Information systems solutions for environmental sustainability: How can we do more?
Open accessAbstract
We contend that too few information systems (IS) academics engage in impactful research that offers solutions to global warming despite the fact that climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing this generation. Climate change is a major threat to global sustainability in the 21st century. Unfortunately, from submissions of our call for papers presenting IS solutions for environmental sustainability, we found only one paper worthy of publication. Given that IS have been the major force for productivity increases in the last half-century, we suggest that IS scholars should immerse themselves in creating solutions for environmental problems. Moreover, information is a perquisite for assessing the state of the environment and making appropriate decisions to ameliorate identified problems. Indeed, the IS scholarly community needs to help create a sustainable society. While there is an emerging body of IS scholarship under the banner of green IS, we strongly believe that we need to step up these efforts. Our experience indicates that the emergence of green IS as an academic discipline is still by far too slow relative to the needs of society. Too few people are working on green IS given its importance, and fewer still are publishing papers about IS solutions that could contribute to dealing with climate change. In this editorial, we speculate on some reasons for why and explore how the IS discipline can grasp the opportunity to contribute to one of the most important societal challenges of our time. We identify the major barriers that we assert curtail the involvement of IS scholars in green IS research; namely, incentives misalignment, the low status of practice science, data analysis poverty, identification of research scope, and research methods. We discuss each barrier and propose solutions for them.
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“A second parallel I see is to the BISE research stream that examines IS solutions for environmental sustainability (Gholami et al. 2016).”
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“, 2016), based on the number of IS research studies in the last decade that focus on sustainability (Chen et al., 2011; Gholami et al., 2016).”
BackgroundFraming Microgrid Design from a Business and Information Systems Engineering Perspective
Sachs, T., Gründler, A., Rusic, M., & Fridgen, G. (2019) · Business & Information Systems Engineering · doi:10.1007/s12599-018-00573-0 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Similarly, Gholami et al. (2016) express the necessity to research Green Information Systems solutions to problems resulting from the shift to intermittent RES: ‘‘[this shift] is not just a smart grid problem.”
BackgroundSpecial Issue Editorial: Information Systems Research in the Age of Smart Services
Yang, Y.-C., Ying, H., Jin, Y. J., Cheng, H. K., & Liang, T. (2021) · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.17705/1jais.00673 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Gholami et al. (2016) Wearable technology, or “wearables,” is an IoT technology utilizing small computing devices designed to be worn as accessories, embedded in clothing, or implanted in the user’s body.”
BackgroundKrasikov, P., & Legner, C. (2023) · Communications of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.17705/1cais.05307 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Modelling environmental and economic sustainability of logistics
Arya, P., Srivastava, M. K., & Jaiswal, M. P. (2019) · Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration · doi:10.1108/apjba-11-2018-0204 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Sun, B., Yu, L., Wang, Z., Li, Z., Xia, Q., Ren, Y., Feng, Q., Yang, D., & Qian, C. (2020) · Eksploatacja i Niezawodnosc - Maintenance and Reliability · doi:10.17531/ein.2020.2.17 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“Due to the complexity of information processing, many research fields develop information systems to manage and process related information [5,6,17].”
BackgroundDegirmenci, K., & Breitner, M. H. (2022) · Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.trf.2022.10.014 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Piel, J.-H., Hamann, J. F. H., Koukal, A., & Breitner, M. H. (2017) · Journal of Management Information Systems · doi:10.1080/07421222.2017.1394044 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“decisions on sustainability actions [13], information systems (IS) research has the opportunity to make solution-oriented and effective contributions to the mitigation of global warming and issues surrounding the transition toward renewable energies (RE) [13, 36, 52].”
BackgroundChanging the Climate in Information Systems Research
Lehnhoff, S., Staudt, P., & Watson, R. T. (2021) · Business & Information Systems Engineering · doi:10.1007/s12599-021-00695-y · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Our intention with this special issue is to provide a scientific outlet for implementable solutions that are capable of reducing carbon emissions instantly in the spirit of Gholami et al. (2016).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationThe Role of Identity in Green IT Attitude and Intention
Nash, K., & Wakefield, R. L. (2021) · Journal of Computer Information Systems · doi:10.1080/08874417.2021.1960221 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“12,13 A number of studies have reviewed the green IT/IS literature over the past decade (e.g., 6,14–17 ) detailing the evolution of green IT/IS and identifying gaps in the literature.”
BackgroundHameed, R., Rehman, N., Tufail, S., & Kızıloğlu, M. (2023) · Frontiers in Environmental Science · doi:10.3389/fenvs.2023.1136957 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Gholami, R., Molla, A., Goswami, S., & Brewster, C. (2017) · Information Systems Frontiers · doi:10.1007/s10796-016-9733-z · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationExploring the Factors to Green IT Adoption of SMEs in the Philippines
Hernandez, A. A. (2018) · Journal of Cases on Information Technology · doi:10.4018/jcit.2018040104 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Electronic Markets on sustainability
Alt, R. (2020) · Electronic Markets · doi:10.1007/s12525-020-00451-2 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“The field of Green IS has been recognized by IS researchers (e.g. Seidel et al. 2017), who declare that solutions are urgently needed (e.g. Gholami et al. 2016).”
