A selected glossary of electronic data interchange and related terms

School of Managemen

An analysis of the current and future deployment of Information Systems and Technology at the University of the Western Cape

This is an archival work, not applicable today. However, it illustrates both the methodology that was taught at the time, and the quality of the work that was achieved by students at the time.In order to successfully deploy information technology and information systems, any organisation must have a strategy indicating where its business is going, an understanding of the information systems that will help to deliver that strategy, and the capability to deliver and exploit those information systems. It is commonly believed that UWC does not have a strategy (although we acknowledge that a draft document has been tabled at Senate since the main stage of this study concluded). There are relentless pressures to change the way that we work at UWC. Strategies will be needed at institutional and faculty levels, and new information systems will be required to support them. Much of our recent investment has been in information technology as much as it has been in information systems and services. These things are different, and it is the systems and services that deliver the benefits of an investment, not the technology

Assessing information management competencies in organisations

The history of the management of information systems includes many ideas that were intended to simplify the complexities of the management task, but there is still a great deal of wasted investment that produces no significant benefits. Much of the thinking has been rational and structured, but it can be argued that structured thinking will not solve the problems presented by the ever-increasing scope and depth of information systems, the need for improved responsiveness and agility, and the need to deal with a range of requirements that are sometimes behavioural and sometimes legislative. Three of the more frequently cited frameworks for information management (Zachman, Henderson & Venkatraman, Ward), are briefly reviewed and found to have common characteristics. They are combined into a new, simple arrangement of the central (and critically important) ideas. This new framework has been used as the basis of a survey instrument that is introduced and explained; it works at two levels - the "micro" and "macro" levels. It assesses perceptions of organisational capability to manage information well, as seen by respondents who are normally employees working in different roles with varying responsibilities. The survey instrument comes with an analysis and reporting package that is found to be suitable for the needs of busy managers, and the way in which micro and macro data is presently analysed and presented is demonstrated using data from a reference dataset, a CIO workshop, an investigation within a real estate agency and a large financial services organisation. The contribution of this work to the research programme from which it emanated is summarised and future directions briefly explained.Carnegie Corporation of New YorkInternational Bibliography of Social Science

Strategies for information management in education: some international experience

Background: Recent analysis of the management of information and communications technologies in South African education suggests strongly that there is only limited strategic thinking that might guide policy-makers, school principals, teachers, learners and suppliers of educational technologies. It is clear that here in South Africa, as elsewhere, the actual practice of technology-mediated education is driven more by the available technologies than by actual learner needs, good management principles and the wider national imperative. There might be lessons to be learned from experience elsewhere. Objectives: This article reports and analyses conversation with eight international educators in Europe, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. All are managing the impact of technology in different ways (reactive and pro-active), at different levels (pre-primary through to senior citizen), in different roles (teachers, administrators and senior managers) and in different contexts (schools and universities). Method: Open-ended conversations with educators and educational administrators in developed countries were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The qualitative analysis of the content was done in the style of ‘open coding’ and ‘selective coding’ using a qualitative content analysis tool. Results: Whilst technology is still seen to drive much thinking, it is found that that success is not derived from the technology, but from a full and proper understanding of the needs and aspirations of those who are directly involved in educational processes, and by means of a managerial focus that properly recognises the context within which an institution exists. Conclusion: Whilst this result might be expected, the detailed analysis of the findings further reveals the need to manage investments in educational technologies at different levels and in different ways.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Managing information and communications technologies in South African education: final project report

