Join Robert Davison and Alan Dennis as they discuss how to choose good and relevant research topics. Moderated by Amber Young, Davison and Dennis will focus on positioning and motivation to improve the overall contribution to IS research. Additionally, the discussion will focus on the limitations of gap-spotting and the position that research should be meaningful in its academic and practical implications.

About the Speakers:

Robert Davison is a Professor of Information Systems at the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the use and misuse of information systems, especially with respect to problem solving, guanxi formation and knowledge management, in Chinese organisations. He is particularly known for his scholarship in the domain of action research. He has published over 200 articles in a variety of journals. Within the AIS, Robert chaired the research ethics committee for many years. Robert currently chairs the IFIP WG 9.4 (The Implications of Information and Digital Technologies for Development) and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Information Systems Journal and the Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries. As a researcher and as an editor, he seeks to promote both an inclusive and an indigenous perspective to research.

Alan Dennis is past AIS president and Professor of Information Systems and holds the John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He was named a Fellow of the Association for Information Systems in 2012. He has written more than 150 research papers, and has won numerous awards for his theoretical and applied research. His research focuses on three main themes: team collaboration; IT for the subconscious; and digital innovation. He is Editor-in-Chief of AIS Transactions on Replication Research, and Editor-in-Chief of Foundations and Trends in Information Systems.

Amber Young is Director of the ISYS PhD Program and Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas. Her research focuses on how organizations can design and implement technologies for social good and human empowerment. She is concerned with the effects of technology on individuals’ humanity and dignity. Dr. Young’s work has been published in MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Information & Organization, Communications of the AIS, The London School of Economics Business Review, and various IS conferences. She is on the editorial board of Information & Organization.