Internet and the Digital Economy

This minitrack serves as a place for researchers and practitioners from diverse background to share their research and ideas. There are a variety of important issues and topics of importance, such as new technology and visual design advancements to digital humans, the behavioral, emotional, and even physical responses of the users while interacting with digital humans, the underlying cognitive processes underlying the interactions, the impact of digital humans on the firm level or industry level, and ethical issues and societal considerations of the application of digital humans. Research could be wide-ranging, such as rich descriptive statistics, theories, emergent and innovative topics, models and frameworks related to technologies and their impact on marketing, case studies, methods, qualitative research, etc. The topics include but are not limited to:

• Visualization technology to advance digital humans
• Challenges and problems with creating digital humans or scanning and sampling users.
• Human-computer interactions, instilled with digital humans, including affective computing issues.
• Design of digital humans by combining human and computer cognitive power.
• Use of GANs and VAEs to infer digital human faces, including approaches building on ‘Deep Fakes’ technology.
• Analysis of machine learning, big data, data mining, and other underlying technologies and algorithms of digital humans
• Taxonomy of digital humans
• Virtual influencers and YouTube digital celebrities
• Impact of digital humans on the individual level (decision-making, problem-solving, negotiation, and creativity/innovation)
• Psychological and emotional effects of interacting with realistic digital humans
• Biases in interacting with digital humans and biases in the digital humans deployed
• The use of digital humans beyond individuals and its consequences in organizations
• Management of deployment (e.g., corporate governance, data management)
• Case studies on industry adoption of digital humans
• Use and economic implications of digital humans in e-commerce, social media, and the combinations of multiple industries involving e-commerce and social media.
• Social impact and ethics related to digital humans and their use
• Philosophical questions surrounding the idea of ‘using’ digital humans

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Lingyao Ivy Yuan (Primary Contact)
Iowa State University
lyuan@iastate.edu

Mike Seymour
University of Sydney
mike.seymour@sydney.edu.au

This minitrack focuses on assistants from an interdisciplinary perspective. This notobly comprises technological aspects, but also their holistic impact from socio-technical implications to the potential in reshaping industries. We encourage submissions that blend theory with practice, offering insights into real-world applications and societal impacts of these technologies. We are particularly keen on submissions that delve into specific challenges, such as algorithmic bias, user privacy, and sustainable integration in healthcare, education, and other sectors

This minitrack is is methodologically open and welcomes empirical and theoretical research as well as practical and design-oriented research. It seeks contributions in the area of the following topics, but also invites research on related topics.

• Business models and business innovation based on AI-based assistants and platforms
• Analyses of AI-based platform ecosystems (structure, ecosystem intelligence)
• Impact of AI-based assistants and platforms on economic, ecological and social aspects
• Evolution and emergence in AI-based assistant ecosystems (mechanisms, path dependencies)
• Role of advanced technologies (agents, metaverse, LLM, quantum) for AI-based assistants
• Design, implementation, and management of AI-based assistants (methods, architectures)
• Human centricity, transparency and user-orientation in AI-based assistants and platforms
• Regulation of AI-based assistants and platforms (ethics, bias mitigation, governance)
• Integration of assistants and platforms (multi-platforms and platform federation)
• Security and trust in AI-based assistants and platforms (risks, privacy, and trust issues)
• Implications of AI-based assistants on productivity and the future workplace and human-AI interaction
• Application of AI-based assistant platforms in various industries (e-health, education, engineering, finance, administration)

Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit a revised version of their conference paper to the Electronic Markets journal – The International Journal on Networked Business after presentation at the conference.

Minitrack Co-chairs:

Rainer Schmidt (Primary Contact)
Munich University of Applied Sciences
Rainer.Schmidt@hm.edu

Rainer Alt
Leipzig University
rainer.alt@uni‐leipzig.de

Alfred Zimmermann
Reutlingen University
alfred.zimmermann@reutlingen-university.de

Crowd-based platforms on the Internet harness the wisdom, labor and money from the crowd, to facilitate idea generation, labor exchange and funding of innovative entrepreneurial projects. The uprising scale and importance of such platforms has revolutionized the digital economy. They have attracted much research attention in the IS field. The different types of crowd-based platforms offer new opportunities to understand information systems and related problems, such as new product development in crowdsourcing marketplaces; contribution patterns in crowd funding marketplaces; networks in social media platforms; market designs in two-sided matching markets, etc. Hereby, more innovative research is warranted in this research topic, given the scale and societal impact of these platforms.

In this minitrack, we seek to receive submissions of papers related to these three types of platforms below, with topics including but not limited to the following. We also welcome research using different data and methodologies, such as econometrics, field or laboratory experimentation, analytical model, field surveys, qualitative analyses, or theory-building approaches. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Gig economy platforms
  • Ride sharing platforms (e.g., Uber/Lyft)
  • Lodge sharing platforms (e.g., Airbnb)
  • Online labor markets (e.g., Freelancer/Upwork/Guru/MTurk)
  • Ordering and delivery markets (e.g., Grubhub)
• Crowdfunding marketplace
  • Financial Technology (i.e., FinTech)
  • Algorithmic bias
  • Social capital
  • Funding success factors
• Two-sided matching markets
  • Platform equality
  • Market design
  • Information asymmetry
  • Matching efficiency
• Online communities
  • User-generated content
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content
  • Incentives
  • User engagement

Selected outstanding manuscripts from this minitrack may be recommended to the editors of Data and Information Management to be fast-tracked for the review process.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Ni Nina Huang (Primary Contact)
University of Miami
nhuang@miami.edu

