Telecentres in Mountain Regions-A Peruvian Case Study of the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Remoteness and Exclusion

Communities in developing country mountain areas,in part due to their remoteness,find themselves excluded from social,political and economic systems; and excluded from access to resources. This paper aims to study the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on remoteness and exclusion. It utilises two models - the resource movement framework,and the "information chain" - to analyse a telecentre in one district of mountainous Huancavelica,Peru's poorest region,set in the high Andes. It finds ICTs enabling new and positive resource flows for the two key user groups:teenaged school students and young farmers. These help to maintain social networks. They also support information searches that have improved agricultural practice where other information chain resources have been available. But non-use and ineffective use of the telecentre are found where information chain resources are lacking. ICTs have some impacts on intangible elements of remoteness. In this particular example,they also offer access to some previously-excluded resources. But they have not really addressed the systematic exclusions faced by mountain communities. And they so far appear to be a technology of inequality; favouring those residents who begin with better resource endowments.The paper concludes by offering some recommendations for mountain ICT project practice.

Smart Grid Communication Technologies

The smart grid is a new generation of standard power distribution grid. The communication infrastructure is critical for the successful operation of the modern smart grids. The use of communication technologies ensures the reduction of energy consumption, optimal operation of the smart grid and coordination between all smart grids’ components from generation to the end users. This paper presents an overview of existing communication technologies such as ZigBee, WLAN, cellular communication, WiMAX, Power Line Communication (PLC), their implementation in smart grids, advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the paper shows comparison of communication infrastructure between the legacy grid and the smart grid and smart grid communication standards. The paper also presents research challenges and future trends in communication systems for smart grid application.

Cutting-Edge Challenges in Communication Technology and Computer Network Security

The rapid development of communication technology and computer networks has brought a lot of convenience to production and life,but it also increases the security problem.Information security has become one of the severe challenges faced by people in the digital age.Currently,the security problems facing the field of communication technology and computer networks in China mainly include the evolution of offensive technology,the risk of large-scale data transmission,the potential vulnerabilities introduced by emerging technology,and the dilemma of user identity verification.This paper analyzes the frontier challenges of communication technology and computer network security,and puts forward corresponding solutions,hoping to provide ideas for coping with the security challenges of communication technology and computer networks.

The challenge of wide application of information and communication technologies to traditional location theory

The wide application of information and communication technologies （ICTs） has been argued to be critical to spatial transformation of firms. Recent advances in the studies along this line have challenged traditional location theory. The existing literature, however, focuses mainly on the impacts of ICTs on Iocational conditions and industrial spatial distribution. The dynamics behind such changes have not yet been given sufficient attention by geographers. Given this background, this paper investigates the impact of new ICTs on traditional location theory and the dynamics of industrial re-location that are enabled by new ICTs, based on data collected from an investigation of 178 firms. The paper argues that the application of new ICTs has been a key location factor in the information age, and that the time-cost is becoming critical to the spatial organization of firms, particularly as a result of a shorter product life and mass customization, among other dynamics.

A review on synchrophasor communication system:communication technologies,standards and applications

The present-day power system is a complex network that caters to the demands of several applications with diverse energy requirements.Such a complex network is susceptible to faults caused due to several reasons such as the failure of the equipment,hostile weather conditions,etc.These faults if not detected in the real-time may lead to cascading failures resulting in a blackout.These blackouts have catastrophic consequences which result in a huge loss of resources.For example,a blackout in 2004 caused an economic loss of 10 billion U.S dollars as per the report of the Electricity Consumers Resource Council.Subsequent investigation of the blackout revealed that the catastrophe could have been prevented if there was an early warning system.Similar other blackouts across the globe forced the power system engineers to devise an effective solution for real-time monitoring and control of the power system.The consequence of these efforts is the wide area measurement system(WAMS).The WAMS consists of several sensors known as the phasor measurement units(PMUs)that collect the real information pertaining to the health of the power grid.This information in the form time synchronized voltage and current phasors is communicated to the central control center or the phasor data concentrator(PDC)where the data is analyzed for detection of power system anomalies.The communication of the synchrophasor data from each PMU to the PDC constitutes the synchrophasor communication system(SPCS).Thus,the SPCS can be considered as the edifice of the WAMS and its reliable operation is essential for the effective monitoring and control of the power system.This paper presents a comprehensive review of the various synchrophasor communication technologies,communication standards and applications.It also identifies the existing knowledge gaps and the scope for future research work.

The Impact of Communication Technologies on Social Structure——Take the Example of Smart City

Human society has entered the era of digit and internet,and the communication technology is one of the important factors which result in changes of social structure.Smart City is an active attempt to future urban development,to use the communication technology as an constitutive element of smart city from the economic base to the superstructure,production relation to exchange relation.Digitization and networking are committed to reflect the state of human's comprehensive development,which is an important stage of emancipation of humanity itself.Communication technology can bring people's initiative into full play and learning in development and establish the harmonious relationships during the interaction.This article is based on the example of smart city,which analyzed the impact of communication technologies on social structure from different aspects.

Evaluation of Technical Education by Using a Modern Structured MOODLE Laboratory Course, in Relation to Recent Data

E-learning platforms support education systems worldwide, transferring theoretical knowledge as well as soft skills. In the present study high-school pupils’, and adult students’ opinions were evaluated through a modern structured MOODLE interactive course, designed for the needs of the laboratory course “Automotive Systems”. The study concerns Greek secondary vocational education pupils aged 18 and vocational training adult students aged 20 to 50 years. The multistage, equal size simple random cluster sample was used as a sampling method. Pupils and adult students of each cluster completed structured 10-question questionnaires both before and after attending the course. A total of 120 questionnaires were collected. In general, our findings disclosed that the majority of pupils and adult students had significantly improved their knowledge and skills from using MOODLE. They reported strengthening conventional teaching, using the new MOODLE technology. The satisfaction indices improved quite, with the differences in their mean values being statistically significant.

Drivers for Inter-city Innovation Networks Across Chinese Cities:Modelling Physical Versus Intangible Effects

Cross-region innovation is widely recognized as an important source of the long-term regional innovation capacity.In the recent past,a growing number of studies has investigated the network structure and mechanisms of cross-region innovation collaboration in various contexts.However,existing research mainly focuses on physical effects,such as geographical distance and high-speed railway connections.These studies ignore the intangible drivers in a changing environment,the more digitalized economy and the increasingly solidified innovation network structure.Thus,the focus of this study is on estimating determinants of innovation networks,especially on intangible drivers,which have been largely neglected so far.Using city-level data of Chinese patents(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,and Taiwan Province of China),we trace innovation networks across Chinese cities over a long period of time.By integrating a measure on Information and Communications Technology(ICT)development gap and network structural effects into the general proximity framework,this paper explores the changing mechanisms of Chinese innovation networks from a new perspective.The results show that the structure of cross-region innovation networks has changed in China.As mechanisms behind this development,the results confirm the increasingly important role of intangible drivers in Chinese inter-city innovation collaboration when controlling for effects of physical proximity,such as geographical distance.Since digitalization and coordinated development are the mainstream trends in China and other developing countries,these countries'inter-city innovation collaboration patterns will witness dramatic changes under the influence of intangible drivers.

Deep Learning Recognition for Arabic Alphabet Sign Language RGB Dataset

This paper introduces a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model for Arabic Sign Language (AASL) recognition, using the AASL dataset. Recognizing the fundamental importance of communication for the hearing-impaired, especially within the Arabic-speaking deaf community, the study emphasizes the critical role of sign language recognition systems. The proposed methodology achieves outstanding accuracy, with the CNN model reaching 99.9% accuracy on the training set and a validation accuracy of 97.4%. This study not only establishes a high-accuracy AASL recognition model but also provides insights into effective dropout strategies. The achieved high accuracy rates position the proposed model as a significant advancement in the field, holding promise for improved communication accessibility for the Arabic-speaking deaf community.

Cooperative communication technology based on relay antenna in high-speed train scenario

The user signal quality as well as the performance of transmission link experiences severe loss due to wireless channel fading and propagation loss in high-speed railway scenario.To improve the quality at the receiving end,spatial diversity was realized by means of cooperative communication technology based on the uncorrelated characteristics of the channels.The model of mobile communication system in high-speed railway was set up,and a cooperative scheme based on statistics was proposed.Mathematical analysis and simulation results show that the quality of the received signal and the performance of the transmission link are significantly improved using cooperative communication technology compared to that in non-cooperative communication mode.

Green Networking Based Energy Efficient Communications

The mainstream approaches to green networking are discussed first from the view of engineering,including resource consolidation,server virtualization,selective connectedness,and proportional computing.A brief introduction to network virtualization techniques is given then and a virtual node embedding approach is provided.Finally,three kinds of enhanced green networking schemes by network virtualization are proposed,that is enhancement to sever virtualization,resource consolidation and Adaptive Link Rate(ALR).Examples are included to show the virtue of network virtualization to green networking in terms of energy efficient communications.

Forecasting promising technology using analysis of patent information:Focused on next generation mobile communications

In order to forecast promising technologies in the field of next generation mobile communication, various patent indicators were analyzed such as citation per patent, patent family information, patent share, increase rate, and patent activity. These indicators were quantified into several indexes and then integrated into an evaluation score to provide promising technologies. As a result of the suggested patent analysis, four technologies out of twenty two in details classification were selected, which showed outstanding technology competitiveness, high patent share and increasing rates as well as high recent-patent-ratios and triad-patent-family-ratios. Each of the selected technologies scored more than 10 points in total, and the following four technologies were suggested as promising ones in the field of next generation mobile communication: 1) 3GPP based mobile communication, 2) beyond 4G mobile communication, 3) IEEE 802.16 based mobile communication, which are in medium classification of broadband mobile communication system, and 4) testing/certification system of mobile communication, which is in medium classification of mobile communication testing/certification system.

Research on the Development of 5G Wireless Communication in the Industrial Field

The development of science and technology is the key to changing human life and promoting social and economic development.As a product of technological development,the widespread application of communication technology has brought a brand new“dawn”to the development of human society.5G wireless communication technology is an advanced wireless communication technology that has recently developed.With the advantages of low energy consumption and high network speed,5G technology has shown very bright development prospects in various fields today.Government,operators and equipment providers are actively promoting and deploying 5G technology,and all links in the industry chain are mature.It is expected that the future market size will reach 17 trillion,especially in today’s industrial field,the application of 5G technology will further enhance work efficiency,ensure work quality,and promote good development in the industrial field.Based on this,this paper will study the development of 5G wireless technology in the industrial field,so as to provide corresponding reference for the good application of 5G technology in the industrial field.

Mental Health Impacts of Information and Communication Technology Usage in South Africa

This study examined mental health issues affecting the group of individuals who are in the social media contact list of the researchers.This was done by administering a closed structured questionnaire,covering information from participants’demographic characteristics,duration of time spent on ICT usage,to their perceived health effects thereof.Male respondents,largely unemployed are active ICT users,addicted to the Internet,and also suf-fer from unspecified ailments.Aged 31–35 and above,half of men and all women participants spend more than 5 h per day.High-intensive ICT use is associated,in general,with concurrent symptoms of information overload,depression and Internet addiction.It is insignificantly associated with composite stress.Medium intensive ICT use is correlated with fatigue and depression in equal measure but in opposite direction.There are significant differ-ences in demographic attributes as they explain intensity of ICT Usage.The older the employed survey partici-pants are,the less they suffer from composite stress.However,black South Africans suffer significantly from composite stress,fatigue and depression,though negatively from internet addiction.The results also indicate that South African men have negative experiences of composite stress,depression and internet addiction.Educated South Africans have negative experiences of fatigue,but positive experiences of composite stress,depression and internet addiction.Low intensive use of ICT has no impact on composite stress,fatigue and depressive moods of survey participants.It impacts negatively on internet addiction.Medium intensive use of ICT impacts posi-tively on survey participants’experiences of fatigue,but negatively on composite stress,depression and internet addiction.High-intensive use of ICT impacts positively on survey participants’experiences of composite stress and depression.

RoF Communication Technology and Its Application Prospect

The Radio over Fiber (RoF) communication technology combines the technical advantages of both fiber communication and wireless mobile communication to solve the problems of bandwidth,flexibility and electromagnetic interference.Research of the technology is drawing wide concerns around the world.However,high cost becomes a drawback of this technology at present.In this article the RoF Multi-System Access (RoFMA) scheme is proposed.The scheme makes use of the Optical Time Division Multiplexing (OTDM) and multi-system multiplex/de-multiplex technologies to lower the access cost.The article also predicts good development and market prospect of the RoFMA technology.

