Project Leader: Dr. hab. Michał Polasik, PhD, UMK
The main aim of the project is an interdisciplinary and comprehensive diagnosis of the impact of Digital Technologies (DT) on “Institutional Fields,” particularly those susceptible to digital transformation.
The project will analyze the effects of a wide spectrum of DT, including, among others: artificial intelligence (AI) [large language models, chatbots, and explainable AI]; blockchain technology and smart contracts; biometrics; mobile technologies; digital communication; the Internet of Things and smart cities; cloud computing; and big data.
Specific objectives:
- Determine the impact of DT on social norms and trust in institutions.
- Assess the economic consequences of DT implementation, including automation of processes in organizations that reduce interaction with clients and between organizations.
- Identify the moderating effect of legal regulations on DT adoption in organizations and their consequences for society and the economy.
- Identify challenges in digital transformation, including social and financial inclusion, ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, as well as privacy, security, and ethics.
Applied objective: Develop recommendations for market regulators, public sector decision-makers, and commercial and non-governmental organizations.
The project foresees coordinated research across five disciplines—sociology, economics and finance, law, pedagogy, and management and quality sciences—using comprehensive empirical data collection methods (quantitative surveys, qualitative IDI/FGI studies), experiments, case studies, and the use of available big data for advanced analytics.
The success potential of the DigiTech4SEL project relies on leveraging the experience, human resources, and infrastructure of the UMK Center for Digital Economy and Finance (CGFC). A key asset of CGFC is the Future Digital Retail Lab, which enables research and experiments on human-computer interaction and digital accessibility for people with special needs.
The CGFC team will be extended with researchers from sociological and legal disciplines. The foundation for this collaboration was the successful work within the Emerging Field IDUB project “Old and New Institutions – Challenges and Changes from an Interdisciplinary Perspective,” in which members of the DigiTech4SEL team participated.
The DigiTech4SEL team has experience in interdisciplinary, often innovative research in their respective fields.
The following UMK units will be involved in the project:
- UMK Center for Digital Economy and Finance, including the Future Digital Retail Lab;
- Department of Sociology of Social Change – Institute of Sociology, UMK;
- Laboratory for Legal and Commercial Aspects of New Technologies and Space Exploration (“LPANTEK”) – Faculty of Law and Administration, UMK.