Information Systems Research Research Articles

Using Neural and Graph Neural Recommender Systems to Overcome Choice Overload: Evidence From a Music Education Platform

The application of recommendation technologies has been crucial in the promotion of physical and digital content across numerous global platforms such as Amazon, Apple, and Netflix. Our study aims to investigate the advantages of employing recommendation technologies on educational platforms, with a particular focus on an educational platform for learning and practicing music. Our research is based on data from Tomplay, a music platform that offers sheet music with professional audio recordings, enabling users to discover and practice music content at varying levels of difficulty. Through our analysis, we emphasize the distinct interaction patterns on educational platforms like Tomplay, which we compare with other commonly used recommendation datasets. We find that interactions are comparatively sparse on educational platforms, with users often focusing on specific content as they learn, rather than interacting with a broader range of material. Therefore, our primary goal is to address the issue of data sparsity. We achieve this through entity resolution principles and propose a neural network (NN)-based recommendation model. Further, we improve this model by utilizing graph neural networks (GNNs), which provide superior predictive accuracy compared to NNs. Notably, our study demonstrates that GNNs are highly effective even for users with little or no historical preferences (cold-start problem). Our cold-start experiments also provide valuable insights into an independent issue, namely, the number of historical interactions needed by a recommendation model to gain a comprehensive understanding of a user. Our findings demonstrate that a platform acquires a solid knowledge of a user’s general preferences and characteristics with 50 past interactions. Overall, our study makes significant contributions to information systems research on business analytics and prescriptive analytics. Moreover, our framework and evaluation results offer implications for various stakeholders, including online educational institutions, education policymakers, and learning platform users.

Applying the Participatory Slow Design Approach to a mHealth Application for Family Caregivers in Pediatric Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery.

Pediatric ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgery is very common, and its outcomes may improve with family education. In this regard, mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps), which are on the rise due to digital transformation, can be beneficial in healthcare. This study outlines the user-centered design and development of a mHealth app (version 5.15.0) to support family caregivers during the perioperative process of pediatric ENT surgery. Conducted over two years in an Italian maternal and child health hospital (January 2020-May 2022), the study employed a participatory design method based on the Information System Research (ISR) framework and guided by the principles of Slow Medicine. Utilizing the Relevance, Rigor, and Design cycles of the ISR framework, the mHealth app's content, functionalities, and technical features were defined and developed. A committee of fifteen experts guided the process with input from 25 family caregivers and 24 healthcare providers enrolled in the study. The mHealth app content was structured around five crucial educational moments characterizing the ENT perioperative period, providing evidence-based information on surgical procedures, strategies for preparing children for hospitalization and surgery, pain management, and post-discharge care. The mHealth app featured a function that sends customized notifications to guide caregivers at specific perioperative stages. The development of mHealth apps by implementing a rigorous, participatory, and Slow design process can foster accessible and family-centered information and care in the field of maternal and child health and beyond.

Sustainability Reporting and International Rankings in Higher Education: A Case of the University of Split, Croatia

We offer practical, case-based experiences on sustainability reporting in higher education institutions (HEIs), with a focus on the integration of sustainability activities into strategic planning and quality management. A proposed approach is based on the experience of the University of Split, Croatia, and the lessons learned from the SEA-EU University Alliance. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our model emphasizes the active engagement of stakeholders and the continuous collection and review of sustainability data. In addition, we propose to automate the collection and dissemination of sustainability research findings through the implementation of a Current Research Information System (CRIS). Our case study provides a roadmap for improving sustainability performance and reporting. The experience of the University of Split (Croatia) could be helpful and generalizable to a number of universities with an intermediate level of maturity in sustainability management and reporting, trying to improve their university rankings.

Business Analytics: Emerging Practice and Research Issues in the Health Insurance Industry

This paper summarizes emerging practice and research issues in the health insurance industry. We provide an industry overview, epitomize business analytics applications, and outline current and emerging problems of interest to key stakeholders and researchers in information systems, operations management, and healthcare management. Specifically, we focus on three areas of research that are of importance to the health insurance industry as well as the healthcare system: (i) management and evaluation of intervention programs, (ii) creation of effective provider networks, and (iii) emerging issues such as the impact of a pandemic, patient communication and steering, and technological innovations in health care. We lay out brief details of how each of these problems can be formulated, where the data can be acquired (public and/or proprietary data sets), and provide guidance for solving them. For several of these problems, we provide models that span causal modeling, predictive modeling, and prescriptive modeling.

Digital Approaches to Societal Grand Challenges: Toward a Broader Research Agenda on Managing Global-Local Design Tensions

Policy/Practice-Focused Abstract Despite considerable and continued resource investments, effective solutions to broad-scope problems of social interest or societal grand challenges (GCs) have proven to be elusive in many domains. In multiactor situations that characterize GCs, divergent goals, needs, priorities, and capabilities of global and local actors create organizing design tensions that need to be considered before solutions can be enacted. Emergent digital technologies can play an important and transformative role in addressing the organizing design tensions that pervade such collective action problems. In this article, we draw on Elinor Ostrom’s principles of public value creation and identify a set of eight organizing design tensions that arise from employing global and local perspectives in addressing GCs. We consider novel digital approaches—that involve alternative arrangements of digital and socio-political elements in GC settings—to resolving each of these design tensions. Our discussion foreshadows the considerable opportunity for information systems research to contribute to the broader dialog on GCs; inform GC-related policy and practice at global and local levels; and, more broadly, speed the identification and enactment of effective solutions to grand challenges.

A Study on the Problem of Starting and Depositing of Ming Dynasty Fields Based on the Perspective of HGIS

The origination, transportation, and retention of field levies are the core contents of the Ming Dynasty financial research, and in the past, the academic community's attention to the origination, transportation, and retention problems only stayed in the discussion of the amount of field levies and the institutional level. With the use of digital humanities and historical geographic information systems in historical research, the spatial information implied in the Ming dynasty field levies can also be presented in the study. The book "Wanli Accounting Record" compiled by the Ministry of Revenue during the Wanli period contains the collection and storage of field levies at all levels of provinces and counties in the Ming Dynasty, and the historical documents are converted into data and then the GIS software is utilized to present them in a hierarchical manner on a nationwide scale. The results of the hierarchical presentation are further analyzed by using spatial analysis software to analyze the spatial relationship between the field levies in each state and county in the Ming Dynasty.

The Twin Transformation Butterfly

Complex digitalization and sustainability challenges shape today’s management agendas. To date, the dedication of Information Systems research to both challenges has not been equal in terms of effort and reward. Building capabilities to leverage the synergetic potential of digital and sustainability transformation may enhance organizational performance and imply new value creation for the common good. To uncover such synergetic potential, this work conceptualizes the “twin transformation” construct as a value-adding reinforcing interplay between digital transformation and sustainability transformation efforts that improve an organization by leveraging digital technologies to enable sustainability and to guide digital progress by leveraging sustainability. The twin transformation conceptualization is complemented with a capability framework for twin transformation drawing from dynamic capability theory. This work contributes to descriptive knowledge of the interplay between digital transformation and sustainability transformation, setting a foundation for further theorizing on twin transformation and enabling organizations to twin transform.

Investigation and development of scheduling and networking technologies for small cells based on optical transmission networks

In addition to the power dispatching department, other related departments and management agencies are also interested in power grid data. These developments coincide with an increase in the number of plants and stations, a dramatic increase in the amount of power system data, and an increase in the difficulty of managing and analyzing the data. Thus, a key area of current power information system research is how to analyze and process the massive amounts of grid operation data to guarantee the safe and effective implementation of power production while also being able to support decision-making for power production and power scheduling. In light of this, this paper builds a complete number distribution system on top of the current scheduling program-controlled exchange, hoping to inherit the high reliability and stability of the scheduling switching network. It also introduces the IPoE technology networking and offers a technical foundation for the state management of the equipment. Finally, it uses the optical transmission network scheduling telephone networking technology as its foundation, based on a thorough analysis of the current state of the domestic power dispatching management system. In order to improve the quality of power grid management, it is helpful in the development of an organic and unified integrated intelligent system, the creation of an ideal and seamless information flow, and the eventual realization of the integration and standardization of the production plan, the production process, and the sale of electricity.

