In Ceaușescu's time and for many years after the 1989 Revolution, people with the best grades and results were considered THE best. In theory, they would get the best jobs upon graduation and even higher salaries. In a society where predictability and production are key factors, the ones which have the best grades will stand out. What happens when production is no longer a problem and you need innovation? The real problem is not that the ones with high grades are not able to design new products and services, but rather that they managed to specialize in one field only. This hyper-specialization turns from advantage to limitation. To have a true innovative thinking, you need to hold knowledge from several fields, not just development, as is the case for most of us. This trend can be seen in education, where the STEM concept (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is gaining traction. Statistical data has proven that the children whose education is grounded on this concept, will tackle life challenges better. It is probably too late for many of us to ,,re-educate" ourselves by taking this principle into account. Yet, we have a solution at hand: our passion for certain fields of knowledge or the hobbies where we want to excel. Another solution is to apply design thinking to our projects and to working with the people around us. We should understand that all ideas produced via brainstorming should not be considered wring. Alongside IoT and startups, I would like to invite you to read the Design Thinking papers published in this issue.
We begin the issue with an interview on virtual currency, with Peter Lawrey. You will learn about Bitcoin limitations and about his opinion regarding its current price. At the end of the year, we present a summary of Today Software Magazine, as well as our projects and initiatives for 2018. Next, we have three more papers on design thinking: Design Thinking, Design Thinking: a solution to daily problems and Design Thinking is a simple thing. As off this issue, we will try to have a permanent section on IoT. As part of this issue, we invite you to read: IoT _laboratory: The control of LED bulbs and a GoPro camera and Developing an IoT application using Texas Instruments. As far as research is concerned, we would like to present the results of a study by Continental Sibiu and ,,Lucian Blaga'' University from Sibiu: Case study regarding the use of multi-paradigmatic co-simulation for implementing a manufacturing system. We move on to present a local startup: Autobook. The last paper, Misconceptions about software testing highlights the beauty and complexity of the testing process.
by László Papp
by Rama Anem
by Ovidiu Mățan
by Ovidiu Mățan
