This book explores the changes in political communication in light of the development of a public opinion mediated by web 2.0 technologies. One of the most important changes in political communication is related to the process of disintermediation, i.e. the process by which digital technologies allow citizens to compete in the public space with those agents who, traditionally, co-opted public opinion. However, while disintermediation has undeniably generated a number of advances, having linked citizens to the public debate, the authors highlight some aspects where disintermediation is moving away from a rational and inclusive public space. They argue that these aspects, related to the immediacy, polarization and incivility of the communication, obscure the possibilities for democratization of digital political communication.

This book discusses applications of blockchain in healthcare sector. The security of confidential and sensitive data is of utmost importance in healthcare industry. The introduction of blockchain methods in an effective manner will bring secure transactions in a peer-to-peer network. The book also covers gaps of the current available books/literature available for use cases of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in healthcare. The information and applications discussed in the book are immensely helpful for researchers, database professionals, and practitioners. The book also discusses protocols, standards, and government regulations which are very useful for policymakers.

Computer and communication networks are among society's most important infrastructures. The internet, in particular, is a giant global network of networks with central control or administration. It is a paradigm of a complex system, where complexity may arise from different sources: topological structure, network evolution, connection and node diversity, and /or dynamical evolution. This is the first book entirely devoted to the new and emerging field of nonlinear dynamics of TCP/IP networks. It addresses both scientists and engineers working in the general field of communication networks.

This book provides a multidisciplinary view into how individuals and groups interact with the information environments that surround them. The book discusses how informational environments shape our daily lives, and how digital technologies can improve the ways in which people make use of informational environments. It presents the research and outcomes of a seven-year multidisciplinary research initiative, the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Tubingen Informational Environments, jointly conducted by the Leibniz-Institut fur Wissensmedien (IWM) and the Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. Book chapters from leading international experts in psychology, education, computer science, sociology, and medicine provide a multi-layered and multidisciplinary view on how the interplay between individuals and their informational environments unfolds. Featured topics include: Managing obesity prevention using digital media. Using digital media to assess and promote school teacher competence. Informational environments and their effect on college student dropout. Web-Platforms for game-based learning of orthography and numeracy. How to design adaptive information environments to support self-regulated learning with multimedia. Informational Environments will be of interest to advanced undergraduate students, postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in various fields of educational psychology, social psychology, education, computer science, communication science, sociology, and medicine.

This book explores the phenomenon of data - big and small - in the contemporary digital, informatic and legal-bureaucratic context. Challenging the way in which legal interest in data has focused on rights and privacy concerns, this book examines the contestable, multivocal and multifaceted figure of the contemporary data subject. The book analyses "data" and "personal data" as contemporary phenomena, addressing the data realms, such as stores, institutions, systems and networks, out of which they emerge. It interrogates the role of law, regulation and governance in structuring both formal and informal definitions of the data subject, and disciplining data subjects through compliance with normative standards of conduct. Focusing on the 'personal' in and of data, the book pursues a re-evaluation of the nature, role and place of the data subject qua legal subject in on and offline societies: one that does not begin and end with the inviolability of individual rights but returns to more fundamental legal principles suited to considerations of personhood, such as stewardship, trust, property and contract. The book's concern with the production, use, abuse and alienation of personal data within the context of contemporary communicative capitalism will appeal to scholars and students of law, science and technology studies, and sociology; as well as those with broader political interests in this area.

The significant objective of this edited book is to bridge the gap between smart manufacturing and big data by exploring the challenges and limitations. Companies employ big data technology in the manufacturing field to acquire data about the products. Manufacturing companies could gain a deep business insight by tracking customer details, monitoring fuel consumption, detecting product defects, and supply chain management. Moreover, the convergence of smart manufacturing and big data analytics currently suffers due to data privacy concern, short of qualified personnel, inadequate investment, long-term storage management of high-quality data. The technological advancement makes the data storage more accessible, cheaper and the convergence of these technologies seems to be more promising in the recent era. This book identified the innovative challenges in the industrial domains by integrating heterogeneous data sources such as structured data, semi-structures data, geo-spatial data, textual information, multimedia data, social networking data, etc. It promotes data-driven business modelling processes by adopting big data technologies in the manufacturing industry. Big data analytics is emerging as a promising discipline in the manufacturing industry to build the rigid industrial data platforms. Moreover, big data facilitates process automation in the complete lifecycle of product design and tracking. This book is an essential guide and reference since it synthesizes interdisciplinary theoretical concepts, definitions, and models, involved in smart manufacturing domain. It also provides real-world scenarios and applications, making it accessible to a wider interdisciplinary audience. Features The readers will get an overview about the smart manufacturing system which enables optimized manufacturing processes and benefits the users by increasing overall profit The researchers will get insight about how the big data technology leverages in finding new associations, factors and patterns through data stream observations in real time smart manufacturing systems The industrialist can get an overview about the detection of defects in design, rapid response to market, innovative products to meet the customer requirement which can benefit their per capita income in better way Discusses technical viewpoints, concepts, theories, and underlying assumptions that are used in smart manufacturing Information delivered in a user-friendly manner for students, researchers, industrial experts, and business innovators, as well as for professionals and practitioners

