Making the developing world a better place with high‐impact IS research

Abstract

The boundless potentials of digital technologies offer a promise to move us closer to make the world a better place for all. Despite this promise, decades of information systems (IS) research, particularly in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), demonstrate a myriad of challenges that prevent us from realising the positive impacts of digital technologies. In cases where positive impacts are evidenced, it may not be clear to what extent and how digital technologies contribute to those outcomes. This special issue echoes the immense and rather precursory question Walsham (2001) formulated at the onset of the expansion of now ubiquitous digital technologies: “Are we making a better world with information technology?” (p. 251). In particular, this special issue is dedicated to understand the benefits digital technology initiatives can bring to billions of people in the less privileged parts of the world (often referred to as developing countries, the Global South, or, in a rather archaic fashion, as the Third World). It is a moral imperative for us, members of the IS community, to contribute to a theoretical understanding of the role digital technologies can play in making the world a better place. As we expressed in the call for papers of this special issue, the practical implications that IS research can bring to real organisational and societal problem situations and their stakeholders should be of prime concern to all researchers who desire to make the world a better place. IS researchers have been discussing the intertwined relationship between digital technologies and social problems for some time now. The inaugural meeting of the International Federation for Information Processing—Working Group 9.4 “Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries” held in New Delhi in 1988 marked the foundation of an academic community, which has been consolidated over the years. This gathering also paved the path for the creation of “sister” communities that congregate scholars, policy makers, and donors on a regular basis. Similarly, niche journals focusing on the examination of digitally enabled initiatives to address social issues in less privileged contexts have been around for long—eg, Information Technology for Development (since 1986), Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (since 2000), and Information Technologies and International Development (since 2003). Mainstream IS journals special issues devoted to analyse the mechanisms by which digital technologies contribute to address pressing social issues in different contexts corroborate the growing interest in this topic. Building on the Information Systems Journal s previous special issue on “Theorising development and technological change,”we believe that, in order to advance this area of research, we need tomove beyond a technological deterministic focuswith the assumption of a positive impact of digital technologies (Hayes, Miscione, Silva, &Westrup, 2013) by demonstrating actual positive impacts that they deliver. This special issue contributes to the intellectual conversations in this area. We are witnessing an increasing number of people accessing and benefiting from digital technologies worldwide accompanied by a continuous drop in the price of accessing technology, the widespread use of mobile devices, and technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and big data analytics (ITU, 2018; World Bank, 2018). However, harnessing the potential of technology requires the ability for individuals to use digital technologies in a meaningful way (van Dijk, 2006) and responsible use by organisations, including governments