Prof. Victor Mbarika

About Prof. Mbarika

Prof. Victor Mbarika is Stallings Distinguished International Scholar/MIS professor at East Carolina University(ECU) within the University of North Carolina System, in Greenville, North Carolina, USA. Prof. Mbarika is Founder and President, Board of Trustees, of The Information and Communication Technology University(ICT University), with multiple campuses in developing countries. Through his leadership as Board Chair, the ICT University was named Best University in Cameroon and also Best University in Central Africa, in terms of innovative use of ICTs in higher education. He is a philanthropist and has funded multiple ICT projects and scholarships worldwide. He is founder of the International Center for Information Technology and Development. Prof. Mbarika serves (or has served) as Visiting Professor at several Universities worldwide and is currently Visiting Leo Endowed Professor and Visiting Legacy Endowed Chair at Legacy University.  He is an ICT consultant and holds a BSc in MIS from the U.S. International University, MSc in MIS from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Ph.D. in MIS from Auburn University, USA. He completed his BSc, MSc, and Ph.D., all in five years.

Prof. Mbarika US President lifetime achievement award
Prof. Mbarika is recipient of four Lifetime Achievement Awards, one of which is the U.S President's lifetime achievement award. He has authored over 250 academic publications in the form of books, peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings and book chapters. Every year, he serves as Keynote Speaker at multiple conferences worldwide. Much of his research is on technology transfer in resource-poor settings. 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 several of  the “Basket of Top Eight” Information Systems journals. This includes Journal of the Association for Information Systems (IS), European Journal of IS, IS Journal, Journal of Information Technology, as well as in top ranked allied journals such as IEEE Transactions on Engineering Mgmt, IEEE Spectrum and Communications of the ACM. His work has also appeared in major media outlets such as Reuters, The Associated Press, and BBC. He has chaired (supervised) over 25 PhD students that have become University Presidents, Deans, Full Professors, Department Chairs and top government officials. He has received multiple grants (over $4 million) from the National Science Foundation, NASA, KPMG, Microsoft, African Development Bank, and other donors. The Voice Newspaper named Prof. Mbarika as Cameroon’s Hero of the five years spanning 2016-2021; The Guardian Post newspaper named him as one of few “Cameroonians that moved mountains in 2021;” INSPIRE Magazine named Prof. Mbarika as one of the top 10 personalities in the diaspora influencing Cameroon and one of the top 100 overall.


Prof. Mbarika received the prestigious U.S. State Department Fulbright grant five times to mentor scholars from developing nations. He is Founding Editor-in-Chief of The African Journal of Information Systems and senior board member of several journals. Prof. Mbarika is a Lifetime Member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. He is a member of several academic associations, including Africa’s first distinguished member of the Association of Information Systems. He holds over 30 academic excellence awards and has been featured on the cover page of several newspapers and magazines highlighting his research and consulting activities.

Major Initiatives

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Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

2000 AUBURN UNIVERSITY (Auburn, AL)

Auburn University is a land-grant and public research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States.

Master of Science (MSc)

1997 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS – CHICAGO (Chicago, IL)

The University of Illinois at Chicago is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois

Bachelor of Science (BSc)

1995 INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY (Nairobi and San Diego, CA)

United States International University-Africa, situated in Nairobi, Kenya is the most diverse university in East and Central Africa

Experience

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL – GLOBAL HEALTH CATALYST

2019 - Present Guest Lecturer in Telemedicine and E-Health

• Recruited based on previous work with Harvard’s Global Health Catalyst Summit • Working with the Director of Harvard’s Global Health Catalyst to launch remote

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY and A&M COLLEGE – COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

2004 - Present Houston Alumnae Endowed Professor of IT

Southern University and A&M College is a public historically black university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THE ICT UNIVERSITY

2010-Present Founding President, Board of Trustees

The ICT University operates a purely US-based curriculum to provide quality ICT and Managerial Human Capacity Development specially targeted for Africa

