Innovating with Information and Communication Technologies
Social and Organisational Engagement and Transformation

The 9th Social Study of ICT workshop (SSIT9) at LSE

20 April 2009

The Information Systems and Innovation Group will host its ninth annual Social Study of ICT (SSIT9) workshop on 20 April 2009.

Programme

Innovation, generally understood as new ways of doing things, has been subjected to increasing intensity of academic inquiry since the Second World War and from a variety of perspectives. The simple notion of doing something differently translates into a complexity of pragmatic and theoretical concerns, for example; innovation governance, processes of innovation, performance, and benchmarking of innovation. As a conceptual clearing, the study of innovation has brought together a diversity of academics and practitioners in a rich debate over the decades. Politicians seek to understand how investing in innovation will help create wealth, managers wish to understand how to improve the organisation’s ability to more effectively innovate to meet changing market demands. For commercial- and public organisations, innovation is increasingly seen as a key concern.

Technological inventions brought into social- and organisational practice is one of the cornerstones of innovation. As such, innovation has always been at the core of the Information Systems field. Anytime an organisation instantiates an assemblage of hard- and software, data conversion processes, new working arrangements etc, this is a case of innovation - for better and for worse. Some of the traditional areas of concern within Information Systems have studied innovation in terms of:

• the appropriate systems development processes bringing about new socio-technical arrangements;
• understanding how ICT innovation can render organisations more effective; issues related to the diffusion of ICT innovations;
• the role of ICT innovation for inter-organisational operations and in markets.

However, new areas of concern have emerged as a result of changes in innovation systems, the market, and in regulatory regimes. In the shadow of an economic downturn, the 9th Social Study of ICT workshop will explore core concerns within and beyond innovation with ICT. The workshop will engage a group of prominent scholars and business leaders in a debate of the role of innovation with ICT in a downturn. The workshop will discuss the role of innovation with ICT in terms of listening to and engaging customers in ongoing relationships, and it will explore innovation and emerging technologies, and the destructive aspects of innovation.

Regular updates on the event will appear here.

There is no charge for attending the workshop and refreshments will be provided. If you have any questions or comments, please email Frances White, Research Coordinator

To help us with our planning and to secure a place please download an application form

• Form as word document for completion online and return by email
• Form as acrobat pdf document for printing and return by fax or mail

The fifth SSIT Open Research Forum will be held immediately after the workshop on 21 and 22 April.

page last updated 19 March, 2009

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