Digital Transformation and Innovation Explained: A Scoping Review of an Evolving Interdisciplinary Field

Introduction

The above quote illustrates the depth of knowledge and rigor required to capture a comprehensive understanding of the complex and diverse domain of Digital Transformation (henceforce referred to as DT) as an emerging interdisciplinary research field. As an emerging field, critical reflection on the conceptual development and current meaning of the field are required. Conceptual development in DT provides essential theoretical grounding for ongoing academic research and practice. It also provides useful indicators of changes in the field and new directions. Unfortunately, the roots of DT are not easily discerned for multiple reasons. First, the conceptual development of Digital Transformation is complex and intertwined with changing conceptions of E-Business and Technology. Second, the multiplicity of theoretical roots for DT are difficult to access within silos of traditional institutions of Higher Education where DT oriented academic programs and connected research activities are often unknown outside the department or school within which they are created and managed. This chapter focuses primarily on exploring the conceptualization DT as an emerging interdisciplinary research field.

Gleaming back over the short history of DT appears to reveal three primary stages in DT development, namely, E-commerce, E-Business, and DT. Early roots of DT were mainly found under the umbrella of E-Commerce aligning with Internet and computer networking developments in the 1980s and 1990s the. This was followed by a gradual broadening of research areas and professional interests in the 1990s and 2000s under the term E-Business and E-Business Technology. Aghaei, Nematbakhsh, and Farsani (2012) traced this transition to the transition of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 with the shift from Internet use for online operations to Internet use for online exchange and transactions. E-business continued to flourish into Web 3.0 with the popularization of smart phones which allowed users to have a greater level of online interaction with vendors and online review systems. The rise of DT in the last decade aligns with movement to Web 4.0 (also called Industrial Revolution 4.0) where Internet connectivity continued to expand into a variety of everyday electronic devices and other objects (Erboz, 2017).

This researcher has noticed a recent surge in scholarly research under the umbrella of Digital Transformation (DT) over the last decade, which appears to reflect a conceptual shift to a broader more inclusive field within academia and expansion of research scope across traditional disciplinary boundaries. This raises important questions about current conceptions about this evolving research field and the core research areas that feed into it. What are the main concepts and core research areas that define DT as an interdisciplinary research field? Guided by scoping review procedures, the main chapter objectives are to: (1) conceptualize Digital Transformation as an emerging interdisciplinary field and (2) identify key research areas within Digital Transformation. Recommendations for guiding future research development are offered at the end of the chapter along with a selected reading list.