Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
PACIS2026-1660
Description
Public-sector digital infrastructure investment decisions increasingly rely on information systems that support complex strategic choices. However, many multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches produce a single deterministic ranking, obscuring how stakeholder preferences shape outcomes. In digital governance contexts, this lack of transparency can limit trust in decision support systems. To address this challenge, we develop SMAA-SPOTIS, a Design Science Research artifact that integrates Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA-2) with the rank-reversal-free SPOTIS method. The artifact combines stable ranking with exploration of the preference space, enabling policy-makers to examine when and why infrastructure alternatives become optimal. We evaluate the artifact through a simulation study of digital infrastructure deployment decisions across four emerging Asia-Pacific economies. Results indicate that public cloud is the most robust option across broadly distributed preference profiles, while edge and hybrid cloud become optimal under more specific sustainability-oriented configurations. The study contributes a transparency-oriented decision support artifact for digital governance.
Recommended Citation
Kizielewicz, Bartłomiej; Bączkiewicz, Aleksandra; Wątróbski, Jarosław; and Sałabun, Wojciech, "Designing Transparent Decision Support for Digital Infrastructure Investments: A Design Science Artifact Using SMAA-SPOTIS" (2026). PACIS 2026 Proceedings. 12.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2026/practioner/practioner/12
Designing Transparent Decision Support for Digital Infrastructure Investments: A Design Science Artifact Using SMAA-SPOTIS
Public-sector digital infrastructure investment decisions increasingly rely on information systems that support complex strategic choices. However, many multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches produce a single deterministic ranking, obscuring how stakeholder preferences shape outcomes. In digital governance contexts, this lack of transparency can limit trust in decision support systems. To address this challenge, we develop SMAA-SPOTIS, a Design Science Research artifact that integrates Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA-2) with the rank-reversal-free SPOTIS method. The artifact combines stable ranking with exploration of the preference space, enabling policy-makers to examine when and why infrastructure alternatives become optimal. We evaluate the artifact through a simulation study of digital infrastructure deployment decisions across four emerging Asia-Pacific economies. Results indicate that public cloud is the most robust option across broadly distributed preference profiles, while edge and hybrid cloud become optimal under more specific sustainability-oriented configurations. The study contributes a transparency-oriented decision support artifact for digital governance.
Comments
16-Practitioner