Special Issue of Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems

Theme: "The Roles of Information Systems in an Uncertain World: An ASEAN's Perspective"

Guest editor:

● Shamshul Bahri, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Background

Various recent events have caused general instability and uncertainty to the politics, economy, and society worldwide (Nguyen Van Tuan, 2021). The covid-19 pandemic, considered the deadliest since the Second World War, has led to global movement restrictions and eventually, a serious global recession (Tuyen Anh Le et al, 2021). Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has put more pressure on the supply chain. As a result, worldwide inflation has reached a forty-year peak. The high inflation rate has led to many central banks raising interest rates sharply, thus slowing economic recovery and pushing more countries into deeper trouble. The economic pressure is more enormous in developing countries. According to the World Bank (2022), nearly 70 countries that are eligible for the global suspension of debt payments during the pandemic – are at risk of falling into high debt or already falling into debt. Sri Lanka is a perfect example (World Bank, 2021). The country is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. The island nation of 22 million people is currently facing shortages of foreign currency, fuel, and other essential supplies as well as rising inflation.

Studies on the role of information systems (IS) in dealing with uncertainty at the organizational level are plenty. They have investigated the role of IS and organizational strategy (Bidmeshk et al., 2022), performance management (Akhtar & Sushil, 2018), and system selection (Temur & Bolat, 2018). On the other hand, other sub-disciplines under the field of business management have transcended the organization to the industry and national levels in understanding their roles in times of uncertainty. Under the sub-discipline of operations management, Ordoudis et al (2020), for example, propose a novel method to be used in the natural gas industry. Meanwhile, in the sub-discipline of human resource management (HRM), Makhmadshoev and Laaser (2021), discuss the challenges of practicing HRM in the garment industry of Kyrgyzstan. Clearly, the sub-discipline of IS has a lot of catching up to do to demonstrate the roles of IS in times of uncertainty at the industry and national levels.

The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) presents an interesting but largely untapped research context for the above purpose. It is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing areas in the world. In just the past 30 years, the poverty rate has halved with many of the poorest people in the region becoming significantly less poor. These gains mirror dramatic improvements in health and education including advances in life expectancy, child mortality, and healthcare provision, among other important areas. Powered by a large, growing, and incredibly engaged internet user base, ASEAN is expected to see a rapid increase in the use of technology and growing economic activity that results from billions of everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data, and processes (Javier, 2020; Samaya, 2020). In short, it is reasonable to argue that the potential for social change makers armed with today’s information systems in partnership with large and growing computer networks and digital platforms can dramatically improve the human condition and reduce negative social impacts (Futuma, 2020).

Topics of Interest

This special issue plans to publish the latest works on the roles of IS in managing uncertainties, especially in the South-East Asian region. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

● IS affordances in managing uncertain supply chain situations,

● IS and agile food supply,

● Big data analytics in agriculture,

● The use of blockchain to reduce uncertainties,

● The roles of e-Government and public sector information systems in times of uncertainty,

● Challenging security issues faced by the nations,

● Digital transformation in the new norms,

● From Big Data to Big Business and its impact to the economy and society

Advisory Board

● Pan Shan Ling, School of Information Systems and Technology Management, University of New South Wales, Australia

● Ainin Sulaiman, University of Malaya, Malaysia

● Sia Choon Ling, College of Business, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Editorial Board

● Pham Thi Thanh Hong, School of Economics and Management, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam

● Noor Ismawati Jaafar, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Malaysia.

● Nguyen Phuoc Bao An, College of Business, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

● Wenyu (Derek) Du, School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, China.

● Le Chi Ngoc, School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam

● Yenni Tim, School of Information Systems and Technology Management, University of New South Wales, Australia.

● Peter Ractham, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, Thailand

● Fathul Wahid, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Indonesia

Important Dates for the Special Issue

From 15th June to 15th September 2022: Deadline for submission of papers to the Special Issue track of the conference

From 15th September to 10th October 2022: The first round of reviews was completed and authors advised regarding review outcomes

From 11th October to 5th November 2022: Deadline for revised papers

4-5 November 2022: Papers nominated by the session chairs and scientific committee of the conference to SI – PAJAIS.

Authors of the selected papers are invited to submit to the special issue through the PAJAIS submission system.

From 5th November to 15th November 2022: Submission of manuscripts by the respective authors.

16th November 2022 - 30th December 2022: Review process round 1

1st January 2022 – 1st February: 1st round of paper revision

2nd February – 1st March 2023: Review process round 2

1st April – 1st May 2023: 2nd round of paper revision

2nd – 15th May 2023: Guest editor’s and editors’ final decision on the inclusion of the manuscripts in the special issue.

16th – 30th May 2023: Final preparation for the manuscripts to be published online by PAJAIS.

1st June 2023: The special issue is published online.