Track Chairs

Johann Kranz, Associate Professor, University of Munich, Germany. Email: kranz@lmu.de

Savanid (Nui) Vatanasakdakul, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University, Australia. Email: 
Savanid.vatanasakdakul@mq.edu.au

Abhay Nath Mishra, Associate professor, Iowa State University, USA. Email:abhay@iastate.edu

 

Track Description

Sustainably Digital

We call for papers that study information systems from the perspective of sustainability including topics such as sustainably digital supply-chains, internet of things, sharing models, vehicle systems etc. ECIS 2019 calls for research that enables the advanced development of digital information technologies for a sharing society. This track is dedicated to research that takes an integrative perspective on information systems and opportunities for sharing data, information, knowledge, and things to create a more sustainable world.

The challenges are abundant, but so are solutions that will help humankind to pursue a sustainable development—one that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Our Common Future –report, UN, 1987). As such, sustainability is investigated from diverse perspectives, typically focusing on environmental, economic, and social aspects (Elkington 1997).

Information systems are an increasingly essential building block of many approaches to achieve the United Nation’s millennium goals (Elliot 2011; Melville 2010). First, information systems can help individuals, organizations, and society at large to choose more sustainable alternatives that reduce negative externalities on society and environment (e.g., pollution, traffic, digital divide), and thus contribute to environmental sustainability. Second, information systems have always aimed to contribute to economic sustainability, for instance, through management information systems, transaction processing systems, or data management systems. Third, information systems can form the global gateway to sustainability through sensor and actuator networks (internet of things), business information systems, or data management, amongst others. Importantly, the three dimensions are closely intertwined, and the topic of sustainability is now addressed from a view of a single bounded ecosystem.

The aim of this theme track is to advance the ongoing, yet emergent, discussion on the role and relevance of information systems in the context of sustainability. It intends to provide thought leaders with a forum that accounts for the breadth of sustainability research in the information systems discipline in terms of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Potential topics range from the design of systems and digital services for sustainability to the application of existing theories on change at the individual, group, organizational, and societal levels, as well as the development of new theory. We particularly look for rigorous research that shows that IS can have a “real impact” on the pressing issues of sustainability.

This track is supported by the AIS SIGGreen.

 

Topics of interest includes (but not limited to) the following:

  • Green IS solutions for sustainability

  • Green IS for smart infrastructures (e.g., energy, transportation, building, government)

  • Sustainably digital business models and solutions (e.g., sharing economy, internet of things)

  • Ecological, social, and economic impacts of IT

  • Organisational and societal sustainability transformations

  • IS-based social entrepreneurship

  • Blockchain-based solutions for sustainability

  • IS-enabled sustainability education and training

  • Crowdsourcing and environmental collaboration

  • Sustainable IS-design

  • Convergence between Green IS theory and practice

 

References

Elkington, J. (1997) Cannibals with Forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business, Oxford: Capstone.

Elliot, S. (2011) "Transdisciplinary perspectives on environmental sustainability: A resource base and framework for IT-enabled business transformation", MIS Quarterly, 35(1), pp. 197-236.

Melville, N.P. (2010) "Information systems innovation for environmental sustainability", MIS Quarterly, 34(1), pp. 1-21.

 

Publishing Opportunities in Leading Journals

The Information Society will invite high-quality papers for review.

 

Track Associate Editors

1. Jason Dedrick, Professor, Syracuse University, USA

2. Heiko Gewald, Professor, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, Germany 

3. Tobias Brandt, Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

4. Dobin Yim, Assistant Professor, The George Washington University, USA

5. Daphne Simmonds, MSU Denver, USA

6. John Campbell, Professor, Australian National University, Australia

7. Rodney Clarke, Associate Professor, University of Wollongong, Australia

8. Stefan Seidel, Professor, University of Liechtenstein

9. Kai Zhao, Assistant professor, Georgia State University, USA

10. Andre Hanelt, University of Göttingen, Germany

11. Konstantina Valogianni, IE Business School, IE University, Spain

12. Satish Krishnan, IIM Kozhikode, India