Adaptive Mobile Web Services Facilitate ... - Semantic Scholar

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. 49, NO. 2, MAY 2006

Adaptive Mobile Web Services Facilitate Communication and Learning Internet Technologies Evangelos Sakkopoulos, Miltiadis Lytras, and Athanasios Tsakalidis, Member, IEEE

Abstract—The broad acceptance of mobile technology has undoubtedly created new opportunities in communication. The proposed environment attempts to enhance the information flow among the members of a department and, furthermore, to provide a test-bed mobile Web application for students undertaking Internet technologies courses. The key ideas are to support the educational process to provide auxiliary access to educational information sources, such as announcements, course schedules, grades, and user directory details. As a second system integration step, additional mobile Web services were introduced, such as application forms of the department’s administration office, project assignment, and discussion groups. Technological evaluation and students’ feedback indicate that the proposed solution is both efficient in communication perspective and effective for student involvement in the mobile Web initiative. Future steps include multimedia messages (MMS) integration and third-generation (3G)-based information delivery. Index Terms—Internet technologies, mobile communication, mobile education, mobile Web services, Web development.

I. INTRODUCTION

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he WorldWide Web (www) is an enormous source of information, which is renewed and increased continuously. Since the amount of information changes and enlarges rapidly, many new challenges are created for mobile Web environments. Being able to access the wealth of information available on the Web from a mobile device is valuable in many day-to-day situations, e.g., when checking timetables, looking for product information, checking e-mail, transferring money, or accessing an intranet while traveling. Mobile Web access is considered to be a key enabler for mobile Internet services. Even though many of today’s mobile phones include Web browsers, accessing the Web from a mobile device has not become as popular as expected. Users often find that their favorite websites are not accessible or not as easy to use on their mobile phones as on their desktop devices. In fact, users often feel that the use of mobile Web access to seek for information is either time consuming or in vain. Even users with previous desktop Web browsing experience face difficulties in coping efficiently with mobile applications [1]. An elaborate discussion of the mobile era challenges include user distrust in mobile solutions, security concerns, and mobile technology limitations as presented in [4]. Manuscript received January 15, 2005; revised February 28, 2006. The authors are with the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department, University of Patras, Patras-GR26500, Greece. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TE.2006.873985

However, the broad acceptance of mobile technology has undoubtedly created new opportunities in communication. There are 1.5 billion mobile users in the world today, and sales are rising. For instance, mobile short messages (SMS) have met wide acceptance as a means for instant alerting in a cost-effective way. In addition, taking into consideration that the vast majority of mobile phones support Internet browsing, mobile Web services have grounds to flourish. Particularly in Greece, mobile phone technology is very popular with an estimated usage penetration at over 85% of the young population. In parallel, a number of Web-based environments [2], [3] have been developed to support the learning process in many disciplines and at all levels of the educational system. Unfortunately, the effective incorporation of such learning environments into mobile phone technology is still a challenge for educators, students, and developers. In this paper, a mobile Web service solution to support education activities is proposed that utilizes mobile Web technologies and SMS. The environment enhances the information flow among the members of a department and provides a mobile Web application development platform for students undertaking Internet technologies courses. The environment has been introduced to the department community following a progressive penetration strategy. At first, the key idea is to support the educational process by providing auxiliary access to and mobile notifications about educational system information sources. As a second step, extra mobile Web services were introduced, such as application forms for documentations from the department’s administration office (hereafter referenced as the secretariat) project assignment and thesis title announcements. Services were organized into groups so that users would have the necessary time to integrate the new services into their “daily agenda.” Web services (WS) technologies1 enable simple Web applications to perform quite complicated business logic processes. WS technologies are utilized in the second group of services to interact with back-end systems that facilitate the secretariat and laboratories. Any mobile application submitted is received initially by a corresponding Web service, which next discovers the appropriate WS processes transparently. WS discovery is extensively discussed in [5]. Furthermore, students involved have the initiative to understand the differences between the standard Web-based world 1Web Service Architecture Requirements. [Online] Available: http:// www.w3.org/TR/wsa-reqs

