1. Societal transformation through IS/IT (Conference’s Theme Track)
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Azizah Ahmad | Universiti Utara Malaysia |
| Sandeep Mysore Seshadrinath |
University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Anne Rutkowski | Tilburg University, Netherlands |
Descriptions
Information Systems and Technologies (IS/IT) pervade all aspects of contemporary life in both developing and developed nations, and have been recognized as a key enabler of socio-economic progress by academics, practitioners and policy makers. Access to affordable mobile phones and internet connections has brought millions into the fold of the so called digital economy, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and governments to develop new services, introduce lower-cost operations and craft solutions to ‘wicked’ problems. Moreover, new technological innovations such as the Distributed Ledger Technology, Internet of Things and Virtual Reality are changing how people, businesses and governments interact, transact, communicate and work with each other. Such technological innovations, in their endeavour to create a “better society”, face pertinent challenges of adoption and implementation as they inherently disrupt extant power structures; introduce complications to regulation, governance, privacy and security; and change accountability relationships.
Societal transformations enabled by IS/IT are now ubiquitous and are having a wide ranging impact, both positive (the “bright side”) and negative (the “dark side”), in different domains of human activity. Geoff Walsham’s call to arms, urging the IS community to examine if we really are “making a better world with IS” continues to be a pertinent line of inquiry, evidenced by recent special issue calls in IS journals. In the spirit of contributing to this body of knowledge, this track encourages papers that explore the transformational potential and impact of IS/IT in developing and developed nations. Topics of interest include:
2. IS Issues in the Under-Represented Areas of the Globe
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Mohammad Fauzan Noordin |
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia |
| Tony Susanto | Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November, Indonesia |
| Chuan Luo | Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China |
Descriptions
There is a discrepancy in terms of information systems (IS) development between the different parts of the world. Whilst some areas such as North America, Western Europe and East Asia are enjoying great progress in the use and development of IS, other areas such as the Middle East, Africa, South America and some parts of Asia have not achieved such progress. Consequently, the IS issues faced by the more prosperous areas are different than the areas lagging behind in IS. The more successful areas are currently focusing issues such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and big data analytics. On the other hand, the areas with less developed IS are still grappling with issues such as accessibility and connectivity.
Despite the apparent differences in issues, research on IS issues in the less successful areas is scarce. In particular, the study of IS issues in these areas have been under-represented in the mainstream IS literature. The evidence seems to suggest the issues faced by these areas are less important and ‘hip’ to be discussed in the mainstream IS literature. This perception can have negative implications for the development of IS globally. There is already a huge discussion on the divide between the developed and developing areas of the globe. The divide could be larger, and potentially beyond rescue, if the issues faced by the under-represented areas continue to be neglected by mainstream IS researchers.
This track aims to become the avenue to bring forward unique IS issues faced by areas of the globe currently under-represented in IS research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
3. Knowledge Management
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Byounggu Choi | Kookmin University, South Korea |
| David Chee Wei Phang | Fudan University, China |
| Wai Fong Boh | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore |
Descriptions
Recent advancements in information technology (IT), particularly in social media, mobile, and IoT technologies, have given a fresh impetus to knowledge management (KM). While KM used to focus on knowledge and information sharing within organizations, today’s KM initiatives have expanded both in scope and impact, with diverse inputs and outcomes derived from new IT affecting not only firms but also countries and societies.
With the development of KM and its expansion in scope and impact, managers and organizations face new challenges in effectively managing knowledge so as to derive value from KM. The rich, instantaneous knowledge, enabled by contemporary social media, mobile, and IoT technologies facilitates sharing and collaboration among individuals and organizations, thus engendering promising new applications. Yet ensuring the quality of knowledge produced in addition to identifying and crystalizing useful knowledge from large troves of information are among the pressing issues that need to be addressed. There is thus the need for research to seek new theories, strategies, methods and approaches that can realise the opportunities as well as overcome challenges of KM today.
This track welcomes submissions reflecting a breadth of research traditions and approaches, and addressing new and emerging issues in the KM field. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
4. Business Intelligence & Analytics
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Ainin Sulaiman | University of Malaya, Malaysia |
| Xin Li | City University of Hong Kong |
| William Yeoh | Deakin University, Australia |
Descriptions
Business intelligence and analytics (BIA) refers to “the techniques, technologies, systems, practices, methodologies, and applications that analyze critical business data to help an enterprise better understand its business and market and make timely business decisions” (Chen et al. 2012). According to Gartner’s worldwide survey into CIO spending, BIA has been consistently ranked as one of the top technology spending priorities. Recently “Big Data” and “Big Data Analytics” have further stirred the interest of researchers and practitioners in using large scale and heterogeneous data to facilitate and direct business operations. Hence, it is critical to examine BIA in the organizational and managerial contexts to creating higher value for the society.
