Search results for: Internet purchases

Authors: Rishi Prajapati

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3G is the abbreviation of third generation of wireless mobile telecommunication technologies. 3G is a mode that finds application in wireless voice telephony, mobile internet access, fixed wireless internet access, video calls and mobile TV. It also provides mobile broadband access to smartphones and mobile modems in laptops and computers. The first 3G networks were introduced in 1998, followed by 4G networks in 2008. 4G is the abbreviation of fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunication technologies. 4G is termed to be the advanced form of 3G. 4G was firstly introduced in South Korea in 2007. Many abstracts have floated researches that depicted the diversity and similarity between the third and the fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology, whereas this abstract reflects the study that focuses on analyzing the preference between 3G versus 4G given by the elite group of the Indian society who are known as adolescents or the Millennial Generation aging from 18 years to 25 years. The Millennial Generation was chosen for this study as they have the easiest access to the latest technology. A sample size of 200 adolescents was selected and a structured survey was carried out which had several closed ended as well as open ended questions, to aggregate the result of this study. It was made sure that the effect of environmental factors on the subjects was as minimal as possible. The data analysis comprised of primary data collection reflecting it as quantitative research. The rationale behind this research is to give brief idea of how 3G and 4G are accepted by the Millennial Generation in India. The findings of this research would materialize a framework which depicts whether Millennial Generation would prefer 4G over 3G or vice versa.

Keywords: fourth generation, wireless telecommunication technology, Indian society, millennial generation, market research, third generation

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Authors: Tanuj Joshi

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Smart transportation is fast emerging as a solution to modern cities’ approach mobility issues, delayed emergency response rate and high congestion on streets. Present day scenario with Google Maps, Waze, Yelp etc. demonstrates how information and communications technologies controls the intelligent transportation system. This intangible and invisible infrastructure is largely guided by the big data analytics. On the other side, the exponential increase in Indian urban population has intensified the demand for better services and infrastructure to satisfy the transportation needs of its citizens. No doubt, India’s huge internet usage is looked as an important resource to guide to achieve this. However, with a projected number of over 40 billion objects connected to the Internet by 2025, the need for systems to handle massive volume of data (big data) also arises. This research paper attempts to identify the ways of exploiting the big data variables which will aid commuters on Indian tracks. This study explores real life inputs by conducting survey and interviews to identify which gaps need to be targeted to better satisfy the customers. Several experts at Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Mumbai Metro and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were interviewed regarding the Information Technology (IT) systems currently in use. The interviews give relevant insights and requirements into the workings of public transportation systems whereas the survey investigates the macro situation.

Keywords: smart transportation, mobility issue, Mumbai transportation, big data, data analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Christian Ndubisi Madu, Benjamin C. Ozumba, Ifeanyi E. Madu, Valentine E. Nnadi, Ikenna C. Ezeasor

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The ability to generate power and achieve energy security is one of the driving forces behind the emerging ‘microgrid’ concept. Traditional power supply often operates with centralized infrastructure for generating, transmitting and distributing electricity. The inefficiency and the incessant power outages associated with the centralized power supply system in Nigeria has alienated many users who frequently turn to electric power generator sets to power their homes and offices. Such acts are unsustainable and lead to increase in the use of fossil fuels, generation of carbon dioxide emissions and other gases, and noise pollution. They also pose significant risks as they entail random purchases and storage of gasolines which are fire hazards. It is therefore important that organizations rethink their relationships to centralized power suppliers in other to improve energy accessibility and security. This study explores the energy planning processes and learning taking place at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus as the school lead microgrid feasibility studies in its community. There is need to develop community partners to deal with the issue of energy efficiency and also to create a strategic alliance to confront political, regulatory and economic barriers to locally-based energy planning. Community-based microgrid can help to reduce the cost of adoption and diversify risks. This study offers insights into the ways in which microgrids can further democratize energy planning, procurement, and access, while simultaneously promoting efficiency and sustainability.

Keywords: microgrid, energy efficiency, sustainability, energy security

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Authors: Baker Ssekitto, Ambrose Mbogo

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The study reveals that indeed agriculture employs over 70% of Uganda’s population, of which majority are youth and women. The study further reveals that over 70% of the farmers are smallholder farmers based in rural areas, whose operations are greatly affected by; climate change, weak digital skills, limited access to productivity knowledge along value chains, limited access to quality farm inputs, weak logistics systems, limited access to quality extension services, weak business intelligence, limited access to quality markets among others. It finds that the emerging 4th industrial revolution powered by artificial intelligence, 5G and data science will provide possibilities of addressing some of these challenges. Furthermore, the study finds that despite rapid development of ICT4Agric Innovation, their uptake is constrained by a number of factors including; limited awareness of these innovations, low internet and smart phone penetration especially in rural areas, lack of appropriate digital skills, inappropriate programmes implementation models which are project and donor driven, limited articulation of value addition to various stakeholders among others. Majority of farmers and other value chain actors lacked knowledge and skills to harness the power of ICTs, especially their application of ICTs in monitoring and evaluation on quality of service in the extension system and farm level processes.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, productivity, ICT4agriculture, value chain, logistics

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Authors: Ahmed Abdulfatah Yusuf, Collins Oduor Ondiek

