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Sustainable Innovation and Digitalisation Workshop (CIMR debates in Public Policy)

When: —
Venue: Online

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Join the Centre for Innovation Management Research on Tuesday 14 May 2024, 1.00-2.30PM for an online lunchtime workshop on Sustainable Innovation and Digitalisation.

The online debate is part of the CIMR Debates and Workshops in Public Policy series.

Abstract 

In order to support sustainable development, firms are increasingly expected to develop innovations that reconcile economic, environmental, and social goals (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013; Schaltegger et al., 2015). Sustainable innovations can be defined as innovations that improve sustainability performance on the ecological, economic, and social domains (Boons et al., 2013). More specifically, Adams et al. (2016) distinguish between: innovations that reduce harm through operational optimisation, innovations that create shared value through organisational transformation, and innovations that create net positive impacts through systems building. There seems to be a common agreement that sustainable innovation is aligned with social needs, and sustainability impacts (De Saille, 2015) and that sustainable research and innovation processes should lead to “socially desirable outcomes” (Stahl et al., 2013).

The workshop aims to extend our understanding of sustainable innovation by exploring the practices that support sustainable innovation, highlighting in particular the role of digital technologies (such as AI, blockchain, quantum computing) in support of sustainable innovation.  The connections between digitalisation and sustainability are attracting increasing interest from the academic community, but this is an emerging field of inquiry and there is broad scope for further investigation (Lu et al., 2023). Additionally, firms seem to be still lacking in their use of digitalisation practices for sustainability (Arnold, 2017) so it is valuable to investigate the phenomenon also in order to provide valuable suggestions for firms.

The workshop brings together researchers from Birkbeck, Kogod, Vaasa and UIC in order to develop a debate around topics of common interest, laying the ground for further collaborations between the partners.

Programme

1:00–2:00 PM 

  • Chair: Dr. David Bartlett (Kogod School of Business)
  • Saverio Romeo (Birkbeck, University of London) “Digital Technologies and Sustainability: A Challenging Relationship”
  • Muthu de Silva (Birkbeck, University of London) and Brett Anitra Gilbert (Kogod Business School) “Gone, but not forgotten: emigrants and the co-creation of sustainable social innovations for origin countries”
  • Taha Anis, Sanna Kumpulainen & Johanna Hautala (University of Vaasa) “Perceived sustainability in remote knowledge working with advanced information technologies”

14:00-14:30 Final discussion (30 mins)

Panel: Helen Lawton Smith, Jouni Juntunen, Tomasz Mroczkowski, Muthu de Silva, Federica Rossi

 

Abstracts and bios 

PRESENTERS

Digital Technologies and Sustainability: A Challenging Relationship" - Saverio Romeo

Abstract: Digital technologies are seen as fundamental enabler for reaching some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the environmental ones. However, the footprint of digital technologies is not always green! Energy consumption, difficulties in device recycling, use of rare metals are key environmental challenges for digital technologies. The presentation will illustrate that dilemma through examples in various types of organisations.

Bio: Saverio Romeo has 20 years career in emerging digital technologies and their impact on public and private organizations. He has done that as a technology consultant, as an innovation policy analyst, and covering advising roles for several start-ups. The core area of Saverio’s work is the convergence of emerging digital technologies such as the IoT, AI, immersive realities, and blockchain for digital transformation in public and private organizations.

He has run projects with different organizations such as Glodon (digital construction), STL Partners (eUICC, IoT ecosystem, smart city), Augmented Reality Enterprise Alliance (convergence IoT-AR, 5G and AR), IntentHQ (telecoms), GSMA (smart cities and telecoms), Frost & Sullivan (convergence IoT-AI), Club Demeter (5G and smart farming), IoT Analytics (IoT platforms, 5G, smart city, IoT security, blockchain and security), Technopolis Group (edge technologies, blockchain for climate policies, smart cities) and Soracom (IoT and sustainability). 

He is heavily involved in smart city and communities’ projects in roles such as Lead Expert at the Derry & Strabane Council on skills and emerging digital technologies, as Lead Expert for the city of L’Aquila on 5G and IoT strategy for the city, as Lead Expert with the city of Catanzaro and at the North-West Region in the Republic of Ireland on Local Green Deals.

Finally, he runs academic research (IoT clusters and regional development, entrepreneurship in quantum technology, governance, citizenship, and smart cities) and deliver module for undergraduates and postgraduates’ students at the Centre for Innovation Management Research at Birkbeck, University of London on emerging digital technologies, Internet of Things, and digital transformation.

Previously at Beecham Research, Saverio, as Chief Research Officer, run technology market research and consultancy in the areas of M2M, Internet of Things, and telco infrastructures. Previously, Saverio worked as an M2M/mobile communications analyst at Frost & Sullivan, telecommunications and innovation policy analyst at Technopolis Group and European Commission and as a software developer at DS Group.

He is native Italian, fluent in English, and keen to improve his Modern Greek. He holds three MSCs, one in Telecommunications Engineering from University “Federico II” of Naples, one in Information Technologies from “Politecnico di Milano” University, and one in Technology Policy and Innovation Management from Birkbeck, University of London.  

