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Contents
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President's letter
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Dear AIET section members,
I hope that you are having a productive year and I would like to bring
you up to date on a variety of issues. We had a very successful
annual meeting and AI/ET workshop. We had a total of six
concurrent sessions (2 panel sessions and 4 paper sessions) and 3 CPE
sessions, in addition to our annual workshop. At the Workshop, we
had 15 papers presented, with AI/ET-domain knowledge applied to
regulation and standards (including Sarbanes-Oxley issues, XBRL, and
accounting pronouncements), data management and problem solving
(including EDGAR, web-site content analysis, taxes and semantic
modeling), prediction (for bankruptcy, financial distress and fraud
litigation), and audit (audit team support, dynamic controls, and
continuous audit). A lively, highly interactive environment was
enjoyed by all, and I am looking forward to seeing many of these
research papers published in the Journal of Emerging Technology in
Accounting (JETA).
I would also like to thank the 2005-06 Publications Committee for their
work. The committee (Vicky Arnold, Chair, Stewart Leech, and Alan
Sangster) had the task of nominating the next editor for JETA.
Miklos Vasarhelyi has done a tremendous job as the founding editor,
but, according to the section’s operating procedures, it was time to
nominate an editor-elect. Dan O’Leary is the editor-elect for
JETA. As many of you know, Dan is a long-time member of the
section and was editor of the International Journal of Intelligent
Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, which was a
“quasi-section journal” for a number of years when the section was
first established. Manuscripts should still be sent to Miklos, as
he has 2 more issues to publish (2007 and 2008), but starting in
September manuscripts should be sent to Dan.
On a related note, the AAA has voted to eliminate the member fees for
on-line journal access. This is something that we have long
sought. JETA was originally proposed to be an on-line journal
(although it still will be available in printed format at an extra
charge, for those who desire it and to meet the needs of some
libraries). This will help the section’s financial position, as
the cost for the section to print and mail the journal was almost
two-thirds of the current section dues.
The AIET section currently has 228 members. We need your help in
getting the word out and in getting new members signed up. Tell
your colleagues and encourage them to join the AIET section (especially
when it comes time to register for the annual meeting). Alternatively,
if you or your colleagues are not going to be able to attend the annual
meeting, you can renew your section membership or have your colleagues
find out how to join the section at
(http://aaahq.org/aiet/membership/howToJoinRenew.html). The membership
committee, chaired by Ram Sriram is investigating ways to grow the
section. If you have any ideas or would like to help, please
contact him (accrss@langate.gsu.edu). We have also tried, and
will continue to try to get some type of “affiliate member” status for
faculty who are not appointed in Accounting Departments/Business
Colleges. The AAA is reluctant to lose potential memberships in
the parent organization, yet we are faced with a dilemma. Many
colleagues that we work with are from computer science and
engineering. They are interested in our research, yet they are
not interested in the traditional accounting topics published in the
AAA association-wide journals. Unfortunately, under current
membership guidelines, to become a member of the AIET section, they
must belong to the AAA. I will provide you with an update as to
what happens at the Spring AAA Council meeting.
I would also like to take a moment to congratulate the award winners
who were announced at the annual meeting in August. Stewart Leech
was presented with the Outstanding Researcher Award. Margarita
Lenk was presented with the Outstanding Educator Award.
Unfortunately, Margarita was unable to attend the meeting (she was busy
working with her students!), so she was recognized at the mid-year
meeting. Finally, Mark Cecchini received the outstanding
dissertation award. Congratulations to all!
The mid-year meeting was a successful event. A tremendous round
of thanks to Greg Gerard and Ingrid Fisher, co-chairs for the AIET
section. They solicited the manuscripts, found reviewers,
obtained the reviews, communicated with the authors and then worked
with the IS mid-year program committee in finalizing the AIET portion
of the program.
