Management of the Interconnected World: ItAIS: The Italian Association for Information Systems. This item is unavailable.Management of the Interconnected World: ItAIS: The Italian Association for Information Systems

* Joey F. George I was honored to be asked to open the VI Conference of the Italian Chapter of the Association for Information Systems (ItAIS), held in Olbia, on the Costa Smeralda of Sardinia, Italy, in October 2009. Over 90 research papers were presented over two days, and over 120 people attended the conference. Each day, five par- lel sessions featured papers on diverse information systems topics. Session themes included Information and Knowledge Management; Organizational Change and Impact of ICT; IS Quality, Metrics and Impact; E-Justice and Ethics of Information Systems; Information Systems Development and Design Methodo- gies; E-Services in Public and Private Sectors; Innovation Transfer of IT Research Projects; the Strategic Role of Information Systems; Accounting Management and Information Systems; Human Computer Interaction; and Emerging Issues in a Globalized and Interconnected World. The majority of attendees were from Italy, which would be expected for a meeting of the Italian Chapter of AIS. However, as much as 30% of participants came from elsewhere, from other parts of Europe to be sure, but also from as far away as Nigeria, Mexico and Australia. That the conference was so decidedly international provides support for the 2009 con- rence theme, “Achieving Fusion in the Interconnected World. ” Amid lively d- cussion and intellectual exchanges, professional networks were extended well beyond the Costa Smeralda and new connections and friendships were made.

The ItAIS (http://www.itais.org) is the Italian chapter of the Association for Information Systems (AIS: http://www.aisnet.org), which brings together both individual and institutional members. The Italian chapter was established in 2003, and since then, it has promoted the exchange of ideas, experience and knowledge among academics and professionals in Italy who are devoted to the development, management, organization and use of Information Systems. The contents of this book are based on a selection of the best papers presented at the Annual Conference of the ItAIS, held in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, in October 2009. The book recognizes the need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach, uniting different disciplines in both the theory and the practice of information systems to create a comprehensive work presenting the latest findings on this subject. The contributions aim to disseminate academic knowledge and will be particularly relevant to practitioners in the field.