This track invites papers on various aspects of business intelligence and analytics, including case studies, critical analyses on BIA strategies, practices, techniques, and technologies that advance the understanding and practice of BIA. We are interested in papers on innovative technologies, methodologies, and theories in BIA that may lead to practices and solutions that have the potential to improve human wellbeing and societal conditions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Reference:
5. IS/IT Project Management, Outsourcing, Enterprise Systems and Business Process Management
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Wong Siew Fan | Sunway University, Malaysia |
| Felix Tan | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Weiling Ke | Clarkson University, USA |
Descriptions
Organisations making investments in costly and complex Information Systems are under increasing pressure to justify the value of such investments. Given the emergence of new technologies and platforms the value of IS/IT as part of a digital strategy is recognised as being derived from the redesign of the business processes and organisational structures rather than the implementation of new technology. Against this backdrop, enterprise systems, IS/IT project management, outsourcing, and business process management remain important topics for IS researchers. Furthermore, theories must now include the dynamic processes for determining user interactions and utilising advanced technologies in a non-passive environment. Our track welcomes quality submissions that inform novel conceptualisations and applications of technology integration, business process management, and the logical organisation of people, in addition to studies of emerging organizational and social issues associated with IS/IT project management, outsourcing, enterprise systems and business process management.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
6. IS/IT and Open Innovation
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| M. N. Ravishankar | Loughborough University, UK |
| Juliana Sutanto | Lancaster University, UK |
| Lorraine Morgan | National University of Ireland [Maynooth] |
Descriptions
IS/IT-enabled “open” phenomena—e.g., open source software (OSS), open data, open education, collective intelligence, or crowdsourcing—have emerged as major themes in IS/IT practice and research. Indeed this phenomena has received an increasing amount of attention over the years from IS researchers, including multiple workshops, conferences and journal special issues devoted to investigating this trend further. Organizations are fast embracing open innovation either through participation/sponsorship of existing open innovation platforms or by developing their own open innovation platforms to gather and integrate external ideas/input. For example, OSS and Wikipedia platforms are prominent open innovation platforms where individuals interact with one another to innovate and co-produce software code and wiki articles respectively. Although not all interactions on these platforms are successful, which are reflected in the challenges around software use, speed of fixing reported bugs, and the quality of Wikipedia articles among others, several successful stories from these open innovation platforms have attracted the attention and interest of organizations. Additionally, numerous organizations have extended IS/IT-enabled open strategies to other parts of the value chain of the business. For example, many businesses now rely on IS/IT based open approaches for developing and marketing their product, while others leverage the power and wisdom of crowds in the design and delivery of technologies and services, as well as the funding of various business ventures.
The aim of this track is to provide a forum for the most recent IS work in this growing and important research domain. We invite theoretical, empirical and applied research papers that significantly contribute to our understanding of IS/IT and open innovation. We welcome and encourage submissions from researchers using diverse methodological and epistemological approaches. Although all aspects of IT-enabled open innovation are of interest, the interplay and relationship between open innovation and IS/IT should be central to the submissions (rather than providing only the background for studies of general business strategy or social behaviour).
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
7. IS Security and Privacy
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Calvin Chan | UniSIM, Singapore |
| Ben Choi | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Wei Thoo Yue | City University of Hong Kong |
Descriptions
Security and privacy issues associated with information systems are leading to significant challenges for individuals, small and large firms, and policy makers. The growth of spurious activity on the Internet is demanding a corresponding growth in security and privacy protection activities. While there is an abundance of practices and techniques focusing on the technical aspects of security and privacy controls, there continues to be many challenges, especially with regard to understanding the underlying behavioral theories and economic interests that are augmenting rigorous managerial practice in information security and privacy. This has led to discussions focusing on a range of IS security and privacy issues.
Through this track, we seek to address important issues arising from emerging developments in information security. Examples include the influence of risk and system security controls on sharing in an economy, mitigation strategies directed at managing vulnerabilities and exploits, the role of digital enablement in combating security vulnerabilities and privacy concerns, the threats posed by online media on the security and privacy of users, the economic and cultural implications of new security technologies, the effectiveness of government sponsored initiatives, and the influence of regulation and policies on employee security behaviors and organizational security measures.
