David Wastell - Böcker

I am honored to be General Chair for the 2007 (10*^) Working Conference of IFIP Working Group 8.6.1 had some part in helping with the formation of this working group. Participating in this conference in Manchester reflects my interest in the working group and its research domain. The conference is also something of an anniversary, since the second conference of the working group was held nearby 10 years ago. I have some reflections on the formation and early conferences of the working group, the comparative advantage of being sponsored by IFIP and TC8, the reasons for WG 8.6, and the important contributions of the working group and this conference. Reflections on the Formation of WG 8.6 and Early Conferences I was Chair of the IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) Technical Committee 8 (Information Systems) for two terms from 1990 through 1995. It was in 1993 when the proposal was made to form a new working group on Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology. I supported the proposal and remember well how active and persuasive Priscilla Fowler and Linda Levine were in making the case for establishing a new working group.

The primary aim for this book is to gather and collate articles which represent current thinking in the domain of technology transfer, from research, academia and practice around the world. It addresses a number of key topics, including: theoretical models of technology transfer and diffusion; identification of risk/success factors; methodological innovations to promote successful design and implementation; user resistance and learning processes and defense mechanisms in technology transfer. This text should be of interest to practitioners, consultants, software engineers, managers, senior undergraduate and postgraduate students in IS/IT.

In 1984, Working Group 8.2 of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) threw down the gauntlet at its Manchester conference, challenging the traditionalist orthodoxy with its uncommon research approaches and topics. Manchester 1984, followed by research methods conferences in Copenhagen (1990) and Philadelphia (1997), marked the growing legitimacy of the linguistic and qualitative turns in Information Systems research and played a key role in making qualitative methods a respected part of IS research. As evidenced by the papers in this volume, Working Group 8.2 conferences showcase fresh thinking, provocative sessions, and intellectual stimulation. The spirited, at times boisterous, and always enlivening debate has turned WG8.2 conferences into life-changing and discipline-changing inspirational events. Information Systems Research: Relevant Theory and Informed Practice comprises the edited proceedings of the WG8.2 conference, "Relevant Theory and Informed Practice: Looking Forward from a 20-Year Perspective on IS Research," which was sponsored by IFIP and held in Manchester, England, in July 2004.The conference attracted a record number of high-quality manuscripts, all of which were subjected to a rigorous reviewing process in which four to eight track chairs, associate editors, and reviewers thoughtfully scrutinized papers by the highly regarded as well as the newcomers. No person or idea was considered sacrosanct and no paper made it through this process unscathed. All authors were asked to revise the accepted papers, some more than once; thus, good papers got better. With only 29 percent of the papers accepted, these proceedings are significantly more selective than is typical of many conference proceedings. This volume is organized in 7 sections, with 33 full research papers providing panoramic views and reflections on the Information Systems (IS) discipline followed by papers featuring critical interpretive studies, action research, theoretical perspectives on IS research, and the methods and politics of IS development. Also included are 6 panel descriptions and a new category of "bright idea" position papers, 11 in all, wherein main points are summarized in a pithy and provocative fashion.

I am honored to be General Chair for the 2007 (10*^) Working Conference of IFIP Working Group 8.6.1 had some part in helping with the formation of this working group. Participating in this conference in Manchester reflects my interest in the working group and its research domain. The conference is also something of an anniversary, since the second conference of the working group was held nearby 10 years ago. I have some reflections on the formation and early conferences of the working group, the comparative advantage of being sponsored by IFIP and TC8, the reasons for WG 8.6, and the important contributions of the working group and this conference. Reflections on the Formation of WG 8.6 and Early Conferences I was Chair of the IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) Technical Committee 8 (Information Systems) for two terms from 1990 through 1995. It was in 1993 when the proposal was made to form a new working group on Diffusion and Adoption of Information Technology. I supported the proposal and remember well how active and persuasive Priscilla Fowler and Linda Levine were in making the case for establishing a new working group.

Information Systems Research: Relevant Theory and Informed Practice comprises the edited proceedings of the WG8.2 conference, "Relevant Theory and Informed Practice: Looking Forward from a 20-Year Perspective on IS Research," which was sponsored by IFIP and held in Manchester, England, in July 2004.

In recent years, new areas of biology, especially epigenetics and neuroscience, have enthralled the public imagination. They have been used as powerful arguments for developing social policy in a particular direction, from early intervention in the lives of disadvantaged children to seeking 'biomarkers' as identifiers of criminality.This timely book, written by leading commentators, critically examines the capabilities and limitations of these biotechnologies, exploring their implications for policy and practice.The book will enable social scientists, policy makers, practitioners and interested general readers to understand how the new biologies of epigenetics and neuroscience have increasingly influenced the fields of family policy, mental health, child development and criminal justice. The book will facilitate much needed debate about what makes a good society and how best to build one. It also draws attention to the ways that the uncertainties of the original science are lost in their translation into the everyday world of practice and policy.

In recent years, new areas of biology, especially epigenetics and neuroscience, have enthralled the public imagination. They have been used as powerful arguments for developing social policy in a particular direction, from early intervention in the lives of disadvantaged children to seeking 'biomarkers' as identifiers of criminality.This timely book, written by leading commentators, critically examines the capabilities and limitations of these biotechnologies, exploring their implications for policy and practice.The book will enable social scientists, policy makers, practitioners and interested general readers to understand how the new biologies of epigenetics and neuroscience have increasingly influenced the fields of family policy, mental health, child development and criminal justice. The book will facilitate much needed debate about what makes a good society and how best to build one. It also draws attention to the ways that the uncertainties of the original science are lost in their translation into the everyday world of practice and policy.

This book offers an analysis and summary of the uses, abuses and limitations of attachment theory in contemporary child welfare practice.Analysing the primary science and drawing on the authors’ original empirical work, the book shows how attachment theory can distort and influence decision-making. It argues that the dominant view of attachment theory may promote a problematic diagnostic mindset, whilst undervaluing the enduring relationships between children and adults. The book concludes that attachment theory can still play an important role in child welfare practice, but the balance of the research agenda needs a radical shift towards a sophisticated understanding of the realities of human experience to inform ethical practice.

This book offers an analysis and summary of the uses, abuses and limitations of attachment theory in contemporary child welfare practice.Analysing the primary science and drawing on the authors’ original empirical work, the book shows how attachment theory can distort and influence decision-making. It argues that the dominant view of attachment theory may promote a problematic diagnostic mindset, whilst undervaluing the enduring relationships between children and adults. The book concludes that attachment theory can still play an important role in child welfare practice, but the balance of the research agenda needs a radical shift towards a sophisticated understanding of the realities of human experience to inform ethical practice.

Around the world, public services are under pressure from all directions: required to be cheaper, more efficient, more effective, less wasteful, more 'joined-up', more in touch with people's needs, leaner, less bureaucratic - Whether public services are seen as Beauty (in Scandinavia, say) or The Beast (by the US Tea Party, for example), they face increased demands and reduced resources almost everywhere. Inevitably, one solution that has been turned to has been IT. (This is particularly true of local government, the health and education sectors, and the emergency services, which have invested heavily in IT 'solutions'.) New computer systems - often alongside merged back office functions, economies of scale and outsourcing - are regularly expected to offer a better and faster service at lower cost. IMPOSED IT SOLUTIONS OFTEN MAKE THINGS WORSE David Wastell calls our continuing (and unwarranted) faith in imposed, computer-based solutions 'technomagic'.In Managers as Designers in the Public Services, he draws startling parallels between our expectations of IT solutions in the public sector and the expectations of Melanesian canoe-builders who use bunches of grass to drive heaviness and slowness out of their boats. He then uses detailed examples and case studies from the UK and USA to show just how misplaced has been our reliance on IT-based 'solutions' to public sector problems. But this book is much more than an informed and devastating critique of the UK's Integrated Children's System, US educational reform and the high-profile failure of the London Ambulance Service. APPLYING DESIGN THINKING TO IT IN PUBLIC SERVICES David Wastell goes on to develop and apply the principles of Systems Thinking and Design Thinking to show how we need a 'design revolution' in the public services. Rather than monitoring, measuring and controlling, public sector managers need to see themselves as designers, whose job it is to reshape work systems and the whole workplace. He then uses two further case studies to give concrete examples of Design Thinking in action, with highly positive outcomes from design-based approaches to IT innovation.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.6 International Working Conference "Smart Working, Living and Organising" on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, TDIT 2018, held in Portsmouth, UK, in June 2018.

This volume, IFIP AICT 660, constitutes the refereed proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.6 International Working Conference "Co-creating for Context in Prospective Transfer and Diffusion of IT" on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, TDIT 2022, held in Maynooth, Ireland, during June 15–16, 2022.The 19  full papers and 10 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 60 submissions. The papers focus on the re-imagination of diffusion and adoption of emerging technologies. They are organized in the following parts:

This volume, IFIP AICT 660, constitutes the refereed proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.6 International Working Conference "Co-creating for Context in Prospective Transfer and Diffusion of IT" on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, TDIT 2022, held in Maynooth, Ireland, during June 15–16, 2022.The 19  full papers and 10 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 60 submissions. The papers focus on the re-imagination of diffusion and adoption of emerging technologies. They are organized in the following parts:

The software process defines the way software development is organised, managed, measured, supported and improved, independently of the support techniques used in the development. Software houses and businesses in general have come to realise that the key to succesful delivery (on time, on budget, with the expected quality) lies in the effective management of their software process.This book is devoted to quality management for software. The focus is on supporting the development process by constructing explicit models and deploying automated support environments. The authors do not attempt to compare, analyse or propose improvements to existing processes or process design methodologies. Their main concern is with the core technologies and basic concepts underpinning software process modelling and software process automation, with a special emphasis on the mechanisms that support software process evolution.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.6 International Working Conference on Transfer and Diffusion of IT, TDIT 2013, held in Bangalore, India, in June 2013. The 35 revised full papers presented together with an invited paper, 12 short papers and 3 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 65 submissions. The full papers are organized in the following topical sections: IS success and failure; studies of IT adoption; software development; IT in the public sector; and theory and methods.