Responsible research and innovation in information systems

European Journal of Information Systems (2012) 21, 207–211. doi:10.1057/ejis.2012.19; published online 20 March 2012 The field of information systems (IS) is characterised by a plurality of positions and approaches that defy simple definitions or characterisations. One aspect that I believe many, if not most, IS scholars can agree on is that IS research aims to describe and understand the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in order to lead to better societal and organisational practices and outcomes. If this hypothesis is correct, then it raises a number of follow-on questions. How can we know what constitutes ‘better’ rather than ‘worse’ or, as a condition of answering this question: Can we agree on a shared view of what counts as ‘good’ in IS? This is a difficult question which points to an extended history of discussing normative issues, that is, issues of ethics and morality, law and customs, prescriptions and proscriptions. This discourse has pervaded the IS literature from its inception. Questions of implicit and explicit norms concerning the use of information technology can be traced back to Norbert Wiener (1954). They have been discussed ever since (Bynum, 2008). They are reflected in attempts to professionalise the work of ICT and IS specialists as reflected in codes of conduct or codes of ethics by professional bodies, which can again be traced back to the 1950s. In the field of IS, there has been a steady stream of research and publications on normative issues (Mason, 1986; Culnan & Williams, 2009) which has more recently led to more attention to ethics as a specific focus of IS research (Bryant et al, 2009; Mingers & Walsham, 2010) and IS education (Harris et al, 2011), as well as the role of ethics in particular aspects or approaches to IS (Myers & Klein, 2011; Stahl, 2008). The purpose of this editorial is not to engage in these substantive discussions. By highlighting the shared concern about normative issues and their history in IS, I have tried to point to the importance of thinking about questions of responsibility in IS. I would like to propose that collectively and individually the field of IS and the researchers and practitioners working within it have an important role to play in ensuring that socio-technical innovations have beneficial consequences. In this editorial, I will lay out what sort of normative challenges the field of IS needs to address and why it is uniquely suited to do so. By looking at the way in which other fields or disciplines currently address such issues, I will return to the question how this can be done in IS and which conditions need to be fulfilled in order for IS to be researched, developed and deployed in a responsible manner.