Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mobile service delivery'

The Mobidoo Mobile Service Delivery Platform (MSDP) provides opportunity to the service providers to add online services by creating classifieds and advertising them to end users. These services can either be provided free of cost or with cost. Users can facilitate from these services by showing their interest and can get that particular service from service provider via ADMIN authentication or can also just surf through the services available on mobile web application. Main users of the application are ADMIN, SERVICE PROVIDERS AND PUBLIC USER. Graphical User Interface was developed by HTML5, CSS3 and PHP5. Moreover, the facility of geolocation filter is also added. This application is web based and specifically designed for Mobile phones but it also runs on Desktop PCs. In short, this is an application that has made online shopping easier.

Research paper
The use of Mobile technologies in organisation including institution of higher education has increased significantly in recent years. In institution of higher education, the focuses have been on its use for teaching and learning. Due to the flexibility and easy accessibility, learners and educators are increasingly depending mobile technologies for their academic activities. The development of mobile technology has resulted in shifting the academic environment from traditional to mobile learning settings. This paper focused on the possible implications of mobile devices on teaching and learning. The qualitative case study approach was employed in the study. Based on the finding from the analysis of the empirical data, a Framework was developed. The Framework could be employed to address the implications in the drive to enhance the services of academic library. Mobile learning has a lot of potential for quick and wide reaching out to the geographically wide spread of learners. The paper helps to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of mobile technology in providing services in the library of academic institutions.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
Mobile devices are growing in a popularity way for consumers to access the Internet for mobile services. As the number of mobile devices is multiplying, subscriptions to services through these devices are also expanding. Previous research has found that perceived service value positively mediates the cost/benefit trade-off with behavioural intentions to use mobile services. This research examines the effect of identification with the mobile phone and perceived ubiquity, as possible moderators on the perceived costs/benefits trade-off and perceived mobile service value. A web-survey was conducted using mobile transaction services as illustrative service. The results of the conducted web-survey reveal that perceived ubiquity helps explaining the perceived mobile service value. In contrast to expectations, identification with mobile devices does not make consumers more prone to use mobile services. This study delivered contribution for companies to provide a better understanding of specific drivers and barriers of mobile services to value creation and to help companies effectively allocate their resources to enhance consumer value perceptions.

Current trends in libraries require that students are able to access information and services beyond library buildings. Makerere University Library (Maklib) faces a number of challenges with regard to online and remote access to library resources and services. One possible solution to this problem lies in the use of mobile technologies. This study attempted to investigate how mobile technologies can be used to provide mobile-based library services at Makerere University library. A pilot study was conducted involving 31 postgraduate and 37 undergraduate students using questionnaires as the data collection tool. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed using Google Drive and was presented in form of text and graphs. Findings indicate that majority of Makerere University students own mobile phones that are internet enabled and those who do not own them have expressed interest in acquiring them in order to stay abreast with new technology. Although students owned internet enabled phones, they mainly used these devices to make and receive calls, and access different kinds of information ranging from news, social media to academic information. The services that students wanted to access using their mobile devices were: search the catalogue, request an e-book, request an item, chat with a librarian, view library news, access subject guides, search the library database, view library opening hours, View library contact information, Quick response, renew library items, book study group rooms, text messaging, book computer labs and view library map. There are also various resources that students expressed interest in and these include: Google searches, Google scholar, e-books, reference materials and e-journals. Convenience, flexibility, time saving, affordability are some of the reasons for acceptability of Mobile library services and resources. The majority of the respondents were positive about the implementation of the mobile services at Maklib however, some of the challenges mentioned by students include high cost of the devices and the ability to access internet services while in office. The study concludes that:  Mobile technology awareness is rapidly increasing among Ugandans especially students in higher education such as those at Makerere University.  Ownership of mobile devices is widespread among both the postgraduate and undergraduate students.  Both postgraduate and undergraduate students expressed their interest in accessing mobile library services and resources. Recommendations that ought to be adopted by Maklib and any other academic library willing to implement mobile library services are discussed.
Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Information Science
Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Unrestricted

Mobile technologies are seen as an emerging technology that affects individuals and organizations. These technologies are becoming more affordable and accessible over time with advanced designs and computing capabilities. These technologies affect how people use and access the internet, how people create and access content or services, and how people choose to communicate. In addition these technologies have infiltrated the educational sector, and effected how educational institutions such as a university deliver services to academics, students and staff. As these technologies are effecting educational institutions academic libraries that support such educational institutions have had to embrace these technologies by adapting and adding additional services to accommodate users. Examples of such new and emerging services can be seen through the establishment of mobile library websites, mobile library applications available for users from various types of mobile devices such as cell phones, mobile tablets, and e-readers. Libraries are adapting traditional services such as catalogues, resources and other services to be accessible and usable from such devices. This study is focused on a South African academic library, taking a closer look at mobile library service delivery, to investigate whether library services delivered from mobile devices can enhance service delivery. The study is focused on an established mobile library website, and looks at the post implementation of the mobile library website from the perspective of Natural and Agricultural Sciences students at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Mini-dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
Information Science
Unrestricted

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Florida, 2001.
Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 76 p.; also contains graphics. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Rapid expansions of mobile communication technologies across sub-Saharan Africa have generated considerable optimism regarding their impact on socioeconomic development outcomes. Key payment applications, such as mobile-enabled payment instruments (i.e. SMS-based mobile money and wireless pay point services) are experiencing substantial adoption in East Africa and Dar es Salaam was the first city in sub-Saharan Africa to integrate these payment instruments into the urban water sector in mid-2009. Tanzania's largest city is demonstrative of the potential of mobile communication technologies to overcome water provision challenges such as inefficient billing and collection systems and revenue under-collection. This thesis uses Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) as an organising theoretical perspective to examine relationships between the use of mobile-enabled payment methods for water bill payments and customer payment behaviours, water utility performance, and access to water services. Data were collected using a survey methodology that tested hypotheses related to financial sustainability, petty corruption, satisfaction and service quality in payment practices, and neighbourhood resale in the informal water sector. Data sources include a survey administered to a stratified random sample of 1097 water utility customers; 42 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders within the water sector and telecommunications industry; and a unique water payments database with information on approximately 1,000,000 water-related transactions made by over 106,000 customers. Qualitative and quantitative analyses provide evidence that the use of mobile-enabled payment methods can significantly improve customer payment behaviours (i.e. frequency of payment, annual revenue collection per customer), reduce opportunities for petty corruption (i.e. theft, bribery, and record-keeping), and support better access to improved water sources by unconnected households through neighbourhood resale practices. Implications for urban water provision in sub-Saharan Africa include higher collection efficiencies, more active customer bases, and wider direct and indirect reliance on utility-provided services. This thesis also contributes to ICTD scholarship by providing evidence that the use of mobile-enabled payment methods represents a disruptive transformation that enables more extensive and active citizen participation in the billing and payment processes of public service provision.

Electronic government (e-government) is how the providers of public services interact with the citizen and business via electronic means. The internet is the most commonly used electronic channel. E-government can provide major benefits to citizens and businesses by making the delivery of public services more efficient and effective. However, recent advances in mobile technology have offered the potential to support government services at various levels. This has made it possible to deliver services to the citizens who have no convenient physical access to government services, for example, people living in rural areas and those who are continually on the move, such as business professionals. This study explores the possibilities of effectiveness, resistance, opportunities and issues related to supporting government services delivery through using mobile cellular technologies. This research study focused on the South African and Nigerian contexts. The focus was to explore various ways that the government can use mobile technologies to improve the provision of government services. A major output of this research work is a conceptual framework to guide mobile government implementation as a vehicle for delivery of government services. Literature from both academic and professional domains were consulted throughout the study. Furthermore, a case study research was conducted in two organisations, which are different in terms of cultural and transformative settings (one in South Africa and another in Nigeria). The study followed an interpretive research approach, and collected data through semi-structured interviews in the two organizations. The data gathered were relevant to the implementation of m-government systems. The study relied on two underpinning theoretical frameworks, namely Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory to understand the socio-technical factors affecting the implementation of m-government systems in government organisations. The perspective of duality of structure and moments of translation from both Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory were adopted to analyse the data collected in the case study organisations.