Bin Gu
Boston University
bgu@bu.edu

Pei-yu Sharon Chen
Arizona State University
peiyu.chen@asu.edu

Data – recognized as the new oil – are increasingly becoming a critical resource for business success. Companies must ensure leveraging data to optimize internal business processes and create new business opportunities. That applies to traditional incumbents and digital natives alike. The former must ensure to stay competitive and avoid losing touch with the changing market, for example, by using data from physical assets (e.g., machines) to offer new digital services. The latter can leverage the green-field advantage and generate completely novel solutions from scratch, such as establishing data ecosystems that enable different actors (e.g., public institutions, companies, and academia) to share data for reciprocal benefit. With this comes a set of challenges. For example, unlike physical assets, data are reproducible at almost zero marginal cost and technical effort.

This minitrack focuses on exploring the fundamentals of data ecosystems from multiple perspectives, including studies that discover the meaning of data sharing in ecosystems for its stakeholders (e.g., data producers, providers, or consumers) or the classification of ecosystems. We expect contributions examining issues relating to the business value of data ecosystems within different domains (e.g., mobility, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics) and the use of various underpinning technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence or blockchain). Complementarily, we invite contributions exploring data sharing as well as the associated rules and governance mechanisms. Lastly, we like to encourage submission tackling socially relevant challenges by means of data ecosystems, such as sustainability(17 Sustainable Development Goals), security, and privacy.

This minitrack invites papers investigating the field of data ecosystems both empirically and theoretically, such as but not limited to:

• Classifications of data ecosystems and data sharing mechanisms
• Generative AI for data generation and sharing
• Paradigmatic differences between data ecosystems and traditional business networks
• Economic, ecological, and social sustainability of data ecosystems
• Analysis of domain-specific characteristics of data ecosystems
• Analysis of technology-specific characteristics of data ecosystems
• Design and modeling of data ecosystems
• Business models in data ecosystems
• Impact of data ecosystems on stakeholders
• Data sharing fundamentals
• Data sovereignty and usage control policies in data ecosystems
• Generative AI in data ecosystems

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Thorsten Schoormann (Primary Contact)
TU Braunschweig
thorsten.schoormann@tu-braunschweig.de

Frederik Möller
TU Braunschweig
frederik.moeller@tu-braunschweig.de

Gero Strobel 
University of Duisburg-Essen
Gero.Strobel@paluno.uni-due.de

Ilka Jussen
TU Dortmund
ilka.jussen@tu-dortmund.de

This minitrack aims is to offer a global perspective of how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) including Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being diffused, used and adopted within society including households, small enterprises, government and social communities. ICTs are wide ranging from broadband internet to mobile devices, online social networks, sharing platforms, Internet-of-Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics, cryptocurrency, blockchain, cloud services, and other platforms enabled by the internet. ICT adoption, usage and diffusion studies are prevalent in Information Systems (IS) research and offer an insight into many issues surrounding ‘how’, ‘when’ and ‘what’ technologies are being introduced and their impacts. By undertaking such research academics, industry and government agencies will learn from each other how ICTs are being used by various groups and communities in society and what measures are being undertaken to have households and the various social communities adopt and use the ICTs with a further consideration of the impacts of the ICTs. Case studies, experiments, literature reviews, empirical, comparative and applied studies related to ICT use, adoption, impacts and diffusion are emerging on a daily basis. Topics and research areas included in this mini-track are, but are not limited to:

• The adoption, use, impact and diffusion of ICTs including broadband internet, mobile smart devices, electronic commerce, wearables, online social networks, and other technologies by households, organizations, communities, or society
• The adoption, use, impact and diffusion of any novel, innovative and emerging ICT applications including social commerce, cloud services, AI, Generative AI, machine learning, deep learning, blockchain, cryptocurrency, virtual reality, augmented reality or IoT within large enterprises, small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), communities, and society
• The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (more post-adoption) on the adoption, use, diffusion and impact of classic or innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
• The adoption, use, impact and diffusion of ICTs that enable organizations and government to enhance their environmental and social impacts
• Evaluation of the technological and non-technological aspects of the adoption, use impacts and diffusion of ICTs
• Application of theories to explore, describe, explain and predict the adoption, use, impacts and diffusion of ICTs
• Human Computer Interaction issues associated with the adoption, use, and impact factors in the context of ICTs
• Economics of the adoption, use or diffusion of ICTs in society and in households
• Working practices and their association with adoption, use and diffusion within organizations
• Resistance to change related to ICT adoption, use and diffusion within society and organizations
• Policies related to adoption, use and diffusion of broadband and emerging ICTs
• Conceptual or empirical studies of how a particular ICT is adopted, used and diffused in developing countries or within a specific community
• Comparative studies of ICT adoption, use, impact and diffusion between demographic groups, countries or regions
• Luminal innovation, assimilation, resistance and changes to working practices that will duly inform the research community
• Studies of the digital divide that include disadvantaged groups such as disabled and lower income families

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Jyoti Choudrie (Primary Contact)
University of Hertfordshire
j.choudrie@herts.ac.uk

Sherah Kurnia
University of Melbourne
sherahk@unimelb.edu.au

David Sundaram
University of Auckland
d.sundaram@auckland.ac.nz

Today, the economic environment is changing rapidly. Supply chains have to cope with increasingly dynamic customer demands, a broad variety of external disturbances and disruptions, resource scarcity, and climate change. More flexibility and agility are needed, processes have to be accelerated and made visible in order to enhance supply chain responsiveness and resilience, the linear supply chains of today have to be transformed into closed-loop systems to make the circular economy real.Innovative technological solutions such as the IoT, Cyber-Physical Systems, autonomous or collaborative robots, automated guided vehicles and drones, cloud and mobile computing, data analytics and machine learning, artificial intelligence, data lakes, digital platforms and blockchains as well as the virtualization of the physical world based on digital twins and additive manufacturing can help to master these challenges and are increasingly being used.

