S ince the inauguration of information systems research (ISR) two decades ago, the information systems (IS) field's attention has moved beyond administrative systems and individual tools. Millions of users log onto Facebook, download iPhone applications, and use mobile services to create decentralized work organizations. Understanding these new dynamics will necessitate the field paying attention to digital infrastructures as a category of IT artifacts. A state-of-the-art review of the literature reveals a growing interest in digital infrastructures but also confirms that the field has yet to put infrastructure at the centre of its research endeavor. To assist this shift we propose three new directions for IS research: (1) theories of the nature of digital infrastructure as a separate type of IT artifact, sui generis; (2) digital infrastructures as relational constructs shaping all traditional IS research areas; (3) paradoxes of change and control as salient IS phenomena. We conclude with suggestions for how to study longitudinal, large-scale sociotechnical phenomena while striving to remain attentive to the limitations of the traditional categories that have guided IS research.

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Large scale penetration of digital technologies led them to join roads, electricity, and water distribution, as essential infrastructures of modernity. "Digital convergence" refers to these technologies' wide ranging effects on people's lives, work, and interactions. Yet conceptions from diverse fields reveal no universally accepted understanding of this term. An examination of historical developments leading up to the Internet era reveals mutual dependence between technical infrastructures and diverse social arrangements including industry, regulatory, and market structures. A set of criteria for the definition of digital convergence (and divergence) is formulated. These provide a working definition that reveals the essential, pervasive and interactive reconfiguration of modern society's technical and social infrastructures due to digitization. A layer-based model is presented as one possible way of breaking up an increasingly interconnected socio-technical world into separate domains that allow meaningful study. We call for action to address the paucity of recent Information Systems (IS) research into the infrastructures that provide the foundations upon which all modern information systems build.

Platforms provide anchor-points for coordinating varied activities within an ecosystem. Understanding platform complexity and its effects is therefore a vital concern for academia and industry. The complexity defines the range of possible activities on the platform and the related aspects of control. This paper argues that abstract models of platforms used in current research remove some of the most important features underlying the inherent complexity of digital platforms. This insight is illustrated with a small study of platforms and their evolving complexity in the music industry. The exploration highlights salient phenomena that a more comprehensive theory of digital platforms should encompass. We posit that advancing theoretical perspective that better embrace the complexity of digital platforms is needed to fully capture the strategic and technological implications of emerging digital platforms.

Location-based services (LBS) add value by exploiting knowledge of a mobile device's location. The arrival of broadband mobile data networks has revived interest in these services which are seen as a major source of revenue growth. We propose a framework that supports the generation and assessment of LBS service concepts. The proposed framework offers a promising foundation for a design theory of LBS strategies and services. The analysis of the framework points towards avenues for future research by highlighting deficiencies in current knowledge of mobility and location awareness.

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