This thesis investigates the use of mobile phones as service-delivery devices in a sign language machine translation system. Four sign language visualization methods were evaluated on mobile phones. Three of the methods were synthetic sign language visualization methods. Three factors were considered: the intelligibility of sign language, as rendered by the method
the power consumption
and the bandwidth usage associated with each method. The average intelligibility rate was 65%, with some methods achieving intelligibility rates of up to 92%. The average le size was 162 KB and, on average, the power consumption increased to 180% of the idle state, across all methods. This research forms part of the Integration of Signed and Verbal Communication: South African Sign Language Recognition and Animation (SASL) project at the University of the Western Cape and serves as an integration platform for the group's research. In order to perform this research a machine translation system that uses mobile phones as service-delivery devices was developed as well as a 3D Avatar for mobile phones. It was concluded that mobile phones are suitable service-delivery platforms for sign language machine translation systems.

This study aimed to understand how Muni University Library can effectively use mobile technologies to deliver social media-based library services. Data was collected from 100 undergraduate students and 4 members of staff of the University Library on the use of mobile and social media technologies for provision of library services and resources using self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, respectively. Only 88 student questionnaires were returned while all 4 members of staff participated in the face-to-face interviews. The results show that the majority (96.6 per cent) of the students own mobile devices and social media accounts that are used for both academic and personal purposes. There is convergence in responses among students and staff that mobile and social media technologies are crucial for provision of library services and resources in the 21st Century. They suggest that these technologies be used in the Muni University Library to access subject guides, MOPAC, mobile website, library map, and e-resources, and reference services. Also, the results show that the Muni University Library is already providing services to its users through mobile technologies and social media using WhatsApp, Facebook, and Kindle Fires e-readers. However, this study identified challenges that hinder the use of mobile and social media technologies, including unreliable internet connectivity, lack of a member of staff of the library responsible for managing technologies, lack of adequate skills among users and library staff required to use social media technologies, and lack of an independent library social media strategy. Discussion of the results and recommendations are presented in this mini-dissertation.
Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
Carnegie Corporation of New York
University of Pretoria
Muni University
Information Science
MIT
Unrestricted

Pervasive computing implies the invisibility of the technology involved in providing ubiquity, such that technology is integrated into the environment and non-intrusive. In such a manner, computing and networking resources become diffused into physical environments, enabling users to exploit their provided functionalities such that functionality is distributed, enabling it to be controlled, monitored, managed, and extended beyond what it was initially designed to do. Moreover, computer awareness moves towards user-centricity, whereby systems seamlessly adapt to the characteristics, preferences, and current situations of users and their respective surrounding environments. Users exploit such functionalities in the form of a virtual device, whereby a collection of heterogeneous devices in the vicinity of the user are behaving as one single homogeneous device for the benefit of the user in solving some given task. This dissertation investigates the problem of dynamic composition and management of virtual devices for ad hoc multimedia service delivery and proposes an autonomous policy driven framework for virtual device management. The framework consists of a hierarchical structure of distributed elements, including autonomic elements, all working towards the self-management of virtual devices. The research presented in this dissertation addresses the functionalities of these components. More specifically, contributions are made towards the autonomous management of virtual devices, moving away from infrastructure based schemes with heavy user involvement to decentralized and zero touch (i.e., no user involvement) solutions. In doing so, the components and methodology behind a policy-driven autonomous framework for the dynamic discovery, selection, and composition of multimodal multi-device services are presented. The framework operates in an ad hoc network setting and introduces a Service Overlay Network (SON) based definition of a virtual device. Furthermore, device and service discovery, composition, integration, and adaptation schemes are designed for Mobile Ad hoc Network Environments (MANETs) enabling users to generate, on-the-fly, complex strong specific systems, embedding in a distributed manner, QoS models providing compositions that form the best possible virtual device at the time of need. Experimental studies are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed schemes.

The expansion and diffusion of mobile phones globally has resulted in the provision of financial transactional services over the existing mobile phone platforms, generally referred to as mobile money. The supply end of mobile money services is an important factor in the success of the financial transactions offering. This research assessed vulnerabilities in the mobile money supply network that are inherently related to the existence of the principal – agent problem and their implications on availability and access to the services. The research study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Qualitative information was collected through interviews guided by open – ended questionnaires. Thematic analysis approach was followed to systematically analyse the data and generate findings of the study. Agent transactional data was analysed to complement the findings from qualitative analysis The findings suggest that the principal agent problem permeates the mobile money delivery network mainly after businesses joining as agents and manifests as moral hazard. Moral hazard is the dominant feature of the principal – agent problem, with adverse selection very low. Drivers of moral hazard are demonstrated by the influences and demands of agents’ core businesses and challenges in agent monitoring and training. The existence of the principal – agent problem has limited or no implications on access and availability of services. However, overtime the combined vulnerabilities identified related to the principal agent problem are likely to manifest into risks that are likely to affect access and availability of mobile money services. Regulators, Mobile Network Operators and agent enterprises must collectively review monitoring approaches for mobile money service providers to address challenges identified and increase the effectiveness of monitoring. Service provision standards should be reviewed to suit the various business environments the services are provided within. Mobile Network Operators and agent enterprises need to institute stronger partnership arrangements that enhance ownership and obligations for all parties, in particular agent enterprises. Agreements must enable application of different mobile money delivery models suitable to meet the demands and requirements of the agents’ core businesses. Innovations such as Near Field Communication (NFC) can be integrated with Point of sale (POS) applications and mobile money platforms to reduce the administration burden on agents and human error. Such applications must consider the cost implications of adoption from the agents’ business perspective.

Este trabajo fue realizado para cubrir una necesidad que hoy en día tiene mucha importancia en las personas, el cual es tener un mejor estilo de vida mediante una buena ingesta de comida saludable. Para ello, se identificó, mediante una investigación hecha a un grupo de personas interesadas en estos cambios, que habían dos inconvenientes muy puntuales para que puedan vivir con este nuevo proceso y cambios en sus vidas. Se trata del factor tiempo para poder prepararse el tipo de comida que hoy en día necesitarían para mejorar su estilo de vida y el conocimiento sobre ello para saber adecuadamente las porciones e ingredientes que deberían considerar. A raíz de ese hallazgo es que vimos una oportunidad de hacer un modelo de negocio que cubra con cada punto hallado en la investigación con la finalidad de entregar un servicio que cubra la necesidad de estas personas. Por ello, creamos NUTRIVA, un modelo de negocio sofisticado el cual consiste en brindar un servicio de delivery de comida saludable mediante paquetes mensuales por medio un aplicativo móvil muy sofisticado que servirá para brindarte consejos de alimentación, planes alimenticios diarios, monitoreo y seguimiento de tu desempeño, entre muchas otras asesorías con relación a comer saludable y estar informado sobre todo lo que se debe saber para estar en forma mediante un equipo de nutricionistas.
This project was done to cover a need that today is very important in people, which is to have a better lifestyle through a good intake of healthy food. To do this, it was identified, through an investigation made to a group of people interested in these changes, that there were two very specific inconveniences so that they could live with this new process and changes in their lives. It is about the time factor to be able to prepare the type of food that today they would need to improve their lifestyle and the knowledge about it to know adequately the portions and ingredients that they should consider. Following this finding is that we saw an opportunity to make a business model that covers each point found in the investigation in order to deliver a service that meets the need of these people. Therefore, we created NUTRIVA, a sophisticated business model which consists of providing a healthy food delivery service through monthly packages through a highly sophisticated mobile application that will serve to provide you with food tips, daily food plans, monitoring and tracking of your performance, among many other advice regarding healthy eating and being informed about everything you need to know to be fit, through a team of nutritionists.
Trabajo de investigación

