNs that takes advantage of the dedicated adder blocks, commonly called MACs, to compute both the weighted sum and the activation function is devised. The proposed architecture requires a reduced silicon area considering the fact that the MACs come for free as these are FPGA’s built-in cores. Our system uses integer (fixed point) mathematics and operates with fractions to represent real numbers. Hence, floating point representation is not employed and any mathematical computation of the ANN hardware is based on combinational circuitry (performing only sums and multiplications). The hardware is fast because it is massively parallel. Besides, the proposed architecture can adjust itself on-the-fly to the user-defined configuration of the neural network, i.e., the number of layers and neurons per layer of the ANN can be settled with no extra hardware changes. This is a very nice characteristic in robot-like systems considering the possibility of the same hardware may be exploited in different tasks. The hardware also requires another system (a software) that controls the sequence of the hardware computation and provides inputs, weights and biases for the ANN in hardware. Thus, a co-design environment is necessary.
The Nature of Nursing Work
Authors: Graham Iain W.
Published: May 2011

Nursing work is explored in the context of its historical evolution and the institutional and societal forces that have shaped it. The need to be able to clearly articulate nursing practice is made clear. The urgent need to bring nursing as practised in line with nursing espoused is clearly argued.
Nursing, Information Technology and the Humanization of Health Care
Authors: Hazelton Mike , Morrall Peter
Published: May 2011

The troubling question is posed of how to integrate new technology in nursing in a manner that will lead to use that has congruence with the nursing mission. The context of healthcare delivery is discussed through reference to Foucault’s notion of ‘governmentality’. The challenge is presented to nursing to critically think through the issues to enable development of voice to influence the healthcare policy agenda in the area of informatics.
Case Study
Authors: Smith Mark
Published: May 2011

The development of tools and the promotion of the use of the tools to electronically record mental health outcomes in New Zealand are presented. The primary utility of outcomes data is discussed as part of person centred care and recovery.
Case Study
Authors: Saurman E. , Perkins D. , Lyle D. , Patfield M. , Roberts R.
Published: May 2011

The MHEC-RAP project involves the innovative application of video conferencing to mental health assessment in rural NSW. The preliminary evaluation findings of the project are presented. Mental health emergencies in rural and remote settings cause particular problems and are not amenable to conventional health service solutions. Patients and local health care staff may be isolated from specialist mental health staff and from acute inpatient services. Decisions to transport patients for specialist assessments or treatment may be required at night or at weekends and may involve families, police, ambulance services and local health staff. Such decisions need to be made promptly but carefully and the ability to obtain a specialist assessment may assist in making a decision about how best to care for the patient bearing in mind the need to provide a responsive, high quality and safe service to patients and local clinicians. In this chapter we examine a novel approach which uses audio-visual technology to conduct remote emergency mental health patient assessment interviews and provide consultations to local clinicians in rural communities in western NSW. The Mental Health Emergency Care – Rural Access Project or ‘MHEC-RAP’ was developed in 2007 following a series of consultations held in rural towns and implemented in 2008 within the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS), New South Wales, Australia. GWAHS is a primary example of a rural and remote health service. It serves 287,481 people (8.3% of whom are Indigenous Australians) in an area that is 445,197sq km or 55% of the state of New South Wales (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001; Greater Western Area Health Service, 2007, 2009). The communities within GWAHS are mostly small, the towns are widely dispersed and local services are “limited by distance, expense, transport, and the difficulty of recruiting health professionals to these areas” (Dunbar, 2007 page 587). The chapter focuses on the design of the service, its implementation and its performance in the first year. We conclude with a discussion about the service, its broader relevance, transferability and its sustainability.
Case Study
Authors: Heaberg Gail
Published: May 2011

Research Matchmaker is a public health innovation that will lead to community centered research focused on social determinants of health. Research Matchmaker has been developed to bring communities, practitioners and researchers together to focus on community determined health needs. The rationale and development process is discussed.
A Glimpse of the Future
Authors: Cook Robyn , Bland Jaime
Published: May 2011

