Abstract
The evolution of information systems and the growth in the use of the Internet and social networks has caused an explosion in the amount of available data relevant to the activities of the companies. Therefore, the treatment of these available data is vital to support operational, tactical and strategic decisions. This paper aims to present the concept of big data and the main technologies that support the analysis of large data volumes. The potential of big data is explored considering nine sectors of activity, such as financial, retail, healthcare, transports, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, public, and media and entertainment. In addition, the main current opportunities, vulnerabilities and privacy challenges of big data are discussed. It was possible to conclude that despite the potential for using the big data to grow in the previously identified areas, there are still some challenges that need to be considered and mitigated, namely the privacy of information, the existence of qualified human resources to work with Big Data and the promotion of a data-driven organizational culture.

Abstract
The need for innovation and the ability to transfer knowledge to society and industry are essential for the development of current economy. In this sense, universities play a crucial role in this mission, and university spin-offs have become one of the most popular mechanisms of academic knowledge transfer. The purpose of this paper is to perform a literature review in the field of university spin-offs. The adopted methodology starts by creating a conceptual map of the various research areas around university spin-offs, followed by the identification of the most predominant studies in the field taking into account the number of citations. The findings indicate that the main explored dimensions in the university spin-offs research include the process of technology transfer, the role of university in the society, the regional context of the university and the impact of university spin-offs considering several dimensions. On the other side the least explored dimensions include the analysis of the founders' background, and the establishment of public policies to support the activities of university spin-offs.

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Abstract
This paper proposes the development of a technological platform for support of psycho-technical tests in higher education institutions. This subject deals with a topic extremely important for the institution and for students, because the platform will serve internally to assist students in preparing them for the professional life. The application is web hosted and exclusively built using open source technologies. The application allows teachers to create new psycho-technical tests in various technical and scientific fields. Each psycho-technical test is composed of several multiple-choice questions, and the teacher may specify the list of alternative answers and indicate a maximum response time for each question. For its part, the students can visualise the list of psycho-technical tests available organised by subject. The platform registers the performance of students in several domains and allows students to practice and improve their skills. In this way, students may be better prepared for job interviews and, consequently, for the job market.   Keywords: Psycho-technical tests, web applications, software engineering, student evaluations, information technology.  

Abstract

Abstract