
First (internationally visible) results from R&D
After successfully completing the first start-up phase of the research cooperation between the Institute of Information Systems – Information Engineering and TD Trusted Decisions GmbH, we are now pleased to announce that the first publication from this cooperation has been accepted for publication at a renowned international conference. In mid-December 2017, we will present a first version of an IT prototype in the context of economic decision-making at the “Workshop for Information Technology and Systems”, WITS for short, in Seoul, South Korea, and discuss it with the representatives of the scientific community from the Anglo-American “Information Systems” and German-speaking “Wirtschaftsinformatik”. This conference occupies a somewhat special position in the disciplines, as it focuses (in its self-image as a “workshop”) on “research in progress”, i.e. ongoing, unfinished research projects. She is also represented in relevant conference ratings and rankings and is listed by the Scientific Commission for Information Systems in its orientation list for researchers and given a “B” rating.
Focus on gut decisions
At the center of the consideration and thus in the functionality of the first version of the prototype is the gut decision of the decision-maker. To put it simply, decisions are made rationally (head decisions) or intuitively (gut decisions). These two “modes of thinking” are often distinguished as the two cognitive systems, System 1 and System 2. Our current research project aims to recognize and make visible gut decisions and to measure the quality of a gut decision. The first step is to classify the decisions into System 1 and System 2. This leads to the realization of which decisions were made from the head or from the gut. If the decision-maker made the decision rationally, the question arises as to whether the decision-maker consciously decided against a construction decision. This could be used to measure the quality of defensive decisions in the future.
Presentation of the prototype
Once the decision-maker has made a gut decision, the aim of this research project is to develop questions that ultimately make the quality of this decision measurable and thus derive recommendations for action. Based on this theoretical consideration, an initial software prototype was created in the form of a “disposable prototype”, i.e. in a version that is not intended as a basis for further development. This experimental prototype is primarily for illustrative purposes and provides a basis for discussing the underlying logic. This prototype will be presented and discussed in Soul in December. Against this background, the decision by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) to recognize the research project and the development of an evolutionary prototype as eligible for funding comes as little surprise. This also lays the financial foundation for a longer-term research project and nothing stands in the way of the revolutionary further development of the prototype.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Koch & Dr. David Rückel | 07.12.2017