#11 Introducing the Student Membership Scholarship Fund

AIS is excited to introduce an all new scholarship program dedicated to helping doctoral students fund their memberships within the association.

Targeted toward students at universities in countries classified with Medium or Low UN Human Development Index ratings, this new membership scholarship provides complete access to all AIS membership programs and services, included the eLibrary, career services, educational resources and more.

The initial funding source for the program was developed by a group of independent IS scholars and AIS with the goal of expanding the reach of the association to be more inclusive.

"We are grateful for the member support of this important new scholarship," said AIS Membership Director, Melissa Heeke. "We hope many future PhD students are able to take advantage of this exciting new program to further their own professional pursuits in the field of information systems."

To learn more about the Scholarship Program or apply, visit https://aisnet.org/page/studentmembershipscholarship.

The Association for Information Systems Grand Challenge initiative is a call for action for AIS Communities to explore ways to promote discussion within and across communities to promote pedagogy and research that utilizes IS to tackle a major societal issue.

Many AACSB accredited schools may be already having discussions to engage/encourage their faculty to work on projects that aligns with United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development goals.

While AIS is aware that IS Scholars have been or are working on addressing societal problems, this initiative encourages AIS Communities to have a formal discussion to further the initiative. 

AIS will support one or more communities who would like to lead the effort.

For ex. AIS is supporting SIG Green’s Sustainability Summit, to be held in conjunction with ICIS 2019, to:

• Stimulate AIS members involvement in creating a sustainable society
•  Learn the current state of sustainability action by asking interested AIS communities to briefly present the scope, impact, and focus on sustainability of its current and planned activities
• Present a SIGGreen identified portfolio of AIS supported sustainability projects
• Identify AIS members motivated to contribute to the proposed AIS sustainability projects

Are you ready to take action?

Would you like to engage in this initiative?  Please send an email with suggestions or questions to iyerLs@appstate.edu.

#9 AIS Introduces InPractice

AIS InPractice is an exciting new feature targeting IS practitioners and students!

Published monthly, InPractice showcases articles published in the AIS journals (JAIS, CAIS, PAJAIS, AIS THCI, TRR, and MISQE). Authors of newly uploaded eLibrary papers will be invited to voluntarily prepare and submit a brief synopsis of their paper targeting practitioners. Dennis Galletta serves as the AIS InPractice editor.

This month’s InPractice highlights: Addressing Key Challenges to Making Enterprise Blockchain Applications a Reality by Mary Lacity, A Ten-Step Decision Path to Determine when to use Blockchain Technologies by Asger B. Pedersen, and BBVA’s Data Monetization Journey by Elena Alfaro.

In Practice is currently a free newsletter for all AIS members and former practitioner members. If you would like to forward to practitioners and colleagues please feel free to do so or add them to our mailing list by contacting communications@aisnet.org. For questions, please contact Dennis Galletta at GALLETTA@pitt.edu.

#8 Celebrating ICIS and AIS

As a part of the 25 for 25 Campaign, AIS will be gathering members from around the world to celebrate the successes of our field at ICIS 2019 in Munich.

This exciting celebration not only honors AIS’ 25 years of serving society, but also the 40th anniversary of ICIS. Four days of conference activities will culminate with an exciting social event at the Löwenbräukeller, a historic German beer hall great for celebrating. The location offers authentic and modern Bavarian cuisine, Bavarian beer specialties, live music and much more.

ICIS 2019 will also feature additional AIS anniversary programs, such as the roll out of the AIS Genealogy Project!

To learn more about ICIS and register at the early bird rate, please visit https://icis2019.aisconferences.org/.   

#7 Introducing the AIS Distinguished Member Program

In the June 2019 AIS Council Meeting, the AIS VP Membership Ryan Wright (along with incoming AIS VP Membership Helle Zinner Henriksen) proposed and AIS Council approved the formation of a two tiered Distinguished Member Designation to recognize AIS Members who have made a significant impact on AIS. AIS Members can self-nominate or be nominated for the new member designation. After nomination, the VP of Membership and Chapters will make the final selections based on information provided. This new program is a part of the AIS 25 for 25 Campaign. To learn more about the 25 for 25 Campaign, click here. 

