Search

open access article Ethical and human rights issues of artificial intelligence (AI) are a prominent topic of research and innovation policy as well as societal and scientific debate. It is broadly recognised that AI-related technologies have properties that can give rise to ethical and human rights concerns, such as privacy, bias and discrimination, safety and security, economic distribution, political participation or the changing nature of warfare. Numerous ways of addressing these issues have been suggested. In light of the complexity of this discussion, we undertook a Delphi study with experts in the field to determine the most pressing issues and prioritise appropriate mitigation strategies. The results of the study demonstrate the difficulty of defining clear priorities. Our findings suggest that the debate around ethics and human rights of AI would benefit from being reframed and more strongly emphasising the systems nature of AI ecosystems.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is producing highly beneficial impacts in many domains, from transport to healthcare, from energy distribution to marketing, but it also raises concerns about undesirable ethical and social consequences. AI impact assessments (AI-IAs) are a way of identifying positive and negative impacts early on to safeguard AI’s benefits and avoid its downsides. This article describes the first systematic review of these AI-IAs. Working with a population of 181 documents, the authors identified 38 actual AI-IAs and subjected them to a rigorous qualitative analysis with regard to their purpose, scope, organisational context, expected issues, timeframe, process and methods, transparency and challenges. The review demonstrates some convergence between AI-IAs. It also shows that the field is not yet at the point of full agreement on content, structure and implementation. The article suggests that AI-IAs are best understood as means to stimulate reflection and discussion concerning the social and ethical consequences of AI ecosystems. Based on the analysis of existing AI-IAs, the authors describe a baseline process of implementing AI-IAs that can be implemented by AI developers and vendors and that can be used as a critical yardstick by regulators and external observers to evaluate organisations’ approaches to AI.

This paper investigates the influence of national culture on customers' behavior and customers' choice of channel through the customer life cycle stages. An exploratory in-depth single case study in a multinational organization in Egypt was conducted. Specifically, 31 in-depth interviews were conducted with members of staff in marketing, IT, retail and customer services departments, and external prospects/customers. Based on an interpretive approach, the authors have articulated a situated cultural approach based on structuration theory to identify the cultural dimensions that have provided an understanding of the cultural influence on customers' channel choice. The results highlighted that verbal, human interaction, traditional shopping, and cash based were the themes for customers' channel choice through the four stages of customer life cycle. The results also show that the customers' channel choices were linked to the following Egyptian cultural dimensions: collectivism, market price relationship, emotional, power distance, low trust, uncertainty avoidance, and universalism.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also referred as 3D printing, is a small but fast-growing sub-sector of the manufacturing industry. Concerns over increasing worldwide energy consumption provides an impetus to quantify the energy use of the most common forms of AM technologies. To date, research efforts have focussed on the energy use of industrial AM machines, and little research has been conducted on the numerous low-cost desktop 3D printers. Additionally, there is a gap in our knowledge of how to minimise the energy consumption of desktop 3D printers and how to predict their energy use. To fill this gap, high resolution (1 Hz) power measurements were made for a range of low-cost fused filament fabrication and vat polymerisation desktop 3D printers. The volumetric specific energy use was found to be 24.8 – 85.7 kJ/cm3 and 10.8 – 21.5 kJ/cm3 for fused filament fabrication and vat polymerisation respectively. Semi-empirical equations were developed that can accurately predict the energy use for each printing technology based on simple 3D printing metrics.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Climate change may well be the most important issue of the 21st century and the world’s response, in the form of ‘Climate Engineering’, is therefore of equal pre-eminent importance. However, while there are technological challenges, there are equally just as important ethical challenges that these technologies also generate. Governments, funding agencies and non-governmental organisations increasingly recognise the importance of incorporating ethics into the development of emerging technologies (for example, within the EU draft legislation on AI). As the world faces the global challenge of climate change there are urgent efforts to develop strategies so that responses to the climate problems do not reproduce more of the same. Ethical values from the onset are fundamental to this process and need highlighting. Hence, this paper analyses a series of ethical codes, framework and guidelines of the new emerging technologies of climate engineering (CE) through a review of both published academic literature and grey literature from either industry, government, and non-governmental (NGO) organisations. This paper was developed as part of a collaboration with international partners from TechEthos (TechEthos receives funding from the EU H2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101006249; Ethics of Emerging Technologies), an EU-funded project that deals with the ethics of the new and emerging technologies anticipated to have high socio-economic impact. Our findings have identified the following ethical considerations including autonomy, freedom, integrity, human rights and privacy in the developmental process of climate engineering, while a poverty of ethical values reflecting dignity and trust were noted.

