Dear colleagues,
We warmly invite you to submit your work to the Industry Studies Association's annual meeting in Sacramento, California during June 13-15, 2024. The January 30th submission deadline quickly approaches; check out the Call for Papers for more details.
The conference theme of Empowering Community Wellbeing: Clean Energy, Sustainability and Industrial Strategy reflects the emerging challenges that managers, policymakers, labor, and technologists face in light of a global movement towards a more sustainable and eco-conscious future. ISA's recent focus on industrial strategy is well-timed to provide insight and guidance.
Because ISA has a uniquely cross-disciplinary membership, this year's conference is an important occasion for bringing deep industry and regional knowledge to bear on examining the significant policy changes linked to renewable energy and climate change mitigation. California -- the world's largest subnational economy -- is a valuable setting for exploring these issues. As the state takes bold steps toward clean energy, it has become a living laboratory for discovering sustainable practices, policy innovations, and community-driven solutions.
The ISA 2024 conference invites scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders to engage in critical discussions and share insights on how this revolution reshapes industries and communities. We look forward to the breadth of conversations across disciplines and perspectives that only the Industry Studies Association's annual conference provides.
Sacramento, the host location for this year's conference, is ideally situated to explore the conference theme. Capital of the U.S. state of California, Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River. "Old Sacramento" harkens back to the city's Gold Rush era, with wooden sidewalks and wagon rides. You won't want to miss the California State Railroad Museum, which depicts the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, one of the country's earliest technological feats and a reminder of how crucial infrastructure investments can be to national economic strength. Our receptions and excursions will introduce you to the agricultural bounty and culinary innovation of this so-called "Farm-to-Fork Capital," as highlighted recently in both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
The state is a leader in passing laws and setting regulations to speed the transition to a sustainable energy future. Seventeen other states follow California's tougher standards for emissions under the Clean Air Act, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is driving towards zero emissions from all new cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs sold in the state by 2035.
California is also the home of Silicon Valley and its concentration of firms innovating in semiconductors and software to make digital transformation possible. What's more, 35 of the world's top 50 Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies are based in California. The governor has issued an executive order empowering state agencies to adopt a proactive approach to AI regulation and leverage the state's procurement power to promote trustworthy AI principles.
Possible excursions include local vineyards and the viticulture ecosystem that supports them; Siemens Mobility's 60-acre solar-powered North American rail headquarters; and a tour of DOCO, the revived Sacramento entertainment and lifestyle district filled with retail and cultural startups. Your trip will be eased if you arrive at SMF, recently rated by WSJ as the best midsize airport in the country.
We would love to see your work or session submitted to the conference theme and/or in any of these tracks: energy and sustainability; public policy and competitiveness; supply chains, operations, and technology management; innovation and entrepreneurship; analytics and artificial intelligence; healthcare; and labor and employment relations.
Note that the ISA dissertation award closes on January 21, 2024. Further information on the Early Career Development PDW will be forthcoming for late-stage doctoral students, post-docs, and junior faculty.
See you in Sacramento for an electrifying conference!
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Darcy Fudge Kamal
CSU Sacramento
Sacramento CA
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