Centre for Digital Business Research

Semantic Technologies for Cyber Threat Intelligence

29 October 2025, 11:00-12:00 (Room: M213)

Speaker: Giacomo De Colle (University of Buffalo, USA)

Bio: Giacomo De Colle is PhD candidate at the University at Buffalo and Data Architect at Peeriot. He works in ontology development and semantic technologies. At the moment, he is researching a framework to integrate and investigate Cyber Threat Intelligence datasets to ensure their trustworthiness and quality.

Explanation, Semantics and Ontology

18 February 2025, 2:15-3:15pm (Room: C385)

Speaker: Giancarlo Guizzardi (University of Twente, The Netherlands)

Abstract: It is well-known by now that, of the so-called 4Vs of Big Data (Velocity, Volume, Variety and Veracity), the bulk of effort and challenge is in the latter two: (1) data comes in a large variety of representations (both from a syntactic and semantic point of view); (2) data can only be useful if truthful to the part of reality that it is supposed to represent. Moreover, the most relevant questions we need to have answered in science, government and organizations can only be answered if we put together data that reside in different data silos, which are produced in a concurrent manner by different agents and in different points of time and space. Thus, data is only useful in practice if it can (semantically) interoperate with other data. Every data schema represents a certain conceptualization, i.e., it makes an ontological commitment to a certain worldview. Issue (2) is about understanding the relation between data schemas and their underlying conceptualizations. Issue (1) is about safely connecting these different conceptualisations represented in different schemas. To address (1) and (2), we need to be able to properly explain these data schemas, i.e., to reveal the real-world semantics (or the ontological commitments) behind them. In this talk, I discuss the strong relation between the notions of real-world semantics, ontology, and explanation. I will present a notion of explanation termed Ontological Unpacking, which aims at explaining symbolic representation artifacts (conceptual models connected to data schemas, knowledge graphs, logical specifications). I show that these artifacts when produced by Ontological Unpacking differ from their traditional counterparts not only in their expressivity but also on their nature: while the latter typically merely have a descriptive nature, the former have an explanatory one. Moreover, I show that it is exactly this explanatory nature that is required for semantic interoperability. I will also discuss the relation between Ontological Unpacking and other forms of explanation in philosophy and science, as well as in Artificial Intelligence. I will argue that the current trend in XAI (Explainable AI) in which “to explain is to produce a symbolic artifact” (e.g., a decision tree or a counterfactual description) is an incomplete project resting on a false assumption, that these artifacts are not “inherently interpretable”, and that they should be taken as the beginning of the road to explanation, not the end. This talk is based on the following paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169023X24000491

Bio: Giancarlo Guizzardi is a Full Professor of Software Science and Evolution as well as Chair and Department Head of Semantics, Cybersecurity & Services (SCS) at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. He is currently also an Affiliated/Guest Professor at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University, in Sweden, and a Guest Professor of the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. He has been active for nearly three decades in the areas of Formal and Applied Ontology, Conceptual Modeling, Enterprise Computing and Information Systems Engineering, working with a multidisciplinary approach in Computer Science that aggregates results from Philosophy, Cognitive Science, Logics and Linguistics. He is the main contributor to the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO) and to the OntoUML modeling language. Over the years, he has delivered keynote speeches in several key international conferences in these fields (e.g., ER, CAiSE, BPM, IEEE ICSC). He is currently an associate editor of a number of journals including Applied Ontology and Data & Knowledge Engineering, a co-editor of the Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing series, and a member of several international journal editorial boards. He is currently the Chair of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER), a member of the Steering Committees of CAiSE, EDOC, and IEEE CBI, and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Association for Ontology and its Applications (IAOA). Finally, he is an ER fellow.

Accounting and Auditing with Blockchain Technology and Artificial intelligence

17 April 2024 at 2pm (MS Teams)

Speaker: Hongdan Han

Abstract: This paper surveys the published work on how blockchain technology will impact accounting in general, but AI-enabled auditing specifically. The purpose is to investigate how blockchain technology can improve transparency and trust in accounting practice and how professionals can use blockchain data to improve decision-making based on the qualities of immutability, append-only, shared, verified, and agreed-upon (i.e., consensus-driven) blockchain data. The multi-party validation of blockchain protocols adds real-time trusted data for the AI systems used by auditors to improve assurance and efficiency. This review summarizes four themes emerging from the literature focusing on how blockchain technology has changed record-keeping in accounting: event approach to accounting; real-time accounting; triple entry-accounting and continuous auditing. The research interprets the findings using agency theory and stakeholder theory to advance how using blockchain to mitigate information asymmetry and improve stakeholder collaborations is understood. The investigation also summarizes the challenges and clarifies organizations’ reasons to be cautious about adopting blockchain. Lastly, the study suggests that future researchers use this study in two ways that enrich blockchain literature: first, to apply the themes and answer the questions identified within this review to improve the business methods of practitioners and policymakers; and second, to encourage stakeholders such as practitioners, system designers/developers, and policymakers to collaborate in designing blockchain ecosystems that suit accounting and auditing as they transform digitally.

