Expectations are high for digital technologies to address sustainability related challenges. While research into such applications and the twin transformation is growing rapidly, insights in the actual daily practices of digital sustainability within organizations is lacking. This is problematic as the contributions of digital tools to sustainability goals gain shape in organizational practices. To bridge this gap, we develop a theoretical perspective on digital sustainability practices based on practice theory, with an emphasis on the concept of sociomateriality. We argue that connecting meanings related to sustainability with digital technologies is essential to establish beneficial practices. Next, we contend that the meaning of sustainability is contextspecific, which calls for a local meaning making process. Based on our theoretical exploration we develop an empirical research agenda.
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Introduction: Digital technologies , such as big AI and cloud computing are driving digital transformation (DT) in organizations. The World Economic Forum ( reports that over 75% of organizations plan to adopt these technologies within five years, leading to a skills disruption as employees lack the necessary skills for DT. HRM departments are responsible for preparing their workforce for DT through reand upskilling initiatives (Ivaldi et al., 2022; Vereycken et al., To adapt HRM’s strategic talent management for tailored re and upskilling, insight is needed in workforce DT skills mastery. The objective of this study is to develop a validated instrument for measuring workforce DT skills mastery, building upon the Digital Transformations Skills Framework ( (Bouwmans et al., 2022, 2024). The instrument is a self assessment tool, allowing individuals to evaluate their proficiency across various skill dimensions.
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This open access book is a valuable resource for students in health and other professions and practicing professionals interested in supporting effective change in self-management behaviors in chronic disease, such as medication taking, physical activity and healthy eating. Developed under the auspices of the Train4Health project, funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, the book contains six chapters written by international contributors from different disciplines. This chapter sets the stage for the remaining book, by introducing the Train4Health project and by explaining how the learning outcomes presented in subsequent chapters have been derived and linked with content of the book. Firstly, the Train4Health interprofessional competency framework to support behaviour change in persons self-managing chronic disease is briefly presented. This European competency framework was the starting point for developing the learning outcomes-based curriculum, which is succinctly addressed in the subsequent section. Finally, practical considerations about the Train4Health curriculum are discussed, including opportunities and challenges for interprofessional education.
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This investigation explores relations between 1) a theory of human cognition, called Embodied Cognition, 2) the design of interactive systems and 3) the practice of ‘creative group meetings’ (of which the so-called ‘brainstorm’ is perhaps the best-known example). The investigation is one of Research-through-Design (Overbeeke et al., 2006). This means that, together with students and external stakeholders, I designed two interactive prototypes. Both systems contain a ‘mix’ of both physical and digital forms. Both are designed to be tools in creative meeting sessions, or brainstorms. The tools are meant to form a natural, element in the physical meeting space. The function of these devices is to support the formation of shared insight: that is, the tools should support the process by which participants together, during the activity, get a better grip on the design challenge that they are faced with. Over a series of iterations I reflected on the design process and outcome, and investigated how users interacted with the prototypes.
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Parents who grew up without digital monitoring have a plethora of parental monitoring opportunities at their disposal. While they can engage in surveillance practices to safeguard their children, they also have to balance freedom against control. This research is based on in-depth interviews with eleven early adolescents and eleven parents to investigate everyday negotiations of parental monitoring. Parental monitoring is presented as a form of lateral surveillance because it entails parents engaging in surveillance practices to monitor their children. The results indicate that some parents are motivated to use digital monitoring tools to safeguard and guide their children, while others refrain from surveillance practices to prioritise freedom and trust. The most common forms of surveillance are location tracking and the monitoring of digital behaviour and screen time. Moreover, we provide unique insights into the use of student tracking systems as an impactful form of control. Early adolescents negotiate these parental monitoring practices, with responses ranging from acceptance to active forms of resistance. Some children also monitor their parents, showcasing a reciprocal form of lateral surveillance. In all families, monitoring practices are negotiated in open conversations that also foster digital resilience. This study shows that the concepts of parental monitoring and lateral surveillance fall short in grasping the reciprocal character of monitoring and the power dynamics in parent-child relations. We therefore propose that monitoring practices in families can best be understood as family surveillance, providing a novel concept to understand how surveillance is embedded in contemporary media practices among interconnected family members.
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Aim: There is often a gap between the ideal of involving older persons iteratively throughout the design process of digital technology, and actual practice. Until now, the lens of ageism has not been applied to address this gap. The goals of this study were: to voice the perspectives and experiences of older persons who participated in co-designing regarding the design process; their perceived role in co-designing and intergenerational interaction with the designers; and apparent manifestations of ageism that potentially influence the design of digital technology. Methods: Twenty-one older persons participated in three focus groups. Five themes were identified using thematic analysis which combined a critical ageism ‘lens’ deductive approach and an inductive approach. Results: Ageism was experienced by participants in their daily lives and interactions with the designers during the design process. Negative images of ageing were pointed out as a potential influencing factor on design decisions. Nevertheless, positive experiences of inclusive design pointed out the importance of “partnership” in the design process. Participants defined the “ultimate partnership” in co-designing as processes in which they were involved from the beginning, iteratively, in a participatory approach. Such processes were perceived as leading to successful design outcomes, which they would like to use, and reduced intergenerational tension. Conclusions: This study highlights the potential role of ageism as a detrimental factor in how digital technologies are designed. Viewing older persons as partners in co-designing and aspiring to more inclusive design processes may promote designing technologies that are needed, wanted and used.
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More people voted in 2024 than any other year in human history, while often relying on the internet for political information. This combination resulted in critical challenges for democracy. To address these concerns, we designed an exhibition that applied interactive experiences to help visitors understand the impact of digitization on democracy. This late-breaking work addresses the research questions: 1) What do participants, exposed to playful interventions, think about these topics? and 2) How do people estimate their skills and knowledge about countering misinformation? We collected data in 5 countries through showcases held within weeks of relevant 2024 elections. During visits, participants completed a survey detailing their experiences and emotional responses. Participants expressed high levels of self-confidence regarding the detection of misinformation and spotting AI-generated content. This paper contributes to addressing digital literacy needs by fostering engaging interactions with AI and politically relevant issues surrounding campaigning and misinformation.
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The importance of leadership is increasingly recognized in relation to digital transformation. Therefore, middle management and top management must have the competencies required to lead such a transformation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the digital leader competencies as set out by the European e-competence framework (e-CF) and the digital transformation of organizations. Also, the relationship between digital leadership competency (DLC) and IT capability is examined. An empirical investigation is presented based on a sample of 433 respondents, analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results strongly support our hypotheses. DLC has a strong impact on organizational digital transformation. A post-hoc analysis showed this is predominantly the case for the e-CF competencies of business plan development, architecture design, and innovating while business change management and governance do not seem to affect organizational digital transformation. This is the first empirical study to conceptualize, operationalize and validate the concept of DLC, based on the e-competence framework, and its impact on digital transformation. These findings have significant implications for researchers and practitioners working on the transformation toward a digital organization.
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