

Call for papers
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to announce that the College of Business Administration (CoBA) at the University of Sharjah (UAE) and the Centre for Business Analytics (CBAP) at Surrey Business School, UK, will be co-organizing the much-anticipated International Conference on Business Analytics in Practice 2024. The conference is scheduled to be held on January 8-11, 2024, and is expected to be a vibrant and informative event.
We cordially invite you to join us in this multidisciplinary conference, where leading experts in business analytics will be sharing their knowledge and insights. This conference is a unique opportunity for professionals, academics, and students to collaborate, exchange ideas, and network with like-minded individuals from around the world.
University of Sharjah
The University of Sharjah (UoS) is a distinguished non-profit higher education institution founded in 1997 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
The UoS is a comprehensive higher education institution comprising 14 esteemed Colleges, offering 122 undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The UoS has consistently been recognized as a leading academic institution, and in 2022, it was ranked by Times Higher Education as one of the top 200-300 universities worldwide. Additionally, the UoS was ranked as the number one university in the UAE, recognized for its excellence in higher education.
The UoS is situated in the University City, spread over a sprawling 7.5 square kilometers campus. The University is conveniently located, just a 20-minute drive from the Dubai International Airport and 15 minutes from the Sharjah Airport, offering seamless global connectivity to visitors and participants of the conference.
College of Business Administration
The UoS College of Business Administration (CoBA) was founded in 1997. It offers undergraduate programs with majors and minors in Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Supply Chain Management, Accounting, Economics, and Finance. CoBA also offers DBA, EMBA, MBA, and MSc in Business Analytics programs. In 2017, it obtained AACSB accreditation. In 2022, CoBA was ranked 2nd in the UAE and between 176–200 in Business- and Economics-related topics worldwide by Times Higher Education. CoBA’s EMBA program was ranked 2nd in the region in 2021.
Centre for Business Analytics in Practice (CBAP)
The Centre for Business Analytics in Practice (CBAP) at Surrey Business School, UK, is a dynamic research centre that utilizes analytics to enhance decision-making across various disciplines. The centre’s primary objective is to explore the potential of data in facilitating organizational success through fact-based, proactive decision-making. CBAP is dedicated to conducting comprehensive research, grounded in both theory and empirical evidence, encompassing diverse areas such as business performance, including efficiency and productivity, AI, big data, health analytics, operations and supply chain analytics, as well as sustainability and net-zero analytics.
CBAP harnesses cutting-edge methodologies from multiple fields to develop efficient and expedited solutions for significant data-driven projects. By leveraging state-of-the-art techniques, the centre strives to contribute to the advancement of analytics and foster innovative approaches to address contemporary business challenges.
Outline of the Conference
This conference is a multidisciplinary event and will feature all aspects of business analytics, ranging from the fundamentals to the advanced levels. The conference will cover an extensive range of topics, including but not limited to:
Theory and methodology papers that make significant contributions to the fields of Operations Research, Statistics, and Econometrics.
Empirical papers (innovative applications in analytics) covering various areas, including but not limited to:
- Sustainability and net-zero analytics
- Energy, Environment, and Climate change analytics
- Operations and Supply chain analytics
- Banking and Financial analytics
- Management and Marketing analytics
- Accounting analytics
- Health analytics
- Efficiency and productivity
- Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and big data
We will also organise doctoral consortium and round table discussions that bring together esteemed current and former editors of top-tier journals in the Business Analytics field (e.g., the European Journal of Operational Research, Annals of Operations Research, etc.). These sessions will provide a unique opportunity for early-career scholars and doctoral candidates to receive valuable insights and advice on getting published, setting them up for future success.
More information about the scientific and social program of the conference as well as paper submission can be found at https://www.sharjah.ac.ae/en/Media/Conferences/ICBAP/.
We look forward to seeing you at the I Conference in Sharjah, UAE!!
| Prof Ali Emrouznejad | Prof Dima Rachid Jamali | Prof Panagiotis (Panos) Zervopoulos | Prof John Rice |
| Professor and Chair in Business Analytics, Director, Centre for Business Analytics in Practice, Surrey Business School, Guildford, UK | Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE | Associate Professor, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE | Director of the DBA Program at the College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE |
Program
Please CLICK HERE to see the program.
