European Journal of Information Systems

Theorising Time in a Digital Era: New Horizons for IS Research

Technology has fundamentally transformed the way we experience time and temporality, having permeated all aspects of our lives. It influences the way we work, how we live, and aspects of our identity, by shifting the way we communicate with others, accelerating information flows and enabling constant connectivity. As technologies evolve and digital infrastructures increasingly shape organisational and societal life, questions of temporality—speed, duration, sequencing, rhythm, and timing—become central to how we design, adopt, use, and study Information Systems (IS).

While time is an inherently complex, multifaceted, subtle concept and is by nature socially embedded (Ancona et al., 2001; Blagoev et al., 2023), it is often examined simplistically, adopting a clock-time perspective, with the focus being on speed and duration (Zamani and Spanaki, 2023). Some disciplines (e.g., Organisation Studies) are making significant progress in understanding and theorising various aspects of temporal complexity and structuring, examining concepts such as entrainment (e.g., Ancona & Chong, 1996; Pérez-Nordtvedt, Payne, Short, & Kedia, 2008), agency (e.g., Orlikowski & Yates, 2002; Bansal, Reinecke, Suddaby, & Langley, 2022), world time (Bakken et al., 2013) and serendipity (Hilbolling et al, 2022). Yet, within the IS discipline, we observe that while IS researchers are often quick to highlight the impact of information systems on the speed of organisational and social life, they can be slow to address the polymorphous, complex and nuanced nature of time in IS research (Venkatesh et al., 2021; Conboy et al., 2020; Shen et al., 2015). Despite a few notable exceptions (e.g. Baygi et al., 2021; Griva et al., 2025; Ivaturi & Chua, 2023; Mikalef et al., 2022; Zheng and Wu, 2022; Zamani et al., 2025), we observe that studies with a temporal dimension tend to address temporal complexity partially rather than comprehensively. Further, we note that despite a strong consensus that richer conceptualisations of time are required, time remains theoretically elusive in contemporary studies of information systems, often excluded or included only as a ‘hidden dimension’ (Venkatesh et al., 2021; Conboy et al., 2020; Shen et al., 2015). In other words, IS literature on time and temporality emerges as fragmented and lacks the cumulative tradition and theoretical glue necessary. As such, and as our field matures, we argue that treating time as a central concept and construct is essential to our theory development and progress.

This is particularly problematic in IS, given the centrality of time to many aspects of study in the field. Time, and more specifically speed, is often the raison d’etre of emerging technology, with promises of enabling real-time decision-making and implementation of action at unprecedented speed and scale. Second, data typically has a time value. A data report five minutes before a meeting or before a share price announcement may be incredibly valuable, but one second after that meeting or announcement and the value drops to zero. But data can also increase in value over time as data is combined or new uses are found (Jarvenpaa and Essén, 2023). Third, technology is usually developed under time pressure. There is a rarely questioned assumption that our ‘now’ is more ephemeral, evanescent than ever before, and that any organisation’s use of technology must help them survive and thrive in the seemingly never-ending environment of dynamism and acceleration. IS researchers often use speed as a methodological proxy and even a synonym for IS value and success. But such technological speed and acceleration can undermine learning (Jarvenpaa and Valikangas, 2022; 2025) and collective creativity (Jarvenpaa and Valikangas, 2020), and limit participation by those who are irreversibly impacted.

We invite submissions that advance our understanding of how temporal dynamics influence IS phenomena at different temporal scales. Below are a few examples of research topics that could fit the scope of this special issue, but this list is by no means exhaustive.

Illustrative focus areas

Temporality in information systems manifests across multiple temporal scales, ranging from moment-to-moment interactions to decades-long institutional transformations. We encourage submissions that illuminate how digital technologies shape, mediate, or are embedded within temporal structures, rhythms, paths, and trajectories at any of these scales.

Micro-temporal scales: momentary, daily, and episodic rhythms.  At fine-grained temporal scales, we welcome studies that examine how interactions with digital systems unfold. How do digital interfaces, notifications, and data streams reconfigure everyday temporal experience, including attention, interruption, multitasking, and asynchronous collaboration? How do people make sense of their digital pasts through data archives or online traces, and how do they anticipate algorithmic or digitally mediated futures?

Meso-temporal scales: project cycles, team rhythms, and organisational routines. At intermediate horizons, digital technologies often reorganise the pacing, sequencing, and coordination of collective work. We invite research on how workflow systems, dashboards, collaboration platforms, enterprise analytics, or predictive tools recalibrate shared temporal expectations, influence coordination across temporal perspectives, or transform the trajectories of organisational routines and change processes. How do temporal orientations embedded in tools or analytics shape decision processes, innovation, or strategic flexibility?

