Magda Huisman

Deployment of systems development methodologies: perceptual congruence between IS managers and systems developers

We studied the differences in perception between IS managers and developers about the deployment of systems development methodologies. The results indicated that IS managers were generally more positive about systems development methodologies than were developers. IS managers perceived methodology support for organizational alignment, and methodology impact on the productivity and quality of the development process to be significantly more important than did system developers, who, in turn, perceived methodology support for verification and validation significantly higher than did IS managers. These differences can be explained by the relevance and importance of the support to the task that the stakeholders perform.

The Individual Deployment of Systems Development Methodologies

This paper reports results of a survey that investigated factors affecting the deployment of systems development methodologies by individual systems developers. The results show that relative advantage, compatibility and trialability of a systems development methodology, an individuals experience in systems development and his/her experience in systems development methodologies, management support and peer developer support, and uncertainty about the continued existence of the IS department significantly influence the deployment of systems development methodologies.

Combining Ontology Development Methodologies and Semantic Web Platforms for E-government Domain Ontology Development

One of the key challenges in electronic government (e-government) is the development of systems that can be easily integrated and interoperated to provide seamless services delivery to citizens. In recent years, Semantic Web technologies based on ontology have emerged as promising solutions to the above engineering problems. However, current research practicing semantic development in e-government does not focus on the application of available methodologies and platforms for developing government domain ontologies. Furthermore, only a few of these researches provide detailed guidelines for developing semantic ontology models from a government service domain. This research presents a case study combining an ontology building methodology and two state-of-the-art Semantic Web platforms namely Protege and Java Jena ontology API for semantic ontology development in e-government. Firstly, a framework adopted from the Uschold and King ontology building methodology is employed to build a domain ontology describing the semantic content of a government service domain. Thereafter, UML is used to semi-formally represent the domain ontology. Finally, Protege and Jena API are employed to create the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Resource Description Framework (RDF) representations of the domain ontology respectively to enable its computer processing. The study aims at: (1) providing egovernment developers, particularly those from the developing world with detailed guidelines for practicing semantic content development in their e-government projects and (2), strengthening the adoption of semantic technologies in e-government. The study would also be of interest to novice Semantic Web developers who might used it as a starting point for further investigations.

Semantic-Driven e-Government: Application of Uschold and King Ontology Building Methodology for Semantic Ontology Models Development

ABSTRACT Electronic government (e-government) has been one of the most active areas of ontology development during the past six years. In e-government, ontologies are being used to describe and specify e-government services (e-services) because they enable easy composition, matching, mapping and merging of various e-government services. More importantly, they also facilitate the semantic integration and interoperability of e-government services. However, it is still unclear in the current literature how an existing ontology building methodology can be applied to develop semantic ontology models in a government service domain. In this paper the Uschold and King ontology building methodology is applied to develop semantic ontology models in a government service domain. Firstly, the Uschold and King methodology is presented, discussed and applied to build a government domain ontology. Secondly, the domain ontology is evaluated for semantic consistency using its semi-formal representation in Description Logic. Thirdly, an alignment of the domain ontology with the Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering (DOLCE) upper level ontology is drawn to allow its wider visibility and facilitate its integration with existing metadata standard. Finally, the domain ontology is formally written in Web Ontology Language (OWL) to enable its automatic processing by computers. The study aims to provide direction for the application of existing ontology building methodologies in the Semantic Web development processes of e-government domain specific ontology models; which would enable their repeatability in other e-government projects and strengthen the adoption of semantic technologies in e-government. The research would be of interest to e-government system developers as well as the Semantic Web community, as the framework and techniques employed to develop the semantic ontology models might be repeated in other domains of knowledge to build ontologies.

The Organisational Deployment of Systems Development Methodologies

It is generally assumed that systems development methodologies (SDM) are used in practice (Saeki, 1998), and there exists a widespread belief that adherence to SDM is beneficial to an organisation (Fitzgerald, 1996; Hardy et al., 1995). Furthermore, organisations are facing a lot of pressure to use SDM (Fitzgerald, 1996). Despite the high investment in the development of SDM and the pressure to use it, their practical usefulness is still a controversial issue (Fitzgerald, 1996; Introna and Whitley, 1997; Nandhakumar and Avison, 1999). While many organisations claim that they do not use any methodologies (Hardy et al., 1995; Chatzoglou and Macauly, 1996; Fitzgerald, 1998), others are using it with positive results (Chatzoglou and Macauly, 1996; Rahim et al.,1998). Apart from this, we do not know why SDM are used or not used, or what factors influence its use and effectiveness.

A framework to determine the suitability of software development methodologies for the development of location-based games

To determine the suitability of an SDM (software development methodology) for the development of location-based games, it has to be determined to what degree SDMs address aspects that need to be addressed in the process of developing location-based games. These aspects have been identified from information gathered from the literature and were then validated using a survey. Their importance in the development process was also measured using the survey.

Aspects that Need to Be Addressed During the Development of Location-Based Games

To determine the suitability of a software development methodology (SDM) to aid in the development of location-based games, it is necessary to determine to what degree SDMs address certain aspects that need to be addressed in the process of developing location-based games.

Software: university courses versus workplace practice

A significant number of employees attend graduate school, and the impact of the student role may be substantial and valuable to the work-life literature. In this study the authors examine whether psychological involvement in graduate school increases school-work facilitation. Further, they suggest that employers and graduate schools can provide social support resources that will strengthen the relationship between psychological involvement and school-work facilitation, thereby creating a win-win situation for both student and employer. The study results suggest that the interaction between psychological school involvement and social support in the school and work domains produce stronger levels of school-work facilitation. Specifically, co-worker support, classmate support and supervisor support strengthened the relationship between involvement and facilitation.

The Development of a Systems Development Methodology for Location-Based Games

Currently, there is a lack of systems development methodologies (SDMs) suitable for the development of location-based games. This research introduced a newly developed SDM to aid in the development process of location-based games, called the developmental methodology for location-based games (DMLBG). The DMLBG was based on SDMs most often used for developing mobile applications, as well as mobile and traditional games. Four case studies were used to test the DMLBG. During the case studies, independent games development teams used the DMLBG extensively to test the feasibility of the SDM. The results showed that the SDM did aid all four of the teams to successfully develop a location-based game. The teams documented the development process and gave critical feedback on their experiences. This feedback was used to revise and improve the SDM. The DMLBG addressed the lack of an SDM that is suitable for the development of location-based games.

Security awareness and the use of location-based services, technologies and games

Rapid expansion and development in the modern mobile technology market has created an opportunity for the use of location-based technologies and games. Because of this fast expanding market and new technology, it is important to be aware of the implications this expansive technology could have on computer security. This paper will endeavour to measure the impact of location-based technologies and games on the security awareness of first- to fourth-year computer science university students. A questionnaire, posted on the web, and completed by computer science students from different year groups, was used to collect the data for this study. The major results of this study are the following: there is a difference in the security awareness of students who use and play location-based services, technologies and games and those who do not. This study also determined that the computer science students are cautious of security implications although they do not take preventative measures.