MIS-Digital Society - Assignment Essays

Digital Society

VU Current Topics of Information Systems, Especially the Digital Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny

Edition 1

Digital Technology and Society

Overview

» Society and digitalisation

» Fundamental concepts

» Information and society

» Fundamental digital technologies impacting society

How the future society with ICT
could look like…

… 3 scenarios

It‘s the year 2030…

» Recently finished bachelor‘s degree in
business law

» In the last 9 months, she was looking for
a job as a legal assistant, but still could
not find one

» Now she works as a nursery teacher for
60% of the salary she would earn as a
legal assistant

Marina,

How the world faced by Marina could be

» The legal system
Legal analysis work is mainly done by machines
Many legal experts, lawyers and judges lost their jobs
Media uproar about increasing number of wrong court verdicts

» Companies
increased their legal compliance significantly
but recently experienced an inexplicable drop of returns

» The economy
Unemployment rates of 22-25% have become the norm
GDP of developed countries stagnates

» New product developer

» Works for TMNE, a large multi-national
FMCG corporation

» High income, no kids

» Manages his live almost entirely with ICT:
banking, government, shopping, social
media, etc.

» Last week, he was wrongfully accused of
money laundering and held 48 hours in
custody before getting free

Sven, 27

In-class discussion

» How do you think will ICT affect Sven‘s life?

How the world faced by Sven could be in the future

» The government:
Pools and analyses government data, shopping activities, financial transactions,
communication and social media data for crime prediction and prevention

» Companies:
Online shops charge Sven higher prices than Marina because they have analysed Sven to
have a higher willingness to pay
Existing services have become very efficient, convient and quickly to use
Customers increasingly complain that they faced no real „new big thing“ or novel service
in the last few years

» Data architect at FutureDat

» FutureDat allows her to decide on her own if
and when to work

» Lina supported the development of the
artificial intelligence module of personal
assistant robot “Peggy”

» “Peggy” is designed to help and serve people
in everyday situations

Lina, 22

In-class discussion

» How do you think will ICT affect Lina‘s life?

How the world faced by Lina could be in the future

» Customers:
Experience personal assistant robots to be supportive and helpful to humans
People owning a personal assistant say it helps them to be more clear about their own
goals and desires
Feel that they are in control of computers and machines

» The state:
Technology increasingly enables people to participate in democratic processes and to
impact political life
Citizen say they now feel to be more free

» Companies:
Decreasing costs of sick leaves
People like to work longer until retirement

In-class discussion

» How do you think will ICT affect Marina‘s life?

A truly interdisciplinary perspective

Information
systems
research

Social sciences Philosophy
and ethics

Psychology Innovation
management

Computer
science

Three levels of discussion

Pragmatic level

Application of selected technologies and systems in a particular social context

Social level

Social norms and culture related to the use and design of digital information technology

Theoretical level

Cause -> Effect relationships

Metaphysical lead question:

What are the circumstances that it
makes sense to digitalise society?

Metaphysical lead question:

What are the circumstances that it
makes sense to digitalise society?

… before getting to this question we
need to elucidate what are society,

digitalisation and sense ? –

Class discussion: What is a society?

» Which characteristics define a society in your point of view?

» How large can a society be?

Examples of „societies“

How the term Society will be used in this lecture

» “A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction,

» or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory,

» typically subject to the same

» political authority and

» dominant cultural expectations.

» Societies are characterized by

» patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals

» who share a distinctive culture and institutions;

» a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent of members.”

(Wikipedia, 2020)

Video: What is society?

» Definitions by different sociologists

» https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pChY2gbgt2g

Systems theory by Niklas Luhmann (1927 – 1998)

» Social systems are systems of communication

» Interaction systems

» Groups / families

» Organizations

» Societies

» Each social system works according to its own “code” (e.g., company culture, code of a company, etc.)

» Today’s society is a world society

» Global society, geographical boundaries loose relevance

» Communication: oral -> writing -> print -> telecommunication

» According to Luhmann, communication is the main factor impacting the development of societies

In-Class discussion: Digital communication and world society

» Which communication technologies have particularly strongly driven the development towards the „world
society“? Why?

» Which future digital technologies might even further accelerate this development?

» Which aspects of these developments do you favor, which do you critique?

Economy

» Economy is a social process over time to promote human welfare and flourishing

» Humankind should makes use of ICT in economy to promote human welfare, flourishing, wellbeing
� Economic welfare
� Social welfare
� Happiness

» “Eudemonia” (Greek: εύδαιμονία, Aristotle 384–322 BC) stands for “happiness, welfare”

From an economic perspective: What do you think sells better?

Full-body scanner for airport security services

Information society

» “Society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant
[economic, cultural and political] activity.” (Soll, 2009)

» Key driver of growth is regarded to be information and communication technologies (ICT)

» Members: sometimes called “digital citizens”, “users”, etc.

» Related concepts:
� Knowledge society
� Network society
� Post-industrial society
� Information age

In-class discussion: Information

» Information is the “basic resource“ of information and communication technology.

» What is information?

» Break-out groups: 4 students/group

» Create a mindmap

» Go to OLAT –> In-class exercises -> U1: Information

» Upload your mindmap in PDF format

» max. 4 participation points

Information is a multi-dimensionsional construct.

ISACA (2013, p. 47). COBIT 5 for Risk.

Dimension Characteristics Examples

Physical Information carrier / medium Paper, hard disk, electromagnetic waves

Syntactic Forming code / language out
of symbols

Letters forming a German sentence, ANSI C, HTML

Semantic Construction of meaning out
of data

Sales per month, health-related information

Pragmatic Use of information for a
purpose

Electronically ordering goods, Google maps
navigating a car to a destination

Social Context of the information Privacy of financial information, intellectual
property rights

The DIKW pyramid builds wisdom and knowledge upon information and
data.

