Abstract
The requirements of an increasing globalized and competitive economy lead managers to search for training solutions which can rapidly bridge the gap of their lacking skills, knowledge or competences. To assert with adequate training programs, in particular for SMEs managers, a study was conducted in six European countries with the objective of identifying the most relevant competences they need to fulfill. A literature review and several interviews with business associations' executives resulted in a list of 34 competences which were organized in four categories: personal, team management, business and technical. These competencies were put at trial through a survey conducted among 154 SMEs managers who had to evaluate each proposed competence with the attribution of a relevance degree. Although we show that SME managers should be well prepared in a rich set of complementary areas to perform their job, it is clear that some of the competences are crucial for them to tackle today's challenges. This paper presents a ranking of the competences by importance as perceived by managers. These findings can help training institutions wishing to design new training programs which more in line with managers' needs.

Abstract
While much information is available on pedagogic uses of virtual worlds, with Second Life being the most common virtual world platform in current educational literature, an organization must consider its presence in this environment as more than the mere sum of individual educational efforts. Resources need to be shared between educational stakeholders, visual navigation needs to make sense, and the sense of being within an actual organization should be conveyed (not just the sense of being within a collection of personal spaces). But there is little information on how a virtual campus for an educational organization should be structured. Virtual campi in Second Life for adult education institutions don't typically reproduce their physical counterparts. While spaces such as lecture halls, amphitheatres, meeting places, and libraries are commonly found, the specific features of the medium imply an organization of spaces and usage that differ from physical campi. For instance, navigational affordances are different (ability to fly and gravity-immune objects, for instance), as are communicational features (specific limits on the reach of voice and text communication), and user involvement (how students and teachers use the spaces). We conducted a survey of several existing Second Life campi of adult education institutions (mostly universities), to establish what spaces are present in each and how they are used and organized. In this paper, we present the overall process, and the structure and instructions for data collection by all people involved. Then we detail the various kinds of spaces (by function, not by aesthetic) found in the campi and their prevalence. We also present data on user-oriented features of the campi, and cross-analyse this with their occurrence per space and campi. This survey was part of the process for specification and development of the virtual Second Life campus for project VITA, a EC-funded project to create and experiment learning actions directed to SME' managers for development of entrepreneurship competences. Thus, we conclude with an example of how the survey results can be used to support the development of campi, by briefly presenting the campus that was developed specifically for this project.

Abstract
A common problem in computer programming use for education in general, not simply as a technical skill, is that children and teachers find themselves constrained by what is possible through limited expertise in computer programming techniques. This is particularly noticeable at the preliterate level, where constructs tend to be limited to extremely simple elements. Having worked for 4 years with over 150 children, aged 3 to 5, we present age-appropriate computer programming activities involving different computer programming techniques, from the basic (computer language syntax) to the advanced (client-server). These may contribute to expand the panorama on viable computer programming techniques available to children and educators, thus broadening the variety of educational activities and projects that can be approached in educational settings using computer programming.

Abstract
In modern daily life people need to move, whether in business or leisure, sightseeing or addressing a meeting. Often this is done in familiar environments, but in some cases we need to find our way in unfamiliar scenarios. Visual impairment is a factor that greatly reduces mobility. Currently, the most widespread and used means by the visually impaired people are the white stick and the guide dog; however both present some limitations. With the recent advances in inclusive technology it is possible to extend the support given to people with visual impairment during their mobility. In this context we propose a system, named SmartVision, whose global objective is to give blind users the ability to move around in unfamiliar environments, whether indoor or outdoor, through a user friendly interface that is fed by a geographic information system (GIS). In this paper we propose the development of an electronic white cane that helps moving around, in both indoor and outdoor environments, providing contextualized geographical information using RFID technology. © 2010 TSI Press.

Abstract
CRM systems mark a new paradigm with regard to the customization and qualification of services delivery and to the relationships between local government and citizens. CRM are strategic tools that enable to optimize the relationship between municipalities and residents, as well as the optimization of most organizational processes. Despite the acknowledged importance of such tools, it appears in practice that most Portuguese municipalities has not yet to implemented CRM systems. Trying to identify the main reasons for this fact, the authors undertook a study based on a questionnaire, and the main findings are presented and discussed in this paper.

Abstract
The two-dimensional (2D) kinematic approach is by far the most popular technique in rat gait analysis. This is a simple inexpensive procedure, which requires only one camera to record the movement. However, maximal precision and accuracy of the kinematic values are expected when the experimental protocol includes a three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis methodology: Locomotor speed is a basic kinematic parameter that is often neglected in most studies of movement disorders and neurological diseases. Because locomotor speed c:an act as confounder for the interpretation of the obtained results we also focused our attention on the relation between speed and 3D hindlimb kinematics. Our experimental set-up consisted of a motion capture system with four CMOS cameras which allowed a non-invasive estimation of the instantaneous position of color markers in a 3D measurement volume. Data were recorded while rats walked at different treadmill speeds (30 vs 60 cm/s). For the first time we reported detailed kinematic data for the sagittal, coronal and transverse plane during treadmill locomotion in rats. Despite the overall time course patterns of the curves were identical, we found significant differences between values of joint angular motion at 30 and 60 cm/s at selected points of the step cycle. The adaptation to higher treadmill walking included greater joint angular excursions. The present report highlights the importance of walking speed when evaluating rat hindlimb kinematics during gait. Hopefully, this study will be useful in experimental data assessment when multiple gait abnormalities are expected to occur in all planes. of motion.