Information Systems

This article explores the integration of innovative data-driven technologies into digital governance at the local level, with a focus on open data, smart cities, and public sector data analytics and processing. Governments globally strive for digital transformation with emerging technologies, and data play a crucial role in improving service delivery and decision-making processes at the local level. However, there needs to be a proper debate about data analytics and data science in the public sector and the crucial aspects of smart cities’ interoperability and open data governance. This research aims to fill this gap, proposing a systematic approach to connect and link these innovations, promoting interoperability and data governance at the local level. Based on a multi-method literature analysis, including Portugal's remarkable digitalization journey, this study sheds light on the importance of comprehensive data analytics in the public sector. The findings indicate that the existing debate on data analytics in the public sector needs more depth and synergy from the point of view of data analytics techniques. By presenting propositions on the challenges for interoperability and open data governance of smart cities, this article provides valuable information for policymakers, decision-makers, and implementers looking for solutions to governance challenges at the local level.

Data Warehousing systems have been used to support Business Intelligence applications by ingesting operational data and providing analytical data. As data volume, variety, and velocity increased in Big Data contexts, this data architecture needed to be modernised, and Big Data Warehouses emerged as scalable, high-performance, and highly flexible processing systems capable of handling ever-increasing volumes of data. These monolithic techniques, however, create major challenges to data engineering teams in terms of design, development, management, and evolution. Data Mesh emerged as a novel and disruptive concept aimed at data-driven businesses. The research detailed in this paper seeks to characterise Data Mesh readiness by examining the elements that influence the adoption choice using the technology-organization- environment (TOE) paradigm. A survey and a set of interviews were used in a multi-case and multi-method approach. Researchers and data triangulation were implemented to ensure rigour and arrive at a comprehensive understanding of Data Mesh adoption. The obtained results demonstrate the successful adoption of Data Mesh once its benefits are well understood, with increased teams’ creativity, data accuracy, data security, data governance and interoperability.

This paper describes research that explores principles of designing visual representations of data in sup-port of strategic decisions from the perspective of distributed decision makers. It uses the concept of distributed cognition (DC) to understand requirements of different stakeholders for data and information needed for making decision, and the concept of boundary objects to understand the shared utility of the visual representations in cross-functional decision-making. The study examines a product development setting in which decision-making is based on data resulting from digital modeling. Visualizations are widely used to explore data and make sense. However, research lacks studies connecting data visualization to decision-making. This research aims to propose visualization principles that are based on investigating information and visualization requirements of distributed decision makers. This empirical study uses the human-centered distributed information design (HCDID) methodology to analyze stake-holder requirements in a case study company and contributes to the research of decision-making with big data and analytics, particularly to corporate multi-perspective decision-making.

This review paper presents academic literature exploring why there is a slow adoption of mobile technologies amongst rural enterprises in South Africa. The researchers conducted a thorough literature review of studies related to trust and privacy on mobile applications published in journals between January 2020 and April 2023. The study reviewed two main external variables: trust and privacy of technology adoption. The systematic review shows that common trust concerns for rural enterprises include untrusted service providers, weak security, and security attacks. Additionally, the review revealed common privacy issues and concerns, including integrity, user awareness, unobservability, and deniability as obstacles to the fast uptake of mobile applications in rural marketplaces in South Africa. Considering these factors, the paper concludes by offering practical and theoretical suggestions that can assist rural entrepreneurs in enhancing the diffusion of mobile technology.

Digital services play a pivotal and multifaceted role in today’s everyday life. Understanding digital services’ impact on their users’ well-being has thus become essential, and the concept of digital well-being has recently been introduced. This study aims to deepen our understanding of digital well-being by investigating how users’ favorite digital services can enhance their digital well-being. The data were collected through 14 interviews. The interviewees were young Finnish adults (aged 22–31 years) who actively use digital services in their everyday lives. The findings demonstrate that favorite digital services can enhance their users’ digital well-being at psychological, social, and cognitive levels. Digital services can contribute to psychological well-being by providing retreat, serenity, and enhancement to daily tasks. Digital services also contribute to social well-being by fostering connectedness and sense of unity. Finally, digital services enhance cognitive well-being by promoting knowledge and understanding and by offering inspiration.

