Digital futures: Definition (what), importance (why) and methods (how)

Authors

Daniel Schlagwein, Business School, The University of Sydney, Australia
Wendy Currie, Audencia Business School, France University of Bradford, UK
Jan Marco Leimeister, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; University of Kassel, Germany
Leslie Willcocks, Department of Management, The London School of Economics, UK

Document Type

Other

Abstract

“Digital futures” as a research field that examines diverse, long-term future(s) scenarios influenced by digital technologies has been proposed in information systems. Here, based on the emerging literature on digital futures, we define what this term means, delineate it from related concepts such as digital transformation, articulate why the information systems field should take note and consider the study of digital futures, and provide an overview of approaches. multi-level concept. Extending beyond the redesign of organizational and business processes, the analytical boundaries of digital transformation include ecosystems, organizational networks, business and operational processes, organizational identities, governance structures, and quality/cost dynamics. However, the extant literature on digital transformation continues to use the organization as the primary unit of analysis. Definitions of digital transformation vary widely, with some not dissimilar to the BPR era. The papers included in this special issue provide analytical and empirical examples on the pervasive effects from contemporary digital technology for society, organizations, and citizens. Future work which isolates the digital technology artefact would benefit from further refinement of the digital transformation concept. A starting point is to revisit the digital technology evolution over past decades which reveal the inflection points of technological change, specifically for mainframes, PCs, and the Internet. Such analysis will increase our understanding and contextualization of past panaceas like BPR for generating new insights on how digital technologies are front and center in debates on digital transformation.

DOI

10.1177/02683962241301544

Recommended Citation

Schlagwein, Daniel; Currie, Wendy; Leimeister, Jan Marco; and Willcocks, Leslie (2025) "Digital futures: Definition (what), importance (why) and methods (how)," Journal of Information Technology: Vol. 40: Iss. 1, Article 1.
DOI: 10.1177/02683962241301544
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jit/vol40/iss1/1