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 The crisis has caused instability in the society and in politics due to the austerity measures and increasing unemployment. The Greek society in the majority doesn’t have confidence in the government and its actions. All entrepreneurs share the same uncertainty about the future of the Greek economy resulting in every investment plan having a greater risk than usual, without increased profit. As a result companies are afraid to invest or to dare expand because they are pessimist of the future of the economy and the country.

  From the Greek Economy three sectors stand out from the rest. Their behavior and reactions both are interesting and important at same time because it shows an overview of the alignment of strategic planning and I.T in the Greek industries.                                                                        The Greek business world is managed by two groups. The traditional and modern way of thinking with each having taken different actions regarding the crisis and uses Information Technology in a different way.    

According to the information mentioned above, I chose to further elaborate on how the I.T. investment and infrastructure has been affected by the crisis. Thus, the questions that are going to be developed and answered are:

a)      How has the crisis affected the I.T investment in the Greek industry?

• Positive Effects
• Negative Effects

b)      What are companies planning to do in terms of I.T. /I.S. infrastructure to become more competitive?

How the crisis has affected the I.T investment in the Greek industry

  The majority of the companies had completed their investment in I.T during 2005. All the major investments had already taken place well before the crisis started.  The investment was about buying new computers, servers, E.R.P and creating a web site. The average Greek company has needs of about 5-10 or from 20 to 50 computers. 2-5 servers of various types (ex. ftp, e-mail and web server) and an E.R.P (Zaglis,2012).

    In the Greek industry there are two schools of thought. The first is the traditional way to manage a corporation and they way that perceive I.T. Meaning that I.T is another expense and obligatory in order to automate some bureaucratic procedures. The second group is consisted by younger people that perceive I.T as a tool for growth and corporate development.

Negative Effects

   Companies that are managed by traditional decision makers believe that don’t have a need to invest in further development of software or hardware.    In other words entrepreneurial action has stopped any future plan for projects or development of the corporation because is unadvisable due to the crisis. Even investments that are carried out and involve I.T in order to avoid costs, efforts are made to keep the expenses as low as possible.  An example given by Spyros Papaefthimiou (Papaefthimiou,2012) is that if any new investment requires new hardware despite the needs, new equipment is not going to be purchased, instead old computers, servers or systems will be used to cover any needs without taking in mind the result.

The data mentioned above can be translated in numbers.  The overall result of purchase (hardware, software) in the fiscal years of 2011 and 2012 it has been reduced in comparison with other years such as 2010. In more detail as mentioned in sepe.gr (s.e.p.e, 2012) in the quarter of 2012 there was a 26% decrease and in the second quarter a 12.9% decrease in hardware purchase. Also there was an 8.3% decrease in software purchase for professional use. 

  The phenomenon described above takes place because of the way that I.T is perceived by many. That cannot offer any business development but it is only use is to save costs.  For any investment on I.T the investor has to get convinced that he is going to take his/her money back in maximum 9 months (Zaglis, 2012).  Also Mr. Spyros Papaefthimiou described to me the point of view of some companies regard investing in I.T, “The purchase of new hardware or software which requires training is perceived like a nightmare from the companies because requires more time and money “. (Papaefthymiou, 2012)

      In other words the traditional managerial point of view is expressed. That is the lack of trust in the Greek government and uncertainty for the future of the Greek economy kills any future investment in Information Technology. In other words it’s clear that traditional decision makers are afraid for the future and are hesitant in investing even small amounts of money for any project.

  I have chosen to further analyze three sectors of the Greek economy (Imports-Exports, Constructions and Wholesale-Retail).  In the three sectors of the Greek industry the problem that crisis has caused in I.T investment is identical in many ways.  Such as there is not a well defined percent from the budget dedicated to I.T investments in every fiscal year, the entrepreneur must be 100% certain that investing in I.T will get the money his/hers back in short terms.  “Money which is being allocated from the budget is to cover inelastic expenses, such as maintenance and replacement of dysfunctional equipment”. (Zaglis, 2012)

  Another aspect that has been affected by the crisis is the investment on hardware. Information technology investment has been negatively affected by the Crisis for the following reason. The government has increased the taxation on every product in the Greek market. For any new investments the cost is increased without offering in return higher profit or more capabilities.

    Within the 4 years of the crisis and counting many representatives of companies stopped to operate. This has lead to the situation that purchasing products or maintain them has been difficult or impossible.

Positive Effects

  The positive impact of the crisis is that entrepreneurs started to look for options that would be cost effective without affecting the relationship with the client any negative way. The investment in e-business had begun well before the crisis but it was a slow process. With the coming of crisis the public turned on-line to satisfy its needs. A research conducted by the Greek statistical authority (Yahoo, 2012) resulted in 14.0% increase in usage of internet for transactions in the first quarter of 2012 with comparison of 2010-2011.