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SAKKOPOULOS et al.: ADAPTIVE MOBILE WEB SERVICES

and mobile Web. The solution serves as a test-bed for students who have undertaken Internet technologies courses and/ or human computer interaction. This paper is organized as follows. Section II provides the motivation for this work and presentation of related educational mobile Web environments. Section III describes how this solution affects the curriculum and the course itself, and the different environment roles. In Section IV, the functional and operational specifications of the services are discussed, and snapshots of the environment are presented. Section V outlines a technology and implementation overview. Section VI discusses work assessment and students’ feedback. Finally, Section VII concludes the paper. II. MOTIVATION AND RELATED WORK An important foundation for effective courses in computer science and engineering is to support and enhance communication among the academic community and, especially, among educators and students. The latter is particularly important for part-time students [6] and for distance learning curricula (as in open universities). Overall, the proposed approach can be helpful for educators and students who need the following: • access to educational or Web resources when at their job; • access and notices of course and project announcements or schedule changes; • department directory service for immediate contact list availability; • academic information flow while being away from their student home (family vacations, etc.) or on short-term vacations. In particular, the proposed environment introduces a mobile access mechanism to the most important and updated information about curriculum and institution facilities, such as the secretariat. The key approach is to take advantage of the wide penetration of mobile devices in the student population. To facilitate the effective use of mobiles in the educational activities, last-generation Internet techniques are adopted. Moreover, the environment can be utilized in the laboratory as a test-bed. Students have the opportunity to apply Web technologies to an environment with business logic, which comes from their everyday life. Therefore, students focus better on the differences and the challenges of mobile technologies. In fact, during the two semesters that the environment has been launched, the successful student development results are incorporated directly into the online system that provides the enhancements. As a result, the students enthusiastically tested and accessed their own functionality through mobiles. Student involvement maximizes mobile technology acceptance and satisfaction, which are fundamental in the means–end objectives network for the solution proposed in [8]. In addition, the challenges in the technological perspective urged the authors to focus on the mobile development course. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-based approach is not as simple as one may think at first. To avoid spending a long time having developers perform hypertext (HTML) to wireless markup language (WML) transformation on their own, an integrated development tool was utilized for automation (MS Visual

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Studio .NET 2003). The use of such a tool also provided compatibility with several new mobile devices and protocols with a fair level of automation. In terms of related literature, mobile education is in its first years of deployment. However, promising work has already been presented. Effectiveness and costs for mobile learning are considered in [7]. Partial results touching the effects of this work can be found in [9], where service provision is suggested, but no learning activity is proposed. III. MOBILE WEB ENHANCEMENTS IN THE CURRICULUM Introductory computer science laboratory courses were involved in this work. Instructors and students interacted with the proposed mobile enhancements. The laboratories concern Internet technologies for students of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI), Patras, Greece (TEI is a three-and-a-halfyear higher education institute). Fifteen groups of students have undertaken the course in two semesters. The proposed environment was utilized by four groups interested in mobile Web applications. Overall, 43 students have participated. A single group was chosen in the first semester, and after encouraging evaluation, three more groups were involved. The laboratory courses are weekly and involve hands-on laboratory projects. Mobile Internet technologies have been introduced to students who had participated in a relative course earlier to assure basic desktop Web browsing and development skills. The course curriculum was coupled by activities as shown in Table I. The ten-week course includes two hours of class lecturing and presentations and two hours of hands-on laboratories in groups. The students are taught to provide personalized solutions for the different roles implemented in the environment. In particular, different category groups include students as users, content providers, and tutors as privileged users, “academics,” and administration members. IV. ADAPTIVE MOBILE WEB APPROACH Different navigation and presentation of the set of predefined contents can be generated “on-the-fly” based on the characteristics of users in the system. A review about adaptive solutions can be found in [10]. A detailed article that discusses future trends of the adaptive Web technologies can be found in [11]. In the proposed system, students not only utilize personalization features, but also learn to design and implement a basic, role-based adaptation functionality. Details about the adaptation techniques enforced are described in the following material. The profile records information about the activities and the knowledge state of a user. The profile used is based on the ideas presented in [3]. The recorded actions in every category/function are logged. The log statistics indicate that the corresponding category is valuable to the user. As a result, the significance factor is proposed, which shows how interesting a specific category is to an individual user: Factor of interest = number of movements in a function/ total number of movements

