by Jennifer Oliver
ATLANTA - Nearly 100 management information systems leaders, including deans, department chairs and faculty members representing universities from around the world, participated in the 6th annual MIS Academic Leadership Conference hosted by Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
The conference, held Nov. 3-5, focused on the opportunities and challenges facing information systems programs and research resulting from today’s transformative digital developments.
Opening the conference, Robinson College Dean Richard D. Phillips said, “We all can and must learn from each other as this technological revolution continues to transform business, economies, political hierarchies and societies. We are responsible for helping our students seize these opportunities if we are going to produce insightful business leaders for the future.”
Attendees participated in sessions focused on new analytics initiatives, the role of information systems in supporting the vision and strategies of business schools, an exploration of the role of sponsored research in business schools, trends in undergraduate and graduate programs, international perspectives on information system programs and more. Panelists reflected a who’s who in academic information systems programs from leading research universities.
Georgia State President Mark P. Becker told attendees about the university’s efforts to use data to improve student success.
“The university’s culture is to embrace the information we have,” Becker said, “using the tools available, to identify what works for students and scale it for everyone.”
Attendees discussed cybersecurity, the implications of technological shifts on job markets, cross-disciplinary collaborations and industry-university partnerships. They also heard from a panel of editors from the top information systems journals.
Arun Rai, Regents’ Professor and editor-in-chief of MIS Quarterly, the top scholarly journal in information systems, said, “This is an extraordinarily exciting time as digital innovations are creating new possibilities and challenging assumptions in virtually every facet of business and society. The sessions surfaced powerful ideas, rich experiences, and diverse perspectives on how best to seize the opportunities for high-impact research and cutting-edge programs in information systems.”
“Participants reported gaining deeper knowledge, fresh ideas and more professional connections as a result of attending the conference,” said Bala Ramesh, chair of the Department of Computer Information Systems at the Robinson College. “We are honored to have hosted such an esteemed group of information systems leaders.”
The Robinson College of Business is a community of students, educators, and professionals who specialize in discovering insights that drive smarter business decisions. Home to more Georgia executives than any other school, our programs are designed to push beyond the classroom and offer experiences that bridge the gap between business education and the business world.