In this the capstone chapter for the book a vision for the next 20 years is bought forward. The transformation of nursing is seen to take place in the context of continued debate related to focus and language of nursing and is supported by an informatics infrastructure and specialists. Web 2.0 technology is bought into practice and virtual worlds are grounds in which to learn and test practice. Point of care technology brings evidence to the bedside. This is a basic need in an era of personalised health care and real choice in healthcare.
Global Media and Information Ethics
Authors: Wachanga D. Ndirangu
Published: May 2011

Any meaningful debate on global media and information ethics is burdened with the complexity of dissecting various disjunctive dynamics that characterize the complexity of emerging global relationships. The authors argue that the emerging global phenomenon problematizes the Cartesian plane of oppositions – center vs. periphery, North vs. South, global vs. local, which has been the forte of globalization studies until recently. It is against this background that the authors seek to examine challenges of having a global information and media ethics. The authors will pay attention to the antagonistic mechanics informing the domination and rejection of intangible ethical principles. In this discussion, they will be guided, partly, by Alleyne’s (2009, p. 384) postulation on the need to pay attention to “changes in state power, the relationship between the market and the state, and modifications in the ideological assumptions about the optimum form of world order.”
New-Media-Based Attention Implosion and Television Publicness in the Era of Internet-TV Convergence
Authors: Lee Francis L. F.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses how television captures and organizes the attention of the mass public in the age of media convergence. It is argued that media proliferation and technological convergence have led to a fragmented audience. Paradoxically, audience fragmentation also provides the condition for the powerful return of collective attention in the case of new-media-based attention implosion. This chapter uses the case of the extraordinary (online) popularity of television drama character Brother Laughing in Hong Kong to illustrate the phenomenon of new-media-based attention implosion and the dynamics behind it. The analysis shows that attention implosion is generated by audience members’ time-space shifting practices and key individuals’ organizational efforts, both facilitated by the new media. It led to the formation of an interpretive public surrounding the fictional character. Implications of the phenomenon on our understanding of the relationship between television, social life, and collective public attention are discussed.
Bearing Witness through Technology
Authors: Ibrahim Yasmin
Published: May 2011

The convergence of technologies brings a two-fold phenomenon into our technologically mediated world. Firstly, mobile technologies have enabled the recording of war and conflict by bystanders who can then transmit their recordings to the wider world through the Internet. Secondly, this form of bearing witness creates a proliferation of images of suffering leading to a new visual economy that invites new types of spectatorship which reconfigure events and integrate them into mainstream and niche media platforms. This chapter argues that the aestheticization of suffering is a dominant and integral part of our culture and new media technologies illuminate and offer new ways to both engage with and commodify suffering. The commodification of suffering on video-streaming platforms on the Internet results in spaces of perverse obsession with pain and suffering but also performative counter-sites which offer different ways to record and narrate human suffering beyond the vantage point of mainstream media.
The Electronic Pontifices Maximi
Authors: Dakroury Aliaa
Published: May 2011

Drawing from the work of Canadian political economist Harold Innis, as well as the French activist, Jean d’Arcy—the father of the right to communicate, this chapter argues that it is almost impossible to have (and maintain) a right to communicate with the presence of a modern form of Pontifice Maximum: the media conglomerates. More particularly, it highlights the various possibilities of enforcing a human right to communicate with the introduction of the new social networking sites –such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Yet, it also underscores the challenges posed by global corporations that tried to capitalizing some popular social networking sites and user-generated content, and hence threatening a full and equitable participation of citizens in the democratic discourse, which is key to a fuller participation by the communicative citizen in democratic dialogue.
A Picture and A Thousand Words
Authors: Farrell Robert , Danis Catalina , Erickson Thomas , Ellis Jason , Christensen Jim , Bailey Mark , Kellogg Wendy A.
Published: May 2011

Mobile communication is a key enabler for economic, social and political change in developing regions of the world. The authors argue that engaging citizens in developing regions in information creation and information sharing leverages peoples’ existing social networks to facilitate transmission of critical information, exchange of ideas, and distributed problem solving. All of these activities can support economic development. They describe Picture Talk, a mobile social computing application framework designed to facilitate local information sharing in regions with sparse Internet connectivity, low literacy rates and having users with little prior experience with information technology. Picture Talk runs on today’s internet-enabled smartphones as well as camera phones with multimedia messaging, now available in many of these regions.
Exploring the Diffusion of Mobile Phone among Zimbabwean Migrants in Botswana
Authors: Kim Do Kyun
Published: May 2011

