Zoom link: https://uio.zoom.us/j/9712490000
Speaker: Jonathan Muringani from ITS, UiO.
Abstract: Regions seem to be missing from the emerging discourse on societal security and trust in digital societies yet are affected by these phenomena. But regions are not just a surface or physical container where technological, economic and social activities happen but a fundamental unit of social life alongside markets, states and families, shaped by these activities but also shaping them (Storper, 1997; Bathelt & Glucker, 2003; Pike et al., 2017; Muringani, 2021). Also, technological advancements, including digital transformation, are felt globally; their creation, emergence and effects are always local (Storper, 2000). These processes are not equal within and across places due to processes of localisation and differentiation (Clark, 2020). What happened before, during the creation of these digital technologies, and how they unfold influence how they are perceived and their consequences across societies (Mansell, 2021). Building on our recent paper (Muringani & Noll, 2021) on societal security and digital societies, we make a conceptual and empirical contribution in that this paper operationalises societal security, trust and digital societies in the context of sub-national regions. It uses data from the European Social Survey and European Values Survey and brings the European Digital Economy and societal index to the regional level. It adds to existing studies on trust at the same macro level.
Reference: Muringani, Jonathan. "Trust as a catalyst for regional growth in a decentralized Europe: The interplay between informal and formal institutions in driving economic growth." Journal of Regional Science (2022).
About the speaker: Jonathan Muringani is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute of Technological Systems (ITS), University of Olso. He holds a PhD in Management focusing on Institutions and Regional Development from the University of Stavanger. He also has a Master’s degree in Innovation Studies (Distinction) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an interdisciplinary scholar working across innovation studies, economic geography, political science, and digital economy and society. Jonathan’s research interests are at the intersection of digital transformation, social development goals (SDGs), regional development, and collaborative research with Africa. His early years and working experience were spent in Africa, working in the telecommunication and energy sectors and innovation consulting in the private and public sectors.