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The automation of farming activities can have a transformational impact on the agricultural sector, especially from the emerging new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT). The system uses water level sensors and soil moisture sensors that measure the content of water in the soil as the values generated from the sensors enable the system to use an appropriate quantity of water, which avoids over or under irrigation. Due to the increase in the world’s population, there is a need to increase food production. With this demand in place, it is difficult to increase crop yield using the traditional manual approaches that lead to the wastage of water, thus affecting crop production. Food insecurity has become a scourge greatly affecting the developing countries and agriculture is an essential part of human life and tends to be the mainstay of the economy in most developing nations. Thus, without the provision of adequate food supplies, the population of those living in poverty is likely to multiply. The project’s main objective is to design and develop an IoT (Internet of Things) microcontroller-based Smart Irrigation System. In addition, the specific research objectives are to find out the challenges with traditional irrigation approaches and to determine the benefits of IoT-based smart irrigation systems. Furthermore, the system includes Arduino, a website and a database that works simultaneously in collecting and storing the data. The system is designed to pave the way in attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 1), which aims to end extreme poverty in all forms by 2030. The research design aimed at this project is a descriptive research design. Data was gathered through online questionnaires that used both quantitative and qualitative in order to triangulate the data. Out of the 32 questionnaires sent, there were 32 responses leading to a 100% response rate. In terms of sampling, the target group of this project is urban farmers, which account for about 25% of the population of Nairobi. From the findings of the research carried out, it is evident that there is a need to move away from manual irrigation approaches due to the high wastage of water to the use of smart irrigation systems that propose a better way of conserving water while maintaining the quality and moisture of the soil. The research also found out that urban farmers are willing to adopt this system to better their farming practices. However, this system can be improved in the future by incorporating it with other features and deploying it to a larger geographical area.

Keywords: crop production, food security, smart irrigation system, sustainable development goal

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Authors: Karwan K. Abdalrahman

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Due to the impacts of the internet and social media, new words and expressions enter the Kurdish language, and a number of familiarized words get new meanings. The case is especially true when the technique of transliteration is taken into consideration. Through transliteration, a number of selected words widely used on social media are entering the Kurdish media discourse. In addition, a selected number of Kurdish words get new cultural and psychological meanings. The significance of this study is to delve into the process of word formation in the Kurdish language and explore how new words and expressions are formed by social media users and got public recognition. First, the study investigates the English words that enter the Kurdish language through different social media platforms. All of these words are transliterated and are used in spoken and written discourses. Second, there are a specific number of Kurdish words that got new meanings in social media. As for these words, there are psychological and cultural factors that make people use these expressions for specific political reasons. It can be argued that they have an indirect political message along with their new linguistic usages. This is a qualitative study analyzing video content that was published in the last two years on social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. The collected data was analyzed based on the themes discussed above. The findings of the research can be summarized as follows: the widely used transliterated words have entered both the spoken and written discourses. Authors in online and offline newspapers, TV presenters, literary writers, columnists are using these new expressions in their writings. As for the Kurdish words with new meanings, they are also widely used for psychological, cultural, and political reasons.

Keywords: Kurdish language, social media, new meanings, transliteration, vocabulary

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Authors: Shari S. C. Shang, Lynn S. L. Chiu

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In the digital payment market, some consumers use only one payment wallet while many others play multi-homing with a variety of payment services. With the diffusion of new payment systems, we examined the determinants of the adoption of multi-homing behavior. This study aims to understand how a digital payment provider dynamically expands business touch points with cross-business strategies to enrich the digital ecosystem and avoid the trap of multi-homing in customers. By synthesizing platform ecosystem literature, we constructed a two-dimensional research framework with one determinant of user digital behavior from offline to online intentions and the other determinant of digital payment touch points from convenient accessibility to cross-business platforms. To explore on a broader scale, we selected 12 digital payments from 5 countries of UK, US, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. With the interplays of user digital behaviors and payment touch points, we group the study cases into four types: (1) Channel Initiated: users originated from retailers with high access to in-store shopping with face-to-face guidance for payment adoption. Providers offer rewards for customer loyalty and secure the retailer’s efficient cash flow management. (2) Social Media Dependent: users usually are digital natives with high access to social media or the internet who shop and pay digitally. Providers might not own physical or online shops but are licensed to aggregate money flows through virtual ecosystems. (3) Early Life Engagement: digital banks race to capture the next generation from popularity to profitability. This type of payment aimed to give children a taste of financial freedom while letting parents track their spending. Providers are to capitalize on the digital payment and e-commerce boom and hold on to new customers into adulthood. (4) Traditional Banking: plastic credit cards are purposely designed as a control group to track the evolvement of business strategies in digital payments. Traditional credit card users may follow the bank’s digital strategy to land on different types of digital wallets or mostly keep using plastic credit cards. This research analyzed business growth models and inter-firms’ coopetition strategies of the selected cases. Results of the multiple case analysis reveal that channel initiated payments bundled rewards with retailer’s business discount for recurring purchases. They also extended other financial services, such as insurance, to fulfill customers’ new demands. Contrastively, social media dependent payments developed new usages and new value creation, such as P2P money transfer through network effects among the virtual social ties, while early life engagements offer virtual banking products to children who are digital natives but overlooked by incumbents. It has disrupted the banking business domains in preparation for the metaverse economy. Lastly, the control group of traditional plastic credit cards has gradually converted to a BaaS (banking as a service) model depending on customers’ preferences. The multi-homing behavior is not avoidable in digital payment competitions. Payment providers may encounter multiple waves of a multi-homing threat after a short period of success. A dynamic cross-business collaboration strategy should be explored to continuously evolve the digital ecosystems and allow users for a broader shopping experience and continual usage.

Keywords: digital payment, digital ecosystems, multihoming users, cross business strategy, user digital behavior intentions

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Authors: Koutsopoulou Ioanna, Gkintoni Evgenia, Halkiopoulos Constantinos, Antonopoulou Hera

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Recent advances in Internet Computer Technology (ICT) and the ever-increasing use of technological equipment amongst adolescents and young adults along with unattended access to the internet and social media and uncontrolled use of smart phones and PCs have caused social problems like sexting to emerge. The main purpose of the present article is first to present an analytic theoretical framework of sexting as a recent social phenomenon based on studies that have been conducted the last decade or so; and second to investigate Greek students’ and also social network users, sexting perceptions and to record how often social media users exchange sexual messages and to retrace demographic variables predictors. Data from 1,000 students were collected and analyzed and all statistical analysis was done by the software package WEKA. The results indicate among others, that the use of data mining methods is an important tool to draw conclusions that could affect decision and policy making especially in the field and related social topics of educational psychology. To sum up, sexting lurks many risks for adolescents and young adults students in Greece and needs to be better addressed in relevance to the stakeholders as well as society in general. Furthermore, policy makers, legislation makers and authorities will have to take action to protect minors. Prevention strategies based on Greek cultural specificities are being proposed. This social problem has raised concerns in recent years and will most likely escalate concerns in global communities in the future.