 The Greek industry feels more comfortable investing on-line due to the fact that the target market is getting familiar with internet and starts to enjoy the benefits of e-shopping. As a result the trust of consumers towards the e-business services has increased providing a bridge of communication between the industry and the Greek consumer. A research from Focus Bari (pmjournal, 2012) showed that 94% of buyers were pleased with their purchase and over all experience. 

Companies have started to invest heavily on internet marketing despite the crisis. As seen from the image below advertising is slowly but gradually increasing. The target market is changing from physical to cyber.  

  The investment in e-shops has increased not only in quantity but in quality as well (Oikonomoy, 2012). A lot of time and effort is spent in the site in order to be updated and stand apart from the others (Lydia Sarantidi, 2012). Motives are given to clients in order all transactions to be electronically because companies offer quality services through e-business and at the same time feedback can be monitored and evaluated. The services offerd through the web have increased in number and in quality. As a matter of fact decision makers have a high level when it comes to quality services (Lydia Sarantidi, 2012). 

Whole Sale-Retail Sector

A major benefit in the Whole Sale- Retail sector is that all middle parties were excluded. The advantages of shorter supply chain are reduced cost and faster service of the client as stated in the official governmental document for promoting e-business. With the two variables mentioned above a company can gain competitive advantage in the difficult times of the crisis. One of the first companies to heavily invest in e-business was Plaisio (www.plaisio.gr). Plaisio through its web site offers lower prices, wider variety of products as well as further information that might interest the customer.  

Construction Sector

For many years the construction sector was one of the main pillars of growth of the Greek economy.  The benefit of the sector gained from investing in e-business was the national and international display of products. In the interview with Mr. Petros George Sarantidis (Peter George Sarantidis, 2012) informed me that foreigners and the Greek homogeneity of other countries used internet to find a house or flat in Attika. For example the company received many calls from Greeks living in Australia which were interested in flats and had found all the information on-line.

Imports-Exports Sector

The Import Export Sector through the use of e-business has been able to reach more clients abroad.  Also the communication and transactions with suppliers it is through technology which saves money to both sides.

What are companies planning to do in terms of IT/IS infrastructure to become more competitive?

    As mentioned above all industries are searching innovative solutions not only to withstand the financial crisis but as well as to gain competitive advantages.  The old school decision makers have started to realize that Information Technology can be something more than automation and saving costs.  In terms of direct action companies haven’t don’t much. But have started to explore unconventional ways to become more competitive.

   Various technologies exist and can be used in many different ways. One of the most popular is cloud computing. A research conducted by REGUS (S.E.P.E,2012) among others showed that 45% of the executives questioned are considering cloud technology as a solution that can reduce costs and at the same time to provide the basis for growth.  The specific technology is relatively new in Greece and is possible to be used as a platform for investing in to the future and without increasing costs. As mentioned by M.K. Manou (S.E.P.E,2012)    “The number of companies that are going to take advantage of technologies that provide adaptability and solutions in various levels is going to increase the next year.”

  Another solution is virtualization. According to Symantec (s.ep.e, 2012) are thinking 75% to invest on server virtualization. The definition of server virtualization as given from the site Techserver: “Server virtualization is the masking of server resources, including the number and identity of individual physical servers, processors, and operating systems, from server users. The server administrator uses a software application to divide one physical server into multiple isolated virtual environments. (Techserver, 2009) “Server virtualization technology provides a number of competitive advantages:

a) Faster Development:  The environment of Virtualization is able to provide a high volatility for developers and users. More than one virtual system can easily be added according to the needs or specifications of the company. The only variable that is to be considered is if hardware is able to support it.

 In case that few changes have to take place developers and testers can work in the same virtual environment that a client is using. As a result deployment time is reduced considerably. Increasing the quality of services provided. Through virtualization a company can beat any rival competition by just creating another iconic server in the same hardware.

b) Better resource utilization: A virtualized environment will have less physical hardware. Even the allocated hardware is better utilized to run at their maximum efficiency. These will assist the organization to gain higher return on investments (ROI). Higher ROI will attract more investors for the organization.

   Another solution is Customer Relationship Management. According to Information of Technology and Communication (T.Π.Κ., 2012) Greek companies have started to invest more in C.R.M. technologies. The definition of C.R.M is (Management Study Guide, 2012) “Customer Relationship Management is an upright concept or strategy to solidify relations with customers and at the same time reducing cost and enhancing productivity and profitability in business. An ideal CRM system is a centralized collection all data sources under an organization and provides an atomistic real time vision of customer information”

  Some advantages of such a system are: Better customer service. Due to centralization of information the company can expect new needs of its customers and work to meet them before requested. Moreover, as mentioned in the official site of Microsoft Corporation “Access to a centralized, customizable view of sales and support activity along with complete customer history either online or offline and from any location using a Web browser” (Microsoft). In addition, another benefit is as mentioned by Microsoft Corp.  “Shorter sales cycles and improved close rates with tools that enable lead and opportunity management, workflow rules customization for automated sales processes, quote creation and order management” (Microsoft).

