Rate My Professor Caroline Chan

Professor Caroline Chan is an Honorary Professor in the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle, with the appointment of Professor of Digital Business. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Deakin University, a Master of Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, she is an accomplished academic leader with extensive experience in senior executive roles across Australian higher education institutions. Previously, she served as CEO and Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Newcastle in Singapore and Australia, Dean and Head of the School of Business IT and Logistics at RMIT University, and contributed to Deakin University where she pioneered online learning and digital education. Professor Chan has driven strategic initiatives, including the development of joint international education programs in Singapore, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and fostered industry partnerships for work-integrated learning and internships.

Her research specializations encompass digital business, information systems, e-business, and supply chain management, with fields of research in business information systems (60%) and supply chains (40%). She has led significant projects such as the DFAT and KONEKSI-funded Harvesting Hope and Beyond the Harvest, supporting sustainable livelihoods for Indonesian salt farmers through renewable energy and blue carbon production; the DFAT-funded Cybersecurity for SMEs to enhance digital resilience for small businesses in Indonesia; and contributed to the Federal Government Taskforce on Online Shopping, influencing Australia’s e-commerce policy including the introduction of GST for online purchases. Professor Chan is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society, Chair of its Accreditation Committee, a Skills Futures Fellow for the Australia-Indonesia Centre, and former President of the Australian Council of Heads and Professors of Information Systems. She received the Carrick Australian Citation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Key publications include the journal article 'Leagile supply chain: design drivers and business performance implications' (2020, International Journal of Production Research), 'Rice Variety Identification Based on Transfer Learning Architecture Using DENS-INCEP' (2025, IEEE Access), conference paper 'Barriers of digital transformation: The case of small indigenous businesses in Indonesia during COVID-19' (2020), and chapter 'Online group buying (OGB) in agricultural food businesses: an exploratory study' (2019).