research paper for information systems

Intelligent Information Systems in Healthcare Sector: Review Study

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• Ayman Akila 4 ,
• Mohamed Elhoseny 5 &
• Mohamed Abdalla Nour 5  

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This research review paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the recent advancements and applications of Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) in the healthcare sector. The study highlights the transformative potential of IIS in enhancing patient care, optimizing clinical decision-making, and improving operational efficiency within healthcare organizations. The paper examines key aspects of IIS, such as electronic health records, machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and computer vision techniques, while also exploring their integration with Internet of Things (IoT) and telemedicine platforms. Moreover, this paper proposes a framework that utilizes IIS in healthcare sector. Furthermore, the review discusses the challenges and future research directions associated with the implementation of IIS in healthcare settings. Overall, this paper aims to provide a holistic understanding of the role of IIS in revolutionizing the healthcare industry and shaping its future.

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Ayman Akila

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Akila, A., Elhoseny, M., Nour, M.A. (2024). Intelligent Information Systems in Healthcare Sector: Review Study. In: Souri, A., Bendak, S. (eds) Artificial Intelligence for Internet of Things (IoT) and Health Systems Operability. IoTHIC 2023. Engineering Cyber-Physical Systems and Critical Infrastructures, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52787-6_11

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Viewpoint: Information systems research strategy

This article 1 , 2 has two aligned aims: (i) to espouse the value of a strategic research orientation for the Information Systems Discipline; and (ii) to facilitate such a strategic orientation by recognising the value of programmatic research and promoting the publication of such work. It commences from the viewpoint that Information Systems (IS) research benefits from being strategic at every level, from individual researcher, to research program, to research discipline and beyond. It particularly advocates for more coordinated programs of research emphasising real-world impact, while recognising that vibrant, individual-driven and small-team research within broad areas of promise, is expected to continue forming the core of the IS research ecosystem. Thus, the overarching aim is the amplification of strategic thinking in IS research – the further leveraging of an orientation natural to the JSIS community, with emphasis on research programs as a main strategic lever, and further considering how JSIS can be instrumental in this aim.

Introduction

This article is motivated by the viewpoint that Information Systems (IS) research (and all research) benefits from being strategic 3 at every level, from individual researcher, to research program, to research discipline and beyond. 4 I first argue the merits of a strategy orientation on the Information Systems discipline (the discipline level) and introduce “IS discipline (ISd) strategy” as a new theme of Strategic Information Systems (SIS) research. My focus is more specifically on ISd research strategy. An important mechanism of ISd research strategy is research programs (the program level). There are strong motivations for research to become more programmatic. Programmatic research (defined in Section ‘(E) ISd-Research Strategic Programs’) is necessarily strategic, entailing larger and longer-term investment and risk, and concomitantly, increased oversight and direction. For scope reasons, I do not focus on the potential value from individuals being strategic in their research activity (the individual level), an important topic warranting separate attention. It is hoped the discussion herein will engender a longer-term and more strategic view of IS research activity, perhaps promoting coalitions, engagement and impact.

The viewpoint proceeds as follows. I next present background to the challenges currently faced by disciplines and briefly explore their contemporary strategic context. I then introduce the notion of Information Systems discipline (ISd) research strategy, identifying five valuable levers or strategy mechanisms: A) strategy theory and its intersection with the nature of the discipline; B) strategic governance; C) strategic methods; D) strategic foci; and E) strategic programs. Having argued the value of adopting a strategy lens on ISd-research, in part four I consider possible paper submissions to JSIS and elsewhere that address any of the five ISd research strategy mechanisms, with an emphasis on strategic programs. The viewpoint concludes with discussion on contributions, limitations and future directions.

Like all disciplines, ISd faces many challenges. Changes in the Higher Education sector worldwide “ have meant a growth in the strength and number of forces acting on academic cultures ” ( Becher & Trowler, 2001, p. xiii ). In recent decades, the way in which knowledge is produced has been changing ( Gibbons et al., 1994 ) and these changes are impacting ISd. Gibbons et al. describe two modes of knowledge production: “ By contrast with traditional knowledge, which we will call Mode 1, generated within a disciplinary, primarily cognitive, context, Mode 2 knowledge is created in broader, transdisciplinary social and economic contexts .” (p.2) Manathunga and Brew (2012, p. 45) contrast Mode 1 as “ a situation where knowledge was principally defined within universities by academics within well-defined disciplinary domains ” with Mode 2 in which “ governments intervene in dictating research agendas through, for example, their funding and evaluation mechanisms requiring researchers to focus on short-term clearly defined project outcomes that have economic benefits ”, “ there is critical questioning by an informed public of the practical and ethical implications of particular discoveries and programmes ” [i] , and there are “ new triple helix linkages between universities, the state and industry ”.

In parts of the world, the shift towards Mode 2 knowledge production has been long-standing ( Trowler, 2012 ). Funding agencies such as governments are playing an important role in this shift, using drivers such as performance-based research funding systems (e.g. ERA in Australia and REF in the UK), funding models that encourage researchers to partner with industry and to achieve commercial outcomes (e.g., co-operative research centres and centres of excellence) and that emphasise research aimed at defined regional and national objectives ( Turpin & Garrett-Jones, 2000 ). While this shift has been less pronounced and less orchestrated in the U.S. and places where universities are comparatively more autonomous and less reliant on government funding ( Lepori et al., 2019 ), it is happening, and has the potential to mushroom as the world transitions to a new state post-COVID-19 5 .

The Information Systems discipline has from its inception needed to adapt rapidly to changing technologies and environments. Merali et al. (2012) consider that the discipline’s “ adaptive characteristics” and “the coexistence of stability (and relatively smooth evolution) at the meta-level with diversity and churn at lower levels suggest the kind of ambidexterity” that will allow “the co-existence of both ‘Mode 1’ research emphasising the creation of a rigorous body of knowledge and establishment of identity of the field and its researchers in academia, and ‘Mode 2’ research having a trans-disciplinary character, working across boundaries with heterogeneous stakeholders and real world problems” (p. 131).

Accelerating social and technological change ( Krishnan, 2009 ) and the de-professionalization of academia have also been impacting disciplines. De-professionalization is evidenced by the number of academics in non-tenured positions ( Mazurek, 2012 ) 6 ; by the “ the multiplicity of managerial responsibilities” being added to the workload of academics ( i.e. additional “ responsibility without power”) ( Demailly & de la Broise, 2009 ); and by “ requirements to meet externally imposed performance criteria” and “ demands to demonstrate the relevance of their work in relation to new institutional mission statements ” ( Beck & Young, 2005, p. 184 ). In 2016 with colleagues, I wrote ( Gable et al., 2016, p. 693 ), “ The challenge today is from de-professionalization, a challenge facing all academic disciplines to varying degrees. We sense a growing tension between the disciplines and institutions that seek increased allegiance from individuals in the face of increasingly demanding organizational KPIs and new directions. That strong institutional pull demands that disciplines better communicate their value proposition and reconsider opportunities for reinforcing and strengthening the values, beliefs, and codes that have underpinned IS research. This is a complex, recent, and potent development demanding further research scrutiny .” [ii]

Articles discussing the state of the Information Systems discipline are many and varied and opinions often conflict. One key debate has centered on what forms the core and scope of IS. This debate generated a series of eleven articles published in the Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS) in 2003 (e.g. Alter, 2003 , Myers, 2003 ) and continues today (e.g. Petter et al., 2018 ). Another debate concerns the nature of the IS discipline; this debate is exemplified by the eight articles in CAIS in 2018 that debated whether information systems is a science (e.g. Dennis et al., 2018 , McBride, 2018 ). These are important debates, as the degree of convergence of a discipline can have political implications. “ Convergent communities are favourably placed to advance their collective interests since they know what their collective interests are, and enjoy a clear sense of unity in promoting them ” ( Becher 1989, p.160 ).

The IS discipline too is varied worldwide. From our 2006 multi-country case study of the state of the IS discipline in Pacific-Asia ( Gable, 2007 ) we observed many differences; for example, there were stark differences in levels of engagement with practice across countries surveyed. That study's theoretical framework ( Ridley, 2006 ) was partly guided by Whitley’s Theory of Scientific Change (1984a) . Scientific fields are seen as “ reputational systems of work organization and control ” ( Whitley, 1984b, p.776 ) and Whitley proposes that there is an inverse relationship between the impact of local contingencies and a discipline’s degree of professionalism and maturity. With reference to Taiwan and Singapore I wrote “ These two cases alone – where local contingencies have much influence on IS in universities, yet where IS in the universities is strong and of high status - suggest a need to revisit the theory, and cast doubt on the theoretical proposition that a mature discipline should be uniform internationally, and relatively uninfluenced by local contingencies ” ( Gable, 2007, p. 17 ).

Many disciplines have questioned whether they will continue existing, for example Sociology ( McLaughlin, 2005 ), Accounting ( Fogarty and Markarian, 2007 ), and Strategic Management ( Jarzabkowski and Whittington, 2008 ). Less apocalyptic prognosticators have over the years suggested various ways of responding and strengthening their discipline (e.g. Keith, 2000 , Kitchin and Sidaway, 2006 , Somero, 2000 , van Gigch, 1989 ). IS researchers have made several recommendations. Thatcher et al. (2018, p. 191) propose three: “ (1) adopt an entrepreneurial model of scholarship, (2) engage with practice, and (3) double down on the intertwining of the social context and IT” . Hirschheim and Klein (2012, p. 193) suggest there is a need for “ continuous effort to define and redefine IS to reflect the evolving boundaries of the field ”. Other prominent researchers have suggested there is value in re-examining current methods and understandings, for example Gregor (2018, p. 114) suggests “ there should be ongoing questioning of our epistemological foundations” . Nunamaker et al. (2017, p. 335) believe that how we conduct research can make a difference and that “ IS researchers can produce higher-impact contributions by developing long-term research programs around major real-world issues, as opposed to ad hoc projects addressing a small piece of a large problem ” [iii] . Perhaps the challenges disciplines have been facing will pale in comparison to new challenges that emerge post-COVID-19, or perhaps COVID-19 will in the main, exacerbate existing forces. 7

In summary, ISd is amidst major change due to accelerating social and technological change, de-professionalization, the inexorable shift towards Mode 2 knowledge production, and COVID-19. A variety of responses has been proposed, all of which imply value from a longer-term strategic orientation and closer proximity to practice.

Information Systems Discipline (ISd) Research Strategy

Through an archival analysis of 316 Journal of Strategic Information Systems (JSIS) research papers, from the journal’s inception through to the end 2009 ( Gable, 2010 ), I discerned a high-level three category classification of Strategic IS (SIS) research: (i) IS for strategic decision making, (ii) Strategic use of IS, and (iii) Strategies for IS issues. As implied in the preceding section, disciplines are facing challenges and discipline-level strategizing is warranted. Herein I propose a fourth category of SIS research; namely, (iv) IS Discipline Strategy. Fig. 1 depicts the relationship between these four nodes or research themes and SIS (wherein SIS is represented as one of several top-level domains of IS research). It is notable that the primary referent or focal phenomenon in (i) and (ii) is the “information system”. In (iii), the primary referent is “IS management” or the “IS function” (whether a formal or informal function; whether central or diffuse). With the addition of (iv) the fourth theme of SIS, I introduce a further primary referent, this time the “IS discipline” (ISd). Of course ISd, like other entities, may also benefit from IS for strategic decision making, strategic use of IS (e.g. the Association for Information Systems (AIS) web presence) and strategies for IS issues (e.g. information management of the AIS eLibrary), thus research in the original three categories may have direct or analogous relevance for ISd as well.

A Strategic Information Systems (SIS) Research Taxonomy (adapted from Gable, 2010 ).

While proactive IS discipline strategizing [iv] may initially seem insular or self-serving and perhaps counter to the general conception of academe as open, collegial and cooperative, I nonetheless believe that many disciplines as traditionally constituted are under some threat and there is value in being proactive rather than passive in responding. All disciplines will benefit from pertinent reflection and positioning (many envisaged findings regarding ISd would have direct, parallel relevance and value in other disciplines).

It is important to note that representing ISd Strategy in Fig. 1 as a fourth theme exaggerates its pertinence in SIS research. This amplification of prominence serves the purposes of this article, the main of which is to promote attention to strategy in IS research. Many alternative classifications of SIS research are possible, and while the suggested four categories of SIS research are not entirely mutually exclusive, nor strictly at the same level of abstraction, they are useful (perhaps a taxonomy rather than a classification).

With reference to Fig. 1 , it is useful to attempt a single overarching research question that captures much of the research represented by each node of such a hierarchy; questions at higher levels being inherently broad, becoming more specific at lower levels (each node can be expanded into a set of underpinning sub-nodes and research questions; such a detailed research agenda was outside scope). The question being asked at the new fourth SIS node is “What is the ISd Vision and how should ISd strategize?” (Recognising that the vision today will likely be much different from 10 or even five years ago). Referring back to the original three categories (themes in Fig. 1 ) identified in ( Gable, 2010 ), in retrospect I suggest the following questions: (i) IS for Strategic Decision Making – How can IS support strategic decision making? (ii) Strategic Use of IS - How can IS be used strategically? (iii) Strategies for IS Issues - What strategies support the IS management/function? (While it is difficult to divine a sufficiently broad yet adequately focused question at the highest SIS node, I suggest “How can IS be strategic? (where IS = Information Systems, IS function, IS discipline).

While much of the discussion herein has relevance to ISd broadly, the focus of this article is on ISd-Research strategy, which is differentiated in Fig. 2 as a sub-theme of ISd strategy (other possible sub-themes might be, for example, Teaching & Learning and Professional Service – in Australia many universities evaluate academic performance in these three areas). Following I argue the relevance of five mechanisms of ISd-Research Strategy: (A) ISd-Research Strategy Theory, (B) ISd-Research Strategic Governance, (C) ISd-Research Strategic Methods, (D) ISd-Research Strategic Foci, and (E) ISd-Research Strategic Programs. The dictionary definition of mechanism serves our purposes here; “ An Instrument or process, physical or mental, by which something is done or comes into being ” ( The Free Dictionary by Farlex ). A definition more specific to this article might be “a means of being strategic”. Thus, ISd research is strategically facilitated through these mechanisms. The five mechanisms in Fig. 2 can usefully be considered as pertaining to ISd-Research Strategy practices: (A) how we define ourselves (as a discipline), (B) how we govern (as a discipline), (C) what we do (as a discipline), (D) how we do it (as a discipline), and (E) how we organise (as a discipline). I next discuss each of these five mechanisms (A) through (E) in turn, thereby also further explicating Fig. 2 .

Information Systems Discipline (ISd) Research Strategy: a Research Taxonomy.

(A) ISd-Research Strategy Theory

There is merit in exploring relevant research strategy theory for ISd. The IS discipline can influence perceptions, conceptions and directions of IS research through theorising IS research strategy. While parallels may exist between disciplines and other entities that have been the focus of past strategy research (e.g., commercial enterprises), disciplines, and ISd more specifically, have distinctions of strategic consequence. There is thus value in critically revisiting extant strategy theory with a view to its relevance in this context. 8

In a seminal work on strategy, Mintzberg (1987) presented and discussed several interrelated definitions of strategy: a plan (a consciously intended course of action), a pattern (consistency in behaviour, whether or not intended), a position (locating the organization in the environment), and a perspective (individuals linked by common thinking and behaviour). Mintzberg particularly emphasised the significance of collective perception and action in any strategy, stating “ strategy is not just a notion of how to deal with an enemy or a set of competitors or a market … It also draws us into some of the most fundamental issues about organizations as instruments for collective perception and action ”. Thus, the process of ISd-research strategizing offers value irrespective of the outputs.

The literature on strategy as practice might also aid our understanding. Peppard et al. (2014, p.1) suggest “ In addressing strategy as practice, the focus of research is on strategy praxis, strategy practitioners and strategy practices […] – the work, workers and tools of strategy in other words .” Strategy as practice takes the view that “ we must focus on the actual practices that constitute strategy and strategizing while at the same time reflecting on our own positions, perspectives and practices as researchers ” ( Golsorkhi et al., 2010, p. 2 ). How does the discipline strategize both consciously and unconsciously (e.g. by our patterns of behaviour)? In essence, the five mechanisms of ISd-Research strategy in Fig. 2 represent research practices of the ISd.

The strategy as action approach has been discussed in relation to research on information systems strategy (e.g. Whittington, 2014 ) but has yet to be applied to ISd-research strategy. A novel paper that broaches ISd-research strategy theory is by Merali et al. (2012) which conceptualises the IS research domain as a complex adaptive system. The authors suggest that the field of IS research is relatively diversified and dynamic, with new topics rapidly emerging, thus the landscape of IS research is constantly changing with scholars frequently shifting attention to investigate new IS and IS phenomena. They ultimately argue that the IS domain has sufficient adaptive capacity to evolve in the emerging competitive landscape, responding to the turbulence, uncertainty and dynamism of IS research (a complex adaptive system).

Banville and Landry (1989) had an alternative view of IS research. They characterised MIS [v] as a fragmented adhocracy (which suggested a lack of strategic direction). A few years later, Hirschheim and Klein lamented “ That our current status remains a ‘fragmented adhocracy’ suggests the field may indeed be in crisis or headed for a crisis ” stating that the disconnects within the IS research community arise “ from the lack of communication among the numerous research sub-communities ” (p.254). Hirscheim and Klein recommended addressing the communication deficit through the development of a body of knowledge in information systems. Taylor et al. (2010) were more optimistic: they believed they demonstrated that “ over the 20-year period from 1986 to 2005, the discipline has shifted from fragmented adhocracy to a polycentric state, which is particularly appropriate to an applied discipline such as IS that must address the dual demands of focus and diversity in a rapidly changing technological context ” (p. 647). These dual demands have also been recognised by other IS scholars. For example, Tarafdar and Davison (2018, p. 543) envision IS as “ a flexibly stable discipline that has both (1) a consolidated deep structure (through the Single and Home Disciplinary contributions); and (2) a periphery of flux (through the Cross Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary contributions )”.

What other theory might be relevant to ISd research strategy? In light of the Hirschheim and Klein (2003) call for the development of a body of knowledge in information systems, an example might be analogizing “research knowledge assets” with knowledge assets broadly, and drawing on knowledge management theory. James (2005) usefully bridges knowledge management and strategic management in ways that lend readily to the notion of research knowledge assets. He found that “ existing knowledge assets form the basis of strategies” (p.165). Theories and strategies from other analogous spheres could be adapted and applied to IS research practice. An example might be analogizing research practices with consulting practices and borrowing from Maister (1993) to develop what I call a Research Practices Lifecycle View, which I elaborate further in later discussion on “ISd-Research Strategic Programs”.

(B) ISd-Research Strategic Governance

For our purposes, strategic governance mechanisms are simply defined as mechanisms of alignment of research practice with ISd-Research Strategy . The IS discipline has ability to influence research strategy through introducing and adjusting various governance levers [vi] . High-level examples in Fig. 2 include the Association for Information Systems ( https://aisnet.org ), doctoral consortia, and conferences. The AIS is a primary ISd-Research Strategic Governance Mechanism for many. Reverse-engineering the AIS website would yield, for example, the AIS Faculty Directory (valuable in expanding and tracking membership), the eLibrary (establishing what is in, and what is not), AISWorld Listserv (communicating core ideas), Awards & Recognitions (signalling what is valued), AIS journal viewpoints and review/fit policy e.g. JAIS/CAIS, and so on [vii] . At a more local level, using Australia as an example (being Australian, I use several Australian examples), strategic governance mechanisms include: the AAIS (the Australasian regional branch of the AIS), Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS), IS Heads of Discipline listserve (ISHoDs) and various initiatives of AAIS and ACPHIS. Example initiatives of AAIS and ACPHIS include their lobbying for IS representation on Australian Research Council (ARC) panels, their Journal and Conference rankings [viii] and awards (e.g. ACPHIS Best Australian IS PhD Medal), and representation in the Australian Computer Society, etc.

“Research on strategy broadly suggests that professional organizations use signalling mechanisms such as awards to direct attention to high-level priorities” ( Ghobadi & Robey, 2017, p. 360 ). Best publication awards signal the core values and priorities of the field. 9 The characteristics of papers/theses that receive awards form patterns that influence what is researched and how [ix] . For example, Ghobadi and Robey found that “ most of the award winning IS articles rate high on theory building” and suggested that this is to position IS as a “ distinct discipline” rather than one that mostly borrows theory . The discipline needs to be aware of the patterns of research that awards are solidifying and take note of evolving trends that may necessitate the development of newer more advantageous patterns [x] . Strategic action in this regard is important “ to support the continuous development of the field ” ( Ghobadi and Robey, 2017 ).

As a further example, my co-authors and I ( Gable et al., 2016 ) explored the strategic importance of doctoral consortia as an ISd-Research strategic governance mechanism. We differentiated four levels of consortia: (i) International (ICIS), (ii) Regional (e.g. PACIS), (iii) National (e.g. ACIS) and (iv) Local (e.g. the School of Information Systems Doctoral Consortium at Queensland University of Technology) and considered their relative roles and influence. We argue that “ Consortia are strategic: a centrally important mechanism for sustainment, rejuvenation and defence of the discipline” (p. 691) . Closing the article, we further wrote “ we return to the advent of the 1st ICIS Doctoral Consortium in 1980, seen against a background at that time of questioning the status of Information Systems as a legitimate academic discipline. In some sense, the adversary then was other disciplines, and their perceived higher standards of professionalism. Today there is a different adversary, and again we see the Consortium as a possible vehicle of discipline reinforcement.”

Thus, the strategic influence of existing and potential governance mechanisms is readily apparent. That said, more transformational governance is possible ( Rosemann, 2017 ).

(C) ISd-Research Strategic Methods

The IS discipline has the ability to influence the kinds of questions being asked and research being pursued through the development, promotion and endorsement of contemporary research methods. Grover and Lyytinen (2015) argue the need to “ critically examine and debate the negative impacts of the field's dominant epistemic scripts and relax them by permitting IS scholarship that more fluidly accommodates alternative forms of knowledge production .” Given the IS research phenomenon of interest (the nexus of people and technology) and our proximity to rapidly changing technology, and the dynamism and generativity of these developments, we need as a discipline to explore new and improved ways of researching ( Rai, 2018 ). Moreover, though the outputs and outcomes of strategic methods may offer potential for research broadly, they offer particular advantage to the IS discipline. This is one of several places in the viewpoint where I advocate that ISd “practice what it preaches” by deploying within ISd, research methods developed by ISd, 10 the implicit question being “What new research methods does ISd require in order to remain relevant?” Put differently, the question might be, “What new research methods would be to the advantage of ISd research?”

As an example Galliers (2011, p. 300) suggests that, what previously might have been considered opposing research traditions, “ might unite to provide a more holistic, and ultimately more edifying, research agenda: one that is inclusive of various research approaches, and thereby better able to provide fresh, and more plausible insights into the complex phenomena we study ”. Tarafdar and Davison (2018) warn of the risk of asking narrow research questions in an attempt to reduce their complexity. They observe a “ lack of multiple IS subdisciplines in a single paper [suggesting] that IS phenomena are perhaps not being investigated in their full richness and complexity, reinforcing the concern about narrowly conceptualized research questions” (p.539). More nuanced, creative and relevant questions may demand new methods.

IS is particularly well placed to progress new and strategic research methods by leveraging what we already know, have and do [xi] . I first argue there is merit in exploring the potential from employing various IS representation techniques in the redescription (or reverse engineering) of existing research methods (e.g. Zhang and Gable, 2017 , Leist and Rosemann, 2011 ). In addition to facilitating improved understanding and combining of well-trod methods, such “redescribing the old” is expected to better-inform design of new research methods, particularly those needed by IS given the dynamism of our focal research phenomena. I further subscribe to the views of March and Smith, 1995 , Venable and Baskerville, 2012 who advocate the merits of a design science research (DSR) approach to the design of new research methods: research methods here conceived as designed artifacts, and DSR originating out of IS. Thus, we see that IS is both well placed to contribute to the design of improved and new research methods and to benefit as a discipline from the adoption of such improved and new methods. 11

ISd has not been idle with innovating new methods, in example the extensive methodological thought around Design Science Research (e.g. Vaishnavi et al., 2019 ). As further example, with net-nography (an online research method originating from ethnography employed to study social interaction in digital communication), we observe a phenomenon through the very technologies that we study (thanks to a panellist here). Grover et al. (2020) discuss the dramatic shift occurring to big data research (stating 16% of papers in top IS outlets employed this approach in 2018). They offer several conjectures that suggest possible unanticipated consequences of these approaches: the implication being these approaches have not been researched adequately. Thus, while I do not advocate epistemological anarchy ( Treiblmaier et al., 2018 ), I believe much more is possible. Furthermore, the focus of the information systems discipline on new phenomena, in combination with our position straddling the sciences of the real and artificial, arguably places us in a position of strategic advantage with regard to epistemology. Put simply, if we investigate new phenomena first, then we are well placed for providing leadership in how to investigate it.

(D) ISd-Research Strategic Foci

I here suggest that an important mechanism of ISd-Research Strategy is “ISd-Research Strategic Foci”, the overarching question being “What new research foci are strategic for ISd?” The IS discipline has ability to influence the direction of research in IS through identifying, recognising and promoting promising research foci.

It is apparent that the notions of ISd-Research Strategy and ISd-Research Strategic Foci imply centrally coordinated strategizing and decision-making. While this does occur, I think increasingly (e.g. by AIS in relation to the international discipline; by ACPHIS in relation to the Australian IS discipline; by universities, faculties and schools in relation to the local IS presence), it is acknowledged that historically, developments have been more distributed and organic. Thanks to a panellist who suggested “ The history of the discipline suggests that the strategic foci (at a disciplinary level) are plastic, emergent, and to a considerable extent, responsive to changes in technology and its role and uses. Studies examining the “core of the discipline” have frequently been bottom up” and have identified changes over time. Arguably, this has affected the ability of IS researchers at various levels to articulate the strategic foci of their work and how it aligns with broader institutional or national research strategy .” Such developments have been driven by individual preferences, capabilities, efforts and circumstances, and only indirectly shaped by various governance mechanisms (e.g. doctoral consortia and conference panels, editor and reviewer feedback and other institutional and discipline-cultural influences).

Though the shift to performance-based funding systems which emphasise impact and economic benefits is anticipated to amplify efforts to centrally coordinate research activity (e.g. in Programs – to be discussed), individual-driven and small-team research within broad areas of promise is expected to continue forming the core of the research ecosystem. Such broad areas of promise, or foci, may evolve organically, inductively, from the bottom-up. Blue-sky research is acknowledged to form “ a vital part of scientific discovery ” ( Linden, 2008, p. 10 ). Alternatively, such foci might be promoted top-down, by the AIS or other authorities (international, regional or local) - promoted, but not coordinated. Many recognise that such highly distributed inductively selected research activity is foundational to science. Wu et al. (2019) analysed 65 million papers, patents and software products, spanning 1954–2014, concluding that smaller teams have tended to disrupt science and technology with new ideas and opportunities, ultimately concluding, “ both small and large teams are essential to a flourishing ecology of science and technology ”.

While, I believe that in IS individual-driven and small-team research in IS has predominated and should continue to be strongly encouraged and supported, I later argue that to achieve a flourishing ecology, we also need to promote larger, more programmatic research initiatives [xii, xiii] . I recognise that a dichotomy of small and large initiatives is coarse and accept there is value in considering more of a continuum. As suggested by one senior scholar, “ sometimes people proactively/serendipitously reach out, pool resources if working on the same topic and cumulatively build the research projects. This can be an organic and agile way of doing things rather than the traditional funding way. A combination of programmatic and individual if you will – perhaps a ‘third’ way that could capture the best of both worlds? ”

A journal too can be strategic (in fact all are at some level) and a vehicle for promoting strategic foci, and JSIS is a prime example. In the first issue of JSIS Bob Galliers reported “ In business schools around the world it is often the case that IT, IT strategy and information management are considered at best as optional topics unworthy of being included in the core programme” and “ discussion of information and IT issues is not integrated into other business topics ” ( Galliers, 1991, p. 3 ). Galliers' championing of JSIS in the late 1980s was a strategic move to address this concern and to claim related research for the IS discipline, by promoting an outlet with this focus.

In closing this section, I argue there is value in promoting strategic research foci [xiv] , as distinct from strategic research programs (to be discussed). I believe there is merit in promoting, for example, Digital Innovation as a research focus of individual researchers and small teams (important research questions demanding attention being a key motivation for a focus), while possibly in parallel orchestrating larger more programmatic oversight (e.g. a Digital Innovation research program). Further, not all research foci lend themselves to a programmatic approach or warrant the size of a program.

(E) ISd-Research Strategic Programs

I suggest that an important mechanism of ISd-Research Strategy is strategic ISd Research Programs, or “ISd-Research Strategic Programs”, the overarching question being “What research programs are strategic for ISd?” [xv, xvi] . As mentioned above, differentiating strategic programs from strategic foci highlights the possibly more proactive role of the AIS or other coalitions within the IS discipline in strategically coordinating targeted research. For my purposes herein, research programs are simply “organisations for conducting programmatic research.” I intentionally define programs broadly and loosely to encompass both less, and more formal organisations or orchestrations of research.

