Developing wireless communication services : The future is in the air

Abstract

Mobile informatics is the subject of my research, where both empirical and theoretical studies are prominent.

The empirical work consists of case studies I have accomplished in two different Norwegian companies. The first is a public transport information provider called Trafikanten. I have studied the services they provide, the service for wireless terminals in particular, and also cooperated with a student group that studied their wireless service. The second company, where I did some research, was a consultancy firm called Ementor. Here I both accomplished an interview and I worked there for nine weeks during the summer of 2000.

The theoretical part is founded in my literature studies. The bibliography reflects what I have read during my work with the thesis. By reading a combination of articles, books and sites on the Internet I have established a foundation upon which I have based my discussions throughout the thesis.

Through my research I wanted to find out if there were any differences between developing traditional systems and wireless services. In short, I found that the situation in which services for fixed plug terminals and wireless terminals are used, differs in such an extent that one have to think different when developing these services. So far the development of systems for wireless terminals is a very immature area and no standard method of how to develop such systems is established. I highlight the fact that context is a critical aspect when it comes to developing new services.