Vol. 21 No. 4/2017

Issue Topic: Software testing and quality

QAaaS in a Cloud IoT Ecosystem
Bogdan GHILIC-MICU, Marinela MIRCEA, Marian STOICA 5
The current transition state of the global society, both from economic and (mostly) technological perspective, goes – again – into overtime. Borrowed from fundamental domains and applied into science and research, the latest technological developments are built on graphene, silicene, phosphorene and stanene. The fourth industrial revolution changes perceptions and redefines the status of the individual, transforming him from con-sumer into pro-sumer of energy. Spintronics stimulates the production of accessories specific to the Internet of Things (IoT), like smart clothes connected to internet and implanted phones. Additionally, technology influences software development methodologies facing us with paradigms that transcend philosophies like green, grid, cloud computing and advance toward a superior manifestation of computer programming: Fog Computing (with the next level being presumably Rainbow Computing). Within this avalanche of transformations, technologies and paradigms, one aspect that has to evolve continuously is the quality assurance (QA). Hidden under various concept or methodology encapsulations, quality assurance in all fields and mostly in technological development and software paradigm play a key role. In an ecosystem defined by the context of Cloud IoT, quality assurance as service becomes a real challenge. In this paper we highlight the ways the ecosystem engages in its development not only things, beings, energies, sensors or objects but also technologies. One such popular technology is cloud computing which, in the context of IoT, sees a spectacular development of its own cluster of services, a potential such service being QAaaS.
Keywords: Quality Assurance, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Cloud Services Cluster, the Technological Ecosystem, Crowdsourcing.

Interoperability of SME Databases from the Project Management Point of View
Eugen Ştefan Dorel COJOACA 15
The term "Information Society" describes an economy and a society in which access, acquisition, storage, processing, transmission, dissemination and use of knowledge and information play a decisive role. The Information Society implies changes in all areas: administration (e-government), business (e-commerce), education (distance learning), culture (multimedia centres and virtual libraries) and working (the remote work). At the heart of these transformations is the use of the Internet. The Internet influences how we live, how business is done, how the work is done, how to study, how people interact and how to spend their free time [1], [2]. In this context, this paper purpose is to present the implementation of a project developed by the Ministry of Communication and Social Information from European funds in the sphere of project management, which is different than the management of other IT projects.
Keywords: Project Management, Interoperability, eServices, eGovernment, eBusiness.

Privacy and Security in Connected Vehicles Ecosystems
Marius POPA, Cristian TOMA, Cătălin BOJA, Alin ZAMFIROIU 29
Modern vehicles could not be figured out without Internet connections in order to provide customers a wide range of services in the vehicle: infotainment platforms, third-party support, on-board and online monitor and maintenance, business analytics for car fleets. Exposure of the vehicles to the Internet turns them into targets for viruses, worms, Trojans, DoS and lot of other threats for connected vehicle security. Beside the classic threats of the Internet exposure, other new threats are introduced by the Internet of Things (IoT) new technologies that are poor regulated or undefined yet from the security point of view. Also, the large variety of the IoT technologies not being standardized yet contribute to security issues in this area of the automotive industry. This paper provides an overview of the connected vehicle environment, considering the main components of such kind of system and the main security challenges to be considered for building reliable secure online systems for connected vehicles.
Keywords: IoT, Connected Vehicle Security, Embedded Systems.

An Educational Data Mining Approach to Concept Map Construction for Web based Learning
Anal ACHARYA, Devadatta SINHA 41
This aim of this article is to study the use of Educational Data Mining (EDM) techniques in constructing concept maps for organizing knowledge in web based learning systems whereby studying their synergistic effects in enhancing learning. This article first provides a tutorial based introduction to EDM. The applicability of web based learning systems in enhancing the efficiency of EDM techniques in real time environment is investigated. Web based learning systems often use a tool for organizing knowledge. This article explores the use of one such tool called concept map for this purpose. The pioneering works by various researchers who proposed web based learning systems in personalized and collaborative environment in this arena are next presented. A set of parameters are proposed based on which personalized and collaborative learning applications may be generalized and their performances compared. It is found that personalized learning environment uses EDM techniques more exhaustively compared to collaborative learning for concept map construction in web based environment. This article can be used as a starting point for freshers who would like to use EDM techniques for concept map construction for web based learning purposes.
Keywords: Educational Data Mining (EDM), Web based Learning, Concept Map, Personalized Learning, Collaborative Learning.

Internet of Things, Challenges for Demand Side Management
Simona OPREA, Bogdan George TUDORICA, Anda BELCIU, Iuliana BOTHA 59
The adoption of any new product means also the apparition of new issues and challenges, and this is especially true when we talk about a mass adoption. The advent of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be, in the authors of this paper opinion, the largest and the fastest product adoption yet to be seen, as several early sources were predicting a volume of 50 billion IoT devices to be active by 2020 [1][2]. While later forecasts reduced the predicted amount to about 20-30 billion devices [3], even for such “reduced” number, demand side management issues are foreseeable, for the potential economic impact of IoT applications in 2025 will be between 3.9 and $11.1 trillion USD [4]. Not only that new patterns will emerge in energy consumption and Internet traffic, but we predict that the sheer amount of data produced by this quantity of IoT devices will give birth to a new sort of demand side management, the demand side management of IoT data. How will this work is yet to be seen but, at the current moment, one can at least identify the bits and pieces that will constitute it. This paper is intended to serve as short guide regarding the possible challenges raised by the adoption of IoT devices. The data types and structures, lifecycle and patterns will be briefly discussed throughout the following article.
Keywords: Internet of Things, Structured Data, Semi-structured Data, NoSQL, Demand Side Management

Deep Learning for Distribution Channels' Management
Sabina-Cristiana NECULA 73
This paper presents an experiment of using deep learning models for distribution channel management. We present an approach that combines self-organizing maps with artificial neural network with multiple hidden layers in order to identify the potential sales that might be addressed for channel distribution change/ management. Our study aims to highlight the evolution of techniques from simple features/learners to more complex learners and feature engineering or sampling techniques. This paper will allow researchers to choose best suited techniques and features to prepare their churn prediction models.
Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Distribution Channel, Self-Organizing Maps, Deep Learning

Project Management Tools for Agile Teams
Alexandra MIHALACHE 85
The 21st century started as the era of agile methods and technologies which combine adaptable and highly flexible methods designed to help teams to develop applications faster and safer. The challenge is to adapt just enough technology to enhance the performance of teams which are using agile methods and to avoid going back to weak workflow ideas of the industrial era. In this paper, I will present some relevant agile tools that could improve every software development project and I will also mention the features and criteria used for evaluating currently existing tools. Finally, I will propose a classification model to the appropriate agile tool selection, but keep in mind that in order to be successful, organizations and teams do need to deal first with the issues that accompany product complexity and growing teams.
Keywords: Project Assessment, Agile Tools Classification, Unpredictable Situations Control

The 17th International Conference on Informatics in Economy, IE 2018 94

Publishing Guide for Authors 95

INFOREC Association 97