Showing papers in "Future Internet in 2012"
TL;DR: The concept of an ecosystem is used to provide a framework for considering the outcomes of a workshop organized to generate a research and development agenda for open government, proposing that policymakers engage in strategic ecosystems thinking.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose to view the concept of open government from the perspective of an ecosystem, a metaphor often used by policy makers, scholars, and technology gurus to convey a sense of the interdependent social systems of actors, organizations, material infrastructures, and symbolic resources that can be created in technology-enabled, information-intensive social systems. We use the concept of an ecosystem to provide a framework for considering the outcomes of a workshop organized to generate a research and development agenda for open government. The agenda was produced in discussions among participants from the government (at the federal, state, and local levels), academic and civil sector communities at the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University at Albany, SUNY in April 2011. The paper begins by discussing concepts central to understanding what is meant by an ecosystem and some principles that characterize its functioning. We then apply this metaphor more directly to government, proposing that policymakers engage in strategic ecosystems thinking, which means being guided by the goal of explicitly and purposefully constructing open government ecosystems. From there, we present the research agenda questions essential to the development of this new view of government's interaction with users and organizations. Our goal is to call attention to some of the fundamental ways in which government must change in order to evolve from outdated industrial bureaucratic forms to information age networked and interdependent systems.
234 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that the digital and physical enmesh to form an “augmented reality” to explain why the current flammable atmosphere of augmented revolution is happening.
Abstract: The rise of mobile phones and social media may come to be historically coupled with a growing atmosphere of dissent that is enveloping much of the globe. The Arab Spring, UK Riots, Occupy and many other protests and so-called “flash-mobs” are all massive gatherings of digitally-connected individuals in physical space; and they have recently become the new normal. The primary role of technology in producing this atmosphere has, in part, been to effectively link the on and the offline. The trend to view these as separate spaces, what I call “digital dualism”, is faulty. Instead, I argue that the digital and physical enmesh to form an “augmented reality”. Linking the power of the digital–creating and disseminating networked information–with the power of the physical–occupying geographic space with flesh-and-blood bodies–is an important part of why we have this current flammable atmosphere of augmented revolution.
220 citations
TL;DR: The concept of “e-Health Cloud” is introduced highlighting many of its constituents and proposing building an e-health environment and elucidating many of the challenges confronting the success of the e- health Cloud are discussed.
Abstract: As the costs of healthcare services rise and healthcare professionals are becoming scarce and hard to find, it is imminent that healthcare organizations consider adopting health information technology (HIT) systems. HIT allows health organizations to streamline many of their processes and provide services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. The latest technological trends such as Cloud Computing (CC) provide a strong infrastructure and offer a true enabler for HIT services over the Internet. This can be achieved on a pay-as-you-use model of the “e-Health Cloud” to help the healthcare industry cope with current and future demands yet keeping their costs to a minimum. Despite its great potential, HIT as a CC model has not been addressed extensively in the literature. There are no apparent frameworks which clearly encompass all viable schemes and interrelationships between HIT and CC. Therefore, analyzing and comparing the effectiveness of such schemes is important. In this paper we introduce the concept of “e-Health Cloud” highlighting many of its constituents and proposing building an e-health environment and elucidating many of the challenges confronting the success of the e-Health Cloud. We will also discuss different possible solutions to address challenges such as security and privacy.
203 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents the analysis of Duqu, an information-collecting malware sharing striking similarities with Stuxnet, and the newest member of the family, called Gauss, whose unique feature is that one of its modules is encrypted such that it can only be decrypted on its target system.
Abstract: Stuxnet was the first targeted malware that received worldwide attention forcausing physical damage in an industrial infrastructure seemingly isolated from the onlineworld. Stuxnet was a powerful targeted cyber-attack, and soon other malware samples were discovered that belong to this family. In this paper, we will first present our analysis of Duqu, an information-collecting malware sharing striking similarities with Stuxnet. Wedescribe our contributions in the investigation ranging from the original detection of Duquvia finding the dropper file to the design of a Duqu detector toolkit. We then continue with the analysis of the Flame advanced information-gathering malware. Flame is unique in thesense that it used advanced cryptographic techniques to masquerade as a legitimate proxyfor the Windows Update service. We also present the newest member of the family, called Gauss, whose unique feature is that one of its modules is encrypted such that it can onlybe decrypted on its target system; hence, the research community has not yet been able to analyze this module. For this particular malware, we designed a Gauss detector serviceand we are currently collecting intelligence information to be able to break its very specialencryption mechanism. Besides explaining the operation of these pieces of malware, wealso examine if and how they could have been detected by vigilant system administrators manually or in a semi-automated manner using available tools. Finally, we discuss lessonsthat the community can learn from these incidents. We focus on technical issues, and avoidspeculations on the origin of these threats and other geopolitical questions.
175 citations
TL;DR: This chapter highlights and measures smart city and urban planning interrelation and identifies the meeting points among them.
Abstract: Smart cities are emerging fast and they introduce new practices and services which highly impact policy making and planning, while they co-exist with urban facilities. It is now needed to understand the smart city's contribution in the overall urban planning and vice versa, to recognize urban planning offerings to a smart city context. This chapter highlights and measures smart city and urban planning interrelation and identifies the meeting points among them. Urban planning dimensions are drawn from the European Regional Cohesion Policy and they are associated with smart city's architecture layers.
144 citations
TL;DR: The results show that there is no strong relationship between increasing numbers of contributors to a given object and the number of tags (metadata) assigned to it, and informs potential consumers of OSM data that the data itself is changing over time.
Abstract: This paper describes the results of an analysis of the OpenStreetMap (OSM) database for the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland (correct to April 2011). 15, 640 OSM ways (polygons and polylines), resulting in 316, 949 unique versions of these objects, were extracted and analysed from the OSM database for the UK and Ireland. In our analysis we only considered “heavily edited” objects in OSM: objects which have been edited 15 or more times. Our results show that there is no strong relationship between increasing numbers of contributors to a given object and the number of tags (metadata) assigned to it. 87% of contributions/edits to these objects are performed by 11% of the total 4128 contributors. In 79% of edits additional spatial data (nodes) are added to objects. The results in this paper do not attempt to evaluate the OSM data as good/poor quality but rather informs potential consumers of OSM data that the data itself is changing over time. In developing a better understanding of the characteristics of “heavily edited” objects there may be opportunities to use historical analysis in working towards quality indicators for OSM in the future.
136 citations
TL;DR: The concept of "smart home" in a technologically driven society and its multi-functional contribution to the enhancement of older people's lives is examined and some implications and recommendations are provided.
Abstract: Smart homes are homes with technologically advanced systems to enable domestic task automation, easier communication, and higher security. As an enabler of health and well-being enhancement, smart homes have been geared to accommodate people with special needs, especially older people. This paper examines the concept of "smart home" in a technologically driven society and its multi-functional contribution to the enhancement of older people's lives. Discussion then focuses on the challenges in the use of smart homes among older people such as accessibility and ethical issues. Finally, some implications and recommendations are provided.
103 citations
TL;DR: The paper examines the impact of Stuxnet on various domains of action where cyber-attacks play a role, including state-level conflict, terrorism, activism, crime, and pranks, and whether such attacks would be consistent with other trends in the domain.
Abstract: This paper considers the impact of Stuxnet on cyber-attacks and cyber-defense. It first reviews trends in cyber-weapons and how Stuxnet fits into these trends. Because Stuxnet targeted an industrial control system in order to wreak physical damage, the focus is on weapons that target systems of that type and produce physical effects. The paper then examines the impact of Stuxnet on various domains of action where cyber-attacks play a role, including state-level conflict, terrorism, activism, crime, and pranks. For each domain, it considers the potential for new types of cyber-attacks, especially attacks against industrial control systems, and whether such attacks would be consistent with other trends in the domain. Finally, the paper considers the impact of Stuxnet on cyber-defense.