  According to Deloitte (s.ep.e, 2012) companies as a reaction have started to adopt a new model called remote working. Through this technique companies aim to invest the money saved from renting offices. The technology that allowed this technique to blossom in the Greek industry is smart phones and laptops. The capabilities that offer are such that communication within the company is increased and can combine the advantages of cloud computing. For example Digital Drop Box (digitaldropbox.com) offers cloud services; any employee can upload any file. Then the file can be accesses by other employees that have the application on their smart phone and have the appropriate credentials.

 The investment in mobile technology has allowed companies to expand in the social media world as well. Through the social media companies have started to advertise for free, form groups and forums for customers to exchange ideas and at the same time to get direct feedback (Lydia Sarantidis, 2012). Also e-business has changed marketing as well. Marketers create mini games or competitions to draw attention in Facebook for example.

Whole Sale-Retail

The sector already has started to use smart devises and laptops for better communication and services. Many companies have already started to get familiar with the technologies described above. In my opinion it’s going to take time about 2-3 years in order to feel confident and start to use virtualization and cloud.

Imports Exports

The specific sector in general terms uses technology more than the other two. The currents needs of the market don’t enhance the adaption of new technologies. The entrepreneurs are covered with the already infrastructure.

Construction Sector

The sector in comparison of the three is the most affected by the crisis. Even before the crisis construction companies didn’t invest in Information Technology and/or Information Systems. No planning or actions are taken to invest in I.T/IS.

The crisis has covered the Greek society since 2008. The traditional and modern ways of thinking have been challenge to overcome the crisis. As described above each group has already taken defensive measures to survive the crisis. The first group has implemented budget cuts and perceives I.T as an expense. The second group uses or plans to use innovative technological solutions which offer direct quality services to customers and reduces expenses.  

  The technologies that are mostly appealing to the Greek Industry are Cloud computing, virtualization and C.R.M. The reasons are that through implementation almost nothing has to change in terms of management and the know how to conduct business. Also the solutions offered are complete meaning that provides benefits to clients, suppliers and the company itself.  Moreover, the results are almost instant and direct to any third party and developers.  The features described above are what an average Greek decision maker seeks in I.T/I.S to help in the strategic planning.

   The crisis serves as a transition to change the perception of I.T in the Greek industry and the change of the Greek market.  The increase in sales of laptops and smart phones is evidence that the Greek industry and the Greek consumer is in a transition period. At the same time consumers with their increased use of the internet as well as mobile platforms and the industry that uses new technologies to gain competitive advantages are leading Greece in the digitalized mobile era.

  My personal point of view is that the gains of winning a bet of insisting in the modernization of the economy and way of thinking could be a huge benefit for Greece and provide a way out of the financial crisis. To support my claims the current Minister of Economics Mr. Stournaras mentioned that a successful introduction to cloud computing will allow private and public organizations to have positive growth rates and contribute in the overall competitiveness of the Greek economy (s.e.p.e., 2012). A research conducted by I.O.B.E resulted that if Cloud is implemented within the next 5 years then the benefits for the Greek economy will be 21 billion Euros and create 30.000 jobs (s.e.p.e,2012).

 The three companies that I used to analyze/focus are not random.  These specific industrial sectors are the pillars of the Greek economy. The examination of the three companies shows an overall intention of the future in the average Greek business. All sectors mentioned above traditionally have internal and external activities which mean that have to compete in international level and have to comply with higher standards and use any available tools in order to gain a number of advantages.

 Information technology and Information Systems always played a supportive role in the Greek industry. Although as a department is essential and a must in the modern days, it was never used by the Greek industry for anything more than automation.  Many companies have started to invest or consider investing in new technologies that will help develop any future business plans. From the begging of the financial crisis a movement in Information technology especially in the mobile technology was spotted, once the C.E.O’s realized that it could provide multiple solutions and gain a competitive advantage.

__________

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Sarantidis Michail

afceayouth.com representative

One of the main driving forces of today’s and tomorrow’s business endeavors is the ability to trust and be trusted among the parties involved. In today’s dangerously evolving open cloud era however, one cannot stand on his own. It takes the combined efforts of all branches in order to make great things happen and future promises to be made. It takes… a coalition approach.

.Past experience has showed that the business community is desperately and constantly fighting to stay ahead, when there is so much competition. It is not so much about the type of business, as it is the competitive advantage needed to succeed before others do. Sometimes though, when the goals of various businesses are aligned, it is best to follow a collaborative path; to combine one another’s resources and will to excel. Ours is now a world struggling with openness. That is, we have become so consumed by our desire to share for the past few years, inevitably leading to a point where we want to put our house in order, but don’t know where to start administering. Whether considering things from a Government, Military, Public or Private sector perspective, there is now a common enemy within our ranks, one which also is needed though as a means to share and cooperate; “Comms”. Communication between the “players” of this chess game is vital, information dissemination crucial. Alas, Comms are part of a more open world than ever before… one that is more vulnerable.

