Technology in Action

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technology in action
Realizing Grid Infrastructure
Synopsis of a Pilot Study Claus
Jacobs Imagination Lab Foundation, Lausanne III.
EGEE Conference Athens, 21.04.2005
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Contents

• I. Background and Rationale
• II. Research Focus and Design
• III. Findings
• IV. Implications

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technology in action
Realizing Grid Infrastructure
I. Background and Rationale
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The study aims at understanding the enrollment
and enlistment processes in the development of
Grid technology
Technology
Processes of Enrollment and Enlistment
Processes of Enrollment and Enlistment
Grid Development (EGEE et al.) as a Community of
Practice
Organization
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technology in action
Realizing Grid Infrastructure
II. Research Focus and Design
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The pilot study employed an exploratory,
qualitative social science research design
Sampling
Methodological Considerations
Data Gathering and Analysis

• Qualitative social science research
• Exploratory pilot study
• Purposive sampling protocol
• Initial pool of 27 interview candidates

• 18 semi-structured, open-ended interviews
• Oct-Dec 2004
• Average duration 31 min.
• Privacy and Anonymity
• Content Analysis

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The study invited participants from various
backgrounds to reflect on three primary topics
Profile of 18 Interviewees
Thematic Foci of Interview

• 10 with formal affiliation and role in EGEE
• 9 with a primarily administrative role in their
  organization
• 6 with formal affiliation to one pilot
  application (HEP)

• Communication with/within EGEE
• Collaboration with/within EGEE
• Integration of new users/ user communities into
  EGEE

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technology in action
Realizing Grid Infrastructure
III. Findings
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Participants commented extensively on a variety
of communication challenges
I suspect that formalized communication is
absolutely the wrong way to get people to
communicate
During an EGEE meeting, there was probably
more progress made in one hour than in two weeks
When you go beyond 15 people, communication
breaks down. People end up talking and all
listening seems to stop
Nobody ever reads anything other than the things
they had to do themselves
If you have a real issue that you can focus on
... level of communication tends to go way up
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They reflected on how to address some of the
communication challenges
Issue
Suggestion
Dysfunctional communication due to formalized
communication routines
Revise routines encourage informal communication
Risk of one-way communication
Encourage specific, selective and dialogical
email communication
Limited team effectiveness due to team size
effects
Provide specific team management training
Disengagement from communication due to lacking
relevance of communication
Acknowledge/support context specific
communication needs
Limited effectivenes of meetings due to limited
relevance of plenaries
Focus on/allow for decentralized forms of
communication
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Participants explored a variety of collaboration
challenges
I have a serious worry that ... people do the
writing like they used to feed virgins to the
dragon to keep the dragon away
There is also national pride ... When they
decide to play with their own trucks and not with
your trucks, that can be problematic
People are too concerned about meeting the
milestones they have given to the EU its too
milestone driven rather than user driven
Despite our projects being in different units of
the EU commission, we decided to engage in a
low-level, unofficial collaboration
The power structures are improperly balanced to
give enough power to software engineering
decisions
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They suggested strategies of addressing some of
the collaboration issues
Issue
Suggestion
Resource implications of bureaucratic
coordination needs
Balancing formal requirements and effective
collaboration
Fragmentation and redundancy due to lacking
quality control
Grant software engineers with adequate authority
on quality
Coordination costs due to cultural and
professional cultures
Provide specific diversity management tools/skills
Impeded collaboration due to project/EU structure
Allow for/encourage cross-activity/cross-project
collaboration
Ambiguity on motivation due to EU reporting
requirement
Balancing EUs reporting conventions with
software development culture
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Participants equally identified a range of
challenges for the integration of new user
communities
Ultimately, the if-you-build-it-they-will-come
approach is not the best way of building
technology acceptance.
Anybody who is doing serious work is going to be
conservative and cannot afford to move to a
system that doesnt work
CERNs willingness to cut corners is extremely
high
We tell people explicitly that they are
beta-testing, for some of them to adopt such
bi-directional relationship is very difficult
The HEP community seems to be still very
focussed on developing one-off solutions their
problems of the day.
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They also suggested avenues for how to tackle
some of the integration issues
Issue
Suggestion
Low response rate from new user communities due
to maturity of Grid
Create small, reliable reference cases
Low level of buy-in from collaborating
communities due to complexity of requirements
Acknowledge differences and complexity of
requirements
High level of set up costs in terms of
computational skills to enrol new communities
Identify Grid Ambassadors as translators for
reference communities
Risk of particularistic solutions due to relative
lobbying power
Encourage HEP to acknowledge the relevance of a
multi-science Grid
Risk of dilluting focus of EGEE as a
multi-science Grid development
Enhance visibility of CERNs commitment to a
multi-science Grid
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technology in action
Realizing Grid Infrastructure
IV. Implications
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The pilot study has prepared the ground for
continuing a study of potential relevance to
several stakeholders

• For research, the study has allowed to
  inductively develop analytical categories for an
  extended, longitudinal study
• For EGEE in particular and the Grid development
  community in general, the study can provide an
  occasion for critical reflection
• For the EU, the study can provide provides an
  empirical basis for orchestrating future
  technology development and deployment processes
  even more effectively

The open, critical reflections of participants
have been pivotal in shaping the Technology in
Action project as a form of reflective practice