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TABLE I PROPOSED EDUCATIONAL CALENDAR

The factor of interest is utilized to personalize functionalities on the mobile device so as to limit the length of the delivered pages. As a consequence, categories with the higher factor are found first in the list of the presented functions. Every new category/function and those never accessed are presented low in the list.

V. FUNCTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL SPECIFICATIONS DETAILS In this section, the services delivered are described in detail. To create a clearer outline of the environment, a functional diagram is depicted in Fig. 1 for all supported roles. Views of the environment are presented as a paradigm in Fig. 2. The preview pages are presented using a mobile Web browser emulator. The whole system is developed in the Greek language. However, Fig. 2 includes translated data for demonstration purposes. Live demonstration snapshots are also presented in Fig. 3, using different mobiles.

The environment provides a simple lightweight page that is both the initial front end and the authentication page. After authentication, the following informative services are available across all roles augmenting the remaining role-specific options. • Announcements and Quicklinks—These have a general section, where the secretariat and the administrator only can add information, and a course section for the instructor. The user may browse within the general section and the courses that he or she attends. • Discussions—This section is a Web forum. One may browse the available posts and provide answers. New topics can be posted on any subject. • Personal Details and Contacts—These services are available as well. A user can update personal information or change a password. Browsing department contacts is also possible. A. Student-Specific Functionality The user role that depicts the student facilities includes the following options.


Fig. 1.

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Functional diagram for user, instructor, and administration. Rhombus indicates editing.

Course Enrollment and “Grades.” Students are able to enroll in any course from the departments course list available at the time of access (dependent on the semester). In the sequel, students can choose courses to attend or change an older enrollment. In the “Grades” service, the user is able to view his or her grades and scores to the courses chosen. If a course involves projects, then project scores are also available. Grades are available through the course management facilities that can be filled in by instructors or directly through database interconnection with the secretariat systems. Course Schedule. This allows choosing a day of the schedule program to view. Application Forms for documentation and Submitted Applications. Students may apply for a series of documentation issued by the secretariat. In the environment, services include requests for a) certificate of studentship and b) list of courses attended and grades. Tracking of the submitted applications is available for applicants. B. Academics Using the Mobile Web Services The role of the educator/instructor and corresponding services are as follows. Announcements and Quicklinks management allows moderation and editions. Moderation speeds up information dissemination and limits spamming possibilities.

Grades management allows editing a project/student grade. A list of courses and a list of registered course projects and corresponding users is available. C. Management of the Mobile Web Services The administrator role is created based on the tasks that the department secretariat has to accomplish. In the sequel, unique services in this role are presented. •

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Discussion management—Categories in discussion material can only be created by the administrator. Editions and deletions are also allowed through this service. Schedule management—This is important, especially for visiting academics who might need a last-minute change in the place or time of their lecture. Course management—This allows updates and editions concerning the courses available on mobiles. Users may perform changes on the course availability in the different semesters, manage the secretariat applications for course registration, and insert a new course. Application management—Documentation requests include student certificate (validated copy of student card) and student grades. The secretariat receives a list of pending requests. After processing, the system alerts the requester to fetch the documentation. User management—Contacts are supplied through the main secretariat system, and in the mobile interface,

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and students in the laboratory used mobile controls in the visual tool. The underlying framework transforms the content automatically into the supported markup of the mobile browser requesting it. Even in devices supporting the same markup language, different elements may be used to reach a specific functionality. (Consider cases where a different screen size is used and, as an example, wrapping of text is deactivated to prevent long downscrolling.) The system implements a three-tier architecture and utilizes SQL Server 2000 as a database management system (DBMS). The DBMS is interconnected with back-end systems of the secretariat to retrieve contact information about users and course details. Business logic is built using C# .NET, though any of the 18 .NET compatible languages could be utilized. B. SMS Supporting Media Gateways

