-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AISWorld] CFP: International Conference on DSS, June 6-7 2011, Tilburg, the Netherlands Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 11:24:50 +0100 From: Bartel Van de Walle bartel@uvt.nl To: AISWorld aisworld@lists.aisnet.org CC: icdss2011@gmail.com

CALL FOR PAPERS:

*ICDSS2011 - International Conference on DSS* *DSS and Global Sustainability* *June 6-7, 2011* *Tilburg University, the Netherlands*

*Conference Theme: DSS and global sustainability*

While papers in any area of DSS are invited, we welcome in particular for this edition of the conference contributions that highlight the contribution of Decision Support Systems to the emerging research domain of global sustainability.

It is widely understood that over the next decade the global scientific community must take on the challenge of delivering to society the knowledge and information necessary to assess the risks humanity is facing from global change. It is important to understand how we can effectively mitigate dangerous changes and cope with the change that we cannot manage.

This domain, defined as ‘global sustainability research’ by the International Council for Science (ICSU, www.icsu.org http://www.icsu.org), builds upon and integrates expertise within the sciences (social, natural, health, and engineering) and humanities and applies it to pressing coupled social-environmental research questions of human interactions with nature and earth.

We believe that the field of DSS can contribute significantly to this emerging research domain. For this conference, we therefore invite contributions that focus on the design, development, implementation, use and evaluation of decision support systems that advance our responses to the following challenges:

• *FORECASTING*: Improve the usefulness of forecasts of future environmental conditions and their consequences for people. A ‘useful’ forecast is considered to be one that is responsive to the needs of societies and decision-makers for information at relevant spatial and temporal scales. Forecasts should be timely, accurate, and reliable.

• *OBSERVATIONS*: Develop the observation systems needed to manage global and regional environmental change. The current approach to supply information needed to manage the social-environmental system, especially at a global scale, as well as the system for delivering that information to decision-makers, must be improved. It is also important to understand how those observations are analyzed under specific social contexts, taking into account cultural and professional diversity.

• *RISKS*: Determine how to anticipate, avoid and cope with the risks of global environmental change. How can improved scientific knowledge of the risks of global change and options for response most effectively catalyze and support appropriate actions by citizens and decision-makers?

• *RESPONSE*: Determine what institutional and behavioural changes can best ensure global sustainability. Global change exposes gaps in social institutions, including governance and economic systems, for managing emerging global (and local) problems. The time and spatial scales of global change differ fundamentally from the types of problems that humanity has addressed in the past. Currently, decision-makers have incentives that favour short-term and private benefits, rather than long-term and collective benefits.

• *INNOVATION*: Encourage innovation (coupled with sound mechanisms for evaluation) in developing technological, policy, and efficient social responses to achieve global sustainability. Which factors will positively influence feedback and learning processes to increase the capacity of citizens and decision makers? How to provide rapid and effective feedback to scientists regarding the applicability and reliability of broad findings?

Please note that we also welcome papers that may not fit into the special theme of the conference, yet highlight state of the art DSS research.

*CONFERENCE VENUE*:

The ICDSS2011 conference is organized at Tilburg University (http://www.tilburguniversity.nl). With a population of nearly 200,000 inhabitants, Tilburg is the Netherlands' sixth largest city and is located in the South of the country, close to the Belgian border, in the Province of ‘North Brabant’. Tilburg University is nicely situated in a forested area on the outskirts of the city. Tilburg University is a relatively small and internationally oriented university with around 12,000 students in total and 750 international students from 65 countries. The university is internationally renowned for its research, especially in economics through the international research institute CentER.

*Conference Proceedings - Annals of Information Systems*:

Accepted contributions will be published in the ICDSS Conference Book of Abstracts. Authors of the abstracts accepted for presentation at the conference will be encouraged to develop their ideas into full papers for review and publication in the Annals of Information Systems (Kluwer).

*IMPORTANT DATES*:

Extended Abstract Submission deadline: February 1, 2011 Notification to Authors: March 1, 2011 Final version submission deadline (upon acceptance): April 1, 2011 Early Registration Deadline: April 1, 2011 Conference Date: June 6-7 2011

*EXTENDED ABSTRACTS SUBMISSIONS AND AUTHOR INSTRUCTIONS*:

We are soliciting submissions in the form of extended abstracts (two pages max, single-spaced). All extended abstracts will be reviewed for clarity, relevance and significance. The template for extended abstracts can be downloaded at http://www.iscram.org/ICDSS2011.

All submissions, and any related requests, should be sent to: icdss2011_at_gmail.com http://icdss2011_at_gmail.com . Please include “ICDSS2011” in the header of your email.

*Local Conference Organizing Committee*:

Jaap van den Herik Tilburg University, the Netherlands Bartel Van de Walle Tilburg University, the Netherlands (chair) Anne Rutkowski ,Tilburg University, the Netherlands