The practical relevancy of Customer Experience Management is increasing. The research on the topic has still not found common ground in all areas. Most scholars still fail to see the advantage of adopting a broader perspective of Customer Experience Management and integrating factors that lie out of the focal company’s control into the scope of the conceptual framework. The aim of this thesis is to clarify the principal elements that constitute Customer Experience Management and explore what role the Service Delivery Network plays in this context and how it can be managed more effectively with the help of IT/IS. To explore the problem empirically, a case study approach was used. The author had the possibility to investigate the Passenger Experience activities of Tallinn Airport which has the unique goal of becoming "The World’s Cosiest Airport". Summarizing the findings of the thesis very briefly, the following things should be noted. First, the case study has shown empirically that passengers’ experiences with different companies in a Service Delivery Network interfere with each other. Second, the findings suggest that Partner Management is an important part of Passenger Experience Management. Third, IT and mobile IT in particular are good means to manage Passenger Experiences. Especially, mobile applications have a huge potential to support a customer’s self-management and co-create an experience. A potential avenue for future research would be 1. to take on the passenger perspective on the topic and 2. to replicate the study or at least parts of it at other airports to allow cross-case analyses.

This study attempted to find out how mobile technologies could be used to implement Web 2.0 based service delivery to graduate students based in the Graduate School of the University for Development Studies (UDS) Library. A 23 item questionnaire was administered to a sample of 155 participants who were selected by means of simple random sampling. A total of 119 questionnaires were retrieved and found to be adequate for analysis and interpretation. The collected data was analyzed and interpreted using the SPSS package and Microsoft Excel and was presented in the form of text and graphs. Findings indicated that graduate students overall had very good abilities with regards to the usage of the Web 2.0 applications; that they will like to access their library’s resources through the Web 2.0 applications using their mobile devices and the services they will like to access include reference services, circulation services, searching the OPAC, accessing library news, e-resources and subject guides in that order. There are varied kinds of mobile library services, examples of which are MOPACs, mobile reference, mobile instruction, mobile collection and mobile tours. However, the UDS Library does not provide any Web 2.0 mobile based services. The main challenges in implementing these Web 2.0 mobile based services include cost of Internet access, slow Internet connectivity and insufficient funds to acquire needed equipment. Based on these findings, some recommendations were given.
Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
Information Science
MIT
Unrestricted

In South Africa, Deaf people communicate with one another and the broader community by means of South African Sign Language. The majority of Deaf people who have access to a mobile 
phone (cell phone) use Short Message Service (SMS) to communicate and share information with hearing people, but seldom use it among themselves. It is assumed that video messaging 
will be more accessible to Deaf people, since their 
level of literacy may prevent them from making effective use of information that is disseminated via texting/SMS. The principal objective of the 
esearch was to explore a cost-effective and efficient mass multimedia messaging system. The intention was to adapt a successful text-based mass notification system, developed by a 
local nongovernmental organization (NGO), to accommodate efficient and affordable video mass messaging for Deaf people. The questions that underpin this research are: How should video- streaming mass-messaging methods be compared and evaluated to find the most suitable method to deliver an affordable and acceptable service to Deaf people? What transport vehicles 
 
 
should be considered: Multimedia Message Service (MMS), the web, electronic mail, or a cell phone resident push/pullapplication? Which is the most cost effective? And, finally: How does the video quality of the various transport vehicles differ in terms of the clarity of the sign language as perceived by the Deaf? The soft-systems methodology and a mixed-methods methodology 
were used to address the research questions. The soft-systems methodology was followed to manage the research process and the mixed-methods research methodology was followed to 
collect data. Data was collected by means of experiments and semi-structured interviews. A prototype for mobile phone usage was developed and evaluated with Deaf members the NGO Deaf 
Community of Cape Town. The technology and internet 
usage of the Deaf participants provided background information. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse 
the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the documents and interviews. All of the Deaf participants used their mobile phones for SMS and the majority (81.25%) used 
English to type messages
however, all indicated that they would have preferred to use South Africa sign language on their mobile phones if it were available. And they were quite willing to pay between 75c and 80c per message for using such a video-messaging 
service.Of the transport vehicles demonstrated, most Deaf people indic indicated that they preferred to use the SMS 
prototype (with a web link to the video) rather than the MMS prototype with the video attached. They were, however, very concerned about the cost of using the system, as well as the quality of the sign language videos.

Den här studien fokuserar på vilken påverkan tillgänglighet, bekvämlighet och tid har på konsumenters köpintention vid köp av skönhetsprodukter via q-commerce. Undersökningen baseras på teorier utifrån konsumentbeteende, köpintention och konsumentens köpprocess som har föranlett utvecklingen av q-commerce. Tillsammans med tidigare forskning gällande digitalutveckling, mobilshopping och leveransservice presenteras teorier för att skapa en förståelseför vad som påverkar konsumenter till köp via q-commerce. Studien genomfördes med hjälp aven webbaserad enkätundersökning via sociala medier samt ett allmänt anslag via en lärplattform i Högskolan i Borås. Det som framgår av studiens resultat är att samtliga hypoteser kan accepteras gällande att ju högre konsumenter värdesätter tillgänglighet, bekvämlighet och snabb leveranstid, desto större är sannolikheten att de väljer att genomföra köp av skönhetsprodukter via q-commerce. Det kan förklaras av att respondenterna värdesätter en lättillgänglig, bekväm och snabb köpprocess, vilket har påverkat utvecklingen av q-commerce samtidigt som skönhetsprodukter anses vara en produktkategori som är efterfrågad i kontext till q-commerce. Resultatet som presenteras i den här studien går inte att generalisera till en större population. Dock ger resultatet en indikation på ett konsumentbeteende som fördelaktigt kan ligga till grund för framtida forskning gällande utvecklingen av q-commerce inom skönhetsbranschen men även för applicering på andra branscher med liknande attribut. Då qcommerce är ett nytt forskningsområde finns det relativt lite forskning om ämnet, vilket gör att framtida forskning bör ta hänsyn till en större population samt kontrollera konsumenters faktiska beteende. Vidare bör framtida studier förslagsvis använda sig av andratillvägagångssätt genom att granska utifrån ett företagsperspektiv samt bredda avgränsningen och inte bara fokusera på köp av skönhetsprodukter.
The focus of this study is if availability, convenience and time have an impact on consumers’ purchase intentions when purchasing beauty products through q-commerce. The survey is based on theories that describe consumer behavior, purchase intention and the consumer's buying process that have influenced the development of q-commerce. Together with previous research regarding digital development, mobile shopping and delivery service, theories are presented to create an understanding of what influences consumers to buy through q-commerce. The study was conducted with a web-based survey through social media and the platform of University of Borås. The results of the study emerge that all hypotheses can be accepted regarding the fact that the more customers value availability, convenience and fast delivery, the greater the probability that they choose to make purchases of beauty products through q-commerce. This can be explained by the fact that the respondents value a buying process that is accessible, convenient and fast which has affected the development of q-commerce and that beauty products are considered a product category that is in demand in the context of q-commerce. The results that are presented in this study cannot be generalized to a larger population due to the sampling method that has been used. However, the results give an indication of consumer behavior that can advantageously be used in the beauty industry for future research regarding the development of q-commerce, but also in other similar industries. Since q-commerce is a new research area, there is minimal existing research on the subject, which means that future research should take a larger population into account and control consumers' actual behavior. Furthermore, future studies should suggest using other approaches by examining from a company perspective and broadening the boundaries and not just focusing on the purchase of beauty products.

