tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41985808491766113712024-02-20T00:21:33.674-08:00MobiCloudAn EU supported project to create a European Corporate AppstoreUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-86914488991954947272015-12-17T02:38:00.002-08:002015-12-17T02:39:23.853-08:00MobiCloud One Year On<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.mobilesitediary.com/"><img alt="Site Diary website learn how construction companies are streamlining their site operations using the site diary apps from Appear Networks" border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0FgurONRaOFzHKSF4wHMtCxOu8-phE3kfFiqJgwubVE9F0pwIX4HYj7QoUZ0uMqwb16P_TdbTjDzFNmaQqoVRRqNlwKv6dKARe1Hk61MXyAinBV69VMGBf7iiFRs3LA9lVlxlIwmG9yK/s400/How+to+make+a+site+diary+videos+launched.png" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
It is now one year since the Mobicloud project came to an end, so we thought it fitting to share the news of the ongoing commercial developments.<br />
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Appear Networks have continued the development of the construction solution (Site Diary) to include a number of new features and enhancements aimed at teams working together, approvals and other functionality. The Site Diary now also is available for smartphones as well as tablets.<br />
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Several new videos have been produced which show how construction companies worldwide are benefiting from site diary and how to report events and approve the events that have been submitted.<br />
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To see more and watch the video clips check out the website at <a href="http://www.mobilesitediary.com/">www.mobilesitediary.com</a><br />
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The technology continues to be used in deployments as far afield as Singapore, US, Canada, Australia, South Africa as well as here in the EU. More rail companies in Sweden are now also using solutions built using Appear IQ in a number of deployments.<br />
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For inquiries please contact Appear Networks at <a href="http://www.appearnetworks.com/">www.appearnetworks.com</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05240852597101645621noreply@blogger.comStockholm, Sweden59.329323499999987 18.06858080000006359.07010549999999 17.423133800000063 59.588541499999984 18.714027800000064tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-90182009232141439122014-11-17T22:45:00.001-08:002014-11-17T22:51:54.539-08:00Construction App Challenge - End of Round 1<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Vladimir Bataev</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday, Nov 17, 23:59 CET was the deadline for submitting ideas for the first European mobile app challenge in construction organized by MobiCloud.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the submissions are en route to the expert panel that will evaluate them and determine the winner, we can look at the where the ideas came from.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Geography</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideas arrived from 9 countries in total, where the expected Western European participants were joined by their peers in Russia, the US and Singapore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">47 ideas were submitted. After merging duplicates and politely refusing submissions from existing products to keep the competition focused as much as possible on new ideas, we ended up with 37 unique ideas. These ideas were distributed in the following way, with the UK taking responsibility for almost half of all submissions:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Occupation</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-8a0821da-c19c-9904-ffe9-7f501db4aa9a" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We aimed the competition at students (and their professors) and then at potential startups. To our surprise, contributors working for existing companies (most often, in the construction industry) were more active than their rivals from academia. 6 ideas came from freelancers and people who did not want to disclose their occupation status.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Activity</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-8a0821da-c19f-1bca-bde9-c6a8f4129b52" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We encouraged people to submit more than one idea and we were heard - 5 participants submitted 2 ideas or more.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><span style="line-height: 1.15;">We know from experience that coming up with good ideas for mobile apps in construction is not easy and we were amazed with the amount of high quality submissions we received. We expected about 20 good submissions, so were pleasantly surprised to have received almost twice that amount (which means double the work for our experts, but we have already recruited new experts to evaluate all additional submissions).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We would like to thank all the participants for their efforts. We will shortly announce the precise schedule for announcement of the top rated submissions and, of course, the winner, as well as the online webinar, where our experts will discuss the best ideas.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-24666612911308629222014-11-10T01:23:00.000-08:002015-01-12T01:24:04.384-08:00MobiCloud ShowCase<div class="MsoNormal">
On the 30<sup>th</sup> October MobiCloud was showcased at
the COMIT/Fiatech conference which was held at the Crystal in London. This
two-day event attracted 150 delegates from all over the world and focused on
the use of mobile technology in the construction industry. </div>
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The event was
chaired by Phil Jackson of the Institute of Civil Engineers and included
speakers such as Richard Lane from the UK Government BIM Taskgroup. More
information about the conference, including photographs and all the presentations, can be found on the <a href="http://www.comit.org.uk/#!conference-2014/c1nd">COMIT website</a>.</div>
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MobiCloud had a stand at the event and Martin Wilson
presented a brief overview of the MobiCloud project in the morning on the 30<sup>th</sup>.
In the evening after drinks and light refreshments a longer showcase was
delivered including a demonstration of the Site Diary application by
Otis Burris (Appear). This generated a lot of interest, particularly among
delegates from the US.</div>
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Vladimir Bataev (EsperantoXL) then described the MobiCloud
App Challenge and gave an example of some of the ideas that had already been
submitted. This was also well received and led to lively discussion about other
potential applications of MobiCloud to the construction industry and the shortcomings of current mobile solutions.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-69201181588597152302014-10-27T07:16:00.000-07:002014-10-27T07:49:03.387-07:00The business case for hybrid HTML5 mobile appsby Martin Wilson, Appear<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">While the debate about Hybrid versus Native app development is traditionally centered around the performance of hybrid apps versus native apps, at Appear we have identified that this debate is actually rooted in individual developer preferences. We believe it is important that organizations identify the technology stack that can enable developers to be productive in the short-term while still supporting their long term organizational strategies.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We are confident that hybrid apps offer unlimited possibilities for our partners to create best-of-breed user experiences. Existing partner apps built using AppearIQ are a great example and can testify to this. However, some developers have a preference for native technologies. As such, we take a pragmatic view of this and intend, as part of our road map in 2015, to support this preference and provide native developers with a secure and efficient communication stack that would help deliver true enterprise ready solutions. This will also allow organizations to combine native and hybrid apps within a single environment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps <span style="font-size: 1em;">Business Case Factor #1: Performance of Hybrid vs native apps</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Native apps have a slightly quicker response time than Hybrid apps. This is a fact. Depending on the app use case, the differences in response time can be undetectable to the user. As an interpreted language, JavaScript (the technology behind hybrid apps) is slower than compiled languages like objective-c (used for development of Apple native apps). This performance metric (speed) is at the cost of one of the key benefits of the hybrid approach: <strong>app portability</strong>. Unlike machine-specific code, JavaScript is meant to be compatible with many different platforms. This overarching ambition requires the JavaScript engines to break down and parse the JavaScript code into instructions that can then be executed by the underlying platform. These are additional steps, hence additional computation, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In recent years, JavaScript engines like WebKit (Android and iOS) and Chakra (Windows Phone) have significantly improved speed through optimizations like JIT compilation. Each new OS release significantly improves web performance (ie. HTML5 support, DOM querying, DOM modification, JavaScript execution, CSS execution, etc.). See Sencha’s <a href="http://www.sencha.com/blog/apple-shows-love-for-html5-with-ios-8" style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none;">recent post on iOS8 improved performance</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In addition, speed has been greatly improved via the continuous improvements in processor performance. For instance, the A8 CPU and GPU used in the iPhone 6 are respectively 25% and 50% faster than the A7 ones in the iPhone 5. This enables huge performance gains for mobile users. These software and hardware developments are continuously narrowing the gap between JavaScript and native speeds.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">However, the key question is not whether native code is faster than JavaScript code, but whether users will notice the difference. The performance hit usually comes from access to the local database, manipulation of images, etc. Appear IQ includes a <i>Native</i> bridge that optimizes access to local data stored on the device.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">At Appear, we recommend using the right tool for the right job. For true real-time use cases (i.e. gaming, financial transactions, etc.), we would recommend using native technologies. To enable this Appear will offer native code support in 2015. For near real-time use cases, JavaScript has long proven to be a solid alternative. Gartner, the IT analyst, echoes that statement when it <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2429815" style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none;">anticipates 90% of enterprise apps will be hybrid or web in 2015</a>. Evernote, <a href="https://hojoki.com/" style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none;">CatchApp</a> and Appear’s own reference app Site Diary (developed as part of the <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">MobiCloud</a> project), are perfect examples of high performing hybrid apps. And the Financial Times provides a perfect example of a pure mobile website showing what HTML5 can offer.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #2: Optimized communications improves performance</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Beyond the language’s execution performance, an app’s performance can be impacted by data access. Access to data, coming from IT backend systems, is dependent on the speed and availability of network access.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Appear IQ offers HTML5 apps via the Appear container an optimized communication stack that abstracts the network connectivity challenges. It ensures that the right data is securely available on the device whenever apps need it. It also guarantees that data created by apps can be queued on the device until it can be synchronized to IT backend systems. Furthermore, Appear IQ leverages push notification services provided by OS vendors like Apple and Google to efficiently trigger data synchronizations whenever required.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #3: Control of the application lifecycle</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid apps put the developer much more in control of when and how their new app updates are released to end users by avoiding as far as possible reliance on public app stores for the approval and release of updates.