[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/amcis.jpg” caption=”Ken Cochrane (left), chief information officer of the Government of Canada, and Thomas Volk, CEO and president of IDS Scheer AG, will deliver keynote addresses at the Americas Conference on Information Systems.”]Technology has changed — and continues to make dramatic changes — in how businesses work. Networking has moved online as people connect with colleagues through social networking. Security and privacy are key concerns as more and more information is exchanged electronically.

Web users are becoming older and more culturally diverse, resulting in changes in how companies reach out to consumers. The Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) will address some of these current issues in information systems and look ahead to what the future holds.

Hosted by the DeGroote School of Business, the conference runs from Aug. 14 to 17 and brings together more than 900 delegates from around the world. This year marks the 14th year of the conference and the first time it has been held in Canada.

Ali Montazemi, professor of information systems at DeGroote, is co-chair of the conference. He explains, “The major role of information systems is to provide organizations with strategic advantage by facilitating problem solving, increasing productivity and quality, improving customer service and enabling business process reengineering. AMCIS presents the broadest variety of research in information systems and helps businesses to face global competitive pressure and continuous technological innovations.”

The conference is divided into 14 topic areas, including international and cross cultural issues, information technology in health care, e-commerce, system analysis and design and security, assurance and privacy.

Ken Cochrane, chief information officer of the Government of Canada, will deliver a keynote address. With approximately 470,000 employees working across Canada and in 180 countries around the world delivering 1,500 programs and services in Canada's two official languages, the government relies extensively on technology to support operations and to deliver many programs and services.

Cochrane's address, eGovernment: Past Experiences and Future Plans of the Government of Canada, will look at initiatives that have been implemented, share the lessons learned and look towards how Canada is improving its information systems to ensure increased success for the future.

Thomas Volk, CEO and president of IDS Scheer AG, will also deliver a keynote speech on the topic of Strategies and Concepts to Improve Business Performance for Corporations. Volk's presentation will address state of the art business process management and provide an outlook on new concepts like process intelligence and performance management from the perspective of the
market leader in business process management software — IDS Scheer.

“Information systems are critical for business firms to prosper and even to survive in today's emerging global marketplace. At the same time, the field of information systems is constantly evolving, so this conference is an opportunity to learn from the past and chart the future of the discipline,” says Montazemi.