Work-from-home can sometimes be a pleasant alternative to being physically present at the office, especially if it can be coupled with schedule flexibility. On the other hand, the absence of socialization and direct attendance in meetings can erode one's contribution to the success of the project. Nevertheless, both types of work offer the employee a certain freedom. At the end of the day, employers do not expect everybody to work 8 hours straight. From my point of view, an average of 4-6 productive hours is more than enough for most projects. A relatively new approach to work is the opportunity to work from home via a platform that facilitates the relationship between employees and employers by resorting to real-time monitoring: video camera, key logger and other tools. Even if this would have seemed Sci-Fi material, a couple of years ago, it is now widespread. It would come as no surprise if, in the near future, we will be able to monitor the positive or negative state of mind of the one performing the tasks, via artificial intelligence. Going beyond the employee's state of mind, another problem that may arise has to do with the choice between the freedom to work at the company desk or the permanent monitoring at home. No matter how this trend will evolve, I hope we will not work in a G. Orwell-inspired setting, namely in cubicles, under permanent supervision. Eventually, the obligation to sit in front of a screen and type, knowing that every gesture is monitored, may damage creativity and innovation, raising the risk of us becoming nothing more than advanced robots.
This issue deals with Agile. However, we were very keen on making the collaboration between the IT and the cultural sectors our first topic for the current issue, because we wanted to underline how productive this collaboration can be when there is an interest in promoting local values. IT company supports local cultural values - a model to look up to seeks to showcase an example that more IT companies can follow when It comes to Romanian cultural projects that require support. The papers which deal with Agile include: Scrum values through the eyes of an Agile team, Let's be friends - A friendly perspective on Scrum, Personality vs. Cultural differences, Agility - Innate skill or method? This issue features a second paper on SAP Hana: SAP HANA as Platform. How can you design winning IT solutions?, which suggests strategies to attract and keep customers loyal. The issue of what makes a product testable is tackled in On testability. The implications of Great Britain's referendum, which would trigger its separation from the European Union, are analyzed from the juridical perspective of authorship rights in Legal Brexit. These are only some of the papers in the current issue and !eussi MST txen ruo litnu syadiloh yppah ouy hisw eW.
by Ovidiu Mățan
by Vasile Boris
by Vlad Haiduc