72 citations
TL;DR: This work justifies the importance and motivation of security in the migration of legacy systems, and carries out an analysis of different approaches related to security in migration processes to cloud with the aim of finding the needs, concerns, requirements, aspects, opportunities and benefits of security.
Abstract: Cloud computing is a new paradigm that combines several computing concepts and technologies of the Internet creating a platform for more agile and cost-effective business applications and IT infrastructure. The adoption of Cloud computing has been increasing for some time and the maturity of the market is steadily growing. Security is the question most consistently raised as consumers look to move their data and applications to the cloud. We justify the importance and motivation of security in the migration of legacy systems and we carry out an analysis of different approaches related to security in migration processes to cloud with the aim of finding the needs, concerns, requirements, aspects, opportunities and benefits of security in the migration process of legacy systems.
71 citations
TL;DR: A formal Blueprint Template for unambiguously describing a blueprint, as well as a Blueprint Lifecycle that guides developers through the manipulation, composition and deployment of different blueprints for an SBA are introduced.
Abstract: Current cloud service offerings, i.e. , Software-as-a-service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings are often provided as monolithic, one-size-fits-all solutions and give little or no room for customization. This limits the ability of Service-based Application (SBA) developers to configure and syndicate offerings from multiple SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS providers to address their application requirements. Furthermore, combining different independent cloud services necessitates a uniform description format that facilitates the design, customization, and composition. Cloud Blueprinting is a novel approach that allows SBA developers to easily design, configure and deploy virtual SBA payloads on virtual machines and resource pools on the cloud. We propose the Blueprint concept as a uniform abstract description for cloud service offerings that may cross different cloud computing layers, i.e.
63 citations
TL;DR: This work describes a semantic service discovery and ad-hoc orchestration system, able to react to new process variants and changed contextual information (e.g., failure of field devices, requirements on the consumption of resources), for the creation of highly adaptable manufacturing processes.
Abstract: The increasing competition between manufacturers, the shortening of innovation cycles and the growing importance of resource-efficient manufacturing demand a higher versatility of factory automation. Service-oriented approaches depict a promising possibility to realize new control architectures by encapsulating the functionality of mechatronic devices into services. An efficient discovery, context-based selection and dynamic orchestration of these services are the key features for the creation of highly adaptable manufacturing processes. We describe a semantic service discovery and ad-hoc orchestration system, which is able to react to new process variants and changed contextual information (e.g., failure of field devices, requirements on the consumption of resources). Because a standardized vocabulary, especially for the description of mechatronic functionalities, is still missing in the manufacturing domain, the semantic description of services, processes and manufacturing plants as well as the semantic interpretation of contextual information play an important part.
TL;DR: This paper explores the use of Web 2.0 technologies for collaborative learning in a higher education context and concludes there is a clear need to develop, support and encourage strong interaction both between teachers and students, and amongst the students themselves.
Abstract: This paper explores the use of Web 2.0 technologies for collaborative learning in a higher education context. A review of the literature exploring the strengths and weaknesses of Web 2.0 technology is presented, and a conceptual model of a Web 2.0 community of inquiry is introduced. Two Australian case studies are described, with an ex-poste evaluation of the use of Web 2.0 tools. Conclusions are drawn as to the potential for the use of Web 2.0 tools for collaborative e-learning in higher education. In particular, design and integration of Web 2.0 tools should be closely related to curriculum intent and pedagogical requirements, care must be taken to provide clear guidance on both expected student activity and learning expectations, and there is a clear need to develop, support and encourage strong interaction both between teachers and students, and amongst the students themselves.
TL;DR: This work proposes a method by use of a catalog to guide application managers during the refinement of abstract management flows at the design stage of an application, and uses runtime-specific management functionality and management interfaces to obtain automated management flows for a developed application.
