International industry research collaborations: the case of Peta Jakarta - some lessons learnt

Abstract: The Peta Jakarta social informatics research program harvested social media to build flood maps

Systems resemblance and workpractice evolution: implications for work activity (re)design

This paper is concerned with addressing the question of how apparently disparate and unconnected systems can resemble each other. The question of what counts as a systems resemblance necessitates developing contextual workpractice descriptions associated with the systems features and ultimately entire systems. Using systemic semiotics an apparent ontogenetic convergence between entirely different systems is used to show that systems resemblance can be inferred when the constituent workpractices of information systems consist of comparable register features and especially if they exhibit comparable generic features. The implications of these findings for a new class of work activity (re)design practices are considered

What\u27s in a user story: IS development methods as communication

This paper challenges claims made by Scrum proponents when characterising the communicative nature of user stories: including being more \u27authentic\u27 because they comprise spoken language and that they are stories. We argue and decisively demonstrate that neither can be upheld. By incorrectly characterising user stories, we miss opportunities to understand what they are and how they work during development. User stories are better understood by applying a functional theory of communication that emphasises how language is used. By selecting systemic functional linguistics, we can analyse user stories, and have developed a method for factoring unwanted epics into usable user stories

Fears and Triggers: A Conceptual Study of Vendor-Supplied Maintenance and Maintenance Deferral of Standard Package Software

Enterprises rely more on Information Systems (IS) and software than ever before. However the issue of maintaining a vendor-supplied IS, in particular standard packaged software, has been poorly represented within academic literature. This paper presents a conceptual study that synthesises the current state of research concerning the deferral or execution of vendor-supplied maintenance by the purchasing organisation. Based on a systematic review process that adopts the purchaser’s viewpoint, a series of fears and triggers emerge and are captured from the literature. Fears are articulated as reasons for the purchasing organisation deferring the installation of vendor-supplied maintenance, whereas triggers are events that upset the equilibrium of the purchasing organisation’s IS or software and require the installation of the vendor-supplied maintenance to proceed. Although prevalent in literature, fears and triggers have not previously been recognised as an area of focus for academic research

Social Media Semantics: Analysing meanings in multimodal online conversations

There is a growing need to comprehensively understand how messages and online conversations construct and convey meanings especially when they are likely to be distributed across multiple social media platforms. This paper introduces a framework to address this need, the Social Semiotic Multimodal (SSMM) framework based on multimodal extensions to Systemic Functional Linguistics, a semiotic theory of language. The framework uses a set of expansion resources, to reveal how the meanings of social media messages are chained together to form online conversations. These meanings are frequently distributed across more than one social media platform. This semantic approach is exemplified using a case study, the Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 campaign. The framework is used to identify meanings associated with various social media conversations called Themed Clusters. The findings demonstrate the utility of semantic approaches for IS research and practice to analyse meanings within social media messages and how they form online conversations

What’s in a User Story: IS Development Methods as Communication

This paper challenges claims made by Scrum proponents when characterising the communicative nature of user stories: including being more ‘authentic’ because they comprise spoken language and that they are stories. We argue and decisively demonstrate that neither can be upheld. By incorrectly characterising user stories, we miss opportunities to understand what they are and how they work during development. User stories are better understood by applying a functional theory of communication that emphasises how language is used. By selecting systemic functional linguistics, we can analyse user stories, and have developed a method for factoring unwanted epics into usable user stories

A Conceptual Investigation of Maintenance Deferral and Implementation: Foundation for a Maintenance Lifecycle Model

Despite the fact that society and organizations rely heavily on Information Systems (IS) and software, the maintenance of vendor-supplied IS, in particular standard package software has gained little attention within the academic literature. This paper presents a conceptual study of the current state of research concerning the reasons for deferral and performance of vendor-supplied maintenance by the purchasing organization. These reasons have so far neither been investigated together nor from that perspective. Based on a systematic literature review and taking the purchaser’s viewpoint, reasons for maintenance deferral and performance are identified from the literature. They build the groundwork and foundation for a Maintenance Lifecycle and Process Model that provides a starting point to research vendor-supplied maintenance from the customer’s point of view

DM model transformations framework

Metamodelling produces a \u27metamodel\u27 capable of generalizing the domain. A metamodel gathers all domain concepts and their relationships. It enables partitioning a domain problem into sub-problems. Decision makers can then develop a variety of domain solutions models based on mixing and matching solutions for sub-problems indentified using the metamodel. A repository of domain knowledge structured using the metamodel would allow the transformation of models generated from a higher level to a lower level according to scope of the problem on hand. In this paper, we reveal how a process of mixing and matching disaster management actions can be accomplished using our Disaster Management Metamodel (DMM). The paper describes DM model transformations underpinned by DMM. They are illustrated benefiting DM users creating appropriate DM solution models from extant partial solutions

Systems Resemblance and Workpractice Evolution: Implications for Work Activity (Re)design

Abstract This paper is concerned with addressing the question of how apparently disparate and unconnected systems can resemble each other. The question of what counts as a systems resemblance necessitates developing contextual workpractice descriptions associated with the systems features and ultimately entire systems. Using systemic semiotics an apparent ontogenetic convergence between entirely different systems is used to show that systems resemblance can be inferred when the constituent workpractices of information systems consist of comparable register features and especially if they exhibit comparable generic features. The implications of these findings for a new class of work activity (re)design practices are considered