CASE STUDIES VIA THE WEB FOR CONTINUOUS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Use of the ViCoCITY Web-based Case Study Support Tool
James A. Redmond, Audrey Stenson and Alan Mullally
Department of Computer Science, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
Keywords: Case Study, Web-based support tool, e-Learning, Web-based teaching, Distance learning, face to face
learning.
Abstract: Web-based case studies offer some significant advantages over the traditional paper-based ones. The results
from three uses of a Web-supported case study tool giving advantages and disadvantages are discussed from
the viewpoints of student, lecturer and administrator with some discussion as to potential future
improvements.
1 INTRODUCTION
Trinity College has a long tradition of lifelong
learning and continuous professional development.
In particular, the teaching of Information Systems
Management and Information Technology has been
actively pursued by the School of Computer Science
and Statistics for nearly forty years. Experience in
the area led to the development and use of many
different formats for presenting the various
programmes involved. In particular, the use of case
study methods, problem based-learning, simulation
exercises and other active learning approaches
became key to course and programme delivery.
Many of these programmes were part-time
programmes with students in employment and
seeking up-skilling and development.
A characteristic of these programmes was a close
relationship with employers and constant dialogue
regarding their educational and training needs. As a
consequence of this, there was in addition to the
usual pressure to update, adapt and expand curricula,
a need to make graduates useful more quickly after
graduation. There was also the need to make
postgraduates more competent and professional in
their approach to work and the workplace. A clear
emphasis was needed on the soft skills as opposed to
the technical skills. Ideally, for professional students
on a continuous, professional development (CPD)
course, they should graduate with a real sense of the
workplace and the context within which they will
operate (Brennan & Shah, 2003).
Academic faculty associated with these programmes
have had considerable industry experience both at
technologist and managerial levels. In addition,
some had a background in e-Learning methods and
technology. ViCoCITY evolved from this mixed
background and is an effort to achieve a significant
improvement in the way certain professional
subjects are taught.
2 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
The characteristics of the knowledge-based societies
of today are an increasing demand for professional
specialists and managers in an environment of
constantly increasing business competition; high
expectations of quality and service from the
customers of the professions; unremitting change as
a factor in the professions and business in a climate
of the regular emergence of powerful new digital
technologies.
These characteristics give rise to a growing and
changing body of knowledge on an increasingly
complex subject matter. They also give rise to a
demand for more knowledgeable and skilled
graduates, both in technical and managerial terms.
There is a perceived requirement to make graduates
productive at an earlier stage of their career, and to
maintain and improve productivity over the whole of
324
A. Redmond J., Stenson A. and Mullally A. (2008).
CASE STUDIES VIA THE WEB FOR CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - Use of the ViCoCITY Web-based Case Study Support Tool.
In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies, pages 324-332
DOI: 10.5220/0001522703240332
Copyright
c
 SciTePress

their career (Brennan et al., 2006). Consequently,
there is a need to put more emphasis on acquiring
and improving professional practice.
The typical undergraduate degree for a professional
discipline usually concentrates on three distinct
aspects of education and development of the
individual:
• higher level thinking skills
• the understanding of the underpinning theoretical
body of knowledge and models for that
discipline
• the application of the theory to near 'real-world'
problem situations and a reasonable sense of the
'professional practice' involved in addressing
them.
Professional Practice' usually involves:
- Improving relatively unstructured and complex
problem situations
- Many of these have no ‘right’ answer so only
balanced outcomes and decisions arise
- Rapid evaluation of complex situations as an
everyday experience
- The need to take decisions under time, cost and
other resource pressures
- Constant need to make judgements and
assessments in the absence of detailed or complete
facts
- Awareness and understanding of the social
dimension within which business and professions
actually function
- Facility to handle all aspects of communications
and interpersonal skills: written, verbal and
presentational
- Ability to think strategically and tactically
- Understanding of group dynamics including
teams, meetings etc.
The academic challenge is to provide a sense of
‘real-world’ professional practice which addresses
the nature of a ‘professional’s’ work. The traditional
academic solution to this is the employment of a
variety of active learning and experiential formats
and coursework assignments e.g. Case Studies,
Problem-based learning situations, Simulations,
Role plays, Work experience, Projects, Team
Projects etc. Games have been used in management
learning for decades (Ludlow & Wheeler, 1986).
