Mind the Debt: An Empirically Validated Classification of Digital Infrastructure Deficits

Digital infrastructures progressively accumulate structural, technological and social deficits. We refer to these deficits as digital infrastructure debt, a concept that transcends the established distinction between technical and non-technical debt and broadens the usual software-development-centric view to an information systems management perspective. Such debt limits the development, maintainability, integration and adaptability of information systems. Following a conceptual-to-empirical approach and drawing on Socio-Technical Systems, Institutional and Resource Dependence theories, this study develops an empirically validated classification of digital infrastructure debt. We conducted 16 expert interviews to identify and refine relevant debt types, resulting in 41 types that formatively constitute digital infrastructure debt. A subsequent closed card-sorting study with 67 participants validated the assignment of these types to five categories. The results show that digital infrastructure debt extends beyond technical concerns, encompassing structural and social dimensions. The classification offers a shared vocabulary for identifying, discussing and managing debt across digital infrastructures.