This paper introduces the concept of additively manufactured (AM) water filled parts (WFPs). By combining the energy absorbing properties of water with polymers, it is possible to significantly improve the time to ignition of AM parts with open internal structures. Theory relating the flame temperature to the maximum wall temperature of WFPs is developed. A range of water-polymer configurations are presented as a basis for WFP designs. Three separate thermal experiments were conducted to test different aspects of the WFPs. The time to ignition for cone calorimetry samples was extended 794% over plain photopolymers. Case studies were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of WFPs with complex shapes. The results of thermo-fluid finite element simulations showed good agreement with experimental observations and provide a useful tool for the evaluation and optimisation of WFP designs. The fire resistance of thin walled structures with internal water volumes was found to be significantly improved. The water filling strategy was found to be more effective than adding intumescent coatings. Finally further work and recommendations are discussed.

Large scale Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is a growing area of interest within AM, with several unresolved problems: the volumetric cost of materials is high, the printing process is slow and low cooling rates result in unstable or sagging structures. This paper presents the concept of additive manufacturing via tube extrusion (AMTEx) as a means of overcoming these issues. Using hollow tubes in place of solid extrusions means material use is reduced and cooling properties are vastly improved, allowing spans in excess of 400 mm without sag. Conventional freeform extrusion relies on the use of six-axis robots to orientate the extruder nozzle tangentially to the toolpath. It was found that slight pressurisation of the inside of printed tubes allowed extrusion at more than 90° from the nozzle axis without tube collapse. Aside from reducing the possibility of robot-print collisions, this also allows the use of traditional 3D printing slicing software to generate printer toolpaths. It also opens the potential to use conventional three-axis machines, greatly increasing the applicability of printing with tubes. AMTEx tubes were found to be stronger under tension and bending compared to equivalent FFF parts and had significantly improved ductility.

While the use of smart information systems (the combination of AI and Big Data) offer great potential for meeting many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they also raise a number of ethical challenges in their implementation. Through the use of six empirical case studies, this paper will examine potential ethical issues relating to use of SIS to meet the challenges in six of the SDGs (2, 3, 7, 8, 11, and 12). The paper will show that often a simple "technofix", such as through the use of SIS, is not sufficient and may exacerbate, or create new, issues for the development community using SIS.

Due to their compact design, ease of manufacture and high efficiency in heat and mass transfer, helically coiled tubes are widely used in a number of industries and processes such as in the food, nuclear, aerospace and power generation industries and in heat recovery, refrigeration, space heating and air-conditioning processes. Due to the formation of a secondary flow, which inherently enhances the mixing of the fluid, helically coiled tubes are known to yield enhanced heat transfer characteristics when compared to straight tube heat exchangers. The secondary flow is perpendicular to the axial fluid direction and reduces the thickness of the thermal boundary layer. Goering et al. [1] estimated the secondary flow to account for circa 16–20% of the mean fluid flow velocity.

Technology is ubiquitous, including in some public sector organisations in developing countries. This paper explores the introduction and use of e-services into the land records service in Bangladesh and how the role and position of ‘middlemen’ has re-asserted itself. The concept of affordance, both dispositional and relational, together with social affordance (habitus) offers an opportunity to better understand why this has happened and potentially to look at how to approach this in the future.