The notion of programmatic research is not well established. In Communication, Benoit and Holbert (2008, p. 615) suggest programmatic research “ systematically investigates an aspect of communication with a series of related studies conducted across contexts or with multiple methods .” In Education, Berninger (2009, p. 69) suggests “ Programmatic research is designed to answer questions systematically, with the results of one study informing the research questions and design of the next study in a line of research that seeks comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon .” In Management Information Systems, Martin (1995, p. 28) defines programmatic research as “ a structured plan for conducting studies systematically across the entire span of a chosen field of enquiry .” While all of these definitions overlap and complement, none explicitly addresses the extension of research strategy through to implementation in practice, with feedback, a notion we endorse and depict in Fig. 3 .

Relevance Realisation Lifecycle Model [adapted from Moeini et al, 2019 ].

For the purposes of this paper I define programmatic research as the systematic and holistic investigation of strategically significant phenomenon through multiple coordinated and interrelated projects by a team of researchers, with the joint aims of knowledge contribution and positive impact on the world. An assumption is that programmatic research is in accord with strategy; there can never be reason to initiate research on the scale of a program that is not in accord with strategy. And though a basic-research program is conceivable, herein there is the assumed joint intention of positive impact as well as knowledge contribution. The program itself may extend to impact and outcomes or it may be extensible to impact, and what is meant by holistic must be locally defined. 12

Programmatic research demands closer interaction and cooperation amongst the program members. They rely more closely on each other’s ideas and outputs, the related ownership of which is more complex and nuanced. A program’s scale facilitates specialisation of function, which introduces complexity around the allocation of roles and rewards. The relative longevity of programs suggests the possible need to conceive of intermediate outputs and outcomes of value to the program, where the value to individuals isn’t clear and needs to be managed or orchestrated. Terms often used to differentiate programs (from projects) are larger, longer, more complex, less well defined, with more stakeholders, evolutionary, holding a systems view, exhibiting a plurality of goals, and being more strategic. More specific to research, other terms include multidisciplinary, trans -disciplinary, lifecycle-wide, and multi-paradigmatic (of course these terms do not pertain strictly to either projects or programs).

The Project Management Institute (2008, p. 9) defines a program as “ a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Programs may include elements of related work outside the scope of the discrete projects in the program. A project may or may not be part of a program but a program will always have projects. ” Thus, there may be outputs/outcomes that pertain to the program but not directly to any of its component projects. This has profound implications for the planning, identification and recognition of value that derives from the research program. Clarke and Davison (2020) argue that what they call “multi-perspective research”, while feasible within individual research projects, may be more readily achieved through research programmes.

A conceptual framework I've found valuable for interrelating and accommodating diversity in programmatic research is what I refer to as a “research practices lifecycle view”. I analogize research practices with consulting practices and borrow from Maister (1993) who differentiates three types of consulting practices: the “big brains” practice which employs considerable raw brain power to solve frontier (unique, bleeding edge, new) problems; the “grey hair” practice which has prior experience of similar situations; and procedural practices which use developed procedures and systems to handle specific problems efficiently. Choo (1995) describes these as background knowledge framework, practical know-how and rule-based procedures. I loosely refer to analogous research practices as Expertise, Experience and Efficiency respectively, and suggest that these are not discrete, but rather positions on a continuum; and that practices tend to start from strong emphasis on Expertise (e.g. novel, basic research), and with the passage of time and through experience gained, move along the continuum towards Efficiency (e.g. incremental replication studies) and relatively more applied research. In a large research group, or through collaboration, such practices can co-exist and complement, with more basic research findings generating more applied, possibly practice-based testing and extension studies (perhaps extending to commercialisation). Each practice area benefits from quite different capabilities and team member motivations, thus accommodating diversity. The Research Practices Lifecycle View framework further demonstrates the value to be gained from a broader and longer-term view of research; it represents a higher level of abstraction in research design/strategy, that spans and interrelates multiple, otherwise disjoint zero-base initiatives.

Ultimately, I chose to amplify the value of programs as distinct strategic mechanisms. Such mechanisms may be higher-order and formal, for example, the AIS Bright ICT Initiative ( Lee, 2015 , Lee et al., 2018 , Lee et al., 2020 ); a key project of this initiative aimed to develop the framework for “ a new and safer Internet platform ” ( Lee, 2015, p. iii ). Programs can vary in size, scope and formality, from substantial and long-lived programs such as AVATAR (Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time), an almost 20 year partnership of eight universities led by the University of Arizona in conjunction with more than ten Government departments ( Nunamaker et al., 2017 ), to more local research concentrations (e.g. the continuing trend in Australia towards concentrating people and resources locally – e.g. within a “Centre” – in areas of perceived strength, promise and advantage 13 ). Though I imply herein that such programs are at this stage often more implicit than explicit (and vary internationally in terms of their prevalence), it is felt that all such forms can be usefully considered under the umbrella of research programs [xvii] .

ISd-Research Strategy Publications

This viewpoint set out with two main aims: (i) to argue the importance of a strategic research orientation for the Information Systems Discipline (discipline level); and (ii) to facilitate such a strategic orientation by trumpeting the value of related research and promoting its publication. Having in Section ‘Information Systems Discipline (ISd) Research Strategy’ above addressed (i), in this section I further address (ii) aiming to partially clear-the-way 14 for manuscript submissions to JSIS and elsewhere, in attention to any node of the ISd-Research Strategy branch in Fig. 2 , but with particular emphasis on research programs (program level).

Thus, a key aim of this viewpoint is to facilitate manuscript submissions that align with any of the five mechanisms in Fig. 2 ; namely, ISd-Research Strategy … (A) theory, (B) governance, (C) methods, (D) foci, and (E) programs. Papers on (A) theory and (B) governance, though important, are anticipated to be rare, with papers on (C) strategic methods again anticipated to be occasional only. Papers arguing for a new strategic research focus (D) would entail a general call for the IS discipline to pursue research in relation to some new or emerging phenomenon of perceived consequence. The expectations of such papers and the standards for acceptance will be demanding. Such papers will tend to encompass a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature (akin to a review or curation), but rather than emphasising theory development, will include greater detail on the research agenda into the future; they should amplify discussion of potential impact and how the focus is strategic for IS [xviii] (in many ways this current paper is such an article, without the rigorous attention to the literature). Thus far in this section, having very briefly accounted for (A) through (D) of Fig. 2 , I now turn my more detailed attention to (E) Programs.

Papers arguing for a new strategic program would detail either a proposed or an in-progress program of research, evidencing to the extent possible the value of and potential from a programmatic approach. There would be strong emphasis on potential future research, as well as on how the proposed future research is strategic for the IS discipline. Note that articles explicating research Programs, much like foci articles, will often (not always) build on an established track record of work across and beyond the discipline, and perhaps parallel or subsume a curation (e.g. https://misq.org/research-curations/ ) or major structured literature review (e.g. see Rivard 2014 ), while bringing a more strategic lens to the analysis and interpretation, and having greater emphasis on strategic prescription. It is useful to differentiate explicitly the design of these larger programmatic initiatives as “research strategy” as compared to “research design” at a more individual project level. Employing this language, I consider the Tarafdar et al. (2018) suggestion for more longitudinal studies [xix] , to be a research strategy, more at the collective program level.

I am not so naïve as to assume I can here offer comprehensive guidance on what to attend to in the design and reporting of research programs [xx] . Rather I constrain my focus to engendering and promulgating the relevance of such research (here I largely equate relevance with impact which I more specifically define in the next section – ( Davison and Bjørn-Andersen, 2019 ) refer to 'societal impact'), for which purpose I draw on Moeini et al. (2019) . Their work suggests several valuable mechanisms of programmatic research including: (i) the value from adopting a multilevel view in research design (I herein usefully employ this view by differentiating between the individual/project level, the program level, and the discipline level), and (ii) the value of a longer, multi-phase view of research design from knowledge-potential-generation through to realised-impact (a more programmatic view). Though their focus is constrained to relevance, which is not the sole intent of programmatic research, the relevance intent demands a consequential and valuable longer-term, more strategic and holistic view [xxi, xxii] .

A Relevance-Centric Approach to Programmatic Research

Fig. 3 depicts the four phases of research relevance realisation differentiated by Moeini et al. (2019) (Potential > Perceived > Used > Realised). Key variations herein to that work are (i) the alternative conception of their four “dimensions” of relevance potential as “stages” of relevance-potential generation, 15 and (ii) the combining of those stages with their phases of relevance realisation in a process view including feedback loops. I believe this lifecycle view represents a more readily actionable and systematic approach to designing relevance into a larger, more strategic research program. Moreover, though the stages of relevance-Potential generation in Fig. 3 (the left-hand side) tend to be associated with research, and the latter three phases of relevance realisation (the right-hand side … Perceived, Used, Realised) tend to be associated with practice, the stages and phases can be tightly intertwined. For example, in action research or action design science research, or through other larger, longer-term more programmatic research that extends to the later phases of relevance realisation, there can be useful iteration back to earlier phases, thus the feedback loops.

My use of the term “impact” throughout this viewpoint has a different connotation from many. I am not referring to impact-factors and citations, but rather I am concerned with influence on practice and policy (societal value). However, unlike many definitions of “impact on practice and policy”, I am not solely focused on the impact of research outside of academia, as some impact frameworks are (e.g. https://re.ukri.org/research/ref-impact/ ); I also value research that impacts the practice of research. I note that the Strategic Methods node C in Fig. 2 is all about research that impacts research practice.

To more clearly position and bound their study, Moeini et al. (2019) (i) differentiate their focus on “potential practical relevance” from other conceptions of relevance, (ii) differentiate dimensions of relevance, (iii) differentiate stakeholders of relevance, and (iv) differentiate levels of analysis of relevance. These distinctions all have value in clarifying discussion on research relevance, each addressing a different question - What type (phase) of relevance realisation? Which dimension (or stage)? For whom (what goal)? And, at what level (e.g. individual project, Program, research area)? I now turn briefly to (iv) differentiating the levels of analysis of relevance.

As stated at the outset, it is my view there is value in a strategic orientation on research at every level, from individual to program to discipline and beyond. Such a multilevel view of research also recognises that the value from research can be at different levels: individual project, program, domain/field (research area); or emergent. As Moeini et al. indicate, “ while each individual article does not necessarily need to have a high potential for practical relevance … a research area needs to provide a degree of potential practical relevance”. 16 The value of some research may be more local e.g. relevant to the program but not to practice broadly. If such an intermediate output is intended, then perhaps there is a greater need to explicitly position the pertinent sub-study within the larger program. To the extent that individuals have some sense of how their individual projects are part of a larger, multilevel undertaking, they will be better placed to understand and explain the merits of their work to peers, research groups, examiners, reviewers, editors, funding bodies and so on. I believe this multilevel view of research strategy worthy of further attention.

In summary, in this section I advocate for more relevant IS research; an underutilized strategic option. I strongly endorse focusing a relevance-lens on programmatic research, my discussion further amplifying the value of the Moeini et al. (2019) phases of relevance-realisation. I believe such a lens, and approach ( Fig. 3 ) is valuable in the design and reporting of research programs. I encourage researchers to consider this view in crafting future-oriented research programs strategic for the Information Systems Discipline.

Rigour in programmatic research strategy

In the preceding section, I suggested the beginnings of a relevance-centric approach to programmatic research strategy and reporting, my aim being to partially clear-the-way for larger, more relevant, impactful and strategic research and publications. I am not alone in calling for such work. Yet the elephant-in-the-room whenever such calls are made is the unbending expectation of rigour ( i.e. the appropriate and adequate application of methods).

With regards rigour, I differentiate three possible units of analysis: the project, the program (design and execution), and reporting on the program (description and evaluation). My emphasis in this section is on rigour of reporting. I earlier differentiated projects and programs, suggesting that research project design/execution rigour has received much valuable attention, and that further such attention can be strategic for the discipline (and thus would align with node C in Fig. 2 ). In the preceding section I cautiously offered sample guidance on a relevance-centric approach to research program design (or strategy), acknowledging that research programs are large, complex and highly varied.

The question thus becomes how does one rigorously report on, or describe, and perhaps evaluate, a research program? [xxiii] Pawson (2013) recommends that such description and evaluation should be motivated by rigorous attention to the existing knowledge base and possibly by the development of a conceptual framework or platform. This part of a proposed program report, would parallel in many ways a review article, some such articles going further than others, to advocate for a research agenda. 17 To the extent that such a research agenda is new, such a review article comes very close to a research foci article, as described earlier (mechanism D in Fig. 2 ); such a research foci article promoting widespread, organic, individual projects that attend to argued areas of research need and value that are strategic for the discipline. A paper reporting on a program however, must go further, to address the coalition of resources and stakeholders, the range of constituent projects and their logic (the program “meta-logic”), and the strategic value and importance of the coalition for all stakeholders (the coalition, the discipline, the world). Moreover, while individual projects should, to the extent possible in their design and reporting, attend to outcomes, the opportunity to elaborate such potential is greater and thus essential with research program reports.

Given that Research Programs tend to be large, complex and unique, any guidance here on their description, can be high-level and exemplary only. It is possible that a design science research approach may be appropriate (e.g. treating the Program as a designed artefact), or Action Design Research or Action Research 18 (e.g. evaluating Program implementation with theoretical implications). Perhaps appropriate too are evaluation research approaches, which are varied and employed widely in the evaluation of both practice- and research-based programs. While the term “Evaluation Research” implies ex post evaluation, which is perhaps characteristic of much if not most such work, anticipation of such evaluation can usefully inform ex ante program strategy and description.

In closing this section, I acknowledge merit in documenting programs at various stages, with some provisos. While I appreciate the value of documenting each stage of a program of research (proposed, in-progress, and completed) including its planning, implementation and operation, and with attention being given to predicted, intermediate or final outputs and outcomes, I anticipate that being compelling in such writing will be easier where a program has at least commenced and there is some empirical evidence of its progress. Where the program is planned, but yet to commence, its publication might be considered a form of research-in-progress. Where the program is in progress or completed, some form of program evaluation may be appropriate.

This viewpoint argues the merit of focusing a strategy lens on the Information Systems Discipline. I introduced IS Discipline (ISd) strategy as a new theme of Strategic IS (SIS) research, subsequently focusing more specifically on ISd research strategy. I have advocated the value of a strategic orientation at every level, from individual, to Program, to Discipline and beyond. Research programs in particular, can be a valuable mechanism of research strategy. Though I acknowledge variation across regions and countries (and no doubt within countries), there are strong motivations for research to become more programmatic. Programmatic research is necessarily strategic, entailing larger and longer-term investment and risk, and concomitantly, increased oversight and direction.

Careful consideration was given to the fit of this Viewpoint with JSIS. Details of that thinking are included as Appendix A (I encourage all authors of submissions to JSIS to undergo similar reflection). Ultimately though, all rationales are peripheral to the central aim of the article, which is the amplification of strategic thinking in IS research – the further leveraging of an orientation natural to the JSIS community, with emphasis on research programs as a main strategic lever, and further considering how JSIS can be instrumental in this aim.

