Abstract

Objective
To examine the prevalence and trend of experimental research on the effectiveness of ICT use in supporting the management of mass casualty incidents.

Methods
A systematic review was conducted in five electronic databases between February and March 2022 following the PRISMA guidelines. The analysis included studies published since 2012.

Results
A total of fifteen studies were included in the final analysis. Three themes were identified: 1) the response of medical teams to mass casualty incidents, 2) the simulation of mass casualty incidents, and 3) the digitisation of mass casualty incident workflows.

Conclusion
The available evidence is limited due to the relatively small number of studies on the use of information and communication technology and the response of emergency rescue teams to mass casualty incidents. Therefore, further research is needed on the impact of information and communication technology on the efficiency, work, and decision-making of incident commanders during mass casualty incidents. Furthermore, more dynamism is needed to accumulate knowledge and methodological expertise to explore experimental ideas in the European Union, where such research is lacking.

Introduction

To ensure that Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) are always prepared for Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs), it is crucial to anticipate and plan for such situations, even though they may be rare. Although there have been several attempts to define an MCI quantitively, the best definition is that the number of casualties exceeds the resources generally available at the scene [1]. In this article, we refer to MCIs not caused by terrorist attacks. The rationale for excluding them is rooted in the significant differences in managing such MCIs, which stem from the deliberate intention behind these events and the often disproportionate number of casualties they cause [[2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]]. Between 1982 and 2012, 290 mass casualty incidents (MCIs) were analysed in the study conducted by Turris, Lund, and Bowles [9]. Out of these MCIs, 71 (24 %) occurred in Asia, 69 (24 %) in Europe, 48 (17 %) in Africa, 48 (27 %) in North America, 27 (9 %) in South America, 25 (9 %) in the Middle East, and 2 (1 %) in Australasia. In Slovenia, an MCI occurs on average once a year [10].

Efficient and rapid deployment of rescue services is critical. In such circumstances, the approach and execution of rescue service operations are very specific. Through the proper use of available resources, every effort must be made to save the lives and health of as many people as possible. Such an event regularly exceeds the depleted capacities of local services and the nearest hospitals. It requires rapid reorganisation of work and support from additional rescue teams and other hospitals. The main goal of the disaster response organisation is to fulfil the necessary tasks and reduce the number of fatalities in the first hours after a disaster. To manage MCIs safely and effectively, EMTs need the appropriate knowledge and skills. The prehospital phase of an MCI is typically chaotic, dynamic and evolving in nature, requiring prehospital management decisions to be made under extreme time pressure. In an MCI, evacuating severely injured patients to an appropriate medical facility is critical.

Conclusions

ICT has the potential to improve crisis management, particularly in the context of EMTs actions during MCI. Further research is needed to determine if digital transformation optimises medical teamwork through advanced ICT, leading to more effective management decisions and increased chances of survival in MCIs. This study provides evidence for future researchers to conduct experimental research, especially within Europe.

In summary, these studies collectively unveil the multifaceted applications of ICT in mitigating the complex challenges inherent in MCI. From innovative triage protocols and aerial surveillance using drones to telehealth systems, advanced training methodologies such as AR/VR, AI, and machine learning for data analysis, and ethical considerations surrounding high-fidelity simulations and game-based training, these findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of how ICT can augment preparedness, response, and training for MCI. As the academic community continues to delve into this domain, the integration of ICT remains pivotal in reshaping disaster response emergency response and management paradigms, ultimately bolstering societal resilience in the face of unforeseen calamities.

Abstract

The lightweight Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight activities are constrained, particularly in the UAV range or activity span and perseverance, by the strategic correspondence link capabilities. This paper tends to the different overlap issue of trading off a set of mission prerequisites, the UAV execution parameters, and strategic credibility; thus compromising between the communication load characterized by a crucial, communication link transmitting power necessities, power accessibility onboard UAV as a weight-restricted parameter, and the UAV security.

