Founded in March 2016, the Beihang Digital Enablement Research Center (Beihang DERC) is a research center focusing on the impact of digital technology on businesses, economy, and society. Given the growing significance and pervasiveness of digital technology in contemporary society, both academia and industry need to understand the nature and implications of “Digital enablement”, which refers to the consumerizational and transformational roles of digital technology in driving business and social innovation. Therefore, the theme of digital enablement could leverage a large amount of high quality business research to make a significant contribution to the development of practices in business and society more generally.
The Beihang DERC is a member of the Digital Enablement Research Alliance (DERA), which is a research initiatives focused on the phenomenon of digital enablement. The DERA is founded and lead by Professor Shan-Ling Pan from University of New South Wales, Australia. Other than University of New South Wales and Beihang University, institutional members of the DERA include: Humboldt Institute of Internet and Society, Germany, Thammasat University, Thailand, and Xi’An Jiaotong University, China.
As a member of the DERA, the Beihang DERC aims to become the leading authority in digital enablement and digital technology-enabled transformation research in China area, and become a centre of impact and a passionate advocate for advancing the competitiveness of business and the betterment of the society through the leverage of digital technologies.
As part of the DERA, the Beihang DERC also follows the following strategic objectives:
• Conducting high-impact research and be recognized for thought leadership in digital enablement research.
• Championing the critical role of digital technology as driver for organizational success and society’s betterment.
• Constructing a platform for scholars, advocates, and practitioners of digital enablement to foster knowledge generation, dissemination, and application.
Core activities of the Beihang DERC includes: (1) empower businesses, governments, and society to adapt and leverage the possibilities enabled by emerging digital technologies through knowledge dissemination and sharing activities; (2) conduct innovative research, deliver new educational offerings, and offer exciting outreach programs; (3) engage industry partners to build critical digital skillsets and develop research partnership for innovative ideas through sponsored research projects.