Policy-making in the digital age is an area which needs knowledge that can be found in communities that traditionally do not connect with each other. The creation of a research community is a challenging endeavour and needs to ad-dress both physical and online elements. In communities, groups of people share some common interests and are often facilitated by interacting with each other through the Internet and face-to-face meeting (Stewart, 2010). The activities should results in a sense of feeling of belonging to the communities. In this paper we outline the community-building activities of creating a policy informatics community which were part of the FP7 eGovPoliNet project. The eGovPoliNet project community organized community building event and provided a platform for sharing experiences and knowledge, which addresses the fragmentation of research communities, as well as the fragmentation among different disciplines, by building a common network where research-ers from different disciplines and countries can interact. The aim was to en-gage different stakeholder groups to work together in exchanging ideas and information. The focus was on e-Government, information systems, complex systems, public administration and policy research and social simulation re-search communities, although persons from other research communities were also involved. The eGovPoliNet community building process consisted of three phases namely: Initiating (period 1), Growing (period 2), and Sustaining (period 3) In the initiating phase (period 1), the European and international multidisciplinary research landscape was outlined by identifying the key players in terms of ICT for Governance and Policy Modelling R&D and by determining the targeted communities. The growing phase (period 2) focused on developing the community by organising events by the project members and involving key players. New members were attracted by organising community building activities at various conferences, organising tracks, workshops, panels and PhD Colloquia. The sustaining phase (period 3) focused on maintaining the community through collaboration type events and PhD colloquia which resulted in further growth of the community. Finally, plans for future sustainability of the community were formulated. Community building is a time-intensive process, as people should gain a sense of belonging to the community. Different type of activities are appealing to different people. Following-up activities is essential, which involves people creating content and organizing events.

Additively manufactured (AM) conformal cooling channels are currently the state of the art for high performing tooling with reduced cycle times. This paper introduces the concept of conformal cooling layers which challenges the status quo in providing higher heat transfer rates that also provide less variation in tooling temperatures.\ud \ud The cooling layers are filled with self-supporting repeatable unit cells that form a lattice throughout the cooling layers. The lattices increase fluid vorticity which improves convective heat transfer. Mechanical testing of the lattices shows that the design of the unit cell significantly varies the compression characteristics.\ud \ud A virtual case study of the injection moulding of a plastic enclosure is used to compare the performance of conformal cooling layers with that of conventional (drilled) cooling channels and conformal (AM) cooling channels. The results show the conformal layers reduce cooling time by 26.34% over conventional cooling channels.

This paper examines the institutional arrangements in the development of Nigeria’s electronic payment system (EPS) using a new institutional economics (NIE) perspective. A case study of Nigeria’s EPS was carried out using semi structured interviews to collect data from 18 participating stakeholders; a thematic method was used for the data analysis. The study suggests that a well-functioning set of arrangements, which is lacking in the institutional setup in Nigeria may be required to build necessary institutional capacity suitable for development of safe and efficient electronic payment systems. Although the technological payment infrastructure in Nigeria is modern and of comparable standard, the failure to put in place reliable and relevant market and collaborative agreements has not enabled full exploitation of the available infrastructure. Current governance structures show elements of power struggle and distrust between stakeholders (players and regulators), hampering the creation of an environment that would sustain free market economic activities and effective development of payment systems.

The findings reported in this paper provide a model for consistently achieving optimal cutting conditions when shaping foam plastic, such as polystyrene, with an electrically heated wire-based cutting tool. General relationships between wire temperature, power input, feed-rate, kerf width and work piece material composition were developed and an optimal machining algorithm was proposed and tested. The findings provide a significant advancement toward a fully automated machining facility and the associated development of a novel, large scale rapid manufacturing (RM) system.

