The Swedish Information Systems Academy define the scientific subject of information systems as one that “develops knowledge about people’s design and use of information technology in individual, organisational and societal contexts”.

Information systems (IS), often called 'informatics' in Sweden, is both an academic area of study and a scientific research area. Information systems research does not focus narrowly on technology but instead examines issues related to:

  • the individuals and methods involved in the design
  • development or use of the technology
  • the impacts or implications of using the technology
  • factors related to the adoption, acceptance and adaptation of information technology
  • other issues related to the ongoing digitalisation of organisations and society

An interdisciplinary field working within a broad range of topics

Information systems is an interdisciplinary field, with influences from varied academic areas such as organisation science, computer science, information science, engineering, economics, and management science/operations research.

Popular topics in information systems research include:

  • organisational and strategic aspects of IS
  • IS development
  • human-computer interaction issues
  • the role of social media in organisations and society
  • IS in healthcare
  • ‘green’ IT and sustainability
  • IT for development
  • knowledge management

Researchers at Malmö University and the Department of Computer Science and Media Technology have published research in many of these areas, recently focussed on the use of technology in health and wellness.

Focus areas

Designing and evaluating applications to support physical or emotional health

This area includes explorations of design approaches (co-design, participatory design), the creation of recommendations or frameworks to support the design of patient-focussed health applications, and studies to assess existing health-related applications.

Frameworks for classifying/identifying health-related applications

Such research typically involves a broad search of the existing body of knowledge to create a taxonomy of characteristics of apps.

Designing and evaluating IOT applications to support smart workplaces

Studying the impact of a patient self-monitoring health application on work practices of health professionals; examining the use of technology in eldercare and social care.

Researchers, publications and projects