On Wednesday we held our first DICO seminar for 2026. Master students with ongoing projects presented their research. Later on, the core team discussed the preparation of two funding applications for this spring.
Team DICO is a project funded by NTNU Health and Life Sciences. The project’s aim is to create a dialog about digital transformation competences. With the fast pace of digital transformation these days, employees are often alienated by the myriad of changes that happen to their workplace. In DICO we want to investigate modern theories about employee participation, and how employees can acquire knowledge that can help them impact digital transformation of their own workplace.
During this workshop we discussed three ongoing master thesis projects and their impact on employee digital transformation competences.
Sandra Monika Ochman presented her work where she studies startup companies and how their employees acquire knowledge in a busy workplace with uncertainties and changing environments. Sandra showed how unpredictable ways of learning are for these employees. The findings will be interesting compared to how employees learn in larger and more stable organizations such as large public organizations. Sandra will continue with interviews and qualitative data analysis.
Emma Løken Standerholen and Siri Håland Carlsen have looked at different types of digital competences and how they are acquired in workplace. They distinguish between knowledge about specific systems and how to use them, and deeper knowledge of how IT systems interact with organizational change. Emma and Siri have developed a conceptual model that they will test and refine during their master’s project using questionnaires and interviews.
Miriam Fatmata Bangura Sarpong is investigating gamification, serious games, and competence development. She is developing a platform for dilemma-based game development, and will develop the platform further by testing with computer science students during spring 2026. Miriam uses design science as method.
During the workshop we also discussed two funding proposals that we are currently involved in. The proposals are targeting a call by NFR and one by NordForsk. Please contact us if you find DICO interesting and would like to cooperate with us in the context of research projects!