Attacking the trust machine: Developing an information systems research agenda for blockchain cybersecurity

Blockchain-based systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, a comprehensive overview of existing attack vectors and a directive discussion of resulting research opportunities are missing. Employing a structured literature review, we extract and analyze 87 relevant attacks on blockchain-based systems and assign them to common attack vectors. We subsequently derive a research framework and agenda for information systems research on the cybersecurity of blockchain-based systems. We structure our framework along the users, developers, and attackers of both blockchain applications and blockchain infrastructure, highlighting the reciprocal relationships between these entities. Our results show that especially socio-technical aspects of blockchain cybersecurity are underrepresented in research and require further attention.     

Building a compassionate workplace using information technology: Considerations for information systems research

This opinion paper presents the need for IS research on compassion in the organizational workplace. Given the current challenges caused by COVID-19, we argue that organizations need to be resilient to counter the adverse effects of this pandemic. Developing a compassionate organizational workplace is an effective way to build resilient organizations. The paper draws attention to the fact that a focus on compassion can be a valuable scope of inquiry within IS research. It proposes an integrative framework mapping the scope of compassion in IS research and develops a research agenda that can aid future inquiry into this phenomenon.     

The state of play of blockchain technology in the financial services sector: A systematic literature review

The modern trends of digitalization have completely transformed and reshaped business practices, whole businesses, and even a number of industries. Blockchain technology is believed to be the latest advancement in industries such as the financial sector, where trust is of prime significance. Blockchain technology is a decentralized and coded security system which provides the capability for new digital services and platforms to be created through this emerging technology. This research presents a systematic review of scholarly articles on blockchain technology in the financial sector. We commenced by considering 227 articles and subsequently filtered this list down to 87 articles. From this, we present a classification framework that has three dimensions: blockchain-enabled financial benefits, challenges, and functionality. This research identifies implications for future research and practice within the blockchain paradigm.     

The effects of individual-level espoused national cultural values on the willingness to use Bitcoin-like blockchain currencies

Some have called bitcoin a real bubble, while, according to others, it is the most radical invention of the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, there is a consensus regarding the disruptive potential of blockchain technology, which is the basis of bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies. As the interest in these digital currencies is growing, many vendors around the globe now accept payments in blockchain-based currencies. However, not much is known about how individuals around the world would react to using blockchain-based currencies as spending currencies. Given the global reach of these currencies, in this study, we explore the role of national cultural values in influencing individuals’ willingness to use blockchain-based currencies. To do so, we collected survey data from the U.S. and India. We found that national cultural values (collectivism, power distance, masculinism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation) significantly affect blockchain-based currency usage.     

学术研究的议程设置：基于知识社会系统的考量

 在知识社会系统背景下,学术权力日益呈现出两面性,即能否支配研究的过程固然是学术权力的一面,但能否影响研究议程的设置则是学术权力更为重要的另一面,它决定着知识生产的方向,进而影响着知识社会系统的整体发展。正是基于学术研究系统的这一重要转变,论文初步提出和界定了研究议程这一概念,并简要探讨了当下学术研究议程设置的主要模式、存在的问题以及创新的基本思路,创造性地提出了相容型研究议程及其设置模式,以期不断优化知识生产流程和知识资源配置,推动知识社会系统的有机协调和整体发展。     

When good blocks go bad: Managing unwanted blockchain data

Blockchain has been praised for providing the technical infrastructure that enables a group of self-interested entities to share data without relying on intermediaries. Technically, blockchain is a distributed and decentralized append-only database. This latter aspect leads to an important, yet overlooked governance issue, namely what should the network members do when erroneous or malicious data are added to the blockchain ledger? We start by describing three public cases when the above happened. For each case, we elaborate on the adopted solution, which we refer to as the “rollback,” the “do nothing,” and the “overturn” solution. Drawing from these previous cases, discussions with experts, and from our own experience with blockchain research and development, we provide suggestions concerning managerial, technical, and information security policies and practices organizations should follow when contemplating enterprise-level applications of the blockchain technology.     

Artificial intelligence in information systems research: A systematic literature review and research agenda

AI has received increased attention from the information systems (IS) research community in recent years. There is, however, a growing concern that research on AI could experience a lack of cumulative building of knowledge, which has overshadowed IS research previously. This study addresses this concern, by conducting a systematic literature review of AI research in IS between 2005 and 2020. The search strategy resulted in 1877 studies, of which 98 were identified as primary studies and a synthesise of key themes that are pertinent to this study is presented. In doing so, this study makes important contributions, namely (i) an identification of the current reported business value and contributions of AI, (ii) research and practical implications on the use of AI and (iii) opportunities for future AI research in the form of a research agenda.     

