Background

Prof. Ibrahim Osman Adam was appointed as the Dean of School of Business in December 2022. Having joined the University in 2013, he has held several positions in the University and served on various committees. He was the Graduate Programmes Coordinator at the erstwhile School of Business and Law (formerly UDS Wa Campus) from 2016 to 2017 and became the Head of Department of the Accounting Department in 2017. He has served as a member of the Procurement Committee, examinations malpractice committee and the ICT committee. Before he was appointed the foundation Dean of the UDS Business School, he was the Head of the Accounting Department at the University for Development of Studies erstwhile School of Business and Law. Prof. Osman was a key member in the transformation agenda of the school from 2016 actively participating in the development of both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and being instrumental in key initiatives in promoting student-centeredness, well-being and development. His approach to addressing student issues has endeared him to many students who have passed through him.

He was promoted to the rank of a senior lecturer in 2018 and to the rank of Associate Professor of Information Systems in 2022. He holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Ghana Business School. He is one of two students who were pioneers of the PhD information systems programme at the University of Ghana Business School. Prof. Osman has a double master's degree; an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (UK) in 2005 which was fully sponsored by a merit scholarship, and an MSc in Applied Informatics from the Henley Business School, University of Reading (UK) in 2009 sponsored by partial scholarship. He has a first-class bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Accounting Option) from the University of Ghana which he obtained in 2002. He is a product of Tamale Secondary School. He is also a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana). He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and a member of the Association of Information Systems. He also holds a PRINCE2 Project Management certificate.

Before joining academia, he worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in the NGO sector. He has provided consultancy services for several small businesses through the Skills Development Fund Ghana as well as capacity building for NGOs in areas of monitoring and evaluation, especially in digital MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) systems. He is also a co-founder of the Centre for ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development) Research.

He teaches Management Information Systems, Accounting Information Systems, Computer Applications in Management, Research Methods, and Information Systems Auditing both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has published extensively in the area of information systems and currently has over 50 publications to his credit. He has also presented at top conferences such as the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), the UK Academy for Information Systems and the Middle East and North Africa Conference for Information Systems (MENACIS).

His research interests are in digital technologies in business and innovation and he specializes in exploring the nexuses in the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) value chain specifically in areas of e-commerce, e-government, social media and other digital transformations.

He is very passionate about mentoring young academics and is open to various forms of collaboration.