Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy
Special Issue on
“Sustainable Location-aware Services”

Aim
A location-aware service is a special context-aware service that recommends suitable utilities to a user based on his/her location and other context information. Dialing an emergency number using a cell phone, package tracking systems, navigation systems (e.g. Google Maps), online social games (e.g., Pokémon GO), and mobile marketing are typical examples of location-aware services.
Providing location-aware services is a challenging task because of the latency, limited display, positioning inaccuracy, intermittent connectivity to the backend database, and unknown personal preferences. Nevertheless, to date, approximately three-quarters of users have used location-aware services. Location determining and situational responsiveness are particularly crucial to location-aware services, but are still far from perfect. Recently, personalization has been considered as one of the most vital developments of location-aware services; however, how to support multiple users simultaneously remains to be studied. In addition, a facility is often unwilling to reveal its current situation. As a consequence, users cannot be distributed to different facilities to avoid their waiting.
A location-aware service system resolves the aforementioned problems and pursues sustainable development in the following manners: continuously updating the database, adding new features, and retiring uninteresting facilities or services; providing more options and flexibility; generating plans that are robust to the positioning inaccuracy; online collaboration; and improving the suitability for use.
This special issue is intended to provide technical details of designing a sustainable location-aware service, with special emphases on how to evaluate and enhance the sustainability of a location-aware service. These details will hold great interest for researchers in sustainability, service management, location-based service, mobile recommendation, technology management, as well as for practicing managers and engineers. This special issue features a balance between state-of-the-art research and practical applications. This special issue also provides a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and disseminate quality research work on a sustainable location-aware service and the critical issues for further development.

Topics
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- How to evaluate the sustainability of a location-aware service
- How to enhance the sustainability of a location-aware service
- Generate a plan that are robust to the positioning inaccuracy
- A location-aware service for multiple users
- Improve the suitability for use
- Online collaboration among users
- Online collaboration among facilities
- Distribute users among facilities
- Recommend without the complete information on a user’s preferences
- Recommend without the complete information on a facility’s current situation
- Other related topics

Target Dates (Tentative)
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2017
Notification of the Initial Decision: November 30, 2017
Notification of Acceptance: February 28, 2018
Final Paper Due: April 30, 2018

Submission Guidelines
Quality and originality of the contribution are the main acceptance criteria. Manuscripts must be submitted via the online submission system:
http://asap.edmgr.com/
For journal information and author guidelines, please visit
http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/population+studies/journal/12061#

Guest Editors
Toly Chen, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering and Systems Management
Feng Chia University
100, Wenhwa Rd., Seatwen, Taichung City, Taiwan
Founding President
Ambient Intelligence Association of Taiwan
tolychen@ms37.hinet.net; tcchen@fcu.edu.tw
http://tolychen.myweb.hinet.net

Michael J. O'grady, Ph.D.
UCD School of Computer Science & Informatics
University College Dublin
Belfield, Dublin 4
Ireland
michael.j.ogrady@ucd.ie

Katsuhiro Honda, Ph.D.
Professor
Human Information System Lab.
Graduate School of Engineering
Osaka Prefecture University
Gakuencho 1-1, Nakaku, Sakai, Osaka, 599-8531, Japan
honda@cs.osakafu-u.ac.jp
http://www.cs.osakafu-u.ac.jp/hi/honda/index.html