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CFP: Human Benefit through the Diffusion of IS Design Science Research

Call for Papers

IFIP WG 8.2 + 8.6 Joint International Working Conference
Perth, Western Australia, Tuesday 30 March - Thursday 1 April 2010

General Co-Chairs:
Deborah Bunker, University of New South Wales, Australia
Nancy Russo, Northern Illinois University, USA

Program Co-Chairs:
Jan Pries-Heje, Roskilde University, Denmark
John Venable, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

Organizing Chairs:
John Venable & Jan Pries-Heje

Design Science Research (DSR) is a research area and approach that has recently received much attention in Information Systems. DSR has become a new way of creating and studying phenomena, where the understanding comes from building solutions to problems, and is touted as a means for the IS field to improve its relevance.

However, design (and DSR) is informed by organisational and societal needs, is conducted in an organisational and societal environment, is diffused and adopted into various different organisational and societal settings, has organisational and societal consequences, and is (ideally) evaluated for how well it works and solves problems in the real (organisational and societal) world.

Adoption and diffusion is particularly important to the success of DSR due to the complex interactions of design artefacts with social and organizational contexts. Importantly, the choice of goals and problems addressed by DSR, and who is entitled to make those choices, is seminal and should be examined critically. DSR cannot ignore these concerns.

IS research needs to, therefore, take a (more) holistic perspective, which integrates DSR and behavioural research.

To address this need, the theme of this international working conference is to address issues related to the integration and cross-fertilisation of DSR with the organisational and societal research areas traditionally covered by IFIP Working Groups 8.2 (Information Systems and the Organisation) and 8.6 (Transfer and Diffusion of IS).

The conference aims to cover information systems and technology issues, as well as organizational and managerial issues, related to adoption and diffusion of design. A number of possible questions and perspectives are identified below, although submissions on any traditional topic of IFIP WG 8.2 or 8.6 will also be considered. Along with traditional papers, the conference is soliciting case studies, practitioner presentations and poster sessions.

Examples of Questions to Address within the Theme

  • How has DSR been adopted by the field of IS to date?
  • What should the goals of DSR be? What problems should DSR endeavour to solve?
  • How can IS be designed for human benefit?
  • What ethical, organisational, or behavioural theories can inform DSR?
  • DSR implies a focus on utility; but utility for whom?
  • How does one ensure the grounding of IS evaluation outside the research laboratory?
  • How could DSR processes be improved?
  • How can IS be designed to facilitate innovation, diffusion and adoption?
  • How can innovation, adoption and diffusion research inform design science?
  • How can DSR outcomes (design artefacts) be better diffused?
  • What kinds of environments would facilitate diffusion of DSR?
  • What theories and frameworks would improve the understanding of DSR innovation, diffusion and adoption issues?
  • What are best practices relating to DSR innovation, evaluation, diffusion and adoption?
  • Innovation, adoption and diffusion studies of specific design artefacts.

Important Dates

Paper submission deadline: 31 July 2009 (on the website)
Acceptance notification: 15 October 2009
Final camera-ready copy and early-registration: 1 December 2009
Conference: 30 March - 1 April 2010

Location

Summer is the perfect time of year to visit Western Australia. Weather is typically ideal with blue sky and moderate dry heat. For more information about Perth, Fremantle and Western Australian please visit the Tourism WA website (http://www.westernaustralia.com/au/)

The conference sessions will be held at the wonderful campus of Curtin University of Technology close to the centre of the dual cities Perth and Fremantle. For more information about Curtin University please visit their website (http://about.curtin.edu.au/)

Submissions

We invite those interested in participating to submit one of the following:

  • Completed research papers (7000 words maximum - strictly enforced)
  • Case studies on innovation, agility and diffusion of DSR (5000 words)
  • Practitioner experience short papers (2500 words)
  • Poster presentations (one page including text and graphics)
  • Panel proposals

All papers will be double blind reviewed.