The Semantic Web represents a vision for how to make the huge amount of information on the Web automatically processable by machines on a large scale. For this purpose, a whole suite of standards, technologies and related tools have been specified and developed over the last couple of years and they have now become the foundation for numerous new applications. A Developer's Guide to the Semantic Web helps the reader to learn the core standards, key components and underlying concepts. It provides in-depth coverage of both the what-is and how-to aspects of the Semantic Web. From Yu's presentation, the reader will obtain not only a solid understanding about the Semantic Web, but also learn how to combine all the pieces to build new applications on the Semantic Web. The second edition of this book not only adds detailed coverage of the latest W3C standards such as SPARQL 1.1 and RDB2RDF, it also updates the readers by following recent developments. More specifically, it includes five new chapters on schema.org and semantic markup, on Semantic Web technologies used in social networks and on new applications and projects such as data.gov and Wikidata and it also provides a complete coding example of building a search engine that supports Rich Snippets. Software developers in industry and students specializing in Web development or Semantic Web technologies will find in this book the most complete guide to this exciting field available today. Based on the step-by-step presentation of real-world projects, where the technologies and standards are applied, they will acquire the knowledge needed to design and implement state-of-the-art applications.

This book discusses blockchain technology and its potential applications in digital government and the public sector. With its robust infrastructure and append-only record system, blockchain technology is being increasingly employed in the public sector, specifically where trustworthiness and security are of importance. Written by leading scholars and practitioners, this edited volume presents challenges, benefits, regulations, frameworks, taxonomies, and applications of blockchain technology in the public domain. Specifically, the book analyzes the implementation of blockchain technologies in the public sector and the potential reforms it would bring. It discusses emerging technologies and their role in the implementation of blockchain technologies in the public sector. The book details the role of blockchain in the creation of public value in the delivery of public sector services. The book analyzes effects, impacts, and outcomes from the implementation of blockchain technologies in the public sector in select case studies. Providing up-to-date information on important developments regarding blockchain in government around the world, this volume will appeal to academics, researchers, policy-makers, public managers, international organizations, and technical experts looking to understand how blockchain can enhance public service delivery.

In this era of heterogeneous and distributed data sources, ranging from semistructured documents to knowledge about coordination processes or workflows, logic provides a rich set of tools and techniques with which to address the questions of how to represent, query and reason about complex data. This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of research on the application of logic-based methods to information systems, covering highly topical and emerging fields: XML programming and querying, intelligent agents, workflow modeling and verification, data integration, temporal and dynamic information, data mining, authorization, and security. It provides both scientists and graduate students with a wealth of material and references for their own research and education.

The volume includes a collection of peer-reviewed contributions from among those presented at the main conference organized yearly by the Mexican Statistical Association (AME) and every two years by a Latin-American Confederation of Statistical Societies. For the 2018 edition, particular attention was placed on the analysis of highly complex or large data sets, which have come to be known as "big data". Statistical research in Latin America is prolific and research networks span within and outside the region. The goal of this volume is to provide access to selected works from Latin-American collaborators and their research networks to a wider audience. New methodological advances, motivated in part by the challenges of a data-driven world and the Latin American context, will be of interest to academics and practitioners around the world.

