Automated contact tracing: a game of big numbers in the time of COVID-19

One of the more widely advocated solutions for slowing down the spread of COVID-19 has been automated contact tracing. Since proximity data can be collected by personal mobile devices, the natural proposal has been to use this for automated contact tracing providing a major gain over a manual implementation. In this work, we study the characteristics of voluntary and automated contact tracing and its effectiveness for mapping the spread of a pandemic due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We highlight the infrastructure and social structures required for automated contact tracing to work. We display the vulnerabilities of the strategy to inadequate sampling of the population, which results in the inability to sufficiently determine significant contact with infected individuals. Of crucial importance will be the participation of a significant fraction of the population for which we derive a minimum threshold. We conclude that relying largely on automated contact tracing without population-wide participation to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can be counterproductive and allow the pandemic to spread unchecked. The simultaneous implementation of various mitigation methods along with automated contact tracing is necessary for reaching an optimal solution to contain the pandemic.

The Influence of BYOD Concept on Development of Learning Process in Universities

Education is one of the largest markets promoting implementation of Bring Your Own Device BYOD. The BYOD model was originated in colleges and universities, being stimulated by technologically advanced students, who demanded it, and administrators of educational entities, who agreed that allowance to get access to the network using personal devices was a competitive advantage. Nowadays this concept attracts great attention. People depend on their personal devices and want to have the opportunity to use them anywhere in order to make their life simpler and more efficient. While BYOD implementation increases, teachers determine new methods of integration of mobile devices into learning. The use of personal mobile devices of students for learning seems to be attractive for universities, since these devices would help to reduce expenses and to support teaching and learning. The research objective: to detect the level of influence of BYOD concept on learning process. In the conclsuoins authors confirm that BYOD is the dominant model in universities.

Preserving Continuity of Behavioral Health Clinical Care to Patients Using Mobile Devices

ABSTRACT Introduction The current model for treating behavioral health patients requires that providers and patients be in the same location for appointments. However, deploying warfighters present a challenge to this current model. Recent advances in technology make telehealth or virtual visits a viable option to replace the current model. This project leveraged mobile technology to see if performing tele-behavioral health visits presented a viable option to the current in-person model for future deployed warfighters. At the time of this publication, the authors note the current pandemic lends all the more urgency to the need for enhancing our video communication platforms for remote monitoring with the Military Health System. Materials and Methods The research team assessed existing Internet protocol-based desktop teleconferencing solutions, generically known as a Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) system, for establishing a secure connection to a Service Members personal mobile device outside of the Department of Defense (DoD) network. Of the five existing WebRTC systems evaluated, only the backbone component to the existing Defense Information Systems Agency Global Video Services (DISA GVS) known as Vidyo, was suitable to meet DoD security requirements and still connect with both major operating systems (OS) on mobile devices. An existing DoD program of record mobile application, mCare, was integrated with Vidyo desktop technologies to form what the research team called “Mobile Connect.” Results Deployment of the Mobile Connect product yielded distinct differences and high levels or variability between the .osd.mil and the army.mil network connections over time. These network differences impacted quality of service solution where Mobile Connect could not be used to provide care between the .mil and patient’s personal mobile devices from a osd.mil domain connection. The current DoD WebRTC systems offer potential solutions but presently cannot connect with personal mobile devices in their current configurations. Additionally, any WebRTC system used by the DoD for future connections to personal mobile device must leverage commercial Single Socket Layer certificates (e.g., not DoD issued), or the communications with the mobile device will fail as a result of an authentication error. Conclusion It is technically feasible to provide desktop Video Tele-Conference capabilities from a .mil computer to a personal mobile device without compromising DoD security and information assurance requirements using future WebRTC systems. Approved ports, protocols, and system settings must be configured to accept both inbound and outbound, encrypted traffic to/from personal mobile devices to maintain consistent quality of service with all DoD networks. Of the current DoD WebRTC options, working with the DISA GVS Program Manager to expand services to support commercial mobile devices has the highest probability of future success.

Classification and Recommendation With Data Streams

Nowadays, with the exponential growth of data stream sources (e.g., Internet of Things [IoT], social networks, crowdsourcing platforms, and personal mobile devices), data stream processing has become indispensable for online classification, recommendation, and evaluation. Its main goal is to maintain dynamic models updated, holding the captured patterns, to make accurate predictions. The foundations of data streams algorithms are incremental processing, in order to reduce the computational resources required to process large quantities of data, and relevance model updating. This article addresses data stream knowledge processing, covering classification, recommendation, and evaluation; describing existing algorithms/techniques; and identifying open challenges.

Coping Strategies and Paradoxes Related to BYOD Information Security Threats in France

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) refers to the provision and use of personal mobile devices by employees for both private and business purposes. Although there has been research on BYOD, little attention has been paid to employees' perception of threats to their personal information security (ISS) when using a BYOD, especially in a professional context. This article investigates employee coping strategies related to BYOD ISS threats in France. The results of a survey of 223 employees indicate that while perceived behavioral control exerts only direct effects on problem-focused (i.e., disturbance handling) and emotion-focused (i.e., self-preservation) coping strategies, ISS concern exhibits significant direct and moderating influences. Several security paradoxes could be identified, namely, discrepancies between the respondents' ISS concern and the adopted coping strategies. This article offers the first insights into the French context and can serve as a basis for comparisons in future research and to help improve employees' personal ISS in the professional context.

Access to ICT in the Pacific Islands region: a brief report

Mobile technologies are an essential component necessary for the functioning of contemporary health systems. The advent of digital health represents a logical collaboration between the need for greater efficiencies in health service delivery and systems and the rapid expansion of personal mobile devices. Worldwide mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 8.9bn, smartphone subscriptions 7.2bn and mobile broadband 8.3bn 1. For many countries, mobile subscriptions exceed population numbers; the Pacific Islands region is no different 1. Yet within the region huge diversity in access to information and communication technologies (ICT) contributes to gradual progress in implementing digital health initiatives that could accelerate and extend measures to improve public health.