Design Theory for Societal Digital Transformation: The Case of Digital Global Health

2023 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Braa, Jørn; Sahay, Sundeep; Monteiro, Eric

Abstract: With societal challenges, including but not limited to human development, equit ... Expand

Abstract: With societal challenges, including but not limited to human development, equity, social justice, and climate change, societal-level digital transformation (SDT) is of imminent relevance and theoretical interest. While building on local-level efforts, societal-level transformation is a nonlinear extension of the local level. Unfortunately, academic discourse on digital transformation has largely left SDT unaccounted for. Drawing on more than 25 years of intensive, interventionist research engagement with the digital transformation of public healthcare information management and delivery in more than 80 countries in the Global South, we contribute to theorizing SDT in the form of a design theory consisting of six interconnected design principles. These design principles articulate the interplay and tensions of accommodating over time increased diversity and flexibility in digital solutions, while simultaneously connecting local, national, and regional/ global efforts. inception in three townships in post-apartheid South Africa, different versions and configurations of the DHIS have been adopted by more than 80 countriesincluding all but two African countries south of the Sahara, Norway, and other "developed" countriesthrough the efforts of universities, ministries of health, international organizations, funding, and various other agencies. Its ambition highlights the concerns of equity, inclusiveness, and ideology-that is, making design "that matters" (Bødker & Kyng, 2018) for society.According to Markus and Rowe (2021), the study of SDT to date remains underresearched (cf. also Vial, 2019), despite its tremendous significance in the different facets of social life globally. This mirrors the general critique that Jørn Braa is a professor at the University of Oslo, Norway, where he has spent much of his professional career initiating, cultivating, and promoting interventionist research on and around the DHIS2/ HISP efforts. He is the "father" of the project. His work has been published in outlets including the MIS Quarterly, The Information Society, Information Technology for Development, and in books.Sundeep Sahay is a professor at the University of Oslo, Norway and for the last couple of decades has been engaged in the DHIS2/ HISP project, with a main focus on Asia in general and India in particular. His work has been published in outlets including MIS Quarterly, Information and Organization, Information Systems Research, and in books.Eric Monteiro is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and an adjunct professor at the University of Oslo. He has a long-term, low-intensity engagement with DHIS2/ HISP spanning more than two decades. His work has been published in outlets including MIS Quarterly, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and a recent book. Collapse

Topics: public good digital transformation digital innovation information management health information system

Methods: design theory synthesis theory development theoretical contribution longitudinal research

Managing Misinformation within the Public Sector: Cases from the Global South

2023 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Jonathan, Gideon Mekonnen; Watat, Josue Kuika

Abstract: The advances in digital technologies and improved digital literacy have provide ... Expand

Abstract: The advances in digital technologies and improved digital literacy have provided myriads of opportunities for societies. Particularly in the public sphere, improved digitalisation has meant better access to information for citizens, among others. Digital technologies, such as social media, have been proven invaluable in events such as a public health crisis such as COVID-19. However, the adoption of these technologies has also brought challenges related to misinformation, where publicly available information is manipulated and disseminated for purposes that are against the public interest. This paper presents an ongoing empirical study that attempts to explore the measures taken by the public sector to manage misinformation. The study, conducted in two developing countries, explores the immediate and long-term approaches to tackling misinformation. The implication of the expected results for research and practice are also presented. Collapse

Topics: misinformation pandemic social media digital platform digital transformation

Methods: literature study qualitative interview survey survey design partial least squares path modeling

Spatial information and the legibility of urban form: Big data in urban morphology

2021 | International Journal of Information Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Boeing, Geoff

Abstract: Urban planning and morphology have relied on analytical cartography and visual c ... Expand

Abstract: Urban planning and morphology have relied on analytical cartography and visual communication tools for centuries to illustrate spatial patterns, conceptualize proposed designs, compare alternatives, and engage the public. Classic urban form visualizations – from Giambattista Nolli’s ichnographic maps of Rome to Allan Jacobs’s figure-ground diagrams of city streets – have compressed physical urban complexity into easily comprehensible information artifacts. Today we can enhance these traditional workflows through the Smart Cities paradigm of understanding cities via user-generated content and harvested data in an information management context. New spatial technology platforms and big data offer new lenses to understand, evaluate, monitor, and manage urban form and evolution. This paper builds on the theoretical framework of visual cultures in urban planning and morphology to introduce and situate computational data science processes for exploring urban fabric patterns and spatial order. It demonstrates these workflows with OSMnx and data from OpenStreetMap, a collaborative spatial information system and mapping platform, to examine street network patterns, orientations, and configurations in different study sites around the world, considering what these reveal about the urban fabric. The age of ubiquitous urban data and computational toolkits opens up a new era of worldwide urban form analysis from integrated quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Collapse