The study looked at the viability of using mobile phones by an academic health library to provide health information to rural women. It is understood that Mobile phones have become household items thereby providing an opportunity for organisation to use them for information delivery. Access to information by individuals is essential in reducing people’s levels of uncertainty especially in matters that relate to growth and survival such as health. The central research question upon which this study was based was, “How can an academic library adopt the use of mobile phones as an information delivery device to enhance access to health information for rural women?” with sub-questions focusing on information needs and sources of health information for women and the adaptation of mobile services within the library. It further looked at appropriate partnership needed in developing mobile services for health information delivery. Reviewed literature revealed that mobile phones are already being used by several organisations in making available information. In particular academic libraries have embraced the mobile revolution by creating mobile services for their users. A qualitative approach was adopted for this study and interviews were used for all the three categories of respondents, who are rural women from Buyengo sub-county, health workers from Kakaire health centre iv and librarians from Albert Cook Medical Library. Findings from the study have shown that in the information era where one’s survival is highly dependent upon information, rural women do not have access to credible sources of health information despite the fact that they have high demand for health information because of the soaring disease burden in rural areas. The study without doubt has led to the establishment that the use of mobile phones to fill this gap is a cost effective and life saving venture which if well set up and implemented will add to the global programmes initiated with the aim of reducing child mortality, maternal deaths and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
Information Science
MIT
Unrestricted

La quinta generación de redes móviles (5G) se encuentra a la vuelta de la esquina. Se espera provea de beneficios extraordinarios a la población y que resuelva la mayoría de los problemas de las redes 4G actuales. El éxito de 5G, cuya primera fase de estandarización ha sido completada, depende de tres pilares: comunicaciones tipo-máquina masivas, banda ancha móvil mejorada y comunicaciones ultra fiables y de baja latencia (mMTC, eMBB y URLLC, respectivamente). En esta tesis nos enfocamos en el primer pilar de 5G, mMTC, pero también proveemos una solución para lograr eMBB en escenarios de distribución masiva de contenidos. Específicamente, las principales contribuciones son en las áreas de: 1) soporte eficiente de mMTC en redes celulares; 2) acceso aleatorio para el reporte de eventos en redes inalámbricas de sensores (WSNs); y 3) cooperación para la distribución masiva de contenidos en redes celulares. En el apartado de mMTC en redes celulares, esta tesis provee un análisis profundo del desempeño del procedimiento de acceso aleatorio, que es la forma mediante la cual los dispositivos móviles acceden a la red. Estos análisis fueron inicialmente llevados a cabo por simulaciones y, posteriormente, por medio de un modelo analítico. Ambos modelos fueron desarrollados específicamente para este propósito e incluyen uno de los esquemas de control de acceso más prometedores: access class barring (ACB). Nuestro modelo es uno de los más precisos que se pueden encontrar en la literatura y el único que incorpora el esquema de ACB. Los resultados obtenidos por medio de este modelo y por simulación son claros: los accesos altamente sincronizados que ocurren en aplicaciones de mMTC pueden causar congestión severa en el canal de acceso. Por otro lado, también son claros en que esta congestión se puede prevenir con una adecuada configuración del ACB. Sin embargo, los parámetros de configuración del ACB deben ser continuamente adaptados a la intensidad de accesos para poder obtener un desempeño óptimo. En la tesis se propone una solución práctica a este problema en la forma de un esquema de configuración automática para el ACB; lo llamamos ACBC. Los resultados muestran que nuestro esquema puede lograr un desempeño muy cercano al óptimo sin importar la intensidad de los accesos. Asimismo, puede ser directamente implementado en redes celulares para soportar el tráfico mMTC, ya que ha sido diseñado teniendo en cuenta los estándares del 3GPP. Además de los análisis descritos anteriormente para redes celulares, se realiza un análisis general para aplicaciones de contadores inteligentes. Es decir, estudiamos un escenario de mMTC desde la perspectiva de las WSNs. Específicamente, desarrollamos un modelo híbrido para el análisis de desempeño y la optimización de protocolos de WSNs de acceso aleatorio y basados en cluster. Los resultados muestran la utilidad de escuchar el medio inalámbrico para minimizar el número de transmisiones y también de modificar las probabilidades de transmisión después de una colisión. En lo que respecta a eMBB, nos enfocamos en un escenario de distribución masiva de contenidos, en el que un mismo contenido es enviado de forma simultánea a un gran número de usuarios móviles. Este escenario es problemático, ya que las estaciones base de la red celular no cuentan con mecanismos eficientes de multicast o broadcast. Por lo tanto, la solución que se adopta comúnmente es la de replicar e contenido para cada uno de los usuarios que lo soliciten; está claro que esto es altamente ineficiente. Para resolver este problema, proponemos el uso de esquemas de network coding y de arquitecturas cooperativas llamadas nubes móviles. En concreto, desarrollamos un protocolo para la distribución masiva de contenidos, junto con un modelo analítico para su optimización. Los resultados demuestran que el modelo propuesto es simple y preciso, y que el protocolo puede reducir el con
