Abstract-DefiningTheRole-Corbett

=Defining the Role for Information Systems in Sustainability Measurement =

Jacqueline Corbett ﻿a, Jane Webster ﻿a , Marie-Claude Boudreau ﻿b , Richard T. Watson ﻿b

a Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario b University of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia

Abstract
One of the most significant challenges standing in the way of environmental sustainability is measurement. In line with the notion that you can’t manage what you can’t see, effective measurement of environmental impacts provides the necessary visibility into the effects of human actions on the planet. Although there is a growing literature regarding environmental measurement in many fields (i.e. environmental studies, engineering, accounting), there has been limited attention to the topic within the IS community. Our review of the environmental measurement literature suggests that this problem is yet to be solved (e.g., Henri and Journeault 2010) and that no single discipline can have full responsibility for environmental reporting (Clarke and O’Neill 2005). Consequently, collaborative efforts across different disciplines with different expertise are necessary (Corbett et al. 2010) and we argue that IS has an important role to play.

Because measurement is a wide topic, we focus specifically on measurement around inputs, processes, and outputs of information technologies and systems to support environmental sustainability ('Green IS'). Measurement is a key issue in IS (e.g., Brynjolfsson 1993), but will become even more important for Green IS because it faces measurement challenges such as poor metrics to track and monitor performance (Connection Research 2010). To be of significant value, any environmental measurement provided through information systems must adhere to robust and relevant measurement principles.

Historically, measurement principles arose in the ‘hard’ sciences and focused on such issues as simplicity and consistency (e.g., Byerly and Vincent 1973). Subsequently, measurement principles were extended to the ‘soft’ sciences, such as economics and psychology (Finkelstein et al. 2005), but many of these principles are still under development (Mari et al. 2009). Only recently have researchers started to examine these soft measurement principles as they relate to sustainability (e.g., Fisher 2009). Through our research, we have identified a set of measurement principles - uniformity, transferability, integrability, accuracy, transparency, granularity, and scope in terms of range and inclusion - that can be implemented within IS to advance our progress toward environmental sustainability. By examining opportunities for IS in the context of each of these measurement principles, we find that the discipline has unique strengths to bring to the table, and thus, can play a key role in the measurement process, working with other disciplines to help overcome many sustainability measurement challenges.

During the session, we will describe the measurement principles related to environmental sustainability, and outline various ways in which Green IS measurement can be used to support environmental measurement, and invite participants to join in this discussion.