Building a Better World through Information Systems

Global and Cultural Issues in IS

IT continues to connect increasing numbers of people and organizations, extending and intensifying global social and economic interaction. Yet, our densely connected world is diverse in terms of social norms and historically developed personal life styles and organizing practices. Information systems research not only exposes cultural distinctiveness, it also makes us aware of dynamics of change in cross-cultural encounters. This track invites theoretical and empirical submissions that extend our understanding of the interplay between IT and culture in organizations and society at large.

We are interested in submissions drawing from research on local diversity in global information systems infrastructures. We welcome studies of the way the diffusion of mobile technologies and access to the internet come to improve socio-economic conditions in developing countries. We are particularly interested in contributions that explore emerging phenomena of IT-mediated cross-cultural social interaction and economic exchange. These may include innovative digital business models that harness creativity in multicultural contexts, social networks across cultures and socio-political conditions, collaborative work and innovative use of IS in culturally heterogeneous online communities.  We also encourage submissions that challenge existing well-known research findings from a different cultural setting of using IS, or challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about the way ongoing digital innovation changes life conditions across the world, contributing empirical evidence and theoretical insights on emerging socio-technical transformations. 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

·            Local diversity in global information systems infrastructures

·            Cross-cultural virtual collaboration

·            Issues confronting global social networking

·            Identity, trust and conflict in cross-cultural online networks

·            The role of culture in open digital business models

·            Historical studies of IT innovation in regions/countries that are relatively unexplored

·            Cultural analyses of information systems design and use

·            Implementation and use of global corporate information systems

·            Comparative studies of digital innovation in different world regions

·            Issues in big data and data quality across the world

·            Online security and privacy issues in different cultures of the world

Track Chairs:

Associate Editors: