Rodreck DAVID

Headquartered in San Francisco, EdTechAi Inc. (ETA) is a start-up experiencing sharp growth. The company offers a wide range of cutting-edge AI EdTech, including immersive 3D digital twinning attractive to both health tech and engineering companies seeking to enhance their apprenticeship programs. It also holds patents to a GenAI video solution gaining traction in universities for its intuitive educational content that increases student engagement. To provide these technologies, ETA has been sourcing computing infrastructure such as storage, processing power, virtualization, and 3D rendering from BiHub Inc., a private cloud computing company reputed for its exclusivity and high security standards. However, recent market forecasts suggest that BiHub might not be able to meet the projected increase in demand at ETA. The company is considering whether to add CloudComp, GG, and AzurAi to its vendor list, but needs to know if they will fit its important criteria and how to prioritize them. A young executive at ETA tasked with addressing this dilemma has decided to apply multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to help the company make a decision.

"Digital twins have been used in manufacturing to describe, predict, and prescribe responses to complex problems. The digital twin is a constellation of technologies that mirror physical objects in the virtual world, including what has happened, is happening and could or should happen in the future for the mirrored object. What is common in previous conceptualizations of digital twins is that there is a physical boundary to the extent that digital twins can mirror real objects (sometimes including the objects’ environments). We propose a blended approach, using McKinsey’s straw man and Parmar et al.’s. (2020) framework, to offer a more rigorously structured process for arriving at a refined conceptualization of digital twins in the educational service environment."

"Background: Platform ecosystems are a recent business model and organizational form (Gawer, 2014) that have changed the traditional ‘pipeline’ business models and the organization of resources and services. Their greatest advantages are in cutting inefficiencies and hierarchical controls in the traditional model (Jacobides, Cennamo & Gawer, 2018). They link consumers of resources and services directly via a platform (technological intermediary) to producers and suppliers; and they leverage network effects to generate digital innovation. When they gain traction, platforms form ecosystems that attract millions to billions of consumers globally, making it possible for competition and innovation to flourish amongst producers and suppliers seeking to provide their services to such a large market. Problem space: Despite the opportunities presented by platform ecosystems, the trend has been that this business model and form organizing is largely used to generate organizational profit by parent providers. This has meant that most consumer-facing platforms are largely monopolistic (Hovenkamp, 2020). A few parent providers of platforms can have massive control of a significant portion of national and even global services and resources (e.g., online commerce, social interactions, transportation, accommodation, media consumption, etc.). Consequently, they can also wield so much control over some of the most complex aspects of human life. This includes aspects that have traditionally been regulated through national institutions of government that often need to have a social contract with the general population. Thus, current forms of platform organizing complicate the approach to address challenges emerging from such form of organizing, such as over consumption & rampant consumerism, unsustainable sourcing, monopoly & antitrust behaviour, and the spread of mis-dis-information. Research agenda: This new research programme aims to develop an alternative to how platforms are designed and oriented, to focus on utilizing the same principles that make platforms so successful (e.g., critical mass, network effects, collective action, co-sourcing, openness, and generative architecture, etc.) but re-purposing these principles to address major societal challenges – placing sustainability and good will as a critical condition from the very conception and design of platforms. The intention is to move platform ideas from monopolistic “winner-takes all” business models to a “winner benefits all” model, from monopoly to collective action, from single parent providers to large scale inter-organzational collaboration. This research programme will focus on two main areas: (i) the environment and sustainability challenge - covering areas such as sustainable consumption of fashion and food, transportation, and accommodation, and (ii) the societal challenge - covering areas such as promotion of healthy social interactions, open communications, and addressing mis/dis information in online media."

