Nicolaos Protogeros

The contribution of e-government to the modernisation of the Hellenic taxation system

The taxation system exerts substantial influence to the economic activity. Taxes, among others, influence work, saving, investments and the undertaking of business activity. This paper constitutes a study with regard to the issue of the e-government and its evolutionary course during the new era of Information Technology (IT) and the internet, and more specifically the role that it plays in the modernisation of the Hellenic taxation system. Moreover, the influence of the e-government to the application of modern information systems that support direct and indirect taxation is examined and the respective tax controls procedures as well. Furthermore, certain proposals are outlined with regard to the technological reform of the taxation system and the transition to the digital era on the basis of the adoption of new methodologies and practices. The easy-to-use operation systems and the low-cost communication channels (internet), the function of electronic tax processes (TAXISnet) and the increased participation of taxpayers will create a socio-economic environment, which is predicted to satisfy both the tax administration and the taxpayers.

Diagnosing user perception and acceptance using eye tracking in web-based end-user development

In the recent years in the End-User Development (EUD) research there is a shift from the study of tools that focus on desktop graphical applications, to the development of EUD for web environments. To this end mouse and eye tracking methodologies are used to implicitly monitor the end-user behavior in real time. In this paper we explore the potential correlation between eye movements and end-user perception and acceptance in modern web-based EUD environments. The aim is to find out whether end-users perception and acceptance attributes can be reflected on their eye behavior when interacting with a web-based, database-driven EUD system. To check out our research hypotheses we have conducted a field test using a prototype EUD tool based on a natural language approach (named simple talking), to assist end-users in creating database-driven mobile applications. The results of the field test show significant correlations between eye behavior and acceptance and perception. Self-Efficacy is correlated to fixations of any kind. Risk-Perception is correlated to the increment of the pupil size. Perceived Ease-of-Use is correlated to fixations that turned into clicks and to the increment of the pupil size. And Perceived Usefulness is correlated to fixation duration. A behavioral eye tracking exploratory study is conducted on a web EUD environment.The aim is to diagnose acceptance and perception during the user-EUD interaction.This is the first attempt of integrating eye tracking in EUD research.Metrics are borrowed from UX eye research and existing mouse behavioral patterns.Eye tracking metrics are correlated to user perception and acceptance.

FUSE: A framework to support services unified process

Traditional methodologies for Software development life cycle such as the Unified Process or the Object Oriented Process, Environment and Notation (OPEN) are proven to be flexible and robust for developing traditional Information Systems. However in the new SOC (Service Oriented Computing) paradigm large systems emerge comprised of self contained building blocks: the services, which can be combined to form complex business processes located in different servers and companies, where users may customize and create their services dynamically and negotiate Service Level Agreements electronically. In such systems the traditional software development methodologies are simply inefficient. This paper presents the FUSE approach which provides a methodology and a framework to be used both by the IT industry and individuals with little or no IT-experience, such as specific domain experts, end users, testers and community members. This will support their common efforts in the efficient development of more reliable Service Oriented systems of the future. FUSE Framework is based and makes use of the Unified Process, OPEN, extended participatory design (PD) and other similar methodologies.

User-centred cloud service adaptation: an adaptation framework for cloud services to enhance user experience

Ubiquitous and cloud manufacturing systems have paved the way for the development of smart systems that can provide self-adaptive services to enhance quality of service and user experience, based on user and context awareness. However, current approaches to software adaptation have critical limitations when applied on software in a cloud environment, since cloud service engineers cannot be certain of the ‘nature’ of their users, regarding their needs and their evolution over time. This article proposes a user-centred framework that addresses self-adaptation of cloud services based on users’ distinct needs and requirements. It aims at leveraging existing human computer interaction approaches to explicitly and implicitly collect user-related data into the cloud. This collection later supports the delivery of adaptive cloud services, contextually relevant to users’ tasks and to their behavioural profiles. Such approaches have the potential to enhance the quality of cloud applications’ service and user experience in cloud-based manufacturing systems. A first prototype demonstration is also presented as a future platform composed of the first basic models (of the ones mentioned in this article) .Then, the platform will be further expanded for instantiation and evaluation in the context of cloud and ubiquitous computing environments.

Gender-based behavioral analysis for end-user development and the ‘RULES’ attributes

This paper addresses the role of gender in End-User Development (EUD) environments and examines whether there are gender differences in performance and in correlations between performance and a set of behavioral attributes. Based on a review of the most prominent EUD-related behavioral Human Computer Interaction (HCI) theories, and the influence of gender on them, it attempts to classify all the gender related behavioral attributes influencing the end-users’ performance. Then, it theoretically selects a subset of these attributes, namely Risk-Perception, Usefulness-Perception,Learning Willingness, Ease-of-Use-Perception, and Self-Efficacy, presents an example application and conducts a basic evaluation testing. The proposed attributes (their initials form the word RULES) can form the basis for the design of EUD-oriented user modeling techniques for gender-neutral self-adaptive software EUD environments.

The entrepreneurship reality in the field of supply chain management systems: the Hellenic market paradigm

Supply chain management constitutes a relatively new and promising field of management science, affecting greatly the efficiency of Greek enterprises. The objective of this research is to detect the range of SCM applications in Greece; the trends and views of Greek enterprises in relation to efficiency, difficulties, costs, benefits and necessity, as these were generated from the implementation of one or more SMC applications. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has now proven to be an indispensable backbone for most Greek enterprises. Enterprises on the whole have stated that they have proceeded to a combination of ERP and Best of Bread systems. However, despite the valuable benefits featuring the selection of Application Service Providers - ASP (leasing of SCM applications), it has been found that this solution has not matured yet in the consciousness of Greek companies. The great majority considers it either unattractive or slightly attractive.

Sales schedule optimisation in an agent-based technology

This paper presents a formalised negotiation methodology for distributed sales schedule optimisation. The purpose is to solve the optimisation problem, taking into account constraints such as the salesmen capacity and income increase in a uniform way and the companys turnover increase. In this approach a sales schedule is developed dynamically by all of the concerned participants. The negotiation methodology used allows agents to negotiate with other agents in a certain geographical area based on their sales capacity, commission percentage and the areas sales turnover. A simulation model based on Repast3 has been developed to evaluate the algorithm accuracy and the systems convergence. By executing this prototype with various utility functions, interesting results have been achieved showing a convergence in total companys turnover, salesmen capacity and salesman income.