Collaborative innovation in ubiquitous systems

Advances in microelectronics, semiconductor and information and communication technologies allow the creation and the development of ubiquitous systems. These intelligent systems would enable and support new dimensions of collaboration that can make business processes more efficient. In this paper, we analyse the possible contribution of the upcoming level of intelligence to collaborative innovation processes within and between enterprises as well. Considering collaborative networks and virtual organisations we propose a cyclic structure for innovation and a number of ubiquitous systems that have the potential to support different phases of the process. They would empower already existing Data Management Systems by functionalities and features of ubiquity and contribute to the future extension of the product lifecycle management approach (PLM).     

Evolving a pervasive IT infrastructure: a technology integration approach

Over the past five years or so, pervasive computing has emerged as a new computing paradigm with a great deal of appeal. Enterprises are increasingly showing interest in deploying pervasive information technology (IT) infrastructures to realise the perceived benefits offered by this new computing paradigm. However, a return on the investment and considerations of the currently deployed infrastructure is a constraint for businesses to invest in a pervasive IT infrastructure. Realising that the economics of an investment in a new infrastructure can affect the embracing of pervasive IT, we suggest an approach that shows how the existing technology solutions available in the market and deployed in an enterprise can be used to develop a pervasive IT infrastructure, thereby protecting investments and maximising returns. We present an evolution model to systematically and incrementally achieve a pervasive IT environment, and present guidelines for evaluating which services to develop first based on evolving the existing infrastructure point of view. This work provides practical implications for enterprises as well as pointers for research.

The moderating role of IT-business alignment in the relationship between IT governance,IT competence,and innovation

Results from a survey of senior executives/officers in charge of IT suggest that while greater IT governance triggers more innovation, IT-business alignment does not moderate this relationship. Executive management IT competence has a direct and positive impact on innovation, and this relationship is stronger when moderated by IT-business alignment. However, regardless of IT-business alignment, innovation is not significantly affected by the board’s IT competence but is positively impacted by IT intensity. This study extends the IS literature on the role of IT in innovation and contributes to the IT governance literature.     

A meta-analysis of relationships between organizational characteristics and IT innovation adoption in organizations

Adoption of IT in organizations is influenced by a wide range of factors in technology, organization, environment, and individuals. Researchers have identified several factors that either facilitate or hinder innovation adoption. Studies have produced inconsistent and contradictory outcomes. We performed a meta-analysis of ten organizational factors to determine their relative impact and strength. We aggregated their findings to determine the magnitude and direction of the relationship between organizational factors and IT innovation adoption. We found organizational readiness to be the most significant attribute and also found a moderately significant relationship between IT adoption and IS department size. Our study found weak significance of IS infrastructure, top management support, IT expertise, resources, and organizational size on IT adoption of technology while formalization, centralization, and product champion were found to be insignificant attributes. We also examined stage of innovation, type of innovation, type of organization, and size of organization as moderator conditions affecting the relationship between the organizational variables and IT adoption.     

Organizational size and IT innovation adoption: A meta-analysis

Organizational size has long been considered to be an important predictor of IT innovation adoption. However, empirical results on the relationship between them have been disturbingly mixed and inconsistent. Through a meta-analysis of 54 correlations derived from 21 empirical studies, we attempted to explain and resolve these mixed results by synthesizing across studies the effects of organizational size on IT innovation adoption and by examining the effects of six moderators on the relationship. The results suggested that, although a positive relationship generally existed between them, the relationship was moderated by five variables: type of IT innovation, type of organization, stage of adoption, scope of size, and type of size measure. This suggested that the mixed empirical results from previous studies can be explained by a lack of consideration of moderators.     

Development of Consultancy skills for future IT professionals via group working

Organisations face an increasingly competitive and uncertain global environment, after recent experience of unparalleled technological advances and political shifts. Increased dependence on Information Technology (IT) will require appropriate human resource strategies, to develop individuals who will be capable of operating successfully within new organisational structures, with reduced management layers and a requirement for teamworking. This paper presents a university-industry based partnership, revolving around a final year Group Consultancy project, in which undergraduate students work with an external client on a live problem. The project involves the use ofaction research methodology, where academic ideas are applied in the ‘real’ world of business. This is described in the context of group projects, which examine thelegacy system problems faced by three multi-national organisations. Revans, the unsung hero of Action Learning, who showed me that the best learning happens in real life with real problems and real people, and not in classrooms with know-all teachersCharles Handy The Age of Unreason, p45     

Tacit knowledge sharing in IT R&D teams: Nonlinear evolutionary theoretical perspective

Tacit knowledge sharing influences the performance of IT R&D teams. However, information regarding the mechanism of tacit knowledge sharing is limited. Accordingly, we develop a nonlinear dynamic model to explore the influence of structural changes on tacit knowledge sharing behavior in an IT R&D team, particularly in response to gradual changes in payoff structures. The following results were observed：(1) Certain situations and a traditional correlation analysis confirmed that the current contradictions in the influence of reward systems on knowledge sharing behavior are unified. (2) Under special conditions, the influences of several critical factors (e.g., reciprocity, penalty of social reputation, and supervising mechanism) lose efficacy. As an alternative, managers can only enhance the reward system or reduce sharing cost. The effectiveness of knowledge sharing substantially improves only once it reaches certain critical thresholds. (3) During a catastrophe, a team’s behavior may become immune to the deterioration of payoff structures. However, sudden jumps (i.e., from sharing to hiding knowledge) may occur when another threshold is reached. In summary, once team members experience a sudden jump, retrieving the previous cooperative status becomes difficult.     