This article is a response to the ongoing call for increased attention to relevance and impact in research (e.g., Rai, 2017a , Tarafdar et al., 2018 ). Moeini et al. (2019, p. 210) include a table of suggested “ opportunities for improving potential practical relevance” , with recommendations for authors, reviewers and journals. Table 1 lists the six recommendations that apply to journals [xxiv] . The promotion herein of research pertaining to any of the mechanisms of ISd-Research Strategy in Fig. 2 , and of programmatic research broadly, addresses much in Table 1 , perhaps with some emphasis on opportunities (1)–(4) in that table. One Senior Editor of JSIS has been explicitly advocating for (5), more linked publications. More engagement on social media (6) has admittedly only just appeared on our radar. I am with this viewpoint attuning JSIS editors, reviewers and Board members to all of these priorities.

Suggestions to Journals for Improving Potential Relevance (based on Moeini et al., 2019, p. 210 ) [xxvi, xxvii] .

In some sense this viewpoint is also a response to the Tarafdar and Davison (2018, p. 537) call for increased intra- and inter-disciplinary research in IS and to the Galliers (2003) call for trans-disciplinary/inter-disciplinary research. 19 Tarafdar and Davison suggest, amongst other things, that IS journal editors “ consider editorial policies such as sections especially devoted to the interdisciplinary contributions .” That recommendation overlaps several of the six suggestions in Table 1 [xxv] .

Tarafdar et al. (2018) , rather than focusing on kinds of research or publications, refer to kinds of researchers required to achieve impact and engagement. Specifically, they argue the need for “public intellectuals” in the Information Systems Discipline. They identify three challenges to the production of impactful research: (i) researchers don’t know how to do such work, (ii) journals lack strategies for disseminating such work, and (iii) academic leaders lack strategies and processes to encourage such work. I hope Section ‘ISd-Research Strategy Publications’ above offers some guidance on how to amplify relevance and impact in research. As regards the Tarafdar et al. (2018) second challenge, a key aim herein has been to influence traditional outlets to be more receptive to such work by both attuning them to the need and value, and exploring (if not explicating outright) criteria for the evaluation of such work. Gill and Bhattacherjee (2009) suggest journals might introduce portfolio targets. JSIS, like other journals, is keen to promote more impactful research broadly; I invite both research that is “designed for impact”, and research that while not designed for impact from the outset, offers compelling interpretation pointing to potential future impactful outputs and outcomes. I hope too that this article engenders more programmatic research as described herein, a response to the Tarafdar et al. (2018) third challenge.

I believe the article offers ideas for several potential readers. For discipline leaders, those who are integrally involved in the oversight and nurturing of the IS discipline, there is little new here; perhaps the discussion suggests a framework around which current thinking might coalesce. For research quality gate-keepers – editors, reviewers, examiners – there is a strong plea to accommodate work pertaining to any of the five mechanisms of Fig. 2 , again with particular emphasis on strategic research programs. At the same time, I am acutely aware, and have been reminded by more than one of the senior scholars, that this plea is not new, and that the obstacles are several and complex (see endnotes).

For program leaders and aspirants to research program-leadership, the article raises many more issues than it solves. That said, it offers some argument for the creation of new, and sustenance of existing research programs, and I hope points the way to important thinking needed to promote improved programmatic research. For many Deans and Heads of School, and for research administrators in universities and governments whose policies strongly influence the course and focus of research, the call herein for more impactful research and the endorsement of research programs as a vehicle, will I expect be welcome.

For individual junior researchers, I apologize for only peripheral consideration of implications. Let it suffice here to suggest that individuals should carefully consider their personal and their projects' fit within the landscape of foci and consider their possible role(s) in programs. It is never too soon to be thinking strategically about who you seek to be: what you aspire to as a researcher. This should be a question asked of every commencing PhD student. Such a strategic orientation on career is all the more important in these uncertain times. For individual seasoned researchers the single message is, consider how in the current and projected climate you align with the other levels. Of course, many seasoned researchers do these things naturally.

Limitations

The emphasis throughout the discussion herein has been on research strategy, without explicitly extending this discussion to teaching and learning strategy. One might question whether it is possible to separate ISd Research Strategy from other discipline strategy, as they are to some degree intertwined. While inattention herein to those linkages may be considered a limitation, I believe ISd research strategy is sufficiently conceptually distinct to warrant separate consideration. “ Academic legitimacy comes with the salience of the subjects studied, the strength of the results obtained, and the plasticity of the field in responding to new challenges” ( King and Lyytinen, 2006 ). That being said, much of what is discussed here has broad relevance to the full discipline. There is merit in future work extending the discourse herein and shining a light on IS teaching and learning, viewing them through a discipline strategy lens [xxviii, xxix, xxx] .

A limitation of the Relevance Realisation Lifecycle view ( Fig. 3 ) is its inattention to what should be the focus across the lifecycle. Yes, relevance, but what more specifically? Rai (2019) argues that the focus across the phases should be problem formulation (which leads to the research question), thereby increasing chances of successfully addressing the dual objectives of scholarly and broa1er impact; and avoiding type III errors (addressing problems that don't matter) ( Rai, 2017a ). He goes further ( Rai, 2017b ) to suggest ways of abstracting the immediate problem to an archetypal problem (so the immediate problem is not over-problematized) and illuminating the distinctive characteristics of the immediate problem to challenge the archetypal problem (so the archetypal problem is not under-problematized). This guidance complements well the ideas of Fig. 3 . In an 'engaged scholarship' approach, engagement with practice is through the processes of problem formulation (which leads to the research question), theory development, research design, and solution assessment. One can argue that by engaging with practice in each of these phases (and doing other things to avoid Type III errors), the dual objectives of scholarly impact and broader impact are more likely to be realized.

I must accept the article is somewhat discipline-centric, with inadequate consideration of the university perspective, universities being the main vehicle of IS discipline research. Academics are members of both a discipline and a university. 20 Disciplines establish and enforce standards of research quality and research value, and universities encourage and facilitate research that meets those standards and delivers value. Historically, the main value sought has been contribution to knowledge. A key gauge of a university researcher's worth is their aggregate contributions to knowledge that meet the discipline standards. A key gauge of a university's research worth is the aggregate of its researchers' contributions to knowledge. Disciplinary involvement promotes training and growth in research standards and methods of their achievement, as well as breadth and depth in the discipline knowledge domain (involvement in the discipline has many other benefits, such as networking with other researchers). Regardless of individual university reward systems, stature within the discipline is perhaps the academic's main credential for advancement. There is however a “new normal”. Universities and disciplines have worked in tandem for over a century and their alignment needs attention.

This article makes no claim to inventorying the extensive, excellent disciplinary strategic advice to date from within the IS discipline. Fig. 2 offers the beginnings of a framework for usefully interrelating that work. Comprehensive inventorying, and interrelating that knowledge base within a coherent framework, is useful further research. The Strategic Methods node would undoubtedly benefit from a comprehensive revisiting of the IS literature (and beyond) to inventory and harmonize to the extent possible, extant methodological thought.

Though this article does not probe the merits and costs of research program involvement for individuals (a theme in the suggested follow-on work), implicit in the arguments is a strong belief in the efficiency and effectiveness of programmatic research; I think the potential for “a larger pie” is there. What isn't obvious is “how that pie gets shared”, which opens up much complexity. I think a general limitation of this article is that it generates expectations of answers while ultimately, in the main, only raising questions. Contrary, I think, to the view of one senior scholar, the article ends up being more descriptive than prescriptive. Lastly, I acknowledge I should have paid greater heed to the Hirschheim (2008) guidelines for the critical reviewing of conceptual papers, but practical realities intervened.

Future directions

The aims of this viewpoint are to espouse the merits of focusing a strategy lens on ISd-research, to facilitate related research and to call for future research in this direction. I believe a multilevel view of research strategy has the potential to be highly revealing, and is worthy of close future research attention. Reflecting back on the mechanistic view in Fig. 2 , I lament how the figure is inexplicit regarding the levels of research implied throughout the article. The discipline-level is clear as a sub-theme (ISd-Research strategy). Programs are explicitly accounted for as a mechanism (ISd-Research programs). Individuals however are only indirectly represented through projects or foci (ISd-Research Foci), and there is no explicit indication of multi-/inter-/trans-disciplinarity beyond disciplines. Shifting to a more multilevel view, I arrived at Table 2 , which cross-references levels of research with the five strategy mechanisms from Fig. 2 .

A Research Level and Strategy Mechanism Cross-Reference.

(a) I here adopt the British spelling where I refer more specifically to programmes as a 'level' as opposed to a mechanism, these being somewhat conflated prior.

It became clear that one can usefully consider the five mechanisms at each level, from: (i) individual, to (ii) programme, to (iii) discipline, iv) to x-disciplinary research (multi-/trans-/inter-disiciplinarity); perhaps worthwhile extending further to a higher 5th level – the ecology or society of research (e.g. Kuhn, 2012 ). I note also that programs are both a mechanism and a level (where levels are in essence groupings of people as in multilevel analysis – e.g. see ( Zhang and Gable, 2017 ).

I introduce Table 2 as an afterthought and suggest much interesting and valuable research could be pursued in attention to each of its cells. Such work, in the first instance, might entail inventorying pertinent thought to date. Such effort would likely be multidisciplinary, drawing from many disciplines. Rather than elaborating the individual cells of Table 2 and its full potential for encouraging further research and interrelating extant research, I make several selective observations. First, I note that extant methodological guidance pertains primarily to the individual project level. There is particular need for methods guidance at the program level; I recognise that multi-method and mixed-method guidance has some pertinence here, but much more is required.

Second, while I suggest the nexus of the individual level and governance pertains to “how individual research is governed”, I am of the view that individual research is largely self-governed. That said, both “how individuals govern their research” and “how their research is governed” are of interest to research organisers (e.g. program leaders/administrators). As mentioned, this article gives short shrift to the individual level, as it does to projects as a mechanism. While this scoping decision has to some extent been because, that level has to date received greater attention (e.g. in terms of methods guidance and our understanding of research projects), Table 2 reveals much need and further potential for attention to the individual level (e.g. How do researchers self-govern their research strategy?).

Beyond Table 2 , other areas of valuable further research are suggested herein. As a methodology for the design and execution of both research projects and programmatic research, there is value in employing the Relevance Realisation Lifecycle Model in Fig. 3 , while reflecting on and reporting on its merits (perhaps making a methodological contribution – mechanism C in Fig. 2 ).

As suggested earlier, with the swing to Mode 2 knowledge and growing emphasis on impact and engagement, discipline-university alignment requires attention. To the extent that discipline measures of stature and value are misaligned with university research goals and reward systems, academics and administrators experience conflict and productivity is compromised (some would argue university reward systems haven't evolved in lock-step with university and society aspirations for impact, thereby further exacerbating alignment). Disciplines and ISd have lagged in establishing measures of quality and value that promote impact. Thus, there is merit in assessing this alignment. Attention to this problem has been a major aim herein. More focused attention to ISd – University alignment is warranted, as are measures of rigour that encourage impact.

Further stretching the conception of “research as practice” there may be merit in analogizing other business concepts from industry (e.g. Business Models ( Fielt, 2014 )) to disciplines and research programs. I am herein talking about value and stakeholders. If programmatic research is to be strategic, it must consider the competition and its consumers and investors. Perhaps analogous with the notion of business model is 'research strategy model' (another example of reverse-cross-fertilization). Big data/data analytics is undoubtedly disrupting traditional (explicit and implicit) research strategy models. Some would argue that much of the contemporary data-driven research is too myopic and piecemeal, suggesting value from a more programmatic view; a new research strategy model.

It was argued earlier that discipline – university alignment is in need of attention. A premise of this argument is that disciplines continue to have value. There will be those who advocate that academics sole-allegiance should be to the university; a view I believe to be short-sighted and narrow. Discipline research standards are not static; rather they are constantly evolving, with new methods needed given new research phenomenon and technologies, a key role of the disciplines being to facilitate (and subsequently enforce) the evolution of new standards in lock step with the changing context, foci and priorities. Thus, any assumption that standards are established and the disciplines have served their role is misplaced.

Consistent with the above, a senior scholar espoused the value of engaged scholarship as argued in Rai (2017a) , but qualified that view commenting, “ I would state the tension a bit differently – at least in US institutions, particularly business schools. As an applied discipline, there is a challenge to create interventions for practice, but these necessarily inhibit us from meeting the institutional demands ( e.g. , tenure requirements). The middle ground of “engaged scholarship” which involves problemitization of our research helps in this regard, but the tension remains. Juxtaposition this with the demands from federal funding agencies that create layers of investment demands on the individual to tackle broad societal, interdisciplinary problems with cross-disciplinary teams. On top of this, our journals are increasingly sensitive to enforcing some kind of disciplinary boundary (i.e., is this IS research?).”

In summary, the main contributions of this viewpoint are twofold. First, the viewpoint argues the need for the IS discipline to think strategically in order to amplify value and contribution, and to thrive. Second, this viewpoint aims to smooth-the-way for manuscript submissions to JSIS and elsewhere, in attention to any of the nodes of the IS Discipline Research Strategy branch in Fig. 2 . It is hoped that discussion herein will engender a longer-term and more strategic view of IS research activity, perhaps promoting coalitions, engagement and impact.

Disciplines, and in some sense the sector, are under threat. Though the threats are several and some nuanced, the aftermath of COVID-19 will be a quite different world; as of this writing it has been reported that rationalisation of the university sector in Australia due to constrained finances and new delivery models following from COVID-19, will entail the loss of 21,000 academic positions. It is time to revisit strategy at all levels.

Acknowledgements

The shape of ideas presented herein has been much improved through the editorial panel review process, with key new ideas introduced. Many thanks to Bob Galliers, Suzanne Rivard, Monideepa Tarafdar and Mary Tate. The literature review and clarity of the paper owes much to the assistance and input of my senior research assistant Karen Stark. I must acknowledge the significant influence on my thinking from breakfast conversations with Alison Gable. The development of ideas proposed has been much facilitated from involvement in the Australian Research Council Discovery grant DP150101022 “Towards Engineering Behavioural Research Design Systems” core team members of which include Arun Rai, Wasana Bandara, Meng Zhang and Mary Tate. Further, I am much appreciative of additional incisive feedback from senior scholars who read the paper subsequent to editorial panel acceptance, which I believe promoted important balance in several areas (though not all will agree I have achieved this).

1 This Viewpoint was invited by Bob Galliers 18 December 2015.

2 In addition to central editorial panel review, the paper was further read by several generous, senior scholars (I use the term descriptively here, though most were Senior Scholars https://aisnet.org/general/custom.asp?page=SeniorScholars ), whose additional feedback was often challenging. Their anonymous contributions are acknowledged in several places, and quotations included, mainly in endnotes (referenced using roman numerals within square brackets). I further observe that many of these comments pertain to known limitations of the paper and complexities with implementing its explicit or implicit recommendations, thereby reflecting a form of rebuttal.

3 By strategic I mean pertaining to, marked by, or important to a long-term strategy. By long-term I suggest 5+ years. I acknowledge both, that short-term and opportunistic initiatives may align with strategy, and where they do not, they may or may not be prudent given strategy.