Hey (2004)

Acting based on information.

SIGNS
symbols, indices, icons

sign: “object, quality, event, or
entity whose presence or
occurrence indicates the

probable presence or
occurrence of something else” adapted from Bours (2015)

Example: Inventory Management System

number of screws on stockObservation

Sign

01001100011Symbols
611Data
611 pcs screws M3 on stockInformation
611 pcs < minimum stock Æ action: place orderKnowledge Our customers require continuous supply to ensure medical appliance safetyWisdom � Place order � Improve continuous stock monitoring processesDecision making

The knowledge spectrum: concepts leading from real-world events to
human wisdom.

Debons, Horne and Cronenweth (1988)

Types of data

» Data: represent information based on a known or supposed agreement in a
computer-processible way.

User data: details having utility for the user

Control data: details controlling information processing

» Digital Data: represented by symbols (elements of a finite character set to
describe information).

» Analog Data: displayed by a physical value which changes corresponding to
considered circumstances
(e.g., thermometer).

Digitisation, Digitalisation, Digital Transformation

Schallmo, Williams & Boardman (2017)

Conversion of analog data (continuous signals) into
digital data (discrete signals)Digitisation

Socio-technical processes with an impact on
institutions and society enabled by the use of digital
technologies

Digitalisation

Change of business models by adopting digital
technologies in organisations

Digital
Transformation

Definitions of digital transformation vary slightly.

BMWi 2015, S. 3 „Die Digitalisierung steht für die umfassende Vernetzung aller Bereiche von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft
sowie die Fähigkeit, relevante Informationen zu sammeln, zu analysieren und in Handlungen umzusetzen.
Die Veränderungen bringen Vorteile und Chancen, aber sie schaffen auch ganz neue Herausforderungen.“

Bowersox et al. 2005, S. 22 f. Digital Business Transformation is a „process of reinventing a business to digitize operations and formulate
extended supply chain relationships. The DBT [Digital Business Transformation] leadership challenge is
about reenergizing businesses that may already be successful to capture the full potential of information
technology across the total supply chain.“

Capgemini 2011, S. 5 „Digital transformation (DT) – the use of technology to radically improve performance or reach of
enterprises – is becoming a hot topic for companies across the globe. Executives in all industries are using
digital advances such as analytics, mobility, social media and smart embedded devices – and improving
their use of traditional technologies such as ERP – to change customer relationships, internal processes,
and value propositions.“

Mazzone 2014, S. 8 „Digital Transformation is the deliberate and ongoing digital evolution of a company, business model, idea
process, or methodology, both strategically and tactically.“

PwC 2013, S. 9 Die digitale Transformation beschreibt den „grundlegenden Wandel der gesamten Unternehmenswelt
durch die Etablierung neuer Technologien auf Basis des Internets mit fundamentalen Auswirkungen auf die
gesamte Gesellschaft.“

Boueé und Schaible 2015, S. 6 „Digitale Transformation verstehen wir als durchgängige Vernetzung aller Wirtschaftsbereiche und als
Anpassung der Akteure an die neuen Gegebenheiten der digitalen Ökonomie. Entscheidungen in
vernetzten Systemen umfassen Datenaustausch und -analyse, Berechnung und Bewertung von Optionen
sowie Initiierung von Handlungen und Einleitung von Konsequenzen.“

Schallmo (2016)

An information system consists of humans, ICT and interfaces.

» An information system is the amount of human, computerized and mechanical instances that cooperate to
process information.

humans interfaces ICT

Another information system.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Information
Technology

Communication
TechnologyConvergence

“study, design,
development, application,
implementation, support or
management of computer-
based information systems”
(IT Association of America)

Transmitting information
over a distance by
technological means

Information processing

» Information processing comprises each operation referring to the

� acquisition,

� storage,

� transmission and

� transformation

» of data.

The four Vs of Big Data

increasing amount of dataVolume

increasing in and out speed of dataVelocity

wider range of data types and
sourcesVariety

increasing uncertainty and
decreasing data qualityVeracity

Source: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/infographic/four-vs-big-data

Big Data – Unprecedent characteristics

Mayer-Schönberger & Cukier (2013)

n = N
� „n = all“
� No need to draw a sample (of size n) anymore
� Instead the whole population (N) is analyzed
ÆMaximum external validity of results

Big data is big in correlation, but not in causality
� High danger of drawing wrong conclusions
� Biased data

High data entropy makes anonymization hard to impossible
� Entropy = amount of information in the data
� Privacy risks

Impact of Big Data on society

Source: slideteam.net/impact-of-big-data-on-business-intelligence-ppt-design

Video: Torsten Steinbach, IBM Cloud on Trends in Big Data
Analytics

» Watch the video (7 min)

» https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRfR4dJoKDc

» What is the serverless paradigm?

What is an algorithm?

» finite sequence of well-defined instructions
to solve a class of problems

» operates on input and output objects
» Deterministic (same inputs always result in

same output) vs. non-deterministic
» complexity of an algorithm will depend on

the complexity of each individual step it
needs to execute, and on the sheer number
of the steps the algorithm needs to execute

» Examples: cooking recipe, sequence of if →
then statements, etc.