面向创新设计的专利知识抽取方法

专利蕴含丰富的背景、技术、功能等知识,对创新设计领域起着重要的作用。对创新知识进行有效提取,能推动人们对知识的利用,助于突破固有的思维定势及知识面的限制,启发设计者从独特、新颖的角度进行产品设计。从创新设计的角度,提出基于组合特征和最大熵分类器的专利创新知识抽取方法。该方法运用自然语言处理方法,增加专利领域术语识别算法,联合词特征和最短路径闭包树句法特征,最后采用最大熵进行基于语义分析的知识提取,并对知识属性进行标注。实验结果表明,引入组合特征,能高效地处理专利要解决的问题,以及技术方案中的目标功能、作用原理、位置特征等创新知识之间的语义角色关系。     

The contribution of tacit knowledge to innovation

Tacit knowledge is widely acknowledged to be an important component of innovation, but such recognition is rarely accompanied by more detailed explanations about the nature of tacit knowledge, why such knowledge is significant, how it becomes codified or whether there may be limits to codification. This paper attempts to fill some of the gaps, drawing on a recent study of university/industry links in three emerging technologies. It concludes that tacit knowledge, which can only be transmitted through personal interaction, will continue to play an important role in innovation. This derives from a variety of reasons, but most significant are the complexity of systems and the emergence of new technologies.     

Fostering knowledge sharing: Design principles for persuasive digital technologies in open innovation projects

Integrating knowledge is crucial for open innovation, and digital technologies can play a central role because they support knowledge sharing. In open innovation projects, in particular, little is known about the role of technology. Here, the individual behaviour of users is taken into account concerning the extent to which knowledge is shared. Therefore, persuasive technologies offer the potential to foster sharing. In particular, to facilitate the construction of future digital technologies, this study applies a design science research approach to create and analyse artefacts as a research contribution and develop design principles as a step towards a nascent design theory. We present insights from the design and application of three artefacts in different stages of open innovation processes. Results show that digital technologies can be used for various purposes: to build a common understanding, support design phases, communicate ideas and simplify the application of the technology for the user. Our research provides insights into the role of digital technologies for knowledge sharing in open innovation projects, and four design principles are found to facilitate the construction of future persuasive digital technologies for open innovation projects.     

Exploring the relationship between system development life cycle and knowledge accumulation in Taiwan's IT industry

Many projects fail because the knowledge learned from them is obtained too late or insufficient (Koenig & Srikantaiah, 2004); ‘knowledge in projects', ‘knowledge about projects', and ‘knowledge from projects' are three types of knowledge that result from project‐based work (Love et al., 2005). This study explores the relationships between the system development life cycle (SDLC) of project management, firm‐level explicit knowledge of organizational knowledge accumulation (OKA), and implicit knowledge of employee knowledge accumulation (EKA) with respect to knowledge accumulation (KA) and knowledge integration (KI). First, it analyzes the competence of SDLC in Taiwan's IT enterprises by adapting expert interviews, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy rule‐based theory. This reveals that system planning (SP) and system analysis (SA) are the most important SDLC phases. Second, based on the above result, this study investigates how the effectiveness of SDLC (ESDLC) correlates with KI, OKA, and EKA. Results indicate that EKA and OKA have obvious mutual influences, and that both show significant impact on ESDLC. Furthermore, KI has positive influence on EKA, but negative influence on OKA.     

云计算背景下企业IT 决策机制框架

云计算的不同应用水平会在不同程度影响企业的IT决策,相应的IT决策机制也会随之发生变化．本文深入分析了云计算的三层服务模式对IT决策的影响,由此提出了基于云计算背景的IT决策机制框架．并通过国外成功实施云计算的企业案例分析并验证本文得出的IT决策机制框架．本文不仅对以往的IT决策机制框架的基础上加入了IT服务模式维度,同时也为云计算在企业中的应用提供了制度框架．     

Architectural knowledge discovery with latent semantic analysis: Constructing a reading guide for software product audits

Architectural knowledge is reflected in various artifacts of a software product. In a software product audit this architectural knowledge needs to be uncovered and its effects assessed in order to evaluate the quality of the software product. A particular problem is to find and comprehend the architectural knowledge that resides in the software product documentation. In this article, we discuss how the use of a technique called Latent Semantic Analysis can guide auditors through the documentation to the architectural knowledge they need. We validate the use of Latent Semantic Analysis for discovering architectural knowledge by comparing the resulting vector-space model with the mental model of documentation that auditors possess.     