Topics: big data information management smart city Python

Methods: narrative analysis case study

Moderating effects of business-systems corruption on corruption in basic national institutions and electronic government maturity: Insights from a dynamic panel data analysis

2021 | International Journal of Information Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Khan, Anupriya; Krishnan, Satish

Abstract: Corruption has emerged as a well-debated subject against the backdrop of electro ... Expand

Abstract: Corruption has emerged as a well-debated subject against the backdrop of electronic government (e-govern­ ment). While e-government has attained a level of sophistication in leading countries, there are countries for which going digital remains comparatively new on their national schedules. Their struggle and lag in reaching maturity in e-government can be attributed to corruption, which is an infamous issue prevalent across the globe and argued to impede technological innovation. Despite such a possibility, there is a paucity of research examining the “corruption–e-government” linkage. This study, hence, adopts the institutional perspective for conceptualizing corruption and seeks to understand the relationship of corruption in basic national institutions and national stakeholder service systems with e-government maturity. Specifically, by grounding the discussion on the agency theory, the rent-seeking theory, and the perspective of institutions as structures of cooperation and power, this study analyses the moderating influence of corruption in a national stakeholder service system (i.e., business systems) on the relationship of corruption in three basic national institutions (i.e., political, legal, and media) with e-government maturity in a country. The hypothesized relationships are empirically validated using a panel data of 94 countries, and the findings confirm that political corruption, legal corruption, and businesssystems corruption in a country play vital roles in influencing its e-government maturity. Implications of our results to research and practice are discussed. Collapse

Topics: government system enterprise information system innovation management knowledge base legal information system

Methods: longitudinal research autocorrelation analysis survey post-hoc analysis theory development

Theories: agency theory theory of economic growth game theory transaction cost economics public choice theory

Toward a Better Understanding of Crisis and Online Prosocial Lending

2021 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Wang, Zhiyi; Yang, Lusi; Hahn, Jungpil

Abstract: In this study, we examine crowd lenders' responses to crisis as well as the var ... Expand

Abstract: In this study, we examine crowd lenders' responses to crisis as well as the variations of their responses. Drawing on the literature on crisis response and online prosocial behavior, we propose that lenders respond positively to loans in crisis-affected areas, and that such responses are shaped by contextual factors including loan value orientation and lenders' cultural orientation. With field data from the largest prosocial lending platform and the 2014 Ebola outbreak as a natural experiment design, we find that lenders respond positively to loans in crisis-affected areas. The results further suggest that lenders' positive responses are stronger to loans with greater economic value orientation rather than social value orientation, and lenders in collectivistic cultures respond more positively than those from individualistic cultures to loans in crisis-affected areas. We provide important implications for the literature on crisis response and prosocial behaviors. Practical implications are also discussed. Collapse

Topics: peer-to-peer lending crowdsourcing decision making natural hazard emergency management

Methods: experimental group natural experiment regression analysis method survey generalized linear model

Oppositional Logics and the Antecedents of Hybridization: A Country-Level Study of the Diffusion of Islamic Banking Windows, 1975–2017

2020 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Boone, Christophe; Özcan, Serden

Abstract: Little is known about when and where hybrid organizations diffuse. We argue that ... Expand

Abstract: Little is known about when and where hybrid organizations diffuse. We argue that neo-institutional perspectives, which stress the constraining role of market categories and institutional logics, have to be complemented with demand-side perspectives that stress the enabling force of economic incentives to explain the origins of hybrids. We develop theory to predict the country-level diffusion of hybrid forms in Islamic banking in the 1975–2017 period, during which many conventional banks invaded the domain of Islamic banking by starting to sell Islamic banking services, or so-called “Islamic windows.” Our findings underscore the relevance of simultaneously studying the impact of constraining and enabling forces. Consistent with neo-institutional theory, we find strong evidence that a lack of constitutive legitimacy of the window form—only in countries where Muslims make up a large share of the population—and the ideological polarization of local audiences reify the ideological boundaries between the oppositional banking logics, which in turn hampers the diffusion of windows in the focal country. At the same time, however, it appears that the failure of local credit markets and country-level economic globalization, the latter even more in countries with a Muslim majority, provide potent economic incentives for the diffusion of windows. By stressing the role of utilitarian incentives and material exchange as drivers of hybridization, we bridge the gap between neo-institutional and more rationalist approaches of institutional change. Collapse

Topics: database system website digital media social identity

Methods: hazard function descriptive statistic robustness check regression analysis method likelihood-ratio test