Esmaeilpour et al. (2018)

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning

Source: https://data-science-blog.com/blog/2018/05/14/machine-
learning-vs-deep-learning-wo-liegt-der-unterschied/

Algorithms using Machine Learning (ML) and ML algorithms

» Machine learning (ML): algorithms using a model that improves automatically by training

» Models
» Artificial neural networks / Deep Learning

Decision Trees

» Support vector machines: categoric model for classification

» Statistical regression models

Bayesian networks

: conditional dependence between graph nodes

» Genetic algorithms: search algorithm mimicing the process of natural selection (mutation/crossover)

» Algorithms for Machine Learning (Learning algorithms)
» Supervised learning: both inputs and desired outputs

» Unsupervised learning: inputs only

» Self-learning: no training, only „emotional“ feedback of acions

» Feature learning: discovering better representations of the inputs provided during training

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)

Decision Trees

Support Vector Machines

Linear regression

Bayesian networks

Genetic algorithms

Source: https://pastmike.com/what-is-a-genetic-algorithm/

Algorithms as black boxes

» if internal working of an algorithm is unknown it appears as a black box

» there is an input, something happens in the black box and an output comes out

INPUT OUTPUTBLACK BOX

Keeping the exact algorithm secret…

» makes it difficult to understand how under certain input conditions a particular output is generated

» makes manipulating the system more difficult

» makes it more difficult for independent observers to validate whether an algorithm operates according to a
particular goal (i.e., closed source)

» can be the basis for secret holders to enact (legitimate/illegitimate) power over subjects to the algorithm

» can offer a competitive advantage to the knowledge holder

Examples of Cyber Physical Systems: Self-driving cars

Examples of Cyber Physical Systems: Industrial robots

Examples of Cyber Physical Systems: Humanoid robots

Examples of Cyber Physical Systems: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (“Drones“)

Cyber Physical System

System consisting of physical, mechanical
machines controlled by networked computer-

based systems.

Characteristics of cyber physical systems

Use sensors to gather information about the
environment

Sense the
environment

Control themselves, often based on AI (artificial
intelligence)

High degree of
autonomy

Able to communicate and cooperate with
humans and other machines

Cooperative
capability

Can both collect information from and act in their
physical environment and on the Internet

Link physical and
virtual worlds

References
» Bours, D. (2015). The Answer is 42. On Data, Information and Knowledge. Dbour’s blog, May 25th, 2015,

https://www.climate-eval.org/blog/answer-42-data-information-and-knowledge, accessed Mar 1st, 2016.

» Debons, A., Horne, E., Cronenweth, S. (1988). Information Science: An Integrated View. Boston: G.K. Hall.

» Esmaeilpour, Milad & Aghdam, Amir & Blouin, Stephane. (2018). Connectivity Transmission Power and Lifetime
Optimization in Asymmetric Networks: A Distributed Approach. IEEE Access. PP. 1-1. 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2880677.

» Hey, J. (2004). The Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom Chain: the Metaphorical Link. Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission

» ISACA (2013). COBIT 5 for Risk. Rolling Meadows, IL.
» Mayer-Schönberger, V., & Cukier, K. (2013). Big data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

» Schallmo, D. R. (2016). Digitale Transformation von Geschäftsmodellen. In Jetzt digital transformieren (pp. 3-8). Springer
Gabler, Wiesbaden.

» Schallmo, D., Williams, C. A., & Boardman, L. (2017). Digital transformation of business models—best practice, enablers,
and roadmap. International journal of innovation management, 21(08), 1740014.

» Soll, J. (2009). The information master : Jean-Baptiste Colbert’s secret state intelligence system. University of Michigan
Press. ISBN 978-0-472-02526-8.

Image sources
» https://www.zimmermann-streiter.com/innsbrucker-verkehrsbetiebe-app-entwicklung/

» https://www.slideteam.net/impact-of-big-data-on-business-intelligence-ppt-design.html

» https://ee-ip.org/article/industry-digitalisation-from-an-energy-perspective-1729

» https://www.lifesciencesscotland.com/insights/what-is-digitalisation

» http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2015/05/Google-self-driving-car-prototype-front-three-quarters

» http://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/09/21/15/DronesTeaser

» http://www.geku.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2

» http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/165667/file-513541394-jpg/images/cyber-physical-systems-resized-600

» http://www.tahawultech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/digitalisation ?site=cnme&referer=cnmeonline.com

» https://www.pinterest.de/pin/522628731742864786/

» https://heartbeat.fritz.ai/understanding-the-mathematics-behind-decision-trees-22d86d55906?gi=a6582bd720f5

» https://www.smartsheet.com/neural-network-applications

» https://towardsdatascience.com/support-vector-machines-for-classification-fc7c1565e3

» https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Linear_regression.svg

» https://pastmike.com/what-is-a-genetic-algorithm/

» https://becominghuman.ai/understanding-genetic-algorithms-a-use-case-in-organizational-field-2087c30fb61e

» https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_network#/media/File:SimpleBayesNet.svg

Digital Society

VU Current Topics of Information Systems, Especially the Digital Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny

Edition 1

Digital Technology, Ethics and the Law

Overview

» Digitalisation and

Ethics

» Digitalisation and the Law

Ethics

place I name I date

Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.

(The better is the enemy of the good.)

Voltaire, “La Bégueule” (1772)

Ethics (moral philosophy)

» Study of right and wrong behavior

» Three disciplines within ethics:

� Meta-ethics (fundamental ethics)
� General study of the nature of moral and the meaning of ethical reasoning
� “By which means can we determine what is good?”

� Normative ethics
� Study of the principles and criteria of moral and ethical values
� “What is good in general?”

� Applied ethics
� Study of moral acting in a particular field
� “What is good in a particular situation?”