Status Quo and Prospect of Millimeter Wave RoF Communication Technology

The optical communication technology features low cost,wide band,low loss,and anti-electromagnetic interference performance.By combining the optical communication technology with the radio millimeter wave communication system,the Millimeter Wave Radio over Fiber (MM-RoF) system boasts a lot of advantages,including wide band,small size,light weight,low cost,low loss,and resistance of electromagnetic interference as well as high transmission quality.The MM-RoF technology solves the problems faced by traditional microwave transmission system at the millimeter wave band,namely,high loss and inability to resist interference efficiently.Meanwhile,it puts an end to the bottleneck of millimeter wave electronic devices and thus is deemed as with great potentials.The MM-ROF technology that supports multiple formats and services signifies one of the significant trends for future development of the MM-RoF system.

The Effects of Information and Communication Technology on Health Service Delivery at Tafo Government Hospital

This study sought to find out the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on health service delivery at Tafo Government Hospital. A descriptive survey design was used. Data were collected through the use of semi-structured questionnaire and administered to 50 respondents where stratified random sampling technique was used by ranking position as strata. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the findings, 56% of the respondents overwhelmingly agreed to the fact that the applications of ICT provide quicker medical diagnoses, reduced workload among users, improvement in patients’ waiting time and information accessibility. Nonetheless, 72% bemoaned lack of ICT infrastructure, poor ICT network concerns coupled with that insufficient knowledge on the use of ICT could impede the impact of ICT in quality service delivery. This could be deduced from the findings that ICT improves collaboration and clinical decision support in facilitating clinical work flow integration among nurses and other medical professionals. Moreover, the findings above affirm the fact that without electricity, ICT infrastructure, insufficient skills and technical knowledge in dealing with ICT innovations, it is impossible to successfully adopt ICT resources in health care delivery. The above findings show that the majority of healthcare professional generally had a positive attitude towards ICT prospects as they rated their skill as fairly well. The study recommends that the Ministry of Health plays a supporting role by investing in health care ICT.

Organizational Learning （OL） and Organizational Innovation （OI）： The Case of Information and Communication Technology （ICT） Industry in Malaysia

The progression through which a person acquires ,;kills, understanding, and opinions regarding a particular organization or company is called organizational learning （OL）. In this study, the connection between organizational innovation （OI） and OL within the inf3rmation and communication technology （ICT） industry in Malaysia is surveyed. These relationships are examined, because various previous inquiries have shown that an imperative precursor to firm performance is OL. Two hundred and seventy-eight surveys were completed by small and medium organizations across Malaysia. The connections existing between the causes of OL and the causes of OI were ascertained by using structural equation modeling （SEM）. Amongst the Malaysian small- and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） that participated in fire study, OI and OL are considerably linked.

International Telecommunication Union Standardization for Trust Provisioning in Information, Communication and Technology Infrastructure toward Achieving United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

The advancement of the fourth industrial revolution has shaped the integration and interaction of different information, communication and technologies (ICTs) in the merging cyber, physical, and social infrastructures. The impact of ICT has accelerated the progress of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and influenced the evolution of smart, sustainable, stable society development. Making the trustworthy information and communication technologies infrastructure widely available will promote the community innovation needed to stimulate domestic economics, provide decent work, and reduce inequalities. This article attempts to outline a big picture about the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s trust provisioning framework, including its motivation, current status, and application for achieving the UN SDGs by 2030. This article first describes the purpose of the UN SDGs and the evolution of the industrial revolution, then demonstrates the challenges of global risks affecting the fourth industrial revolution and the need for trustworthy ICT infrastructures. Subsequently, the article evaluates the ITU trust provisioning framework and assesses its applications in the future knowledge society, trust provisioning ecosystem, and cyber, physical, and social infrastructure toward achieving UN SDGs. Use cases are also presented in this article to show the effectiveness of the ITU trust provisioning framework on achieving UN SDGs.

Introduction to ZTE Communications

ZTE Communications is a quarterly peer-reviewed technical magazine ISSN （1673-5188） and CODEN （ZCTOAK）. It is edited, published and distributed by ZTE Corporation. The magazine focuses on hot topics and cutting edge technologies in the telecom industry. It has been listed in the UIrich＇s Periodicals Directory, Index of Copernicus （IC）, and Cambridge Scientific Abstracts （CSA）. ZTE Communications is distributed to telecom operators, science and technology research institutes, and colleges and universities in more than 140 countries.