Distinguished Member

The first tier of designation is Distinguished Member. These members must have a minimum of five years of continuous AIS membership, play a significant role in AIS or related AIS activity, and at least one publication in an AIS or AIS affiliated journal.

Distinguished Member - Cum Laude

The second tier is Distinguished Member – Cum Laude. To receive this designation, the recipient must have been a continuous AIS member for at least 10 years, play a leadership role in AIS or related AIS activity, and have been published in at least four publications in AIS or AIS affiliated journal.

Both levels of Distinguished Members will receive recognition on the AIS website, designation on an AIS membership card, a printable certificate for tenure packets, and AIS memorabilia to recognize the designation.

To submit yourself or a member for consideration, please visit https://aisnet.org/page/distinguishedmember.

#6 Tackling Sustainability and Climate Change

In mid-2018, AIS SIGGreen member asked “How can the AIS make more meaningful contributions to addressing the global challenges of Sustainability and Climate Change?” The response was to form a working group of SIGGreen members with representatives from all AIS regions to prepare a proposal for action. A draft proposal was presented to SIGGreen members at a pre-ICIS workshop in December 2018.

After further discussions with SIGGreen members and other key stakeholders, a revised  proposal was adopted by AIS as one of the major initiatives of the 25-for-25 Campaign.

The Sustainability Challenge provides opportunities for AIS members to apply their capabilities and experience in AIS’ core competencies to make meaningful contributions to Sustainability and Climate Change. The Sustainability Challenge will be implemented in five stages: Foundation; Research; Education; Advocacy; and Advisory.

The initial event is a pre-ICIS event in Munich – the Sustainability Summit 2019 – which will examine the breadth of contributions by AIS groups and identify opportunities for collaboration among AIS members and groups on future projects. Please join us at the Pre-ICIS Sustainability Summit 2019 to learn more and find ways to contribute. For further information, please contact sustainability.queries@aisnet.org

The members of the SIGGreen Sustainability Working Group include: Steve Elliot (Coordinator), Pratyush Bharati, Jacqueline Corbett, Wolf Ketter, Johann Kranz, Nigel Melville, Stefan Seidel, Rick Watson and Jane Webster. 

#5 The AIS Genealogy Project

As part of ICIS 2019 and the AIS 25th Anniversary, we are excited to announce an interactive family tree of members of the information systems field. This family tree will show how we are connected through our dissertation committees. You will be able to see your academic grandparents and grandchildren, academic aunts, and uncles, and academic cousins. It will enable members to view the web of connections in our field.

The Genealogy project will be debuted at ICIS 2019 in Munich. To make this possible, we need input from all PhD graduates. Please take 3 minutes to complete the form listing your Doctoral Chair name as well as the names and emails of your committee members. We will email each person you list to ask their permission to be included. Participation is voluntary. Submit your information today!

#4 AIS/IBM Global Conference Partnership

To promote AIS as a global association working toward serving society, AIS and IBM have created a first-of-its kind Global Conference Partnership in conjunction with the 25 for 25 Campaign.

This Global Conference Partnership initiative connects IBM Academic programs with AIS members throughout the globe with workshops at each of our association’s major conferences, as well as the AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference.

At AMCIS, ECIS, PACIS and ICIS IBM will feature half-day pre-conference workshops free for attendees. At AMCIS, IBM-Z – The Secret to Security, Hybrid Cloud, Open Source, IoT and DevOps will be presented on Thursday, August 15. During the workshop, attendees will learn what makes unique mainframes architecture the perfect platform for the most advanced cybersecurity, machine learning, APIs, IoT, cloud and DevOps. Attendees get hands-on with a variety of pre-packaged hands-on activities ready to use in the classroom, computing club and other events.

“We are so excited to partner with IBM and help bring real-time hands-on experience to our members,” said AIS Associate Executive Director Matt Nelson. “This partnership helps us to promote the association as a global leader for excellence in information systems research, practice and education.”

#3 IS 2020 Recommendations for Undergraduate Programs in IS

AIS, in collaboration with ACM and EDSIG, is pleased to announce the formation of the IS 2020 Task Force to develop the next generation of undergraduate curriculum recommendations, and invites you to volunteer to help. This initiative is part of the 25 for 25 Campaign to advance the field of Information Systems.

