People

The Digital Society Initiative (DSI) houses many world-class experts who pursue scientific understanding of the various roles digital technologies play in transforming consumers, businesses, and the society. Benjamin Shao and Zhan (Michael) Shi serve as co-directors. Our affiliated research faculty members have published their research findings on the impacts of digital technologies in top-tier academic journals and practitioner publications, have been advising business leaders, and have informed the decision-making of individuals, organizations, and governments — learn more about our research and vision.  

Membership

Leadership

Benjamin Shao

Benjamin Shao is a Professor and co-director of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) in the Department of Information Systems at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business. He received his PhD in management information systems from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research interests include IT impacts, data analytics, digital platforms, IS security, health care IT, and IS/OM interfaces. He has published more than 90 refereed papers in leading journals and conference proceedings across the disciplines of information systems, production operations management, computer science, operations research, and health care management.

Shao’s research has been cited by mass media including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, The Arizona Republic, and National Public Radio, among others. He has been serving on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals, including Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, and Information & Management, as well as special issues of MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research. He received numerous teaching awards at ASU, including the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award of the W. P. Carey School of Business, the Outstanding Teaching Award for Department of Information Systems Masters Programs, the DISC Professor of the Year, and the John W. Teets Outstanding Teaching Award. He has consulted with and received research grants from companies and agencies including Honeywell, Ports America, CAPS Research, IARPA, Kairos Research, AHA/HRET, Research Triangle Institute, National Governors Association, and Arizona Department of Health Services.

Zhan (Michael) Shi

Zhan (Michael) Shi is an Associate Professor and co-director of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) in the Department of Information Systems at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Texas at Austin. His research lies at the intersection of economics and computing, including topics on social and business networks, the design of online marketplaces, and consumer data and privacy. He has published in premier information systems journals including Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly and the proceedings of leading management and computer science conferences.

Dr. Shi's research has been reported by Harvard Business Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Yahoo, and Phys.org, among others. He has consulted and involved in projects for companies and agencies including CAPS Research, CIITC and Jiepang. Dr. Shi is also a recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award of the W. P. Carey School of Business and the Outstanding Teaching Award for Department of Information Systems Masters Programs.