My Research Interest

My research is focused on identifying the social, cultural, and infrastructural elements that accelerate or decelerate information technology and business knowledge transfer to developing economies – both domestically in the US, and internationally, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Much of this research targets the interactions of human technology interaction, user experience, and the potential impact of minorities and women in information technology. I have adopted an eclectic mix of social science and technical research approaches in all three streams of this research. Essentially, much of my work looks at how societies and cultures impact the transfer and adoption of information technology and vice-versa. This research, using both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in 20+ countries, has resulted in 200+ publications – textbooks, book chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles.
To support this research, I have been fortunate to have secured more than $4 million in funding from external sources (i.e., funding secured in addition to the funds provided by my employing Universities). This funding includes ongoing grants from foundations, nonprofits, and governments. Primary sources from which I secure research funding include –
 National Science Foundation (NSF)
 NSF’s Office of International Science & Engineering
 NASA
 State of Louisiana
 African Development Bank (among many others)
There is a demonstrated need for focused research on the transfer and management of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures and web based technologies for developing economies. Although ICTs are well established in wealthy areas, the same is not true for developing economies in general. Research focused on ICT transfer and management in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, a major region within the world’s second largest continent, is almost non-existent in mainstream IS research. In fact, two decades ago, not counting my own publications, a search of six major IS publication outlets (The Information Society, Information Systems Journal, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Communications of the ACM, Journal of the AIS, and Journal of MIS) revealed only one article published related to Sub-Saharan Africa (de Vreede et al. 1998). Similarly, looking back at those early years about two decades ago, only one article (in Communications of the ACM) published any ICT work emphasizing Sub Saharan Africa (Goodman et al. 1993). There are other journals, such as the Journal of Global Information Management, The African Journal of Information Systems and the Journal of Global Information Technology Management, dedicated to information systems in a global context, which include research on Sub-Saharan Africa. However, this research on developing countries’ global context has often overlooked the particular situation of Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 32 of the world’s 48 least developed countries. Given this background, I have spent a large part of my academic career investigating information technology transfer issues in this region (and the similar but distinct issues impacting economically challenged areas in the US) and have published extensively in over 200 journals, books and conferences. I have published in the some of the journals listed above, including Journal of the AIS, Information Systems Journal, The Information Society, Communications of the ACM and other premier journals not listed above such as European Journal of Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Education and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. The IS research community has a unique and valuable perspective to bring to the ICT infrastructure the challenges this region faces, and can substantially improve ICT transfer and management. There exists a plethora of benefits that could accrue to Sub-Saharan Africa countries based on sound ICT transfer –
 Health – TeleHealth & TeleMedicine
 Education – Remote / Distance Learning
 Trade – Commerce & Ecommerce
 Democracy & Related Freedoms – Digital Democracy
 Theory Bases:
o Task-Technology Fit Theory
o Cognitive Learning Theory

I examined potential relationships between the use of multimedia instructional materials and higher order cognitive skill improvement with two intervening variables: the learning-driven factor and the content driven factor. The learning-driven factor is composed of constructs that show the intrinsic value of the instructional materials to the end user. The learning driven factor also explains how the multimedia instructional materials were used as a tool to challenge the end user in learning difficult management and technical topics, in connecting theories and practice, in improving students’ understanding of basic concepts, and in providing the students a platform on which to learn from one another. The content-driven factor is composed of constructs that measure the extrinsic value provided to the end-user by the use of multimedia instructional materials. The end user has no control over the design of this factor. This factor constitutes the technical quality of the multimedia instructional material, how easy it is to use and locate information contained on the instructional material, and how the design of the instructional material helped to make it easier and more feasible to complete assigned tasks in a timely manner.
 Theory Bases:
o Racioethnicity
o Social Identity and Similarity-Attraction

The extremely low percentage of minority faculty in IS / IT illustrates the gap between minority versus non-minority academics. This global trend is conspicuous in many parts of the world—minority black / majority white academics in England, minority Aborigine / majority white academics in Australia, minority black / majority white academics in Canada, and for the purpose of my research, the minority Native American, Hispanic American, and African American academics compared to the majority white academics in the US. I examined the low levels of racioethnicity and mentoring in the information systems/science fields and offered lessons learned from The Ph.D. Project (business doctoral programs for minorities) model for sparking change and mentoring within the IS / IT community. Using data from a six-year period, I examined diversity issues, lessons learned, and was able to make practical recommendations and methodologies for mentoring a group of under represented information systems /science doctoral students. Mentoring under-represented groups offers the field a myriad of avenues to change the “face” of the classroom and reduce these gaps.