Abstract: Cloud-based applications require a high degree of automation regarding their IT resource management, for example, to handle scalability or resource failures. This automation is enabled by cloud providers offering management interfaces accessed by applications without human interaction. The properties of clouds, especially pay-per-use billing and low availability of individual resources, demand such a timely system management. We call the automated steps to perform one of these management tasks a “management flow”. Because the emerging behavior of the overall system is comprised of many such management flows and is often hard to predict, we propose defining abstract management flows, describing common steps handling the management tasks. These abstract management flows may then be refined for each individual use case. We cover abstract management flows describing how to make an application elastic, resilient regarding IT resource failure, and how to move application components between different runtime environments. The requirements of these management flows for handled applications are expressed using architectural patterns that have to be implemented by the applications. These dependencies result in abstract management flows being interrelated with architectural patterns in a uniform pattern catalog. We propose a method by use of a catalog to guide application managers during the refinement of abstract management flows at the design stage of an application. Following this method, runtime-specific management functionality and management interfaces are used to obtain automated management flows for a developed application.
TL;DR: The paper uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the extended TAM, the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory and the important determinants of user acceptance perceived risk and trust to describe teachers’ behavioral intensions to adopt e-Government services.
Abstract: Technological developments and governments’ understanding of what citizens need usually determine the design of public online services. For successful implementation of e-Government services, governments have to place the user in the center of future developments, understand what citizens need and measure what increases citizens’ willingness to adopt e-government services. The paper uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the extended TAM, the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory and the important determinants of user acceptance perceived risk and trust, in order to describe teachers’ behavioral intensions to adopt e-Government services. A model containing trust and risk, along with cognitive, social and intrinsic factors is used to study the intentions of e-Government use by Greek primary and secondary education teachers. Two hundred and thirty teachers responded to an online survey. Findings reveal that cognitive and intrinsic factors have significant effects on intentions to use e-Government websites.
TL;DR: This research combines user-generated geo content of the Web 2.0 with future Internet technology for the provision of a ubiquitously accessible 3D indoor routing application.
Abstract: Routing services for outdoor areas are omnipresent and also three-dimensional (3D) visualization is quite common within this area. Recent research efforts are now trying to adapt well known outdoor routing services to complex indoor environments. However, most of the current indoor routing systems only focus on two-dimensional visualization, thus only one level can be depicted. Especially multi-level routes therefore lack visualization. Also, most of the (few) existing 3D indoor routing services utilize proprietary software or plugins, thus a widespread accessibility for those services by using common computers or mobile devices is not feasible. Therefore this paper describes the development of a web-based 3D routing system based on a new HTML extension. The visualization of rooms as well as the computed routes is realized with XML3D. Since this emerging technology is based on WebGL and will likely be integrated into the HTML5 standard, the developed system is already compatible with most common browsers such as Google Chrome or Firefox. Another key difference of the approach presented in this paper is that all utilized data is actually crowdsourced geodata from OpenStreetMap (OSM). Such data is collaboratively collected by both amateurs and professionals and can be used at no charge under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). Our research combines user-generated geo content of the Web 2.0 with future Internet technology for the provision of a ubiquitously accessible 3D indoor routing application.
TL;DR: The approach taken by the CSTB to reformulate the regulatory requirements written in natural language in a controlled and formal language using SBVR and SPARQL is detailed and the solutions proposed are based on semantic web technologies.
Abstract: Regulations in the Building Industry are becoming increasingly complex and involve more than one technical area. They cover products, components and project implementations. They also play an important role to ensure the quality of a building, and to minimize its environmental impact. Control or compliance checking are becoming more complex every day for industrials but also for organizations in charge of assessing the conformity of new products or processes. This paper will detail the approach taken by the CSTB in order to simplify this compliance control task. The approach and the solutions proposed are based on semantic web technologies. For this purpose, we first elaborate a domain-ontology, which defines the main concepts involved and the relationships among them based on OWL. We rely on SBVR and SPARQL to reformulate the regulatory requirements written in natural language in a controlled and formal language. We structure then our control process based on expert practices. Each elementary control step is defined as a SPARQL query and assembled into complex control processes " on demand " according to the component tested and its semantic definition. Finally, we represent in RDF the association between the SBVR rules and SPARQL queries representing the same regulatory constraints.
