Responsible Sharing : Digital Content...

What can I do with digital content accessible via the University's subscriptions or invisibly accessible via my student login with the University? Journal subscription and other scholarly sources are licensed and managed by the University Library. But what can I do with it? Put another way; what constitutes responsible sharing of digital content?

Well, it all depends on the copyright.

Science Direct sets out a clear table of what is allowed and what is not when it comes to sharing scientific publications - or indeed any publication covered under a range of copyright types.

The ScienceDirect WebHelp page.

The key table is at the bottom of the above link page (source: ScienceDirect, 2016).

Reading: The Activity Checklist

Kaptelinin, V., Nardi, B. A. & Macaulay, C. (1999) The activity checklist: a tool for representing the “space” of context. interactions, 6, 27-39. (search link)

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Read the assigned sections and provide a summary in this live document (and your own website!).

goo.gl/W33EHJ

Digital Skills and Technology for organisational configurations

This page offers pointers to some essential and interesting services that business owners, product managers and producers of digital goods should know about; some old some new (this list will grow and grow). You might think of each technology as a skill to acquire and to gain experience in too.

For example: Conversational software for persistent collaboration covers a few different application categories. The area is fast evolving with lots of feature/functionality replication washing across all the various offerings...
Team communication tools: any kind of open Wiki, Slack, Google+Hangouts, Skype, etc.
Social networking tools: FB, SnapChat, WhatsApp, Yammer, LinkedIn, etc.
Collaborative software: any kind of Wiki, plus a whole range of other products mixing database, web and markup (like wiki, structured text, restructured text, rich text, native Word, html, etc), with features like fine grained (or not) user/account/rights, workflow, content management, discussion, blogging, file systems, change tracking, versioning, tagging, bookmarking, etc.
Basic digital competencies: graphic design - the use of colour, space, perception for display, communicating, representing, aesthetics; UX, ID, UCD; the presentation structure of web pages; image editing and manipulation; information management.

Our growing list of interesting / essential digital services

@optimalworkshop Tools and approaches to managing user research

@github The most active of the quasi-open source software-service offerings for versioning digital artefacts and source code control

@sensu for monitoring operational infrastructure; control, report, configurations, availability etc

@nagiosinc, also for operational infrastructure monitoring.

@tortoisesvn Subversion (svn) + Tortoise SVN (the very nice workstation client for svn). The worthy heir to cvs; industrial strength + open source source code control and versioning system

@Zendesk 'software for better customer service'! Highly regarded I hear.

@SlackHQ Don't forget the wonderfully fluid and open ended SLACK! What is it? A kind of Lego for collective mind? Interested? Then ask to be added to https://mscdigitalinnovation.slack.com/

@CrazyEgg for integrating gaze heatmap and other tracking tools with website analytics.

And then there is @vtigercrm an open source web based sales and marketing platform
@mantisbt the venerable web based issue tracking system, open source, an excellent system for customer issue management.

@bugzilla another excellent problem tracking system, again, open source, web based.

@UniTuitionHQ a market for matching tutors with students at Uni level, and perhaps even secondary school? https://www.unituition.com/

@servicenow a scarily polished crm, issue tracking, service and it management system. Customer self-service portal system thingys.

@HP SAW. Their service access workbench has been mentioned as a 'good thing'. What they are calling 'hybrid infrastructure'.

@jetbrains Awesomely good TeamCity for continuous integration, i.e. automated build, package, test.

@Atlassian 's @JIRA issue, sprint, project, product tracking software system wonderfulness.

@trello visual to-do lists and project management in the cloud.

On the topic of CRM I suppose we should mention one of the elephants in the room @MSFTDynamics

@SonarQube (previously sonarsource) can be a useful additional tool for assessing the quality of your source code. See http://www.sonarqube.org/ and demo at http://nemo.sonarqube.org/

@aha_io for Product Roadmap and/or project manager views of the world.

@productboard their strapline is the "Beautiful and powerful product management platform."

@moqups for wireframe designs and software mock-ups.

@balsamiq also for wireframe designs and software mock-ups.

LICEcap from @Cockos for simple animated screen captures, great for teaching and explaining stuff on the web.

Consultancy - from opportunity, issue, problem, assumptions to solutions

IT Consultancy - from opportunity, issue, problem, assumptions to solution generation.

Consultancy is often more a process of facilitation rather than parachuting into a conflict zone and troubleshooting.

The consultant will often focus mainly on problem identification, digging in to the case to identify possible/potential issues.
Often you will need to make some assumptions, if so then decide and state them as they will probably form a background to further analysis.

For an operational technology case; possibly look at business process and workflows. For example, activity flows involving people, documents, and IT. Some of this may provide opportunities to redesign the user interaction or to devise shifts between digital and manual recording.

For a product/service feature development case; look at customer/user needs (met/unmet), feature usage, technology logs as evidence of use, prototyping, participant observation.

For a product/market/fit case; look at the economic characteristics of the product/service; market size, equivalent or substitute products, where is value produced? who benefits? network effects? transaction costs?


Problem/issue solutions might be suggested after this.

Roll your own: using Trello with Scrum

Roll your own: using Trello with Scrum by Robert Warren

http://www.infoq.com/articles/scrum-trello

Student Reflections from 2015

A selection of student quotes from 2015

#1.

"I was quickly drawn by the idea of documenting your learning by using a Blog. This was not a concept I had heard of before but I was drawn to it as a good idea as it allowed you to discuss topics of interest as well as post assignments for your lecturer to view." 

"Within the first lecture we discussed systems development with a particular emphasis on design. I had experience of Systems Development from modules I had taken in my undergraduate. What is a System?????, I was very rusty here for sure. " 

"My main take away from this module is the improvements I have made in my approach towards design and thinking laterally. In terms of my design approach I have learned that there really is no substitute to field work. Field work allows you to interpret a situation using all your senses and get a really clear picture of what is occurring in an environment."

#2.

"Getting right into this module from week one Allen sent us as a class to go and do field research on a specific topic. Research is a key part of this degree. I feel that doing hands-on research, dealing with consumers, allows me the opportunity to see [the impact of designs] like getting a greater understanding of a particular [system]."

#3.

"When I started the programme I was afraid that my lack of real world experience would hinder my ability to learn in this course, in fact I think this was the opposite, because I had come from a business background I was able to look at technology a different way to my colleagues who had already worked in large firm on technology projects."

"In this module I have expanded my knowledge of technology, this new information will help give me the dual focus on business and technology that I will need for my future career."

"one aspect that I noticed was that teams were an underlying subject every week. Whether we were talking about planning, design or development, it all centred on teams. To me, this link is the simple fact is that everything we have learned in this class is for application in the real world. The use of team examples from the Soul of a New Machine and the Iona cases highlighted real world aspects of team dynamics and how teams interacted."

"My favourite part of the course was when we started to learn about the trade-off between creativity and control. I think this was of real interest to me and it’s something that I have noticed in every college project that I have ever done. I would consider myself creative and I have always found it hard as a team leader to manage the balance between control, in terms of completing the objective, and creativity, producing something that is creative compared to other groups. Even this year I had struggled with this concept."

"I learned a lot form my blogging experience, firstly blogging is a habit it is not a natural phenomenon. The reason why I didn’t post more blogs was paralysis by analysis. I adopted a mind frame that everything I put up onto my blog had to be prefect and long. After reading the Pixar case in week 9, I realised I should take the adoption that Pixar have and to put my ideas and thoughts up on the blog and to let classmate, Allen and others, critique, review and add to my own ideas. Having adopted this new attitude after week 10’s class I decided to do my own quick and dirty experiment and when I posted this on my blog I felt that I finally had grasped the most effective way to use my blog, that is taking ideas expressed in class, giving the main points and then to build on those ideas, whether it be a quick experiment, case study or critique of what was talked about. This was when I started to understand the real value from my blog."

#4.

"Being a software engineer I am able to relate the learnings of this course with my previous industry experience." 

"Mock-up design exercise of sketching a text free search page gave us the insight with the tools like Balsamic which can be used to present the design of the system to the clients and to get a feedback from them. I really think it is a best practice to customise the idea and design in short time."

#5.

"During the class we designed basic websites using quick and rough sketches, and paper prototypes of our sites, with the goal being to design a sight that the user didn’t have to type commands into. We then used these prototypes to design composite versions using the Balsamic website. I would have considered doing a sketch to be are fairly useless tool in designing a product prior to this exercise, however having created the more realistic version using the paper prototype as a model I could see the value in it. They allow for quick iterations and changes which is key in defining what it is exactly that the user is looking for." 

"If I had to use one word that sticks as the main theme in this module its context, regardless of whether it’s a lifecycle, management system or any of the other frameworks for managing and developing software design, there is no one magic way of doing things. It depends on the context of the firm or project, whether that be in terms of the product, the customer, how dynamic the environment or any other variable."

#6.

"To begin I thought about the first exercise we’ve had, which was how to define a system. That was a tricky question for me. From what I’ve learned before, I’ve tried to come up with a quick and generic definition, such as ‘something that receives an income and delivers an outcome’. This for me was something standard, from what I could see in my graduation and in my work experience. However, when we discussed each individual’s definitions, it was interesting to see that most of the class had the same view around what a system was, drawing a box with inputs and outputs. Then we had one better definition: A combination of resources (Money, technology, software, hardware, people, norms), providing incomes and outcomes that benefits providers and users, linking these two parts, in order to enhance the quality of life." 

"Afterwards, we have started to discuss the essence of design. What is important to an user? This is a really interesting theme for me, because as a costumer, I think that a lot of products and services that we consume today are designed under the producer’s point of view and his preferences. I feel like there’s a gap between what the producer think that his client wants and that the client actually wants. This gap is very troublesome, as it might endanger a whole business, since the consumers might no longer use a product and opt for the competition. It’s important to know that It’s not just about engineering the product, the user experience has to be paired down, in order to get to know as much as possible about the whole experience. We’ll be worried about the whole construct around the product, not just its physical appearance."

#7.

"If there is one observation I would make it is this – I never realised that system development was all about people – now I do." 

"I didn’t like going out on the streets for that IDEO mini project but got a lot out of it. My view of design was that it started with the specification, a clear list of what the system should do, so the emphasis the whole picture, I think freed me from an engineering myopia." 

"The IONA case and the Pixar case confirmed that it is about selecting the organisational structure, design and implementation "mythologies" from as social perspective that allows good systems to be built by those people. " 

"I now get the power of the prototype as a platform to grow and link into usability. What struck me most about the general use of this approach (mock-up tools) is that despite the dominance of the PMI model as a way of reducing risk, it is in fact this little prototyping tool that reduces the risk and cost in an uncertain endeavour."

#8.

"As an experienced person in ICT industry as a software developer, I have experienced many of the concepts that were covered by the module in work but not knew the importance and significance of this concepts. But now I Know how to relate those concepts to the working environment and the importance of the concepts in the industry. And I have learned a lot of new concepts and management tools that can be used in work." 

"The overall learning from this module has helped me understand concepts of design, delivery, creativity, product life cycles, project management and use of various management tools like planning poker and activity checklist. It was not just learning the concepts, but it was experiencing the application of these various concepts through class activities, teamwork, research work and how to use these concepts in solving the real time project management issues in the ICT-based development organisation."

#9.

"We were asked to maintain a blog or a website through which Allen could easily monitor our progress. I think it’s success was moderate as people were not too prompt in uploading the work except a few as till the time of submission I encountered two to three blogs which were completely empty. Allen was prompt in checking our work and I received regular feedbacks from him which in turn ignited my eagerness to update the blog in a timely manner."

#10.

"We had to make our own blog and post our class learnings on it. I pretty much liked this idea, as at the end of module you have all your notes collected in a single place. I used www.wix.com to create my own blog. I would say, I did not updated my blog regularly, but had all my notes written in papers which helped me to post my learnings twice every month. I did put in information like- First research work using IDEO method cards, weekly reading points, case studies, my project proposal, summary of the book-“Soul of a New Machine” and most of the weekly exercises. Maintaining a blog did make me realize the importance of and ease of cumulating our own learning stuff in a single place and others can also utilize it for their reference."

#11.

"This course focussed both on the techniques of development side of the ICT projects as well as the management techniques. The techniques of development ranged from conventional approaches to agile and lean methods. The management techniques involved understanding of lifecycles and frameworks for development. It also taught how to work efficiently in teams and how to inculcate innovative ideas in the teams. We have developed a better understanding of how a system works, how to analyse it and look for developments in the same." 

"The exercises involved ranged from Individual to Group Ones. The group exercises also fostered teambuilding. Some of the exercises were: Sketching a Text Free Engine, Building a spaghetti cantilever bridge, planning poker, Sutton’s creative strategies, Lego construction and design exercise." 

