444 22. Rethinking boards and governance in the digital era: implications for practice and research Alessandra Rigolini, Jonas Gabrielsson, Mirian Izquierdo Barriuso and Morten Huse INTRODUCTION Digital technologies, in this chapter understood as all types of electronic equipment and applications that use information in the form of numeric code, transform the competitive landscape of firms. Interconnections among products, processes and services are trans- forming firm capabilities, business processes and interfirm relationships across a growing range of industries and sectors (Berman, 2012). As a result, value-creating activities have started to move beyond organizational boundaries (van Alstyne et al., 2016) and the digitalization of infrastructures is disrupting traditional business models by enabling the development of platform ecosystems that bring together producers and consumers in high-value exchanges (Bankewitz et al., 2016; Hsieh and Wu, 2018). The effects and consequences of digitalization influence corporate governance and boards of directors in many ways and at many levels (Bankewitz et al., 2016; Valentine et al., 2016). Board members in private as well as public organizations are faced with a plethora of terms and concepts that are associated with increasingly digitalized infrastructures, such as ‘apps’, ‘smart cities’, ‘big data’, ‘platform economy’, ‘sharing economy’, ‘machine learning’, ‘Internet of Things (IoT)’ and ‘Industry 4.0’. Growing numbers of board members are in this respect becoming aware of the need for more knowledge about the technology environment within their boards, and how to operate as an effective governing body in an increasingly digitalized competitive landscape (Åberg et al., 2017). In a study of the role of boards in technology governance, Valentine and Stewart (2013) found that close to 75 per cent of board members agreed or strongly agreed that it is very important that boards include members with knowledge, skills and experience of information technology (IT) governance among their ranks, so that the boards can raise relevant questions with management teams and advisers. At the same time, few boards have been found to sponsor digital initiatives, and a minority of board members claim to fully understand how the industry dynamics of their companies are changing (Sarrazin and Willmott, 2016). These observations raise two important insights. The first is that there seems to be a general awareness among board members that digitalization will have a significant impact on the competitiveness of societies, industries and corporations in the future (Bankewitz et al., 2016; Huse, 2018). The second is that many board members, at the moment, have an arm’s-length relationship with digital issues. Managing digital transformation has for a long time been described as a prime chal- lenge for corporate leaders in the upper echelons of organizations (e.g., Kakabadse et al., 2011; Berman and Marshall, 2014; Bonnet et al., 2014; Westerman et al., 2014; Rogers, M4745-GABRIELSSON_9781786439741_t.indd 444 09/05/2019 13:39