KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Making Rational Decisions in Software Engineering

Prof. Darren Dalcher
University of Hertfordshire, UK

Abstract

How easy is it to make rational decisions in a complex world? What are the best ways of dealing with and adopting different perspectives? How do we avoid misunderstanding? How do we avoid the bias of our own experiences?
Herbert Simon, the Nobel-prize winning economist, argued that decision making is synonymous with managing. Technical problem solving is similarly concerned with decisions and choices. Indeed, making good decisions is crucial to the success of every project as it affects the quality of the resulting artefacts. Yet very few developers and managers have had any formal training in decision making. In crunch times when the quality of our projects becomes more critical, it is essential to consider how to improve our ability to make the right decisions.
This session uses practical problem solving situations and real world examples to highlight the impact of framing and biases on the choices that we make whilst also featuring recent research, insights and conclusions. The interactive activities will challenge the ability of decision makers to make rational decisions in the face of uncertainty. Participants will thus be encouraged to reflect on:

• their personal ability to frame situations and evaluate risks


• the results of their professional decisions


• the biases that creep into their choices

Biography of the Keynote Speaker

Dr. Darren Dalcher is Professor of Software Project Management at Middlesex University and Visiting Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iceland. He leads the Software Forensics Centre, a specialised unit that focuses on systems failures, software pathology and project failures. Professor Dalcher is also the founder and Director of the National Centre for Project Management in the UK, an interdisciplinary centre of excellence operating in collaboration with industry, government and the learned societies. The Centre aims to set the national agenda and establish project management as a major profession and discipline in the UK. The Centre is thus concerned with fostering active dialogue about the integration of successful practice and theoretical research within project management.
He has recently been named by the Association for Project Management as one of the top 10 "movers and shapers" in project management and has also been voted Project Magazine's Academic of the Year for his contribution in "integrating and weaving academic work with practice".
Following industrial and consultancy experience in managing IT projects, Professor Dalcher gained his PhD in Software Engineering from King's College, University of London. In 1992, he founded and has continued as chair of the Forensics Working Group of the IEEE Technical Committee on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, an international group of academic and industrial participants formed to share information and develop expertise in project and system failure and recovery.
Professor Dalcher is active in numerous international committees, steering groups and editorial boards. He is heavily involved in organising international conferences, and has delivered many keynote addresses and tutorials. He has written over 150 papers and book chapters on software engineering, agile development and project management. He is Editor-in-Chief of Software Process Improvement and Practice, the only international journal focusing on capability, maturity, growth and improvement and of Journal of Software Evolution and Maintenance. He is the editor
of a major new book series, Advances in Project Management, published by Gower Publishing which synthesises leading edge knowledge, skills, insights and reflections in project and programme management and of a new companion series Fundamentals of Project Management which provides the essential grounding in key areas of project and programme management.
His research interests include project success and failure; maturity models; capability and competence; agile, extreme and lean development; life cycles, benchmarking; risk and opportunity management; decision making; chaos and complexity; leadership; change management; and evidence-based practice. He has built a reputation as leader and innovator in the area of practice-based education and reflection in project development and management. He works with many major industrial and commercial organisations and government bodies in the UK and beyond.
Professor Dalcher is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Association for Project Management, and a Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Project Management Institute. He is a Chartered IT Practitioner and a Member of the PMI Advisory Board responsible for the prestigious David I. Cleland award.