Global Innovations in Measurement and Evaluation

We researched the latest developments in theory and practice in measurement and evaluation. And we found that new thinking, techniques, and technology are influencing and improving practice. This report highlights 8 developments that we think have the greatest potential to improve evaluation and programme design, and the careful collection and use of data. In it, we seek to inform and inspire—to celebrate what is possible, and encourage wider application of these ideas

Critical success factors for integrating security into a DevOps environment

Integrating security into a DevOps environment, also known as DevSecOps, can allow organisations to deliver more secure applications and services faster to market. While many publications address the theoretical benefits and challenges of security integration, there is a lack of practical insight to guide organisations towards a successful integration. As a result, many organisations fail to achieve DevSecOps due to the historical differences that hinder collaboration between teams. This study investigates the critical success factors for DevSecOps integration using a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were held with eight senior staff members directly involved in establishing DevSecOps integration within a large organisation. Thematic analysis of data across three categories (people, processes, and technology) identified eight major themes: executive support, security champions, security training, way-of-working, governance framework, secure pipeline, automation, and technology. Based on these findings a framework is proposed to inform and guide organisations on DevSecOps integration

Critical success factors for integrating security into a DevOps environment

Integrating security into a DevOps environment, also known as DevSecOps, can allow organisations to deliver more secure applications and services faster to market. While many publications address the theoretical benefits and challenges of security integration, there is a lack of practical insight to guide organisations towards a successful integration. As a result, many organisations fail to achieve DevSecOps due to the historical differences that hinder collaboration between teams. This study investigates the critical success factors for DevSecOps integration using a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews were held with eight senior staff members directly involved in establishing DevSecOps integration within a large organisation. Thematic analysis of data across three categories (people, processes, and technology) identified eight major themes: executive support, security champions, security training, way-of-working, governance framework, secure pipeline, automation, and technology. Based on these findings a framework is proposed to inform and guide organisations on DevSecOps integration

An agile information flow consolidator for delivery of quality software projects: technological perspective from a South African start-up

In today’s knowledge-based economy, modern organisations understand the importance of technology in their quest to be considered global leaders. South African markets like others worldwide are regularly flooded with the latest technology trends which can complicate the acquisition, use, management and maintenance of software. To achieve a competitive edge, companies tend to leverage agile methods with the best possible combination of innovative supporting tools as a key differentiator. Software technology firms are in this light faced with determining how to leverage technology and efficient development processes for them to consistently deliver quality software projects and solutions to their customer base. Previous studies have discussed the importance of software development processes from a project management perspective. African academia has immensely contributed in terms of software development and project management research which has focused on modern frameworks, methodologies as well as project management techniques. While the current research continues with this tradition by presenting the pertinence of modern agile methodologies, it additionally further describes modern agile development processes tailored in a sub-Saharan context. The study also aims novelty by showing how innovative sometimes disruptive technology tools can contribute to producing African software solutions to African problems. To this end, the thesis contains an experimental case study where a web portal is prototyped to assist firms with the management of agile project management and engineering related activities. Literature review, semi-structure interviews as well as direct observations from the industry use case are used as data sources. Underpinned by an Activity Theory analytical framework, the qualitative data is analysed by leveraging content and thematic oriented techniques. This study aims to contribute to software engineering as well as the information systems body of knowledge in general. The research hence ambitions to propose a practical framework to promote the delivery of quality software projects and products. For this thesis, such a framework was designed around an information system which helps organizations better manage agile project management and engineering related activities.Information SciencePh. D. (Information Systems

My boy builds coffins. Future memories of your loved ones

The research is focus on the concept of storytelling associated with product design, trying to investigate new ways of designing and a possible future scenario related to the concept of death. MY BOY BUILDS COFFINS is a gravestone made using a combination of cremation’s ashes and resin. It is composed by a series of holes in which the user can stitch a text, in order to remember the loved one. The stitching need of a particular yarn produced in Switzerland using some parts of human body. Project also provides another version which uses LED lights instead of the yarn. The LEDs - thanks to an inductive coupling - will light when It will be posed in the hole. The gravestone can be placed where you want, as if it would create a little altar staff at home. In this way, there is a real connection between the user and the dearly departed

Successful Innovation Strategies in Norwegian Service Firms.

This thesis aims to explore the service innovation strategies adopted by successful startups, scaleups, and corporate firms in Norway. The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze the factors that contribute to the success of service innovation, with a focus on innovation strategies implemented in different modes of innovation and product market fit. The main approach for gathering data for this study's qualitative research method was semistructured interviews. Respondents from six firms that have had experience implementing service innovation strategies participated in the interviews. The intersubjective analysis approach was chosen for the analysis of the data. The results of this study imply that successful companies in Norway are moving toward a more service-oriented strategy with an emphasis on giving customers value-added services. Understanding customer needs, creating long-lasting solutions to meet those goals, and delivering a great user experience are the fundamental elements that make service innovation successful. The idea of servitization—where businesses shift toward providing a wider range of services—is also gaining popularity. Additionally, service innovation is greatly facilitated, and the likelihood of success is increased by innovative business models. By presenting details about the service innovation methods of successful startups, scaleups, and corporate businesses in Norway, this study adds to the body of literature on the topic. With an emphasis on business model innovation and servitization, this study provides practitioners with a thorough framework to use for effective service innovation. Key Words: Innovation, Strategy, Business model, and Servitization

Challenges in customer-supplier relationship management in bespoke software development: a survey

openBespoke software development needs the engaged involvement of customers in each phase of the development life cycle, as the client's perspective and contribution are essential to the success of the project. At present, most of the software houses that work on commissioned supply adopt agile methodologies in the intent of achieving customer loyalty and of lowering time to market. Frequently however, the relationship between customers and suppliers may be undermined by a range of latent factors whose detection should need thorough attention and mitigation to keep the project afloat. Such problems as domain language barriers, unclear definition of scope, requirements, milestones and responsibilities, passive and defensive attitude in place of collaborative approaches, and different levels of expertise between teams and customers, may all spawn divergence in scope, loss of quality, and incorrect estimations. This work presents a survey that investigates the main factors of influence on breakages in the relationship between customers and suppliers, addressing the perspectives of the two sides of the fence.Bespoke software development needs the engaged involvement of customers in each phase of the development life cycle, as the client's perspective and contribution are essential to the success of the project. At present, most of the software houses that work on commissioned supply adopt agile methodologies in the intent of achieving customer loyalty and of lowering time to market. Frequently however, the relationship between customers and suppliers may be undermined by a range of latent factors whose detection should need thorough attention and mitigation to keep the project afloat. Such problems as domain language barriers, unclear definition of scope, requirements, milestones and responsibilities, passive and defensive attitude in place of collaborative approaches, and different levels of expertise between teams and customers, may all spawn divergence in scope, loss of quality, and incorrect estimations. This work presents a survey that investigates the main factors of influence on breakages in the relationship between customers and suppliers, addressing the perspectives of the two sides of the fence

The effect of open-source software technologies in health-tech startups

Abstract. The research investigates how open-source technology improves product efficiency and identifies the challenges encountered by startups when introducing open-source software technologies in the startups. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare startups based in Oulu. Thematic data analysis was performed to analyse the collected data and identified common themes and sub-themes to the research objective