A proposed new solution is the ViCoCITY
Simulation Centre which was developed with the
intention of assisting lecturers to simulate a real
world environment. It consists of a set of virtual
companies designed to transform coursework and
improve the student’s sense of ‘Professional
Practice’.
3 THE VICOCITY WEB-BASED
CASE STUDY SIMULATION
CENTRE
The Vicocity web-based, case study, simulation
centre supports web-based case study learning
(Mullally & Redmond, 2007), (Stenson, 2007).
ViCoCITY is a research and teaching initiative
currently being developed and implemented at
Trinity College Dublin. It is also in experimental use
in the Oscail Distance Education programme at
Dublin City University. The ultimate purpose of
ViCoCITY is to improve the quality of educational
and training outcomes for certain professionals e.g.
Managers, Accountants, IS professionals, Lawyers
etc. ViCoCITY is a new innovative concept and
support centre designed to transform the nature and
purpose of coursework assignments in the teaching
of certain professional topics.
The ViCoCITY simulation centre was developed
with the intention of assisting lecturers and
instructors to simulate a ‘real-world’ environment
for their coursework assignments and so improve
their student’s sense of understanding and
familiarity with actual professional practice likely to
be experienced in the real world. It takes the form of
a ‘City’ of companies and institutions, each with
their particular culture and identity. Each of these is
populated by people, products, services, documents,
systems etc. The underpinning rationale and
hypothesis for the ViCoCITY initiative is that it
should contribute to improving, deepening and
expanding the knowledge and practical expertise of
the student.
The concept has been influenced by the
following authors and methods; Kolb (1984) with
his experiential learning; Problem Based Learning
(Glascow (1997), (Savin-Baden (2003); the case
based approach in professional higher education
(Crosling & Webb (2002), the Andragogical Model
of adult learning (Knowles, Holton and Swanson,
2005) and finally the development of online,
distance learning in the last decade (Wiita & Lee
(2005)).
On the teaching front, lecturers design and
implement their own coursework assignments and
projects based on the set of simulated companies
within ViCoCITY. The companies provide a ‘real-
world’ context within which the student learns.
Figure 1 and 2 show the home page of the EIC
brochure website and the Big Ben brochure website.
EIC and Big Ben are two of the simulated
companies in the ViCoCITY Simulation Centre.
Motivation is increased and the student is prepared
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to address the breadth of complex issues that are
encountered within all disciplines. In particular the
‘softer’ skills can be addressed. The typical
unstructured and complex problems without ‘right
answers’ but yet requiring decisions can be
simulated. Decisions are required under time and
resource pressures just as in the real world. Strategic
and tactical decisions and issues can be explored.
Figure 1: M.Sc EIC Home Page.
Figure 2: Big Ben Home Screen.
While the prototype system is being used on a
number of courses within several institutions and has
been very well received by academics and students
alike, it has not been subjected to rigorous
evaluation and research. This paper sets out to
stimulate discussion among academics about the
concepts involved and highlight the the scope of
research topics and questions which can be derived
from the initiative.
The ViCoCITY web-based case study/ course
work tool has most, or all, of the following:
• A population of companies
• Each company has a number of descriptions of
key personnel
• Summary accounts for each company
• General information about each company
• Ability to set assignments for a company
• Instructor ability to set a series of assignments
over time, with time-released information
• All relevant documentation available online
• Ability for the Administrator to control many
companies and assignments
• The ability for the administrator to enrich any
company
• Assignments can be used as templates for
different course
• Multi-platform
• Multimedia courseware with third-party
authoring support
• Results of assignments can be recorded, edited
and stored for later playback, instantly creating
self-paced content for student review or for
instructor training.
• Case studies can be used synchronously or
asynchronously or both. A team can access an
assignment together synchronously, while at
other times team members can access the
information asynchronously.
Within ViCoCITY virtually any type of assignment
or coursework can be set:
- Short coursework assignment
- Individual or group project
- Problem based learning situation assignment
- Case study assignment
- Essay
- Management report or analysis
- Research type project
- Large scale Development Project
- Laboratory or field work type project
The lecturer’s imagination is practically the only
limiting factor to how ViCoCITY can be effectively
used. Lecturers are free to exercise their own
individual and particular approach, simply just using
the ViCoCITY Simulation Centre for support.
