Academic

Before transitioning into industry, I spent over a decade working as an academic in the field of Information Systems. I completed my PhD at University College Cork, and held research and teaching roles at NUI Galway and UCD’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, where I served as a lecturer, researcher, programme director, and advisor on multiple EU-funded and institutional initiatives.

Research Focus

My research explored the generative potential of emerging technologies and the ways in which information systems shape cognition, creativity, and organisational transformation. I was particularly interested in:

  • Digital innovation and virtual collaboration
  • The temporality of organisational life and technology adoption
  • Systems thinking and knowledge creation
  • The metaphysics of cyberspace (agency, materiality, intention, embodiment)
  • Learning analytics and educational systems design
  • Ethnography, autoethnography, and other qualitative research methodologies

My doctoral research investigated innovation and knowledge creation in virtual worlds, and I was nominated for the Claudio Ciborra Award at ECIS for my contributions to temporal theory in IS research.

Selected Publications & Conference Papers

Peer-Reviewed:

  • O’Riordan, N. & O’Reilly, P. (2011). Virtual Worlds: S(t)imulating Creativity in Decision Making, Journal of Decision Systems
  • O’Riordan, N., Lohan, G., Conboy, K. (2015). Mind the Gaps: Increasing the Impact of IS Research, Australasian Journal on Information Systems

Conferences & Working Papers:

  • Designing the Future Perfect, ECIS
  • Where The Streets Have No Name, ECIS (Ciborra Award Nominee)
  • A Clockwork Organisation, ICIS Theory Development Workshop
  • How Soon Is Now? Theorising Temporality in IS, ICIS
  • Innovation Co-Creation in Virtual Worlds, ECIS
  • Investigating the Temporal Parameters of Decision-Making in Agile Teams, ICISD
  • Autoethnography: Proposing a New Method for IS Research, ECIS

Additional research includes papers on crowdfunding, citizen science, and student engagement patterns in higher education from a bioecological systems theory perspective.

Teaching

I taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses across the full spectrum of Information Systems education, including:

Undergraduate Courses:

  • Web Design & Analytics
  • Business Application Development (VB, Java, C#)
  • Information Systems Management
  • Project Management
  • E-Business Technologies
  • Electronic Commerce
  • Current Issues in IS

Postgraduate Courses:

  • Managing Strategy and Innovation in a Digital Era
  • Business Information Systems Management
  • Advanced Application Programming
  • Management Information Systems

I also supervised multiple MSc theses and research projects, and received a nomination for the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Academic Service & Leadership

  • Programme Director, MSc Digital Innovation (UCD Smurfit School)
  • Advisory Board Member, EU S-HELP Project (Health Emergency Preparedness)
  • Academic Council Committee on Quality, UCD
  • Reviewer for EJIS, ISJ, ISR, Journal of Decision Systems, ECIS, ICIS, AMCIS
  • Chair & Organiser for conferences including ECIS, ICIS, and OASIS workshops