Interpretable Artificial Intelligence in Information Systems: Status Review and Future Research Directions

Efforts to develop black-box artificial intelligence (AI) systems have become a phenomenon of emerging global interest in academia, business, and society, and have led to the development of the XAI research field. With its pluralistic perspective, information systems (IS) research is destined to contribute to this emerging field; thus, it is not surprising that the number of research publications at XAI has increased significantly. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of XAI research in public and electronic markets, specifically using a structured literature review. Based on a literature review of 180 research papers, this work examines the most receptive points, the development of academic debates, and the most important concepts and methodologies. In addition, eight research areas with different levels of maturity in e-markets are identified. Finally, guidelines for the XAI research agenda in IS are presented

The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent long COVID symptoms: staggered cohort study of data from the UK, Spain, and Estonia

Although vaccines have proved effective to prevent severe COVID-19, their effect on preventing long-term symptoms is not yet fully understood. We aimed to evaluate the overall effect of vaccination to prevent long COVID symptoms and assess comparative effectiveness of the most used vaccines (ChAdOx1 and BNT162b2). We conducted a staggered cohort study using primary care records from the UK (Clinical Practice Research Datalink [CPRD] GOLD and AURUM), Catalonia, Spain (Information System for Research in Primary Care [SIDIAP]), and national health insurance claims from Estonia (CORIVA database). All adults who were registered for at least 180 days as of Jan 4, 2021 (the UK), Feb 20, 2021 (Spain), and Jan 28, 2021 (Estonia) comprised the source population. Vaccination status was used as a time-varying exposure, staggered by vaccine rollout period. Vaccinated people were further classified by vaccine brand according to their first dose received. The primary outcome definition of long COVID was defined as having at least one of 25 WHO-listed symptoms between 90 and 365 days after the date of a PCR-positive test or clinical diagnosis of COVID-19, with no history of that symptom 180 days before SARS-Cov-2 infection. Propensity score overlap weighting was applied separately for each cohort to minimise confounding. Sub-distribution hazard ratios (sHRs) were calculated to estimate vaccine effectiveness against long COVID, and empirically calibrated using negative control outcomes. Random effects meta-analyses across staggered cohorts were conducted to pool overall effect estimates. A total of 1 618 395 (CPRD GOLD), 5 729 800 (CPRD AURUM), 2 744 821 (SIDIAP), and 77 603 (CORIVA) vaccinated people and 1 640 371 (CPRD GOLD), 5 860 564 (CPRD AURUM), 2 588 518 (SIDIAP), and 302 267 (CORIVA) unvaccinated people were included. Compared with unvaccinated people, overall HRs for long COVID symptoms in people vaccinated with a first dose of any COVID-19 vaccine were 0·54 (95% CI 0·44-0·67) in CPRD GOLD, 0·48 (0·34-0·68) in CPRD AURUM, 0·71 (0·55-0·91) in SIDIAP, and 0·59 (0·40-0·87) in CORIVA. A slightly stronger preventative effect was seen for the first dose of BNT162b2 than for ChAdOx1 (sHR 0·85 [0·60-1·20] in CPRD GOLD and 0·84 [0·74-0·94] in CPRD AURUM). Vaccination against COVID-19 consistently reduced the risk of long COVID symptoms, which highlights the importance of vaccination to prevent persistent COVID-19 symptoms, particularly in adults. National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Application design for web-based car services to increase work time estimates

The aim of this research is to increase the estimated service process time by creating an online-based car service ordering application at the Sinar Jaya repair shop and introducing information about Sinar Jaya car service services to the wider public. In this information systems research, the author of this research software development method uses the waterfall model development method. By implementing a waterfall, the research stages carried out by researchers start from data analysis, system analysis, system design, implementation, and testing. Creating a website-based car service ordering application at the Sinar Jaya Workshop can help customers find out the information available at the Sinar Jaya Workshop and the car service ordering process. Before there was an application, customers had to come to the location to place an order, so it took a long time to arrive at the location. So, with the online booking application, you can save time in the service process and get a queue number online. The data processing process for ordering car services becomes more practical so that it can be processed properly by the admin.

Prevalence of acquired and transmitted HIV drug resistance in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

There is no systematic review on the prevalence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) in Iran. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of HIVDR among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Iran. We assessed HIVDR prevalence in antiretroviral therapy (ART) naïve PLHIV (i.e., those without a history of ART) and PLHIV receiving ART. We systematically searched Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Iranian databases (Iranian Medical Research Information System, Magiran, and Scientific Information Database), the references of studies, and Google Scholar until March 2023. A random-effects model was used to calculate a point estimate and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for the prevalence of HIVDR in PLHIV. Among 461 potential publications, 22 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of acquired HIVDR in PLHIV receiving ART was 34% (95% CI: 19, 50) for nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 27% (95% CI: 15, 41) for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), and 9% (95% CI: 3, 18) for protease inhibitors (PIs). The pooled prevalence of acquired HIVDR in treatment failure PLHIV was 50% (95% CI: 31, 69) for NRTIs, 49% (95% CI: 29, 69) for NNRTIs, 11% (95% CI: 2, 24) for PIs, and 1% (95% CI: 0, 4) for integrase inhibitors (INIs). The pooled prevalence of transmitted HIVDR in ART-naïve people was 3% (95% CI; 1, 6) for NRTIs, 5% (95% CI: 2, 9) for NNRTIs, and 0 for PIs and INIs. The prevalence of HIVDR was relatively high in both ART-naïve PLHIV and those receiving ART. Without universal pretreatment HIVDR testing and more frequent routine HIV viral load testing among PLHIV who are on ART, the HIVDR prevalence might increase in PLHIV in Iran.