PurposeCurrent additive rapid prototyping (RP) technologies fail to efficiently produce objects greater than 0.5 m3 due to restrictions in build size, build time and cost. A need exists to develop RP and manufacturing technologies capable of producing large objects in a rapid manner directly from computer‐aided design data. Foam cutting RP is a relatively new technology capable of producing large complex objects using inexpensive materials. The purpose of this paper is to describe nine such technologies that have been developed or are currently being developed at institutions around the world. The relative merits of each system are discussed. Recommendations are given with the aim of enhancing the performance of existing and future foam cutting RP systems.Design/methodology/approachThe review is based on an extensive literature review covering academic publications, company documents and web site information.FindingsThe paper provides insights into the different machine configurations and cutting strategies. The most successful machines and cutting strategies are identified.Research limitations/implicationsMost of the foam cutting RP systems described have not been developed to the commercial level, thus a benchmark study directly comparing the nine systems was not possible.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first overview of foam cutting RP technology, a field which is over a decade old. The information contained in this paper will help improve future developments in foam cutting RP systems.

This paper presents the ideation of a force feedback temperature control system for advanced hot-tool plastic foam cutting systems. With respect to other controllers, the force feedback temperature control strategy is simple to apply given that it modulates the electrical power input independent of the predetermined tool path and feed rate. The control strategy is implemented by making a series of one-dimensional cuts with a hot wire. The electrical power input to the hot wire is modulated to provide constant tool temperature. Since the cutting force and kerf width are both dependent on the tool temperature, maintaining a constant tool temperature results in consistent cut surface characteristics. The force feedback temperature control theory and its practical implementation in one dimension are presented as well as an accurate description of the cutting process. Experimental results are presented to validate both theoretical assumptions and practical benefits. A number of barriers to implementation for three-dimensional sculpting are discussed with possible solutions. The experimental results validate the predictions that force feedback temperature control is an effective control method for hot-tool plastic foam cutting.

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive framework of a situated culture approach to studying culture within the IS discipline.Design/methodology/approachThis is achieved via an articulation of structuration theory and the provision of an approach to study cross‐cultural phenomena within the IS discipline. The paper proposes two main components of a structuration theory based analysis model which is proposed as a way to study culture within IS discipline. First, the paper presents ideas behind the practice lens for studying the use of technology, as proposed by Orlikowski. Second, the paper presents a structurational analysis approach as detailed by Walsham. The paper argues that using a practice lens contributes to identifying the mediated shared structures between actors through understanding the actions of the actors within the phenomena. Then, using a structurational analysis approach contributes to identifying the cultural dimensions that are embedded in the identified mediated shared structures.FindingsThis paper contributes to cultural studies within the IS discipline and provides a framework for researchers aiming to investigate cultural influences for different phenomena within IS.Originality/valueCultural anthropology seeks to understand the similarities and differences among groups of people in the contemporary world. Although there are many different models of national culture, most IS research has tended to rely almost solely on Hofstede's cultural model. However, Hofstede's cultural model been criticised, and using structurational analysis will provide researchers within cultural studies in the IS discipline with a more broad perspective for the phenomena.

This paper is an exploratory account of the further development and application of a hybrid framework, StructurANTion, that is based on Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory (ANT). The use of social theories in general and their use in information systems (IS) research in particular is explored leading to the use of the framework to examine the concept of what are termed humanchine networks in the context of clinical audit, within a healthcare Primary Care Trust (PCT). A particular focus is on the manner in which information systems-based reflexivity contributes to both entrenching a networks' structurated order as well as contributing to its emancipatory change. The case study compares clinic-centric and patient-centric audit and seeks to further extend the understanding of the role of information and information systems within structurated humanchine activity systems. Conclusions indicate that the use of more socially informed IS methods and approaches can incorporate more emancipatory ideals and lead to greater adoption and usage of more relevant and useful clinical information systems and practices.

Educational software adoption across UK secondary schools is seen as unsatisfactory. Based on stakeholders' perceptions, this paper uses fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) to model this adoption context. It discusses the development of the FCM model, using a mixed-methods approach and drawing on participants from three UK secondary schools. The study presents three phases involved in the development of the model, where individual FCMs were developed in phase one and then the individual FCMs were aggregated in phase two. In phase three, further interrelationships identified from the empirical data were assigned weightings and added, resulting in the final FCM model. Following a static analysis of the model, the resulting FCM offers a visual medium of factors key to the adoption of educational software as perceived by relevant stakeholders. As a holistic model it provides insight into the context of educational software adoption in schools, which can be used to guide both educational decision-makers in where to focus their efforts and software developers in terms of more focused and appropriate software development efforts.