"This thesis examines inter-organisational platform development occurring though collective action. Despite much hype about the benefits of platforms, and burgeoning stream of work on the subject in IS literature, IOP development processes and practices that lead to success or failure remain obscure. Some scholars suggest that this is perhaps because of the secrecy associated with such projects. IS literature shows that the development of inter-organisational platforms is plagued by collective action challenges, such as the conflicting interests, heterogenous goals, and coopetition between members. This is mostly encountered in designing important aspects of the platform such as architecture, governance models, and value systems. These challenges make critical mass difficult to achieve, often derailing platform development projects. Thus, it has become crucial to understand how such platforms are developed through collective efforts by multiple organisations. This study addresses the gaps mentioned using a longitudinal case study. There was an opportunity for unusual research access to real time observations of the development processes from inception. This led to collection of a rich dataset from multiple sources. Over two-and-half years, observations were made as 46 organisations such as airlines, airports, visitor experience providers (e.g., canyon swings, ziptreks), private corporates, hotel chains, and government agencies worked together to develop a platform for sharing data resources and services in the tourism sector in New Zealand. Findings indicate that IOP development processes vary in specific areas of development such as the designing of architecture, governance, value systems, and standards. Whilst some processes can be managed through leadership, coordination, and collective organising by a leading organisation in the collective, others require self-organisation to align complementary resources and interests. Apart from processes of activities and actions, we also found that socio-cognitive processes and joint actions between members co-influence each other during design phases. These co-influences can explain how cognitive distances and incongruencies in technology frames of references are resolved. The primary contribution of this study is to have created theoretical building blocks towards a nascent theory of IOP development processes occurring through collective action. These building blocks include specifications of concepts, process models of design & cognitive processes, propositions of process activities & their observed outcomes, and problematisations of key constructs that extend the theoretical boundaries of such concepts as critical mass (the outcome variable in collective action). The research also contributes to platforms and collective action theories by integrating the two areas in investigating the development of inter-organisational platforms. Practical knowledge can be drawn on how IOPs are constructed in conditions of heterogeneity and coopetition requiring collective organising."

Background: Maternal mortality remains a problem in low-income countries (LICs). In Zimbabwe, there has been an unprecedented increase in maternal mortality in the last 2.5 decades. Effective prenatal care delivery, particularly early visits, appropriate number of visits, and receiving recommended care is viewed as key to reducing fatal care outcomes. Aims: This study sought to model and identify gaps requiring service and care delivery improvement in prenatal care pathways for pregnant women visiting Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Methods: This was a case study of the services offered by an antenatal care department at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Evidence from literature in low-income countries was used to develop prenatal care pathway guidelines as a tool to guide care delivery and identify gaps in care and service delivery. One hundred cases of prenatal care records were reviewed to determine the prenatal care pathway and care delivered to pregnant women. This data was complemented by interviews with 20 maternity care clinicians. Results: In 100 maternity case records studied, 53% booked for prenatal care. Of the 53% (n = 53) pregnant women who booked, their first visit on their pregnancy was late at an average gestational age of 27.1 weeks with extremes of 30 to 40 weeks in 38% (n = 20) cases. Missing scheduled prenatal care appointments was prevalent, with only 11% (n = 6) having attended all the expected 5 visits, whilst 60% (n = 32) missed 3 or more. There were inadequacies in the care delivered to women in each visit compared to that expected in such areas as obstetrics, physical examinations and haematological tests. Maternity care clinicians attributed the cost of prenatal booking fees in the background of poverty and poor family support systems as key factors hindering women’s access to prenatal services. Conclusions: The current prenatal care pathway at MCH requires improvement in the areas of referral, adherence to appointment by pregnant women and visiting prenatal care early. Clinicians also need to adhere to standard clinical tests recommended for each specific pregnant woman’s visit. In the Zimbabwean setting with limited resources, where the number of visits is already low, pathways with reduced visits may not be appropriate. An investment into prenatal care by the government is recommended to enable the utilisation of interventions such as e-health technologies that may improve care delivery as well as adherence to best practices. E-health and mobile health technologies involving e-referrals, e-booking, decision support, and reminder systems are recommended for clinicians to manage and deliver appropriate care to patients as well as pregnant women to adhere to scheduled visits.