                In order to show how the dots connect with one another, we are going to see things from within the eyes of a computerized world entity. One that has relationships with other entities, ultimately leading to a whole new world, which is then overlaid upon the one most people know, therefore proving its point of existence. Companies have, do and will need to stay ahead of attacks that target their core infrastructure, which would limit or expunge the cost of loss. Governments already realized that; 9/11 was more than just a simple “wake-up call”. In these times, businesses need to price the risk, predict the threat and share appropriately. We do not share everything with everyone, but we also don’t lose time in sharing what we have decided to share; information not shared in time is intelligence not properly and efficiently analyzed. Regardless of talking about a human network or a computerized one, we need to be more flexible in our movements, Government-wise, Business-wise and above all Security-wise. It is fundamentally important to secure the Intel that will help with business growth; these little bits and pieces that comprise a communicational masterpiece. Technology and Intelligence can save your business and in other flocks of business, they may very well save your life.

                What is technology? Is a curse? Is it a means to an end? It is a pipeline for information to flow. Through technology, information dominance led to advances in research, business growth, government collaboration with the public and private sector and much more. That last point however is more than important; it is a pillar of the “new modern world” that is arising through the ashes of the past decade. In that world, businesses and governments increase their interoperability, advance information analysis and prepare before actual damage can occur. The plan calls for a business’s own people to be trained to interpret and filter information in real-time, piping it to the right channels of communication, able to make that call through proper cyber-judgment. Users are taught to centralize their data and since data is nowadays information in both Business and Government, that information need to be secured. Trained users avert Social Engineering attacks, which divert businesses from their identified objective, since they have to focus on disaster recovery after the incident. With that amount of time saved, Business and Client data security is more achievable. The modern enterprise is now able, in this new model, to collect vital data from public services, filter it, analyze it, label it, correlate it with other connecting Intel and finally find the right info, to pipe from the right source to the proper recipient. This is efficient information sharing, in an International context, based upon a Strategic Process, in an overall Secure Business Environment, through a Secure Information Society.

                It is made clear that if all of the above strategies – plus the ones we are still discovering – are put in effect in a collaborative context, there will be universal and global acceptance that we are no more a people with its mind set upon its own goals. We will deliver a society, an enterprise, a government that will not be able to stand on its own; not because it can’t or it doesn’t want to, but because Coalitions is now the norm. It is something we have been led to by our own experiences, those that we sat down and discussed, analyzed, shared and ultimately learned; a set of lessons well learned after 9/11 from both Government, Industry and the Public, as discussed at the AFCEA Global Intelligence Symposium, in Brussels – Belgium, organized by AFCEA Intelligence. It is the Association for Communications, Electronics, Intelligence and Information Systems Professionals, that brought everyone on board to discuss and disseminate information for the decades to come.

Yours Sincerely,

George M. Chatzitheodosiou

Vice President, AFCEA Student Club

DEREE – The American College of Greece
6, Gravias Street
15342 Aghia Paraskevi
Athens, Greece

http://www.afceayouth.com

http://www.acg.edu/afcea-club

http://gr.linkedin.com/in/afceaclubgreece

Dear AFCEA Community,

It is moments like these that we are all reminded how fragile and unique we are at the same time, when we lose somebody we care for; somebody we value. Robert Howell was a true member of the AFCEA Community, one that will be greatly missed.

Our hearts and minds are with his family in these difficult times of mourning and loss. His words still echo in our minds as he expressed the essence of AFCEA, the real meaning of his experiences, his patriotism, in his last visit to our College and our country, Greece. He led the way in his way of life. On behalf of the AFCEA Student Club of DEREE – The American College of Greece, our deepest condolences are towards his family and all the people that knew him. This is a great loss for our Community and only underscores the importance of supporting and caring for one-another. Let his legacy be a light for us all to follow in these turbulent times. 

Until we meet again Robert or as we say in Greek Kalo Taxidi…

on behalf of the AFCEA Student Club,

Petroula Panou, President

AFCEA Student Club

30 May 2012, Hotel Praha, Prague, Czech Republic

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As a follow up to the third student conference “People, Projects and Perceptions – even thinking is participation!” that took place in London in October 2010, AFCEA Europe’s fourth student conference was held this year in Prague at the same time as TechNet Europe – ITTE 2012 and represented yet another opportunity for students to present short papers on subjects with international appeal focusing this time on Social Networks, one of the hottest subjects of today’s inter-connected world. At the same time, the program also allowed easy access to the TechNet key presentations and Exhibition and plenty of networking due to the fact that the venue for both TechNet Europe and the Student Conference was the same.

