Title: Directions in Information Systems Development: Integrating New Technologies, Research Approaches, and Development Practices
Abstract: Information systems development (ISD) continues to be an issue of central significance and concern in the IS field—arguably the core topic for the field. Even as new research topics emerge in tandem with the latest developments in technology, the core issue of how to develop systems to leverage these new technologies and topics remains as problematic as ever. Looking at electronic commerce, one of the most recent areas to have stimulated much research interest, we can see that the work in this area is characterized initially by research that considers the basic functionality of these systems: what can they do? Then the focus moves to how to manage them: how can they be used to support organizational strategy? However, a fundamental principle—which may seem obvious, but is nevertheless not always stated—is that all of these systems have to be developed, and that someone must assume responsibility for doing that. Another fundamental principle is that identifying the purpose, functions, and structure of these systems is an extremely complex process.