ABSTRACT
Information systems (IS) have considerable use in supporting large‐scale communication
and coordination. This is especially important in contexts such as major event and crisis
management which have complex requirements on people and technology. IS facilitate the
dissemination of real‐time information and coordination among decision makers, and
thereby the management of the entire event. This paper describes a case of management
and deployment of IS for a large‐scale event as an exemplar in this area. Singapore won
the bid to host a major international event, the Annual Meetings of the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank, collectively known as S2006. However, there were
complex requirements and daunting challenges to be overcome in managing such a highprofile
and large‐scale event. The paper describes how the Committee in charge delivered
the IT infrastructure and systems for this large‐scale event with 23,700 participants from
184 countries. It suggests several lessons for IT executives in charge of managing largescale
events, mainly for planned (e.g., sports events) and to some extent for unplanned (e.g.,
Japan tsunami or BP oil spill crisis) events. Particularly, it highlights the need for advance
preparedness, use of IS for situation awareness, cultivating relationships for
communication and coordination, and the importance of vendor management and project