Internet and the Digital Economy

The Internet and Digital Economy (I&DE) track focuses on the ways in which the Internet affects people, groups, organizations, and societies (e.g., markets, social networks), as well as fundamental issues in the development and operation of the Internet and Internet applications (e.g., security, open source, and cloud).

Like many other tracks at HICSS, I&DE has a long history, dating to 1997 when it became a standalone minitrack. Over the years there have been nearly 90 different minitracks held and more than 1700 research papers delivered. Among the variety of minitracks some of the key mainstays have included: AI-based Assistants, Crowd-Based Platforms, Crowdsourcing and Digital Workforce, Electronic Marketing, Human-Computer Interaction, Behavioral Security and Privacy, Esports, Social Commerce, Digital Supply Chain, and the Internet of Everywhere.

This year the track includes 23 minitracks. Across these minitracks, we received 190 submissions, accepting 90, resulting in a 47.4 percent acceptance rate. This year’s minitracks are described below:

Actors, Agents, and Avatars: Visualizing Digital Humans in E-Commerce and Social Media. This minitrack focuses on the visualization and application of digital human characters in the context of E-commerce and social media disciplines. This minitrack is a place for researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to share their research and ideas on a variety of important issues and topics related to digital humans.

Artificial Intelligence-based Assistants and Platforms. This minitrack is primarily focused on two types of AI-based assistants. First, virtual personal assistants and chatbots, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, enable the interaction of human beings with applications in new ways. Second, AI-based assistants replacing humans interfacing between two or more application systems.

Crowd-Based Platforms. This minitrack examines the design and effects of a variety of crowd-based platforms including crowdsourcing context, online labor, crowdfunding marketplaces and online-communities. Research in this area originates from various methodologies such as econometrics, field or lab experimentation, field surveys, analytic modeling, or grounded theory approaches.

Crowdsourcing and Digital Workforce in the Gig Economy. This minitrack examines theoretical and empirical studies addressing organizational, managerial, technical, and behavioral perspectives on digital work and crowd work. Research that lies at the intersection of multiple disciplines, namely Information Technology, Organization Science, Human Resource Management, and Behavioral Science will inform innovation in digital work and work re-design.

Cybercrime. This minitrack aim is to give insights and develop a theoretical and practical understanding of issues related to cybercrime using any methodological approach, including conceptual, theoretical, empirical and methodological papers that enrich our understanding of illegal online practices.

The Dark and Bright Sides of the Metaverse. The Metaverse has opportunities for various applications, from creating new revenue streams to reducing operational costs. There are also opportunities beyond what the physical world offers to users. The focus of this minitrack is the governance of the Metaverse, with particular attention to the dark and bright sides of it, welcoming both theoretical and empirical studies.

Designing Data Ecosystems: Value, Impacts, and Fundamentals. This minitrack focuses on exploring the fundamentals of data ecosystems from multiple perspectives. Such topics include studies that discover the meaning of data sharing, classification of ecosystems, business value within different domains, the influence of differing technologies, governance mechanisms, and various aspects of sustainability, security, and privacy.

Diffusion, Impacts, Adoption and Usage of ICTs, Including AI upon Society. This minitrack provides a global perspective on the diffusion, adoption, and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including AI, across various societal sectors such as households, enterprises, governments, and communities. Covering a range of technologies—from broadband and mobile devices to blockchain, AI, and IoT—the minitrack aims to shed light on how, when, and why these ICTs are used and their impacts.

Digital Supply Chain of the Future: Applications, Implications, Business Models. This minitrack examines the impact of digital transformation on supply chains, emphasizing the shift from traditional linear models to agile, data-driven, and sustainable ecosystems. As supply chains face challenges like dynamic demands, resource scarcity, and climate change, digital tools such as IoT, AI, digital twins, and blockchain become essential. These technologies enable increased resilience, transparency, and responsiveness, fostering self-organizing and optimized supply chain networks.

Economic and Societal Impacts of Technology, Data, and Algorithms. This minitrack invites submissions concerning business value, implications, and impacts associated with the development and applications of AI and ML technologies and algorithms. The minitrack also welcomes submissions of research-in-progress as well as those that are practically oriented yet have the potential to make significant contributions to the broad business community.

Electronic Marketing. This minitrack focuses on understanding effective strategies for attracting customers, increasing their purchases, satisfaction and loyalty, as well as the responses and behavior of customers to various online marketing vehicles and consumer generated media.

Esports. This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical development and practical understanding without excluding any methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding of esports are welcome.

Federated Industrial Platform Ecosystems: Technologies, Business Models, and Data-Driven Artifacts. This minitrack explores how open-source paradigm facilitates novel business models and applications that enable the construction of shared logistical ecosystems between different stakeholders. Appropriate papers include those that propose technical solutions in Logistics (both intra- and inter logistics) as well as conceptual contributions dealing with novel logistical business models.

Fintech: Disruption in Financial Services. Given the need to build FinTech-related competencies among practitioners and researchers, this minitrack provides a platform for original studies on the topic. Important topics include the disruptive nature of FinTech, emerging technologies (e.g., big data, blockchain, AI, smart contracts, digital currencies, etc.), emerging financial analytics (e.g., climate finance, ESG), the role of AI, crowdfunding, regulatory issues, and emerging business models.

Generative Artificial Intelligence and Consumer-Facing Technologies. This minitrack invites research on the intersection of generative AI (GenAI) with consumer technologies like augmented reality, wearables, smart home devices, and biometric tools. As these products become more intertwined with IoT, virtual spaces, and human enhancement, GenAI's role in managing and transforming consumer data raises new possibilities and challenges. Topics of interest include the convergence of GenAI with IoT, data governance, privacy, ethical concerns, and the evolving human-machine interaction.

Hospitality and Tourism in a Global Digital Economy—New Models, Services, and Performance. This minitrack focuses on the challenges of digital disruption and transformation in the hospitality and tourism industry. Research taking a socio-technical, organizational, managerial and/ or individual perspective are welcomed and can be conceptual, empirical, and design-oriented contributions using macro, meso and micro levels of analysis.

Human-Centricity in a Sustainable Digital Economy. This minitrack aims to attract research that advances the understanding of human-centricity and end-user empowerment in a sustainable digital economy. It adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, which considers human-centricity and end-user empowerment across application domains (e.g., software development, digital commerce, healthcare, administration, mobile apps, social media, and online services).

Human-Computer Interaction in the Digital Economy. This minitrack explores a wide range of topics related to human-computer interaction using a wide spectrum of research methodologies including, but not limited to, behavioral methods, neurophysiological tools, and design science approaches. Accordingly, papers may draw on various reference disciplines to inform design, such as: computer science, information systems, consumer behavior, psychology, organizational sciences, and neuroscience.

Information Systems in the Regulatory Landscape. This minitrack focuses on the critical intersection of information systems (IS) and regulatory frameworks, addressing how IS both challenges and supports regulatory compliance. As IS design increasingly responds to legal requirements, topics such as privacy, transparency, and accountability in frameworks like the European AI Act and GDPR are explored. Papers may examine how IS influences regulations, impacts organizations, and shapes governance strategies. Submissions are encouraged on topics including

Innovative Behavioral IS Security and Privacy Research. This minitrack provides a venue for innovative research that rigorously addresses the risks to information system security and privacy, focusing on individual behaviors within this nomological net. Domains include work related to detecting, mitigating, and preventing both internal and external human threats to organizational security.

Making Digital Transformation Real. This minitrack explores tools, methods or strategies helping companies to deal with digital transformations through theoretical and applied work. Other focal topics will include metrics and other indicators for measuring the success or degree of digital transformation.

Social Commerce: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. This minitrack explores insights and develops theoretical understanding of the topics and issues related to the influence of online social networks on consumption orientated shopping decisions.

Web3 Technologies for Digital Innovation and Transformation. The goal of this minitrack is to examine the antecedents, processes, contingencies, and outcomes of digital innovation and transformation in the context of the emergence of Web3. The minitrack offers a venue for original and innovative research that explores how Web3 technologies and ecosystems impact and alter digital innovation logics and institutional arrangements through transformative processes.

Alan R. Dennis
Indiana University
ardennis@indiana.edu

Joseph S. Valacich
University of Arizona
valacich@arizona.edu