This was a meta-study. That means that the intention of the study was to review and analyse previous studies, and draw conclusions about the state of research into technologies in education, and specifically into the management of those technologies. The project proposed a range of objectives that were reduced because of funding limitations - the reduced project scope focused on an extensive literature review (the bibliography) and the development of a reference model that is intended to guide those concerned with managing ICTs in South African education (whether as managers or as researchers). The original proposal also included the development of case studies and the establishment of a knowledge base (built around the reference model) but this work remains to be done. The project was somewhat problematic in execution. Resourcing and administrative difficulties resulted in no students graduating (yet), and this is a matter for disappointment. These problems were reported to the NRF and – in the end – useful outputs were achieved. First, following establishment of the project, a two-day meeting of about 20 experts revealed a consensus: that the many differences that are to be seen (in learners, teachers, resource levels and other factors) are probably the most important thing to acknowledge and respond to, in undertaking further research into technology in South African education and in improving management practice. The drivers for change arising from technological innovation are forceful, and the form and function of education establishments is changing. In the simplest possible view, information technology is an investment and it needs to be managed accordingly. The idea of value can be used to develop logical connections between the sometimes-uncontrolled cost of education information technologies, and the strategic benefits that are sought for learners and for the nation. Critical to understanding how value can be assured is to acknowledge and pro-actively manage the information systems that are the means to improve educational processes, and the benefits that must be defined and then delivered, if the investment of time, money and effort is to be worthwhile. The bibliography that emerged from the literature review (more than 160 papers were read, being chosen from more than 700 candidates) confirms that there is little evidence that the management of IT investments in education is researched. Further, while some reported work makes passing reference to (or implies) strategic management, there is little evidence that strategic options and strategic management techniques are being seriously researched at the regional or national level. To deal with the problems of technology and strategy management: • The diversity that we live with needs to be understood and incorporated into policies and strategies for information technology and information systems in education. • The role of the stakeholder, and existing techniques for stakeholder analysis, will be key in determining the value is sought from our information technology investments in education. • There is more to this than just teaching and learning. Research is a key feature of the education landscape and needs good information technology support; administration at all levels needs good systems, and management needs management information that provides a basis for good decision making. The reference model, currently focused on "Teaching and Learning" as the core educational activity, organises the chain of value that begins to ensure successful investment. It also shows how knowledge management fits into the "big picture" and it provides an ontological foundation for further work, as well as a framework for the evaluation of performance and value delivery within working education institutions. The project also developed significant ancillary outputs: a proposal for a special issue of a journal, a "Flash MOOC", and a qualitative research data analyser. The project contributed to a new book, "Investing in Information", that is to be published imminently by Springer in Geneva (and that provides much more detail about the idea of value management from information technology investments). A number of journal papers have already been published, and further papers are in process.This project was funded by the South African National Research Foundation: Project Reference: ESA20100809000015400 – Grant Number: 7399

Understanding stakeholder expectations in higher education

Higher education invests heavily in information technology and information systems, with variable outcomes. Organisations in other sectors, such as engineering, the defence industry, public administration and business, have developed and adopted good practice for the choice, development and operation of software-based systems that are only sometimes understood in higher education. In order to assess the extent to which good practice might assist higher education, the four tertiary institutions in the Western Cape of South Africa were approached and a representative range of academic, administrative, technical and managerial respondents agreed to contribute to the study. Interviews were organised in two parts: the first an open conversation about their involvement with systems, and the second a structured examination of systems-related events that they considered significant. By inspection of those events, bipolar scales were developed by which respondents were able to characterise events (for example as ‘challenging’ or ‘easy’, or as ‘functional’ or ‘dysfunctional’). Respondents rated events on those scales. Repertory Grid analysis was applied so as to investigate which scales correlated with event success. 30 scales (out of 170) proved to be adequately correlated with success, and by principal component analysis they were combined to form ten ‘success scale’ groups, indicating ten areas where the deployment of good practice might be expected to lead to more effective use of improved information systems. A new Reference Model is developed that has a role to play in resolving the transitions between the domains of the Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK)

Managing information in education: a view from South Africa

PURPOSE – A three-year study of information technology and information systems management in South Africa has delivered (amongst other things) a bibliography and a new reference model. The paper aims to discuss this issue. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – The new reference model indicates the key informational components of the education “system” that education management must acknowledge, understand and deal with. This paper presents an overview of these two principal outcomes from that research, leading to a view as to how education can be improved through better information management. FINDINGS – There is some available reported work that addresses management, or information, or education, but relatively little that brings the essence of these three domains together. The derived reference model effectively addresses a number of set objectives, hence providing a basis for improved understanding of how information can be more effectively managed in education. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The new reference model comprises an arrangement of ideas that allows education managers to focus on a more strategic approach to their management challenges. It also provides foundations for further research. Although the study was undertaken in South Africa, it has relevance to all countries and regions where education needs improved management.Scopu

Understanding IT management in Higher Education

This is a full research paper prepared for submission to an international conference. It is not yet published elsewhere.A meeting of academics concluded that the management of IT resources in education is sub-optimal and under-researched. The extent of IT-related changes indicates a need for strategic management, proper attention to the expectations of stakeholders, and careful management of the implementation of new systems. Representative role players provided both open and structured input to a study that contrasted open coding of transcribed text and structured analysis of repertory grid data. The results of the open coding were limited but the repertory grid data provided useful insight into the management of information technology and information systems in higher education. The principal findings were that the management of the scope of information systems, services and projects must be managed well, and when coupled with risk management this provides the best possibility of successful working. The controlled management of cost, value, and innovation, are revealed to be distinct areas of strategic importance

The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK)