"This paper examines how the critical mass challenge manifests itself during inter-organizational platform development. In previous research, critical mass is treated as an issue that occurs after platform launch. Strategies proposed, such as tactful pricing, opening the platform, user onboarding, and side-switching assume the platform to have already been launched. They may not work well in conditions where the platform is still under development. Over a two-and-a-half-year time period, this study traced the development of a data platform in a revelatory case within the New Zealand tourism sector. It revealed five critical mass issues faced by the platform sponsor in phases of development that occur before platform launch: (i) attracting initial interest, (ii) aligning heterogenous goals, (iii) sustaining commitment to the project (iv), negotiating architecture design, and (v) sustaining commitment to implementation. These findings provide a foundation for problematizing critical mass theory and its boundary conditions in inter-organizational platform development."

"Introduction: Citizen involvement in scientific projects has become a way of encouraging curiosity and greater understanding of science whilst providing an unprecedented engagement between professional scientists and the general public. In this paper we specifically focus on the impact of online citizen science (OCS) participation in the science education of primary school age children in New Zealand. Methods: We use four exploratory cases within a broader research project to examine the nature and impact of embedding OCS projects that use web based online crowdsourcing and collaboration tools within classroom environments of primary school science learners. Results & Discussion: Our findings provide insights into primary school teachers' perception of OCS. They offer initial insights into how teachers embed OCS in a classroom environment, and why this improves science learning aptitudes, inquisitiveness and capabilities in primary school age children. We also notice that successfully embedding OCS projects in education is affected by the project context, how the results are disseminated, and inclusivity in socio-cultural aspects."

"This project explores the impact on student learning and engagement with science of incorporating online citizen science (OCS) projects in classrooms. OCS is an extension of citizen science, where the tasks to be completed are aided, or completely mediated, through the Internet allowing volunteers’ contribution to real scientific endeavours. The co-constructive partnership between researchers at Victoria University of Wellington and primary teachers who are advocates of science education in New Zealand is the first ever attempt to investigate the potential of OCS projects to contribute to the improvement of science education of primary-age children."

"The architecture of information systems in complex organisations is increasingly becoming platform-based, creating ecosystems of platforms in which several contributors exist to benefit and complement. As such systems become complex, it is necessary to think about the evolutionary dynamics necessary to ensure continued survival and success of the architecture that holds them in place. Of specific interest are three perspectives to IS architecture, its design, governance and context. The premise of this paper is that adaptive evolution of information systems (IS) architecture in complex ecosystems has the necessary attributes to cope with evolutionary dynamics existing in its design, governance and context. The paper presents a theoretical perspective on how the rapidly changing, complex, uncertain and disruptive ecosystem environment in which IS architectural ecosystems are increasingly existing can adaptively evolve. It contributes to theoretical thinking about adaptive evolution in increasingly unstable, volatile and complex IS ecosystems. As it centres on IS architecture, the paper is directly addresses the IS artefact often skirted treated as a black box."

"Background: Auditing can support national democratic processes, national development and government good will. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI), such as offices of Auditor General, publish consolidated reports on audit outcomes for local authorities, government departments, parastatals and related public entities. These reports identify broad areas analysed during audit exercises that often include financial management, governance, asset management, risk management, revenue collection and debt recovery. They highlight trends that were detected during audit exercises at the end of a financial year. The reports further show how records and records management affect audit exercises as well as financial management within the audited institutions. Objectives: The intention of the research was to ascertain the contribution of records management to audit opinions and accountability in financial management in Zimbabwean government entities. Method: A document analysis of Comptroller and Auditor General of Zimbabwe (CAGZ)’s reports was used to identify the types of decisions and recommendations (audit opinions) issued, in juxtaposition to the records management issues raised. Results and Conclusion: This study shows that there is a strong correlation between records management concerns and audit opinions raised by the CAGZ’s narrative audit reports. Inadequate records management within government entities was associated with adverse and qualified opinions and, in some cases, unqualified opinions that had emphases of matter. There was a causal loop in which lack of documentary evidence of financial activities was the source cause of poor accounting and poor audit reports. Errors resulting from incomplete or inaccurate records meant that government entities were not showing a true picture of their financial status and their financial statements could be materially misstated. As an important monitoring and control system, records management should be integrated into the accounting and auditing processes of government entities."