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1 – 10 of 291
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 September 2021

Damian Gordon, Ioannis Stavrakakis, J. Paul Gibson, Brendan Tierney, Anna Becevel, Andrea Curley, Michael Collins, William O’Mahony and Dympna O’Sullivan

Computing ethics represents a long established, yet rapidly evolving, discipline that grows in complexity and scope on a near-daily basis. Therefore, to help understand some of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Computing ethics represents a long established, yet rapidly evolving, discipline that grows in complexity and scope on a near-daily basis. Therefore, to help understand some of that scope it is essential to incorporate a range of perspectives, from a range of stakeholders, on current and emerging ethical challenges associated with computer technology. This study aims to achieve this by using, a three-pronged, stakeholder analysis of Computer Science academics, ICT industry professionals, and citizen groups was undertaken to explore what they consider to be crucial computing ethics concerns. The overlap between these stakeholder groups are explored, as well as whether their concerns are reflected in the existing literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection was performed using focus groups, and the data was analysed using a thematic analysis. The data was also analysed to determine if there were overlaps between the literature and the stakeholders’ concerns and attitudes towards computing ethics.

Findings

The results of the focus group analysis show a mixture of overlapping concerns between the different groups, as well as some concerns that are unique to each of the specific groups. All groups stressed the importance of data as a key topic in computing ethics. This includes concerns around the accuracy, completeness and representativeness of data sets used to develop computing applications. Academics were concerned with the best ways to teach computing ethics to university students. Industry professionals believed that a lack of diversity in software teams resulted in important questions not being asked during design and development. Citizens discussed at length the negative and unexpected impacts of social media applications. These are all topics that have gained broad coverage in the literature.

Social implications

In recent years, the impact of ICT on society and the environment at large has grown tremendously. From this fast-paced growth, a myriad of ethical concerns have arisen. The analysis aims to shed light on what a diverse group of stakeholders consider the most important social impacts of technology and whether these concerns are reflected in the literature on computing ethics. The outcomes of this analysis will form the basis for new teaching content that will be developed in future to help illuminate and address these concerns.

Originality/value

The multi-stakeholder analysis provides individual and differing perspectives on the issues related to the rapidly evolving discipline of computing ethics.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Michel van Eeten

The issue of cybersecurity has been cast as the focal point of a fight between two conflicting governance models: the nation-state model of national security and the global…

5261

Abstract

Purpose

The issue of cybersecurity has been cast as the focal point of a fight between two conflicting governance models: the nation-state model of national security and the global governance model of multi-stakeholder collaboration, as seen in forums like IGF, IETF, ICANN, etc. There is a strange disconnect, however, between this supposed fight and the actual control over cybersecurity “on the ground”. This paper aims to reconnect discourse and control via a property rights approach, where control is located first and foremost in ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first conceptualizes current governance mechanisms through ownership and property rights. These concepts locate control over internet resources. They also help us understand ongoing shifts in control. Such shifts in governance are actually happening, security governance is being patched left and right, but these arrangements bear little resemblance to either the national security model of states or the global model of multi-stakeholder collaboration. With the conceptualization in hand, the paper then presents case studies of governance that have emerged around specific security externalities.

Findings

While not all mechanisms are equally effective, in each of the studied areas, the author found evidence of private actors partially internalizing the externalities, mostly on a voluntary basis and through network governance mechanisms. No one thinks that this is enough, but it is a starting point. Future research is needed to identify how these mechanisms can be extended or supplemented to further improve the governance of cybersecurity.

Originality/value

This paper bridges together the disconnected research communities on governance and (technical) cybersecurity.

Details

Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5038

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 May 2022

Akhilesh S Thyagaturu, Giang Nguyen, Bhaskar Prasad Rimal and Martin Reisslein

Cloud computing originated in central data centers that are connected to the backbone of the Internet. The network transport to and from a distant data center incurs long…

1073

Abstract

Purpose

Cloud computing originated in central data centers that are connected to the backbone of the Internet. The network transport to and from a distant data center incurs long latencies that hinder modern low-latency applications. In order to flexibly support the computing demands of users, cloud computing is evolving toward a continuum of cloud computing resources that are distributed between the end users and a distant data center. The purpose of this review paper is to concisely summarize the state-of-the-art in the evolving cloud computing field and to outline research imperatives.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors identify two main dimensions (or axes) of development of cloud computing: the trend toward flexibility of scaling computing resources, which the authors denote as Flex-Cloud, and the trend toward ubiquitous cloud computing, which the authors denote as Ubi-Cloud. Along these two axes of Flex-Cloud and Ubi-Cloud, the authors review the existing research and development and identify pressing open problems.

