Till Winkler, PhD

The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) requires Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines (VLOPs/VLOSEs) to assess and mitigate systemic risks, including actual or foreseeable negative effects on fundamental rights, and subjects these assessments to independent audit. Yet how such rights-relevant risks should be identified, assessed, evidenced, and documented remains methodologically under-specified. We address this gap by introducing a decision-tree-based toolkit that operationalizes Article 34(1)(b) DSA and related audit requirements into a structured assessment process. The toolkit decomposes platforms as systems-of-systems and guides assessors through DSA applicability, context definition, subsystem and stakeholder identification, risk identification, risk assessment, reporting, and visualization. A central design contribution is its treatment of vulnerability as situational and relational: rather than assigning vulnerability to fixed groups, the toolkit asks how particular platform subsystems and dependencies may place stakeholders in vulnerable positions. It further makes fundamental rights-relevant judgments traceable by recording the affected right, interference and justification analysis within the structure of a proportionality test, while also covering a perception and impact dimension including severity, scope, duration, reversibility, as well as practical consequences. We developed the toolkit iteratively through a design-science process combining literature-derived design requirements, three interdisciplinary expert workshops (N=4; N=11; N=20) testing the framework design with two DSA user persona scenarios. We contribute an extensible methodological foundation for making fundamental-rights risk assessments under the DSA more streamlined, systematic, transparent, and auditable.

This paper analyzes the potential influence of digital mapping tools (with Google Maps as the primary example) on mode choice behavior. For the purpose of this study, we use survey data gathered in Vienna (Austria) during 2022. Almost 80% of respondents state that they regularly use Google Maps, and a large majority evaluate Google Maps positively concerning ease of use, trust, or general usefulness. Our analyses reveal that, on average, respondents perceive real-life travel times as somewhat longer than the corresponding Google-Maps-based travel times (by 2%–11%). However, a large degree of heterogeneity is present, which seems to be at least partially driven by respondents’ speed choices. Based on a stated preference experiment, in which respondents were asked to choose between transport modes, assuming that the travel times stated in the experiment either originate from Google Maps (GoogleMaps treatment) or correspond to accurately measured average travel times (Baseline treatment), we can show that the perceived differences between real-life travel times and Google-Maps-based travel times are only considered to a limited extent in the mode choices. More specifically, such deviations are mainly acted upon when individuals expect to be faster than the Google Maps estimate.

An der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien können Bachelor-Studierende objektorientiertes Programmieren von Grund auf lernen und sind unter anderem in der Lage, portable Programme mit grafischen Benutzeroberflächen für Windows, macOS und Linux zu entwickeln. Dies ist in nur einem Semester, innerhalb von 60 Präsenzstunden mit einem Gesamtlernaufwand von 200 Stunden – 8 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) – möglich. Dieser Workshop befasst sich mit den Aspekten, die dies möglich machen, einschließlich der Kursziele, des Kursmaterials, der angewandten pädagogischen Prinzipien und der unterrichteten Programmiersprache. Die Teilnehmenden des Workshops werden in der Lage sein, den Kurs selbst zu unterrichten.

Many popular object-oriented languages like Java, Python, C# support concepts introduced by Smalltalk but lack its message paradigm. Teaching novices programming in these popular languages, therefore, cannot take advantage of the message paradigm to ease and to speed up learning object-oriented programming. This article introduces and discusses the message paradigm in the context of successfully teaching object-oriented programming to business administration (BA) novices in a single semester. The messaging paradigm, as implemented in the open object Rexx (ooRexx) programming language, makes it easy for novices to interact with Windows objects via object linking and embedding (OLE) and fully utilize the Java runtime environment (JRE). The most important concepts of the ooRexx programming language are introduced and demonstrated using nutshell examples. Furthermore, observed challenges in teaching object-oriented programming are presented and advice for educators in the field of programming is given.

The open object Rexx (ooRexx) programming language has been successfully used to teach business administration students programming from scratch in a single semester. Students are able to interact with Windows and Microsoft Office, but also to use Java classes for programming OpenOffice/LibreOffice and JavaFX (GUIs) on all modern operating systems. A key factor in this is the design of the Rexx programming language, on which ooRexx is based. This article introduces the most important concepts of the language, which make it possible to learn programming faster than with other languages. In particular, concepts such as single data type, decimal arithmetic, instruction types and others are introduced and demonstrated with the help of examples.

