Research Commentary---Digital Infrastructures: The Missing IS Research Agenda

  • Authors:

  • David Tilson;Kalle Lyytinen;Carsten Sørensen

  • Affiliations:

  • Simon Graduate School of Business, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14267;Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106;Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom

  • Venue:
  • Information Systems Research
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Since the inauguration of information systems research (ISR) two decades ago, the information systems (IS) field's attention has moved beyond administrative systems and individual tools. Millions of users log onto Facebook, download iPhone applications, and use mobile services to create decentralized work organizations. Understanding these new dynamics will necessitate the field paying attention to digital infrastructures as a category of IT artifacts. A state-of-the-art review of the literature reveals a growing interest in digital infrastructures but also confirms that the field has yet to put infrastructure at the centre of its research endeavor. To assist this shift we propose three new directions for IS research: (1) theories of the nature of digital infrastructure as a separate type of IT artifact, sui generis; (2) digital infrastructures as relational constructs shaping all traditional IS research areas; (3) paradoxes of change and control as salient IS phenomena. We conclude with suggestions for how to study longitudinal, large-scale sociotechnical phenomena while striving to remain attentive to the limitations of the traditional categories that have guided IS research.