The role of IT human capability in the knowledge transfer process in IT outsourcing context

Our research attempted to identify the behavioral process of knowledge transfer by examining the effects of IT human capability, human character, trust, and cooperative learning on it in an IT outsourcing situation. By analysing data collected from vendor and client matched-pair samples of 87 IT outsourcing projects, we found that both the client's and the vendor's character influenced trust, trust affects on cooperative learning, and the cooperative learning influence on knowledge transfer. More importantly, it we found that the client's IT human capability had a direct impact on cooperative learning and knowledge transfer. This indicated that client's IT human capability was a crucial factor in effective knowledge transfer during IT outsourcing. It also implied that client firms should identify and retain some IT personnel who can apply vendors’ competencies in IT practice and respond effectively to any technological challenges.     

Information technology as a change actant in sustainability innovation: Insights from Uppsala

This study investigates the effects of a sustainability initiative in a Swedish municipality viewed through the lens of actor network theory. The focus is on the consequences of committing to the implementation of a reporting and analysis system for IT-supported sustainability. This commitment involves several actor networks, both internal and external to the municipality. The study shows that, to implement successfully a sustainability initiative, a thorough understanding of organizational routines and standards is required to enrol the affected stakeholders. Information systems can play a central role as tools for improving sustainability indicators and routines, thereby constituting important change actants.     

Internet computing as a disruptive information technology innovation: the role of strong order effects1

A cross‐sector survey study was conducted between 2004 and 2005 among 121 software firms that adopted internet computing for the presence of strong order effects, which explain how, why and in which order radical innovations in information system (IS) are adopted. The following strong order effects were detected: (1) the amount of base innovations positively and directly influenced the amount of service innovation and the amount of process innovation, while the amount of service innovation partially mediates the impact of base innovation on process innovation; (2) the radicalness of base innovations directly and positively influences the radicalness of service innovation, while the impact of the radicalness of the base innovation on the radicalness of process innovations is fully mediated by the radicalness of service innovation; (3) the predominant sequence of initial adoption of radical information technology innovations is first in base innovations, followed by service innovations and finally by process innovations. Our study helps to better understand how and why radical innovations are adopted in ensembles by software firms. In consequence, software organizations should orchestrate flexible innovation strategies that recognize that radical innovations are interconnected and heterogeneous.     

云计算时代高校IT人才培养模式的创新

阐述了云计算的应用优势;基于对云计算技术特点和知名招聘网站IT职位描述信息进行综合分析,总结未来IT人才需求的趋势,并针对高校相关专业IT人才培养模式提出了改革措施。     

地方综合性大学IT应用型创新人才培养的思考

地方综合性大学面向地方经济建设主战场,培养面向行业及应用领域的、具有一定创新能力的应用型人才应为其主要目标。本文结合苏州大学IT应用型创新人才培养的实际情况,全面介绍了IT应用型创新人才的内涵、培养思路及措施,并给出了具体思路。     

Exploring the absorptive capacity to innovation/productivity link for individual engineers engaged in IT enabled work

The hypothesis that absorptive capacity leads to greater innovation/productivity has been supported at the country, inter-organizational, organizational, and group levels. We adapted the absorptive capacity concept to individuals engaged in IT enabled engineering work, which is a situated and emergent phenomenon that requires individuals to posses or develop ability to acquire new task and computer knowledge; use or develop analytical and intuitive problem solving skills to assimilate and integrate these two types of knowledge; and apply them to their work.     

基于知识图谱的国际协同计算领域可视化分析

通过CiteSpace对Web of Science的SCI数据库中收录的协同计算领域的2 297篇文献进行分析,具体对国际协同计算领域的发文量时间分布、研究力量及合作、研究方向、研究主流、发展演变过程、研究热点及前沿进行了分析。结果表明该领域的研究正处于上升期;国家、地区以美国、中国和欧洲为核心,其研究机构以美国和中国的机构为核心,虽然我国已经具备了一定的科研实力,但缺乏该领域的高产研究者,总体来看欧洲各国之间的合作最为密切;研究方向的构成以计算机科学为主;Foster I为该领域中最具影响力的主流研究者,该领域的主流期刊（文献）包括Lecture Notes in Computer Science、Commun ACM等,主流分支领域包括网格计算等9部分;发展演变过程为前期相关研究-分布式计算-网格计算-云计算,同时穿插协同过滤的发展路径;云计算、网格计算等关键词代表了当前该领域的热点,网格计算、云计算、分布式计算、网络服务、协同过滤等关键词则代表了当前该领域的前沿,且已经广泛渗透、融合到生物学、病理学、气候学、教育学、企业信息系统、社会网络、多媒体、文本分析、产学研等领域中,体现了协同计算这一领域具有较强的跨学科特点。