TL;DR: This paper provides a conceptual analysis of the second and third version of the Web model resulting in the convergence and integration of key features from the current and next generation Web.
Abstract: The social trend is progressively becoming the key feature of current Web understanding (Web 20) This trend appears irrepressible as millions of users, directly or indirectly connected through social networks, are able to share and exchange any kind of content, information, feeling or experience Social interactions radically changed the user approach Furthermore, the socialization of content around social objects provides new unexplored commercial marketplaces and business opportunities On the other hand, the progressive evolution of the web towards the Semantic Web (or Web 30) provides a formal representation of knowledge based on the meaning of data When the social meets semantics, the social intelligence can be formed in the context of a semantic environment in which user and community profiles as well as any kind of interaction is semantically represented (Semantic Social Web) This paper first provides a conceptual analysis of the second and third version of the Web model That discussion is aimed at the definition of a middle concept (Web 25) resulting in the convergence and integration of key features from the current and next generation Web The Semantic Social Web (Web 25) has a clear theoretical meaning, understood as the bridge between the overused Web 20 and the not yet mature Semantic Web (Web 30)
TL;DR: An ontology called LBCS-OWL2 specifically developed to overcome the lack of integrated tools to adequately describe urban space, based on the Land Based Classification Standards (LBCS), a comprehensive and detailed land use standard to describe the different dimensions of urban space.
Abstract: Urban planning has a considerable impact on the economic performance of cities and on the quality of life of their populations. Efficiency at this level has been hampered by the lack of integrated tools to adequately describe urban space in order to formulate appropriate design solutions. This paper describes an ontology called LBCS-OWL2 specifically developed to overcome this flaw, based on the Land Based Classification Standards (LBCS), a comprehensive and detailed land use standard to describe the different dimensions of urban space. The goal is to provide semantic and computer-readable land use descriptions of geo-referenced spatial data. This will help to make programming strategies available to those involved in the urban development process. There are several advantages to transferring a land use standard to an OWL2 land use ontology: it is modular, it can be shared and reused, it can be extended and data consistency maintained, and it is ready for integration, thereby supporting the interoperability of different urban planning applications. This standard is used as a basic structure for the “City Information Modelling” (CIM) model developed within a larger research project called City Induction, which aims to develop a tool for urban planning and design.
TL;DR: The advent of mobile Internet in cars brings together new, widely divergent trajectories of Internet, and such developments have social implications that vary widely depending on whether or not the authors recognize the broader technological systems and infrastructures, media practices, flows, and mobilities in which vehicular mobile Internets are being created.
Abstract: This paper looks at the tandem technologies of cars and the Internet, and the new ways that they are assembling the social with the mobile Internet. My argument is two-fold: firstly, the advent of mobile Internet in cars brings together new, widely divergent trajectories of Internet; secondly, such developments have social implications that vary widely depending on whether or not we recognize the broader technological systems and infrastructures, media practices, flows, and mobilities in which vehicular mobile Internets are being created.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated, how proposed applications address content, context and user awareness basing on the underlying Next Generation Network infrastructure and how it can be used to host service-based applications.
Abstract: We show how the applications utilizing a Future Internet architecture can benefit from its features like quality of service (QoS) provisioning and resources reservation.We demonstrate, how proposed applications address content, context and user awareness basing on the underlying Next Generation Network (NGN) infrastructure and how it can be used to host service-based applications.
TL;DR: It is argued that the pervasive integration and non-optionality of technical systems amplifies utopian hopes, dystopian fears, and ambivalent concerns in the contemporary era.
Abstract: At once fearful and dependent, hopeful and distrustful, our contemporary relationship with technology is highly ambivalent. Using experiential accounts from an ongoing Facebook-based qualitative study (N = 231), I both diagnose and articulate this ambivalence. I argue that technological ambivalence is rooted primarily in the deeply embedded moral prescription to lead a meaningful life, and a related uncertainty about the role of new technologies in the accomplishment of this task. On the one hand, technology offers the potential to augment or even enhance personal and public life. On the other hand, technology looms with the potential to supplant or replace real experience. I examine these polemic potentialities in the context of personal experiences, interpersonal relationships, and political activism. I conclude by arguing that the pervasive integration and non-optionality of technical systems amplifies utopian hopes, dystopian fears, and ambivalent concerns in the contemporary era.
