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The Role of Source Systems Strengthening in the Effective Interoperability of Digital Health Systems
No full textPart 3: General TrackInternational audienceAlthough electronic information systems (IS) that act as main sources of information in an ecosystem of digital systems are important in the success of IS interoperability, the conditions and challenges of source systems that affect IS interoperability have not received enough attention in the body of existing scientific knowledge. Using the System Theory, this paper relies on empirical evidence from two IS interoperability case studies to argue that the interoperability of electronic information systems can only succeed if due attention is paid to the individual systems that are involved in an IS interoperability project. Among other things, it was found that IS interoperability can only be achieved if the individual systems meet the requisite conditions, and that an environment surrounding a source system could substantially impact its ability to be interoperable with other systems
Educators’ Perspectives on Cybersecurity: Case of Resource-Constrained Schools in South Africa
No full textPart 2: Information and Computer SecurityInternational audienceCybersecurity has become a global security priority in recent years. Many African countries have embarked on important efforts to improve their cybersecurity posture in all sectors, including education. The increased use of information communication technologies by educators implies a greater exposure to cyber threats and risks prompting the need for cybersecurity to become a priority for schools. Cyber threats and risks have the potential to disrupt school operations and compromise the safety of learners, educators, administration staff, parents, and the surrounding community. The way respective stakeholders engage with cybersecurity and respond to cybersecurity intervention will, to an extent, depend on their perspective of the phenomena. There is paucity on literature on African educators’ perspectives on cybersecurity as a starting point. This study aims at answering the question: What are perspectives on cybersecurity of educators in resource-constrained schools in South Africa? The study used a qualitative exploratory case study methodology. Data was collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews from four schools in the Western Cape and Limpopo provinces; these represent an affluent and a rural province. It was analysed using thematic analysis based on the Social Cognitive Theory. Findings suggest that when it comes to cybersecurity, educators’ self-efficacy is low, and their outcome expectancy is negative. Their socio-structural environment does not provide enough support to boost their confidence due to their exposure to ICTs, cybersecurity awareness, and available resources. The more a school is resource-constrained, the less educators prioritise cybersecurity. The study contributes to cybersecurity in education by shedding light on the cybersecurity perspectives of educators in resource-constrained schools in South Africa to pave the way for initiatives that cultivate a culture of cyber safety
Harnessing the Unseen: A Case Study on the Barriers to Big Data Analytics in a South African Retailer
No full textPart 3: General TrackInternational audienceWhile international companies increasingly invest in analytics to achieve a competitive edge, a major challenge is the underutilisation of this data, especially by offline retail businesses. The research underscores the disparity between abundant literature on e-commerce Big Data Analytics (BDA) utilisation and the need for more studies concerning South African offline retail organisations. Adopting the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, the study utilised a comprehensive qualitative approach by interviewing various Information Technology experts in an offline retail organization. Findings revealed that organisational factors, especially top management support and structure, are primary challenges to BDA adoption. The study also illuminates technological and environmental challenges specific to the case, such as recurring power outages and regulatory complexities. In conclusion, while BDA presents transformative potential for the retail sector, its successful implementation necessitates context-specific strategies, infrastructure investment, and upper-level managerial commitment
Correction to: Rationalizing Effects of Mobile Applications: A Systematic Review of Literature
No full textInternational audienc
Digital Inclusion and Human Development: Is Digital Inclusion a Social Determinant of Health that Matters?
No full textPart 1: Diverse and Inclusive Digital TransformationInternational audienceThe unequal distribution of resources following the pandemic have exacerbated existing inequalities in income and access to services needed to stay healthy. Digital technologies, in particular, mobile health applications, are seen to be a means of transforming access to care and socio-economic resources. This paper explores the impact of digital inclusion on human development and health outcomes. It also examines whether access to digital technologies and services, like mobile health, can act as a means to improve healthcare access and socio-economic resources, thereby addressing health inequities. This study on digital inclusion, human development, and health outcomes investigates two main questions: 1) How does digital inclusion effect human development? And 2) what is the role of digital inclusion as a social determinant of health? In order to investigate, study adopts a quantitative approach to explore how digital technologies and services can enhance healthcare access and socio-economic resources, potentially mitigating health inequities. By analyzing the correlation between digital inclusion and the Human Development Index (HDI), the study highlights a significant positive relationship, suggesting that improving digital access could lead to better health outcomes and reduced disparities. Out of the nine location factors tested for correlation with human development and digital inclusion, electricity access and incidence of multidimensional poverty turned out to be strongly correlated with both human development index and digital inclusion. The contribution of this paper is in illustrating that digital inclusion does in fact become a social determinant of health in improving health outcomes
Do Virtual Meetings Lead to More Gender Equal Debates?