I also want to again thank Andy Lymer for all he has done, both as
section president last year, and also for remaining on as section web
master. He organized the update of the section’s web site, and it
looks great! I really like the content he developed on the value
proposition for becoming a member of the section
(http://aaahq.org/aiet/valueProposition.html). I have used that
explanation in talking with potential members and in explaining the
difference between the AIET section and the IS section and it really
helped. The individuals were able to see the need for the
different sections and where their own research and teaching needs fit
in. Now, please remember to send Andy information to help fill in
the contents, especially on the teaching and research dimensions.
I’ll conclude with just a few reminders. The calls (and
deadlines) for nominations for section officers, outstanding
researcher, outstanding educator and outstanding dissertation are just
around the corner. Also, Rick Dull (President-elect) will soon be
asking for volunteers for all of the section’s committees for next
year. Please volunteer and help! Finally, I hope that you have
been able to participate in the annual meeting, the mid-year meeting or
in one of the regional meetings. If not, its still not to late to get
that research paper completed and submitted to the 16th Annual AI/ET
Research Workshop to be held in Chicago (Deadline - Monday, June 4,
2007). If you have any questions or
suggestions, please feel free to contact me.
Regards,
Sev Grabski
President, AIET Section
grabski@msu.edu
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National and AAA News
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Three distinguished accountants were inducted into the
Accounting Hall of Fame on Monday, August 9, 2004 at the American
Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. The 2004
inductees are Dennis R. Beresford, former chairman of the Financial
Accounting Standards Board; Gerald A. Feltham, internationally-known
accounting theoretician; and, the late William J. Vatter, influential
professor and writer on cost accounting and related subjects.
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Regional News
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Regional Meeting Reports:
Ohio region of the AIET section had an active season this year.
Two symposia were organized during the current academic year:
- The Center for Information Technology and E-Business at The University of Akron organized the Third annual CITE Seminar on "Making the Web Work to Market Your Business" on Friday November 17, 2006. New this year was an optional hands-on workshop titled "Are the right customers finding your site?" presented by The Karcher Group.
- The Center for Research and Training in Information Security and Assurance at The University of Akron organized the Fifth Symposium on Information Systems, Risk, Security & Assurance on Friday February 23, 2007. The theme of this year's symposium is Information Security and Regulatory Compliance Beyond SOX. Invited speakers are recognized experts with outstanding national and international reputation. The symposium included:
- Hands-on interactive workshop on eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), an emerging managerial and financial reporting framework being championed by the SEC, AICPA, FDIC, FASB, professional organizations and several leading Fortune 100 companies. It was the first hands-on workshop in the five year history of the security symposium.
- Focused sessions on internal controls and information security:
i. Using IT for Effective and Efficient Regulatory Compliance.
ii. Metrics for Evaluating and Justifying Information Security and Related Projects.
iii. Biometrics for Systems Security and Control: From the lab of Diebold's identiCenter.
iv. Anatomy of Information Security Fraud Cases.
v. Emerging Financial Information Systems Security Risks and Risk Management Issues.
Participants could earn up to twelve hours of CPE credit for attending both the workshop on Thursday and sessions on Friday.Both events sessions were well attended and highly appreciated.
Both symposia are annual events and are open to all Ohio region AIET members and to whom symposia information was sent either directly to members or through their Chairs/Deans.
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International News
No International news this issue.
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Publications
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Research & Publications:
'Opportunities for artificial intelligence development in the accounting
domain: the case for auditing' by Amelia A Baldwin, Carol E Brown, and
Brad S Trinkle. Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and
Management. Jul-Sep 2006.Vol.14, Iss. 3.
This paper reviews the nature of accounting and auditing problems and
the need for application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies
to the discipline. The discussion includes current accounting issues
for which new AI development should be fruitful, particularly auditing
and assurance.
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'Pattern recognition and financial time-series' by Dave Elliman.
Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management Jul-Sep
2006.Vol.14, Iss. 3.
This paper investigates financial time-series from the perspective of a
practitioner in artificial intelligence methods and pattern
recognition. It presents results from statistical experiments which
suggest that financial markets operate with a measure of inefficiency
and predictability. However, identifying the nature of any regularities
and patterns presents a difficult challenge to the artificial
intelligence community, in that established techniques make assumptions
about the underlying process that mostly prove to be invalid for this
class of data.
