Call for Papers for the 2026 IE³ TiDES Forum

Digital technologies, artificial intelligence, data factors, and platform ecosystems are profoundly reshaping global industrial structures, organizational forms, innovation and entrepreneurship models, and pathways to sustainable development. Simultaneously, increasing global economic uncertainty, the complexity of technology governance, and the mounting pressure of green transition are posing new theoretical questions and practical challenges to management, economics, industrial engineering, innovation & entrepreneurship, and industrial ecology.

Against the backdrop of China's continued implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, the implementation of the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals, and the urgent call for constructing an independent Chinese knowledge system, the deep integration of industrial engineering, innovation & entrepreneurship, and industrial ecology with the digital economy has become a frontier of academic research and a core focus of policy-making. Developing theoretical frameworks with explanatory power, global relevance, and forward-looking implications, and building a knowledge system rooted in Chinese practice while addressing global challenges, have become key tasks for academia and industry.

Innovation and Digital Economy Symposium (TiDES), the International Symposium on Industrial Engineering, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Industrial Ecology (IE³) and the annual meeting of Digital Economy Innovation Committee, China Information Economics Society. Centered on independent knowledge system building, the digital economy, sustainability, and innovation, the forum will provide an interdisciplinary platform through keynote speeches, parallel sessions, paper development workshops, selected paper presentations, and expert discussions panels. It aims to bring together leading scholars, industry experts, and early-career researchers to advance interdisciplinary dialogue and theoretical innovation across management, economics, industrial engineering, innovation and entrepreneurship, and industrial ecology in the digital economy era. Held on the occasion of the centennial of economics at Tsinghua University, this forum represents a major academic gathering jointly organized by the IE³ TiDES Forum team and leading universities to celebrate this historic milestone.

Forum Theme and Topics

Forum Theme:

Independent Knowledge Systems, Sustainability, and Innovation in the Digital Economy Era

The forum welcomes quantitative, qualitative, theoretical, methodological, case-based, and policy-oriented research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1.Construction of China's Independent Knowledge Systems and Theoretical Innovation in the Digital Economy

Theory building from China's digital economy practices; Chinese modernization and theoretical innovation in management and economics; reconstruction of industrial organization, firm theory, and innovation theory in the digital economy era.

2.Artificial Intelligence, Data Factors, and New Quality Productive Forces

Generative AI, intelligent agents, data factors, and firm productivity; data assetization, data value creation, and data governance; digital and intelligent technologies for industrial upgrading and organizational transformation.

3.Digital Innovation, Digital Entrepreneurship, and Platform Ecosystems

Digital entrepreneurship, platform entrepreneurship, and AI entrepreneurship; platform ecosystem governance, entrepreneurial ecosystems, digital identity, and digital trust.

4.Digital Economy Governance, Platform Governance, and Responsible Innovation

Algorithmic governance, data security, privacy protection, technology ethics, and AI governance; platform regulation, antitrust, technology for social good, and responsible innovation mechanisms.

5.Industrial Engineering, Smart Manufacturing, and Industrial Digital-Intelligent Transformation

Digital trade, cross-border data flows, global platform competition, digital infrastructure, and international business; digital rules, institutional differences, and global value chain restructuring.

6.Digital Technologies, Green Innovation, and Sustainability

Digital technologies and green transition; ESG, carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategies, and sustainable corporate innovation; industrial symbiosis, circular economy, green supply chains, and industrial ecosystem evolution.

7.Global Digital Economy, Cross-border Data Flows, and International Business

Smart manufacturing, industrial internet, and digital twins; human-machine collaboration, flexible production, and operations optimization; digital technologies for manufacturing transformation and upgrading; innovative applications of industrial engineering methods in digital-intelligent contexts.

8.Chinese Contexts, Case Research, and Policy Experimentation

Chinese cases of digital economy, industrial innovation, and sustainable development; local digital transformation, regional innovation ecosystems, policy pilots, and governance experience; case methods and research paradigms for building independent knowledge systems.

Organizing Institutions

• Host Institutions

• School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University
• School of Economics and Management, Tongji University
• School of Management, Shanghai University
• Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge
• Chinese Economic Association Europe/UK
• Digital Economy Innovation Committee, China Information Economics Society

• Co-organizing Institution

• Shanghai Industrial Innovation Ecosystem Research Center
• KeAi Publishing

• Conference Chairs

• Prof. Ke Rong, Tsinghua University
• Prof. Jianxin You, Tongji University
• Prof. Lu Zhen, Shanghai University
• Prof. Yongjiang Shi, University of Cambridge
  

Date and Venue

• Date: Monday, September 21, 2026
• Venue: Tsinghua University
• Program Format

• Morning: Opening ceremony and keynote speeches
• Afternoon: Parallel sessions, paper development workshops and expert discussions

Submission Guidelines

The forum invites scholars from China and abroad to submit original research that has not been formally published in academic journals. Submissions may include quantitative studies, qualitative studies, theoretical and methodological papers, research-based cases, and policy-oriented studies.Detailed requirements are as follows:

Submissions may be written in Chinese or English. Chinese papers should preferably be no longer than 10,000 Chinese characters, and English papers should preferably be no longer than 5,000 words. Submissions should be prepared in Word format.

Please submit your paper to:  IE3TiDES2026@163.com

The first page should include the author's name, affiliation, academic title, mailing address, postal code, phone number, and email address.

The email body should specify the author's name, affiliation, paper title, and selected topic area from Topics 1–8 listed above.

All submissions will be reviewed by experts appointed by the organizing committee. Outstanding papers will be selected from the accepted submissions.

Submission deadline: August 20, 2026.

All submissions will receive email confirmation. If no confirmation is received within one week after submission, please contact the organizing committee.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by email by September 1, 2026.

Additional Information

The forum is planned as a one-day event. No registration fee will be charged.Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses.

Contacts

• Yu Chen, Tsinghua University
  Tel: +86 18810978022
  Email: yuchen97@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
• Luning Shao, Tongji University
  Tel: +86 13817508274
  Email: shaoluning@tongji.edu.cn
• Chao Lu, Shanghai University
  Tel: +86 13621651416
  Email: 06luchao@163.com

Submission Email: IE3TiDES2026@163.com

A Century of Economics at Tsinghua University

This event coincides with the centenary of economics at Tsinghua University. The discipline traces its origins to 1926, when Professor Chen Daisun laid its foundations. After 1979, its development entered a new and important phase. Some leading faculty members took the initiative in establishing the Department of Economic Management and Engineering, which later evolved into the School of Economics and Management. Other faculty members continued to advance economic research and education within the Department of Social Sciences, leading to the formal establishment of the Institute of Economics in 1993.

In 2006, the Institute of Economics was authorized to confer doctoral degrees in theoretical economics as a first-level discipline. Today, economics at Tsinghua University has established itself as a leading academic hub in China with growing international recognition across a wide range of fields, including the digital economy, political economy, economic history, the Chinese economy, financial technology, and strategic management.

Over the past century, economics at Tsinghua has undergone a remarkable historical journey from its founding and perseverance to its comprehensive revival. Standing at the threshold of a new century, it is now embarking on a new chapter of economics research—one rooted in China, informed by a rich intellectual legacy, driven by innovation, and committed to shaping global academic frontiers with an increasingly open outlook.