TL;DR: This chapter introduces the CHOReOS Integrated Development and Runtime Environment, aka IDRE, which is a conceptual architecture combining both the development and runtime environments.
Abstract: The Future Internet environments raise challenging issues for the Service-Oriented Architectures. Due to the scalability and heterogeneity issues new approaches are thought in order to leverage the SOA to support a wider range of services and users. The CHOReOS project is part of the European Community Initiative to sketch technological solutions for the future ultra large systems. In particular, CHOReOS explores the choreography of services paradigm. Within this project, a conceptual architecture combining both the development and runtime environments is realized. This chapter introduces the CHOReOS Integrated Development and Runtime Environment, aka IDRE.
TL;DR: This paper reports the research and development of a web-based geovisual analytical system to support the analysis of climate data generated by climate model and demonstrates that the system is able to manage large volume datasets over the Internet.
Abstract: Climate studies involve petabytes of spatiotemporal datasets that are produced and archived at distributed computing resources. Scientists need an intuitive and convenient tool to explore the distributed spatiotemporal data. Geovisual analytical tools have the potential to provide such an intuitive and convenient method for scientists to access climate data, discover the relationships between various climate parameters, and communicate the results across different research communities. However, implementing a geovisual analytical tool for complex climate data in a distributed environment poses several challenges. This paper reports our research and development of a web-based geovisual analytical system to support the analysis of climate data generated by climate model. Using the ModelE developed by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) as an example, we demonstrate that the system is able to (1) manage large volume datasets over the Internet; (2) visualize 2D/3D/4D spatiotemporal data; (3) broker various spatiotemporal statistical analyses for climate research; and (4) support interactive data
TL;DR: The conceptual foundations of a new technology solution called WikiGIS are developed, which lies in its ability to ensure the traceability of changes in spatial-temporal geographic components generated by users.
Abstract: With the emergence of Web 2.0, new applications arise and evolve into more interactive forms of collective intelligence. These applications offer to both professionals and citizens an open and expanded access to geographic information. In this paper, we develop the conceptual foundations of a new technology solution called WikiGIS. WikiGIS's strength lies in its ability to ensure the traceability of changes in spatial-temporal geographic components (geometric location and shape, graphics: iconography and descriptive) generated by users. The final use case highlights to what extent WikiGIS could be a relevant and useful technological innovation in Geocollaboration.
TL;DR: This book chapter highlights the latest activities of the optical networking community and in particular what has been the focus of EU funded research, as well as introducing the concepts of flexible and cognitive optical networks.
Abstract: Optical networking is the cornerstone of the Future Internet as it provides the physical infrastructure of the core backbone networks. Recent developments have enabled much better quality of service/experience for the end users, enabled through the much higher capacities that can be supported. Furthermore, optical networking developments facilitate the reduction of complexity of operations at the IP layer and therefore reduce the latency of the connections and the expenditures to deploy and operate the networks. New research directions in optical networking promise to further advance the capabilities of the Future Internet. In this book chapter, we highlight the latest activities of the optical networking community and in particular what has been the focus of EU funded research. The concepts of flexible and cognitive optical networks are introduced and their key expected benefits are highlighted. The overall framework envisioned for the future cognitive flexible optical networks are introduced and recent developments are presented.
TL;DR: The main objective of this paper is to focus on how an integrated system based on Information Communication Technology and face-to-face communication can increase participation in order to have a positive effect on quality of life, plans and decisions.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to focus on how an integrated system based on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and face-to-face communication can increase participation in order to have a positive effect on quality of life, plans and decisions, and to discuss the many benefits which web-based public participation can bring to the planning process through a set of improvements to relations, quality and structure of cities in general and in this case example specifically With the development of a transparent support system for collaborative decision-making processes, it is possible to identify a strategy for addressing gaps to reach collaborative decisions
TL;DR: VGI tools appear to enhance the possibilities offered by a collaborative approach to planning, and the U-city paradigm as a driver of change in urban planning participation processes is discussed.
