A Methodology for Assessing the Level of U-Transformation of Ubiquitous Services

As the ubiquitous computing technology (uT) is prevailing, applying uT is more likely to transform the legacy way of doing business to a new way with the goals of ubiquitous computing: strategic use of information resources by using them everywhere, every time, with any devices for any services. These opportunities naturally require the provision to assess the degree of the transformation from the legacy IT-based e-business to the uT-based business. However, research about assessing the degree of u-transformation has been still very few. Moreover, even deciding what is ubiquitous or not is obscure. Hence, this paper aims to propose the methodology for assessing the degree of u-transformation oriented by the teleology of ubiquitous service, which intends to fully make use of uT in creating new business of next generation. Through the literature review, we developed the methodology to check whether the provided service is ubiquitous or not based on the capabilities that technologies have. and then, the methodology developed to assess the technical requirements that the uT should have when the transformation is considered through the focus group interview based on the literature review of the capability. A two-layered approach is introduced to assess not only the level of ubiquity but also the degree of u-transformation.