About Richard
Richard Boateng, PhD, Executive Director
Dr. Richard Boateng is a technology researcher who focuses on developing, promoting and protecting ideas and concepts into sustainable projects of commercial value and development impacts. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the PearlRichards Foundation, Ghana. He holds postgraduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Manchester, where he undertook a research on the resource-based analysis of e-commerce in resource poor environments. He is a Chevening Scholar (graduate), a Dorothy Hodgkin Scholar (doctoral) and a National Science Foundation Scholar (post-doctoral).
Research and Practice
Richard’s research interests have two primary components: business informatics – the study of the Internet and knowledge management in the context of business organizations and development informatics – a focus on the interplay between the diffusion, transfer and impact of the ICTs on resource poor environments and institutional elements that would shape it. These components embrace topics including ICT Strategic Planning; Knowledge management; Organizational learning; Electronic business; Mobile commerce; Web 2.0 for non-profit organizations; ICTs for development; Gender, fashion and the Internet; and Creative Industries (Video Games and Music) and resource poor environments. Richard has ICT research, teaching, business strategy development, and project management experience in UK, US, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda. Richard has also volunteered as a behavioral consultant on the West African Project to Combat HIV/AIDs, Kumasi, Ghana and a country representative for International 16, at the International Society, UK.
He is widely published with up to 50 publications covering journals, conference papers, technology magazines and research reports. Richard and his collaborators at ICITD have won grants for Telemedicine Research and student research experience in Africa to a total of US$ 200,000 from the National Science Foundation.
Community Service
Richard is actively building technology research capacity in African Universities. He is the international editor of the African Technology Magazine, PC Tech Magazine (www.pctechmagazine.com). Richard is the Conference Chair for the Ghana Graduates Conference (www.ghanagraduatesconference.com) and the Convener for TESS Africa (Technology Entrepreneurs Seminar Series for African Students (www.tessafrica.org). He is also the Conference Planning and Grounds Chair of the International Conference on ICT for Africa (www.ictforafrica.org), through which he actively promotes ICT research in Africa and has audience with Vice-Chancellors and Principals of African Universities to discuss ICT Education in Africa. His current project is in the Operations and Management Information Systems Department of the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana and Durban University of Technology, South Africa. He also collaborates on ICT research with faculty of University of Buea, Cameroon; Makerere University Business School, Uganda; Chang Mai University, Thailand; Jönköping International Business School, Sweden; and a number of other UK and US Universities.
Richard is the Director of Research at the International Centre for Information Technology and Development at the College of Business, Southern University, USA. He is also a Centre Associate of the Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester, UK.
Richard believes in SPACES and creating spaces for humanity to thrive and succeed. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and you can follow him on www.pearlrichards.org.
Richard can be reached at Richard @ pearlrichards.org and his website is www.pearlrichards.org.