AIS has contributed to the development of curriculum recommendations in Information Systems throughout its lifetime. Soon after its founding in 1994, AIS participated in the development of IS’97 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems, followed by IS 2002 and IS 2010 at the undergraduate level and MSIS 2000, MSIS 2006, and MSIS 2016 at the graduate level. These documents were all developed in collaboration with ACM and in some cases also with AITP/EDSIG. These curriculum recommendations have been widely cited and used around the world.

Given this history, it is highly appropriate that one of the 25th anniversary initiatives for AIS is the launch of the process to revise IS 2010 and develop a new curriculum recommendation for undergraduate programs in IS. The IS 2020 project is a collaborative effort between AIS, ACM and EDSIG, bringing together the coalition that successfully developed IS’97 and IS 2002. It is co-chaired by Hannu Salmela (University of Turku; AIS; hannu.salmela@utu.fi) and Paul Leidig (Grand Valley State University; ACM; leidigp@gvsu.edu).

The task force was established during the 2018-19 academic year, and it will have its first face-to-face meeting in the context of AMCIS 2019. The task force represents the global reach and membership of all participating organizations, bringing together eleven members from five countries and four continents: Hannu Salmela (AIS co-chair), Paul Leidig (ACM co-chair), Greg Anderson (Brigham Young University, AIS), Jeffry Babb (West Texas A&M University, EDSIG), Lesley Gardner (University of Auckland, AIS), Jay F. Nunamaker (University of Arizona, ACM), Brenda Scholtz (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, ACM), Venky Shankararaman (Singapore Management University, AIS), Raja Sooriamurthi (CMU, ACM), Mark Thouin (UT Dallas, ACM), and Carina de Villiers (University of Pretoria, AIS). Many thanks to the task force members!

As the earlier initiatives, the IS 2020 project will be a highly interactive one, reaching out to the members of AIS, ACM, and EDSIG and broad range of industry representatives to ask them to share their views and experiences to guide the task force and provide it with ideas to consider. In addition, the task force will be studying the use and usefulness of earlier curriculum recommendations within institutions of higher education. The project as a whole is an exciting opportunity for the global Information Systems community to come together and articulate our latest thinking and best practices regarding undergraduate education, one of our key reasons for existence. The task force and AIS leadership invite you to participate actively in this important initiative—thank you in advance for your contributions!

#2 Three Bocconi Travel Grants Awarded

AIS is excited to announce three winners of the recently announced AIS - Bocconi PhD Student Travel Grant.

The Ph.D. Student Travel Grant Program is named after Bocconi University.  ICIS 2013 in Milan Italy was chaired by Ferdinando Pennarola and Jorg Becker and hosted by Bocconi University.  This Award is named after Bocconi University in recognition of their successful hosting of ICIS 2013 in Milan Italy and their generous contributions to the Association. 

Winners of the award include Shadi Esnaashari, Afef Awadid, and Ibrahim Inway.

Esnaashari, from University of Auckland, is a third-year PhD student and will be presenting at AMCIS 2019 in Cancun. Awadid, from University of Paris will be presenting the paper "Overlap-driven approach for the conceptualization of consistency preserving modeling tools" at AMCIS 2019. Inway, from American University of Nigeria, has presented at the UK Academy for Information Systems, as well as at IFIP 2019 in Tanzania.

Candidates for the award were selected based upon the progression in their doctoral program, the benefits of attending a conference and their role as an author, reviewer, attendee, presenter or other form of participation. To learn more about the AIS & Bocconi PhD Student Travel Grant, please visit https://aisnet.org/page/TravelGrants.

#1 Celebrating AIS at AMCIS 2019

The first initiative of the 25 for 25 Campaign is honoring AIS Members contributions toward serving society in the advancement of knowledge and excellence in the study and profession of information systems over the past 25 years.  This celebration highlights 25 years of our community's contributions in teaching, researching and expanding the field of information systems.  

AMCIS 2019 in Cancun, Mexico will include interactive history displays, special announcements, and a social event filled with surprises set against a gorgeous waterfront backdrop.