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Victor W. A. Mbarika, Ph.D. |
 Prof. Victor W. Mbarika (Ph.D.) is on faculty in the College of Business at Southern University and A&M College and is the founding and executive director of the University’s International Center for Information Technology and Development. He is also Visiting Professor at The University of Buea in Cameroon, Makerere University Business School in Uganda, as well as external examiner at several other Universities internationally. He is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant with various governmental and private agencies. He holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the U.S. International University, a M.S. in MIS from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. in MIS from Auburn University. With over 100 academic publications, Dr. Mbarika has authored three books and his research on ICT diffusion in developing countries and on multimedia learning has appeared (or are forthcoming) in 38 peer reviewed journals, 5 book chapters and over 60 national and international conferences publications. He was cited as being “in the forefront of academic research into ICT implementation in Africa, and has provided a theoretically-informed framework for understanding ICTs in less developed countries...” His scholarly publications have appeared in journals such as Journal of the Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on Education, IEEE Transactions on IT in Biomedicine, IEEE Spectrum, Communications of the ACM, The Information Society, and Journal of the American Society for Information Sciences. His work has also appeared in major media outlets such as Reuters and The Associated Press (AP), including numerous radio and TV appearances. He has received multiple research and teaching grants and fellowships, amounting to over $1.25million, from the National Science Foundation, NASA, KPMG, Microsoft, Southern Regional Education Board and the Louisiana Board of Regents. Dr. Mbarika has also received the prestigious Fulbright grant. He is Editor-in-Chief of The African Journal of Information Systems and serves as senior board member for several other journals such as IEEE Transactions on IT in Biomedicine. Dr. Mbarika is Founder of the Cameroon Computer and Network Center (CCNC). He is a member of the Association of Information Systems (AIS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Information Resources Management Association (IRMA). He holds over 20 research, teaching and service excellence awards and has been featured on the cover page of several magazines highlighting his ICT research and consulting activities. Website: www.mbarika.com. |
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Dr. Richard Boateng is an information and communication technology (ICT) researcher who researches on emerging technologies and resource-poor contexts. He is the Director of Research at the International Centre for Information Technology and Development at the College of Business, Southern University. He is also a Centre Associate of the Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester, UK. He holds postgraduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Manchester, where he undertook a research on the resource-based analysis of e-commerce in resource poor environments. He is a Chevening Scholar (graduate), a Dorothy Hodgkin Scholar (doctoral) and currently a National Science Foundation Scholar (post-doctoral). Richard’s research interests have two primary components: business informatics – the study of the Internet and knowledge management in the context of business organizations and development informatics – a focus on the interplay between the diffusion, transfer and impact of the ICTs on resource poor environments and institutional elements that would shape it. These components embrace topics including ICT Strategic Planning; Knowledge management; Organizational learning; Electronic business; Mobile commerce; Web 2.0 for non-profit organizations; ICTs for development; Gender, fashion and the Internet; and Creative Industries (Video Games and Music) and resource poor environments. Dr. Boateng’s professional career has been in the ICT, banking and fashion sector in Ghana, e-business strategies of a number of charities in the UK and open learning technologies in USA. He has ICT research experience in Uganda and Rwanda. Richard also volunteered as a behavioral consultant on the West African Project to Combat HIV/AIDs, Kumasi, Ghana and a country representative for International 16, at the International Society, UK. Dr. Boateng’s research has been published in conference proceedings, books and journals including Internet Research, Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, Third World Quarterly, Development and Learning in Organizations, Journal of African Business, Information Development, Banking and Banking Systems, and the Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries. He is the editor of African Journal of Information Systems and a recent mini-track chair at the 2009 Americas Conference on Information Systems. Richard and his collaborators at ICITD have won grants for Telemedicine Research in Africa to a total of US$ 200,000 from the National Science Foundation in 2009. He has recently co-authored a book with leading researchers, Robert Hinson and Victor Mbarika, on E-commerce and Customer Management in Ghana, which is yet to be launched in the last quarter of 2009. Richard is the founder of Pearl Richards Concepts (www.pearlrichards.org), a project that turns research ideas and concepts into sustainable development projects and business enterprises. One of the projects of PRC is Ewuraba.com, a gender development project which documents the profiles of Professional African Women. This project leads Richard’s research on the Internet, Gender and Fashion. Richard is the founder and workshop Chair of fashTECH, a forum which explores new technologies in fashion and the opportunities for fashion industry in developing countries. Richard is also the Conference Planning and Grounds Chair of the International Conference on ICT for Africa (www.ictforafrica.org), through which he actively promotes ICT research Africa and has audience with Vice-Chancellors and Principals of African Universities to discuss ICT Education in Africa. He also collaborates on ICT research with faculty of University of Buea, Cameroon; Makerere University Business School, Uganda; Chang Mai University, Thailand; Jönköping International Business School, Sweden; and a number of other UK and US Universities. Through ICITD, Richard is actively building capacity in African Universities. His current project is in the Operations and Management Information Systems Department of the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana. Richard can be reached at
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and his website is www.pearlrichards.org. |
 Dr. Thomas is the Director of Student Mentoring Programs at the International Center for Information Technology and Development, Southern University, USA. He holds advanced degrees in Information Systems & Decision Sciences, Public Administration, Sociology, and will complete the requirements for his second doctorate in Business Administration in 2009. He has over 16 years of professional experience working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He has held teaching positions at Louisiana State University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Management at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he teaches courses in quantitative business analysis, electronic business, accounting information systems, operations management, and supply chain management. Dr. Thomas' research focuses on information technology use in the public sector. He has presented his research at the Americas Conference for Information Systems, Auburn University, and the conference for Information Research Management Association. |
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 Dr. Mengistu Kifle is a Professor and Director of Telemedicine and Teleeducation Research and Projects at the International Center for Information Technology and Development, Southern University. He holds a PhD in telemedicine from Stockholm University. He is a member of professional, working group, international associations and international special telemedicine interest groups. He has recently been awarded the prestigious Fullbright scholarship to research on Telemedicine in rural Louisiana, USA. He is also serving as a investigator on the National Science Foundation funded research project on developing a Telemedicine Model for Sub-Saharan Africa. He serves as a co-supervisor of several post graduated students. He has more than fifteen years of professional experience with the United Nations Development Program and Organization of African Unity as well as Academic Institutions. He has participated and provided leadership in various telemedicine initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. He provided professional consultation to build state-of-the-art Telemedicine programs.
His research interests are in Telemedicine in resource-poor settings, visual-based telemedicine technology, security and standard, Technology Transfer, Innovation – Diffusion, Technology Acceptance, E-health, e-education, etc, E-policy (telemedicine, e-health, Security), Cross culture issues in developing countries with a focus on health care informatics in sub-Saharan Africa. He has published (or is forthcoming) in more than 20 peer reviewed journals, a handful of book chapters, and over 30 national and international conferences. He serves as a reviewer of several journals. He service at conferences and professional meetings as Session Chair, Track and mini-Track Chair.
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