The Software for Cultures and the Cultures in Software  

Software is viewed as an artifact which interacts with cultures of societies in which it functions. 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”). It is well known that software embeds behavioral and organizational principles that 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 a research agenda on the multifaceted interactions between software and culture.

Kersten, Gregory E., Stan Matwin, Sunil J. Noronha and Mik A. Kersten. University of Ottawa (1999). Articles>User Centered Design>Software