Social networks, as abstract representations of relationships between entities, play a pivotal role in connecting individuals in the digital age. This paper delves into the realm of social network analysis (SNA), a method rooted in graph theory that explores the dynamics of social relationships within communities. One of the key objectives of SNA is to identify the most influential actors within a social network, a task often achieved by calculating various centrality metrics. These metrics, such as degree centrality, allow to quantify the significance and impact of individual nodes within a social network. In the context of marketing and brand promotion, these metrics are particularly relevant and useful. Leveraging social networks for marketing endeavors can enhance brand recognition and foster customer loyalty. When promoting products within social networks, targeting the “most important” members (i.e., those with higher centrality metrics) can exponentially increase the reach and impact of the marketing campaign. In this paper, an approach is suggested for supporting social network marketing by employing binary logistic regression analysis. Logistic regression is a valuable tool in case of models where the dependent variable is dichotomous, and it can be an ideal method for predicting node behavior in the context of a product promotion campaign. By analyzing the actions of the “most important” nodes within social networks, we can predict which nodes are likely to purchase a marketed product based on their interactions and centrality.

Potential economic benefits of data sharing have been estimated and described in many reports and research. However, data sharing initiatives are limited by a lack of alignment on the business models for data sharing among stakeholders. In this research we aim specifically to investigate the perceptions of the stakeholders of such data sharing platforms on business models for data sharing to identify ways to foster alignment on business models. In our qualitative exploratory analysis (interviews and focus groups with stakeholders involved in a EU-funded project, MobiDataLab) we identify 6 criteria used by the stakeholders to compare business models and rank 5 archetypal business models according to them. We conclude with insights useful for business model design for mobility data sharing platforms and possible future research.

With the increasing expansion and influence of technological innovations and breakthroughs, and as the world embarks into more digitization, automation, and man-machine integration, it becomes more vital than ever for businesses to identify and address any negative implications and drawbacks this advancement might have on the human factor in terms of people’s acceptance and implementation of such innovations. One key theory that addresses this matter is the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology (UTAUT) which identifies and correlates variables that govern people’s willingness and readiness to foster new technology. Furthermore, a major influencing factor of people’s drives and attitudes in organizations is the leadership style and approach. Along those lines, the purpose of this research paper is to propose a conceptual framework to explore and study the role of Transformational and Adaptive leadership styles on the adoption of new technologies and innovations in organizations within the scope and frame of the UTAUT. The study follows a systematic literature synthesis methodology to gather and analyze information from multiple sources and provide a comprehensive overview of existing research on the topic, based on which an explanatory and guiding framework is proposed for enhancing people’s successful adoption of new technologies.

Limitations to be highlighted are that the study bases its findings and analysis on previous research, and does not conduct primary research and data collection, no empirical findings are thus generated and presented to support or disprove the raised propositions. The study also addresses the topic conceptually and in general terms with no specific context, site, or sampling demographics, which are all influential factors that can alter findings. The paper however highlights the importance of sound and proactive leadership in enhancing organizational learning initiatives, innovation, and openness to technological and digital advancements, to maintain organizational sustainability and competitiveness, and thus sheds light on a critical management aspect in the digital and high-tech age which might have very harmful consequences if missed. It presents proposals on the influence of transformational and adaptive leaderships on adopting innovation and new technology, and calls for more study and primary research on the topic for further exploration and understanding.

The organizational use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) presents sociotechnical challenges for organizational managers. One significant benefit of ICTs is facilitating the collaborative efforts of geographically dispersed teams of individuals with diverse skills. However, introducing ICT into these collaborative situations can compound the perceived barriers associated with these teams’ typical virtuality constraints. Conversely, ICTs can facilitate better communication and performance despite these limitations. In the current study, we build on social cognitive theory propositions underlying the concept of collective efficacy to reconceptualize and re-operationalize the computer collective-efficacy construct. Collective efficacy has seen a recent surge of interest in ICT-mediated collaborative team environments because it strongly predicts performance. Although collective efficacy shows promise in these settings, it does not reference technology and, therefore, is not well-suited for gauging the sociotechnical aspects of using ICTs for collaborative purposes. Computer collective-efficacy, however, directly references ICT-mediated teams’ abilities to utilize computer technology. Thus, researchers and practitioners should consider it an essential predictor of ICT-mediated team success. In this study, we discuss the theoretical framework, conceptualization, and operationalization of the computer collective-efficacy construct and provide a validated measure researchers can apply in future ICT-mediated collaborative research. We then conclude with significant theoretical and practical implications of this research.

