The 'black box' problem in the study of participation

Research on citizen participation has been guided by two core issues: first, the observation of a widening repertory of modes of participation, and second, the argument that participation is not an undifferentiated phenomenon, but must be conceived as an inherently multidimensional reality. In this article, we argue that conventional participation research has focused too one-sidedly on quantitatively expanding the range of types of activities, while the complex dimensionality is not reflected in the measures used. We formulate a methodological critique by using the metaphor of the 'black box', which refers to the implicit and unquestioned assumption that distinct types of activities and associations represent homogeneous and consistent realities that do not warrant further analytical decomposition. Surveys of participation allocate individuals to different 'participation boxes' by means of a binary logic, leaving a void of what is actually happening inside the boxes. To conclude, we reflect upon the fundamental dilemmas the black box of participation raises for theory and research, and offer conceptual and methodological keys to unlock the participation box

COBOL to Java and Newspapers Still Get Delivered

This paper is an experience report on migrating an American newspaper company's business-critical IBM mainframe application to Linux servers by automatically translating the application's source code from COBOL to Java and converting the mainframe data store from VSAM KSDS files to an Oracle relational database. The mainframe application had supported daily home delivery of the newspaper since 1979. It was in need of modernization in order to increase interoperability and enable future convergence with newer enterprise systems as well as to reduce operating costs. Testing the modernized application proved to be the most vexing area of work. This paper explains the process that was employed to test functional equivalence between the legacy and modernized applications, the main testing challenges, and lessons learned after having operated and maintained the modernized application in production over the last eight months. The goal of delivering a functionally equivalent system was achieved, but problems remained to be solved related to new feature development, business domain knowledge transfer, and recruiting new software engineers to work on the modernized application.Comment: 4 pages, Accepted to be Published in: Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME), September 23-29, 2018, Madrid, Spai

Institutional reflexivity

How can we understand the innovativeness of firms or organizations in general, and how should we assess it in terms of nontechnological innovation? My paper deals with these two questions. The ability of companies to adapt to new circumstances, to create new products, processes and new knowledge, has been conceptualized in many approaches. Some of them simply define a list of (critical) success factors or (key) performance indicators as tools for ranking and evaluation, without any theoretical reference. Others, like the resource-based or capability-based approach(es), work with theoretical references, but are still very weak in operationalizing of what they call capability. My paper gives a critical description of this situation and offers a new proposal to classify and to measure the inclination of organizations to innovate in all dimensions. This proposal roots in pragmatistic thinking as represented in the theory of reflexive modernization and in the pragmatist version of organizational learning theory. Empirically, it has been applied merely in case studies yet. A survey project is in preparation. --Absorptive Capacity,Competence-Based View,Dynamic Capabilities

A Guidance to Legacy Systems Modernization

Rapid development of information technology and communication (ICT) has increased the use of information systems in organizations since a decade ago. At the same time, many organizations are still using old information systems to support their business, known as legacy systems. Even though these systems cause technical problems, but they are still used to support service delivery to the customer. These systems are also essential to organizations as they have been operated for many years and possess high business value. The operation of legacy systems cannot be stopped quickly, as it will affect daily business tasks. However, organizations with legacy systems need to think about the ability of the systems to support their future direction. Modernization of legacy systems needs to be implemented to ensure the systems are aligned with global changes as well as improving the competitiveness of the organizations. This study, therefore, reviewed the phases and factors involved in legacy systems modernization to identify gaps and their insufficiencies. There are many studies on legacy systems, but only a few have focused on the overall process of legacy systems modernization. Most studies on legacy systems are technical in nature and refer to specific aspects and phases of modernization. This study aims to provide overall guidance to the organizations in performing legacy systems modernization