The track welcomes both empirical and theoretical submissions using behavioral, empirical, economic, and managerial research methodologies. The topics of interests include, but are not limited to:
8. IS/IT Strategy, Leadership and Governance
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Sherah Kurnia | University of Melbourne, Australia |
| Derek Du | Renmin University, China |
| Yulin Fang |
City University of Hong Kong |
Descriptions
As new digital technologies emerge and transform how we live and work, the way we perceive IS today is very different from what we did before. For example, while IS was seen as an operational tool to support existing businesses, today IS is perceived as a strategic tool to transform businesses and create innovations. Likewise, previous IS professionals were seen as “toolsmiths” that maintained an IT infrastructure. However, IS professionals nowadays are seen as business orchestrators that maintain the backbone of key business processes and are responsible for reconfiguring business resources to create competitive advantages.
The digital age is not only changing the way we perceive IS and its potentials, but also the way the potentials are realized. Successful digital transformation today requires a new set of strategy, leadership and governance. Organizations need new visions and strategies to merge both physical and digital aspects of business seamlessly and to govern the affected elements in business ecosystems. Business and IT/IS strategies should also be well aligned to support the overall organizational visions. While the digital age has offered many opportunities to organizations, they have also created a set of new technology-related risks including information security, privacy issue, operational risks, and regulatory compliance risks. Addressing technical, behavioral, organizational, cultural, legal issues is also crucial for the success and sustainability of IS in this digital age. Therefore, strong leadership as well as functional and effective digital strategy and governance are necessary.
The aim of this track is to bring together scholars, industry players, stakeholders and general public to share their research findings and best practices related to IS in digital age. The track serves as an outlet for studies related to strategy, governance, leadership, business models, and technological innovations that are required to actualize the potential of IS in this digital age. We welcome all aspects of research related to IS in digital age and are open to all types of research methods (e.g., simulation, survey, experimentation, literature review, case studies, action research, etc.). Practice-based research is also appreciated. Both full research papers and research-in-progress papers are welcome.
Possible topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
9. Electronic and Mobile Business
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Celeste Ng | Yuan Ze University, Taiwan |
| Carol Ou | Tilburg University, Netherlands |
| Philip O’Reilly | University College Cork, Ireland |
Descriptions
Digital business enabled by digital technology and applications has become an indispensable strategic component of almost all businesses across multiple domains. We live in a social world where mediums including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube are the norm. According to Cisco (2015), there will be over 50 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020, a number six times greater than the world’s population. As products become increasingly smart and connected, relationships with customers and partners are evolving to being even more serviced based and open ended. This means that many industries are experiencing disruption, with many organizations undertaking digital transformation initiatives to remain competitive.
The level of digital business diffusion at the company level describes the degree to which the conduct of business acitivies are influenced. Today, companies depend on computers networks, various digital devices and technologies (such as tablet, smartphone, desktop, RFID tag, sensor, social media, Internet of Things, and big data technologies) in order to plan, manage, market, monitor, control, enhance and innovate various business strategies, operations, products and services. The pervasiveness of mobile and electronic business has created tremendous opportunities for non-traditional players and start-ups to enter emerging markets, which has presented challenges for incumbents in traditional industries.
While a significant number of studies have investigated multiple facets of digital business, the dynamic technological and business landscapes create continuously emerging opportunities and challenges. To date, few studies have investigated the interplay and integration of technology such as social media, the Internet of Things, big data technologies and mobile computing. Thus, this track encourages the submission of manuscripts that reflect the state of the art in digital technologies, with an emphasis on their impact on (1) individuals, teams, organizations, governments, and society; (2) relationships among participating parties; and (3) business and societal transformation. We call for theoretical and empirical research papers that use rigorous and innovative qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods to investigate the phenomenon of digital technology and business.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
10. Service science and IS
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Eric W. T. Ngai | Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Yi-Cheng Ku, Justin | Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan |
| Chih Ping Wei | National Taiwan University |
Descriptions
As a result of the global economy’s transition from manufacturing to service-dominated economy, service science has emerged as a new and exciting paradigm. The emergence of this new paradigm has been heavily supported by innovative information technologies and systems (IT/IS) that have enabled multiple parties (e.g., customers, suppliers, and employees) to engage in the co-creation, delivery, and use of services. Consequently, IT/IS has enhanced service operations, innovation, and ultimate values to customers. In other words, the melding of IT/IS and service science changes the landscape of service business and affects the way services are created, delivered, and consumed. Therefore, it is essential for IS researchers to help shape what service science is by fusing IS research into inquiries of service science. Furthermore, the service-centric view of service science may open up exciting opportunities and unique challenges to IS research. Hence, this track aims to encourage academic researchers to advance our knowledge on the interplay between service science and IS research. Research of conceptual, analytical, empirical or technical nature is welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
11. Human Computer Interaction
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Chuan Hoo Tan | National University of Singapore |
| Susanna Ho | Australian National University |
| Eric Lim | UNSW, Australia |
Descriptions
A capstone research area of Information Systems research is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It essentially deals with the interface design, evaluation, adoption, and use of Information Technology (IT), with a common focus on improved user interaction experience and decision-making performance. Various topics in HCI have been examined at individual-, institutional- and group-level by drawing theoretical underpinnings from computer science, psychology, sociology, management, and marketing disciplines.