From the early 2000s, the population mobility from Zimbabwe has drastically increased due to the collapse of the national economy and political instability. While the Zimbabwean migrants in Botswana have experienced horrific social, economic, and political difficulties, the mobile phone adoption rate among them has skyrocketed. Based on the theory of diffusion of innovations, this study investigates the influence of mobile phone diffusion among Zimbabwean migrants at the individual, community, and governmental levels.
Convergence of Mobile TV with Everyday Life1 and Culture
Authors: Lee Seung-Hyun
Published: May 2011

Mobile communication technology has become one of the most popular technologies, profoundly associated with many users’ everyday life. Mobile communication technology has evolved from a simple communication tool to mobile multimedia. This chapter concentrates on ‘mobile TV,’ the convergence of digital broadcasting and telecommunications. The main purpose of this chapter is to explore the diffusion and adoption of mobile TV-DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) in its early stages and examine the use of mobile TV-DMB in a wide range of everyday practices. This chapter also focuses on the factors that influence the adoption and use of mobile TV-DMB, and a contextual understanding of DMB that may affect media use patterns in a wide range of social and cultural contexts. The results of this study underline the potential of the broad integration of mobile TV-DMB into people’s everyday life.
Mobile Games in China
Authors: Tai Zixue , Zeng Haifang
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a critical analysis of China’s nascent but fast-evolving mobile game market. Through a penetrating examination of the historical evolution of the market from the late 1990s to the dawn of the 3G era, it offers insight on the changing dynamics of interplay as well as major trends of concentration and internationalization among key sectors of the Chinese mobile market structure. By casting findings in the comparative lenses of major global mobile markets in the United States, Japan and South Korea, the chapter contributes to an in-depth understanding of the universalizing features and the peculiarities of China’s mobile games and gamers.
Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Gallo Crescenzio , Perilli Michele , De Bonis Michelangelo
Published: May 2011

Mobile communication networks have become an integral part of our society, significantly enhancing communication capabilities. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) extend this capability to any time/anywhere communication, providing connectivity without the need of an underlying infrastructure. The new coming realm of mobile ad hoc networks is first investigated, focusing on research problems related to the design and development of routing protocols, both from a formal and technical point of view. Then link stability in a high mobility environment is examined, and a route discovery mechanism is analyzed, together with a practical implementation of a routing protocol in ad hoc multi-rate environments which privileges link stability instead of traditional speed and minimum distance approaches.
Node Localization in Ad-hoc Networks
Authors: Wang Zhonghai , Zekavat Seyed (Reza)
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces node localization techniques in ad-hoc networks including received signal strength (RSS), time-of-arrival (TOA) and direction-of-arrival (DOA). Wireless channels in ad-hoc networks can be categorized as LOS and NLOS. In LOS channels, the majority of localization techniques perform properly. However, in NLOS channels, the performance of these techniques reduces. Therefore, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) identification and mitigation techniques, and localization techniques for NLOS scenarios are briefly reviewed.
Key Adoption Challenges and Issues of B2B E-Commerce in the Healthcare Sector
Authors: Lin Chad , Lin Hao-Chiang Koong , Jalleh Geoffrey , Huang Yu-An
Published: May 2011

Although B2B e-commerce provides healthcare organizations a wealth of new opportunities and ways of doing business, it also presents them with a series of challenges. B2B e-commerce adoption remain poorly understood and it is also a relatively under-researched area. Therefore, case studies were conducted to investigate the challenges and issues in adopting and utilizing B2B e-commerce systems in the healthcare sector. The major aims of this study are to: (a) identify and examine main B2B e-commerce adoption challenges and issues for healthcare organizations; and (b) develop a B2B e-commerce adoption challenges and issues table to assist healthcare organizations in identifying and managing them.
Mobile Location-Based Recommender
Authors: Ghafourian Mahsa , Karimi Hassan A.
Published: May 2011

