The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) is an annual event that has been convening since 1968, providing a collaborative platform for scholars and professionals in information systems and technology from over 60 countries. The conference aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas and the presentation of peer-reviewed research across various domains, including information, computer, and system sciences.

From January 7 to 10, 2025, the 58th HICSS conference was held at Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii. The conference encompassed a wide array of tracks and minitracks that addressed contemporary topics. For instance, the “Platforms and Ecosystems: New Perspectives in the Era of Data, Analytics, and AI” minitrack invited investigations into the intersection of platforms and ecosystems with data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. Another minitrack focused on the critical intersection of software usability, sustainability, and reproducibility.

This year COSMOS presented 5 papers at the conference that were published in the proceedings available here. Several cosmographers traveled to the conference with Prof. Nitin Agarwal to present their research. The following is a list of papers from cosmographers that were published in the conference:

• A Comparative Evaluation of the SIR and SEIZ Epidemiological Models to Describe the Diffusion Characteristics of COVID-19 Polarizing Viewpoints on Online Social Networks
• Analyzing TikTok’s Role in Mobilizing Dynamics for Information Campaigns during Taiwan’s 2024 Elections
• How does Semiotics Influence Social Media Engagement in Information Campaigns?
• The Amplifiers of Dissent: Examining Influence of Key Users and Content Modality on Collective Actions
• Unpacking Algorithmic Bias in YouTube Shorts by Analyzing Thumbnails

Subsequent editions of our newsletter will share findings from these studies.