The relevance of digitalization for sustainable development for business and society has been highlighted by practitioners and researchers alike. Yet, by the current state of knowledge, we observe that the relationship between the two categories is not well established. At this CAIS colloquium, we report on an exploratory grounded theory study into how industry stakeholders, sampled in the Ruhr area of western Germany, deal with the relationship between costs and benefits of digitalization for sustainable development amidst societal change. We find that the emphasis on possible positive effects of digitalization is enabled by neglecting other effects that such technological progress could bring, such as whether subsequent resource efficiency has positive effects on ecosystems which are supposedly addressed. We deploy psychodynamic theory to reveal the constitutive relationships between the two sides, and highlight how e.g. idealization, splitting, denial, and projection serve as discursive strategies that reassure a prevalent position of conceiving digitalization as an enabler of sustainable development. By revealing these psychodynamic tensions, we suggest that a more proactive engagement with both sides, i.e. the broader pros and cons of technological efficiency, would provide a more realistic outlook for stakeholders’ understanding of the opportunities and challenges of societal transformation.
Dieses Ereignis ist vorbei.