Technology as an observing system : a 2nd order cybernetics approach

The role of technology in modern society is becoming fundamental to society itself as the boundary between technological utilization and technological interference narrows. Technology penetrates the core of an ever-increasing number of application domains. It exerts considerable influence over institutions, often in subtle ways that cannot be fully understood, and the effects of which, cannot be easily demarcated. Also, the ever-expanding ecosystem of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) results in an emergent complexity with unpredictable consequences. Over the past decades this has created a tension that has led to a heated debate concerning the relationship between the technical and the social. Some theorists subsume the technical into the social, others proclaim its domination, others its autonomy, while yet others suggest that it is a derivative of the social. Starting with Luhmann’s remark that technology determines what we observe and what we do not observe, this paper takes the approach that infers there are multiple benefits by looking into how Systems Theory can provide a coherent theoretical platform upon which these interactions can be further explored. It provides a theoretical treatise that examines the conditions through which the systemic nature of technology can be inspected. Also, the paper raises a series of questions that probe the nature of technological interference in other ‘function-systems’ of society (such as the economy, science, politics, etc). To achieve this goal, a 2nd order cybernetics approach is employed (mostly influenced by the works of Niklas Luhmann), in order to both investigate and delineate the impact of technology as system. Toward that end, a variety of influences of Information Systems (IS) are used as examples, opening the door to a complexity that emerges out of the interaction of technology with its socio-economic and political context. The paper describes technology as an observing system within the context of 2nd order cybernetics, and looks into what could be the different possibilities for a binary code for that system. Finally, the paper presents a framework that synthesizes relevant systems theoretical concepts in the context of the systemic character of technology

The role of information systems in the prevention and detection of transnational and international crime

© Cambridge University Press 2014. All around the world criminal activity remains at the forefront of governmental concerns, not only as a problem that distorts the very fabric of society within the confines of national jurisdictions, but also as a problem that cuts across national borders to exhibit a global dimension. The international dimension of criminal activity remains critical and is generally characterized by a complexity that is unique and requires action on many different levels. Criminals set out to mask their illegal activities and deliberately generate complexity as a means of concealment. In doing so, they exploit new developments in technology that assist them in achieving their ends. This criminality exhibits forms of innovation that stretch far beyond traditional criminal activity (e.g., drug and human trafficking) and manages to attach itself within the broader fabric of society by exploiting the very latest developments. This evolution is necessary as criminals seek not only to escape arrest, prosecution and conviction, but also to enjoy the fruits of their criminality (mostly financial gains). Thus, they seek to develop ways of exploiting the various diffuse norms of social interaction (e.g., trust), financial modes of conduct (e.g., cash-based economies), technological and communication developments (e.g., Internet), and thereby minimize the possibility for detection. By limiting the resources that can be made available for prevention (or making them obsolete when developing new criminal behaviour), they participate in this co-evolution actively; and this they achieve by generating complexity

An observer-relative systems approach to information

By returning to the foundational principles of second-order cybernetics and resting on the central role of the observer, this essay explores how the distinction between data/information can be conceptualized. Using systems theory, we derive a series of systemic principles for the distinction between data/information and we illustrate them with a case study from Anti-Money Laundering

Fighting money laundering with technology: a case study of Bank X in the UK

This paper presents a longitudinal interpretive case study of a UK bank’s efforts to combat Money Laundering (ML) by expanding the scope of its profiling of ML behaviour. The concept of structural coupling, taken from systems theory, is used to reflect on the bank’s approach to theorize about the nature of ML-profiling. The paper offers a practical contribution by laying a path towards the improvement of money laundering detection in an organizational context while a set of evaluation measures is extracted from the case study. Generalizing from the case of the bank, the paper presents a systems-oriented conceptual framework for ML monitoring

House of Cards: developing KPIs for monitoring cybersecurity awareness (CSA)

Non-malicious insider threats continue to pose a significant concern to an organisation’s cybersecurity defence strategy, yet organisations still struggle to contain such insider threats. A critical pillar for doing so rests on the development and monitoring of Cybersecurity Awareness (CSA) programmes. CSA programmes need to be both prioritised and acknowledged as an important and crucial approach to the reduction of such threats. Although CSA programmes are developed on an ad-hoc basis by many organisations, the effectiveness of such programmes and how their entire lifecycle needs to be reviewed, monitored and managed needs to be further explored. In order to do so, this paper extracts a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring CSA programmes. The paper relies on empirical data from an in-depth case study of University X in Saudi Arabia and sensitises the research approach by using Kirkpatrick’s four level model as a theoretical scaffold. Through the combined use of Kirkpatrick’s model that is recognised as a comprehensive model for evaluating the results of training and learning programmes and the empirical data from the case study, we offer a customised CSA-oriented model for managing cybersecurity awareness programmes, reflect on its associated KPIs, and consider broader information security management considerations

