Search results

Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, at its core, Machine Learning (ML) offer opportunities for organizations to develop new or enhance existing capabilities. Despite the endless possibilities, organizations face operational challenges in harvesting the value of ML-based capabilities (MLbC), and current research has yet to explicate these challenges and theorize their remedies. To bridge the gap, this study explored the current practices to propose a systematic way of orchestrating MLbC development, which is an extension of ongoing digitalization of organizations.

Data were collected from Finland's Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (FAIA) and complemented by follow-up interviews with experts outside FAIA in Europe, China and the United States over four years. Data were analyzed through open coding, thematic analysis and cross-comparison to develop a comprehensive understanding of the MLbC development process.

The analysis identified the main components of MLbC development, its three phases (development, release and operation) and two major MLbC development challenges: Temporal Complexity and Context Sensitivity. The study then introduced Fostering Temporal Congruence and Cultivating Organizational Meta-learning as strategic practices addressing these challenges.

This study offers a better theoretical explanation for the MLbC development process beyond MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) and its hindrances. It also proposes a practical way to align ML-based applications with business needs while accounting for their structural limitations. Beyond the MLbC context, this study offers a strategic framework that can be adapted for different cases of digital transformation that include automation and augmentation of work.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study which analyses the ambiguous relationship that Icelandic charities and NGOs have with the formal social welfare services they collaborate with as well as the clients they serve.

The paper is based upon the combined work of both authors and drawn from a number of projects spanning the years immediately preceding the Icelandic economic crisis of 2008, through to the years of crisis and recovery, and into the present context. This contribution is a combination of a re-analysis of older material combined with new data and emergent issues.

The contribution argues charities and NGOs in Iceland operate within an ambiguous space, not part of the formal welfare authorities yet in practice in collaboration with them. One danger is that the charitable environment offers no clear legal protections concerning client rights or entitlements to assistance, or grievance redress mechanisms typical of the formal social assistance schemes. Further, the ways in which charities exclude certain segments of the population is troubling, particularly in consideration of the lack of protections and the willingness of governments to download the costs of and responsibilities for services to non-professional and private charities and NGOs.

The findings are intended to contribute toward encouraging critical discussion about the appeal of charity as a service alternative in the context of governmental cutbacks and austerity measures.

The findings are based upon limited but original case studies in Iceland.