The purpose of this essay is to examine how officials within the Swedish public libraryorganisation view the IT-development, how the IT-development progresses within theorganisation and if there is a need for a national IT-strategy for the public libraries in Sweden.Four unorganized interviews with officials within the regional- and county libraryorganisation and one within the national organisation where conducted. This study is aqualitative examination where the phenomenographic approach has been used as inspirationfor the analytic model. The analytic result has been compared to the system theory of how anoptimal system should be constructed to perform in an optimal way and to be able to producegood results. The results of this study show a wish for a better national cooperation regardingthe IT-development for the Swedish public libraries. Today’s library structure should bereviewed over in order to enable the libraries to produce even better results from the cooperation’s.

Rapporten har ett fokus på Byggnads Informations Modeller (BIM), ett IT-tekniskt verktyg och arbetssätt som har vuxit fram i byggbranschen alltmer under de senaste åren. Hur detta IT-verktyg används hos medelstora byggentreprenadföretag redovisas i denna rapport.Syftet med rapporten är att verka positivt på utvecklingen mot effektivare och resurssnålare arbetsprocesser inom byggbranschen genom att bidra med kunskap om hur användandet av BIM ser ut bland dessa företag, varför det ser ut som det gör, ifall BIM behövs och vad som kan förändra läget i någon riktning.Metodarbetet har bestått av litteraturstudier och intervjuundersökningar.Arbetet inleddes med studier av rapporter och texter relaterade till BIM och intervjuer med representanter för ledande branschföretag inom bygg samt ett par branschorganisationer med inriktning på BIM. Därefter följde ytterligare litteraturstudier med inriktning på förändring och förändringsarbete och enkät och intervjuteknik. Arbetet ledde fram till olika grundteser och förklaringsmodeller som låg till grund för och utformade de intervjufrågor som ställdes vid huvudintervjuerna med elva medelstora byggentreprenadföretag.Huvudintervjuerna gav ett resultat som visade att företagen generellt sett såg på BIM som något positivt, med fördelar såsom lättare kommunikation och som ett hjälpmedel att minska fel i produktionen. Resultatet visade även att det fanns utmaningar såsom mjukvarukompabilitet och en beroendeproblematik mellan projektets involverade parter som innebar att för att tekniken ska kunna ge fördelar måste alla parter använda tekniken.Förklaringarna till det låga användandet bland medelstora byggentreprenadföretag var flera, vanligast var brist på krav från beställarna. Förklaringarna var också avsaknad av behov, kostsamma investeringar, konkurrerande målsättningar, kompabilitetsproblem med mjukvaror och avsaknad av kunskap om BIM.För att gynna en större användning föreslås att tekniska hinder elimineras genom standardisering och utveckling av arbetssättet och mjukvaran rörande BIM, det föreslås också att konkurrerande målsättningar elimineras genom kunskapsspridning om BIM i branschen, både hos entreprenörerna, -för att främja god utbildning så att personalen vill arbeta med tekniken, och hos beställare, -så att de börjar efterfråga BIM och därigenom ger tekniken konkurrensfördelar. / The report has a focus on Building Information Models (BIM), an IT-technical tool- and workmethod that have emerged increasingly in the construction industry in recent years. How this IT tool is used in medium-sized building construction companies is presented in this report.The purpose of the report is to promote positive development towards more efficient and resource-efficient work processes in the construction industry by providing knowledge on how the use of BIM exists among these companies, why it is the way it is, if BIM is needed and what can change the current status in any direction.The work-method has consisted of literature studies and interview surveys.The work began with studies of reports and texts related to BIM and interviews with representatives of leading construction industry companies and a couple of industry organizations with focus on BIM. This was followed by continued literary studies focused on change and change management, survey and interview techniques. This work led to various basic theories and explanatory models as the basis for and the design of the interview questions asked at the main interviews.The main interviews was conducted with eleven medium-sized building construction companies and gave a result that showed that companies generally looked at BIM as something positive with advantages such as easier communication and as a means to reduce errors in production. The result also brought some light to the fact that there existed challenges like software compatibility and dependency between the parties involved in the project, which means that for the technology to be able to provide wanted benefits all parties involved have to use the workmethod.The reasons for the low usage among medium sized construction contractors was several, the most common was the lack of demands of the clients. The reasons were also the absence of need, costly investments, competing objectives, compatibility issues with software and lack of knowledge of BIM.In order to promote a greater usage of BIM it is proposed that the technical obstacles are eliminated through standardization and development of the processing method and software, it is also proposed that the competing objectives are eliminated by spreading and increasing knowledge of BIM in the industry, both amongst entrepreneurs, -to promote good staff training so that the staff will want to work with the technology, and amongst construction clients, -so that they start asking for BIM and thereby provide the technology with a competitive edge.

While the European-owned information technology multinationals, as represented in the IT Roundtable, exerted a preponderant influence on the development, approval and implementation of ESPRIT in the early and mid-1980s; by the early 1990s, they appeared unable to translate their policy preferences into policy outcomes.' This thesis seeks to establish whether or not these companies lost some of their influence over the European Community and, if so, why. It argues that the IT Roundtable members' corporate diplomacy was less effective in the late 1980s and early 1990s than it was in the early and mid-1980s, for the following three reasons. First, the effectiveness of the IT Roundtable as a channel of political activity was undermined by its declining representativeness, following the structural changes taking place in the industry; by its lack of internal coherence caused by the diverging interests of its members; and by the perception that the Roundtable was suitable for articulating preferences in the area of R&TD but inappropriate for voicing broader preferences on industrial policy. Second, doubts about the necessity of an indigenous IT capability depreciated the perceived value of the asset which conferred political weight on the Roundtable companies: their capability to supply economically and militarily strategic technologies and products. While the realization of short-term economic objectives became more important - even amongst those governments paying lip-service to the necessity of an indigenous IT capability - public investments into the Roundtable companies, ridden by crisis, were not perceived as yielding "value for money", particularly in terms of employment and social and economic cohesion. Third, the EC's ability to realize the IT Roundtable's policy preferences was hampered by the lack of consensus amongst the national governments; the latter's insistence on subsidiarity, national solutions and juste retour; their resistance to spending money, and the fragmentation of the EC's decision-making structure. The EC's ability to supply the policies requested was further hampered by the increasingly globalized nature of the IT industry, and the EC's limited economic leverage over Japan and the US in international negotiations on IT.

The introduction of technology-based tools into developing countries is usually impeded by a number of potential problems. The problems become murkier when the context of the issue, such as external debt management, where technology is to be used, does not have a standard textbook of rules and procedures to follow. The principle problems encountered during the course of our research for this thesis hinged the issue of possible inapplicability of information technology (IT), especially information and decision support systems (I/DSS). This is also the case for other tools and techniques built and used by developed countries in the developing world. The great deal of difference in the context of use; content of the systems; and the attitudes of the parties involved in the process forms the basis for our argument. The research was intended to draw on the lessons learned by the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) during the introduction I/DSS for improving the decision making process in developing countries. Moreover, the research intended to tackle the issue of using I/DSS in a totally new context, other than for very structured purposes such as manufacturing and the like, and a challenging environment such as those in developing countries where difficulties of implementation and use are more in context, content and cultural issues than technological ones. The research would then show implications, identify problems and challenges and try to develop generalizations and recommendations. The research, since its initial phases, had to consider the forces of centralization versus decentralization and the organizational structure of decision making especially at the top level. Other issues such as I/DSS project planning and implementation; organizational dynamics and the research at the organizational level related to national policy; and technical information systems development were taken into consideration. This experience could be viewed as a documentation phase where the Egyptian Cabinet IDSC and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) together hove built, implemented and sustained state-of-the-art I/DSS in the process of establishing a powerful Egyptian debt management office. The analysis of these experiences displays many lessons for the implementation of sophisticated systems under conditions of extreme difficulty. It offers insight into a number of problems that concern designers, implementors, users, and researchers in I/DSS use in managing development planning and socio-economic change especially in developing countries. It also delves into important aspects related to project planning and implementation, organizational dynamics and the effective use of accurate, timely and relevant information in development planning. We conclude this thesis with on analytical framework that gives detailed methods and guidelines for future implementation of similar programs in developing countries that might wish to benefit from the experience of the Cabinet of Egypt IDSC.

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Mitt syfte är att initiera och driva ett utvecklingsarbete med inriktning mot IKT på fritidshemmet. Fokus ligger på hur IKT kan användas inom fritidspedagogiken. Utvecklingsarbetet sker genom att i aktion pröva och utveckla ett antal IKT aktiviteter på fritidshemmet. En granskning av vilka fördelar och nackdelar som kan finnas är en möjlig väg att finna former för hur fritidshemmet kan arbeta med IKT. Frågeställningen lyder: Vilka kunskapsmöjligheter kan IKT i form av mobilt lärande ge barn på fritidshemmet. Mobilt lärande kan betecknas som det lärande som sker med hjälp av den mobila teknikens möjligheter kombinerat med mobilitet. Tidigare forskning menar att det pedagogiska förhållningssättet till IKT är av stor betydelse. Aktiviteterna i form av geocaching, mysterycaching, QR-koder och filmskapande visar att ett mobilt lärande erbjuder kunskapsmöjligheter såsom förmåga att orientera, problemlösning, matematiska begrepp, naturupplevelse och kreativt skapande. Ett mobilt lärande i fritidshemmet stimulerar rörelse, friluftsliv och skapande.

