Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen Activity Report 2002.

Abstract not availableJRC.G-Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (Ispra

Reviewing qualitative research approaches in the context of critical infrastructure resilience

Modern societies are increasingly dependent on the proper functioning of critical infrastructures (CIs). CIs produce and distribute essential goods or services, as for power transmission systems, water treatment and distribution infrastructures, transportation systems, communication networks, nuclear power plants, and information technologies. Being resilient becomes a key property for CIs, which are constantly exposed to threats that can undermine safety, security, and business continuity. Nowadays, a variety of approaches exist in the context of CIs’ resilience research. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review on the approaches that have a complete qualitative dimension, or that can be used as entry points for semi-quantitative analyses. The study aims to uncover the usage of qualitative research methods through a systematic review based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). The paper identifies four principal dimensions of resilience referred to CIs (i.e., techno-centric, organisational, community, and urban) and discusses the related qualitative methods. Besides many studies being focused on energy and transportation systems, the literature review allows to observe that interviews and questionnaires are most frequently used to gather qualitative data, besides a high percentage of mixed-method research. The article aims to provide a synthesis of literature on qualitative methods used for resilience research in the domain of CIs, detailing lessons learned from such approaches to shed lights on best practices and identify possible future research directions

Mapping the unseen: making sense of the subjective image.

It used to be thought that photography, as a kind of automatic mapping, could provide an objective view of the world. Now we are aware of the power of framing and other interventions between what is 'out there' and what is captured in depiction. Perhaps even perception, let alone depiction, shares this subjectivity? The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that different cultures actually see the world in different ways, as evidenced and influenced by concepts in their languages – though this idea has been derided, for example by Pinker. A key difficulty is that the word subjectivity is bandied about without care for its different meanings and without distinguishing the many forms it takes in the graphic image. If into this muddle we introduce the idea of interactivity, still greater confusion easily follows. The chapter brings some order to different kinds and levels of subjectivity by documenting how they are reflected in forms of graphical mapping. In the process, it becomes clear how significant is the change in media technologies from those bound by the conventional rectangles of the page and screen to media which are interactive, pervasive, multimodal, physical and social

Investigating enterprise application integration (EAI) adoption in the local government authorities (LGAs)

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis focuses on investigating Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) adoption in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). EAI has emerged to support organisations to integrate their Information Technology (IT) infrastructures and deliver high quality of services. Despite the fact that several private and public organisations have adopted EAI, its application in LGAs is limited. This may illustrate that LGAs develop EAI solutions at a slower pace and they can be characterised as a laggard comparing to other sectors. The small number of EAI applications in LGAs has resulted in limited research in this area with many issues, like its adoption requiring further investigation. Literature indicates various models that analyse various factors influencing EAI adoption in the private and public domain. However, the applicability and validity of these models is arguable and under research in LGAs, as these were proposed to support the decision-making process in other sectors and not in LGAs. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, none of the existing EAI adoption models explored the importance of factors during different phases of the adoption lifecycle. Notwithstanding, the implications of EAI have yet to be assessed, leaving scope for timeliness and novel research. Thus, the researcher demonstrates that it is of high importance to investigate this area within LGAs and result in research that contributes towards successful EAI adoption. This thesis makes a step forward and contributes to the body of knowledge as it: investigates factors influencing the decision making process for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.2), analyses and proposes the adoption lifecycle phases (Figure 3.3), maps and prioritises the importance of EAI adoption factors on different phases of the adoption lifecycle (Chapter 5 for empirical results) and in doing so, to propose a model for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.7). The researcher claims that such an EAI adoption process in LGAs is significant and novel as: it extends established norms for EAI adoption, by including Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique for prioritising the importance of factors, thus, enabling LGAs to produce more robust proposals for EAI adoption. The researcher discusses on EAI adoption by using a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study research strategy. Findings from three case organisations exhibit that such an approach contributes towards more robust decisions for EAI adoption and indicates that it is acceptable by the case organisations. Despite these results cannot be generalised, yet they can allow others to relate their views with the ones reported in this thesis. This thesis proposes, tests and presents a novel model for EAI adoption in LGAs and contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the literature

An architecture governance approach for Agile development by tailoring the Spotify model

The role of software architecture in large-scale Agile development is important because several teams need to work together to release a single software product while helping to maximise teams’ autonomy. Governing and aligning Agile architecture across autonomous squads (i.e., teams), when using the Spotify model, is a challenge because the Spotify model lacks practices for addressing Agile architecture governance. To explore how software architecture can be governed and aligned by scaling the Spotify model, we conducted a longitudinal embedded case study in a multinational FinTech organisation. Then, we developed and evaluated an approach for architectural governance by conducting an embedded case study. The collected data was analysed using Thematic Analysis and informed by selected Grounded Theory techniques such as memoing, open coding, constant comparison, and sorting. Our approach for architectural governance comprises an organisational structure change and an architecture change management process. The benefits reported by the practitioners include devolving architectural decision-making to the operational level (i.e., Architecture Owners), enhancing architectural knowledge sharing among squads, minimising wasted effort in architectural refactoring, and other benefits. The practitioners in our case study realised an improved squad autonomy by the ability to govern and align architectural decisions. We provide two key contributions in this paper. First, we present the characteristics of our proposed architectural governance approach, its evaluation, benefits, and challenges. Second, we present how the novel Heterogeneous Tailoring model was enhanced to accommodate our architectural governance approach

Distributed development of large-scale distributed systems: the case of the particle physics grid

Developing a Grid within High Energy Physics for the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator is characterised as a highly collaborative, distributed and dynamic systems development effort. This research examines the way this distributed Grid is developed, deployed and provided as a service to the thousands of physicists analysing data from the Large Hadron Collider. The particle physics community has always been at the forefront of computing with a tradition of working in large distributed collaborations, therefore providing a "distinctive" case of distributed systems development practice. The focus of concern is the collaborative systems development practices employed by particle physicists in their attempt to develop a usable Grid. The research aims to offer lessons and practical recommendations to those involved in globally distributed systems development and to inform the information systems development literature. Global software development presents unaddressed challenges to organisations and it is argued that there is an urgent need for new systems development practices and strategies to be created that can facilitate and embrace the rapid changes of the environment and the complexities involved in such projects. The contribution of the study, therefore, is a framework of guidance towards engendering what the author defines as "Hybrid Experimental Agile Distributed Systems Development Communities" revealing a set of dynamic collaborative practices for those organisational contexts engaged in distributed systems development. The framework will allow them to reflect on their own practice and perhaps foster a similarly dynamic flexible community in order to manage their global software development effort. The research is in the form of an interpretative qualitative exploratory case study, which draws upon Activity Theory, and frames the Grid's distributed development activity as a complex overarching networked activity system influenced by the context, the community's tools, rules, norms, culture, history, past experiences, shared visions and collaborative way of working. Tensions and contradictions throughout the development of this Grid are explored and surfaced, with the research focusing on how these are resolved in order for the activity system to achieve stability. Such stability leads to the construction of new knowledge and learning and the formation of new systems development practices. In studying this, practices are considered as an emergent property linked to improvisation, bricolage and dynamic competences that unfold as large-scale projects evolve

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (2/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 2 of