Keywords: educational ethics, sexting, Greek sexters, sex education, data mining

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Authors: Khader Musbah Titi

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In this era, traditional education systems do not meet the new challenges created by emerging technologies. On the other hand, eLearning offers all the necessary tools to meet these challenges. Using the Internet has brought numerous benefits to most educational institutions; it has also stretched traditional problems of plagiarism, cheating, stealing, vandalism, and spying into the cyberspace. This research discusses these issues in an eLearning environment. It attempts to provide suggestions and possible solutions to some of these issues. The main aim of this research is to conduct a survey at Irbid National University (INU), one of the oldest and biggest universities in Jordan, to study information related to moral and ethical issues in e-learning environment that affect the construction of the students’ characters in the future. The study will focus on student’s behavior and actions through the Internet using Learning Management System (LMS). Another aim of this research is to analyze the opinions of the instructors and last year students at INU about ethical behavior and interaction through LMS. The results show that educational institutes that use LMS should focus on student character development along with field knowledge. According to disadvantages, the results of the study showed that most of students behave unethically in their online activities (cheating, plagiarism, copy/paste etc.) while studying online courses through LMS. The result showed that instructors play a major role in the character development of students. The result also showed that academic institute must have variant mechanisms and strict policy in LMS to control unethical actions of students.

Keywords: LMS, cyber ethics, e-learning, IT ethics, students’ behaviors

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Authors: Muntadher Sallal, Gareth Owenson, Mo Adda, Safa Shubbar

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Bitcoin is a digital currency based on a peer-to-peer network to propagate and verify transactions. Bitcoin is gaining wider adoption than any previous crypto-currency. However, the mechanism of peers randomly choosing logical neighbors without any knowledge about underlying physical topology can cause a delay overhead in information propagation, which makes the system vulnerable to double-spend attacks. Aiming at alleviating the propagation delay problem, this paper introduces proximity-aware extensions to the current Bitcoin protocol, named Master Node Based Clustering (MNBC). The ultimate purpose of the proposed protocol, that are based on how clusters are formulated and how nodes can define their membership, is to improve the information propagation delay in the Bitcoin network. In MNBC protocol, physical internet connectivity increases, as well as the number of hops between nodes, decreases through assigning nodes to be responsible for maintaining clusters based on physical internet proximity. We show, through simulations, that the proposed protocol defines better clustering structures that optimize the performance of the transaction propagation over the Bitcoin protocol. The evaluation of partition attacks in the MNBC protocol, as well as the Bitcoin network, was done in this paper. Evaluation results prove that even though the Bitcoin network is more resistant against the partitioning attack than the MNBC protocol, more resources are needed to be spent to split the network in the MNBC protocol, especially with a higher number of nodes.

Keywords: Bitcoin network, propagation delay, clustering, scalability

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Authors: Luisa Müting, Wisnu Harto Adiwijoyo

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Agroforestry systems transform the agricultural landscapes in the Sahel region of Africa, providing food and farming products consumed for subsistence or sold for income. In the incrementally dry climate of the Sahel region, the spreading of agroforestry practices is integral for policymaker efforts to counteract land degradation and provide soil restoration in the region. Several measures on agroforestry practices have been implemented in the region by governmental and non-governmental institutions in recent years. However, despite the efforts, past research shows that awareness of how policies and interventions are being consumed and perceived by the public remains low. Therefore, interpreting public policy dilemmas by analyzing the public perception regarding agroforestry concepts and practices is necessary. Public perceptions and discourses can be an essential driver or constraint for the adoption of agroforestry practices in the region. Thus, understanding the public discourse behavior of crucial stakeholders could assist policymakers in developing inclusive and contextual policies that are relevant to the context of agroforestry adoption in Sahel region. To answer how information about agroforestry spreads and is perceived by the public. As internet usage increased drastically over the past decade, reaching a share of 33 percent of the population being connected to the internet, this research is based on online conversation data. Social media data from Facebook are gathered daily between April 2021 and April 2022 in Djibouti, Senegal, Mali, and Nigeria based on their share of active internet users compared to other countries in the Sahel region. A systematic methodology was applied to the extracted social media using discourse network analysis (DNA). This study then clustered the data by the types of agroforestry practices, sentiments, and country. Additionally, this research extracted the text data from online news media during the same period to pinpoint events related to the topic of agroforestry. The preliminary result indicates that tree management, crops, and livestock integration, diversifying species and genetic resources, and focusing on interactions and productivity across the agricultural system; are the most notable keywords in agroforestry-related conversations within the four countries in the Sahel region. Additionally, approximately 84 percent of the discussions were still dominated by big actors, such as NGO or government actors. Furthermore, as a subject of communication within agroforestry discourse, the Great Green Wall initiative generates almost 60 percent positive sentiment within the captured social media data, effectively having a more significant outreach than general agroforestry topics. This study provides an understanding for scholars and policymakers with a springboard for further research or policy design on agroforestry in the four countries of the Sahel region with systematically uncaptured novel data from the internet.

