Rethinking Knowledge Management in the Age of Digitalization

Rethinking Knowledge Management in the Age of Digitalization open_in_new

Call for papers – Technovation

Rethinking Knowledge Management in the Age of Digitalization

Submission deadline: 31 May 2026

This special issue encourages a rethinking of knowledge management in the digital age, exploring how digital tools, platforms, and ecosystems reshape knowledge processes and address the critical challenges organizations face during this transition.

Guest editors:

Abby Zhou, PhD
Associate Professor, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China

Mikael Samuelsson, PhD
Full Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa

H. Emre Yildiz, PhD
Associate Professor, Mälardalen University, Sweden

Adis Murtic, PhD
Vice President, Siemens Energy, Sweden

Special issue information:

Motivation for the Special Issue

The advancement of digital technologies profoundly affects how organizations manage, share, and create knowledge within and across organizational boundaries. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data analytics, cloud computing, and digital platforms are enhancing knowledge processes and introducing new complexities and challenges. Organizations must reconsider their knowledge management strategies in the digitally-driven environment to remain competitive, agile, and innovative.

Digital tools and technologies provide unique and novel opportunities for enhanced knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation across organizational boundaries. The rise of AI, as Raisch & Krakowski (2021) highlight, has introduced new ways to automate and enhance decision-making processes, enabling organizations to optimize knowledge-intensive activities and gain competitive advantages. However, integrating AI into knowledge management systems presents a challenge: organizations must ensure that AI enhances rather than replaces critical human expertise, as over-reliance on AI could erode contextual understanding and strategic decision-making capacities.

Furthermore, the global shift towards digital ecosystems has reshaped the traditional knowledge creation and transfer paradigms (e.g., Gupta, Mejia, & Kajikawa, 2019; Bereznoy, Meissner, & Scuotto, 2021; Marinelli et al., 2024). Digital tools like cloud-based systems and collaborative platforms have enabled more dynamic and decentralized knowledge processes. Several studies (e.g., Chen et al., 2022; Mei, Zheng, & Zhu, 2022; Chen, Richter, & Patel, 2021) emphasize that while digital platforms facilitate efficient collaboration across geographically dispersed teams, they also introduce governance challenges related to data ownership, security, and intellectual property. These challenges are particularly evident in international knowledge transfer, where digital platforms must operate within cross-border regulations and cultural differences (Kim & Cavusgil, 2020). Organizations must develop new governance models that ensure transparency, trust, and ethical use of digital tools. Therefore, balancing technological advancements with robust governance structures is critical for safeguarding knowledge assets in a digitalized and globalized world.

Despite the increasing digitalization of knowledge management, significant gaps remain in our understanding of how organizations can fully leverage these technologies. For instance, while digital tools can accelerate knowledge creation and dissemination, they often create bottlenecks in knowledge recombination and integration, especially in complex and dynamic environments (Ruiz, Brion, & Parmentier, 2020). Similarly, digital platforms can enhance efficiency but may also introduce challenges in aligning technological automation with human flexibility and creativity—two essential elements for effective knowledge management. These challenges and tradeoffs underscore the need for more empirical studies to explore how digital tools can be effectively integrated into existing knowledge management frameworks.

At the intersection of AI and knowledge management, the dual role of AI as both an enabler and potential disruptor of knowledge processes has been increasingly discussed. AI-driven systems can greatly improve knowledge retrieval, analysis, and distribution (Jarrahi et al., 2023). Still, they also pose risks of bias, ethical dilemmas, and the potential loss of critical human judgment (Olan et al., 2022). Ensuring that AI systems complement rather than replace human expertise is a key challenge for organizations moving forward.

Furthermore, the emergence of digital knowledge and innovation ecosystems presents both opportunities and challenges. Digital ecosystems allow organizations to overcome traditional barriers to knowledge transfer, promoting real-time collaboration and fostering innovation (Brea, 2023; Burström et al., 2021). On the other hand, these ecosystems also bring forth issues related to governance, data transparency, and the equitable distribution of knowledge (Chen et al., 2022). Therefore, digital innovation ecosystems represent a shift from traditional hierarchical structures to more dynamic and decentralized models, requiring new approaches to manage knowledge flows across networks of individuals, organizations, and institutions.