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Published Books

Ayo, C. K. and Mbarika, V. (2017). (eds.) Sustainable ICT Adoption and Integration for Socio-Economic Development. IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.

2017 IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA

A Cloud Computing Adoption Framework for Developing Countries

Mbarika, V. and Adebayo, A. P. (2015). Information and Communication Technology for Secondary Schools.

2015 AGWECAMS Publishers.

Mbarika, V. and Adebayo, A. P. (2015). Information and Communication Technology for Secondary Schools.

Kituyi G., Moya, M. and Mbarika, V. (2013). Computerized Accounting and Finance: Applications in Business.

2013 Makerere University Business School.

Kituyi G., Moya, M. and Mbarika, V. (2013). Computerized Accounting and Finance: Applications in Business. Makerere University Business School.

Hinson, R. and Boateng, R. and Mbarika, V. (2009). (eds) Electronic Commerce and Customer Management in Ghana.

2009 Accra, Ghana: Pro Write Publishing.

Hinson, R. and Boateng, R. and Mbarika, V. (2009). (eds) Electronic Commerce and Customer Management in Ghana. Accra, Ghana: Pro Write Publishing.

Kizza, J.M., Muhirwe, J., Aisbett, J., Getao, K., Mbarika, V., Patel, D. and Rodrigues, A. J. (Editors). Strengthening the Role of ICT in Development

2007 Fountain Publishers: Kampala, Uganda, 2007

Kizza, J.M., Muhirwe, J., Aisbett, J., Getao, K., Mbarika, V., Patel, D. and Rodrigues, A. J. (Editors). Strengthening the Role of ICT in Development. Fountain Publishers: Kampala, Uganda, 2007

Sankar, C.S., Mbarika, V., & Raju, P.K. (2006). Use of information technologies in businesses and society: learning through real-world case studies. Anderson, SC

2006 Anderson, SC: Tavenner Publishers

Sankar, C.S., Mbarika, V., & Raju, P.K. (2006). Use of information technologies in businesses and society: learning through real-world case studies. Anderson, SC: Tavenner Publishers

Raju, P.K., Sankar, C. & Mbarika, V. (2005). POWERTEL case study: coverage of a larger area versus better frequency re-use in wireless communications.

2005 Anderson, SC: Tavenner Publishers

Raju, P.K., Sankar, C. & Mbarika, V. (2005). POWERTEL case study: coverage of a larger area versus better frequency re-use in wireless communications. Anderson, SC: Tavenner Publishers

Mbarika, V. (2001). Africa’s least developed countries’ Teledensity problems and strategies

2001 Yaounde, Cameroon: ME & Agwecam Publishers.

Mbarika, V. (2001). Africa’s least developed countries’ Teledensity problems and strategies. Yaounde, Cameroon: ME & Agwecam Publishers.

Major Initiatives

Get in Touch with Prof. Mbarika

Information Technology Consultant

AGWECAMS Information Technology Services
Consulting Services for Governments and Private Entities in the US and Abroad
Phone:  (225) 715-4621 or (225) 806 4437
Fax: (440) 809-4437

Email: victor@mbarika.com

Baton Rouge - Lousiana, USA
victor@mbarika.com
(225) 572-1042 or (225) 771 5640
Information Technology Professor

Information Technology Professor

Stallings Distinguished International Scholar and Professor of MIS
Department of Management Information Systems
College of Business
East Carolina University
348 Slay Hall
Greenville, NC
Phone: (225) 572-1042 or (225) 771 5640

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