Fig. 2. Preview browser: (1) schedule, (2) contacts, (3) discussions, and (4) discussion response.

only the contact’s attribute selection is available with no editing facilities. The secretariat may use the facilities for prompt moderation in the discussion service to accelerate publishing posts and announcements and to change schedule on time. VI. TECHNOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW A. Implementation Framework for Mobile Web Service Learning Environment In this section, the technological background of the solution is presented. The environment has been developed on PCs using Pentium 4 processors and above 512-MB main memory. The software is based on the .NET Framework technology to maximize integration effect with Microsoft technology-based services preexisting in the department. Contrary to the traditional browsers, mobile browsers support a different rendering dependent on the screen type and markup language interpreter. In the solution, support for WML, HTML, and compact HTML (cHTML) is offered. Initially, developers

The SMS can be used to deliver a wide range of information to mobile phone users from weather, flight information, news headlines, lottery results, to jokes. Essentially, any information that fits into a short message can be delivered by SMS. Successful mobile services should be simple to use, on time, personalized, and localized. In the system, SMS delivery is limited to a) grade delivery notifications and b) application to the secretariat documentation process outcomes because of limited budget to cover SMS costs. However, the deployment of more services can be severely hindered if there is insufficient SMS Gateway capacity and expandability. SMS gateway selection criteria include platform scalability, availability and reliability, connectivity, and pricing. A number of SMS gateways vendors are available, such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola. However, the cost to use a direct connection to such a carrier gateway is not currently affordable. As a result, a software SMS server is utilized, which supports an acceptable throughput of over 800 messages delivered within an hour. VII. MOBILE WEB SERVICES EVALUATION AND USER FEEDBACK Evaluation results are examined to determine the quality of the proposed environment. Two main phases are followed: verification and validation of the outcomes. Verification refers to building the environment properly, i.e., substantiating that a system correctly implements its specifications, while validation refers to building the right system, i.e., substantiating that a system performs with an acceptable level of accuracy. During the verification phase, two software architects experts experimented on the proposed environment using test cases. As the goal of the tests was to achieve cross-sectional assessment, test scenarios were designed to cover a broad range of potential user inputs. A. Evaluation of Services and Environment Among the validation methodologies available, the qualitative validation was chosen. A follow-up validation is conducted by the students in the laboratory courses involved. Twenty-one students, participating in the mobile Web involving activities,


Fig. 3.

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Live snapshots using different mobile devices.

were provided with selected design/testing and development exercises, which were previously identified by the authors. The primary objectives were to assess both user interface and environment efficiency and effectiveness. The students were asked to score in a tablelike questionnaire the following criteria of the system. Section A: Learning and understanding mobile Web application design, development and technological functionality. 1. How do you initially find the provided services’ description-handouts? 2. What is your understanding of the difference between client-side and server-side mobile operations while using and developing for the environment? 3. How do you find developing with simulators before implementing on the “real” system? 4. What is your understanding on the transformation process of standard to mobile Web applications? 5. How do you find the use of the SMS software in the laboratory? 6. How well do you believe the utilization of the environment has helped you in developing mobile Web applications in the laboratories? 7. Do you feel ready to develop a mobile Web application on your own? Section B: Friendliness and overall impact of the course and the environment. 8. How do you find the environment’s rendering on the real mobile devices?

9. How do you find the efficiency and presentation of the student services? 10. How do you find the efficiency and presentation of the administrative services? 11. Did you find the laboratory exercises on the mobile environment useful in understanding the presented topics? 12. How do you find communication based on SMS? 13. How do you find the course’s duration? 14. Would you recommend this course as efficient and helpful to other students? The students assessed each criteria based on 0–10 scale, which corresponds to the following verbal continuum of responses (0–4 = unacceptable–inadequate; 4.1–6 = poor; 6.1–10 = acceptable–adequate). Students were highly motivated by the presence of the mobile simulators and even more by the utilization of the software SMS server [Q3: 8(avg) and Q5: 9.6(avg)]. Students seem to prefer even more laboratory hours in order to spend extra time in developing and customizing features for the environment [Q13: 6.5(avg)]. Unfortunately, at the moment, low laboratory infrastructure prevents the expansion of the course duration. Results are also positive concerning the distinction of the client-side and server-side operations, while both using and developing for the environment [Q2: 7.2(avg)]. Students also find it possible, though perhaps difficult, to develop a mobile Web application independently on their own [Q7: 6.3(avg)]. In the case study, such a result was expected, because no other course works with mobile network implementations in the department. Students with better background

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in networking and Web development are expected to develop even more robust abilities. The provided services are clearly presented according to the assessment [Q9: 8.2(avg), Q10: 9(avg)]. (Students utilized the student services themselves, and they learned all about the administration services while developing for the system.) Overall, after two semesters, the current environment has been rated as acceptable, with 8.6(avg) for understanding and 8.9(avg) for user friendliness. B. Discussion of Testing Technologies for the Mobile Web Services While developing the environment and after the deployment, one can access the provided services using a number of different technologies, described below. Therefore, the robustness of the application needs to be validated using multiple devices and simulators to ensure proper compatibility for the maximum of devices. Use of a typical desktop browser: In the first steps of development where debugging is inevitable, desktop browsers only present full tracing information about exceptions. Emulator-based access: In a second-level device, specific emulators are utilized. Emulators are a cost-effective means when used for the development and initial testing phase. Wireless access: After configuring the mobiles to access the Internet wirelessly, the Web application was tested online. Most mobile devices allow for storing the address (URL) to ease follow-up visits. Tests resulted in minimization of the authentication form to request user password only. (The user name is provided implicitly.) Other minor design changes included wrapping arrangements for mobiles with limited space (three line screens). C. SMS Incorporation Discussion Short messages can be extremely useful in distributing instant information; however, budget limitations have prevented the authors from implementing a full-scale solution. SMS-based solutions make students aware instantly of lecture venue/time changes or cancellations and inform students when grades and documentations are ready to be collected from the secretariat. After passing a questionnaire to 43 students for potential SMSbased services, the following services have been proposed, and the resulting answers are outlined in Fig. 4: 1. notice for student pay checks available for collection in the finance office; 2. course-based announcements sent; 3. meeting requests sent to specific interest student group; 4. notice about changes or server crashes in ongoing laboratory experiments; 5. interactive text voting (student elections, radio/TV station) enabled; 6. job information sent for short-term involvement in the institution. Additional services that can be considered for deployment include 1) contacting a specific student (saving on telephone charges) and 2) notifying information about latest student union events and sending promotional material.

Fig. 4. Proposed new SMS-based educational alerts.

VIII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE STEPS Overall, the proposed environment enables mobile access to institutional resources and, therefore, elevates the communication quality among members of an academic institution, especially for part-time curricula. Furthermore, the solution facilitates Internet technologies laboratory courses as a test-bed. The most popular services were announcements and grades. Student feedback indicated that SMS-based query submission for contact retrieval would be helpful. The proposed approach brought students’ attention to the importance of cost efficiency in the mobile communication world. Students realized that massive SMS transmission policies have to be carefully evaluated before applied. Educators may adopt the proposed approach for an upper division computer science class (junior- or senior-level) or beginning graduate class. In this case, the curriculum is taught during the fourth or fifth semester. Teaching the curriculum has resulted in the well-prepared attendance of students to the laboratory courses, because students were particularly interested in developing applications that have the chance to finally be placed online. Evaluation has shown that instruction to students with background in Web programming leads to increased skills of mobile Web development. The curriculum has already received encouraging comments by fellow educators, who have shown interest in adopting the solution in other departments. Future steps include the introduction of multimedia messages (MMS) to increase interactivity and provide short scanned document images of formal documents, such as a copy of student ID and bus reduction ticket card. Additional work includes the transformation of the environment for third-generation (3G) mobiles services support to enable simple interactive audiovisual presentations and lectures. Students without a computer infrastructure and part-time students would have an alternative opportunity to receive educational material on mobiles devices.