La cinquena generació de xarxes mòbils (5G) es troba molt a la vora. S'espera que proveïsca de beneficis extraordinaris a la població i que resolga la majoria dels problemes de les xarxes 4G actuals. L'èxit de 5G, per a la qual ja ha sigut completada la primera fase del qual d'estandardització, depén de tres pilars: comunicacions tipus-màquina massives, banda ampla mòbil millorada, i comunicacions ultra fiables i de baixa latència (mMTC, eMBB i URLLC, respectivament, per les seues sigles en anglés). En aquesta tesi ens enfoquem en el primer pilar de 5G, mMTC, però també proveïm una solució per a aconseguir eMBB en escenaris de distribució massiva de continguts. Específicament, les principals contribucions són en les àrees de: 1) suport eficient de mMTC en xarxes cel·lulars; 2) accés aleatori per al report d'esdeveniments en xarxes sense fils de sensors (WSNs); i 3) cooperació per a la distribució massiva de continguts en xarxes cel·lulars. En l'apartat de mMTC en xarxes cel·lulars, aquesta tesi realitza una anàlisi profunda de l'acompliment del procediment d'accés aleatori, que és la forma mitjançant la qual els dispositius mòbils accedeixen a la xarxa. Aquestes anàlisis van ser inicialment dutes per mitjà de simulacions i, posteriorment, per mitjà d'un model analític. Els models van ser desenvolupats específicament per a aquest propòsit i inclouen un dels esquemes de control d'accés més prometedors: el access class barring (ACB). El nostre model és un dels més precisos que es poden trobar i l'únic que incorpora l'esquema d'ACB. Els resultats obtinguts per mitjà d'aquest model i per simulació són clars: els accessos altament sincronitzats que ocorren en aplicacions de mMTC poden causar congestió severa en el canal d'accés. D'altra banda, també són clars en què aquesta congestió es pot previndre amb una adequada configuració de l'ACB. No obstant això, els paràmetres de configuració de l'ACB han de ser contínuament adaptats a la intensitat d'accessos per a poder obtindre unes prestacions òptimes. En la tesi es proposa una solució pràctica a aquest problema en la forma d'un esquema de configuració automàtica per a l'ACB; l'anomenem ACBC. Els resultats mostren que el nostre esquema pot aconseguir un acompliment molt proper a l'òptim sense importar la intensitat dels accessos. Així mateix, pot ser directament implementat en xarxes cel·lulars per a suportar el trànsit mMTC, ja que ha sigut dissenyat tenint en compte els estàndards del 3GPP. A més de les anàlisis descrites anteriorment per a xarxes cel·lulars, es realitza una anàlisi general per a aplicacions de comptadors intel·ligents. És a dir, estudiem un escenari de mMTC des de la perspectiva de les WSNs. Específicament, desenvolupem un model híbrid per a l'anàlisi de prestacions i l'optimització de protocols de WSNs d'accés aleatori i basats en clúster. Els resultats mostren la utilitat d'escoltar el mitjà sense fil per a minimitzar el nombre de transmissions i també de modificar les probabilitats de transmissió després d'una col·lisió. Pel que fa a eMBB, ens enfoquem en un escenari de distribució massiva de continguts, en el qual un mateix contingut és enviat de forma simultània a un gran nombre d'usuaris mòbils. Aquest escenari és problemàtic, ja que les estacions base de la xarxa cel·lular no compten amb mecanismes eficients de multicast o broadcast. Per tant, la solució que s'adopta comunament és la de replicar el contingut per a cadascun dels usuaris que ho sol·liciten; és clar que això és altament ineficient. Per a resoldre aquest problema, proposem l'ús d'esquemes de network coding i d'arquitectures cooperatives anomenades núvols mòbils. En concret, desenvolupem un protocol per a realitzar la distribució massiva de continguts de forma eficient, juntament amb un model analític per a la seua optimització. Els resultats demostren que el model proposat és simple i precís
The 5th generation (5G) of mobile networks is just around the corner. It is expected to bring extraordinary benefits to the population and to solve the majority of the problems of current 4th generation (4G) systems. The success of 5G, whose first phase of standardization has concluded, relies in three pillars that correspond to its main use cases: massive machine-type communication (mMTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). This thesis mainly focuses on the first pillar of 5G: mMTC, but also provides a solution for the eMBB in massive content delivery scenarios. Specifically, its main contributions are in the areas of: 1) efficient support of mMTC in cellular networks; 2) random access (RA) event-reporting in wireless sensor networks (WSNs); and 3) cooperative massive content delivery in cellular networks. Regarding mMTC in cellular networks, this thesis provides a thorough performance analysis of the RA procedure (RAP), used by the mobile devices to switch from idle to connected mode. These analyses were first conducted by simulation and then by an analytical model; both of these were developed with this specific purpose and include one of the most promising access control schemes: the access class barring (ACB). To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the most accurate analytical models reported in the literature and the only one that incorporates the ACB scheme. Our results clearly show that the highly-synchronized accesses that occur in mMTC applications can lead to severe congestion. On the other hand, it is also clear that congestion can be prevented with an adequate configuration of the ACB scheme. However, the configuration parameters of the ACB scheme must be continuously adapted to the intensity of access attempts if an optimal performance is to be obtained. We developed a practical solution to this problem in the form of a scheme to automatically configure the ACB; we call it access class barring configuration (ACBC) scheme. The results show that our ACBC scheme leads to a near-optimal performance regardless of the intensity of access attempts. Furthermore, it can be directly implemented in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular systems to efficiently handle mMTC because it has been designed to comply with the 3GPP standards. In addition to the analyses described above for cellular networks, a general analysis for smart metering applications is performed. That is, we study an mMTC scenario from the perspective of event detection and reporting WSNs. Specifically, we provide a hybrid model for the performance analysis and optimization of cluster-based RA WSN protocols. Results showcase the utility of overhearing to minimize the number of packet transmissions, but also of the adaptation of transmission parameters after a collision occurs. Building on this, we are able to provide some guidelines that can drastically increase the performance of a wide range of RA protocols and systems in event reporting applications. Regarding eMBB, we focus on a massive content delivery scenario in which the exact same content is transmitted to a large number of mobile users simultaneously. Such a scenario may arise, for example, with video streaming services that offer a particularly popular content. This is a problematic scenario because cellular base stations have no efficient multicast or broadcast mechanisms. Hence, the traditional solution is to replicate the content for each requesting user, which is highly inefficient. To solve this problem, we propose the use of network coding (NC) schemes in combination with cooperative architectures named mobile clouds (MCs). Specifically, we develop a protocol for efficient massive content delivery, along with the analytical model for its optimization. Results show the proposed model is simple and accurate, and the protocol can lead to energy savings of up to 37 percent when compared to the traditional approach.
Leyva Mayorga, I. (2018). On reliable and energy efficient massive wireless communications: the road to 5G [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/115484
TESIS