User Engagement and Beyond: A Conceptual Framework for Engagement in Information Systems Research

Humans are considered “engaged” once they invest personal resources such as energy, time, or attention beyond a required level. This engagement state occurs when feeling connected to another actor or an object. In information systems (IS) research, engagement is recognized in the concept of ‘user engagement’, which has for many years successfully been employed to understand interaction patterns and user reactions. However, as IS artifacts evolve, we observe contemporary phenomena that are no longer covered by the existing concept: For one, IS have developed from passive resources (such as websites) to human-like actors (such as conversational, nowadays often large language model (LLM)-based, agents) so that a pure ‘user engagement’ perspective does not capture new affordances for engagement with active counterparts. Secondly, IS increasingly act as intermediaries into other engagement objects (e.g., organizations) that are the ultimate target of engagement. Thus, IS research may benefit from a broader perspective on engagement. Our work systematically draws on a structured literature review across adjacent academic disciplines and an in-depth qualitative analysis to develop a more comprehensive conceptual framework for engagement. With this framework, we contribute a refined and broadened conceptual base for engagement and discuss how it can inform future IS research.

The Concept of a Smart Action – Results from Analyzing Information Systems Literature

In recent years, the term 'smartness' has entered widespread use in research and daily life. It has emerged with various applications of the Internet of Things, such as smart homes and smart factories. However, rapid technological development and careless use of the term mean that, in information systems (IS) research, a common understanding of smartness has not yet been established. While it is recognized that smartness encompasses more than the use of impressive information technology applications, a unified conceptualization of how smartness is manifested in IS research is lacking. To this end, we conducted a structured literature review applying techniques from Grounded Theory. We found that smartness occurs through actions, in which smart things and individuals interact, process information, and make data-based decisions that are perceived as smart. Building on these findings, we propose the concept of a 'smart action' and derive a general definition of smartness. Our findings augment knowledge about how smartness is formed, offering a new perspective on smartness. The concept of a smart action unifies and increases understanding of 'smartness' in IS research. It supports further research by providing a concept for describing, analyzing, and designing smart actions, smart devices, and smart services.

Location Analytics in Information Systems: Opportunities for Research and Teaching

Location analytics can inform decision-making and long-term strategies in various sectors and industries such as retail, manufacturing, government, defense, transportation, logistics, energy, and utilities for customer experience management, sales, marketing, supply chain optimization, business continuity and resilience, remote monitoring of critical assets, and risk management. Despite organizations gaining a competitive edge through location analytics, its adoption within the academic Information Systems (IS) discipline remains sparse. The absence of spatial methodologies in analytical and behavioral IS research is striking. Furthermore, this lack of integration is evident as spatial problem-solving is scarcely covered in IS curricula, and location data analysis is often relegated as a peripheral skill. Our panel paper delineates the many opportunities location analytics presents for broadening research horizons and enriching IS education. We suggest incorporating location analytics into research by demonstrating how spatial methodologies can bolster IS research rigor. We also explain how integrating location analytics into the IS curricula can prepare students for this growing area of analytics. Foremost, we aim to catalyze a paradigm shift towards more spatially informed IS research and education.

From Methodological Symmetry to Gaia: Latour’s Legacy and Untapped Potential for IS Research

A defining concern for information systems (IS) is how to theorize its primary object of study, the digital artifact. Historically, approaches in IS have oscillated between technological determinist and social determinist ones. Bruno Latour’s works contributed to recalibrating a more symmetrical treatment of the two, and he played a distinctive role in stimulating the evolution of empirically committed, process-oriented theorizing in the IS field. We commemorate Latour’s work by revisiting his early influence on IS research and discuss some of the direct and indirect influences on contemporary IS, such as infrastructure studies and sociomateriality. With the interest in agentic technologies via AI, Latour’s perspectives on technological agency are more relevant than ever. In addition, we explore ideas that are relevant to IS but have yet to be taken up, thus representing untapped theoretical and methodological potential for future IS research—for example, approaching data as circulating reference or how his work could contribute to sustainability discussions in IS.