CLICK HERE to download Powerpoint Template
| January 8, 2024 | Pre-conference workshops (parallel sessions) for early-career scholars, doctoral students, and candidates |
| January 9, 2024 | Opening ceremony + Full-day conference |
| January 10, 2024 | Half-day conference + Tour & Gala dinner |
| January 11, 2024 | Full-day conference + Closing ceremony |
Keynote Speech:
Professor Shuang Ren, Director of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging, Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University Belfast (UK)
Professor Soumyadeb Chowdhury, Professor in Information Systems Management, Head of TBS Center of Excellence on CSR and Sustainable Development Toulouse Business School, Toulouse (France)
Title of speech: Generative AI: Business Operations and Social Transformation “Be Curious, don’t be Judgemental”
Professor Charles Vincent, Professor in Information Technology, Analytics, and Operational Research Queen’s Business School, Queen’s University Belfast (UK), Title of speech: AI-Enabled Emotional Analytics for Boosting Business Performance

Submission
CLICK HERE to submit your paper.
CLICK HERE for Payment and Registration
Key Dates
| Abstract submission opens: | |
| Abstract submission closes: | |
| Notification of acceptance: | |
| Early registration ends: | December 15, 2023 |
| Deadline for full Paper submission for inclusion in the conference’s proceedings: | Janaury 15, 2024 |
| Deadline for paper submission to the conference’s special issues: | Please see guideline to submission for each journal. |
Special sessions
| Topic of the session | Organizer and session chair | Submission to this session |
| Doctoral Consortium on 8the January 2024 | CHOWDHURY Soumyadeb, TBS Education (France) | CLICK HERE |
| Applications of Combinatorial Optimization | Nelson Maculan, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | CLICK HERE |
| Digital Supply Chain and Logistics | Vahid Kayvanfar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar) | CLICK HERE |
| Data centers, energy and smart industry development | Fons Wijnhoven, Industrial Engineering & Business Information Systems (IEBIS) (France) | CLICK HERE |
| Data Envelopment Analysis and its Applications | Panagiotis Zervopoulos, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE | CLICK HERE |
| All other topics on Business Analytics | CLICK HERE | CLICK HERE |
Publications
Special issues in journals

Proceedings

Committees
| Conference Organizers Professor Ali Emrouznejad, Professor and Chair in Business Analytics, Director, Centre for Business Analytics in Practice, Surrey Business School, Guildford, UK Professor Ilhan OZTURK, Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Professor Hussein Al Tamimi, Professor and Director of the Masters Programs of the College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Professor A Aziz Bin Jaafar, Professor and Head of the Accounting Department, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Professor Dima Rachid Jamali, Professor and Dean of the School of Management, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, UAE Professor Panagiotis (Panos) Zervopoulos, Associate Professor, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Professor John Rice, Director of the DBA Program at the College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Dr. Narjes Haj Salem, Assistant Professor, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Ms. Salwa Mohamad El-Nassar, Sr. Students Outreach Officer, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Mrs. Aaesha Ahmed Al Mehrezi , Sr. Administrative Officer, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Mrs. Hiba Keisse, Head of the Accounts Payable Section, Finance Department, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE Confirmed Invited Speakers/ Panellists This Section will b e updated soon! | Confirmed members of Scientific Committee This section will be updated with more names soon! Al Tamimi, Hussein (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) Amirteimoori, Alireaz (Istinye University – Türkiye) Bin Jaafar, A Aziz (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) Charles, Vincent (Queen University of Belfast – UK) Cochran, James (University of Alabama – USA) Emrouznejad, Ali (University of Surrey Business School – UK) Erdebilli, Babek (Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University – Türkiye) Gonzalez , Rosa (Universidad de los Andes – Chile) Jamali, Dima Rachid (Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, UAE) Kayvanfar, Vahid (Hamed Ben Khalifa University – Qatar) Maculan, Nelson (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil) Oztruk, Ilhan (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) Ribeiro, Celso (Universidade Federal Fluminense – Brazil) Rice, John (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) Salem, Narjes Haj (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) Soumyadeb, CHOWDHURY (TBS Education – France) Toloo, Mehdi (Surrey Business School – UK) Weber, Gerhard-Wilhelm (Willi) (Poznan University of Technology – Poland) Wijnhoven, Fons (University of Twente – France) Zervopoulos, Panagiotis (Panos) (University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE) |
