Det har traditionellt antagits att informationssystem beskriver den fysiska verkligheten. Denna föreställning håller dock på att bli förlegad i takt med att digitala infrastrukturer i allt större utsträckning blir en del av den sociala verkligheten. Digitala infrastrukturer (allestädes närvarande och skalbara informationssystem) kartlägger inte längre enbart representationer av den fysiska verkligheten till digitala objekt, utan de spelar en allt mer aktiv roll i att skapa, forma och styra den fysiska verkligheten. Vi bevittnar just nu en "ontologisk omvändning", där konceptuella modeller och digitala infrastrukturer förändrar den fysiska verkligheten.

Trots detta kvarstår den grundläggande föreställningen att den fysiska verkligheten är den enda verkliga världen. För att fullt ut förstå konsekvenserna av denna ontologiska omvändning behöver konceptuell modellering genomgå ett "institutionellt skifte" som överger idén om att den fysiska verkligheten alltid har företräde. Den institutionella verkligheten, som inkluderar exempelvis institutionella enheter såsom organisationer, avtal och betalningstransaktioner, är inte bara en del av den fysiska verkligheten frikopplad från digitala infrastrukturer. Digitala infrastrukturer är en del av den institutionella verkligheten.

Följaktligen ställer vi forskningsfrågan: Vilka är de grundläggande byggstenarna i utformningen av digitala infrastrukturer som utgör och omvandlar institutionell verklighet? När vi besvarar denna fråga utvecklar vi en grund för konceptuell modellering, vilken vi illustrerar genom att modellera institutionen för öppen bankverksamhet och dess tillhörande digitala infrastruktur.

I artikeln identifierar vi digitala institutionella enheter, digitala agenter reglerade av mjukvara och digitala institutionella handlingar som kritiska byggstenar för att modellera digitala infrastrukturer i institutionella sammanhang. Genom detta visar vi hur konceptuell modellering kan förbättra vår förståelse av den digitala transformationen av institutionell verklighet och den normativa rollen för konceptuell modellering. Vi genererar också teoretiska insikter om behovet av legitimitet och ansvar, vilket fördjupar studier och praktik av design och konsekvenser av digitala infrastrukturer.

It has traditionally been assumed that information systems describe physical reality. However, this assumption is becoming obsolete as digital infrastructures are increasingly part of real-world experiences. Digital infrastructures (ubiquitous and scalable information systems) no longer merely map physical reality representations onto digital objects but increasingly assume an active role in creating, shaping, and governing physical reality. We currently witness an “ontological reversal”, where conceptual models and digital infrastructures change physical reality. Still, the fundamental assumption remains that physical reality is the only real world. However, to fully embrace the implications of the ontological reversal, conceptual modeling needs an “institutional turn” that abandons the idea that physical reality always takes priority. Institutional reality, which includes, for example, institutional entities such as organizations, contracts, and payment transactions, is not simply part of physical reality detached from digital infrastructures. Digital infrastructures are part of institutional reality. Accordingly, the research question we address is: What are the fundamental constructs in the design of digital infrastructures that constitute and transform institutional reality? In answering this question, we develop a foundation for conceptual modeling, which we illustrate by modeling the institution of open banking and its associated digital infrastructure. In the article, we identify digital institutional entities, digital agents regulated by software, and digital institutional actions as critical constructs for modeling digital infrastructures in institutional contexts. In so doing, we show how conceptual modeling can improve our understanding of the digital transformation of institutional reality and the prescriptive role of conceptual modeling. We also generate theoretical insights about the need for legitimacy and liability that advance the study and practice of digital infrastructure design and its consequences.

The practice of conceptual modelling is to a large extent concerned with the representation of the social and institutional reality. Much research has been devoted to the study of the processes through which institutional reality is created by means of communicative acts. Other research has investigated the structure of the institutional reality in terms of rights, obligations, roles, positions and related notions. One topic, however, in need of further work concerns the informational and physical underpinnings of the institutional reality, which are needed not only for constructing but also for maintaining it. This paper presents a conceptual model that shows how institutional phenomena depend and build on informational and physical structures. In particular, the paper highlights the role of information registries for maintaining and upholding institutional reality over time.

In “Representing instances: The case for reengineering conceptual modelling grammars”, Lukyanenko et al. (2019) argue that conceptual modelling has been biased towards a focus on knowledge about general phenomena (classes) rather than about specific instances. While we agree that more attention needs to be paid to instances, we critically reflect on their underlying assumptions about instances and classes. Lukyanenko et al. (2019) assume that instances are mainly material things, and also assume that class-based modelling typically requires that class definitions include comprehensive attribute structures that are expected to be stable over time. Based on these assumptions, they conclude that classes are not needed for modelling instances. As an alternative to these assumptions, we suggest that instances can be viewed as language constructs, i.e., as objects that may be anything that is uniquely referred to and identified in human communication. Based on this assumption, we introduce an identity-oriented view of classes, implying that classes are required for modelling objects (instances). We agree with Lukyanenko et al. (2019) that a reengineering of conceptual modelling grammars is required. This reengineering would benefit from approaches such as an identity-oriented view of classes and a class-instance modelling grammar.

