Abstract
AbstractThe information systems literature has studied digital innovation extensively and focused primarily on its commercial related objectives. Yet, digital social innovations (DSIs) seek to solve social problems, while implementing commercially viable approaches. Drawing from the social entrepreneurship literature and using computational social science methods, we identify the peculiar utilitarian (commercial) and collectivistic (social) identity orientations that shape DSI. We use a sample of 292 DSI initiatives from Latin America and find that DSIs present both utilitarian and collectivist identity orientation. We also find that the collectivistic identity orientation tends to be more salient in less developed contexts. This allows us to discuss implications for the research on DSI and to open up a discussion on the role of context and possible tensions that may emerge in combining both identity orientations.
Highlights
In a world with increasing poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and injustice, digital innovation appears as a ray of hope to solve societal problems
This suggests digital social innovations (DSIs) with higher commonality values, that is, have “a greater realization that a venture is a member of a broader community” (Moss et al, 2011, p. 813), are more alert to the product/service they offer to the target community
These correlations indicate that DSIs more attentive to the community tend to emphasize their growth
Summary
In a world with increasing poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, and injustice, digital innovation appears as a ray of hope to solve societal problems. In Latin America, Dymaxion Labs utilizes open data produced by satellite imagery, georeferenced data, and machine learning techniques to generate real-time information. This information is used by local authorities and policy makers to identify actions to tackle access to critical public services such as sanitation. In Peru, the independent digital media company Ojo Publico opened up an unprecedented amount of data on the Peruvian healthcare system. This revealed several conflicts of interest in Peru, forcing authorities to enact stricter controls in the sector, improving the country's transparency and accountability in healthcare
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