Making Information Systems Material through Blackboxing: Allies, Translation and Due Process

Abstract

In this paper, a case study of the evolution of an organisational intranet is used to compare the concepts of ¿materiality¿ with actor-network theory¿s black-boxing. The authors argue that information systems need to become material through ¿due process¿. Through this paper, questions arise as to what types of material allies are useful in this process, and whether these allies can co-evolve (or ¿co-materialise¿) with the system. In this case there seemed to be existing technical actors, but the authors question whether this is always the case.