Introduction to the Special Issue on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management in the Asia Pacific Region

The current special issue was arranged by Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, during a point of the COVID-19 pandemic when many contingency plans were being made. It is a collection of the papers with the most positive reviews submitted to a conference organised by the Asia Pacific chapter of this organisation but which needed to be postponed by one calendar year. This special issue includes research papers ranging from the electronic provision of social work services and the adoption of e-learning by university students during the pandemic to relevant challenges faced by tourism supply chains around the world. Other special issue papers cover broader issues such as emergency response capacities and information systems for emergency medical care. Papers on the digitalisation of health care and a framework for studying supply chain resilience take a more conceptual approach to enduring issues, while papers on rescue coordination and traffic accident modelling look at issues affecting our everyday lives. As a whole, this special issue represents a panorama of important research and research-related activity that was being carried out as the pandemic progressed. We are proud to have seen the current set of papers through to publication during such a challenging period.