Abstract

In this article, we investigate the role of information systems (IS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on the limitations, challenges, and failures that IS faced as a consequence of swift and sometimes unsupported actions by organizations and governments, the aim of our study is to learn from these practices. IS and information technologies (IT), in general, played a pivotal role in mitigating the effects and consequences of the pandemic. Yet, rapid changes in their implementation amid crisis frequently led to unexpected or unwanted consequences. These triggered a deluge of heated debates in scientific literature. Combining cooccurrence analysis with narrative synthesis, we examine the recent research findings on IS/IT pandemic solutions. We identify a range of problems that can be traced to hasty introduction of new solutions. They often bring into question the actual benefits of introducing them and sometimes even raise serious questions about data safety and privacy. We show that common keywords and themes from this literature can be classified into five clusters and two groups. This classification reveals the effects of the pandemic on health, business, education, science, and technology, some of which are surprising.