The implementation of these technologies results in a fundamental digital transformation of companies and will necessarily lead to significant changes in value creation systems, inter-organizational relationships and, finally, supply chains and their management. Data has to be understood as a new source of value creation. These technologies pave the way for a paradigm shift in supply chain management, leading to more self-organizing, self-optimizing and highly sustainable ecosystems.

In this minitrack, we try to understand how digital transformation affects traditional product-oriented supply chains as well as the corresponding management activities and thus leads to the digital supply chains of tomorrow. Digitalization in general is expected to play an increasingly important role for global supply chains. The reasons for this include: the shift in values from the physical artifact to the data created by smart products, the emerging importance of digital platforms, services and business ecosystems, the transformation of business models, the displacement of industry borders, the radical change of competitive structures and power distribution and, at the end of the day, the symptomatic destruction of established structures and behavior patterns.

This minitrack provides an outlet for all research focused on digital transformation of supply chains. Its focus is not primarily on pure technologies but on their applications and implications with regard to the dominant logic of supply chain configurations and value creation in a supply chain management context. We are also interested in the driving forces for a digital transformation and the instruments and tools to master the changes or to measure the progress. Therefore, we welcome research in progress or completed research papers that address applications, use cases, theories, models, methods, tools as well as other critical issues, including but not limited to

• Contribution of digital technologies to SC resilience, sustainability, and to a circular economy
• Models, methods, and tools for the digitalization of supply chains
• Barriers and challenges for the digitalization of supply chains
• Digital transformation of companies within supply chains
• Virtualization of supply chains and emerging digital business ecosystems
• Digital platforms and digital business models in supply chains
• Supply chain structures and related ecosystems for smart products and smart services
• Application of digital technologies for logistics services
• The impact of 3D printing on value creation systems
• Visibility and transparency through the Internet of Things (IoT)
• Improved planning and forecasting through big data analytics
• AI in decision making, configuration, execution, and development of supply chains
• Digital twins, digital product passports and blockchains for transparency in supply chains
• Smart contracts in logistics and supply chain management
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA), robots, cobots, and other technology drivers for process automation in supply chains
• Governance and relationship management of digitally enabled supply chains
• Legal frameworks for the digitalization of supply chains
• Data security and cyber security challenges in digital supply chain structures
• The Human element in the digital transformation of supply chains

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Alexander Pflaum (Primary Contact)
Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg
alexander.pflaum@uni-bamberg.de

Günter Prockl
Copenhagen Business School
gp.digi@cbs.dk

Freimut Bodendorf
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
freimut.bodendorf@fau.de

Haozhe Chen
Iowa State University
hzchen@iastate.edu

Advancements in Internet technologies and algorithms are quickly driving the next wave of innovations. Over the past few years, generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools and machine learning (ML) techniques have achieved breakthrough performances in a wide range of activities including customer profiling, software writing, disease diagnosis, fraud detection, autonomous driving, speech and facial recognition, image generation, and chatbots.

Companies across various industries are eager to find ways and leverage such technologies to transform core business processes, create business value, and achieve strategic advantages. As more and more AI and ML tools and algorithms are being available and easily accessible, how they are used/misused have profound implications to the business and society. A successful implementation of AI requires not only technical awareness but also business awareness and ethical considerations. The performance of AI and ML relies critically on the data and the context it observes and learns. It is important that the transparency and fairness of algorithmic models and decisions ae preserved. Additionally, as such algorithms are being deployed across various economic activities, it is important to understand their societal impacts. What happens to jobs, skills, wages, and labor market when algorithmic systems are adopted by businesses to perform a given task traditionally done by humans? What are the implications to process design and business models when ML and AI algorithms help make personalized recommendations? What challenges and risks do AI systems bring to decision making, society, and humankind? We believe these questions merit serious and rigorous studies in the coming decades.

This minitrack invites submissions of original work concerning business value, implications, and impacts associated with the development and applications of AI and ML technologies and algorithms. While work using ML algorithms are highly encouraged, they must have an important component investigating the impacts and implications of such algorithms. We also welcome submissions of research-in-progress as well as those that are practically oriented yet have the potential to make significant contributions to the broad business community.The relevant topics for the minitrack include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• User behavior/response/reaction to algorithm fairness, bias, aversion
  
• Economic and societal impacts/implications of AI and ML algorithms
  
• Digital platform/market design and algorithms
  
• Algorithms economy such as buying, selling algorithms
  
• Human-algorithm interaction
  
• Algorithm management and organization strategy
  
• Explainability, interpretability, and accountability of AI and ML
  
• Theory-guided AI and ML algorithm development and evaluation
  
• AL and ML applications in fintech, operations, cybersecurity, healthcare, accounting

High quality and relevant papers from this minitrack will be selected for fast-tracked development towards Information Technology and Management. Selected papers will need to expand in content and length in line with the requirements for standard research articles published in the journal. Although the minitrack co-chairs are committed to guiding the selected papers towards final publication, further reviews may be needed before a final publication decision can be made.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Zhongju John Zhang (Primary Contact)
Arizona State University
Zhongju.Zhang@asu.edu

Yong Ge
University of Arizona
yongge@arizona.edu

This minitrack provides a forum for open and vibrant discussion of emergent research to shape the future of marketing from any part(s) of the world emphasizing and/or addressing a) big ideas that have the potential to positively, and substantially move/change markets, organizations, or other relevant stakeholders/systems; or b) deeper dives into established theories, or domains with meaningful and sufficiently distinct research explorations that can enhance understanding, and enliven new opportunities for improved experience, engagement, exchange, strategies, practices, and wellbeing.

