
Education
PhD in Operation Research and System, University of Warwick
Professional Experience
2020 - Current Founder and Director, Digital Sustainability Knowledge Hub, UNSW
2014 – Current Professor, School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW
2018 – Current Deputy Head of School (Research), School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW
2018/1 – 2018/7 Acting Head of School, SISTM, UNSW
2009 – 2014 Academic Director, Strategic Technology Management Institute, National University of Singapore
2011 – 2014 Deputy Head, IS Department, National University of Singapore
2000 – 2014 Assistant Professor and Associate Professor, IS Dept, School of Computing, National University of Singapore
Scientia Professor Shan L Pan is an AGSM Scholar and Deputy Head of School (Research) at the School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW Business School. He is the Director of the Digital Sustainability Knowledge Hub (DS Hub), which specialises in research and education on digital sustainability, aiming to contribute to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). In addition, Shan is the inventor of a sustainability intelligence system that tracks leading business organisations’ Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) performance.
Shan’s research interest is the enabling roles of digital technologies in innovation and sustainability. He is the founding member of the UNSW Institute of Climate Risk and Response (ICRR).
As a phenomenon-based researcher using qualitative and design research methods, Shan has documented some of the most valuable digital transformation best practices arising from businesses, cities, remote villages, and government agencies in their rapid development over the last two decades. As an action design science researcher, he is particularly interested in the designs of digital technologies that address sustainability challenges. He frequently travels to developing economies, where he studies the indigenous practices of information systems.
Shan has published widely in journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of the AIS, Information Systems Journal, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Communications of ACM, among others. Shan serves on several editorial boards, including the Journal of the AIS (Senior Editor) and the Journal of Strategic Information Systems (Senior Editor). He has also served on the editorial boards of Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Journal, Information and Management, and the European Journal of Information Systems.
Shan received the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Fellow Award in 2022, recognizing his outstanding contributions to research, teaching and service in the information systems discipline.
In 2020, Shan was awarded the inaugural AIS Impact Award for his impact-centric research achievements. The award recognises his fundamental research on digital enablement and the invention of a knowledge-sharing platform that more than 100 educators used to facilitate remote teaching to children disadvantaged by educational inequality in remote villages. Shan has endeavoured to create scientific inventions. He has a patent for a knowledge-based system he had invented. In addition, he’s recently built an intelligence system that tracks leading organisations’ Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies. The system is now undergoing IP registration. For his leadership in technological innovation and contributions to the IS community, Shan has received the AIS Technology VISION Award twice (2020 and 2021).
Shan is a passionate educator who strives to develop pedagogical breakthroughs. He has won seven education-excellence awards for his pedagogical innovation and drive to teaching excellence. In 2022, he won AIS COVID-19 Learning Action Award (2020) for his creative invention of a mobile application to facilitate rapid learning when the pandemic first struck. In addition, his invention of the Sandbox Method for Translational Research has won the AACSB Innovations that Inspire Award (2019).
Research Grants
2023-2026. Chief Investigator. ARC Next-Gen Manufacturing ITTC Centre, Australian Research Council (ARC). $$ 4,978,958.
2023. PI. Bank of China (Dubai Branch). "ESG Development in UAE", Commissioned Report. $30,000
2023. PI. Mahidol University. "ESG Development and Opportunities in Thailand". Commissioned Report. $15,000
2021. PI. Institute of Analytics Professional Australia (IAPA). "Customer-Centric Digital Transformation and Future-Ready Workforce", Commissioned Report. $20,000
2020-2023. PI. GYC. "Sandbox Innovation", Technology Leasing. $100,000
2018. PI. "Future of Retail: Towards Loyalty Analytics Capability Building". Translational Research. $350,000
2019. PI. "Food Innovation Maturity Model". Translational Research, $209,000
2018. PI. "Blockchain Technology Research and Development". Translational Research, $50,000
Association For Information Systems
Industry Engagement and Societal Impact Awards
2021 AIS Technology VISION Award, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2021 Winner, NSW Innovation Districts COVID-19 Challenge (partnership with PeepsRide; Dr Veronica Jiang and Xinyue Zhang)
2020 AIS Impact Award, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2020 AIS Technology VISION Award, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
Education Awards
2020 AIS COVID Learning Action Award, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2019 Innovations that Inspire Award (AACSB)
2009 Annual Teaching Excellence Award Winner, National University of Singapore
2006 Faculty Excellent Teacher Award Winner, National University of Singapore
2006 Annual Excellent Teacher Award Winner, National University of Singapore
2004 Annual Excellent Teacher Award Winner, National University of Singapore
2003 Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Winner, National University of Singapore
Research Awards
2022 SIGGreen Best Journal Paper for 2021
2021 SDG Research Impact Award, UNSW Business School
2021 Research Excellence Award, UNSW Business School
2017 Best Practice Track Paper Award in International Conference on Information Systems, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2016 Nominated Best Paper Award at International Conference on Information Systems, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2016 Nominated Best European Research Paper of the Year Award, CIO CIty.com, Netherland
2011 Best Paper Runner-up, International Conference on Information Systems, Association For Information Systems (AIS)
2010 Best Paper Award, Honourable-Mention, J of Strategic IS
2010 Best Paper Award, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
2007 Best Paper Runner-Up, International Conference on Information Systems
2004 Best Paper Runner-Up. Americas Conference on Information Systems, Association For Information Systems
2001 Best Theme Runner Up, International Conference on Information Systems (2001), Association For Information Systems
As a phenomenon-based case researcher, Shan has contributed to the Information Systems community by studying and documenting contemporary digitally-enabled phenomena through his substantial fieldwork over the last two decades in Asia. He frequently travels to developing economies in Asia, where he studies indigenous perspectives of information systems practices. His empirical work, published in various journal outlets, has documented some of the most valuable digital transformation experiences from Asian businesses, cities, remote villages, and government agencies in its rapid development over the last two decades.
Research Interests: Digital Sustainability; SDG and ESG; Climate Change and Response; Strategy Visualization and Intelligence