Information System Research: Are We in the Right Path?

After some previous comments, thoughts and self-justification, the talk will address first what the speaker understands about the concepts of Information Systems Engineering and Software Engineering from the research point of view. Some works from other authors about research approaches and facts on those disciplines will be presented and, in some sense, incorporated to the speaker’s claim. The talk will present and discuss the symptoms this research presents, in his view, showing some anomalies in respect to other engineering disciplines: lack of finalism, debate on formal methods, lack of results validation and sources of innovation. The talk then discuss an initial diagnostic based on the present teaching paradigms, in the immaturity of the field, and in the dominant research paradigm used by computer scientists. The talk finally outlines some possible solution lines, but in an open manner. The main claim of the talk is that our research in Information Systems Engineering has to adopt clearly the research paradigms used in classical engineering fields (mechanical, civil, electrical, etc.) as the right path for the evolution, industrial innovation and social impact of our disciplines.