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The hybrid approach with the Appear IQ platform combines a native layer (i.e. container) and portable HTML5 web apps. Appear typically releases a new container for developers to adapt a couple of times a year. This is to (for example) take advantage of new capabilities provded by Apple or Google. Web apps may be updated on monthly basis with new features and bug fixes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Sometimes Apple’s review and approval process can take over a month – and if this is an important new feature that you are waiting to get into the hands of end users for feedback for further improvements you can see the iterative development process could take years – clearly not acceptable in today’s terms. Luckily enough, in 98% of the cases with a hybrid approach only the mobile web apps need to be updated, and as such we bypass App Store approval processes and enable our development partners to remain in full control over their applications.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">End users are also untroubled by the updating of the hybrid apps themselves, since they are included in the HTML5 code rather than requiring approval, app download, update and synchronisations.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In other words, with the hybrid approach used by Appear we have a limited exposure to Apple’s approval process while a native approach requires it for every new release.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #4: Cost & time to market – shorter development times</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mobile web development is faster than native iOS development: it is a higher level language, it does not require compilation i.e. a page reload suffices, code can be changed on the fly, in-browser testing is faster than the iOS simulator, etc. Our benchmark indicates that – assuming similar developer skills – the web development process can be 20% faster than native iOS development.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If developing one web-app is faster than developing one iOS app, the cost saving becomes tremendous when comparing with the development of multiple native apps.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In addition, Appear IQ includes a set of ready-made security and communication features which further shorten the development of hybrid apps. Depending on the complexity of the use cases, our benchmark indicates that developers can save up to 50-70% of time when leveraging our authentication and communication capabilities.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #5 : Cost & performance – a high-quality user experience</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Apple imposes a way of developing the mobile user experience, and provides a set of UI controls to power them. While these can be extremely powerful, you may identify a user experience that would be even better – but unfortunately that is incompatible with “Apple’s way”. This is what happened when developing the Site Diary application for the construction industry – the timeline feature provides an extremely powerful and intuitive tool for the user, but could not be easily developed using standard iOS controls.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In these cases, with a native approach you may need to develop custom controls or invest in 3rd party ones. Developing custom controls is highly time consuming, and this cost drives up when multiple platforms are involved.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">On the other hand, web technologies give you greater flexibility to design and implement your custom user experience – and truly offer the best possible user experience to your customers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #6 : <span style="font-size: 1em;">Cost – supporting multiple OS versions</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Major releases of operating systems can change APIs, behaviors which developers have to account for. Unless updated, the apps may no longer work, or display correctly – significantly impairing the end user experience. Web technologies (incl JavaScript) on the other hand have been designed to be backwards compatible. For instance, WebKit still supports <i>ECMAScript 3</i> enabling users to browse a 15 year old website with the latest iPhone 6. The same is not always true for a 3 year old native app.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In addition, with its data access layer, Appear IQ further abstracts and avoids the complexities associated with possible API changes introduced by the OS vendors.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Hybrid Apps Business Case Factor #7 : Cost – Re-use of skills</span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Web technologies are used in both the mobile and backend components of the AppearIQ platform. Even though the mobile world imposes specific requirements in terms of user experience and performance management, the language is the same when developing back-office applications. On the other hand, in developing native apps objective-c is only valid on iOS and OSX environments. This requires more developers or enhanced skills in the team to cover the multiple technologies required. With AppearIQ when creating a new development team, it may be more effective and cost-efficient to invest in web technologies combined with another backend language such as i.e. Java, .NET, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><b>AppearIQ is the technology behind the MobiCloud Platform, a cloud-based environment in which to develop hybrid, cross-platform applications that leverage context awareness. For more information about MobiCloud and the current MobiCloud Construction App Challenge please see <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">www.mobicloudproject.eu</a>.</b></i></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-70211111582156151172014-10-16T04:54:00.003-07:002014-10-16T04:54:34.654-07:00MobiCloud Construction App Challenge<span style="font-family: inherit;">Submit your idea for a mobile application for use in the construction industry and you could win <span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;">€</span>1,000 in our Construction App Challenge. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6NTCV1n68uLQ5gdIWV3Mk9U0Icry9Ey7gL2drKGF8Vh0Y33litTfj8QaC-rrF8n5RrmvCB6ImBdbKWf8WBQHdGl6qgq3j61NkpWUz6XmCcictaFizWXP6qwvbnHTRNFqD8-AOxP_frSSW/s1600/AppChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6NTCV1n68uLQ5gdIWV3Mk9U0Icry9Ey7gL2drKGF8Vh0Y33litTfj8QaC-rrF8n5RrmvCB6ImBdbKWf8WBQHdGl6qgq3j61NkpWUz6XmCcictaFizWXP6qwvbnHTRNFqD8-AOxP_frSSW/s1600/AppChallenge.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you go on to enter a team you could help develop the next must-have mobile solution for construction based on the MobiCloud platform.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All ideas submitted will be reviewed by a panel of construction experts who will give feedback and suggestions for improvements. T</span>he more notable ideas will feature at the MobiCloud showcase event which is being held at the <a href="http://www.comit.org.uk/#!conference-2014/c1nd">COMIT & Fiatech IT conference</a> at the Crystal in London on the 31st of October. T<span style="font-family: inherit;">he idea judged to be the best will be awarded a</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 20.2222232818604px;">€</span>1,000 prize.<br />
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We will then go on to give teams access to those ideas and provide expert help and assistance in turning them into fully-fledged business concepts using the MobiCloud platform. If any of our construction sponsors are suitably impressed they may even run trials of those solutions on site.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Construction App Challenge is open to absolutely anybody - individuals, students, established developers or start-ups. For details and information on how to enter please visit our website at </span>www.mobicloudproject.euUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-58435594923422500072014-09-26T05:42:00.001-07:002014-09-26T05:42:32.424-07:00CloudWatch concertation meeting visit reportby Vladimir Bataev, EsperantoXL<br /><br />On Sep 11, 2014 CloudWatch hosted <a href="http://www.cloudwatchhub.eu/software-services-cloud-computing-concertation-meeting-10-11-sept-2014">a concertation event</a> at the EC premises in Brussels to collect feedback from experts on the upcoming work programme 2016-2017 (H2020 LEIT ICT WP2016 -2017).<br /><br />Traditionally, during this day members from various EC-related projects break into committees to discuss pressing subjects in software & services and cloud computing that should be considered in the work programme. The day is completed by joint review and a series of panels.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_USbegqUT-8Hac2P9xm7EeAjIl9-7mmnRPcveWKDDZ8hz8hVHx_99vWXzz5ZNPW4YMdX6xGvvL5FI5IFXeE0-O_76B3k78tearyPnlsfcbeXP6t7PIlQFXq1nyFeHIdspXn-BgDjfr4e/s1600/Image1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_USbegqUT-8Hac2P9xm7EeAjIl9-7mmnRPcveWKDDZ8hz8hVHx_99vWXzz5ZNPW4YMdX6xGvvL5FI5IFXeE0-O_76B3k78tearyPnlsfcbeXP6t7PIlQFXq1nyFeHIdspXn-BgDjfr4e/s1600/Image1.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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MobiCloud project was invited to join the closing panel on how the upcoming work programme can support SMEs and startups, and give additional boost to technology innovation in Europe. I sat in the company of Dalibor Baškovč from EuroCloud Slovenia, Luc Hendrickx from UEAPME and Filip Gluszak from GridPocket. The panel was chaired by Patrice Chazerand from DIGITALEUROPE.<br /><br />My presentation focused on the upcoming construction app challenge organized by MobiCloud: how it opens opportunities for startups and SMEs to validate new product ideas with experts from larger companies and increase chances of success.<br /><br />Mssrs. Baškovč and Hendrickx addressed the panel subject from a different angle: they have shared and reviewed the results of a survey wherein a number of startups and SMEs commented on how they use the cloud and how it supports their innovation programmes. An unexpected debate emerged on actual definitions and compositions of a typical SME in Europe, and what needs it might have on security and privacy.<br /><br />The reaction of the audience was predictable -- many experts firmly believe that software vendors should be further controlled by the government to make sure that breaches are rare and propely punished, and that the burden of enforcing privacy should not be on users.<br /><br />I challenged this opinion by running a small impromptu poll with the audience. I asked two sets of questions:<br /><ol>
<li>How many people are using GMail actively? And how many of them enabled two-step authentication and went to check if their account was compromised during the most recent leak of account passwords?</li>
<li>How many people are using Facebook Messenger on the phone? And how many did review the end user agreement which grants this app unlimited access to camera and microphone?</li>
</ol>
In both cases, the amount of raised hands decreased with each question in the set, highlighting the most important conclusion -- the consumer behavior and attitudes to privacy in the cloud have changed. Even the experts who fully understand the risks and possible consequences of breaches, are now less strict about sharing their private information or pursuing maximum available security.<br /><br />Consequently, if the awareness of the privacy risks does not rise among not-expert users, it will become more and more difficult to prevent scandals like the recent celebrity photo hijacking. More importantly, simplifying the effort needed to ensure good level cloud privacy and safety for end users is a field abound with good business opportunities.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-65692837378658687172014-09-12T05:07:00.001-07:002014-09-12T05:07:59.294-07:00New app development features now availableBy Martin Wilson, Appear<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><strong><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt;">Quicker Setup</span></strong><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">For the developers creating
an app for the first time it is now much easier, with an automated set-up of the
environment and basic “Hello World” application ready to go. This enables users
to quickly get to know their way around the MobiCloud platform and how to
prototype and test apps quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">This helps with the
iterative process involved in developing apps in an agile manner - develop -
demo - develop more - demo etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><strong><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.5pt;">Build and demonstrate “data
sharing apps”</span></strong><span style="color: #404040; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Developers that don't
already have a back end system to integrate with their apps needn't worry – the
cloud based IA (Integration Adapter) allows them to create applications where
the same data sets can be accessed by different apps, different users and
devices. This new feature allows the creation of “diary” apps, “note” apps and
other data sharing apps without the complexity of having to create a data back
end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Apps for most simple use
cases can now be quickly put together and demonstrated, without needing to
implement a full backend IA. This starting point can be adaopted and enhanced
to create custom integration logic, using the <a href="https://www.appeariq.com/content/backend-integration-kit" target="_blank" title="Introduction to Appear IQ Integration Kit"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">backend integration kit</span></a> (link
to Appear's developer website)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Three illustrations of
a ”to do list” app that use the new capabilities are available using any
one of three different frameworks (link to actual code samples stored on
Github):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Helvetica;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://github.com/appear/todo-app-angularjs"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">To do app using AngularJS</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Helvetica;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://github.com/appear/todo-app-backbone"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">To do app using BackboneJS</span></a>,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Helvetica;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://github.com/appear/todo-app-sencha"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">To do app using SenchaTouch</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Appear is developing more
tutorials that will explain how to get the most from the new features in the
coming days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">The continually
evolving <a href="http://www.appeariq.com/" target="_blank" title="Develop powerful mobile apps with Appear IQ 8"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">appeariq.com</span></a> developer
site explains in detail the AppearIQ technology behind the MobiCloud
project. For the full feature list of what’s new in AppearIQ 8.1.1
click <a href="https://www.appeariq.com/overview/whats-new#aiq-8.1.1" target="_blank" title="See what's new in AppearIQ 8.1.1 Enterprise Mobility Developer Platform"><span style="color: #be2d07; text-decoration: none;">here</span></a></span><span style="background-color: #f0efe8;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-39434550376316133232014-08-26T06:01:00.000-07:002014-08-26T06:01:05.902-07:00What the Mozilla EUR 25.00 smartphone means for Enterprise Mobility<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">By Martin Wilson, Appear</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/press/2014/08/first-firefox-os-smartphones-available-in-india-this-week/">Mozilla has just announced a new smartphone</a> costing just twenty-five euros in India. This is an incredible 1%-2% of the price of a ruggedized windows PDA-type device that is still used in many Enterprise Mobility environments. The device will include up to 4GB memory, includes Bluetooth / Wi-Fi and dual-SIM which should be more than enough to support enterprise applications.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FJJ61bfvNNdcPvAM26-XMpc1ZWmgRN7KCI5M4tEZWqSCLVK9VgxhYYKMdOQRK4Nvb2Cm_eY__dW8c2oMDm0xu4f5JvTFukgwFhmG2UzS6PGZEuGOqVnvyTf9UsiZqE8mNDCVGBIlyQQJ/s1600/phoneImage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FJJ61bfvNNdcPvAM26-XMpc1ZWmgRN7KCI5M4tEZWqSCLVK9VgxhYYKMdOQRK4Nvb2Cm_eY__dW8c2oMDm0xu4f5JvTFukgwFhmG2UzS6PGZEuGOqVnvyTf9UsiZqE8mNDCVGBIlyQQJ/s1600/phoneImage.png" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The product is one of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">the first cheap devices running the Firefox OS and aside from bringing the benefits of smartphone technology to consumers it will also likely offer up a whole new range of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">opportunities</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> for business applications in the Asia region and beyond that until now have been impossible due to the cost of devices.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Current application developers will be looking at the launch with interest – the Indian market is still relatively untapped and potentially huge. Many current smartphone applications may not easily work with the devices. Firstly many of the applications that have been implemented using native Android or iOS SDKs will need to be re-implemented. Secondly – as the devices are intended for markets that currently are dominated by so-called “featurephones” which only offer limited internet accessibility there is the medium term issue of a lack of internet connectivity in the networks to consider.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">If the device and the operating system prove popular it will support the ecosystem of HTML5 developers and container-based Enterprise Mobility solutions - such as those enabled by the <span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.appeariq.com/content/welcome-appear-iq">AppearIQ</a></span> </span>mobility platform, which is the technology behind <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">MobiCloud</a>.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The ability of applications to work in offline environments (later synchronizing through the platform when connectivity is available) and in a secure container separate from other consumer applications is a key benefit for developers to consider using the platform.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-55754642049797099302014-06-30T00:23:00.002-07:002014-06-30T00:23:20.290-07:00Appear Launch IQ 8.1<div class="MsoNormal">
MobiCloud lead partner Appear Networks just announced the public launch of
Appear IQ 8.1 – the latest version of the mobile application enablement
technology which is powering the MobiCloud project. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrldWCCfu9ntgD0ilvBQx72eMgSlP0zJymqqt41SwIWhpQ-Hd5-qn6KW0_WpGI11qZzZYfae-cEZZhhQruZZF3I-qnPJ-s0RbfFIlImG13yFeHTrJ5DRml9DXAqQeBGRYhyKRuxIxSE3p/s1600/AppearIQGraphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrldWCCfu9ntgD0ilvBQx72eMgSlP0zJymqqt41SwIWhpQ-Hd5-qn6KW0_WpGI11qZzZYfae-cEZZhhQruZZF3I-qnPJ-s0RbfFIlImG13yFeHTrJ5DRml9DXAqQeBGRYhyKRuxIxSE3p/s1600/AppearIQGraphic.png" height="233" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mobicloud platform is
now open to all developers, ISVs, Integrators and other software development
organisations. ISVs (such as Nettropolis who are delivering their MobiCloud
project for the public transit market in Germany) have already been using the
platform to deliver professional mobility solutions to their customers -
extending their existing software platform or building new propositions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Appear IQ enables the creation of professional looking,
enterprise-grade mobile apps that are easily integrated with existing B2B/B2E
software and distributed to end users. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Appear IQ 8.1 includes a new Mobile SDK that simplifies the
development of hybrid containerized HTML5 apps, a new Integration SDK to enable
the apps to integrate to IT systems seamlessly without impacting the existing
software, Support for PhoneGap / Cordova apps and a new community website with
example code fragments, templates and more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The new community website is designed around the
expectations of developers - providing full documentation for the MobiCloud
technology.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To learn more and to sign-up for a free user account
development teams are invited to check out the new documentation site at <a href="http://appeariq.com/">appeariq.com</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-77836507648846970842014-06-23T06:15:00.000-07:002014-06-23T06:15:13.057-07:00MobiCloud Site Diary Development<div class="MsoNormal">
By Mark Collier</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first version of the site diary application has been available for a while now with over
70 commercial users trailing the app and the platform, across multiple sites
and devices.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubLbC0-6-ioLHyUPLaWCE0fMMg2WllRltoqu2nk7VgA_xL3UI4HUxQjWivtzs_vu4n7Uw5NfCcH07xY8GdHxKcdo3V5RcD1N1BxnfBtFG4_ovzJIc1sGUK4rIrZywhv2shHEOUQ6u2lB0/s1600/View04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubLbC0-6-ioLHyUPLaWCE0fMMg2WllRltoqu2nk7VgA_xL3UI4HUxQjWivtzs_vu4n7Uw5NfCcH07xY8GdHxKcdo3V5RcD1N1BxnfBtFG4_ovzJIc1sGUK4rIrZywhv2shHEOUQ6u2lB0/s1600/View04.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have been great feedback about the look and
ease of use for the application and some brilliant suggestions for improvements and additional features. Development on Site Diary has continued and it has grown from what was initially a fairly simple application to something much more sophisticated.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The latest release sees the following upgrades and new
features - in some cases made possible by improvements to the platform which we are also continuing to develop.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Use it from a PC</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have added a Back Office Event Creation Page which allows users to input events directly from a PC. This can be preferable to using a mobile device when in the office. It also makes it easier for a whole site to reap the benefits of Site Diary when not all users have access to it via a mobile device. Feedback shows this can be the case where an employer is unable to provide all staff with mobile devices and individuals opt to use their own personal devices to access the system. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKBbDbaHmMIFGT5Xqge2wlg7O1R8nE2BuuVPHvcvs4tDbTCDaynnB3KdNSZ2_sfWIMBAZuDBwf3FpuHcZ-EYURqshSXJLJ2BEvC-vgzrGxc8ZT0aaX7xPIzlYLKxcpo_TxSsJrx0Wibcz/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKBbDbaHmMIFGT5Xqge2wlg7O1R8nE2BuuVPHvcvs4tDbTCDaynnB3KdNSZ2_sfWIMBAZuDBwf3FpuHcZ-EYURqshSXJLJ2BEvC-vgzrGxc8ZT0aaX7xPIzlYLKxcpo_TxSsJrx0Wibcz/s1600/blog.jpg" height="168" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h3>
System Resilience</h3>
We have made improvements to the login and inactivity logout
behaviour, especially on Internet Explorer. This should improve the experience
for users of the back-office solution.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Android Container Improvements</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Site Diary was initially released on iOS and the Android version which was recently made available contained some bugs. These were not with the core application thanks to the hybrid HTLM5 development, but with native Android features. The new release addresses issues with screen orientation and improves the data synchronization.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
+7 Days Event Retrieval</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One indication of the success of the application has been the large number of events that are being recorded per site. This is much higher than originally expected and has lead to performance issues on some sites where data rates are low, due to the amount of data being downloaded. This has been addressed by automatically syncing events from the last 7 days only onto the device. Older events can still be retrieved on-demand from the cloud as required.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Global Weather Support</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another sign of success for Site Diary is the number of trial signups from outside of the UK. Consequently the automatic weather reporting feature has been modified to be able to access weather information from anywhere in the world - with the added benefit of improved accuracy within the UK. The ability to select local units (Celisius/Fahrenheit and miles per hour/metres per second) has also been added.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Work on the Site Diary continues and we hope to give you more updates soon. In the meantime you can still try the app for free by signing up on the <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!free-site-diary-trial/cky0">MobiCloud website</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-55023419199361063272014-06-06T11:03:00.003-07:002014-06-06T11:10:00.380-07:00The dream of an agnostic smart device world<div class="MsoNormal">
By Mark Collier</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given recent news stories rolling around it seems there is
an ever increasing demand for device agnostic solutions when it comes to smart devices. As consumers I expect we can all go through our list of devices
and count a multitude of things on each device that we wish we could use seamlessly on all of our <i>other</i> devices.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPakTPTVYIWJ1vs0rfrFd2i4AO8UP9TGUzFCyCRnZmfk44Q9u4i3FT4Dgt6L6Ovu-wRmAH3HVX21mQxuq1U1MaHpRrXyUwc-qDcDvufKHBQ64KCdIDZedRLUQm-4pDwxFjM_y_N5Dd0TT/s1600/charger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPakTPTVYIWJ1vs0rfrFd2i4AO8UP9TGUzFCyCRnZmfk44Q9u4i3FT4Dgt6L6Ovu-wRmAH3HVX21mQxuq1U1MaHpRrXyUwc-qDcDvufKHBQ64KCdIDZedRLUQm-4pDwxFjM_y_N5Dd0TT/s1600/charger.jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Device agnostic solutions are greener...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Personally I have just upgraded my iPhone and now
have the task of ensuring that I carry <i>two</i> charging cables, plus my laptop charger and