Käytettävyyden ja kehityksen modernisointi mikropalveluilla

Vanhat ohjelmistojärjestelmät, joilla tarkoitetaan vanhoja ja vanhentuneita ohjelmistoja joita on tehty vanhentuneilla työskentelytavoilla, ovat todellisuus jonka kanssa suurin osa ohjelmistokehitysyrityksistä joutuvat kamppailemaan. Vanhat työskentelytavat ja teknologiat aiheuttavat usein ohjelmiston kehityksen ja julkaisun hidastumista, sillä niiden jatkuvassa käytössä voi piillä yhteensopivuus, turvallisuus, skaalautuvuus sekä ekonomisia ongelmia, muiden ongelmien muassa. Ohjelmistojärjestelmien modernisointi, uudelleensuunnittelu ja refaktorointi voivat lievittää vanhoista järjestelmistä nousevia ongelmia, oli se sitten työskentelytapojen muutoksella, teknologioiden päivityksellä tai ohjelmistoalustojen vaihdolla. On olemassa monia teknologioita ja metodeja jotka voivat helpottaa ohjelmistojärjestelmien modernisointia, mukaanlukien siirto käyttämään erilaista arkkitehtuuria, uusien teknologioiden käyttöönotto ja ohjelmistokehityksen tapojen vaihto. Näillä teknologioilla ja metodeilla, ja modernisaatiolla yleensäkkin, on omat riskinsä ja haasteensa, jotka tulee ottaa huomioon onnistuneen modernisaation aikaansaamiseksi; Nämä strategiset huomiot ovat avaintekijöitä modernisaatiossa. Tämä opinnäytetyö tutkii ohjelmistojen modernisaatiota yleisellä tasolla kirjallisuusarvostelun kautta, ja käyttää tietyn yrityksen tapaustutkimuksen dataa, joka on kerätty kyselyjen ja yhtiön lokien kautta, katsoen mitä teknologioita, konsepteja ja strategioita tarvitaan onnistuneeseen modernisaatioon, ja mitä vaikutuksia modernisaatiolla on modernisoitavaan ohjelmistojärjestelmään loppukäyttäjien sekä ohjelmistokehittäjien näkökulmasta. Tämän tutkimuksen lopputulos paljastaa miksi modernisaatio on monimutkainen aihe jossa on monia haasteita, mutta joka samaan aikaan tarjoaa monia hyötyjä modernisoitavalle ohjelmistojärjestelmälle. Näitä tuloksia on parasta käyttää ohjeina siihen, mihin ongelmiin kannattaa keskittyä modernisoinnin aikana, pitäen mielessä tapaustutkimuksen rajoitetun soveltamisalan.Legacy software systems, which refers to old and likely outdated software applications and practices, are a reality that most software development companies have to contend with. Old practices and technologies are often at fault for slowing down development and deployment of software, as they can have compatibility, security, scalability and economic issues with their continued use, among other issues. Software modernization, reengineering and refactoring can alleviate the issues stemming from legacy systems, whether it be in the form of altering practices, updating technologies or changing platforms. There are many technologies and methods that can facilitate the modernization of a software system, including a move to using different architectures, specific newer technologies and changing the methods of working and developing the software system. These technologies and methods, and modernization in general, come with their own risks and challenges that must be considered for a successful modernization to take place; These strategic considerations are a key factor in modernization. This thesis will explore software modernization in general through literature reviews and as a case study for a specific company using data from surveys and the case company’s logs, with a look into the technologies, concepts and strategies required for a successful modernization, and what kinds of effects modernization can have on the software system being modernized, both from a user perspective as well as from a developer perspective. The end-result of this exploration reveals that modernization is a complex subject with many challenges, but that also offers benefits to the software system being modernized. These results are best used as a guideline on what issues should be concentrated on during modernization, with a mindful consideration for the limited scope of the case study represented within

Historicizing the Emergence of Global Mental Health in Nepal (1950-2019)

This article traces a genealogy of mental health governance in Nepal as it was constituted in and through an assemblage of historical events, local politics, personal relationships and trends in the field of global health development. The relation between health development and local politics in Nepal is explored across four periods in the history of global health: 1) the early health development programs of disease eradication after the end of the Rana oligarchy (1951-1970); 2) the turn to primary health care during the Panchayat (1970-1990); 3) the rise of NGOs and the People’s War (1990-2010); and 4) the return to health systems development in the post-conflict/post-earthquake period (2010-present). By drawing on a combination of archival research and a cross-disciplinary review of the literature on global mental health, this article tracks the changing projects of mental health development programs in Nepal over the past century. In doing so, it becomes possible to observe the shifting trends in the problematization of mental health and the management of psychic life in Nepal from 1950 to the emergence of global mental health

A Black-Box Computational Business Rules Extraction Approach through Test-Driven Development

Business rules extraction is an important activity in situations in which a software system becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced by a newer system, since the replacing system needs to satisfy the business rules embedded in the legacy software system. In this paper, we investigate an approach in which the computational business rules of a legacy software system can be extracted given previously generated output of the system and without requiring access to the system’s source code. Furthermore, extracted computational business rules are validated automatically with minimal involvement of domain experts through Test-Driven Development (TDD) such that test cases are constructed from historic output of the system. The proposed approach is applied to extract the computational business rules of a large-scale governmental payroll legacy software system. The study results demonstrate that the suggested approach extracted computational business rules van meet a substantial number of test cases. Thus, the efforts involving domain experts can be reduces to analyze such instances

Decentralized fault-tolerant control of inland navigation networks: a challenge

Inland waterways are large-scale networks used principally for navigation. Even if the transport planning is an important issue, the water resource management is a crucial point. Indeed, navigation is not possible when there is too little or too much water inside the waterways. Hence, the water resource management of waterways has to be particularly efficient in a context of climate change and increase of water demand. This management has to be done by considering different time and space scales and still requires the development of new methodologies and tools in the topics of the Control and Informatics communities. This work addresses the problem of waterways management in terms of modeling, control, diagnosis and fault-tolerant control by focusing in the inland waterways of the north of France. A review of proposed tools and the ongoing research topics are provided in this paper.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Asabiyya: Re-Interpreting Value Change in Globalized Societies

This article reflects the renewed interest of economics and the social science discipline in value systems and religion. The World Values Survey provided a data framework of global value change, whose quantitative results led Barro (2004) to analyze the connections between some dimensions of recent sociological religious value research with economic growth. The present essay starts from this methodological position, and links value systems with economic performance in a much wider and macrosociological framework. We further develop the well-known Inglehart and Welzel (2003) map of global values, and develop the idea of "Asabiyya" ("social cohesion"), as a counter-model to both Barro and Inglehart and Welzel approaches. A frequently asked question is whether “modernization” without "spiritual values" in a globalized world economy and world society possible in the long run? Starting from principal component analysis, it is shown that rather two factors are decisive in understanding global value change: a continuum of "traditional versus secular", and a continuum "cheating versus active society". Asabiyya in the 21st Century, as a way out from the modernization trap of societies, characterized by large-scale social anomaly, is a high secularism combined with a high active society score, thus avoiding the "modernization trap". We show that economic growth in the current world crisis is far more connected with these dimensions. We conclude that not a society based on fear is needed in the first place, but an active society of volunteer social work.index numbers and aggregation, international political economy, religion, bureaucracy, corruption