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Teaching Update
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Global Doctoral Faculty Shortage:
Is there an emerging global doctoral faculty shortage? Resources and
studies to determine if a shortage of Ph.D.-qualified accounting
faculty exists; is it expected to grow; and what can be done. More
about this topic is available at the AAA website
(http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/index.cfm)
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JETA Update
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New Editor of JETA
Incoming JETA editor - as announced at our AGM, we are pleased that Professor Dan O'Leary (USC) has agreed to become the new JETA editor. All new submissions from September 2007 should be sent to Dan for the review process please. The purpose of JETA is to encourage, support and disseminate the production of a stream of high-quality research focused on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence applied or applicable to a wide set of accounting related problems. More about JETA, including submission information is available on the AIET website (http://aaahq.org/aiet/publications/jeta.html).
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Events and Calls for Papers
Update
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Upcoming Meetings:
1. SIXTEENTH ANNUAL AI/ET
RESEARCH WORKSHOP, SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2007
Call for Papers
The Sixteenth Annual Research Workshop on: Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Accounting, Auditing and Tax, is scheduled from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday, August 4th, 2007. The workshop is sponsored by the Artificial Intelligence/Emerging Technologies Section in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Accounting Association. The AAA meeting is scheduled from August 5-8, 2007 also in Chicago IL.
TOPICS: Papers should be related to education, application or research and address both financial and artificial intelligence/emerging technology areas.
Financial areas: accounting, auditing, tax and other financial domains.
Artificial intelligence areas: expert systems, neural networks, case-based reasoning, machine learning, natural language processing, intelligent databases, intelligent agents, intelligent devices (smart phone, intelligent TV) and other artificial intelligence areas.
Emerging technology areas: security (system uptime, authenticity), image processing, communications technologies, internet and public on-line services, world wide web, training and technology competency, electronic commerce, workflow technology, private networks (local, wide, municipal, intranets), EDI, XBRL, XML, data mining, group technologies, continuous assurance services, voice recognition, wireless connectivity, Java and other emerging technologies.
Research Issues: literature reviews, organizing research issues; task selection; feasibility analysis; knowledge acquisition; explanation; knowledge representation (e.g. structure of rule base, neural network, case base etc.); knowledge processing; uncertainty; integration; intelligent databases; validation and verification; changes is usage; innovative uses; impacts on organizations, management, education, practice; legal implications, deeper understanding of financial domains; cognitive modeling and other issues.
MANUSCRIPT GUIDELINES: Papers submitted elsewhere will be considered. Early stage papers are encouraged. Papers will be considered for the AI/ET Section Journal, Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting (JETA), at the option of the author.
If you want your paper considered for JETA, please indicate that in your covering letter. Please include your email address. Papers should be single spaced and in a two column format with the figures placed at the appropriate place in the text. Please use Times New Roman 10 point font for the body of the paper.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Items submitted for consideration must be received by Monday, June 4, 2007. Emailed papers in Word or rich text format are required. Please do not FAX papers. We expect to inform individuals of accept/reject decisions for the Workshop by July 1, 2007. Notification will be made by email.
Send one copy of your properly formatted paper by email to all three:
Rick Dull - rdull@clemson.edu
Carol Brown - BrownC@bus.oregonstate.edu
Amelia Baldwin - Amelia.Baldwin@uah.edu
If your manuscript is accepted for presentation at the Workshop, you will be required to register for the Workshop via the AAA Annual Meeting website (http://aaahq.org/AM2006/registration.htm). If you are a currently enrolled doctoral student, the Workshop registration fee will be waived. Doctoral students must still register on the usual form, but not pay for the Workshop registration as the AI/ET Section will provide a free registration for doctoralstudents. To obtain the free Workshop registration, doctoral students must state on the AAA Registration form that they are a current doctoral student and specify their institution.
