Trial lecture
"Liminal Digital Innovation during Crisis: The Role of Communitas in Contact Tracing in Norwegian Municipalities - A Clarification of Concepts, Research Questions, and Contributions”
Time and place: June 11, 2024 11:15 AM, Small Talk (1416), Ole-Johan Dahls hus
Main research findings
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The motivation for my research is to create new insights into digital innovation during a crisis. I describe COVID-19 as a crisis. In a crisis, there is little time to plan and concurrently an urgent need to deal with immediate challenges. Organisations are thus forced to implement rapid digital innovation to adapt routines and processes and maintain value creation. At the same time, the unpredictable development of a crisis necessitates continuous digital innovation to solve new challenges that arise. I have conducted a qualitative case study of the digitalisation of contact tracing in two Norwegian municipalities during COVID-19. Involved actors broke down organisational silos and hierarchical structures, established teams with a strong togetherness and an agreement on a clear and common goal. There was acceptance that so-called established truths were being questioned, which in turn had a positive impact on the degree of innovation. My findings display that during digital innovation in crisis, it is important to recognise the value of interdisciplinary collaboration across organisational structures. An iterative process of experimenting and implementing of digital technology and organisational change should also be facilitated. Such agile digital innovation can result in creativity and positive improvements.
Adjudication committee
- Associate Professor Carla Bonina, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, UK
- Associate Professor Joan Rodón, ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University, Spain
- Associate Professor Miria Grisot, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
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Associate Professor Johan Ivar Sæbø, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
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Professor Petter Nielsen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence:
Contact information at Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat