Research Talk: Digital Nomadism and Its Implications for Nation-States, Organizations, and Local Communities

Abstract

Digital nomadism - knowledge workers engaged in a neo-nomadic global lifestylle - has evolved from a niche phenomenon in the mid-2010s to the professional mainstream. The COVID-19 ‘work-from-home’ experience has often led to ‘work-from-anywhere’ expectations, debates, and policies. This talk provides an overview of what is currently known about digital nomadism and its multi-faceted impacts on nation-states, organizations, and communities. While digital nomadism offers a new path for self-actualization for some, questions have been raised about its long-term sustainability and effects on nomads. For nation-states, this lifestyle poses challenges, notably in terms of the potential loss of skilled labor and a ‘race to the bottom’ on taxes. Conversely, host nations, particularly developing countries, stand to benefit economically from the influx of digital nomads, even if questions remain about the socio-cultural impacts on local communities. Organizations and clients must decide how to work with digital-nomadic employees and contractors while a new class of 'remote-first' or 'born-nomadic' organizations emerges. Speculating on the future(s) of digital nomadism, the phenomenon raises intriguing questions about how the Internet enables individuals to ‘live a life of their choosing’ (Benkler) yet complicates relations between locals and visitors, nomads and settlers, workers and capitalists, markets and organizations, and citizens and governments. This is emblematic of a new, digitalized, and globalized socio-economic space that, in some respects, is ‘post-nation-state’ or ‘post-capitalism’ (Drucker). This overview is based on the research program of Prof. Schlagwein since 2013, having coined the term digital nomadism, and draws from his work with governments (e.g., digital nomad visas), organizations (e.g., work-from-anywhere policies), and local communities (e.g., local digital nomad strategies) around the world, including Australia, Colombia, Estonia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The work received the Australian Business Deans Council's award for ‘best’ established, scholarly business research program in Australia in 2023.

About Prof. Dr. Daniel Schlagwein

Daniel Schlagwein is Professor of Digital Work and Organization at The University of Sydney and leads the Digital Future(s) Research Group. He is the Editor-in-Chief (joint) of the top-ranked Journal of Information Technology (JIT). Daniel is a “Senior Scholar” of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), the leading organization of the field. Daniel is globally recognized for his leading research on digital work. He teaches digital work, digital strategy, and research methods to Master's, MBA, PhD, and industry audiences.

Daniel's research focuses on digital working and organizing – with particular interest in digital nomadism, openness, and crowdsourcing. He leads the ARC Discovery Project on Digital Nomadism (2019-2024, A$390,000). He has edited two special issues and chaired ten research tracks at leading Information Systems (IS) conferences (ECIS, ICIS) on these topics. Daniel has authored over 80 peer-reviewed papers, including 17 papers in the AIS11/FT50, and has been noted in several “top 100 researchers” rankings, such as by AIS (2021) and Wirtschaftswoche (2019).

 https://www.sydney.edu.au/business/about/our-people/academic-staff/schlagwein.html