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AMCIS 2009 Call for Papers

AMCIS Mini-Track: Socio-Technical Aspects of Information Systems

15th Americas Conference on Information Systems
6-9 August 2009

You are invited to submit a paper to the Socio-Technical Aspects of

Information Systems Mini-Track, part of the Philosophical Perspectives in
IS Track at AMCIS 2009. ***

Description:

The traditional view of information systems (IS) and their development
(ISD) has progressed significantly since the early information systems
developed under the technology-centric view; the hardware and its 'user'.
There is growing acceptance that it is not solely the technical issues
which are the major factor in their successful development and use, but
the other relevant (non-technical) human and social factors. These combine
with technologies to create the informated contexts in which IS are
developed and operate; effectively or otherwise. Within the IS field the
'socio-technical' movement (Mumford, {1995, 2003}) can be seen to provide
insights into this complex relationship between the technological artefact
and the social aspects in which they are situated (Avgerou et. al., 2004).
As such they may be understood independently of the actors that produced
them in the first place but intimately situated within their contemporary
contexts. In doing so these technologies and their functionality may be
seen to combine with humans and their actions to constitute informated
'socio-technical ensemble' (Bijker and Law 1995) that exhibit a concerted
agency. How such ensembles may be effectively created, maintained and
changed - locally and globally- incrementally and radically - is the
subject of this mini-track.

Suggested topics:

Social informatics

• The application of social theory to information systems (eg. Structuration Theory, Actor-Network Theory, StructurANTion Theory)
• Human and organisational aspects of information Systems
• Balancing of social and technical factors in ISD and IS
• Critiques of the socio-technical approach
• Case studies of socio-technical analysis of IS
• Comparative studies (ie. between sectors, countries, cultures, etc.) of socio-technical analyses of IS
• Comparative analyses of socio-technical change and IS
• Global/local (or 'glocal') balance of IS within a socio-technical context

Mini-track Co-Chair(s):

Laurence Brooks,
Brunel University, UK.
Email: Laurence.Brooks@brunel.ac.uk

Christopher Atkinson
University of Manchester, UK
Email: Christopher.Atkinson@manchester.ac.uk

Submission Process:

Full paper submissions must be made electronically through Manuscript
Central (the AMCIS on-line submission system).

Key Dates:
January 2, 2009: Manuscript Central will start accepting paper
submissions;
February 20, 2009 (11:59 PM Pacific time zone): Deadline for paper
submissions;
April 2, 2009: Authors will be notified of acceptances on or about this
date; and
April 20, 2009 (11:59 PM Pacific time zone): For accepted papers, camera
ready copy due.

For information about AMCIS 2009 please go to the website:
http://www.amcis2009.org/