HOW MANY CONFERENCES DOES A GLOBAL COMMUNITY NEED? (7 October 2026)

Description

Jan and Nick admittedly know only little about all the different IS research initiatives happening all over the planet. Time to change that. We talk with Mazen Shawosh, Founder and Past-President of the Saudi Association for Information Systems (SaudiAIS), and Nui Vatanasakdakul, founding President of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Chapter and the Thailand Chapter of the Association for Information Systems, President of the Qatar AIS Chapter, and a founding member of SIG Green. Both Mazen and Nui are super active and engaged in building IS communities in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. We learn that many IS scholars exist around the world that may or may not be formal association members, that training and incentive systems differ across communities, and that registration and membership fees can present steep barriers in some parts of the world. But we also learn that all IS scholars share a sense of phenomenon and interest, a vision for how IS scholarship can help business and society in different regions, an aspiration to become better in research, and a desire to belong in a global community.

Episode Reading List

  • Techatassanasoontorn, A. A., Waizenegger, L., & Doolin, B. When Harry, the Human, met Sally, the Software Robot: Metaphorical Sensemaking and Sensegiving Around an Emergent Digital Technology. Journal of Information Technology, 38(4), 416–441.
  • Gartenberg, C., Hasan, S., Murray, A., & Pierce, L. (2026). More Versus Better: Artificial Intelligence, Incentives, and the Emerging Crisis in Peer Review. Organization Science, 37(3), 795–812.
  • Bhargava, H. K., Bana, S. H., Zhang, Z., Brandimarte, L., Choudhary, V., Li, J. F., Loupos, P., & Zantedeschi, D. (2026). Fighting Fire with Fire: Infusing Artificial Intelligence into Peer Review to Sustain Quality Scholarship. Management Science, 72(9), 7381–7393.
  • Vogel, D., Vatanasakdakul, N., Alias, R. A., Clarke, R. J., Kankanhalli, A., Zaza, S., & Henriksen, H. Z. (2021). PACIS Panel: Roles, Activities, and Opportunities for AIS Chapters. In: 2021 Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, paper 252.
  • Urquhart, C., Niederman, F., & Bailey, A. (2024). Editorial: What is the Future of AIS Conferences in Our Community? Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 54(47), 937–948.
  • AlMarzouq, M., Yoo, Y., Karhade, P., Grisold, T., Alashoor, T., Shawosh, M., & Albashrawi, M. A. (2025). Digital Transformation in the IS field: GREAT Research Opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 57(1), 271–288.
  • Österle, H., Becker, J., Ulrich, F., Hess, T., Karagiannis, D., Krcmar, H., Loos, P., Mertens, P., Oberweis, A., & Sinz, E. J. (2010). Memorandum on Design-oriented Information Systems Research. European Journal of Information Systems, 20(1), 7–10.
  • Buhl, H. U., Müller, G., Fridgen, G., & Röglinger, M. (2012). Business and Information Systems Engineering: A Complementary Approach to Information Systems – What We Can Learn from the Past and May Conclude from Present Reflection on the Future. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(4), 236–253.
  • Clarke, R. J., Ridley, G., Gregor, S., Smyth, R. W., & Gable, G. G. (Eds.). (2008). The Information Systems Academic Discipline in Australia. ANU Press.
  • Ahuja, M. (2024). Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations for AIS Conferences. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 54(46), 949–959.
  • Hsu, C., Lin, Z., Tuunanen, T., Venkatesh, V. (2026). Call for Papers: Special Issue on Indigenous Theory Development. MIS Quarterly,https://misq.umn.edu/pages/call_for_papers_indigenous_theory_development.

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