Keywords: sahel, djibouti, senegal, mali, nigeria, social networks analysis, public discourse analysis, sentiment analysis, content analysis, social media, online news, agroforestry, land restoration

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Authors: Kim Byung-Kon, Kim Young-Jin

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As project opportunities for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry have grown more complex and larger, the utilization of BIM (Building Information Modeling) technologies for 3D design and simulation practices has been increasing significantly; the typical applications of the BIM technologies include clash detection and design alternative based on 3D planning, which have been expanded over to the technology of construction management in the AEC industry for virtual design and construction. As for now, commercial BIM software has been operated under a single-user environment, which is why initial costs for its introduction are very high. Cloud computing, one of the most promising next-generation Internet technologies, enables simple Internet devices to use services and resources provided with BIM software. Recently in Korea, studies to link between BIM and cloud computing technologies have been directed toward saving costs to build BIM-related infrastructure, and providing various BIM services for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study addressed how to develop the usage metering functions of BIM software under cloud computing architecture in order to archive and use BIM data and create an optimal revenue structure so that the BIM services may grow spontaneously, considering a demand for cloud resources. To this end, the author surveyed relevant cases, and then analyzed needs and requirements from AEC industry. Based on the results & findings of the foregoing survey & analysis, the author proposed herein how to optimally develop the usage metering functions of cloud BIM software.

Keywords: construction IT, BIM (Building Information Modeling), cloud computing, BIM-based cloud computing, 3D design, cloud BIM

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Authors: Ali Riza Perçin, Eser Bingül

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Internet technologies have created opportunities with which people share their ideologies, thoughts and products. This virtual world, named social media has given the chance of gathering individual users and people from the world's remote locations and establishing an interaction between them. However, to an increasingly higher degree terrorist organizations today use the internet and most notably social-network media to create the effects they desire through a series of on-line activities. These activities, designed to support their activities, include information collection (intelligence), target selection, propaganda, fundraising and recruitment to name a few. Meanwhile, these have been used as the most important tool for recruitment especially from the different region of the world, especially disenfranchised youth, in the West in order to mobilize support and recruit “foreign fighters.” The recruits have obtained the statue, which is not accessible in their society and have preferred the style of life that is offered by the terrorist organizations instead of their current life. Like other terrorist groups, for a while now the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria has employed a social-media strategy in order to advance their strategic objectives. At the moment, however, IS seems to be more successful in their on-line activities than other similar organizations. IS uses social media strategically as part of its armed activities and for the sustainability of their military presence in Syria and Iraq. In this context, “Generation Y”, which could exist at the critical position and undertake active role, has been examined. Additionally, the explained characteristics of “Generation Y” have been put forward and the duties of families and society have been stated as well.

Keywords: social media, "generation Y", terrorist organization, islamic state IS

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Authors: Bahram Khan, Anderson Rocha Ramos, Rui R. Paulo, Fernando J. Velez

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With the growing demand for a new blend of applications, the users dependency on the internet is increasing day by day. Mobile internet users are giving more attention to their own experiences, especially in terms of communication reliability, high data rates and service stability on move. This increase in the demand is causing saturation of existing radio frequency bands. To address these challenges, researchers are investigating the best approaches, Carrier Aggregation (CA) is one of the newest innovations, which seems to fulfill the demands of the future spectrum, also CA is one the most important feature for Long Term Evolution - Advanced (LTE-Advanced). For this purpose to get the upcoming International Mobile Telecommunication Advanced (IMT-Advanced) mobile requirements (1 Gb/s peak data rate), the CA scheme is presented by 3GPP, which would sustain a high data rate using widespread frequency bandwidth up to 100 MHz. Technical issues such as aggregation structure, its implementations, deployment scenarios, control signal techniques, and challenges for CA technique in LTE-Advanced, with consideration of backward compatibility, are highlighted in this paper. Also, performance evaluation in macro-cellular scenarios through a simulation approach is presented, which shows the benefits of applying CA, low-complexity multi-band schedulers in service quality, system capacity enhancement and concluded that enhanced multi-band scheduler is less complex than the general multi-band scheduler, which performs better for a cell radius longer than 1800 m (and a PLR threshold of 2%).

Keywords: component carrier, carrier aggregation, LTE-advanced, scheduling

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Authors: Fotios Spyropoulos, Evangelia Androulaki, Vasileios Karagiannopoulos, Aristotelis Kompothrekas, Nikolaos Karagiannis

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The problem of 'fake news' and 'hoaxes' has dominated in recent years the field of news, politics, economy, safety, and security as dissemination of false information can intensively affect and mislead public discourse and public opinion. The widespread use of internet and social media platforms can substantially intensify these effects, which often include public fear and insecurity. Misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation have also been blamed for affecting election results in multiple countries, and since then, there have been efforts to tackle the phenomenon both on national and international level. The presentation will focus on methods of prevention of disseminating false information on social media and on the internet and will discuss relevant criminological views. The challenges that have arisen for criminal law will be covered, taking into account the potential need for a multi-national approach required in order to mitigate the extent and negative impact of the fake news phenomenon. Finally, the analysis will include a discussion on the potential usefulness of non-legal modalities of regulation and crime prevention, especially situational and social measures of prevention and the possibility of combining an array of methods to achieve better results on national and international level. This project has received funding from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), under grant agreement No 80529.

Keywords: cybercrime, disinformation, fake news, prevention

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Authors: Jae Hyun Park, Sangmi Chai, Minkyun Kim