REFERENCES [1] F. F.-H. Nah and S. A. Davis, “HCI research issues in electronic commerce,” J. Electron. Commerce Res., vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 98–113, 2002. [2] E. Sakkopoulos and A. Tsakalidis, “Utilizing complementary know-how: Advanced fine arts meeting information technology to provide a virtual university for artists—Students and alumni,” in Proc. 30th SIGUCCS Conf. User Services, Providence, RI, Nov. 20–23, 2002, pp. 122–129. [3] J. Garofalakis, E. Sakkopoulos, S. Sirmakessis, and A. Tsakalidis, “Integrating adaptive techniques into virtual university learning environment,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Advanced Learning Technologies, 2002, pp. 28–33. [4] K. Siau and Z. Shen, “Mobile communications and mobile services,” Int. J. Mobile Commun., vol. 1, no. 1/2, pp. 3–14, 2003. [5] J. Garofalakis, Y. Panagis, E. Sakkopoulos, and A. Tsakalidis, “Contemporary web service mechanisms,” J. Web Eng., vol. 5, 2006, to be published. [6] M. Divitini, O. K. Haugalokken, and P. A. Norevik, “Improving communication through mobile technologies: Which possibilities?,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Workshop Wireless Mobile Technologies in Education, 2002, pp. 86–90. [7] J. Traxler, “m-Learning: Evaluating the effectiveness and cost,” in Book of Abstracts for the 2nd Annual MLEARN Conference, J. Attewell, G. Da Bormida, M. Sharples, and C. Savill-Smith, Eds. London, U.K.: Learning and Skills Development Agency, 2003, pp. 70–71. [8] F. Nah, K. Siau, and H. Sheng, “The value of mobile applications: A utility company study,” Commun. ACM, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 85–90, 2005. [9] C. Noessel, “Mobile learning as a service offering with near-term technologies,” in Book of Abstracts for the 2nd Annual MLEARN Conference, J. Attewell, G. Da Bormida, M. Sharples, and C. Savill-Smith, Eds. London, U.K.: Learning and Skills Development Agency, 2003, pp. 48–49. [10] P. De Bra, P. Brusilovsky, and G. J. Houben, “Adaptive hypermedia: From systems to framework,” ACM Comput. Surv., vol. 31, no. 4es, p. 12, 1999. [11] P. Brusilovsky and M. T. Maybury, “From adaptive hypermedia to the adaptive Web,” Commun. ACM, vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 30–33, 2002.

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Evangelos Sakkopoulos received the Computer Engineering and Informatics diploma degree, the M.Sc. degree in computer science and technology, and the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras, Greece, in 2001, 2003, and 2005, respectively. Currently, he is a Research Associate of Research Unit 5 Internet and Multimedia Technologies at the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RACTI). His research interests include Web Engineering, Web Services, e-learning, Web searching, Internet technologies, and mobile Web. He has published more than 30 papers in international journals and conferences in these areas.

Miltiadis Lytras received the Informatics diploma, M.B.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Management Science and Technology of the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Athens, Greece, in 1995, 1998, and 2004, respectively. Currently, he is a Research Associate of Research Unit 5 Internet and Multimedia Technologies at the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RACTI). His research focuses on e-learning, knowledge management, and semantic Web and his work has appeared in more than 35 publications. Dr. Lytras is the Founder of the Semantic Web and Information Systems Special Interest Group in the Association for Information Systems.

Athanasios Tsakalidis (M’97) received the Diploma degree in mathematics from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, the Diploma degree in computer science, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Saarland, Saarbuecken, Germany, in 1973, 1981, and 1983, respectively. He is currently a Full Professor of the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras, Greece. He is also Vice-Director and R&D Coordinator of Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RACTI). His research interests include data structures, graph algorithms, computational geometry, expert systems, GIS, medical informatics, databases, multimedia, information retrieval, and bioinformatics.