Edgar A. Whitley

A Critical Review of Cloud Computing: Researching Desires and Realities

Cloud computing has become central to current discussions about corporate information technology. To assess the impact that cloud may have on enterprises, it is important to evaluate the claims made in the existing literature and critically review these claims against empirical evidence from the field. To this end, this paper provides a framework within which to locate existing and future research on cloud computing. This framework is structured around a series of technological and service ‘desires’, that is, characteristics of cloud that are important for cloud users. The existing literature on cloud computing is located within this framework and is supplemented with empirical evidence from interviews with cloud providers and cloud users that were undertaken between 2010 and 2012. The paper identifies a range of research questions that arise from the analysis.

Dynamic consent: a patient interface for twenty-first century research networks

Biomedical research is being transformed through the application of information technologies that allow ever greater amounts of data to be shared on an unprecedented scale. However, the methods for involving participants have not kept pace with changes in research capability. In an era when information is shared digitally at the global level, mechanisms of informed consent remain static, paper-based and organised around national boundaries and legal frameworks. Dynamic consent (DC) is both a specific project and a wider concept that offers a new approach to consent; one designed to meet the needs of the twenty-first century research landscape. At the heart of DC is a personalised, digital communication interface that connects researchers and participants, placing participants at the heart of decision making. The interface facilitates two-way communication to stimulate a more engaged, informed and scientifically literate participant population where individuals can tailor and manage their own consent preferences. The technical architecture of DC includes components that can securely encrypt sensitive data and allow participant consent preferences to travel with their data and samples when they are shared with third parties. In addition to improving transparency and public trust, this system benefits researchers by streamlining recruitment and enabling more efficient participant recontact. DC has mainly been developed in biobanking contexts, but it also has potential application in other domains for a variety of purposes.

Against method‐ism

Provides a critique of method‐ism ‐ the view that methodology is necessary and sufficient for information systems’ development success; method‐ism presupposes also that systems developers understand the value of methodology and will prefer to work with it rather than without it. Argues, against method‐ism, that method flows from understanding, and not the reverse. Hence method cannot be a substitute for understanding. Discusses the way in which humans tend to interact with the world by means of ready‐to‐hand tools, using the ideas of Heidegger and Ihde. Shows that tools are used only if available (ready‐to‐hand) in the world of doing. If a methodology is not ready‐to‐hand, it will break down and be ignored in the pragmatics of getting the job done. Presents a number of arguments why methodologies by design will tend to break down (not be ready‐to‐hand) and hence be discarded.

The ranking of top IS journals: a perspective from the London School of Economics

The Information Systems and Innovation Group at the London School of Economics has developed a distinct profile of social theory driven research across a wide range of mainstream and specialist IS topics. In this paper, we explain why we do not find existing IS journal rankings appropriate for the assessment of quality of the publications of our Group. We present a set of lists of internationally recognised outlets that we provide to the committee responsible for promotions decisions in our university and we use to advise junior staff and students on where they should publish their work. In addition to these lists, decisions on research quality in our university require the opinion of specialist experts on both the particular outlet of a publication and the publication itself. We argue for the merits of our research quality assessment approach and reflect on its risks.

Vive les differences? Developing a profile of European information systems research as a basis for international comparisons

The information systems (IS) community is truly international, yet there is often a sense that different elements of the community have different profiles in terms of their research and publication expectations. This paper contributes to this discussion by developing a profile of European IS research that can be used as a basis for international comparisons. It reflects on European research on IS as presented during the first 10 years of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). Based on an analysis of all papers published in the ECIS proceedings during the period 1993–2002, the paper presents the key characteristics of the ECIS conferences, together with a profile of European IS research activity as presented at ECIS. In particular, it highlights the key references and sources used by researchers presenting papers at ECIS. It articulates the research areas presented at ECIS and explores the claim that European IS draws more on social theories than elsewhere. Its contribution in presenting a profile of European research in the IS field lies in identifying particular characteristics of the European style of research that can be compared to that undertaken in other parts of the world.

