A pilot empirical study of applying a usability technique in an open source software project

Context: The growth in the number of non-technical open source software (OSS) application users and the escalating use of these applications have redoubled the need for, and interest in, developing usable OSS. OSS communities are unclear about which techniques to use in each development process activity. Objective: The aim of our research is to adapt a usability technique (visual brainstorming) to an OSS project and evaluate the feasibility of its application. Method: We used the case study research method to investigate technique application and participation in a project. To do this, we participated as volunteers in the HistoryCal project. Results: We identified adverse conditions that were an obstacle to technique application (like it was not easy to recruit OSS users to participate) and modified the technique to make it applicable. Conclusion: We conclude that these changes were helpful for applying the technique using web artifacts like blogsThis research was funded by the SENESCYT , Quevedo State Tech- nical University, TIN2014-52129-R and TIN2014-60490-P projects and the e-Madrid project (S2013/ICE-2715

GIS Application to Support Land Administration Services in Ghana: Institutional Factors and Software Developments

In June 1999, the Ghanaian Government launched a new land policy document that sought to address some fundamental problems associated with land administration and management in the country. The document identified the weak land administration system as a particular problem and recommended the introduction of computer-aided information systems in the ‘lands sector’. In 2001, the Government made further proposals to prepare and implement a Land Administration Programme (LAP) to provide a better platform for evolving an efficient land administration that would translate the ‘National Land Policy’ into action. Thus, an up-to-date land information system (LIS), supporting efficient management of land records, is to be constructed, which provides a context for the research reported in this paper. We document two aspects of our research on the adoption of GIS by the Lands Commission Secretariat (LCS) which form part of a pilot project in GIS diffusion. Part one of the paper mainly outlines the empirical results arising from fieldwork undertaken during 2001 to determine the information and GIS requirements of the LCS in relation to their routine administrative processes and to identify the critical factors that are required to ensure that any new GIS applications are successfully embraced. Part two explains the prototype software system developed using ArcView 3.2 and Access that provides the LCS with a means to automate some of the routine administrative tasks that they are required to fulfil. The software has been modified and upgraded following an initial evaluation by LCS employees also conducted as part of the fieldwork in Accra

Creative Thinking and Modelling for the Decision Support in Water Management

This paper reviews the state of art in knowledge and preferences elicitation techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate various cognitive mapping techniques in order to conclude with the identification of the optimal technique for the NetSyMod methodology. Network Analysis – Creative System Modelling (NetSyMod) methodology has been designed for the improvement of decision support systems (DSS) with respect to the environmental problems. In the paper the difference is made between experts and stakeholders knowledge and preference elicitation methods. The suggested technique is very similar to the Nominal Group Techniques (NGT) with the external representation of the analysed problem by means of the Hodgson Hexagons. The evolving methodology is undergoing tests within several EU-funded projects such as: ITAES, IISIM, NostrumDSS.Creative modelling, Cognitive mapping, Preference elicitation techniques, Decision support

Exploring the Potential of the Web-Based Virtual World of Second Life to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

Provides an overview of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, and summarizes discussions among addiction recovery experts about integrating virtual reality into behavioral treatment as a way to teach patients new responses to real environments

Visual mapping approaches for considering the strategic rationale for the implementation of OER in higher education institutions

Open educational resources (OER) have become a significant part of the general discourse around higher education and a number of institutions and governments have implemented initiatives to develop and use OER on the basis that they will help transform educational practice within and between higher educational institutions (HEIs). Nevertheless there has also been considerable comment and concern by many involved in higher education that OER are not sustainable financially and unlikely to be truly transformative of policy and practices in higher education. This paper reviews the existing published evidence and argues that all institutions need to properly consider whether and how OER fit in to their strategic plans and that this can usefully be done through the help of visual methods. Visual methods such as paper or computer based mapping techniques enable users to capture as much information as possible through a mediated conversation around the holistic representation of their collective views. This need for undertaking strategic reviews is mainly illustrated through the work of the EADTU led Multilingual Open Resources for Independent Learning (MORIL) project where workshop participants from HEIs used Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Framework to examine both intra institutional and inter institutional factors that were driving or restraining them in the implementation of OER. A major outcome of this work is that OER are another valued factor in the evolution of higher education policy and practice and that progress will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary

Exploring issues in agile requirements engineering in the South African industry

The agile manifesto has certainly changed the way software is produced in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry. However, many persistent challenges cripple agile software development. One challenge is that the constant change in technology makes the requirements hard to implement. Another is that issues of the agile requirements engineering (ARE) process are abundant and pervasive throughout software projects. The aim of this study is to determine common issues in agile requirements engineering in the South African software industry and identify tools and frameworks to mitigate risks emanating from such problems. This includes finding out how much value software practitioners put in the agile principles. This study was essentially quantitative, based on a cross-sectional survey. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect required data which was then subjected to exploratory data analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), a tool for statistical analysis. The results show that software practitioners have a strong penchant for principles of the Agile Manifesto. Major issues in agile requirements engineering include lack of proper validation tools and techniques, scope problems, lack of proper documentation, issues of prioritisation, as well as unavailability of customer representative. A detailed baseline of issues in agile requirements engineering was created along with a set of recommended tools and techniques used in the software industry. As for the recommendation, it is suggested that companies invest more on validation tools and techniques and consider non-functional requirements integration during software development.School of ComputingM. Sc. (Computing