[AISWorld] Information Systems for a Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (AMCIS 2011 Minitrack, 2nd CfP)

[Gilbert Fridgen]

#### Apologies for cross-postings ####


CALL FOR PAPERS

17th Americas Conference on Information Systems
(http://amcis2011.aisnet.org)

August 4-7, 2011, Detroit, MI, USA


TRACK: Information Systems for Sustainability and Global Competitiveness

MINITRACK: Information Systems for a Sustainable Management of Natural Resources


MINITRACK DESCRIPTION

The availability of natural resources (in the following just “resources”) in sufficient quantities and with a cost-effective supply chain is essential not only for western industrial countries but increasingly also for newly industrialized countries. Ensuring access to these resources is a critical factor especially for countries which do not have relevant resources or only small quantities at their disposal. While most resources are – in geological terms – not likely to run out in the short term, the availability of economically and ecologically viable deposits cannot be guaranteed in the future (see e.g. the U.S. Geological Survey 2010). Furthermore, there are highly relevant resources (e.g. special elements required in the semiconductor industry) that are currently mined in or transported through few, politically unstable and/or unreliable regions, or that are under control of few companies. Increased competition can increase the risk, that such resources may be confined due to strategic considerations (e.g. by taxes, export barriers or blockades). According to the European Commission (2010) it takes 9-25 years to open up a new mine. Substitution is often impossible due to physical or economic reasons: There could be no substitute available or employing a new material could require new, costly approval procedures (e.g. in aircraft industry). Consequently, there is a considerable risk of a resources gap. However, most of today’s businesses are not aware of these dependencies. While, for example, design, approval, and production of new types of vehicles or aircraft take many years or even decades, purchasing plans rarely cover more than two years. Decisions on used materials (usually made by engineers) mostly reflect physical attributes and current spot prices. Decision supporting information on the development of availability, reliability, or price of certain resources is missing. Strategically relevant decisions for R&D investments in recycling, remanufacturing or substitution are systematically made too late.

Information Systems (IS) can play a central role with regard to the sustainable management of natural resources. They can be used to analyze the dependencies on certain resources by means of parts lists and production plans. The results can be the basis for the subsequent development and valuation of alternative action plans as well as their IS-supported implementation. Moreover, IS can provide decision support not only within one company, but also across the boundaries of firms. Knowing the own dependency on resources does not suffice if a critical supplier lacks a certain chemical catalyst that is not even part of the final product. Collaborative planning within the value chain requires methods to protect data confidentiality (e.g. a trusted third party or secure multiparty computation algorithms).

We invite contributions from a broad spectrum including business and information systems engineering, information systems, management, applied computer science, and economics in order to fully incorporate technical and business aspects. We also invite practitioners that will enrich the discussions through their business experiences. The minitrack thereby focuses on but is not limited to the following topics:

- IS for measuring the availability of natural resources
- IS for forecasting the prices of natural resources
- IS for measuring the individual dependency on natural resources (e.g. through data mining)
- IS for measuring and managing natural resource risk
- Business value of IS for managing natural resources
- Collaborative planning through secure multiparty computation
- Electronic data interchange to analyze resource dependencies in value chains
- IS architectures for the global processing of information on natural resources
- IS for remanufacturing and recycling
- Optimization of production strategies
- Ontologies for resource management
- Databases on worldwide raw material deposits
- Databases on the geological and/or political stability and reliability of regions
- Databases on substitute materials or technologies


SUBMISSION SITE

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/amcis2011


IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline for paper submissions: February 17, 2011
Notification of acceptance: March 24, 2011
Final copy due: April 21, 2011


MINITRACK CHAIRS 

Hans Ulrich Buhl - hans-ulrich.buhl at wiwi.uni-augsburg.de
Gilbert Fridgen (primary contact) - gilbert.fridgen at wiwi.uni-augsburg.de
Andreas Rathgeber - andreas.rathgeber at mrm.uni-augsburg.de

FIM Research Center Finance & Information Management
Institute for Materials Resource Management
University of Augsburg
Universitätsstraße 12, 86159 Augsburg, Germany


TRACK CHAIRS

Alan Fisk	- Ford
Richard Watson - The University of Georgia
Marie‐Claude Boudreau - The University of Georgia

______________________________________________________

Dr. Gilbert Fridgen
Dipl.-Kfm.

Research Center
Finance & Information Management

Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Buhl

University of Augsburg, D-86135 Augsburg
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Phone:  +49  821  598-4849 (Secretariat: -4801)
Fax:    +49  821  598-4899

mailto: gilbert.fridgen at wiwi.uni-augsburg.de

http://www.fim-online.eu/
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