Knowledge Innovation and Entrepreneurial Systems

The Knowledge, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Systems (KIES) track examines the evolving nature of work and society. Organizations face competitive, political and cultural pressures to achieve more with fewer resources while leveraging their collective knowledge for success. Knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial systems are designed to enhance collaboration, socialization, and work processes, improving the capture, storage, transfer and flow of knowledge. These systems foster creativity, innovation, and organizational learning, supporting continuous improvement.

This track explores the factors influencing the development, adoption, use and success of these systems, including culture, measurement, governance and management, storage and communication technologies, and process modeling. It also addresses societal drivers such as an aging workforce, remote work, and the need for distributed knowledge sharing and collaboration in geographically dispersed organizations and societies. Competitive pressures further demand rapid adaptation and change across all types of organizations.

Increasingly, these systems rely on analytics to optimize knowledge assets. The track also examines the societal implications of these systems in the context of the “new normal,” addressing challenges such as disinformation, social identity, social justice, remote socialization, resource allocation, and decision-making, encompassing automated, augmented, artificial and human-based approaches.

Initially, fifteen minitracks accepted paper submissions in June 2025, three more minitracks than in 2024:

• AI Assistants and Generative AI for Knowledge Creation, Retention, and Use
• Artificial Intelligence in Knowledge Management (new)
• Computing Education
• EdTech and Emerging Technologies (new)
• Entrepreneurship and Emerging Technologies (new)
• Future and KM: The Future of Knowledge Management – Futuring and Design in Knowledge Management
• Game-based Learning
• Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education
• Impact of Knowledge and AI Systems
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
• Intelligent Agents in Education and Training (new)
• Knowledge Flows, Transfer, Sharing, and Exchange
• Potentials and Risks of Artificial Intelligence for Researchers (new)
• Push for Responsible Knowledge Management in Organizations from a Resilience Perspective (new)
• Technical, Socio-Economic, and Ethical Aspects of AI

We received a record-breaking 119 submissions, of which 53 were accepted for presentation at the conference, resulting in an acceptance rate of 44.54%.

We deeply appreciate the tireless efforts of our minitrack chairs, submitting authors, reviewers, and HICSS administrators, who consistently work to build, support, and strengthen this vibrant community of scholars and friends. Mahalo! We look forward to welcoming you all in person at the next conference in January 2026 in Maui.

A special thank you goes to our dear friend Dave Croasdell (“The Big Kahuna”). Over his nearly three decades of involvement with HICSS, Dave was a founding member of the KM/OM/OL minitrack cluster, which evolved through the Knowledge Systems track into the KIES track, now hosting sessions all day across all three conference days. His dedication and inspiration have significantly shaped the track’s development over the years. Among the many cherished memories from our time together at HICSS and in Hawaii, the dinner at Mama’s Fish House stands out as particularly special.

Aloha!

Murray Jennex
West Texas A&M University
mjennex@wtamu.edu

Stefan Smolnik
University of Hagen, Germany
stefan.smolnik@fernuni-hagen.de