Designing systems that account for sustainability concerns demands for a
better understanding of the \textit{impact} that digital technology
interventions can have on a certain socio-technical context. However, limited
studies are available about the elicitation of impact-related information from
stakeholders, and strategies are particularly needed to elicit possible
long-term effects, including \textit{negative} ones, that go beyond the planned
system goals.
This paper reports a case study about the impact of digitalisation in remote
mountain areas, in the context of a system for ordinary land management and
hydro-geological risk control. The elicitation process was based on interviews
and workshops. In the initial phase, past and present impacts were identified.
In a second phase, future impacts were forecasted through the discussion of two
alternative scenarios: a dystopic, technology-intensive one, and a
technology-balanced one. The approach was particularly effective in identifying
negative impacts.
Among them, we highlight the higher stress due to the excess of connectivity,
the partial reduction of decision-making abilities, and the risk of
marginalisation for certain types of stakeholders. The study posits that before
the elicitation of system goals, requirements engineers need to identify the
socio-economic impacts of ICT technologies included in the system, as negative
effects need to be properly mitigated. Our study contributes to the literature
with: a set of impacts specific to the case, which can apply to similar
contexts; an effective approach for impact elicitation; and a list of lessons
learned from the experience.Comment: Accepted to IEEE RE 2023, International Conference on Requirements
Engineering, 10 pages plus 2 pages of reference