Systems thinking for the digital economy : a sociotechnical perspective

Abstract

The digital economy has radically changed the way services and products are developed and deployed. Digital information and communication technology connects increasing numbers of people, organisations, and other systems. The interconnectedness of services and products in an organisation and the outside world drives complexity. These interactions include humans interacting in social networks with one another, the technology, and the environment. Therefore, systems thinking approaches are required to help develop these systems and resolve the complex problems encountered in this space. This paper proposes a systems thinking framework to address the challenges of the digital economy from a sociotechnical perspective, based on an exploratory literature review. This will serve as a guideline for implementing various systems thinking tools to support a successful digital transformation.

Die digitale ekonomie het die manier waarop dienste en produkte ontwikkel en ontplooi word radikaal verander. Digitale inligting- en kommunikasietegnologie verbind toenemende getalle mense, organisasies en ander stelsels. Die interaksie van dienste en produkte binne in 'n organisasie en met die buitewêreld dryf kompleksiteit. Hierdie sluit interaksies in tussen mense in sosiale netwerke, met tegnologie, en die omgewing. Daarom word sisteemdenkbenaderings vereis om hierdie stelsels te help ontwikkel en die komplekse probleme wat in hierdie ruimte teëgekom word op te los. Hierdie artikel stel 'n stelseldenkraamwerk voor om die uitdagings van die digitale ekonomie vanuit 'n sosiotegniese perspektief aan te spreek gebaseer op 'n verkennende literatuuroorsig. Dit sal dien as 'n riglyn vir die implementering van verskeie stelseldenkinstrumente om 'n suksesvolle digitale transformasie te ondersteun.