MethodTremblay, M. C., VanderMeer, D. E., & Beck, R. (2018) · Communications of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.17705/1cais.04334 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
The sustainability of open source commons
Curto-Millet, D., & Corsín Jiménez, A. (2023) · European Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.1080/0960085x.2022.2046516 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“The third stream, “green IS”, urges us to consider environmental and social concerns alongside economic ones and the role that IS have in increasing, mitigating, or even reducing environmental harm (Gholami et al., 2016; Hertel & Wiesent, 2013; Melville, 2010).”
BackgroundHafeez, M. (2022) · Contemporary Educational Researches Journal · doi:10.18844/cerj.v12i2.6374 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“The traditional learning strategy is a one-way discourse in which an instructor presents the material to the audience (Gholami et al., 2016).”
BackgroundDennehy, D., Pappas, I. O., Wamba, S. F., & Michael, K. (2021) · Information Technology and People · doi:10.1108/itp-10-2021-871 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Morales, L. P., Rosales, A., Baquerizo, E., & Agulla, G. D. V. (2025) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr13020295 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Depending on its exact composition, its price oscillates between EUR 4 and 6 per Kg, which is to say at least five to six times that of petroleum-based polymers [11,12].”
Designing EV charging networks from a city perspective: A conceptual analysis
Müller, W., Leyer, M., Degirmenci, K., & Barros, A. (2025) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114516 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Xu, L., Du, W., Pan, S. L., Send, H., & Grosse, M. (2024) · Information Systems Journal · doi:10.1111/isj.12489 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Although there is an increasing recognition that information systems (IS) contribute to the achieving of sustainable development goals (SDGs), IS studies on this topic are insufficient (Gholami et al., 2016), and more research is needed (Tan & Nielsen, 2021).”
BackgroundDigital Sustainability for Energy-Efficient Behaviours: A User Representation and Touchpoint Model
McCarthy, S., Ertiö, T. P., Fitzgerald, C., & Kahma, N. (2024) · Information Systems Frontiers · doi:10.1007/s10796-024-10509-7 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“This builds on the established research domain of green IS which primarily focuses on physical IS artefacts for environmental sustainability outcomes (El Idrissi & Corbett, 2016; Gholami et al., 2016; Watson et al., 2010).”
Strategic signalling and awards: Investigation into the first decade of AIS best publications awards
Ghobadi, S., & Robey, D. (2017) · The Journal of Strategic Information Systems · doi:10.1016/j.jsis.2017.06.001 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Albizri, A. (2020) · Communications of the Association for Information Systems · doi:10.17705/1cais.04616 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Gupta, R., Kaur, H., & Bhat, D. A. R. (2025) · Business Strategy & Development · doi:10.1002/bsd2.70126 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The Antecedents of Green Information System and Impact on Environmental PerformancePreprint
Liu, Z., Wang, H., & Li, P. (2019) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3377034 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Grosse, M., Send, H., & Schildhauer, T. A. (2019) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su11030857 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“In a similar vein, energy production and consumption should not be discussed as a single sector issue, but as something that crosses many disciplines [13].”
BackgroundBenchmarking publication metrics for Indian business researchers
Behl, A., Chavan, M., Dutta, P., & Sheorey, P. A. (2019) · Benchmarking An International Journal · doi:10.1108/bij-04-2019-0184 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Wendt, C., Kosin, D., Adam, M., & Benlian, A. (2024) · Information Systems Journal · doi:10.1111/isj.12520 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…stream on the use of technologies and systems to achieve sustainability outcomes (cf. Kotlarsky et al., 2023), which has repeatedly emphasised the need for empirical exploration of how Green IS artefacts effectively promote sustainable behaviours (e.g., Gholami et al., 2016; Malhotra et al., 2013).”
InfluentialResearch opportunities in the regulatory aspects of electronic markets
Clarke, R. (2021) · Electronic Markets · doi:10.1007/s12525-021-00469-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Recognition of the importance of the environmental dimension exists within IS (Watson et al., 2010; Elliot, 2011; Malhotra et al., 2013; Gholami et al., 2016), and in Electronic Markets (Kranz et al., 2015); but few researchers have responded to the calls.”
BackgroundDiniz, E. H., Santos, T. R., & Cunha, M. A. (2022) · IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management · doi:10.1109/tem.2022.3212283 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…discipline in focusing on solving concrete problems related to communication and collaboration, social progress, or sustainability [18], others emphasize the need to address the side effects of ICT, such as privacy and cyberattacks, and environmental grand challenges, such as global warming [19].”
