Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that our minitrack "AI Ecosystems: Agents, Assistants, and Platforms" has been accepted for HICSS-60, to be held in January 2027, as part of the Internet for Work and Play Track.

We are also delighted to share that a paper from our minitrack has been awarded the Best Track Paper Award at HICSS-59 — a recognition that reflects the exceptional quality of work our community produces.

MINITRACK OVERVIEW

AI ecosystems are rapidly transforming how individuals and organizations work, interact, and create value. Agentic AI systems — including assistants, autonomous agents, and multi-sided platforms — are increasingly operating alongside and on behalf of humans, raising critical questions about governance, ethics, economic coordination, and societal impact.

This minitrack invites original research contributions addressing (but not limited to):

AI Agent and Assistant Networks: multi-agent collaboration, autonomous reasoning, agent communication protocols (e.g., Model Context Protocol), mechanism design, and trust in multi-agent systems 

Platform Architectures and Ecosystem Dynamics: platform governance, multi-sided markets, network effects, cross-platform integration, and strategic positioning in AI ecosystems 

Ethics, Regulation, and Responsible AI: value alignment, algorithmic fairness, AI in political processes, regulatory frameworks 

Democratic and Societal Impact: AI's effects on democratic discourse, labor markets, digital inclusion, and environmental sustainability 

Applications and Methods: domain-specific AI implementations, generative AI, graph neural networks, longitudinal studies, and novel theoretical frameworks 

**Paper submission deadline: June 15**

FAST TRACK TO ELECTRONIC MARKETS

As in previous years, authors of selected papers will be invited to submit a revised and extended version of their conference paper to the Electronic Markets journal https://link.springer.com/collections/jibdjaebdf after the conference.

MINITRACK CHAIRS

Rainer Alt, Leipzig University

Rainer Schmidt, Munich University of Applied Sciences

Alfred Zimmermann, Reutlingen University

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to welcoming you to HICSS-60 in 2027. Please feel free to forward this announcement to colleagues and networks who may be interested.

Kind regards,

Rainer Alt, Rainer Schmidt, and Alfred Zimmermann Minitrack Chairs – AI Ecosystems: Agents, Assistants, and Platforms HICSS-60, 2027