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2. The AAA Annual Meeting,
August 5-8, 2007:
The AAA Annual Meeting is scheduled for August 5 through 8, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. More information is on the Web
(http://aaahq.org/AM2007/menu.htm).
Thanks to all the people who have been working on the AIET part of the AAA Annual Meeting, who managed all the tasks necessary to get the annual meeting program organized, including communicating with the AAA office, receiving submissions, arranging reviews, responding to authors, and setting up sessions.
Thanks to everyone who submitted a paper. Thanks to all the reviewers. Thanks to everyone who agreed to serve as a discussant, session chairperson, or panelist.
Hotel Information:
The American Accounting Association's 2007 Annual Meeting will be held in the Hilton Chicago Hotel and Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, August 5–8.
Hilton Chicago
720 South Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 922-4400
Fax: (312) 922-5240
The special room rate for meeting attendees is U.S. $179.00 (single or double occupancy). To receive the special conference rate be sure to:
Make your reservations by June 26, 2007
Identify yourself as attending the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting.
Some Annual Meeting sessions and events will be held at the Palmer House Hilton.
Palmer House Hilton
17 East Monroe St.
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 726-7500
Fax: (312) 917-1707
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3. The
ICFAI Journal of Audit Practice Call for Papers:
Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) is a non-profit organization involved primarily in providing distance education, professional programs in the area of finance and management. In service to the ‘Auditing’ field ICFAI launched a quarterly blind referred journal ‘The Icfai Journal of Audit Practice’ on January 2003,
that contributes to advancement of knowledge in auditing, addresses the changing function of an auditor, the contemporary areas in auditing requiring attention and the constructive influence they have on the companies, corporate governance, the investors and public at large. To date ICFAI has published sixteen issues of The Icfai Journal of Audit Practice and our forthcoming issues are all set to be viewed online in the 10th edition of Cabell's Directory in its Accounting section. The
Icfai Journal of Audit Practice invites academicians from across the globe to publish their original works in the journal. For more information, please contact:
Prof. C Padmavathi
Consulting Editor
The Icfai Journal of Audit Practice
Icfai University Press.
Stellar Sphinx, 3-6-354/1; Above Himalaya Book Stores
Road No – 1, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad- 500 082,
Tel: 91-40-23430431-434
Fax: 91-40-23430458
Website: www.icfaipress.org
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Awards Update
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1. Call for Nominations: AI/ET Section 2007 Outstanding Educator Award
The AI/ET Section of the American Accounting Association is pleased to announce its call to identify the 2007 Outstanding Educator. The purpose of this award is to recognize an educator for their outstanding education contribution in the field of AI/ET. The winner of this award will be honored with a plaque presented at the AI/ET Section Business Meeting to be held at the 2007 AAA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
The primary criteria for the award are:
Educational impact made by the individual on the
field of AI/ET
Originality and innovation of the educational
contributions
Contribution to the larger AIS and IS communities
Selection Process:
Nominations should be sent (electronic submissions
only) by April 30, 2007 to:
AI/ET Section Outstanding
Educator Award
Daniel E. O’Leary
Leventhal School of Accounting
3660 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0441
oleary@usc.edu
To be eligible for consideration, the nominee must be a current member of the AAA. A member of the AI/ET Section must nominate the individual.
The nominating letter should include a statement as to why the individual is nominated and an assessment of the individual’s educational contributions.
Educational contribution is broadly defined and not limited to any type of teaching.
Members of the Executive Committee are ineligible for the award.
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2. Call for Nominations:
AI/ET Section 2007 Outstanding Researcher Award
The AI/ET Section of the American Accounting Association is pleased to announce its call to identify the 2007 Outstanding Researcher. The purpose of this award is to recognize a researcher for their outstanding published research in the field of AI/ET. The winner of this award will be honored with a plaque presented at the AI/ET Section Business Meeting to be held at the 2007 AAA Annual Meeting in Chicago,
Illinois.
