Data-Exchange Standards and International Organizations: Adoption and Diffusion (Advances in It Standards and Standardization Research Series (Aissr))

336 Pages·2009·4.11 MB·English

by  Josephine Wapakabulo Thomas

Data-exchange
Standards and
International
organizations:
adoption and Diffusion
Josephine Wapakabulo Thomas, Rolls-Royce, UK
InformatIon ScIence reference
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thomas, Josephine Wapakabulo, 1976-
Data-exchange standards and international organizations : adoption and diffusion / by Josephine
Wapakabulo Thomas.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “This book seeks to establish the factors and barriers critical to the adoption of data-exchange
standards, and ways to accelerate the adoption of these standards”--Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-60566-832-1 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-60566-833-8 (ebook) 1.
Data transmission systems--Standards. I. Title.
TK5105.T44 2009
004.6’2--dc22
2009025622
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A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in
this book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Foreword ..........................................................................................................viii
Preface ................................................................................................................xi
Acknowledgment .............................................................................................xxi
Trademarks .....................................................................................................xxii
Chapter 1
General Introduction ..........................................................................................1
Introduction ...........................................................................................................1
Product Data Exchange ........................................................................................2
Data-Exchange Standards ....................................................................................8
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................12
References ...........................................................................................................15
Section 1:
Standardization and IT Standards
Chapter 2
Benefits, Classifications and Research Surrounding Standardization
and IT Standards ..............................................................................................19
Introduction .........................................................................................................19
Information Technology Standards .....................................................................24
Conclusion and Validation of Research ..............................................................31
References ...........................................................................................................31
Chapter 3
IT Standards Adoption and Diffusion Models ...............................................37
Introduction .........................................................................................................37
Adoption and Diffusion Terminology ..................................................................38
Innovation-Centric Approach .............................................................................42
Adopter-Centric Approach ..................................................................................49
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................55
References ...........................................................................................................57
Chapter 4
Research Philosophy and Strategy ..................................................................62
Introduction .........................................................................................................62
Research Philosophy ...........................................................................................63
Research Approach .............................................................................................65
Research Strategy ...............................................................................................66
Qualitative Research Process .............................................................................69
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................78
References ...........................................................................................................79
Section 2:
Adoption and Diffusion Case Studies
Chapter 5
Innovation-Centric Perspective: ISO Technical Committee 184
Sub-Committee 4 ...............................................................................................83
Introduction .........................................................................................................83
Conception ..........................................................................................................87
Development Process ..........................................................................................91
Standard Characteristics ..................................................................................106
Standardization Issues .......................................................................................113
Characteristics of the Adopting Community: Innovativeness ............................118
Key Factors: Barriers and Facilitators of Adoption ........................................122
Finalised Innovation-Centric Model and Conclusions .....................................125
References .........................................................................................................129
Endnotes ............................................................................................................135
Chapter 6
Adopter-Centric Perspective: The United Kingdom Ministry
of Defence .........................................................................................................136
Introduction .......................................................................................................136
Analysis of the Adopter-Centric Model: Primary Adoption .............................142
Secondary Adoption and Organizational Diffusion Challenges .......................159
Conclusion ........................................................................................................172
References .........................................................................................................174
Section 3:
Adoption and Diffusion Checklists
Chapter 7
Emergent Innovation-Centric and Adopter-Centric Checklists .................181
Introduction .......................................................................................................181
Innovation-Centric ‘Adoption Checklist’ ..........................................................182
Adopter-Centric ‘Adoption Checklist’ ...............................................................189
Conclusion ........................................................................................................195
References .........................................................................................................195
Chapter 8
Innovation-Centric Checklist Application: Product Life Cycle Support
Adoption and Diffusion ..................................................................................196
Introduction .......................................................................................................196
Conception ........................................................................................................199
Standards Process .............................................................................................201
Standard Specifications .....................................................................................203