my work phone charger with me everywhere I go. It’s a good ploy to get me to
upgrade my iPad every time I forget one of the cables.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily as far as chargers go, the end is nearly in sight. Back in March the EU overwhelmingly backed a resolution that will make it law for smart phone manufactures
to produce devices with a common charger by 2017, hallelujah! Not only will this make my bag lighter but it
is estimated to save around 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste a year. It might
also surprise you to know that Apple was one of the original signatories to the
agreement with manufactures back in 2009. Unfortunately it would appear that some aspects of technology still change very slowly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This brings into question whether other things such as App’s
will ever become device agnostic, making life easier for app developers and
consumers alike. Wouldn't it be great if you could have one device and know all
the App’s out there are at your fingertips? Or will we move closer and closer to
a world where you pick your device based on the App’s you want to use? - much
like picking a games console because you want to play Metal Gear Solid and Gran
Turismo or Halo and Race Pro (easy
choice on the racing front). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Postgrad researchers at Columbia University have
been trying to overcome the nagging issue of not being able to access flash content
on an iOS device or iTunes media on an Android device. The project, named
Cider, looked to avoid the usual performance problems associated with
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization">virtualization</a> and use a translation to alter iOS instructions to run on an
Android device. The <a href="http://youtu.be/Uaple0Ec1Dg">video</a>
of Cider in action seems to show it working nicely although many of the comments
point out some of the flaws around speed and the use of native features.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
This does raise the question though; will we ever see a day
where Apple and Android work together for the benefit of the consumer? I doubt
it, but we may be moving towards a world where at least the consumers don’t
have to make a tough decision. For now though it still seems the cleanest,
cheapest way to be device agnostic is hybrid development. This means making the most of device agnostic technologies such as HTML5 for App development and only using native code when absolutely necessary - which is the approach that <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">MobiCloud</a> has adopted. Perhaps we should also design a charger...<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-52327179265113589142014-05-20T01:19:00.001-07:002014-05-20T13:44:54.735-07:00Data Protection - Unsafe HarboursBy Jason Scott<br />
<br />
With increasing reliance on cloud-based services and the ability for data to be resident anywhere in the world, the EU's approach to personal data protection is under threat. This post considers the history to that approach and some of the issues raised by recent revelations.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodClwzS1DabMu487FW-HCYc8atav3tJkXlWmkqVJmYaYXPHVRXJJg1x742BD-Hm9n941pRvxm_rA60qv0c1p4PmV1kY-NS96P78RGF1xEYsaG4vdVanEI-te-n-5mUrEd3VjenZheld-H/s1600/cloudGlasses.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodClwzS1DabMu487FW-HCYc8atav3tJkXlWmkqVJmYaYXPHVRXJJg1x742BD-Hm9n941pRvxm_rA60qv0c1p4PmV1kY-NS96P78RGF1xEYsaG4vdVanEI-te-n-5mUrEd3VjenZheld-H/s1600/cloudGlasses.JPG" height="203" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
A European Perspective</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the rapid increase in electronic processing of data
during the 1970’s concerns started being raised within Europe about the
proliferation and potential misuse of personal information. Data on individuals was being aggregated,
communicated and used for a rapidly expanding number of purposes – such as credit
worthiness checks, employment and insurance background checks and a booming
industry in direct marketing. For
cultural reasons financial and medical information was considered to be highly
personal but at the same time was among the most valuable for marketing
purposes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consequently countries within Europe began enacting
protective legislation. The details varied but there was consensus on many of
the underlying principles. Individuals should be able to know what personal
information was being held about them and why, be able to challenge and correct
it and to prevent it from being passed on or used for other purposes without
their consent. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Concerns were not just limited to commercial organisations. Many
countries in Europe have an uneasy history with the use of personal information
by governments for surveillance and there were worries about the misuse of data
regarding political affiliations or activities. In the United Kingdom these
concerns led to the Data Protection Act of 1984 – ironically the same year as
the title of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four">George Orwell’s dystopian novel</a> in which Big Brother exercises
almost total surveillance (and thus control) of the population. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
The EU Data Protection Directive</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the practice of companies out-sourcing their data
processing to third-parties became more prevalent, there was also concern about
the transfer of personal data to other jurisdictions. Increasingly data was
being processed in countries other than the one in which it had been collected
and where it might not be subject to the same legal protection. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 1995 the European Union ratified the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31995L0046:en:HTML">Data Protection Directive</a> which required all member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) to
incorporate a number of rules (agreed by consensus) into their own data
protection laws – thus establishing a European-wide minimum level of
protection. In the UK this took the form of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Act_1998">Data Protection Act of 1998</a>,
which came into force in 2000.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are eight principles which underlie EU data
protection. Personal data is defined as any data that can be used to identify a
living individual and broadly speaking must be:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>fairly and lawfully processed</li>
<li>processed for limited and well defined purposes</li>
<li>adequate, relevant and not excessive</li>
<li>accurate and up to date</li>
<li>not kept for longer than is necessary</li>
<li>processed in line with the rights of individuals</li>
<li>stored securely</li>
<li>not transferred to a country that has inadequate data protection controls</li>
</ol>
Number 8 in this list lead to a big problem. There were many
countries in the world that did not meet the EU standard for adequate data
protection and one of them was the USA.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
EU/US Safe Harbour agreement</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The USA was and is a major trading partner for the EU and also
provided many of the data processing services that EU companies wanted to use. There
was no way that the USA was going to change its legislation to meet European
standards, so in the grand tradition of politics a compromise was reached.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The EU and the U.S. Department of Commerce negotiated a <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/thridcountries/adequacy-faq1_en.htm">Safe Harbour agreement</a> (or “safe harbor” if you are on the other side of the
Atlantic). This was a framework by which companies within the USA could be
certified as providing sufficient data protection measures to meet EU
standards, but without such measures being required by US law. It would then be
legal for EU companies to pass personal data to companies in the USA that were
on the Safe Harbour List.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Safe Harbour agreement was not without its detractors.
In particular there were concerns that it was a <a href="http://export.gov/safeharbor/eu/eg_main_018365.asp">self-regulated system</a> – albeit
managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the oversight of the U.S.
Department of Commerce. There was <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/privacy/thridcountries/adequacy-faq1_en.htm">no system of mandated compliance checks (companies could self-certify) and enforcement would be largely complaint driven</a>. However,
after much debate it was finally agreed to by the EU in 2000.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Patriot Act</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A year later the dreadful attack of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks">9/11</a> happened and just over a month after that
the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act">PATRIOT act</a> was rushed through congress. This anti-terrorism legislation
covered many areas but one of the things it allowed was for the US government
to inspect the data held by any US company or wholly owned subsidiary –
regardless of the Safe Harbour agreement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TSk0NvbJNJKudRpInl_mlQs1-D69GnhGbCM6hvsFAsCrPdyW_8jV4fCEPME3q_JLwXOM7xfe5Y4HQS8yX-KDO59JeULsfnZCU0tFd50enx87oADSKXXgA-jFnbdrV0cjUGGqwZyuU_lA/s1600/flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TSk0NvbJNJKudRpInl_mlQs1-D69GnhGbCM6hvsFAsCrPdyW_8jV4fCEPME3q_JLwXOM7xfe5Y4HQS8yX-KDO59JeULsfnZCU0tFd50enx87oADSKXXgA-jFnbdrV0cjUGGqwZyuU_lA/s1600/flag.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This raised a potential issue. While all European countries
have laws that provide for access to personal data for state security purposes,
the powers afforded by the PATRIOT act appeared to be broader and to have a
lower threshold of “probable cause” than would be permitted in Europe. This
meant that personal data held in a Safe Harbour company could potentially be
accessed in a way that would be illegal in the EU – effectively subverting the
Safe Harbour agreement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, despite this and its self-certification
weakness, the Safe Harbour agreement seemed to work reasonably well. The FTC
did indeed <a href="http://writ.news.findlaw.com/ramasastry/20091117.html">take enforcement action</a> against companies or organisations that were
found to break the rules and the rapid growth in cloud-based services meant
that large volumes of EU personal data was held in the US or by
US based companies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h3>
Edward Snowden & the NSA</h3>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then in 2013 a disaffected former employee of the USA’s CIA
and contractor for the <a href="http://www.nsa.gov/">National Security Agency</a> set the cat among the pigeons.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden">Edward Snowden</a>’s revelations demonstrated that the NSA was carrying out
systematic and wide-reaching surveillance activities on a huge scale. While many of the NSA’s activities were
clearly legal in the USA, others were questionable and in one case has since
been<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/16/justice/nsa-surveillance-court-ruling/"> ruled unconstitutional by a US judge</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to the significant damage done to the USA’s
relationship with its allies and partners, the revelations re-focused attention
on the Safe Harbour agreement with concerns about the US’s regard (or lack
thereof) for EU citizen’s data. </div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_G4pwRcp7Dy5XbbMq6Pbkk0f5m9zYxAnbxfP0X-9Mj8C7AS66yICvKtjQ8593JsrVY3YBng4vwcjhTtAp44oL65r61PldsGuGJtBh01D7eSkaO3v0hyn2LrVTgAfLd2BJ5DlVa4-gMsN/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_G4pwRcp7Dy5XbbMq6Pbkk0f5m9zYxAnbxfP0X-9Mj8C7AS66yICvKtjQ8593JsrVY3YBng4vwcjhTtAp44oL65r61PldsGuGJtBh01D7eSkaO3v0hyn2LrVTgAfLd2BJ5DlVa4-gMsN/s1600/download.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
For example, among the many revelations was the
fact that the NSA was secretly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html">accessing Yahoo and Google data centres</a> by
tapping into undersea cables in order to collect information on hundreds of
millions of accounts. Leaked NSA documents mention “bulk access”, “full take” and
“high volume” with regard to such interceptions. This kind of dragnet approach to surveillance is highly problematic for the EU – particularly with
regard to data protection.</div>
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The revelations prompted the European Commission to carry
out a <a href="http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/july/safe-harbour-us-data-transfer-loophole-under-review-says-european-commission/">review of the Safe Harbour agreement</a> and earlier this year the European
Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committee backed
a call for its “immediate suspension”.