Transformation competencies are essential for individuals tasked with executing organizational transformations, whom we refer to in this study as transformation managers. The transformation manager plays a crucial role as a mediator to successful organizational transformation. Consequently, it is critical to understand what competencies the transformation manager must possess. In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review of transformation competencies by screening an initial sample of 1,932 articles, resulting in a final sample of 11. We examined the characteristics of the final sample and subsequently interpreted the results. Our findings emphasize the novelty of the topic, given the limited extent of prior research in this domain. We further provide a list of competencies necessary for executing transformations where communication and competency in teamwork and collaboration were identified as the most important competencies for the transformation manager. Finally, we conclude with a comprehensive research agenda and provide future research directions.

Prior studies have neglected the significance of IS strategy in choosing and implementing the suitable IS according to situation, instead concentrating on the impact of digital transformation methods on performance and crucial elements that influence IS adoption. The use of strategy-as-practice is useless because there are no formal procedures in place, and no strategic planning has been done. This makes it impossible for management to use IS planning to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. In this study, we look at how the performance of IS is impacted by strategic processes and practices. The survey’s participants were 294 information technology managers from Greek SMEs. The results of the study suggest that top-level management should receive training on how to strategically apply IS planning to strengthen competitive advantage. In order to align the organization’s strategy and structure, it is also the manager’s duty to select the proper IT infrastructure. The findings aid managers in setting priorities for logistical tasks and in comprehending the importance of IS planning in this area.

Adapting to innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has proven to be a challenge for many organizations. This longitudinal and in-depth case study, focusing on the adoption and technology continuation of Robotic Process Automation, encompasses 25 interviews and complementary data collected between 2021 and 2023 in a medium-sized public company. The study’s findings underscore that the adoption of technology and its acceptance would greatly benefit from an increased understanding of the diverse challenges that emerge during long-term technological integration, rather than merely relying on initial adoption decisions. Of particular significance is the evolving role and nature of resistance to change over time, as well as the hesitancy in making decisions – both of which have notable implications for the rate of automation adoption. To mitigate resistance toward disruptive innovations, proactive management should, during the early stages, elucidate the reasons for apprehension, communicate the advantages gained by employees, and invest in relatively straightforward implementations that build knowledge and engender trust within the organization. The advent of 4IR innovations necessitates prompt and adaptable resource planning. It is improbable that organizations will achieve success in their adoption journey if they solely rely on outsourced technical competence.

The increasing frequency of cyberattacks by criminal and state-sponsored actors, has elevated the importance of cyber threat intelligence for organisations. We are interested to understand why practitioner share cyber threat intelligence and the impediments that prevent sharing. This paper addresses practitioners’ perceptions of factors that influence cyber threat intelligence sharing. To find out the factors that influence why cyber security practitioners share or don’t share. We conducted research interviews with nine cyber security practitioners using a semi-structured, open-ended interview guide which were recorded and transcribed. We also analysed the data using an approach informed by grounded theory. We coded the data, organised the data into themes, and used constant comparison to check our code’s consistency and accuracy. Furthermore, we developed memos, from which our theory emerged. Ultimately, our analysis revealed a new phenomenon, which we call Circumstantial Sharing. In circumstantial sharing, practitioners may rigorously discover and mitigate cyber threats and inform top management. However, practitioners my experience pressure from management not to share cyber threat intelligence with external organisations. This is significant because cyber threat intelligence sharing is an important weapon to resist future malicious cyber-attacks. We observed three main impediments to cyber threat intelligence sharing: fear of potential penalties imposed by regulatory authorities, concerns about sharing cyber threat findings with competitors or adversaries and the financial cost of sharing cyber threat intelligence. It is our hypothesis that overcoming the impediments we have observed will facilitate increased cyber threat intelligence sharing and hence help resistance to future cyber-attack.

