Twenty Third Annual International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS'02): Meeting the Challenges of a Global Networked Economy, December 15-18, 2002, Barcelona, Spain

Welcome to the 2002 International Conference on Information Systems. Our theme is " Meeting the Challenges of a Global Net-worked Economy " and we believe it addresses the pressing issues facing society, and our profession in particular, as 2002 comes to an end. We live in a completely interconnected world; economic and political decisions in one end of the world spread like wildfire and affect us all. Information and communication technologies are at the center of these events. Our responsibilities as researchers and teachers impel us to study these issues and their effect on our subject matter. We are in Barcelona, a city that has been involved in " globalization " since the Roman Empire era. Founded by Romans as a sea port for trade and commerce, Barcelona is still today one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean. We encourage you to visit the Roman ruins, medieval quarters and buildings, the modernist buildings from the late 1900s, and the many museums and parks. As the home town of architect Antonio Gaudí and painters Miró and Tàpies, the city offers many cultural alternatives. Our gala dinner will be held at the National Museum of Catalonia, a center of Romanesque and Gothic art. We hope you will spend some time feeling the city's beat by strolling through its streets and boulevards (Ramblas). 2002 is the Year of Gaudi (Any Gaudi) with events and exhibits around the city to celebrate the influence of this notable citizen and highlight the mark that he made on the architecture of Barcelona. Having hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona is preparing to once again attract global attention as the organizers of the 2004 Forum of the Cultures. The city will host demonstrations and debates about cultural trends around the world. The Program Committee has worked very hard for more than seven months to put together an extraordinary set of papers in six tracks. This year we decided to change the track definition from previous years, making the program more conceptual and less IS-function related. We believe this will better focus your contributions toward solving the challenges of the networked economy. This year we also had a record number of ancillary meetings held prior to the conference. Universities in Barcelona loaned us their rooms for many of these, and most probably, you will already have attended one by the time you read this letter. Thanks to all …