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The objective of Working Group (WG) 4 of the COST Action NET4Age-Friendly is to examine existing policies, advocacy, and funding opportunities and to build up relations with policy makers and funding organisations. Also, to synthesize and improve existing knowledge and models to develop from effective business and evaluation models, as well as to guarantee quality and education, proper dissemination and ensure the future of the Action. The Working Group further aims to enable capacity building to improve interdisciplinary participation, to promote knowledge exchange and to foster a cross-European interdisciplinary research capacity, to improve cooperation and co-creation with cross-sectors stakeholders and to introduce and educate students SHAFE implementation and sustainability (CB01, CB03, CB04, CB05). To enable the achievement of the objectives of Working Group 4, the Leader of the Working Group, the Chair and Vice-Chair, in close cooperation with the Science Communication Coordinator, developed a template (see annex 1) to map the current state of SHAFE policies, funding opportunities and networking in the COST member countries of the Action. On invitation, the Working Group lead received contributions from 37 countries, in a total of 85 Action members. The contributions provide an overview of the diversity of SHAFE policies and opportunities in Europe and beyond. These were not edited or revised and are a result of the main areas of expertise and knowledge of the contributors; thus, gaps in areas or content are possible and these shall be further explored in the following works and reports of this WG. But this preliminary mapping is of huge importance to proceed with the WG activities. In the following chapters, an introduction on the need of SHAFE policies is presented, followed by a summary of the main approaches to be pursued for the next period of work. The deliverable finishes with the opportunities of capacity building, networking and funding that will be relevant to undertake within the frame of Working Group 4 and the total COST Action. The total of country contributions is presented in the annex of this deliverable.

The objective of Working Group (WG) 4 of the COST Action NET4Age-Friendly is to examine existing policies, advocacy, and funding opportunities and to build up relations with policy makers and funding organisations. Also, to synthesize and improve existing knowledge and models to develop from effective business and evaluation models, as well as to guarantee quality and education, proper dissemination and ensure the future of the Action. The Working Group further aims to enable capacity building to improve interdisciplinary participation, to promote knowledge exchange and to foster a cross-European interdisciplinary research capacity, to improve cooperation and co-creation with cross-sectors stakeholders and to introduce and educate students SHAFE implementation and sustainability (CB01, CB03, CB04, CB05). To enable the achievement of the objectives of Working Group 4, the Leader of the Working Group, the Chair and Vice-Chair, in close cooperation with the Science Communication Coordinator, developed a template (see annex 1) to map the current state of SHAFE policies, funding opportunities and networking in the COST member countries of the Action. On invitation, the Working Group lead received contributions from 37 countries, in a total of 85 Action members. The contributions provide an overview of the diversity of SHAFE policies and opportunities in Europe and beyond. These were not edited or revised and are a result of the main areas of expertise and knowledge of the contributors; thus, gaps in areas or content are possible and these shall be further explored in the following works and reports of this WG. But this preliminary mapping is of huge importance to proceed with the WG activities. In the following chapters, an introduction on the need of SHAFE policies is presented, followed by a summary of the main approaches to be pursued for the next period of work. The deliverable finishes with the opportunities of capacity building, networking and funding that will be relevant to undertake within the frame of Working Group 4 and the total COST Action. The total of country contributions is presented in the annex of this deliverable.

Artificial Intelligence (in continuation: AI) as advanced technology possesses a transformational power since it can reshape every aspect of a firms’ operations ranging from business processes, workforce, technical infrastructure, to decision-making, recruiting, communicating, and advertising. Accordingly, executives in companies need to address AI in an informed way and recognize where AI can create differentiating added value and ultimately boost innovation outputs and revenue growth. The question arises, how do firms in catchingup economies can benefit from the AI use in their offerings and efficiency optimization? The accent is on companies operating in limited and highly regulated data access and usage environment. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to conceptualize an analytical model to assess prospects in firms’ competitiveness and technological advancement by applying AI as a differentiation strategy. Results produced by this paper will assist scholars and business practitioners to construct tailored empirical research around the proposed model. Besides, it could offer policymakers a framework to conceptualize and operationalize specifically tailored instruments within national funding policy instruments that are aiming to support the diffusion of the AI within corresponding ecosystems.