The approach is non-prescriptive and respectful
of the academic freedom and professional judgement
of the lecturer on the one hand but provides a
consistent, ‘realworld’ experience for the student.
ViCoCITY can support campus-based or
distance-based courses.
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• Any set of media or media mixes can be used or
combined e.g. Paper, audio, video, podcasting,
video conferencing, Messaging, Mobile
telephony including 3G etc.
• Traditional andragogical approaches e.g.
Lectures, classes, seminars, workshops,
laboratory sessions, case studies etc.
• More advanced andragogies e.g. problem based
learning, active learning, simulations, role plays
etc.
• Links to Learning Management Systems (LMSs)
and Content Management Systems (CMSs) e.g
WebCT, Moodle, Blackboard, Learnlinc, Breeze,
Centra, iVocalise etc.
Depending upon the desired learning outcomes of
the module or assignment, the academic can choose
to use one or multiple organizations and companies
in a single assignment, therefore maximizing the use
of the virtual environment and simulating problem
based learning for the students.
4 PILOT APPLICATIONS
Three courses were used for testing the ViCoCITY
concept.
4.1 The TCD B.Sc. Programme in
Information Systems Application
Project Management is a subject that is most
effectively based upon problem situation-based
learning.
Figure 3: Assignment 1 - B.Sc in Information Systems.
The overall purpose of using ViCoCITY for the
project management module was to allow students to
face real practical problems that exist in IT project
management. While the theory of project
management is pertinent, the area of actual
application of this knowledge to problems was
carried out through examples in class and paper
based case studies. The purpose of this module was
to explore real-life practical issues through both
synchronous and asynchronous learning.
A sample screen for Assignment I for Project
Management in the B.Sc. in Information systems is
shown in Fig 3. This shows a relatively simple
screen layout for an assignment in project
management for second year undergraduates. Eight
key items for completing the assignment have links
on the page.
4.2 The TCD M.Sc. in M.I.S.
Application
This case study was used in the first year of the two
year M.Sc. Programme in Management Information
Systems (about 35 students attended).
Figure 4: Assignment 1 - M.Sc in M.I.S.
The case study was essentially a replacement for a
paper-based assignment used for a number of years.
It still maintained a role-playing aspect by
academics on a number of presentation nights. It
proved popular with the students. A sample screen
for Assignment I for Project Management in the
M.Sc. in Management Information Systems is
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shown in Fig 5. Fig. 5 shows the Assignment
Scenario. This a more complex assignment screen,
with a less linear layout of links. It also shows the
other assignments to be completed in this academic
year.
Figure 5: Assignment Brief - M.Sc in M.I.S.
Fig. 5 shows details of a Board Presentation that
must be done by a team to complete Assignment 1
for the M.Sc in M.I.S. This gives the explicit
instructions for a team to give a Board presentation.
4.3 The DCU M.Sc. in M.I.S.
Application
This case study was used in the first year of the
M.Sc. Programme in MIS in Dublin City University.
Twenty students attended this Distance Education
course which had no face to face contact with the
academic staff. The main differences with the TCD
course was that there was no role-playing feature.
Other than this, most students were enthusiastic
about the course but also considered that the content
needed to be enhanced.
5 THREE PERSPECTIVES
The key features of Web-based Case Studies are
looked at from three perspectives - those of Student,
Lecturer and Administrator. These perspectives are
informed by the results from the two TCD studies,
and the study done in DCU.
5.1 Student Perspective
5.1.1 Simulated Real World Professional
Practice
Using ViCoCITY as part of the project management
module (TCD B.Sc. in I.S.) with the undergraduate
students had a significant disadvantage for the
students. ViCoCITY was being used as part of one
subject only and the remainder of the subjects were
using other methods for course assignments. As a
result the students were exposed to ViCoCITY for a
single module rather than across the course. This
raised some level of dissatisfaction among the
students as they felt that a common platform or
integrated projects across some or all subjects would
have been more beneficial to their learning and
understanding of the subject.
The feedback from the cohort of students
consisted mainly of the fact that they would have
preferred more information on the company
websites and possibly more classroom work
therefore a combination of synchronous and
asynchronous learning.
Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the
students preferred the combination of classroom and
online delivery. The online delivery proved to be
informative and the students could move at their
own pace within the set timeframe of the
assignment. The classroom environment proved
dynamic insofar as teams of students had to resolve
a problem quickly and effectively.
5.1.2 Student Reaction
The students also commented on the fact that they
would have preferred more information on the
‘companies’ within ViCoCITY rather than just the
brochure information that was available. The main
written student reaction was to a small, one question
evaluation done in DCU (twelve responses from
twenty two M.Sc. in M.I.S. students) as follows:
Question: The objective of ViCoCITY was to
simulate a more real-life situation where you would
have access to both internal and external
information on the companies. Have you any
comments on this form of assignment? Would you
like this type of assignment used more widely?
Responses:
• This assignment I found very enjoyable as it
simulated a real world experience in researching
information to produce a report for the boss.
• Yes, I thought this was a good idea and was one of
the most enjoyable assignments
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• Yes. I thought it was a good experience.
• Challenging assignment but it took up time from
other assignments because of the amount of
additional effort and research that had to go into
it.
• Would not like to have this for every subject but
worked well for the Management Module
• I had no problem with this method
• Yes it was good
• I did think the virtual company was a good idea.
This could be extended to other management
modules.
• It worked very well
• The format as such was excellent. The task was
not suitable for undergraduates
• Very interesting. Provided a clearer understanding
of the role of the CIO in a company
• This was an interesting assignment. The format
was clever and engaging. As someone who works
in the industry I believe that this assignment had
good parallels to some of the analytical skills
needed in the real world.
5.2 Lecturer Perspective
The simulated ‘real-life’ view of ViCoCITY allows
the lecturer to focus on competencies and
professional development for the student.
ViCoCITY accentuates and illustrates theory
covered in the classroom and allows the student to
experiment with different approaches to the case
studies in a ‘safe’ environment. Unlike the
professional world, ViCoCITY is forgiving of
mistakes and is designed specifically so that students
can learn from successess and failures. This prevents
them from making these mistakes in the real
professional world and, more importantly, allows
them to build on their successes.
The lecturer needs to plan and design the case
studies, perhaps, at least 3 months in advance of
using them in the classroom. While this may be an
increase in workload at the outset, the workload will
decrease as the case studies are completed.
The lecturer also needs to learn how to use the
underlying tool, the WebSteps Admission Console,
in order to make the changes required. The lecturer
must take sole responsibility for this and ensure that
they can make changes as quickly and efficiently as
possible. The tool itself requires little prior
knowledge of development or web design, the
lecturer must be computer literate and be able to use
a package like MSWord.
One conclusion from the project management
application (TCD B.Sc in I.S.) would suggest that
the students gain from a combination of
synchronous/ asynchronous learning and traditional
learning i.e. a combination of ViCoCITY and the
classroom. The anecdotal response of the students
would suggest that their understanding of the subject
is best when illustrated by practical examples in the
classroom environment.
The lecturers in the TCD M.Sc. in M.I.S.
application found the web-based case studies were a
distinct improvement on the paper-based ones from
previous years. They had the advantage that the case
studies could be updated and enhanced more easily.
The students could also access the material
asynchronously. Other media could also be added
relatively easily e.g. audio. However, in general,
they felt that the content in the companies needed to
be enhanced.
The tutors in the DCU M.Sc. in M.I.S.
application were enthusiastic about the use of
ViCoCITY and made many suggestions for its
improvement.
5.3 Administrator Perspective
There are quite a number of important factors
pertinent to the administration of a web-based case
study learning system as evidenced by the number of
studies discussed above
Cost of Planning and Preparation: Websteps
knowledge, gained through some basic level of
training, lasting perhaps two hours, is required to get
users set up. Lecturers need to be trained on this in
order to maintain their own ‘companies’ and
assignment webpages.
Software Licensing Costs: a modest annual fee for
maintenance and hosting of the websites. All
hosting is external with no internal costs. ViCoCITY
must be set up in advance.
Training Cost: Quite a small amount of training is
necessary to run the exercise. Those who will lecture
using the synchronous package need a small amount
of training, perhaps two hours.
Setup: Little time and effort is necessary to access
and run the software.
Staffing Costs: Little expert technical support needs
to be available.
Equipment Provision and Upgrading:
Conventional PC equipment running on the Internet
was used.
