Discovering the Circular Economy as a Problem Space for Information Systems Research

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) is a vital sustainability concept that requires well-designed information systems (IS). However, the IS scholars’ understanding of the CE is emerging, and its problems are fragmented and not fully understood yet. This work presents a qualitative study of 20 organizations to explore future research on digital CE. The results describe stakeholders, governance, organizational resources, technical resources, constraints, and opportunities of CE digitalization. The findings indicate that CE is not yet another research context but could impact IS research and designs while IS are shaping and scaling the CE.