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As users spend more time on the Internet, the probability of their personal information being exposed has been growing. This research has a main purpose of investigating factors and examining relationships when Internet users recognize their value of private information with a perspective of an economic asset. The study is targeted on Internet users, and the value of their private information will be converted into economic figures. Moreover, how economic value changes in relation with individual attributes, dealer’s traits, circumstantial properties will be studied. In this research, the changes in factors on private information value responding to different situations will be analyzed in an economic perspective. Additionally, this study examines the associations between users’ perceived risk and value of their personal information. By using the cost-benefit analysis framework, the hypothesis that the user’s sense in private information value can be influenced by individual attributes and situational properties will be tested. Therefore, this research will attempt to provide answers for three research objectives. First, this research will identify factors that affect value recognition of users’ personal information. Second, it provides evidences that there are differences on information system users’ economic value of information responding to personal, trade opponent, and situational attributes. Third, it investigates the impact of those attributes on individuals’ perceived risk. Based on the assumption that personal, trade opponent and situation attributes make an impact on the users’ value recognition on private information, this research will present the understandings on the different impacts of those attributes in recognizing the value of information with the economic perspective and prove the associative relationships between perceived risk and decision on the value of users’ personal information. In order to validate our research model, this research used the regression methodology. Our research results support that information breach experience and information security systems is associated with users’ perceived risk. Information control and uncertainty are also related to users’ perceived risk. Therefore, users’ perceived risk is considered as a significant factor on evaluating the value of personal information. It can be differentiated by trade opponent and situational attributes. This research presents new perspective on evaluating the value of users’ personal information in the context of perceived risk, personal, trade opponent and situational attributes. It fills the gap in the literature by providing how users’ perceived risk are associated with personal, trade opponent and situation attitudes in conducting business transactions with providing personal information. It adds to previous literature that the relationship exists between perceived risk and the value of users’ private information in the economic perspective. It also provides meaningful insights to the managers that in order to minimize the cost of information breach, managers need to recognize the value of individuals’ personal information and decide the proper amount of investments on protecting users’ online information privacy.

Keywords: private information, value, users, perceived risk, online information privacy, attributes

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Authors: Matthew Heidman, Susan Dallabrida, Analice Costa

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For infant caregivers, choosing an infant formula for their child can be a difficult task in an already stressful environment of caring for a newborn. There exist several channels that influence purchasing decision of infant formula such as, friends and family and their experiences, health care professionals, social media influencers, as well as standard media marketing. This study sought to identify the key channels by which caregivers obtain information regarding infant formula and help them make their purchasing decision. A digital survey was issued for 90 days in the US (n=121) and 30 days in Mexico (n=88) targeting respondents with children ≤4 years of age. Respondents were asked two key questions regarding the influences on their purchasing decisions: 1) “When choosing a formula brand, what do you do to help you make your decision?”, and 2) “When choosing a formula brand, what is most important to you?”. A list of potential answers was provided for each question and respondents were asked to select all that apply to them. Lastly, respondents were provided a 5-point Likert scale and asked to respond to the statement 3) “I am more likely to buy a particular formula brand if my pediatrician recommends it to me”. For question 1, in the US and Mexico, 76% and 95% of respondents respectively, selected “I ask my pediatrician” which represented the top selection. For question 2, 52% and 45% of respondents respectively, selected “On package “Pediatrician Recommended” claim…” which also represented the top selection. For statement 3, 82% and 89% of respondents respectively, stated that they either “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement. For infant caregivers, the pediatrician is a very important channel of influence when it comes to purchasing decision of infant formula. Caregivers clearly see the pediatrician as the arbiter of their child’s nutrition and seek their recommendations for infant formula use. For infant formula manufacturers, it is important that they see the pediatrician as the gatekeeper to this market, and they put resources into medical marketing communication to this health care professional group to ensure success.

Keywords: infant formula, pediatrician, purchasing driver, caregiver

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Authors: Surichai Butcha, Dararat Khampusaen

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As the Internet is recognized as a high potential and powerful educational tool to access sources of knowledge, plagiarism is an increasing unethical issue found in students’ writing. This paper is deriving from the 1st phase of an on-going study investigating the effects of the supplementary on citing sources on undergraduate students’ writing. The 40 participants were divided into 1 experimental group and 1 control group. Both groups were administered with a questionnaire on knowledge and an interview on attitude related to using sources in writing. Only the experimental group undertook the 4 lessons focusing on using outside sources and citing the original work (quoting, synthesizing, summarizing and paraphrasing) were delivered to them via e-learning tools throughout a semester. Participants were required to produce 4 writing tasks after each lesson. The results were concerned with types and factors on using outside sources in writing of Thai undergraduate EFL students from the survey. The interview results supported and clarified the survey result. In addition, the writing rubrics confirmed the types of plagiarism frequently occurred in students’ writing. The results revealed the types and factors on plagiarism including their perceptions on using the outside sources in their writing from the interview. The discussion shed the lights on cultural dimensions of plagiarism in student writing, roles of teachers, library, and university policy on the rate of plagiarism. Also, the findings promoted the awareness on ethics in writing and prevented the rate of potential unintentional plagiarism. Additionally, the results of this phase of study could lead to the appropriate contents to be considered for inclusion in the supplementary on using sources for writing for future research.

Keywords: citing source, EFL writing, e-learning, Internet, plagiarism

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Authors: Yibeltal Chanie Manie, Zebider Asire Munyelet

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5G and 6G technology offers enhanced quality of service with high data transmission rates, which necessitates the implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) in 5G/6G architecture. In this paper, we proposed the integration of free space optical communication (FSO) with fiber sensor networks for IoT applications. Recently, free-space optical communications (FSO) are gaining popularity as an effective alternative technology to the limited availability of radio frequency (RF) spectrum. FSO is gaining popularity due to flexibility, high achievable optical bandwidth, and low power consumption in several applications of communications, such as disaster recovery, last-mile connectivity, drones, surveillance, backhaul, and satellite communications. Hence, high-speed FSO is an optimal choice for wireless networks to satisfy the full potential of 5G/6G technology, offering 100 Gbit/s or more speed in IoT applications. Moreover, machine learning must be integrated into the design, planning, and optimization of future optical wireless communication networks in order to actualize this vision of intelligent processing and operation. In addition, fiber sensors are important to achieve real-time, accurate, and smart monitoring in IoT applications. Moreover, we proposed deep learning techniques to estimate the strain changes and peak wavelength of multiple Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors using only the spectrum of FBGs obtained from the real experiment.