We invite submissions from academics, practitioners, policy makers, and independent thinkers. We welcome submissions that are theoretical, bibliometric, or empirical, i.e., experimental, field studies, case studies, models and modeling, ethnographic, netnographic, natural language processing (NPL), machine learning, or survey based. Each submission must reflect clarity, rigor, and novelty. The best submissions have the potential to spark stimulating discussion and encourage new research agendas. Bring your insights, your energy, and your desire to enrich the HICSS community and beyond!

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Hope Jensen Schau (Primary Contact)
University of California Irvine
schauh@uci.edu

Melissa Akaka
University of Denver
Melissa.Akaka@du.edu

Martin Key
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
tmkey@ucss.edu

Esports research is a young yet burgeoning field with both extensive challenges and opportunities. Despite the ever-growing breadth of esports research, esports presents a myriad of opportunities for academics and industry professionals to continue to examine new and unique ways in which electronic games will impact and change societies around the world.

This minitrack aims to provide insight into any and all areas of esports’ theoretical development and practical understanding, without excluding any methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding of esports are welcome. Given the diverse goals of this minitrack, possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Business, e.g. discovering esports consumers’ motivations; designing effective marketing tools; understanding players’/esports’ networks and organizations; gamers/fans as consumers
• Cognitive Science/Psychology, e.g. studying factors influencing athletes’ performance; their abilities and skills; cognitive and behavioral differences between athletes
• IT and Computer Science, e.g. using game telemetry, biometrics, user-generated data, or text mining to study esports, e.g. team dynamics, interactions of players; in-game performance.
• Law, e.g. copyright issues
• Sociology, e.g. gamers’ and athletes’ interactions, experiences, and identities; live events and streaming dynamics; gender issues (gender gap)
• Media Studies, e.g. relations between esports, traditional sports, and the media; offline spaces versus live-streaming, understanding esports in terms of virtual versus real; how technology mediates gaming, and how esports’ communities fit here
• Sports Science, e.g., comparing esports and ‘traditional’ sports; esports as ‘real’, ‘genuine’ sports or new quality

Accepted research will be considered for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports (JEGE). Selected articles (both rejected and accepted) will be proposed to the Journal of Creative Communication (SAGE Journal) with the guarantee of going to the review stage.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Piotr Siuda (Primary Contact)
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl

David Hedlund
St. John’s University
hedlundd@stjohns.edu

Emma Witkowski
RMIT University
Emma.witkowski@rmit.edu.au

Lindsey Darvin
Syracuse University
ledarvin@syr.edu

The last years provided numerous federated platform ecosystems and included the development of a plethora of data-driven artifacts for manufacturing, logistics, or energy management. Using novel technologies and approaches could lower the entry barriers for industrial companies to participate in the federated platform economy and spur digitization. For example, open-source technologies (e.g., Apache Kafka, Eclipse Vorto) and data-driven artifacts (e.g., smart services, distributed ledger technologies, or digital twins) help monitor, analyze, and optimize productional and logistical operations. Furthermore, these tools provide an excellent level of transparency and foster trust. Yet, much research needs to be conducted on implementing and operating federated ecosystems based on platform technologies. Furthermore, the concepts directly affect the technical architectures and the underlying business models.

A particular emphasis of this minitrack is the inclusion of novel technologies, such as distributedl edger technologies, artificial intelligence, modeling and simulation, or digital twins, to facilitate digital business models or applications and foster the growth of sustainable and prosperous federated platform ecosystems. This minitrack aims to research innovative progress in digitization regarding new challenges that arise, for instance, from the circular economy in industrial environments like production or supply chain systems. The first focus is on innovative approaches, such as open-source development as a strategic tool to conceptualize platform ecosystems and data-driven artifacts. The second focus emphasizes innovative business models to enable their development and instantiation. This includes papers on empirical studies from industrial contexts and theoretical works, further enhancing the overall canon of research. Additionally, reviews are welcomed under the condition that they provide novel insights.

The challenges of federated platform ecosystems and their data-driven artifacts include questions about the underlying concepts and architectures, data sharing and interoperability, data analysis and system optimization processes, data sovereignty, and data governance. Hence, this minitrack searches for papers that tackle these challenges and provide novel and innovative insights on open federated platform ecosystems and data-driven artifacts in industrial contexts. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Smart service systems and federated platform concepts in industrial operations
• Business models for federated platform ecosystems and data-driven artifacts
• The strategic use of open source in industrial operations (e.g., concepts and business models)
• The role of data trustees and data sovereignty in digital ecosystems
• Resiliency in production and supply networks
• Data acquisition, preparation, and storage techniques
• Design principles & procedure models for the industrial usage
• Realizations of synchronization between the real world and digital world
• Smart data models (harmonization of data for portability for different applications)
• Integration of connecting secure data spaces using standardized infrastructure (e.g., IDSA or Gaia-X)
• The assessment, integration, and use of novel technologies (e.g., digital twins, blockchain, artificial intelligence, modeling and simulation) in industrial platform ecosystems

