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In our previous research, we identified a list of factors that influence the digital platform selection by producers of agricultural products and a list of factors that influence customers’ digital platform selection. The next question that becomes a focus of our interest is related to the prioritization of those factors. The first results suggest that some factors have a higher impact on producers (or customers) than others when deciding on digital platform selection in agriculture. In this paper, we will present several approaches that can be used to prioritize factors. Those methods are: direct assessment method, reciprocal ranks, SWING, pairwise comparison, analytical hierarchy process, analytical network process, and SNAP method. Some of those methods are simpler, and some are complex. In general, simpler methods are less, and the complex methods are more precise in terms of prioritization. On the other side, simpler methods are more understandable to the average customers (or producers) in terms of application than the complex methods. We analyzed all prioritizations methods and suggested the most appropriate method having a mind on the complexity of the method (understanding by users) and their precisions.

Context: Application of component based software engineering methods to heterogeneous computing (HC) enables different software configurations to realize the same function with different non–functional properties (NFP). Finding the best software configuration with respect to multiple NFPs is a non–trivial task. Objective: We propose a Software Component Allocation Framework (SCAF) with the goal to acquire a (sub–) optimal software configuration with respect to multiple NFPs, thus providing performance prediction of a software configuration in its early design phase. We focus on the software configuration optimization for the average energy consumption and average execution time. Method: We validated SCAF through its instantiation on a real–world demonstrator and a simulation. Firstly, we verified the correctness of our model through comparing the performance prediction of six software configurations to the actual performance, obtained through extensive measurements with a confidence interval of 95%. Secondly, to demonstrate how SCAF scales up, we performed software configuration optimization on 55 generated use–cases (with solution spaces ranging from 1030 to 3070) and benchmark the results against best performing random configurations. Results: The performance of a configuration as predicted by our framework matched the configuration implemented and measured on a real–world platform. Furthermore, by applying the genetic algorithm and simulated annealing to the weight function given in SCAF, we obtain sub–optimal software configurations differing in performance at most 7% and 13% from the optimal configuration (respectfully). Conclusion: SCAF is capable of correctly describing a HC platform and reliably predict the performance of software configuration in the early design phase. Automated in the form of an Eclipse plugin, SCAF allows software architects to model architectural constraints and preferences, acting as a multi–criterion software architecture decision support system. In addition to said, we also point out several interesting research directions, to further investigate and improve our approach.

Nowadays governmental and non-governmental organizations and private businesses offer a range of electronic services that, if used, directly or indirectly affect quality of life. The supply of electronic services is growing fast, and this growth is expected to continue in the near but also in the distant future. Current generation of digital natives will not know how to live without ICTs and services provided by these technologies. User attitudes towards electronic services and the relationship between their supply and demand are the focus of this paper. Data on demand for and user attitudes towards electronic services were collected on a representative sample of adult population from Northwest Croatia. Participants were interviewed using a measurement instrument created for this purpose. Survey covered usage of electronic services offered by various governmental and non-governmental organizations and private businesses, the nature of user attitudes and the extent to which electronic services are used for the purpose of education, communication, entertainment, employment, improvement of health services and culture. The results show that, on the one hand, participants' demand for electronic services is very poor, while on the other hand their motivation and attitudes towards these services are very positive. Consistently significant differences were found in usage and attitudes toward electronic services by age, level of education and English language fluency. On the other hand, gender, standard of living and urban / rural residence were generally not associated with differences in usage of or attitudes to electronic services.