Keywords: optical sensor, artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, free-space optics

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Authors: Lisa Robins, Jill Newby, Kay Wilhelm, Therese Fletcher, Jessica Smith, Trevor Ma, Adam Finch, Lesley Campbell, Jerry Greenfield, Gavin Andrews

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Background:Depression treatment for people living with depression comorbid with diabetes is of critical importance for improving quality of life and diabetes self-management, however depression remains under-recognised and under-treated in this population. Cost—effective and accessible forms of depression treatment that can enhance the delivery of mental health services in routine diabetes care are needed. Provision of internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (iCBT) provides a promising way to deliver effective depression treatment to people with diabetes. Aims:To explore the outcomes of the clinician assisted iCBT program for people with comorbid Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and diabetes compared to those who remain under usual care. The main hypotheses are that: (1) Participants in the treatment group would show a significant improvement on disorder specific measures (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9) relative to those in the control group; (2) Participants in the treatment group will show a decrease in diabetes-related distress relative to those in the control group. This study will also examine: (1) the effect of iCBT for MDD on disability (as measured by the SF-12 and SDS), general distress (as measured by the K10), (2) the feasibility of these treatments in terms of acceptability to diabetes patients and practicality for clinicians (as measured by the Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire; CEQ). We hypothesise that associated disability, and general distress will reduce, and that patients with comorbid MDD and diabetes will rate the program as acceptable. Method:Recruit 100 people with MDD comorbid with diabetes (either Type 1 or Type 2), and randomly allocate to: iCBT (over 10 weeks) or treatment as usual (TAU) for 10 weeks, then iCBT. Measure pre- and post-intervention MDD severity, anxiety, diabetes-related distress, distress, disability, HbA1c, lifestyle, adherence, satisfaction with clinicians input and the treatment. Results:Preliminary results comparing MDD symptom levels, anxiety, diabetes-specific distress, distress, disability, HbA1c levels, and lifestyle factors from baseline to conclusion of treatment will be presented, as well as data on adherence to the lessons, homework downloads, satisfaction with the clinician's input and satisfaction with the mode of treatment generally.

Keywords: cognitive behaviour therapy, depression, diabetes, internet

Procedia PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Hiroaki Fukuda

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This paper shows a concurrent development process for modern web application, called Rich Internet Application (RIA), and describes its effect using a non-trivial application development. In the last years, RIAs such as Ajax and Flex have become popular based mainly on high-speed network. RIA provides sophisticated interfaces and user experiences, therefore, the development of RIA requires two kinds of engineer: a developer who implements business logic, and a designer who designs interface and experiences. Although collaborative works are becoming important for the development of RIAs, shared resources such as source code make it difficult. For example, if a design of interface is modified after developers have finished business logic implementations, they need to repeat the same implementations, and also tests to verify application’s behavior. MVC architecture and Object-oriented programming (OOP) enables to dividing an application into modules such as interfaces and logic, however, developers and/or designers have to write pieces of code (e.g., event handlers) that make these modules work as an application. On the other hand, Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is ex- pected to solve complexity of application software development nowadays. AOP provides methods to separate crosscutting concerns that are scattered pieces of code from primary concerns. In this paper, we provide a concurrent development process for RIAs by introducing AOP concept. This process makes it possible to reduce shared resources between developers and designers, therefore they can perform their tasks concurrently. In addition, we describe experiences of development for a practical application using our proposed development process to show its availability.

Keywords: aspect-oriented programming, concurrent, development process, rich internet application

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Celina Nowak

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The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and a consequent growth of cyberspace have become a reality of modern societies. The newest addition to this complex structure has been Internet of Things which is due to the appearance of smart devices. IoT creates a new dimension of the network, as the communication is no longer the domain of just humans, but has also become possible between devices themselves. The possibility of communication between devices, devoid of human intervention and real-time supervision, generated new societal and legal challenges. Some of them may and certainly will eventually be connected to criminal law. Legislators both on national and international level have been struggling to cope with this technologically evolving environment in order to address new threats created by the ICT. There are legal instruments on cybercrime, however imperfect and not of universal scope, sometimes referring to specific types of prohibited behaviors undertaken by criminals, such as money laundering, sex offences. However, the criminal law seems largely not prepared to the challenges which may arise because of the development of IoT. This is largely due to the fact that criminal law, both on national and international level, is still based on the concept of perpetration of an offence by a human being. This is a traditional approach, historically and factually justified. Over time, some legal systems have developed or accepted the possibility of commission of an offence by a corporation, a legal person. This is in fact a legal fiction, as a legal person cannot commit an offence as such, it needs humans to actually behave in a certain way on its behalf. Yet, the legislators have come to understand that corporations have their own interests and may benefit from crime – and therefore need to be penalized. This realization however has not been welcome by all states and still give rise to doubts of ontological and theoretical nature in many legal systems. For this reason, in many legislations the liability of legal persons for commission of an offence has not been recognized as criminal responsibility. With the technological progress and the growing use of IoT the discussions referring to criminal responsibility of corporations seem rather inadequate. The world is now facing new challenges and new threats related to the ‘smart’ things. They will have to be eventually addressed by legislators if they want to, as they should, to keep up with the pace of technological and societal evolution. This will however require a reevaluation and possibly restructuring of the most fundamental notions of modern criminal law, such as perpetration, guilt, participation in crime. It remains unclear at this point what norms and legal concepts will be and may be established. The main goal of the research is to point out to the challenges ahead of the national and international legislators in the said context and to attempt to formulate some indications as to the directions of changes, having in mind serious threats related to privacy and security related to the use of IoT.

