It's a matter of trust: ICT Interactions in Professional Communities
Speaker: Brian Green, ITEE
When: 2007-02-28 15:00:00
Venue: Axom 307
Host: Ralf Muhlberger
Abstract:This PhD research focuses upon the issues relating to trust and
reputation, and trust development and maintenance within
professional communities, and the trustworthiness of technology
involved in professional communities. The ongoing advances in
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have made it easier
for the average professional to create and become involved in
virtual communities. In these communities, participants are not
only able to communicate over long distances, but are also able to
transfer vast quantities of information readily. This ability to
send and receive vast quantities of information has been linked to
the problem of information overload.
Academic research has identified numerous types of trust. The
existence of these various types of trust is what allows
transactions between entities in the community to take place,
despite the potential risks that exist, i.e. being lied to or
deceived by other parties. While a considerable amount of research
has been done in the area of trust, most focuses upon the
commercial domain of e-Commerce. This PhD will instead focus upon
the development of trust in the professional communities such as
those found in the medical domain. In order to achieve these
goals, this research must first examine and observe the way
professionals interact during various phases in the development and
maintenance of a professional network.
The research must first model the domains, and this research will be
focusing upon two particular forms of professional communities:
• A special interest group (SIG) of academics interested in social network
analysis, and,
• Select groups of students and physicians from the medical domain.
In addition, this research looks at the system from the viewpoint of
each group or component of the community, identifying elements
within each group that collaborates and what elements of trust and
the role it plays in these transactions. However, trust
relationships clearly fall into three categories:
• Trust in and of the individual participants.and,
• Trustworthiness of ICT technologies.
Biography:(biography unavailable)
Type: Ph.D confirmation
Contact:Ralf Muhlberger, seminar host (ralf@itee.uq.edu.au)
or Guido Governatori (ITEE seminar co-ordinator)
(guido@itee.uq.edu.au)