Green Information Systems

Track co-chairs:

Associate Professor Helen Hasan*
Information Systems
Faculty of Commerce
University of Wollongong
Wollongong 2522, Australia
E-mail: hasan@uow.edu.au
+61 2 42213757

Professor Dr. Lutz M. Kolbe
Institute of Information Systems
Chair of Information Management
University of Goettingen
Platz der Goettinger Sieben 5
37073 Goettingen, Germany
E-Mail: lkolbe@uni-goettingen.de
T: +49 551 / 39-4441
F: +49 551 / 39-9735

Prof. Brian Donnellan PhD MBA B.Eng
Chair of Information Systems Innovation
Co-Director, Innovation Value Institute
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Co. Kildare, Ireland.
+353-1-708-6941 | brian.donnellan@nuim.ie

*Primary contact person

A short description of the track and its focus

Environmental issues present enormous challenges that are of global concern and therefore are now the responsibility of everyone, including the Information Systems (IS) profession who can play a prominent in meeting these challenges. The recently formed SIGGreen of the Association for Information Systems, sends the message that IS can play a significant role in the global green agenda through research, education, practice and community engagement. Green IS spans the dual responsibilities of the IS profession to both reduce its own impact on the environment and to use its particular expertise to enable others to do so. As indicated by the list of topics below, Green IS tackles a much larger problem than Green IT which focuses mainly on energy efficiency and equipment utilization. IS can play a key role in making organizations and communities more sustainable while at the same reducing the negative environmental impact of IS and associated IT infrastructure.

The purpose of this track is to advance theoretical and practical knowledge in this emerging domain and to gain a better understanding of current industry initiatives and academic research being conducted on the role of IS in the sustainability of all human enterprises. Hence submissions of high quality papers are sought that report on empirical research and case studies, assess critical Issues or undertake theory development, including but not limited to following topics:

  • The role of IS in sustainability reporting such as Emission Trading Systems
  • IS for the management of environmental risks
  • IS for sustainable supply chain management
  • Active environmental data warehouses
  • IS for the management of energy grids
  • Sustainability and innovation in IS
  • IS facilitating and monitoring systems
  • Greener ways of working
  • Optimising Processes for lower energy use and emissions
  • Green BPM
  • Meeting virtually, travelling less
  • Sustainability and Green IS themes in the IS curriculum
  • Case studies: companies and organizations using Green IS and Green IT to support sustainable business practices
  • Green HCI – How Energy consumption feedback systems can reinforce sustainable practices
  • Lifecycle analyses of IS resources
  • Theories and methods applied in Green IS initiatives
  • Consumer and practitioner awareness and response to green computing
  • Embedding and teaching sustainability concepts and practice in Information Systems programs and courses

Recent Green IS Research Activity

There are recent and forthcoming special issues in IS journals on Green IT/IS, for example:

Special Issue of Australasian Journal of Information Systems (AJIS) 2010
Theme: Green IT/IS (sustainable computing)
Special Issue Editors: Dr Michael Lane, Prof Dr Lutz M. Kolbe, Prof Dr Rüdiger Zarnekow

Special Issue of Australasian Journal of Information Systems (AJIS) 2009
Theme: Green IT/IS (IT for Climate Change)
Special Issue Editors: A/Prof Helen Hasan, Prof Aditya Fhose, Prof Trevor Spedding

Special Issue of Journal of Strategic Information Systems (JSIS) 2010
Theme: The Greening of IT: Paradox or Promise?
Special Issue Editors: Bob Galliers, Brian Donnellan, Pierre Berthon

Special Issue of Information and Organization (I&O) 2010
Theme: Green IT/IS: The Role of Information Technology/Systems in Environmentally Sustainable Organizations
Special Issue Editors: Daniel Robey, Marie-Claude Boudreau, Susan J. Winter

There are recent and forthcoming conference tracks on Green IT/IS, for example:

ACIS 2010, track “Green IT/IS”, Brisbane, Australia

AMCIS 2010, track “Sustainability, Green Information Systems and Technology”, Lima, Peru

Contributions sought

We will seek full research papers, research in progress, and teaching cases.