On the interpretative flexibility of hosted ERP systems

Abstract This paper explores the interpretative flexibility of ERP systems through the study of a project to implement a hosted system for the Central Accounting Department of a large multinational. The paper presents intensive case study data around the decision to implement the system and analyses it in terms of the interpretative flexibility of the system. The paper questions the extent to which technological features of the new system influence the perceived flexibility of the system.

Critically classifying: UK e-government website benchmarking and the recasting of the citizen as customer

In recent years, discussion of the provision of government services has paid particular attention to notions of customer choice and improved service delivery. However, there appears to be marked shift in the relationship between the citizen and the state moving from government being responsive to the needs of citizens to viewing citizens explicitly as customers. This paper argues that this change is being accelerated by government use of techniques like benchmarking, which have been widely used in the private sector. To illustrate this point, the paper focuses on the adoption of website benchmarking techniques by the public sector. The paper argues that the essence of these benchmarking technologies, a process comprised of both finding and producing truth, is fundamentally based on the act of classifying and draws on Martin Heideggers etymological enquiry to reinterpret classification as a dynamic movement towards order that both creates and obfuscates truth. In so doing, it demonstrates how Heideggers seminal ideas can be adapted for critical social research by showing that technology is more than an instrument as it has epistemic implications for what counts as truth. This stance is used as the basis for understanding empirical work reporting on a UK government website benchmarking project. Our analysis identifies the means involved in producing the classifications inherent in such benchmarking projects and relates these to the more general move that is recasting the relationship between the citizen and the state, and increasingly blurring the boundaries between the state and the private sector. Recent developments in other attempts by the UK government to use private‐sector technologies and approaches indicate ways in which this move might be challenged.

Global and organizational discourse about information technology

Over the past 20 years, the field of information systems has grown dramatically in theoretical diversity and global reach. This growth is reflected in the language that policy makers and organizational stakeholders use when they talk about their IT plans. As information technology penetrates further into organizational and global life, it becomes ever more important to articulate assumptions embedded in the discourse. This will help to clarify the complex and yet conceptually improvised or pasted-up worldview that becomes embodied in systems. The assumptions point to particular domains of discourse. The discourse sets up conventions and boundaries. It thus shapes what can or cannot legitimately be talked about, researched, addressed, or solved within the scope of IT. A number of practical and theoretical topics are discussed in detail, including: *Globalization, development, and space; *Mobilization of power; *ERP systems; *IS planning and projects; *Critical research and the study of discourse; *Public institutions; *Analytical frameworks. This book contains the selected proceedings of the Working Conference on Global and Organizational Discourse About Information Technology, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in Barcelona, Spain in December 2002.

Representing Human and Non-human Stakeholders: On Speaking with Authority

Information systems research is concerned with complex imbroglios of human and non-human components. As researchers, we need ways to represent the intricacies of the different stakeholders in such situations. Traditionally, it is assumed that representing the views of human stakeholders is relatively unproblematic, but that doing this for non-humans is far more complex. This paper addresses this assumption, drawing on the philosophy of science of Isabelle Stengers. It considers the case of the UK NHSnet project and focuses on two stakeholders in the project, one human (the patients) and one nonhuman (the encryption algorithm used to encode confidential patient data). As the case study shows, representing either stakeholder is equally problematic and the paper reflects on the implications of this for information systems research.

An alternative perspective on citation classics: Evidence from the first 10 years of the European Conference on Information Systems

We present an alternative perspective to the many citation classics papers that have appeared in the IS literature by presenting citation data from the first 10 years of the European Conference on IS (ECIS, 1993-2002), identifying the most frequently cited texts in this sample. We compared the ECIS citation classics with those presented by others and suggest that the ECIS data highlight the ways in which the IS field is more nuanced than previously reported. We thus provided insights how the field has developed internationally.