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Hendrik van der Valk (Primary Contact)
TU Dortmund University
Hendrik.van-der-Valk@tu-dortmund.de

Estelle Duparc
TU Dortmund University
Estelle.Duparc@tu-dortmund.de

Nick Große
TU Dortmund University
Nick.Grosse@tu-dortmund.de

Joachim Hunker
Joachim Hunker TU Dortmund University
joachim.hunker@isst.fraunhofer.de

This minitrack invites research papers exploring intersections amongst generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and consumer-facing technological goods and services, such as augmented reality equipment, wearable devices, e-textiles, smart home products, biometric authenticators, virtual environments, mobile applications, and other facets of the data-driven economy in which consumers are immersed.

When consumer goods and services are intertwined with the Internet of Things (IoT), with virtual places (the metaverse), and even with people themselves (the human-machine merger), the result is an ever-expanding array of networked data streams. For consumers, the evolution of immersive equipment augmenting physical reality and embedded devices enhancing human capacity marks a sea change from earlier wearable technology like fitness monitors and smart watches. What happens, however, when GenAI—previously trained only on textual or imagery data—gets hold of these data? And what potential exists for GenAI to itself manipulate connections between humans and machines or even create entirely new realities in the virtual and physical worlds?

In this minitrack, we invite authors to submit new conceptual, empirical and theoretical submissions that address issues related to the intersections amongst GenAI and consumer-facing, data-driven technologies in a variety of contexts, including but not limited to the following themes:

• Emerging trends regarding the intersections and potential convergences of GenAI and IoT (e.g., in areas such as supply chain management, predictive maintenance, personalized customer experiences, smart cities/infrastructure, healthcare)
• Analysis of the successes, failures, winners, and losers at GenAI and IoT convergences
• Technologies, applications, legality, security and organizational issues related to GenAI and IoT, (g. biometrics, text analysis, smart technology data streams, and predictive sensing)
• Machine learning and big data management related to GenAI and IoT (g. storing, accessing, analyzing, and reacting to data)
• Data governance, ownership, and regulatory issues (g. data protection, privacy, intellectual property) at the intersection of GenAI and IoT.
• Opportunities and challenges related to consumer behavior (g., ethics concerns, algorithmic bias, human-machine interaction changes, behavioral modifications) with respect to wearable and embedded technologies in light of GenAI
• Key issues for innovators, developers, IT firms, and technology vendors

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Jeremy de Beer (Primary Contact)
University of Ottawa
jdebeer@uottawa.ca

Jan Kietzmann
University of Victoria
jkietzma@uvic.ca

FinTech continues to disrupt and reshape the financial services industry. The simultaneous emergence of a variety of technologies including cloud computing, big data analytics, machine learning, blockchain, and AI have accelerated this change. The need to build FinTech-related competencies among practitioners and researchers is apparent. Given the importance and the challenges of FinTech, this minitrack provides a platform for original studies on the topic. The following is a partial list of suggested topics:

• Disruption by FinTech on traditional financial services in global markets
• Emerging technologies in corporate finance and investment management
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence applications in finance
• Use of big data in finance
• Financial analytics in novel areas such as climate finance and ESG
• Blockchain technology, smart contracts, and digital currencies
• Alternative lending technologies and business models
• Crowd funding models and technologies
• Regulatory issues and challenges in FinTech

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Jahyun Goo (Primary Contact)
Florida Atlantic
University jgoo@fau.edu

C. Derrick Huang
Florida Atlantic University
dhuang@fau.edu

Ravi Behara
Florida Atlantic University
rbehara@fau.edu

Chul Woo Yoo
Florida Atlantic University
yooc@fau.edu

Digitalization has heavily disrupted how the hospitality and tourism industry delivers and markets its services, how work processes are organized, and how offerings are consumed. By adopting, adapting, or developing Information Systems (IS), hospitality and tourism organizations and their use of technology continually undergo a substantial transformation, often referred to as “digital transformation”. The tourism and hospitality industry are volatile, and constantly changing which have resulted in disrupted business models, the need to understand and embrace emerging platforms, and new technology use by consumers.

As we have moved into a post-pandemic phase, the hospitality and tourism industry is facing a new era where the conditions for the hospitality and tourism industry are reshaped through new realities like labor shortages, new work models (digital nomadism, work-from-home), inflation, political uncertainties, new leisure and travel patterns, and increasing tourism phobia among local residents. Furthermore, the ongoing debate on sustainability and climate change are also creating challenges forthe industry. Also, the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to gain a great deal of attention in the hospitality and tourism industry. The challenges and concerns are related to service robots, tourism models, augmented reality, virtual reality, and biometrics. Like other industries, there are also challenges with AI related to the interaction between both employees and customers. Thus, there is a need to develop practical and conceptual knowledge on the role of digital transformation in meeting these challenges and developing an industry that is resilient and sustainable.