Analyzing the “When of How” Phenomena Manifest in Information Systems Research: A Critical Review of Conditional Process Analysis and its Recent Advancements

Conditional process analysis has garnered significant attention as an analytical technique, and the literature has progressed to accommodate intricate combinations of conditional process models. As the field of information systems witnesses a growing use of conditional process models in empirical research, there is a need to develop a shared understanding of the technique to advance theory-building efforts. Considering the significant emphasis on context-specific theorizing in the discipline, we reviewed the technique’s application, focusing on publications in the Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals. By conducting a critical review of 72 articles published over the past two decades, we identified variations in the technique’s application and underscored optimal approaches for scholars to consider. Furthermore, recent advances were deliberated upon. Drawing from the observations and recommendations, we assert that this study is poised to reorient thought processes within the information systems discipline, encouraging the exploration of novel perspectives for richer theorizing in the field.

Rapid Design of a Student-Centred App for Musculoskeletal Clinical Skills: An Example of a Theoretically Informed Approach to Developing Apps for Learning.

The process to design mobile apps for learning are infrequently reported and focus more on evaluation than process. This lack of clear process for health professional education mobile apps may explain the lack of quality mobile apps to support medical student learning. The goal of this project was to develop a student informed ready for production wireframe model of a minimally viable mobile app to support learning of musculoskeletal (MSK) clinical skills. The Information Systems Research (ISR) framework and Design Thinking were combined for the mobile app design. The process followed the cycles and modes of the combined framework to; systematically review available apps, use a focus group to identify attributes of the app valued by students, define the initial plan for the mobile app, develop an app prototype, and test and refine it with students. The student focus group data had five themes: 1) interactive usability, 2) environment, 3) clear and concise layout, 4) anatomy and pathology, 5) cultural safety and 'red flags'. The prototyping of the app went through three cycles of student review and improvement to produce a final design ready for app development. We used a student-centred approach guided by design frameworks to design a minimally viable product mobile app to support learning of MSK clinical skills in ten weeks with a small team. The framework supported nonlinear, iterative, rapid prototyping. Student data converged and diverged with the MSK teaching methods literature. Of note our students requested cultural safety learning in the app design, suggesting mobile apps could support cultural safety learning.

Creating Value from the Secondary Use of Health Data: International Examples, Best Practices, and Opportunities to Scale

The secondary use of health data is associated with enormous opportunities to improve healthcare efficiency and the creation of novel data-driven value propositions. Information Systems research has recognized this potential and focuses on that topic from various perspectives, such as data-driven value creation through health analytics or data platform ecosystems to facilitate data sharing. However, with emerging regulatory initiatives, such as the European Health Data Space, rules for the secondary use are changing, with implications for researchers, innovators, and healthcare organizations. The outcomes of data value creation efforts are mainly dependent on available data, with the assurance of high data quality remaining a challenge. To discuss how value can be created from the secondary use of health data, what challenges may arise, and how they can be addressed, a workshop on this topic was organized in November 2023, in which 19 academic researchers and 18 practitioners from 27 organizations participated. This workshop report highlights the challenges of and potential solutions for the secondary use of health data. While current Information Systems research often focuses on utilizing Electronic Health Records, the field could be enriched by understanding the secondary use of health data on an individual, organizational, and societal level.

Designing Software for Web-based Psychosocial Care: Longitudinal Design Science Research in U-CARE

This paper addresses the design of software for web-based psychosocial care – an increasing and highly relevant societal issue. The paper explores two primary research questions: 1) What design principles should guide the creation of web-based software for online psychological support, and 2) How can design science research facilitate the development and assessment of innovative eHealth solutions? Our research – a tailored DSR approach – was conducted over a 10+ year period within the multi-disciplinary research programme U-CARE. As information systems researchers, we worked as researchers and developers, in tight collaboration with psychologists, economists, medical doctors, nurses, and other key stakeholders. Through this process, we continually reflected and abstracted our experiences into design principles and DSR methodology. In response to the first research question, we introduce a set of design principles for web-based psychosocial support, shaped by the overarching LAME DSR approach. These principles include malleability for adaptability and sustainability, privacy and accountability in online environments, and a focus on stakeholder-specific functionalities like therapist dashboards and smooth authentication processes. In response to the second research question, we present the LAME DSR approach and an informed argument concerning its role in the establishment of a strategic, high-impact research environment.