118 research outputs found

    Linking Research and Teaching: an Applied Soft Systems Methodology Case Study

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    This paper links research and teaching through an applied Soft Systems Methodology case study. The case study focuses on the redevelopment of a Research and Professional Skills module to provide support for international postgraduate students through the use of formative feedback with the aim of increasing academic research skills and confidence. The stages of the Soft Systems Methodology were used as a structure for the redevelopment of module content and assessment. It proved to be a valuable tool for identifying complex issues, a basis for discussion and debate from which an enhanced understanding was gained and a successful solution implemented together with a case study that could be utilised for teaching Soft Systems Methodology concepts. Changes to the module were very successful and resulted in significantly higher grades and a higher pass rate

    Information systems, software engineering, and systems thinking: challenges and opportunities

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    This article traces past research on the application of the systems approach to information systems development within the disciplines of information systems and software engineering. Their origins historically are related to a number of areas, including general systems theory. While potential improvement of software development practices is linked by some leading experts to the application of more systemic methods, the current state of the practice in software engineering and information systems development shows this is some way from being achieved. The authors propose possible directions for future research and practical work on bringing together both fields with systems thinking

    Software and systems engineering lifecycle processes and the ISO/IEC 29110 standards and guides

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    This special issue was motivated by the need to promote and disseminate recent advances in the field of Software and Systems Engineering Process Lifecycle Management as applied to Very Small Entities utilizing the Management and Engineering guides of the ISO/IEC 291110 standard, both at academic and industry level. Very Small Entities (VSEs) are enterprises, organizations (e.g. public or non-profit), departments or projects having up to 25 people

    A conceptual descriptive-comparative study of models and standards of processes in sE, swE, and It disciplines using the theory of systems

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    The increasing design, manufacturing, and provision complexity of high-quality, cost-efficient and trustworthy products and services has demanded the exchange of best organizational practices in worldwide organizations. While that such a realization has been available to organizations via models and standards of processes, the myriad of them and their heavy conceptual density has obscured their comprehension and practitioners are confused in their correct organizational selection, evaluation, and deployment tasks. Thus, with the ultimate aim to improve the task understanding of such schemes by reducing its business process understanding complexity, in this article we use a conceptual systemic model of a generic business organization derived from the theory of systems to describe and compare two main models (CMMI/SE/SwE, 2002; ITIL V.3, 2007) and four main standards (ISO/IEC 15288, 2002; ISO/IEC 12207, 1995; ISO/IEC 15504, 2005; ISO/IEC 20000, 2006) of processes. Description and comparison are realized through a mapping of them onto the systemic model

    An extensive review of IT service design in seven international ITSM processes frameworks: Part II

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    The main international IT Service Management processes frameworks (ITIL v2, ISO/IEC 20000, COBIT 4.0, CMMI-SVC, MOF 4.0, and ITUP) include the design of IT services as part of their main best practices. However, despite having a common purpose and conceptual structure, they are organized differently. Hence, ITSM academic researchers and practitioners need to integrate a broad and diverse literature in relation to these frameworks. In Part I of this research, the authors pursued the goal of a descriptive-comparative analysis of fundamental concepts and IT service architecture design models used in the seven ITSM frameworks. In this paper (Part II) we complete this systemic analysis by using the ISO/IEC 15288 systems engineering standard and focusing on the IT design processes and practices reported in the aforementioned ITSM frameworks. Specifically, CMMI-SVC and ITUP are assessed in overall as the strongest frameworks from an engineering view, MOF 4.0 and ITIL v3 as moderate, and ISO/IEC 20000, ITIL v2 and COBIT as the weakest. ITSM academicians and in particular practitioners thus will need to distinguish their utilization according to the level of required detail of the IT service design process. This paper aims to advance our comprehension and understanding on the state of the art regarding what are IT services and how they can be designed. Thus it is of broad significance to ITSM researchers and practitioners

    Towards a wider application of the systems approach in information systems and software engineering

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    The chapter provides possible directions for the wider application of the systems approach to information systems development. Potential improvement of software development practices is linked by some leading experts to the application of more systemic ideas. However, the current state of the practice in software engineering and information systems development shows the urgent need for improvement through greater application of systems thinking

    Short-Term Power Demand Forecasting Using Blockchain-Based Neural Networks Models

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    With the rapid development of blockchain technology, blockchain-based neural network short-term power demand forecasting has become a research hotspot in the power industry. This paper aims to combine neural network algorithms with blockchain technology to establish a trustworthy and efficient short-term demand forecasting model. By leveraging the distributed ledger and immutability features of blockchain, we ensure the security and reliability of power demand data. Meanwhile, short-term power demand forecasting research using neural networks has the potential to increase the stability of the power system and offer opportunities for improved operations. In this paper, the root mean-square-error model evaluation indicator was used to compare the back propagation (BP) neural network algorithm and the traditional forecasting algorithm. The evaluation was performed on the randomly selected five household power datasets. The results show that, by comparing the long short-term memory network (LSTM) model with the BP neural network model, it was determined that the average prediction impact increases by about 25.7% under stable power demand. The short-term power prediction model of the BP neural network has the average error values more than two times lower than the traditional prediction model. It was shown that the use of the BP neural network algorithm and blockchain could increase the accuracy of short-term power demand forecasting, allowing the neural network-based algorithm to be implemented and taken into account in the research on short-term power demand forecasting

    Intervention or collaboration?:redesigning information and communication technologies for development

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    How can we design and build digital technologies to support people in poor and low-resource environments to achieve their objectives? And how can we do this inclusivelyand ethically, while considering the complexity of their living and working environ-ments? This is the central question in my research.One of the grand challenges of international development cooperation is to makedigital technologies available for social and economic development of poor regions ofthe world. To achieve this goal – often referred to as ICT4D – knowledge and tech-nologies are transferred from wealthy countries to poor regions. Nevertheless, theseefforts have often turned out unsuccessful and unsustainable, despite large budgetsand numerous projects in prestigious international development programs.Mismatch between the transferred technologies and the target environment is a re-current problem of ICT4D projects. Improvement can be achieved, for example, byinvolving end-users in the design process. International development organizationsare aware of this, and terms like "co-creation", "participation" and "user-oriented de-sign" have nowadays become part of the international development discourse. How-ever,realco-creation and user-centered design are incompatible with unidirectionaltransfer of technologies and knowledge (this is how ICT4D is commonly organized,in conventional international development). Moreover, the term participation becomesmeaningless, in the light of externally formulated development goals.One key question to ask is:what do the envisaged users want?Remarkably, many ICT4Dprojects, programs and policies do not really ask and (field) investigate this question,which can only be answered by extensive research on-the-ground.This thesis describes the search for and the design of an alternative approach toICT4D. Ten years of field and action research with partners in Mali, Burkina Faso, andGhana have led to a collaborative, iterative and adaptive approach, dubbed "ICT4D3.0". What is novel of this alternative approach and how does it answer the centralquestion?First of all, ICT4D3.0is a practical approach for critical investigation and action.It consists of a reconfigurable framework that guides the design and development ofinformation systems, bridging the knowledge gap between developers and users tounlock and integrate different domains of (global, local, indigenous, academic, non-academic) knowledge. It targets complex, resource-constrained environments wheremany (for the ICT developers and researchers) unfamiliar conditions or obstacles mayexist. It fosters innovative capacity and learning in action, bringing together peoplewith different backgrounds and perspectives in trans-disciplinary and multiculturalteams. It is socio-technical, result-oriented, focused on the objectives of the stakeholders ers and the requirements of their livelihoods. This approach has been validated invarious different contexts, by users, ICT developers, practitioners and students.Second, ICT4D3.0contributes to a theoretical understanding of ICT4D as a processof networked innovation in complex (adaptive) systems. The underlying idea is thatknowledge sharing and diffusion of innovations are complex (non-linear) dynamicprocesses that evolve and propagate through social networks in rather unpredictableways, whereby innovation works out differently, depending on context, and wherebycontextual (e.g. social, cultural, environmental, political) factors play an important role,and have to be considered. This theoretical framework explains the effectiveness of acollaborative, iterative, adaptative approach in ICT4D.Third, ICT4D3.0is built on ethical principles. When reflecting on the meaningand purpose of digital development, it is clear that digital development is not onlya question of technology and practice, and collaboration is more than a prerequisitefor successful technological innovation and long-term sustainability: collaboration isa fundamental human, ethical value. Therefore, as a reflective practitioner, one hasto ask oneself whose interests one is actually looking after, which goals one is tryingto achieve, where they come from, how power and political issues play a role andwhich core values are at stake. This makes ICT4D3.0into a democratic process of di-alogue and deliberation, in which all voices are heard, in which the local context andcomplexity are central, and in which development goals are determined by the usersthemselves and not imposed from outside. In this light, the approach proposed in thisthesis takes a value position and can be considered a decolonial approach, striving fordemocracy, emancipation, autonomy and social and economic betterment.Field experience shows that ICT4D can be a meaningful, collaborative, networkedprocess of knowledge sharing, driven by local initiatives, realizing change for the better,in a complex world
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