Following the format of the previous conferences, students were invited to give a 10-minute presentation, in English, of their current research and experiences on 30 May. The President of the conference, like in previous ones, was Professor Harry Athanasopoulos of DEREE-The American College of Greece, RADM Hellenic Navy (ret.) and AFCEA Int. Ass. Director, who welcomed the participants in his familiar deep-thought philosophical and musical way, while the outstanding moderator was Major Jon C. Heaton, Royal Signals, CSD Networks, HQSOinC(A) (UK), who also offered the extremely timely and timeless keynote speech titled “How to ensure that employees within a security-focused organisation use social networks in a responsible manner: a British Ministry of Defence (MOD) study”.  The AFCEA Europe General Manager MGen. Klaus-Peter Treche (DEUAF ret.) made sure that the venue and the facilities were top-level.

Fourteen student speakers presented their work in front of an audience of almost 50 students from 9 European countries. The Gold Partner of the conference was Google and there were highly relevant topics presented by IBM (UK) and Kaspersky Lab Romania (ROM). Like in past student conferences, the presence of fifteen members of the pioneering DEREE - AFCEA Student Club and www.afceayouth.com was vivid and full of great team spirit. It should be mentioned that Prof. Athanasopoulos and his DEREE-The American College of Greece top business students have been attending the TechNet Europe Symposia since 2003 without a fail. These students are heavily engaged with filtering out the most essential information and particles of knowledge they gain, in order to pass it on to their fellow students as well as the afceayouth.com international followers.

During the three sessions of the conference, security issues and their proper management, emerging technologies and strategic plans, governance and assurance, were among the topics discussed.

Session 1 – The Use, Exploitation and Risks of Social Networks

“Utilizing Social Media: A Corporate Human Resources Point of View”

     Mr. Gerasimos Papandrikopoulos, DEREE – The American College of Greece (alumnus)

“Social Networks; Forensics, Security and Privacy”

        Mr. Michael Sarantidis, DEREE – The American College of Greece

“Social Media Wealth, Marketing and Public Relations in Second Life (SL)”

       Ms. Anna Ketsetzioglou, DEREE – The American College of Greece (alumna)

“A Social Network Approach to Initiate the University Industry Collaboration Opportunities”

      Mr. Orhun Süzer and Ms. Gökçe Nur Tüfekçi, Istanbul Technical University (TUR)

“Social Networking: A Different Perspective Towards Security”

       Ms. Klaudia Tani, DEREE – The American College of Greece (alumna)

Session 2 – The Security Risks within Social Networks

“Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) – “ID, Adapt, Secure”: An Applicable Approach for Modern Social Networking Platforms”

      Mr. George Chatzitheodosiou, DEREE – The American College of Greece

“Bootnets vs Social Networking”

       Mr. Krzysztof Wodecki, Military University of Technology (POL)

“Flagging. Blacklisting, Red Button”

      Mr. Oldřich Krulík, Police Academy (CZE)

“Intrusion Detection System, Intrusion Prevention System”

       Mr. Tomáš Balázsik, Academy of Armed Forces (SVK)

“Voice Identity Distribution Based on Secure Signature Architecture”

      Mr. Marcin Glowacki, Military University of Technology (POL)

“Trust in Military Mobile Ad-Hoc Network”

       Ms. Joanna Glowacka, Military University of Technology (POL)

Session 3 – People, Projects and Perceptions – Social Networking … AND MORE!

“Steganography as a Support for Security Mechanisms in Tactical Mobile Networks”

       Mr. Krzysztof Parobczak, Military University of Technology (POL)

“One-Way Covert Channel as a Countermeasure for Rogue Access Point Threat in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks”

      Mr. Krzysztof Sawicki, Military University of Technology (POL)

“Audio Fidelity Subjective Test Assessment”

       Mr. Karol Stasiewicz, Military University of Technology (POL)

As expressed by the student conference speakers, it became clear that we need to address our decision making processes more responsibly, whether it has to do with what information we make publicly available or how NATO and its allies handle information security on a global scale.

Near the end of the conference, Mr. Kent Schneider, AFCEA International General Manager & CEO, addressed and praised the participants and offered his future goals, plans and support towards more AFCEA Student Clubs, an AFCEA best practice, instigated by DEREE College students, worldwide.

On May 31, besides following some key TechNet presentations and a fine reception, the student program included two unique educational excursions with excellent networking. The AFCEA Czech Chapter along with the Czech Republic Police Academy made sure that this student conference experience would remain unforgettable to everyone. The students had the privilege to enjoy a VIP guided tour at the Czech Republic National Police Academy facilities. Not only did the students see and learn about the history of Crime Scene Investigation by studying unique equipment and strange cases, but at the same time they had the opportunity to visit the forensics labs and the shooting training rooms of the Police Academy; an amazing and unique experience for all of them. This compelling experience concluded with history lessons as the students visited the National Police Museum and enjoyed a private VIP Tour. After hours, a good number of students enjoyed a live jazz river-boat ride together with Prof. Athanasopoulos and Major Heaton. Next evening, Prof. Athanasopoulos honored his students by taking them to the amazing Prague State Opera to watch Tosca.

