Norris Syed Abdullah

Emerging challenges in information systems research for regulatory compliance management

Managing regulatory compliance is increasingly challenging and costly for organizations world-wide. While such efforts are often supported by information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) tools, there is evidence that the current solutions are inadequate and do not fully address the needs of organizations. Often such discrepancy stems from a lack of alignment between the needs of the industry and the focus of academic research efforts. In this paper, we present the results of an empirical study that investigates challenges in managing regulatory compliance, derived from expert professionals in the Australian compliance industry. The results provide insights into problematic areas within the compliance management domain, as related to regulatees, regulations and IT compliance management solutions. By relating the identified challenges to existing activity in IS research, this exploratory paper highlights the inadequacy of current research and presents the first industry-relevant compliance management research agenda for IS researchers.

A compliance management ontology: developing shared understanding through models

Managing regulatory compliance is increasingly challenging and costly for organizations world-wide. Due to the diversity of stakeholders in compliance management initiatives, any effort towards providing compliance management solutions demands a common understanding of compliance management concepts and practice. This paper reports on research undertaken to develop an ontology to create a shared conceptualization of the compliance management domain, namely CoMOn (Compliance Management Ontology). The ontology concepts are extracted from interviews and surveys of compliance management experts and practitioners, and refined through synthesis with leading academic literature related to compliance management. A semiotic framework was utilized to conduct a rigorous evaluation of CoMOn through a series of eight case studies spanning a number of industry sectors. The consensus achieved through the evaluation has positioned CoMOn as a comprehensive domain ontology for Compliance Management.

Semantic Representation of Process and Service Compliance – A Case Study in Emergency Planning

Emergency events like natural disasters and large scale accidents pose a number of challenges to handle. The requirement to coordinate a wide range of organizations and activities, public and private, to provide efficient help for the victims can often be complicated by the need to comply with requisite policies and procedures. Current process and service models that represent domains such as emergency planning do not provide sufficient artefacts with respect to compliance requirements. In this paper, we argue that techniques for compliance management in business processes can be applied to the emergency domain. We provide a high level model for the representation of compliance requirements within business processes and services. Hence, we demonstrate the application of the model in the emergency planning domain. Finally, we present an analysis derived from the case study that identifies the current limitations and requirements for semantic extensions of process and service models in order to cater for compliance.

Social Network Sites (SNS) Utilization in Learning Landscape – Systematic Literature Review

Social network sites (SNS) have been widely used around the world to facilitate communication and engagement in the education landscape. The availability of various SNS types and their different functions have provided instructors and students with options in adding value to their learning process. However, there still lack of guidance on how to choose and strategize SNS utilization in learning. This paper explores SNS utilization by instructors and students in supporting the learning environment. The resources of the data are taken from four digital databases and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show the current types of SNS most used for learning purposes are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp. The main uses of these SNS are identified as being for communication, collaboration, sharing information, enhancing learning and social connection.

Success factors Model for ICT shared services

Shared services is a consolidation of support functions in organization, to provide services as efficiency and effectively as possible. The implementation shared services in organization become more crucial especially in ICT shared services. However, how to measure the successful ICT shared services is still lacking. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence success in ICT shared services and determine the level of ICT shared services implementation. The study uses a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the factors characterizing the success of the ICT shared services model. The SLR reveals six factors which influence the success of ICT shared services in the organization. These factors are organized using multiple theories under three different perspectives: technologies, organizational and the personnel responsible for producing the ICT shared services Model.

Compliance management ontology --- a shared conceptualization for research and practice in compliance management

The diversity of stakeholders in compliance management initiatives contributes to the challenges organisations face when managing compliance, and consequently adds to the cost of compliance. In particular, there is evidence that the lack of a common or shared understanding of compliance management concepts is a barrier to effective compliance management practice. Taking an information-centric view to addressing this challenge, this paper reports on the development of an ontology intended to provide a shared conceptualisation of the compliance management domain for various stakeholders. The ontology is based on input from domain experts and practitioners, validated and refined through eight case studies, and subsequently evaluated for its usability in practice.