The dynamic programming language ooRexx includes a runtime monitoring keyword instruction named TRACE. This keyword instruction produces a trace line for each traced statement. Although additional trace information was added, ooRexx 5.0.0 is missing important information, such as tracing threads, whether a method is currently guarded, the guard locks state, and the interpreter instance. With the introduction of a specific trace-related class, TraceObject, it is now possible to maintain all ooRexx-related trace information for each traced statement in a proper directory that can be analyzed at runtime. This article will introduce the TraceObject class and its properties, including the ability to collect all produced trace objects for inspection and analysis. It focuses on the trace line (the trace object's string) representation that can be formatted to include the missing aspects for analyzing dynamic, multi-threaded, guarded methods on multi-instance ooRexx applications.

In dynamic runtime environments, like ooRexx applications, guard-locked multi-threaded applications may be deadlocked for many reasons. Breaking deadlocked code may yield the location of a deadlocked instruction but may not allow for identifying other deadlocked threads such that the causes may be difficult or even impossible to locate. With the introduction of collectible TraceObject instances in ooRexx 5.1, a new infrastructure becomes available that can be put to work for identifying guard lock-related deadlocks on any number of threads. This article introduces the principles for creating TraceObject trace logs that can be externalized (e.g., encoded as JSON or XML text files) and internalized later as the originally ordered collection of trace objects for analyzing and processing purposes. The ooRexx guard lock-based multi-threading rules can then be used to develop an algorithm to identify all deadlocked program instructions "post immobilization," analyzing the TraceObject trace logs and supplying information about the affected objects and threads.

Considering that many of today’s information systems have negative impacts on individuals, society, the economy, the environment, or the technology itself, one must conclude that software engineering is in crisis. Under the umbrella term “Values in Design,” an entire field of research and over 18 different frameworks have emerged that attempt to bring value considerations and ethics into practice. Some of these frameworks even claim to facilitate the development of innovative and ethical systems. While these claims are highly desirable, proving that they can be met is anything but easy. So far, the same software has never been developed in parallel, which would allow comparison of results and a proper evaluation of frameworks. A typical approach is to conduct case studies to demonstrate effectiveness, but this has its limitations. Drawing from the literature on software engineering, mediation theory, and sustainability, this thesis proposes a concept to systematize and evaluate the theoretical foundations and methodology of such “Values in Design” frameworks. This concept can help to prevent the reintroduction of similar theories and methods, allow for mutual learning and improvement of frameworks, and facilitate further research in this area. In addition, a systematic examination could provide a starting point for practitioners to incorporate value considerations and ethical aspects into their current software engineering practice and facilitate the selection of framework aspects to use. The proposed concept is demonstrated for “Value Sensitive Design” and IEEE Std. 7000 “Standard Model Process for Addressing Ethical Concerns during System Design,” both recognized in the field. In addition, quality metrics to measure the innovative and ethical potential of system requirements are proposed and demonstrated, which can help to substantiate the claims made without the need to develop a final software product.

To learn and teach programming is very difficult, often leads to poor results, and causes many students to drop out or turn away from the subject. Cognitive load theory can help to understand the challenges students face, improve programming education, and select an appropriate language for instruction. In this paper, we take a theoretical look at programming education and, in particular, language characteristics that reduce students' cognitive load and thus enable rapid learning and frustration-free productivity. We introduce the REXX language and some of its favorable characteristics that make it possible to teach novices programming within a single semester. In this limited time, students are empowered to program Microsoft products (Windows, Office), address the command line, grasp the basics of object-oriented programming, use Java classes, and create portable graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with JavaFX.

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in awareness of the need to design technology more ethically. The crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX airplanes as well as the Volkswagen scandal have contributed to the questioning of ethical practices in classic engineering departments. Several studies revealed the potential bias and manipulability of software systems, including critical judicial systems and social networks . The lack of artificial intelligence (AI) transparency became subject to a stream of criticism. To the positive surprise of long-term scholars in the social issues of technology, the IT industry woke up to the need for a more forward-looking, responsible, and ethical planning of IT systems.

This article reviews the academic literature (1996–2016) that emerged under value sensitive design (VSD). It investigates those VSD projects that employed the tripartite methodology, examining the use of VSD methodological elements, and illustrating common practices and identifying shortcomings. The article provides advice for VSD researchers on how to complete and enhance their methodological approach as the research community moves forward.

Users’ perception of geographic space depends heavily on geographic information systems (GIS). GIS are the most common way for users to estimate travel time, provide routing information and recommend appropriate forms of transportation. This article analyses how predictions made by Google Maps, one of the most popular GIS, influence users’ perceptions and travel choices. To analyze this influence, a pre-study in a classroom setting (n= 36) as well as an online survey (n= 521) were conducted. We study users intuitive perception of travel time, before using the Google Maps Mobile App as a ’treatment’ to see how it influences their perceptions of travel time and choice of transportation type. We then contrast this original Google Maps treatment to a mock-up ’warning label version’ of Google which informs users about biases in Google Maps and an ’unbiased version’ of Google Maps based on ground truth data. Our analysis suggests that Google Maps systematically underestimates necessary car driving time, which has an impact on users’ choice of transportation.