It must be mentioned that the AFCEA Czech Chapter, with the invaluable assistance of Mr. Petr Jirasek, Prof. Josef Pozar and Mr. Karel Vavruska, went over and beyond any anticipation as it very thoughtfully offered free accommodation for all students, shuttle transfers to the conference venues, provided all the necessary information, entertainment and mass transportation tickets, a CD containing all the presentations and generally made their visit to Prague an experience to be cherished for so many different reasons, under the AFCEA codes of ethics, trust and collaboration. A big and warm THANK YOU to all of them!

On the whole, there were 11 current DEREE business students in Prague, 4 alumni who travelled from Athens, London and Brussels to be there and one Greek student (active follower of afceayouth.com) studying at the Vienna Technical University and admitted equally free of charge. All student presentations are authorized by the speakers to be uploaded onto the AFCEA International portal (www.afcea.org), to the AFCEA Europe site (www.afceaeurope.org) and to www.afceayouth.com, the DEREE AFCEA Student Club’s global youth virtual space.

My most heart-felt CONGRATULATIONS to all students who participated in the Prague AFCEA events,

Prof. Harry Athanasopoulos

AFCEA Student Club advisor

7/6/2012

In the case of Innovation, the recipe is simple: All you need is an idea

In the case of Renovation though, more steps are to be followed

One has to fully understand and embrace the existing situation, in order to provide improvements, make it more efficient, maybe combine it with other ideas, which he/she also has to have embraced in adequate amounts and at the end take it to the next level. Computer science more-or-less follows the above scheme.

Since new ideas are rare, most of the Computer evolution comes through renovations and improvements; through combinations of ideas and re-examining of old approaches using new perspectives. Until that day though, the old ideas reside in old computers, dusty files and “tired” minds.

Today’s world is dominated by Linux cores. The main trend introduces the remote desktop philosophy; the user can enjoy the advantages of a supercomputer in a “low-hardware” device. In simple terms, the user’s desktop is physically located in an enormous server; away from home. At the same time, the user can securely access all services from a desktop, laptop, netbook, or even a Smartphone. As a result, the hardware demands from the end-user terminal are being reduced by having all the processing being done in the main computer core; the server. This situation is definitely what today’s society needed to go one step further. Cloud Computing is here, it is secure, it is easy, it is cheap; it works! And it is going to do so for many years.
Now that the cloud has started to take its shape, the restless minds should be on their way to the next chapter of evolution. Since we cannot base evolution on the unstable and unpredictable innovation, how about we visit the dusty files of an old friend?

One of the – abandoned now – trends of the 80′s was the Microkernel approach. A revolutionary idea indeed, offered the most stable core for Operating Systems. The basic idea is the forwarding of all the unnecessary processing from the Computer Core to the User levels. This way the system core was “relieved” from heavy workload and became more stable and reliable. The Microkernel approach is based on a decentralized approach of process-management. Computer science has been light-years away from this way of thinking and has been based on the efficient and secure Linux kernels and with astonishing performances, in fact. The high-speed society is moving forward, constantly improving and advancing its technologies so, going back is out of the question.

Now, let’s take a breath and explore the below diagram as it presents a few interesting facts:

DIAGRAM A

This diagram exhibits the advancement in the three main hardware categories of I.T.: Server Hardware, Networking Capabilities, End-User Hardware. As we may observe, when the Microkernel approach was conceived, the networking knowhow was at its early ages. Network structures were not sophisticated enough to support all the traffic that the massive process-forwarding was causing. The high traffic that Microkernels demanded from the networking structure was simply too much for it to handle, Microkernels were abandoned, and the more minimalistic Linux got in the center of attention. Linux systems thrived since, their centered approach fitted better to the existing hardware, and the natural order of things got Linux dominating in the world of servers.
Moreover, when network science got its boost in the mid-90′s, it drifted servers – and Linux - upwards, reaching today’s highly sophisticated Cloud Computing. The cloud computing era we are living through is being characterized by sophisticated and advanced networking structures, thus enabling computers to achieve new high-speed thresholds in data transferring.

Another important thing we can notice on the diagram is the “abandoned” end-user technology. Of course, by “abandoned” we do not mean obsolete. But with all the smartphones and netbooks around, it is not easy to define end-user technology as such. It is however improving little by little since, it is merely not vital for it to be so powerful anymore. Within fifteen or twenty years however, cloud computing will also reach its ceiling, just like every other technology has and will. And since innovation is difficult to predict the only next logical step will be maximizing already existing capabilities. End-user technology will have been left behind since, attention will be given to improving the Cloud. This will create a large opening for further research and development. Now here is the juicy part: What will be the need for improving the client hardware, while all processing and storage takes place in the server? Is cloud computing entangling itself in a process which may eventually lead computer science in a dead-end?

Exploiting the – by then – enormously powerful servers will reside on the assumption that the network bandwidth will be enough to support its process-forwarding needs. A Microkernel -based operating system will be able to divide the processing workload at least by half, thus possibly giving a new, alternative point of view, taking computer science to the next level.