The EU’s Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, <a href="http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2014/january/reding-eu-us-data-transfer-framework-will-be-suspended-if-us-does-not-fix-problems-by-summer/">threatened to do just that</a> if the US fails to take action to address concerns by the summer of 2014.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“<span style="background: white; color: #1e2326; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Commission has made 13
concrete recommendations... Safe Harbour has to be strengthened or it will be
suspended.”</span></blockquote>
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</div>
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Such a suspension would have a big impact on US based cloud
service providers, who have already seen a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/edward-snowden-tech-industry_n_4596162.html">significant decline in business</a>
associated with a loss of trust following Snowden’s revelations. However, it
would also have serious consequences for the many EU based companies who
currently hold personal data in US companies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Access to Data held in the EU</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To make matters worse for EU companies holding data in the
cloud, it has become clear that data being held by US companies physically outside
of the US is </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>not</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> safe from the PATRIOT act (as had often been assumed). Because
the act applies to all US companies or </span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>wholly owned subsidiaries</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> it <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/patriot-act-can-obtain-data-in-europe-researchers-say/">can be used to force an EU based company</a>, such as Microsoft UK or Amazon Ireland, to
hand over its data to the US authorities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In such cases there may be legal
conflicts between US and local legislation, but statements from companies such
as Microsoft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> and Google as well as from the <a href="http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/28499/the-data-protection-act-and-the-cloud-ico-offers-guidelines-and-advice">Information Commissioner's Office for the UK</a>, make it clear that EU based US wholly-owned subsidiary companies are
vulnerable to the PATRIOT act.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Safe Harbour agreement in its current form actually increases
this vulnerability, since an EU based subsidiary can legally transfer data to its
parent company - if that company is registered under Safe Harbour. Once the data
is in the US it is entirely within the scope of the PATRIOT act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxk7HOPamrhlUAkGcCwlLkGVX8QKX64EL5esLKaNkSQERFD7ilht3Lz-ndP6EvEnOuFb5daZkleXSFIXREUS6l0yX_hwhjfnVAooEKlAme6flZD_cY1ExC1czikMPEWKKBS9O-W-Sg-V3/s1600/DoorEye.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxk7HOPamrhlUAkGcCwlLkGVX8QKX64EL5esLKaNkSQERFD7ilht3Lz-ndP6EvEnOuFb5daZkleXSFIXREUS6l0yX_hwhjfnVAooEKlAme6flZD_cY1ExC1czikMPEWKKBS9O-W-Sg-V3/s1600/DoorEye.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Data held outside of the US may also be
vulnerable via other means. A US judge recently ruled that Microsoft
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27191500">must provide emails that are held on a server in Ireland</a>. Details of the emails were requested via a US search warrant. Ordinarily such a warrant would not be enforceable outside of the US, but the judge ruled that it should be treated in the same way as a subpoena
for documents. Under US law that means it applies regardless of where the documents
are held. Microsoft is challenging the ruling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Consequences</span></span></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the moment there is a lot of uncertainty about data protection and the status of personal information held in the cloud. Because the USA is home to the largest cloud storage and service providers it has been the focus of much of the debate - but many of the legal issues and concerns apply equally elsewhere. This includes countries and organisations within the EU itself, <a href="http://thejusticegap.com/2013/10/gchq-legal-challenge-cant-use-national-security-trump-card/">such as GCHQ in the UK</a> and the role it has played in the NSA's surveillance activities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">What is almost certain is that there will be changes to EU legislation on data protection at some point and probably changes to the Safe Harbour agreement. There have been calls to reduce EU dependence on non-EU cloud service providers by <a href="http://www.dataguidance.com/dataguidance_privacy_this_week.asp?id=2225">developing its own infrastructure</a> and this is likely to continue. It is conceivable that some US companies could partner with companies based in the EU to avoid the "wholly owned </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">subsidiary</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">" aspect of the PATRIOT act. However, doing so might be viewed very negatively by their home markets in the US, so may not be tenable for many of the well-known names.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is your view?</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">MobiCloud</a> we would be very interested to hear whether these issues are currently a concern for companies considering enterprise mobility applications. They may even be seen as an opportunity for European cloud infrastructure providers. F<span style="line-height: 115%;">or some companies using cloud-based solutions the issues may be almost academic. If you are already in the cloud to stay then do you have other more prosaic or pressing security concerns</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">? Please let us know.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-42478596716848934112014-05-08T01:55:00.002-07:002014-05-08T01:58:23.335-07:00Jailbreaking and BYOD<span style="font-family: inherit;">By Marcin Lukow of Appear Networks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With an increasing acceptance of BYOD (bring your own device)
there is growing scope for conflict between personal freedom and corporate
responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HAAkjiz9eyUE97Ev8JPMnmmexJrPrXCbpKcwmwwGerEONR3JLZQj72wMm3M1rQ78qtRjeq1g7xTLXSkWEdfiVeOL0feHCABOyhI_oiTkmPKUa0cA2AdXPjkKhOnP0UsGdMG2XV2fzHYu/s1600/crim-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HAAkjiz9eyUE97Ev8JPMnmmexJrPrXCbpKcwmwwGerEONR3JLZQj72wMm3M1rQ78qtRjeq1g7xTLXSkWEdfiVeOL0feHCABOyhI_oiTkmPKUa0cA2AdXPjkKhOnP0UsGdMG2XV2fzHYu/s1600/crim-6.jpg" height="320" width="223" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">According
to <a href="https://twitter.com/pod2g/status/307796622270689280">recent statistics</a>, 23 million mobile devices currently in use are jailbroken
and the number of users deciding to use an alternative to Apple’s App Store is
constantly growing. Every release of a new Apple device brings up the topic of
jailbreaking in the context of security. It is next to impossible not to at
least hear about the process, but what exactly is a jailbreak?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2007 a group of engineers called the <a href="http://blog.iphone-dev.org/">iPhone Dev Team</a>, as
a reaction to Apple’s hermetic software ecosystem, released a tool which made
it possible to install third-party applications on the first iPhone – i.e.
applications not approved by Apple and not bought via the Apple App Store.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tool took advantage of a security flaw in the iPhone’s
operating system (iPhoneOS, renamed iOS with the launch of the iPad) which allowed
it to run with far greater rights than it should have been able to (a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_escalation">privilege escalation</a> attack). It then used these rights to break out of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_jail">BSD jail</a> –
the system the iPhone used to stop applications gaining full control of the
device. It was this that gave the name to the process. Other ecosystems use
different names for doing the same thing - on Android it is called “rooting”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then Apple has made a constant effort to improve the security of their operating system in order to make jailbreaking impossible. However,
hackers have kept pace and new releases of iOS are quickly followed by new
versions of jailbreaking tools. It took just 3 months for iOS 7 to get cracked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEwdNfwyCNOWoW7SluEO2_2ada7JNoELS6Eig5YPY9nsyZQqEeyVNSUmA-ebdVwyT6htZNPGVZHPJ6lLWI7-IqBbX6DeOfYRWqKC9bDh5_VoKuS9B4OTIoH-GAAksE0c_XgfrCAHgMGof/s1600/the_american_safe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEwdNfwyCNOWoW7SluEO2_2ada7JNoELS6Eig5YPY9nsyZQqEeyVNSUmA-ebdVwyT6htZNPGVZHPJ6lLWI7-IqBbX6DeOfYRWqKC9bDh5_VoKuS9B4OTIoH-GAAksE0c_XgfrCAHgMGof/s1600/the_american_safe.jpg" height="273" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">For
most people Apple’s App Store is a sufficient source of applications. However,
some users do not like being limited by Apples’s strict policies of what
software can be installed or what preferences can be changed on their mobile
phones. There are unofficial applications that mimic the Android home screen,
blacklist unwanted phone calls, enable tethering without carrier consent or give
access to hidden settings that allow users to customize their iPhone experience
far beyond Apple’s intentions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In 2010, as part of their review of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act">Digital MillenniumCopyright Act</a> the U.S. Copyright Office introduced an <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/1201/">exemption for thejailbreaking of smart phones</a> – essentially making it legal (a corresponding <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0250:EN:HTML">EUdirective was published in 1991</a>). This provided users with an additional incentive
for unlocking their devices but does legal and fun mean safe?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
probability of a user installing a malicious program from an unverified
supplier is much higher than when using the official Apple App Store. A good
illustration of the risk is an example of data protection. One of the file
security modes on the iPhone is to protect the data until the device is
unlocked using a PIN code. It would be unfeasible to brute force PINs using the
standard login screen because the device gets wiped after a certain number of
failed attempts. However, it is possible to programmatically check all 9999
combinations by <a href="http://esec-lab.sogeti.com/dotclear/public/publications/11-hitbamsterdam-iphonedataprotection.pdf">bypassing the login screen and using a private API</a> (application
programming interface). Use of this is prohibited by the Apple App Store rules. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLX30WxqC4Yw6bzAS3DmJBylrpKpI2Wd8Lc_NruP90N_KyjOZWsqJxxiFbp8n4dlAoIJWzysOj45Kkn6TEQWK7b1ZVyyBG6wMNsKxJGazOWVLTDSnEOL_3RwBeIP0pd-9PNbOdbccsK3I/s1600/put-head-in-mouth.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLX30WxqC4Yw6bzAS3DmJBylrpKpI2Wd8Lc_NruP90N_KyjOZWsqJxxiFbp8n4dlAoIJWzysOj45Kkn6TEQWK7b1ZVyyBG6wMNsKxJGazOWVLTDSnEOL_3RwBeIP0pd-9PNbOdbccsK3I/s1600/put-head-in-mouth.png" height="317" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although there are cases where such applications have been <a href="http://wenke.gtisc.gatech.edu/papers/sec13-paper_wang_2.pdf">accidentally accepted on the Apple App Store</a>, they are quickly pulled when the concealed functionality is
discovered. Users installing apps from outside of the App Store have no such
protection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another more sophisticated, yet equally viable example is a
hidden process running in the background of the device and sending sensitive
data to unauthorized third parties. Preventing this might be essential in a BYOD
situation where sensitive business data has to be distributed to employees. One
possible solution would be to encrypt the data independently of the operating
system, but with a jailbroken device it cannot be assumed that the encryption
functions have not been replaced with malicious counterfeits or that the
encrypted files will not be transferred to a much more powerful computer and
decrypted anyway. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The risk persists even if a jailbroken device itself does not
store the data but has access to a corporate network. Using commonly available
tools it is possible to turn such devices into "sniffers" to provide hackers with confidential and
potentially useful information about the network infrastructure.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIATVedSWLsRPPuEUy7TYcDnxvGWeS9En-V-nDXCuivOQZX7yzSN-_qgOUJCXrk_Kj1QztQjDW4ny9DDrNd_2HpiNvUwvBZiMO66jEJnfqtOfIaaakTLRlT_jAVjRn6B41Cy7quQYkhG5/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIATVedSWLsRPPuEUy7TYcDnxvGWeS9En-V-nDXCuivOQZX7yzSN-_qgOUJCXrk_Kj1QztQjDW4ny9DDrNd_2HpiNvUwvBZiMO66jEJnfqtOfIaaakTLRlT_jAVjRn6B41Cy7quQYkhG5/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unsurprisingly security is the first and most important
point cited by Apple with regard to <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3743">unauthorized modifications</a> – although one
might assume they are also concerned about losing App Store revenue.
Jailbreaking tools have been made extremely easy to use and even casual users
are just a few clicks away from breaking open their devices. After cracking it
is not possible to install official updates without removing the jailbreak,
which means that vulnerabilities used to break into the system remain unpatched.
Some tools used to crack into the iOS also <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4127801">close the security holes</a> but this is
not always the case, leaving the device open to further attacks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The question arises of whether there is something that can
be done to mitigate the risk of jailbreaking in a BYOD scenario. The most
obvious defence is to prevent jailbroken devices from accessing sensitive data.
