Design and Implementation of Organisational Ubiquitous Information Systems for Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants: Towards building a nascent digital ecosystem

Abstract

The past few years have seen significant changes in Information Systems (IS) and society, calling for a paradigm shift in IS research. The world has seen the proliferation of Ubiquitous Information Systems (UIS) and devices used by Digital Natives (DNs) in their personal lives. UIS refer to systems that can be used anytime, anywhere on devices such as tabs and pads. DNs refer to individuals that are immersed in a digital world, and use ubiquitous Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that are seamlessly intertwined with their lives. However, most of the past research has focused on traditional information systems in organisations, used by Digital Immigrants (DIs). DIs, unlike DNs, were not brought up surrounded by a digital world, but started using technologies later in life. The UIS and DN phenomena have raised a couple of issues in organisations. IS research indicates the advent of UIS to about 20 years ago. However, not many organisations have been able to adopt UIS, primarily due to problems such as ubiquitous device limitations, heterogeneity, integration, support, and new security and privacy risks. Further, DNs are now entering the workforce with expectations to continue using the various UIS as they have been using in their personal lives. DNs and DIs are also said to be quite different in their approach and beliefs about work, adding to the complexities. This has resulted in organisations facing a greater push than ever to embrace UIS and DNs. Overall, there is a dearth of research on the combination of these changes facing organisations (DNs and UIS). Researchers believe that a more holistic research approach is needed to address the problems outlined. Particularly, in the context of organisations, there is a need to focus on the design and implementation of organisational UIS (oUIS) that would be used by both DN and DI employees. This research applies a multi-methodological approach to explore the emerging digital ecosystem in organisations. The research process involves a variety of sources due to the limited academic research in the domain. This includes engagement with usability (design) experts, interviews with DNs and DIs, reviewing actual UIS, and creation of a prototype. We find that there are several differences between DNs and DIs; and challenges when deploying oUIS. However, when looked at in totality, there are several opportunities. Specifically, the appropriate design and implementation of oUIS can be a facilitator for a nascent digital ecosystem in organisations. We propose a number of interrelated artefacts to address the paucity of research in the oUIS, DN and DI domain, namely, concepts, model, framework, prototype, principles, and roadmap. The research finds that there are four key determinants of digital nativity: experience with UIS, breadth of use of technologies, digital fluency, and perception of UIS and new technologies. Also, the differences between DNs and DIs construe several opportunities for organisations to leverage DN and DI concepts for their oUIS. The findings suggest that the design and implementation of oUIS cannot be looked at independently, but instead looked at as part of the bigger organisational digital ecosystem. An overarching model is proposed comprising four steps: strategize, plan, design and implement, and govern implementation. Further, an oUIS design and implementation framework is proposed as part of the “design and implement” step of the model. A prototypical implementation of the framework suggests that the oUIS design process is fundamentally different to traditional system design and implementation. It is rather ‘chaotic’, with the need to constantly balance numerous design dimensions and adapt to new design requirements. The proposed framework helps to provide a structure to govern the ‘chaos’ and ‘adapt’. A number of oUIS design principles are also established through the process of creating the design and implementation framework. Lastly, an oUIS design and implementation roadmap is proposed, outlining the necessary steps involved in the design and implementation of oUIS. It involves strategizing and planning around the entire digital ecosystem before design and implementation; and governing the implementation post design and implementation.