This text is offered primarily as a reference source for postgraduate students who are concerned with the way that information works for organisations. Although there are good books available, none cover the ground in the way that is done here. This is intended to be a reference source that students can use as they work to research the many issues that we do not yet fully understand, and for others who are striving to manage information more effectively in their professional activities. This is because many professional people (from all disciplines) have come to understand the importance of information in their work. Lawyers, teachers, journalists, logisticians: all are dependent on information for professional success and some choose to undertake part-time postgraduate studies in order to understand more about this. But the breadth of issues associated with information management practice is vast, extending from an understanding of the base technologies that are used, right through to questions of business strategy and how it can accommodate the potential benefits of information technology. The central problem today for many people is the wide scope of the issues that need to be understood. Turning an investment in new information technology and information systems into improved business performance proves to be a tortuously difficult thing, and for many years initiatives of one kind or another have failed to assure success. This text gives an easily understood framework that relates business needs to new information technology opportunities in a relatively simple, staged way. The framework presented here, known as the “Information Management Body of Knowledge” or just “IMBOK”, allows us to locate problems and opportunities and to move our ideas more easily from one domain to another – from consideration of raw technologies through to issues of business practice and business strategy. It also provides us a means to organise the literature about the subject and it is hoped that the fruits of present and future research will accumulate within and around the IMBOK framework. Using it, it is hoped that future students, professionals and managers will have easier access to the diverse tools and techniques that they need; further, researchers will have the means to position their research ideas and to share them with others, more effectively than would otherwise have been possible. In this way, this text is intended to provide a reference for those who are concerned to bridge any actual or perceived divides between information technology “specialists” and business “generalists”. So, this text should be useful for … • Researchers who are anxious to position their work in a context of some kind, where that work is in some way IT-related even if distantly. • Students who are looking for a simple contextual framework within which to organise their ideas, when all that they are hearing and reading becomes too complex to understand easily. • Managers who wish to choose appropriate management tools to ease the difficulty in marrying strategy and strategic implementation to the many opportunities and problems presented by technology. Of course, organising the issues in such a simplistic way might be misleading. Real life is not simple, and the tendency – evident for many years now – of “IT people” to try and reduce complexity by reduction, masks some of the unexpected connections that might exist outside the simple view that is presented. For example, if in an organisation the chief executive office decides that it is necessary to introduce workflow systems, and to eliminate all paperwork, then there can be no doubt that the workforce at all levels will set about exactly that, whatever their misgivings. What readers of this text might find is that there is too little attention to the soft issues: the attitudes that people adopt, the cultural factors that colour everything that goes on in a business, and the relationships between people that so often override pure logic. In a conversation in the UK, a senior academic remarked that the issue of the moment is indeed culture: if an organisation has no cultural bias to embrace and adopt change, then investments related to change are doomed to difficulty, or even outright failure. However, if we are to avoid hopeless complexity we can only adopt one perspective at a time and the view presented here is relentlessly reductionist. It may be the product of a “left-brained” mind, but at least it gives us a comprehensible framework around which to debate our problems and to begin to organise the balance of our difficulties, however soft, people-related or cultural they may be.The “Information Management Body of Knowledge” (IMBOK) emerged from a research project launched in 2002 by the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to whom we express our appreciation. This part of the research was undertaken in partnership with the then Cape Technikon (now the “Cape Peninsula University of Technology”)

Termination detection for fine-grained message-passing architectures

Barrier primitives provided by standard parallel programming APIs are the primary means by which applications implement global synchronisation. Typically these primitives are fully-committed to synchronisation in the sense that, once a barrier is entered, synchronisation is the only way out. For message-passing applications, this raises the question of what happens when a message arrives at a thread that already resides in a barrier. Without a satisfactory answer, barriers do not interact with message-passing in any useful way. In this paper, we propose a new refutable barrier primitive that combines with message-passing to form a simple, expressive, efficient, well-defined API. It has a clear semantics based on termination detection, and supports the development of both globally-synchronous and asynchronous parallel applications. To evaluate the new primitive, we implement it in a prototype large-scale message-passing machine with 49,152 RISC-V threads distributed over 48 FPGAs. We show that hardware support for the primitive leads to a highly-efficient implementation, capable of synchronisation rates that are an order-of-magnitude higher than what is achievable in software. Using the primitive, we implement synchronous and asynchronous versions of a range of applications, observing that each version can have significant advantages over the other, depending on the application. Therefore, a barrier primitive supporting both styles can greatly assist the development of parallel programs.Funded by EPSRC grant EP/N031768/1 (POETS project