Current trends toward a post-PC era characterized by multi-touch, direct manipulation interfaces and the claimed central role of the user experience (e.g., induced through gamification) provide novel challenges for HCI research and novel manifestations of HCI phenomena. For example, with the consumerization of IT and the emergence of gadgets such as smartphones and tablets, there are revolutionary changes in the nature of the human-device interface. As a new generation of users, who are referred to as digital natives engage with information systems, their expectations about appropriate interfaces are likely to be very different. This generation of users is dispersed geographically, psychologically, demographically and socially, which engenders an important need to study the impacts of cultures and economic prosperity on the nature of appropriate information systems.
This track focuses on issues related to the manner in which humans interact with technologies, information and tasks in organizational, managerial, cultural, and social contexts. We invite research papers that advance our understanding of HCI at the individual, work group, organization, and society levels. We particularly welcome controversial pieces that will challenge an audience’s thinking regarding taken-for-granted assumptions, models, and research practices. This track welcomes traditional, mixed-method as well as innovative methodologies, including but not limited to social network analysis, ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and triangulation approach.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
12. IS Healthcare
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Teoh Say Yen | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia |
| Yu Tong | City University of Hong Kong |
| Nor Zairah Ab Rahim | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia |
Descriptions
As we march into the digital era, we are surrounded by smart technologies and challenged by disruptive technologies that may drastically alter or destroy the structure of society. For example, such technologies have put the healthcare sector under enormous pressure to innovate and transform. Consequently, many promising trends point to the emergence of better healthcare services in the years ahead. These include optimizing the full potential of digital health, investing in wireless and wearable healthcare services, smart hospitals, personalized vs. precision medicine, as well as transforming the healthcare delivery paradigm to create more access, improve the quality of care while lowering the cost of care, and gaining maximum benefits from big data. Such developments in health care will require a new strategies and approaches to deal with issues related to massive data integration, security, privacy and the socio-technical aspects of patient safety.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
13. IS Education and Learning
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Zixiu Guo | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Ron Kwok | City University of Hong Kong |
| Michael Cahalane | University of New South Wales, Australia |
Descriptions
The rapid evolution of information technologies including social networking, cloud computing, mobile technology, business analytics, etc. has resulted in many innovative teaching and learning strategies being designed and implemented by universities in Asia and the Asia Pacific region. These new technologies bring new teaching approaches and methods to the IS field and provide new learning experience for IS students in IS as well as other disciplines. This track will present and discuss IS Education challenges and strategies for the future of IS education. In particular, the focus of the track is on new and innovative approaches to curriculum, course design, pedagogy and practice.
We welcome high quality research papers in any area of IS education and learning. All research methods and approaches addressing the key issues in IS Education and Learning are welcome.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
14. IS Implementation, Adoption and Diffusion
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Syed Nasirin | Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia |
| Barney Tan | University of Sydney, Australia |
| Hee-Woong Kim | Yonsei University, South Korea |
| Carol Hsu | National Taiwan University, Taiwan |
Descriptions
Recent technological developments such as social media, the Internet of Things (IOT), cloud computing, blockchain and big data offer promising opportunities to transform industrial landscapes and organizational services. However, the true value of such developments can be only realized when there is successful implementation, adoption, and diffusion of these technologies. Information Systems (IS) adoption is one of the most researched themes in IS, with studies examining a wide range of technologies, adopters, and contexts using quantitative and qualitative research methods. Yet, continuous challenges abound with the constant flux of new IT applications such as big data, cloud computing, end-user computing, IOT and social media. New trends in societies, economies, and politics throughout the globe such as Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD), customer innovations, IoT, globalization, and environmental sustainability also demand novel and agile behavioral and technical approaches to the implementation, adoption and diffusion of IS. This track welcomes papers that fresh theoretical and methodological perspectives on IS implementation, adoption, and diffusion. We look forward to submissions that advance empirical and theoretical understanding, while also contributing to the practical management of IS.