Nove usluge nude sve veći skup funkcionalnosti koje se žele isporučiti krajnjim korisnicima što stvara dodatni pritisak na razvoj korisničkih sučelja za starije osobe sa specifičnim interakcijskim potrebama i mogućnostima. Kako bi se olakšalo uvođenje novih programskih sustava i aplikacija u području okolinom potpomognutog življenja važno je uvesti nova tehnološka rješenja koja će s jedne strane pomoći u prilagođavanju multimodalnih sučelja koji omogućuju korištenje različitih komunikacijskih kanala kojima sustav komunicira s korisnikom, a s druge strane omogućiti brži i jednostavniji razvoj aplikacija kojima će se moći pristupiti neovisno o korištenom pristupnom uređaju. Na temelju predložene specifikacije kriterija u sklopu disertacije je izvršena analiza različitih okvira za korisničku interakciju u sustavima okolinom potpomognutog življenja. S ciljem unapređenja mehanizma odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja za multimodalnu interakciju u sustavima okolinom potpomognutog življenja u disertaciji je predložen semantički opis interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika. Nadalje je opisan način primjene predloženog semantičkog opisa za poboljšanje mehanizma odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja u sklopu okvira za korisničku multimodalnu interakciju koji podržava neovisnost aplikacijskog i prezentacijskog sloja te koji dodatno omogućuje i uključivanje kontekstnih podataka. U cilju verifikacije istraživanja predloženi semantički opis interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika je implementiran i integriran u okvir za korisničku interakciju platforme universAAL. Opisani su studijski slučaj procesa odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih multimodalnih sučelja te odabrani slučaj promjene konteksta. Potvrđena je hipoteza istraživanja da se upotrebom tehnologija semantičkog weba i korištenjem semantičkog opisa interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika može optimizirati mehanizam odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja za multimodalnu interakciju u sustavu okolinom potpomognutog življenja.

Nove usluge nude sve veći skup funkcionalnosti koje se žele isporučiti krajnjim korisnicima što stvara dodatni pritisak na razvoj korisničkih sučelja za starije osobe sa specifičnim interakcijskim potrebama i mogućnostima. Kako bi se olakšalo uvođenje novih programskih sustava i aplikacija u području okolinom potpomognutog življenja važno je uvesti nova tehnološka rješenja koja će s jedne strane pomoći u prilagođavanju multimodalnih sučelja koji omogućuju korištenje različitih komunikacijskih kanala kojima sustav komunicira s korisnikom, a s druge strane omogućiti brži i jednostavniji razvoj aplikacija kojima će se moći pristupiti neovisno o korištenom pristupnom uređaju. Na temelju predložene specifikacije kriterija u sklopu disertacije je izvršena analiza različitih okvira za korisničku interakciju u sustavima okolinom potpomognutog življenja. S ciljem unapređenja mehanizma odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja za multimodalnu interakciju u sustavima okolinom potpomognutog življenja u disertaciji je predložen semantički opis interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika. Nadalje je opisan način primjene predloženog semantičkog opisa za poboljšanje mehanizma odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja u sklopu okvira za korisničku multimodalnu interakciju koji podržava neovisnost aplikacijskog i prezentacijskog sloja te koji dodatno omogućuje i uključivanje kontekstnih podataka. U cilju verifikacije istraživanja predloženi semantički opis interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika je implementiran i integriran u okvir za korisničku interakciju platforme universAAL. Opisani su studijski slučaj procesa odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih multimodalnih sučelja te odabrani slučaj promjene konteksta. Potvrđena je hipoteza istraživanja da se upotrebom tehnologija semantičkog weba i korištenjem semantičkog opisa interakcijskih mogućnosti i preferencija korisnika može optimizirati mehanizam odabira i prilagodbe korisničkih sučelja za multimodalnu interakciju u sustavu okolinom potpomognutog življenja. Because of the current demographic trends more and more older people need adequate support in their daily activities. An increasingly important role here are getting the information and communication technologies and services that enhance the quality of life of elderly people and extend their independence. The term Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) entered the public with the EU Framework Programme support action aimed towards providing support to the elderly people in their homes, on the move, in society and at work. A number of research initiatives and multidisciplinary programs have been established around the field of development for ageing population in the last years. Although they operate in a very challenging environment and have to deal with a vast number of ever-changing requirements they strive to bring advances that will help this very specific end user group. The challenges in the area of AAL can be viewed from the standpoint of end user(s), developers, providers, industry, governments and other relevant stakeholders and include issues related to technology acceptance, trust, heterogeneity, interoperability, standardisation, security, privacy, legal aspects, reliability, undefined market, etc. In order to facilitate the introduction of new software systems and applications in the field of assisted living the services should be easy to use for end users and easy to develop for developers. Older people and people with disabilities have the same need for accessing information and different applications as everyone else but require a different approach. Designing user interfaces for elderly and/or disabled is a big challenge since they have various and special needs that have to be considered in every aspect of a design process. It is not unusual for older people to experience restricted mobility, declining vision, hearing and reaction time which means that they can can greatly benefit from new and more appropriate ways of interaction that would lower the interaction barrier. User interfaces that tailor interaction and presentation capabilities based on user capabilities, preferences and expectations can significantly increase the usability of systems in the area of AAL. Furthermore, context-aware systems using information about the interaction environment, end user(s) and the system itself can bring even more proactivity and adaptivity to interaction between system and its end user(s). There was a major shift in the way technology is used today. Many advances in science and technology enable the development of services that were previously not possible. New services offer a growing set of functionalities that they want to deliver to end users. This creates additional pressure on developing clear and intuitive user interfaces, especially when it comes to elderly people with specific needs, capabilities and preferences. The vast majority of existing interfaces does not adequately fulfill accessibility requirements of elderly users suffering from visual, hearing or any other impairment. For this reason, demand for multimodal user interfaces that allows the use of different communication channels for communication with users and systems will surely grow in the future. The mechanism of selection and adaptation of user interfaces for multimodal interaction based on a comparison of the product's capabilities and features and user preferences can improve customer satisfaction and performance compared to traditional user interfaces. The dissertation gives basic information about the graying society and evolution of user interaction in this area. The research was conducted from the technological and sociological aspects in order to identify major conceptual characteristics and specific requirements for developers in this area. Systems in the area of AAL are focused towards enabling independence, autonomy, security, and generally necessary assistance and quality of life to the elderly. For this reason, they need appropriate user interfaces that can meet the demands of this, in many ways a very specific and heterogeneous user group. In order to help the users to take advantage of the full potential of communication with such systems new technological solutions that enable greater flexibility in selecting the most appropriate modalities of interaction and better customization of user interfaces according to the capabilities and preferences of end-users are of a great importance. The dissertation gives insights into intelligent user interfaces, describes basic concepts related to multimodal user interfaces and most important models of interactive systems. It identifies most common approaches used in the development of user interfaces for the elderly, different types of adaptation of user interfaces and existing standards and guidelines for the development of user interfaces intended mainly for the elderly people. Based on proposed criteria different user interaction frameworks in AAL systems were analyzed. The performed analysis was focused towards understanding: i) how the input was gathered from users and how the AAL system presented output, as well as which devices and/or modalities were used during the interaction process, ii) whether pluggable user interfaces, allowing easy change of user interfaces without (or with minimal) changes in the system application layer, were used, iii) whether modality independent user interface model was used and, finally, special focus was put on iv) support for adaptation in terms of identifying who initiated the adaptation (user, system or both) and what was the object of the adaptation (structure, presentation and/or content). Since considered projects producing different platforms had different scopes and goals, their architectures and user interaction frameworks were different but always focused towards responding to end user needs as much as possible. From the survey results it is obvious that more traditional ways of output (such as graphical user interfaces, keyboards and computer mouses) are used in most cases but also that new ways of interaction are starting to be more and more popular. Touch screens as well as voice and gesture interaction are especially being recognized to be suitable for input for this target group. Results of the performed analysis of user interaction in existing AAL platforms lead to the conclusion that there are many projects but not yet common platform(s) that can really be considered the standard. In most user interaction frameworks certain common characteristics can be identified, but still a lot of work is needed in order to identify the best approach. In order to be capable of smart responses, user interfaces will have to know their users and their environment and be able to adapt. In order to achieve good user interface adaptation underlying user models and contextual awareness are essential. Expansion of user modelling field in recent years has also in part been triggered due to the growing amount of data that can be collected from users and their environments. Availability of this new data has, in turn, created new opportunities in the field of user interaction. The dissertation proposes semantic description of interaction capabilities and preferences of users based on the existing standards. User interaction capabilities are divided into cognitive, sensory and psychomotor while user interaction preferences are divided into general, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and tactile preferences. Each group is then explained in more details. For example, general user interaction preferences relate to general information about the (non)preferred