Conceptual models are intended to capture knowledge about the world. Hence, the design of conceptual models could be informed by theories about what entities exist in the world and how they are constituted. Further, a common assumption within the field of conceptual modeling is that conceptual models and information systems describe entities in the real world, outside the systems. An alternative view is provided by an ontological commitment that recognizes that the institutional world is constructed through language use and the creation of institutional facts. Such an ontological commitment implies that there is an institutional reality, which, to a great extent, is constructed using information infrastructures. Accordingly, conceptual models have not only a descriptive role but also a prescriptive one, meaning that modelers set up a framework of rules that restrict and enable people to construct institutional reality using information infrastructures. Understanding the prescriptive role of conceptual models may revive the area of conceptual modeling in the information systems research community. Reviving conceptual modeling through institutional modeling is motivated by the effect that implemented conceptual models have on information infrastructures and institutions. The purpose of this article is to propose an institutional ontology that can support the design of information infrastructures. The ontology is theoretically informed by institutional theory and a communicative perspective on information systems design, as well as being empirically based on several case studies. It is illustrated using a case study in the welfare sector. A number of guidelines for modeling institutional reality are also proposed.

Conceptual modeling is often viewed as an activity of representing a preexisting world that should be faithfully mirrored in an information system. This view is adequate for modeling physical domains but needs to be revised and extended for social and institutional domains, as these are continuously produced and reproduced through communicative processes. Thereby, conceptual modeling moves beyond analysis and representation in order to cater also for design and creation. Following such a view on conceptual modeling, this paper proposes an ontology for modeling institutional domains. The ontology emphasizes the role of institutional entities in regulating and governing these domains through rules and rights that define allowed and required interactions. Furthermore, the ontology shows how these institutional entities are dependent on and grounded in material entities. Conceptual modelers can benefit from the ontology when modeling institutional domains, as it highlights fundamental notions and distinctions in these domains, e.g., the role of rights, the role of processes in creating institutional facts, and the difference between documents and institutional information. The ontology is illustrated using a case on public consultation management.

Conceptual modelling for information systems design is to alarge extent about describing and prescribing the actions and interactions of agents in organizations. Thus, rules, regulations, organizational roles and other institutional aspects become key notions for conceptual modelling. While modellers may intuitively take these notions into account when creating conceptual models, it would be valuable also to take a more systematic and methodical approach to institutional aspects in the modelling activity. As a first step to such a method, this paper proposes a set of guidelines that support a modeller in identifying classes in a domain model starting from an analysis of the institutional aspects of the domain. The guidelines build on an institutional ontology that describes key notions of institutions, including actors, rules, rights, contracts, and processes.

With the growing importance of services in the modern enterprise there is a need for innovating traditional management accounting practices. In the Service Science literature, some work has been devoted to service accounting but mainly on a conceptual level. To address this research challenge, we have built an integrated service accounting framework on top of the business ontology REA. The e3value model is a useful tool to give an overall picture of a service network, which can be combined smoothly with the more detailed REA model. The result has been evaluated on the basis of the requirements and with an example from online gaming. As far as we know, it is the first worked out service accounting framework in Service Science and allows giving often-used concepts as value-in-use a precise definition.

The term service is today defined and used in a multitude of ways, which are often ambiguous and contradictory. The absence of a commonly agreed-upon definition of the term makes it difficult to distinguish, describe and classify services. In order to address these issues, this chapter proposes a model of services that helps in analysing the concept. The model encompasses three perspectives: service as a means for cocreation of value, service as a means for abstraction and service as a means for distributing rights. The model does not suggest a definition of the term service but shows how the service concept can be analysed using a number of related concepts, like service resource, service process and service offering. The model has its theoretical foundation in the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) ontology and Hohfeld’s classification of rights.

The concept of e-democracy has been around for a while. However, the intercontextual understanding of this is still immature which complicates interdisciplinarity and communication with a diversity of stakeholders, resulting in a weak participation and implementation of e-services. This is even more emphasized in an international setting, not the least in the context of various European Union initiatives regarding e-service provision. To increase the participation in the context, e-democracy services can be utilized for strengthening individual capabilities as well as political processes. The effective design of such processes requires tools to support decision-making, collaboration, and collaborative decision-making, voting engagement and involvement in the democratic process. This article presents an evaluation framework suitable for tools for e-democracy aiming at forming a constructive base for implementing an efficient support for enabling an increased participation in vital democratic processes.

A gap in the alignment of business and IT lies between strategy and IS, despite the advancements of enterprise modeling. The objective of our study is to compare various enterprise modeling approaches with respect to their ability to capture and represent strategy notions. This includes identifying strategy notions from established business strategy formulations within Strategic Management, which are expressed in the Unified Business Strategy Meta Model. The interdisciplinary nature of the study constitutes a research challenge due to the significant difference on the levels of abstraction between Strategic Management and IS. To the best of our knowledge, no similar effort has been undertaken, therefore, the outcome of this study will provide the enterprise modeling community with a basis to address strategy and IS alignment linking strategic objectives and intentions to information systems.