Theorizing Information Systems as Evolving Technology

Abstract

Information systems scholars have struggled with the field’s fundamental relationship to technology. In particular, they have debated whether the IT artifact is unwisely taken for granted and whether or not it lies at the field’s core. Here, applying Brian Arthur’s general theory of technology, it is suggested that IS may itself be theorized as an evolving family of technologies. From this perspective, new avenues for IS research may be opened up, in particular, for historical and other related studies where the unit of analysis is the technology itself and the focus is its evolution.