modes of interaction, preferred language(s) and time of interaction, currency, date format, method of delivery and presentation of alarms and notifications and the manner and conditions under which the system should initiate the interaction. The more complex rules defined within the general interaction preferences may contain conditions that take into account the context of use and other aspects such as the affect, the emotional state of the user, etc. The proposed semantic description of the interaction capabilities and preferences of users is used in order to optimize the mechanism of selection and adaptation of user interfaces within the framework of multi-modal user interaction that supports the independence of the application and presentation layer and which further allows the inclusion of contextual data. The proposed semantic description of the interaction capabilities and preferences of users is implemented and integrated into a user interaction framework of the reference AAL platform universAAL. For the representation of the semantic description of interaction capabilities and preferences of users ontologies were used. The universAAL Framework for User Interaction in Multimedia, Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Spaces was accepted as Publicly Available Specification by the International Electrotechnical Commission under the reference IEC/PAS 62883 Ed. 1.0 in March 2014. EU-FP7 project universAAL had the goal to design and develop an open platform that provides a standardized approach for an easy and economic development of AAL solutions. The universAAL platform is intended to benefit end users (i.e., assisted persons, their families, and caregivers), authorities with responsibility for AAL, and organizations involved in the development and deployment of AAL services. Some results described in this dissertation were incorporated in the universAAL user interaction framework which components and most important concepts were described here. The research hypothesis that semantic web technologies and semantic description of interaction capabilities and preferences of users can be used to optimize the mechanism of selection and adaptation of user interfaces for multimodal interaction in the AAL system was confirmed. The dissertation showed the possibility of replacing existing, traditional ways of designing the application for which each application produces a specific user interface with the new way which is based on the separation of the application and presentation layers and which includes a special framework for the user interaction, which adapts the interaction taking into account the information about the context alongside the capabilities and preferences of the user. For the separation of application and presentation logic abstract user interfaces that are modality and device agnostic are used. By including platform specific information abstract user interfaces are transformed into concrete user interfaces. At runtime, when the actual context of use becomes known, the final user interface is built as an instantiation of the abstract user interface. In universAAL user interaction framework the XForms based abstract user interfaces were used. The format of the abstract user interface can come in many flavours as is also visible from the overview of the User Interface Description Languages given in the disseration. Some approaches employ task models, some use abstract forms of widgets and controls, some user interface parametrization, etc. With an advancement of technology user interaction has also evolved and will continue to do so. Our activities are increasingly becoming mediated by different devices such as computers or mobile phones. Many solutions that are being developed are rather complex what results in the fact that more attention has to be directed towards designing usable user interfaces. Many advances in science and technology allow developing services that were formerly not possible. User interface adaptation is a challenge to accomplish and with the advances in Ambient Intelligence difficulties are constantly growing which means that more research is needed in this exciting field. In mixed initiative interaction control over the adaptation process is divided between the user and the system. In further research, it would be good to explore how much control users are willing to leave to the system and whether, and if so how, their attitude changes in relation to their demographic age. The development of technology leads to the emergence of new devices that can be used to improve the process of interaction. It would be good to investigate the way in which these new devices and solutions affect the lives of people with different personal and social norms.

Prema definiciji Europske komisije, javno-privatno partnerstvo omogućava učinkovit način provedbe infrastrukturnih projekata i pružanja javnih usluga te promiče inovativan pristup u primjeni mjera gospodarskog oporavka. Na tom tragu, a zbog sve većeg interesa suradnje privatnih i javnih partnera za ulaganja u turizmu i hotelijerstvu, u radu je prikazana problematika javno-privatnog partnerstva u turizmu Republike Hrvatske kroz ocjenu inicijativa dosadašnjih projekata. Dat je pregled karakteristika, ciljeva i načela javno-privatnog partnerstva, osnovnih modela i oblika realizacije projekata te postupak i načela odabira javno-privatnog partnera. Naglašene su manjkavosti pri realizaciji dosadašnjih projekata u turizmu te je dat pregled mogućih pozitivnih utjecaja takvih projekata na razvoj hrvatskog turizma, koji se očituje u povećanju broja kreveta u hotelskom smještaju i povećanju kategorije postojećih hotela. Cilj rada je objasniti prednosti i nedostatke javno-privatnog partnerstva, dati prijedloge njegove moguće implementacije u turizmu Republike Hrvatske te istaknuti važnost suradnje javnog i privatnog partnera kako bi se razvio kvalitetniji i konkurentniji turistički proizvod.