Connecting the dots: young people, social inclusion and digitalisation - Reflection Paper

The digital transformation of society in the 21st century presents tremendous opportunities and challenges to be agreed upon and bridged by the field of youth. This reflection paper seeks to explore our understand ing of s ocial i nclusion, the opportunities and challenges for the social inclusion of young people in the digital age, as well as the opportunities and challenges for youth policy, y outh research and youth workers in both confronting digitalisation and applying digit ali s ation to reali s e s ocial i nclusion of young people today and in the future. The principle aim is to sensitise readers to some of the key concepts, range of issues and applied practices that draw on digitalisation in seeking to address the s ocial i nclusion of young people. Thus, this reflection paper is meant as an initial prompt for thought, discussion and debate for this year’s symposium. It is hoped that the symposiu m will further enrich this di scussion and debate by stimulating the formulation of key problems and issues, and by reaching a consensus around how to tackl e some of th e se core issues. In this paper, w e particular ly focus on conditions for social inclusion, including young peoples’ capacities such as the “ h uman c apital ” (or competencies) needed by young people today in order to access and negotiat e digital technologies . We note the salient issue of trust when thinking about s ocial i nclusion and recommend closer attention to how digitalisation can be drawn on in order to directly and indirectly engender trust by young people. The paper argues that digitalisation is both a necessary response to the current and future socio - political - ec onomic climate of Europe, and an opportunity to increase the reach, relevance and impact of youth - focused policy, research and practice. We conclude with some recommendations for thinking about how the youth policy field is moving forward in addressing the breadth of challenges

Connecting the dots: young people, social inclusion and digitalisation - Reflection Paper

The digital transformation of society in the 21st century presents tremendous opportunities and challenges to be agreed upon and bridged by the field of youth. This reflection paper seeks to explore our understand ing of s ocial i nclusion, the opportunities and challenges for the social inclusion of young people in the digital age, as well as the opportunities and challenges for youth policy, y outh research and youth workers in both confronting digitalisation and applying digit ali s ation to reali s e s ocial i nclusion of young people today and in the future. The principle aim is to sensitise readers to some of the key concepts, range of issues and applied practices that draw on digitalisation in seeking to address the s ocial i nclusion of young people. Thus, this reflection paper is meant as an initial prompt for thought, discussion and debate for this year’s symposium. It is hoped that the symposiu m will further enrich this di scussion and debate by stimulating the formulation of key problems and issues, and by reaching a consensus around how to tackl e some of th e se core issues. In this paper, w e particular ly focus on conditions for social inclusion, including young peoples’ capacities such as the “ h uman c apital ” (or competencies) needed by young people today in order to access and negotiat e digital technologies . We note the salient issue of trust when thinking about s ocial i nclusion and recommend closer attention to how digitalisation can be drawn on in order to directly and indirectly engender trust by young people. The paper argues that digitalisation is both a necessary response to the current and future socio - political - ec onomic climate of Europe, and an opportunity to increase the reach, relevance and impact of youth - focused policy, research and practice. We conclude with some recommendations for thinking about how the youth policy field is moving forward in addressing the breadth of challenges

Knowledge Management in Academic Industry Collaborations: how to best foster Innovation Capability?

Purpose Academic industry collaborations (AIC) are increasingly seen as a key part of national innovation policies as an approach to creating and exploiting knowledge. They, however, present a complex challenge in terms of knowledge management (KM). This is partly due to the wide range of stakeholders, the input of government policy, and also the different cultures, practices and expectations of those involved. The research questions are as follows: RQ1: How do participants perceive and experience knowledge creation and transfer in academic industry collaborations? RQ2: How can the intersection between knowledge management literature and AIC inform and improve both disciplines and practices? Methods (1) An analysis of KM literature in terms of AIC. (2) Exploratory in-depth interviews with participant stakeholders of AIC projects. (3) Findings are then analysed in terms of existing concepts in KM literature. Findings Initial findings suggest that a more in-depth acknowledgement of the role of power, tensions and differences between stakeholders is important in understanding and improving the innovation potential of AIC projects. A more nuanced understanding of knowledge transfer is also needed with tailored approaches for particular project stages and organisations. Practical Implications The role of academic industry collaborations in fostering innovation by facilitating knowledge creation and transfer is seen as increasingly important as a social and political priority but KM has so far not yet engaged fully with this. This paper suggests that extending KM from a primarily organisation level focus to a broader societal focus would be a useful development

