Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
15. Conversations at the electronic
frontier: the information systems
business language (ISBL)
Douglas Hamilton, School of Information Management and
Systems, Monash University, Victoria
Abstract
Information systems (IS) capable of acting as autonomous organisational agents are be-
coming prevalent in contemporary society. This paper proposes that an artificial language,
designed to facilitate transactions involving at least one such system as a participant, is
emerging in the world of business. The language combines English terminology with
IS-style definitions, and is based on a strictly limited lexicon, a rigid syntax, and a
controlled context of use. The paper argues that the language can be used as an instru-
ment of social power, and discusses a number of possible developments in this regard.
Introduction
A new language, referred to for the purposes of this paper as the information systems
business language or ISBL, is being born in the world of business. It is an artificial lan-
guage (Lotman, 1990), designed to eliminate possibilities for misunderstandings in the
conduct of standardised business transactions. Its primary source language is English
but it incorporates information systems (IS) concepts, definitions, symbols and gestures
and is therefore not a subset of English. The language has a sphere of operation restricted
to interactions involving at least one autonomous IS, and is still in the very early stages
of development. The development process is erratic and likely to remain so, in that the
language is a by-product of pressures for rationalisation in business interactions, rather
than the outcome of a conscious design activity.
Business, like other areas of human activity, is mediated by, and understood through,
language. The nature of business has, however, always been such as to impose a premium
on the use of literal language and the avoidance of figurative expressions (Yates, 1989).
This has led over time to a reliance on strict terminology, a reliance that has been intens-
ified by the emergence of automated systems with zero tolerance for ambiguity. In in-
troducing systems of this type, organisations and system designers have endeavoured
to eradicate the problems of meaning that can arise from different presumptions and
frames of reference (Fish, 1978) by rigidly defining and controlling the context of inter-
action. While this has not eliminated all possibilities for misunderstandings to occur, it
has for the most part substantially reduced their effects.
Most IS have a purely instrumental character in the sense that they provide support,
often very sophisticated support, for a wide range of organisational activities, but cannot
be construed as acting independently in a social context. Autonomous systems dealing
with other autonomous entities external to an organisation are, in contrast, qualitatively
different in that they effectively act as responsible agents of the organisation. These
systems, of which an automatic teller machine (ATM) is perhaps the canonical example
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