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COST269
WORKING GROUP
Capabilities
Research input
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Research framework
.In general the concept of 'capabilities' refers to the acquisition,
development and accumulation of skills and capacities by (non) users
in order to appropriate ICT's within the private and professional
sphere. For this one can make subdivision of enabling and constraining
factors on different levels. To assess the degree to which users
are capable to appropriate ICT these factors can be divided over
three levels: context level, user level and technology level (Jo
- Configuring capabilities for electronic business by micro enterprises).
These levels agreed on by the participants in our group coincide
largely with the levels distinguished in the following scheme (Jeroen
& Enid - Stimulating adoption of mobile telephony: a proposed framework).
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Needs |
Possibilities |
Person
related |
Beliefs: |
Abilities: |
·
Norms and values |
·
Economical background |
·
Personal priorities |
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Socio-demograpical situation |
·
Personal context |
·
Educational level and skills |
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Person
– product related |
Product-evaluations: |
Opportunities: |
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Attitudes towards product |
·
Price |
·
(Social) experience with the products |
·
Availability |
·
Knowledge about the product |
·
Awareness (information) |
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·
Usability |
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Skills |
Product
related |
Product characteristics: |
Technological conditions: |
·
Product development |
·
Technical state of the art |
·
Product design |
·
User-interface of the product |
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Another element of the research framework is the utility view.
Here the idea of "utility" is seen as a determinant of the users'
behaviour and their decision principles. Investigating users' behaviour
regarding ICT use in distance learning Tomaž proposed the conceptual
model of user's decisions. User adopts a specific ICT as a tool,
when utility gained from the usage of a new tool is higher than
utility emerging from the usage of the existing (old) tool. Enid
presented a "cost/benefit" view on utility: users compare functionality,
experiences (emotional evaluation) and process (the help and aid
the prospective buyer gets) to the price and troubles vs. pain you
have to acquire it, to learn to use it or to get it working, of
adopting ICTs. The "utility" concept can explain some categories
(and relationships among them) in Jeroen's framework.
Finally Yves Punie's conceptual scheme for the study of ICT domestication
helps to explain the adoption, use and domestication of ICT's in
everyday live.

All these views need to be integrated in order to get a common
framework for the workgroup. This framework could then possibly
serve as research tool for further analysis.
B - Knowledge and research mapping At the last COST-meeting in
London (9-10-11 November 2000) new members have joined the workgroup.
Here we give a brief overview of current research activities for
all workgroup members:
- Lajla is presently doing a research work about a field test
in 50 families "Kitchen gate", a new organising and communication
tool for the whole family, and participating in EURESCOM P903:
"Cross-cultural attitude to ICT in everyday life", as task leader
for the qualitative part;
- Peter is interested in the problem of evaluation of distance
learning systems in Global knowledge;
- Jeroen is currently preparing a proposition about theoretical
framework to analyse a problem of stimulation of ICT adoption
(especially of mobile telephony); also a member of the EURESCOM
P903 project, doing a lot on the quantitative part;
- Kari-Hans ; working with future media home at a university
in Helsinki, see http://fmh.uiah.fi;
- Enid is advising on a doctorate dissertation on Computer anxiety
and is very much involved in the EURESCOM project Cross-Cultural
attitudes to ICT, of which the data will come forward for analyses
in the course of next year;
- Carina is doing a research about "competences at home", comparing
households with and without PCs at home. After finishing a theoretical
survey, she has sent questionnaires to households and is expecting
response within next months;
- Jo is doing a research about capabilities for electronic business
by micro enterprises, based on qualitative research (interviews
& focus groups) and quantitative research (survey);
- Kristin is doing research work on ICT in the domestic sphere:
use, management, pastime and entertainment;
- Tomaz recently studied the users' sensitivity to price changes
regarding a price-controlled best effort pricing mechanism for
IP traffic.
C - Other user research
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