Topics include but are not limited to the following:
15. Social Media Usage and Impact
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Noor Ismawati Jaafar | University of Malaya, Malaysia |
| Carmen Leong | University of New South Wales, Australia |
| Xuemei Tian | Swinburne University of Technology, Australia |
Descriptions
Social media is distinctive compared to earlier forms of collaborative technologies as it allows self-curated user profiles, accessible digital content and an articulation of a user’s social network. Apart from enhancing connectivity among people, social media has behaviour-structuring effects that warrant a new evaluation of collective behaviour. Given the prevalence of social media underpinned by improved Internet infrastructures and affordable devices, social media has been applied widely in information sharing, expressing opinions, team collaboration, social commerce, grassroots mobilization, narrative shaping, entrepreneurial taking etc.
More importantly, the use of social media has wide-ranging and multi-dimensional impacts. The impact on individuals, businesses or society at large can be intended or unintended, positive or negative. For instance, while it allows free expression of speech, it permits cyberbullying. While organizations can benefit from social media analytics for precise marketing, consumers cry for privacy protection. While social media enables oppressed communities to wage an online war against unfairness, it might lead to a society of aggravated emotions with little understanding of the real cause of issue. These dilemmas open up a space for IS researchers to examine not only the transformative potential of social media, but also the management of such an open platform for collaboration, marketing, entrepreneurial action, crowdsourcing etc.
We invite submissions related to the application and management of IS in addressing the above mentioned issues. Given its inclusive nature, this track is open to all methodological approaches; empirical (qualitative and quantitative), design-oriented research and conceptual papers on theory development, at various levels of analysis (individual, group, process, organization, government, and society).
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
16. Economics of IS
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Sang-Yong Tom Lee | Hanyang University, South Korea |
| Jane Feng | City University of Hong Kong |
Descriptions
In recent years, ICT has grown beyond supporting process innovation to enabling digital transformation and innovation. It also enables new practices such as big data, mobile, business analytics, cloud services and social applications emerges. With the processes and organizational changes enabled by ICT, technology has become the prime driver of innovation today.
The transformative power of technology creates new opportunities for practice and research. It is intriguing to understand the implications of such transformation on organizations, business practices, industrial structures as well as the society. This track invites theoretical and empirical work studying the economic impact of technology on business practice and the emerging economic issues surrounding information systems.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
17. Design Science
Track Chairs
| Name | Organization |
| Kyoichi Jim Kijima | Daito Bunka University, Japan |
| Michael Chau | The University of Hong Kong |
| Chee-Wee Tan | Copenhagen Business School, Denmark |
Descriptions
Design science is a rapidly changing field. Design science is concerned with the advancement of knowledge through the construction of innovative and/or novel artifacts as well as the assessment of the performance of these artifacts in practice. In other words, design science embodies knowledge in the form of theoretical constructs, methods and techniques for developing artifacts that resolve an enduring problem and/or satisfy a predefined set of functional requirements. Within the field of design science, a recurring theme revolves around the design of artifacts to benefit individuals, organizations and/or society at large. It is recognised that these artifacts can assume multiple forms, ranging from algorithms to business processes to human-computer interfaces and systems development resources. To this end, this track embraces both retrospective and progressive views of how design science has evolved and how it might transform with technological progress. We welcome papers that identify and address opportunities and challenges in the application of design science in research. Papers that subscribe to inter-disciplinary perspectives and/or adopt mixed methods are particularly welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
18. Innovative and Emerging Methods in IS Research
Track Chairs
Sebastian K BoellUniversity of Sydney, Australia
| Name | Organization |
| Antonio Díaz Andrade | Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand |
| Michael Zhang | Hong Kong University of Science&Technology |
Descriptions
This track invites submissions that offer original methodological approaches to information systems research.
We welcome submissions that expand the well-known and proved methods that have been traditionally applied in IS research. In line with the conference theme, we are particularly interested in receiving submissions that propose creative research designs, alternative ways to collect quantitative and qualitative data individually or in a combined fashion. We welcome innovative data analysis techniques from different philosophical positions – e.g., positivism, post-positivism, interpretivism, critical theory, critical realism – that contribute to our understanding of how information and communication technology contributes to the construction of a better society. We also highly appreciate innovative methods with roots from psychology, economics, sociology and computer science. In addition to novel methodological approaches we would like to see submissions that make innovative use of current research methods by applying them to new research settings or by combining them with other methods. We also welcome papers that constructively critique existing methodological approaches and papers that further develop existing methodological approaches.
Topics of interest include a combination of methodological approaches extensively applied in information systems research with more innovative or rarely used techniques such as:
>