Questions of applied ethics

» May I…

» … enable/support/promote/hinder killing by means of digital technology? Æ technology ethics

» … enable/support/promote/hinder miscommunication by means of digital media? Æmedia ethics

» … enable/support/promote/hinder fraud by means of digital transaction systems? Æ business ethics

Hubig (2011)

Ethics is a discipline of Philosophy

» Philosophy (Greek: φιλοσοφία, philosophia, “love of wisdom”)

Ethics is a sub-discipline of Axiology

» Philosophical study of value

» from Greek ἀξία, axia: “value, worth”; and -λογία, -logia: “study of“

» Intrinsic value

» good in itself (for its own sake)

» Examples: human flourishing, enlightenment, pleasure

» Extrinsic value (instrumental value)

» Good for the sake of something else

» Examples: freedom, justice, safety, utility,

etc.

Ethical values

» Maslow’s hierarchy of human
motivation and flourishing

» Combined with Frankena’s and
Rokeach’s list of values

Spiekermann (2015, p. 47)

Laws

Laws and digitalisation

» Legality is the minimum standard of agency in digitalisation
� “allowed is not necessarily good”

» Necessary time lag between technological development and legislation

» Lex lata threshold (Roman law)
� Technology de lege lata:

� based upon current law
� Technology de lege ferenda:

� based upon law still to be created (e.g., AI laws, self-driving cars, etc.)
� Problem: ethically desirable but currently not law
� e.g., webshops not legally obliged to take certain level of security measures

» European values govern EU digital law

European values in the Treaty of Lisbon 2007 (= primary EU law)
» „Article 2

» 1. The Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.

» 2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of
persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration and the
prevention and combating of crime.

» 3. The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic
growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of
protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance.

» It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men,
solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child.

» It shall promote economic, social and territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States.

» It shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.

» 4. The Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro.

» 5. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its
citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples,
free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict
observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.

» 6. The Union shall pursue its objectives by appropriate means commensurate with the competences which are conferred upon it in the
Treaties.’.”

Many legal domains are relevant for the digital society.

Telecommunication law

Data Protection
law

Information
Security law

E-Business and E-
Commerce law

E-Signature law

Intellectual
Property Rights

Law (IPR)

Competition law

etc.

Telecommunication law

» EU – Framework Directive 2002/21/EC

» EU – Better Regulation Directive 2009/140/EC

» EU – Access Directive 2002/19/EC

» EU – Universal Service Directive 2002/22/EC

» EU – E-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC

» AT – Telekommunikationsgesetz (TKG)

Information Security Law

» EU – Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive

» AT – Netzwerk- und Informationssystemsicherheitsgesetz (NISG)

» AT – NIS Verordnung (NISV)

» DE – IT-Sicherheitsgesetz (ITSiG)

» DE – BSI Gesetz (BSIG)

Data protection law

» EU – General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679

» AT – Datenschutzgesetz (DSG)

E-Business and E-Commerce law

» EU – E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC

» AT – E-Commerce-Gesetz (ECG)

» EU – Distance contracts Directive 97/7/EC

» AT – Fernabsatzgesetz (FernAbsG)

E-Signature law

» EU – electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services (eIDAS) Regulation 910/2014

» AT – Signatur- und Vertrauensdienstegesetz (SVG)

» AT – Signatur- und Vertrauensdiensteverordnung (SVV)

Intellectual Property Rights law

» Copyrights law
EU – Copyright Directive 2001/29/EC
AT – Urheberrechtsgesetz (UrhG)

» Patent law
EU – IPR Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC
AT – Patentgesetz (PatG)
AT – Musterschutzgesetz (MuSchG)

» Trademark law
International – Madrid system for the international registration of marks (MMA)
EU – Trademarks Directive 2008/95/EC
AT – Markenschutzgesetz (MarkenSchG)

References

» Friedman, B. & Hendry, D. G. (2012). The Envisioning Cards: A Toolkit for Catalyzing Humanistic and Technical
Imaginations. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York: ACM.

» Hubig, C. (2011). Technikethik als „Praktische Ethik“. 2. Vorlesung, 01.11.2011, Technische Universität Darmstadt.

» Spiekermann, S. (2015). Ethical IT innovation: A value-based system design approach. CRC Press.

Image sources

» https://leverageedu.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Branches-of-Philosophy-01-760×475

» https://einstein.digitalhumans.com/

Digital Society

VU Current Topics of Information Systems, Especially the Digital Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny

Edition 1

Digital Technology and Leadership in Society

Overview

» Digital leadership

» Culture and leadership

» Wisdom and phronesis

Let‘s travel to Shanghai, where the Apple iPhone is produced

» Watch the video with Dejian Zeng, NYU
graduate student, narrating about working
at Pegatron factory in Shanghai, China

» https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ItLIy
wwepY

Digital Leadership

Synonyms: Leadership 4.0, E-Leadership, etc.

Tasks and tools for leadership of digitalisation and organisations in
phases of digital transformation

Eileen Rivers: Leaders of change, 2020

Levels of culture and leadership

Schein (2004, p. 26)

Digitalisation and cultural differences in leadership

Hall (1989)

Leaders need virtue

» Aristotle has distinguished 12 virtues

» Virtue is the Golden Mean: balance of extremes of virtues & vices / balance between excess & deficiency

Wisdom

» “a type of meta-knowledge

» that is used […] to make right judgments […]

» that are of value and good for us in our lives personally […]

» and that are of value and good for others in their lives (ethically good)

» for the ultimate attainment of […] eudemonia”

Spence (20

, p. 266)

Analects of Confucius book 6 on leadership and the golden mean

» Chapter 27
子曰：「君子博學於文，約之以禮，亦可以弗畔矣夫！」
Confucius said: “A leader who expands their learning through culture and keeps their behavior in check through
ritual is unlikely to go wrong.”

» Chapter 29
子曰：「中庸之為德也，其至矣乎！民鮮久矣。」
Confucius said: “Applying the golden mean is the highest level of virtue. It’s been rare among the people for a
long time.”

Nicomachian dianoetic virtues

» Aristotle’s five types of stable dispositions of the soul and which can disclose truth

Vanharanta and Markopoulos (2018)

Nous

Nicomachian dianoetic virtues

Vanharanta and Markopoulos (2018)

Nous
Intuition:
– capacity developed with experience
– understanding of roots of knowledge and truth

Selected traits of wise leaders

Spiekermann (2015, p. 195) citing Nonaka and Takeuchi (2011)

Who is a good example of a phronetic political leader?
» Dr Kawamura: “Who is a good example of a phronetic political leader?”

» Dr Nonaka: “One of the most important examples of a phronetic political leader is Winston Churchill, the prime minister of
the UK during Second World War.

» I just finished a book in Japanese on D-Day, the Battle of Normandy, focussing on wartime leadership. Eisenhower, who was
the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces at the time, was said to be an “ordinary man” – no charisma. However,
Drucker also said that charisma is not needed. He said Drucker (2004):

» “The constructive achievements of the twentieth century were the work of completely uncharismatic people. Two military
men who guided the Allies to victory in World War II were Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall. Both were highly
disciplined, highly competent, and deadly dull.

» Why then, could people like Churchill and Eisenhower accomplish such great achievements? I think because they were
phronimos; they owned and practiced the six abilities of phronetic leadership. Both Churchill and Eisenhower held a strong
belief in their role as defender of civilization and freedom. Based on their historical imagination, they stood up decisively to
fight against Nazi Germany and protect democracy as the common good. The six propositions (of phronetic leadership)
explain their achievements well in my analysis.

» Recently, I came across the latest movement in philosophy, neo-pragmatism. Leading scholars are Robert Brandom and John
McDowell. They inherit the pragmatism of Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, as well as the pragmatics of
Ludwig Wittgenstein, and try to synthesize the mind and body dichotomy by experiences. Interestingly, McDowell refers to
phronesis as the key for this synthesis. This would be another new frontier of my research.” “

Kawamura, K. (2014)

Nonaka‘s dynamic knowledge triad

» spiral of tacit
knowledge and
explicit knowledge
driven by phronesis

References

» Hall, E.T. (1989). Beyond Culture. Anchor.

» Kawamura, K. (2014), “Kristine Marin Kawamura, PhD interviews Ikujiro Nonaka, PhD”, Cross Cultural
Management: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-06-2014-0055

» Nonaka, I., Kodama, M., Hirose, A. and Kohlbacher, F. (2014), “Dynamic fractal organizations for promoting
knowledge-based transformation – a new paradigm for organizational theory”, European Management Journal,
Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 137-146.

» Schein, E.H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. 3rd ed. Wiley.

» Spence, E. H. (2011). Information, Knowledge and Wisdom: Groundwork for the Normative Evaluation of Digital
Information and Its Relation to the Good Life. Journal of Ethics in Information Technology, 13, 261–275.

» Spiekermann, S. (2015). Ethical IT innovation: A value-based system design approach. CRC Press.

» Thornton, L.F. (2014). Case Study: Overwhelmed. https://leadingincontext.com/2014/03/19/overwhelmed/ ,
accessed Apr 16, 2021.

Image sources

» https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2020/08/30/mayor-filmmaker-navajo-nation-president-our-
take-leaders-change/3296575001/

» https://philosophyfinds.wordpress.com/2017/06/24/traditional-virtue-ethics/

» https://brownbeat.net/2019/05/analects-of-confucius-book-6/

» https://www.capgemini.com/at-de/2019/03/der-digital-leadership-index-die-sechs-wichtigsten-
fuehrungsrollen-zur-bewaeltigung-eines-digitalen-wandels/

» Visualization of the Wisdom Cube Scientific Knowledge Space for Management and Leadership – Scientific
Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Wisdom-Cube-with-the-
four-dimensions-of-wisdom_fig1_333561001 [accessed 27 Sep, 2021]

Digital Society

VU Current Topics of Information Systems, Especially the Digital Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny

Edition 1

Digital Technology and the Individual

Overview

» Human capabilities and machine capabilities

» Human-computer interaction

» Human attention and the attention economy

» Technology addiction

In-class exercise: Human and machine capabilities

» Get in teams of 4 students.

» Create a list
– what machines can do better than humans
– what humans can do better than

machines

» Submit your list in OLAT (use the OLAT editor)

Machine capabilities versus human capabilities: Fitt‘s list

Fitts (1951, pp. 7-8)

Machine capabilities versus human capabilities: Fitt‘s list

1. Ability to detect a small amount of visual or
acoustic energy

2. Ability to perceive patterns of light or sound

3. Ability to improvise and use flexible
procedures

4. Ability to store very large amounts of
information for long periods and to recall
relevant facts at the appropriate time

5. Ability to reason inductively

6. Ability to exercise judgment

1. Ability to respond quickly to control
signals and to apply great force smoothly
and precisely

2. Ability to perform repetitive, routine
tasks

3. Ability to store information briefly and
then to erase it completely

4. Ability to reason deductively, including
computational ability

5. Ability to handle highly complex
operations, i.e., to do many different
things at once

Machines are better at…

Fitts (1951)

Humans are better at…

What machines cannot have?

Ingenious
creativity

True
emotions

True
conscience

Free will Empathetic
sensitivity

A.T. Kearney (2015)

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

“Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and
implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major
phenomena surrounding them

”

(working definition in the ACM SIGCHI Curricula for HCI)

Computer science view point:

“Interaction between one or more humans and one or more computational machines”

What is HCI?

from ACM SIGCHI Curricula for HCI

HCI – An Interdisciplinary Area

Application design and engineering of human-
computer interfaces.Computer Science

Application of theories of cognitive processes and
the empirical analysis of user behavior.Psychology

Interactions between technology, work, and
organization.