No full textPart 1: FoundationsInternational audienceThe activity of open parliamentary debate is a crucial part of democratic government. Previous studies have shown that women face barriers that make them use less speaking time compared to men. In addition, women are, according to previous research, more biased towards engaging in soft topics, such as culture and care in comparison to hard topics such as economy and infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic over half of the world’s national parliaments shifted to a virtual format that lasted throughout the pandemic. Emerging research on the transformation from face-to-face/onsite meetings to virtual/online meetings in society highlights radical changes to the meeting environment and meeting dynamics. This paper explores how women’s speaking time changed in online council meetings in Sweden after the temporary shift from their previous onsite format. Using video analysis of recorded meetings and a novel method of measuring speaking time, this paper compares onsite council meetings with their online counterpart in three different councils. The findings suggest that the gender distribution of speaking time between soft and hard topics became more even in the virtual meetings compared to onsite parliamentary meetings. In addition, there was a more even distribution of speaking time between men and women in the online meetings compared to their onsite counterpart. The findings contribute to the understanding of how the transformation from onsite to virtual meetings impact the distribution of speaking time between men and women. However, more research is needed on underlying mechanisms of how speaking time is impacted when transitioning from onsite to online meetings
A Survey of Natural Language-Based Editing of Low-Code Applications Using Large Language Models
No full textPart 4: PostersInternational audienceIn recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) have showcased an impressive ability for natural language (NL) understanding, code generation, and logical reasoning. This provides the potential to significantly speed up development times by integrating this technology into software development workflows. Similarly, Low-Code Development Platforms (LCDPs) are already in use for reducing development effort and lowering the entry barrier to who can become a developer in the first place. This poses the question whether these technologies can be combined in order to enable end-users to edit an application via NL while experienced developers can still work on the same app using a regular LCDP and benefit from its advantages. To asses whether this proposal has been realised yet (and if so, to what extend), a literature survey is necessary. This paper presents such a survey, outlining how LLMs have been used to edit low-code applications, and especially Oracle Application Express (APEX) apps. It identifies an open research gap in this direction
What is Needed to Apply Sentiment Analysis in Real Software Projects: A Feasibility Study in Industry
No full textPart 1: Full Research PapersInternational audienceDue to the increasing size of software projects, they usually require team work and a sufficient amount of communication, which can influence team mood. However, this communication is often not adequate by means of tone and language. Sentiment analysis tools can be used to prevent this problem by investigating the mood conveyed by text-based communication. Most studies aim to improve or develop sentiment analysis tools for a better prediction of the sentiments raised by a specific communication behavior. The tools were often tested in a small experimental group settings (e.g. academia or open-source), but only very few studies applied the tools in industrial software projects.In this paper, we focus on the feasibility and usefulness of a state-of-the-art sentiment analysis tool in industrial settings. We conducted a user study over 4 months, in which twelve practitioners used a sentiment analysis tool and received weekly information on the sentiments conveyed with their text-based communication in group chats. This way, we evaluated the general feasibility of sentiment analysis in industry. Afterwards, we conducted an interview study with six of the twelve participants to get feedback. This way, we validated the insights gained from the user study and evaluated whether the application of sentiment analysis is useful in industrial software projects. We also investigated which improvements are necessary in order to increase the usefulness of sentiment analysis. Every participant reported that such a tool is suited for the use in software projects. However, they also pointed out some improvements that are required to increase its usefulness. These improvements include explanations, dashboards, and sarcasm detection
An Enhanced Exchange Operator for XC
No full textPart 1: Regular PapersInternational audienceRecent work in the area of coordination models and collective adaptive systems promotes a view of distributed computations as functions manipulating computational fields (data structures spread over space and evolving over time) and introduces the eXchange Calculus (XC) as a novel formal foundation for field computations. In XC, evolution (time) and neighbor interaction (space) are handled by a single communication primitive called exchange, working on the neighbouring value data structure to represent both received values and values to share. However, the exchange primitive does not allow to directly retain information about neighbours across subsequent rounds of computation. This hampers the convenient expression of useful algorithms in XC, such as the computation of a neighbour reliability score. In this paper, we introduce a new generalised version of the exchange primitive, also implementing it into the FCPP DSL. This primitive allows for neighbour data retention across rounds, strictly expanding the expressiveness of the exchange primitive in XC. The contribution is then evaluated through a case study on distributed sensing in a wireless sensor network of battery-powered devices, exploiting the reliability scores to improve robustness
Enterprise Modelling Support for the Transition of Manufacturing Enterprises Towards Circular Economy
No full textPart 1: Enterprise Modelling for Digital Transformation and Industry ApplicationsInternational audienceThe circular economy (CE) is an economic philosophy aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. It emphasises designing products for longevity, reuse, and recycling to create a closed-loop system. One of the goals of enterprise modelling (EM) is to support enterprises in change processes from the current situation into a desired future state. In the context of the transition to the CE, the question arises if and how EM methods and languages must be adapted for the CE. The main contributions of this work are a better understanding of the challenges manufacturing enterprises face when preparing their product architectures for the circular economy, a meta-model preparing the product perspective in EM methods for CE, and an investigation of what changes are required in EM methods. The aim is also to identify necessary methodical and technological adaptations of EM for supporting the transition of enterprises to CE