It is with much joy and anticipation that we celebrate the launch of Journal of Advances in Information Technology (JAIT) with this inaugural issue. On behalf of the JAIT Editorial Team, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the readership of JAIT. I take this opportunity to thank our authors, editors and anonymous reviewers, all of whom have volunteered to contribute to the success of the journal. I am also grateful to Dr. George Sun and the staff at Academy Publisher for making JAIT a reality.
   JAIT is dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high quality research papers on how advances in IT can help us meet the challenges of the 21st century, and to capitalize on the promises ahead. We welcome contributions that can demonstrate near-term practical usefulness, particularly contributions that take a multidisciplinary / convergent approach because many real world problems are complex in nature.
   Barely a decade into the new millennium, we have witnessed significant events such as 9/11, SARS, and the South Asian Tsunami, to name but a few. There are also the on-going issues, such as demographic changes (population aging, internal migration and rapid urbanization), management of resources, and environment issues like the current debate about climate change. As IT practitioners and researchers, we aim to seek ways to harness the power of technology to meet some of these real world challenges, and to provide substance for making informed judgments on important matters. For example, modeling and prediction can help manage graying populations, model the spread of diseases or identify/mitigate future security threats; analysis of satellite imagery coupled with knowledge discovery can help manage deforestation, resource exploration or prepare future evacuation plans in response to natural disasters; large scale information processing can aid understanding of how (and to what extent) human activities can impact the environment and climate. The list of possibilities goes on.
   As for the promises that lay ahead, IT has already become an integral part of everyday life. From commerce and government to scientific discovery, healthcare, education and entertainment, IT is indispensable and will continue to fuel further advances in all facets of human endeavors. With “e-everything”, we already see that IT has revolutionized the way we conduct business and learn. Further advances in IT will continue to change the way we live and play. As IT practitioners and researchers, we are responsible for making all this happen, and to some extent help shape the future. With technological advances also come social and legal changes. For example, popularization of the internet has led to a proliferation of virtual online communities, which are often formed on an ad hoc basis and typically characterized by a share of some common interests. Compared to a generation ago, people today interact frequently online and these changes inevitably have social implications.
   JAIT provides an ideal forum for exchange of information on all of the above topics and more, in various formats: full length and letter length research papers, survey papers, work-in-progress reports on promising developments, case studies / best practice articles written by industry experts, and tutorials on up-and-coming technological breakthroughs. JAIT is published four times a year. To ensure rapid dissemination of information, we aim at completing the review process of each paper within 3 months of initial submission. We also publish special issues on relevant themes proposed by guest editors.
   Finally, we wish to encourage more contributions from the scientific community and industry practitioners to ensure a continued success of the journal. Authors, reviewers and guest editors are always welcome. We also welcome comments and suggestions that could improve the quality of the journal.
Thank you. We hope you will find JAIT informative.

doi:10.4304/jait.1.1.1-1