The Software for Cultures and the Cultures in Software
Gregory E. Kersten1, Stan Matwin2, Sunil J. Noronha3 and Mik A. Kersten4
1 Concordia University, Montreal, Canada (gregory@mercato.concordia.ca).
2 SITE, University of Ottawa, Canada (stan@site.uottawa.ca).
3 IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, USA
(noronha@watson.ibm.com).
4 Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, USA (mkersten@parc.xerox.com).
Abstract
Software is viewed as an artefact which interacts with cultures of societies in which it functions. On the one hand, software manufacturers make efforts to adapt the appearance of their products to aesthetic and historical values of the markets in which they are sold ("software for cultures"). On the other hand, it is well known that software embeds behavioural and organizational principles which are culture-determined ("cultures in software"). Internet and E-commerce bring these phenomena into the fore of the debate on societal implications of Information Technology. The paper argues for and proposes a general framework for a research agenda on the multifaceted interactions between software and culture.