Keynote 3 – Prof. Pnina Soffer. Theory-guided information systems engineering.

Chaired by Oscar Pastor.

Information systems are human-cyber systems, and their engineering should consider both human and technology. The talk will focus on understanding the human side, as a guiding principle for IS engineering (ISE). A multitude of theories that concern humans in the context of IS have been proposed, developed, adapted, or adopted in the related area of management information systems (MIS). These theories, in general, mostly serve for explaining human behavior in the context of IS or for predicting it. The talk will address cases where such theories serve for guiding the development of IS artifacts (systems, processes, methods, models). I will discuss a number of theories that have long been around as examples, and assess their usefulness in guiding ISE and ISE research, in an attempt to indicate what it takes for a theory to be useful for ISE. I will also discuss the difference between bottom-up observational ISE studies and top-down theory-guided ones. Eventually, I will describe some of my recent theory-guided work.

Speakers