Browsing by Author "Ali-Vehmas, Timo A."

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On Complex Value Systems in the Connected World - Examining Structures and Dynamics of the ICT Driven Value Systems in Mobile Communication, Internet, and Transportation
(2019) Ali-Vehmas, Timo A.
School of Electrical Engineering | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enable companies to provide critical services and products to their customers globally. Consequently, understanding the complex interrelations between the technologies and value systems of the companies has become crucially important. As the existing literature on value systems recognizes systemic complexity often implicitly only, a question arises: is it possible to develop a holistic system model to examine the ICT-driven value systems embracing complexity? In this thesis, a qualitative complex value system model is developed and evaluated. Existing literature provides the framework for the modelling. Complex system attractors used in studying complex adaptive systems set the reference to the examination of the value systems and their system states. The thesis models the ICT-driven complex value systems through the technical and operative structures, boundary conditions, and dynamic behaviours observed in those value systems. The research examines global mobile communications and internet value systems complemented by studies on emerging ICT driven value systems of transportation in Finland. Agent-based simulations and social network analyses applied to the boundaries of the value systems set by regulation and standardization, respectively, provide a quantitative environment for the limited evaluation of the developed model. This thesis identifies the four complex value system states that characterize the examined value systems. The research provides insights into the structures and dynamics in the value systems. For instance, the research presents a categorization of the key standardization organizations in alignment with the value systems they serve by analysing the documents used in those organizations. The observed complex characteristic of the value systems, including the scenarios for system state transitions, provide points of consideration to business leaders, standardization practitioners, as well as for policy makers in their pursuit to consider developments in the ICT-driven value systems, such as 5G mobile communication in the context of the future data-based society.