IT Artifacts and The State of IS Research

To understand the state of IS research is, to a large extent, to understand (1) what are considered IT artifacts by IS scholars, and (2) how do IS scholars approach IT artifacts in their studies. This study addresses these two questions by providing a conceptual model of five types of core IT artifacts and a five-facet framework of IS scholars’ approaches to studying IT artifacts. Using a critical literature review, the conceptualizations are tested with the collective wisdom by IS scholars in the most recent IS studies published in the 2009 and 2010 ICIS proceedings. The findings shed light on where the IS discipline is standing in terms of its focus on IT artifacts. Implications for research and practice are discussed. This study contributes to our continued understanding of the development and evolution of the IS discipline and the potential directions it may take

An accurate method to correct atmospheric phase delay for InSAR with the ERA5 global atmospheric model

Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) has proven its unprecedented ability and merits of monitoring ground deformation on a large scale with centimeter to millimeter accuracy. However, atmospheric artifacts due to spatial and temporal variations of the atmospheric state often affect the reliability and accuracy of its results. The commonly-known Atmospheric Phase Screen (APS) appears in the interferograms as ghost fringes not related to either topography or deformation. Atmospheric artifact mitigation remains one of the biggest challenges to be addressed within the DInSAR community. State-of-the-art research works have revealed that atmospheric artifacts can be partially compensated with empirical models, point-wise GPS zenith path delay, and numerical weather prediction models. In this study, we implement an accurate and realistic computing strategy using atmospheric reanalysis ERA5 data to estimate atmospheric artifacts. With this approach, the Line-of-Sight (LOS) path along the satellite trajectory and the monitored points is considered, rather than estimating it from the zenith path delay. Compared with the zenith delay-based method, the key advantage is that it can avoid errors caused by any anisotropic atmospheric phenomena. The accurate method is validated with Sentinel-1 data in three different test sites: Tenerife island (Spain), Almería (Spain), and Crete island (Greece). The effectiveness and performance of the method to remove APS from interferograms is evaluated in the three test sites showing a great improvement with respect to the zenith-based approach.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Opening up design science: The challenge of designing for reuse and joint development

The purpose of this paper is to advance design science by developing a framework for research on reuse and the relationship between external IT artifacts and their users. A design science approach to IS research needs to grapple with the fact that a number of relevant, economically attractive, external IT artifacts cannot be designed from scratch nor meaningfully evaluated based on the current state of development, and so design science research will struggle with incomplete cycles of design, relevance, and rigor. We suggest a strategic research agenda that integrates the design of the relationship between an external IT artifact and the user by considering the impact artifacts exert on users. Three dimensions derived from adaptive structuration theory inform our framework on three levels of design granularity (middle management, top management, and entrepreneur): agenda considers the dynamic properties of technological objects, adaptability refers to the functional affordance of external artifacts in development, and auspice captures the symbolic expression and scope for interpretation. We derive implications for research design

Evolution of security engineering artifacts: a state of the art survey

Security is an important quality aspect of modern open software systems. However, it is challenging to keep such systems secure because of evolution. Security evolution can only be managed adequately if it is considered for all artifacts throughout the software development lifecycle. This article provides state of the art on the evolution of security engineering artifacts. The article covers the state of the art on evolution of security requirements, security architectures, secure code, security tests, security models, and security risks as well as security monitoring. For each of these artifacts the authors give an overview of evolution and security aspects and discuss the state of the art on its security evolution in detail. Based on this comprehensive survey, they summarize key issues and discuss directions of future research

State of IT Artifacts: An Analysis of ICIS 2009 Research Papers

The notion of IT artifact as the core of the IS discipline has been generally accepted by IS scholars, despite a thick gray area consisting of multiple and varied conceptualizations of IT artifacts. In this study, we do not seek to clarify this gray area, or to impose any specific worldview upon it. Rather, we strive to present an accurate representation of the current state of IT artifacts as researchers conceptualized them. We do so through content analysis of 134 research articles from the most recent proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2009. We consider three facets for our analysis: IT artifact conceptualization adopted from Orlikowski and Iacono’s (2001), context of a study, and granularity of IT artifact treatment. These facets inform us as to the current state of IT artifacts. We provide discussions about the intersections of these three facets, comparison of our analysis of IT artifacts to two other studies, and provide implications for IS scholars and the IS discipline as a whole

Toward an IT Agenda

The state of the information technology discipline is explored. A point of departure is a depiction of the IT field in a computing space along with computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, and information systems. This examination motivated a proposed distinctive anchoring theme for the IT discipline as deployment and configuration. Recommendations are made for advancing the research component of an IT agenda by seizing on jurisdictional vacancies, abstracting from professional practice, and drawing upon theoretical results from the systems sciences, serving as a reference discipline for IT. Five IT research thrust areas are proposed: IT artifacts, enterprise architectural infrastructure, interaction models, system performance, and domain induction. Appendices provide context by discussing viewpoints on the IS-IT relationship, perspectives on the role of artifacts in IS-IT research, and observations on the perceived standing of IT as a discipline or sub-discipline

National Register Eligibility Testing of Site 41BO184, Brazoria County, Texas

Site 41BO184 is located within the right-of-way for the proposed expansion of State Highway 35 at the Oyster Creek crossing in southern Brazoria County. It was originally recorded as a multicomponent site in 1994 and was the subject of three distinct and limited archeological investigations by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) staff. In 2003, TxDOT contracted with the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio to test the National Register of Historic Places and State Archeological Landmark eligibility of the site. Systematic mechanical auger borings, ten hand-excavated 1-x-1-meter test units, and Gradall scrapings helped identify a very sparse Late Prehistoric, possibly Rockport, component at the site. Although it is possible that at least some of the prehistoric artifacts come from the shell-paved driveway that cross-cut the site, it is also possible that some of the prehistoric artifacts represent in situ finds. The historic component, rich in temporally diagnostic ceramic fragments, dates to the mid-nineteenth century. The lack of intact features, the small size of the artifact assemblage, and the reduced size of the available materials, severely limits the research potential of the site. Therefore, it is recommended that site 41BO184 is not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places nor does it warrant designation as a State Archeological Landmark

Information Technology and Systems - III. Research Publications in Systems Development during 2000-2004

Although systems development research is at the core of the Information Systems discipline, some scholars call attention to a teaching and research gap in this area of IS. In this study, we examine the state of systems development research in IS by analyzing the articles published in three leading journals between 2000 and 2004. We propose a classification framework based on the type of research paradigm (design vs. explanatory) and the nature of the IT-artifact (conceptualization vs. instantiation). Our results show that about 20% of the articles published in this five year period are focused on systems development. In two of the three journals, there are comparable proportions of studies in the design research and in the explanatory paradigm. However, in all three publications most of the articles are focused on conceptual IT-artifacts, as opposed to algorithms or software-based artifacts. These findings are important for system development researchers when they choose journals where to send their papers