Despite adopting agile practices during large-scale agile software development testing, practitioners developing medical information systems face critical challenges coordinating agile software testing. The lack of collaboration and coordination among practitioners developing medical software testing may result in delays in preventing software bugs early and throughout the development process, the cost of rework, and the risk of software failure. To enhance the quality of medical software products, there is a need to prioritise agile software testing in the medical software process.

The study explores various agile testing practices practitioners employ to develop medical information systems. The empirical data about software testing was collected through semi-structured interviews involving ten selected practitioners with experience developing standalone and embedded agile medical software in the United Kingdom (UK) and India. A snowballing approach was used to identify these practitioners. An approach to data analysis informed by grounded theory, including open coding, constant comparison, memoing and theoretical saturation, was used to analyse the data.

We discovered heterogeneous ongoing test automation practices involving unit testing, integration testing, functional regression testing, and clinical testing conducted in the automated or manual testing bay. We classified the practice as roles, ceremonies, and artefacts. The findings also revealed the lack of ceremonies that allow practitioners to interact and discuss with one another and further coordinate, collaborate, and effectively communicate testing strategies in agile medical information systems development. This lack of ceremonies forms the main contribution of this research.

EU Cohesion Policy is crucial leading policy for the public and state’s interaction and cooperation activities not only within regional but also national and cross-border to improve a sustainable and harmonised regional growth across the EU countries. To achieve such sustainable development, a citizen engagement within their local government’s decision making is vital. A scattered citizen engagement practices and policies across the local governments requires an integrated framework to achieve sustainability within the EU Cohesion Policy. This study is assessing a set of factors which highlight the initiatives of EU Harmonised Online Public Engagement (EU HOPE) and their relationship with Cohesion Policy. Citizen engagement factors within some of the EU cross- border pilot studies have been investigated against relative factors adopted within EU Harmonised Online Public Engagement (EU HOPE). A relation between the common citizen engagement factors within the pilot studies and found factors within EU HOPE have also been illustrated in the end of the research.

Although information technology is widely considered in innovation processes, environmental, social, and political issues are commonly neglected in times of crisis. This is especially unwelcome since these issues require scarce time and resources due to the instability and vulnerability of organizations in these times. When treated in terms of Innovation Systems (IS), these issues culminate in dedicated IS (DIS) to sustainability. This article presents the theoretical foundations of DIS through a Systematic Literature Review (RSL) based on the Templier and Paré protocol, which analyzed 44 studies. This study examines how DIS behaves to meet environmental, social, political, and economic aspects in crisis times. The results reveal a predominance of governmental institutions as protagonists in promoting IS in times of crisis. We also observed recurrent cooperation between different actors, demonstrating the importance of partnerships. Our study fosters discussion on the behavior of IS dedicated to sustainability in times of crisis and highlights the main elements of their functioning. Finally, this paper provides a research agenda for future studies.

This paper focuses on COVID-19 pandemic and how this new normal has affected employees in Greece. In particular it explores the benefits and challenges, the engagement and productivity, working conditions and management of remote workers. Most of the existing literature has focused on the employees’ well-being and productivity in remote working settings. However, little have researchers investigated remote working in the Greek business context, including the IT tools used to perform remote work, their contribution in the efficiency and effectiveness of the communication and collaboration of the remote workers and the perceived proximity of the workers in remote working settings. This research aims to address this gap by exploring the effectiveness of the communication and collaboration of remote workers as well as the level of contribution of the technological tools used in building relationships with their colleagues. In addition, it analyzes the perceived benefits and challenges by remote workers concerning this remote working culture and the digital teamwork. Inspired by the evolving landscape of remote work and recognizing gaps in existing research, the study aims to tackle two central research inquiries. The first delves into the IT tools used for effective communication and collaboration in Greek remote working settings. The second query delves into how these tools bridge the gap between the geographical distance and the perceived proximity of the remote workers. To respond to these questions, the author undertakes a literature review across diverse fields including information systems, organizational studies, economics, human resources, sociology, and psychology. Then the author draws on empirical research through the use of qualitative methods and more specifically, semi-structured interviews. The findings show that younger individuals and those with more remote work experience hold more positive views on this working style compared to older generations and people with much experience. Participants in larger cities or different locations from their workplace also express positivity due to time-saving benefits and increased job opportunities. Effective communication and diverse technological tools contribute to overall satisfaction and efficiency in remote work. The research suggests implementing a hybrid work model in Greek organizations to offer flexibility and enhance work-life balance. Other recommendations include increasing face-to-face meetings, providing newcomer support, conducting regular morning team meetings.

