IS Design, Development, and Project Management

The advent of technologies such as mobile apps, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoTs) has dramatically altered the manner in which Information Systems (IS) are being conceived, developed, and managed in organizations. Rapid automation of processes through the use of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has impacted virtually every facet of IS design, development, and project management. Furthermore, IS Development (ISD) processes increasingly integrate operations with cross-functional software teams (i.e., DevOps) to manage complexity and to respond with agility to changing market conditions. Third, the proliferation of open source tools and the increasing number of outsourcing and crowdsourcing options allow organizations to evolve innovative solutions to complex problems. New software development approaches combined with diverse software platforms and application environments provide the opportunity to broaden the array of approaches to design and development available to IS project managers and to offer the prospect of approaches better fitting with organizational settings, personnel skills, and task demands. Given this complex and dynamic nature of IS projects, many projects continue to run over budget, to extend past schedule, and to deliver less than or different products than anticipated, needed, or preferred. Finally, to respond to the need for realizing the large-scale digital transformation objectives, IT Program Management has emerged as a distinct discipline. The first and foremost strength of program management approaches is its mediating role for keeping the alignment between individual projects goals and strategic goals, which promises that project deliverables contribute to the business strategy. The second strength of program management approaches is its integrating role for dealing with potential conflicts among multiple projects and ensuring these projects to cooperate and collaborate for the strategic goal realizations.

Track Co-Chairs
Geneviève Bassellier, Ph.D., McGill University
James J. Jiang, Ph.D., National Taiwan University
Thomas Kude, Ph.D., ESSEC Business School