The Impact of the Context of an Information System on Strategic Information Quality - The Institute of Technology Sector in Ireland

Abstract

Information Quality has become an ever increasing problem for many organizations relying on information systems for many of their core business activities. Despite advancements in technology and information quality investment the problem continues to grow. The context of the information systems over the last number of years has also evolved. This has resulted in a diverse number of architectures accessing multiple information systems. The context of the deployment of an information system in a complex environment and its associated information quality problems has yet to be fully examined by researchers. Our research addresses this shortfall by examining the relationship between the context of the information system and information quality. The research is conducted within the context of strategic information quality within the higher education system in Ireland specifically the Institute of Technology Sector. A mixed methodology approach is employed to tackle the research question of the impact of the context of an information system on strategic information quality. Research to date has examined different information systems’ context factors and their effect upon information quality dimensions both objectively and subjectively. Thus far our research puts forward a novel information quality methodology that is context related; that is it takes the user, task and environment into account. An initial experiment has been conducted. Results of preliminary experiments indicate that context affects the perception of information quality.