Bio: Hongdan is a Lecturer in Digital Business at the School of Applied Management, University of Westminster. Hongdan holds a PhD in Management Studies Research from Brunel University London. Her PhD investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain adoption in corporate governance from the ethical perspectives.  Prior to her PhD, she worked for a highly experienced and professional business broker selling businesses of all shapes and sizes across different sectors for six years after graduating from her MSc study. She also served as a member of community councillor at Hillingdon Primary School for five years.

AI in Software Programming: Understanding Emotional Responses to GitHub Copilot

28 March 2024 at 1pm (MS Teams)

Speaker: Farjam Eshraghian

Abstract: 

Purpose - The applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various areas of professional and knowledge work are growing. Emotions play an important role in how users incorporate a technology into their work practices. The current study draws on work in the areas of AI powered technologies adaptation, emotions, and the future of work, to investigate how knowledge workers feel about adopting AI in their work. 

Design/methodology/approach - We gathered 107,111 tweets about the new AI programmer, GitHub Copilot, launched by GitHub and analysed the data in three stages. First, after cleaning and filtering the data, we applied the topic modelling method to analyse 16,130 tweets posted by 10,301 software programmers to identify the emotions they expressed. Then, we analysed the outcome topics qualitatively to understand the stimulus characteristics driving those emotions. Finally, we analysed a sample of tweets to explore how emotional responses changed over time. 

Findings - We found six categories of emotions among software programmers: challenge, achievement, loss, deterrence, scepticism, and apathy. In addition, we found these emotions were driven by four stimulus characteristics: AI development, AI functionality, identity work, and AI engagement. We also examined the change in emotions over time. The results indicate that negative emotions changed to more positive emotions once software programmers redirected their attention to the AI programmer’s capabilities and functionalities, and related that to their identity work.

Bio: Farjam Eshraghian completed his PhD (Technology and Information Management) at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on understanding the dynamics of forming perceived information quality (PIQ) by organisational users. He joined Westminster Business School in 2017 and is currently a senior lecturer in Digital Business. His research interests include digital platforms, organisational adoption of AI and analytics, the challenges of data abundance in organisational decision-making, and emerging technologies and technological dominance.

What Contributed to the Differences, and What More Needs to Be Done Moving Forward? Comparing E-Government Policies in South Korea and the United Kingdom

7 February 2024 at 1pm (MS Teams)

Speaker: Jonghwa Choe

Abstract

South Korea and the United Kingdom consistently rank among the top nations in the annual United Nations e-Government Survey. Over the past decade, both countries have strategically used e-government as a fundamental policy tool in response to the era of digital transformation. While their policies exhibit similarities and differences, believed to stem from various reasons, we have comparatively examined the e-government policies of both nations. This analysis considered historical context, the structural organization of implementation agencies, the current policy implementation process, and representative cases. Exploring the factors influencing the policy directions of both countries in this manner has been a meaningful endeavor, offering insights into potential policy innovations for the future.

Bio:  Jong Hwa Choe is the Chief Director and Research Fellow with a PhD in Information & Engineering. He is associated with the Division of Strategy Research for Future Innovation at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), a prominent policy think-tank for South Korea's science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies. His primary research interests are STI policies with the focus on digital transformation and forecasting of future industries, societies and technologies.

Conversational AI and the future direction of IS research

21 February 2023

Speaker: Amany Elbanna (Royal Holloway, University of London)

Abstract: There is an exponential growth of the use of AI applications in organisations. Conversational AI is currently one of the most prominent applications to interact to support both customers and employees.  In this talk, I will examine the features of conversational AI and their implications for our theoretical understanding of the internal use by employees.  I will discuss recent research findings on this domain and the new open questions they leave us with and highlight existing gaps in conversational AI research and suggest areas where IS research is most needed . 

 Bio: Amany Elbanna is professor of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at Royal Holloway University of London. She holds a PhD and MSc in Information Systems from The London School of Economics. She is specialised in the social studies of information technology in relation to development, implementation, and use. Her current research focuses on AI applications in business and digital ways of working. She has over 100 articles in highly ranked journals such as MIS Quarterly, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Information Technology & People and in flagship conferences. She is the 31st Co-chair of the European Conference of Information Systems (ECIS) Doctoral Consortium 2023 and the winner of the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Service Award in 2020. She is the current Vice-Chair of IFIP 8.6 on Technology Adoption and Diffusion. Amany is a regular speaker in industry and is a founding member and past Director-elect of Professional Development of the UK chapter of the Association of Change Management Professionals (UK-ACMP).  More on the speaker: https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/amany-elbanna(6da0f038-6bce-4990-b1cf-039232397d44).html 

Data and AI for Journalism

10 March 2023 at 2pm

Speaker: Bahareh Heravi (University of Surrey)

Bio: Dr Bahareh Heravi is a Reader in AI & Media at the Institute for People-Centered AI at the University of Surrey. She specialises in Data & Computational Journalism, has widely published on the topic and has extensive international experience working with journalists and news media organisations on the use of data and algorithmic tools for reporting and storytelling.  Bahareh is a board member of the Irish Government's Open Data Governance Board (Department of Public Expenditure & Reform), a founding co-chair of the Data & Computational Journalism Conference, and a Steering Committee member of the Computation+Journalism Conference. Prior to joining the University of Surrey, Bahareh founded and led the Data Journalism Programme at University College Dublin.

Gamification of Fintech solutions for generating customer value in emerging economies: The social impact theory perspective

27 October 2022

Speaker: Michael Dzandu (University of Westminster)

Abstract: This study develops and tests an integrated model of the social impact and customer value theories to understand how gamification of mobile money payment could generate customer value through its social impact. Cross-sectional data were collected from 567 mobile money payment users in Ghana to test twelve hypotheses using structural equation modelling (SEM). The study showed a positive and significant relationship between the gamified mobile money payment (Gmmp) and the social impact theory constructs, and consequently with the customer value propositions. The Gmmp was found to have a significantly positive relationship with all three social impact constructs of internalisation, compliance, and identification. However, compliance was significantly predictive of all the customer value constructs (customer engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty); identification was significantly predictive of satisfaction and loyalty; and internalisation was not significantly predictive of any of the customer value outcomes. The results show that Gmmp could create a substantial social impact on users to generate value for the customer and all service providers within the mobile money ecosystem. The results have implications for technology innovations, particularly the potential use of gamification at all customer touchpoints in the mobile money and financial technology services delivery value chain.

The title of the seminar is: A review of trust in Digital Ecosystems as moderated by AI Explainability: Towards explainable Digital Ecosystems

May 2022

Speakers:  MonaAshok and Tarun Rohilla (Henley Business School, University of Reading)

Abstract: 

Purpose: This work investigates how converging digital technologies empower and disrupt digital ecosystems of all forms. With changing market and environmental dynamics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, digital ecosystems need to understand the enablers and moderators of trust in information systems (IS) trust. Authors have addressed the limited inclusion of AI and usage within digital ecosystems from an architecture perspective.

Design: The authors first conducted an extensive literature review of 221 articles and conference proceedings. Based on this thorough literature review and synthesis, the authors combine the previously researched cross-disciplinary interspersed literature, identifying theoretical and practical gaps. Further, using design science, develop two syntheses of the literature.

Findings: This research firstly contributes to conceptual architecture and model of Trust within Digital Ecosystems moderated by AI explainability. Secondly, the literature review synthesis results in key propositions as a pathway for conducting future empirical and theoretical research.

Originality/value: This study’s originality tenants primarily in the conceptual model proposed based on the literature synthesis and paved a pathway for future research in the form of the research propositions, the two original artefacts in the paper. Contributing to IS Use and specifically to IS Trust, appreciating conceptual modelling using Design science methodologies. Contributions towards theory include newer models to study trust in digital ecosystems, and practice include propositions for digital ecosystem owners and participants.

Mona Ashok is a Lecturer in Operations Management at Henley Business School, UK. She has extensive industry experience, having worked at the senior management level in global IT and BPO organisations, and Accounting firm. She has worked with customers in Asia, Australia, Europe and Northern America. Mona’s experience in Higher Education includes working with doctoral, post-experienced postgraduate and undergraduate programme members. Her professional and academic projects cover topics such as: process improvement, programme management, knowledge management, financial management, organisational transformation, and management consulting. She is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, a Certified Software Quality Analyst, and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. She has successfully secured research funding, including for Knowledge Transfer Partnership projects, funded by InnovateUK.

Tarun Rohilla is a PhD researcher and visiting staff at Henley Business School, UK, researching the effects of AI on platform trust and value creation in digital ecosystems. Tarun is a technologist, with over 15 years of experience in technology advisory, business development and M&A transactions consulting. He has worked with fortune 500 firms as well as start-ups & scale-ups as his clients across the US, EMEA and Emerging markets, providing advisory and technology consultancy in the fields of Data, Analytics and Cloud Services at all levels of stakeholders including C-Suite.

The Evaluation of Ontologies: Quality, Reuse and Social Factors

30 March 2022

Speaker: Marzieh Talebpour

Abstract: Finding a “good” or the “right” ontology is a growing challenge in the ontology domain, where one of the main aims is to share and reuse existing semantics and knowledge. Before reusing an ontology, knowledge engineers not only have to find a set of appropriate ontologies for their search query, but they should also be able to evaluate those ontologies, using different internal and external criteria. Therefore, ontology evaluation is at the heart of ontology selection and has received a considerable amount of attention in the literature. Despite the importance of ontology evaluation and selection and the widespread research on these topics, there are still many unanswered questions and challenges when it comes to evaluating and selecting ontologies for reuse. Most of the evaluation metrics and frameworks in the literature are mainly based on a limited set of internal characteristics, e.g., the content and the structure of ontologies and ignore how they are used and evaluated by communities. This research aimed to investigate the notion of quality and reusability in the ontology domain and to explore and identify the set of metrics that knowledge engineers look at and evaluate before selecting an ontology for reuse. 

Bio: Marzieh is a new member of the faculty and an early career researcher at the School of Applied Management at Westminster. She completed her PhD in Information Management at the Centre for Information Management, School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University. Previously, she did an MSc. Degree in Software Engineering at the University of Southampton. Her research has mostly been focused on the role of metadata in ontology/data selection for reuse and repurposing.

Power, Technology and Empowerment: A Case Study of Community Health Workers in India

16 February 2022

Abstract: This presentation addresses the importance of using a power perspective to understand the social impact of technology in society. A Foucauldian concept of technologies-of-the-self has been adopted to highlight the dialectical relationship between the structural reproduction of power and the individual empowerment of human actors, as mediated through technology, within a given context. This is done by studying the use of an mHealth intervention by health workers within a rural PHC (primary health care) centre in India. The study generates theoretical implications for understanding the processes of empowerment through technology within the Global South context.

Bio: Priyanka is a new member of faculty, and an early career researcher at the Westminster Business School. She completed her Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the School of Business and Management, at the Royal Holloway University of London. Previously she completed her MSc and MPhil from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Management, Information Systems, and Innovation. Her research investigates the role digital artifacts and platforms play in everyday practices, with a particular emphasis on structures, cultures, institutional mechanisms, and power processes. She is interested in deconstructing the relationship between technology and social and organizational change, within the Global South context. She is also a member of the Digital Organisation of Society Research Centre at Royal Holloway. Profile link - https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/directory/pandey-priyanka#about

Algorithmic regulation and the new data-driven capabilities of regulatory authorities in the UK

11 November 2021

Speaker: Panos Panagiotopoulos

Abstract: The emerging area of algorithmic regulation refers to decision-making systems that regulate a domain of activity through dynamic interaction with data. Regulatory authorities (regulators) are in the process of implementing these initiatives to develop new data-driven capabilities in areas such as enforcement, reporting and disclosure. A series of case studies with 19 regulators in the UK inform on how algorithmic regulation has developed in action. The study further examines the mechanisms of capability development and their implications for the digital transformation of the public sector. The presentation will include practical examples of technology and regulation.

Bio: Dr Panos Panagiotopoulos is a Senior Lecturer in Information Management at Queen Mary University of London and a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute. His interests are in digital government, regulation and new forms of data. He has collaborated with central and local government organisations such as the Better Regulation Executive at BEIS, the Food Standards Agency and DEFRA. He is an associate editor for Government Information Quarterly. He tweets from @DrPanPan.

Innovative Digital Start-Ups and their Venture Creation Process with Enabling Digital Platforms

27 May 2021

Irma Makarainen-Suni 

Abstract: Start-ups have gained media attention since Google, Facebook and Amazon were launched in the 1990s. The book Lean Start-up, published in 2011, was another important milestone for digital start-up literature. As unicorn companies emerge around the world, topics highlighted in the news include the vast amount of capital that digital start-ups are raising, the ways in which these digital ventures are disrupting industries, and their global impact on digital economy. However, digital start-ups, digital venture ideas, and their venture creation process lack a unified venture creation model, as there is a gap in the research on entrepreneurial processes in a digital context. This research is an explorative study of the venture creation process of innovative digital start-ups that examines what is missing from entrepreneurial process models in a digital technology context and investigates how early-stage digital start-ups conduct the venture creation process, starting with the pre-phase of antecedents and ending with the launch and scaling of the venture. The research proposes a novel process model of innovative digital start-up venture creation and describes the nature and patterns of the process. A conceptual model was developed based on the entrepreneurship, information systems, and digital innovation literature and empirically assessed with a multi-method qualitative research design. The data collected from semi-structured interviews, internet sources, and observation field notes covered 34 innovative digital start-ups and their founders. Interviews were conducted internationally in high-ranking start-up ecosystems, and the data were analysed with thematic analysis and fact-checked by triangulating internet data sources. The contribution to entrepreneurship theory is a new illustrative model of the venture creation process of innovative digital start-ups, including the emergent outcome of the process having a digital artefact at its core (e.g., mobile apps, web-based solutions, digital platforms, software solutions, and digital ecosystems). Digital platforms and their multiple roles in the process are presented, as well as the role of critical events as moderators of the process which trigger new development cycles. During the venture creation process, the recombining of digital technologies, modules, and components enabled by digital infrastructures, platforms, and ecosystem partners represent digital technology affordances. This recombination provides opportunities for asset-free development of digital venture ideas.

Bio: Irma Mäkäräinen-Suni received her PhD from the University of Westminster, Westminster Business School. Her PhD was about the venture creation process of digital, innovative start-ups with enabling platforms. The research included 34 start-ups in 13 start-up ecosystems around the world. This multi-method, qualitative study presented a new model of venture creation process including the role of digital platforms and critical events. Last 17 years she has acted as a Senior Lecturer (University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland) in business studies and a start-up coach. She has 25+ years in international business (export + import), sales and marketing, business development and training related positions. Experience from working abroad in Sweden, Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

Ethical Framework for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies

30 April 2021

Speaker: Mona Askok

Abstract: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Digital technologies (DT) is proliferating a profound socio-technical transformation with machines executing cognitive human tasks. Governments and AI scholarship have endorsed key AI principles, but lack direction at the implementation level. Through systematic literature review of 59 papers, this paper contributes to the critical debate on the ethical use of AI in DTs beyond the first-level principles. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that identifies 14 digital ethics implications for the use of AI in seven DT archetypes using a novel ontological framework (physical, cognitive, information, and governance). The key findings and resulting conceptual model have academic and professional implications. The digital ethics implications of intelligibility, accountability, fairness and autonomy (under the cognitive domain) and privacy (under the information domain) are the most widely discussed in our sample. Furthermore, ethical implications related to the governance domain are shown to be generally applicable for most DT archetypes. Digital ethics implications under the physical domain are less prominent when it comes to AI diffusion with one exception (safety). The conceptual model captures twelve propositions: the impact of digital ethics implications on societal impact, as moderated by DT archetypes and mediated by organisational impact. 

