Ideas for the Future of the Is Field

Abstract

Information systems as a field of intellectual inquiry is now approximately 50 years old. It has many achievements and extensive research to its credit and has established a large group of researchers and experts worldwide. The field has changed and changed and changed again over the last half century. The question addressed in this inaugural issue article is: Where does IS go from here? This article presents the views of six of the “fathers of the field” about its directions in the years ahead. Each coauthor presents two ideas about the future. The topics covered includes continuing support of the work of organizations, emerging technologies, new ways of communicating, expanding the ways IS performs research, expanding its vision both of what IS is and of its impact, its role as a resource, its model of the IS professional and its graduates, and its staying on top of new technologies and new areas of inquiry.