4 … to transdisciplinary, or inter-disciplinary, or what ( Galliers, 2003 ) refers to as Fields of Study, recognising that disciplines themselves can be more or less transdisciplinary; more or less inclusive and pluralistic.

5 This article was commenced 2015 and largely completed pre-COVID-19. References to COVID-19 are last minute and few, the potential implications of COVID-19 nonetheless believed to amplify many ideas herein.

6 In addition Crimmins (2017) reports that " Bryson identified that approximately 50% of teaching is undertaken by casual academics in the UK, France, Germany and Japan ( Bryson, 2013 ), and in the US casual appointments constitute 70% of faculty teaching positions ( Kezar and Maxey, 2015 ) ".

7 The antithesis of this large viewpoint article is the incisive ( Watson et al., 2020 ) guest editorial in MISQ Executive “Practice-oriented Research Contributions in the COVID-19 Forged New Normal” which in three pages offers four trends greatly accelerated by COVID-19, a list of priority areas for CIOs, and suggestions to scholars on research questions needing rigorous attention.

8 Here we have an instance of what I might refer to as reverse-cross-fertilization, where theory for practice that originated from academe, is being mirrored back onto research practice. There are several other instances of such reverse-cross-fertilization herein.

9 For example, rigor values (what standards of rigor are valued). With regards foci priorities, thesis and conference paper awards will be more current than journal paper awards; journal articles taking longer to see publication.

10 This is not new; much valuable methodological guidance has been targeted at IS researchers (e.g., Weber, 2003 , Weber, 2012 ; Lee, 1989 ). Thus, I advocate more of the same, as well as inventorying and interrelating such effort.

11 It is acknowledged that IS has a chequered track-record adopting good methodological advice. Here again, ISd-Research Governance must play a role in advocating and maximizing access to new methods on offer.

12 Again I mention the value of balance in the IS research ecosystem; small and large initiatives; bottom-up and top-down; basic and applied. While there is clear emphasis herein on applied research, at the discipline level this should not be at the sake of basic research. To quote George Porter, “To feed applied science by starving basic science is like economizing on the foundations of a building so that it may be built higher. It is only a matter of time before the whole edifice crumbles” ( Porter, 1986, p. 16 ).

13 Two local examples of substantive research programs at my home insititution are YAWL www.yawlfoundation.org and the Centre for Future Enterprise https://www.qut.edu.au/research/centre-for-future-enterprise . YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) is an established research program that combines technology innovation (e.g., business process modelling language) and managerial application (e.g., knowledge of service and business process design in organizations). YAWL has produced a large body of knowledge through impactful collaboration with industry over the past two decades. YAWL has evolved bottom-up, organically. The CFE is a commencing research program, initially centrally funded by QUT commencing in early 2020. The CFE program seeks to develop knowledge that can address critical challenges facing organizations in the new digital age.

14 I say 'partially clear-the-way' as I anticipate continuing complexity in both the crafting of such papers, and with their equitable evaluation.

15 Moeini et al. (2019) go further to identify factors of relevance-potential generation associated with each of the four stages: 17 factors in total. I encourage readers to further explore the Moeini et al. (2019) 17 factors and consider their value in both near-term research design, and longer-term career and research program strategy.

16 Though I advocate a strategic orientation in research at all levels, from individual to program to discipline, our dual emphasis herein has been primarily on discipline and programs; I've given little attention to the need for individuals to be strategic in their research careers, an important topic for further discussion. Let it suffice here to suggest that individuals should carefully consider their personal, and their projects' fit within the landscape of foci and consider their possible role(s) in programs.

17 E.g. Vial’s (2019) article “Understanding digital transformation: a review and research agenda” ultimately advocates for two main streams of research into the future: (i) How dynamic capabilities contribute to digital transformation, and (ii) The strategic relevance of ethics in digital transformation.

18 Some reference is made to Action Research 'Programs' in Avison et al (2018) .

19 In fact this Viewpoint is consistent with the very first JSIS editorial ( Galliers, 1991:3 ) in which Galliers states " Recognising both the strategic importance and potential of information, [JSIS] will present papers from both the academic and business worlds which will draw attention to these key issues, and provide practical lessons in dealing with them from both state-of-the-art research and current experience. "

20 Our focus herein is on those universities having a substantive research mission. We recognize universities are not homogenous and that there are other tertiary education and private sector and semi-public institutions of relevance. In addition, universities in the U.S. and elsewhere are more autonomous than in Australia and the UK, an important consideration for the generalizability of results.

Appendix A. Article fit with JSIS

As with all submissions, careful consideration was given to the fit of this Viewpoint with JSIS. In this regard, it is useful to consider both JSIS policy on Viewpoint articles and current JSIS Scope and Aims. JSIS policy is that “All Viewpoint articles are by invitation only. Viewpoints may or may not involve empirical evidence and are often provocative or introduce an interesting new line of enquiry. Regardless, Viewpoint articles must be well-referenced and rigorous in their logic and arguments, and are subject to careful review, over multiple rounds by an appointed panel, including at least one member of the editorial team ” (JSIS Policy).

The current abridged Aims & Scope (A&S) state that JSIS “ focuses on the strategic management, business and organizational issues associated with the introduction and utilization of information systems, and considers these issues in a global context. The emphasis is on the incorporation of IT into organizations' strategic thinking, strategy alignment, organizational arrangements and management of change issues. The journal publishes research from around the world […] A transdisciplinary, critical approach/perspective is welcome .”

As stated, viewpoints “ are often provocative or introduce an interesting new line of enquiry ”. Thus the role of review with viewpoints is less to achieve unanimous agreement with the view expressed, and more to assess whether the viewpoint is provocative or interesting and “ well-referenced and rigorous in their logic and arguments ”. Second, though not specifically or solely about “ the introduction and utilisation of information systems ”, conceiving the IS discipline (ISd) as an organisational entity warranting a strategy orientation does open discussion on the strategic value of IS for ISd (with several examples alluded to). Third, this article represents IS research methods as strategic mechanisms of ISd-Research Strategy. The author subscribes to the view that methods are valued design science research artifacts and that ISd should “practice what it preaches” by deploying its own contemporary methods in the conduct of more impactful research. Fig. 3 process view of the stages and phases of research relevance realization depicts and advocates for the integration of research and practice. In this view, research methods pertain to the earlier stages of an IT value production continuum, informing later information systems.

Ultimately though, all of these arguments on fit of the article with JSIS, are peripheral to the central aim of the article, which is the amplification of strategic thinking in IS research – the further leveraging of an orientation natural to the JSIS community, with emphasis on research programs as a main strategic lever, and further considering how JSIS can be instrumental in this aim.

While the Aims & Scope of JSIS are periodically reviewed, given their centrality to the journal identity there is healthy resistance to change without strong rationale ( Gable, 2020 ). Based on arguments espoused herein, it is believed there is good fit of the article with JSIS; it is not believed the addition of ISd-Research Strategy as a fourth theme of SIS demands a change to the Aims & Scope. That said, early in my tenure as the new Editor-in-Chief of JSIS I initiated discussion on the continuing suitability of the existing Aims & Scope; that discussion is continuing.

Comments from senior scholars

• [i] A related senior scholar comment was “ This seems like an interpretation of Gibbons et al which I’d see as view of Mode 2 which is more rigid (e.g. government involvement) which may or may not be what Gibbons et al mean when they say Mode 2 .” I recognise not all Mode 2 research is dependent on government intervention. As suggested by another senior scholar, “ Individual academic researchers from different disciplines can come together to work on a project of mutual and interdisciplinary interest, irrespective of government pressure (or lack thereof)”
• [ii] An anonymous senior scholar contrarily wrote, “ the issue for US universities is ‘money’ – where does it come from given that students from overseas are drying up, funding from government is declining, and the competition from a myriad of sources for student dollars is increasing at a rapid rate. ” Yet, I don't see these views as divergent. Universities will seek to rationalise, through cost-cutting and further leveraging existing resources (mainly people), while also promoting new sources of revenue (e.g. collaborative research income).
• [iii] One senior scholar commented “ Possibly, but what is missing here is indeed the individual perspective. Why would individual researchers want to conform to such a process [long-term research programs]? How does it help their careers? Their cvs? I know that you don’t plan to deal with the individual perspective in this article, but individual authors/researchers will simply ignore any policies that they don’t like.”
• [iv] One senior scholar questioned whether a discipline can be an actor; can have agency. “ I would think of discipline almost like a religion. So let’s take Christianity as the “discipline”. Churches are certainly actors as are various church ministers/staff and individual church members (and for Catholics, the papacy). But does it make sense to talk of Christianity as an actor and strategize at the level of Christianity itself? Well, in fact, some might say “yes”. Christianity (or Judaism or Islam, whatever) needs a coherent identity guided by mission (similar to strategy, I suppose) to maintain its influence in the world, some would argue. So maybe one can see a religion, or a discipline, as an actual entity with an identity. My own analogy is making me think that perhaps I was wrong in my dismissal of the IS discipline as an actor. AIS is certainly an actor, as are senior scholars and EICs even the Editorial boards. These are representatives of the discipline in the same way that the papal institution, for example, is a representation of Catholicism (it is not actually the embodiment of it because the faith preceded the institution much like IS research preceded AIS and the journals etc.). So yes for me the question really gets to – is the discipline (or a religion) an actor that needs a strategy/mission or is the discipline some nebulous concept used to describe various individuals and organizations that are connected by a shared identity/mission.”
• [v] While I agree with the senior scholar who observed “MIS and IS research are not necessarily the same thing […] IS research in 2020 and IS research in 1989 are not the same thing ”, I am not here attempting to theoretically define IS research, but rather simply highlighting the value from such efforts.
• [vi] One senior scholar commented, “ Here again you have the ‘Mintzberg’ issue whether ISd research strategy is planned or emerging – I think very much the latter. I also do not see how the field of IS could be ‘governed by any type of governor’. It is clearly liberalistic, but of course there are (and I very much think there should be) influences from funding agencies.”
• [vii] One senior scholar wrote, “ Is this a reverse engineering of a strategy, or a simple summary of activities and outcomes hoping to find a pattern leading to an (implicit) strategy?”
• [viii] Vidgen et al. (2019) discuss the importance of journal ranking lists saying, “Journal lists are a yet stronger and more potent form of strategic signalling in research. Organizations, such as the Financial Times, signal which journals matter, for example, through the FT50, and business schools in turn enrol these lists in order to communicate [research] values and priorities to their academic staff .“
• [ix] A senior scholar wrote, “ Sounds more like an inductive strategy development, ie authors can still pick their directions and an entity selects best examples to communicate what is desired .”
• [x] One senior scholar wrote, “ If we thought our research mattered, ICIS would be the premier outlet. If we do find anything of relevance, our journals take years to publish it and practice has moved on.”
• [xi] A senior scholar wrote, “ Is this sufficient? Do these methods help us to develop artefacts in the speed needed? To deal with new scales of empirical evidence? To understand the co-existence of theory and data-inferred insights?”
• [xii] To which one senior scholar commented, “ I can accept the legitimacy of this argument, but … most IS researchers don’t particularly care whether the ecology is flourishing or not.”
• [xiii] A senior scholar wrote, “ Isn’t this exactly where strategy is needed? A discipline has the strategic option to collectively focus on grand challenges (eg, medicine) or value a more democratic, bottom-up growth of the research portfolio. Not making a clear statement of which of these options is valued is probably a sign of a lack of strategy, and maybe a sign of where ISd is in terms of its stategizing, or lack of?”
• [xiv] A senior scholar asked “ Who would decide what these should be?” As mentioned earlier, these directions are often shaped by a range of governance mechanisms and gatekeepers at various levels (e.g. Editors, reviewers, examiners, grant proposal panel members …). They are sometimes more overtly advocated (e.g. this article being a case in point). In the main, historically, they have emerged bottom-up (see 2 nd footnote prior).
• [xv] Another senior scholar commented “ The section […] advocates for research programs (which I agree with), but leaves open the question of where these programs should come from? They could be advocated through funding centers, professional associations (like AIS), institutional structures (like research centers in the US) or just through individual agency. While the paper indicates that all programs are good…. there are tradeoffs that can make certain sources of these programs as counterproductive. There has to be a blending of societal importance, resources, value systems and incentive systems for research programs to work .”
• [xvi] A further senior scholar commented, “A top down approach to drive research strategy in a discipline, whilst a noble pursuit perhaps, I think it is a bit of an 'oxymoron'. Ultimately research is driven by problems in a changing world and any research program not plugged properly in the world is doomed i.e. a bottom up view is a key to success (how to reconcile with the nobleness of a top down view- frankly, I am not sure, but I think this is a challenge for research administrators who hold purses, and perhaps to chief editors, and research leaders at various levels..).”
• [xvii] A senior scholar commented, “ I wonder how difficult it would be to set up such programmes? Who would initiate them? Who would give them ‘credibility’? How would we ‘enforce’ compliance?”
• [xviii] A senior scholar commented “ I was SE for […] and I found it difficult to get reviewers to review such papers. They didn’t follow the ‘traditional’ template and hence there was difficulty in getting ‘serious’ reviews. I even wrote an article on how to undertake a critical review of such papers. But it is not an easy fix .”
• [xix] To which one senior scholar commented, “ I support this, but such studies take time and given tenure and promotion clocks, I find researchers don’t embark on such projects .”
• [xx] A senior scholar commented, “ I have tried to publish articles that might change the field. For example, we argued we should balance the attention given to explanatory science by some attention to intervention science so we go beyond theories based on associations found in data to field tests of a theory’s efficacy. This and other challenges to the status quo failed. Though, when I present these views the response is positive. People know we have a problem but there is no external force compelling change.”
• [xxi] One senior scholar commented, “ I personally find it unethical, if research is not driven by some type of relationship to ‘contribution of ‘societal value’. This is something we have forgotten and neglected in our frantic race for publishing more and getting a higher h-index … Without contribution to attainment of societal values, the ISd field does not have any meaning, and should be eradicated .”
• [xxii] One senior scholar wrote, “ Quite simply, an applied field that does not produce applicable knowledge in a timely manner is failing society .”
• [xxiii] One senior scholar commented, “ I think ‘rigor’ is problematic because of the way the field views ‘rigor’ […] I firmly believe this is the root of most of the problem. Rigor is too narrowly conceived.”
• [xxiv] A senior scholar – “ Most people will agree with Table 1 , but few will do anything to make it happen.”
• [xxv] A senior scholar commented, “ I like the “opening up” of JSIS to introspective work that advances the discipline. Proposal of new research programs has traditionally been handled organically (i.e., borrowed theory like TRA creates TAM which then creates a platform for incremental research) or initiated through special issues that are usually aligned with emergent phenomena. So, in advocating papers that develop new foci and research programs, it is important to provide some idea of scope. For instance, is a call for papers on a new phenomenon (e.g. domestic robots) the type of papers that JSIS would like to attract? Is a research program at the level of design science vs. behavior science vs. economics (which could fundamentally change the nature of the discipline itself) or should it be more narrowly scoped? ”
• [xxvi] One senior scholar commented, “ I am a bit concerned by the aggressive push toward practice as described in Table 1, if it comes at the cost of theory. In fact, theory bashing has now become fashionable in our field, with many articles (e.g., Dennis, Hirschheim, special issue in JIT) arguing against theory. This has emboldened big data research that take data sets and applies sophisticated analytics to predict very tactical corporate questions (since the data is low level digital trace data). These papers often don’t even make the pretence of theorizing…and usually address questions that companies (with their data and analytical resources) can do better. I think this is dangerous for our field – we need to improve our theorizing and engage with practice – but not abdicate theory altogether ”.
• [xxvii] One senior scholar commented, “ I shifted my approach towards tackling problems that mattered for CIOs or society with the goal of producing applicable knowledge. This view is somewhat echoed in Table 1, except I think many articles should be about implications for practitioners rather than a perfunctory afterthought section at the end of the paper. Creating applicable knowledge should dominate the research question, design, and findings. Maybe we could add a paragraph on implications for theory.”
• [xxviii] One senior scholar wrote “ I am on board with what is suggested but also mindful that our relevance is linked to our enrolments and our linkages with the broader institutional environment to ensure our enrolments. I think the simple equation is ‘No enrolments, no research’, so it might be worth mentioning that somewhere in the article ... [with reference to Figure 1] I think one area that AIS should link to are accreditation agencies (AACSB, Seoul Accord etc.) to ensure that our research continues to get reflected in what is taught … AIS should also have linkages with various bodies such as SFIA that develop ‘bodies of knowledge’ that include IS-related content.”
• [xxix] They went on to comment “While there can be no disagreement with this claim, I think a broader source of legitimacy for disciplines is the number of students enrolled in the discipline.
• Strategically, as a discipline, we also need to pay attention to how we can ensure a continuing increase in enrolments in our discipline … We have seen often enough in business schools that when enrolments in IS drop, hiring of junior faculty drops. When faced with such an existential crisis, it is difficult to see how we can expect commitment to programmatic research … The reality is that over 90% of revenue for business schools comes from teaching. Undergraduate teaching in a majority of business schools contributes a bulk of this revenue. With the continuing casualisation of teaching, esp undergraduate teaching, it is easy to see how the discipline could go into a downward spiral.
• [xxx] And … “I think that there are a couple of strategic linkages with our institutional environment that we need to work on as a discipline. One is with accreditation bodies (esp AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) to ensure that the coverage of IS/digital issues continues to increase in what is expected by these bodies of business school graduates ... The other linkage is with bodies such as the Seoul Accord and SFIA to ensure that we continue to have a say in how the IS curriculum evolves to reflect our research programmes … Perhaps, this is something the AIS should aim for, if it is not already doing so.
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Title: beyond collaborative filtering: a relook at task formulation in recommender systems.

