Keynote Speakers


Prof Pär J. Ågerfalk , Department of Informatiics and Media at Uppsala University, Sweden

Editor-in-Chief of European Journal of Information Systems

Image result for Pär J. Ågerfalk

BIOSKETCH: Pär J. Ågerfalk is a Professor in the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University where he holds the Chair in Information Systems. He received his PhD in Information Systems Development from Linköping University and has held fulltime positions at Örebro University, University of Limerick, Lero – The Irish Software Engineering Research Center and Jönköping International Business School. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Information Systems, a member of the Journal of Information Technology editorial board, and a member of the Distinguished Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Information Management. His current research focuses on the orchestration of digital practices, including open source software, digital innovation, information systems development, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Ågerfalk’s work has appeared in journals such as MISQ, ISR, JIT, JAIS, CAIS and CACM. He is a member of the Association for Information Systems and the OR Society. More inforamtion about Professor Ågerfalk can be found here: https://katalog.uu.se/profile/?id=N7-798.

TITLE: Artificial Intelligence as Digital Agency

ABSTRACT: For a long time thought of as a computer science project with little relevance to information systems (IS), artificial intelligence (AI) has recently come to take centre stage in the IS discourse. This talk explores the role that IS can play in understanding AI and related technologies in social practices. The exploration revisits some fundamental ideas about information technologies as mediators of social action and communication, acknowledging that the computational power of digital technology calls for theorizing that goes beyond sociological accounts of human agency. With this backdrop, the impact of AI on digital practices is framed as an IS problem of understanding digital agency, with consequences for how we may construct relevant IS research questions.


Professor Patrick Chau, Nottingham University Business School, China

Editor-in-Chief of Information & Management

BIOSKETCH: Professor Chau is known for his research in IT adoption/implementation and electronic commerce. He has close to 100 journal publications which are well cited by scholars in the academic community. Many of his papers published in various top-tier and highly reputed journals, including MIS QuarterlyJournal of Management Information SystemsEuropean Journal of Information SystemsJournal of Association for Information SystemsCommunications of the ACMDecision SciencesDecision Support SystemsInformation & Management, and many others.  As of February 2019, the total number of citations of his papers in Google Scholar has reached over 17,500 with an H-index of 51.  He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Information & Management (ABS Level 3) and a Senior Editor of Journal of the Association for Information Systems (ABS Level 4).

Professor Chau’s academic achievements and contributions have been recognized by a number of appointments and award, including Chang Jiang Scholar Chair Professorship by the Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China in March 2010, Padma and Hari Harilela Professorship in Strategic Information Management at The University of Hong Kong in February 2014, Qiushi Chair Professorship at Zhejiang University, China in September 2014, and Li Dak Sum Chair Professorship at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China in September 2017. He also received the AIS Fellow Award in December 2013, an award by the Association for Information Systems (AIS) to no more than six scholars in the discipline of Information Systems each year globally. He was also invited and is now serving on the International Advisory Board of the Consumer and Organisational Data Analytics (CODA) Research Centre of King’s College London (KCL) in the U.K., the FinTech and Digital Governance Research Centre of the National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan, and the Faculty of Management and Economics of the Dalian University of Technology, China. More information about professor Chau can be found here: https://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/business/people/academic/patrickchau.aspx.

TITLE: Computational Social Science in the Big Data Paradigm

ABSTRACT: Proposed in a paper published in Nature in 2009 by a group of researchers led by David Lazer from Harvard, Computational Social Science (CSS) is a multi-disciplinary field at the intersection of social, computational and complexity sciences whose subjects of study is human interactions and society itself. With the exponential growth of big data in recent years, CCS has also been expanded to the “Big Data paradigm” to attempt to solve issues and/or problems in not just the business arena but also the society at large. This talk aims to first give an overview of CSS and then presents opportunities and challenges of conducting CSS research in the Big Data paradigm.


Prof Feng Li, Cass Business School, UK

BIOSKETCH: Over the last 30 years, Professor Feng Li (PhD, FBAM, FAcSS) has been investigating how Digital Technologies (ICTs) can be used to facilitate strategic innovation and organisational transformation across different sectors and domains, from IT, Telecom, Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retailing, the Creative Industries, to Health and Social Care Services. He is particularly interested in emerging strategies, business models and organisational designs in the digital economy. He advises senior business leaders and policy makers on how to manage the transition to new strategies, new business models and new organisational forms enabled by digital technologies. His research has been published in the Academy of Management Discoveries, Harvard Business Review, British Journal of Management, Technovation, International Journal of Management Review, R&D Management, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Some of his findings have been widely reported by business oriented magazines and newspapers in different languages, including Management Today, CEO Today, Wired, Forbes, Computer Weekly, Financial Times, City A.M.,Telegraph and many others.
For more infomration: https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/faculties-and-research/experts/feng-li

TITLE: Digital Transformation: Bridging the Innovation-Execution Gap

ABSTRACT: In this keynote speech, Professor Feng Li will reflect on his research on eBusiness and Information Systems over the last 30 years, and highlight some of the emerging opportunities and challenges for our discipline. The focus of eBusiness and Information Systems research has expanded significantly in recent years, and today, it is no longer just about investigating, understanding and informing business innovations enabled by digital technologies in private and public sector organisations, but also using the power of digital innovations to alleviate significant societal challenges of our time in financially sustainable and operationally scalable fashion – from ageing, social inclusion, poverty reduction to sustainable development. Although developing new visions of digital innovation is challenging, managing the transition to new technologies, new business models and new organisational designs often poses far greater challenges for business leaders and policy makers. Furthermore, as other disciplines in business management – from strategy and operation management to marketing and human resource management – increasingly embrace digital, our discipline is under existential threat, and it is our responsibility to articulate the intellectual and practical reasons for treating eBusiness and Information Systems as the explicit focus of our research, education and business engagement. Some current research projects are used to illustrate these issues, and a number of significant emerging themes for future research are highlighted.


Laura Partridge, Digital Programme Lead, North East Local Enterprise Partnership

 

BIOSKETCH: Laura joined the North East Local Enterprise Partnership in December 2018 as Digital Programme Lead. With partners she recently launched Digital for Growth – a digital strategy for the North East.

Laura relocated to the North East two years ago to join the team that delivered the Great Exhibition of the North as Innovation Champion. She led the team that produced the Northern Powerhouse Business Summit and oversaw the ERDF-funded GX Project, focusing on supporting innovation-led growth and regional SMEs. Previously she was based in Manchester and has a background in university engagement and regional economic development – most recently as Innovation & Engagement Manager for the N8 Research Partnership.

TITLE: Digital for Growth: a digital strategy for the region

ABSTRACT: The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is a public, private and education sector partnership – one of thirty-eight LEPs in the country. The LEP is responsible for promoting and developing economic growth in the local authority areas of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland. The North East LEP produces the area’s Strategic Economic Plan - a blueprint for the activities that need to take place to improve our regional economy. Digital is one of four areas of strategic importance identified in the plan and Digital for Growth, the North East’s digital strategy, was launched earlier this year. We recognise that digital is critical to the development of our economy in the broadest sense. Digital for Growth acknowledges the ubiquity if ‘digital’ and the challenges of defining it as a single sector. We want to take our assets and position ourselves as a demonstrator in the digitalisation of industry and society, focusing on cross-cutting digital adoption, transformation and skills development. Ongoing partnership working will be critical in delivering this strategy, through shared coordination and leadership – regionally, nationally and within government. Digital for Growth will develop and articulate the sub-sectors of our digital economy to highlight our capabilities and areas of specialism that could contribute to the delivery of more and better jobs.