Paper Number
ECIS2026-2797
Paper Type
SP
Abstract
This paper investigates how an IS artefact used in a public-sector clean energy intervention generates gendered unintended consequences that are relevant for IS policy. The IS artefact consists of a monitoring system (i.e., energy application and IoT sensors) and platform-based communication channels (i.e., Facebook group and messenger), embedded within a broader sociotechnical intervention including solar-powered heating systems and community training. Our analysis identifies four mechanisms emerging from the interaction between the IS artefact and household, institutional, and programme structures. In three of four mechanisms, the artefact's design choices actively reproduce gendered misalignment by embedding assumptions about users, communication, and documentation inconsistent with conditions in women-led, low-income households. We develop four prescriptive policy design principles specifying what implementing agencies, technical providers, and regulators should change before the next deployment cycle. The findings illustrate how artefact-centred analysis reveals that digital interventions can actively reproduce the gendered misalignments they are deployed to address.
Recommended Citation
O'Connor, Mairead; LEONG, Carmen; and Bat-Orgil, Jargalan, "Digital Energy Artefacts and Policy Misalignment: Gendered Unintended Consequences In Mongolia’s Clean Energy Transition" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 7.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/is_policy/is_policy/7
Digital Energy Artefacts and Policy Misalignment: Gendered Unintended Consequences In Mongolia’s Clean Energy Transition
This paper investigates how an IS artefact used in a public-sector clean energy intervention generates gendered unintended consequences that are relevant for IS policy. The IS artefact consists of a monitoring system (i.e., energy application and IoT sensors) and platform-based communication channels (i.e., Facebook group and messenger), embedded within a broader sociotechnical intervention including solar-powered heating systems and community training. Our analysis identifies four mechanisms emerging from the interaction between the IS artefact and household, institutional, and programme structures. In three of four mechanisms, the artefact's design choices actively reproduce gendered misalignment by embedding assumptions about users, communication, and documentation inconsistent with conditions in women-led, low-income households. We develop four prescriptive policy design principles specifying what implementing agencies, technical providers, and regulators should change before the next deployment cycle. The findings illustrate how artefact-centred analysis reveals that digital interventions can actively reproduce the gendered misalignments they are deployed to address.
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