Associate ProfessorToomas Tamm

Two common threads throughout my career have been a focus on the organisational use of digital technologies and the privilege of working with, and learning from, many wonderful people. I have been in the higher education sector for a bit over a decade, commencing my academic journey at the University of Melbourne, followed by my first tenure-track and tenured appointment at UNSW Sydney, and am now continuing the journey at Deakin within the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics. Prior to entering academia, I worked in the retail and services sector as a sales consultant, web editor, and project manager.

Research-wise, my career has centred on digital technologies and organisational decision-making, mostly focusing on strategic technology decisions in large and complex organisations and on the digitalisation of organisational decision-making. I am particularly keen on conducting research that has clear relevance to practice. So far, I have been lucky to work with colleagues on about seven projects related to these themes, and to share some of these findings with the broader community as well (assuming at least someone actually reads these papers!). My current special interests include the digitalisation of creative and strategic decision-making and the use of digital technologies to support the environment and wildlife conservation.

Teaching-wise, I have designed and taught various units on the organisational use of digital technologies for undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA audiences in both on-campus and online study modes. I have also been involved with developing and leading education programs as course director. My teaching approach endeavours to encourage critical thinking, analysing complex problems from multiple perspectives, and dialogue with and between students (whether any of these efforts have actually worked, only the students would know!). My current teaching interests include artificial intelligence, conservation technology, digital strategy, and technology consulting.

Practice-wise, I have had the privilege of contributing to advisory projects on digital strategy and of sharing some of the above-mentioned work at practitioner conferences and with interested organisations. These opportunities to work with and learn from practitioners have been one of the most enjoyable parts of my career. I am keen on connecting and helping where I can. Particularly if your organisation is currently doing—or looking to do—something exciting with digital technologies for its creative processes or for supporting the environment, please do not hesitate to reach out!