Inter-organizational Information Systems: From Strategic Systems to Information Infrastructures

This paper reports on a series of panels and workshops held at the Bled eConference since 2004. It aims at reconstructing the developing understanding of Inter-organizational Information Systems (IOIS) over the years as evidenced by these workshops, which have been designed to provide a forum to discuss emerging topics, fields, and strategies for IOIS research on a network and industry level. This paper provides an overview of the workshops and a detailed coverage of the last one in order to give a thorough and vivid account of its contributions. The paper not only takes a historical lens in documenting the workshops but also in discussing the transformation from strategic systems to information infrastructures. It reflects the enabling role of the Bled eConference for workshops series and the workshops’ contribution to the Bled conference

The changing role of Customs:Customs aligning with supply chain and information management

The World Customs Organization (WCO) Framework of Standards to Secure andFacilitate Global Trade (SAFE) introduced concepts of supply chain supervision and authorised operator schemes. While it has been implemented in many countries, supply chain supervision still requires further exploration and development. In this article we present a vision on how the role of Customs could change in the coming years, taking into account innovations in supply chain management and information technology. We present how the Customs Administration of The Netherlands adapts their supervision, based on these innovations. The innovations range from the data pipeline to collect extra data to cross-validate customs declarations, the use of big data and data analytics, new advances in detection technology, handheld apps to check goods and drones to support surveillance

Breaking the ice between government and business: from IT-enabled control procedure redesign to trusted relationship building

Tan, Y.H. [Promotor]Butter, F.A.G. den [Promotor

An Information Infrastructure to Improve International Containerized Shipping

This thesis applies theoretical perspectives from the Information Systems (IS) research field to propose how Information Technology (IT) can improve containerized shipping. This question is addressed by developing a set of design principles for an information infrastructure for sharing shipping information named the Shipping Information Pipeline (SIP). Review of the literature revealed that IS research prescribed a set of meta-design principles, including digitalization and digital collaboration by implementation of Inter-Organizational Systems based on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages, while contemporary research proposes Information Infrastructures (II) as a new IT artifact to be researched. Correspondingly, this thesis applies the concept of and design theory for II to improve containerized shipping. Activity Theory has guided the analysis of containerized shipping, following avocados on their journey from the trees in Africa, to the retail shelves in Europe, revealing the plethora of organizations, activities and documents involved. The implication being that containerized shipping becomes inefficiently; costly, unreliably, and risky. These are posited as the major impediments to creating a more efficient shipping industry, and a number of critical issues are identified. These include that shipments depend on shipping information, that shipments often are delayed due to issues with documentation, that EDI messages account for only a minor part of the needed information, that multiple fragmented II are used throughout, and finally, that there is an unleashed potential for IT to support containerized shipping. Based on the above, the SIP was designed, prototyped and evaluated which, through Internetenabled collaboration on shipments, ameliorates the previously mentioned critical issues and major impediments. This is accomplished primarily through increased transparency into the containerized shipping process and through providing direct access to source information about the shipments. Based on the prototypes an accumulated set of design principles for the design of SIP are articulated. In the particular context of Internet-enabled II utilizing the World Wide Web, an extension of design theory is proposed through the formulation of an additional metadesign principle: share meta-information only and govern access to detailed information by the source. Finally, the practical implications of SIP are estimated, including how it facilitates more efficient containerized shipping and in turn sustainable international trade. The positive acknowledgements of SIP prototypes support how II designed in accordance with the developed set of design principles can be used to significantly improve containerized shipping

Data Sharing Issues and Potential Solutions for Adoption of Information Infrastructures: Evidence from a Data Pipeline Project in the Global Supply Chain over Sea

