From the first time Zakaria El Hathat was introduced to computers as an elementary school student in Morocco, he saw them as \u201cmachines of wonder.\u201d In secondary school, he began exploring the internet and the world of programming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was very easy for me to learn new programming languages, discover the world of information technology,\u201d says El Hathat. \u201cI didn’t find it hard, to be honest, because I used to work on my computer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By high school, he had decided to pursue a career as a computer scientist. He earned an associate degree in computer science, then a bachelor\u2019s degree in management information systems, followed by a master\u2019s degree in big data and Internet of Things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El Hathat had no intention of continuing his education beyond his master\u2019s degree, no awareness of supply chain management and little interest in sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet in June, he received the outstanding PhD Dissertation Award at CARISCA\u2019s Supply Chain Research Summit, for his studies on sustainable supply chain practices in emerging economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chalk it up to COVID. While completing his master\u2019s degree, El Hathat was doing an internship as a data engineer and hoping to get hired on full time. But then COVID struck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter finishing my internship, I didn’t get the job because they said that the company is suffering from COVID,\u201d El Hathat says. \u201cThere was no budget to hire new candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A clear vision of a PhD path<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n He searched for other jobs but found openings scarce. Then he met a university professor who encouraged him to pursue a PhD. So he researched options and found that he could get a scholarship to study at the International University of Rabat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He applied and was accepted to programs in business and computer science. His first interview was in the business school, with a professor of supply chain and operations management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That interview went so well that he never got around to interviewing with the computer science department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe professor I interviewed with showed me he was a good supervisor and good publisher,\u201d says El Hathat. \u201cHe showed me a clear vision of my PhD path. And he wanted my computer science skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The supervisor already had a topic in mind for El Hathat\u2019s dissertation: \u201cDeveloping an Industry 4.0 Ecosystem for Sustainable Supply Chain Practices in the VUCA World: An Exploration in the Emerging Economies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Industry 4.0 involves blockchain and artificial intelligence, which drew El Hathat\u2019s interest. VUCA is an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the beginning, I was thinking that I would build something using sensors for my PhD,\u201d says El Hathat, \u201cuntil my supervisor told me, \u2018No, we do not do that in management.\u2019 That was challenging for me at the beginning, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut afterwards, I got used to the management field and found myself very comfortable in it. I had to discover how to link my technical skills with management theories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Machine learning and coding behind the scenes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For his dissertation, El Hathat conducted four studies, in Morocco and Senegal. The first study was a systematic literature review to highlight the emerging technologies used in supply chain management in Morocco. Then he developed a technological framework that companies can adopt in their logistics and supply chain practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His second study analyzed greenhouse gas emissions from tomato production in Morocco. El Hathat modeled emissions from the farms, the processing plants and the port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m very motivated to contribute more to this field of sustainability. Climate change is impacting our life every day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n For the third study, he did a similar project in Senegal looking at emissions from groundnut production and export. This research introduced machine learning and blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fourth project was a case study of a Moroccan olive oil company. El Hathat conducted interviews with experts in the field to learn their intentions to adopt the technological framework he had created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He also developed a blockchain ecosystem to increase visibility of the operations process. In that way, he was able to make use of his advanced computer skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy supervisor didn\u2019t stop me from using machine learning or blockchain coding in my research,\u201d says El Hathat. \u201cHe told me, \u2018You are free. You can use them.\u2019 So I was doing real machine learning, real coding behind the scenes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the paper, you will not see that. You will see just the results. But in the back end, I\u2019m doing the coding phase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Impacting our life every day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n El Hathat says the most surprising finding from his research is how much agriculture and farming contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe found that that field contributes a lot of harm to the environment,\u201d he says. \u201cThe farmers have no idea about how much impact their farming practices contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide. They think that they are doing good to the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of his research, he says, was to explain the impact of agriculture practices on climate change and introduce emerging technology and blockchain ecosystem as a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOverall, my thesis contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how emerging technologies can be liberated to enhance sustainability, transparency and efficiency in agriculture in developing countries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a resident of Marrakech when it hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference 22 (COP22) in 2016, El Hathat was well aware of climate change. Still, he had no plans to research or help address the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The motivation behind his PhD focus came from the fact that sustainability is one of the priority research areas for Rabat Business School. But working on the project changed his perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, I\u2019m very motivated to contribute more to this field of sustainability,\u201d says El Hathat. \u201cClimate change is impacting our life every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An award for the CV<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n His ideas for future research include introducing carbon finance as a reward mechanism to encourage emission reductions. He also may pursue a second PhD in computer science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, he is appreciating having an award to add to his CV. He initially entered CARISCA\u2019s PhD Dissertation Award competition just to get feedback on his work. But having won, he feels driven to increase his research output and enter other award programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a very competitive award,\u201d says El Hathat. \u201cJust to be selected as one of three finalists is a big achievement. That I had the privilege to receive the award means a lot to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will be very motivated to encourage people in my network to enter the 2025 competition and participate in the research summit,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt’s a good opportunity to interact with other scholars and also to develop and contribute to African supply chain research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn about and enter the 2025 PhD Dissertation Awards competition<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the first time Zakaria El Hathat was introduced to computers as an elementary school student in Morocco, he saw them as \u201cmachines of wonder.\u201d In secondary school, he began exploring the internet and the world of programming. \u201cIt was very easy for me to learn new programming languages, discover the world of information technology,\u201d … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[295],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Zakaria-El-Hathat-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Zakaria-El-Hathat-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Barby Grant","author_link":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/author\/idbag\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Zakaria-El-Hathat.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4648"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4656,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648\/revisions\/4656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.wpcarey.asu.edu\/carisca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}