Just think about it!

Panos Rokkas, DEREE – The American College of Greece

Undergraduate, Information Technology

afceayouth.com Representative

rokkasp@gmail.com

In 2011, in the US,  Moxie Marlinspike made a presentation in the Black Hat convention talking about SSL and the Future of authentication. In his presentation, he mentioned how authentication is made, how authentication works, the current situation with certification and a number of solutions.

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The SSL is a protocol which was developed by the Netscape Corporation in the early 90s, in order to make the web safer. SSL, if analyzed, provides Secrecy, Integrity and Authentication. In other words, it is an accreditation showing that a connection established by a user with the server is secure. For example, a website with SSL authentication should provide a safe communication path from M.I.T.A (Man in The Middle Attack).

Nowadays, in order for a secure line to be established the following are bound to take place.
1)    A website makes a request to be certified by a company (certificate authorities)  which provides certification.
2)    The certification is given and the site earns the credentials of the particular company.
3)    The user makes a request to access a web page.
4)    The credential will get to the user through the website (Each site issues a certificate when a user is connected).
5)    The certificate is valid because it is given by a company

Mr. Marlinspike in his presentation supports the idea that the current state of the credential industry has to change. His arguments are:
•    Too many companies are able to provide credentials (about 650), in some cases the companies cannot be trusted,
•    Many issue credentials which are useless, offer no protection at all and the reliability of certificate authorities is questionable,
•    The user doesn’t have any choice to change the authority if he/she doesn’t trust it.
•    The way the system works is not safe, not even for the certification authorities.

On the other hand, Mr. Marlinspike proposes a different pattern that is modern and solves a number of issues. The model is called “Trust Agility”. The title is not a random one. The specific model is all about the user and his/her capability to have the power to ask for a certification company of his/her own preference. That way, the user can choose the company that trusts the most and offers valid credentials. Furthermore, if for any reason the user stops trusting the specific authority, switching to a different provider is as easy as a walk in the park.

Bottom line: our data has to be protected and the trust issue is very important.

In plain words:
1)    The user initiates the trust relationship instead of the website
2)    The user asks a certificated authority to validate a website
3)    Finally, the certificate is given to the user directly

In addition, another recommendation is a Firefox add-on which is called Convergence. This add-on implements a new protocol, introducing new client and server implementations. Furthermore, Local caching is now stored, and SSL memory-leaking is now prevented through the use of Notary Bounce. This add-on offers completeness, anonymity/ privacy and responsiveness. The software is a creation of Mr. Marlinspike, based on another previous add-on, and he has compiled it in a way that it is extensible for future changes and threats.

Finally, this presentation was very interesting and educative. The current systems of authentication and companies involved have to change in a way, so as to be able to be more agile and trustful.  Every six months a new threat is revealed and it will harm our valuable personal data unless we place ourselves on top of this game.

Michael Sarantidis, DEREE – The American College of Greece

Junior, School of Business Administration, Computer Information Systems

Officer of Public Affairs, AFCEA Student Club

My invention – presented here –  makes Chemistry simpler than ever!

Everything around us is made using chemistry and mathematics. All chemistry reactions are based on mathematical rules.

Nothing happens just because it simply does!

One of the most popular parts of chemistry is organic chemistry. Organic chemistry includes reactions with Carbon Atoms. A big part of the organic chemistry is chemical reactions between Oxygen and Hydrocarbons. Normally, in order to find out how many Oxygen atoms are needed  to burn a Hydrocarbon we must solve the reaction with the Oxygen.

However, there is an issue which needs to be addressed:

If someone goes to a chemist and says:

- “When I burned a Hydrocarbon, I used 40 Oxygens. Can you help me find out which Hydrocarbon it was ? ”

The answer from the chemist will probably be the following :  “ That is impossible ! ”

Wrong answer!

The proper answer would probably be: “ That was impossible ! ”

My invention includes two (2) mathematical forms (each one for a different case). For me these forms are the laws which explain these chemical reactions. That means, every burning Hydrocarbon while reacting with the Oxygen MUST follow these laws!
The good thing with such a determination is that these forms are based on mathematics and mathematical rules, so they have a  function which works backwards !

Now, with these forms, what was before impossible for our chemist , is now Very possible and surprisingly easy!

Someone who knows chemistry can say: “ It was also possible before, I simply solved the reaction backwards ! “

That is also a good answer but it is a “supernatural” answer! While the Hydrocarbons are reacting with Oxygen, 2 gases are produced; Carbon-Dioxide and Carbon-Monoxide. Thus, solving the reaction with the traditional way would describe the production of at least 1 of the 2 gases; either Carbon-Dioxide or the Carbon-Monoxide.

These forms can do it right!