"I learnt about the various processes and practices involved in software design and delivery. In a professional ICT environment, I will be aware of the various lifecycles and frameworks that are involved in software development lifecycles. I hope to be able to be identify and critically evaluate processes, activities and practices necessary for design and development. The knowledge that I gained from this course will help me to act to industry situations where analysing and adapting methods for development will be required."

Launch your new venture with UCD Startup Stars

To register your interest in UCD Startup Stars, please complete this short form here.
(You may register your interest to either participate on a team or pitch an idea. Please note, you don't have to have an idea at this point to register your interest).

NovaUCD together with Innovation Academy UCD and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School are delighted to announce the launch of UCD Startup Stars 2016.

UCD Startup Stars is an entrepreneurship programme open to teams (2-3) of registered UCD students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from any faculty with a compelling idea for a new business or social venture.

Following a very successful pilot in 2015 for undergraduate students, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is joining NovaUCD and Innovation Academy UCD to expand the programme in 2016 to also include applications from postgraduate students (or combinations of undergraduate and postgraduate teams).

Phase 1 involves entrepreneurship workshops and course modules delivered during Semesters 1 and 2 at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and UCD Innovation Academy. During phase 2 fifteen applicants will be selected to pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs and mentors. Seven of these teams will be chosen to participate in phase 3, an intensive 4-week programme at NovaUCD (25th May - 22nd June), incorporating a cash stipend, office space, a structured set of workshops and mentoring sessions in addition to a cash prize for the winning team at the end.

The UCD Startup Stars Experience (Undergraduate Participants 2015) from UCD Innovation Academy on Vimeo.

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For further information on the programme please see www.startupstars.ie or contact:
Postgraduate queries - majella.murphy@ucd.ie (UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School)
Undergraduate queries - david.nevin@ucd.ie (Innovation Academy UCD)
caroline.gill@ucd.ie (NovaUCD)

MSc Digital Innovation (UCD) and Masters in IT Management (Aalborg) students

MSc Digital Innovation programme hosts students from Aalborg University (Denmark).

(photo caption) MSc Digital Innovation (UCD) and Masters in IT Management (Aalborg) students; with (L-R) Peter Smyth (Version1), Dr Gitte Tjørnehøj (Aalborg), and Allen Higgins (front).

Over the week 40 visiting students from Aalborg University's Masters in IT Management programme joined with students on UCD's MSc Digital Innovation programme. They participated in lectures, conducted field research and socialised with the MScDI cohort.

Two open seminars were held, dealing how to harness development teams' potential when creating and deploying disruptive technology.
On Tuesday 24th Nov Dr Gitte Tjørnehøj, Programme Director for the Masters in IT Management at Aalborg University (Denmark), gave a talk on "Drift in practice - or how to manage drifting digital development" (event link).
On Wednesday 25 Nov Peter Smyth, Head of Managed Services, Version1, discussed sourcing theory and practice from the perspective of a services development and delivery firm (event link).

Answering questions and grading

I use grade descriptors (A+, A... C-, D+ etc) rather than % grades. You should search UCD for definitions/explanations of grade descriptors. I have posted similar material on the website.
In terms of answering prosaic, essay style questions you can employe a couple of approaches, they all amount to the same thing however, know your material, produce your own thoughtful response, practice using past papers.
Sometimes students struggle more with organising their thoughts, the following might be of help:

A simple style of raising questions, responding, and further questioning responding in the Socratic style is ok. So long as you demonstrate your knowledge and answer the question.

In terms or organising your thoughts, as mentioned in class the so-called Hegelian approach; thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis might be useful:

1. Simple bullet points >
2. Detailed definitions >
3. Examples of application >
4. Critical analysis of practical use >
5. Own interpretation and synthesis >

In a similar fashion you might organise a response inspired by Bloom’s cumulative (classification) of knowledge :
1.Data/factual statements (rules)
2.Simple description, explanation (theories)
3.Straight forward application, applied
4.Analysis of unexpected outcomes
5.Synthesis of new or adapted theory
6.Expert reflective application in use.

New Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UCD

Majella Murphy has taken up the Entrepreneur-in-Residence role for 2015-2016 at UCD's Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Her role is to support all students with an interest in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, whether considering entrepreneurship as a career path, if working on a new business idea, or to research entrepreneurship in Ireland and Dublin particularly.
Drop in times (Room S209a) Monday mornings 9am-12.30pm or by appointment (majella.murphy@ucd.ie or 01-716 8819).