Internet of Thing (IOT) is relatively new field that is on a rise. Teaching students IOT is a challenging task because of increasing dynamics of the field itself. We present a new course that is flexible, dynamic, and mobile. It is a university level course at University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics. Because of the ERASMUS programme it is possible to open the course to the foreign students. Further more, thanks to bilateral agreements the same course is physically carried out in Laval, France. Course is adaptive in both terms of duration and location. Regardless of each, it has to be carefully crafted to fit both criteria. Course is roaming, meaning that all of the preparations and equipment can and should be mobile and easy to setup on any location in the world. IOT involves certain embedded software development, meaning that teaching should be carried on an appropriate equipment: hardware development and prototyping boards. Experience in selecting such hardware for the course is presented. Furthermore, IOT includes various connectivity and technologies. Internet connectivity setup for the roaming equipment should be reliable and easy to apply on site. Relying on existing network is not recommended due to many reasons, one of which might be the use of captive portals, IOT micro-controllers do not bode well with captive portals. Teaching communication aspect of IOT can be quite challenging if connection is unreliable. Course is project based and designing project assignments or project guidelines, should consider local environment. Projects guided by the concept of service learning can have significant impact on a local community. Anyhow, goal of the project in this course should be students feeling accomplished. Having dynamic course it would be advisable to remain on certain technology, however evolution of the course has discarded such technologies that became obsolete. Instead of single LMS several different tools are used, this might be an overhead but those tools are already known to the students. Student perception of the course and increasing number of enrolment shows that it has positive impact and perspective future.

Internet of things (IoT) is nowadays one of the fastest growing technologies for both private and business purposes. Due to a big number of IoT devices and their rapid introduction to the market, security of things and their services is often not at the expected level. Recently, machine learning algorithms, techniques, and methods are used in research papers to enhance IoT security. In this paper, we systematically review the state-of-the art to classify the research on machine learning for the IoT security. We analysed the primary studies, identify types of studies and publication fora. Next, we have extracted all machine learning algorithms and techniques described in primary studies, and identified the most used ones to tackle IoT security issues. We classify the research into three main categories (intrusion detection, authentication and other) and describe the primary studies in detail to analyse existing relevant works and propose topics for future research.

Internet of things (IoT) is global network of interconnected entities aimed at automating our lives. However, a number of IoT devices and systems have been created in parallel and there is no universal coding language and communication protocol. For this reason, IoT interoperability is a complex research and practical problem. In this work, we review existing work about IoT interoperability and IoT ontologies. Next, we propose a framework for things as a service interoperability that includes composition of different sensors and actuators at service level, and their integration with existing cloud services. The proposed framework consists of four main layers: virtual sensor, service, semantic, and interoperability layer. We plan to use the proposed framework to achieve service-level interoperability of smart things that will be semantically annotated in order to describe their functional and non-functional properties (with special emphasis on security and privacy).

Nature of visible light communication (VLC) in vehicle‐to‐vehicle (V2V) communication is such that it does involve certain aspects of asymmetry. This concept is known issue in wireless networking systems, and it is one of the reasons for the famous node deafness issue. It degrades network performance and it is addressed in various network layers and protocols, especially media access control protocol. This paper investigates effects of asymmetry on communication performance in V2V networks using VLC. Scientific community has recognized asymmetry as an issue that causes communication performance degradation, even in VLC communication. Furthermore, this paper defines different types of asymmetry in V2V communication networks using VLC technology. Finally, simulation experiment is conducted in a controlled environment, which tests the specific types of asymmetry (design) as a cause of network performance degradation. Data and results are analyzed and interpreted ; they show that asymmetry (design) is not a significant issue in vehicular communication using VLC. However, results are strictly referring to specific domain, ie, vehicular communication using VLC technology in dense urban environments.

This paper illustrates the results of an analysis of business sectors covered by ERP solutions. The authors answer questions in regards to business sectors supported by ERP solutions, while presenting a list of supported business sectors. Using a statistical analysis, an answer is given to the question of whether there are any business sectors that are supported by a large number of ERP solutions, and whether it is possible to classify business sectors based on the occurrence of the support. Finally, three classifications are described that stem from different statistical views of covering business sectors by ERP solutions, and a suggestion for a unique classification of business sectors is given.

