OZ 2010/1-2

M 5 ORGANIZACIJA ZNANJA 2010, LETN. 15, ZV. 1 – 2 Maksimiljan Gerkeš Institut informacijskih znanosti Maribor Kontaktni naslov: maks.gerkes @ izum.si 1. INTRODUCTION New technologies are raising serious problems and concerns seemingly without a satisfying answer. It also does not seem possible to give accurate predictions of the influences (e.g. health problems caused by technology) new technologies will have on our lives. And there is also a growing evidence of technology abuse. The rate at which technology development is taking its course seems to be so high that we as individuals and societies may not be able to adapt ourselves adequately to new complexities caused by technological development. This opens space for frustration, misuse and abuse. Problems and concerns caused by new technologies may be an indicator that quality assurance is not an issue in technology development anymore or that our comprehension of quality is biased. If quality is assured, why then problems and concerns. MODELLING OF PROCESSES TEHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT Abstract New technologies are raising also serious problems and concerns that do not seem to get satisfying answers. To come to some understanding of this phenomenon, we built a simple model of processes, driving the development of new technologies. By analysing the model we came to the conclusion that problems and concerns accompanying the development of new technologies have a lot in common with inadequate quality assurance. It is shown that quality assurance introduced on the basis of a broader understanding of quality can diminish problems and concerns raised with new technologies development and provide users with technologies that are developed closer to their needs and expectations. Keywords modelling of processes, technology development, quality assurance, vision, problem Izvleček Nove tehnologije odpiranjo tudi nove resne probleme in pomisleke, na katere pa, kot kaže, ni pov- sem zadovoljivih odgovorov. Za vsaj osnovno razumevanje tega fenomena smo razvili preprost model procesov, ki vodijo do novih tehnologij. Analiziranje modela omogoča zaključek, da so ti problemi in pomisleki pogojeni z neustreznim zagotavljanjem kakovosti v razvoju novih tehno- logij. Zagotavljanje kakovosti, uvedeno na osnovi poglobljenega razumevanja kakovosti, lahko zmanjša probleme in odpravi mnoge pomisleke, ki jih prinaša razvoj novih tehnologij, ter zagotovi tehnologije, ki bodo razvite bližje potrebam in pričakovanjem uporabnikov. Ključne besede modeliranje procesov, razvoj tehnologije, zagotavljanje kakovosti, vizija, problem It is therefore essential to discover what prevents new technologies to be developed closer to our needs and expectations. A simple model of processes, which drive the development of new technologies and is presented in this paper, 1 is built to make it possible to discover patterns of behaviour that assure the desired outcome of technology development. But the model is also built to enable searching for patterns that can prevent the desired output. By discovering patterns that can prevent the desired output we can search for means that assure the desired output. By achieving this, quality assurance can be reintroduced in technology development. 2. MODEL AND ANALYSIS When examining behaviour of an environment, we usually decide the level of detail at which the behaviour is to be examined. By this the environment appears granular and its behaviour only resembles the behaviour of the doi:10.3359/oz1001005 1.01: IZVIRNI ZNANSTVENI ČLANEK