Basic principles of SSM modelling: an examination of CATWOE from a soft perspective

This paper examines the SSM technique CATWOE, which focuses on defining necessary elements that together constitute a human activity system from a certain perspective. Despite its recognition within the literature and its numerous uses, there are few studies on how the technique can be improved. This research reflects on each of the elements both from a theoretical and a practical perspective. Findings point to the fact that some of the terms have a meaning in everyday language that differs from its definition within CATWOE. Other concepts are not well-defined. This is unfortunate and may both lead to misunderstandings and limit analysis. The paper points to a number of ways in which the use of CATWOE can be developed in order to further support the process of eliciting novel ideas for future actions. Hence, the overall conclusion is that the elements need to be rethought and some of them renamed

Creating Value for All Through IT: IFIP WG 8.6 International Conference on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, TDIT 2014, Aalborg, Denmark, June 2-4, 2014

International audienceBook Front Matter of AICT 42

Open Data in Europe – Mapping User Groups to Future Innovation Impacts

This study sets out to advance our understanding of how re-users are being portrayed in policy documents and in a set of topic reports. Drawing on user innovation theories, implications are discussed for the future innovation scene and its main identified user groups: companies and developers, researchers, journalists and non-governmental organisations. Findings reveal differences between the two types of documents, both in relation to the user groups presented and their role in the value chain. While the policy documents mainly acknowledged user groups belonging to the ICT sector and emphasised economic values, the topic reports presented a much more diverse and heterogeneous view of open data users; revealing that there is no ‘one’ user group and impact’, rather, outcomes such as service innovation were related to all user groups. In particular, possible implications for innovation were related to three areas: 1) which re-user groups are acknowledged in the selected policy documents and topic reports?, 2) where in the data value chain are the different re-users placed and what value are they expected to generate?, 3) how might the current way of portraying re-users in policy documents and topic reports influence the shaping of the emerging open data innovation scene? For conclusion, this paper points to the identified simplistic view of user group’s relation to innovation in the policy documents as a possible hindrance for obtaining a broad innovation scene where heterogeneous innovations can emerge

Mobile Applications Development on Apple and Google Platforms

The uptake of Internet-enabled multifunctional mobile devices is an emerging area within software development. This article examines the under-researched area of mobile application developers and considers some of the current challenges facing this sector within the IT workforce. We frame our study within the wider context of the evolution of the industry in order to illustrate how the emerging business model of mobile application development shapes the everyday practices of systems developers, specifically those working on iPhone and Android platforms. Drawing on qualitative research carried out in Sweden, the UK, and the U.S., we analyze developers’ experiences in order to illustrate how they respond and adapt to the turbulent environment of the IT sector

Towards a Taxonomy for Data-Driven Digital Services

Digitization is transforming every domain nowadays, leading to a growing body of knowledge on digital service innovation. Coupled with the generation and collection of big data, data-driven digital services are becoming of great importance to business, economy and society. This paper aims to classify the different types of data-driven digital services, as a first step to understand their characteristics and dynamics. A taxonomy is developed and the emerging characteristics include data acquisition mechanisms, data exploitation, insights utilization, and service interaction characteristics. The examined services fall into 15 distinct types and are further clustered into 3 classes of types: distributed analytics intermediaries, visual data-driven services, and analytics-embedded services. Such contribution enables service designers and providers to understand the key aspects in utilizing data and analytics in the design and delivery of their services. The taxonomy is set out to shape the direction and scope of scholarly discourse around digital service innovation research and practice

Disregarding History: Contemporary IS Contexts and Participatory Design

User participation has long been seen as a core topic of study within the IS field, yet its relevance to contemporary development environments and contexts has recently been brought into question. The aim of this article is to investigate the extent to which this rich history and experience is used to inform contemporary practices. We provide a survey that evaluates the degree to which PD (participatory design) is currently represented in the IS literature, the results of which reveal a low representation. Based on these findings, a number of propositions are offered

Outsourcing Creative Work: a Study of Mobile Application Development

As the mobile phone industry converges with the IT/software industry, the emerging internetenabled multifunctional mobile devices are bringing together many diverse stakeholders. This paper examines the under-researched area of mobile application developers. We frame our study within the wider context of the mobile application industry in order to illustrate how the business models of large IT firms shape the everyday practices of systems developers, specifically those working on iPhone and Android platforms. By broadening out the study in this way we are able to situate seemingly new and distinctive technological artefacts and practices and show how they build on a number of continuing trends within the field. Drawing on qualitative data with developers working in this emerging market, we analyse their practices in order to (a) provide detail on this under-studied area and (b) show the ways in which developers adapt to the turbulent environment of the IT sector

Facebook Users Attitudes towards Secondary Use of Personal Information

This paper reports on a study of how user attitudes to institutional privacy change after exposing users to potential inferences that can be made from information disclosed on Facebook. Two sets of focus group sessions with Facebook users were conducted. Three sessions were conducted by demonstrating to the users, on a general level, what can be inferred from posts using prototypical software called DataBait. Another set of three sessions let the users experience the potential inferences from their own actual Facebook profiles by using the DataBait tool. Findings suggest that the participants’ attitudes to secondary use of information changed from affective to cognitive when they were exposed to potential third-party inferences using their own actual personal information. This observation calls for more research into online tools that allow users to manage and educate themselves dynamically about their own disclosure practices

Gender perspective on older people’s exercise preferences and motivators in the context of falls prevention: a qualitative study

Background: Several factors have previously been identified to positively influence the uptake and adherence for fall prevention exercise programmes. There is, however, a lack of studies investigating if men and women differ in their views and preferences for fall prevention exercises. Aim: To explore exercise preferences and motivators of older community-dwelling women and men in the context of falls prevention from a gender perspective. Methods: Workshops including multistage focus group discussions were conducted with 18 older community-dwelling people with and without history of falls. Participants were purposively selected and divided into two groups. Each group met on six occasions over a period of five months. Participatory and Appreciative Action and Reflection methodology was used to guide the discussions. A qualitative content analysis approach was used in the analysis. Results: Older participants had many diverse preferences and confirmed that individually tailored exercise, in terms of mode, intensity, challenge, and social context, is important. Moreover, important factors for exercise adherence and maintenance included the experience of individual confirmation; different spirit lifters to increase enjoyment; and personal tricks to maintain exercise routines. The individual differences within genders were more diverse than the differences between women and men. Conclusion: Exercise interventions to prevent falls should be individually tailored, based on the specific needs and preferences of the older participant, and do not appear to require gender specific approaches. To increase adherence, intrinsic motivation for exercise may be encouraged by competence enhancing confirmations, energizing spirit lifters, and practical tips for exercise maintenance. The study provides an awareness about women's and men's preferences for fall prevention exercises, and this information could be used as guidance in designing inclusive exercise interventions