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What are in your opinion the most important ICT-competencies that officers need in order to work effectively in the NLDO?
In general during the interviews it was said that specific applications change with time and are dependent on the choices that are made by the organization and that the need for specific applications is dependent on the main function area of the officer. One officer mentioned that it is important to have insight in the different roles that an officer fulfills: project manager, presentor, manager of information, security manager and that ICT should be seen as a tool that could support these roles.
It was also seen as important that officers know how the ICT support is organized in the NLDO in order to know where to seek help when needed. Since there were a number of organizational changes this is not clear in all instances.
The interviewees were generally also of the opinion that officers should be able to analyze information presented by others in applications like MS Excel as well as being able to present management information in an appropriate format, avoiding unnecessary information.
Eight interviewees said that it was important to have a conceptual insight in the generic functionalities of applications or in the context of exchanging data between applications.
This means that the interviewees find it important to understand the underlying principles of the applications, what the possibilities are of the applications and how applications can import, export data between the applications and what the reasons are that there are sometimes limitations in doing so. However the opinions are divided regarding this item. Interesting to note is that some technical and information experts are strongly of the opinion that conceptual insight was not necessary, since the ICT experts dealt with any issues in this regard, whereas some of the interviewees from non-technical functionareas are convinced that this item was very important. They experience a sense of inadequacy in their working environment because they do not understand the possibilities and restrictions of certain applications and can not independently make decisions when necessary. They often have to rely on younger inexperienced officers to make the decisions for them in this regard. This constitutes a situation that they do not find acceptable. Some interviewees motivated the importance of this item by placing emphasis on the requirement of an officer to give clear instructions regarding the information needs and the format in which the information needs to be displayed.
However there was also one officer from a non-technical background that indicated that he had no need for conceptual insight in this regard.
What are in your opinion the ICT- competencies that officers need in order to function effectively during operational missions (Including international cooperation, sharing information and ensuring security of information)?
Some interviewees mentioned that the essence of the operational information need is primarily the responsibility of the strategic top of the organization, the officers that are sent out are executive and primarily a link in the process. It was mentioned that network specialists are available and the number of applications are limited, both in number and in access speed. The most common applications, like the MS Office applications that are normally available on the workplace are also available during missions. Some officers (N=4) said that the officer is confronted with unknown applications and that there is limited time for training to use those applications effectively and limited support once the application needs to be used. However since the newer applications are often userfriendly and Windows-based it is easier to learn the new applications than it used to be in the past.
What is in your opinion the current status and importance of agreement of univocal standards for provision of information and ICT architecture (regarding software, hardware and networks) nationally in the NLDO and internationally between military partners?
The interviewees agreed that univocal standards and uniformity in applications, is an important aspect in order to be able to share information and work together effectively. In the NLDO there are many projects in progress that will ensure uniformity in this regard and as a consequence improved integral management information and control in the near future.
Some officers explained that internationally univocal NATO standards exist regarding communication and connections between navies of countries, air forces of countries and armies of countries, but different connections are still in place for air forces, armies and navies because in the past they were working in different operational situations.
Currently cooperation between the different defence organizations becomes more important, also internationally. The changes that are required receive the necessary priority. This is a complex process however and solutions take time to implement internationally.
One officer said that striving towards standardized and univocal international systems is desirable, but perhaps not attainable. However the interviewees also agreed that knowledge about the underlying technique is in this case the responsibility of specialists, therefore this item was not included in the questionnaire. However one respondent indicated that it was unfortunate that this item was not included.
In the next section the research results related to the sub-question: ‘How competent are officers in the NLDO in their own opinion regarding the identified ICT-related competencies?’ are discussed.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 ORGANIZATIONS AND THE NETHERLANDS DEFENCE ORGANIZATION IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
1.2 PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH AND THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.3 TERMINOLOGY
1.4 BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM
1.5 SUMMARY OF THE SETUP OF THE RESEARCH
1.6 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION IN WHICH THE CASE STUDY IS CONDUCTED 15
1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTERS IN THIS RESEARCH REPORT
1.8 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE SURVEY
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 ORGANIZATIONS AND MANAGERS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
2.3 CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF ICT- AND ICT – RELATED COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MANAGERS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
2.4 HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
2.5 LEARNING AND TEACHING IN A DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION
2.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 PHILOSOPHICAL DISPOSITION
3.3 PLANNING TO ANSWER THE MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION
3.4 EXPERT INTERVIEWS
3.5 GROUP DISCUSSION OF STUDENTS
3.6 SURVEY USING A QUESTIONNAIRE
3.7 PLANNING TO ANSWER THE SECOND RESEARCH QUESTION
3.8 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS OF RESEARCH
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESULTS RELATED TO THE FIRST PART OF THE MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF ICT AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY ON THE LABOUR SITUATION OF OFFICERS IN THE NLDO
4.3 RESULTS RELATED TO THE SECOND PART OF THE MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHANGED LABOUR ENVIRONMENT FOR THE TRAINING OF OFFICERS
4.4 RESULTS RELATED TO THE SECOND RESEARCH QUESTION ABOUT THE INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY MANAGERS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
4.5 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 SUMMARY
5.3 DISCUSSION
5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS
5.5 CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