Abstract: Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) tools appear to enhance the possibilities offered by a collaborative approach to planning. The present paper analyzes both the results of experiences of the author and of those available in the literature, highlighting possible advantages and disadvantages. After a brief introduction to the meaning of e-democracy, the second part focuses on the role of ICT in collaborative planning, proceeding in the third part to an illustration of an initial panorama of knowledge gathered using ICT in such processes, while discussing criticisms and opportunities. The fourth part discusses the U-city paradigm as a driver of change in urban planning participation processes. Research perspectives are then outlined in the final part.
TL;DR: The unique storytelling potential of mobile games is theorized while describing the experience attempting to harness that potential through the design and implementation of the hybrid-reality game University of Death.
Abstract: The mobile internet expands the immersive potential of storytelling by introducing electronic games powered by portable, location-aware interfaces. Mobile gaming has become the latest iteration in a decades-long evolution of electronic games that seek to empower the player not just as an avatar in a gameworld but also as a co-author of that gameworld, alongside the game’s original designers. Location-aware interfaces allow players to implicate places in the physical world as part of their gameworld (and vice versa) for the first time. In addition to empowering the player as a co-author in the process of constructing a compelling gameworld, then, mobile games eschew linear narrative structures in favor of a cooperative storytelling process that is reliant in part on the player’s experience of place. While such an author-player “worldmaking” approach to storytelling is not new, mobile games evolve the process beyond what has yet been possible within the technical and physical constraints of the traditional video gaming format. Location-aware interfaces allow mobile games to extend the worldmaking process beyond the screen and into the physical world, co-opting the player’s sensory experiences of real-world places as potential storytelling tools. In our essay, we theorize the unique storytelling potential of mobile games while describing our experience attempting to harness that potential through the design and implementation of our hybrid-reality game University of Death.
TL;DR: The present chapter proposes a new narrative-aware design framework and applies it to a hypothetical city scenario in order to highlight its main components and the benefits it may offer to a future Internet city's actors.
Abstract: Innovation in smart city systems is based on the principle that devices, places and everyday things can each be enabled to serve people in a real-time and responsive manner. This chapter presents a novel approach to the design of smart city systems that takes into account not only technical installations in a future Internet of Things environment, but also the power of human storytelling in an always-on networked world. It is only when environments are both sensor-driven and socially-aware that a more holistic, and therefore more useful, urban narrative can emerge in the future Internet context. The present chapter proposes a new narrative-aware design framework and applies it to a hypothetical city scenario in order to highlight its main components and the benefits it may offer to a future Internet city's actors.
TL;DR: It is suggested that, for such tools to be accepted by non-innovation adopters, work is required on both the technological aspects and, importantly, a cultural change is required to create an environment of acceptance of the shifting relationship between authority, expertise and knowledge.
Abstract: The advent and adoption of Web 2.0 technologies offers a powerful approach to enhancing the capture of information in natural resource ecology, notably community knowledge of species distributions. Such information has previously been collected using, for example, postal surveys; these are typically inefficient, with low response rates, high costs, and requiring respondents to be spatially literate. Here we describe an example, using the Google Maps Application Programming Interface, to discuss the opportunities such tools provide to conservation biology. Toad Tracker was created as a prototype to demonstrate the utility of this technology to document the distribution of an invasive vertebrate pest species, the cane toad, within Australia. While the technological aspects of this tool are satisfactory, manager resistance towards its use raises issues around the public nature of the technology, the collaborative (non-expert) role in data collection, and data ownership. We conclude in suggesting that, for such tools to be accepted by non-innovation adopters, work is required on both the technological aspects and, importantly, a cultural change is required to create an environment of acceptance of the shifting relationship between authority, expertise and knowledge.