Building Sustainable Information Systems

​Information Systems (IS) as a discipline draws on diverse areas including, technology, organisational theory, management and social science. The field is recognized as very broad and encompassing many themes and areas. However, the development of artefacts, or information systems development (ISD), in the broadest sense, is a central concern of the discipline. Significantly, ISD impacts on the organisational and societal contexts through the use of the artefacts constructed by the development. Today, that impact also needs to be evaluated in terms of its effects on the environment. Sustainable, or "green," IT is a catch-all term used to describe the development, manufacture, management, use and disposal of ICT in a way that minimizes damage to the environment. As a result, the term has many different meanings, depending on the role assumed in the life span of the ICT artefact. The theme of the proposed work is to critically examine the whole range of issues around ISD from the perspective of sustainability. Sustainable IT is an emerging theme in academic research and industry practice in response to an individual concern for the environment and the embryonic regulatory environments being enacted globally to address the environmental impact of ICT. In this work we intend to bring together in one volume the diverse research around the development of sustainable IS.

This volume is the collected proceedings of the 21^st International Conference on Information Systems Development (ISD2012) held at the Monash University Centre in Prato, Italy. The theme of the conference focused on the significant contribution that information systems can make to challenges posed by the degradation of the natural environment. This contribution includes the role of information systems in mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as addressing the direct contribution of information and communications technology to that degradation.

ISD2012 follows the conference series in exploring the relations between research, industry practice and education. Information systems development is at the core of the academic discipline of information systems and the papers in this volume reflect on established topics in information systems development as well as emerging concepts, approaches and practices. This is reflected in the conference tracks including:

The Changing Landscape of Information Systems: Properties of a New IS Ecology

Methodologies for Design within Complex Environments

Green IS - Information Systems for Sustainability

Model-driven Engineering in ISD

Sustainable ISD Project Management

Sustainable Knowledge Management