A systems thinking approach to value-added services adoption in national research and education networks

Abstract

The growing importance of advanced or value-added services (services over and above basic connectivity services) in national research and education networks (NRENs) is well understood in the research and education community. These services are made available to further distinguish and enhance national research and education networks’ offerings from that of commercial internet service providers. Systems thinking allows a ‘bigger view’ of a situation to be analyzed. This paper presents a model that was developed, refined and validated using design science research methods and a systems thinking approach. The model is a causal diagram developed to enable the visualization of how factors in the NREN services adoption context are interrelated. The model was refined and validated with international NREN experts. As a result of the evaluation stage, a shared mental model and understanding of the NREN’s advanced services delivery ecosystem was developed. The model can be used as a communication and decision-making tool to facilitate services adoption from NRENs to their research and education communities.