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The digital revolution and digitalized network society

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  • Mark Knell

    (NIFU Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education)

Abstract

This lecture discusses technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms, but with an emphasis on the digital revolution and the digitalization of the economic and society. It draws its inspiration from works of Joseph Schumpeter, Christopher Freeman, and Carlota Perez on long waves of technological development and places the story within the context of global innovation networks. The lecture contends that the digital revolution not only transformed the world we live in but also created new ways to organize networks within it. We are now in second half of the digital (fifth technological) revolution, when the digitalization of the global networked economy prevails, and not at the beginning of Industrie 4.0. On the contrary, this is the period when economic growth drives the use of innovative digital technologies, including ubiquitous computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence, toward a truly digitalized network society.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Knell, 2021. "The digital revolution and digitalized network society," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 9-25, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revepe:v:2:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s43253-021-00037-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s43253-021-00037-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Falch, Morten, 2021. "Surveillance capitalism – a new techno-economic paradigm?," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238019, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Fernando Almeida & José Morais & José Duarte Santos, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Outcomes of European Projects on the Digital Transformation of SMEs," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Fernando Almeida, 2023. "Prospects of Cybersecurity in Smart Cities," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Herbert Dawid & Jasper Hepp, 2022. "Distributional effects of technological regime changes: hysteresis, concentration and inequality dynamics," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 137-167, April.
    6. Mroueh Hussein Ali, 2024. "The Intersection Of Accounting And Informatics In Contemporary Company Management," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2, pages 13-23, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complexity; Innovation network; Techno-economic paradigm; Digital revolution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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