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Implications of Information and Digital Technologies for Development: 18th IFIP WG 9.4 International Conference, ICT4D 2024, Cape Town, South Africa, May 20–22, 2024, Proceedings, Part II
No full textInternational audienceBook Front Matter of AICT 70
“A Bunch of Sheep Running Towards Somewhere” - Implications of Digital Transformation on the Workforce
No full textPart 1: Diverse and Inclusive Digital TransformationInternational audienceDigital transformation affects workers as well as organisations. However, research regarding the impact of digital transformation on the workforce is limited. To address this gap, a case study was conducted on a telecommunications firm that has embarked on a digital transformation journey. The aim is to explore the implications of digital transformation on the workforce. Data was collected through interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that the workforce experienced a lack of communication and clear leadership from management, changes to the organisational structure, and a lack of opportunities for training and development. One of the respondents summarised the experience as “A bunch of sheep running towards somewhere”. Despite these experiences, the workforce demonstrated remarkable resilience in their approach to their work. The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on digital transformation, specifically on the consideration of the role of employees when formulating digital transformation strategies
Assessing Factors Affecting Doctors Access to Medical Knowledge at Point-of-Care in the Context of Evidence-Based Medicine
No full textPart 3: General TrackInternational audienceStudies show that despite the abundance of research to inform clinical practice, many patients do not receive Evidence-based healthcare, especially in Low-income countries. This study assessed factors that doctors consider important with respect to therapeutical information and medical knowledge when making decisions about patient treatment in the context of Evidence-based medicine (EBM). EBM emphasizes the importance of integrating patients’ values and current research findings when formulating care strategies to enhance efficiency and reduce medical errors. Following an interpretive paradigm through Information behavior lens, the study utilized interviews and examination of artifacts to gather data from purposively selected participants at a tertiary public hospital in Malawi. Findings revealed significant challenges, including; absence of Hospital-wide information systems, lack of time, high disease burden, insufficient tools, and political factors. There are opportunities however, such as online medical libraries and state-of-the-art medical schools that can contribute to the development and implementation of EBM
Tailoring Agile for Medical Software Development: Global South Perspective
No full textPart 3: General TrackInternational audienceAgile practices have been adopted in developing various software for Information and Communication Technology (ICT4D) due to their flexibility in empowering development teams to provide higher-quality, customer-aligned software. Medical software developers find it challenging to adopt agile scrum practices because of the stringent safety and regulatory requirements. This research explores how practitioners tailor agile approaches to develop medical software for ICT4D in the Global South context. The study employed a qualitative research methodology and gathered data by engaging 11 highly experienced practitioners developing medical software in India and Nigeria through semi-structured interviews. Snowballing, a purposive technique, and a professional network of experiences were used to identify and recruit the practitioners. The data analysis was informed by grounded theory, which involved open coding of the transcripts, constant comparison, memoing of the data and theoretical saturation. We identified 14 core categories and mapped to five roles and artefacts to enrich emerged memos, which include hybrid agile and plan-based practices, tailored roles, and software quality assurance artefacts. In addition, we developed a new and detailed breakdown of the activities in the clinical tester and CTO roles. Further, we developed a novel classification of agile quality assurance artefacts for medical software development. Our main contribution is that the 14 core categories mapped to roles and artefacts help practitioners build and deploy high-quality medical systems for ICT4D locally. Our findings show that practitioners require additional skills and capabilities in agile tailoring concepts. We discovered a lack of national regulatory mechanisms to guide practitioners, especially in the Nigerian context
A Socialized Affordance Perspective of a Mobile Application for Patients’ Assessment and Referrals at the Community Level in Malawi
No full textPart 3: General TrackInternational audienceThe implementation of mobile technology plays a crucial role in enhancing healthcare delivery in developing countries, leading to both anticipated and unforeseen consequences. This study investigates the social practices involved in deploying a mobile application designed to aid Community Health Workers (CHWs) in patient assessment and referral processes, facilitating their connection to higher-level healthcare facilities. Utilizing the concept of socialized affordance, we examine how social structures influence the interactions between human actors and technology. We identified three key socialized affordances: streamlining CHWs’ work processes in village clinics, strengthening monitoring and accountability, and enhancing CHWs’ digital knowledge and skills development. These affordances led to several intended outcomes, including improved CHWs adherence to protocol, improved patient referrals, enhanced time management, improved CHWs performance, and improved digital capacity building. However, unintended outcomes also emerged, such as the exclusion of volunteers, heightened respect from community members, increased workload for CHWs, and heightened anxiety among CHWs. Consequently, this study contributes to the understanding of socialized affordance by illustrating how the interplay between human actors and technology is shaped by the institutional, cultural, and social dimensions of the environment where affordances are perceived and actualized
Information Modeling for Data-Driven Digital Twin Simulation: Insights from Case Studies of Port Logistics and Urban Traffic Systems
