This module addresses topics of:

Concepts, definitions, and characteristics of emerging technologies and digital transformation
Innovation management, competitive strategy, and organisational change
Big Data, Business Intelligence, cloud computing, and IoT ecosystems
Enterprise systems (ERP/ES) and data-driven business models
Digital transformation strategy, implementation planning, and value creation (ROI)
Legal, ethical, privacy, and information security considerations
Data quality, validation, risk assessment, and sustainability issues
Professional practice, industry standards, and global technology trends
Information security and risk assessment
Research skills and academic communication
Case studies across sectors
Sustainability and costing-based models
Entrepreneurship and innovation in digital transformation

BCS / TechSkills / Employability elements:

Professional Practice and associated written presentation skills
Individual focused research within a specialised technology field
In depth analysis of computing and business issues through a focused scenario
Legal, social, ethical and professional issues as a general theme

REPORT – You will be provided a small scenario case study for which you must look at its shortcomings and opportunities and devise a short digital transformation business case. Within the case current deficiencies need to be identified and future improvements and impact outlined. A significant part of creating the report will involve teamwork within researching aspects of it.

REPORT - You will produce a short individual IEEE-style conference paper focused on a digital transformation with emerging technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, or Cloud Computing). The paper must demonstrate systematic research, critical evaluation of organisational, technical, sustainability, cost, legal, ethical, and quality issues, as well as identification of research gaps. You are expected to propose a brief outline justified conceptual solution (Framework, architecture, model etc…) and future directions based on evidence from academic and industry sources you have found as to entrepreneurship opportunities.

Formative assessment opportunities will be provided throughout the module. In generating both reports staff will regularly review your progress. For both assessments you will be provided the opportunity to provide a draft and receive feedback on.

The module will run with lectures introducing key theories, frameworks, and research concepts for you to investigate further practically. Tutorials will be used to apply learning through case studies and problem-based activities. Within tutorials you will contribute to presentations to enhance and support discussions within groups, form individual critical reflection skills, and as a group member peer review concepts and assessment progress. Groupwork is used to develop collaboration and digital transformation strategies practically so you get to understand how individual roles integrate into a wider team-based industry perspective. Outside of taught classes guided independent study using academic literature and industry sources will be provided to strengthen perspectives. In creating your assessments there will be formative activities to develop research, analysis, and academic writing skills to strengthen your learning. Allied to this approach supervision and feedback sessions will also be used to support assessment development.

1. Critically evaluate and synthesise organisational and strategic challenges in managing emerging technologies within digital transformation contexts working within team based contexts.

Knowledge & Understanding
Critical Reasoning & Collaboration

2. Critically analyse and reflect on technical, ethical, legal, and quality issues using relevant theories and academic literature.

Research Skills
Reflection

3. Design and justify an individual digital transformation strategy and implementation plan for a defined organisational context, with specific identification of entrepreneurship opportunities.

Application & Problem-Solving
Personal Development & Entrepreneurship

4. Conduct systematic research to identify gaps and develop evidence-based recommendations in emerging technologies and communicate these effectively in written form.

Research Skills
Communication

MS Project

Online academic database

NDL Evolve

Tadabase

Open source Low-Code platforms

Weiss, A. (2026), The Practical Guide to Digital Transformation: Use Technology to Improve Your Business, Kogan Page

Groth, O., Esposito, M. and Tse, T. (2023), The Great Remobilization: Strategies for a Changing World, MIT Press

Heuser, B. and Vegel, B. (2023), Digital Transformation Core Technologies & Emerging Topics from a Computer Science Perspective, Springer Vieweg

Bahaaeddin, A. and Hamdan, A. (2025), Navigating the Digital Frontier: Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Innovation, Springer

Attico, N. (2025), Low-Code Development with ServiceNow: Understand ServiceNow architecture, data relationships, security, UI configuration, automation, and integrations, BPB Publications

This module explores how organisations adopt and manage emerging technologies to drive digital transformation. You will examine real-world challenges, develop strategic solutions, and analyse technologies such as AI, Big Data, cloud computing, and IoT in doing so. Through research and applied tasks, you will build the skills needed to design transformation strategies, evaluate risks, and contribute to innovation in modern digital enterprises. You will also develop the ability to conduct academic research and produce a structured research paper aligned with industry and scholarly standards.