Identifying Issues for the Bright ICT Initiative: A Worldwide Delphi Study of IS Journal Editors and Scholars

Information and communication technology (ICT) continues to change business as we know it. As ICT further integrates into our daily lives, it creates more opportunities to both help and hinder fundamental social problems throughout the world. In response to these growing and urgent societal needs, the Association for Information Systems approved the Bright ICT Initiative to extend IS research beyond a focus on business to take on the broader challenges of an ICT-enabled bright society. We conducted a Delphi study to provide guidance on where bright ICT-minded researchers might focus to produce their greatest impact. In this paper, we report on our findings. The Delphi panel comprised 182 globally distributed IS journal editors who participated in a three-round consensus-building process via the Internet. Our results provide a framework of eleven research priority areas and specific research topics for those engaged in future-oriented, socially conscious IS research

The Role of ICT as a Double-Edged Sword in Fostering Societal Transformations

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have been central to economies seeking improvements in societal conditions. The impacts of ICT advancements manifest themselves in both socioeconomic and sociopolitical changes. While socioeconomic restructuring and, more recently, sociopolitical changes have often been attributed to ICT, research on its impacts and nuances in countries differentiated by economic levels remains sparse. The focus has been on the two ends of the strata for developing and developed economies and restricted to the impacts of ICT on economic metrics like GDP growth. In this study, we explore the pivotal role of ICT in societal transformations for countries categorized as developing, transition, and developed economies. Leveraging endogenous growth theory and social network theory, we hypothesize about the different impacts of ICT across the three economic classifications. Using panel data from 1995 to 2012 for 37 countries belonging to the three economic groups, we empirically investigate the associations between ICT investments and societal outcomes. Our results reveal that ICT has an impact on societal outcomes for transformations, but the nature of its contributions to social change varies with the stage of a country’s economic development. The analysis suggests that developing economies benefit the most from ICT investments with an overall improvement in socioeconomic and sociopolitical conditions, while the ICT effects are either insignificant or negatively inclined for developed economies. Transition economies show mixed ICT effects in stimulating socioeconomic and sociopolitical transformations. These results provide insights for actionable policies and suggest directions for building an ICT-enabled Bright Society

Changes in the Relationship Between ICT Use and Economic Development in EU Member States 2010-2016

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The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Self-Management of Chronic Diseases: An Empirical Investigation through Value Sensitive Design

This paper primarily investigates sensitivity towards patients’ values in the designs of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) that are capable of empowering them. We focus on the role of ICTs in self-management (SM) of diabetes, a chronic disease. Chronic diseases, declared an invisible epidemic by the World Health Organization, cause and perpetuate poverty and impede the economic development of many countries. As a means of informing the design of ICTs that facilitate self-management, we draw on value sensitive design (VSD) to conduct an in-depth interpretive field study to reveal the values that are important to diabetic patients. Specifically, we reveal twelve values shared by these patients: accessibility, accountability, autonomy, compliance, dignity, empathy, feedback, hope, joy, privacy, sense-making, and trust. A conceptual model emerged from analyzing interviews with diabetic patients; this model explains how these values, which are integrated into ICT features, afford or constrain patients’ abilities to self-manage their activities. This study makes multiple theoretical contributions: By granting ICT artifacts a clear theoretical status, it advances the field of SM that has nominally covered ICTs; it extends design research by extending the VSD literature and by introducing a valuecentric design perspective to examine a complex sociotechnical system; and it broadens work system theory by applying it in the healthcare space. The study’s findings have implications for design science researchers, healthcare providers, and policymakers

Coping with Self-harm in Elderly People: The Impact of Internet Use on Suicidal Ideation

Given the significant costs of suicidal behavior for society, suicide prevention is one of the most urgent issues for most countries. By considering suicidal ideation as a strong indicator of suicide, this paper examines how Internet use influences suicidal ideation and its underlying mechanisms in the context of older adults. Synthesizing the interpersonal theory of suicide with prior literature on Internet use, this study explains that Internet use can reduce suicidal ideation through enhanced social belongingness. Our results using data from 6,056 older adults show that Internet use is negatively associated with suicidal ideation in older adults. The present study further highlights the mediating role of social connectedness (i.e., perceived loneliness and social relationship satisfaction) as an underlying mechanism between Internet use and suicidal ideation. Contributions and practical implications for addressing elderly suicidal problems and future works are discussed

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF ICTS IN PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION: THE CASE OF SYRIAN REFUGEES IN GERMANY

With a number of refugees around the world reaching disastrous proportions, there is a growing pressure to understand which measures are effective in promoting social inclusion of refugees in their new homes. Considering an exemplary IT-savviness of the current refugee wave, there is a growing hope in the power of Social Media and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in supporting integration processes. Contributing to this discourse, in this study we build on the qualitative analysis of fifteen interviews with Syrian refugees in Germany. Based on the capability approach, our findings reveal dependencies between properties of ICTs and their use, ICT-enabled capabilities relevant for refugees, and the corresponding contribution of ICTs to the processes of social inclusion. On the theoretical level, our findings extend current understanding of the ICT effects on the processes of social inclusion in the refugee context. From the practical standpoint, our findings provide actionable recommendations for policy-makers in their efforts to achieve integration

Parents’ Awareness on Online Predators: Cyber Grooming Deterrence

The rapid increase of information and communications technology is manifested by its tremendous positive outcomes on the economy, business, and society. However, online application use by adolescents, especially mobile technology, has caused uneasiness among parents owing to cyber grooming incidents. This study reflects on the current cyber grooming situation. Investigating the current state of online grooming and the means through which parents can ensure the online safety of their adolescents from adults offering “candy” or wanting to start a relationship is necessary. Teen behavior related scholars believe that parents play a vital role in building safe environments. We conducted a qualitative study by interviewing 19 parents with children between the ages of 13 and 17 years in an urban setting to determine the level of the parents’ awareness. Interviews were conducted based on five key components, namely, social media, unknown friends, sex education, private chats, and family time. The results present the actual situations of the parents and highlight related challenges as well as adolescents’ ignorance and vulnerability to cyber grooming. Results are mapped to three main determinants of cyber grooming, namely, parental factors, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. We conclude with insights and recommendations for parents, schools, and the government to be vigilant for online predators by increasing awareness of cyber grooming

How Deep is your Work? The Day-to-Day Effects of Information and Communication Technology Use on Deep Work of Employees

Prior empirical work provides contradictory findings on the consequences of information and communication technologies (ICT) use at work, indicating both positive and negative consequences for employees. Integrating insights from the deep work framework with flow literature and cognitive load theory, we build and test a dynamic theoretical model to explain these contradictory findings. We move the research perspectives of ICT use and deep work to a dynamic perspective and investigate day-to-day changes in ICT use and deep work on the within-person level. The results of our quantitative diary study (n=387) provide evidence that technical ICT use has a positive effect on deep work whereas social ICT use has an inverted U-shaped relationship with deep work. The effects of social and technical ICT use on deep work depend on workplace telepressure, work experience, and knowledge intensity of work