There are mobile device management systems (MDMs) that try to detect whether
the devices they are managing have been jailbroken or rooted, but they are not
100% accurate. There are even countermeasures that be applied to a jailbroken
device to make it appear legitimate to an MDM (<a href="http://www.marblesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/MS_tw_Jailbreak-Jammers_2013_1209.pdf">jailbreak jammers</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A more effective approach, as with many security issues, is
to address user behaviour directly. Jailbreaking can be discouraged by raising
security awareness among users and pointing out that the risks significantly
outweigh the benefits – especially since many of the desired Apps or changes
find their way into an official version sooner or later. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is also important, if possible, to keep up
to date with the new versions of the operating systems and install them as soon
as they get released. It does not render the devices jailbreak-proof and it can
sometimes <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-fix-the-ios-7-lock-screen-bypass-flaw-7000020913/">introduce minor problems</a>, but it definitely makes it more difficult
for hackers.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-9369439249091581242014-04-29T07:56:00.001-07:002014-04-29T07:56:37.784-07:00The Mobilization Hierarchy of NeedsBy Martin Wilson of <a href="http://www.appearnetworks.com/">Appear Networks</a><br />
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Abraham Maslow first proposed his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23902918">theory of human motivation</a> more than 70
years ago and it is still a popular meme used by colleges and business
management today. The original theory proposes 5 levels of human fulfilment
that start with basic physiological needs (eating, breathing), progress through
social status (friends, respect) and end with self-actualisation (creativity,
talent). It is usually depicted as a pyramid with the most basic need at the
base. More broadly in business Maslow “re-mixes” are used in many different
ways – for example to talk about how work environments can meet the needs of
employees or how products can meet the needs of customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9p-TsCllN11p6_aiclY04AUJZQqOSYGDi0AuyWCZtfaZGmPBlG-IK-0RA90jEnJANnDuFK4trM3cyctRHnOTW5gR-1EJl1uxNiq0uqa0RNpw0Tuba6CZkwOgO3JaAQHRGS9PbswgfpEY/s1600/hieracrchOfNeeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9p-TsCllN11p6_aiclY04AUJZQqOSYGDi0AuyWCZtfaZGmPBlG-IK-0RA90jEnJANnDuFK4trM3cyctRHnOTW5gR-1EJl1uxNiq0uqa0RNpw0Tuba6CZkwOgO3JaAQHRGS9PbswgfpEY/s1600/hieracrchOfNeeds.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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When faced with implementing a mobile project we can utilise
the same approach and consider a Mobilization Hierarchy of Needs. This is a
useful exercise whether you are an independent software vendor (ISV) or an
organisation looking to develop (or have someone develop for you) a mobile
application to add to your armoury. The Mobilization Hierarchy of Needs starts
with cost and rises through timing, risk, quality and innovation.</div>
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<h3>
1. COST – The need to limit costs</h3>
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Most software companies or IT departments will have a budget
that is already sized according to existing needs. Extending that budget to
include development of a mobile application may be a challenge. Then there are
the make or buy questions – whether to buy-in expertise or components of
software or implement in-house. This is a delicate balance. Mobilization will
take resources away from core business. Which mobile devices will be supported?
Developing for multiple platforms can get expensive and then maintaining the
resulting apps as those different mobile platforms evolve is even more
expensive.</div>
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2. RAPID – The need to shorten time to market</h3>
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A big new challenge to existing established ISV’s are the
“Mobile First” competitors. These companies have sprung seemingly from nowhere
in the past 2-3 years with “mobile” as their focus. Everything they do is
around ensuring the mobile experience for their customers is perfect. Users are
being seduced by the simple experience of using mobile devices to meet their
business needs and if you are an ISV you are probably already being asked when
your “mobile app” will be ready. The quicker your mobile app can be delivered
the shorter the time to profitability and the greater the chances are that the
future of your business is secured.</div>
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3. RISK – The need to minimize the risk of failure</h3>
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Taking on a mobile project involves some risks. Is your team
equipped with the right skills? They can learn, but the experience of learning
will have a cost which may not be forecast in your project. Will the mobile
applications you deliver meet the expectations of your customers? What about
the different mobile operating systems? Will your application be cross-platform
and work on all the different operating systems? Which platform to choose
first? How can you avoid some of the most common mistakes? Mitigating project
risks is an important way of increasing the odds of a successful investment in
mobile.</div>
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4. PRO – The need to deliver a professional solution</h3>
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In order for your application not to disappoint it will need
to meet professional standards – including your customer security requirements,
users’ usability expectations, availability and reliability considerations. If
this need is not met there is the risk that your established software business
could be impacted by the poor reception given by your new mobile user base.</div>
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5. ” I ” – The need for innovation</h3>
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Ensuring your existing products extend to the mobile realm
is an effective way to keep your new “mobile first” competition at bay – they
will be focused on building the “shiny” mobile part without their back-end
being established. But having a mobile solution will push your proposition into
new markets. Being able to use your new found mobile reach to create whole new
propositions is an important source of differentiation and will help you stay
ahead, and by carefully exploiting new device functionality, form factors and
operating system capabilities there will be plenty of scope for meeting the
need for innovation.</div>
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MobiCloud</h3>
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The MobiCloud platform uses Appear Network’s technology to
make it easier to address all of these needs. Applications can be rapidly
developed at reduced cost by intrinsic cross-platform support and cloud
hosting. Risk is reduced by using proven platform capabilities and rapid
deployment allows development to be done iteratively (an “innovation discovery
process”). The cloud hosted Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS) model enables the
rapid testing and delivery cycles necessary to achieve this.</div>
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For more information about MobiCloud and how you can participate, please visit our <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">website</a> and consider joining our <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!partner-programme/cm4v">partner program</a>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-26661839795409085292014-04-02T14:51:00.002-07:002014-04-02T14:56:21.749-07:00MobiCloud at Speedy Integrated Services Show with COMITLast week MobiCloud partner COMIT were at the Speedy Integrated Services Show in Telford, UK. Speedy are a large supplier of hired products and services to the construction industry and their show is the largest of its kind in Europe.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHg9U481E-VTcf2HPgyh18M6bNAIVhrQbFV4KjLtrtrtFt-BCcSTH1BQorWtYrqZq5v9wT-oPETFen_MVVqJUOojFTOyTD6pUEgiwY9zprHcnOrl6xEcwggBeeRMDXczzIE1vfNZ8ZtcsK/s1600/speedy6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHg9U481E-VTcf2HPgyh18M6bNAIVhrQbFV4KjLtrtrtFt-BCcSTH1BQorWtYrqZq5v9wT-oPETFen_MVVqJUOojFTOyTD6pUEgiwY9zprHcnOrl6xEcwggBeeRMDXczzIE1vfNZ8ZtcsK/s1600/speedy6.jpg" height="221" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Collier of Costain demonstrating the Site Diary App</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mark Collier from Costain attended, along with members of COMIT and demonstrated the MobiCloud Site Diary App - complete with hi-visibility jacket and hard hat.<br />
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Mark was also invited by Speedy to sit on the expert panel of a leadership session on Mobilising the Workforce in Construction and Industry. Mark took the opportunity to describe the MobiCloud project and to explain how it was playing its part in doing just that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwQ-Bmah-gxaMToZuFia-t6wMWy4gemY3kMMV7MjUqbq052RoVs0mUMuOfhSgDZjqmDvcP1SDb3wp6uV8GfZU5tJrB_c7N05wLo1N_utHvIFP8wXlki2IhZz8BGw1FGM1Hn_lE1Grx7nI/s1600/speedy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwQ-Bmah-gxaMToZuFia-t6wMWy4gemY3kMMV7MjUqbq052RoVs0mUMuOfhSgDZjqmDvcP1SDb3wp6uV8GfZU5tJrB_c7N05wLo1N_utHvIFP8wXlki2IhZz8BGw1FGM1Hn_lE1Grx7nI/s1600/speedy4.jpg" height="141" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iain Miskimmin from COMIT speaking & Mark Collier on left of panel</td></tr>
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The Speedy show was a two-day event and COMIT were there for the whole thing. Plenty of people dropped by and there was a definite interest in everything cloud and BIM (building information modelling). The latter seems to be leading to a greater interest in and development of the former, since BIM requires the sharing of huge quantities of data which can only really be facilitated cost effectively by using cloud technologies.<br />
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The UK government's BIM strategy, which was launched in 2011, mandates that all public sector centrally procured construction projects must be delivered using BIM by 2016. BIM is not just about modelling the construction process, but about seamlessly sharing information between stages and stakeholders within the process.<br />
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<i>“BIM will integrate the construction process and, therefore, the construction industry"</i><div>
Graham Watts, OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Construction Industry Council</div>
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There is real synergy between BIM and cloud-based technologies such as those being developed as part of MobiCloud, which bodes well for the future of the project.<br />
For more information about the Speedy event please see the <a href="http://comitprojects.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/speedy-day-telford.html">COMIT blog</a>.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-13250669738001076832014-03-28T09:49:00.000-07:002014-04-17T07:52:36.226-07:00MobiCloud is a winnerMobiCloud is pleased to report that it has won the ITEuropa <a href="http://www.iteuropa.com/News/2014/March/Winners-of-European-IT---Software-Excellence-Award.aspx">European IT & Software Excellence Awards</a> for Communications/Mobility Solution of the Year - under both the Independent Software Vendor <i>and</i> Solution Provider categories.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7_v6vDiAER3GbpSzgSlhK4TKI3l3aI3-QFKMHRbqIWvh4KdtMgcDzD0IgZboTCKLBlqLELJG97vFxc5PraeNmr4GFAPMyhsc0nkc1ppLzSOp9koMXY2qWXInHXiaWRsc9-2hyphenhyphenYdDO7yt/s1600/TenceUsers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7_v6vDiAER3GbpSzgSlhK4TKI3l3aI3-QFKMHRbqIWvh4KdtMgcDzD0IgZboTCKLBlqLELJG97vFxc5PraeNmr4GFAPMyhsc0nkc1ppLzSOp9koMXY2qWXInHXiaWRsc9-2hyphenhyphenYdDO7yt/s1600/TenceUsers.png" height="320" width="266" /></a></div>
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The European IT & Software Excellence Awards are pan-European awards to recognize the role of Independent Software Vendors and Solution Providers in delivering real-world solutions. There were entries from 25 different countries and each had to be supported by a client's endorsement. 81 companies from 16 countries were in the finals. The winners were selected by an independent panel of consultants and editors.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">“What impressed us this year was the quality and the measurable returns many of these projects delivered. Many have total paybacks many times the value of the IT investment, and we are seeing many of these projects delivered as part of a continuing expansion of productive investment. This shows what a great relationship these IT suppliers have with their customers, and how customers are keen to work with suppliers on a long term change to their organisations.”</span></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">John Garratt, Editor of </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">IT Europa</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">. </span></span></blockquote>
The awards were split into three categories, Independent Software Vendors, Solution Providers and Suppliers. MobiCloud entered under both ISV and Solution Proider and won in both categories.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-52969838903951253852014-03-28T07:30:00.002-07:002014-03-28T07:31:44.965-07:00Report on the Future Internet Assembly 2014<div class="MsoPlainText">
<b>By Vladimir Bataev of EsperantoXL</b></div>