However, our understanding of the interaction between digitalization and knowledge management and the impact of technologies such as AI and ML on intra- and inter-organizational knowledge sharing remains limited. Additionally, there is a knowledge gap regarding the challenges organizations face, such as governance and security issues of knowledge management, in these technological shifts. It is also unclear how organizations can overcome these challenges and effectively create and leverage synergies through ecosystems or platforms.

Building on these contemporary debates, this special issue seeks to explore the intersection of digitalization and knowledge management. Specifically, it aims to investigate how digital tools, platforms, and ecosystems are reshaping knowledge processes and the critical challenges organizations face in this transition. This special issue will address key research gaps by advancing our theoretical and empirical understanding, offering valuable insights for scholars and practitioners alike.

Relevance of the Special Issue

Knowledge is the cornerstone of technological innovation, serving as the foundation for both new product development and process optimization. Technovation has long been a leading forum for scholarly discussions on knowledge management, featuring research on knowledge transfer (Pitafi et al., 2023; Majuri, 2022; Wang & Lu, 2021), knowledge acquisition (Gao & Rai, 2023), knowledge sharing (Ahmadpour et al., 2023; Wang & Hu, 2017), and knowledge flows (Varshney & Jain, 2022). These topics are central to understanding how organizations generate, integrate, and apply knowledge to drive technological advancements. However, the increasing digitalization of organizational processes and decision-making presents both opportunities and challenges that remain underexplored in the existing literature.

Recent Technovation special issue calls have emphasized the growing role of AI, digital platforms, and emerging technologies in shaping innovation and business processes (e.g., Carayannis, Komninos, & Sindakis, 2024; Den Hartigh et al., 2023). However, the intersection between digital transformation and knowledge management remains fragmented, particularly regarding how organizations can leverage these technologies to optimize knowledge-related processes while mitigating associated risks. This special issue directly contributes to Technovation's scope by examining the ways in which digitalization is reshaping knowledge-intensive activities across industries, including innovation-driven sectors such as high-tech manufacturing, digital services, and platform-based ecosystems.

Moreover, Technovation is committed to advancing both theoretical and applied perspectives on technological innovation, emphasizing the role of digital technologies in transforming business models, competitive dynamics, and knowledge-based decision-making. This special issue aligns with this objective by exploring how organizations reconfigure their knowledge management strategies in response to digital transformation, the integration of AI, and the emergence of knowledge ecosystems. The contributions to this issue will provide insights into how firms manage digital transitions, balance automation with human expertise, and develop governance models to manage knowledge flows across organizational and national boundaries. By bridging the gap between digitalization and knowledge management, this special issue advances Technovation's focus on technological innovation from both process and product perspectives. We seek to uncover how digital technologies not only enable knowledge creation and dissemination but also reshape the very mechanisms through which innovation occurs, which will offer valuable implications for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike.

Scope of the Special Issue

This special issue centers on the role of digitalization in transforming knowledge management practices, with a particular focus on how digital tools and platforms reshape the creation, sharing, and utilization of knowledge within organizations. As Chen et al., (2022) highlight, the digital transformation of knowledge processes is not merely a matter of adopting new technologies; it requires fundamentally rethinking organizational structures, strategies, and governance models.

Specifically, this special issue will solicit contributions on the following themes:

1. Digital Transformation of Knowledge Management

Digitalization has introduced a paradigm shift in how organizations create, store, and share knowledge. Technologies like AI, big data, and cloud computing enable organizations to manage vast information, streamline decision-making processes, and increase innovation potential. However, these advancements also demand new organizational capabilities and frameworks (Sjödin, Parida, & Kohtamäki, 2023). The transformation process involves restructuring and aligning organizational processes with digital tools to optimize knowledge workflows. This theme focuses on how organizations can develop strategies to leverage these technologies effectively, ensuring that knowledge management is not just digitized but also enhanced in terms of accessibility, usability, and security.

2. Intra- and Inter-Organizational Knowledge Sharing

Digital platforms have fundamentally altered the dynamics of knowledge sharing, enabling more seamless collaboration across internal teams and external partners. It has been shown that digital platforms can facilitate the real-time exchange of information, reducing silos and fostering innovation across departments and even across industries (Burström et al., 2021). Yet, these platforms also introduce data privacy, intellectual property, and trust challenges. This theme focuses on the mechanisms through which organizations can harness digital platforms to overcome barriers to knowledge sharing and how they can manage the associated risks.

