Welcome to BIS99! Business Information Systems 99 is an international conference being held for the third time. BIS99 aims to discuss the development, implementation, application and improvement of computer systems for business processes. It is addressed to the scientific community, people involved in the development of business computer applications, and to consultants helping to properly implement computer technology and applications in industry. Over 50 selected papers will be presented at BIS99 during the scientific and practical sessions. The papers deal with a variety of topics related to computer systems in management, from the point of view of their application (e.g., electronic commerce), their business or industrial users (e.g., business process re-engineering), and technology (e.g., data warehousing). The submitted papers underwent a rigorous reviewing process, and the resulting program should provide an outstanding representation of international research in this area. We believe that BIS99 will provoke some interesting international discussion amongst participants, particularly as this meeting includes a number of invited lectures by international experts in the area. The BIS99 international Program Committee was composed of 53 scientists from diverse locations -from the USA to Australia, from countries with a stable economy through to those undergoing economic transformation. This aspect further helps to enrich the conference program.