2023 Keynote Speakers

To be added soon...

2022 Keynote Speakers

Prof. Shaofeng Liu, University of Plymouth, UK

Speech Title: Emerging digital technology enabled international virtual community for knowledge mobilisation and e-collaboration

Biography: Shaofeng Liu is Professor of Operations Management and Decision Making at University of Plymouth, UK. She is currently the Associate Head of School for Research and Innovation for Plymouth Business School. Her main research interests and expertise are in knowledge management, decision support systems, business digitalization and e-commerce, as well as enterprise information systems applications for supply chain management, resource efficiency, process improvement, quality management and value chain innovation. She obtained her PhD degree from Loughborough University, UK. She has undertaken a great number of influential research projects funded by UK research councils and European Commission with a total value of over €40M. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator for three Horizon 2020 projects funded by European Commission. She has published over 180 peer-reviewed research papers.

She sits on the Management Board for Euro Working Group on Decision Support Systems, an international professional society dedicated to decision making and decision support systems. She is the Associate Editor for International Journal of Decision Support System Technology (IJDSST) since 2015 and for Journal of Decision Systems (2013-2018), and Senior Editor for Cogent Business and Management (2015-2019). In 2020, she published a new book on “Knowledge Management - An Interdisciplinary Approach for Business Decisions”. For more details, please refer to her professional website: http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/sliu1

Abstract: Digital technologies such as Internet of Things have not only opened up new commercial opportunities for businesses, but also offered opportunities for international communities to come together and address urgent challenges, such as e-collaboration and knowledge mobilisation at global scale. For example, agri-food value chains underpinned by smart digital technologies can now deliver quality food straight to consumers with faster speed and at reasonable cost. Digital technologies such as block-chains can trace food items across the value chain to ensure food safety and resilience. More extraordinarily, the food on ordinary consumers’ tables these days can be coming from all around the world without being restricted by local or regional seasonal changes. This talk will discuss three intertwined solutions all underpinned by emerging digital technologies, which enhance the resilience of agri-food value chains: e-collaboration, virtual knowledge networks and global communities of practice. A real case study is taken from a collaborative EU Horizon 2020 project, RUC-APS (standing for Agricultural Production Systems under Risk and Uncertain Condition, 2016-2022). The global collaboration includes partners from eight countries across Europe (UK, France, Spain, Italy and Poland), South America (Chile and Argentina) and Asia (China). A digital platform for knowledge and technology sharing will be presented with learning points for future improvement.

Prof. Yanqing Duan, University of Bedfordshire, UK

Speech Title: Improving Resource Efficiency in Food Enterprises Using Internet of Things Sensors - REAMIT Project Experience on Preventing Food Waste

Biography: Yanqing (Yan) Duan (BSc, MSc, PhD, SFHEA) is a full Professor of Information Systems and founder and director of Business and Information Systems Research Centre (BISC) at the Business School, University of Bedfordshire. Her principal research interest is the development and use of emerging ICTs (e.g. AI, Big Data, IoT and analytics) and their impact on organisational performance, decision making, and knowledge management. She is a regular expert evaluator for various major funding bodies. Professor Duan has led and participated in many research projects on digital transformation and digital agriculture and aquaculture in collaboration with international, European, and UK partners. She has received many research grants from various funding sources, such as: European Commission, Innovate UK, UK Department For International Development (DFID), BBSRC, JISC, British Council, etc. She is an associated editor for International Journal of Information Management and Decision Support System. She has published over 250 peer reviewed articles including papers in European Journal of Operational Research, European Journal Information Systems, European Journal of Marketing, IEEE transaction on Engineering Management, Information & Management, The Information Society, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Technovation, Information Technology and People.

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices and sensors have provided many opportunities for enterprises to revolutionize how they can connect, collect, analyse, and utilize data for transforming their business operations and processes towards achieving sustainable development goals. However, the application of IoT technologies still faces many challenges. For example, the full benefits and effects of IoT sensors in food enterprises are still not fully explored. The uptake of IoT-enabled sensors for the purpose of preventing food wastes in food supply chains are low and there is a lack of understanding on the determinants of food managers’ intention and use of IoT sensors for food waste prevention. This talk will highlight the current problems of food waste and review how the IoT sensors and big data analytics can help to address this global challenge. The speaker will introduce REAMIT project to demonstrate how IoT sensors are being used in pilot companies in the UK and EU to prevent food waste. Based on the REAMIT project experience, the speaker will discuss the implementation challenges in installing and connecting IoT sensors, collecting and analysing big data, and, most importantly, utilising big data for the purpose of preventing food waste in food enterprises. Finally, the speaker will discuss how these challenges offer research opportunities for information systems researchers and practical implications for food enterprises managers.

Prof. Boris Delibasic, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Speech Title: Bridging the gap between expert knowledge and machine learned knowledge

Biography: Boris Delibašić is a full professor at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Republic of Serbia. His research interests lie in data science, machine learning, business intelligence, multicriteria decision analysis, and decision support systems. He is a coordinator of the EWG-DSS. He was guest lecturer on the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, 2006 - 2011. He was awarded with the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Grant in 2011. He has been granted projects from several research agencies (Swiss National Science Foundation, German academic exchange service, Office for Naval Research, Serbian Ministry of Science).