The Editor's Column

We are delighted to have three guest editors join us in this issue, in the presentation of a special section on trust in electronic commerce. Trust has received considerable attention in the e-commerce literature and this special group of papers makes a real contribution to our knowledge. Sincere thanks to our guest editors, Mary Jones, Paul Ambrose, and Arun Rai, and to the authors for their contribution to this issue.

In addition to the special section, we have two research articles that provide a view of leading-edge issues in electronic services. Both articles examine environments that are information intensive, though they take quite different perspectives. In his article, "Consumer Intentions in Terms of Electronic Travel Distribution: Implications for Future Market Structures," Bill Anckar examines the travel industry and current trends in disintermediation in that industry. His findings have intriguing implications for future developments in this industry, as mobile technologies become more prevalent. The article helps us understand how consumers view and use these evolving channels.

The final paper, "Intelligent Support for Sophisticated e-Commerce Services: An Agent-Based Auction Framework Modeled after the New York Stock Exchange Specialist System," is by Ken Griggs and Rosemary Wild. Their focus is on modeling one kind of electronic service via intelligent agents. The paper provides a helpful background on different types of agents for interacting with knowledge or services. By describing the roles, interactions, and architecture of an auction system, the authors present an interesting foundation for future developments.

We are also very pleased to announce several additions to our editorial board. Ellen Christiaanse of the University of Amsterdam joins us as Senior Editor of the journal, and we welcome her to the board with enthusiasm. Ellen brings significant expertise in on- line supply chains, mobile electronic channels, and leveraging knowledge assets in B2B marketplaces. She has been awarded several international prizes for her research, and she brings a broad international perspective from her research, teaching, and consulting experiences around the world.

Rounding out our Senior Editor group is the addition of Ramesh Venkataraman of Indiana University, who has served the journal as an Associate Editor since its inception. We are delighted that Ramesh has agreed to become Senior Editor, bringing his depth of understanding of database, database modeling, and group support systems. Ramesh will primarily handle applied article submissions.

Joining the board as Associate Editors are Virpi Tuunainen of the Helsinki School of Economics, and Lai Lai Tung of Nanyang Technological University. These outstanding scholars help broaden our global reach geographically, as well as enhance our depth of research expertise. Our warm welcome to both of them. Finally, we thank Derrick Ong—who is leaving the board—for his service as Associate Editor during the journal's first years.

These are turbulent times for our world, and we see new uses and greater infusion of technology in every arena. We solicit your continuing contributions to the journal, with leading-edge research and analyses that examine the intersection of human and technological phenomena from a variety of perspectives.