The intention of this article is to open up a dialogue on the importance of giving explicit attention to the human body when studying information systems phenomena. The human body influences the ways in which a person interprets and uses technology. Although we bodily engage with our world (people, things and places), we generally take our bodies for granted, and view them as passive recipients in studies on information technologies and organisational phenomena. Theoretical frameworks built on embodiment indicate that human beings are embedded in their social context, but they do not often include the human body with its somatic aspects (such as orientation, position and movement). Using a theoretically informed ethnographic case, I draw attention to how the human body affects the ways in which we interpret and use technology. The findings suggest revisiting the idiosyncratic view of human embodiment, which often overlooks somatic orientations and modes of engagement. The article contributes a theoretical framework relevant for inquiry into the structure of somatic practices in information systems. I conclude with a discussion of the implications for theory and practice.

Conventional wisdom suggests that play is the antithesis of work. But in the information technology (IT) industry, companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft have positively integrated play into the workplace. In an era when the digital is ubiquitous and where play with IT has become commonplace, exploring the nature of play at work could shed light on the broader question of how humans exist in the world. This is an essential question for contemporary Information Systems scholarship. Drawing on the critical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, I offer a narrative account of the instrumental aspects of play at work. I conducted an ethnographic study of the everyday practices of young IT professionals, revealing that workplace play has multiple instrumental aspects which are related to the temporality, spatiality, materiality and sociality of IT work practices.

Pandemics and natural disasters – what do they have in common? Both disrupt social and organisational practices. Both call for resilience in society. Information systems can foster and enhance the resilience of people, communities and organisations by strengthening their ability to adapt to uncertainty, enabling a transition towards an appropriate restoration of order in society. COVID-19 has caused significant disturbances at all societal levels. The impacts range from national lockdowns to social distancing and self-isolation. Everyday practices and business processes are severed or have been halted. Resilience is needed. But how can we foster resilience in the face of a pandemic? What lessons can we learn from other crises like natural disasters? The purpose of this brief communication is to identify important insights from a study of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and illustrate how they are relevant to the current crisis. We identify the role of information systems in fostering resilience against crisis, and suggest some recommendations regarding transformation for resilience more generally.