Information infrastructures have gained significant momentum in today’s information economy. They are defined as shared, open and evolving socio-technical systems providing distinct IT capabilities. The Cassandra EU project aims to enhance visibility of the international flow of goods over sea with an electronic data pipeline as an information infrastructure. This paper presents data sharing issues that could prevent adoption of the Cassandra Pipeline. Potential solutions are provided regarding access restriction and data sharing. In addition solutions are derived from the design theory for dynamic complexity in information infrastructures of Hanseth and Lyytinen (2010), proposing to gain momentum by starting small, focusing on immediate benefits for supply chain partners and obtaining experience using simple prototypes. This paper underlines that designers of the Cassandra Pipeline as an information infrastructure need to think carefully about the implications of restricting access and non-obligatory or obligatory data sharing, both allowing for generativity and trust while preventing potential abuse at the same time

Interconnecting Governments, Businesses and Citizens – A Comparison of Two Digital Infrastructures

Part 2: Services and InteroperabilityInternational audiencePublic and private organizations in various areas are setting up digital Information Infrastructures (IIs) for interconnecting government, businesses and citizens. IIs can create value by sharing and integrating data of multiple actors. This can be the basis for value added services and especially collaborations of public and private partners can make IIs thrive. Easier access to integrated services and products (jointly) offered by government and businesses may stimulate transparency and innovations. IIs are under development in many domains, including for open data and international trade. However, there are notable differences in the design, characteristics and implementation of the IIs. The objective of this paper is to compare two diverse IIs in order to obtain a better understanding of common and differing elements in the IIs and their impact. Among the differences are the roles of government, businesses and users, in driving, developing and exploitation of the IIs

TOWARDS THE APPLICATION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVING TRADE FACILITATION IN CEFTA 2006

The benefits and value drivers of customs digitalization are considerable. The key motivation is the efficiency associated with minimizing the cost of managing documents throughout the trade process, including costs associated with the exchange of documents with other countries, as well as the procurement and facilitation of those documents. Since it is of general knowledge that effective trade facilitation signifies reliability and security of the trade transactions we think that blockchain technology may be able to offer a high level of confidence in these areas to both traders and regulators. The proposal presented in this paper is focused on jointly moving all (customs) stakeholders towards a standardized integration of collaborative processes. By investigating blockchain solutions along with technology and standards, we propose a pathway to achieving an international system-to-system integration. Taking into consideration the realization of deeper integration among the countries, especially in the field of trade and digital integration, we try to analyze how blockchain technology can help support that integration. In order to analyze the possible application of this technology for deepening CEFTA integration through enhancing trade facilitation we briefly refer to its’ positive aspects. Instead of developing individual software solutions in CEFTA countries it might be beneficial to move services to a blockchain technology platform. While currently, this might be hindered by local policies, blockchain technology will have its’ influence and application in trade facilitation as it has in many other fields. With full awareness of the possible threats and challenges, it is of the utmost importance to engage in discovering the most compatible pathway to apply this technology in regional trade facilitation and deepen digital integration among CEFTA member countries

Proceedings of RSEEM 2006 : 13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets

Electronic markets have been a prominent topic of research for the past decade. Moreover, we have seen the rise but also the disappearance of many electronic marketplaces in practice. Today, electronic markets are a firm component of inter-organisational exchanges and can be observed in many branches. The Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets is an annual conference bringing together researchers working on various topics concerning electronic markets in research and practice. The focus theme of the13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets (RSEEM 2006) was ?Evolution in Electronic Markets?. Looking back at more than 10 years of research activities in electronic markets, the evolution can be well observed. While electronic commerce activities were based largely on catalogue-based shopping, there are now many examples that go beyond pure catalogues. For example, dynamic and flexible electronic transactions such as electronic negotiations and electronic auctions are enabled. Negotiations and auctions are the basis for inter-organisational trade exchanges about services as well as products. Mass customisation opens up new opportunities for electronic markets. Multichannel electronic commerce represents today?s various requirements posed on information and communication technology as well as on organisational structures. In recent years, service-oriented architectures of electronic markets have enabled ICT infrastructures for supporting flexible e-commerce and e-market solutions. RSEEM 2006 was held at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in September 2006. The proceedings show a variety of approaches and include the selected 8 research papers. The contributions cover the focus theme through conceptual models and systems design, application scenarios as well as evaluation research approaches