Introduction

In current years, an outcome of decreased sizes and weights concentrated charges and amplified functionalities of various sensors and devices. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are attracting progressively general trendy varied variety of internal submissions (atmosphere monitoring, surveillance, photography, search-and-rescue, etc.) [1]. Through the marketplace develops and the diversity of applications increases, additional necessities are present-day being compulsory in spreading the flight variety and growing adaptability toward complex assignments of UAV structures [2].

UAV stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, which is commonly considered to be a drone or an aircraft with no pilot on board. UAVs can be remote-controlled aircraft [3]. The unmanned aerial vehicle contains cameras, sensors, communication belonging as well as other payload devices [4]. It was created for military usage, and civilian usage to protect the border. UAVs are widely used in the military [5]. Unmanned aircraft system manufacturing was started by the United States department of defense (DOD) in 2005 [6]. Presently, leading UAV manufacturing countries are the USA, Israel, China, Iran, and Russia [7]. Rustom series of Indian UAVs are under development [8]. The Building of a UAV is easier, it is less expensive and it can be created at a reasonable price. UAVs are made of essential components.

Conclusion

In this paper, we reviewed UAV systems and communication design, and methods used to connect and send data to the ground station. Further, we discussed data processing via sensors and applications with security. We provide key definitions and concepts of UAV systems and details of the development of communication systems and GCS. We provide reviews and analyses of the security of UAVs and the types of attacks that are launched to disturb the communication of the UAV system. Finally, open research areas are given for further development of the UAV system and communication, which leads to better UAV technology for the industry.

Abstract

     Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role within a country’s economy considering that they provide a source of skills and innovation for entrepreneurship and their capacity for introducing, integrating and disseminating new technologies is incomparable. However, the world may be looking at an impending devastating recession delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. As governments intensify restrictions on business to halt the spread of the pandemic, the fear of the virus also reconfigures the very concept of business and the workplace. Therefore, there is a need for a greater focus on digital transformation considering that physical distancing requirements to curb the spread of this virus may become a cultural orientation for businesses and the workplace. A real digital transition is anticipated for small businesses with the 5G network technology. 5G network will not just be a technological connection but will affect different socio-economic sectors and will stimulate innovation in small companies. The goal of this paper was to carry out a literature review on the potential ways small businesses can leverage on 5G network for digital innovation. The paper proposed that small and medium businesses can leverage the 5G Mobile Technology through enhanced interpersonal communication, expanded remote work opportunities, innovative digital tools and supply chain efficiency. Finally, while many individuals and small business owners will profit from 5G technology some will work to undermine it. As a result, companies must keep this in mind when implementing 5G, or other new technology, and adjust their security protocols accordingly to remain secure.

Introduction

     Small businesses can expect a true digital transition with 5G (fifth generation of broadband data-networking digital communications technology) network technology (Tullberg et al., 2016). With an estimated annual growth rate of 97% and approximately 40% of the global population using IoT apps on a 5G network, the new mobile technology has the potential to generate a $251 trillion economic impact by 2025. This growth can be attributed to the fact that the 5G network will not only provide a technological connection but will also have an impact on various socioeconomic sectors and encourage small business innovation (Webb, 2016). The new technological link will make it possible to implement well-known initiatives, such as Smart City, Smart Company, and artificial intelligence in business (Zhu et al., 2016). Because of increased data transfer speed and reduced time between signal transmission and reception, the 5G network will redefine the role of connectivity and connections in global society, providing a new foundation for business innovation, particularly in small businesses. The goal of this paper is to conduct a review of the literature on the various ways small businesses can use the 5G network for digital innovation.

Conclusion

     The goal of this article was to establish a link between 5G technology and digital innovation, particularly in SMEs. The article began by establishing the context of the paper by summarising current knowledge and background information on the subject. This was accomplished by stating the purpose of the paper, the research question/problem, briefly explaining the methodological approach, and emphasising the study’s potential outcomes. Conceptual framework and synthesis were created to demonstrate the key relationships between the focal constructs (5G technology and digital innovation). This was done to aid comprehension of the conceptual framework. This paper contends that the implementation of 5G technology creates a platform for digital innovation in SMEs’ communication, remote working, supply chains, and marketing activities. This can simplify and improve the efficiency of work processes and operations within SMEs, resulting in increased productivity. 5G technology will create enormous opportunities for new revenue streams and will serve as the foundation for business innovation and development on a scale that companies in almost every industry have yet to fully explore.

