The Year So Far: Looking Back at IIDB’s 2021

The Year So Far: Looking Back at IIDB’s 2021

The past six months have been ripe with opportunity for members of the Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB), including nothing less than a large-scale internal restructuring, the convening of an External Advisory Board, the organisation of and participation in virtual events, and various published research findings. Read IIDB’s 2021 highlights for more on the changes and successes this year has brought for us so far.

A Restructured Network of Digital Business Researchers

The Irish Institute of Digital Business has gone through significant internal transformation: To consolidate the international dotLAB Network, IIDB has now expanded to include dotLAB France, dotLAB Italy and dotLAB Slovenia in the existing partnership with dotLAB Brazil. This took place in parallel with the launch of new research LABs, allowing IIDB to better coordinate active research, industry engagement, and funding pursuits. IIDB members now participate in one or more of the following: 

• finLAB, which explores the interface between digital technology and financial innovation.
• learningLAB, examining digital technologies’ power to transform learning experiences and business processes.
• subculturesLAB covering themes related to digital subcultures.  
• trustLAB, which conducts research on trust within and between people, organizations, and technology.
• workLAB, which considers the ways in which digital transformation is influencing how we work.

More details on the individual LABs and their roster of new members can be found on the IIDB website.

An External Advisory Board has also been convened to provide strategic input into the operations of the Irish Institute of Digital Business and support the network’s critical funding pursuits. This comprises eight high-profile industry experts and leaders. We welcome Aidan Gallagher (Chair of the External Advisory Board, InishTech), Chris Curran (Irish Life), Barry Gray (EVO Payments International GmbH), Clare Hickie (Workday, Inc.), Paddy Holahan (Roomex.com & Homestay.com), Carmel Somers (Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet), Hilary Moran (The Fintech Corridor), and Andreea Wade (iCIMS). 

International Workshops and Academic Events

This April, IIDB hosted GETDigital, a five-day virtual event attended by over 1,000 participants from 25 countries. Through an offering of industry keynotes, Ask Me Anything sessions, and expert panel discussions, the tenth gathering of the annual series supported entrepreneurs and businesses in harnessing the digital technologies ready at their disposal. GETDigital, hosted in partnership with DCU Business School, was particularly welcome at the end of the academic semester, and has since been made available online. We at IIDB thank the large number of DCU alumni among the contributors to this conference!

In addition to GETDigital, IIDB hosted the TRANSFORM and SDG4B event series throughout the academic year, covering the impact of digital transformation on businesses and society and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals respectively. Recordings of both events can be found online. In parallel, the centre’s members participated in international conferences and workshops like Cyber Science 2021, the Observatoire de la Finance and INSEAD’s Hoffmann Global Institute’s ‘Ethics in the Age of Digital Finance’ roundtable, and Northumbria University’s seminar on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ethics.’ 

Publications

While you can stay informed on ongoing research on the IIDB website, here’s an overview of our most recent published findings: 

• Dr Marta Rocchi has received the Business Ethics Research Prize for her article “Can Finance Be a Virtuous Practice? A MacIntyrean Account,” published with Mr Ignacio Ferrero and Mr Ron Beadle in Business Ethics Quarterly.
• IIDB’s Prof Theo Lynn, Dr Pierangelo Rosati and Mrs Antonia Egli contributed to an article on open renovation in the context of the Horizon 2020 funded RINNO Project, which was published in Sustainability this May. 
• Prof Claire Gubbins was part of the research team attached to DCU’s Leadership and Talent Institute that, with support from Deloitte, sought to learn from the experiences of organisations who pivoted their internship programmes to virtual formats. The research insights and practical toolkit resources in this report are based on the experiences of the 22 organisations that participated in this study.
• Dr Kate Hynes and Prof Ian Wooton served as guest editors in a special issue for the April 2021 Journal of International Tax and Public Finance’s “IIPF Congress 2019: Taxation and Mobility and Workshop on Global Production, Taxes and Trade.”
• Prof Julie Tinson, Dr Gary Sinclair, and Dr Ross Gordon investigate the ways in which value is disrupted in contemporary football fandom in European Sport Management Quarterly.
• In their recently published book chapter, “New Sources of Entrepreneurial Finance,” Prof Theo Lynn and Dr Pierangelo Rosati outline the changes to the market for entrepreneurial finance from the perspective of structure and participants.

News and research findings are regularly shared via our newsletter and IIDB’s social media channels, so be sure to sign up and stay in touch with us online!