Notes from all the tutorials as preparation for the exam of Digital Innovations. Includes both the questions and elaborate answers as practice for the exam.
Tutorial 1 - preparation for exam literature 1, 2 and 3
1. Take a look at the layered modular architecture in this figure.
a. Explain each of the 4 layers of the architecture of digital tech.
Content = data (sounds, texts, videos) - Services = create, manipulate, store, and consume
contents - Network = LT: network standards, PT: cables, transmitters - Device = PM: hardware,
LC: operating system.
Device: PM is the laptop (device) you use to use a service, LC is the operating system of this
hardware → the internet connection is part of the network layer → PT of network layer are routers,
cables, transmitters → the LT of network layer is protocols, standards to keep the network running
and to start the network in the first place → service layer is the things you can do with the tech
(application functionality, in which environment you provide content) → content layer is the pieces
of data you ultimately get (everything that can be transformed into 0s and 1s).
b. Describe the 4 layers for Netflix.
Content = movies, series - Service = watching the products, download movies - Network =
internet - Device = the laptop/tv you watch on.
LC of the device layer is Windows FEX. or iOS → the servers are from the device layer PM → don’t
think from the consumer side, but think about the producer side → for Netflix the IP of your laptop
is necessary to send content, this is part of the LT of the network layer → service layer is the app,
the collection of content and algorithms that suggest movies/series for you → algorithm can also be
in the network layer, because they track your activity (internet protocol) → content is the
movies/series.
c. What is meant with product-agnostic components?
The design of a component requires little product-specific knowledge.
FEX. Google Maps; this is not product-specific, because you can apply it to a lot of different contexts
and devices → can put it on a website to show the address of a company, can be used in games, as
navigation, etc. → all these products can use Google Maps without adjusting it → this makes
layered modular architecture different from modular, because it does not have to be adjusted for
different end services → a mobile phone is modular, because the components of the phone do not fit
on another model, these are product-specific → product-agnostic or specific applies to components,
not to things as a whole, like apps.
Homogenization of data = in a service layer you can provide a lot of content, it is up to the
provider what is provided to the consumer.
2. As a consultant for Uber, you are asked to develop a strategy to launch Uber in rural
areas. What innovation ecosystem strategy would you recommend?
Innovation ecosystem = you bring an innovation to the market, that doesn’t stand alone, but you
need partner innovations → success does not only depend on yourself, but also on those
partners → this gives additional risks → FEX. chips for game consoles, that are now very scarce,
so these dependencies are now negative → you need to be in line with your partners → an
ecosystem demands changes.
Integration risks = for Uber, people in rural areas are not used to this technology → in cities a
lot of people live there, so a lot of people need a car or want to drive a car → a solution is
combining taxi services with Uber Eats, delivering food, or with supermarkets → partners
further in the supply chain can use the tech.
, Interdependence risks = for Uber the chauffeurs and internet connection in rural areas → Uber
offered chauffeurs a mobile phone to drive for the company as a solution.
You can also get three cases and then answer a question like: what kind of ecosystem risks do
you recognize in these cases?
3. Why do you think that digital innovation has not increased the annual growth rate in
productivity?
DI has not contributed a lot to annual growth, because it contributes to consuming, but little to
producing → in first years computers have increased productivity by replacing digital tasks →
the most innovations from 2007 have mainly been about consuming and entertainment.
It may lead to an increase, because we don’t know yet what we can all do with it → the new
generation can find out much more applications for DI → AI can make a huge difference, can
make more creative mechanisms and automize things → blockchain causes the passing of
transactions in markets → this creates a new business model and a more productive way of
doing business.
4. What are the rebound effects of peer-to-peer carsharing?
Peer-to-peer carsharing = based on an online platform where individual car owners can offer
their car for rent and renters can buy insurance for a day via platforms such as SnappCar.
Rebound effect = a transition to more efficient techs causes an expansion of activities.
When people can easily share cars, they have less motivation to own a car themselves → because
more people will have access to a car, but this can also mean they will use the car more then they
would before → an increase in the renting of cars → this is the 3rd order effect of DI and that it
is not so sustainable as it was supposed to be = the rebound effect (it is easier to drive a car, so
more people will use cars).
5. The digital divide.
a. Why does the adoption of the Internet increase social inequalities?
Some people don’t have access to it or don’t know how to use it (digital literacy) → there is
always a gap between people who do have access and don’t have access to an innovation.
b. Name an example of a non-digital innovation for which the adoption could
increase social inequalities.
FEX. the car, because it costs a lot of money → so DI is not the only innovation that results in
inequalities.
c. Argue whether DI can also reduce inequalities.
DI can reduce inequalities because it stimulates globalization, so other countries and
communities can compare their situation with the situation in other countries and can adopt
technologies that are successul in these countries.
→ digitalisation has given us more free time (less waiting time, less paperwork) → free products
(information, news, software) → more quality of products (more niche products aka the “long
tail”).
d. How is the first digitial divide (access divide) different from the second digital
divide?
Access divide is that people don’t have access to the internet and cannot use it → but, elderly
don’t have the skills to use the internet → with the second divide people are not motivated to use
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