Clément Labadie defended his PhD thesis “Essays on Data Democratization and Protection in the Data-driven Enterprise” on July 13, 2021.

Members of the jury were Prof. Christine Legner as supervisor, Prof. Michalis Vlachos as internal expert, Prof. Öykü Isik (IMD) and Prof. Felix Wortmann (University of St. Gallen) as external experts, and Prof. Felicitas Morhart as president of the jury.

Abstract of the thesis:
In the data-driven enterprise, large quantities of data are automatically processed to detect patterns, generate insights, and fuel business processes and business models alike. However, enterprises striving to become data-driven face multiple challenges. First, while a broadening audience of enterprise stakeholders need to work with data, they largely remain lodged in organizational and technical silos. Second, organizations must comply with strengthened data protection regulations to exploit personal data, which is key to successful data-driven business strategies. This dissertation explores the seemingly contradictory objectives of data protection compliance and increased data usage in enterprises. On the one hand, we investigate. enterprise data catalogs (EDC) as emerging platforms that support data democratization in the enterprise context. Based on insights from over 10 real-world EDC pilot projects in multi-national organizations, we identify emerging data-related roles and analyze how EDCs support their typical data needs and usages. On the other hand, we examine the interplay between data protection regulations and data processing practices, by linking compliance requirements to data management capabilities, embedded into a revisited data life cycle for personal data. In collating these two perspectives, we find that creating transparency on enterprise-wide data assets is a cornerstone of both data protection compliance and data democratization. Our contributions inform the redesign of data management practices and call attention to the need for diligent data documentation as essential building block of the conformable and democratized data-driven enterprise.

The entire team congratulates Clément on his successful PhD defense. We also thank him for the many contributions to the Competence Center Corporate Data Quality (CC CDQ) and for supporting the Bachelor course “Digital Business Processes & Enterprise Systems”.

Dana Naous defended her PhD thesis “Understanding User Perceptions and Preferences for Mass-Market Information Systems – Leveraging Market Research Techniques and Examples in Privacy-Aware Design” on October 30, 2020.

Members of the jury were Prof. Christine Legner as supervisor, Prof. Kevin Huguenin as internal expert, Prof. Hanna Krasnova (University of Potsdam) as external expert and Prof. Felicitas Morhart as vice-dean and president of the jury.

Abstract of the thesis:
With cloud and mobile computing, a new category of software products emerges as mass-market information systems (IS) that addresses distributed and heterogeneous end-users. Understanding user requirements and the factors that drive user adoption are crucial for successful design of such systems. Existing IS theories and models contribute to a theoretical understanding of the adoption and use of IS in mass-markets, however they are criticized for not being able to drive actionable insights on IS design as they consider the IT artifact as a black-box. We argue that IS needs to embrace market research techniques to understand and empirically assess user preferences and perceptions in order to integrate the “voice of the customer” in a mass-market scenario. We aim at supporting the design of mass-market IS by establishing a reliable understanding of consumer’s preferences for multiple factors combing functional, non-functional and economic aspects. We apply our findings to the privacy-aware design of mass-market IS and evaluate their implications on user adoption.

The entire team congratulates Dana on his successful PhD defense. We also thank her for her excellent support of the Master course “Analysis, Modeling and Design in IS”.