Knowledge and Learning
The ERCIS Cluster in Knowledge and Learning (K&L) encompasses a broad range of academic interests. It has been presented as comprising “everything related to Knowledge Management, Teaching, Learning, Education, and the likes”. For this reason, when clusters were initially presented, the K&L cluster was “put in between the other four clusters”. For similar reasons, when ERCIS “members” were asked to assign their research interests to clusters, every single member included the K&L cluster.
The K&L cluster is, therefore, a special case among ERCIS clusters. It can be a challenge to find a way for the K&L cluster to create value to the ERCIS community.
Considering that the role of clusters is open to definition, to differentiation and to evolution, it makes sense to start with caution. This means avoiding defining a vision for the cluster that is too strict or that is biased towards particular perspectives of what knowledge and learning means to the ERCIS community.
So, the initial vision for the K&L cluster is to serve as a “rose of the winds” for those that navigate in the knowledge and learning ocean. With knowledge and learning in its centre, the “rose of the winds” will indicate the different directions where the academic exploration of those topics can lead to.
Furthermore, the vision of this cluster is to become a knowledge-sharing space where participants come together to learn from one another face-to-face and/or virtually. We see the clusters as a promoter of informal undertakings that demand some coordination, facilitation, cultivation, and nurturing. Members in the cluster will decide on specific topics that are timely to address and which will relate to the research interests of the members.
The cluster Knowledge and Learning is headed by
João Álvaro Carvalho is a Full Professor at the Department of Information Systems, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal. His academic interests are focused on the fundamentals of information systems and on enterprise development interventions that involve the adoption, use and exploitation of information technology. He is also interested in research approaches and methods and in information systems curricula and education.
Eli Hustad is a Professor in Information Systems at the University of Agder, Norway. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oslo, Department of Informatics, Norway. Her main research interests include digital transformation, socio-technical aspects and organizational change related to implementation of large-scale information systems (e.g., ERP, business analytics), introduction of infrastructures and sourcing models such as enterprise/service-oriented architecture and cloud computing, and knowledge management with main focus on knowledge networking in distributed settings.