Blog Post 13 - Unit 9 Individual Project (Part I & II) - CS875: Futuring and Innovation - Colorado Technical University (CTU)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sociotechnical Plan for Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) Systems

https://tylerscafidi.blogspot.com/2025/03/blog-post-13-unit-9-individual-project.html

Tyler L. Scafidi

Colorado Technical University

March 9, 2025

 

Sociotechnical Plan for Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) Systems

Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) is a combination of several networking technologies that enable short-range communication networks on a mass-scale (Everything RF, n.d.). One aspect of DSRC are smart highways, which use 5G 802.11p technology to communicate with the vehicles (V2V) and/or infrastructure (V2I) within its short-range. The main idea is to convert many of the vehicles, road, and traffic signs into network-enabled Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. They would be able to take advantage of the DSRC network, and report real-time granular data back to operations centers.

I assume that there would also be some form of monitoring/logging, which may be used as legal evidence. Another benefit is the vehicle collision avoidance features that would be built-in, as enabled vehicles report their location, heading, and speed approximately 10 times per second (Everything RF, n.d.). Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems would be layered on top of the technology to provide more efficient and effective insights by being able to analyze mass amounts of data with east. While these features provide many benefits, from a sociotechnical perspective, I am not sure about the privacy and legal implications it can have on drivers.

Another form of large-scale networks would be the FirstNet network project (FirstNet Responder Network Authority, n.d.). The FirstNet Network program was designed for first-responders to have an always-available wireless network to connect to while in the field. Today, it seems that AT&T is administering a FirstNet program for first-responders (FirstNet, n.d.). Public access seems very desirable, but calls to implement public access have not gone far. Integrating the FirstNet and Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) networks makes a lot of sense, but also increases the government’s breadth and depth of your life they monitor.

Part I

Scope

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) both offer many benefits that many would agree on (Tie, 2024). One of the most popular applications of the Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), which also utilizes 5G cellular-V2X (C-V2X) connectivity, is for autonomously-driven vehicles. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, which not only would provide real-time data to surrounding enabled vehicles for traffic mitigation, but may also be used in to remotely control a gride/cluster of vehicles. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) would enable vehicles to provide real-time traffic information to reports and administrators. As research progresses, I will propose a sociotechnical innovation that utilizes V2X technologies.

The main limitation for these innovations has to be the number of vehicles owned that would meet the requirements to use these services. Infrastructure development and/or upgrades would be costly (i.e. all traffic devices, roadways, everything in-between, etc.). Privacy will most likely be an issue throughout the technology, which owners will have to accept as a trade-off and/or mandate. Retrofitting vehicles for integration with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) may be a challenge, due to the numerous sensors required. There may be potential to design an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) adapter/device to transmit the very minimum required data.

Purpose

Some of the main reasons that Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSR) is being implemented is the demand for better traffic safety/incidents, have a more realistic and centralized view of traffic patterns, better insurance/law enforcement efforts, and autonomous driving (U.S. Department of Transportation & National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, n.d.). Another benefit is having a massive network that may be available wherever drivers go, and I have my own interest on DSRC systems to develop, use, and try. Blind and lane change warnings, forward collision warnings, do-not-pass (DNP) warnings, left turn assist, intersection movement assist, and emergency electronic brake lights are all some of the major purposes for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) development. Projected impact would be up to 1,080 lives saved, around 600k traffic accidents avoided, and approximately 270k injuries.

Supporting Forces

As mentioned above, the accident, injury, and deaths saved is essentially worth it on their own. On top of that, being able to rollout automation/Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based driving and extended features is both exciting and frightening. While these are some basic vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, I imagine that the software/after-market products and services available will also rapidly increase in a new sociotechnical market. When systems are safely and reliability automated, the automobile will transform into more of an entertainment vessel, with driving capabilities. There are already automated self-driving taxis in some cities, and having the feature available would be nice. Law enforcement must also support the V2X projects, as they will likely be able to issue more citations, track criminals more efficiently, and will be available to serve as legal evidence.

Challenging Forces

In 2020 it was estimated that implementation would cost approximately $350 per vehicle to be compliant, and cost from around $300 million to $6.4 billion annually, depending ( (U.S. Department of Transportation & National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, n.d.). While the cost per vehicle is relatively inexpensive, it would likely be supported by a tax rebate or credit as many drivers would likely push back. Would it actually provide an overall savings in the short- to long-run? How will drivers’ privacy be handled, what breach potentials/impact, hacking vehicles and essentially imprisoning their passengers, law enforcement, etc., are all serious concerns drivers may have. Furthermore, how would a major national breach and command-and-control takeover of highways, traffic systems, and automobiles in a hostile attack? The United States has had its government systems hacked several times in the past few years, as well as ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure.