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The most reliable way to predict the future is to invent it,
maintains the old saying, but since this activity can take time, one who shapes
the future should not underestimate the importance of regularly informing a curious public about what is waiting for them ahead. That was the raison d'etre of
the Future Internet Assembly 2014 that took place in Athens, Greece between March 17th and March 20th. It combined a series of workshops
together with an exhibition of the most prominent technology projects that have been funded by the
European Commission.</div>
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The workshops, panels and plenaries covered a traditional
range of subjects: from next generation networks and hardware that will
physically enable the future internet, regardless of the shape it will
eventually take, to the applications and services that will be built on top of this
infrastructure. Key trends of the past year - internet of things, ubiquitous
computing and increased mobility - merged into one übertheme: "smart cities" and it was rare for a presentation not to mention it.</div>
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Smart cities remain a tricky subject. Lots of pilots and
living lab projects have been implemented and some of them, like the CitySDK
project in Amsterdam, have produced tangible results that citizens can make use of
and in this case even featured in the Economist. However, as one of the panelists
noted, very few, if any, of these pilot projects have been transformed into a
larger scale implementation. </div>
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There are several reasons for this and the most
obvious one is the lack of a sustainable business model. Even CitySDK still has
to get the commitment from participating municipalities to keep it alive beyond
the project end date this year. The search for such business models was the focus of a half-day workshop. Its conclusion was that so far only large
vendors of platforms to monitor city traffic and companies building actual
hardware sensors were able to find such business models.</div>
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Commercialization of technology is one of the strong
points of the MobiCloud project, which already has multiple trial cases running
commercially. Two of these examples were demonstrated and explained at the
MobiCloud booth by myself and Vincent Dollet of Appear.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The MobiCloud booth was on the VIP route and was very
well attended - several delegations stopped by, as well as Zoran Stancic,
Mario Campolargo, Ken Ducatel and Maria Tsakali from the European Commision. Neelie Kroes was
expected, but only had time to visit FI-WARE, one of
the largest and most heavily funded projects, which offers interesting collaboration
opportunities for MobiCloud as well.</div>
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<a href="https://www.fi-athens.eu/media/vincent-dollet"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjbPtBVkJ7JwxBV1RncnPNF0h0dNENxUhzHopy-7IOR1jXmXTqzED7_guK_Paa3LmOrtqzGu6IoEGuYy70oiHfivz8TQIJkoCRHk0NiS_cOvXls4CEIQZ68zkxLe6EWOxVqFN6E9G2gsb/s1600/BjKPHiBIYAAJ7Zb.jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></div>
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The MobiCloud team appeared on local television and you can see the interview with Vincent Dollet <a href="https://www.fi-athens.eu/media/vincent-dollet">here</a>. We were also invited to present the project during the EC-Mexico
collaboration workshop. This brought together industry representatives and
researchers to find the common problems to work on in 2014.</div>
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You can find out more about FIA Athens on the <a href="https://www.fi-athens.eu/">official website</a>. You can also contact Vincent Dollet or Vladimir Bataev via the <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!contact/c1d94">MobiCloud website</a> for more about MobiCloud and their involvement.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-38955839247710416392014-03-14T02:15:00.001-07:002014-03-14T02:15:31.329-07:00Meet MobiCloud at the 2014 Future Internet Assembly in Athens, Greece on 18th to 20th March<div class="MsoNormal">
The European Future Internet Assembly is a collaboration
between projects that have recognized the need to strengthen European
activities on the Future Internet to maintain European competitiveness in the
global marketplace. Currently FIA brings together around 150 research projects
that are part of Challenge 1 of the ICT programme of FP7 and are advancing the
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FIA supports open
interactions and cross-fertilization across technical domains, hence it is open
to all researchers engaged in Future Internet research (be they at EU or not)
to contribute and participate towards FIA’s goals. The first FIA was held in
Bled, Slovenia in May 2008, and reaches its 11th edition this year, in FIA
Athens 2014.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The 11th FIA in Athens will focus on reshaping the Future
Internet infrastructure for innovation, and more specifically on the
formulation of the new Internet technological landscape based on network/cloud
integration & virtualisation SDN/NFV and innovative software, services and
cloud technologies that enable application innovation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Vincent Dollet from Appear Networks and Vladimir Bataev from
EsperantoXL will be supporting MobiCloud's presence at the event demonstrating
the technology and participating in some of the workshops. Attendees will have
the opportunity to discuss the technology behind the project and see some of
the resulting enterprise mobility applications.<o:p></o:p></div>
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FIA Athens 2014 features several parallel events, such as
working sessions, project demonstrations, FIF, FI-PPP, session/demo/project
contests etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are planning to attend and would like to meet up then
<a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!contact/c1d94">get in touch</a>!<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-64594839268854893602014-03-13T09:11:00.001-07:002014-03-13T09:11:24.317-07:00Speedy Integrated Services ShowMobiCloud partners COMIT and Costain will both be at the <a href="http://www.speedyservices.com/speedy-show">Speedy Integrated Services Show</a> in Telford, UK on the 24th and 25th of March. COMIT have a booth at the show and Mark from Costain will be demonstrating the MobiCloud Site Diary App.<br />
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Speedy are a large tool hire and services provider to the construction industry and there will be over 200 suppliers and partners showcasing their wares at the event - making it the largest private hire and services show in Europe. <a href="http://t3livevip.com/">Registration</a> is free so come along and meet us.<br />
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Look out for our report on the event in a couple of weeks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-58305520800296716092014-03-10T04:49:00.001-07:002014-03-10T07:06:05.395-07:00Cloudscape VI<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2Rm4DXzSaPnyjW4Ue8B203DXsO09uxhTHdGeqo0sCmQQ5QVFyMINkvMNKjbtYWSL44WnEWd2A_Y1oAE05m_VQ9QsFiNkms0bipZVHInrJYT4D0Z_s4Sks1Q5nH50SSD0xgyoiJyQxNpE/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2Rm4DXzSaPnyjW4Ue8B203DXsO09uxhTHdGeqo0sCmQQ5QVFyMINkvMNKjbtYWSL44WnEWd2A_Y1oAE05m_VQ9QsFiNkms0bipZVHInrJYT4D0Z_s4Sks1Q5nH50SSD0xgyoiJyQxNpE/s1600/logo.png" height="83" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.cloudscapeseries.eu/Pages/Home.aspx">CloudScape</a> held its 6<sup>th</sup> annual session in Brussels, at Microsoft center
this year, bringing together more than a hundred experts in cloud computing
from both public and private sector, with participants from both SMEs and large
enterprises.<br />
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CloudScape
focuses on advancing current knowledge on cloud computing and looks at the
issues that are becoming more and more prevalent: privacy, data protection and migration to the cloud. When the conference was launched in 2008, to many the cloud was a completely new concept; today, success stories about cloud
implementations and alignment with the EU strategy on cloud computing are commonplace.</div>
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<i>"Cloud is still very emergent" </i>said Ken Ducatel, head of Cloud Computing at the European Commission. <i>"There are a lot of business models and they're very complex; there is no one-size fits all solution"</i></div>
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Use of the cloud by enterprise is on the rise, however, the biggest impact
on the European economy is expected to be from cloud adoption by SMEs. The MobiCloud
project, represented by Vladimir Bataev from EsperantoXL, was invited to demonstrate their applications and to sit on the expert panel on <span class="paragraph">start-ups
and small business in the cloud.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="paragraph">The panel included experts from KTH, University of Calabria and several commercial projects, such as Transmetrics, F-Secure and ClouDesire. The panelists discussed the start up techniques used by SMEs to develop applications and meet the demands of users and how to build viable business models. They also shared their concerns over the absence of viable alternatives to Amazon Web Services in Europe. Opportunities in the enterprise market that can be exploited by SMEs were highlighted as well.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="paragraph">The MobiCloud consortium includes 4 technology SMEs, and SMEs are
an important customer and user group for the platform and the applications
running on it. Moreover, MobiCloud believes that SMEs that develop
mobile applications will be the major source of innovation for the more traditionally conservative industries, such as transport and construction, once they get
access to the tools to do so. Providing such opportunity for the MobiCloud ecosystem of application developers and system integrators is one of the more important goals of the project.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-75697689266785863122014-03-07T04:49:00.000-08:002014-03-07T05:29:40.520-08:00MobiCloud attracts attention at IT-Trans<div>
<a href="http://www.it-trans.org/en/home/homepage.jsp">IT-Trans</a> is a 3 day event which was held at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center from the 18th to 20th February. It attracted over 3,600 visitors from over 50 countries and showcased the best in IT solutions for public transport. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxudqpM34XGXV3R5JxAtaRxJOnHNKB35VfWSBFEkKhLgPNDXl4pfTvMTijX2H5EcZqq7g3C_-iBawrbU8_3U1WgZkyo_Sq3hGjgvF961mLUrCW985tfL_3VOwD2BS4eJtnGshQRYXPOVW/s1600/transport_minister_blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxudqpM34XGXV3R5JxAtaRxJOnHNKB35VfWSBFEkKhLgPNDXl4pfTvMTijX2H5EcZqq7g3C_-iBawrbU8_3U1WgZkyo_Sq3hGjgvF961mLUrCW985tfL_3VOwD2BS4eJtnGshQRYXPOVW/s1600/transport_minister_blog.png" height="203" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holger of Nettropolis speaks to Baden-Wurttemberg's Minister of Transport</td></tr>
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The event was attended by MobiCloud consortium member Nettropolis who demonstrated a number of solutions including QualityScout which is built on the MobiCloud platform and is being used by the Karlsruhe Transport Company (VBK) on a trial basis.</div>
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Nettropolis attracted a lot of attention and received a visit from the Minister of Transport for Baden-Wurttemberg, which is the third largest of the sixteen German states. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wurttemberg, an area known for its high-tech industry.</div>
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In all about 100 people visited the Nettroplis stand and saw the demonstrations. There was good interaction with the visitors, many of whom made suggestions for other products or services that they would like to see Nettropolis develop. There was also a lot of interest in the results of the trial at VBK.</div>
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<b><i>"We were encouraged
by the reaction that we received from customers who are eager to put the
solution into the hands of their employees"</i></b> - Frank Leibold, CFO of Nettroplis</div>
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It was clear from all the exhibitors at the event that there is an increasing focus on the adoption of new and innovative technologies such as mobile devices and the Cloud in the transport sector. The Secretary General of the UITP underlined the point when he said:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><i>"I
want to urge all stakeholders to carry on to invest into the brilliant
combination of IT and public transport. We must follow the same paths as that
of the automobile industry and focus on innovation."</i></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-40436533536841046232014-02-21T08:45:00.002-08:002014-02-21T08:45:49.379-08:00Cloudscape VI<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp0kSPruNcy5MXHeKtBS6q-aXS5Heg05xK6GEmI35iSCcoVEA_DTJrRLKNJfcKBNndt1tkLoxBRTiVIWDdCFr3v9ZbcHQ0VMU_sVeooh7DnhsTkyrP2Q0Da9LRNxXFc5bJYoDHOvUsLrO/s1600/Vladimir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp0kSPruNcy5MXHeKtBS6q-aXS5Heg05xK6GEmI35iSCcoVEA_DTJrRLKNJfcKBNndt1tkLoxBRTiVIWDdCFr3v9ZbcHQ0VMU_sVeooh7DnhsTkyrP2Q0Da9LRNxXFc5bJYoDHOvUsLrO/s1600/Vladimir.jpg" /></a><br />
MobiCloud will be presenting next week at <a href="http://www.cloudscapeseries.eu/Content/Speakers.aspx?id=437">Cloudscape VI</a>,
24th - 25th February 2014 at the Microsoft Centre in Brussels, Belgium.
