Information systems are developed by people and for people. The theme “Information systems for connecting people” emphasizes the wish to satisfy the needs and requirements of people, both as individuals and as parts of organizations, which are socio-technical systems.

In particular, this theme emphasizes the role of information systems in communication among individuals, organisational units, and organizations themselves. It may also imply knowledge building and knowledge sharing, all kinds of decision making, negotiating and reaching agreements, bridging differences and distances among various points-of-view, perspectives, positions and/or cultures.

Information systems that satisfy these are usually communication and cooperation-intensive systems. Examples include, on the individual side, collaborative applications and social networks, and on the organizational side, globalization and interoperability support, inter-organizational processes, enterprise computing, social computing, and more. The sociality is also a new paradigm when applied to information systems. Developing such systems requires a good understanding of (i) how an individual operates, (ii) how the intentions and goals of an individual can be aligned with the organizational ones, (ii) how individual capabilities as well as limitations are represented and taken into account or alleviated in system design. Combined with state-of-the-art technology, this understanding will guide the development of next generation information systems.

We believe that those principles will challenge and question research efforts in information systems engineering during the next decade and will also nurture multi-disciplinary research. Research related to this theme can address all life-cycle phases of information systems that connect people, from human and organizational requirements to utilization of data created by such systems.