Search

Intelligent transportation systems will play a key role in the smart cities of the future. In particular, railway transportation is gaining attention as a promising solution to cope with the mobility challenges in large urban areas. Thanks to the miniaturisation of sensors and the deployment of fast data networks, the railway industry is being augmented with contextual, real-time information that opens the door to novel and personalised services. Despite the benefits of this digitalisation, the high complexity of railway transportation entails a number of challenges, particularly from security and privacy perspectives. Since railway assets are attractive targets for terrorism, coping with strong security and privacy requirements such as cryptography and privacy-preserving methods is of utmost importance. This article provides a thorough systematic literature review on information security and privacy within railway transportation systems, following the well-known methodology proposed by vom Brocke et al. We sketch out the most relevant studies and outline the main focuses, challenges and solutions described in the literature, considering technical, societal, regulatory and ethical approaches. Additionally, we discuss the remaining open issues and suggest several research lines that will gain relevance in the years to come.

The advances in the miniaturisation of electronic devices and the deployment of cheaper and faster data networks have propelled environments augmented with contextual and real-time information, such as smart homes and smart cities. These context-aware environments have opened the door to numerous opportunities for providing added-value, accurate and personalised services to citizens. In particular, smart healthcare, regarded as the natural evolution of electronic health and mobile health, contributes to enhance medical services and people’s welfare, while shortening waiting times and decreasing healthcare expenditure. However, the large number, variety and complexity of devices and systems involved in smart health systems involve a number of challenging considerations to be considered, particularly from security and privacy perspectives. To this aim, this article provides a thorough technical review on the deployment of secure smart health services, ranging from the very collection of sensors data (either related to the medical conditions of individuals or to their immediate context), the transmission of these data through wireless communication networks, to the final storage and analysis of such information in the appropriate health information systems. As a result, we provide practitioners with a comprehensive overview of the existing vulnerabilities and solutions in the technical side of smart healthcare.

Critically ill patients that stay in Intensive Care Units (ICU) for long periods suffer from Post-Intensive Care Syndrome or ICU Acquired Weakness, whose effects can decrease patients’ quality of life for years. To prevent such issues and aiming at shortening intensive care treatments, Early Mobilisation (EM) has been proposed as an encouraging technique: the literature includes numerous examples of the benefits of EM on the prevention of post-operative complications and adverse events. However, the appropriate application of EM programmes entails the use of scarce resources, both human and technical. Information and Communication Technologies can play a key role in reducing cost and improving the practice of EM. Although there is rich literature on EM practice and its potential benefits, there are some barriers that must be overcome, and technology, i.e., the use of sensors, robotics or information systems, can contribute to that end. This article reviews the literature and analyses on the use of technology in the area of EM, and moreover, it proposes a smart health-enhanced scenario.