IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v21y2010i4p748-759.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Research Commentary ---Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda

Author

Listed:
  • David Tilson

    (Simon Graduate School of Business, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14267)

  • Kalle Lyytinen

    (Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106)

  • Carsten Sørensen

    (Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Since the inauguration of information systems research (ISR) two decades ago, the information systems (IS) field's attention has moved beyond administrative systems and individual tools. Millions of users log onto Facebook, download iPhone applications, and use mobile services to create decentralized work organizations. Understanding these new dynamics will necessitate the field paying attention to digital infrastructures as a category of IT artifacts. A state-of-the-art review of the literature reveals a growing interest in digital infrastructures but also confirms that the field has yet to put infrastructure at the centre of its research endeavor. To assist this shift we propose three new directions for IS research: (1) theories of the nature of digital infrastructure as a separate type of IT artifact, sui generis ; (2) digital infrastructures as relational constructs shaping all traditional IS research areas; (3) paradoxes of change and control as salient IS phenomena. We conclude with suggestions for how to study longitudinal, large-scale sociotechnical phenomena while striving to remain attentive to the limitations of the traditional categories that have guided IS research.

Suggested Citation

  • David Tilson & Kalle Lyytinen & Carsten Sørensen, 2010. "Research Commentary ---Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 748-759, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:21:y:2010:i:4:p:748-759
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1100.0318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.1100.0318
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.1100.0318?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wanda J. Orlikowski & C. Suzanne Iacono, 2001. "Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the “IT” in IT Research—A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 121-134, June.
    2. Susan Leigh Star & Karen Ruhleder, 1996. "Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 111-134, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robin Williams & Neil Pollock, 2012. "Research Commentary ---Moving Beyond the Single Site Implementation Study: How (and Why) We Should Study the Biography of Packaged Enterprise Solutions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Knut H. Rolland & Lars Mathiassen & Arun Rai, 2018. "Managing Digital Platforms in User Organizations: The Interactions Between Digital Options and Digital Debt," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 419-443, June.
    3. Emmanuelle Vaast & Geoff Walsham, 2009. "Trans-Situated Learning: Supporting a Network of Practice with an Information Infrastructure," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 547-564, December.
    4. Pradeep Racherla & Munir Mandviwalla, 2013. "Moving from Access to Use of the Information Infrastructure: A Multilevel Sociotechnical Framework," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 709-730, September.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4907 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Liu, Yu-li & Wu, Yanfei & Li, Changyan & Song, Chuling & Hsu, Wen-yi, 2024. "Does displaying one's IP location influence users' privacy behavior on social media? Evidence from China's Weibo," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5).
    7. Sara Moussawi & Marios Koufaris & Raquel Benbunan-Fich, 2021. "How perceptions of intelligence and anthropomorphism affect adoption of personal intelligent agents," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(2), pages 343-364, June.
    8. Kolloch, Michael & Dellermann, Dominik, 2018. "Digital innovation in the energy industry: The impact of controversies on the evolution of innovation ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 254-264.
    9. Lucía Muñoz-Pascual & Carla Curado & Jesús Galende, 2021. "Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis on the Adoption of Environmental Practices: Exploring Technological- and Human-Resource-Based Contributions," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(13), pages 1-21, July.
    10. Cass, Noel & Schwanen, Tim & Shove, Elizabeth, 2018. "Infrastructures, intersections and societal transformations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 160-167.
    11. Sotiria Grek, 2022. "The education Sustainable Development Goal and the generative power of failing metrics [The Learning Metrics Task Force 2.0: Taking the Global Dialogues on Measuring Learning to the Country Level]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(4), pages 445-457.
    12. Sarv Devaraj & Ming Fan & Rajiv Kohli, 2002. "Antecedents of B2C Channel Satisfaction and Preference: Validating e-Commerce Metrics," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 316-333, September.
    13. Ashley Carse & Joshua A Lewis, 2017. "Toward a political ecology of infrastructure standards: Or, how to think about ships, waterways, sediment, and communities together," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(1), pages 9-28, January.
    14. Richard J. Boland & Kalle Lyytinen & Youngjin Yoo, 2007. "Wakes of Innovation in Project Networks: The Case of Digital 3-D Representations in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 631-647, August.
    15. Ulf Stein & Benedict Bueb & Gabrielle Bouleau & Gaële Rouillé-Kielo, 2023. "Making Urban Water Management Tangible for the Public by Means of Digital Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    16. Sims, Julian M., 2018. "Communities of practice: Telemedicine and online medical communities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 53-63.
    17. Berg, Sebastian & Thiel, Thorsten, 2019. "Widerstand und die Formierung von Ordnung in der digitalen Konstellation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 67-86.
    18. Ellen Balka & Sandra Whitehouse & Shannon T. Coates & Dug Andrusiek, 2012. "Ski hill injuries and ghost charts: Socio-technical issues in achieving e-Health interoperability across jurisdictions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 19-42, March.
    19. Gebauer, Judith & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2013. "Joining Supply and Demand Conditions of IT Enabled Change: Toward an Economic Theory of Inter-firm Modulation," Working Papers 13-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    20. Xin Xu & Viswanath Venkatesh & Kar Yan Tam & Se-Joon Hong, 2010. "Model of Migration and Use of Platforms: Role of Hierarchy, Current Generation, and Complementarities in Consumer Settings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(8), pages 1304-1323, August.
    21. Michael Breward & Khaled Hassanein & Milena Head, 2017. "Understanding Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Controversial Information Technologies: A Contextualization Approach," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 760-774, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:21:y:2010:i:4:p:748-759. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.