In this paper, we report on a panel discussion at the 2023 European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023) held in Kristiansand, Norway. This panel discussed what role human flourishing plays in information systems (IS) research and what information systems researchers can do to promote it in increasingly digitalized societies. We believe that we, as IS researchers, are able to develop new and valuable insights regarding the challenges and opportunities of digital technologies and how this can be ameliorated into hope for a world where humans can live well. Hence, the panelists discussed and debated their perspectives on human flourishing and how information systems (IS) researchers can take the lead as well as become more sensitive to the ways we study human flourishing in the world. We use their rich discussion to develop four pathways for exploring the impact of digital technologies on human flourishing and offer an agenda for future research.

This conceptual paper aims to explore judgment in the context of automated decision-making systems (ADS). To achieve this, we adopt a modern version of Aristotle’s notion of phronesis to understand judgment. We delineate seven elements of judgment which provide insights into what humans are better at, and what AI is better at in relation to automated decision-making. These elements are sources of knowledge that guide action including not-knowing, emotions, sensory perception, experience, intuition, episteme, and techne. Our analysis suggests that most of these attributes are not transferable to AI systems, because judgment in human decision-making requires the integration of all which involves considering the contextual and affective resources of phronesis, and the competence to make value judgments. The paper contributes to unpack human judgment capacities and what needs to be cultivated to achieve ‘good’ AI systems that serves humanity as well as guiding future information systems researchers to explore human-AI judgment further.

Experiential learning through games is becoming increasingly relevant as games exert an enormous influence on the imaginarium of newer generations. This paper details the use of a game-based learning process focusing on game-making in relation to ethical issues of digitalization for graduate education in digital service innovation. Within the context of a masters education, students from diverse knowledge backgrounds learned about and reflected upon ethical issues related to social media usage by playing, remixing and designing games using the Design Games Framework. This paper illustrates that game-making can enable non-designer students to work with ethical issues. There are good possibilities to explore ethics through designing tabletop games, and having diverse groups of participants can be advantageous. Using a qualitative approach based on observation and interviews, the paper contributes to the body of literature focusing on experiential learning through game-based approaches and to the consolidation of the Design Games Framework.

Using big data in organizations has the potential to improve innovation, accuracy, and efficiency. Big data is also connected with risks for both the organization and society at large. It is therefore vital to improve our understanding of the potential consequences of implementing and using big data. The researchers studied the Swedish Transport Administration to understand their attitude towards implementing big data to predict, for example, the need for road maintenance. The analysis identified four moral dilemmas that the organization deals with in connection to big data. The researchers discuss these dilemmas from the perspective of practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is manifested in context-dependent actions connected to open-mindedness, reflection and judgment. It can be summed up as “the reasonable thing to do” in a unique situation where “not-knowing” is a helpful resource when making wise decisions. This paper seeks to shed light on the importance of practical wisdom when implementing big data. Copyright © 2022, IGI Global.

This paper sets out to present an ongoing pedagogical project where game design is used to let students both learn and reflect upon different perspectives of ethics relevant to the master program they are enrolled in. The paper explains the underlying logic behind the pedagogical process where students develop their own game and at the same time learn about different perspectives of ethics in relation to courses that they are currently taking. With an open and iterative method, we let the students explore, discuss and design a game that can be used by future students. By letting the students decide and lead the development we democratize the learning-process and engage them in a learning experience. More so, this approach to game design as a pedagogical tool to engage and democratize the learning experience is new and increasingly relevant for both students that play games on an everyday basis, but also students that are new to games. Also, it is a constant and dynamic process for both students and teachers. © 2022, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

This paper uses the pre-renaissance philosopher Nicolas Cusanus (1401-1464) and his concepts of ratio (calculating rationality) and intellectus (a relation to not-knowing) to assist in understanding the differences between human and artificial intelligence. The intention is to contribute to the ongoing discussions and debate pertaining to AI implementation and use, arguing that philosophy can be of ample use when it comes to understanding different types of intelligence in the digital world. The presented conceptual framework outlines the human and the artificial intelligence in terms of their characteristics in relation to Cusa’s ratio and intellectus. This helps to apprehend the different forms of intelligence and, more specifically, their strengths and how they operate.

Although information systems research has brought the role of new practice creation in innovation processes to the fore, few studies focus on initial activities of digital innovation and how they eventually lead to institutional transformation. Using a framework of institutional enablers of digital innovation, this study analyses the role of new practice creation in digital innovation. The study is based on a 20-yearlong case study in the automotive industry and follows the emergence of User Experience (UX) practices in an automotive manufacturer. We do this study to understand how UX could develop from a marginal position scattered over the organization to the institutional core as the main logic of innovation. The study theorizes the role of organizational forms, digital institutional infrastructures, and digital institutional building blocks in the legitimization of new practices for organizational transformation. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

Using big data in organizations has the potential to improve innovation, accuracy, and efficiency. Big data is also connected with risks for both the organization and society at large. It is therefore important to improve our understanding of potential consequences of implementing and using big data. We studied the Swedish Transport Administration to understand their attitude towards implementing big data for prediction of, for example, the need for road maintenance. The analysis identified four moral dilemmas that the organization deals with in connection to big data. We discuss these dilemmas from the perspective of practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is manifested in context-dependent actions connected to open-mindedness, reflection and judgment. It can be summed up as “the reasonable thing to do” in a unique situation where “not-knowing” is a helpful resource when making wise decisions. This paper seeks to shed light on the importance of practical wisdom when implementing big data.© 2021 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved. 

Architectural theory of digital innovation contends that, to enhance physical products with digital capabilities, a layered modular architecture is required. This architecture hybridizes hierarchically arranged components of physical products with modules of digital functionality configured into layers. Despite considerable research adopting this architectural perspective on digital innovation, questions of how this hybrid architecture is accomplished organizationally and technologically lack both conceptual clarity and empirical illustration. Noting pervasive tensions that characterize digital innovation efforts and the contradictions between hierarchical and layered modular configurations, this paper seeks to answer the following research question: Given that the layered modular architecture needs to hybridize modular arrangements with opposing logics, how is it accomplished? Employing the concepts of digitalization, physical product hierarchy and digital control system to better theorize a product architecture’s movement from a modular to a layered modular architecture accompanied by organizational structures that enable this change, we abductively analyze the increasing digitization of a car’s Driver Information Module (DIM) over a 10 year period. We conclude by proposing three transformations through which the layered modular architecture is accomplished. © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.