LIFE 2 - Glossary

 Term  Explanation
 Cloud computing The rental of infrastructure, software and bandwidth usage with predefined service terms that can be flexibly changed to meet the customer’s needs.
 Crowdsourcing The act of outsourcing corporate tasks and functions to an undefined, usually very large group or community of users outside the company. Activities that are suitable for crowdsourcing include innovation (the creation of new knowledge), but also operative tasks (e.g. marketing collaboration or help with configuring a product). What makes crowdsourcing new is that it alters the production process by giving customers and users an active role in co-creating the resulting product.
 CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) A voluntary, self-regulating and committed approach to corporate activities which takes the social, environmental and economic impact of the company’s actions into account.
 Embedded systems Microprocessors and other computer elements which are integrated in machines and devices to perform specific tasks.
 Green IT All IT solutions that generate energy savings within a company. The term comprises hardware, software and services.
 Hybrid cloud A link between two or more clouds using suitable security systems. Hybrid clouds enable several enterprises to work together securely.
 Internet of things A name used to describe an electronic network of everyday objects. In order to create an Internet of things, as many objects as possible – from retail goods to items of furniture through to actual buildings – need to be fitted with processors or RFID tags which can communicate with other objects.
 IT outsourcing Full transferral of IT functions or business processes requiring a lot of IT to legally independent, i.e. external, service providers for a predefined period of time.
 Open innovation Opening up the enterprise’s innovation potential with the aim of actively using communities outside the enterprise to increase one’s own innovation potential.
 Private cloud Shared use of IT resources within an enterprise by using virtualization technologies in a shared service. The exchange usually takes place through the company’s intranet, with only limited exchange occurring on the Internet.
 Prosuming A neologism combining the words production and consume which describes the inclusion of consumers in the production process.
 Public cloud Standardized IT services (service, software or infrastructure) are rented on-demand through the Internet and are billed according to usage. There is no limit to the potential number of cloud users; theoretically all private and business customers can buy and use the services of the public cloud.
 RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) A technology which allows objects to be remotely identified. The most commonly used RFIDs are the electronic labels which operate without their own batteries. These tags contain a transponder which picks up a high-frequency signal that is decoded and also acts as a source of power (based on the principle of magnetic induction) for the tag; responses (e.g. a unique identification number) are transmitted as a wireless signal.
 Smart grid This term is used to describe an information and communication network which links and controls power generators, electricity consumers and network operation points in electricity transmission and distribution networks.
 Unified communications Atechnology based on the concept of the integration of communication media in business processes. UC systems are a new class of systems which emerged from the convergence of information and communication technology and business software. UC systems integrate (traditional and new) communication media (telephone, fax, email, instant messaging, VoIP, video) and devices with new presence information and a range of other cooperation functions (e.g. conferences, group work).
 Virtual private cloud Shared use of IT resources by a preselected community of users.
VPN (virtual private network) A computer network which transmits private data through a public network, e.g. the Internet. Encryption is generally used when sending data through the public network.
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