Rapid technology-driven change explored at conference
The School of Information Management last week hosted the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS)—the first time in the conference’s 31-year history that it has been held primarily online.
ACIS is the leading conference in the Australasian region for Information Systems academics and professionals. More than 400 registrations were received for this year’s conference, which was based around the theme ‘Navigating Our Digital Future, He waka eke noa - We are all in this together.’ The conference aimed to explore the role Information Systems plays in navigating the uncharted waters of rapid technology-driven change.
Fittingly, the conference organisers had to adapt quickly when it became clear a traditional in-person conference would not be possible. Dr Janet Toland, Head of the School of Information Management and Chair of ACIS 2020, says the online format was received well by participants.
“There was a real appreciation that the conference was going ahead. This was particularly noticeable amongst PhD students, who benefited greatly from the two pre-conference workshops and doctoral consortium that were held as part of the conference.
“Those events were an opportunity for them to network, share their research, and get feedback from experienced academics in the Information Systems field, who were very generous in sharing their time and expertise.”
There were more than 100 presentations over the four-day conference, including many by researchers from the University, such as Dr Yi-Te Chiu, Dr Jocelyn Cranefield and PhD student Talitakuum Ekandjo. The conference also featured a keynote address by Ian Taylor, founder of Animation Research Limited.
Dr Toland credits the success of the conference to the hard work and flexibility of the entire conference team, including the technical support team, who were on hand to ensure every presentation ran smoothly.