Vladimir Bataev from EsperantoXL will participate in the session "Start
ups and small business in the cloud" from 14:50 - 15:50.<br />
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As well as participating in the 30 minutes round table
discussion Vladimir will also present briefly the topic of enabling corporate
appstores in vertical markets such as Construction, Transportation and Field
Services and will provide feedback on the lessons learned from the various
MobiCloud initiatives taking place in Sweden, Germany, UK and the Netherlands.</div>
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We will also be providing live demonstrations at the event.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For more information check out <a href="http://ow.ly/txwkn" target="_blank">http://ow.ly/txwkn</a> and look
out for our review of the event next week.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-44438502441185046772014-01-31T04:45:00.000-08:002014-01-31T06:58:16.557-08:00Utrecht Meeting & EU Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This month
the MobiCloud project members met at the offices of project member EsperantoX
in Utrecht, Netherlands to discuss progress of the project and plan the main
activities for 2014. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">EsperantoXL and MobiCloud also hosted a successful
breakfast seminar where the technology and application was demonstrated to a
number of interested parties that joined us from across the Netherlands in
industries as diverse as recruitment, HR and logistics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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While in Utrecht the consortium members visited the Flora Holland Auction, the largest flower auction site in Europe. About 12.5 billion plants and flowers pass through the auction each year which employs over 4000 people. </div>
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Because the flower industry is seasonal many of these employees are "flexible workers" - people on short-term contracts. EsperantoXL is currently using the MobiCloud platform to develop a solution for Tence, an agency which supplies a large number of these workers. The solution is unusual in that many of its benefits are aimed directly at the end-users and runs on their own personal devices - so cross-platform support and a very easy to use interface are essential.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After the consortium meeting the team
then moved on to Brussels, where MobiCloud progress was reviewed with
our sponsors at the European Commission. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maria Tsakali,
Scientific Officer within the Communications Networks, Content and Technology
directorate was responsible for the review. She praised the overall management of the
project and the "Good technical work with very good involvement of the
end-users." and commented that the consortium was working well together.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-67289346504702360312013-12-23T00:52:00.002-08:002013-12-23T00:52:26.444-08:00The MobiCloud Star is Shining!<div style="color: #444444; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We are delighted to announce that the MobiCloud project has won in all four categories for which it was nominated for Enterprise Mobile Solutions at the 12th annual Mobile Star Awards. So many thanks to everyone who voted to us! You can see details of all of the results <a href="http://www.mobilevillage.com/mobilestarawards/">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mobilevillage.com/"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitauaZ3hRbo8RYQIr9uBjbCae9b-LlSJjC3lwCUnYtNjYsTT7WGK0E7jxSkAhKQt8fxPJ5dufjBDXjD-Hfv4xyqEjd5M1S2hV36bHVBJfBx8O3aImLqB_p-Zr7DGivtaPKDmOrNsVsn40n/s320/2013_MobileStarAwards_ShiningStar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="color: #444444; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mobile Village Awards honor both industry-leading mobile products and cutting-edge new solutions in categories covering software, mobile devices and success stories as chosen by readers of MobileVillages bi-weekly newsletter GoMobile.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MobiCloud won in the following categories of the awards:</span></span></div>
<ul style="color: #444444; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 12px 25px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mobile Workforce Management – Shining Star</span></strong></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mobile Application Development – Rising Star</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mobile Field Service – Rising Star</span></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mobile Secure File Access / VPN – Rising Star</span></span></li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4198580849176611371.post-52151711293594554462013-12-15T23:34:00.001-08:002013-12-15T23:34:16.933-08:00The human side of the MobiCloud Site Diary<div class="MsoNormal tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is very easy to talk about the benefits of mobile
technology, but it is often hard to really understand them. The decision to
invest in a mobile solution is inevitably a financial one, but any improvement
in efficiency or cost effectiveness is ultimately due to the behaviour of the
employees using it. For those individuals an improvement in efficiency is also
an improvement to the quality of their working life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Katie is a site engineer working for Costain and has
first-hand experience of the difficulties of keeping accurate records in the frenetic environment of a construction site. Such records are important for
many reasons, but not least to ensure the accountability of all parties and their
adherence to a safe and assured method of working. Katie is one of the
engineers who has been testing the <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!constructioncasestudy/chy6">MobiCloud Site Diary</a> App and knows all too
well what it is like working the “old way”...</span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;">"Typically I arrive in the office before the sun is up, determined
to get a hot drink before venturing out onto site. After a manic half hour ensuring all the
paperwork is in place including permits, inductions, briefings, drawings and
check sheets I finally get out onto site...without a brew. Suddenly, it dawns on me that I didn’t write up
my site diary last night for yesterday’s activities! I had been working late
and by the time I got back to the site office getting home to bed was all I
could think of. Its ok, I say to myself, I shall write it tonight along with
today’s when I get back in. I can still
remember what happened yesterday...can’t I?"</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“So the day starts…concrete deliveries, reinforcement
deliveries, muck away wagons, excavator breaks down, fitter arrives to fix
excavator, oil spill on site, clean up oil spill on site, take photos with
camera, weekly SHE </i>[Safety Health & Environment]<i> inspection completed,
actions from weekly SHE inspection handed out, problem with the design on a
drawing, speak to designers about the problem, wait for a response, order in
make-up load for the concrete pour, fill in inspection and test plan...at last
morning break!”</i></blockquote>
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<i>"I frantically brew up during the half an hour ‘break’ whilst
responding to the raft of emails that have come through during the
morning. In what feels like 5 minutes,
the morning break is over and off I go out onto site again…"</i></blockquote>
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<i>"Arrive on site, speak to Foreman about works being carried
out, check reinforcement schedule to make sure all the reinforcement has been
delivered, realise there is reinforcement missing, ring supplier about missing
reinforcement, subcontractor claiming setting out is incorrect, check setting
out, back into the office for engineers meeting...now lunch."</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>"Again, eat over the computer whilst responding to queries
and placing more materials orders for future works. Half an hour up...back outside!"</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>"The setting out is now ready for tomorrow’s work, check
setting out and make sure it is all correct, confirm concrete orders for the
following day, dumper breaks down, fitter out tomorrow to fix dumper, make sure
subcontractor is happy with setting out ready for works tomorrow. It’s now getting dark...head back to the
office to close out all the paperwork."</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>"After half an hour of completing paperwork and another
sending out emails and uploading photos I’m exhausted and hungry...definitely
time to go home!"</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>"I leave the office after the sun has gone down, wave to the
security guard to wish him good night...and then I remember...I haven’t done my
site diary for today...or yesterday! It’s
ok, I tell myself, I will do them tomorrow.
Now what happened yesterday again...? Hmm…hang on...what happened
today?!”</i></blockquote>
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Site engineers typically work long unsociable hours – a twelve
hour day is not unusual and when things go wrong the hours get longer. Any time
that can be saved, especially on mundane tasks that are a waste of an engineer’s
skills, is a blessing. An extra thirty minutes in the day can make the
difference between a well-run site and a happy engineer and a chaotic site with
an engineer headed for a breakdown. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUKKdZSbTaK20fKo9Rwe9sImY3DY9c7SoRSQULnnDyBNVchZM5E-HIAZpE0UGvbzFP0r7oWRMMsp8lDj23CdTLqgPfcLud9c4oq46-nlPpDLM6ZEeLLU7u5S3n3hLXMvLayKMhsZkqP_e/s1600/Katie+060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUKKdZSbTaK20fKo9Rwe9sImY3DY9c7SoRSQULnnDyBNVchZM5E-HIAZpE0UGvbzFP0r7oWRMMsp8lDj23CdTLqgPfcLud9c4oq46-nlPpDLM6ZEeLLU7u5S3n3hLXMvLayKMhsZkqP_e/s320/Katie+060.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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One of the major benefits of the Site Diary App is that it
allows records to be made as and when events occur and in a way that does not
require writing up or transcribing later. This saves time, reduces the need for
hastily scribbled notes and removes the stress of trying to recall events
retrospectively. It also improves the quality of the record and provides
something that has never been available before – a verifiable electronic audit
trail. This can be extremely valuable to a construction company when it needs
to prove a particular sequence of events, for example as part of dispute
resolution or an investigation into an accident or unsafe occurrence. However, on a day-to-day basis the greatest
benefit to the site engineer is time…</div>
<blockquote>
<i>“I arrive in to the office before the sun comes up. Brew up to ensure I get a hot drink before venturing out onto site. All the paperwork is in place including permits, inductions, briefings, drawings and check sheets from the night before. I pick up my iPad and head out onto site.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>The usual activities ensue, however I am now able to record each one in real time as they happen. Not only can I record the plant and labour used, I can record where it’s happening, how it’s happening and more importantly if there are any delays or issues with subcontractors! As well as these extremely useful features, the efficiencies don’t stop there!</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i> For each entry I can take photos and attach them directly to the information so they will be there as reference when reviewed (no downloading from a camera and trying to match them up later!). Also, I don’t need to remember the weather forecast! The app is directly linked to the local weather and records it automatically without me having to think about it!<br /> </i><i><br /></i><i>The same goes for emails too...I can respond in a more timely fashion directly from my ipad!<br /> </i><i><br /></i><i>I leave the office before the sun goes down, wave to the security guard to wish him good night...and I think...paperwork done, site diaries complete...bring on tomorrow!”</i></blockquote>
For more information about the MobiCloud Site Diary App, please visit our <a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/">website</a>. If you want to try out the benefits of the App within your own organisation then it is currently available on a<a href="http://www.mobicloudproject.eu/#!free-site-diary-trial/cky0"> free trial</a> basis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0