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Impact of Digital Transformation on Accounting Systems in the UAE’s Aviation Industry
Almarri, Salama Obaid Khalaf Bin Tooq
Almarri, Salama Obaid Khalaf Bin Tooq
Date
2025-04
Advisor
Type
Thesis
Degree
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Description
A Master of Science thesis in Accounting (MSA) by Salama Obaid Khalaf Bin Tooq Almarri entitled, “Impact of Digital Transformation on Accounting Systems in the UAE’s Aviation Industry”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Eid Alotaibi. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).
Abstract
The United Arab Emirates passed the Digital UAE vision that requires government organizations and companies to make the UAE a smart country. The initial stage of Digital UAE vision is digitizing all operations, and this stage is called “digital transformation.” Accounting information systems, the systems that gather, organize and communicate an entity’s accounting information to show the entity’s financial health, need transformation to comply with the Digital UAE vision. This study investigated how accounting information systems within the UAE’s aviation sector have transformed to meet the key digital transformation objectives envisaged under the Digital UAE vision. Semi-structured interviews with 17 UAE aviation accounting information systems experts with at least two years’ experience in digital transition were interviewed. Findings showed that the aviation companies used blockchain technology in their supply chain operations to facilitate traceability of partners’ actions. Artificial intelligence was used in the analysis of big data and in the automation of repetitive tasks, whereas cloud computing was used to lower maintenance costs, avoid idle capacity, and create flexibility to scale the business. Artificial intelligence was also used enhance compliance with international financial reporting standards on such matters as fair value determination that require a high degree of management’s judgment. Further, artificial intelligence was used to enhance compliance with general data protection regulation by enabling companies to identify and isolate vulnerabilities for unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information and thus initiate protective measures automatically. Challenges in transforming accounting information systems were noted concerning employee competence and resistance to new systems. Findings thus show the importance of the Digital UAE vision in encouraging transformation of accounting information systems and reveal the need for organizational preparedness to enable benefits of transformation to be realized.