David Avison & George M. Kasper 
Advances in Information Systems Research, Education and Practice 
IFIP 20th World Computer Congress, TC 8, Information Systems, September 7-10, 2008, Milano, Italy

Introduction The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a non-profit umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information processing. It was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO. It is organized into several technical c- mittees. This book represents the proceedings of the 2008 conference of technical committee 8 (TC8), which covers the field of infor- tion systems. TC8 aims to promote and encourage the advancement of research and practice of concepts, methods, techniques and issues related to information systems in organisations. TC8 has established eight working groups covering the following areas: design and evaluation of information systems; the interaction of information systems and the organization; decision support systems; e-business information systems: multi-disciplinary research and practice; inf- mation systems in public administration; smart cards, technology, applications and methods; and enterprise information systems. Further details of the technical committee and its working groups can be found on our website (ifiptc8. dsi. uminho. pt). This conference was part of IFIP’s World Computer Congress in Milan, Italy which took place 7-10 September 2008. The occasion celebrated the 32nd anniversary of IFIP TC8. The call for papers invited researchers, educators, and practitioners to submit papers and panel proposals that advance concepts, methods, techniques, tools, issues, education, and practice of information systems in organi- tions. Thirty one submissions were received.