Lero and Maynooth University School of Business Host Multi-Disciplinary Reverse Conference

Monday, October 1, 2018 - 12:15

On Friday 21st September the Maynooth University School of Business and Lero, the Irish Software Research Institute hosted a multidisciplinary reverse conference examining the role of information systems in business and society. This conference, taking place in the Glenroyal Hotel, Maynooth, was intended to bolster the links between the different groups in Maynooth University and its ecosystem who are looking at the design and use of, information systems in areas such as Smart Cities, Big Data, Fintech and Industry 4.0. Researchers from the School of Business, Lero and the Innovation Value Institute were in attendance.

Internationally recognised academics Iris Junglas (Florida State University), Garry Bruton (Texas Christian University), Kieran Conboy (NUI Galway) and Margaret White (Maynooth University) worked as mentors with researchers from areas including MIS, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain Management, Ethics, Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour on the development of active research projects. The unstructured and informal ethos of a reverse conference enabled new teams that combine these diverse disciplines to emerge in order to address the challenges of business and society into the future.

Participants working in informal groups presented ideas to the mentors and the other participants. These ideas were critiqued and refined through a serious of brainstorming sessions with the different mentors. Each group left the reverse conference with a concrete action plan to develop their study into a publishable research paper.

Other highlights of the event consisted of lightening seminars delivered by Garry and Iris, in which they teased out the specific challenges of developing new theory, especially in the area of MIS where new and exciting phenomena arise with startling rapidity.

In opening the event, Professor Peter McNamara, Head of the School of Business in Maynooth, described the event as a wonderful example of the Liberal and Research Informed values of the School of Business in action. Professor Brian Donnellan, Vice President and Dean of International Affairs, whose Lero research group part funded the event, was delighted to participate in an event that displayed such great energy and purpose. In closing the event, Dr Tatiana Andreeva, Research Director of the School of Business, acknowledged the success of the event and called on the participants to build on that success by working across disciplines to help ensure that developments in information systems are harnessed for the betterment of society. She also thanked the mentors for giving so valuably of their time as well as the participants for contributing their ideas.