Mobile devices, including cell phones, capable of geo-positioning (or localization) are paving the way for new computer assisted systems called mobile location-based recommenders (MLBRs). MLBRs are systems that combine information on user’s location with information about user’s interests and requests to provide recommendations that are based on “location”. MLBR applications are numerous and emerging. One MLBR application is in advertisement where stores announce their coupons and users try to find the coupons of their interests nearby their locations through their cell phones. This chapter discusses the concept and characteristics of MLBRs and presents the architecture and components of a MLBR for advertisement.
Success Cases for Mobile Devices in a Real Universitary Scenario
Authors: Sánchez Montserrat Mateos , Gallinas Roberto Berjón , Gutierrez Encarnación Beato , Vidales Miguel Angel Sánchez , García Ana María Fermoso
Published: May 2011

Mobile devices have become a new platform with many possibilities to develop studies and implement projects. The power and current capabilities of these devices besides its market penetration makes applications and services in the area of mobility particularly interesting. Mobile terminals have become small computers, they have an operating system, storage capacity so it is possible to develop applications that run on them. Today these applications are highly valued by users. Nowadays we want not only to talk or send messages by mobile terminal, but also to play games, to buy cinema tickets, to read email… We can bring these capabilities in our pocket. The University may not be aware of this fact. The students, due to their age, are the main users and purchasers. In this sense, this article will present three applications we have developed for mobile devices. Nowadays they are being used in Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. All of them work on a university scenario and use different kind of services.
Mobile Applications as Mobile Learning and Performance Support Tools in Psychotherapy Activities
Authors: Perez-Guerrero Maria Luisa , Monguet-Fierro Jose Maria , Saldaña-Garcia Carmina
Published: May 2011

The purpose of the chapter is the analysis of mobile applications as performance and informal learning support tools that facilitate the development of the psychotherapy process. The “e-therapy” has become a common term to refer the delivery of mental health services, on-line or related to a computer mediated communication between a psychotherapist and the patient. Initially, a background on e-therapy will be provided through the analysis of the existing related literature, the description of the state of the art. After this general view as starting point, the “self-help therapy”–a kind of e-therapy where the concept of patient empowerment is important– will be exposed to depict the importance of patient activities beyond the clinical settings in the rehabilitation process. Then, the integration of mobile devices in the psychotherapy process will be explained considering how their technological features support patient therapeutic activities like behavior assessment and informal mobile learning. The relation of the mobile devices with psychotherapist work activities such as evidence gathering and patient monitoring will also be explained. The chapter follows with a discussion on the mobile learning practices as a source of potential strategies that can be applied in the therapeutic field and finally a set of recommendations and future directions are described to explore new lines of research.
CampusLocator
Authors: Karimi Hassan A. , Ghafourian Mahsa
Published: May 2011

Location-based services (LBSs) are impacting different aspects of human’s life. To date, different LBSs have been emerged, each supporting a specific application or service. While some LBSs have aimed at addressing the needs of general populations, such as navigation systems, others have been focused on addressing the needs of specific populations, including kids, youths, elderly, and people with special needs. In recent years, interest in taking a LBS approach in education and learning has grown. The main purpose of such educational LBSs is facilitating a means for learners to be more efficient and effective in their learning activities using their location as the underlying information in decision making. In this chapter, we present a novel LBS, called CampusLocator, whose main goal is to assist students in locating and accessing learning resources including libraries, seminars, and tutorials that are available on a campus.
Vehicular Delay Tolerant Networks
Authors: Câmara Daniel , Frangiadakis Nikolaos , Filali Fethi , Bonnet Christian
Published: May 2011

Traditional networks suppose the existence of some path between endpoints, small end to end round-trip Delay time, and loss ratio. Today, however, new applications, environments and types of devices are challenging these assumptions. In Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), an end-to-end path from source to destination may not exist. Nodes may connect and exchange information in an opportunistic way. This book chapter presents a broad overview of DTNs, particularly focusing on Vehicular DTNs, their main characteristics, challenges, and research projects on this field. In the near future, cars are expected to be equipped with devices that will allow them to communicate wirelessly. However, there will be strict restrictions to the duration of their connections with other vehicles, whereas the conditions of their links will greatly vary; DTNs present an attractive solution. Therefore, VDTNs constitute an attractive research field.
Combining Location Tracking and RFID Tagging toward an Improved Research Infrastructure
Authors: Wilson Greg , McCrickard Scott
Published: May 2011