The numerous heterogeneities among different providers make platform as a service interoperability an interesting and complex research and practical problem. For example, each provider offers its own remote application programming interfaces (APIs). The main aim of this paper is to identify and address service- level interoperability issues when using APIs from different commercial providers of platform as a service. First, we define use case to add current user information from one platform as a service offer to the application hosted on another offer. To address interoperability problems, the ontology driven data mediation will be used and tested in this use case. Remote vendors’ APIs are implemented as web services. Resulting web operations and their inputs/outputs are semantically annotated using cross-PaaS concepts from the developed platform as a service OWL ontology. Next, SAWSDL and XSLT are used to define service type mappings. Actual composition of platform as a service APIs is implemented by means of AI planner and developed Java web application. Testing and validation was performed on a case where current Salesforce’s user is added to data container in Vosao content management system deployed on Google App Engine. Novelty of the paper is a specific application domain (composition of operations defined in PaaS APIs) and new algorithm for identification of interoperability problems.

The main purpose of this chapter is to emphasize the problem of e-government project risks and to introduce a methodology for risk assessment and calculation of costs associated with risk occurrence in e-government projects based on Bayesian networks. The proposed methodology presents a new approach to the assessment of risks and costs related to e-government project risks. As such, it facilitates the holistic decision making procedure for project managers. The application of Bayesian networks in the context of risks and risk related costs reduces the level of uncertainty in e-government projects and provides a graphical structure of risks and corresponding costs. Finally, the sensitivity analysis has also been integrated into the methodology and its results can have a significant impact on the overall project management quality.

Many benefits from implementation of e-business solutions are related to network effects which means that there are many interconnected parties utilizing the same or compatible technologies. The large-scale adoption of e-business practices in public sectors and in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)-prevailing economic environments will be successful if appropriate support in the form of education, adequate legislative, directions, and open source applications is provided. This case study describes the adoption of e-business in public sectors and SMEs by using an integrated open source approach called e-modules. E-module is a model which has process properties, data properties, and requirements on technology. Therefore e-module presents a holistic framework for deployment of e-business solutions and such e-module structure mandates an approach which requires reengineering of business processes and adoption of strong standardization that solves interoperability issues. E-module is based on principles of service-oriented architectures with guidelines for introduction into business processes and integration with ERP systems. Such an open source approach enables the spreading of compatible software solutions across any given country, thus, increasing e-business adoption. This paper presents a methodology for defining and building e-modules.

Different modern information and communication technologies are emerging in all segments of our lives. The simplicity of using these high-tech and high-performance components enables us to build a wide range of enhanced and fast-in-reaction telemedical systems with the purpose of improving the quality of living. While building these systems it is easy to overlook or underestimate the need for data security and privacy protection. Telemedicine and e-health laws, regulations and standards, along with other telemedicine infrastructure components in the USA, Europe and Croatia are compared and discussed in this paper. After the common model for integrated mobile telemedical system is proposed with the example of heart-work monitoring system, all possible vulnerable and weak points in its architecture are identified and recommendations on design and implementation of similar systems are also discussed and given.

The usage of modern information technologies will be successful only if information system development is aligned with the business system development strategy. Such an approach is usually regarded as the strategic planning of information systems (SPIS). A unified methodology for SPIS does not exist up to the present time, although several methods, techniques and templates might be inventively integrated to develop a new IS for each particular business system. This paper present how this integration could be performed to obtain a consistent methodology named SPIS. Such a methodology has been developed by the authors and applied to six large-scale projects in very different business environments. In this way a theoretical approach was confirmed and extended by new experiences, which are presented in this article.

In the modern world of business, companies with a clear strategic vision for the alignment of business processes and information technologies are rewarded. Such solutions require a high level of business and technical expertise in improving processes that bring most benefits. Standard software packages are usually insufficient to support all the particularities of business processes. Therefore, custom-designed modules have been developed. All these various software units must be integrated in a coherent information system. Component-based development is a very promising approach to address such problems. By using software components and consistently separating them according to functions, we increase system flexibility. The paper presents one practical application of this concept.