For this minitrack, we seek to attract research contributions that extend existing research by focusing on socio-technical, organizational, managerial and/ or individual challenges of digital disruption and digital transformation in the hospitality and tourism industry. We welcome conceptual, empirical, and design- oriented contributions on macro, meso and micro levels of analysis for this mini- track. Potential topics include:

• Digital business strategy
  
• Digital business model development
  
• Big data analysis for strategic decision making
  
• Platform economy
  
• Smart tourism development
  
• Quality management and reputation management strategies
  
• Social media and online reviews
  
• Digital change management for the future of the tourism and hospitality industry
  
• Strategic digital innovation for the tourism and hospitality industry
  
• Digital communication and guest decision making
• Role of technology in regenerative tourism
• Responsible technology for tourism and hospitality
• Metaverse tourism
• Automation in tourism and hospitality, from innovation, marketing and service delivery to service recovery
• Digital transformation and organizational resilience in tourism and hospitality
• Technology-free tourism
• Crisis recovery and digitalization in tourism and hospitality
• Other related topics

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Karin Högberg (Primary Contact)
University West
Karin.hogberg@hv.se

lrike Gretzel
University of Southern California
gretzel@usc.edu

Selected papers will be invited for a fast-track in Electronic Markets – The International Journal on Networked Business. A Special Issue on “Applied Human-centricity in a Sustainable Digital Economy” at Electronic Markets is planned.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Soheil Human (Primary Contact)
Vienna University of Economics and Business
soheil.humann@wu.ac.at

Rainer Alt
Leipzig University
rainer.alt@uni-leipzig.de

Gustaf Neumann
Vienna University of Economics and Business
gustaf.neumann@wu.ac.at

As the Internet continues to transform the way we work, learn, and play, the design of user interfaces remains of critical importance. The aim of this mini-track is to provide a forum for HCI researchers to discuss a broad range of issues related to the design of user interfaces. Papers appropriate for the HCI mini-track may utilize one or more of a wide range of research methodologies including, but not limited to, behavioral methods (e.g.,case study, experimentation, survey, action research), neurophysiological tools (e.g.,fMRI, eye tracking, skin conductance response, and input devices such as the computer mouse, touch screen and typing dynamics), and design science approaches. Accordingly, papers may draw on various reference disciplines to inform design, such as computer science, information systems, consumer behavior, behavioral economics, psychology, organizational sciences, and neuroscience. Moreover, papers that help to bridge academic research and industry practice are welcome.

• Analysis, design, development, evaluation, and use of information systems
• Guidelines and standards for interface design
• Interface design for generative AI and prompt engineering
• Interface design of collaboration systems (group HCI)
• Design of online choice architectures
• Web-based user interface design and evaluation
• Design and evaluation issues for mobile devices and m-Commerce
• Interface design for FinTech applications
• Interface design for group and other collaborative environments
• Design issues related to the elderly, the young, and special needs populations
• Interface issues in the design and development of innovative interaction technologies
• Novel forms of authentication and authorization (e.g., using mousing or typing dynamics)
• Using information and sensors to detect user states (e.g., emotion, cognitive conflict) and create more intelligent interfaces
• The impact of interfaces on attitudes, emotion, perception, behavior, productivity, and performance
• Impact of digital nudges on online judgment and decision-making
• Impact of behavioral economics principles and website design implementation on privacy and trust
• Website designs/elements that encourage rational thinking and/or nudge users into certain behaviors
• Implications and consequences of technological change on individuals, groups, society, and socio-technical units
• Behavioral, neurophysiological, and design aspects of human-computer interaction
• Neuroscientific approaches to human-computer interaction
• Factors influencing usability (i.e., friction reduction), ease-of-use and the overall user experience
• Information systems usability engineering
• Issues related to teaching HCI courses
• Ethical issues related to the capture of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), behavioral biometric data, and nudging

There are opportunities for best papers of this minitrack to be fast-tracked to AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Christoph Schneider (Primary Contact)
IESE Business School
cschneider@iese.edu

Joe Valacich
University of Arizona
valacich@arizona.edu

Jeffrey Jenkins
Brigham Young University
jeffrey_jenkins@byu.edu

Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah
City University of Hong Kong
fiona.nah@cityu.edu.hk

In the realm of information systems (IS), regulation has emerged as a critical, yet oft-neglected, facet.The dynamic interplay between IS artifacts and the ever-growing body of regulatory obligations has unveiled a significant knowledge gap within our field. On the one hand, there is an increasing number of regulations that set requirements for the design of IS; on the other hand, the design of IS is an important factor in the realization of legal requirements.

This minitrack offers an opportunity to explore the intersection of IS and law. Submissions may address the role of IS in challenging existing and upcoming regulations or shaping the way regulations are implemented in IS design. In this regard, regulatory frameworks (e.g., Executive Order on AI in the US, European AI Act, CaliforniaConsumer Privacy Act, European General Data Protection Regulation, Digital Markets Act, DigitalServices Act) or specific normative aims (e.g., privacy, fairness, transparency, or accountability) maybe valuable for inquiry. This minitrack welcomes all conceptual, empirical, and theoretical studies that examine this interdisciplinary topic. Possible relevant topics for this minitrack might include, but are not limited to:

• Reciprocal influence of IS and regulation (e.g., regarding AI or privacy)
• Regulatory compliance in IS design
• Impact of regulation on organizations (e.g., ecosystems, enterprise architectures, AI systems)
• Studies at the intersection of IS and law (e.g., novel interdisciplinary approaches)
• Comparative analysis of regulations and their implications for IS
• Governance strategies and practices for lawful IS
• Privacy implications of distributed data processing among multiple actors
• Utilizing AI for compliance with legal requirements
• Training practitioners for legal compliance in IS development and use
• Detrimental effects from legal frameworks (e.g., on innovation)

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Fabian Burmeister (Primary Contact)
Universität Hamburg
fabian.burmeister@uni-hamburg.de