Methods

When it comes to choosing an appropriate research method for this sociotechnical product/service, I considered the following research method designs: the Delphi method, the nominal group technique (NGT), and a structured design process (SDP) approach. The Delphi method is designed to get feedback from remote participants throughout several rounds (Ribaud, 2025). The nominal group technique (NGT) is more informal than the Delphi research method, as it is typically time-limited to a one-session meeting in which participants voice their ideas to solve a problem, in a round-robin style, until a conclusion has been reached. The structured design process (SDP) is a top-down/functional solution approach to research, and incorporates modules/modularity (singular components that are combined into one) (Encyclopedia of Information Systemsc, n.d.). It focuses on sequence, selection, and repetition, when it comes to coding/information systems design.

 From the few search results I found, structured design process (SDP) seems to be the most suitable research and design methodology for information systems (ISs) (Encyclopedia of Information Systemsc, n.d.). Being able to segment separate pieces of code, delegate tasks, and juggle priorities through modular design is one of the most attractive SDP aspects. Since the approach is top-down, focusing on fixing overarching issues versus smaller/user-level ones, can be more effective than solving problems one-by-one, patching a system that ultimately needs a new design. Additionally, SDP processes focus on sequence, selection, and repetition, which is what code design is all about. The code must be resilient for repeated use, with a target margin-of-error of zero percent.

While the structured design process (SDP) seems to be one of the most appropriate methods for systems and software design for the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems, the Delphi method could be integrated into user-feedback testing/beta stages. Not only consumers, but agencies that work with the systems will also need to provide iterative feedback. Since the demographic selection may be clustered and geographically dispersed, making in-person interviews much more difficult and expensive, Delphi method feedback loops and testing could help pre- and post-launch.

Part II

Models

               When thinking about sociotechnical systems, it is important to understand exactly what that means. Being able to visualize, classify, and disseminate information spaces and functions is essential to understanding the sociotechnical system (Figure 1), similar to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model’s technical design needs (Figure 2) (Smart Building Academy, 2013; Whitworth & Ahmad, n.d.). Figure one categorizes various levels of sociotechnical systems. For instance, the Technology and Information Technology layers would be considered the technical layers, while the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) (i.e. preferences like button sizes, layouts, accessibility, etc.) and socioecological layers are non-critical desires upon how technology is used within society (Whitworth & Ahmad, n.d.). Figure two is a usefully condensed overview of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The OSI model is used within technology to define various code or hardware spaces, such as: physical (hardware) and the application layer (software). These segmentations help to troubleshoot issues that may arise, and help in systems design. Figure three provides an overview of a sample Access Control System (ACS) policy from a sociotechnical system standpoint

 

Figure 1

Requirements for Socio-Technical Design

Note: Diagram that visualizes how additional demands on technology have evolved within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Socio-Technology Systems (STS) (Whitworth & Ahmad, n.d.).

 

Figure 2

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model

Note: Retrieved from Smart Buildings Academy’s website (Smart Building Academy, 2013).

 

Figure 3

An Access Control System Policy from a Socio-Technical Design Perspective

Note: This model represents front-end versus back-end technologies and interaction, retrieved from the Interaction Design Foundation (Whitworth & Ahmad, n.d.).

 

Analytical Plan

               Analyzing data is always useful, for informational purposes, for improvements, and to troubleshoot errors that may occur. Since sociotechnical systems involve both qualitative and quantitative data (e.g. experiences and technical), a mixed-methods approach should be designed, even if not needed right away (George, 2025). By staging the design analytical reporting metrics and environments, benchmarking those will be more efficient. Of course, these designs can be done before, during, after, or adjusted along the way to fit the productivity and design needs, but analysts may benefit from segmenting the research into teams so that research richness, efficiency, and expertise will be greater.

Some Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technologies may exist to automate a lot of the reporting and management via centralized dashboards and robust analysis features. However, it is important to take a holistic approach to qualitative and quantitative sociotechnical system design (e.g. consider all stakeholders). Not only must the technology suit the needs of the users and society overall, but it also must fit the business’s needs, cultural alignment, and requirements. I would check the results regularly, setting up alerts for warning- or critical-type issues, at minimum. Then, I would setup a regular meeting, on whatever interval/schedule makes sense, among all key personnel to review the analytics, brainstorm new ideas, and collaborate on any persistent issues.