Keywords: criminal law, internet of things, privacy, security threats

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Tayaa Karima, Bouaziz Amina

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Today's world is knowledge-based; everything we do is somehow connected with technology which it has a remarkable influence on socio-cultural and economic developments, including educational settings. This type of technology is supported in many teaching/learning setting where the medium of instruction is through computer technology, and particularly involving digital technologies. There has been much debate over the use of computers and the internet in foreign language teaching for more than two decades. Various studies highlights that the integration of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in foreign language teaching will have positive effects on both the teachers and students to help them be aware of the modernized world and meet the current demands of the globalised world. Information and communication technology has been gradually integrated in foreign learning environment as a platform for providing learners with learning opportunities. Thus, the impact of ICT on language teaching and learning has been acknowledged globally, this is because of the fundamental role that it plays in the enhancement of teaching and learning quality, modify the pedagogical practice, and motivate learners. Due to ICT related developments, many Maghreb countries regard ICT as a tool for changes and innovations in education. Therefore, the ministry of education attempted to set up computer laboratories and provide internet connection in the schools. Investment in ICT for educational innovations and improvement purposes has been continuing the need of teacher who will employ it in the classroom as vital role of the curriculum. ICT does not have an educational value in itself, but it becomes precious when teachers use it in learning and teaching process. This paper examines the impacts of ICT on teacher development rather than on teaching quality and highlights some challenges facing using ICT in the language learning/teaching.

Keywords: information communications technology (ICT), integration, foreign language teaching, teacher development, learning opportunity

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Betül Garda

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Technological developments have diversified marketing activities of the tourism sector and it has increased tourism opportunities to compete on a global scale for tourism businesses. Tourism businesses have been forced to use its core skills and knowledge effectively with the increase in effectiveness of the technology in the global competitive environment. Tourism businesses have been reached beyond the traditional boundaries because of their commercial activities, so, the boundaries of the national market either eliminated or blurred. Therefore, the internet is the alternative promotion tool and distribution channel to providing unlimited facilities for tourism suppliers. For example, the internet provides an opportunity to reach customers on a global scale with direct email marketing, advertising, customer service, promotion, sales, and marketing. Tourism businesses have improved themselves with the continuous information flows and also they have provided the permanence of the changes. Especially in terms of tourism businesses, social media is emerging as an extremely important tool in the use of knowledge effectively. This research paper investigates the impact of social media on the tourism businesses. A social networking site is a type of social media that provides a platform for business and people to connect with each other. Social media is so flexible that it can be used for both leisure and business purposes. In the tourism industry, social networking sites are one of the essential tools that play an important and beneficial role. The topic that will be discussed in this research paper are consumer behavior, connection with consumers, effectiveness in terms of time and cost, creating brand awareness and building the image of the company, promoting company, targeting consumers in a conceptual frame.

Keywords: branding, promoting, social media in tourism, tourism marketing tools

Procedia PDF Downloads 283

Authors: Devanjan Bhattacharya, Jitka Komarkova

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The research describes the implementation of a novel and stand-alone system for dynamic hazard warning. The system uses all existing infrastructure already in place like mobile networks, a laptop/PC and the small installation software. The geospatial dataset are the maps of a region which are again frugal. Hence there is no need to invest and it reaches everyone with a mobile. A novel architecture of hazard assessment and warning introduced where major technologies in ICT interfaced to give a unique WebGIS based dynamic real time geohazard warning communication system. A never before architecture introduced for integrating WebGIS with telecommunication technology. Existing technologies interfaced in a novel architectural design to address a neglected domain in a way never done before–through dynamically updatable WebGIS based warning communication. The work publishes new architecture and novelty in addressing hazard warning techniques in sustainable way and user friendly manner. Coupling of hazard zonation and hazard warning procedures into a single system has been shown. Generalized architecture for deciphering a range of geo-hazards has been developed. Hence the developmental work presented here can be summarized as the development of internet-SMS based automated geo-hazard warning communication system; integrating a warning communication system with a hazard evaluation system; interfacing different open-source technologies towards design and development of a warning system; modularization of different technologies towards development of a warning communication system; automated data creation, transformation and dissemination over different interfaces. The architecture of the developed warning system has been functionally automated as well as generalized enough that can be used for any hazard and setup requirement has been kept to a minimum.

Keywords: geospatial, web-based GIS, geohazard, warning system

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: Petra Hofmann, Dana Koniel, Jussi Luukkanen, Walter Nieminen, Lea Hannola, Ilkka Donoghue

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The Covid-19 pandemic forced people to isolate and become physically less connected. The pandemic hasnot only reshaped people’s behaviours and needs but also accelerated digital transformation (DT). DT of cities has become an imperative with the outlook of converting them into smart cities in the future. Embedding digital infrastructure and smart city initiatives as part of the normal design, construction, and operation of cities provides a unique opportunity to improve connection between people. Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology and one of the drivers in DT. It has disrupted many industries by introducing different services and business models, and IoT solutions are being applied in multiple fields, including smart cities. As IoT and data are fundamentally linked together, IoT solutions can only create value if the data generated by the IoT devices is analysed properly. Extracting relevant conclusions and actionable insights by using established techniques, data analytics contributes significantly to the growth and success of IoT applications and investments. Companies must grasp DT and be prepared to redesign their offerings and business models to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. As there are many IoT solutions available today, the amount of data is tremendous. The challenge for companies is to understand what solutions to focus on and how to prioritise and which data to differentiate from the competition. This paper explains how IoT and data analytics can impact competitive advantage and how companies should approach IoT and data analytics to translate them into concrete offerings and solutions in the smart city context. The study was carried out as a qualitative, literature-based research. A case study is provided to validate the preservation of company’s competitive advantage through smart city solutions. The results of the researchcontribution provide insights into the different factors and considerations related to creating competitive advantage through IoT and data analytics deployment in the smart city context. Furthermore, this paper proposes a framework that merges the factors and considerations with examples of offerings and solutions in smart cities. The data collected through IoT devices, and the intelligent use of it, can create a competitive advantage to companies operating in smart city business. Companies should take into consideration the five forces of competition that shape industries and pay attention to the technological, organisational, and external contexts which define factors for consideration of competitive advantages in the field of IoT and data analytics. Companies that can utilise these key assets in their businesses will most likely conquer the markets and have a strong foothold in the smart city business.