Dieser Gedanke ist zugegebenermaßen nicht neu. Zwischen den Jahren 1967 und 1999 gab es in der Stadtbibliothek Chemnitz bereits einen Bereich „Soziale Bibliotheksarbeit“. Die Stadtbibliothek lieferte Bücherkisten an Privathaushalte, soziale Einrichtungen, Kindergärten und Horte. Mit über 1.000 „Hausbibliotheken“ konnte sie ein großflächiges Netz entwickeln. Im Rahmen einer Haushaltskonsolidierung der Stadt Chemnitz musste 1999 der Bereich „Soziale Bibliotheksarbeit“ aufgelöst werden. Anfang 2012 startete in der Stadtbibliothek Chemnitz das Projekt „Mobiler Lieferservice“. Hierbei geht es um die Rückbesinnung auf die elementare Verantwortung einer demokratischen Gesellschaft, all ihren Mitgliedern Zugang zu Information zu verschaffen und sie somit in das gesellschaftliche Leben einzubinden. Der Lions Club Chemnitz Schmidt-Rottluff unterstützte dieses Projekt mit einer großzügigen Anschubfinanzierung. [...]

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The popularization of mobile devices has been considered by many the technological revolution of greatest impact in recent years, and the use of these computational tools in the area of health, especially in the emergency and emergency, is growing. In the same way, since the late 1970s, traffic accidents are one of the main public health problems, especially accidents involving multiple victims, that is those that produce more than five serious victims. In such cases, the assistance provided to victims of such events is a decisive factor in minimizing the consequences, establishing an increase in the survival rates of victims. It is in this sense that the continuing education of the nurse, as well as the entire team of first responders working in the Emergency Mobile Care System (SAMU), is built as an essential factor, since the educational process is configured as a tool Training, creating continuous improvement. We believe that the development of computational solutions in the form of mobile applications represents an effective way to deliver content and reach the target audience. In order to assist SAMU rescuers in the acquisition of specialized knowledge and the decisionmaking process in multiple-casualty accidents, in this research we developed a prototype application that provides information about the actions to be performed in events of great magnitude. We base the development of the application in the Systems Development Life Cycle Theory, using the concepts of low and high fidelity prototyping. The prototype included information on definitions, planning, screening methods, interactive quiz, and instructions for decision making. Thus, the prototype application presents itself as an auxiliary tool for use in the continuing training of SAMU professionals, and can create the same dynamic of other traditional teaching strategies, which allows for critical reflection and knowledge construction.
La popularidad de los dispositivos móviles ha sido considerada por muchos como la revolución tecnológica de mayor impacto en los últimos años, y el uso de estas herramientas computacionales en el cuidado de la salud, en particular en las salas de emergencia, se está convirtiendo cada vez más extendida. Del mismo modo, desde finales de la década de 1970, los accidentes de tráfico constituyen uno de los principales problemas de salud pública, especialmente los accidentes con múltiples víctimas, es decir, las que producen más de cinco siniestros graves. En tales casos, la asistencia proporcionada a las víctimas de este tipo de eventos se presenta como un factor decisivo para reducir al mínimo las consecuencias, se establece un incremento en las tasas de supervivencia de las víctimas. Es en este sentido que la formación continua de las enfermeras y todo el equipo de primera respuesta que operan en el Sistema Móvil de Urgencia (SAMU), se construye como un factor esencial, ya que el proceso educativo se configura como una herramienta la formación, la creación de la mejora continua. Entendemos que el desarrollo de soluciones computacionales en formato aplicación móvil es un medio eficaz para proporcionar el contenido y llegar al público objetivo deseado. Con el fin de ayudar a los rescatadores profesionales SAMU en la adquisición de conocimientos y de cara al proceso de toma de decisiones en accidentes con múltiples víctimas, este estudio ha desarrollado un prototipo de aplicación que proporciona información sobre las medidas que deben tomarse en eventos de gran magnitud. Basamos el desarrollo de aplicaciones en la Teoría de los Sistemas de Ciclo de Vida de Desarrollo, utilizando los conceptos de creación de prototipos de baja y alta fidelidad. El prototipo incluye información con respecto a las definiciones, la planificación, los métodos de cribado ", concursos interactivos", e instrucciones para la toma de decisiones. De este modo, el prototipo de aplicación se presenta como una herramienta auxiliar para su uso en la formación continua de los profesionales del SAMU, puede crear la misma dinámica de otras estrategias de enseñanza tradicionales, lo que permite la reflexión crítica y la construcción del conocimiento.
A popularização dos dispositivos móveis tem sido considerada por muitos a revolução tecnológica de maior impacto nos últimos anos, e a utilização dessas ferramentas computacionais na área da saúde, sobretudo na urgência e emergência, está em crescente expansão. Da mesma forma, desde o final da década de 1970, os acidentes de trânsito se constituem como um dos principais problemas de saúde pública, principalmente os acidentes com múltiplas vítimas, ou seja, aqueles que produzem mais de cinco vítimas graves. Nesses casos, a assistência prestada às vítimas de tais eventos apresenta-se como fator decisivo para minimizar as consequências, estabelecendo um aumento nos índices de sobrevida das vítimas. É nesse sentido que a educação permanente do enfermeiro, bem como de toda a equipe de socorristas que atuam no Sistema de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência (SAMU), edifica-se como fator essencial, uma vez que o processo educativo configura-se como uma ferramenta de treinamento, criando contínuo aperfeiçoamento. Entendemos se que o desenvolvimento de soluções computacionais em formato de aplicativos móveis representa um meio eficaz de disponibilizar conteúdos e atingir o público-alvo desejado. Com o intuito de auxiliar os profissionais socorristas do SAMU na aquisição de conhecimento especializado e frente ao processo de tomada de decisão em acidentes com múltiplas vítimas, nesta pesquisa objetivamos desenvolver um aplicativo móvel sobre acidentes com múltiplas vítimas para auxiliar na educação permanente dos profissionais que atuam no SAMU. O protótipo contou com informações relativas a definições, planejamentos, métodos de triagem, “quiz” interativo, além de instruções para a tomada de decisão frente a acidentes de grandes proporções. Dessa forma, o aplicativo-protótipo apresenta-se como ferramenta auxiliar para uso na formação continuada dos profissionais do SAMU, podendo criar a mesma dinâmica de outras estratégias de ensino tradicional, o que possibilita a reflexão crítica e a construção do conhecimento.

碩士
長庚大學
企業管理研究所
95
Now a day, home delivery service firms not only provide logistics, but also support cash recipient services for the internet shoppers. Although the latter provides a convenient shopping environment for the buyers, it also results in employee management and the risk of cash collection problems. In this research, the execution of credit card payment processes used by Mobile POS in home delivery service is simulated. By interviewing with logistic firms’ managers and operators, the researcher investigates whether the Mobile POS processes can help logistic firms improve their cash collection management. In addition, whether or not the proposed processes will induce potential problems and cost are also discussed. The interview and simulation results show that most of the home delivery firms are pro for the proposed paying processes. By adopting the proposed system, risks of losing the cash payments can be reduced and the employee management can be simplified. Nevertheless, interviewees’ key concerns are cost of credit card transaction fees and the loss of some potential customers if the proposed system were adopted.

碩士
元智大學
管理研究所
96
The greatest difference between the third generation mobile communication systems and its predecessors is in the capacity of multimedia content transmission. For mobile network service providers this was really a beacon in the darkness, as revenues from providing voice services continued to slump. However, after many years of effort, providers have seen no improvement in their financial gains from supplying content value-added services. This study is an attempt to analyze the value delivery of mobile multimedia value-added services in Taiwan and offer suggestions on the industry’s present status. A qualitative approach has been adopted to gather information and establish suggestions and conclusions by conducting interviews with operators and businesses in the mobile multimedia value-added service industry in Taiwan. Initially, through examination of relevant literature and observations made by researchers, this study has developed from value network viewpoints a delivery model for mobile multimedia value-added services in Taiwan and sorted value delivery activities related to mobile multimedia value-added services observed by researchers into four aspects as the foundation of the research. Subsequently, important parties from the industry have been interviewed, including two content creators, two content providers, two content aggregators, three mobile network service providers, and two cell phone makers. From the interviews, this study achieves the following conclusions: 1. Taiwan’s mobile multimedia value-added service industry is still in an active process of integrative evolution. 2. The government needs to be more positive in formulating related legal regulations and policies. 3. Construction of mobile communications networks is vital. 4. As far as contents are concerned, cultural added value and convenient acquisition of contents are extremely important. 5. No single marketing activity is able to promote mobile content services. 6. Mobile value-added service providers must expand their strategic alliances. Based on information provided by those interviewed, this study has sorted out value delivery activities between operators and businesses and established a value delivery model for mobile multimedia services in Taiwan, and offers the results as suggestions for the concerned operators and businesses. This is the chief contribution of this study.

碩士
大同大學
資訊經營學系(所)
100
Pervasive Internet and the popularity of terminal network devices have provided the opportunities of e-commerce to flourish, driven the developments of e-commerce B2C (Business to Customer), C2C (Customer to Customer), C2B (Customer to Business) and B2B (Business to Business), promoted the diversified electronic payment mechanism and made the security of electronic payment mechanism attracted much attention. In addition, with the popularity of the broadband network and the wireless communication technologies such as HSDPA、WCDMA、EDGE、GPRS、Wi-Fi and the wide use of software and hardware in information security protection systems, Internet shopping also gets more and more prevalent. It offers the online customers the various payment methods including credit card online payment, payment through ATM, cash on delivery, convenience stores pick up payment, third-party payment instruments and credit card faxing payment. The prevalence of Internet shopping led to the flourish of the home-delivery industry that offers the home-delivery services. For customers and Internet sellers, home-delivery payment becomes a type of reliable payment service. It allows customers to cash on delivery and to make sure that the arrival of goods. Meanwhile, it reduces the risk that the goods have been shipped but not received the payment of customers. This study analyzes the characteristics and advantages of payment on delivery and mobile payment and explores the feasibility of the mechanism of their combination. Finally, this research uses case studies to understand the benefits of credit card payment on home-deliver and provides the customers, Internet stores, sales drivers a more convenient and the secure goods-delivery and payment mechanism that makes payment transactions more efficient.

碩士
輔仁大學
資訊工程學系碩士班
101
Due to the popularity of smart phones that are equipped with wireless communication capabilities and global position system (GPS), so the LBS(location based service) applications are booming. And the cloud computing application services technology began to be popular. We hope to implement a system and through cloud services based on user location and context aware to send the message a software platform and mobile advertising distribution services, for example, to provide a new method compared with the traditional mobile advertising, early mobile ads the way they use to send text messages or a user through a Web browser way to reach. Even the recent QR Code (Quick Response Code) is a passive marketing. This paper proposes a new advertising push method, active marketing while saving the cost of SMS text may spend this thesis with a GPS positioning capabilities of the Android open platform for mobile devices, with GAE and C2DM push message function to develop LBS features a set of messaging platforms, and implemented in the mobile ad delivery services.