Anticipated Results

               The social impact of change is basically how the technology is impacting society. The main priority is typically whether it works, if it stable enough, safe, privacy-focused (legally/within reason), and if hot-patches can be released Over-the-Air (OTA) (e.g. mostly technical). On the social side, I would expect there to be some resistance, learning-curves, high consumer costs to convert/purchase new equipment and/or automobiles, and minor bugs. Over time, with monitoring, analysis, and change management, the sociotechnical system will become second-nature; possibly, even revered! After all, most of the monitoring and penalties that could be imposed are just as present as they are currently. Providing a customer-support ticketing system to track issues, net promoter score/user-feedback surveys, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and skilled support teams are key to gauging the sociotechnical systems’ results.

Conclusion

               Innovation requires buy-in, support, and/or a desire to adopt the innovation. Within organizations, discontent and dissatisfaction about innovations can cause toxic work culture, and potentially lead to project failure. It is important to solicit good and negative feedback. While the good metrics are nice to see, often translate into profits, and successes, the negative feedback are the areas of improvement that should be analyzed and built into the next iterations’ changes. Additionally, a customer dispute resolution process would also be helpful to setting expectations, and also providing support while soliciting issues with the sociotechnical systems. While it would be nice to solve all issues, it is not always practical.

               In 1962, a full framework for the diffusion of innovation was published by Everett Rogers, a sociology professor (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018). In it, he reviewed over 500 case studies throughout various disciplines to determine what the defining characteristics of innovations are. In his book, Rogers developed a five-stage process that describes how innovation is diffused: 1) knowledge, 2) Persuasion, 3) decision, 3a) reject, 3b) accept, 4) implementation, and 5) confirmation (see Figure 4 and Figure 5). The knowledge stage is mostly focused on awareness. Users’ interest to try the new innovation is considered the persuasion stage. Users make decisions about whether or not they will accept the new innovation in the third stage. Once a user decides to adopt the new innovation, it must be implemented; innovation ownership experience should be closely monitored to ensure end-users have satisfactory post-sales support. The fifth stage (confirmation) could be considered a user-loyalty metric; it is where they will decide whether or not to continue using the innovation.

 

Figure 4

Everett Rogers’ Five-Stage Process for the Diffusion of Innovation

Note: Adapted from Ryan and Gross’s 1943 study about the adoption of hybrid seed corn, which identified key innovation stages: adoption, importance of mass communications, and interpersonal networks (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018).

  

Figure 5

The Five-Stages of Innovation Diffusion

Note: Derived from Everett Rogers’ 1962 book “Diffusion of Innovations” (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018).

 

               It is also noted that adoption and innovation are not the same, as it relates to sociotechnical perspective (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018). Adoption is more about how the user begins to feel comfortable and enjoys using the innovation. Diffusion is centered around all stakeholders. Rogers also suggested that innovation be studied through social networks, and that those networks should be analyzed, and provided white-glove support. Additionally, there is an emphasis on learning through failure, which does not always translate into innovation failure, but can be a result of several other circumstances (i.e. competition, lack of knowledge, unaware of innovations’ utility, etc.).

Areas of Future Research

               While Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) is certainly innovative, it has some limitations (Tie, 2024). Vehicles using DSRC must have a line-of-sight (LOS) to the sensors in order to communicate, and can be problematic when there is typical interference from surround infrastructure and environments. Scalability is also an issue, as the DSRC technology uses only one particular band to transmit, which can be a problem for growth/integrations. Furthermore, DSRC is not used as much in some areas of the United States as others, and some have speculated about re-purposing the wireless bands there.

               On the other hand, Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (CV2X) is a newer standard, which leverages 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE and 5G cellular standards (Tie, 2024). Meaning, it has two ways to communicate (redundancy): direct short-range communication (a PC5 interface), and long-range cellular communications (Uu interface). Since CV2X has the ability to perform direct and cellular connections, it is much more versatile and reliable. By leveraging existing cellular infrastructure, reliability, and management, costs can be mitigated while being backed up by resilient and trustworthy networks. Additionally, CV2X is designed for forward-compatibility with 5G networks (i.e. ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), etc.). However, cellular reliability and coverage can also pose an issue. Companies like Starlink and T-Mobile are already delivering cellular service via satellite enhancements (T-Mobile USA, Inc., n.d.).

