[AISWorld] In case you missed it over the holidays....Contents of Volume 18, Issue 12 (December) Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS)

[JAIS]

Contents of Volume 18, Issue 12 (December) Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS)

Contents of Volume 18, Issue 12 (December) Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), Official Publication of the Association for Information Systems
Published: Monthly Electronically
ISSN: 1536-9323
Published by the Association for Information Systems, Atlanta, USA (http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/)

Editor-in-Chief:  Professor Suprateek Sarker, University of Virginia, USA

Special Issue: Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D): The Next Grand Challenge for IS Research

Editorial

Flipping the Context: ICT4D, the Next Grand Challenge for IS Research and Practice

Sundeep Sahay, University of Oslo
Maung K. Sein, University of Agder
Cathy Urquhart, Manchester Metropolitan University

To obtain a copy of the entire editorial, click on the link below:
Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol18/iss12/5


Paper

Exploring the Dialectics Underlying Institutionalization of IT Artifacts

John Alver Dobson, Clark University
Brian Nicholson, University of Manchester

Abstract

We examine the relationship between information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) and local historically embedded institutions. We argue that, to understand the process of implementing IT artifacts, one needs to consider not only technical feasibility and economic viability but also institutional permissibility. We present a novel theoretical framework based on dialectics and institutional theory and apply it to a case study that contributes a dialectics-centered framework illustrated with empirical data from the informal sector in Latin America. The analysis demonstrates the institutionalization of IT artifacts as a conflicted and contested process and that historical institutions may enable some forms of institutionalization while resisting others contrary to social norms. We examine the emergence of contradictions, active praxis, and the resulting outcomes before concluding that, for IT artifacts to contribute to development, one must emphasize the embedded institutional arrangements and contestation that historically embedded institutions present. We conclude the paper by discussing the theoretical and practical implications.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol18/iss12/4 


Paper

The Doing of Datafication (And What this Doing Does): Practices of Edification and the Enactment of New Forms of Sociality in the Indian Public Health Service

Seamas Kelly, University College Dublin
Camilla Noonan, University College Dublin

Abstract

In this paper, we offer a performative, praxeological account of ongoing attempts to cultivate practices of datafication in the Indian public health service. In particular, we distinguish between two broad forms that such practices took—systematic practices of datafication and edifying practices of datafication—that involve data being enacted or performed in different ways. We explore the power of these different kinds of datafication practices by examining what their doing does and demonstrate how each—by enacting particular kinds of subject and object positions—is deeply implicated in the (re)production of different forms of human sociality. Describing these socialities as “authoritarian-bureaucratic” and “dialogic”, we explore the distinctive kinds of moods and affectivities that they generate. We conclude by drawing out some of the implications for research and practice.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:  http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol18/iss12/3 


Paper

Insights from an ICT4D Initiative in Kenya’s Immunization Program: Designing for the Emergence of Sociomaterial Practices

Isaac Holeman, University of Cambridge and Medic Mobile
Michael Barrett, University of Cambridge

Abstract

ICT4D initiatives hold the potential to transform health service delivery in settings of poverty, yet, in practice, they face many of the same implementation complexities and coordination challenges as the global health and development programs that they aim to streamline or strengthen. Researchers and practitioners alike are now quick to observe that “context matters”, but such an observation does not amount to a coherent alternative vision of more appropriate ICT4D design and implementation. In this paper, we draw on the metaphor of imbrication to elucidate the iterative process by which ICTs become entangled with particular contexts of use. Our longitudinal ethnographic study examines the implementation and iterative redesign of an Internet of things (IoT) technology that collects real-time data and alerts health workers of disruptions in the cold storage of vaccines in Kenya. Extending recent work on imbrication, we show that technologies imbricate not only with the social context but also with local material infrastructure and that designers play a limited yet clearly consequential role in this process. To explain these findings, we highlight instances of material “back talk” and concomitant practice breakdown in which initial attempts to shape a situation yield puzzling or unappreciated consequences, which lead designers to accommodate material realities and, ultimately, pursue unanticipated courses of action. Drawing on these conceptual tools, we reveal six overlapping activities through which designers may guide the emergence of sociomaterial practices. We say that they design for the emergence of sociomaterial practices to underscore that designers cannot predict or control all contextual complexities, though they can adapt to them when they arise. Based on our insights about this process, we develop three contributions. First, we offer fresh perspective on the longstanding concern with local context in ICT4D research. Second, we suggest that our notion of designing for the emergence of sociomaterial practices is relevant for and adds to contextually aware design research frameworks such as action design research. Finally, we propose that ICT4D practitioners should attend to practice breakdowns and material back talk as they grapple with the complexities of the implementation bottleneck in global health and development.


To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol18/iss12/2 


Paper

Health Information Systems and Accountability in Kenya: A Structuration Theory Perspective

Roberta Bernardi, Royal Halloway University

Abstract

Health information systems (HIS) in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been often implemented under the international pressure of accounting for healthcare investments. The idea behind robust and efficient HIS is that health information can allow healthcare managers and providers to better plan and monitor health services, which may translate into better health outcomes. Yet, researchers have often criticized the use of HIS as accountability tools as being counterproductive by making health information more meaningful to national governments and international agencies than those in charge of local health services. In this paper, I analyze how HIS influence the emergence of local accountability practices and their consequences for healthcare provision. I build a theoretical perspective from structuration theory and integrate it with the technology domain of HIS. I use this perspective to analyze a case study of HIS in Kenya. This study raises implications for the use of structuration theory in understanding accountability and the role of IT materiality in processes of structuration. It contributes to a better understanding of how HIS can foster improved healthcare and human development. It also contributes to the understanding of IS as means not just for governing people’s behavior but also of socialization through which users can negotiate multiple accountability goals.


To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:  http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol18/iss12/1 


We hope that you enjoy this special issue.  From the entire editorial team at JAIS, we wish you all the best for the New Year!  We await your best work in 2018!



Elizabeth White Baker, PhD
Production Managing Editor, Journal of the AIS
jais at comm.virginia.edu