Majella will be organising a series of events including entrepreneurial journey talks, panel discussions on controversial topics, an entrepreneurship competition and an ecosystem open evening.

When would you expect creativity to occur in a project?

Q: When would you expect creativity to occur in a project?
The class provided different responses, captured in these archetypal timelines...

Seminar: "Outsourcing: cases and harnessing disruptive technology"

"Outsourcing: cases and harnessing disruptive technology".

Open invitation, all welcome.

Peter Smyth discusses sourcing theory and practice from the perspective of a services development and delivery firm. Presenting cases and the impact of harnessing disruptive technology; the implications of cloud for sourcing suppliers and clients. Followed by questions and discussion.

When/where: Wed 25th November 5-6pm in lecture theatre C302, UCD Smurfit.

Peter Smyth is Head of Managed Services, Version1. Version1 was established in Dublin, Ireland in 1996 by CEO Justin Keating and John Mullen. It has grown through organic growth and strategic acquisition to be a market leader in IT services in the UK and Ireland. - See more at: http://www.version1.com/About-Version-1/History

Version1, a Dublin native. (image source www.Version1.com)

UCD CITO, a seminar by Gitte Tjørnehøj. From Claudio Ciborra's "Drift" to "managing drifting digital development"

Open invitation, all welcome. A seminar by Gitte Tjørnehøj. From Ciborra's "Drift" to "managing drifting digital development" Tue 4pm MH201 UCD Smurfit

"Drift in practice - or how to manage drifting digital development"

When: Tuesday 24 November, 4-5pm (click here to download the event in iCal format)

Where: Room MH201, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Blackrock.

Abstract

Practitioners and researchers agree that we have to change our way of managing technology in organisations and the development of technology itself – but few offer answers that depart from the overarching rational paradigms of the past. Taking inspiration from Ciborra’s approach we direct our attention away from organisational frameworks and structure, and focus instead on learning from those who 'do' - through happenings and artful coping in practice. We suggest that there is much yet to learn by studying improvisation and coping in action.

This talk gives an example of research into improvisational practice in a small IT firm as they strive to implement CMMI (one of these overarching frameworks). We analyse instances, when and how they improvised, and how they learnt from these occasions. This is not a success story but just an ordinary "day at work" with some successes and some failures.

The cover of Ciborra's "The Labyrinths of Information" (2002)

References:

The Labyrinths of Information: Challenging the Wisdom of Systems, Claudio Ciborra (2002)

From Control to Drift: The Dynamics of Corporate Information Infrastructures, Claudio Ciborra (2001)

About the speaker:
Gitte Tjørnehøj is an assistant professor in Information Systems Management and Programme Director for the Masters in IT Management at Aalborg University (Denmark). Gitte researches socio-material innovation, IT enabled innovation, distributed systems development, software processes, and project management.

How to get to the seminar:
A Google maps reference with room location and suggested parking zones.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=zI3tiisSQK_k.kqOUvhH4ARXE

Monument Valley, inside view

Making money from an App. The inside view, monument-valley-in-numbers. The peaks are nice but nicer still the (very) long tails. http://ow.ly/HKpDa 

Source: http://blog.monumentvalleygame.com/blog/2015/1/15/monument-valley-in-numbers

Leaders of Tomorrow competition 2015 open for applications...

Leaders of Tomorrow competition now open (p.s. UCD Smurfit MSc Digital Innovation / iBusiness - Innovation through ICT students won 2014)

See www.accenture.com (image source montage from Accenture)

The Leaders of Tomorrow competition is hosted and sponsored by Accenture, the NDRC and the Irish Times. 

2nd December 2015 - Applications Deadline
See https://www.accenture.com/ie-en/Careers/leaders-of-tomorrow-award.aspx

NDRC Catalyser Open Evening

NDRC Catalyser is an early stage startup investment programme. They are hosting an Open Evening in the NDRC on Monday, 9 November 2015 from 18:00 to 19:30.

www.ndrc.ie (link)

The NDRC is located in The Digital Hub, Crane Street, near the Guinness Storehouse complex at St. James's Gate, Dublin 8.

Cohn stirs the Estimation pot again...

Mike Cohn, the author of Agile Estimation, writes that, much of the time, his teams don't actually need to estimate at all. Huh?
Well, read through the piece, see if you get where he is coming from on this point. Would you go along with him?

[image of a mountain goat from Mountain Goat Software]

See Cohn's blog at www.mountaingoatsoftware.com (link).