No full textPart 2: New Horizons for Intelligent Manufacturing Systems with IoT, AI, and Digital TwinsInternational audienceDigital twins, which enable the creation of virtual replicas of physical entities to simulate temporal changes and forecast future scenarios, have become increasingly vital in sectors such as logistics and traffic management. The deployment of digital twins can significantly enhance the efficiency of maritime operations and cargo handling, while also facilitating the strategic planning of road networks through the optimization of traffic flow and reduction of congestion. Recent advancements in international standards, particularly ISO 23247, have set forth comprehensive guidelines for the reference architecture, digital representation, and data exchange protocols of digital twins within the manufacturing sector. In this context, our study seeks to extend these standards to include applications in port logistics and traffic systems. This paper will offer practical guidelines for each specified domain through detailed case studies. Our approach entails a systematic method in which the necessary information for simulations is categorized. This is followed by a clear definition of the operational mechanisms of these simulations, culminating in the implementation of the simulation models. These models are crafted to optimize the scheduling processes for ships and cargo equipment, as well as to improve the management of traffic flow
Product-Centric Simulation for Proactive Evaluation of Production Plan in Shipyard
No full textPart 3: Computer Vision-based Digital Twin and Digital Services for Dynamic Production and Logistics EnvironmentInternational audienceThe shipbuilding industry encompasses various stages in constructing a ship, culminating in the final product. Managing and optimizing these complex processes necessitates considerable time and feasible mid- to long-term planning. A crucial aspect of effective and competitive production management within the shipbuilding industry involves establishing and implementing accurate production plans tailored to the specific situations. While various attempts have been made to utilize modeling and simulation methodologies for this purpose, they have often been hindered by difficulties in accurately capturing the actual situations and constraints of the production site. This paper proposes the use of a product-centric simulation for proactive evaluation of master production plans, alongside the prediction and validation of these plans using shop floor data. By an industrial case study for a Korean shipbuilding company, the effectiveness of the proposed methodology was verified through comparison with existing way. By product-centric simulation, it is expected that production planning could become more accurate by reflecting the actual situation and constraints
An Explorative Study of AI Applications in Composite Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing
No full textPart 2: New Horizons for Intelligent Manufacturing Systems with IoT, AI, and Digital TwinsInternational audienceAdditive Manufacturing (AM) is on the forefront of innovative advance manufacturing techniques leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to improve processing capabilities. We conducted a literature review to survey the current state of the art for AI/ML applications within Material Extrusion AM (MEX-AM). Furthermore, this study explored the intersection of AI applications and use of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) as a MEX-AM material. We found that while discontinuous CFRPs are covered in several experimental studies, there was a noticeable lack of research on continuous CFRPs among the collected papers. We found that the most common ML Solution for quality issues in MEX-AM was the artificial neural network feed forward supervised learning back propagation (ANN-FFNN-SL-BPN) Solution
RPA Ready? Unlocking Organizational RPA Readiness
No full textPart 1: Artificial Intelligence Adoption and ImpactInternational audienceRobotic Process Automation (RPA) is a relatively new digital technology in business process automation that is getting more widely adopted by many organizations in various industries. However, the promised benefits of RPA are not experienced by all organizations mainly because of a lack of organizational readiness. In this study, based on a literature review and in-depth interviews with sixteen RPA experts from eight industries, we identify 17 organizational readiness factors for RPA adoption. These factors are classified under five categories: change valence, change efficacy, technology context, organizational context, and environmental context, as outlined within our organizational RPA readiness framework. Our findings suggest a need to reassess and expand the existing list of organizational readiness factors typically applied to other digital technologies to better fit with the unique context of RPA. Notably, four factors have been identified as specifically tailored to RPA: exception handling, RPA strategy, RPA governance, and RPA Process fit. Moreover, some factors may hold greater importance in achieving organizational readiness for successful RPA adoption. Among these, RPA process fit, RPA governance, and top management support emerged as the most prominent, as highlighted by 15 out of 16 experts.The proposed organizational RPA readiness framework can help managers better prepare for the planning, prioritizing, and decision-making regarding RPA adoption initiatives
An Explorative Study on the Adoption of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in Business Organizations
No full textPart 1: Artificial Intelligence Adoption and ImpactInternational audienceArtificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Deep Learning (DL), is expanding across industries, raising concerns about data processing opacity. This has increased the demand for Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) solutions. Despite its growing relevance, understanding XAI adoption drivers and its potential business impact is still limited. This study employs an exploratory qualitative approach, conducting eleven in-depth interviews to identify key factors influencing XAI adoption in business. These factors include perceived benefits, technological readiness, organizational and business factors, leadership, strategy, industry and governmental pressures and user needs. Furthermore, we use the Technology Organization and Environment model (TOE) to develop a theoretical framework that highlights technological readiness, impacts on the core business and consumer influence, determining the business value of XAI. Moreover, this paper provides managerial implications on navigating XAI adoption, by engaging stakeholders and balancing technological maturity with competitive pressures