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The undergraduate project management course
(TCD B.Sc. in I.S.) utilized the use of two
‘companies’ in ViCoCITY that were specifically
designed for the coursework. As a result of this
small number of websites, the lecturer could also be
the administrator. The Administration workload was
significantly increased due to the training required
on learning how to use the tool to create the
websites, designing the case studies so that they
were transferable to online learning, and designing
the delivery of the coursework so that the students
would benefit from this approach. A significant
amount of time is required to prepare for the case
studies and design the content, delivery and
execution of the assignments. The synchronous and
asynchronous learning need to be planned
separately.
The TCD M.Sc. in M.I.S. application was the
pilot course with which to experiment, and develop,
ViCoCITY. Quite a number of people were
participating and observing (approximately ten) so
that the package was enhanced quickly and
effectively.
The DCU M.Sc. in M.I.S. application was
essentially a shadow site to the TCD site, to confirm
that the experimental changes also worked well
elsewhere. However a small evaluation was done on
this Distance Education course as already discussed
above.
6 ADVANTAGES &
DISADVANTAGES OF
ViCoCITY
6.1 Advantages for the Student
ViCoCITY is a simulation centre that allows more
intensive engagement with the topic, and according
to anecdotal evidence, it is suggested that there is a
deeper more permanent understanding of the field
because the emphasis is on ‘understanding’ rather
than ‘memorising’. This can provide improved
motivation to study the necessary material and to
digest and engage with the formal lectures or other
learning formats employed. The rich real-world
situations and contexts can be provided using a
variety of different and appropriate digital media
which deeper learning can be facilitated and enjoyed
by the student. In addition to this, implemented as
part of a programme over a period of years, the
student can acquire a better sense of organisational
culture, management styles, personality types, inter-
functional relationships, attitudes to change,
institutional pressures etc. ViCoCITY provides a
better chance for the student to address ‘professional
practice’ type problems and situations e.g. decision
making, problem solving, strategic thinking and
collateral issues. This can, in turn, lead to a more
effective employee in the workforce.
6.2 Advantages for the Lecturer
Learning to use ViCoCITY is simple and ‘non-
techie’. It takes about one hour to learn. The
Lecturer retains her/his own approach and style of
coursework. The readymade set of companies and
organisations ease the lecturer workload by
providing a choice of contexts within which an
exercise or assignment can be situated. The
advantages and benefits to the student result in a
more satisfied, better motivated learner. Better
quality of teaching is a likely result.
The flexibility to apply any mix of delivery
mode, media mix or andragogical model at will, and
as appropriate to a given situation, is useful.
Documentation is better organised and controlled
e.g. version control for descriptions, financials,
product details, services, reports, CVs etc. A
template to assist in writing an assignment eases that
task which is no more difficult than a conventional
paper version.
The system is easily interfaced to learning
management systems (LMS), content management
systems (CMS) and other elearning products and
services. The system is easy to use - it's of the same
complexity as using Microsoft Word.
Quick changes to content and requirements can
be easily made, if necessary. There is also the
possibility of customising websites by individual
difference such as cognitive style. Through the web,
content is accessible world-wide. This suits students
who need to travel for their work.
There is potential for evaluating different styles
of presentation, perhaps to suit particular needs or
individual differences. The tool supports teamwork
and also less paper is used.
6.3 Disadvantages for the Student,
Lecturer and Administrator
ViCoCITY is not reality, but just a model of reality.
One of the current issues with ViCoCITY is the lack
of features to allow the student to engage with the
online environment. The information that is
available on the ‘companies’ is brochure-like with
basic knowledge. As a result, the details are the
responsibility of the designer/lecturer to implement
as part of the assignment structure, and delivery, to
the class.
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The ViCoCITY centre itself is not interactive
and does not engage the student as a simulation
centre in its own right. It requires the back-up of the
classroom environment.
The question of evaluation is a current gap in
ViCoCITY, although this is a major problem for
most educational/ training tools. While anecdotally
we can assume that the centre works sufficiently
well, the statistics to enforce this statement are
lacking.
For the moment, qualitative analysis has been
carried out and anecdotal evidence would suggest
that the students can see the benefits of the
ViCoCITY approach. The quantitative method of
evaluation would seem to sit at assignment level as
opposed to ViCoCITY level, but this method has yet
to be defined and subsequently designed.
