History of Information Systems
HISTORY OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In 1981, Gary Dickson published the first and (arguably) last widely recognized historical treatment of the field of management information systems (MIS) – now more commonly called information systems (IS). Given the many shifts in the direction of IS since 1981 and the wide-ranging and sometimes heated debate about the identity and core characteristics of IS, we contend that the field could benefit substantially from another historical analysis. Indeed, our position is a simple one -- that it is important for IS researchers to have at least some form of shared understanding of the short history of our field; that is, the major intellectual waves that shaped our perspectives. Most of these intellectual waves originated in Europe – in particular, the U.K. and Scandinavia – and the U.S. These waves were originally distinct but have gradually come together. For example, the original Conference on Information Systems (CIS) has become ICIS (the International Conference on Information Systems); AIS – our institutional IS academic body – has a membership consisting of a significant and growing number of international affiliates. Yet, only a few old-timers, who directly participated in the beginnings of the globalization of IS research, know the intellectual foundations that drove these institutional changes and that now legitimize them. Therefore, a historical reflection, biased and incomplete as it necessarily must be, can provide an essential foundation for a broader dialogue for those in – or wishing to join – the field. In this article, we attempt to excavate the most significant milestones of the field’s evolution and place them in their historical context.
We need to state at the outset that our historical interpretation has a distinct academic, US-centric, business school-oriented, private sector focus, interpretive research method, systems development bias. It should go without saying that all histories are
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In 1981, Gary Dickson published the first and (arguably) last widely recognized historical treatment of the field of management information systems (MIS) – now more commonly called information systems (IS). Given the many shifts in the direction of IS since 1981 and the wide-ranging and sometimes heated debate about the identity and core characteristics of IS, we contend that the field could benefit substantially from another historical analysis. Indeed, our position is a simple one -- that it is important for IS researchers to have at least some form of shared understanding of the short history of our field; that is, the major intellectual waves that shaped our perspectives. Most of these intellectual waves originated in Europe – in particular, the U.K. and Scandinavia – and the U.S. These waves were originally distinct but have gradually come together. For example, the original Conference on Information Systems (CIS) has become ICIS (the International Conference on Information Systems); AIS – our institutional IS academic body – has a membership consisting of a significant and growing number of international affiliates. Yet, only a few old-timers, who directly participated in the beginnings of the globalization of IS research, know the intellectual foundations that drove these institutional changes and that now legitimize them. Therefore, a historical reflection, biased and incomplete as it necessarily must be, can provide an essential foundation for a broader dialogue for those in – or wishing to join – the field. In this article, we attempt to excavate the most significant milestones of the field’s evolution and place them in their historical context.
We need to state at the outset that our historical interpretation has a distinct academic, US-centric, business school-oriented, private sector focus, interpretive research method, systems development bias. It should go without saying that all histories are