AIS Shared Values for Digitalization

Under the leadership of Suprateek Sarker, and with the active support of Leadership Team members Nancy Pouloudi, Andrew Burton-Jones, and Matt Nelson, a taskforce was formed in March 2024 to develop a “Shared Values for Digitalization” document. The task force was comprised of Jan Damsgaard of Copenhagen Business School, Gwanhoo Lee of American University, Washington D.C., Suprateek Sarker of the University of Virginia, Edgar Whitley of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Heng Xu of the University of Florida, and Indranil Bardhan of the University of Texas at Austin, who chaired the task force. The intent was to create a statement of AIS professional values that would guide IT professionals’ engagement with digitalization, in line with the sociotechnical character of our Information Systems community.  Such a shared values statement can potentially enhance AIS's global branding and instill certain professional values in our graduates, former students, and other stakeholders who interact with AIS. The report of the taskforce was presented to the AIS Council during the ECIS 2024 in Cyprus and was approved by the council in June 2024. At that time, a draft of the “AIS Shared Values for Digitalization” was placed on the AIS website for the open comment period. Additional information on this shared values statement, including a benchmark comparison with our peer professional organizations, can be obtained directly from the AIS website at: https://aisnet.org/general/custom.asp?page=SharedValuesforDigitalization

 In this newsletter article, some ideas on disseminating the “AIS Digitalization Shared Values” with the broader AIS community including, but not limited to, our students, alumni, AIS members, and other AIS stakeholders are discussed. Specifically, the article discusses who will receive these values, who will provide it to them, and how it will be provided. In doing so, it is hoped that the rollout would be smoother and would facilitate greater adoption of these values by our community.

Who will receive this new set of values?

The members of the AIS are naturally the first-layer target audience of the shared values. The second-layer target audience would include, but would not be limited to, undergraduate and graduate students worldwide who study information systems, business analytics, or digitalization, and are taught by AIS members. Alumni from these programs could be included in this category. The third layer would be practitioners engaged in digitalization, including but not limited to, participants in executive education programs taught by AIS members. It could also be targeted toward members of organizations such as SIM that have a close relationship with AIS.

Who will provide it to them?

A multi-pronged approach to disseminate these shared values with intended stakeholders will be adopted. First, the leaders of the AIS Council would spearhead the dissemination of these shared values, with appropriate help from the leaders of the AIS Communities (SIGs, Colleges, and Regional/National Chapters). The task force members will also reach out to academic administrators (department chairs, deans) and information systems and analytics faculty, particularly those who are AIS members. Simultaneously, they will also reach out to AIS student chapter leaders globally. Finally, they will work with members of the AIS Global Advisory Board and IS/analytics advisory boards at universities with information systems departments.

How will it be provided?

Initially, these shared values will be posted on the AIS website, and may be promoted through monthly newsletters to AIS members, as well as social media announcements. In conjunction with the initial rollout, the members of the AIS Digitalization taskforce would write an article, to be published in JAIS or CAIS, that elaborates on these values and their adoption which, in turn, could educate our stakeholders and serve as a resource for instructors who may choose to discuss these values in the classroom. Faculty are encouraged to embed these shared values into course syllabi and curriculum to ensure that students are familiar with these principles. This is particularly relevant for introductory IS class and/or capstone IS class at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Additionally, orientations, workshops, panels, and seminars, to promote these shared values will be conducted. In terms of external outreach, the task force members will talk about the shared values at forums such as SIM chapter meetings, annual meetings of the MALC (MIS Academic Leadership Conference), and IT Teaching Innovation Workshop.

Please contact Chair Indranil Bardhan (Indranil.Bardhan@mccombs.utexas.edu) or any member of the task force with feedback on the proposed document, as AIS members and the IS community are invited to share insights and feedback during the three-month open commentary period from June to September 2024.