More specifically we may find the following accurately:
1.    How many Carbon atoms there are in the Molecule
2.    How many Oxygen atoms are in the Molecule before burning it
3.    What king of Hydrocarbon it was (for. ex. Alcan, Alcohol, Esters e.c.t.)

The basic forms of the invention are two. The mathematical progression of these forms, ends up in 3 other forms through which we can mathematically prove that:
“When we burn a hydrocarbon, the quantity of oxygen we used to produce Carbon-Dioxide is always BIGGER than the quantity of oxygen we used to produce Carbon-Monoxide”.

So, from now on we can find which Hydrocarbon we burned!

We can explain these reactions with my invention – law – rule, making Chemistry as simple as possible!

This is only an abstract of my invention. For more information, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Remember:  Nothing is impossible in chemistry; we just need to explain it!

Evangelos Ch. Tsakiroglou

BS in Technical Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
tsakiroglouevangelos@gmail.com

Contact Phone: +43 6644631424

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The annual NC3A Industry Conference was conducted under the common purpose of explaining the changes that will occur after the Declaration of the renovation of the Command Structure of the NATO Alliance.

A small preview of what will occur in the Chicago Summit in 2012, was given by the new Secretary of Defense of the United States, Mr. Leon Panetta, in his October 5th speech, in Brussels. That was a briefing for what would be discussed two weeks later in Heidelberg GE.
The Ministers of Defense and the NATO Secretary General agreed to the fact that the Alliance has to be more efficient, capable and deployable in its operations so changes are unavoidable.

We will explore the restructuring from the NC3A’s angle , but first let us underline some reasons for which the new strategic development was required and that active engagement and modern defense were claimed as common goals.

There was an initiative for alteration and the Reasons became obvious when the cut in the U.S. Defense budget was issued. The Congress stated that within the next 10 years a reduction of $450 billion should occur, while European countries decrease their budgets by 2% for the last ten years. So, the Alliance decided to face the problem and find a solution by making the Command structure more flexible.

Another reason was the need to increase efficiency and effectiveness in decision making. This was practically realized in NATO’s intervention in Libya, which was the first case of a decision being made so fast. The operation was held after only six days to be more precise. This made the Alliance wonder if fewer actors could be proven more adequate and presented a new question: “Would a collective approach would be more efficient? “.

Main issues include Missile Defense, Cyber Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Energy Security which was proven to be a major threat a few years ago. Because the actors introducing these threats are asymmetric, it is difficult to predict their intensification as Lieutenant Walter E. Gaskin – NATO Military Committee stated.

We shall now give a brief description of The Path from NC3A to C&I. The redesign of the structure, capabilities, alliances and new technical aspects were characterized by MGen (ret) George D’hollander, General Manger of NATO C3 Agency as “Entering in a new paradigm”. From July 2012 NC3A will be included in the Communications and Information Agency. Furthermore, two seperate agencies will be included in the Alliance, the Support agency and the Procurement agency.

From the view of legal transformation, Ms. Simona Rossi, Chief Legal Advisor, analyzed the implications that might occur during the transition; the new name of the agency will change but the legal personality of NC3A will remain the same and their culture too.

From the business point of view, it was made clear that NC3A still desires “Effective Industrial Engagement” as characterized by Mr. David Burton Director Sponsor Account Allied Command Transformation and Chief Technology Officer. Also, further collaboration with new actors is to be established, in order to prove that they analyzed their new and existing projects and how those will progress within the next months.

Doing Business with NC3A will conclude to contract opportunities, reaching close to 1.47 billion Euro, in long term or short term projects that initiate from 2012 and on. Missile Defense, Cyber Defense, Satellite Communication, Monitoring and Surveillance, as well as the NATO new Headquarters are in a list of thirteen projects, starting from 9 and estimated to reach 500 million. As it was mentioned by Lieutenant Walter E. Gaskin – NATO Military Committee, the Alliance is trying to be “Agile, cost effective and more capable” so, these projects will have the idea of Smart Defense initiated in them.

In order to Cope with global change NATO introduced new ways which will enable the Alliance to confront the global economic changes. “Smart Defense” is the main approach, which in the European ground is known as “Pulling and Sharing”. Operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Libya and the Horn of Africa can drive the Alliance down in terms of cost so, the following core tasks – stated under the Lisbon Summit – should come into effect soon:

a. Full cooperation among All Alliance members

b. Full range of capabilities to defend against any threat

c. Command and Force structure

d. Information sharing networks

e. Increase of flexibility and Interoperability

These steps will ultimately result in having effective Crisis Management and a Collective Defense, in order to initiate efficient decision-making and Cooperative Security. NC3A desires to initiate a stronger bond between the Nations, since bilateral and multilateral cooperation development will sustain growth by 2015, as stated by Dr. Velizar Shalamanov.

The key concept is efficiency and the main goal is security against emerging threats.

Time to proceed with the change and welcome the Future

Klaudia Tani, DEREE – The American College of Greece

Graduate, School of Business Administration,  International Business and European Affairs

afceayouth.com Representative