This book contains extended and revised versions of the best papers presented at the 28th IFIP WG 10.5/IEEE International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SoC 2020, held in Salt Lake City, UT, USA, in October 2020.*The 16 full papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from the 38 papers (out of 74 submissions) presented at the conference. The papers discuss the latest academic and industrial results and developments as well as future trends in the field of System-on-Chip (SoC) design, considering the challenges of nano-scale, state-of-the-art and emerging manufacturing technologies. In particular they address cutting-edge research fields like low-power design of RF, analog and mixed-signal circuits, EDA tools for the synthesis and verification of heterogenous SoCs, accelerators for cryptography and deep learning and on-chip Interconnection system, reliability and testing, and integration of 3D-ICs. *The conference was held virtually.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of many and taught us the critical importance of taking care of one's health and wellness. Technological advances, coupled with advances in healthcare, has enabled the widespread growth of a new area called mobile health or mHealth that has completely revolutionized how people envision healthcare today. Just as smartphones and tablet computers are rapidly becoming the dominant consumer computer platforms, mHealth technology is emerging as an integral part of consumer health and wellness management regimes. The aim of this book is to inform readers about the this relatively modern technology, from its history and evolution to the current state-of-the-art research developments and the underlying challenges related to privacy and security issues. The book's intended audience includes individuals interested in learning about mHealth and its contemporary applications, from students to researchers and practitioners working in this field. Both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in college-level healthcare courses will find this book to be an especially useful companion and will be able to discover and explore novel research directions that will further enrich the field.

This Festschrift, Unimagined Futures - ICT Opportunities and Challenges, is the first Festschrift in the IFIP AICT series. It examines key challenges facing the ICT community today. While addressing the contemporary challenges, the book provides the opportunity to look back to help understand the contemporary scene and identify appropriate future responses to them. Experts in different areas of the ICT scene have contributed to this IFIP 60th anniversary book, which will be a key input to the ICT community worldwide on setting policy priorities and agendas for the coming decade. In addition, a number of contributions look specifically at the role of professionals and of national, regional, and global organizations in disseminating the benefits of ICT to humanity worldwide.

This book focuses on the advanced soft computational and probabilistic methods that the authors have published over the past few years. It describes theoretical results and applications, and discusses how various uncertainty measures - probability, plausibility and belief measures - can be treated in a unified way. It also examines approximations of four notable probability distributions (Weibull, exponential, logistic and normal) using a unified probability distribution function, and presents a fuzzy arithmetic-based time series model that provides an easy-to-use forecasting technique. Lastly, it proposes flexible fuzzy numbers for Likert scale-based evaluations. Featuring methods that can be successfully applied in a variety of areas, including engineering, economics, biology and the medical sciences, the book offers useful guidelines for practitioners and researchers.

This volume helps to address the genuine 21st century need for advances in data science and computing technology. It provides an abundance of new research and studies on progressive and innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence, communication systems, cyber security applications, data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, power systems, VLSI, embedded systems, and much more. The book presents a variety of interesting and important aspects of data science and computing technologies and methodologies in a wide range of applications, including deep learning, DNA cryptography, classy fuzzy MPPT controller, driving assistance, and safety systems. Novel algorithms and their applications for solving cutting-edge computational and data science problems are included also for an interdisciplinary research perspective. The book addresses recent applications of deep learning and ANN paradigms, the role and impact of big data in the e-commerce and retail sectors, algorithms for load balancing in cloud computing, advances in embedded system based applications, optimization techniques using a MATLAB platform, and techniques for improving information and network security. Advances in Data Science and Computing Technology: Methodology and Applications provides a wealth of valuable information and food for thought on many important issues for data scientists and researchers, industry professionals, and faculty and students in the data and computing sciences.

This book consists of 35 chapters presenting different theoretical and practical aspects of Intelligent Information and Database Systems. Nowadays both Intelligent and Database Systems are applied in most of the areas of human activities which necessitates further research in these areas. In this book various interesting issues related to the intelligent information models and methods as well as their advanced applications, database systems applications, data models and their analysis and digital multimedia methods and applications are presented and discussed both from the practical and theoretical points of view. The book is organized in four parts devoted to intelligent systems models and methods, intelligent systems advanced applications, database systems methods and applications and multimedia systems methods and applications. The book will be interesting forpractitioners and researchers, especially graduate and PhD students of information technology and computer science, as well more experienced academics and specialists interested in developing and verification of intelligent information, database and multimedia systems models, methods and applications. The readers of this volume are enabled to find many inspiring ideas and motivating practical examples that will help them in the current and future work."

