Reflections on the concept of interoperability in information systems

Information systems interoperability is one of the main concerns and challenges of information systems managers and researchers, most of whom perceive and approach it on a pure or predominantly technological perspective. In this paper, we argue that a sociotechnical perspective of information systems interoperability should be adopted and we set out seven assertions that, if taken into consideration, may improve the understanding, management, and study of the information systems interoperability phenomenon.(undefined

Data privacy in interoperability environments – a case study in the Portuguese healthcare sector

Data sharing between organizations through interoperability initiatives involving multiple information systems is fundamental to promote the collaboration and integration of services. However, in terms of data, the considerable increase in its exposure to additional risks, require a special attention to issues related to privacy of these data. For the Portuguese healthcare sector, where the sharing of health data is, nowadays, a reality at national level, data privacy is a central issue, which needs solutions according to the agreed level of interoperability between organizations. This context led the authors to study the factors with influence on data privacy in a context of interoperability, through a qualitative and interpretative research, based on the method of case study. This article presents the final results of the research that successfully identifies 10 subdomains of factors with influence on data privacy, which should be the basis for the development of a joint protection program, targeted at issues associated with data privacy

Caracterização de um Agile Coordination Office para empresas TSI

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoA crescente competitividade do mercado levou a que as organizações realizassem vários projetos em simultâneo, para conseguirem manter um portefólio de produtos atualizado e reduzir o tempo de colocação desses produtos no mercado. Este aumento de projetos fez com que a sua gestão e coordenação se tornasse ainda mais complexa. Como resposta a este aumento de complexidade surgiu o conceito de Project Management Office (PMO), cuja principal função é facilitar a gestão e coordenação dos projetos da organização, e a partilha de recursos, metodologias, ferramentas e técnicas entre eles. Desde a formulação do manifesto ágil em 2001, novas práticas ágeis de desenvolvimento de software começaram a ser formalizadas em metodologias como o Scrum, o XP e o Kanban. No entanto, o PMO teve origem numa altura em que predominavam as abordagens tradicionais, sobretudo o modelo em cascata. Isto fez com que os PMOs fossem concebidos para suportar projetos que seguissem estes tipos de metodologias. Mas como atualmente os projetos ágeis são cada vez maiores e em maior quantidade, surge a necessidade de um gabinete especializado no suporte deste tipo de projetos. Atualmente, a literatura com caracterizações detalhadas deste tipo de estruturas é escassa. Assim sendo, a finalidade desta dissertação consistiu em caracterizar um gabinete de gestão de projetos ágeis, tendo como base o funcionamento dos PMOs, os valores e princípios ágeis, e alguns casos de estudo de gabinetes semelhantes que já existam. A metodologia escolhida para o desenvolvimento desta dissertação foi a Design Science Research complementada com diretrizes específicas para a pesquisa na área de sistemas de informação. O resultado esperado da aplicação desta metodologia é um artefacto que contribua para um novo conhecimento sobre a área em estudo, o que se verificou. O resultado principal desta dissertação foi um modelo, adequado para empresas de TSI, de um gabinete de coordenação ágil adaptável ao contexto organizacional, que facilita a sua implementação gradual e que suporta os vários níveis de gestão. Designado como Agile Coordination Office, este modelo foi avaliado e validado pelos experientes profissionais entrevistados, assim como pelos revisores do artigo, no qual foi exposto à comunidade o trabalho desenvolvido.The increasing market competitiveness has led organizations to carry out several projects simultaneously, in order to maintain an up-to-date portfolio of products and reduce the time-to-market of these products. This increase in the number of projects has made the management and coordination of these projects even more complex. In response to this increase in complexity was created the concept of Project Management Office (PMO) whose main function is to facilitate the management and coordination of the organization's projects, and the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques between them. Since the formulation of the agile manifesto in 2001, new agile software development practices began to be formalized in methodologies such as Scrum, XP and Kanban. However, the PMO originated at a time when traditional approaches predominated were used such as waterfall model. This made the PMOs specially designed to support projects that followed these kinds of methodologies. However, as agile projects are increasing in size and quantity, the need arises for a specialized office that supports that kind of projects. The literature about detailed characterizations of this type of structures is still very limited. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to characterize a coordination office for agile projects, based on the functions of the traditional PMOs, the agile values and principles, and some proposals of agile offices that already existed. The methodology chosen for the development of this dissertation was Design Science Research complemented with specific guidelines for information systems research. The expected result of the application of this methodology is an artifact that contributes to build new knowledge about the studied area, which was verified. The main result obtained in this dissertation was a model for IST companies of an Agile Coordination Office adaptable to the organizational context that facilitates its gradual implementation and supports the multiple levels of management. This model was evaluated and validated by the experienced professionals interviewed, as well as by reviewers of the full paper where the work developed was exposed to the community