Findings

The authors find that extensive research and development efforts have addressed some Ubi-Cloud and Flex-Cloud challenges resulting in exciting advances to date. However, a wide array of research challenges remains open, thus providing a fertile field for future research and development.

Originality/value

This review paper is the first to define the concept of the Ubi-Flex-Cloud as the two-dimensional research and design space for cloud computing research and development. The Ubi-Flex-Cloud concept can serve as a foundation and reference framework for planning and positioning future cloud computing research and development efforts.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 July 2020

Ado Adamou Abba Ari, Olga Kengni Ngangmo, Chafiq Titouna, Ousmane Thiare, Kolyang, Alidou Mohamadou and Abdelhak Mourad Gueroui

The Cloud of Things (IoT) that refers to the integration of the Cloud Computing (CC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), has dramatically changed the way treatments are done in the…

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Abstract

The Cloud of Things (IoT) that refers to the integration of the Cloud Computing (CC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), has dramatically changed the way treatments are done in the ubiquitous computing world. This integration has become imperative because the important amount of data generated by IoT devices needs the CC as a storage and processing infrastructure. Unfortunately, security issues in CoT remain more critical since users and IoT devices continue to share computing as well as networking resources remotely. Moreover, preserving data privacy in such an environment is also a critical concern. Therefore, the CoT is continuously growing up security and privacy issues. This paper focused on security and privacy considerations by analyzing some potential challenges and risks that need to be resolved. To achieve that, the CoT architecture and existing applications have been investigated. Furthermore, a number of security as well as privacy concerns and issues as well as open challenges, are discussed in this work.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. 20 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 October 2018

Jing Liu, Zhiwen Pan, Jingce Xu, Bing Liang, Yiqiang Chen and Wen Ji

With the development of machine learning techniques, the artificial intelligence systems such as crowd networks are becoming more autonomous and smart. Therefore, there is a…

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Abstract

Purpose

With the development of machine learning techniques, the artificial intelligence systems such as crowd networks are becoming more autonomous and smart. Therefore, there is a growing demand for developing a universal intelligence measurement so that the intelligence of artificial intelligence systems can be evaluated. This paper aims to propose a more formalized and accurate machine intelligence measurement method.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a quality–time–complexity universal intelligence measurement method to measure the intelligence of agents.

Findings

By observing the interaction process between the agent and the environment, we abstract three major factors for intelligence measure as quality, time and complexity of environment.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a calculable universal intelligent measure method through considering more than two factors and the correlations between factors which are involved in an intelligent measurement.

Details

International Journal of Crowd Science, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-7294

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Morteza Moradi, Mohammad Moradi, Farhad Bayat and Adel Nadjaran Toosi

Human or machine, which one is more intelligent and powerful for performing computing and processing tasks? Over the years, researchers and scientists have spent significant…

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Abstract

Purpose

Human or machine, which one is more intelligent and powerful for performing computing and processing tasks? Over the years, researchers and scientists have spent significant amounts of money and effort to answer this question. Nonetheless, despite some outstanding achievements, replacing humans in the intellectual tasks is not yet a reality. Instead, to compensate for the weakness of machines in some (mostly cognitive) tasks, the idea of putting human in the loop has been introduced and widely accepted. In this paper, the notion of collective hybrid intelligence as a new computing framework and comprehensive.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the extensive acceptance and efficiency of crowdsourcing, hybrid intelligence and distributed computing concepts, the authors have come up with the (complementary) idea of collective hybrid intelligence. In this regard, besides providing a brief review of the efforts made in the related contexts, conceptual foundations and building blocks of the proposed framework are delineated. Moreover, some discussion on architectural and realization issues are presented.

Findings

The paper describes the conceptual architecture, workflow and schematic representation of a new hybrid computing concept. Moreover, by introducing three sample scenarios, its benefits, requirements, practical roadmap and architectural notes are explained.

Originality/value

The major contribution of this work is introducing the conceptual foundations to combine and integrate collective intelligence of humans and machines to achieve higher efficiency and (computing) performance. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this the first study in which such a blessing integration is considered. Therefore, it is believed that the proposed computing concept could inspire researchers toward realizing such unprecedented possibilities in practical and theoretical contexts.

Details

International Journal of Crowd Science, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-7294

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Yuqin Wang, Bing Liang, Wen Ji, Shiwei Wang and Yiqiang Chen

In the past few years, millions of people started to acquire knowledge from the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs contain massive video courses produced by instructors…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the past few years, millions of people started to acquire knowledge from the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs contain massive video courses produced by instructors, and learners all over the world can get access to these courses via the internet. However, faced with massive courses, learners often waste much time finding courses they like. This paper aims to explore the problem that how to make accurate personalized recommendations for MOOC users.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a multi-attribute weight algorithm based on collaborative filtering (CF) to select a recommendation set of courses for target MOOC users.

