1. Lars Taxén Linköping University
Towards Theorizing Information Systems from a Neurobiological Perspective
Lars Taxén
Linköping University

2. Motivation
It could be a surprise that what an IS is is not established (Ray Paul, 2007)
Motivation for this contribution is that the essence of what an IS is still, after some 25 years of research, unclear
I think that a neurobiological perspective may contribute with some fresh and interesting ideas to this debate

3. Point of departure
The mental is inextricably interwoven with body, world and action: the mind consists of structures that operate on the world via their role in determining action (Love, 2004)
Neural realm
Mind
Social realm
World ?
(read quote)
Analytically, we may think of this as a neural and social realms which are interwoven in some way
And the question then is what such a point of departure implies for IS theorizing?

4. Action requires coordination
I do not see any way to avoid the problem of coordination and still understand the physical basis of life (Pattee, 1976)
Neural realm
Mind
Social realm
World
coordination?
(read quote)
So the focus will be on conceptualizing coordination from a neurobiological perspective

5. IS in the wild
In order to concretize this approach, I will use an example from my own professional practice at Ericsson

6. The project Some 15 years ago I was involved in this project
Developing a node in the 3rd generation of mobile systems
What you see here is an integration plan for the project
White squares indicate sub-projects, lines indicate dependencies, arrows show dates for delivery of a certain functionality for integration with the rest of system
A major problem was management of requirements

7. The IT platform
To this end, an IT platform was acquired, a so called Product Life-cycle Management system
A small group of people, including myself was set up to work out how to manage requirements

8. The information model
We began by discussing what we thought was relevant for RM context using and modifying an IM like this one
You can see the req, req issuer, what development increment the req’s were directed to

9. The IT application
As soon as we had a first version of the IM it was implemented in the IT platform, which meant that we began developing an Ericsson-specific IT application on the IT platform
Loaded with project data
Here you can see the requirement issuer, their requirements, what increment was implementing these
The IM and its implementation was ceaselessly modified until a “good enough” IT application had emerged
Took about a year and involved several hundred modifications

10. Where is the IS? Neural realm coordination? Social realm The project
The information model
The people
Neural realm
The IT platform
The IT application
So this what we had: a project, an IM, an IT platform, and an IT application built on that platform
This is all in the social realm, tangible
And then each person has individual minds which of course are intangible; we cannot know what is going in in each brain
So the question then is: Where is the IS?
coordination?
Social realm

11. Acting in the wild - what enables every-day action?
In order to answer this question, we have to take a step back and look at what enables the coordination of ordinary, every-day actions

12. An ordinary activity… About something Context of relevance
Which dimensions characterizes an activity like this?
So, to begin with, every activity is about something, in this case a concert.
In this situation, we attend to relevant things and disregard that which is not relevant, we cognize a context of relevance
For example, players, guitars, scores, note stands, the public are certainly relevant.
The books in the shelves are not

13. Coordinating individual action
Normative
Spatial
Temporal
Next, what is required of an individual player in order to participate in the concert activity?
Well, he must be proficient in reading the score and integrate this with his guitar playing.
This means that he must be able to cognize a temporal dimension …
This notion …
Since it has been around for such a long time…
Guido of Arezzo (991/992 – after 1033) was a music theorist of the Medieval era. He is regarded as the inventor of modern musical notation (staff notation)
Notation is more than 1000 years old!
Harmonized with human mental organization

14. Reliant on
Any activity is reliant on other activities, in this case for example building the guitar

15. Dimensions of activity
About something – an object
Context of relevance
Spatial orientation
Sequencing of actions
Routinization of relevant actions
Cooperation between activities
So to summarize, these dimensions seems to be found in any activity
That is a strong indication that the origin of these dimensions are to be found in the neurobiological constitution that evolution has brought about in order for our species to act and survive in the world.

16. The Activity Modalities
Objectivation
Contextualization
Spatialization
Temporalization
Stabilization
Transition
I have come up with the notion of “activity modalities” in order to theorize about these dimensions and how they might bridge the neural and social realms
Objectivation - focusing on the task at hand
Contextualization - attending relevant things
Spatialization – orientating in space
Temporalization - sequencing of actions
Stabilization – habituation of relevant actions
Transition - changing attention

17. Coordination as a mental functional system
Activity modalities
Neural realm
Social realm
Inspired by an idea from Alexander Luria, the distinguished Russian neuroscientist, I have suggested that coordination may be modeled as dependencies between factors, each providing a certain contribution to the overall function.
No time to explain this in detail, just notice that the destruction of a certain factor will bar all factors dependent on that particular factor to be actuated
For example, if spatialization is taken out by a lesion in the entorhinal cortex, action is inhibited
The idea is then that the AMs provide, as it were, a gateway between neural and social realms in that we may device external artifacts attuned to the AMs
For example a map is attuned to spatialization

18. Functional organs Neural realm Mind Social realm Action
Activity modalities
Artefacts
A further step in the conceptualization of the link between mind and action is provided by the notion of functional organs

