KIN researchers at the 2024 International Conference on Information Systems

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9 January 2025

KIN researchers presented at ICIS 2024, with Edona Elshan receiving the Overall Best Conference Paper Award and the Best Reviewer Award, Anne-Sophie Mayer placing 2nd runner-up for the Kaufman Best Paper Award, and Anastasia Sergeeva being honored with the Best Associate Editor Award.

The researchers from the KIN Center for Digital Innovation showcased their work at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2024 in Bangkok. This year's conference theme, "Digital Platforms for Emerging Societies", invited the community to examine the expansive role of information technology in driving economic and societal transformation worldwide.

The conference opened with a pre-ICIS workshop on the Changing Nature of Work, co-organized by Bart van den Hooff. The workshop featured a keynote by Ella Hafermalz, who reflected on whether we have entered Baudrillard's concept of the 'hyperreal,' prompted by the increasing production of knowledge artifacts by Large Language Models. Hafermalz examined the implications of these developments for work practices. Following the keynotes, discussions covered 17 papers, including one presented by Mohammad Rezazade Mehrizi. His paper, "My Dinner with GenAI: Co-evolution of Machine Agency and Human Agency in the Creative Process of Screenwriting," emerged from a study with his DBI master's students. Jana Retkwosky also shared an ongoing study on how creative workers in the marketing industry use text-to-media GenAI technologies, highlighting its dual role as both a powerful yet unreliable teammate in the creative process.

In the main part of the conference, Bart van den Hooff presented a paper co-authored with Edona Elshan titled "IT Architecture Renewal: Paradoxical Tensions and Business-IT Alignment." The study explores how organizations manage conflicting demands and priorities during IT architecture renewal based on a case study in a global FMCG company, offering insights into the importance of continuous learning and strategic alignment between business and IT.

Reza Mousavi, in collaboration with Mohammad Rezazade Mehrezi, presented "Flows and Flaws of Expertise in Microtasking Platforms: The Case of Amazon MTurk." The study challenges the perception of microtasking as low-skilled work by highlighting the complex, often unrecognized expertise involved, urging a re-evaluation of expertise in the digital economy.

Nina Schirrmacher presented her research on accountability in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), revealing how they enact "soft" accountability through ongoing governance forums and "hard" accountability via binary token voting, enabling immediate sanctions when necessary. This work sheds light on how DAOs maintain accountability in the absence of traditional hierarchical structures.

Ella Hafelmaz presented a paper co-authored with Mario Sosa-Hidalgo, Stella Pachidi, and Marleen Huysman titled "From Datafying to Dataficing: How Data Scientists Adhere to the Data Science Ethos in the Face of Development Challenges". The paper finds that data scientists in non-tech-driven organizations often struggle to reconcile their perceived superior ethos with their support roles, leading to "good-enough" data practices that hinder learning from domain experts and effective collaboration.

Anastasia Sergeeva and Lauren Waardenburg, co-authoring with Marleen Huysman, presented "The Hidden Cost of Data Production: Digital Reporting Pressures and the Consequences for Street-Level Police Work." This study reveals how digital reporting systems in the Dutch police create pressures that reduce officers' situated discretion, leading them to adopt coping strategies that mitigate these pressures but undermine core occupational values and meaning.

The conference concluded with several accolades for KIN researchers. Edona Elshan received two awards: the Overall Best Conference Paper Award for her work on decentralized identity in US healthcare (co-authored with Sophia Goeppinger, Alexander Meier, Omid Malekan, and Jan Marco Leimeister) and the Best Reviewer Award in the IS Design, Development, and Project Management track. Anne-Sophie Mayer was the 2nd runner-up for the Kaufman Award for Best Paper on Information Systems, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship for her study on platform design and gig workers' careers (co-authored with Franz Strich and Andreas Ihl). Finally, Anastasia Sergeeva received the Best Associate Editor Award in the Digital Technologies and the Future of Work track, recognizing her dedication to advancing academic excellence.

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