This study investigated the phenomenon of government electronic and mobile service delivery including mobile government service mechanisms. It is an area of management and information systems yet to be fully developed in many parts of the world with considerable variation in success and experience. The study concentrates on a gap in knowledge relating to the significant areas of influence which inhibit or promote successful government electronic and mobile service delivery and therefore the overall success of government projects and initiatives. In addressing the knowledge gap, this study delivers a success factors model which identifies, and categorises those significant areas and factors which directly impact on the success of government service delivery initiatives. It achieves the success factors model in five phases. An extensive review of contemporary literature in the area, the proposing of an initial model of government electronic and unified mobile service delivery as derived from the literature review. An in-depth case study of the Victorian government’s experience and minor case studies of Finland and Singapore relevant to the topic, and independent comment from the World Bank. A verification of the model from the data collected; an analysis of the data and conclusions of the study. Results from this study indicated there are six major areas of significance in the successful delivery of government services by electronic and mobile media. Within these six areas of significance there are domains of influence with success factors and inhibitors to the successful service delivery using these forms of technology. Also it identifies the relationships between success factors, inhibitors and areas of significance, which affect the overall success of projects and initiatives. Recommendations for further research in this field include: change management of government technology environments, education for mobile-government users; redefining information silos within government to delivery unified mobile government and securing government service delivery by delivery platform.

碩士
國立中央大學
資訊工程學系碩士在職專班
92
The GSM telecom network has been expanded quickly during these years. And this make everyone used to using the mobile phone to talk to each other anytime they want. On the other hand, the popularization of the network makes a lot of different kinds of service flood in every corner of this virtual world. SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) is a kind of architecture that let you only focus on the service itself regardless of what kind of network, platform and language you are using. So it has become the trend of software development in these years. In the service delivery point of view, everyone is keeping an eye on MAS (Multi Agents System), because it does successfully integrates different kind of agent to provide a great diversity of service. So the combination of MAS and SOA has already been the mainstream. And SAM (Service Oriented Architecture for Multi-Agent System) is a system with MAS, SOA structure. The user can easily get the required service from SAM by using browser. The purpose of this research is going to create a subsystem, which can facilitate SAM’s service delivery in more efficient and economical way.

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
資訊工程學系
102
How to provide continued and smooth access to web services from smartphones under unstable network or during network disconnections is an important issue to be solved. In the past decade, many methods for service caching have been proposed, however, two significant concerns are usually overlooked in these methods: (1) a variety of contexts: users may use smartphones in a variety of network conditions, such as high-speed network, unstable network, and no network access; and (2) service error handling and recovery: currently, the service caching mechanism can tackle the problem of unavailability temporarily, but cannot handle the long-time service errors or malfunctions. In this paper, we propose a context-aware and risk-driven (CARD) RESTful service delivery approach to address the above issues. The CARD approach is encapsulated as client-side library to be utilized by mobile applications to invoke backend RESTful services in a highly-available manner. There are two main features of CARD approach: First, CARD can perform different actions for different network conditions, such as prefetching service responses and using cached service in high speed wireless network, only using cached service in unstable wireless network, and allowing the user to request cached service response from other users when no wireless network can be accessed. Second, based on the proposed risk-driven analysis method, CARD can supply reasonable service recovery plan when the original service is malfunctional. The implementation and experiment demonstrate that the proposed CARD approach can effectively improve service availability and shorten service response time in various network conditions.

碩士
國立臺中教育大學
數位內容科技學系碩士班
97
The promotion plan is the important trade activity which is necessary for the enterprise. For the product development﹑the sale policy and the promotion activity, the enterprise needs to disseminate the channel to make the promotion advertisement. The RFID technology has the characteristic of the non-contact sensation, and applied gradually to many industries. The different industry may use the different frequency band to develop their application according to their specific requirement. The research considers both the RFID sensation characteristic and the wireless network environment, proposes the study of location aware promotion information delivery service system on mobile commerce. The system enables the consumer momentarily to grasp the promotion information in the shopping process. It also provides personalized the service, only shows the promotion news of the stores which the consumer choose beforehand, and avoids the information disturbance. The research really designs and implements the system and makes the questionnaire survey to understand the system appraisal. The reality system includes the user interface of mobile device and rear website of application & management system. The questionnaire contains five dimension of the system stability﹑the interface design﹑the promotion content﹑the personalized service and the whole satisfaction. By the factor analysis﹑the regression analysis and the path analysis, it demonstrates finally the promotion content and the personalized service all has the positive influence regarding the system satisfaction. Finally, the research expects to provide the sale and promotion channel for enterprise in future, to enhance the sales amount﹑the benefit and competition ability for the enterprise. Also takes to the consumer more instant and convenient shopping environment, and to the move commercial market more prosperous.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, November 2016
Community Health Workers or “CHWs” are often the only link to healthcare for millions of people in the developing world. They are the first point of contact with the formal care system, and represent the most immediate and cost effective way to save lives and improve healthcare outcomes in low-resource contexts. Mobile-health or ‘mHealth’ technologies may have potential to support CHWs at the point-of-care and enhance their performance. Yet, there is a gap in substantive empirical evidence on whether the use of mHealth tools enhances CHW performance, and how their use contributes to enhanced healthcare service delivery, especially in low-resource communities. This is a problem because a lack of such evidence would pose an obstacle to the effective large-scale implementation of mHealth-enabled CHW projects in low-resource settings. This thesis was motivated to address this problem in the Kenyan community health worker context. First, it compared the performance of CHWs using mHealth tools to those using traditional paper-based systems. Second, it developed and tested a replicable Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) model linking a set of CHW task and mHealth tool characteristics, to use and user performance outcomes, through four perspectives of Task-Technology Fit (TTF), namely Matching, Moderation, Mediation, and Covariation. A quasi-experimental post-test only research design was adopted to compare performance of CHWs using an mHealth tool to those using traditional paper-based systems. A primary structured questionnaire survey instrument was used to collect data from CHWs operating in the counties of Siaya, Nandi, and Kilifi, who were using an mHealth tool to perform their tasks (n = 257), and from CHWs operating in the counties of Nairobi and Nakuru using traditional paper-based systems to perform their tasks (n = 353). Results showed that CHWs using mHealth tools outperform their counterparts using paper-based systems, as they were observed to spend much less time completing their monitoring, prevention, and referral reports weekly, and report higher percentages of both timeous and complete monthly cases. In addition, mHealth tool users were found to have more positive perceptions of the effects of the technology on their performance, compared to those using traditional paper-based systems. An explanatory, predictive, research design was adopted to empirically assess the effects of a ‘fit’ between the CHW task and mHealth technology (TTF) on use of the mHealth technology and on CHW user performance. TTF was tested from the Matching, Moderation, Mediation, and Covariation ‘fit’ perspectives using the cross-sectional survey data collected from the mHealth tool users (n = 257). Results revealed that there are various unique ways in which a ‘fit’ between the task and technology can have significant impacts on use and user performance. Specifically, results showed that the paired-match of time criticality task and technology characteristics impacts use, while that of time criticality and information dependency task and technology characteristics impacts user performance. Results also showed that the cross-product interaction of mobility task and interdependence technology characteristics impacts use, and that of mobility task and interdependence and information dependency technology characteristics, impacts user performance. Similarly, the cross-product interaction of information dependency task and time criticality technology characteristics impacts user performance. Moreover, results showed that a perceived ‘fit’ between CHW task and mHealth technology characteristics partially and fully mediates the effects of user needs and tool functions on use and user performance, whereas ‘fit’ as an observed pattern of holistic configuration among these task and technology characteristics impacts use and user performance. It was also found that the perfect ‘fit’ between CHW task and mHealth tool technology characteristics leads to the highest levels of use and user performance, while a misfit leads to a decline in use and user performance. Notably, an over-fit of mHealth technology support to the CHW task leads to declining use levels, while an under-fit leads to diminishing user performance. Of the four ‘fit’ perspectives tested, the matching and cross-product interaction of task and technology characteristics offer the most dynamic insights into use and user performance impacts, whereas user-perception and holistic configuration, were also shown to be significant, thus further reinforcing these effects. Tests of a full TPC model revealed that greater mHealth tool use had a positive effect on the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of CHW performance in the delivery of patient care. Moreover, it was found that ‘facilitating conditions’ and ‘affect toward use’ had positive effects on mHealth tool use. Furthermore, a perceptual TTF was found to have positive effects on mHealth tool use and CHW performance. Of note, this perceived TTF construct was found to be simultaneously a stronger predictor of mHealth tool use than ‘facilitating conditions’ and ‘affect toward use’, and a stronger predictor of CHW performance than mHealth tool use. Consequently, TTF was confirmed as the central construct of the TPC. The findings constitute significant empirical insights into the use of mHealth tools amongst CHWs in low resource settings and the extent to which mHealth contributes to the enhancement of their overall performance in the capture, storage, transmission, and retrieval, of health data as part of their typical workflows. This study has provided much needed evidence of the importance of a ‘fit’ between CHW task and mHealth technology characteristics for enabling mHealth impacts on CHW performance. The study also shows how these inter-linkages could improve the use of mHealth tools and the performance of CHWs in their delivery of healthcare services in low-resource settings, within the Kenyan context. Findings can inform the design of mHealth tools to render more adequate support functions for the most critical CHW user task needs in a developing world context. This study has contributed to the empowerment of CHWs at the point-of-care using mHealth technology-enabled service delivery in low-resource settings, and contributes to the proper and successful ‘scaling-up’ of implemented mHealth projects in the developing world.
MT 2018