Modern business relationships demand interoperability of various e-commerce applications using standardized protocols and formats for data interchange. A key factor for establishing seamless communication among enterprises is a common business vocabulary. The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is one of the most promising standards for defining and naming data. XML is a Meta Language that allows each user to define the structure of the data relevant for a particular problem domain. However, XML is still an immature technology, which leads to problems regarding its deployment. We still do not have global agreement on the semantics and therefore each industry vertical has its own XML specification. The paper presents our approach to resolving the issue of heterogeneous XML semantics. We propose an object oriented approach and the use of standard libraries, which should present a common basis on which each new XML specification should be built.

A recent development of heterogeneous platforms (i.e. those containing different types of computational units such as multicore CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs) has enabled significant improvements in performance for real-time data processing. This potential, however, is still not fully utilized due to the lack of methods for optimal configuration of software ; the allocation of different software components to different computational unit types is crucial for getting the maximal utilization of the platform, but for more complex systems it is difficult to find ad-hoc a good enough or the best configuration. With respect to system and user defined constraints, in this paper we are applying analytical hierarchical process and a genetic algorithm to find feasible, locally optimal solution for allocating software components to computational units.

The most used method for determining the complexity of information systems is the function point method. This paper illustrates the new method, Data on Document (DOD) for estimating the complexity of designing business information systems. Similar methods are shown in brief. The objective is to explain the reasons for using the newly defined DOD method instead of the function point method. The new method is easier to use while the usage of function point method takes a lot of time and effort, and is more complex. The DOD method is compared to the function point method. A high degree of correlation was determined in observed information systems. The DOD method helps in early stages of the development of information systems, when it is not possible to apply the function point method.

Various studies and surveys focus on critical factors for a successful e-government and e-services implementation at a local or a national level. Many of those critical factors can be placed within three important areas: ICT infrastructure, management issues, and human resources. This paper presents the results from a survey which was sent to the representatives of the local government in Croatian cities. The respondents in our survey were mostly employees of the city administration who were responsible for e-government and e-services development: IT managers, heads of related departments etc. With our survey we investigated the current state of city administration regarding e-government, as well as ICT infrastructure, Internet/e-mail availability to employees, LAN/WAN/intranet status, ICT related education policy, etc. In addition, we wanted to identify various obstacles on the path to modern e-government implementation at the local level. Among other survey results, our study indicated that in 2009 only 18% of the surveyed cities had a formal plan or strategy regarding e-government or e-services implementation. Also, only 26% of local governments which participated in the survey had at least one e-government solution implemented. Finally, only 31% of the surveyed cities provided at least some education for their employees regarding e-government implementation.

Interoperability problems between cloud providers are one of the most serious issues of this new computing paradigm. A methodology is needed to systematically and effectively find and solve interoperability problems. For these reasons, a new methodology with detailed steps to find and solve interoperability problems is proposed here. This new methodology is focused and implemented on the platform as a service model, but it can be used in any of the three main models of cloud computing. The methodology uses an iterative approach, because platform as a service offers and their application programming interfaces evolve and change very often. The focus of the methodology is to use remote cloud application programming interfaces to solve interoperability problems on technical, storage and services levels, respectively. Finally, we show the application of the methodology to achieve service-level interoperability among different providers of platform as a service.

Privacy concerns are identified as one of the main factors that have a negative impact on Internet users’ online behaviour. Often, Internet users do not have confidence that a web site will ensure their privacy either in collection nor in future usage of their personal information. In this article we propose a categorization of factors that can influence users’ privacy perception during their online activity. Furthermore, we report on a research model for Internet users’ privacy perception, and a pilot study performed among online shopping/Internet banking users.

Establishing optimal organziational project structure includes sound communication among the project staff and between various parts of a project, including efficient communication software for realization of communication demands. Poor communication support and information flow is often the cause od unsuccessful project completion, of misunderstandings and risky situations.