Keywords: internet of things, data analytics, smart cities, competitive advantage

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Tannia Vindel, Carlos Mejia, Damaris Araujo, Carlos Velasquez, Darlin Trejo

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The DWDM (Dense Wavelenght Division Multiplexing) is in constant growth around the world by consumer demand to meet their needs. Since its inception in this operation arises the need for a system which enable us to expand the communication of an entire nation to improve the computing trends of their societies according to their customs and geographical location. The Honduran Company of Telecommunications (HONDUTEL), provides the internet services and data transport technology with a PDH and SDH, which represents in the Republic of Honduras C. A., the option of viability for the consumer in terms of purchase value and its ease of acquisition; but does not have the efficiency in terms of technological advance and represents an obstacle that limits the long-term socio-economic development in comparison with other countries in the region and to be able to establish a competition between telecommunications companies that are engaged in this heading. For that reason we propose to establish a new technological trend implemented in Europe and that is applied in our country that allows us to provide a data transfer in broadband as it is DWDM, in this way we will have a stable service and quality that will allow us to compete in this globalized world, and that must be replaced by one that would provide a better service and which must be in the forefront. Once implemented the DWDM is build upon the existing resources, such as the equipment used, and you will be given life to a new stage providing a business image to the Republic of Honduras C,A, as a nation, to ensure the data transport and broadband internet to a meaningful relationship. Same benefits in the first instance to existing customers and to all the institutions were bidden to these public and private need of such services.

Keywords: demultiplexers, light detectors, multiplexers, optical amplifiers, optical fibers, PDH, SDH

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Yonit Nissim, Eyal Weissblueth

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This research is the continuation of a process that began in 2010 with the goal of redesigning the training program for future early childhood teachers at the Ohalo College, to integrate technology and provide 21st-century skills. The article focuses on a study of the processes involved in developing a special educational unit which challenged students with the task of designing, planning and building an internet site for kindergartens. This project was part of their second-year studies in the early childhood track of an interdisciplinary course entitled 'Educating for the Future.' The goal: enabling students to gain experience in developing an internet site specifically for kindergartens, and gain familiarity with Google platforms, the acquisition and use of innovative skills and the integration of technology in pedagogy. Research questions examined how students handled the task of building an internet site. The study explored whether the guided process of building a site helped them develop proficiency in creativity, teamwork, evaluation and learning appropriate to the 21st century. The research tool was a questionnaire constructed by the researchers and distributed online to the students. Answers were collected from 50-course participants. Analysis of the participants’ responses showed that, along with the significant experience and benefits that students gained from building a website for kindergarten, ambivalence was shown toward the use of new, unfamiliar and complex technology. This attitude was characterized by unease and initial emotional distress triggered by the departure from routine training to an island of uncertainty. A gradual change took place toward the adoption of innovation with the help of empathy, training, and guidance from the instructors, leading to the students’ success in carrying out the task. Initial success led to further successes, resulting in a quality product and a feeling of personal competency among the students. A clear and extreme emotional shift was observed on the spectrum from a sense of difficulty and dissatisfaction to feelings of satisfaction, joy, competency and cognitive understanding of the importance of facing a challenge and succeeding. The findings of this study can contribute to increased understanding of the complex training process of future kindergarten teachers, coping with a changing world, and pedagogy that is supported by technology.

Keywords: early childhood teachers, educating for the future, emotions, kindergarten website

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Gregory E. Ofili

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Introduction and Objective: Climate change and a global economy mean farmers must adapt and gain access to affordable and reliable automation technologies. Key barriers include a lack of transportation, electricity, and internet service, coupled with costly enabling technologies and limited local subject matter expertise. Methodology/Approach: Resourcefulness is essential to mechanization on a farm. This runs contrary to the tech industry practice of planned obsolescence and disposal. One solution is plug-and-play hardware that allows farmer to assemble, repair, program, and service their own fleet of industrial machines. To that end, we developed a method of manufacturing low-cost utility robots, transport vehicles, and solar/wind energy harvesting systems, all running on an open-source Robot Operating System (ROS). We demonstrate this technology by fabricating a utility robot and an all-terrain (4X4) utility vehicle. Constructed of aluminum trusses and weighing just 40 pounds, yet capable of transporting 200 pounds of cargo, on sale for less than $2,000. Conclusions & Policy Implications: Electricity, internet, and automation are essential for productivity and competitiveness. With planned obsolescence, the priorities of technology suppliers are not aligned with the farmer’s realities. This patent-pending method of manufacturing low-cost industrial robots and electric vehicles has met its objective. To create low-cost machines, the farmer can assemble, program, and repair with basic hand tools.

Keywords: automation, robotics, utility robot, small-hold farm, robot operating system

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Tae Bo Jeon

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Korean air force is undertaking a big project to replace prevailing hundreds of old air fighters such as F-4, F-5, KF-16 etc. The task is to develop and produce domestic fighters equipped with 2 complete-type engines each. A large number of engines, however, will be purchased as products from a foreign engine maker. In addition to the fighters themselves, secure the proper number of spare engines serves a significant role in maintaining combat readiness and effectively managing the national defense budget due to high cost. In this paper, we presented a model dynamically updating spare engine requirements. Currently, the military administration purchases all the fighters, engines, and spare engines at acquisition stage and does not have additional procurement processes during the life cycle, 30-40 years. With the assumption that procurement procedure during the operational stage is established, our model starts from the initial estimate of spare engine requirements based on limited information. The model then performs military missions and repair/maintenance works when necessary. During operation, detailed field information - aircraft repair and test, engine repair, planned maintenance, administration time, transportation pipeline between base, field, and depot etc., - should be considered for actual engine requirements. At the end of each year, the performance measure is recorded and proceeds to next year when it shows higher the threshold set. Otherwise, additional engine(s) will be bought and added to the current system. We repeat the process for the life cycle period and compare the results. The proposed model is seen to generate far better results appropriately adding spare engines thus avoiding possible undesirable situations. Our model may well be applied to future air force military operations.

Keywords: DMSMS, operational availability, METRIC, PRS

Procedia PDF Downloads 172