EXPANDING THE HORIZON OF INFORMATION-SYSTEMS DESIGN

The introduction of information technology in society during the last 30 years has brought mixed results. There is evidence that the benefits to society may not outweigh the detrimental effects that have followed this technology. This is partly because its inclusion in the affairs of humanity has been guided by a mechanical and utilitarian world view that considers humanity as a mean of production and subject to industrial goals. This paper reverses this subjection and presents a framework that integrates information systems design with an overall system design approach and which makes machines the servant of humanity. The design approach is based on a combination of Dooyeweerd's theory of modalities and general systems theory.