Specifically for the administrator, there is a
small annual cost per annum of about €400 per
website. There is a need to maintain sites (not
particularly burdensome with the toolset provided)
and a need to update the content regularly.
The interaction is not as good as with real, live
role-playing "actors" (usually course lecturers).
However real web interactivity can be costly in
terms of funds, broadband and webcams. Whether to
go for interactivity is a judgement call with
economic implications for the Administrator.
e-Learning is here to stay so an important
question is how should we use it best. It should not
be regarded as just a supposedly cheap way of
delivering education and training
Another question with economic implications is
how rich should the model be? For ViCoCITY an
important question is how much detail is enough?
This probably depends on the course purpose,
content and economics.
7 DISCUSSION/ CONCLUSIONS
The academic challenge is to provide a sense of a
relatively ‘real-world’ professional practice in a
‘safe’, simulated and controlled virtual environment.
ViCoCITY is a step towards meeting this challenge.
The richness of the traditional learning environment
is not compromised for the student and the delivery
method for the lecturer is flexible.
ViCoCITY lacks the interactive dimension with
regard to the online experience. Currently the case
studies are ‘flat’ and are emphasized simply through
the classroom experience where the students can
engage in active discussion with their peers and the
lecturer(s).
Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the
ViCoCITY centre is the first step towards providing
a ‘professional practice’ simulated environment for
students. The comparison between the advantages
of using paper-based and web-based case studies is
limited to qualitative analysis based upon interviews
and discussions with academics and students
exposed to the centre. Further quantitative evidence
is required to investigate the question of the
effectiveness of using web based case studies as
opposed to using paper based techniques. So far,
qualitative evidence from students, lecturers and
administrators supports the hypothesis that
ViCoCITY is an effective tool in the learning of
professional practice.
Evaluation of ViCoCITY and its effectiveness
for the student, lecturer and administrator is a
difficult process. At present, there is a lack of
information on evaluation of case based techniques
and their effectiveness in a learning environment.
Case studies are by nature open-ended and do not
have one correct answer, so their evaluation can
prove difficult and subjective.
Initial trials of the ViCoCITY concept have
demonstrated considerable potential and have been
generally well received. The next step is to extend
the trials to other disciplines, institutions and topics.
Systematic research is then needed on the lines
outlined above in order to evaluate and hopefully
enhance the process further. Although it is
somewhat early to judge, there is a significant
likelihood that the concept could have significant
potential both within academia and business.
8 THE FUTURE FOR ViCoCITY
The ViCoCITY concept is a work in progress. It is
in operation at two institutions currently and is
planned for implementation at several more It is
being used on seven distinct courses. Upwards of a
dozen coursework assignments are currently
operating.
So far the reports are very encouraging, both
from students and academics. However there are
few real research results to support the anecdotal
evidence as yet. There are many different questions
and issues that need to be addressed.
Immediate issues that spring to mind include:
How can the concept best be evaluated? Can it
improve the quality of professional education? Is it
more suitable to specific disciplines or topics? What
are the economic, social and operational
implications of using it? What are the advantages for
the lecturer, student and institutional administrator?
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Is it more suitable to certain delivery methods? Is it
best used with certain media? Which andragogical
strategies does it best support? It is not fully clear
what topics are really suitable for ViCoCITY other
than topics that are usually covered in paper case
studies.
Some other questions are:
• Does the approach improve student motivation,
commitment and engagement?
• Is learning actually improved?
• Is ‘professional practice’ improved?
• Are graduates ‘useful’ at an earlier stage?
• What mix of media is best suited to any given
situation?
• How suitable is the method for different modes
of delivery e.g. Distance Education, Campus-
based Education, Hybrid/Blended approaches
etc.
• Is it more suitable for particular types of learning
or cognitive styles?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank George Morgan, Tony
Niland, Noel Faughnan, Stuart McLoughlin, Barry
Collins and Catherine O'Connor of TCD for their
efforts and suggestions. We are also indebted to
Séamus Fox, Mairéad McCarthy and Ursula
Stapleton of Oscail, Dublin City University. We
would like to thank staff and students of the
Executive Master of Science Information Systems -
Information Technology Management Program of
Virginia Commonwealth University, USA for their
useful feedback from a presentation of ViCoCITY,
in particular, Maureen Carley and others.
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