Det finns i nuläget väldigt lite forskning inom IT-säkerhet i ideella organisationer, trots att dessa organisationer är en viktig del av samhället och brister i deras IT-säkerhet kan leda till minskat förtroende från allmänheten. Studien har försökt klargöra attityder till IT-säkerhet hos medarbetarna i de ideella organisationer som har medverkat i undersökningen. Tidigare forskning i vinstdrivande organisationer visar att kunskap, attityder och beteenden hör ihop och påverkar varandra, och dessutom att dessa tre faktorer är mycket viktiga för IT-säkerheten i en organisation. För att förstå hur attityderna ser ut i ideella organisationer var det därför nödvändigt att ta reda på även kunskap och beteende hos medarbetarna. Studien kom fram till att attityderna var goda men att ledningens och medarbetarnas kunskaper om IT-säkerhet, och även deras beteenden, var bristfälliga i flera aspekter. Studien fann även att attityderna ytterligare kan förbättras och att IT-säkerheten i organisationerna markant kan förbättras om kunskapen om, attityderna till och beteendet gällande IT-säkerhet förbättras, exempelvis genom utbildning.

The structures of organizations have gone through a dramatic change over the last years; as a result customer service is no longer a small side activity but a critical part in customer relationship management. Development in information technology has created opportunities as well as challenges for organizations when it comes to providing a customer service with capacity of sensing and responding to customers' needs. Previous research shows a relationship between customer response capability and customer knowledge processeses, this study investigates and confirms this relationship. However, findings show that dedication and understanding for customers needs has a direct impact on both customer response capability and customer knowledge processeses, this result indicates that customer knowledge processes and customer relationship management are difficult to differentiate. Furthermore, this study explores IT-related resources impact on customer response capability and customer knowledge processes. Results show that categories of IT-related resources affects customer response capability and customer knowledge processes, however this impact occurs on different levels.

Abstrakt: Vi lever i ett samhälle där informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) förkommer både i skolan och i vardagslivet. Samhället kräver av barn och ungdomar att de är förberedda inför hanteringen av IKT när de kommer ut i yrkeslivet. Detta innebär att lärarna i dagens skola behöver tillgång till IKT för att använda den som ett pedagogiskt verktyg i sin undervisning. Men frågan är hur stor erfarenhet och möjligheter läraren har kring IKT i sin undervisning. Syftet med detta arbete har varit att undersöka hur lärare resonerar kring IKT i skolan för att strukturera undervisningen. Vi ville veta vilken syn läraren har på IKT och dess användning och påverkan i undervisningen. Vi har valt att utgå från den kvalitativa metoden, där vi har observerat både lärare och elever samt intervjuat lärarna och en personal från Skoldatateket. Resultatet av undersökningen visade en positiv syn kring användningen av IKT i skolan. Däremot förekommer det även osäkerhet kring lärarens roll angående hur de skulle anpassa IKT till undervisning. Slutsatsen i vår studie pekar på att läraren använder digitala verktyg i undervisningen trots att de saknar erfarenhet och kunskap.

IT environments are turning more complex by the day and this trend is poised to rise in the coming years. To manage IT resources and maximize productivity better, large organizations are striving for better methods to control their current environments. They also have to prepare for future complexity growth as their environments cater to the growing IT needs. In the current economic recession, organizations are not only threatened by the growing complexity, but also have to cope with limited personnel due to financial constraints. Organizations are ardent about obtaining new technology to have firmer control on different platforms, vendors, and solutions at a reasonable cost. At the same time, this new technology must deliver quality services that can effectively fulfill customer needs. To deal with IT management challenges, CA developed Spectrum Service Assurance Manager (SAM), a product by CA Inc. (formerly Computer Associates) to solve complex IT environment service management problems. SAM can provide organizations with a wide-ranging view of their multi-faceted IT environments by providing vital pieces of information that no other software can perceive. Thus, SAM can monitor and manage systems, databases, networks, applications, and end-user experiences. Although, this technology is able to detect many errors and problems, it still lacks a good mechanism to diagnose the detected problems and uncover their root causes for end users to fix. Four research groups from Universities of Alberta, Toronto, Victoria and Waterloo—under the auspices of the Consortium for Software Engineering Research—built different tools for root-cause analysis and detection. To integrate these solutions, these research groups worked together with CA Inc. to produce a web-based integration tool to integrate these add-ons into the main SAM application. The resulting framework does not affect any of SAM’s existing features as the additions only involve a new web communication layer that acts from the core of the software to detect and present root causes. The detection tools only parse the log files for vital information and thus the core functionality of the software remains unaffected. My contributions to this research project are presented in this thesis. In the beginning of this thesis, I report on background research on SAM and describe how it is going to solve the increasing complexity problem in IT environments. Later on, I propose two software integration approaches to integrate root cause diagnosis tools with SAM and briefly describe CA’s latest software integration framework Catalyst. Towards the end of this thesis, I compare our integration solution with Catalyst, and discuss advantages and disadvantages of these integration solutions. / Graduate