3. Impact of AI and Automation on Knowledge Management

AI and automation transform how organizations approach knowledge-intensive tasks, such as data analysis, decision-making, and retrieval. While AI can enhance the speed and accuracy of these tasks, it also raises critical questions about the role of human judgment and expertise (Olan et al., 2022). Organizations must integrate AI effectively while maintaining the human element essential for creativity and contextual decision-making. This theme explores the balance between AI-driven automation and human expertise in knowledge management and the long-term implications for organizational innovation and resilience.

4. Governance and Security of Digital Knowledge Systems

Adopting digital knowledge platforms necessitates robust governance structures to address data security, privacy, and intellectual property issues. Organizations must develop new governance models that ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with evolving regulations (Chen et al., 2022). This theme examines organizational challenges in governing digital knowledge systems and the strategies they can employ to mitigate risks while ensuring these systems' ethical and effective use.

5. Digital Knowledge Ecosystems

There is a burgeoning stream of research on the emergence of digital knowledge ecosystems (Gupta et al., 2019; Bereznoy et al., 2021), representing a new collaborative model where knowledge is co-created and shared across networks of organizations, individuals, and institutions. These ecosystems are dynamic, decentralized, and global in scope, presenting both opportunities and challenges for managing knowledge flows. This theme investigates how organizations can engage with and benefit from digital knowledge ecosystems, exploring the implications for innovation, value creation, and competitive advantage.

Relevant to the themes summarized above, potential research questions include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • How do AI, big data analytics, and cloud computing influence knowledge creation and transfer within organizations?
  • What are the challenges of implementing digital platforms for knowledge management in multinational organizations, and how can they be overcome?
  • How does integrating digital knowledge systems impact the balance between technological automation and human expertise in decision-making?
  • What governance models can organizations adopt to manage the risks associated with digital knowledge systems, particularly concerning data privacy and intellectual property?
  • How do digital ecosystems support or hinder the co-creation and sharing of knowledge between organizations in global markets?
  • What are the long-term effects of digital transformation on organizational knowledge retention and innovation capabilities?
  • How can digital platforms be designed to enhance collaboration and trust between different stakeholders in knowledge ecosystems?
  • How can organizations address the ethical concerns related to AI-driven knowledge management systems, particularly those related to data security and bias?
  • What are the implications of digitalization on knowledge worker roles and how can organizations ensure a smooth transition for their workforce?
  • How do AI and automation influence the development of dynamic capabilities within organizations, enabling them to adapt to rapidly changing environments?
  • What are the effects of digitalization on knowledge management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) versus large multinational corporations (MNCs)?
  • How can digital technologies help address the knowledge management challenges of geographically dispersed teams in global organizations?
  • What strategies can organizations implement to ensure knowledge equity in digital knowledge systems, particularly for underrepresented groups within the workforce?

We invite high-quality manuscripts that employ a variety of research designs, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Papers should offer novel insights into the intersection of digitalization and knowledge management, providing both theoretical contributions and practical implications for organizations. We also encourage longitudinal studies that examine how organizations change their knowledge management practices over time as they adopt new digital tools and platforms.

In addition to empirical papers, we welcome conceptual papers that advance theory in digital knowledge management, review papers that synthesize the existing literature, and proposals for new frameworks for future research. Insight papers that reflect on practical challenges and propose actionable solutions for knowledge management in digital environments are also encouraged.

Manuscript submission information:

Please submit the manuscripts to Editorial Manager®, and select article type name "VSI: Rethinking Knowledge Management" to link the manuscripts to the Special Issue. 

All submissions deemed appropriate for peer review shall undergo evaluation by a minimum of two independent reviewers. Upon acceptance, the manuscript will transition to the production stage and be published concurrently in the current regular issue as well as incorporated into the online Special Issue. Articles from this Special Issue will be showcased in various regular issues of the journal, distinctly labeled and identified as components of the Special Issue

Important dates

  • Submission opening: September 1st, 2025
  • Submission Deadline: May 31st, 2026
  • 1st Round review decision: September 1st, 2026
  • Revised Manuscript due: January 30th, 2027
  • 2nd round revision decision May 31st, 2027
  • Final revised manuscript: August 31st, 2027
  • Final authors notification of acceptance January 30th, 2028

Questions regarding all aspects of this special issue may be addressed to ALL of the co-guest editors: