Digital infrastructure, management practices and the design organization

Speaker: Jennifer Whyte

Title: Digital infrastructure, management practices and the design organization

Abstract: Digital information presents new challenges to managing and organizing in the pluralistic, multi-firm contexts in which buildings and infrastructure are designed. The literatures on complex organizations indicate paradoxical requirements for tight coupling between tasks to deal with their interdependencies; and loose coupling to deal with the exceptions arising in day-to-day work. This talk draws on research on managing and organizing to consider digitally-enabled design work on a tightly constrained infrastructure project. The engineering consultant's team on this major station refurbishment has been pioneering model-centric ways of working. The empirical research was qualitative in nature and involved spending time with the design team, talking informally to stakeholders about the project and also conducting formal interviews. The research collaboration focused on understanding the design team’s experience and learning through using new digital tools; and it also sought to uncover processes and systems to improve effective use of these tools. By increasing the coupling between the various disciplines involved in design, the new digital tools and processes implied wider organizational changes across firm boundaries. They also challenge institutionalised understandings of process. The talk concludes by discussing potential future scenarios for their use on projects.

Assessing organizational semiotics for IT systems design: improving information exchange processes across construction project stakeholders

Speaker: Bill Collinge

Title: Assessing organizational semiotics for IT systems design: improving information exchange processes across construction project stakeholders

Abstract: Construction projects are information-intensive collaborations between diverse collections of stakeholders and organisations. A recurring challenge for IT systems designers is to produce solutions better able to engage with the diverse informational requirements of varied construction industry professionals engaged on a construction project. This paper explores how organizational semiotics (OS) may be utilized in a construction project context in order to explore information exchange problems & issues prevalent in the domain. Organizational semiotics (OS) is the study of sign generation, exchange and interpretation in organizational contexts. It examines and explores how people and technologies interact and work together in the pursuit of business goals. OS tools may be used to develop and model IT systems which have a conceptual grounding in both technical (data-flow) and humanistic (behaviour) principles. We explore the potential of OS for developing new IT tools to mediate heterogeneous activities of information production and exchange across diverse stakeholders.

Office workers perceptions and attitudes towards the deployment of a location tracking system in a real environment

Speaker: Irene Lopez de Vallejo

Title: Office workers perceptions and attitudes towards the deployment of a location tracking system in a real environment

Abstract: In the context of a doctoral thesis driven by the question how can location tracking technologies contribute to the understanding of face-to-face interaction in the workplace, this seminar presents results of part of the study focused on understanding workers attitudes and perceptions of the deployment and use of this pervasive technology. The talk will start with a brief introduction to the system, its deployment and the spatial and social challenges that it posed to both the organisation and to the technology consultants. Issues of communication, privacy, organisational culture, trust, time and mistification of technology will be discussed. The methods used to investigate people's attitudes in a pervasive environment will be also introduced.