Integrating Sustainability Into IT/IS Project Evaluation Methods

Abstract

Sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the lives of future generations? Information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) provide organizations with the ability to change and improve business processes to better support sustainable practices. IT/IS evaluation methods should therefore reflect this ability and include criteria for the assessment of sustainability aspects of IT/IS projects. However, IT/IS evaluation methods are still dominated by the economical perspective that resulted from the infamous IT productivity paradox. This chapter aims to broaden the perspective on IT/IS evaluation by exploring the integration of indicators that reflect the concepts of sustainability into IT/IS evaluation methods. The analysis will conclude that integrating sustainability considerations in IT/IS evaluation requires far more than a set of additional criteria to be considered.