The role of boundary objects in the co-evolution of design and use: the KMP project experimentation

Nowadays, it is widely recognized that an ICT tool cannot be built without knowing who will use it and what they will do with. In this perspective, Human-Computer Interaction community (Carroll, 1990; Jarke, Tung Bui and Carroll, 1998; Young and Barnard, 1987; Young and al., 1989) developed a scenario-based approach contrasting with the traditional information system design. The scenario describes an existing or envisioned system from the perspective of one or more users and includes a narration of their goals, plans and reactions (Rosson and Carroll, 2002). As a result, design is founded on the use of scenarios as a central representation for the analysis and design of use. The scenario-based design appears to be a first step in the integration of users in the design of ICT tool. However, we would like to underline in this paper a more active role of users in the design process. According to Orlikowski (2000) while a technology can be seen to have been constructed with particular materials and inscribed with developers' assumptions and knowledge about the world at a point in time, it is only when this technology is used in recurrent social practices that it can be said to structure user's action. The use of technology in recurrent social practices must be considered because how technological properties will for the moment be used or appropriate is not inherent or predetermined. Finally, this approach leads us to dissociate the designers' world from the users' world. In this perspective, the design project is the result of the co-evolution and the convergence of both worlds: on the one hand, the world of design and a first integration of users by scenarios; on the other hand, the world of users where innovation is the art of interesting an increasing number of allies who will make the world of design stronger and stronger. The objective of this paper is to understand the mechanisms of interaction between the world of design and that of users i.e. between loops of co-design and loops of uses. Indeed, according to Akrich, Callon and Latour (1988) we adopt a whirlwind model of innovation. In this perspective, “innovation continuously transforms itself according to the trials to which it is submitted i.e. of the “interessements” tried out » (Akrich and al., 2002: 7). We will demonstrate that the key success of an innovation depends on the co-evolution and convergence of design and use around boundary objects developed during this process (see Figure 1). More specifically, we will show the role of boundary objects on the integration and on the involvement of users in the design process. In order to do so, we carried out an empirical research – the Knowledge Management Platform project - located in the scientific park of Sophia Antipolis (Alpes-Maritimes, France), focusing on the Telecom Valley® (TV) association which gathers the main actors of the Sophia Antipolis Telecom cluster. Indeed, the KMP project aims to build a semantic web service of competencies in order to enhance exchange and combination dynamics of knowledge within the Telecom cluster thanks to an interactive mapping of competencies. This paper will comprise three parts: Based on the researches of Akrich, Callon and Latour (1988), Hatchuel and Mollet (1986), Orlikowski (2000), Romme and Endenburg (2006) we will identify and analyse in a first part the process of design. The combination of these approaches leads us to distinguish the design' world from the users' world. In this perspective, the success of an innovation may be explained by the co-evolution and the convergence of these two worlds. In this process, we suggest that boundary objects play a key role in the convergence of these two worlds. We will present in a second part the empirical study of the KMP project within the TV network. The KMP project involved researchers from socio-economic sciences (GREDEG Laboratory, UNSA-CNRS, Rodige and Latapses teams), cognitive sciences and artificial intelligence (INRIA, Acacia team), telecommunications (GET) and users (TV) for a total force of 187 men per month for a two-year period (2003-2005). At this present time this project is being set up in a pre-industrialization phase, supported by TV and the PACA region. Here, we will analyse the specific process of design experimented by KMP. Finally, the third part discusses the role of boundary objects in the KMP experimentation. In this part, we will show the evolution of boundary objects during the loops of design. More specifically, the focus will be on the emergence of compromises between designers and users, their materialisation in boundary objects and finally their evolution during the design' process.boundary objects, IS development, actor network theory

The influence of technology, environment and user acceptance on the effectiveness of information system project selection using SEM

The selection of the present information system project is difficult because of the many factors that influence it. Information system project should pay attention to the user acceptance, technology and the environment in terms of their influence on the information system project selection.The purpose of this paper is to determine how much influence user acceptance, technology and the environment have on the information system project selection.This research uses data obtained from several ministries and analyzed using SEM (Structural Equation Models).The results found that the technology and the environment affects user acceptance. Moreover, technology and environment affect the effectiveness of the information systems project selection through the mediating effect of user acceptance. User acceptance, tested by the incorporation of usefulness and ease of use, the results are more modest and in line with previous theories. Furthermore, the external environment highly impacts the information system project selection

THE ANALYSIS OF INFORMATICS SECURITY COSTS IN CITIZEN ORIENTED APPLICATIONS

The paper highlights the analysis of informatics security costs for the citizen oriented applications. The citizen oriented informatics applications are defined. The differences brought by these when compared with the traditional applications are described. Structures of citizen oriented informatics applications are presented. A few common citizen oriented applications are discussed. The special security requirements of the citizen oriented applications are discussed. Ways of increasing the security of the applications are given.security, cost, estimation, citizen orientation, distributed applications