Adoption Conduciveness ...................................................................................209
Related Implementation Technologies ...............................................................211
Summary and Conclusion .................................................................................215
References .........................................................................................................218
Chapter 9
Adopter-Centric Checklist Application: Product Life Cycle Support
Adoption and Diffusion in the UK MoD .......................................................221
Introduction .......................................................................................................221
Primary Adoption ..............................................................................................223
Secondary Adoption: Investigation of Issues Surrounding the Diffusion of
PLCS within the MoD .............................................................................229
Secondary Adoption: Application of the Checklists ..........................................244
Summary ...........................................................................................................250
Conclusion ........................................................................................................256
References .........................................................................................................256
Endnote .............................................................................................................257
Chapter 10
Summary and Recommendations ..................................................................258
Research Overview ...........................................................................................258
Research Findings, Novelty and Limitations ....................................................259
Recommendations .............................................................................................264
Reflections on Research Methodology and Approach .......................................268
Conclusion ........................................................................................................269
References .........................................................................................................270
Glossary of Abbreviations .............................................................................271
Appendix A ......................................................................................................274
Appendix B ......................................................................................................276
Appendix C ......................................................................................................306
About the Author ............................................................................................309
Index .................................................................................................................310
viii
Foreword
Throughout a career in the Royal Air Force spanning almost 40 years, ranging from
operational aircraft maintenance engineer and to the Chief Executive of the RAF
Logistics Support Services Agency, I have been involved in the creation, maintenance
and exploitation of logistics information to provide improved support to complex
platforms and equipments. As the CE LSSA in 1997, I ‘owned’ the data collected
from the RAF corporate information systems and applications that managed engi-
neering and asset management, inventory management, technical documentation
and item codification. Each of these systems and applications held data about the
same ranges of equipment; some of the data items, such as product description,
were the same, and some were peculiar to the application requirements. However,
it was impossible to integrate the outputs from these systems to derive a coherent
view of the performance of an equipment and its support environment. The benefits
to be gained from resolving this issue were self evident but the technology was not
available. In the absence of a suitable integration mechanism, we were obliged to
resort to manual manipulation of data and graphical presentation which demanded
a high degree of user interpretation and deduction of performance relationships.
In 1999, I joined LSC Group and began to understand the potential power of data
standards to provide an exchange mechanism for complex engineering information
between disparate systems. 1999 was also the year when the PLCS initiative was
launched to extend the scope of ISO 10303, the Standard for Exchange of Prod-
uct Model data, from exchange of CAD/CAM data to address the more complex
performance and feedback requirements for a product and its support environment
throughout the in-service phase of the product life cycle. Over the intervening
seven years, I have seen PLCS develop into a highly robust information exchange
standard, which has the structure to capture all of the data elements from the wide
range of disparate logistics information systems and applications in an open neutral
format. I have been personally involved as a defence logistics subject matter expert
ix
in the development of the various LSC Group STEP/PLCS proofs of concept and
early demonstrators, and I remain excited by the emerging capability that the use
of open standards offers to address the information integration challenges that I
left behind in 1999.
However, on the down side, I have been less than excited by the resistance to
recognise the potential benefits from the adoption of a standards based approach
to information integration by both the MoD and Industry at large. There are many
reasons for this, some associated with natural resistance to change, others associated
with commercial and vested interests, but the main reason is lack of awareness of
the potential power and availability of information standards to meet today’s and
tomorrow’s challenges. There is also a view that the development of information
standards is a specialist activity, far divorced from the realities of practical logistics
engineering and conducted by ‘anoraks and geeks’, speaking a different language
to the real world. Having had a foot in both camps over the years, I can partially
sympathise with this view, but I also recognise how far the role of standards has
come in providing workable solutions to the underlying issues of data integration.
Hence, I see this work by Josephine as being both timely and of crucial impor-
tance in identifying the reasons behind the resistance to adopt open standards more
widely and in recommending guidelines to facilitate and accelerate the process of
standards adoption. The decision to combine two established approaches into a single
research methodology was innovative and courageous, requiring original thought
and concept development to derive a coherent framework that could be tested and
validated through case study research and direct feedback from interviews and ques-
tionnaires. This approach proved to be successful, providing Josephine with good
qualitative information upon which to base her findings and recommendations, a fac-
tor which will be of increasing importance as other bodies pick up and take forward
this research. I am aware that in the course of her research, Josephine has engaged
with many eminent specialists in the data standards world, in industry, in academia
and throughout the MoD, and she has gained their respect for her understanding
of the issues, the thoroughness of her work and the positive recommendations for
the way forward. This will carry great weight in the near future, and I look forward
to seeing this work becoming a standard reference during the inevitable ongoing
debate over the adoption of data exchange standards.
Air Commodore Ian Sloss CEng FRAeS RAF (Retd)
LSC Group