The Accrual of Digital Debt

Grace Park; Barney Tan

The Accrual of Digital Debt

Grace Park
, Barney Tan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Digital debt refers to the build-up of technical and informational obligations related to platform maintenance and evolvability that represent performance risks in an organization’s work processes, which may result in expensive maintenance cost and severe system failures in the future. While it is becoming increasingly prevalent as resource-constrained organizations across the globe chase the latest technology trends, little is currently known about its mechanisms through which it is accrued. Using a case study of a software vendor from South Korea who has served over 100 resource constrained clients, this study develops and presents a theoretical framework of digital debt accrual. More specifically, the framework suggests that digital debt accrual is a process of three stages: (1) Design Economization, (2) Piecemeal Development, and (3) Redundant Concurrency. Each of the stages results in a different form of digital debt that reinforces each other over time to form a vicious cycle.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs
Subtitle of host publication	"Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action"
Publisher	Association for Information Systems
ISBN (Electronic)	9781713893608
Publication status	Published - 2021
Event	42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs - Austin, United States Duration: 12 Dec 2021 → 15 Dec 2021

Publication series

Name	42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action"

Conference

Conference	42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs
Country/Territory	United States
City	Austin
Period	12/12/21 → 15/12/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action". All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Digital debt
South Korea
case study
debt accrual
informational debt
resource-constraints
technical debt

Cite this

Park, G., & Tan, B. (2021). The Accrual of Digital Debt. In 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action" (42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action"). Association for Information Systems.

Park, Grace ; Tan, Barney. / The Accrual of Digital Debt. 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action". Association for Information Systems, 2021. (42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action").

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title = "The Accrual of Digital Debt",

abstract = "Digital debt refers to the build-up of technical and informational obligations related to platform maintenance and evolvability that represent performance risks in an organization{\textquoteright}s work processes, which may result in expensive maintenance cost and severe system failures in the future. While it is becoming increasingly prevalent as resource-constrained organizations across the globe chase the latest technology trends, little is currently known about its mechanisms through which it is accrued. Using a case study of a software vendor from South Korea who has served over 100 resource constrained clients, this study develops and presents a theoretical framework of digital debt accrual. More specifically, the framework suggests that digital debt accrual is a process of three stages: (1) Design Economization, (2) Piecemeal Development, and (3) Redundant Concurrency. Each of the stages results in a different form of digital debt that reinforces each other over time to form a vicious cycle.",

keywords = "Digital debt, South Korea, case study, debt accrual, informational debt, resource-constraints, technical debt",

author = "Grace Park and Barney Tan",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: {"}Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action{"}. All Rights Reserved.; 42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs ; Conference date: 12-12-2021 Through 15-12-2021",

year = "2021",

language = "English",

series = "42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: {"}Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action{"}",

publisher = "Association for Information Systems",

booktitle = "42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs",

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Park, G & Tan, B 2021, The Accrual of Digital Debt. in 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action". 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action", Association for Information Systems, 42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs, Austin, United States, 12/12/21.

The Accrual of Digital Debt. / Park, Grace; Tan, Barney.
42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action". Association for Information Systems, 2021. (42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action").

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - The Accrual of Digital Debt

AU - Park, Grace

AU - Tan, Barney

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Digital debt refers to the build-up of technical and informational obligations related to platform maintenance and evolvability that represent performance risks in an organization’s work processes, which may result in expensive maintenance cost and severe system failures in the future. While it is becoming increasingly prevalent as resource-constrained organizations across the globe chase the latest technology trends, little is currently known about its mechanisms through which it is accrued. Using a case study of a software vendor from South Korea who has served over 100 resource constrained clients, this study develops and presents a theoretical framework of digital debt accrual. More specifically, the framework suggests that digital debt accrual is a process of three stages: (1) Design Economization, (2) Piecemeal Development, and (3) Redundant Concurrency. Each of the stages results in a different form of digital debt that reinforces each other over time to form a vicious cycle.

AB - Digital debt refers to the build-up of technical and informational obligations related to platform maintenance and evolvability that represent performance risks in an organization’s work processes, which may result in expensive maintenance cost and severe system failures in the future. While it is becoming increasingly prevalent as resource-constrained organizations across the globe chase the latest technology trends, little is currently known about its mechanisms through which it is accrued. Using a case study of a software vendor from South Korea who has served over 100 resource constrained clients, this study develops and presents a theoretical framework of digital debt accrual. More specifically, the framework suggests that digital debt accrual is a process of three stages: (1) Design Economization, (2) Piecemeal Development, and (3) Redundant Concurrency. Each of the stages results in a different form of digital debt that reinforces each other over time to form a vicious cycle.

KW - Digital debt

KW - South Korea

KW - case study

KW - debt accrual

KW - informational debt

KW - resource-constraints

KW - technical debt

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85167726656

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85167726656

T3 - 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action"

BT - 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs

PB - Association for Information Systems

T2 - 42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs

Y2 - 12 December 2021 through 15 December 2021

ER -

Park G, Tan B. The Accrual of Digital Debt. In 42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action". Association for Information Systems. 2021. (42nd International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2021 TREOs: "Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action").

The Accrual of Digital Debt

Abstract

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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