Knowledge Management in Academic Industry Collaborations: how to best foster Innovation Capability?

Purpose Academic industry collaborations (AIC) are increasingly seen as a key part of national innovation policies as an approach to creating and exploiting knowledge. They, however, present a complex challenge in terms of knowledge management (KM). This is partly due to the wide range of stakeholders, the input of government policy, and also the different cultures, practices and expectations of those involved. The research questions are as follows: RQ1: How do participants perceive and experience knowledge creation and transfer in academic industry collaborations? RQ2: How can the intersection between knowledge management literature and AIC inform and improve both disciplines and practices? Methods (1) An analysis of KM literature in terms of AIC. (2) Exploratory in-depth interviews with participant stakeholders of AIC projects. (3) Findings are then analysed in terms of existing concepts in KM literature. Findings Initial findings suggest that a more in-depth acknowledgement of the role of power, tensions and differences between stakeholders is important in understanding and improving the innovation potential of AIC projects. A more nuanced understanding of knowledge transfer is also needed with tailored approaches for particular project stages and organisations. Practical Implications The role of academic industry collaborations in fostering innovation by facilitating knowledge creation and transfer is seen as increasingly important as a social and political priority but KM has so far not yet engaged fully with this. This paper suggests that extending KM from a primarily organisation level focus to a broader societal focus would be a useful development

Living Labs: A Bibliometric Analysis

The objective of this study is to understand how Living Lab(s) (LL) as a concept and research approach has developed, proliferated and influenced scholarly research to date. The goal is in assisting both the LL and Action Design Research (ADR) communities in advancing both fields by establishing understanding, commonalities and challenges in advancing both research agendas. We adopt a bibliometric methodology to understand the scholarly impact, contribution and intellectual structure of LL as a new approach to innovation. We conclude with recommendations on advancing both ADR and LL fields of research, highlighting that increased cross-collaboration going forward offers clear opportunities to both fields

Positioning living labs within action design research: preliminary findings from a systematic literature review

In recent years, Living Labs (LLs) are emerging as relevant design methodologies among IS researchers. Prior research leveraged Action Design Research (ADR) to position LLs within this discipline. Through a systematic literature review, this paper proposes the positioning of LLs’ methodologies within ADR. Based on preliminary findings of this study, we argue that, whilst LL’s offer an opportunity to advance learning in ADR in several ways, some critical divergences can be identified in the literature to-date between the two methodologies

How To Cope With The Dynamics Of Urban Sustainability: Urban Experimentation Platforms As Tools For Adaptive Policy-Making

The growing challenges of urban population, congestion, consumption and pollution, prompt cities to respond with policies that progress towards Urban Sustainability. Increasingly, Urban Experimentation (UX) engaging diverse stakeholders for local innovations, is viewed an enabler of iterative progress. Yet, despite various ‘smart city’ initiatives, how to cope with the dynamics underlying local innovation processes for urban sustainability is unclear. In this paper, we consider Urban Experimentation Platforms (UXPs) as a tool for coping with such dynamics. Using case data from the UXP of ‘OrganiCity’, our research considers how this UXP interacts with the dynamics of urban experimentation. We present early insights from our problem analysis using System Dynamics and outline our next steps. We find UXPs as both a tool for policy implementation and for adaptive policymaking, with understanding and utilisation of this latter aspect low. We conclude by discussing how IS research on UXPs contributes towards realising the potential of digital infrastructures for societal good