Abstract: Recommender Systems (RecSys) have become indispensable in numerous applications, profoundly influencing our everyday experiences. Despite their practical significance, academic research in RecSys often abstracts the formulation of research tasks from real-world contexts, aiming for a clean problem formulation and more generalizable findings. However, it is observed that there is a lack of collective understanding in RecSys academic research. The root of this issue may lie in the simplification of research task definitions, and an overemphasis on modeling the decision outcomes rather than the decision-making process. That is, we often conceptualize RecSys as the task of predicting missing values in a static user-item interaction matrix, rather than predicting a user's decision on the next interaction within a dynamic, changing, and application-specific context. There exists a mismatch between the inputs accessible to a model and the information available to users during their decision-making process, yet the model is tasked to predict users' decisions. While collaborative filtering is effective in learning general preferences from historical records, it is crucial to also consider the dynamic contextual factors in practical settings. Defining research tasks based on application scenarios using domain-specific datasets may lead to more insightful findings. Accordingly, viable solutions and effective evaluations can emerge for different application scenarios.

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Increasing Literature And Sharia Financial Management Through The One BMT Housing Area Program In Banguntapan District Bantul In Yogyakarta

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Digital Accounting and Gender Discrimination

Digital technologies can process data much faster and more reliably than humans. Therefore, businesses must ensure a radical transformation in their infrastructure in order to keep up with the competitive environment. When establishing an accounting information system in enterprises, it should be ensured that the system can produce complete and uninterrupted information. However, one consequence of the digitalization process in accounting information systems is that the need for accounting personnel tends to decrease day by day. The aim of this study is to examine the digital developments in accounting and financial consultancy services and to emphasize the need for accounting engineering, which can contribute the most to these developments In this context, the structure and consequences of gender differences of individuals working in the accounting profession were examined.

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ANALISIS HAMBATAN KUALITAS SISTEM INFORMASI AKUNTANSI PERBANKAN DI ERA INDUSTRI 4.0

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Fakor-Faktor Yang Memengaruhi Kinerja Sistem Informasi Akuntansi Dengan Pendidikan Dan Pelatihan Sebagai Variabel Moderasi Pada PT. Bukit Megagriya Makmur

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FAKTOR DETERMINAN KOMPETENSI SUMBER DAYA MANUSIA DAN SISTEM INFORMASI AKUNTANSI TERHADAP KUALITAS LAPORAN KEUANGAN DENGAN DIMODERASI SISTEM PENGENDALIAN INTERNAL

AbstrakKualitas laporan keuangan dapat dilihat melalui hasil audit. Laporan keuangan menjadi alat bagi investor untuk mengukur kinerja perusahaan yang dilakukan oleh jajaran manajemen, sehingga laporan keuangan yang disajikan harus berkualitas. Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kualitas laporan keuangan adalah dengan penerapan sistem informasi akuntansi (SIA), kompetensi sumber daya manusia (SDM), dan penerapan sistem pengendalian internal (SPI) dilingkungan perusahaan atau organisasi. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh penerapan SIA terhadap kualitas laporan keuangan, pengaruh kompetensi SDM terhadap kualitas laporan keuangan di mana SPI sebagai variabel moderasi. Objek penelitian adalah suatu perusahaan X yang 3 tahun terakhir belum memiliki hasil opini audit Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian (WTP) dan yang dijadikan responden adalah karyawan bagian keuangan atau akuntansi sebanyak 450 orang. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penerapan SIA dan kompetensi SDM berpengaruh terhadap kualitas laporan keuangan serta SPI mempengaruhi hubungan kompetensi SDM terhadap kualitas laporan keuangan. Namun SPI tidak mempengaruhi hubungan penerapan SIA terhadap kualitas laporan keuangan.Kata Kunci: Kualitas Laporan Keuangan, Kompetensi SDM, Sistem Informasi Akuntansi, Sistem Pengendalian Internal AbstractThe quality of financial reports can be seen through audit results. Financial statements are a tool for investors to measure the company's performance by management, so that the financial statements presented must be of high quality. Factors that affect the quality of financial reports are the application of accounting information systems (AIS), human resource competencies (HR), and the application of internal control systems (SPI) within the company or organization. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the application of AIS on the quality of financial reports, the influence of HR competence on the quality of financial reports in which SPI is the moderating variable. The object of this research is a company X which in the last 3 years has not had an unqualified audit opinion (WTP) and the respondents are employees of the finance or accounting department as many as 450 people. The results of this study indicate that the application of AIS and HR competencies affect the quality of financial reports and SPI affects the relationship between HR competencies and the quality of financial reports. However, SPI does not affect the relationship between the application of SIA to the quality of financial statements.Keywords: Quality of Financial Reports, HR Competence, Accounting Information Systems, Internal Control Systems

Pengaruh Sistem Informasi Akuntansi Dan Integritas Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Pada RSUD SMC Tasikmalaya

This study aims to examine the effect of accounting information systems and integrity on employee performance at SMC Tasikmalaya Hospital. The populations in this study were employees of the SMC Tasikmalaya Hospital as many as 491 people. The sampling technique used stratified random sampling. The data used is primary data obtained directly from respondents using a questionnaire. The data analysis technique uses multiple linear regressions. The results of this study indicate that the accounting information system partially affects employee performance. Integrity partially affects employee performance. Meanwhile, simultaneously accounting information system and integrity affect employee performance.

Ketidakpastian Lingkungan dan Lingkup Sistem Informasi Akuntansi Manajemen Terhadap Kinerja Manajerial Pada Usaha Mikro, Kecil dan Menengah (UMKM) di Surabaya

ABSTRACT Micro, small and medium enterprises are one of the economic sectors that play an important role in Indonesia. The diversity of the scope of management accounting information systems, environmental uncertainty and performance achievements of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), is a picture that reflects the business of this sector. This is what encourages researchers to analyze more deeply the effect of environmental uncertainty and the scope of management accounting information systems on managerial performance in SMEs in Surabaya. This study uses multiple linear regression analysis, with a population of all MSMEs in Surabaya. The results of the research together reveal that the research model is empirically proven to be fit to explain the dependent variable. The partial test results reveal that only the scope of the management accounting system has a significant negative effect on managerial performance.  ABSTRAK Usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah menjadi salah satu sektor perekonomian yang berperan penting di Indonesia. Keberagaman lingkup sistem informasi akuntansi manajemen, ketidakpastian lingkungan dan capaian kinerja usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah (UMKM), merupakan gambaran yang merefleksikan usaha sektor ini.  Hal inilah yang mendorong peneliti untuk menganalisis lebih mendalam pengaruh ketidakpastian lingkungan dan lingkup sistem informasi akuntansi manajemen terhadap kinerja manajerial pada UMKM di Surabaya. Penelitian ini menggunakan analisa regresi linier berganda, dengan populasi seluruh UMKM di Surabaya. Hasil penelitian   secara bersama-sama mengungkapkan bahwa model penelitian terbukti secara empiris fit dapat menjelaskan variable dependen. Hasil uji parsial mengungkapkan hanya lingkup sistem akuntansi manajemen yang secara signifikan berpengaruh negatif terhadap kinerja manajerial.

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Information System Research Paper

Type of paper: Research Paper

Topic: Website , Technology , Internet , Teaching , Marketing , Computers , Business , Public Relations

Words: 1600

Published: 11/04/2019

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Introduction

The ultimate aims of this essay it to investigate an information system (IS) of choice in an organization. This way, the essay will help in the application of the material learned in class to a real world organization and information system. The industry of choice is Education. The information system of choice is an Integrated Library System (ILS) such as that used by many colleges including Monroe College in New York (McManus 23).

a. Competing on a Global Scale

ILS has gone a long way in helping library systems and educational institutions compete on a global scale. Even small libraries can now be accessed from anywhere in the world using web interfaces. As such, ILS has proved to be extremely important in allowing libraries and school systems to compete on a global scale. The system basically works like any other website. The database and code that implements the logic are hosted in a central server. The website is then accessible from anywhere but only the staff and patrons who are registered and have login credentials can access the system. Thus the system uses the worldwide web network for its operations. By using the worldwide web network, it means that the system can be accessed from different geographical locations in the world meaning that it has helped libraries compete on a global scale.

The advent of the internet has had a variety of effects on the way educational institutions operate. These effects can be advantageous and disadvantageous to the institution. The following are some but not exhaustive effects of the ILS system on educational institutions.

First and foremost, since the use of ILS shrinks the distance (i.e. reduces the distance) between communicating terminals, this has helped small upcoming institutions and libraries gain publicity by simply advertising themselves over the internet. This has seen the rapid growth and expansion of these otherwise small institutions since they are able to reach large groups of potential students. Thus, institutions which might be located in some remote areas far from most of their intended prospective students can capitalize on the internet.

Hence, a small or otherwise upcoming institution is able to commercialize its services over the internet and subsequently gain international publicity. This will subsequently lead to the expansion and eminent growth of the institution since it would have expanded its base which is usually vital to any institution’s expansion and growth.

b. Competing on Quality and Design

The ILS system has greatly helped in improving the quality of services offered to patrons and staff in a library setting. ILS, like most information systems, has both hardware and software components (Guthrie 5). These systems are powerful designed and they help improve on the quality of service offered to patrons and staff. Hardware consists of powerful computers with a high processing speed and many gigabytes of storage capacity. This is because many people (both staff and patrons) access the system simultaneously and do not expect delays. As such the computers are very powerful. Further, the amount of information stored is enormous. Since ILS is designed to be used in big libraries serving thousands of patrons, there must be sufficient disk space to store all the information pertaining to all patrons e.g. their names, addresses, occupations, contact details and passwords. The system also stores all information pertaining to books and other publications e.g. author names, place of publication, title of publication, type of publication (such as book, journal, magazine etc), date of publication and ISBN numbers.

Further the ILS system has powerful software components. It is primarily programmed in the much respected Perl scripting language although it has a few sections that are written in the C programming language (Guthrie 24). It has a very powerful and user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) that gives patrons and staff different interfaces that enable them to have a better experience in their library activities.

It should be noted that for an institution to survive in any educational environment, it should and must always work towards satisfying the needs and expectations of its students and staff. To satisfy this group of people, the institution must use technologies and even information systems that will give the institution an edge over the other institution offering similar services. This is to say that the technologies used by the institution must be geared towards improving the quality of the service and also reducing the time taken to produce the service (i.e. the product development life cycle). In turn, this has the effect of increasing the services that are offered at any given instance which in turn increases the institution’s profit.

Thus with the appropriate technology and information systems in place, an institution is able to meet its staff and students’ needs and expectations and also improve on the quality and precision in the delivery of services it is offering. This has the overall effect of maintaining the existing staff and students and even wooing more students into enrolling or using the institution’s services.

Competition in educational systems can occur in a variety of ways ranging from the quality of educational services, the quantity of these services or even the fees charged for accessing learning services and facilities. However, the most notable and significant form of competition that normally exists between or among educational institutions dealing in similar services is usually based on the quality of teaching being offered. For an institution to get an edge over the others in the industry it must make sure that the educational services it is offering or producing are of a quality and that they meet the requirements of the prospective students. To ensure quality services, an institution must make sure that it incorporates technology in its processes. This would serve to achieve the following:

It would help in automation of the process of delivery of services (Bessel 43). This in turn would increase the output of the institution since machines tend to work faster than human beings. Thus the amount of work that would have been done manually in a day can be done using machines (i.e. automatically) in less than a day. Furthermore, automation of the process of delivery of services would reduce some of the errors in the process that normally arise due to human errors (knowingly or unknowingly) (Bessel 57). Hence this ensures that the quality of the services resulting from the process is guaranteed and is also of the desired standards and specifications. Thirdly, automation of the process of delivery of services reduces the amount of labor used (Bessel 81). This reduction in labor is advantageous to the institution in that less money will be spent on labor. This money might in turn be used to improve on other departments of the institution or even to purchase more books further improving the experience of students and staff.

