Shaping the Future IT Workforce: Innovation, Inclusion, and Integrity in a Rapidly Evolving Technological Landscape
63rd SIGMS CPR Conference
• Location: Little America Hotel, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
• Conference Dates: May 20-May 22, 2026
• Conference registration will be open April 1 ,2026
• More details at our conference website: https://sigmis.org/cpr/
Important Dates for Academic Papers, Posters, Panels
• Submission open: December 1, 2025
• Submission Deadline: February 6, 2026
• Notification of Acceptance: March 15, 2026
• SEED Paper Submission Deadline: March 27, 2026
• Final Notification of Acceptance: April 1, 2026
• Camera-ready Version: April 6, 2026
Important Dates for Doctoral Consortium
• Submission open: December 1, 2025
• Submission Deadline: February 2, 2026
• Notification of Acceptance: March 15, 2026
• Camera-ready Version: April 6, 2026
• The Doctoral Consortium will be held on May 20, 2026 at Little America Hotel
Call for Papers
For over 60 years, ACM SIGMIS Computers and People Research (CPR) conference has engaged the academic and practitioner communities in understanding issues pertaining to the intersection of information technology (IT) and people. From its roots in the studies of the IT workforce, CPR has broadened its focus to investigate all aspects of this important and complex relationship.
SIGMIS CPR 2026 invites researchers, educators, and practitioners to submit original research papers, literature reviews, case studies, and conceptual articles exploring innovative approaches to IT workforce development, education, training, employment, leadership, and management, especially in light of ongoing disruptions in the job market for IT professionals driven by rapid technological change, automation, and evolving industry demands. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
1. Integrating Emerging Technologies in Education to Build a Resilient and Ethical IT Workforce:
The integration of emerging technologies such as generative AI, quantum computing, and immersive environments like the metaverse into IS and IT education presents a powerful opportunity to shape a more capable and future-ready workforce. By embedding these advanced tools within ethically grounded, collaborative learning environments, educators can foster not only technical proficiency but also critical soft skills such as ethical thinking, teamwork, and adaptability. This approach supports the development of IT professionals who are resilient, creative, and equipped to navigate complex societal and organizational challenges, ensuring they are prepared to lead and innovate in an increasingly dynamic and technology-driven world. These phenomena raise questions such as:
- How to design learning environments that prioritize ethical thinking, teamwork, and collaboration to meet societal and organizational needs?
- How can organizations balance efficiency and ethical considerations when deploying AI-based decision-making systems?
- How does AI advancements shape IT work and the IT workforce?
- How can we retrain workers who have been replaced by AI to work alongside AI?
2. Disruptions in IT-Enabled Work and Workforce Dynamics
IT continues to reconfigure how, where, and by whom work gets done, enabling new forms of organizing such as platform- and gig-mediated work, remote-by-default and hybrid arrangements, cross-border teams, and algorithmic coordination. At the same time, advances in automation and AI are catalyzing job redesign and recrafting (i.e., shifting tasks between humans and machines, redefining roles, and affecting job quality and well-being) with implications that range from potential displacement to large-scale upskilling and reskilling, internal mobility, and the emergence of new career pathways. We particularly welcome studies that map, explain, and theorize these disruptions across occupations, industries, and regions, as well as organizational capabilities for sensing, sensemaking, and governing disruptive technologies at the task, job, and role levels. Illustrative questions include:
- How will advances in IT, including AI and quantum computing, change the content and nature of work?
- Why do some IT professions thrive amid continuous technological evolution while others contract or transform?
- How will organizations and individuals make sense of emerging technologies as they reconfigure tasks, jobs, and roles?
3. Neurodiversity and Neuroinclusion in IT Workforce Dynamics
As the IT industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace, organizations are rethinking traditional workforce models to stay competitive. One emerging and transformative lens in this rethinking is neurodiversity, which is the recognition that neurological differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and others are natural variations of the human brain, rather than deficits to be fixed. In addition, Neuroinclusion, is the strategic and cultural commitment to creating environments where neurodivergent individuals can thrive. These issues raise questions such as:
- How can we attract and retain young IT talent and develop IT skills portfolios for a diverse IT workforce?
- How to develop lifelong learning models that embrace neurodiversity and neuroinclusion in IT Workforce?
4. Fostering Socio-Technical and Interdisciplinary Competencies
Fostering socio-technical and interdisciplinary competencies is essential for preparing IT professionals who can navigate the complex intersection of technology and society. Interdisciplinary approaches combine technical education with insights from fields such as ethics, sociology, psychology, design, and business, which play a critical role in shaping well-rounded IT professionals and future leaders. Socio-technical education equips students not only with deep technical skills but also with the ability to understand and respond to the societal, ethical, and human dimensions of technology. This is increasingly important as IT leaders are expected to make decisions that balance innovation with responsibility, inclusivity, and long-term impact. Best practices for fostering these capabilities include collaborative, project-based learning; co-teaching models that bring together diverse academic disciplines; and embedding ethical, cultural, and social considerations directly into technical curricula. Creating inclusive, discussion-rich learning environments that mirror real-world workplace diversity prepares students to lead across domains and industries to make them agile, thoughtful, and ethical contributors to the digital future. Questions on this front include:
- How can interdisciplinary education shape well-rounded IT professionals capable of navigating both technical and societal challenges?
- What are best practices for creating collaborative and ethical learning environments that prepare students for diverse workplace contexts?
- What is the role of socio-technical education and interdisciplinary collaboration in preparing future IT leaders?
Format of Submissions
ACM SIGMIS CPR 2026 welcomes both completed papers and research-in-progress papers. All papers must be original, unpublished elsewhere, and submitted following the ACM guidelines available at
https://www.acm.org/publications/gi-proceedings-current.
- Completed papers may include conceptual papers, empirical papers, and industry case studies. They must not exceed 5,000 words including all text, figures, and tables. The abstract, keywords, and references are excluded from this page count.
- Research-in-progress papers must not exceed 2,000 words including all text, figures, and tables. The abstract, keywords, and references are excluded from this page count.
- SEED (Scholarly Explorations, Early Discoveries) must not exceed 500 words and should provide an overview of the idea, research approach, expected impact or findings, etc.
- Ideas for interesting panels related to the conference theme should be submitted directly to the program chairs.
ACM Open Access
Important update on ACMs new open access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences!
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 1,800 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 70-75%).
Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial or discretionary waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the APC Waivers and Discounts Policy. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.
Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 for non-members
This represents a 65% discount, funded directly by ACM. Authors are encouraged to help advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period.
This temporary subsidized pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.
Proceedings and Presentations
Accepted papers will be published by ACM in the refereed conference proceedings. Authors of accepted papers may choose to publish complete papers or extended abstracts of their research in the conference proceedings. Authorship may not be changed after the paper was accepted. All completed research papers to be published in the conference proceedings will be considered for the Magid Igbaria Outstanding Conference Paper of the Year Award. The Magid Igbaria Outstanding Conference Paper and other exemplar papers will be invited for publication in the DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems—the quarterly journal publication of ACM SIGMIS.
Each paper must be presented during the conference. Articles will not be published in the event proceedings if at least one author of a submitted work is not registered or is unable to present their article at the conference.
AUTHORS TAKE NOTE: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work. (For those rare conferences whose proceedings are published in the ACM Digital Library after the conference is over, the official publication date remains the first day of the conference.)
Proceedings of all previous CPR conferences are available in the ACM Digital Library at: