Infrastructure Megaprojects as Enablers of Digital Innovation Transitions

Abstract

Innovation refers to the development of a new product, service or process (Abernathy and Clark, 1985). Novelty and innovations are often observed in projects (Shenhar and Dvir, 2007). Innovations are highly context-dependent and rely on good projects (Shenhar and Dvir, 2007). Infrastructure megaprojects have a particularly close relationship with innovation (Davies et al., 2009). This relation between innovation and its context, such as infrastructure megaprojects. is important for understanding innovation. Digital innovation is differentiated from other innovations as it is highly pervasive and systemic (Egyedi and Sherif, 2008). This chapter increases our understanding of digital innovation and its relation to institutional contexts, especially infrastructure megaprojects. Focusing on the relation between digital innovation and infrastructure megaprojects, such as London Heathrow and Crossrail (Davies et al., 2009; Dodgson et al., 2015), shows how these infrastructure megaprojects influenced institutions through standardisation to promote digital innovation.