Topics
You are welcome to submit a paper for oral presentation or a poster on any area related to applications or methodologies in Business Analytics, including but not limited to:
| · Predictive Analytics for Business Decision Making · Prescriptive Analytics and Optimization Techniques · Data Mining and Pattern Recognition in Business · Machine Learning Applications in Operations Research · Big Data Analytics for Business Insights · Supply Chain Analytics and Optimization · Demand Forecasting and Inventory Management · Customer Segmentation and Personalization · Marketing Analytics and Campaign Optimization · Social Media Analytics for Business Insights · Fraud Detection and Risk Management · Financial Analytics and Portfolio Management · Healthcare Analytics and Patient Outcome Prediction · Energy Consumption Analysis and Optimization · Text and Sentiment Analysis for Customer Feedback · Retail Analytics and Price Optimization · Manufacturing Process Optimization · Transportation and Logistics Optimization · Network Analysis for Supply Chain Efficiency | · Decision Support Systems for Executives · Business Intelligence and Visualization · Revenue Management and Pricing Strategies · Human Resources Analytics and Talent Management · Sentiment Analysis in Market Research · Customer Churn Prediction and Retention Strategies · Real-time Analytics for Business Operations · Simulation and Modelling in Operations Research · Risk Assessment and Mitigation in Business · Environmental Sustainability Analytics · IoT Data Analytics for Business Applications · Data Visualization for Business Insights · Quality Control and Six Sigma Analysis · Project Management Analytics · Data Ethics and Privacy in Business Analytics · Healthcare Operations Optimization · Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis · Revenue Forecasting and Budgeting · Machine Learning Interpretability in Business · Process Improvement through Lean Analytics |
Registration
CLICK HERE for Payment and Registration.
| Early Registration Until November 30, 2023 | Regular Registration From December1, 2023 | |
| Regular | $425 | $550 |
| Students | $300 | $425 |
| Accompanying persons | $240 | $240 |
- Please do not register before we confirm that your security clearance is approved.
- When checking in at the conference, students will be asked to provide a copy of a valid student ID, a confirmation letter from the academic advisor, or other formal evidence of the student’s status.
- An accompanying person is a friend, spouse, or a member of the family who is not working on a topic related to this conference. The accompanying person will not receive a certificate of attendance/presentation. A co-author, scholar, student, or associate working in a related field may not attend the conference as an accompanying person. Hence, full registration is required for them.
- This conference is self-funded. Please DO NOT ask for a discount or to waive the registration.
- The registration fee includes conference lunches, a gala dinner, the online book of abstracts, and the certificate of presentation.
- The financial department of the UoS handles registration for the conference. Your registration will not be confirmed until the financial department receives your full payment.
- Cancellation policy: You may cancel your conference registration for a complete refund minus a $60 processing fee as long as your cancellation occurs before the early registration ends. After this date, no refund will be given.
For any issue regarding registration, please email Dr. Panagiotis Zervopoulos pzervopoulos@sharjah.ac.ae
Accommodation
Hotels newrby:
- Centro Hotel Sharjah ( Google maps link) – It is 10-15 minutes far from the University of Sharjah campus. It is a 4* hotel opposite Sharjah Airport, which serves international flights. It is a very beautiful hotel, offering reasonable rates.
- InterContinental Hotel Festival City Dubai (Google Maps link) – A 5* hotel in Dubai, approximately 25 minutes far from the University of Sharjah campus. It is located in a very beautiful area of Dubai (i.e., Festival City), and it is 10 minutes away from Dubai International Airport.
- Crowne Plaza Hotel Festival City Dubai (Google Maps link) – A 4* hotel located next to InterContinental Hotel Festival City.
- Holiday Inn & Suites Dubai Festival City (Google Maps link) – A 4* hotel located in Festival City Dubai, like InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels. These three hotels have access to the Festival City Mall.

