Short Cuts to Digital Transformation

by Andréa Belliger, David J. Krieger

This book is a collection of short essays or thought experiments on topics that deal with the digital transformation of our world. The digital transformation is not merely the ubiquitous effects of digital technologies, but more importantly, the psychological, social, cultural, economic, and political changes that the digital revolution brings with it. The idea of the digital transformation refers to the emergence of a global network society, as well as to the demise of Western industrial society. This new social order is based on new ways of ordering knowledge, of ordering cooperative action is society, and new interpretations of the meaning of human existence. One could speak of three disruptions that the digital revolution has caused. First, the disruption of the way in which knowledge and information are produced, distributed, and used. Second, the digital transformation has disrupted the way in which cooperative action in society is organized, that is, the ways in which we live and work together. And third, there is the disruption of the way human beings understand who they are and their purpose in life. The digital transformation is revolutionary because it disrupts and transforms the traditional ways in which modern Western society has understood knowledge, social order, and human existence. It has ushered in new forms of knowing, acting, and being. The essays in this book deal with artificial intelligence, robots, self-driving automobiles, new forms work, the rise of networked organizations, and the informational self, who is connected, participatory, and networked with many diverse sources of information. The essays are written in an entertaining and provocative was that requires not technical knowledge. This book is for everyone interested in the challenges of our time and a new vision of the future.

206 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2023