BackgroundDegirmenci, K., & Recker, J. (2023) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2023.103778 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Marfo, E. O., Kwakwa, P. A., Aboagye, S., & Ansu‐Mensah, P. (2023) · Cogent Economics & Finance · doi:10.1080/23322039.2023.2246318 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The pace of forest degradation, climate change, and global warming has heightened concerns for environmental sustainability among world leaders, researchers and practitioners (Alkhidir & Zailani, 2009; Gholami et al., 2016; Wiernik et al., 2013).”
BackgroundKusuma, H., Muafi, M., & Kholid, M. N. (2023) · Journal of Law and Sustainable Development · doi:10.55908/sdgs.v11i4.673 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Home is where your Gaze is – Evaluating effects of embedding regional cues in user interfaces
Menzel, T., Teubner, T., Adam, M. T. P., & Toreini, P. (2022) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107369 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Understanding Motivation Factors in Green IT Adoption
Hernandez, A. A. (2018) · International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management · doi:10.4018/ijabim.2018100102 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Gerlach, J., Eckhoff, S., & Breitner, M. H. (2024) · Sustainable Cities and Society · doi:10.1016/j.scs.2024.105672 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Christmann, A.-S., Graf‐Drasch, V., & Schäfer, R. (2024) · Business & Information Systems Engineering · doi:10.1007/s12599-024-00863-w · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“In that regard, our study also answers questions posed by prime BISE and IS outlets asking how associated artifacts may foster more sustainable development (Gholami et al. 2016; Watson et al. 2010).”
Digital Sustainability: Key Definitions and Concepts
Rosati, P., Lynn, T., Kreps, D., & Conboy, K. (2024) · Palgrave studies in digital business & enabling technologies · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-61749-2_1 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ullah, M., Wahab, A., Hussain, W., Mingyuan, C., Ma, F., Sun, S., & Xie, S. (2025) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2025.115779 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The relationship between organizational resources and Green IT/S adoption: A RBV approach
Sayeed, L., & Onetti, A. (2018) · Journal of international technology and information management · doi:10.58729/1941-6679.1331 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“The current study is a response to Gholami et al,’s (2016) call for more IS researchers to engage in impactful investigation in issues such as climate change.”
Pfeiffer, J., Fegert, J., Greif-Winzrieth, A., Hoffmann, G., & Peukert, C. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-66661-3_8 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Tool-based renewable energy system planning using survey data: A case study in rural Vietnam
Hart, M. C. G., Eckhoff, S., & Breitner, M. H. (2023) · Environment Development and Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s10668-023-03120-4 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Thus, research that works on integrating and cooperating set of people, processes, software, and information technologies to support individual, organizational, or societal goals are called for (Watson et al., 2010; Gholami et al., 2016).”
InfluentialHarnessing AI for Sustainability
Pancholi, K., & Shukla, P. S. (2025) · Advances in computational intelligence and robotics book series · doi:10.4018/979-8-3693-6011-8.ch005 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The Process of Information Systems Theorizing as a Discursive Practice*
Hassan, N. R., Mathiassen, L., & Lowry, P. B. (2021) · Technology, work and globalization · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64884-8_5 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Putz, L.-M., & Treiblmaier, H. (2018) · Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) · doi:10.24251/hicss.2018.148 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Abraham, T., & Dao, V. T. (2019) · Journal of Enterprise Information Management · doi:10.1108/jeim-07-2018-0149 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Scaling the Concept of Citizen Energy Communities through a Platform-based Decision Support System
Golla, A., Henni, S., & Staudt, P. (2020) · Journal of the Association for Information Systems · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Exploring the Factors to Green IT Adoption of SMEs in the Philippines
Hernandez, A. A. (2019) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-1760-4.ch047 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Reducing the Expectation-Performance Gap in EV Fast Charging by Managing Service Performance
Halbrügge, S., Wederhake, L., & Wolf, L. (2020) · Lecture notes in business information processing · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38724-2_4 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Review of Design-Oriented Green Information Systems Research
Brendel, A. B., Chasin, F., Mirbabaie, M., Riehle, D. M., & Harnischmacher, C. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14084650 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Pro-environmental User Behavior in the Lifecycle of Consumer Electronics
Li, Y., Wang, X., Valley, T. U. O. T. R. G., Khasraghi, H. J., & Stafford, T. F. (2023) · AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.17705/1thci.00194 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Designing a Crowd-Based Relocation System—The Case of Car-Sharing
Brendel, B., Lichtenberg, S., Morana, S., Prinz, C., & Hillmann, B. M. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14127090 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- University of Illinois Springfield, Gholami, R., Watson, R., University of Georgia, Hasan, H., University of Wollongong, Molla, A., RMIT University, Bjorn-Andersen, N., & School, C. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- University of Wollongong (AU)
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- Venue
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems
- Publisher
- Association for Information Systems
- Published
- 2016-08
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 521-536
- ISSN
- 1536-9323 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2531642190
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 1
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems (publishedVersion)
- Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems (submittedVersion)
- RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- CBS Research Portal (Copenhagen Business School) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Green IT and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development
- Keywords
- green information systems, environmental sustainability, climate change, research barriers, research incentives, data analysis, research scope, research methodology
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