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Emigrants and the Co-creation of Sustainable Social Innovations for Origin Countries - Muthu de Silva and Brett Anitra Gilbert

Abstract: Extant literature has largely discussed the unidirectional flow of resources from a country’s diaspora to their home country – such as through remittances, equity investments into homeland technology firms, and other economic development initiatives. More recently, it has highlighted transnational and returnee entrepreneurs, who pursue business opportunities aligned with the origin country. Despite these streams of literature, we lack an understanding of a third potentially important group – the diaspora who remain in the destination countries but engage in collaborative forms of innovation for the origin country. In this regard, we view co-creation, which involves integrating resources, knowledge, and networks to achieve common goals – as a mechanism for emigrants to develop sustainable social innovation for their origin countries. The paper develops a typology of co-creation introduced by emigrants based on their motives (i.e. economic or philanthropic motives) and social positioning (i.e. whether close family or friends are affected by the problem, to which the solution is offered). Through four proposed types of co-creation – (A) intermediary-led solution co-creation; (B) migrant-led social innovation co-creation; (C) intermediary-led business venture co-creation; and (D) migrant-led social venture co-creation, we relate these outcomes to sustainable social innovation outcomes in a diaspora’s origin country. Practical and policy implications are discussed.

Muthu De Silva

Muthu De Silva is a Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Head (Associate Dean) of Research Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at the Faculty of Business and Law, Birkbeck, University of London, UK. Her research contributes to our knowledge of co-creation, defined as a mechanism, by which the actors of the ecosystem integrate their knowledge, resources, and networks to simultaneously generate business, social, and academic value. Her work has been published in journals such as Research Policy, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, British Journal of Management, Technovation, and R&D Management, etc.

She has secured major grants from the UKRI, ESRC, Innovate UK, EU and British Academy/Leverhulme, OECD, and British Academy of Management.

Her research simultaneously generates theoretically rigorous and practically impactful output.  She is a co-investigator of the Innovation and Research Caucus, a £7 million investment by UKRI to establish a world-leading centre of excellence in research and innovation funding. She is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Brett Anitra Gilbert, Ph.D.  

Dr. Gilbert is the inaugural Kogod Regional Innovation Chair and associate professor (with tenure). Her research spans economic geography, internationalization and performance streams of literature. Current projects are focused on examining emerging technology communities in six countries, and understanding emerging "clean energy" technologies, and the factors that allow these technologies to enter the market. She is an associate editor for the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and on the editorial review board for four leading entrepreneurship and general management journals.

Perceived sustainability in remote knowledge working with advanced information technologies - Taha Anis, Sanna Kumpulainen & Johanna Hautala*

* Associate Professor, Regional Studies & InnoLab, University of Vaasa, johanna.hautala@uwasa.fi 

Abstract: New information technologies enable remote knowledge work and location-independent information exchange to an extent that had not yet been realized a decade ago. Advanced information technologies for remote work, such as telepresence robots, holograms, and virtual realities, present a critical possibility for more environmentally sustainable knowledge work with less need to travel. However, at the same time, digitalizing remote work practices and technologies may challenge the social sustainability required for successful information exchange and knowledge work.

How sustainability is perceived by the developers and users of these technologies, determines what kind of sustainable knowledge work future we can produce with the new technologies. This article contributes to the scarce empirical research with 32 thematic interviews of developers and users of holograms, telepresence robots, and virtual realities in technologically advanced countries in Europe, North America and Australia. We ask, (1) how do the interviewees perceive sustainability in remote work? (2) How are the technologies considered to impact the social sustainability in remote work? According to our tentative results, sustainability is primarily defined through its environmental, secondary through social, and least through the economic elements.

We find differences in the variety of elements connected to sustainability between technology-specific interviewee groups. Interviewees bring out social sustainability as necessary for information exchange in remote knowledge work. A closer examination reveals creating knowledge work practices through multiple remote work technologies are critical for realizing the (inclusive) sustainability potential of the advanced information technology.

PANEL

Helen Lawton Smith

Helen Lawton Smith is Professor of Entrepreneurship, Business School, Birkbeck, University of London. She is the Director of the Centre for Innovation Management Research (bbk.ac.uk/cimr). Her research career has focused on the links between entrepreneurship, innovation, public policy and regional development in national and international contexts. Her most recent research is on regional differences in opportunities for disabled and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. 

Jouni Juntunen 

Jouni K. Juntunen is an Associate Professor of Innovation Management at the University of Vaasa. His research focuses on crowd-based organizing in the development of sustainable innovations, and he is PI for Managing Transition Risks in Risk-Bearing Value Chains project (T-Risk), WP leader for EU Horizon project A circular by design environmentally friendly geothermal energy solution based on a horizontal closed loop (HOCLOOP) and a subproject PI for the Research Council of Finland funded Digitally mediated decarbon communities in energy transition (DigiDecarbon) consortium. He is a responsible teacher of the Open and User Innovation teaching module at University of Vaasa and also contributes regularly to various executive education modules. 

Jouni is a co-chair of European Academy of Management (EURAM) Innovation for Sustainability, Circularity and Green-tech track. He has published in several refereed journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, Organization Science, Research Policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Ecological Economics, and Environmental Research Letters.

Dr. Tomasz Mroczkowski  

Dr. Tomasz Mroczkowski has studied and written about innovation, the management of change, and economic transition for most of his career. He is the author of over 100 works including articles in such journals as California Management Review, Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Product Innovation Management, and others. He combines interests in business history with a fascination about how to think strategically about the future. 

Based at the Kogod School of Business, American University Washington DC, where he serves as Professor in the Management Department he has also lectured on at universities in France, Germany, Japan, India, and Poland. He has conducted executive development seminars for leading American and European companies and has served as advisor to central and local governments on economic development strategy and technology cluster formation. He is a recipient of a number of grants from private and public foundations. 

Federica Rossi

Dr Federica Rossi is Associate Professor in Economic Policy at Universita’ di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy, and Hono

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