Findings

The recall of the proposed algorithm in this paper is higher than both the traditional CF and a CF-based algorithm – uncertain neighbors’ collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm. The higher the recall is, the more accurate the recommendation result is.

Originality/value

This paper reflects the target users’ preferences for the first time by calculating separately the weight of the attributes and the weight of attribute values of the courses.

Details

International Journal of Crowd Science, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-7294

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 October 2021

Sarandis Mitropoulos and Christos Douligeris

In the new digital age, enterprises are facing an increasing global competition. In this paper, we first examine how Information Technology (IT) can play an important role in…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the new digital age, enterprises are facing an increasing global competition. In this paper, we first examine how Information Technology (IT) can play an important role in giving significant competitive advantage in the modern enterprises. The business value of IT is examined, as well as the limitations and the trade-offs that its applicability faces. Next, we present the basic principles for a successful IT strategy, considering the development of a long-term IT renovation plan, the strategic alignment of IT with the business strategy, and the adoption of an integrated, distributed, and interoperable IT platform. Finally, we examine how a highly functional and efficient IT organization can be developed.

Design/methodology/approach

Our methodological approach was based to the answers of the following questions: 1. Does IT still matter? 2. What is the business value created by IT along with the corresponding limitations and trade-offs? 3. How could a successful IT Strategy be build up? 4. How could an effective? T planning aligned with the business strategy be build up? 5. How could a homogenized and distributed corporate IT platform be developed? and finally, 6. How could a high-performance IT-enabled enterprise be build up?

Findings

The enterprises in order to succeed in the new digital area need to: 1. synchronize their IT strategy with their business strategy, 2. formulate a long-term IT strategy, 3. adopt IT systems and solutions that are implemented with elasticity, interoperability, distribution, and service-orientation. 4. keep a strategic direction towards the creation of an exceptional organization based on IT.

Originality/value

This paper is original with respect to the integrated approach the overall problem is examined. There is a prototype combined investigation of all perspectives for an effective enforcement of IT in a way that causes acceleration in competitive advantage when conducting business.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2018

Ruwini Edirisinghe

The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of the future smart construction site.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a systematic and hierarchical classification of 114 articles from both industry and academia on the digital skin concept and evaluates them. The hierarchical classification is based on application areas relevant to construction, such as augmented reality, building information model-based visualisation, labour tracking, supply chain tracking, safety management, mobile equipment tracking and schedule and progress monitoring. Evaluations of the research papers were conducted based on three pillars: validation of technological feasibility, onsite application and user acceptance testing.

Findings

Technologies learned about in the literature review enabled the envisaging of the pervasive construction site of the future. The paper presents scenarios for the future context-aware construction site, including the construction worker, construction procurement management and future real-time safety management systems.

Originality/value

Based on the gaps identified by the review in the body of knowledge and on a broader analysis of technology diffusion, the paper highlights the research challenges to be overcome in the advent of digital skin. The paper recommends that researchers follow a coherent process for smart technology design, development and implementation in order to achieve this vision for the construction industry.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 December 2021

Jutta Haider, Veronica Johansson and Björn Hammarfelt

The article introduces selected theoretical approaches to time and temporality relevant to the field of library and information science, and it briefly introduces the papers…

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Abstract

Purpose

The article introduces selected theoretical approaches to time and temporality relevant to the field of library and information science, and it briefly introduces the papers gathered in this special issue. A number of issues that could potentially be followed in future research are presented.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review a selection of theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of time that originate in or are of particular relevance to library and information science. Four main themes are identified: (1) information as object in temporal perspectives; (2) time and information as tools of power and control; (3) time in society; and (4) experiencing and practicing time.

Findings

The paper advocates a thorough engagement with how time and temporality shape notions of information more broadly. This includes, for example, paying attention to how various dimensions of the late-modern time regime of acceleration feed into the ways in which information is operationalised, how information work is commodified, and how hierarchies of information are established; paying attention to the changing temporal dynamics that networked information systems imply for our understanding of documents or of memory institutions; or how external events such as social and natural crises quickly alter modes, speed, and forms of data production and use, in areas as diverse as information practices, policy, management, representation, and organisation, amongst others.

Originality/value

By foregrounding temporal perspectives in library and information science, the authors advocate dialogue with important perspectives on time that come from other fields. Rather than just including such perspectives in library and information science, however, the authors find that the focus on information and documents that the library and information science field contributes has great potential to advance the understanding of how notions and experiences of time shape late-modern societies and individuals.

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