19. Functional organs (Luria)
“External, historically formed artefacts such as tools, symbols, and objects ‘tie new knots in the activity of man’s brain’”
“It is the presence of these functional knots, or, as some people call them ‘new functional organs’ that is one of the most important features distinguishing the functional organization of the human brain from an animal’s brain”
The idea of functional organs, attributed to Luria, Vygotsky and their colleagues claim that …

20. Mstislav Rostropovich (1927 –2007)
Functional organs
“There no longer exist relations between us. Some time ago I lost my sense of the border between us…. I experience no difficulty in playing sounds…. The cello is my tool no more”
Mstislav Rostropovich (1927 –2007)
Here is an example
So the tight interweaving is between the functional organ in the brain of Rostropovich and his cello
But still no problem to separate the cello from the player; they do not somehow metamorphose into an existence where they cannot be separated ontologically from each other
Neural realm
Mind
Social realm
Action
Activity modalities
Artefacts

21. Joint action - individuals acting together
So far we have been focusing on coordinating of individual actions. In order to theorize about the situation were several individuals work together, we may use the concept of “joint action” suggested by the American sociologist Herbert Blumer
"joint action" refers to the collective form of action that is constituted by the fitting together individual lines of behavior.

22. Common identifier Neural realm Idiosyncratic Social realm Common
Activity modalities
Joint action
temporalization
spatialization
stabilization
So if we take the example of the guitar quartet again, the layout of the score is basically the same as before, only now arranged to mitigate the coordination of individual actions;
it functions as what Blumer called a common identifier for fitting together the playing of each individual into a nice musical experience.
And as before the common identifier signifies the same modalities

23. Common identifier Neural realm Idiosyncratic Social realm Common
spatialization
The same is of course valid also in this situation
Here, the IM has a distinct spatial character, much like a map
Neural realm
Idiosyncratic
Social realm
Common
Activity modalities
Joint action

24. IS conceptualization
What does the neurobiological approach outlined imply for the conceptualization of ISs?

25. Common Individual Homer’s Lars’ functional organ The IT artefact
Let’s consider the project again and suppose we have two users of the same IT application- Homer Simpson and myself
In working with the IT artifact, functional organs are gradually developed in brains of Homer and Lars: we may say that they become informed by using the artefact.

26. Homer’s Information System
The IT artefact
Homer’s Information System
So Homer will have his unique IS

27. Lars’ Information System
The IT artefact
Lars’ Information System
The IS is the entity constituted by the IT artefact and the functional organ in the brain of the user
… as will Lars
In general, there will be as many ISs as there are people engaging with the IT artefact
IS intrinsically related to the individual; without the individual, no IS

28. Implications for the IS discipline
Now to implications

29. Sociomateriality
…entities (whether humans or technologies) have no inherent properties, but acquire form, attributes, and capabilities through their interpenetration… the social and the material are inherently inseparable
(Orlikowski & Scott, 2008)
Let’s take sociomateriality as an example of an influential IS research stream today (140 publications since 2000)
Sociomateriality in its agential shape says that (read quote)
Well, if you take the example of Rostropovich I do not think there is any problem in separating the social (player) from the material (the cello)
Neither do I have any problem in distinguishing myself from the IT artifact I’m working on
The inevitable conclusion is that sociomateriality in this flavor is untenable as applied to simple, concrete everyday practical situations
So why then would it be well suited to inform more complex situations involving ISs?

30. Conflation of “social” and “human”
“… human beings and things—the social and the material…” (Cecez-Kecmanovic et al., 2014)
“… the material/technical and the human/social…” (ibid.)
“…the technical/material as well as the social/human…” (ibid.)
Another aspect of sociomateriality is the human and social are treated as more or less the same as indicated by these quotes from a recent publication. Also, as indicated from the term “sociomaterial”, the human does not appear to be in focus.

31. The neurobiological approach
ISA
ISB
ISC C A B
In the neurobiological approach, on the other hand, the individual is at the center. The social aspect is captured by the construct of joint action, and the material by the notion of functional organ.
Thus , the individual is put on equal footing as the social and material; all are aspects of a integrated whole
Integration of individual, material, and social aspects
Neurobiological p.o.d., functional organs, and joint action

32. “Integrational realism”
Derived from the sine qua non for human existence
Brains evolved to control the activities of bodies in the world
Currently in a nascent state
Potential to address profound issues in IS research
IS conceptualization
Epistemology
Ontology
“Representation”?
“Distributed” mind?
“Shared” understanding, knowledge, meaning, etc.?
I have tentatively called the neurobiological approach “Integrational realism” (it should have a name!)
Sine qua non - an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential

33. Information Systems is Information Technology in Use
Ray Paul (2010)
After a nigh-on 20-year search for the answer to the ‘What is I.S.?’ question, I have come up with a concise and precise answer:
Information Systems is
Information Technology in Use
… and I think that this is quite in line to what I have been talking about today.
Thank you!

34. That’s it!