Lecture 3 – Digital Innovation & Technology

What is a digital object?

• object whose component parts include one or more bitstrings.

What is a bitstring?

• sequence of 0s and 1s

• that follows syntactical rules,

• such as those of a file format

What are the two important characteristics of objects?

Objects are structured and enduring.

What does “structured” mean?

Multiple parts are put together in an organized fashion.

What does “enduring” mean?

The object has full presence during the complete span of its existence.

What is the difference between a non-digital object and a digital object?

• non-digital object: does not contain any bitstrings,

• a digital object: contains one or more bitstrings

What is the three-layer conceptualization of digital innovation?

Digital Object → Digital Technology → Digital Innovation

Digital Object

= purely technical

Digital Technology

= socially agreed-upon meaning

Digital Innovation

= digital technology used to create value in novel ways.

What is digital technology?

• digital object

• that has been assigned a socially agreed-upon meaning.

Why can the same digital object have different identities?

• digital objects can be used in different ways

• and different groups can assign different meanings to them.

What is digital innovation?

• creation, adoption, and exploitation of an

  • inherently unbounded,

  • value-adding novelty through the incorporation of digital technology.

What does it mean that digital innovation is a sociotechnical phenomenon?

Digital innovation is not only a technical advancement; its meaning and use can evolve socially over time.

What is digitization?

• process of converting analog signals into a digital form and ultimately into binary digits (bits).

What is the transformation caused by digitization?

Non-digital object → Digital object

What is digitalization?

• a sociotechnical process

• of applying digitizing techniques to broader social and institutional contexts.

What is the transformation caused by digitalization?

Digital object → Digital technology

What is the key difference between digitization and digitalization?

Digitization: converts analog information into digital form.

Digitalization: applies digital techniques in broader social and institutional contexts.

What is data homogenization?

Any digital content form can be accessed by any kind of digital device, thereby separating content and medium

What is reprogrammability?

The ability of a digital device to perform an almost unlimited number of functions.

What is self-reference?

• Digital innovation creates value

• and changes the sociotechnical environment,

• which enables even more digital innovation.

What is the virtuous cycle of self-reference?

Digital innovation → novel value creation → changes in the sociotechnical environment → more opportunities for digital innovation

What are possible effects of self-reference?

• Lowered entry barriers

• decreased learning costs

• accelerated diffusion rates

• positive network externalities.

What are the main characteristics of digital innovation?

1. Sociotechnical phenomenon

2. New level of fluidity

3. Distributed innovation agency

4. User co-creation

5. Layered modular architecture

6. Generativity

What is distributed innovation agency?

• Innovation involves dynamic sets of actors who are not necessarily controlled by a single organization

What is important about the actors in distributed innovation agency?

• They may belong to different organizations and

• may only work together temporarily, making innovation more distributed and heterogeneous.

What is user co-creation?

• Users actively participate in creating or shaping digital products,

  • services,

  • applications,

  • or content

• rather than being only consumers.

What is layered modular architecture?

An assemblage of product-agnostic components on different layers

• that allows separation and/or new mixing of contents and/or bearer.

Why is layered modular architecture important?

A product is created by orchestrating components from heterogeneous layers, while components can be used in ways their designers cannot fully anticipate.

What are loose couplings?

• Connections between layers

• that allow innovation to emerge independently at different layers.

What can loose couplings lead to?

• Innovation can emerge independently at different layers,

• leading to cascading effects on other layers

What is generativity?

• A technology’s overall capacity

• to produce unprompted change

• driven by large, varied, and uncoordinated audiences.

What is ontological reversal?

The digital version is created first, and the physical version is created second, if needed.

What is the direction of ontological reversal?

Digital → Physical

Instead of:

Physical → Digital

Draw the three-layer conceptualization of digital innovation.

Digital Object → Digital Technology → Digital Innovation

Digital Object: technical perspective
Digital Technology: sociotechnical perspective
Digital Innovation: sociotechnical environment

Draw the central concept map linking digital innovation and the other concepts.

Non-digital Object
↓ Digitization
Digital Object
↓ Digitalization
Digital Technology
↓ Novel Value Creation
Digital Innovation

Additionally:

Digital Innovation → Ontological Reversal → Non-digital Object

And:

Digital Innovation → Self-reference → further Digital Innovation

Draw the relationship between digitization and digitalization.

Non-digital Object
→ Digitization
→ Digital Object
→ Digitalization
→ Digital Technology

Draw the self-reference cycle.

Digital Innovation
↓
Novel Value Creation
↓
Changes in sociotechnical environment
↓
More Digital Innovation
↻