Trial lecture
"Digitalisation for sustainable development: Opportunities, trade-offs, and unintended consequences”
Time and place: October 2, 2026 11:15 AM. Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole-Johan Dahls hus.
Main research findings
How can digital platform ecosystems be governed to facilitate cooperative digital innovation for public value? Digital platforms are often understood as technologies for business in how they can be used to orchestrate markets for production of apps. However, not all digital platforms are business oriented. Some digital platforms aim for public value creation through digital innovation. However, we currently have a limited understanding of their nature and how they are governed.
This doctoral dissertation outlines an understanding of digital platform ecosystems as innovation commons. Specifically, I develop the concept of platform-based innovation commons and explain how digital innovation unfolds through iterations of use, contribution, and reuse of shared resources. I further explain how platform governance can sustain collective action by widening participation, enabling diverse forms of contributions, and aligning actors around common good goals.
By reframing digital platform ecosystems beyond market-centric assumptions, I contribute with a novel theoretical perspective on how digital platforms can organize distributed and cooperative digital innovation for societal benefit across organizational and national contexts.
Adjudication committee
- University Lecturer Kari Koskinen, Department of Information and Service Management, School of Business, Aalto University, Finland
- Associate Professor Sara Hofmann, Department of information systems, University of Agder, Norway
- Professor Silvia Masiero, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
Professor Petter Nielsen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Professor Johan Ivar Sæbø, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence
Associate Professor Aparecido Fabiano Pinatti de Carvalho
Contact information at Department: Pernille Adine Nordby