Fourthly, incorporating technology into an educational institution’s process of delivery of services has the effect of helping automate some repetitive or otherwise redundant tasks in the process (Bessel 69). This in turn has the net effect of speeding up the process and subsequently increasing the net productivity of the institution. The ILS library system helps educational institutions achieve all of the above mentioned objectives and thus helps educational institutions compete on quality and design.

c. Competing on Business Processes

Libraries are critical components of any education system. Teachers and students will always need to read and refer to books to obtain materials for teaching and learning respectively. Libraries are thus handy in the search for information. Prior to the advent of computers, librarians had a hectic time managing books and other publications in libraries.

This was especially true if the library had thousands of books and thousands of visitors every day. Books had to be organized in a particular manner and librarians had to find a way of memorizing this organization. Learners visiting libraries also had a hectic time locating a book in the library. Every borrowed book had to be entered as a manual entry in a list. The whole process was very hectic.

The advent of automated library systems greatly helped libraries and the entire education industry as it made the lives of students and librarians much easier. With an Integrated Library System (ILS), it is easier for staff to keep records and for patrons to find the books they desire within the shortest time possible. It also enables libraries to provide digital copies of books.

The system has greatly helped educational institutions increase their efficiency consequently increasing their productivity. First, libraries are hiring less staff since ILS takes care of most of the tasks that were initially done manually. This staff reduction translates to increased revenues for educational institutions. There are also improved relations between patrons and libraries as finding publications becomes easier and the usual manual hustles are eliminated. The major business function of the system is to enhance to enhance library functions. The systems services all the levels of management as students and teachers can access and use it.

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• Published: 23 April 2024

Research on fault identification of high-voltage circuit breakers with characteristics of voiceprint information

• Sihao Wang 1 ,
• Yongrong Zhou 1 &
• Zhaoxing Ma 2  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  9340 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Electrical and electronic engineering
• Energy science and technology
• Engineering
• Mechanical engineering

High voltage circuit breakers are one of the core equipment in power system operation, and the voiceprint signals generated during operation contain extremely rich information. This paper proposes a fault identification method for high voltage circuit breakers based on voiceprint information data. Firstly, based on the developed voiceprint information data acquisition device, the voiceprint information of a certain high voltage circuit breaker is obtained; Secondly, an improved S-transform is proposed in the article, which generates an amplitude matrix based on the S-transform of voiceprint information; Then, through the matrix Singular value decomposition method, the fault feature quantity of voiceprint information is extracted from the time–frequency angle, and the diagnosis system of the support vector machine model is established, and the system is trained to realize the fault identification of the high-voltage circuit breaker; Finally, through experimental simulation calculations, it was shown that the accuracy of the proposed fault identification method in different operating conditions reached 92.6%, verifying the good accuracy and robustness of the proposed method and equipment.

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Introduction.

High-voltage circuit breakers are crucial equipment in the power system, and their operating conditions have a significant impact on the entire system, sometimes even affecting the safe and reliable operation of the entire network system 1 , 2 . Therefore, monitoring and fault identification of circuit breakers is a very important task, where circuit breaker faults generally include mechanical and non-mechanical faults. Statistics from the International Conference on Large-Scale Power Systems indicate that mechanical faults are the main type of fault, accounting for approximately 80% 3 . By acquiring the voiceprint information generated during the operation of the circuit breaker and applying fault feature extraction methods, effective monitoring of the operation status of the circuit breaker is an important means to achieve fault diagnosis of high-voltage circuit breakers. This article will conduct research in this area.

There are currently two main technical routes for the diagnosis of high-voltage circuit breaker faults: vibration signal-based and voiceprint information-based. Although there are similarities between the two routes, both require obtaining information, extracting features, and identifying features through algorithms. However, the research techniques and methods are very different, including the equipment required to collect signals, which also varies greatly. In recent years, many researchers have proposed ideas and methods for applying vibration signals of circuit breakers to achieve fault diagnosis 4 , 5 , 6 . There have been some achievements in using voiceprint information to detect faults in power systems 7 , but there are few research results on using voiceprint information to identify high-voltage circuit breaker faults. High-voltage circuit breakers contain many components with complex structures, and there is a coupling relationship between the components during the action process. Using vibration signals to diagnose faults requires high complexity in signal acquisition equipment and high requirements for the installation location and installation method of sensors. If the installation location is not selected properly, it will have a significant impact on the results, resulting in poor universality. Another technical method is to identify mechanical faults in high-voltage circuit breakers based on voiceprint information. Although it is homologous to vibration signals, it has its own advantages. The voiceprint information acquisition equipment is low in complexity, high in reliability, easy to install and use in substations, and easy to maintain, making it highly scalable. At the same time, it has high accuracy in fault identification, and its key and difficult points are mainly reflected in the acquisition, feature extraction, and classification identification of voiceprint information. This article will also study the acquisition of voiceprint information, feature extraction methods, and classification identification algorithms for high-voltage circuit breakers.

At present, many researchers have achieved many effective results in fault diagnosis of high-voltage circuit breakers. Research shows that circuit breaker fault diagnosis generally involves three main aspects: data acquisition, feature extraction, and fault diagnosis identification. In terms of time–frequency transformation, the main methods applied include Fourier transform 8 , wavelet transform 9 , chirp-z transform 10 , Hilbert transform 11 , S transform 12 , 13 , and so on. In the application of Fourier transform, as a global transformation method, Fourier transform lacks the function of time and frequency localization, and is generally suitable for analyzing stationary signals. As a windowed Fourier transform method, the length of the window function determines the temporal and frequency resolution of the signal. In addition, due to the limitations of Heisenberg's uncertainty criterion, it is difficult to obtain a good time-domain distribution and frequency-domain distribution simultaneously when using Fourier transform for time–frequency analysis of signals. Wavelet transform, as a time–frequency analysis method with variable window function, overcomes the shortcomings of Fourier transform and has the characteristic of multi-resolution analysis. However, the selection of wavelet basis functions lacks adaptability, and when using wavelet transform to analyze signals, there are shortcomings such as frequency interference, energy leakage, and boundary distortion in the time–frequency spectrum. The Chirp-z transform has improved frequency resolution compared to the Fourier transform, but it produces more low-frequency harmonics, which has a certain impact on accuracy; The Hilbert transform has high efficiency in extracting transient signals, but there are limitations on the transformation conditions. The S-transform was first proposed by Stockwell 12 , who drew on the ideas of Fourier transform and wavelet transform, and had its own advantages. The S-transform uses a variable Gaussian window function, whose width is inversely proportional to frequency, resulting in better time–frequency characteristics.

The calculation and analysis methods for fault diagnosis of high-voltage circuit breakers mainly include support vector machines 14 , 15 , wavelet analysis 9 , short-term energy analysis 16 , empirical mode decomposition 17 , information entropy 18 , transfer learning approach 19 , etc. Compared to other methods, the support vector machine method has significant advantages in dealing with small sample and nonlinear problems. It is very difficult to obtain data from high-voltage circuit breaker voiceprint monitoring, and the collected voiceprint information data has the characteristic of small sample. The support vector machine method has high potential for application in fault identification of high-voltage circuit breaker voiceprint monitoring in small sample scenarios.

This article conducts fault diagnosis research on voiceprint monitoring of high-voltage circuit breakers under different working conditions, develops a voiceprint monitoring device, and builds an experimental system to simulate different types of faults. The rest of the organization of this manuscript is as follows: Section “ High voltage circuit breaker voiceprint information data acquisition device ” explains the design and development process of the voiceprint information acquisition device. Section “ Fault feature extraction methods and application analysis ” provides a comprehensive method for extracting fault features using voiceprint information, including fault diagnosis. Section “ Experiments and analysis ” presents the analysis results of the experimental system for fault diagnosis of high-voltage circuit breakers using voiceprint monitoring information. Finally, concluding remarks are mentioned in Section “ Conclusions ”.

High voltage circuit breaker voiceprint information data acquisition device

Hardware design.

The voiceprint monitoring device mainly consists of an MSP chip, a program download interface on its left side, a chip reset circuit, three dial switches, and an external crystal oscillator circuit. Among them, in the slave sampling circuit, due to the positive power supply of the audio part's operational amplifier and the positive and negative power supply of the magnetic field part's operational amplifier, the power module of the slave is divided into two parts. One part generates a positive power supply through the MOS transistor CJ3401 and the voltage regulator BL8565 and its peripheral circuits, and the other part generates a positive and negative power supply through the voltage regulator LM27762 and its peripheral circuits.

The voiceprint sampling circuit consists of three reference voltage chips, a programmable amplification instrument amplifier AD8231ACPZ, and an operational amplifier OPA365AIDR. The principle is to convert the sound signal into an analog voltage signal that fluctuates up and down at 1.2 V through the vibration of the eardrum of the acoustic sensor (microphone sensor), and then amplify the differential voltage signal through the programmable operational amplifier AD8231ACPZ. Finally, the differential voltage signal is input to the main control chip after being reversed by the following amplifier OPA365AIDR.

Data storage card design

The SD card adopts a serial peripheral protocol working mode, and the serial peripheral protocol interface is also known as the serial peripheral interface. The serial peripheral protocol interface operates in a master–slave mode, and the master–slave connection method of the SD card is shown in Fig.  1 .

Master slave connection method.

This mode usually has one main device and one or more slave devices, and its interface includes the following four types of signals:

MOSI—Master device data output, slave device data input;

MISO—Main device data input, secondary device data output;

SCLK—Clock signal, controlled by the main device;

CS—Enable signal, controlled by the main device.

Device power supply design

Considering the application scenarios of the device, there are two methods for power supply: 1 External maintenance power supply method; 2. Built in lithium battery mode. The first scenario is suitable for continuous monitoring of a circuit breaker in intensive care (in days). The second scenario is suitable for short-term diagnostic analysis of multiple circuit breakers.

Device integration design

The online voiceprint monitoring device for the opening and closing status of high-voltage circuit breakers uses TI's MSP430FR6989 chip to process the sampling signal. As shown in Fig.  2 , the system structure diagram mainly includes MSP and its peripheral circuits, sampling circuit, positive and negative power generation module, detection circuit, LoRa wireless communication module, etc.

Structure diagram.

The main functions of the slave sampling program designed and written based on the MSP430FR6989 chip are initialization of various MSP variables, ADC sampling, timer interruption, entering the main loop, SD card data reading and writing, spectrum analysis, calculation, etc. The main program flowchart of the slave software design is shown in Fig.  3 , and the interrupt subroutine flowchart is shown in Fig.  4 .

Slave master program flowchart.

Slave interrupt subroutine flowchart.

The internal circuit and appearance of the device after development are shown in Fig.  5 .

Voiceprint monitoring device. ( a ) Internal circuit of voiceprint monitoring device. ( b ) Appearance of voiceprint monitoring device.

Fault feature extraction methods and application analysis

Improved s-transformation and establishment of feature matrix.

The circuit breaker voiceprint information obtained in this study is a one-dimensional time-domain signal, and to extract its inherent features, time–frequency transformation of the voiceprint information is necessary. Generally, the transformation methods for studying time–frequency information include Fourier transform, wavelet transform, Hilbert transform, etc. Different transformation methods have different characteristics and are applicable to different scenarios. This article adopts an improved S-transform method to perform time–frequency transformation on voiceprint information.

Let the continuous time-domain signal be y ( t ), and its S-transform is represented as 12 , 13 :

where f is the frequency, φ ( δ - t , f ) is a Gaussian window function, δ is a control parameter for the position of the timeline.

From Eq. ( 2 ), it can be observed that φ ( δ − t , f ) function is a continuous function of time and frequency, with a smooth variation relationship with frequency. Its width is inversely proportional to frequency and time, providing higher frequency resolution at lower frequencies and higher time resolution at higher frequencies. Now, for the window function of Eq. ( 2 ), take the partial derivative about frequency (the frequency of the voiceprint information data of the circuit breaker studied in the article is all positive), expressed as follows:

The duration of the opening and closing sound pattern information of the circuit breaker is extremely short, at the millisecond level, and the frequency is at the kHz level. Therefore, the value of Eq. ( 3 ) is very small, close to zero, or even equal to zero. Therefore, in practical applications, when the frequency changes within a certain range, the S transformation will have insufficient energy aggregation and resolution. To address this deficiency, this article proposes an improved S transformation method, which introduces a parameter k to the window function of Eq. ( 2 ). The new window function is represented as follows:

In Eq. ( 4 ), when k  = 1, it is the same as the window function in Eq. ( 2 ). Therefore, by changing different k values, the width of the window function can be adjusted. In this paper, k  = 10 is taken. In the article, for the voiceprint information of circuit breakers, discrete time variables are collected, and the S transformation given in Eq. ( 1 ) is for continuous variables. Therefore, for the convenience of engineering application, it is necessary to change Eq. ( 1 ) and provide the S transformation expression for the discrete time series y ( n ), as shown below:

where \(y^{\prime}\left( {\frac{n}{{Nt_{0} }}} \right)\) is the discrete Fourier transform of y ( n ), t 0 represents the data acquisition interval and N represents the total number of points used.

According to the theoretical methods of Eqs. ( 5 ) and ( 6 ), and S transformation, the transformation result is a complex matrix, with rows representing different frequency values, columns representing corresponding time points, and matrix elements representing the amplitude and phase angle of the signal. Let the complex matrix of the obtained transformation result be S l × n , and the S transformation can be represented by the following equation 20 :

where \(T_{l \times n}\) is the amplitude matrix, \(\theta_{l \times n}\) is the phase matrix.

Method for extracting fault features

Regarding the method of fault feature extraction, this section adopts the mathematical idea of combining singular value decomposition and support vector machine. For matrices, singular values can characterize their inherent characteristics, have excellent stability, contain rich information 21 , and are widely used in pattern recognition, especially in extracting feature information from time–frequency matrices 22 .

For amplitude matrix B l × n , orthogonalization decomposition of the matrix can be performed, therefore, there must be two matrices L and N that satisfy the following relationship:

where L is l  ×  l matrix, N is n  ×  n matrix, C is a diagonal matrix, C   ∈   R l × n ; 0 is a zero matrix, c i is the singular value of matrix B , and p is the rank of matrix B .

According to the partitioning of the matrix, matrix B can also be represented by the following equation:

where B j is a partitioned matrix of matrix B.

Therefore, the features of the original data will be mapped onto the set of feature vectors, so that the data can still retain the feature information of the original data even in the case of dimensionality reduction. To better reflect the features of the original data after dimensionality reduction, the feature vector matrix is analyzed and processed. The feature matrix is multiplied by the sum centrality matrix (subtracting the mean of each one-dimensional feature from the original data to obtain a new matrix, which is called the centrality matrix). The new feature matrix is input into the support vector machine model for training and classification, The classification calculation method is described below.

Support vector machine classification method

When using feature identification, this article adopts the idea of support vector machine, inputting the feature vector composed of singular values into the support vector machine model, and achieving the purpose of fault identification through training.

