Abstract
Motivation: There is a paradox at the heart of informatics where practical implementation generally fails to understand the socio-technical impact of novel technologies and disruptive innovation when adopted in ‘real-world’ systems. This phenomenon, termed technological determinism, is manifested in a time-lag between the adoption of novel technologies and an understanding of the underlying theory which develops following research into their adoption. Methods: We consider informatics theory as it relates to: social informatics and how humans’ function in society, the relationship between society and technology, information systems, information systems design, and human–computer interactions. The challenges posed by novel technologies and disruptive innovation are considered as they relate to information systems and information systems design. Open research questions with directions for future research are discussed with an introduction to and our proposed approach to socio-technical information system design. Significance: We conclude that the adoption of disruptive innovation presents both opportunities and threats for all stakeholders in computerised systems. However, determinism is a topic requiring research to generate a suitable level of understanding and technological determinism remains a significant challenge.
Highlights
We have identified the challenge presented by technological determinism (TD) which lies in two general areas: (i) understanding the nature and drivers of TD, and (ii) developing an approach to ISD to promote the positive aspects of new technologies while addressing the negative affects
We have identified the paradox that lies at the heart of Informatics and information systems (IS) which can result from the adoption of DI; the paradox relateing to the general concept of determinism with particular reference to TD in a societal context
In considering determinism we have introduced TD, media determinism (MD), and linguistic determinism (LD) which is relevant to social networking, security, and data processing including human cognitive processes
Summary
1. Background information science [1] is a research field which addresses: (a) the collection, analysis, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and security of data and information, (b) the study, application, use of knowledge in organisations along with the interactions between people, and organisations, and (c) any existing information systems (IS) to create, replace, improve, or understand how an IS functions. Informatics has considered many academic disciplines, including computer science, information systems, and information technology Research in this field studies the development, replacement, improvement, and general understanding of information systems (IS) and how they function. The pervasive nature of computerised systems has resulted in digital information processing by both individuals and organisations, this has led to Informatics research addressing multiple academic disciplines including: computer science, IS, information technology (IT), and information communication technology (ICT) (the terms IT and ICT are frequently used interchangeably), cognitive science, and social science.
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