The popularity of mobile computing creates new opportunities for information sharing and collaboration through technologies like radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and location awareness technologies. This chapter discusses how these technologies, which provide subtly different information, can be used together toward increased benefit to users. This work introduces technologies for RFID and location awareness, including a survey of projects. We describe advantages of combining these technologies, illustrated through our system, TagIt, that uses these technologies in a traditional research poster environment to provide a rich multimedia experience and encourage ongoing feedback from poster viewers. An overview of TagIt is provided, including user commenting and information sharing capabilities that make use of RFID and location information. User feedback and an expert review highlights how TagIt could benefit authors, information consumers, and the research community, leading to future directions for the research community.
Building Mobile Sensor Networks Using Smartphones and Web Services
Authors: Turner Hamilton , White Jules , Dougherty Brian , Schmidt Doug
Published: May 2011

Wireless sensor networks are composed of geographically dispersed sensors that work together to monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as air pressure, temperature, or pollution. In addition, wireless sensor networks are used in many industrial, social, and regulatory applications, including industrial process monitoring and control, environment and habitat monitoring, healthcare, home automation, and traffic control. Developers of wireless sensor networks face a number of programming and deployment challenges, such as networking protocol design, application development, and security models. This chapter shows how smartphones can help reduce the development, operation, and maintenance costs of wireless sensor networks, while also enabling these networks to use web services, high-level programming APIs, and increased hardware capability, such as powerful microprocessors. Moreover, this chapter examines key challenges associated with developing and maintaining a large wireless sensor network and presents a novel smartphone wireless sensor network that uses smartphones as sensor nodes. We validate our work in the context of Wreck Watch, which is a smartphone-based sensor network for detecting traffic accidents that we use to demonstrate solutions to multiple challenges in current wireless sensor networks. We also describe common pitfalls of using smartphones as sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks and summarize how we have addressed these pitfalls in Wreck Watch.
Critical Human Factors on Mobile Applications for Tourism and Entertainment
Authors: Campos Pedro
Published: May 2011

Regarding the mobile tourism domain, we studied the impact of media visibility, the impact of novel interaction paradigms. Regarding the mobile entertainment applications, we focused on studying the impact brought that realism and graphics quality have on mobile games.
Viable Business Models for M-Commerce
Authors: Gan Jiaxiang , Gutiérrez Jairo A.
Published: May 2011

As mobile applications increase in popularity, the issue of how to build viable business models for the m-commerce industry is becoming a clear priority for both organizations and researchers. In order to address this issue, this chapter reports on five mini cases used as a guideline, and applies the theoretical business model from Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002) to each of them to find out the most important components of viable business models for their m-commerce applications. The study then uses cross cases analysis as a research tool to compare and contrast each of the mini cases and to find out how the different organizations fit within the researched theoretical business model. Finally, this chapter confirms that there are 7 important components of viable business models for m-commerce which are: value proposition, market segment, value chain, profit potential, value network, competitive strategy and firm capabilities. This study also highlights the fact that the public visibility of these 7 components is uneven. Some components such as value proposition, value chain, value network and firm’s capabilities are more likely to be presented in public by organizations. However, aspects such as cost structure and profit potential, market segment and competitive strategy are more likely to be hidden from the public due to their commercial sensitivity.
A Service-Based Framework to Model Mobile Enterprise Architectures
Authors: Delgado José Carlos Martins
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents and discusses a resource-based and service-oriented metamodel and EA framework, in which mobility is introduced naturally from scratch, constituting the basis for some guidelines on which EA resources should be mobilized. Several simple scenarios are presented in the light of this metamodel and framework.
Secure Techniques for Remote Reconfiguration of Wireless Embedded Systems
Authors: Touhafi Abdellah , Braeken An , Cornetta Gianluca , Mentens Nele , Steenhaut Kris
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is to give a thorough overview of secure remote reconfiguration technologies for wireless embedded systems, and of the communication standard commonly used in those systems. In particular, we focus on basic security mechanisms both at hardware and protocol level. We will discuss the possible threats and their corresponding impact level. Different countermeasures for avoiding these security issues are explained. Finally, we present a complete and compact solution for a service-oriented architecture enabling secure remote reconfiguration of wireless embedded systems, called the STRES system.