Re-thinking de-risking: a systems theoretical approach

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the de-risking phenomenon through Luhmann’s risk/danger model and demonstrate that de-risking should be facilitated and encouraged. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies Luhmann’s system theory and more specifically his risk/danger model to describe the de-risking phenomenon and identify recommendations to address its consequences. Findings: The paper finds that re-defining risk and the anti-money laundering (AML)’s community’s understanding of it can support key stakeholders’ understanding of money laundering (ML) risk and the way to better address consequences of AML decisions. Practical implications: The paper has implications for the banking and regulatory community in relation to the interpretation of de-risking. As systems aim to minimise their exposure to risk, they should not be prevented from de-risking. Originality/value: This paper aims to move away from a narrative description of AML phenomena and presents a theoretical foundation for the analysis of ML risk. The current response to de-risking which demonises it and aims to prevent it is deconstructed through this theoretical lens

When Humans Using the IT Artifact Becomes IT Using the Human Artifact

Following Lee & Demetis [20] who showed how systems theorizing can be conducted on the basis of a few systems principles, in this paper, we apply these principles to theorize about the systemic character of technology and investigate the role-reversal in the relationship between humans and technology. By applying systems-theoretical requirements outlined by Lee & Demetis, we examine conditions for the systemic character of technology and, based on our theoretical discussion, we argue that humans can now be considered artifacts shaped and used by the (system of) technology rather than vice versa. We argue that the role-reversal has considerable implications for the field of information systems that has thus far focused only on the use of the IT artifact by humans. We illustrate these ideas with empirical material from a well known case from the financial markets: the collapse (“Flash Crash”) of the Dow Jones Industrial Average

Science's First Mistake

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The purpose of the book is to deconstruct the process of knowledge discovery and theory construction. Grounded in the tradition of second-order cybernetics, the concept of self-reference is used in the context of systems theory in order to examine the mode in which observation, paradox and delusion become 'structurally coupled' with cognition. To put this simply, physical scientists take it as a given that all the universe is explainable once we've discovered the underlying rules. Whereas social scientists and philosophers are more sensitive to the issues around how the observer actually impacts that which is being observed. The authors work in the fields of Information Studies, which is within the technical or physical realm, and Management Studies, which is about human behaviour. Their argument is that all scientists (physical and social) rely too much on the absolutism and certainty of the methods of traditional physical science and that we should acknowledge the limitations of how we know what we know. Rooted in information systems analysis this fresh and audacious examination of knowledge discovery and theory construction makes an important contribution to the understanding of how we employ scientific method

A systems theoretical approach for anti-money laundering informed by a case study in a Greek financial institution: Self-reference, AML, its systematic constitution and technological consequences.

This dissertation constitutes a systems theoretical analysis of Anti-Money Laundering that dismisses the projected ideals of holism and delves into the core of Systems Theory (ST) in the tradition of second-order cybernetics. This theoretical approach of ST is appropriated in order to describe the domain of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) as a system in itself and at the same time examine the consequences that technology comes to play within the system of AML. While the contemporary phenomenon of AML has been reduced mostly into a set of technological consequences from profiling technologies (technologies that attempt within financial institutions to model and simulate money-laundering behaviour for the generation of suspicious transactions), this dissertation takes a different approach. Instead of focusing at profiling technologies that are believed to be the core technological artefacts that influence AML within financial institutions, this dissertation examines a variety of information systems and their interplay and describes through empirical findings the multitude of interactions that are technologically supported and that construct a much more complex picture of dealing with AML and thereby influencing how money-laundering is perceived. The empirical findings supporting the theoretical treatise come from a longitudinal case study of a Greek financial institution where a systematic examination takes place regarding a variety of information systems that may affect AML within the bank. Beyond isolated interferences of information systems to AML, their interrelations are further examined in order to reflect on the emergent complexity that often distorts cause-and-effect AML manipulations. The theoretical contributions put forward, constitute a systems theoretical application and an expansion of technological/systemic interferences, while the practical contributions to AML cover broader systems-theoretical reflections on the domain, technological integration within financial institutions for targeting ML, feedback relations between financial institutions and Financial Intelligence Units, as well as the systemic consequences for the newly implemented risk-based approach