Artefact-temporal scales: the lifecycles and tempos of digital artefacts themselves. Digital artefacts carry their own temporalities—update cycles, data retention logics, algorithmic refresh rates, and security time horizons. We welcome studies that explore how these temporal properties interact with the temporal practices of users, organisations, and regulators. How do data governance, privacy regimes, or AI systems handle conflicting temporal demands? What temporal sensemaking challenges arise in artefact-centred networks, decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), or other digitally constituted arrangements?

Macro-temporal scales: diffusion, institutionalisation, and long-term transformation. Over longer periods, digital infrastructures and platforms reshape the pace and direction of institutional and societal change. We encourage research examining why certain digital transformations accelerate rapidly while others evolve slowly and unevenly. How do digital standards, platforms, and protocols sediment, diffuse, or become institutionalised over time? How do temporal imaginaries, time horizons, or long-term digital trajectories shape fields, industries, and societies?

Across all temporal scales, we especially welcome work that advances theoretical and methodological discussions of time in Information Systems research. This includes analyses of flows, sequences, rhythms, tempos, trajectories, paths, and path nets (Reinecke and Ansari, 2015; Baygi et al, 2021; Feuls, Hernes and Schultz, 2025; Pentland, Kremser and Goh, 2025).  In general, we invite more explicit attention to how temporal constructs are represented, theorised, and operationalised in IS scholarship.

We also encourage contributions that link IS, temporality, and grand challenges. Addressing climate change, pandemics, inequality, and social movements requires multi-generational coordination, long-term data stewardship, and sustained digital infrastructures. How can IS research theorise and design for such extended temporal horizons?

We also seek cross-level insights into how temporal assumptions are embedded in IS and how they (re)shape experiences and outcomes. This may include algorithmic schedules, contemporary design and development methods such as design science, agile, continuous development and flow, or real-time vs. asynchronous communication. How do such assumptions align or collide with individual or cultural constructions of time, and what contingencies explain these dynamics?

Finally, we welcome method papers that help IS researchers to better study and advance our understanding of time. The majority of empirical IS studies use time from a methodological perspective to merely strengthen causal claims (e.g., use of longitudinal datasets). In fact, we contend that the IS field is uniquely positioned to not just apply temporal techniques gleaned from other disciplines, but to inform and lead how the study of time and temporal complexity can be conducted.  IS researchers can now analyse vast amounts of trace data on an unprecedented scale and engage in computationally intensive theory construction (Berente et al., 2019, 2025). Across the discipline, there are many techniques that are emerging that could be used or adapted for studying the complexities and nuances of time and technology.

In sum, we envision this special issue as providing a deeper understanding of time to clarify and enhance knowledge that can explain phenomena important to IS. While we wholeheartedly welcome studies from other disciplines, we do prioritise papers where the IS artefact is foregrounded in that it is the central focus of the paper, as would typically be seen in EJIS and mainstream IS journals. By looking at the state of the art across the entire field of Information Systems (and beyond), we expect these articles to identify the progress that has been made and to push temporal theorising further to lay a foundation for future research.

Format of submissions

We welcome contributions that are empirical or conceptual, and all methodological approaches and paradigms (e.g., positivism, interpretivism, critical studies). Studies can be at different levels of analysis (e.g., individual, group, organisation, societal). We are interested in studies that can make strong theoretical contributions and which will challenge current trends in terms of how time is understood and examined.  We appreciate diversity in theories, methods, and genres. We welcome empirical research, philosophical work, conceptual development, and opinion and commentary papers. In general, EJIS values contrarian papers that challenge conventional assumptions, theories, and methods. While we certainly welcome papers such as these, this is not a requirement.

If in doubt about the suitability of your research for the special issue, please contact [email protected] or any other members of the editorial team.

Associate Editors

• Jeremy Aroles, University of York, UK
• Reza M. Baygi, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Catriona Burke, University of Limerick, Ireland
• Omar El Sawy, University of Southern California, USA
• Anne-Laure Fayard, NOVA School of Business and Economics, USA
• Thomas Grisold, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
• Amir Haj-Bolouri, University West, Sweden
• Susan Hilbolling, Aarhus University, Denmark
• Robin Holt, University of Bristol, UK
• Astri Moksnes Barbala, SINTEF, Norway
• Rohit Nishant, Queen's University, UK
• Mahya Ostovar, University of Galway, Ireland
• Omid Omidvar, Warwick Business School, UK
• Henri Pirkkalainen, Tampere University, Finland
• Frantz Rowe, University of Nantes, France
• Markus Salo, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Yingqin Zheng, University of Essex, UK
• Aljona Zorina, NEOMA, France

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