Fog Computing: A Taxonomy, Survey and Future Directions

In recent years, the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices/sensors has increased to a great extent. To support the computational demand of real-time latency-sensitive applications of largely geo-distributed IoT devices/sensors, a new computing paradigm named "Fog computing" has been introduced. Generally, Fog computing resides closer to the IoT devices/sensors and extends the Cloud-based computing, storage and networking facilities. In this chapter, we comprehensively analyse the challenges in Fogs acting as an intermediate layer between IoT devices/ sensors and Cloud datacentres and review the current developments in this field. We present a taxonomy of Fog computing according to the identified challenges and its key features.We also map the existing works to the taxonomy in order to identify current research gaps in the area of Fog computing. Moreover, based on the observations, we propose future directions for research

User Satisfaction Using Webqual Instrument: a Research on Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)

User satisfaction held an important position in an organization to measure information system implementation excellence. Therefore, it is necessary for an organization to evaluate their delivered service using end-user satisfaction as feedback. The objectives of this study are to evaluate user satisfaction and examine the dimensions of WEBQUAL instrument which are valued by e-library user in Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). This research conducted under WEBQUAL theory (Barnes and Vidgen) and end-user satisfaction theory (Doll and Torkzadeh). Analysis organized from a set of data which involve 341 responses from e-library systems end-users confirm some degree of positive association between WEBQUAL dimensions and end-user satisfaction

IS2020 A Competency Model for Undergraduate Programs in Information Systems: The Joint ACM/AIS IS2020 Task Force

The IS2020 report is the latest in a series of model curricula recommendations and guidelines for undergraduate degrees in Information Systems (IS). The report builds on the foundations developed in previous model curricula reports to develop a major revision of the model curriculum with the inclusion of significant new characteristics. Specifically, the IS2020 report does not directly prescribe a degree structure that targets a specific context or environment. Rather, the IS2020 report provides guidance regarding the core content of the curriculum that should be present but also provides flexibility to customize curricula according to local institutional needs

An Analysis of Service Ontologies

Services are increasingly shaping the world’s economic activity. Service provision and consumption have been profiting from advances in ICT, but the decentralization and heterogeneity of the involved service entities still pose engineering challenges. One of these challenges is to achieve semantic interoperability among these autonomous entities. Semantic web technology aims at addressing this challenge on a large scale, and has matured over the last years. This is evident from the various efforts reported in the literature in which service knowledge is represented in terms of ontologies developed either in individual research projects or in standardization bodies. This paper aims at analyzing the most relevant service ontologies available today for their suitability to cope with the service semantic interoperability challenge. We take the vision of the Internet of Services (IoS) as our motivation to identify the requirements for service ontologies. We adopt a formal approach to ontology design and evaluation in our analysis. We start by defining informal competency questions derived from a motivating scenario, and we identify relevant concepts and properties in service ontologies that match the formal ontological representation of these questions. We analyze the service ontologies with our concepts and questions, so that each ontology is positioned and evaluated according to its utility. The gaps we identify as the result of our analysis provide an indication of open challenges and future work

Design Foundations for AI Assisted Decision Making: A Self Determination Theory Approach

Progress of technology and processing power has enabled the advent of sophisticated technology including Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents. AI agents have penetrated society in many forms including conversation agents or chatbots. As these chatbots have a social component to them, is it critical to evaluate the social aspects of their design and its impact on user outcomes. This study employs Social Determination Theory to examine the effect of the three motivational needs on user interaction outcome variables of a decision-making chatbot. Specifically, this study looks at the influence of relatedness, competency, and autonomy on user satisfaction, engagement, decision efficiency, and decision accuracy. A carefully designed experiment revealed that all three needs are important for user satisfaction and engagement while competency and autonomy is associated with decision accuracy. These findings highlight the importance of considering psychological constructs during AI design. Our findings also offer useful implications for AI designers and organizations that plan on using AI assisted chatbots to improve decision-making efforts

The Relationship Between the Earning of Career and Technical Industry Credentials and the Virginia Economy

Nationally, the labor market is calling out for workers to fill the increasing number of job vacancies, but those qualified, skilled, and able to fill them are limited in supply or retiring in large numbers. As America’s key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary skills and credentials to fill their vacancies, the skills learned and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem to make a perfect fit for the student, employer, and the economy. However, unlike the favored US educational model of the four-year degree, the continued outdated perception of CTE and low level of awareness of industry credentials held by the public, educators, and students, continue to perpetuate this skills crisis while undermining the economic potential for Virginia’s high school students. Using a non-experimental, quantitative study, employing ex post facto data, a Likert survey, and a closed-ended question survey, this research shows, in dollar terms, the economic value of CTE industry credentials for the students who earn them, the VDOE superintendent region in which they live, and for Virginia’s Treasury in terms of potential income tax revenue for the next five years. The implications of this research are noteworthy for policymakers, school leaders, CTE advocates, for changing the perception of CTE and industry credentials, but most importantly, for the success of Virginia’s high school graduates