At first, support vector machines were generally used for classification of Class 2 problems, but in practical applications, the problems were relatively complex and there were many classifications. Therefore, many improved support vector machine methods have emerged 23 , 24 . During the operation of high-voltage circuit breakers, they may operate normally or other types of faults may occur, such as normal operation, spring fatigue, spring jamming, firmware loosening, etc. The 1-v-1 support vector machine method classifies multiple operating conditions. Generally, one support vector machine can classify two types of conditions. The training and identification process is shown in Fig.  6 .

1-v-1 support vector machine identification process.

As shown in Fig.  6 , the obtained voiceprint feature vector is used as input to the 1# support vector machine. Positive samples are used to identify normal operating conditions, and then non positive samples are input to the 2# support vector machine. Positive samples identify spring fatigue, and non positive samples are further input to the 3# support vector machine. Positive samples identify spring jamming, while non positive samples indicate firmware loosening. From the calculation idea in Fig.  6 , it can be seen that the 1-v-1 support vector machine method consumes higher computational costs and has lower computational efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to seek suitable methods for multi classification.

This article proposes an improved multi classification method based on the 1-v-1 support vector machine 25 , and applies the multi classification deep support vector machine to identify various types of faults. The structure diagram of the multi classification support vector machine is shown in Fig.  7 .

Schematic diagram of multi classification support vector machine results.

From Fig.  7 , the multi classification support vector machine establishes multiple hyperplanes, each hyperplane distinguishing a class of samples from the sample space, and ultimately completing the classification of multiple samples. The optimization problem is represented as follows 26 , 27 :

where θ d is the normal vector of the d -th classification hyperplane; \({g}_{{f}_{j}}\) is the bias term of the f j -th classification hyperplane; f j is the classification label of the sample; e is the penalty factor; \({\mu }_{j}^{d}\) is the relaxation factor; x j is the j -th sample; D is the number of hyperplanes for classification; J is the number of samples.

Based on the Lagrange theorem, establish the following function:

where \(\lambda\) , \(\eta\) is the Lagrange factor, respectively。

Using the Lagrange method, find about θ d , g d , \({\mu }_{j}^{d}\) partial derivative of Eq. ( 14 ), then it can obtain:

Substitute Eqs. ( 15 ) into ( 14 ) to obtain the dual optimization form:

where \(\lambda_{j}^{d}\) is Lagrange factor, with \(\lambda_{j} = \sum\limits_{d = 1}^{D} {\lambda_{j}^{d} }\) , \(q_{j}^{k}\) is a parameter. And \(q_{j}^{k}\)  = 1, as f j  =  d ; \(q_{j}^{k}\)  = 0, as f j  ≠  d .

From this, the decision function of the multi classification support vector machine is obtained, represented as follows:

where \(K_{j} = \sum\limits_{d = 1}^{D} {\lambda_{j}^{d} }\) .

The optimization problem of Eq. ( 11 ) is solved using the Lagrangian principle. The input of the multi classification support vector machine is the training sample set, and the output is the classification of the samples. The specific application process is as follows:

Using the singular value feature vector obtained from the previous text as input, train with Eq. ( 11 ) to establish a classification model;

Apply the Lagrange algorithm to obtain the dual form and obtain the decision function;

Determine the classification of each sample using the decision function of multi classification support vector machines.

Application analysis of fault diagnosis for high voltage circuit breakers

A comprehensive identification method for high-voltage circuit breaker faults is proposed through the improved S-transform, singular value decomposition, and support vector machine methods proposed in this article. The basic analysis flow chart of the proposed method is shown in Fig.  8 .

Circuit breaker fault identification and analysis process.

According to the method proposed in this article, the detailed implementation steps for fault diagnosis are as follows.

Step 1 Build a testing system for the voiceprint information collection architecture of a certain type of high-voltage circuit breaker. On the testing system, set various operating conditions of the circuit breaker, and then collect voiceprint information data under different conditions. Randomly compile the voiceprint information data into training data sets and validation data sets.

Step 2 Using the improved S-transform proposed in the article, time–frequency conversion is performed on different types of training data sets to obtain corresponding feature matrices.

Step 3 Perform singular value decomposition on the feature matrix to obtain the corresponding eigenvectors.

Step 4 Input feature vectors into support vector machines for training.

Step 5 After completing step 2 and step 3, the voiceprint information data in the validation dataset is input into the trained support vector machine to obtain fault diagnosis results, and then the operation status monitoring of the circuit breaker is achieved.

Experiments and analysis

Establishment of experimental system and scenario analysis.

Using the LW8-35A (T) circuit breaker as the tested circuit breaker, a test system is constructed as shown in Fig.  9 . The test system mainly includes circuit breakers, voiceprint acquisition devices, auxiliary equipment, etc.

Voice print information monitoring test system.

Manually control the opening and closing of the circuit breaker through the circuit breaker console. The sensors and software system of the monitoring device collect the voiceprint information of the circuit breaker, with a sampling frequency of 10 kHz and a collection time of 100 ms, and save it as a data file.

Fault simulation

To accurately diagnose faults, it is necessary to establish a typical fault database for high-voltage circuit breakers. When applying the device, the trained model is used to classify and identify the collected data, in order to determine the type of fault. A typical fault database for basic circuit breakers has been established through preliminary research, and actual faults will be further simulated in a laboratory environment.

The main types of faults in high-voltage circuit breakers are mechanical faults. This test mainly simulated three types of mechanical faults, including: iron core jamming, loose components, and push and pull rod jamming, as shown in Table 1 .

According to the fault settings in Table 1 , collect the voiceprint information data of circuit breaker opening and closing. Multiple fault simulation scenarios are shown in Fig.  10 . At the same time, collect the voiceprint information under normal conditions, establish a database of voiceprint information.

Fault simulation scenario.

Diagnosis results analysis

Obtain the waveform of the voiceprint information data of the circuit breaker opening and closing under different working conditions from the established experimental system, as shown in Fig.  11 .

Typical state voiceprint information waveform of high-voltage circuit breakers. ( a ) Iron core jamming voiceprint information, ( b ) Pushing rod astringent voiceprint information, ( c ) Loose component voiceprint information.

Using the support vector machine algorithm, 15 samples were randomly selected for each working condition as the training dataset, and then 10 samples were selected as the test set. Under this training dataset and test set, the average prediction accuracy for each operating condition is obtained, as shown in Table 2 .

The calculation results in Table 2 indicate that the fault type diagnosis accuracy of the two different support vector machine methods is not the same. The multi classification support vector machine method presented in this article has improved accuracy and efficiency, and is also more convenient. By applying the calculation ideas and experimental system in this article, the overall accuracy of circuit breaker fault diagnosis has reached 92.6%, verifying the effectiveness of the monitoring device and experimental system.

In order to verify the performance of the comprehensive fault diagnosis method proposed in this article, a comparative calculation and analysis will be conducted with neural networks and decision trees. The diagnostic results will be calculated for each of the three fault types given in the article. This article evaluates the performance of different algorithms from two dimensions: accuracy of model algorithms and computation time.

The calculation results are shown in Table 3 below.

The calculation results in Table 3 indicate that the proposed comprehensive method has the best performance. The overall diagnostic accuracy of the decision tree is 83.4%, while the accuracy of the neural network is 82.5%. The worst accuracy of decision trees is 80%, and the worst accuracy of neural networks is 81%.

The average calculation time for diagnosing three types of faults using the method proposed in this article is 36.7 s, the average calculation time for decision trees is 43.5 s, and the average calculation time for neural networks is 41.9 s.

Based on the above analysis, the comprehensive diagnostic method proposed in this article has the best performance.

The calculation results under various operating conditions indicate that the comprehensive identification method proposed in this paper can effectively diagnose circuit breaker faults, verifying the feasibility and adaptability of the equipment and the proposed technical analysis method.

Conclusions

This article develops a voiceprint monitoring device for high-voltage circuit breakers. Based on voiceprint information data, a mechanical fault diagnosis method for high-voltage circuit breakers is proposed. The conclusions are as follows:

The time–frequency domain conversion and feature extraction of the opening and closing voiceprint information of high-voltage circuit breakers under different working conditions are carried out to form the original feature space, which fully describes the voiceprint characteristics.

The developed high voltage circuit breaker voiceprint information acquisition device is easy to use and has strong functionality. The built high voltage circuit breaker simulation mechanical fault diagnosis system has good adaptability and reliability, laying a certain foundation for future promotion and application.

The proposed fault comprehensive diagnosis method consisting of improved S-transform, singular value decomposition, and multi classification support vector machine can effectively extract features from the collected voiceprint information data and reliably complete fault classification diagnosis. The experimental results show that the comprehensive method has high identification accuracy and efficiency.

The test results indicate that the developed high-voltage circuit breaker voiceprint monitoring equipment and simulation test system have good application feasibility, and fault diagnosis has shown good results, providing new ideas for intelligent operation and maintenance of substations.

In future research, comprehensive fault diagnosis techniques for mechanical and non mechanical faults of high-voltage circuit breakers will be studied by obtaining voiceprint information and non voiceprint information data of circuit breakers.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the State Key Laboratory of Smart Grid Protection and Operational Control of State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Co., Ltd (Grant No. SGNR0000KJJ2302137), the the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62203248) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. ZR2020ME194).

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Wang, S., Zhou, Y. & Ma, Z. Research on fault identification of high-voltage circuit breakers with characteristics of voiceprint information. Sci Rep 14 , 9340 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59999-0

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Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

At michigan state university, frib researchers lead team to merge nuclear physics experiments and astronomical observations to advance equation-of-state research, world-class particle-accelerator facilities and recent advances in neutron-star observation give physicists a new toolkit for describing nuclear interactions at a wide range of densities..

For most stars, neutron stars and black holes are their final resting places. When a supergiant star runs out of fuel, it expands and then rapidly collapses on itself. This act creates a neutron star—an object denser than our sun crammed into a space 13 to  18 miles wide. In such a heavily condensed stellar environment, most electrons combine with protons to make neutrons, resulting in a dense ball of matter consisting mainly of neutrons. Researchers try to understand the forces that control this process by creating dense matter in the laboratory through colliding neutron-rich nuclei and taking detailed measurements.

A research team—led by William Lynch and Betty Tsang at FRIB—is focused on learning about neutrons in dense environments. Lynch, Tsang, and their collaborators used 20 years of experimental data from accelerator facilities and neutron-star observations to understand how particles interact in nuclear matter under a wide range of densities and pressures. The team wanted to determine how the ratio of neutrons to protons influences nuclear forces in a system. The team recently published its findings in Nature Astronomy .

“In nuclear physics, we are often confined to studying small systems, but we know exactly what particles are in our nuclear systems. Stars provide us an unbelievable opportunity, because they are large systems where nuclear physics plays a vital role, but we do not know for sure what particles are in their interiors,” said Lynch, professor of nuclear physics at FRIB and in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Physics and Astronomy. “They are interesting because the density varies greatly within such large systems.  Nuclear forces play a dominant role within them, yet we know comparatively little about that role.” 

When a star with a mass that is 20-30 times that of the sun exhausts its fuel, it cools, collapses, and explodes in a supernova. After this explosion, only the matter in the deepest part of the star’s interior coalesces to form a neutron star. This neutron star has no fuel to burn and over time, it radiates its remaining heat into the surrounding space. Scientists expect that matter in the outer core of a cold neutron star is roughly similar to the matter in atomic nuclei but with three differences: neutron stars are much larger, they are denser in their interiors, and a larger fraction of their nucleons are neutrons. Deep within the inner core of a neutron star, the composition of neutron star matter remains a mystery. 

  “If experiments could provide more guidance about the forces that act in their interiors, we could make better predictions of their interior composition and of phase transitions within them. Neutron stars present a great research opportunity to combine these disciplines,” said Lynch.

Accelerator facilities like FRIB help physicists study how subatomic particles interact under exotic conditions that are more common in neutron stars. When researchers compare these experiments to neutron-star observations, they can calculate the equation of state (EOS) of particles interacting in low-temperature, dense environments. The EOS describes matter in specific conditions, and how its properties change with density. Solving EOS for a wide range of settings helps researchers understand the strong nuclear force’s effects within dense objects, like neutron stars, in the cosmos. It also helps us learn more about neutron stars as they cool.

“This is the first time that we pulled together such a wealth of experimental data to explain the equation of state under these conditions, and this is important,” said Tsang, professor of nuclear science at FRIB. “Previous efforts have used theory to explain the low-density and low-energy end of nuclear matter. We wanted to use all the data we had available to us from our previous experiences with accelerators to obtain a comprehensive equation of state.”   

Researchers seeking the EOS often calculate it at higher temperatures or lower densities. They then draw conclusions for the system across a wider range of conditions. However, physicists have come to understand in recent years that an EOS obtained from an experiment is only relevant for a specific range of densities. As a result, the team needed to pull together data from a variety of accelerator experiments that used different measurements of colliding nuclei to replace those assumptions with data. “In this work, we asked two questions,” said Lynch. “For a given measurement, what density does that measurement probe? After that, we asked what that measurement tells us about the equation of state at that density.”   

In its recent paper, the team combined its own experiments from accelerator facilities in the United States and Japan. It pulled together data from 12 different experimental constraints and three neutron-star observations. The researchers focused on determining the EOS for nuclear matter ranging from half to three times a nuclei’s saturation density—the density found at the core of all stable nuclei. By producing this comprehensive EOS, the team provided new benchmarks for the larger nuclear physics and astrophysics communities to more accurately model interactions of nuclear matter.

The team improved its measurements at intermediate densities that neutron star observations do not provide through experiments at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science in Japan, and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (FRIB’s predecessor). To enable key measurements discussed in this article, their experiments helped fund technical advances in data acquisition for active targets and time projection chambers that are being employed in many other experiments world-wide.   

In running these experiments at FRIB, Tsang and Lynch can continue to interact with MSU students who help advance the research with their own input and innovation. MSU operates FRIB as a scientific user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. FRIB is the only accelerator-based user facility on a university campus as one of 28 DOE-SC user facilities .  Chun Yen Tsang, the first author on the Nature Astronomy  paper, was a graduate student under Betty Tsang during this research and is now a researcher working jointly at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Kent State University. 

“Projects like this one are essential for attracting the brightest students, which ultimately makes these discoveries possible, and provides a steady pipeline to the U.S. workforce in nuclear science,” Tsang said.

The proposed FRIB energy upgrade ( FRIB400 ), supported by the scientific user community in the 2023 Nuclear Science Advisory Committee Long Range Plan , will allow the team to probe at even higher densities in the years to come. FRIB400 will double the reach of FRIB along the neutron dripline into a region relevant for neutron-star crusts and to allow study of extreme, neutron-rich nuclei such as calcium-68. 

Eric Gedenk is a freelance science writer.

Michigan State University operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. Hosting what is designed to be the most powerful heavy-ion accelerator, FRIB enables scientists to make discoveries about the properties of rare isotopes in order to better understand the physics of nuclei, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and applications for society, including in medicine, homeland security, and industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.