Information Systems Management

4 The Information Systems Territory

The Fundamentals

1. 1) The organizational territory and the information systems territory develop in parallel with economic, societal and technological transformation.
2. 2) Territory can be charted in many different ways: according to hierarchy, functions, processes, software structure, technical structure, information content and so on.
3. 3) Each representation of the territory influences the territory being charted in one way or another.

4.1. The territory

The concept of territory is important, because the history of information systems is linked to the issue of representation. In this section, we present different visions of the concept of the organizational territory and the information systems territory.

The word “territory” is polysemous, with meanings that differ depending on the angle of approach, the disciplines studying it and the era. In the social sciences, territory can be defined as “an arrangement of material and symbolic resources capable of structuring the physical conditions of existence of an individual or a social group and in return making this individual or group aware of their own identity” [LEV 13]. This definition highlights the presence of material resources and cultural or symbolic resources. Material resources cover the physical world: earth, air, water, buildings, etc. Cultural resources include economic, social and cultural components, such as the value of pure water, relationships between neighbors and the historical ...