This book summarizes the research findings presented at the 13th International Joint Conference on Knowledge-Based Software Engineering (JCKBSE 2020), which took place on August 24-26, 2020. JCKBSE 2020 was originally planned to take place in Larnaca, Cyprus. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced it be rescheduled as an online conference. JCKBSE is a well-established, international, biennial conference that focuses on the applications of artificial intelligence in software engineering. The 2020 edition of the conference was organized by Hiroyuki Nakagawa, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, Japan, and George A. Tsihrintzis and Maria Virvou, Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus, Greece. This research book is a valuable resource for experts and researchers in the field of (knowledge-based) software engineering, as well as general readers in the fields of artificial and computational Intelligence and, more generally, computer science wanting to learn more about the field of (knowledge-based) software engineering and its applications. An extensive list of bibliographic references at the end of each paper helps readers to probe further into the application areas of interest to them.

Rough Sets and Data Mining: Analysis of Imprecise Data is an edited collection of research chapters on the most recent developments in rough set theory and data mining. The chapters in this work cover a range of topics that focus on discovering dependencies among data, and reasoning about vague, uncertain and imprecise information. The authors of these chapters have been careful to include fundamental research with explanations as well as coverage of rough set tools that can be used for mining data bases. The contributing authors consist of some of the leading scholars in the fields of rough sets, data mining, machine learning and other areas of artificial intelligence. Among the list of contributors are Z. Pawlak, J Grzymala-Busse, K. Slowinski, and others. Rough Sets and Data Mining: Analysis of Imprecise Data will be a useful reference work for rough set researchers, data base designers and developers, and for researchers new to the areas of data mining and rough sets.

Enterprises have made amazing advances by taking advantage of data about their business to provide predictions and understanding of their customers, markets, and products. But as the world of business becomes more interconnected and global, enterprise data is no long a monolith; it is just a part of a vast web of data. Managing data on a world-wide scale is a key capability for any business today. The Semantic Web treats data as a distributed resource on the scale of the World Wide Web, and incorporates features to address the challenges of massive data distribution as part of its basic design. The aim of the first two editions was to motivate the Semantic Web technology stack from end-to-end; to describe not only what the Semantic Web standards are and how they work, but also what their goals are and why they were designed as they are. It tells a coherent story from beginning to end of how the standards work to manage a world-wide distributed web of knowledge in a meaningful way. The third edition builds on this foundation to bring Semantic Web practice to enterprise. Fabien Gandon joins Dean Allemang and Jim Hendler, bringing with him years of experience in global linked data, to open up the story to a modern view of global linked data. While the overall story is the same, the examples have been brought up to date and applied in a modern setting, where enterprise and global data come together as a living, linked network of data. Also included with the third edition, all of the data sets and queries are available online for study and experimentation at data.world/swwo.

This comprehensive overview of IoT systems architecture includes in-depth treatment of all key components: edge, communications, cloud, data processing, security, management, and uses. Internet of Things: Concepts and System Design provides a reference and foundation for students and practitioners that they can build upon to design IoT systems and to understand how the specific parts they are working on fit into and interact with the rest of the system. This is especially important since IoT is a multidisciplinary area that requires diverse skills and knowledge including: sensors, embedded systems, real-time systems, control systems, communications, protocols, Internet, cloud computing, large-scale distributed processing and storage systems, AI and ML, (preferably) coupled with domain experience in the area where it is to be applied, such as building or manufacturing automation. Written in a reader-minded approach that starts by describing the problem (why should I care?), placing it in context (what does this do and where/how does it fit in the great scheme of things?) and then describing salient features of solutions (how does it work?), this book covers the existing body of knowledge and design practices, but also offers the author's insights and articulation of common attributes and salient features of solutions such as IoT information modeling and platform characteristics.

This book initiates a transformation of the Web into a self-managing, autonomous information system to challenge today's all-embracing role of big search engines as centralized information managers. In the last decades, the World Wide Web became the biggest source for all kinds of information needed. After a short review of the state of the art, a Web-based system is presented for the first time, which employs all its instances equally to provide, consume, and process information uniformly and consistently. In order to build such an efficient, decentralized, and fully integrated information space with all its needed functionalities, a set of diverse algorithms is introduced. These novel mechanisms for load balancing, routing, clustering, document classification, but also time-dependent information management pertain to almost all system levels. Finally, three different approaches to decentralized Web search are discussed that represent the backbone of the new autonomous Web.