Abstract

     The latest 5G technology is being introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) Era. The study aims to focus the 5G technology and the current healthcare challenges as well as to highlight 5G based solutions that can handle the COVID-19 issues in different arenas. This paper provides a comprehensive review of 5G technology with the integration of other digital technologies (like AI and machine learning, IoT objects, big data analytics, cloud computing, robotic technology, and other digital platforms) in emerging healthcare applications. From the literature, it is clear that the promising aspects of 5G (such as super-high speed, high throughput, low latency) have a prospect in healthcare advancement. Now healthcare is being adopted 5G-based technologies to aid improved health services, more effective medical research, enhanced quality of life, better experiences of medical professionals and patients in anywhere–anytime. This paper emphasizes the evolving roles of 5G technology for handling the epidemiological challenges. The study also discusses various technological challenges and prospective for developing 5G powered healthcare solutions. Further works will incorporate more studies on how to expand 5G-based digital society as well as to resolve the issues of safety–security–privacy and availability–accessibility–integrity in future health crises.

Introduction

     The latest wireless mobile phone technology, Fifth Generation (5G), was first widely deployed in 2019. While 5G network is at developing stage, some countries including China, South Korea, the UK and the US commercially deployed 5G networks, and some other developed countries are being expecting to put forward commercial 5G networks by 2025 [1]. Comparing to the existing wireless networks, 5G provides high data rate, lower latency, high volume of devices connectivity with energy efficiency, high reliability and mobility support [2]. Thus, the services offered by 5G mobile networks are generally categorized into three group, namely (i) “enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)”, (ii) “ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC)”, and (iii) “massive machine-type communications (mMTC)” [3]. In 2019, 67% of the world people have subscribed to cellar devices, of which 65% have used smart phones [4], and 204 billion apps have been downloaded [5]. About 3.8 billion public have eagerly used social media reported in January 2020 [6]. As the number of digital devices connectivity with 5G is dramatically increasing, the extent of variation in exposure to radiofrequency arenas is still under investigation.

Conclusion

     The use of 5G network in integrating other digital technologies (like AI and machine learning, IoMTs, big data analytics, cloud computing, etc.) is now a reality in healthcare. From the literature, it is clear that 5G enabled technologies as well as intelligent systems have a prospect to improve healthcare services, such as medical diagnosis, health monitoring, treatment, management, etc. As the 5G poses non-ionizing radiation, there is no significant health risk of 5G RF wave below the recommended safety level. There is no evidence that 5G signal causes the spread of the coronavirus. Moreover, 5G enabled digital technologies have been used for limiting the COVID-19 outbreak, and enhancing the public-health strategies in 2020. Some advanced technology giants are conducting their researches on 5G related applications that will combat against the health risks of any undesirable epidemics. The successful utilization of 5G technology to tackle healthcare challenges will enhance the acceptance of such technologies for other sectors in the future.

     As it is a new field of research, some issues are to be considered in deployment of 5G network in healthcare including infrastructure development, technical standards, effective regulations and policy, privacy protection and security, as well as availability of research data. Further works will incorporate more study on how to expand 5G based digital society as well as to resolve some issues, such as safety–security–privacy, availability–accessibility–integrity, and to augment resilience to future health crises. It is also required to compile laws and prepare proper guidelines to deal with ethical and legal counteractions in managing the online services during the emergency situations. With the new technological innovations, 5G network will provide a complete pathway for a smart society with various promising healthcare applications.