Using the security triad to assess blockchain technology in public sector applications

This conceptual paper explores the impact of blockchain technology on public sector processes through the lens of information security. It includes an overview of the evolution of e-government, a synopsis of existing applications of blockchain technology, and innovative blockchain developments. We utilize the Confidentiality-Integrity-Accessibility (CIA) triad to guide our discussion of the security, governance, and regulatory implications of this technology. Leveraging the CIA triad model, we provide context for public managers who may consider blockchain technologies, and we highlight certain advantages arising from the “non-reputability” of distributed ledgers.In particular, we highlight the advantages of blockchain technologies with regards to non-reputability to help public managers understand how to best leverage blockchain technology to transform operations.     

Boundary conditions for traceability in food supply chains using blockchain technology

Traceability of ingredients in food supply chains has become paramount in a world in which markets become global, heterogeneous, and complex and in which consumers expect a high level of quality. The food supply chain consists of many organizations having different interests and are often reluctant to share traceability information with each other. Blockchain has been advocated for improving traceability by providing trust. Yet, practice proved to be more stubborn. The goal of this paper is to identify boundary conditions for sharing assurance information to improve traceability. Four cases in the food supply chain have been investigated using a template analysis of 16 interviews. Eighteen boundary conditions categorized in business, regulation, quality and traceability categories have been identified. Some boundary conditions were found in all supply chains, whereas others were found to be supply chain specific. Standardization of traceability processes and interfaces, having a joint platform and independent governance were found to be key boundary conditions before blockchain can be used. Our findings imply that supply chain systems have first to be modified and organizational measures need to be taken to fulfill the boundary conditions, before blockchain can be used successfully.     

复杂技术创新研究的回顾与前瞻

回顾发达国家复杂技术创新研究的情况,结合我国复杂技术创新的实践,提出我国进行和复杂技术创新研究的三个方向,即复杂技术创新过程中的知识共享与转移、复杂技术创新项目管理、复杂技术的创新系统。     

Demystifying blockchain: A critical analysis of challenges,applications and opportunities

The blockchain is considered to be the potential driver of the digital economy. The Blockchain technology outweighs the challenges associated with the traditional transaction business governed and regulated by the third trusted party. There is a growth in the interest among the researchers, the industry, and the academia to study and leverage the potential of Blockchain. Blockchain provides a decentralized and distributed public ledger for all the participating parties. Though it seems that blockchain is a viable choice and solution for all the centralized governed and regulated transactions (in digital online space), it has potential challenges that need to be resolved; opportunities to be explored, and applications to be studied. This paper utilizes a systematic literature review to study several research endeavors made in the domain of blockchain. To further research on blockchain adoption, the paper theoretically constructs an integrated framework of the blockchain innovation adoption process in an organization considering organizational and user acceptance perspectives. This would facilitate its widespread adoption, thereby achieving sustained leadership solutions. The paper offers 23 propositions to information systems (IS)/information management (IM) scholars with respect to innovation characteristics, organizational characteristics, environmental characteristics, and user acceptance characteristics. Further, the paper explores several areas of future research and directions that can provide deep insights for overcoming challenges and for the adoption of blockchain technology.     

Document management systems from current capabilities towards intelligent information retrieval: an overview

Documents circulating in paper form are increasingly being substituted by its electronic equivalent in the modern office today so that any stored document can be retrieved whenever needed later on. The office worker is already burdened with information overload, so effective and efficient retrieval facilities become an important factor affecting worker productivity. This paper first reviews the features of current document management systems with varying facilities to manage, store and retrieve either reference to documents or whole documents. Information retrieval databases, groupware products and workflow management systems are presented as developments to handle different needs, together with the underlying concepts of knowledge management. The two problems of worker finiteness and worker ignorance remain outstanding, as they are only partially addressed by the above-mentioned systems. The solution lies in a shift away from pull technology where the user has to actively initiate the request for information towards push technology, where available information is automatically delivered without user intervention. Intelligent information retrieval agents are presented as a solution together with a marketing scenario of how they can be introduced.     

Blockchain research,practice and policy: Applications,benefits, limitations,emerging research themes and research agenda

The blockchain has received significant attention from technology focussed researchers, highlighting its perceived impact and emerging disruption potential, but has been slow to engender any significant momentum within the Information Systems (IS) and Information Management (IM) literature. This study approaches the subject through an IS/IM lens developing the key themes from the blockchain based research via a comprehensive review. This analysis of the body of literature highlights that although few commercial grade blockchain applications currently exist, the technology demonstrates significant potential to benefit a number of industry wide use cases. This study expands on this point articulating through each of the key themes to develop a detailed narrative on the numerous potential blockchain applications and future direction of the technology, whilst discussing the many barriers to adoption. The study asserts that blockchain technology has the potential to contribute to a number of the UN Sustainability Development Goals and engender widespread change within a number of established industries and practices.     

