Sasin Research Seminar - Digital Nomadism and Its Implications for Nation-States, Organizations, and Local Communities

14 Feb 2025

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Digital Nomadism and Its Implications for Nation-States, Organizations, and Local Communities
By Professor Daniel Schlagwein Professor of Digital Work and Organization, The University of Sydney Editor-in-Chief (Co), The Journal of Information Technology Leader, Digital Future(s) Research Group Lead Investigator, ARC Discovery Project on Digital Nomadism Friday, February 14, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Venue: Room 201 at Sasin School of Management or online via Zoom Register here to reserve your seat Abstract: Digital nomadism—knowledge workers engaged in a neo-nomadic global lifestyle—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 labour 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, digitalised, and globalised socio-economic space that, in some respects, is ‘post-nation-state’ or ‘post-capitalism’ (Drucker). This overview is based on our research program since 2013, having coined the term digital nomadism, and draws from our 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 the ‘best’ established scholarly business research program in Australia in 2023.   For more information please contact +66-2218-4000 ext. 83893 or researchseminar@sasin.edu.  
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