Transformation of Competence - the effects of Digitalization on communicators' Work

Studying human competence in relation with digitalization is currently an under-researched area within information systems scholarship. This paper presents a response to the contemporary calls within the IS field for studying the changes brought on by the advent of digitalization. Based on indepth interviews with professional communicators, we illustrate the effects of digitalization on the formation of work related competences. Employing a new sociotechnical system approach (Neo-STS), we analyze and illustrate the effects of digitalization in multiple ways. First, we propose that any further study of competence cannot be inadvertent to the phenomenon of digitalization. Second, we suggest a new approach for studying competence in relation with digitalization as opposed to studying “digital competence”. Third, by applying a Neo-STS perspective, we provide a substantiated explanation of the transformation of competences in the work of communicators.