The program area digitalization NTNU+NAV+HMN was well represented at this year’s NEON conference (network for organizational research in Norway) in Tromsø in November with two presentations of ongoing research with Nav. This conference brings together organizational researchers and practitioners from all over Norway to share knowledge and experiences relating to organization, management, innovation, and societal challenges. This year’s theme was Building Bridges Between Theory and Practice—possible, wishful, and useful?
PhD student Morteza Moalagh at the Department of Computer Science, NTNU, presented in the session Nurturing Trust through Institutional Design, Leadership Practices, and Systems Transformation. In his presentation, Boundary Spanners in Large-Scale Agile Information Systems Development: Roles, Skills, and Challenges, he presented preliminary findings from research of the development teams and internal users in Nav. This research focuses on the role of boundary spanners—individuals who provide an important link to external organizations and networks for information sharing and collaboration.
Postdoctoral candidate Tangni Dahl-Jørgensen presented at the track Co-Research and Applied Research led by Ingjerd Thon Hagaseth, acting manager for program area organization and learning. Tangni’s presentation highlighted how strategic research agreements and collaborations, like the one between NTNU and Nav, at times clash with the realities and trends in digital transformation, leading to potential challenges for organizational leadership and external researchers from higher education institutions alike. For example, traditional dissemination practices in academia do not adequately align with fast-paced digital transformation, leading to research lagging behind organizational changes and thereby threatening the relevance of the research done.
The NEON conference also provided the opportunity for us to discuss research efforts across different Norwegian universities and possibilities of further collaboration in order to bridge the gap between research and organizational changes.