Christian Kurtz
Universität Hamburg
christian.kurtz@uni-hamburg.de

Niva Elkin-Koren
Tel Aviv University
elkiniva@tauex.tau.ac.il

Tobias Mast
Leibniz Institute for Media Research, Hans-Bredow-Institut
t.mast@leibniz-hbi.de

This minitrack provides a venue for innovative research that rigorously addresses the risks to information system security and privacy, with a specific focus on individual behaviors within this nomological net. Domains include work related to detecting, mitigating, and preventing both internal and external human threats to organizational security. Papers may include theory development, empirical studies (both quantitative and qualitative), case studies, and other high-quality research manuscripts.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Creative investigations of actual user security behavior, both positive and negative
• Detecting and mitigating insider threats
• Security policy compliance research – motivations, antecedents, levers of influence
• Research contrasting policy compliance with actual secure behaviors
• Analysis of known and unknown modes and vectors of internal and external attack
• Explorations of the impact of generative AI and ML/LLM on security outcomes
• SETA (security education, training, and awareness) programs
• Cyber security professionals harnessing AI to enhance defense
• Modeling of security and privacy behavioral phenomena and relationships
• Studies examining privacy-related behaviors from a “privacy paradox” perspective
• Merging methodological topics related to addressing research strategies in IS security
• Translational science perspectives and strategies for IS security/privacy research
• Theory development, theory building, and theory testing in information security
• Neurosecurity (NeuroIS) investigations of information security behavior
• Explorations of emerging issues related to the security of the “Internet of Things” (ioT)

This mintrack will provide IS/IT researchers a collaborative forum to share their research approaches. We hope to attract the skills and insights of scholars from a wide set of disciplines, presenting a mix of theoretical and applied papers on threats and mitigation. Areas of research may include the following.

1. Research related to insider threats to information security and privacy represent the first and most important thread for the minitrack. Insider threats include activities ranging from non-malicious and non-volitional behaviors (accidents and oversights) to volitional, but not malicious, actions to malicious actions such as theft, fraud, blackmail, sabotage, and embezzlement.
2. External vectors of attack by individuals and organizations outside the security perimeter represent the second thread for this minitrack. Specific topics of interest include hacker behaviors, cyber-warfare, identity theft (and electronic deception), and cyber-espionage, including most offensive and defensive methods of prevention, detection, and remediation. Other external parties are motivated to use IT to damage or steal trade secrets, national security information, sensitive account information, or other valuable assets.
3. A third thread revolves around security policy compliance, both at the individual and organizational level of analysis. Compliance is not merely a binary concept – it is a continuum. Individuals may minimally comply with formal security and privacy policies and procedures, or they may exhibit extra-role or stewardship behaviors that go above and beyond official compliance. Similarly, individuals may carelessly violate organizational security policies and procedures without malicious intent or they may attempt to cause maximum damage or loss. In some cases, compliant behavior may not be secure and truly secure behavior may constitute policy violation behavior, so more nuanced research designs are needed.
4. Modeling and theory building in the context of IS security and privacy represents yet another interesting area. Theoretical development in information systems security and privacy research is immature relative to other areas of study in the information systems discipline. This sub-discipline of information systems continues to suffer from a limited theoretical base, restricting our collective ability to properly interpret reality, to apply appropriate methodological approaches, and to substantiate conclusions. Adaptation of theories from applied social psychology and criminology are particularly fertile areas for expanding our knowledge base in this domain. Theories from the disciplines of management, education, and others may also inform our understanding of the phenomena of interest.
5. Finally, we have a particular interest in emerging, rigorous research methods for investigating these phenomena. Organizational-level research can be improved, but studies conducted at the individual level, in particular, can benefit from new experimental designs and new data collection methods. Examples include neurophysiological (NeuroIS) methods such as EEG or fMRI, the factorial survey method, and simulations.

Important: Each coauthor of a paper submitted to our minitrack is obligated to review at least one other paper for the minitrack. Failure of any one coauthor to review for the minitrack may result in the rejection of the coauthor’s paper from the minitrack.

Select papers from this mini track will be fast tracked by the minitrack chairs to the Journal of Intellectual Capital (Emerald Publishing)

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Merrill Warkentin (Primary Contact)
Mississippi State University
m.warkentin@msstate.edu

Allen Johnston
University of Alabama
ajohnston@cba.ua.edu

Anthony Vance
Virginia Tech
Anthony@Vance.name

Karen Renaud
Strathclyde University
karen.renaud@strath.ac.uk

Online social networks (OSN) are rapidly changing our e-commerce society from transaction- based to relationship-based. They are increasingly being used to obtain information, opinions, recommendations, and comparisons and to view discussions to make digital shopping decisions. Often consumers are faced with purchase dilemmas and there are many questions in one’s mind that could  potentially affect the outcome of the purchase decision.

With the ubiquity of recommender and comparison systems in digital social commerce engines and multi-sided platforms like Amazon, Alibaba, eBuy, Buy.com, and Facebook, more studies are appearing with regard to online information search fueling the purchasing power of shoppers. Online social media such as blogs, wikis, forums, and social networks are significantly impacting the shopping behaviors in all demographics.

How shopping decisions are taken with the support of OSN and how these networks influence purchase behavior has not been explored sufficiently in research. Although the usage of OSN is growing rapidly, there is a poor understanding of how OSN can provide support and influence purchase decisions in general.

