Exploring Strengths and Limits on Open Source Software Engineering Processes: A Research Agenda

Many researchers have investigated the nature and characteristics of open source software (OSS) projects and their developer communities. In this position paper, after examining some success factors, we discuss potential limits on the replicability and portability of OSS engineering processes. Based on this analysis, we propose a research agenda to better understand the current nature of the processes and thus the strengths and the limitations

Well-Being and Sustainability in Crisis Areas: The Case of Taranto

Unresilient and fragile regions need methods and data able to make policy-makers acknowledge the specific criticalities by which they are affected, so as to build effective development strategies and policies. This research explores whether and to what extent well-being and sustainability measurement frameworks are able to recognize crisis areas. We identified Taranto (Italy), declared as both a National Priority Contaminated Site and a Complex Industrial Crisis area, as a paradigmatic and extreme case of crisis areas and adopted the single case approach to address our research question. After reviewing several frameworks able to measure well-being at local level, we focused on Benessere Equo e Sostenibile dei Territori (Equitable and Sustainable Territorial Well-being, BESdT). We used two aggregate indexes to analyze data, namely the Adjusted Mazziotta-Pareto Index and the Adjusted Differences Mean Index. The study shows that, although BESdT does detect some criticalities of the examined area, it seems not able to adequately frame the multifaceted crisis that affects the area of Taranto. Even in presence of a full-blown crisis, the problematic situation does not always reflect into lower territorial performance, neither at the level of single indicators nor at the level of entire domains. Such discrepancy appears to be particularly evident within the economic domain. The paper ends with a discussion on the research and policy implications and some proposals for further research

Digital Transformation Models for the I4.0 Transition: Lessons from the Change Management Literature

The growing diffusion of digital technologies, especially in production systems, is leading to a new industrial paradigm, named Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which involves disruptive changes in the way companies organize production and create value. Organizations willing to seize the opportunities of I4.0 must thus innovate their processes and business models. The challenges that companies must face for the transition towards I4.0 paradigm are not trivial. Several digital transformation models and roadmaps have been lately proposed in the literature to support companies in such a transition. The literature on change management stresses that about 70% of change initiatives—independently of the aim—fail to achieve their goals due to the implementation of transformation programs that are affected by well-known mistakes or neglect some relevant aspects, such as lack of management support, lack of clearly defined and achievable objectives and poor communication. This paper investigates whether and to what extent the existing digital transformation models (DTMs) and roadmaps for I4.0 transition consider the lessons learnt in the field of change management. To this aim, a Systematic Literature Review to identify existing models and roadmaps is carried out. The results obtained by the review are discussed under the lens of the change-management literature. Based on that, the shortcomings and weaknesses of existing DTMs are pinpointed. Extant DTMs mainly focus on digital transformation initiatives carried out in manufacturing companies; they do not cover all the phases of the digital transformation process but rather focus on the definition of the I4.0 vision, strategy and roadmap. Little attention is devoted to the implementation and consolidation of digital change. Change management lessons are considered to a limited extent, based on which, some suggestions for better dealing with digital transformation initiatives are discussed. The paper contributes to advancing knowledge on models and approaches to support organizations in managing digital transformation. The identification of change management activities that a digital transformation initiative should involve as well as the suggestions on how to effectively deal with it can be used by managers to successfully lead the I4.0 transition journey in their organizations

Smart Cities for the Sustainable Development of Local Communities: the Cases of the Volyn Region and the City of Lublin

The concept of a “smart city” is being actively implemented by several European cities to improve citizens’ quality of life and sustainability at the local community level. The article evaluates “smart city” programs adopted by Ukraine cities in the Volyn region based on well‑being assessment. To do so, a literature review was conducted to identify indicators to assess well‑being at the local level, and Benessere equo e sostenibile dei territori (BESdT, Equitable, and Sustainable Territorial Well‑being) was adopted. BESdT is an institutional measurement framework developed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) to measure well‑being at the local level through a collection of indicators that cover different well‑being domains. The BESdT indicators available for Ukraine and Poland were collected and then measured. The main goals of the scientific research are to clarify if it is possible to use the BESdT indicators, which are used to assess smart cities in Southern Europe, for the countries of North‑Eastern Europe using the example of the Volyn region and the city of Lublin. The work investigates the indicators of smart cities and considers examples of their construction for 2003–2021. The results testify to the upward trend in implementing “smart city” programs in the regional context. In the Volyn region, the priority areas of project implementation are security, transport, and electricity. In this region, development can be identified concerning trends such as a reduced death rate, an improved balance between work and personal life, increased economic prosperity, and the improved environmental component and security of society. On the other hand, a reduction in innovation implementation and a loss of trust in the government were also identified. The analysis shows that the positive changes above are due to the actions of the central rather than the regional government. Based on the analysis, it was established that the countries of North‑Eastern Europe have the level of development of Smart City 3.0, except for Ukraine, which has generation 1.0, and in Southern Europe, generation 4.0

Guiding materiality analysis for sustainability reporting: the case of agri-food sector

By materiality analysis, companies involved in sustainability reporting identify the so-called material aspects, i.e. the most relevant topics that their report must address. This paper questions the excessive subjectivity that the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines grants to companies in identifying their own material aspects, as they do not adequately support companies involved in materiality analysis and might elicit opportunistic behaviours. To mitigate the abuse of discretion and prevent its consequences, we present an approach to define a minimum list of preselected topics to be mandatorily considered as material, and apply it to the agri-food sector. Results move from the analysis of some available international standards and rating systems as well as the evaluation by of a panel of scholars, internationally acknowledged as experts in that sector. By identifying the topics that are at the core of sustainability for the agri-food companies and suggesting them as mandatory for sustainability reporting, the paper helps reducing the chance of relevant topics omitted, and ultimately improves reliability and comparability of sustainability reports

Stakeholders’ Engagement in Sustainability Reporting

Sustainability reporting is a key activity for organizations to inform stakeholders on their sustainable strategy and attendant efforts to put it into practice. Despite the existing guidelines for sustainability reporting, and specifically those by the Global Reporting Initiative, stress the importance of stakeholder engagement in identifying the relevant sustainability topics (which are called material aspects), to our knowledge the literature does not provide a structured procedure to combine the different stakeholders’ assessments, so as to identify material aspects. In this paper we propose an approach to deal with such a group decision making problem, based on the additive weighted aggregation of the stakeholders’ verbal assessments

Coordination practices within floss development teams The bug fixing process

Abstract. Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards. FLOSS development teams some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. Despite the relevance of the FLOSS both for research and practice, few studies have investigated the work practices adopted by these development teams. In this paper we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.