The evolution of a conference: A message from the program chairs

Since the inception of the Information Systems (IS) discipline scholars have questioned and debated what constitutes the domain of IS research. Diversity is not simply desirable it is essential for a discipline that demands understanding of both information technology and contexts of application. The pervasive use of information technology, throughout the economy and society, together with the volatility in interest and support for the discipline, have made the defining of the domain of IS more than just of academic interest. For ACIS for 2009 we seek not to look back at what the IS domain has been, but to look forward to what it is to become. We seek to examine the definition of the IS discipline not by reflecting on where the IS discipline came from, but by exhibiting research at the forefront of where the discipline is heading into the future.