The Role of Trust in Promissory Organizations in IS Innovation Adoption – Development of a Research Model

Promissory organizations like IS analysis companies or academic institutions have started to play an increasingly important role in the way organizations make sense of IS innovations. Research has so far neglected how the trust that potential adopters place in these promissory organizations affects institutional pressures that promissory organizations exert on them. In this research-in-progress paper, we develop a research model to analyze the effects of different trusting beliefs – integrity, competence, and benevolence beliefs – in IS analysis companies and IS scholars, and how they affect potential adopters’ performance expectations in the early diffusion stages of an IS innovation. We expect this model to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of promissory organizations as a mechanism of producing institutional trust and the importance of institutional trust for potential adopter firms in IS innovation adoption

Trust and Money or Value Transfers: A study of the implications of global value conflict generated by UN Security Council Resolution 1373

Trust is a fundamental aspect of any given functional society. However, since late September 2001, the UN approach to global financial governance appears to have been driven by distrust of other less formalized money or value transfer (MVT) systems. At the core of this ‘Global Regulatory Effort’ (GRE) is UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1373, which mandated that states legislate to regulate all informal MVT systems. In particular, the MVT system known as ‘hawala’ was implicated by US authorities in the funding of the acts of terrorism committed on September 11 in 2001. Although the focus of this multilateral effort was predominantly on the Islamic hawala system, the regime targeted any MVT system not linked to an established commercial banking operation. In this way UNSCR 1373 put a line in the sand between trustworthy and untrustworthy financial service providers. The necessity of this unprecedented step was ostensibly in order to prevent any future global acts of terrorism and maintain international peace and security. However, the regime’s approach implicitly legitimized formal Westernstyle financial systems while delegitimising all others. This study contends that a significant implication of this securitized approach to global financial governance was the creation of a Global Trust Conflict (GTC). The Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008 and the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender by El Salvador emphasize the significance of this Conflict. Moreover, the emergence of blockchain technology, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) represents a new and challenging front in which the implications of the Conflict may be significant. Particularly in terms of the prevailing nature of trust provision services throughout the global economy. As a result, new possibilities for the shape of global order have arisen as state and private interests compete to influence the future of remittances. This research argues that the UNSCR 1373 mandate is anti-competition and served to institutionalize distrust of non-bank MVT systems. This includes traditionally informal remittances and emergent decentralized value transfer systems built on blockchain technology. This thesis concludes that a Global Trust Conflict exists, which constitutes the most significant barrier to regulatory efficacy and compliance aimed at MVT systems

Contracts Ex Machina

Smart contracts are self-executing digital transactions using decentralized cryptographic mechanisms for enforcement. They were theorized more than twenty years ago, but the recent development of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies has rekindled excitement about their potential among technologists and industry. Startup companies and major enterprises alike are now developing smart contract solutions for an array of markets, purporting to offer a digital bypass around traditional contract law. For legal scholars, smart contracts pose a significant question: Do smart contracts offer a superior solution to the problems that contract law addresses? In this article, we aim to understand both the potential and the limitations of smart contracts. We conclude that smart contracts offer novel possibilities, may significantly alter the commercial world, and will demand new legal responses. But smart contracts will not displace contract law. Understanding why not brings into focus the essential role of contract law as a remedial institution. In this way, smart contracts actually illuminate the role of contract law more than they obviate it

Public Participation Organizations and Open Policy:A Constitutional Moment for British Democracy?

This article builds on work in Science and Technology Studies and cognate disciplines concerning the institutionalization of public engagement and participation practices. It describes and analyses ethnographic qualitative research into one “organization of participation,” the UK government–funded Sciencewise program. Sciencewise’s interactions with broader political developments are explored, including the emergence of “open policy” as a key policy object in the UK context. The article considers what the new imaginary of openness means for institutionalized forms of public participation in science policymaking, asking whether this is illustrative of a “constitutional moment” in relations between society and science policymaking

Controlling new knowledge: Genomic science, governance and the politics of bioinformatics

The rise of bioinformatics is a direct response to the political difficulties faced by genomics in its quest to be a new biomedical innovation, its value being that it acts as the bridge between the promise of genomics and its realization in the form of health benefits. Western scientific elites are able to use their close relationship with the state to control and facilitate the emergence of new domains compatible with the existing distribution of epistemic power – all within the embrace of public trust. The incorporation of bioinformatics as the saviour of genomics had to be integrated with the operation of two key aspects of governance in this field: the definition and ownership of the new knowledge. This was achieved mainly by the development of common standards and by the promotion of the values of communality, open access and the public ownership of data to legitimize and maintain the governance power of publicly funded genomic science. Opposition from industry advocating the private ownership of knowledge has been largely neutered through the institutions supporting the science-state concordat. However, in order for translation into health benefit to occur and public trust to be assured, genomic and clinical data have to be integrated and knowledge ownership agreed across the separate and distinct governance territories of scientist, clinical medicine and society. Tensions abound as science seeks ways of maintaining its control of knowledge production through the negotiation of new forms of governance with the institutions and values of clinicians and patients

IT Industry Analysts: A Review and Two Research Agendas

The firms involved in analyzing the information technology industry (IT), such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, are reputed to have a major impact on both IT vendors and IT adopters through their influence over how IT actually is acquired and used. The purpose of this article is to take stock of the nascent stream of research on industry analysts that has developed in recent years in order to shed some light on the IT analysis industry―to analyze the IT industry analysts, if you will. Using an organizational field-level lens, we look at the business models of the firms that operate in this industry. We examine the main institutional work that the analysts in these firms perform as status arbiters, institutional carriers, network brokers, IT fashion setters, and knowledge entrepreneurs. We examine the competitive and institutional pressures faced by analysts in these firms. Finally, we propose two research agendas: (1) to study the impact that this industry has had, and could continue to have, on the IT industry as a whole, and (2) to study how the relationship between the academic information systems community and the IT analysis industry might co-evolve

Bringing Candor to Charitable Solicitations

The American public donates a staggering amount of money to nonprofit charities. These charities routinely solicit and receive money from donors for specific, earmarked purposes. Often, however, charities ignore their obligations to use money for these designated uses. In many circumstances, even a seemingly benign redirection of earmarked gifts for other charitable purposes could constitute fraud and misrepresentation. Breaking the implicit or explicit promise to use money in a designated manner harms donors, charities, and the public. Prospective donors assess the value of charitable donations in a manner similar to the way they value consumer goods and services and can be swayed by false claims. Accordingly, allowing distortions of perceived value misleads donors when they are directing their charity. In light of detailed examinations of charitable-organization spending practices, this Article will propose that charities should adhere to a new, higher level of candor in their public communications. Maintaining a renewed, scrupulous approach to disclosure would, in Chief Justice John Marshall’s parlance in Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, ensure “that the charity will flow . . . in the channel” that the donors expressly choose

Caracterización de la cadena productiva de cuyes en el sur de Colombia e identificación de los factores determinantes para la adecuada prestación de servicios de extensión