The pervasive influence of digitalization is undeniable in the contemporary landscape. However, available tools and resources are often underutilized by many leaders. Accordingly, an effective digital leadership is vital for complex organizations in today’s interconnected world. Despite considerable attention to digital leadership, a noticeable research gap exists concerning its application in cross-cultural settings. Therefore, this study examines the role of digital leadership in Swiss healthcare companies, which serve as prime examples of global players grappling with cross-cultural complexities. The healthcare sector strives for efficiency through digital technologies and diverse global team management. Moreover, Switzerland, known for its advanced development, regulatory framework and multinational healthcare environment, offers an ideal setting for the research in this context. Conducting semi-structured expert interviews, this study provides insights to better understand the digital leadership strategies and challenges. Our findings highlight that effective digital leadership extends beyond technical skills, encompassing communication, collaboration, and cultural competencies.

Cities experiencing rapid urbanisation and technological innovations face multifaceted challenges in demographics, economics, society, and the environment. To address these challenges and ensure sustainable development, the concept of “digital governments” has emerged, leveraging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However, these technocratic approaches lack a citizen-centric focus, potentially widening the digital divide among city residents. Consequently, there has been a shift from “digital government” to “digital governance,” emphasising collaboration among key stakeholders and utilisation of ICT to promote public value. The potential of digital governance lies in supporting city learning, wherein a city learns as an innovation ecosystem for its sustainable citizen-centric development and innovation. There is a lack of focus on how ICT can support city learning as an innovation ecosystem. Based on the Design Science Research Method, this study describes our research-in-progress in designing and developing a suitable ICT platform design, which focuses on citizen engagement and participation to support city learning for transforming cities towards sustainable citizen-centric smart cities. Using service blueprints, we illustrate the services that need to be supported by an ICT platform to support city learning.

Cities are continuously challenged by demographic, socio-economic and environmental changes. Cities need to adapt and evolve to respond to scenarios arising within themselves, such as the needs of their citizens, as well as from external or global influences, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Cities have been compared to complex organisations comprised of individuals, groups and institutions that evolve organically like complex organisms that adapt to changes by learning from their continuous interactions and feedback. The sharing of knowledge and experiences between city elements through these interactions is fundamental to cities for evolving as a learning and innovation ecosystem. The learning process of a city could essentially enhance citizen-centric transformations for developing resilient and sustainable smart cities. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has also been one of the major drivers for developing smart cities. In this study, we report the results from a Systematic Literature Review to explore the role of ICT in supporting city learning as innovation ecosystems for developing citizen-centric smart cities. The results show that ICT support in the context of city learning has been considered in Living Labs, Lifelong Learning and Digital Platforms for knowledge sharing and information analytics where collaboration is a key concept.

With the escalating influx of οpen data daily, the European Commission, as per the European’s 2022 Strategic Foresight Report, prioritizes fostering equitable, greener and digital societies. The conversion of conventional services to digital platforms to support citizens in urban areas is now becoming the norm, posing challenges for accessible civic infrastructures. Open data-defined as data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyoneare expected to bring forth opportunities and societal adjustment challenges. Despite being under investigation for the past two decades, the intersection of Open Data and Smart Cities continues to be a dynamic and developing research area. The progressive implementation of Smart Cities demands the development of new skills and competences. Our systematic literature review uncovers these research gaps highlighting potential areas for development and further study. In addition, this study investigates the legal and policy frameworks regarding Open Data and Open Data for Smart Cities. It explores the impact of Open Data on Smart Cities, as well as the necessary competencies and skills required by data officers to support the implementation of Smart Cities. Furthermore, the research will examine the upskilling and reskilling strategies for data officers in Smart Cities concerning Open Data.