To return to the main ISF page, please close this window.
Research efforts of academicians and industry specialists can bebroadly classified into two types: organizational solutions andtechnology advancement. The baseline for these efforts constitutesthe organizational/business problems and requirements that motivate research,and the state-of-the-art tools and techniques of IT and various disciplinaryinterfaces that facilitate solution development and innovations. Theseefforts lead to the development of generalizable organizational solutionsmostly from the academia, more specific business solutions mostly fromindustry, and advancements to the state-of-the-art IT from both of thecommunities. The results of these efforts can be disseminated in termsof research papers, surveys, tutorials, industry papers on designs, solutionsand experiences, case studies, technical innovation papers, commentarieson the state-of-the-art and discussions on open problems/potential initiatives.
In some respects the IS/IT discipline is unique with regard to theinterdependence between academic research and industrial practice. Theinnovations in industry have sometimes followed those in the academia (asin object technology, for example) and sometimes provided the lead to academicpursuits (as in client/server middleware solutions, for example). The acceleratedprogress of the IS/IT field is due to the synergies created by the deepcoupling of the market pull from the industry and the research pushfrom the academia. This gives IS/IT a distinct character different frommany of the traditional disciplines where the research push and marketpull forces have interacted differently in generating synergies. Publicationoutlets in those traditional disciplines are often segmented legitimatelybetween the push and pull elements, targeting the needs of the specificacademic or industrial communities they serve.
Until recently, the publication outlets in IS/IT have followed thistraditional path. Now these outlets can be supplemented with ISF whichwill seek to further stimulate the push-pull coupling between academia,industry and the consumer community. Prior to the recent technologicalrevolution, while the research thrust of the academia has been pushingthe field in specific directions, the market pull has seldom interactedto produce new creative synergies. However, the arrival of the new computingand communication technologies have necessitated these forces to act inunison and symbiotically, in a coordinated and synchronous manner. Consequently,new synergies in collaborative efforts between academia and industry arenow possible, which can result in the contributions of lasting value byeach community. These results can be meaningful, responsive and usefulto both communities. What does all this imply regarding the objectivesof the publication outlets in IS/IT? Clearly, the division of outlets intoresearch and practice along the push-pull line needs to be revisited. Theintegration of research with practice has become increasingly important,and ISF, as conceived here, will address itself to this requirement. ISFwill seek to accelerate the growth and impact of the IS/IT field by adoptingthis publication philosophy.
To return to the main ISF page, please close this window.