MHealth is an upcoming area promising to contribute benefits to health service delivery. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the rate of mHealth utilisation as well as opportunities for mHealth and the barriers to use at one central hospital in Zimbabwe. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was undertaken at the central hospital. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. The entire population of medical doctors at the hospital (N=42) were the respondents of the research. The 18 mHealth activities were chosen from a possible of 101 available. The most used as well as the least used mHealth activities were identified and the reasons for use or lack of use were identified. The study revealed that 75% of the activities were currently being used and 95% had the potential of future use by medical doctors. This study highlights the potential of mHealth from medical doctors’ perspective.
Health Studies
M. A. (Public Health)

博士
國立交通大學
資訊科學與工程研究所
101
Introduction of iPhone and Android phones have resulted in a new mobile Value-Added Service (VAS) ecosystem and significantly affected the smartphone market previously dominated by Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile. Meanwhile, the large-screen tablet devices more suitable to the e-book and game services have also become popular. With these devices, in addition to the multimedia digital contents, the consumers tend to access the Internet and download various apps through 3G-cellular service. At the age of “Content is King”, VASs based on Intelligent Network (IN) in telecom networks stop growing up the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). How to generate a new revenue stream in the Internet becomes more critical topic for the mobile operators. For a Content Provider (CP) or a Service Provider (SP), copyright protection, publish cost and target market are major concerns. Therefore, the VAS platforms must meet the requirements. This dissertation studies on the content delivery in mobile VASs. We first study the Android OS, especially evaluating the implementations on OMA Digital Right Management (DRM) and copy-avoidance for apps. We found that DRM is an open issue on Android devices and vendors have proprietary solutions that are incompatible to each other. In order to assist the app developers to publish their apps to multiple appstores, we propose an inter-store transaction mechanism that does not require the app developers to rewrite their programs. Then we extend the study on DRM-protection to e-book service, in which the contents we protect is the data in apps (i.e. the e-book) rather than the apps themselves (i.e. the e-reader). Our e-reader prototypes are implemented on Android devices, iPhone and Window Phones. We find that the DRM-protection in the e-reader drops performance due to data decryption and affects the user experience. To resolve this problem, we also propose a mechanism that improves the e-readers with DRM-protection. On traditional mobile platforms, WAP-Push mechanism invokes apps to pull or download remote contents over IP networks. Innovative iPhone, Android, and Windows Phones have provided a new Push mechanism. We further study the subscription-based service that can push the new contents from the server to the clients. Although the Push mechanism can update the contents in real-time and reduce the user-waiting time on download, the limited resources in mobile environment are wasted. In particular, the timeliness of content updating and cost efficiency of Push mechanism is a trade-off. We finally propose a solution named Push-N that balances the concerned factors. These research results presented in this dissertation have been proved in practice and can be viewed as a useful foundation for design and optimization of VAS in mobile telecom networks.

The study explored, described and explained the current models of voluntary counselling and testing services delivery and analysed the extent to which a given VCT model had influenced uptake of VCT services in the fishing communities along the shores of Lake Victoria, in Wakiso District, with an aim of designing optimal VCT service delivery strategies. The study was therefore exploratory, descriptive and explanatory, and collected both qualitative and quantitative data in a three-phased approach. Phase I involved the Kasenyi fishing community respondents, while phases II and III involved VCT managers and VCT counsellors at the Entebbe and Kisubi Hospitals. The findings indicated that VCT services are generally available onsite at health facilities, and in the field through mobile VCT outreach or home-based VCT services provided at clients’ homes. Both client-initiated and health provider-initiated VCT services are available and services are integrated with other health services. Despite the availability of VCT, only about half of the respondents in phase I had accessed VCT services although almost all indicated a willingness to undergo HIV testing in the near future. The main challenges to service delivery and utilisation included limited funding and staffing as well as limited awareness in target communities. The strategies drawn are based on the need to increase availability, accessibility, acceptability and utilisation of VCT services.
Health Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

博士
國立中央大學
資訊工程研究所
98
In recent years, as more and more Information Appliances devices embedded with intelligent software have become part of daily life, OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative), an open service-oriented framework, has gained increasing attention in the development of services for such devices. However, services residing in an OSGi platform are devised specifically for the platform’s local bundles. Although several work have enhanced OSGi with various communication mechanisms that enable remote service invocations, two crucial issues specific to mobile computing remain to be addressed: 1) the limited resources of mobile devices, and 2) the unstable links experienced by mobile devices. To address these two issues, we propose an itinerary-driven mobile agent approach, including 1) to implement mobile agents as OSGi bundles to deliver distributed OSGi services with lower resource consumption for mobile devices; 2) to extend WSDL and BPEL to help developers design mobile agent itineraries; 3) to provide an opportunistic service matchmaking mechanism that allows mobile agents to adapt to context changes at runtime; and 4) to devise asynchronous communication mechanism to enable reliable mobile agent transmissions among OSGi-based mobile devices with only dynamic IP addresses and intermittent connection to the Internet. Empirical evaluations are also conducted, and the results show that the performance of our approach is superior to that of centralized client-server approaches with respect to network traffic, turnaround time, and memory usage.

碩士
大仁科技大學
文化創意產業研究所
104
The bike sharing system has become another name for the green transport vehicle. With the lack of public transport, Pingtung, a place where the local people mainly commute by car or by scooter, built a bike sharing system in 2014. The government has long strived to build the image of “Happy Pingtung” in hope that Pbike may construct a low-carbon convenient city. The research aims to discuss the relations between bicyclers’ sense of happiness about the bicycle service after a year of the operation of the bike sharing system. The study uses questionnaires to distribute for Pbike users in nearby stations in Pingtung. The questionnaire adopts a 7-point Likert scale according to the levels of agreement and disagreement. After excluding invalid questionnaires, the study obtained 293 questionnaires. The study explores the happiness impact of variations of population backgrounds exerted on the differences of using Pbike attitude, creative value-added service experience, and mobile message involvement with factor analysis, independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and so on. The study discovers that the users who use 3 or 4 times of Pbike have higher sense of happiness than those who rarely use, and that the bicyclers who ride 30 to 60 minutes feel most satisfied about the service. In addition, the “ value-added service experience” has a positive impact on the “mobile message involvement”; both “ value-added service experience” and “mobile message involvement” have a positive impact on the “sense of happiness.”