Project
mCity is an interdisciplinary research project
investigating the premises, requirements, and effects of fully
mobile, wirelessly connected applications on information load and
use, work organization, informal
organization, worker job satisfaction, and organizational
transformation in local government.
The project seeks to assess both (1) requirements for and (2)
impacts of fully mobile,
wirelessly connected (FMWC) applications in Digital Government. We
are interested in understanding
how the use of FMWC applications impacts the business of government
and the constituencies involved,
and how that use changes government fieldwork and fieldworker roles
and stances.
| We will study the phenomenon in situ at the City of Seattle’s Public
Utilities Department (SPU)
collecting data on a total of 50 tasks, each representing a unique
case. We will observe the fieldwork
constraints before and after FMWC introduction. Based on the 50
cases, we will develop a model, which
represents the constraints, interactions, and interdependencies of
the fieldwork and its context. From this
work and task perspective, we will develop the requirements and
characteristics of FMWC devices and
applications. For the purposes of generalizing and transferring our
findings, we will devise and test an
evaluation framework. To read our NSF grant proposal,
please click here. |
 |
| Project progress: |
Kris Unsworth and Monica Liu in situ |
|
To check out more project progress, please go to
our publications page.
Student projects
Jochen Scholl
advises students on various project and Gwen Trentham did a study on mobile fieldwork in emergency situations.
You can see her slide presentation here. Shan Zhao,
looked at the adaptation and use of mobile technology in local
government field operations,
you can see her slide
presentation here. |
|
Funded by the National Science Foundation
 |
