Contribution structures

The invisibility of the individuals and groups that gave rise to requirements artifacts has been identified as a primary reason for the persistence of requirements traceability problems. This paper presents an approach, based on modelling the dynamic contribution structures underlying requirements artifacts, which addresses this issue. We show how these structures can be defined, using information about the agents who have contributed to artifact production, in conjunction with details of the numerous traceability relations that hold within and between artifacts themselves. We describe a scheme, derived from work in sociolinguistics, which can be used to indicate the capacities in which agents contribute. We then show how this information can be used to infer details about the social roles and commitments of agents with respect to their various contributions and to each other. We further propose a categorisation for artifact-based traceability relations and illustrate how they impinge on the identification and definition of these structures. Finally, we outline how this approach can be implemented and supported by tools, explain the means by which requirements change can be accommodated in the corresponding contribution structures, and demonstrate the potential it provides for "personnel-based" requirements traceability

Interim research assessment 2003-2005 - Computer Science

This report primarily serves as a source of information for the 2007 Interim Research Assessment Committee for Computer Science at the three technical universities in the Netherlands. The report also provides information for others interested in our research activities

Managing Evolutionary Method Engineering by Method Rationale

This paper explores how to integrate formal meta-models with an informal method rationale to support evolutionary (continuous) method development. While the former provides an exact and computer-executable specification of a method, the latter enables concurrent learning, expansion, and refinement of method use (instances of meta-models) and meta-models (evolution of method specifications). We explain the need for method rationale by observing the criticality of evolving method knowledge in helping software organizations to learn, as well as by the recurrent failure to introduce rigid and stable methods. Like a design rationale, a method rationale establishes a systematic and organized trace of method evolution. Method rationale is located at two levels of type-instance hierarchy depending on its type of use and the scope of the changes traced. A method construction rationale garners a history of method knowledge evolution as part of the method engineering process, which designs and adapts the method to a given organizational context. A method use rationale maintains knowledge of concrete use contexts and their history and justifies further method deployment in alternative contexts, reveals limitations in its past use, and enables sharing of method use experience. The paper suggests how a method rationale helps share knowledge of methods between method users and engineers, explores how method engineers coordinate the evolution of the existing method base through it, and suggests ways to improve learning through method rationale

Improving Business Processes with the Internet of Things - A Taxonomy of IIoT Applications

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm constitutes the connection of uniquely identifiable things to the internet in an industrial context. It provides disruptive capabilities and value propositions, especially for the management and improvement of business processes. To exploit these, many companies have already implemented manifold IIoT applications along their value chain activities aiming at beneficial Business Process Improvements (BPI). However, research on IIoT-based BPI is low on theoretical insights. To add to the descriptive knowledge of the IIoT, a structured synoptic view and classification scheme are required. The work at hand addresses this need by providing a taxonomy of IIoT-based BPI applications. Based on the combination of an inductive and deductive research methodology, the created taxonomy consists of six dimensions, seven subdimensions, and 40 characteristics. The taxonomy is evaluated on a sample of 30 IIoT applications from the literature and 10 real-life applications from a market-leading company

Kajian tadbir urus teknologi maklumat organisasi awam di Gorontao-Indonesia

The concept of information technology (IT) governance has become a trend in public organizations sector in most countries. However, the implementation of IT governance in Indonesia continues to face problems and challenges, including weak understanding and assessment processes activities based on IT implementation. In addition, empirical studies related to IT governance within public organizations in Indonesia are limited. The main objective of this study is to develop an IT governance model in public organizations in Gorontalo, Indonesia. This study adapted the Control Objective for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) model which conformed to the principles of management of IT resources that form the basis of IT governance in Indonesia by studying the contribution factors of implementation IT governance in public organizations. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods which involved questionnaires, interviews, observations and documents. Quantitative data was collected via questionnaires that were distributed to 367 and the return rate was 90.6 percent. This data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to validate the research model and test the proposed research hypotheses. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain the management's views about IT governance activities and their implementation. Observations and documents analysis were used to observe how the activities and find data, information and resources for implementation of IT governance. The results show that the proposed model conforms to COBIT. The study also proves that COBIT together with the goal of and the principles of IT resource management that form the basis of IT governance in Indonesia has managed to enrich the model in describing understanding and implementation of IT governance. The results of this study contribute to knowledge to best practice of IT governance. This study can be used as a guide the best practice IT governance in Indonesia in the futur