The development of agrifood systems in Latin America reflects contrasting policy goals. Most governments advocate that “modernization,” measured as increased rates of technology adoption, is the way to address persistent food insecurity. By contrast, peasants’ and indigenous people’s organizations and social movements propose advancing knowledge co-production and co-innovation to increase the resilience of agrifood systems. Colombia reformed the National Innovation System for Agriculture in 2017. The policy reform instructed transitioning from providing “technical advice” to rural extension services. The research aimed to fill the knowledge gap regarding the transition to rural extension along the guinea pig production chain.   In addition to characterizing the production chain, we conducted qualitative and reflectivity analyses to understand better how institutional practices and research cultures hinder or promote transitioning to rural extension. The investigation revealed that small-scale farmers who rely on the production and commercialization of guinea pigs as a livelihood strategy have continued receiving advice to adopt the latest technologies. In closing, besides addressing technological deficits or inefficiencies, a systemic approach that considers cultural context and identity must integrate into rural extension to ensure technological adoption is aligned with the sustainability and resilience objectives of the guinea pig production chain.El desarrollo de los sistemas agroalimentarios en América Latina refleja objetivos de política contrarios. La mayoría de los gobiernos defienden que la “modernización”, medida como mayores tasas de adopción de tecnología, es la forma de abordar la inseguridad alimentaria persistente. Por el contrario, las organizaciones campesinas e indígenas y los movimientos sociales proponen avanzar en la coproducción de conocimiento y la coinnovación para aumentar la resiliencia de los sistemas agroalimentarios. Colombia reformó el Sistema Nacional de Innovación para la Agricultura en 2017, la cual instruyó la transición de prestación del servicio de asistencia técnica al de extensión rural. El propósito de la investigación fue llenar el vacío de conocimiento sobre la transición al extensionismo rural a lo largo de la cadena productiva cuyícola. Además de caracterizar la cadena productiva, se realizaron análisis cualitativos y de reflexividad para comprender mejor la manera en que las prácticas institucionales y las culturas de investigación obstaculizan o promueven la transición hacia la extensión rural. La investigación reveló que los pequeños agricultores quienes dependen de la producción y comercialización de cuyes como estrategia de subsistencia han seguido recibiendo asesoramiento para adoptar las últimas tecnologías. Se concluyó que, además de abordar los déficits o las ineficiencias tecnológicas, se debe integrar un enfoque sistémico que considere el contexto cultural y la identidad al extensionismo rural a fin de garantizar que la adopción tecnológica se ajuste a los objetivos de sostenibilidad y resiliencia de esta cadena productiva