Sociology and
Anthropology

Creating interactive products.Design and Industrial
Design

Concerns in HCI

the joint performance
of tasks by humans and

machines

the structure of
communication

between humans and
machines

human capabilities to
use machines (including

the learnability of
interfaces)

algorithms and
programming of the

interface itself

engineering concerns
that arise in designing
and building interfaces

the process of
specification, design,

and implementation of
interfaces

design trade-offs

Utility, Usability, Likeability

� A product can be used to reach a certain goal or to
perform a certain task.Utility

� Usability relates to the question of quality and efficiency.
� e.g., how well does a product support the user to reach a

certain goal or to perform a certain task.
Usability

� This may be related to utility and usability but not
necessarily.

� People may like a product for any other reason.
Likeability

What is Usability?

“Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use. The
word ‘usability’ also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design
process.”
(Nielson)

Usability has five quality dimensions.

� How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the
first time they encounter the design?Learnability

� Once users have learned the design, how quickly can
they perform tasks?Efficiency

� When users return after a period of not using it, how
easily can they re-establish proficiency?Memorability

� How many errors do users make, how severe are these
errors, and how easily can they recover?Errors

� How pleasant is it to use the design?Satisfaction

Employees work with user interfaces

What is User Interface Engineering?

User Interface
Engineering is a
structured
approach for
designing and
implementing
useful and
usable
interactive
systems.

By following the
user interface
engineering
process the
interactive
qualities of a
system are
ensured.

Common misconceptions about making good user interfaces

“If I (the developer) can use it, everyone can use it.”

“If our non-technical staff can use it, everyone can use it.”

“Good user interfaces are applied common sense.”

“A system is usable if all style guidelines are met.”

Creating usable systems is a structured process.

» Preconditions:
Understanding how people interact with their environment.
Understanding the capabilities and limitations of users.
Basic ergonomics.

» User Interface Engineering is a part of the overall development process.

» The process is iterative (overall and at each step).

Creating usable systems is a structured process.

Analyze what interaction is
required and what

technical options are
available in a user centered
way, evaluate the results of

the analysis.

Design and
prototype user
interfaces with

user involvement,
evaluate

prototypes.

Implement an
interactive digital

product.

Test and study the
created product.

Understanding User Needs

» It is essential to focus on user needs

» However user needs are often very abstract and hence the guidance for a concrete implementation is often
limited.

» Example:
People have a need to communicate everywhere and at any time.
Are popular solutions such as SMS, MMS and Email the best solution for this need?

Realization of User Needs

» In the real world, solutions to abstract user needs are not always clear.

» The following characteristics need to be balanced:

» Tools and devices are appropriated by users.

» Users are very creative in using tools
„If you have a nail, everything looks like a hammer.“

freedom vs. limits

ease of use vs. generality

Why is Usability Important?

Improving usability can

� increase productivity of users
� reduce costs (support, efficiency)
� increase sales/revenue (e.g., web shop)
� enhance customer loyalty
� win new customers

Usability is often considered as a sign of high quality.

Working with users can create ideas for new products, e.g., “similarities” (people
who bought this also bought that).

Machine characteristics that preserve the freedom of individuals

Spiekermann (2015, p. 77)

Attention economy

» Information management approach that treats human attention as a scarce and therefore valuable resource

What information consumes is rather obvious: it
consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a
wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,
and a need to allocate that attention efficiently
among the overabundance of information
sources that might consume it.

Herbert Simon (1971)

“

”

Interruptions of the interaction flow do not pay off

» Interruptive ads significantly lowered the willingness to pay for goods associated with the advertising brand
(Acquisti & Spiekermann, 2011)

Message push vs. pull delivery

Spiekermann (2015, p. 87)

Designing HCI for Privacy

� Provide users easy information on providers’ data
collection, analysis and usage

� Reduce information asymmetry between data
subjects and controllers/processors

Transparency
Enhancing

Technologies (TETs)

Zimmermann (2015)

Digital technology addiction

Problematic or
pathological use of
digital technologies

Behavioral: compulsive,
lack of self-control

Impairment in at least
one life area over

prolonged period of
time

Social media
�e.g., Instagram, Twitter, …

Gaming
�MMOG: e.g., LoL, WoW,

Fortnite, …
Online shopping

Video Streaming
�Online series, … Virtual Reality

Neuronal reward system

» mesocorticolimbic circuit (reward system) is a neural structure in the human brain for:
Motivational salience: wanting, desire, craving for reward
Associative learning: positive reinforcement, classical conditioning (Pavlov)
Positive emotions: pleasure, joy, euphoria, ecstasy

» Primary rewards: e.g., water, food, parental care, sex

» Secondary rewards: e.g., money, privileges, etc.

» Dopamine:
Hormone, neurotransmitter, psychotropic substance
Æ „luck“, „motivation“, etc.

Neuronal reward system: intrinsic and extrinsic rewards

Blain & Sharot (2021)

Technology addictions and employee wellbeing

Impact on employee
wellbeing

� Lack of sleep
� Backache and eye strain
� Feeling of envy
� Lack of depth in personal

relationships
� Tendency to seek approvals

Impact on work productivity

� Not meeting deadlines
� Compromise with the work

quality
� Distraction from work

Digital technology addictions can have impact on employee wellbeing and performance

Priyadarshini, et al. (2020)

Behavioural strategies for treating online addiction

Practice the opposite Intentionally break through online routines

External stoppers Online time limits

Setting goals For behavioral change

Reminder cards Of negative consequences

Personal inventory List of “lost” other activities

Abstinence Measure of last resort

Young (1999)

References
» Acquisti, A., & Spiekermann, S. (2011). Do interruptions pay off? Effects of interruptive ads on consumers’

willingness to pay. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 25(4), 226-240.
» A.T. Kearney (2015). Wie werden wir morgen leben? Deutschland 2064 – Die Welt unserer Kinder.

https://www.atkearney.com/documents/6645533/7018232/Deutschland+2064+-
+Wie+werden+wir+morgen+leben /2601f89b-eca8-4521-b43c-4f2b9a04c42c , Feb 25, 2016.

» Blain, B., & Sharot, T. (2021). Intrinsic reward: potential cognitive and neural mechanisms. Current Opinion in
Behavioral Sciences, 39, 113-118.

» Fitts PM (ed) (1951) Human engineering for an effective air navigation and traffic control system. National
Research Council, Washington, DC.

» Priyadarshini, C., Dubey, R. K., Kumar, Y. L. N., & Jha, R. R. (2020). Impact of a social media addiction on employees’
wellbeing and work productivity. The Qualitative Report, 25(1), 181-196.

» Spiekermann, S. (2015). Ethical IT innovation: A value-based system design approach. CRC Press.
» Young, K. S. (1999). Internet addiction: symptoms, evaluation and treatment. In Innovations in Clinical Practice: A

Source Book (eds L. VandeCreek & T. Jackson), vol. 17, pp. 19–31. Professional Resource Press.
» Zimmermann, C. (2015). A categorization of transparency-enhancing technologies. arXiv preprint

arXiv:1507.04914.

Image sources

» http://images04.kurier.at/46-76500174 /htmlTaggingImage620/174.483.431

» https://kurier.at/2030/jeder-zweite-job-faellt-robotern-zum-opfer/174.483.394

» https://webinerds.com/app/uploads/2015/08/Usability-15-1-1024×682-570×380

» https://support.content.office.net/de-de/media/915321dc-3c35-4a4b-b544-9304ec05e456

» https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/augmented-reality-t-systems-gewinnt-red-dot-award-
509470

» https://www.digitale-exzellenz.de/metaverse-nichts-genaues-weiss-man-nicht/metaverse-work/

» https://e.huawei.com/at/solutions/enterprise-collaboration/video-conferencing

Digital Society

VU Current Topics of Information Systems, Especially the Digital Society

Dr. Alexander Novotny

Edition 1

Digital Technology and Innovation

Overview

» Innovation concepts

» Innovation and human progress

» Ethical IT innovation in organisations

» Innovation methods

Innovation and exnovation in organisations

Innovation

� lat. innovatio
� “process whereby organizations transform ideas into new/improved products,

service or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves
successfully in their marketplace” (Baregheh et al. 2009)

Exnovation

� Ending the use of

tech

nologies or processes that are not further effective with
regard to goals / the strategy.

� Confirmed/tested best-in-class products and processes are standardized and not
innovated further (Kimberly 1981)

Kropp (2015)

Innovation or Exnovation

Key innovation (adaptive breakthrough)

» Genetics / evolutionary biology: phenotype (anc. Greek φαινο- (faino-) ‘showing’, and τύπος (túpos) ‘type’):
set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism

» Novel phenotypic trait that allows subsequent radiation and success of a taxonomic group

Adaptive radiation

» Innovation process in which technologies diversify rapidly from an ancestral technology into a multitude of new
forms exhibiting different traits

Market pull vs. technology push

»Market pull innovation
Initiated by the market / the customers. Customers have a demand/need but no solution is
available.

»Technology push innovation
Organisations search for and realise applications of new technologies and subsequently create
a demand that customers did not have before.

In-class exercise: Technology push and market pull innovation

» Select one example I. – IV.

» I. Artificial intelligence
» II. Recycling paper
» III. Smartphone camera

» IV. Walkman

» Find reasons for a technology push or market pull.

» Is it predominantly a push or pull innovation?
» Argue your points and submit them to OLAT (use the OLAT text editor) ?

Ecosystem vs. platform

Ecosystem

• Economic community
consisting of different
organisations including
suppliers, producers, and
other stakeholders in a value
chain delivering value

• Examples: Fintech,
Automotive cluster Austria,
…

Platform

• Basic technological system
used to delevop and deliver
applications with a value

• Examples: AWS, Microsoft
Azure, Apple iTunes, …

Giesswein (2021, p. 47)

From innovation to human progress

Innovation Value Progress

The Gartner Inc. hypecycle

» Descriptive model of future ICT innovation expectations

Expectation

Time

Gartner (2021)

Gartner hypecycle of past years

Gartner (2020)

20202010

Observation: “Left-shift” in IT hypes

Disillusioning
technologies

Enlightened
technololgies

Productive
technologies

Vanished from the hypecycle:

Only valid for the “general” hype cycle for emerging technologies.

Technology specific hypecycles may be different (e.g., blockchain, etc.)

Benjamin (2021)

ICT function-hype has many drawbacks.

Artificial competitive pressure
� Unreflected, fast product cycles
� “Release too early and too often“

Low quality ICT innovation and unsustainable solutions

Poor system documentation

Remnants of hype remain in mal-
designed IT backend architectures

Loss of control over IT architecture in the long-term

Spiekermann (2015, p. 12)

Vincent Déniel (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Technical Debt

“Implied cost of additional rework caused
by choosing an easy, limited solution now

instead of using a better approach that
would take longer.”

Ward Cunningham
Developer of the first wiki

Techopedia (2017)

Altieri M. (2019), Device42, May 20, 2019.

Is technical debt bad?

One may argue tech debt is a strategic leverage for companies:

� Quicker time to market
� More tech functionality with

fewer capital investment

€

� All debt has to be paid back in the
future (social level)

� Technical default / insolvency /
bankruptcy

tech

Down the road, tech debt has to be fixed…

Two approaches: traditional and agile ICT innovation.

Sustainable Value
to Business
•Long project durations
•High complexity
•High risk of failure
•High data quality
•More project governance
•Higher system
integration

Quick Value to
Business
•Short iteration cycles
•Lower risk of failure
•Less governance
•Less system integration
•High danger to end up
with a functioning, but
mal-designed system

Traditional ICT
innovation /
development

Agile ICT
innovation /
development

Repetition: Ethical values

» Maslow’s hierarchy of human
motivation and flourishing

» Combined with Frankena’s and
Rokeach’s list of values

Spiekermann (2015, p. 47)

Important ethical values for digitalisation

Spiekermann (2015, p. 156)

Three classes of ethical discourse in computer ethics

» Ethical consequences of technology on people?

» (1) Actor‘s value:
� Technology is given/is not influenced
� Object of study: People

» (2) Value-sensitive design:
� Technology can be designed and actively influenced
� Object of study: Technology

» (3) Value-sensitive alternative design:
� Alternative technology is radically searched and

designed
� Object of study: Alternative technologies

Spiekermann (2015, p. 170)

Value Sensitive Design method

Spiekermann (2015, p. 172)

Ethical agency in technology ethics

Spiekermann (2015, p. 244)

VSD combined with the IT systems development lifecycle (SDLC)

» Integrate ethical values into the
software engineering process

» Agnostic to development model
(waterfall, agile, spiral, V, etc.)

» Stage-Gate principle

adapted from Spiekermann (2015, p. 175)

ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-7000 – Standard Model Process for Addressing
Ethical Concerns during System Design

» Set of processes by which organizations can include
consideration of ethical values throughout the design of
digital technology

» Transparent communication with selected stakeholders
for ethical values elicitation and prioritization

» Elicitation of ethical requirements, and ethical risk-based
design for digital technology systems

» Traceability of ethical values in the concept of operations,

ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-7000 – Processes leading to ethical IT system design

ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-7000 – Ethical Requirements Definition Process

Relationship of value concepts according to ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-7000

Top innovation methods

Hackaton,
Ideaton

Design
Thinking

Business
Model Canvas

Prototyping

Minimum

Viable Product
(MVP)

Scrum

Giesswein (2021, pp. 110-117)

Hackathons, Ideathons, etc.

Design Thinking

Business Model Canvas

Prototyping

Source: https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/ux-myths-prototypes

Minimum viable product (MVP)

In class-discussion

» Do ethical system requirements need to go into an MVP?

» Where and When?

Some citations on MVPs

» „This is an MVP. We will deal with security and privacy later.“

» „In the MVP stage we do not have enough budget to assess and deal with the ethical impact.“

» „We need to speed up time-to-market. We do not have time for ethical requirements in the MVP phase.“

» Customers want a viable product. They also expect it to be ethically and sustainably viable for the minimum
features!

How (not) to build an MVP

Frugal innovation

» Frugal innovation or frugal engineering is the process of reducing the complexity and cost of a good and its
production

» Removing nonessential features

» Design for price-sensitive customers

» No inferior quality!

» Not less safety, security, privacy, well-being, … !

SCRUM

Source: https://karrierebibel.de/scrum-methode/

Two approaches: traditional and agile ICT innovation.

Sustainable Value
to Business
•Long project durations
•High complexity
•High risk of failure
•High data quality
•More project governance
•Higher system
integration

Quick Value to
Business
•Short iteration cycles
•Lower risk of failure
•Less governance
•Less system integration
•High danger to end up
with a functioning, but
mal-designed system

Traditional ICT
innovation /
development

Agile ICT
innovation /
development

Open Innovation

Source: bock-pm.com

References
» Altieri M. (2019). Device42. Infrastructure Technical Debt, May 20, 2019,

https://www.device42.com/blog/2019/05/20/infrastructure-technical-debt/ .
» Baregheh, A., Rowley, J., Sambrook, S. (2009). Towards a multidisciplinary definition of innovation.

Management Decision, 47 (8), 1323–1339.
» Benjamin, G. (2021). Gartner Blockchain Hype Cycle 2021: Wo stehen wir & wie weiter. Blog, Jun 4,

https://imiblockchain.com/de/der-gartner-blockchain-hype-cycle/
» Giesswein. M. (2021). Digital Game Changer. Maßgeschneiderte Digitalkompetenz für Führungskräfte. WU

Executive Academy. Wroclaw: Amazon, ISBN 9798672289915.
» Kimberly, J.R. (1981). Managerial Innovation. In Nystorm, P.C. and Starbuck, W.H. (eds.) Handbook of

Organizational Design. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 84–104.
» Kropp, C. (2015). Exnovation–Nachhaltige Innovationen als Prozesse der Abschaffung. Innovation–

Exnovation. In Arnold A., David M., Hanke G., Sonnberger M. (eds.): Über Prozesse des Abschaffens und
Erneuerns in der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation, Marburg: Metropolis, 13-34.

» Spiekermann, S. (2015). Chapter 2 in “Ethical IT-Innovation. A Value-Based System Design Approach”. New
York: Taylor & Francis, 7-19.

» Techopedia (2017). Technical Debt. Mar 20, https://www.techopedia.com/definition/27913/technical-debt

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federkiel-penna-scriptoria-gaensekiel
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