The future of digital working: knowledge migration and learning

Abstract

Against the backdrop of intensified migration linked to globalisation, this article considers the implications of knowledge migration for future digital workers. It draws empirically on a socio-material analysis of the international software localisation industry. Localisers' work requires linguistic, cultural and software engineering skills to adapt digital products to be marketed worldwide. The article addresses the problem of the need for better understanding of knowledge practices in digital working and offers new insights by examining work and learning against the theoretical question of how knowledge migrates. Drawing on the writing of sociologist Karin Knorr Cetina, it illustrates how workers reformulate knowledge and practise visibility through object relations that support learning. The article concludes with five recommendations for incorporating insights gained through this analysis in education.

Keywords:

• digital society
• knowledge migration
• professional learning
• technology
• Knorr Cetina

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the anonymous peer-reviewers for their perceptive feedback, the editors for their advice and support and Professor Lydia Plowman for her guidance on the original research study. Any omissions are the responsibility of the author.

Notes on contributor

Irene Malcolm leads an academic programme in education for doctoral students and researchers at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland. Her main research interests are in professional learning, work and technology.

Notes

1. Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.