Malshika has recently completed her thesis on the future of work at the UNSW Business School in Sydney. Her thesis explores the future of work in the context of emerging technologies from an organisational history perspective. She has presented her work in international conferences including the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) among others. Malshika joined the Centre for Future Enterprise Digital Enterprise theme (CDE) team in October 2020…
What is your research focus?
My research focuses on understanding the evolution of technologies in organisations and how they shape our future of work. In particular, my research interests are in four interrelated areas: (1) digital innovation trajectories and strategic decision making processes in organisations; (2) human-machine organising in the context of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA) and big data analytics; (3) organisational history perspective including theories and methods; and (4) case study research inspired by qualitative interpretive methods and historical narrativist approaches.
What excites you most about the digital economy?
The continuous learning opportunities and widespread access to global knowledge enabled by the technologies in the digital economy. I am fascinated by how the digital economy has broken down physical barriers and has created new pathways for education across the world. The digital economy has also enabled us to work from anywhere anytime, experiment with technologies and collaborate beyond geographical boundaries.
Are you an optimist or pessimist about the future?
I hope for the best! But I am cautious at the same time. From advanced robotics for assisting surgery to artificial intelligence for predictive policing, the rise of emerging technologies has opened up unimaginable opportunities than ever before in our history. However, we need to reflect on how their intended and unintended consequences can shape our future.
Finish this sentence: In 2050, there will be…
… people working from Mars (the red planet). I am not sure how to calculate the time difference though…