科技期刊数字侵权现状与版权保护——区块链技术可行性初探

【目的】 探讨区块链应用于科技期刊数字版权保护的可行性。【方法】 以医学期刊为例,调查样本期刊的被侵权现状,并从区块链的特征、优势与应用方面探讨其在科技期刊数字版权保护应用中的可行性。【结果】 100种样本期刊的被盗版率高达99.0%,被盗版网站数量为1~18个,平均为6个。所有被盗版的期刊论文均存在收费下载的情况,收费率达100.0%。与传统数字版权保护技术比较,区块链具有去中心化、不可篡改及不可撤销、公开透明、可靠性强、扩展性强等特点,其优势包括管理成本低、便于追踪、具有法律效力、安全性高、申请便捷、费用低廉等,该技术已被应用于艺术作品及文学作品的数字版权保护。【结论】 区块链技术相较于传统数字版权保护技术具有独特的优势,在科技期刊数字版权保护方面具有巨大的潜在价值。     

基于知识图谱的区块链与云会计比较及融合研究

区块链与云会计都是被会计界高度关注的新会计信息技术方向,文章应用Citespace科学知识计量发现中国区块链研究从金融领域开始正在向会计领域发展,中国云会计研究持续7年并具有长期研究热度。云会计与区块链的设计理念、竞争程度、成本节约点、技术优势等存在不同,云会计特别适合中国中小公司基数大的会计主体特点。区块链与云会计的理念融合有助于提升云会计的会计数据功能、会计信息经济职能、数据安全与伦理、会计治理模式、会计监督创新等。     

An investigation of the strategic information systems planning success in Chinese publicly traded firms

Based on a survey of Chinese publicly traded firms, we report on the status of the strategic information systems planning success in China. Through this analysis of the survey data, we found that Chinese managers are not using IS as a competitive weapon though they have already realized some aspects of strategic information system planning. We also examined the differences between Eastern and Western cultural and political context factors to explain this phenomenon.     

Carnival in the global village: Re-imagining information infrastructures

Abstract

Infrastructures are typically seen as boring and serious, and are routinely depicted using metaphors from transportation. We argue that the carnival is a fruitful metaphor for understanding emerging information infrastructures, as the information age is also the age of the carnival. We distinguish between the ubiquitous or distal carnival and its particular manifestations – the proximate carnival – both of which are characterized by play, anarchy, dissimulation, vulgar language, and excessive consumption. The article focuses on Bitcoin, which we see as a nascent information infrastructure and an exemplary instance of a proximate carnival. It also considers how the carnival metaphor might help us reimagine our study of the information age.     

A framework for analysing blockchain technology adoption: Integrating institutional,market and technical factors

The adoption of blockchain technologies require the consideration of a broad range of factors, over and above the predominantly technology focus of most current work. Whilst scholarly literature on blockchain technology is only beginning to emerge, majority are focused on the technicalities of the technology and tend to ignore the organizational complexities of adopting the technology. Drawing from a focused review of literature, this paper proposed a conceptual framework for adoption of blockchain technology capturing the complex relationships between institutional, market and technical factors. The framework highlights that varying outcomes are possible, and the change process is focal as this shapes the form blockchain applications take. Factors presented in the framework (institutional, market and technical) interact and mutually influence each other. The proposed framework can be used by organisations as a reference point for adopting blockchain applications and by scholars to expand, refine and evaluate research into blockchain technology.     

Dynamic and emergent information systems strategy formulation and implementation

Early attempts to formulate information systems (IS) strategies concentrated on the analytical task of deriving IS strategies from business plans. The limitations of the static plans that often resulted from these formal studies were, however, soon discovered. The critics suggested informal and incremental planning to ensure flexibility, creativity and strategic thinking to comprise emergent strategies as well as planned strategies.In previous IS planning research, there appears to be a contradiction between the published planning methods and the generally held views about effective implementation of IS planning process. The explicit methods described in IS literature predominantly assume a comprehensive IS planning process. Despite the fact that many researchers consider incremental approaches to be more effective, methods that can be used to facilitate incremental IS planning are few, not detailed enough and not comprehensive.The four cycles method introduced in this paper attempts to combine the strengths of both the comprehensive and incremental planning to be able to recognise emerging trends and to make an e-business strategy. The method provides a basic schedule for organising planning activities. IS planning is seen as a continuous process that is periodically adjusted to the expectations of the participating managers. Practising managers can use the method to facilitate implementation of an incremental and continuous IS planning process. For e-business strategy research, the paper provides a theoretically based method that can be tested in future action research projects.The first results of conducted action research show that the method should not be used as a checklist but as a choice list. Each period had a constant focus on external developments and the fit with internal possibilities. The method provided a flexible and dynamic basis for actions. The emergent nature of the changes and the difficulty of formalising creativity and innovation placed restrictions on the planning process. We learned that a thematic approach where each cycle is given a creative subject helped to “open up” the users in the organisation. Future research should focus on the inter-organisational nature of e-business strategy. If it is difficult to get top management participation, it will be even more difficult with more organisations involved.