Deviations of Governance In IT Multi-Sourcing: A Case Study

IT outsourcing (ITO) refers to the shift of IT/IS activities from internal to external of an organization. In prior research, the governance of ITO is recognized with persistent strategic importance for practice, because it is tightly related to ITO success. Under the rapid transformation of global market, the evolving practice of ITO requires updated knowledge on effective governance. However, research on ITO governance is still under developed due to the lack of integrated theoretical frameworks and the variety of empirical settings besides dyadic client-vendor relationships. Especially, as multi-sourcing has become an increasingly common practice in ITO, its new governance challenges must be attended by both ITO researchers and practitioners. To address this research gap, this study aims to understand multi-sourcing governance with an integrated theoretical framework incorporating both governance structure and governance mechanisms. The focus is on the emerging deviations among formal, perceived and practiced governance. With an interpretive perspective, a single case study is conducted with mixed methods of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and qualitative inquiries. The empirical setting embraces one client firm and its two IT suppliers for IT infrastructure services. The empirical material is analyzed at three levels: within one supplier firm, between the client and one supplier, and among all three firms. Empirical evidences, at all levels, illustrate various deviations in governance mechanisms, with which emerging governance structures are shaped. This dissertation contributes to the understanding of ITO governance in three domains: the governance of ITO in general, the governance of multi-sourcing in particular, and research methodology. For ITO governance in general, this study has identified two research strands of governance structure and governance mechanisms, and integrated both concepts under a unified framework. The composition of four research papers contributes to multi-sourcing research by illustrating the benefits of zooming in and out across the multilateral relationships with different aspects and scopes. Methodologically, the viability and benefit of mixed-method is illustrated and confirmed for both researchers and practitioners.IT-palveluiden ulkoistamisen tarkoituksena on hankkia organisaation tarvitsemat IT-palvelut toiselta organisaatiolta. Hankittavien palveluiden laatu on aiemman tutkimuksen mukaan riippunut siitä, miten palveluiden ulkoistusta on hallittu. Aihepiiristä ei kuitenkaan ole olemassa integroitua tieteellistä viitekehystä. Lisäksi aiempi IT-palveluiden hallintaa käsittelevä empiirinen tutkimus on perehtynyt vain kahdenvälisiin asiakas–tuottaja suhteisiin. Tämän johdosta on tärkeää tutkia lisää IT-palveluiden ulkoistamisen hallintaa yleensä ja erityisesti niissä tilanteissa, joissa IT-palvelut on ulkoistettu useille toimijoille eli kyse on IT-palveluiden moniulkoistamisesta. Tässä tutkimuksessa kehitettiin IT-palveluiden moniulkoistamisen hallintaan soveltuva integroitu, tieteellinen viitekehys, joka sisältää sekä hallinnan rakenteet että hallinnan mekanismit. Työn empiirisessä osassa erityisenä kiinnostuksen kohteena oli se, mitä palvelun hallinnasta oli virallisesti sovittu, kuinka eri osapuolet olettivat hallinnan tapahtuvan, ja miten hallinta käytännössä toteutui. Aihetta tutkittiin tulkitsevan tapaustutkimuksen keinoin yhdistäen puolistrukturoitua haastattelututkimusta ja sosiaalisten verkostojen analyysiä. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin yhdestä asiakasyrityksestä ja sen kahdesta IT-palveluiden toimittajasta. Aineiston analysointi tehtiin kolmella tasolla: yksittäisen toimittajayrityksen, asiakkaan ja toimittajan välisen suhteen sekä kaikkien toimijoiden välisten suhteiden tasolla. Tutkimuksessa osoitetaan, että aiempi IT-palveluiden ulkoistamisen hallintaa käsittelevä tutkimus on jakautunut kahteen tutkimusalueeseen, joista toinen keskittyy hallinnan mekanismeihin ja toinen hallinnan rakenteisiin. Tutkimuksessa kehitetty IT-palveluiden ulkoistamisen hallinnan uusi viitekehys hyödyntää sekä hallinnan mekanismeihin että hallinnan rakenteisiin liittyviä käsitteitä. Tutkielma osoittaa, että moniulkoistamiseen liittyviä toimijoita kannattaa analysoida sekä itsenäisinä toimijoina että verkoston jäseninä. Tutkimus nostaa myös esille hyötyjä laadullisten ja määrällisten tutkimusmenetelmien yhdistämisestä sekä tieteellisen tutkimuksen tekemisessä että yritysten käytännön kehitystyössä.Siirretty Doriast

H3Africa and the African life sciences ecosystem: building sustainable innovation

Interest in genomics research in African populations is experiencing exponential growth. This enthusiasm stems in part from the recognition that the genomic diversity of African populations is a window of opportunity for innovations in postgenomics medicine, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The recently launched H3Africa initiative, for example, captures the energy and momentum of this interest. This interdisciplinary socio-technical analysis highlights the challenges that have beset previous genomics research activities in Africa, and looking ahead, suggests constructive ways H3Africa and similar large scale science efforts could usefully chart a new era of genomics and life sciences research in Africa that is locally productive and globally competitive. As independent African scholars and social scientists, we propose that any serious global omics science effort, including H3Africa, aiming to build genomics research capacity and capability in Africa, needs to fund the establishment of biobanks and the genomic analyses platforms within Africa. Equally they need to prioritize community engagement and bioinformatics capability an d the training of African scientists on these platform s. Historically , the financial, technological, and skills imbalance between Africa and developed countries has created exploitative frameworks of collaboration where African researchers have become merely facilitators of Western funded and conceived research agendas involving offshore expatriation of samples. Not surprisingly, very little funding was allocated to infrastructure and human capital development in the past. Moving forward, capacity building should materialize throughout the entire knowledge co-production trajectory: idea generation (e.g., brainstorming workshops for innovative hypotheses development by African scientists), data generation (e.g., genome sequencing), an d high-through put data analysis an d contextualization . Additionally, building skills for political science scholarship that questions the unchecked assumptions of the innovation performers be they funders, scientists, and social scientists, would enable collective innovation that is truly sustainable, ethical, and robust