This book is the first publication to give a comprehensive, structured treatment to the important topic of situational awareness in cyber defense. It presents the subject in a logical, consistent, continuous discourse, covering key topics such as formation of cyber situational awareness, visualization and human factors, automated learning and inference, use of ontologies and metrics, predicting and assessing impact of cyber attacks, and achieving resilience of cyber and physical mission. Chapters include case studies, recent research results and practical insights described specifically for this book. Situational awareness is exceptionally prominent in the field of cyber defense. It involves science, technology and practice of perception, comprehension and projection of events and entities in cyber space. Chapters discuss the difficulties of achieving cyber situational awareness - along with approaches to overcoming the difficulties - in the relatively young field of cyber defense where key phenomena are so unlike the more conventional physical world. Cyber Defense and Situational Awareness is designed as a reference for practitioners of cyber security and developers of technology solutions for cyber defenders. Advanced-level students and researchers focused on security of computer networks will also find this book a valuable resource.

The fourth edition of this classic textbook provides major updates. This edition has completely new chapters on Big Data Platforms (distributed storage systems, MapReduce, Spark, data stream processing, graph analytics) and on NoSQL, NewSQL and polystore systems. It also includes an updated web data management chapter that includes RDF and semantic web discussion, an integrated database integration chapter focusing both on schema integration and querying over these systems. The peer-to-peer computing chapter has been updated with a discussion of blockchains. The chapters that describe classical distributed and parallel database technology have all been updated. The new edition covers the breadth and depth of the field from a modern viewpoint. Graduate students, as well as senior undergraduate students studying computer science and other related fields will use this book as a primary textbook. Researchers working in computer science will also find this textbook useful. This textbook has a companion web site that includes background information on relational database fundamentals, query processing, transaction management, and computer networks for those who might need this background. The web site also includes all the figures and presentation slides as well as solutions to exercises (restricted to instructors).

For many small businesses, organisations, clubs, artists, faith groups, voluntary organisations/charities and sole traders, applying the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been like playing a game of "Snakes and Ladders". As soon as you move along the board and climb a ladder, a snake appears, which takes you right back to where you started. Conflicting advice abounds and there is nowhere for these individuals to go for simple answers all in one place. With the threat of fines seeming around every corner, now more than ever is the time for smaller organisations to get to grips with GDPR so that they can demonstrate their compliance. GDPR: A Game of Snakes and Ladders is an easy to read reference tool, which uses simple language in bite size easily signposted chapters. Adopting a no-nonsense approach, the Regulation is explained so that organisations can comply with the minimum of fuss and deliver this compliance in the shortest timeframe without the need to resort to expensive consultants or additional staff. The book is supported by a variety of easy to follow case studies, example documents and fact sheets. The author signposts warnings and important requirements (snakes) and hints and suggestions (ladders) and also provides a section on staff training and a Game of Snakes and Ladders training slide pack. Additional resources are available on the companion website. This user-friendly book, written by a Data Protection Officer and business management specialist will help you understand the Regulation, where it applies in your organisation and how to achieve compliance (and win at the compliance game).

Maintaining the advanced technical focus found in Developing Essbase Applications, this second volume is another collaborative effort by some of the best and most experienced Essbase practitioners from around the world. Developing Essbase Applications: Hybrid Techniques and Practices reviews technology areas that are much-discussed but still very new, including Exalytics and Hybrid Essbase. Covering recent improvements to the Essbase engine, the book illustrates the impact of new reporting and analysis tools and also introduces advanced Essbase best practices across a variety of features, functions, and theories. Some of this book's chapters are in the same vein as the previous volume: hardware, engines, and languages. Others cover new ground with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, design philosophy, benchmarking concepts, and multiple client tools. As before, these subjects are covered from both the technical and best practice perspectives. This updated volume continues in the tradition of its bestselling predecessor by defining, investigating, and explaining Essbase concepts like no other resource. It also includes use cases that transform abstract theory into practical examples you can easily relate to your own Essbase environment. Illustrating the recent expansion of Essbase functionality, this book provides the up-to-date understanding you need to explore the full depth of the Essbase technology stack. Although the book presents detailed tutorial chapters that can be read on their own, reading the entire book will provide you with a similar understanding as some of the most experienced Essbase practitioners from around the world.