2- Review methodology

3- IoT implementation in arable farming

4- Current and potential applications

5- Challenges and solutions

6- Conclusions and future perspectives

References

Introduction

The global population and its food consumption are growing alarmingly quickly, while climate change effects are simultaneously complicating the challenge of ensuring food security in a sustainable manner (Godfray et al., 2010; Tilman, Balzer, Hill, & Befort, 2011). Data-driven agriculture is one of the main strategies and concepts proposed to increase production efficiently while decreasing its environmental impact (Foley et al., 2011). Data-driven technologies in general are quickly advancing with the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), and may become an important part of the future of farming (Brewster, Roussaki, Kalatzis, Doolin, & Ellis, 2017; Jayaraman, Yavari, Georgakopoulos, Morshed, & Zaslavsky, 2016; Verdouw, 2016; Wolfert, Ge, Verdouw, & Bogaardt, 2017). Smart Farming, also called Agriculture 4.0 or digital farming (CEMA, 2017), is developing beyond the modern concept of precision agriculture, which bases its management practices on spatial measurements largely thanks to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. Smart farming bases its management tasks also on spatial data but is enhanced with context-awareness and is activated by real-time events, improving the performance of hitherto precision agriculture solutions (Sundmaeker, Verdouw, Wolfert, & Perez Freire,
2016; Wolfert et al., 2017). Additionally, Smart Farming usually incorporates intelligent services for applying and managing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in farming, and allows transverse integration throughout the whole agri-food chain in regards to food safety and traceability (Sundmaeker et al., 2016). IoT is therefore a key technology in smart farming since it ensures data flow between sensors and other devices, making it possible to add value to the obtained data by automatic processing, analysis and access, and this leads to more timely and cost-effective production and management effort on farms. Simultaneously, IoT enables the reduction of the inherent environmental impact by real-time reaction to alert events such as weed, pest or disease detection, weather or soil monitoring warnings, which allow for a reduction and adequate use of inputs such as agrochemicals or water. IoT eases documentation and supervision of different activities as well as the traceability of products, improving the environmental surveying and control in farms by the appropriate authorities. The IoT concept was introduced by Kevin Ashton in 1999 in relation to linking Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) for supply chains to the internet (Ashton, 2009), but has no official definition. It implies, however, the connection of a network of “things” to or through the internet without direct human intervention. “Things” can be any object with sensors and/or actuators that is uniquely addressable, interconnected and accessible through the world-wide computer network, i.e. the Internet. The application of IoT in agriculture is advantageous because of the possibility to monitor and control many different parameters in an interoperable, scalable and open context with an increasing use of heterogeneous automated components (Kamilaris, Gao, Prenafeta-Boldu, & Ali, 2016), in addition to the inevitable requirement for traceability. As a result of IoT, agriculture is becoming data-driven, i.e.

