Pervasive Real-Time IT as a Disruptive Technology for the IS Field

This paper builds on ideas in a recent paper which argued that the core subject matter of the IS field should not be “the IT artifact” (as suggested by Orlikowski and Iacono [1]), but rather IT-intensive work systems. This paper extends the ideas in the previous paper by exploring whether pervasive real time IT might be a disruptive technology [2] for the IS field, implying that the long term vibrancy and impact of the field depends on a change in focus and scope that emphasizes some version of work system concepts. This paper defines the term “work system” and explains that information systems, projects, value chains, and supply chains are all special cases that should inherit work system terminology, generalizations, and success factors. It summarizes six real world examples to demonstrate different types of overlap between work systems and information systems that support them. Comparison of these systems shows that many of today’s more interesting information systems ref...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Steven Alter
• Keywords: Biometrics, HICSS 2003, Information System, Pervasive Real Time, System Sciences, Work Systems