Course on Digital Transformation
with Systems Thinking
Digitalization is deeply changing every industry and disrupting traditional management approaches. Quantum Computer, Big data, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, MachineLearning, Robotics, are fueling and amplifying each other to change the way we live and work exponentially. Things are changing at a pace we have never seen before in humanhistory. Even the way we work is changing at a fast pace. A volume of work that took us months to accomplish can now be done at the swipe of a finger thanks to automation. Artificial intelligence algorithms have disrupted our capabilities of managing people and projects. Altogether, these factors have led us to a new, digital economy that, as might be expected,dictates many new rules.
The skills we need to cope with this complexity will be dramatically different. Going digital isn’t as much about embracing state-of-the-art tools and technologies as it is about adopting appropriate mindsets to manage them. It’s essential
to form a new mindset if you want to stand out as a digital leader. That is one of the main drivers that experts (instructional designers and innovation experts) will observe in creating the Digital Transformation Courses provided
with this project.
We want to suggest a new approach in managing digital transformation, where System Thinking skills can help leaders to understand how complex systems – as digital transformationprojects are – really behave and impact business environments.
Studying real-situation examples – such as the implementation of digital technologies in a company or otherorganization – can help students see various opportunities for making changes within a system; this type of work will help learners
develop their ability to recognise multiple solutionsand work successfully with ambiguity. Hence, this approach will impact not only what students learn, but even how they learn.
In this project, therefore, System Thinking will be used in two ways: as a soft skill provided as course content; and as a problem-solving framework that enhances students’understanding of the other course subjects.Especially the
latter aspect is what makes SYSTEMA an innovative proposal. In fact the Systems Thinking-based learning framework will allow students to translate cognitivehypotheses into practical experimentation by first using mental/causal maps
and then developing simulation models.
Moreover, the adoption of the System Dynamics (SD) approach will permit them to study the structure and behavior associated with complex dynamic systems, and to translate Systems Thinking concepts into testable hypotheses.
The course on digital transformation will be designed to provide knowledge and skills for the target audience. It will also be designed to specifically account for a Systems Thinkingapproach to digital transformation, so as to be
able to develop the ability to evaluate the impacts of a transition to digital technologies, not only by considering the technologiesthemselves, but also by looking at their impacts on internal organizational processes and, above
all, on external ones, which are those where the stakeholders of and organizationsinteract, thus determining whether a certain policy or strategy can be effective in delivering its final expected outcomes.
The course content will be designed as Reusable Learning Objects (RLO). This approach will permit the contents to be accessible, flexible, reusable and scalable.Every RLO will have its own learning objective but they can still be combined
to form a comprehensive learning experience. The RLO will be designed to be used in an online learningenvironment (e.g. Learning Management Systems – LMS – or more informal learning environments) as well as in in-person classes.Other
characteristics of RLOs will be as follows:
– digital format, for easier access, storage, updating and distribution;
– reusable, to be used more times as a single learning activity or as a part of more complex course;
– responsive and multiplatform, accessible from any device.
More is coming, and soon!
Stay tuned!