Bio: Mona Ashok is a Lecturer in Operations Management at Henley Business School, UK.  She has extensive industry experience, having worked at senior management level in global IT and BPO organisations, and Accounting firm. She has worked with customers in Asia, Australia, Europe and Northern America. Mona’s experience in Higher Education includes working with doctoral, post-experienced postgraduate and undergraduate programme members. Her professional and academic projects cover topics such as: process improvement, programme management, knowledge management, financial management, organisational transformation, and management consulting. She is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA), member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and a Certified Software Quality Analyst. She has successfully secured research funding, including for Knowledge Transfer Partnership projects, funded by InnovateUK.

NHSquicker: Shaping Demand for Urgent Care using Real-Time Data and Digital Nudges

30 March 2021

Speaker: Navonil Mustafee

Abstract: This research aims to investigate if indirect suggestions (nudges) can support patients in need of urgent care to make more informed decisions about available healthcare choices. A nudge can be delivered using targeted adverts, mail campaigns, and, central to the theme of this research, through ‘digital’ means using apps, wearables, and push notifications. NHSquicker is a platform that has been co-developed by the Health and Care IMPACT Network, a collaboration between the University of Exeter Business School and NHS Trusts in the South West of England. It is designed to deliver nudges to inform patients of alternative locations for urgent care. The platform comprises of (a) a user-facing app that provides suggestions taking into account the live waiting time from Emergency Departments (ED)/urgent care centres and travel time; (b) the platform backend that receives real-time feeds and allows for easy integration of new feeds; (c) a business intelligence dashboard designed for use in EDs and urgent care centres. The app helps patients make informed decisions, for example, whether they visit a facility which may be nearer to them but with a long waiting time or travel to an alternative location that is further away but with a shorter waiting time. An evaluation framework has been designed to capture evidence of impact and triangulate findings from patient questionnaires, secondary data analysis, app analytics, uptake of technology by the Trusts, anecdotal evidence, lab-based experiments (WIP) and a planned RCT study. Preliminary evidence suggests that a sustained marketing and communication effort will increase the adoption of NHSquicker, which will contribute to reducing demand for ED from low-acuity ED attendees, and help redirection of such patients to urgent care centres, minor injury units and other healthcare facilities.

NHSquicker is currently live in all of Devon and Cornwall and covers parts of Somerset and Bristol. It receives real-time data from 27 centres for urgent care, including nine emergency departments. It can be downloaded from https://nhsquicker.co.uk/. The link to the Health and Care IMPACT Network is http://www.health-impact-network.info/.

Bio: Navonil (Nav) Mustafee is Professor of Operations Management and Analytics, and the Director of Research for the Department of Science, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (SITE) in University of Exeter Business School. He is an honorary researcher at Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and is the founding co-chair of the Health and Care IMPACT Network. 

The Evolution of Lean: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

3 December 2020

Speaker: Alan Pilkington (University of Westminster)

Abstract: Thirty years after its conception, lean prevails as one of the most widespread and debated process improvement concepts. But, contemporary business trends challenge this position and academics question the importance of lean for the future. We take stock of thirty years of lean research. To map the intellectual structure of past and trending lean research, we analyse a database of more than 4,500 lean articles. We look ahead by identifying trends in the lean literature and view them in light of general shifts in the operations management literature and practice. The projection is that lean will invigorate in its traditional application area in manufacturing and find more applications in service industries such as healthcare, government, and education. Regarding the research frontier, we identify promising potential in studying lean’s relation to digitalization, lean’s role in sustainable business practice, behavioural issues in lean implementation, and lean’s role in post-COVID19 supply chains.

Bio: Alan Pilkington is Professor of Technology Management at the University of Westminster in London, and a Visiting Professor of Operations Management at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Alan’s academic research covers lean management, the application of bibliometric techniques, and new product development; and he has dozens of highly cited academic publications in journals such as Journal of Operations Management, California Management Review, and Long Range Planning, as well as highly cited technical papers in Technovation, and International Journal of Operations and Production Management. He is also the author of an important textbook on Operations Management for McGraw Hill. He is a chartered engineer, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a Member of the IET, and European Operations Management Association. 

Unpacking the Difference between Digital Transformation and IT-enabled Organizational Transformation

19 November 2020

Speaker: Jonghyuk Cha (University of Westminster)

Abstract: While digital transformation offers a number of opportunities for today’s organizations, information systems scholars and practitioners struggle to grasp what digital transformation really is, particularly how it differs from the well-established concept of information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformation. By integrating literature from organization science and information systems research with two longitudinal case studies – one on digital transformation, the other on IT-enabled organizational transformation – we develop an empirically grounded conceptualization that sets these two phenomena apart. We find that there are two distinctive differences: (a) digital transformation activities leverage digital technology in (re)defining an organization’s value proposition, while IT-enabled organizational transformation activities leverage digital technology in supporting the value proposition and (b) digital transformation involves a new organizational identity compared with IT-enabled organizational transformation that enhances an existing organizational identity. We synthesize these arguments in a process model to distinguish the different types of transformations and propose directions for future research.

Bio: Dr Jonghyuk Cha is a Lecturer in Information Systems at Westminster Business School, having previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester. He completed his PhD and MSc at Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester, and is also a graduate in Industrial Systems Engineering, Business Administration, and Management Information Systems from Yonsei University. He has been a visiting research fellow at Science and Technology Policy Institute in South Korea. Prior to joining academia, Jonghyuk had a professional career in Software/IT consulting for years. Jonghyuk’s research interests are in the area of organisational aspects of information systems and project management, and his works have mainly been published in scholarly outlets in the two disciplines such as Journal of the Association for Information Systems and International Journal of Project Management. A particular research focus is on digital transformation, organisational project management, benefits realisation, government transformation and dynamic capabilities.

Information-Dominant Logic in the Era of Servitization 2.0: A Public Services Perspective

 2 July 2020

Speakers: Caroline Ennis and Nicholas Barnett (University of Westminster)

Abstract: 

Purpose: This conceptual paper explores servitization as significant to public service organisations (PSOs) within which there is a requirement to administer lean and sustainable provision.  It specifically appreciates that the digital transformation of services has embraced customer processing machine technologies that facilitate volume growth. Notably, the efficient operating model runs alongside the process of information sharing; thus, fostering co-operation within collaborative network systems whilst pro-actively operating as elements of the product-service system (PSS).  

Design/Methodology/Approach: We attempt to evaluate and progress servitization research for novel and conceptual purposes by exploring the critical realities of its application as we enter the Servitization 2.0 era.  We seek to determine from the academic literature the contextual issues and tensions experienced by PSOs at a point in time when they are rapidly digitally transforming their operational activities. With this comes the appreciation that organisations are therefore increasingly operating within interorganisational networks, requiring a more transparent, accountable measurement of their performance outcome.  We seek out credible literature in the field of public transport services to determine the logic applied within this specific business ecosystem.  This aids us in developing a greater understanding in relation to how this sector of public service is drawing from the information gathered within the execution of its service, and how this demonstrates a shift towards the information-dominant (ID) logic business model. 

Findings: Since the product and service elements of offerings became intrinsically linked, the way in which organisations approached their business model was facilitatied by viewing it as a system within which the product and service elements were valued in co-operation and co-production which each other.  However we are now in an era wherein digital transformation and cyber physical capabilty has significantly changed the accessibilty and criticality of operating information.  Pertinently, there is a growing body of empirical studies enabling us to explore business models and the dominant logic applied in specific contexts.  This helps us understand the critical realities of customer processing organizations, which deploy servitized machines gathering extensive data and information, thereby enabling the conceptualisation of future developments of information driven business models.  We find that there is a shifting dominance towards information logic and explain how this is operationalised in the case of public transport services.

Originality/Value: We demonstrate the significance of the S-D logic and information dominance when considering servitization within specific PSOs, and particularly public transport networks.  Ultimately, we seek to better understand the strategic and operational realities for the era of Servitization 2.0, wherein the business operates within an ecosystem dominated and critically influenced by information.  This is pertinent, in that we ultimately seek to understand more deeply the impact of servitization principles within PSOs, and particularly to explore the critical realities within their customer processing and the information generated from its deployment.  Therefore, since public transport systems are heavily reliant on information collected from their processing machines, to efficiently and effectively execute their service, they provide an ideal field of study. We seek to determine the logic applied within the business ecosystem; and to understand the roles of service-dominant (S-D) and the operationalisation of the new concept of information-dominant (I-D) logic.

Digital Twins in Construction: Towards an Ontological Model Development and Integration Framework

Speaker: Sergio de Cesare (University of Westminster)

2 July 2020

Abstract: Digital technologies have the potential to transform the landscape of the modern construction industry by improving the way buildings and infrastructure are developed and managed throughout the lifecycle, including design, initial construction, maintenance, operations and decommissioning. While technological advancements, like the Internet of Things (IoT), provide the necessary digital infrastructure for enabling the physical collection of data, there currently exists limited methodological support for developing and integrating conceptual models of built assets so that they can be easily shared across the entire industry. The sharing of information provided by such conceptual models (with their underlying data representations) lies at the heart of realising the full potential of an ecosystem of digital twins as envisioned by the Gemini Principles. A digital twin is defined as a realistic digital representation of a physical thing. Originally conceived by NASA, digital twins have recently re-emerged in different industries, such as manufacturing and healthcare, thanks to the increased processing, storage and communication capabilities of modern computing devices. As recognised by the Gemini Principles and by the National Infrastructure Commission, digital twins are of particular relevance to the present-day construction industry, given the increasing need for environmentally sustainable built assets. Digital twins, as digital/simulated counterparts of physical things, would help to enable such increased sustainability via improved performance and risk management. Digital twinning in construction has a strong relationship with Building Information Modelling (BIM), a more established discipline. BIM is traditionally concerned with the initial design phase in construction and mainly aims at developing static models of the physical and functional characteristics of a built asset. Conversely, digital twins are dynamic models representing an asset during the operational and maintenance phases. While this distinction between BIM and digital twinning may be useful for highlighting the different concerns across the lifecycle, it also creates a dichotomy that hinders the integration of information. Example scenarios include (1) how a future building, currently being designed, may affect or be affected by existing surrounding built assets or (2) how past design decisions may influence or relate to current features of a building. In both examples, design-time (BIM) information must be coupled with operational (digital twin) information. In order to achieve the full potential of digital twins in construction, it is important to be able to share and readily integrate all models (both BIM and digital twins) regardless of when, where and by whom they were developed. Model integration naturally leads to the sharing of data/information across an organisation, supply chain and the entire industry. This project addresses the Transforming Construction Challenge’s core theme of “designing and managing buildings through digitally-enabled performance and management”. Specifically, this project aims to explore the adoption of an ontology-driven approach to support the development and integration of digital twin models in the construction industry across the project lifecycle and different organisations. 

Semiotic Engineering: A Step toward Human-System Integration

19 February 2020

Speaker: Alessio Malizia (University of Hertfordshire)

Abstract: In this talk, we propose a Semiotic Engineering approach for enhancing the user experience of digital services. Our approach is based on a set of common interaction characteristics permeating through several interaction design methodologies, such as User-Centred Design, User-Experience Design, Meta-Design and Semiotic Engineering. We identified transparency and meta-communication as two characteristics of user interfaces that can be effective in enhancing digital services customer experience. Finally, we present a series of case studies that demonstrates the application of our approach

Bio: Alessio Malizia, ACM Distinguished speaker, joined the School of Creative Arts at University of Hertfordshire in September 2017 as professor of User Experience Design (UX)  and he is currently Chair of the Design Research Group. Previously he was in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London (UK), as Senior Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction from October 2012. He moved to Brunel from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), where he was Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Social Computing. He has previously worked at Sapienza University of Rome, IBM, SGI and Xerox PARC. Alessio's research and teaching interests focus on Human-Centred Systems and he is interested in the design of Ubiquitous Interactive Systems with a special focus on the End-User Development community. He is particularly interested in systems where the physical and digital become seamlessly intertwined producing a new hybrid landscape and the study of problems arising from designing such complex hybrid environments involving collaboration of various disciplines and stakeholders. He has been awarded 2 times with the YGGDRASIL mobility programme: the Research Council of Norway grants for highly qualified, international PhD students and younger researchers. He is the author of over 100 publications, including the monograph "Mobile 3D Graphics" published by Springer and he is currently on the editorial board of 2 international peer-reviewed journals. He has been a consultant on user interface design and implementation to different companies, IBM and SGI among others, and regularly teaches courses on interaction design and pervasive computing. He is an ACM Distinguished Speaker and Senior member; He has served on numerous ACM conference program committees.

Digital Prosumer & Privacy: Establishing a futures market for personal data

22 January 2020

Speaker: Panos Louvieris (Brunel University London)

Abstract: As citizens we are digital prosumers (who both produce and consume data) and generate significant amounts of data in our daily interactions with the world around us. Organisations like Facebook, Google and Apple make their livelihood from selling and analysing this data, though we as the data subjects do not see any of these profits, neither do we know precisely what is done with our personal data or who it is given to. The EPSRC funded Digital Prosumer project has developed an online personal data trading platform, integrating security and privacy principles to empower citizens to gain access to the personal data market and a new source of income. In this research seminar, we present findings from this research and explore how that affects our privacy.

Bio: Panos Louvieris is Professor of Information Systems in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London, Research Director of the Big Data Analytics Cluster and leads the Digital Economy (DE) and Defence & Cybersecurity (DCS) research groups. His research interests are data and information fusion, digital privacy, cyber security, and assured computational modelling in the digital economy. PI for EPSRC funded projects: 'Digital Prosumer'; PI, EPSRC explainable AI; PI Smart Money. He is Co-Director of the Trusted Open Models Institute, Hartree Centre.

Building the layers of a new manufacturing taxonomy: How 3D printing is creating a new landscape of production eco-systems and competitive dynamics

March 2019

Speakers: Alison Rieple and Alan Pilkington (University of Westminster)

Bios:

Alison Rieple is Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Westminster. Alison’s research covers the management of design, innovation and strategy as well as entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship pedagogy. She is currently working on papers on the effect of organizational silence on cow welfare outcomes in the Irish dairy industry, the role of the ecosystem in the construction of innovation disruption in the cases of Xiaomi and 3D printing, innovation in the palm oil industry and family business succession. Alison has published widely in academic journals such as Journal of Organizational Behavior, Management Learning, Technology Forecasting and Social Change and Journal of Rural Studies. She is the co-author of two strategic management textbooks published by Oxford University Press, and has recently co-edited a book on Business Innovation and Disruption in Design published by Edward Elgar. She is currently working on a book chapter on the factors contributing to stability and change over time and space in the creative and cultural industries. She has supervised 14 PhD students to completion and has 8 ongoing doctoral students in areas related to service innovation, CSR in the aviation industry and responses to workplace design .

Alan Pilkington is Professor of Technology Management at the University of Westminster in London, and a Visiting Professor of Operations Management at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Alan’s academic research covers lean management, the application of bibliometric techniques, and new product development; and he has dozens of highly cited academic publications in journals such as Journal of Operations Management, California Management Review, and Long Range Planning, as well as highly cited technical papers in Technovation, and International Journal of Operations and Production Management. He is also the author of an important textbook on Operations Management for McGraw Hill. He is a chartered engineer, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a Member of the IET, and European Operations Management Association. 

Reflections on Learning in Born-global Chinese Software and Services Outsourcing Companies

February 2019

Speaker: Pamela Abbott (University of Sheffield)

Abstract: Capability and competence development in software outsourcing work is often considered to result from learning processes occurring between vendors and clients. The ability to effectively integrate external sources of knowledge from such arrangements has been explained in the literature using concepts such as combinative capabilities, dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity. Attempts to understand and recognise the dynamism of this learning process and its interconnection with the developing client relationship have led authors to conceptualise specific kinds of IT sourcing-related capabilities, specific learning strategies based on vendor-client interactions and specific processes and steps/stages through which the learning takes place. Given that very often these organisations are classed as SMEs operating as born-globals, the literature dedicated to learning in born-global organisations also adds complexity to this debate by introducing concepts related specifically to how born-globals learn. In this paper, we examine managers’ reflections on their learning processes in 10 cases of Chinese SSO born-globals and compare them with the reviewed literature. Our findings shed light on the improvisational and contingent nature of this learning and the spatio-temporal positioning of value in the networked relations created through the companies’ deployment of their evolved capabilities.

Bio: Dr Pamela Abbott is a senior lecturer in Information Systems at the Information School, University of Sheffield, UK. Her research interests lie in global sourcing, distributed collaborative work and information and communication technologies (ICTs) and development. She has authored an award winning paper, capturing the prestigious Best Publication Award in 2013 from the Association of Information Systems (AIS) scholars. The paper charted a 5-year multiply-funded project on the fragmented offshore software services outsourcing industry in China. Recently, she was an investigator on 2 EU-sponsored infrastructure-related projects in Africa focused on developing sustainable models of research and education networks in the West and Central regions. Her current research continues this work by looking at information professionals in the West and Central African regions and the roles they can play in ICT-led transformations in the higher education sector. She is additionally, senior editor for the Journal of Information Technology, one of the 8 best AIS journals.

Understanding Individual User Resistance and Workarounds of Enterprise Social Networks: The Case of Service Ltd.

January 2019

Speaker: Jyoti Choudrie (University of Hertfordshire) 

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the use of Enterprise Social Networks (ESN); namely, Yammer and Chatter, using the lens of resistance and deployment of workarounds among individuals employed in a large, service sector organisation. By doing so, we can illustrate the motivation behind individual use of ESN within a large organisation, the reasons for not using it and the outcomes of their choices on the organisation’s performance and day-to-day activities. The research approach of our study involves employing a qualitative approach and adopting the interpretive research perspective. Our findings illustrate that there are several bottom-up and top-down pressures, which effectively hinder the adequate or successful use of ESN and drive user resistance and workarounds. The contributions of our study are manifold. First, since ESN are actively considered by organizations, our findings can inform policymakers on the issues that might arise beyond implementation, more so, during the actual use of the system. In other words, the results of this research can shed light on the areas where their efforts are best placed. At a theoretical level, our study enriches the extant literature associated with adoption issues, by explaining that ESN involve multi-level organizational characteristics found within a specific context of use, that of ESN. 

 Bio: Professor Jyoti Choudrie is a Professor of Information Systems in University of Hertfordshire’s Hertfordshire Business School. She is affiliated with the Management, Leadership and Organisation (MLO) department. She co-leads the Managing Complex Change research unit and is known as the 'soft' Broadband and digital divide expert in both Brunel University and University of Hertfordshire, with expertise in the non-adopters and adopters, Human Computer Interaction research arenas. For this, use has been made of classic Information Systems area theories such as the Technology Acceptance Model and Unified Theory for the Use and Acceptance of Technology, as well as theory of Planned Behaviour that has led to doctoral completions in Broadband, Online Social Networks, the digital divide and Electronic Government. She completed her PhD on human aspects of Business Process Reengineering teams, so she has knowledge of process modelling. Due to her insights, she has links with businesses such as, Xerox, or Toshiba, and small to medium sized enterprises, Heales Medical as well as third sector organizations such as, Age (UK) Hertfordshire. 

Understanding the Semantics Landscape: Kinds of Ontology and their Applications

18 October 2018

Speaker: Mike Bennett (Hypercube)

Abstract: 

Bio: Mike Bennett is the director of Hypercube Limited, a company that helps people manage their information assets using semantics within a defined data governance framework. Mike is the originator of the EDM Council’s Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO), a standards-based repository for financial industry concepts and definitions.

Social coding and open innovation: exploring the role of digital platforms and their governance

27 June 2018

Speaker: Farjam Eshraghian (University of Westminster)

How ‘search’ has become the watchword of the digital organisation

27 June 2018

Speaker:  Najmeh Hafezieh (University of Westminster)

Exploring Design Theory through Work on the Quality of Experience

30 May 2018

Speaker: Mark Lycett (Royal Holloway, University of London)

Servitization in Manufacturing: What it Takes to Compete Through Advanced Services

18 April 2018

Speaker: Ali Bigdeli (Aston University)