Information Systems Scholar Arun Rai Receives Association for Information Systems Impact Award

ATLANTA – Arun Rai, Regents’ Professor of the University System of Georgia and director of the Center for Digital Innovation at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, has received the 2022 AIS Impact Award from the Association for Information Systems (AIS). It is the association’s premier award for the impact of information systems research beyond academia, and honors scholars whose IS research has had widespread impact on practice in business and society. The award was presented to Rai on Dec. 12 at the International Conference on Information Systems in Copenhagen.

Rai received the award for the impact of his pioneering research on digital supply chain innovations in transforming organizations and shaping policy recommendations.

“It’s fitting that Arun’s peers recognize him with this prestigious award. Beyond his stellar academic research, his impact on practice around digital innovation to create value is truly exceptional,” said Robinson College Dean Richard Phillips.

Rai is internationally renowned for his research on the development and deployment of digital solutions to drive innovation and create value. His work spans high-stake problem domains in business and society: from hi-tech firms to supply chains to platform ecosystems to online communities to rural areas of developing countries. His scholarship has contributed to the understanding of the design, use, and impacts of information systems; digital transformation of organizations, supply chains, and markets; governance of information technology resources, online collectives, and digital platforms; and deployment of digital innovations to address societal problems including poverty, health disparities, infant mortality, and digital inequality.

Much of Rai’s research involves close engagement with organizations across sectors and countries (e.g., Apollo Hospitals, China Mobile, Emory Healthcare, Gartner, Georgia-Pacific, Grady Hospital, IBM, Intel, SAP, SunTrust [now Truist], and UPS) and sponsorship by government agencies, corporations and thought leadership forums.

Rai is among the most prolific and cited authors in premier IS journals and one of the discipline’s most respected and decorated scholars. Most recently, he received the 2022 Practical Impacts Award from the INFORMS Information Systems Society in October. Among other honors, he has received the Association of Information Systems (AIS) LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement (2019) and the inaugural INFORMS ISS President’s Service Award (2021). He was named a Distinguished Fellow of INFORMS ISS in 2014 and an AIS Fellow in 2010. He was editor-in-chief of MIS Quarterly, considered the premier scholarly journal in information systems, from 2016-2020, and has served as senior editor or associate editor of other premier journals, including Information Systems Research and Management Science. He was appointed the inaugural holder of the Howard S. Starks Distinguished Chair in 2021.

AIS serves society through the advancement of knowledge and the promotion of excellence in the practice and study of information systems. It is the premier professional association for individuals and organizations who lead the research, teaching, practice, and study of information systems worldwide.