Theories: institutional theory dominant logic

Resilience in the Gaze of Ebola: Analysis from a Developing Country

2017 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Guah, Matthew Waritay

Abstract: Many studies have looked at resilience during natural disasters and national eme ... Expand

Abstract: Many studies have looked at resilience during natural disasters and national emergencies in a number of countries but hardly any have concentrated on developing countries and the implications of these nations’ sub-standard healthcare infrastructure, culture practices and relaxed control systems. This paper examines resilience during Liberia’s recent EBOLA epidemic and identifies lessons to be learned by others including executives of Non-Governmental Organizations frequently working on disaster relief projects in developing countries. The author builds on existing bodies of work and presents arguments on why governments in developing countries dealing with disaster management and disease emergencies should encourage communities to innovate autonomously as an important pathway to resilience. While the author does not provide specific recommendations, the paper proposes an approach that can connect the concerns of those implementing resilience initiatives and vulnerable populations by harnessing their potential for innovating autonomously. Collapse

Topics: emergency management pandemic telephone armed conflict natural hazard

Methods: qualitative interview descriptive statistic survey field study

Drivers of Durable Peace: The Role of Justice in Negotiating Civil War Termination

2017 | Group Decision and Negotiation | Citations: 0

Authors: Wagner, Lynn; Druckman, Daniel

Abstract: Attaining durable peace after a civil war has become a major challenge, as many ... Expand

Abstract: Attaining durable peace after a civil war has become a major challenge, as many negotiated settlements relapse into violence. How can civil war negotiations be conducted and peace agreements formulated so as to contribute to lasting, durable peace? Previous research has focused on the durability of peace agreements, measured as the absence of violence. This study develops an index to measure durable peace for a period of 8 years after the agreement had been reached, and evaluates the new measure using an existing data set. We ask whether impacts on durable peace are similar or different to those found for the durability of agreements. This question suggests a number of hypotheses that are evaluated with 16 cases of peace agreements. Stable agreements are shown to mediate the relationship between equality provisions in peace agreements and durable peace, and to also mediate the relationship between procedural justice and the reconciliation component of durable peace. Interestingly, economic stability is not a dividend of peace agreements. Collapse

Topics: armed conflict

Methods: mediation analysis descriptive statistic path analysis correlation analysis longitudinal research

Theories: distributive justice theory theory of economic development

Online Prosocial Microlending Decision Making: A Natural Experiment of Ebola Outbreak

2016 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Ding, Yi; Xu, Haifeng; Yang, Lusi; Tan, Bernard C Y

Abstract: In 2014, a devastating Ebola virus epidemic burst in West Africa, which tremendo ... Expand

Abstract: In 2014, a devastating Ebola virus epidemic burst in West Africa, which tremendously impaired the economies in the affected areas. During this crisis, in addition to traditional donations, some new forms of prosocial behaviors, such as online prosocial microlending, were adopted to help people in and near the affected areas. In this study, we extend the spotlight and gradient model to investigate people’s online prosocial microlending decision making after natural disasters, which is both financial (rational) and prosocial (irrational) in nature. By leveraging the Ebola outbreak in 2014, we design a natural experiment to compare lender’s online prosocial microlending behavior before and after the disaster. We find that the average amount of online prosocial microlending in unaffected areas increases after the natural disaster and the increase is negatively related to the distance between the borrower and the affected areas. Collapse

Topics: natural hazard decision making website

Methods: experimental group Student's t-test parametric test natural experiment difference in differences

Theories: cognitive attention theory

The Role of Online Peer-to-Peer Lending in Crisis Response: Evidence from Kiva

2016 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Yang, Lusi; Wang, Zhiyi; Ding, Yi; Hahn, Jungpil

Abstract: Online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, a new form of microfinance, has been touted a ... Expand

Abstract: Online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, a new form of microfinance, has been touted as to its prominent potential for reducing world poverty. Although a growing body of IS research has been devoted to examining online P2P lending, how such platforms actually make a difference in curbing poverty has yet to be fully explored. The Ebola outbreak of 2014 provides us a unique empirical opportunity to explore such broader impacts of online P2P lending. Leveraging this event as a natural experiment, we investigate how the demand and supply sides of P2P lending platforms react to an unpredictable crisis. Employing a difference-in-difference identification strategy with data from Kiva.org, we conduct country- and loan-level estimations. Preliminary results show upward trends on both demand and supply sides of P2P lending; borrowers request more financial capital and lenders are more active in their lending behaviors in the post-crisis period. We extend online P2P lending literature by investigating the influences of “off-platform” shocks on within-platform behaviors. Collapse

Topics: peer-to-peer lending crowdsourcing digital platform decision making application programming interface

Methods: experimental group regression analysis method difference in differences natural experiment propensity score matching