This article gives a methodological overview of Value-based Engineering for ethics by design. It discusses key challenges and measures involved in eliciting, conceptualizing, prioritizing and respecting values in system design. Thereby it draws from software engineering, value sensitive design, design thinking and participatory design as well as from philosophical sources, especially Material Ethics of Value. The article recognizes timely challenges for Value-based Engineering, such as compatibility with agile forms of system development, responsibility in hardly controllable ecosystems of interconnected services, fearless integration of external stakeholders and the difficulty in measuring the ethicality of a system. Finally, the Value-based Engineering methodology presented here benefits from learnings collected in the IEEE P7000 standardization process as well as from a case study. P7000 has been set up by IEEE to establish a process model, which addresses ethical considerations throughout the various stages of system initiation, analysis and design.

A promising pathway towards increasing the recognition of value-oriented approaches outside of academia is to facilitate their integration into state-of-the-art agile development processes. This paper provides an overview on the similarities between value-oriented approaches and agile development processes. To facilitate an integration into agile development, light-weight value prioritization methods are needed. Several approaches to value prioritization are presented and insights from using a Likert-scale, as a scalable and light-weight method, in the context of a mobile navigation application are reported. It is the aim of this paper to inspire more empirical work in this area and to foster discussions about an integration into agile development processes and about the challenges of prioritizing values.

A promising pathway towards an ethically aligned design of technology is to consider human values such as “privacy” and “autonomy” in the design process. Value-oriented approaches have inspired the development of several unique methods for identifying stakeholders, values, and design requirements. However, none of these methods focus solely on the representation of values and the communication of value knowledge. In this paper, we outline a methodology that is inspired by techniques from the semantic web community. Based on a case study, we demonstrate how building an ontology can be used to represent and visualize value knowledge. The underlying empirical data comes from a sample of students who applied Value-based Engineering to elicit and analyse values for a telemedicine communication system. In spite of the specifics of this case study, the techniques for representing and communicating the resulting value data are compatible with any value-oriented approach. Furthermore, they support quality criteria that are essential when dealing with values both in research and design. The formal representation of value knowledge in form of semantic data ensures a high level of detail while respecting context-specificity. The underlying ontology helps to represent key concepts and their relations and supports the transparency of data analysis, including the initial coding of the value-related data. The resulting knowledge base can be shared with stakeholders and researchers, supporting the joint evolution of value-oriented approaches and technology.

This panel will explore doctoral student perspectives on Value Sensitive Design (VSD). VSD has already played a central role in a number of completed dissertations (eg, Davis 2006, Deibel 2011, Nathan 2009, Van Wynsberghe 2012, Yoo 2018), and we expect to see additional such dissertations in the future. Further, PhD students and early career scholars have played a significant role in developing value sensitive design (Davis & Nathan 2015). In this panel, the participants will reflect on their own experiences, views, and problems in doing research (dissertation or otherwise) in which VSD plays a critical role, as well as encouraging questions and comments from the audience (in particular other PhD students so engaged).

How are travel times displayed by different navigation apps? Do the way in which these work differ for different modes of transportation? We found unexpected divergence in the way travel time is displayed both between apps and within apps, when conducting testing on travel routing apps in Vienna. As a result, this paper will provide a brief overview of how travel times are displayed by commonly used apps in Vienna and how these differ. In conclusion, we will suggest different avenues for additional research based on these findings and illustrate the challenges of user accountability associated with these apps.

Information systems (IS) play an increasing role for individual well-being [3], for the environment [4], and for society at large [5]. Considering sustainability in IS development is therefore becoming paramount. However, companies today associate sustainability with extra cost and burden on their operations. As a result, many view sustainability more as a demand and a challenge rather than an opportunity. In this article, we argue that companies should rethink this attitude, as both sustainability and a business model can be understood as deeply rooted in human values.

Software has an increasing impact on individual well-being, the environment, and our society. To mitigate this potentially harmful impact, scholars have proposed to go beyond traditional requirements. One approach that has been proposed is the consideration of human values, which can be used to constitute dimensions of sustainability, as requirements in the process of software development. To this day, there is no consensus on which values that should be or where to find information about them. This contribution combines value lists of sources from multiple backgrounds into one extensive list of values, which can facilitate sustainable software development. This paper will demonstrate how this list of values can help define the social sustainability dimension. Such an extensive list is also important for other disciplines working with values, such as value sensitive design.