Introduction

Increasing individual use of connected smart devices, rapid growth of worldwide urban population, gradual aging of society in many countries as well as the rising demand for sustainable energy resources have given momentum to the emergence of smart cities and smart spaces [1]. Smart city services span a wide spectrum of applications ranging from smart utilities, to smart health, smart transportation, smart governance, and smart environment [2], which Utilize real-time sens- ing, knowledge engineering, and presentation of the analyzed data in an interpretable format. To fulfill the requirements of diverse applications and services, a smart city architecture consists of five planes as illustrated in Fig. 1 in a minimalist manner. The application plane provides services to the end users for any relevant application such as smart utilities, energy, transportation, health, environment and safety. Serving mobile, home, and corporate sectors, these applications rely on an underlying substrate, which encompasses sensing, communication, data, and security planes as the core of a smart city architecture [3]. The data acquisition (sensing) networks—implemented by utilizing either hard sensors or soft sensors—form the sensing and actuation plane; whereas processing, analysis, and storage of data shape the main functionality of the data plane. These two planes are bridged by the communication and aggregation plane. Addressing users’ growing cognizance about smart city cybersecurity, each component shown in Fig. 1 calls for security and privacy assurance mechanisms. The challenging task of satisfying these requirements is relegated to the security and privacy plane. As shown in Fig. 1, a comprehensive and effective security and privacy plane must be implemented adjacent to every individual building block of this architecture. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a major enabler for diverse smart applications that involve massive data acquisition and intelligent decision making [4]. Therefore, in the realization of smart cities, the IoT is a bridging component between the sensing devices and the data plane [5, 6]. Indeed, in order for the IoT concept to operate thoroughly, its interface with the local wireless networks, backhaul networks, as well as local wired networks needs to be addressed properly. Furthermore, protocols for reliable and efficient data acquisition methodologies for fusing data are of paramount importance particularly to ensure a robust communication back-end in a smart city infrastructure. In a smart city architecture, communication back-end is one of the most crucial components, which is responsible for pre-processing and aggregation of the sensory data. Reliability, usefulness and trustworthiness of the data acquired by the communication back-end depends on the effectiveness of the sensing plane. As studied in [2], sensors in a smart city setting can be deployed in either a dedicated or non-dedicated manner; each deployment strategy has its own pros and cons. Based on the observations above, in this paper, we present a smart city architecture by briefly introducing its building blocks (termed planes), namely the application, communication, sensing, data, and security planes. Upon brief introduction of the architectural building blocks, we move to our main foci, which are the sensing, communication and security planes. In the study of the sensing plane, we present the dedicated and nondedicated sensing paradigms from the standpoint of various smart city applications. We thoroughly investigate the sensor types, problems experienced by the corresponding smart city applications, existing solutions and the communication technologies used by the sensors. Sensing plane is followed by the communication plane, which is studied in terms of the requirements, implications, and common solutions. We partition the communication plane into several sub-planes to study the communication infrastructure and protocol design for a smart city with fine granularity.

Driven by the increasing demand for continuous health monitoring, fitness tracking, and virtual reality, there has been a fast-growing market for wearable devices. The total value of wearable devices was estimated to be around $22.0 billion in 2016 and the worldwide revenue is expected to reach $97.8 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 24.1% from 2017 to 2023.[1] Wearable sensors that can be laminated onto the surface of skin or integrated with textiles have received tremendous attention from both academia and industry. Such sensors can monitor individual health parameters and environmental exposures with high sensitivity. Tracking of key health indicators such as body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG), and glucose level can greatly benefit diagnosis, disease treatment, and postoperative rehabilitation. Long-term and continuous monitoring of vital signs is particularly important in early diagnosis of diseases, management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and severe obesity, and timely response to life-threatening situations such as seizure and cardiac arrest.[2,3] Tracking of environmental conditions such as ambient temperature, ultraviolet (UV) radiation humidity level, and concentration of harmful gases, and airborne particulates can provide valuable information for the prediction, management, and treatment of chronic diseases.[4,5] In addition to the applications in wearable health monitoring, continuous tracking of daily and sports activities can offer an efficient way to assess the well-being and athletic performances.[6] In order to ensure a robust and conformal contact with the curvilinear, coarse, and dynamic surface of skin without impeding daily activities, the wearable sensor should have low modulus and high stretchability. The epidermis has a modulus of 140–600 kPa while the dermis has an even lower modulus of 2–80 kPa.[7] Skin itself can be stretched elastically up to 15% and with the help of wrinkles and creases, the overall stretchability can reach as high as 100% during daily motions.[8] In addition to good wearability, wearable sensors should be highly sensitive, lightweight, low-cost, and with low power consumption. To achieve these features, nanomaterials that are compliant, possessing larger surface area and exceptional material properties, and compatible with low-cost fabrication processes are widely employed as building blocks for developing wearable sensors. In this review, we start from a brief overview of nanomaterials, their related structural designs and fabrication processes (Section 2). Following that, recent advances of nanomaterialenabled wearable sensors including temperature, electrophysiological, strain, tactile, electrochemical, and other sensors will be summarized (Section 3). A survey on the integration of multiple sensors and other components into wearable systems will be given in Section 4. The application of nanomaterialenabled wearable sensors for healthcare including health monitoring, activity tracking, and electronic skin will be presented in Section 5. The challenges and opportunities will be discussed at the end.