The objective of this minitrack is to obtain insights and develop theoretical and practical understanding on topics and issues related to the influence of OSN on consumption orientated shopping decisions. We welcome conceptual, theoretical, and empirical papers that enrich our understanding of OSN and its design and how they support, influence and manipulate shopping decisions. All methodological approaches are welcome. Topics of interest in the context of social shopping include but are not limited to:

• Shopping Decision Making and Decision Support
• Social experiences and engagement
• Co-creation of value on multisided platforms
• Shopping in the Metaverse
• Physical, Electronic, Mobile, Social and Metaverse Commerce Models
• Group shopping sites, communities and marketplaces
• Influence, persuasion, and peer pressure
• Market manipulation and incentives
• Advertising, marketing and recommender systems
• Shopping gamification and shopping games
• Consumerism, compulsive and addictive shopping
• Fraud, deception, governance, risk, compliance, security and privacy
• Gen-X, Y, Z, millennial shopping
• Age, gender, and demographics
• OSN post purchase cognitive dissonance
• Processes, systems, tools and technologies to support social commerce

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Gabrielle Peko (Primary Contact)
University of Auckland
g.peko@auckland.ac.nz

Valeria Sadovykh
University of Auckland
valeriasadovykh@gmail.com

David Sundaram
University of Auckland
d.sundaram@auckland.ac.nz

Ghazwan Hassna
Hawaii Pacific University
ghassna@hpu.edu

We have recently witnessed a remarkable societal transformation driven by innovation and entrepreneurship with digital technologies to create novel products, services, and business models. This transformation fueled the so-called ‘Web 2.0 platform economy’, featuring a host of powerful platform companies capitalizing from network effects and centralized data collection at a mass scale. However, a new wave of digital innovation is challenging the hegemony ofWeb2, fueled in the wake of Web3 ecosystems and networks.

The goal of this minitrack is to examine the antecedents, processes, contingencies, and outcomes of digital innovation and transformation in the context of the emergence of Web3. The minitrack offers a venue for original and innovative research that explores how Web3 technologies and ecosystems impact and alter digital innovation logics and institutional arrangements through transformative processes. The minitrack solicits paper submissions in three categories

1) Web3 Technologies

Web3 broadly refers to a set of decentralized technologies using blockchain, decentralized storage, and self-sovereign identity. It exhibits novel properties that enable trustless data exchange, the encapsulation and encoding of value, the peer-to-peer transfer and exchange of value across jurisdictions, and novel organizational arrangements for creating and capturing value, among other things. Submissions in this category investigate the unique properties of emerging Web3 technologies and how they shape emerging networks, markets, ecosystems, organizations, and institutions. Topics can include:

• Web3 technology characteristics (e.g., decentralization, immutability, trustlessness, token-based, smart contracts, interoperability, open-source)
• Decentralized governance and self-governing capabilities of Web3 technologies
• Decentralized data storage and computation
• Decentralized identities and agents
• Decentralized verifiable data exchange and presentation standards
• DIDComm-based data architectures and governance models
• Decentralized AI models, frameworks, and architectures
• Token economics
• The role of tokens for governance and exchange
• Scalability of public and private blockchains
• Privacy and security issues and solutions in Web3 ecosystems
• Socio-technical processes of tokenization, smart contract development, and Web3 design
• Societal impact of Web3 technologies in institutional contexts
• Interoperability of distributed ledger technologies in different industries
• Blockchain systems for enterprises, governments, movements, and other organizations

2) Web3-based Digital Innovation

Submissions in this category investigate the role and functions of digital Web3 technologies within innovative products or services, and how these technologies impact consequent innovation (e.g., questions of architecture, infrastructure, platform design and governance, standards and means of tokenization and value exchange). Topics can include:

• Web3 digital product/service architectures
• Designing personalized digital services using Web3
• Integration of Web3 with IoT, Metaverse, and AI to design digital products or services
• B2B models using trusted data framework
• The emergence of new forms of organizing
• Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
• Decentralized self-sovereign data assets
• Network effects with Web3 ecosystems
• Organizing for innovation in Web3 ecosystems and networks
• Token-based business models
• Smart contract solutions
• Tokenized social networks

3) Web3-based Digital Transformation

As organizations transition from the traditional value-chains or centralized Web 2.0 platform economy to the decentralized world of Web3 ecosystems, they need to transform their modus operandi in ways that leverage innovations that build on Web3 technologies. Submissions in this category investigate change processes that necessarily follow from attempts to induce and enable organizational change by using Web3 innovations. Topics include:

• Decentralized data dashboards and analytics
• Integration of decentralized architecture with centralized enterprise systems
• Design of Web3 decentralized digital ecosystems
• Growth and evolution of Web3 decentralized digital ecosystems
• Economic and legal implications of Web3 decentralized digital ecosystems
• Value creation and value capture in Web3 decentralized digital ecosystems
• The transformation of platform governance
• The creation of novel business models and strategies in Web3 ecosystems
• Design, structure, evolution, and economics of Web3 decentralized digital platform ecosystems
• Decentralized credit systems
• Societal and legal implications of innovation with Web3 technologies
• Cultural, technical, cognitive and institutional barriers and enables in adopting Web3 ecosystems

The types of studies that we welcome in the minitrack include an explicit focus on a particular form or function of Web3 in the context of its properties, innovation, or transformation. We welcome all forms of research inquiry, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed, and conceptual papers.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Ola Henfridsson (Primary Contact)
University of Miami
ohenfridsson@miami.edu

Robert Gregory
University of Miami
rwgregory@miami.edu

Youngjin Yoo
Case Western Reserve University
yxy23@case.edu