Samuel C. Utulu (PhD)

Dr. Samuel C. Utulu is an Associate Professor of Fintech and Analytics. He also serves as the Coordinator of the Master of Science program in Fintech and Analytics, Director of Academic Planning, and Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee at James Hope Business School, James Hope University in Lagos, Nigeria. He earned a doctoral degree in Information Systems from the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and a Master of Information Science (M Inf. Sc.) from the Department of Information and Data Sciences at the Faculty of Multidisciplinary Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His research interests include information technology-enabled financial services and financial inclusion, digital payment systems, digital business strategies in base-of-the-pyramid economics, information technology and development, and public health informatics. He has over forty publications featured in high-impact journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters that are listed in SCOPUS and other recognized scholarly databases. Additionally, he has supervised seven doctoral candidates who worked on various aspects of applied information technology, including information technology-driven business startups. He has served as a resource person in numerous workshops and conferences both within Nigeria and internationally. Notably, he contributed as a resource person at workshops organized by the United Nations Population Fund and community engagement sessions led by the School of Information Technology and Computing at the American University of Nigeria. He has participated in community programs focused on financial inclusion of indigenous peoples, gender-based violence, and digital literacy initiatives for youths in Northern Nigeria. Currently, he is working on aligning James Hope Business School’s vision and mission with the needs of local businesses and innovation in Lagos State, Nigeria. He received the University of Cape Town 2014 Research Associate Award as a Ph.D. student. He is also a co-author of the paper that received the Neil Doherty Best Paper Prize at the 2022 United Kingdom Academy for Information Systems Conference. Dr. Utulu is a Fellow of the Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals in Nigeria and abroad, and a member of the Development Studies Association in the United Kingdom, the European Alliance for Innovation in the UK, and the Information Science Association of Nigeria. He loves football and is a passionate supporter of the Nigerian Super Eagles and Super Falcons.