Implementation and Adoption of Digital Technologies

Track Description
The unrelenting diffusion of digital technology—such as smartphones, social media, wearable devices, IoT, and digital agents (e.g., Siri and Amazon’s Echo)—impacts almost all aspects of our society, our work, and our lives. We now live in a world deeply infused with and shaped by digital technology, yet many of our core perspectives and theories derive from a time when computers were new and alien to the world. Organizations, groups, and individuals now face many new promises, and new dilemmas, questions, and uncertainties. On the one hand, digital technologies have great potential to transform our lives and enhance the quality of our life in numerous ways. People are getting more and better information for decision-making; organizations can leverage the power of digital technology to make innovations that better serve customers and the society. The societies and nations are increasingly interconnected, and exciting cross-culture sharing is occurring. On the other hand, individuals and organizations are challenged to adapt to a world being dramatically transformed by the infiltration of digital technologies, and are subject to new kinds of digital threats and vulnerabilities. There exist many uncertainties regarding what digital technology might bring to us.

This track invites research that brings fresh theoretical, methodological, and practical insights concerning implementation, adoption and use of digital technology in the fast-changing world at individual, organizational, industry, societal, and global levels. The track welcomes papers grounded in a broad range of theories, perspectives, and methodologies and addressing real-world social problems. We welcome papers that use novel theories and use multiple and mixed methodologies including combinations of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in field and lab environments as well as simulation and modeling. This track is open to all methodologies that enhance our understanding of the implementation, adoption and use of digital technologies in various social contexts.

Track Chairs
Rob Fichman, Boston College, robert.fichman.1@bc.edu
Heshan Sun, University of Oklahoma, sunh@ou.edu
Siva Viswanathan, University of Maryland, sviswana@rhsmith.umd.edu