Additive manufacturing (AM) provides many benefits such as reduced manufacturing lead times, streamlined supply chains, part consolidation, structural optimisation and improved buy-to-fly ratios. Barriers to adoption include high material and processing costs, low build rates, isotropic material properties, and variable processing conditions. Currently AM polymer parts are far less expensive to manufacture than AM metal parts, therefore improving the properties of polymer parts is highly desirable.This paper introduces a design methodology used to integrate continuous reinforcement into AM polymer parts with the aim of improving their mechanical properties. The method is validated with the design and testing of three case studies, a pulley housing, hook and universal joint used to demonstrate the applicability of the method for tensile, bending and torsion loading types respectively.Physical testing showed that it was possible to improve the strength of parts by over 4000%, elongation to failure by over 2000% and stiffness by approximately 200%. In addition a method of integrating condition monitoring capabilities into the parts was demonstrated.An analysis of the specific strength of the parts suggests that the reinforced parts are comparable to aluminium alloys, suggesting that in some cases AM polymer composite parts could supplant more costly metal parts. Keywords: Carbon fibre, Polymer-matrix composites, Mechanical properties, Finite element analysis, Additive manufacturing, Condition monitoring

Purpose - To offer the authors' own observations on the ways in which information science is developing in relation to information management in an extensive introduction to a special issue of European Journal of Information Management devoted mainly to papers presented at the UK Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS) 2007 Conference, Manchester University, UK, 11-12 April 2007. Design/methodology/approach - A brief review of the literature of information science, information systems (IS) and IT is presented, followed by summaries of the articles to follow. Findings - The authors' attention is focused on the growing debate over the need for action and change if the IS community is to develop a more coherent view and definition of the IS field. Concludes that: the IS research field is evolving and proliferating rapidly; the debate over what constitutes the core and the periphery of IS research is valid; IS has embraced a plurality of research approaches, methods and techniques and is achieving a good balance of rigour and relevance; IS research may be considered too far removed from practice and could be seen to be drifting further with the crossing of boundaries into sociology, anthropology and political philosophy; the IT productivity paradox still exists; and there is a need to articulate more clearly what IS is Sets out a number of action points that include: developing a revised definition for IS; making the boundaries for IS research more clearly defined; developing a popular definition of an IS system; focusing on rebuilding the IS community and identity; focusing on mechanisms for greater engagement of IS academics with practitioners; and focusing on a redefinition of the IS subject programme syllabus.

Part 4: Application Areas and Evaluation; International audience; This paper provides an evaluation of eight local e-Government websites in Canada and the United Kingdom, utilizing web diagnostic tools. The results of the diagnostic evaluation are synthesized for a comparative case analysis between the various local e-Government websites, providing recommendations for areas of improvement in terms of accessibility. Furthermore, the study will offer insight into the varied approaches to e-Government website conceptualization and design among local officials. While eight local websites are evaluated, only the city of Calgary and Hillingdon are explored in-depth through interviews with local officials. The exploration of the use of web diagnostic tools as an evaluative method for local e-Government websites will supply local officials and webmasters with a valuable and feasible option for internal evaluation. The study is unique in that it evaluates multiple e-Government websites at a local level rather than a federal level between two countries.

Electrospinning is a relatively simple method of producing nanofibres. Currently there is no method to predict the characteristics of electrospun fibres produced from a wide range of polymer/solvent combinations and concentrations without first measuring a number of solution properties. This paper shows how artificial neural networks can be trained to make electrospinning predictions using only commonly available prior knowledge of the polymer and solvent. Firstly, a probabilistic neural network was trained to predict the classification of three possibilities: no fibres (electrospraying); beaded fibres; and smooth fibres with > 80% correct predictions. Secondly, a generalised neural network was trained to predict fibre diameter with an average absolute percentage error of 22.3% for the validation data. These predictive tools can be used to reduce the parameter space before scoping exercises.

This paper presents the ongoing case study of a large pharmaceutical organisation currently undertaking a number of changes to their work practices. These collaborative changes are being facilitated by groupware systems. In many instances this has led to the rejection of or resistance to the more complex tools. The paper outlines research, based on a perspective informed by structuration theory, that provides the organisation with an approach to supporting staff in this new 'collaborative environment'. An example, drawn from the case study, shows how such support might be developed and presents a set of recommendations for supporting a particular group, based on this research schema.

Starting from personal construct theory (PCT), this article explores the use of two complementary approaches to investigate the interdependence of organisations and information systems. These two techniques — repertory grid analysis (RGA) and cognitive mapping (CM) — were used to investigate the dynamics of this interaction. Changing business models and information technologies were investigated in two distinct work settings; in each case, the technique contributed substantial insight into the role of information systems in that context. The analysis shows that the techniques have matured to a stage where they provide a basis for improved understanding of the organisational complexities related to information technologies. The techniques focus on the social construction of meaning by articulating and interpreting the discourse that surrounds the development, implementation, and use of information technology in organisations. It is these ongoing discourses that creates the dynamic complexities in organisations as they play themselves out and develop over time. Current research has articulated and improved awareness of the issues and concerns that surround computer-based information systems. Despite the differing contexts and work processes, the findings from each case suggest that this has made managers more conceptually agile, leading to improved integration of organisational processes and technology. The article concludes by drawing out the idea of the development of a conceptual model to act as a framework for the analysis of cognitive schema and shared understanding. In developing and participating in this shared understanding, both organisational and technological communities could increase their awareness of each other’s issues and concerns, thereby enabling them to improve the conceptual agility of the organisation.

Recent research in information systems (IS) has focused on the application of social theory in general and Anthony Gidden's structuration theory in particular to help reveal how technical systems can support or hinder human interaction in societal, organizational, and personal contexts. This article examines the potential of structuration theory to facilitate an understanding of social and organizational issues that surround collaboration using new technologies.

While the twentieth century is considered as the century of population explosion and burning of fossil fuels, environmental policies and the transition to effectively use renewable energy sources have become a priority of strategies in regions, countries and internationally. Different projects have been initiated to study the best suitable transition process towards renewable energy. In addition, an increasing number of climate change and energy policies is being formulated and released at distinct levels of governments. Many of these policies and projects pursue the aim of switching from energy sources like fossil fuels or nuclear power to renewable energy sources like solar, wind or water. The aim of this chapter is to provide foundations of policy implementation and particular methods as well as to investigate five policy implementation cases through a comparative analysis.

The rate at which ICT is growing is alarming. Governments across the globe have realized how important it is to utilize ICT. More so the relative importance it plays in the adoption, implementation and development of E-government. Developed and developing countries are constantly engaging ICT to deliver efficient and effective service to its citizens and businesses. Sufficient literature exists in e-government domain but there is limited literature on the adoption of e-government in developing countries. Using a qualitative approach, this paper explores the adoption of e-voting in Nigeria by identifying e-government definitions, challenges and the situation in both developed and developing countries. Research findings indicate that there are specific elements (environmental, technical, social, and economic) factors that are considered critical and also serve as a barrier to successful e-government adoption. These factors have to be addressed to pave way for successful adoption.

Part 2: Services and Interoperability; International audience; This paper aims to identify the need for Public Sector Information Systems (PSIS), a particular field of the IS discipline dealing with the design, redesign and evaluation of E-services in public sector organizations. A longitudinal and empirical study of an E-service project in a public sector organization in Bangladesh reveals that without addressing underlying organizational problems, taking account into organization contexts, statutes and practices and considering the organizational reality and users’ capability; it is difficult to implement E-services in public sector organizations. This paper argues that a particular information system (public sector information systems (PSIS)) has the potential to lead to better design and implementation of successful E-services in public sector organizations.

