Towards operational risk-aware information systems: A critical realist perspective

Abstract

Following calls to enhance risk-sensitivity of second generation Operational Risk-Aware Information Systems (ORISs), this paper aims to address the lack of ontological/epistemological grounding for the concept of Operational Risk (OR). Herein, OR is regarded both as a property of a real system and as a representational phenomenon forming part of the core of ORIS in line with Weber's (2003) view of the core of IS. The paper explores how the ontological/epistemological position of the Critical Realist philosophy of science assists in the Requirements Definition of ORISs by providing an ontology-driven representation of the heterogeneous nature of OR. The retroductive mode of logical inference ..