The primary criteria for the award are:
Impact of the research on the field of AI/ET
Relevance to the larger accounting information systems community
Relevance to the larger information systems community
Originality and innovation of the research
Selection Process:
Nominations should be sent (electronic submissions
only) by April 30, 2007 to:
AI/ET Section Outstanding Researcher Award
Daniel E. O’Leary
Leventhal School of Accounting
3660 Trousdale Parkway
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0441
To be eligible for consideration, the nominee must be a current member of the AAA. A member of the AI/ET Section must nominate the research.
The nominating letter must include a statement as to why the individual is nominated and an assessment of the individual’s research (which can include peer-reviewed books, monographs, and journal articles relating to research in the field of AI/ET). Publications in AI/ET section publications should be highlighted.
Members of the Executive Committee are ineligible for the award.
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Links Update
No link updates have been supplied for this newsletter. Please send any suggestions for new links you think will be of interest to other section members to the Newsletter Editor or to the section's Webmanager (Andy Lymer).
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Section Members Activities
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Call for Nominations
for 2007/8 Section Officers:
It is now time to begin the nominations process for Section Officers for the forthcoming year. We need nomination for the following positions:
A. The President-Elect (elected for a one-year term and upon completion of this elected term, will automatically become the President of the Section).
B. The Vice President (elected for a one-year term and is eligible for re-election for two additional one-year terms).
C. The Secretary-Treasurer (elected for a one-year term and is eligible for re-election for two additional one-year terms).
(NB. The President is not nominated in this process - the current year's President-Elect automatically becomes the next President - this year Rick Dull will therefore become President)
Our by-laws explain the nominations process thus; "Any member of the Section may make recommendations of nominees to the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will select and publish the slate of nominees for Section officers approximately 60 days prior to the Annual Meeting. Voting will be closed no earlier than 15 days prior to the Annual Meeting. In addition, an individual may be nominated by a petition signed by not less than ten (10) members of the
AI/ET Section. Any individual nominated by petition must previously have agreed to serve if elected and must be a member in good standing of the Section. Only members in good standing of the AI/ET Section are eligible to vote."
Please can you therefore supply the names of nominees for any/all these positions (with associated contact details) to the chair of the nominations committee (Andy Lymer, a.lymer@bham.ac.uk) by 1 May 2007.
Please ensure the nominated persons have agreed to be nominated before offering them up for consideration.
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Congratulations:
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Congratulations go to Roger Debreceny who was appointed as the 2006/2007 chair of the COBIT Steering Committee for ISACA and was recently promoted to Full Professor in the School of Accountancy at UH-Manoa.
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Committees:
The AIET Section operates effectively through a structure of committees who collectively take responsibility for the variety of tasks and functions the section aims to provide coverage over. Current committee information is on the AIET website
(http://aaahq.org/aiet/committees.html).
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Contact
the Newsletter Editor
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Contact the Newsletter
Editor:
Please send me items of interest for next newsletter, including:
- Recent books or journal articles related to AIET - whether you have
published them or you have seen other peoples you think others should
know about. Conferences and calls for papers related to AIET - make
sure all regional or local events you may be involved with get good
billing this way.
- This could include non-AAA events too (if directly relevant to
section members' interests) - Have you been to an interesting meeting
recently? Why not write a few paragraphs for us describing who
presented what so we can all benefit in some way from events we
couldn't attend?
- Personal accomplishments e.g. promotions or awards (don't be shy
now!) Have you changed jobs recently? Let people know where you are now
via the newsletter perhaps!
- New research projects started or updates on current ones you may be
working on. PhD students - tell us what you are doing and what you are
finding out - there may be people out there who can help you in all
kinds of ways you hadn't thought about - ask!
- Other items related to AIET e.g. comments or questions you'd like
answers to or help with. Maybe someone out there has an answer that can
help you with an issue you are facing? Ask!
Best regards,
Murphy
L. Murphy Smith, Newsletter Editor
Lmsmith@tamu.edu
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Spring 2007 Edition