This paper discusses some human, social and organisational issues affecting the introduction of Component-Based Development (CBD) in organisations. In particular, the paper presents the outcome of a case study aimed at assessing organisational obstacles influencing successful application of CBD in the industry. We present some organisational problems experienced by three organisations in adopting and implementing CBD, including cognitive skills, disincentives, organisational politics and organisational culture. In each case we suggest some solutions that developers and managers should consider in order to minimise these organisational problems. We suggest that applying social–technical approaches can minimise the impact of these organisational obstacles. Examples of social–technical approaches include maintaining a relationship with customers throughout the development process and eliciting support from key sponsors and stakeholders.

Most developing countries (DCs) have yet to fully benefit from the many advances in the information technology (IT) field because of specific problems experienced by these countries. Examples include a lack of systems infrastructure and resources to invest in IT. Component-Based Development (CBD) offers a number of benefits that the DCs can tap into, such as reducing development and maintenance costs and improving reuse across projects. CBD entail purchasing a number of off-the-shelf software components, each satisfying some part of the requirements of the system and integrating these components into the required system. This paper will discuss the findings of a survey conducted in a specific developing country (Zambia) to assess important factors that support the CBD process. The results suggests that, although CBD has great potential for DCs there are some social and technical factors that need to be addressed by organisations in DCs for this to be fully realised. For example, the results show that from the social point of view there is lack of management support for CBD and from the technical point of view that organisations were not familiar with the technology for integrating components.

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of efforts to introduce a mobile health information system in Nigeria as part of a development initiative aimed at improving maternal and child health. Specifically, it examines the use of mobile devices to facilitate maternal health information accessibility and exchange among health practitioners in order to reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality. Further, it also looks at the challenges raised while introducing mobile devices into work practices in the healthcare sector. The study adopts a case study approach, relying on semi-structured interviews and document analysis as its main methods for collecting data. The specific case examined is a mobile phone-based information system introduced to support a national government effort in Nigeria, known as the midwives service scheme. The findings of this study show that this integrated approach of using mobile phones to support (health) information systems has vast potential; for instance increasing the timeliness of (health) data available to stakeholders for monitoring and planning purposes. However, we also find that over time, attaining the potential of development efforts such as this remains difficult as initiatives involving the use of mobile devices is not just about getting the technical aspect right. It is equally dependent on deep seated social-cultural influences such as poor political and financial commitment. These two mutually reinforcing influences have been identified in this study as significant impediments to efforts of this kind. Therefore, this paper argues for, first a strong political commitment across all levels of government whereby their words are backed with action. Second it is important that the government maintains financial integrity by releasing the funds budgeted to support the smooth running of these efforts, for such initiatives to thrive and ultimately contribute to development.

It is becoming generally established that modern research and writings need to acknowledge the organizational context that surrounds the use of a technology (see Rachel & Woolgar, 1995; Westrup, 1996). However, previous efforts have been criticized for their failure to accumulate consistent research findings or develop coherent theoretical frameworks (Markus & Robey, 1988). Part of the problem is that a wide diversity of perspectives is adopted by organizational researchers, and fundamental issues behind these perspectives have yet to be properly examined and resolved (see Burrell & Morgan, 1979); this paper adopts the perspective that some resolution of these issues is possible, or at least should be sought. One approach is to adopt the theoretical framework, built on Giddens' structuration theory (Giddens, 1990), as presented by Orlikowski and Robey (1991), and to use it to analyse a new technology case, that of computer-aided design/draughting.

This paper introduces a design methodology used to integrate continuous fibre reinforcement into AM polymer parts with the aim of improving their mechanical properties. Tensile and low cycle fatigue testing of reinforced parts is carried out for a range of load conditions and strain rates\ud Physical testing showed that it was possible to improve the strength of parts by 400% and cycles to failure by 42,800% with the addition of 4% carbon by weight. Logarithmic load/cycle relationships were found also samples showed significant variability in the number of cycles to failure. No correlation between the density of the polylactic acid (PLA) infill and the tensile strength or low cycle fatigue life.\ud Access holes used to thread the fibre into the reinforcement channels were identified as stress concentrators initiating cracks in the PLA and separation of the reinforcement from the PLA part.

Part 1: IS Success and Failure; International audience; Environmental sustainability is one of the issues that organizations need to face today. Nevertheless, Green IT practices have their disadvantages, especially financial ones, which make the green logistic topic controversial to organizations. Achieving zero emissions while receiving financial benefits is idealistic thus companies need to adapt specific green strategies according to their particular needs. This study analyzes a specific company in terms of its green logistics strategy in order to discover any shortcomings and to depict how issues from literature review can influence the operation of the organization. This company is a super market chain dominant in the market of northern Greece. Focusing on the e-logistics of the firm, issues such as warehouse management system, inventory control, transportation, distribution and reverse logistics are examined in combination with the environmental consciousness. Our results could be useful to companies looking to exploit Green IT logistics.

Usability is a key factor in users’ engagement with e-government. However, current research has not paid much attention to evaluating the usability of web-based e-government. As such, this paper presents an empirical study that applies a users’ centred approach to evaluating usability in current e-government website in the UK. Based on the usability problems found, the proposed design solutions have been suggested, designed and examined. The findings indicate that the proposed design solutions have improved the specific usability problems identified, which may increase the overall usability of the e-government website. The value of the study is that it provides guidance for designers to improve the usability of web-based e-government.

Track II: Recent Developments in Inductive Research Methods; International audience; Identifying rigorous and relevant research methods has for a long time been a challenge in IS research. This is amplified in developing countries, where understanding the context is key. This paper presents an Action Design Research based approach, incorporating ethnography, which aims to provide a more authentic and relevant analysis. The Action Design Ethnographic Research (ADER) method is illustrated through the case of ICTs and land records management in Bangladesh. The findings show that where ICTs have been introduced so far, they do not clearly relate to the specific organizational context and service delivery processes. Furthermore, they fail to recognize the role of what is termed here ‘vested interest networks’, which sit outside the formal processes, but are key to their effective functioning. This paper suggests ADER has the potential to enable the development of more contextually contingent, authentic and hence useful ICTs, especially in the developing countries context.

Usability is an important factor influencing users’ interaction and adoption of e-government, which needs to be considered in e-government development. However, current research has not paid much attention to assessing usability. This empirical study conducts a systematic approach to evaluate the usability of current e-government websites, identifying existing usability problems and providing proposed design solutions for further e-government usability development. Such research results can help designers and developers to understand the importance of usability and guide their particular attention to develop more usable e-government.

Background Healthcare service innovations are considered to play a pivotal role in improving organisational efficiency and responding effectively to healthcare needs. Nevertheless, healthcare organisations encounter major difficulties in sustaining and diffusing innovations, especially those which concern the organisation and delivery of healthcare services. The purpose of the present study was to explore how healthcare innovators of process-based initiatives perceived and made sense of factors that either facilitated or obstructed the innovation implementation and diffusion. Methods A qualitative study was designed. Fifteen primary and secondary healthcare organisations in the UK, which had received health service awards for successfully generating and implementing service innovations, were studied. In-depth, semi structured interviews were conducted with the organisational representatives who conceived and led the development process. The data were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Results Four main themes were identified in the analysis of the data: the role of evidence, the function of inter-organisational partnerships, the influence of human-based resources, and the impact of contextual factors. "Hard" evidence operated as a proof of effectiveness, a means of dissemination and a pre-requisite for the initiation of innovation. Inter-organisational partnerships and people-based resources, such as champions, were considered an integral part of the process of developing, establishing and diffusing the innovations. Finally, contextual influences, both intra-organisational and extra-organisational were seen as critical in either impeding or facilitating innovators' efforts. Conclusions A range of factors of different combinations and co-occurrence were pointed out by the innovators as they were reflecting on their experiences of implementing, stabilising and diffusing novel service initiatives. Even though the innovations studied were of various contents and originated from diverse organisational contexts, innovators' accounts converged to the significant role of the evidential base of success, the inter-personal and inter-organisational networks, and the inner and outer context. The innovators, operating themselves as important champions and being often willing to lead constructive efforts of implementation to different contexts, can contribute to the promulgation and spread of the novelties significantly.