               Overall, innovation requires serious buy-in and trust (Lane, Marlani, Chew, & Holden, 2023). Trust is reported to enable innovators to be creative, improves information flow, and supports adopting new innovations. One key component to instilling trust within governmental organizations is to understand what roles are truly needed for the innovation. Project teams are a great way to accomplish subject-matter expert (SME)-based participation. Knowing that each stage takes time to adapt to reinforces the project’s commitment to solving any issues that may arise in a serious manner. Deloitte recommends determining what is important, assigning appropriate talent-based roles, and to maintain an open-line of communication to instill trust and goodwill.

From a cybersecurity standpoint, I just imagine the number of new hosts that will be assigned Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (Cloudflare, n.d.). I have heard of issues with IPv6 and its assumed inherit security/needlessness for certificates, and also know that it was created to accommodate the already crowded IPv4 space. Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) has the ability to use 128-bit addresses, which can also be sub-netted, as compared to 32-bit IPv4 (Welsh, 2012). The actual IPv6 address space can hold ~340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456, or 340 undecillion (3.4 x 1^38) IP addresses, but even that number is not as accurate (considering reserved addresses). Overall, I see it being a total nightmare, or a major success.

 

References

Cloudflare. (n.d.). What is the Internet Protocol? Retrieved March 9, 2025, from cloudflare.com: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/network-layer/internet-protocol/What is the Internet Protocol?

Encyclopedia of Information Systemsc. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Information Systems. Retrieved March 2, 2025, from sciencedirect.com: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/structured-design

Everything RF. (n.d.). What is DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication)? Retrieved March 2, 2025, from everythingrf.com: https://www.everythingrf.com/community /what-is-dsrc

FirstNet. (n.d.). Nationwide broadband for first responders & public safety at FirstNet. Retrieved March 2, 2025, from firstnet.com: https://www.firstnet.com/

FirstNet Responder Network Authority. (n.d.). The Network | First Responder Network Authority. Retrieved March 2, 2025, from firstnet.gov: https://www.firstnet.com/

George, T. (2025, January 14). Mixed Methods Research | Definition, Guide & Examples. Retrieved March 9, 2025, from scribbr.com: https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/mixed-methods-research/

Lane, K., Marlani, J., Chew, B., & Holden, A. (2023, June 15). Spurring innovation in government agencies through trust. Retrieved from www2.deloitte.com: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/public-sector/innovation-and-trust-government-agencies.html

Ribaud, A. (2025, February 20). Comparing the Delphi method & nominal group technique | Triducive. Retrieved from triducive.com: https://triducive.com/2024/09/27/comparing-the-delphi-method-and-the-nominal-group-technique-ngt/

Smart Building Academy. (2013, May 3). What is the OSI model. Retrieved from blog.smartbuildingsacademy.com: https://blog.smartbuildingsacademy.com/what-is-the-osi-model

The Interaction Design Foundation. (2018, June 19). The diffusion of innovation – strategies for adoption of products. Retrieved from interaction-design.org: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-diffusion-of-innovation-strategies-for-adoption-of-products

Tie, H. L. (2024, November 25). V2X Vehicle-to-Everything Communication – the Future of Autonomous Connectivity. Retrieved from 3blmedia.com: https://www.3blmedia.com/news/v2x-vehicle-everything-communication-future-autonomous-connectivity#:~:text=Key%20issues%20include%20signal%20degradation,like%20buildings%20and%20traffic%20congestion.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. (n.d.). If you can see the sky, you're connected. Retrieved March 9, 2025, from t-mobile.com: https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/satellite-phone-service?&cmpid=MGPO_PB_P_25NTWSAT_43700081483020639_731985394449&gad_source=1

U.S. Department of Transportation & National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (n.d.). Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Technolgoy. Retrieved March 2, 2025, from nhtsa.gov: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/v2v_fact_sheet_101414_v2a.pdf

Welsh, R. C. (2012, May 24). Just how many IPv6 addresses are there? Really? Retrieved from rednectar.net: https://rednectar.net/2012/05/24/just-how-many-ipv6-addresses-are-there-really/#:~:text=There%20are%203.4%C3%9710,56%20prefixes%20to%20such%20users)

Whitworth, B., & Ahmad, A. (n.d.). Socio-Technical system design. Retrieved March 9, 2025, from interaction-design.org: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/socio-technical-system-design

Wiley Data and Cybersecurity. (n.d.). Defining networks with the OSI model. Retrieved March 9, 2025, from ieeexplore.ieee.org: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9823217