Alfonso Molina

CV

Personal Details
Name:  Alfonso H. Molina
Nationality: Chilean and British

Academic Qualifications

• University of Chile, School of Engineering. Electronic Engineering, 1973
• University of Bradford, Postgraduate School of Electronic Engineering. M.Phil, 1977
• University of Edinburgh, Science Studies Unit, Ph.D. 1987.

Employment

• 2006 – present
  Co-founder and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale (www.mondodigitale.org), Rome, Italy
• 1999 – 2015
  Professor of Technology Strategy, Management School, The University of Edinburgh
• 2002 – 2007
  Co-founder and Acting Scientific Director of the Consorzio Gioventù Digitale, Rome, Italy
• 1997 – 1999
  Reader in Innovation and Management of Technology, Management School, The University of Edinburgh
• 1994 – 1997
  Senior Research Fellow, Research Centre for Social Sciences and Management School, The University of Edinburgh
• 1987 – 1994
  Research Fellow, Research Centre for Social Sciences, The University of Edinburgh

Management Positions Held

• From 1997 –2000
  Multimedia Representative for the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chair of the Social Science Faculty Computing Committee, Chair of the Departmental Computing Committee.
• 1995 – 2001
  Founder Director of the Technology Management and Policy Programme of the University of Edinburgh
• 2002 – 2007
  Acting Scientific Director of the Digital Youth Consortium, Rome, Italy.
• 2006 – present
  Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Rome, Italy.

Industrial, Commercial and Public Sector Experience, Consultancy, Media

 Professional Involvement

• 2001 – present
  Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (IJEIM)
• 2001 – 2002
  Member of the Scientific Board of the I3E Annual Conference on “E-Commerce, E-Business and E-Government,” Zürich, Switzerland. (2001, 2002) IFIP.
• Member of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Consultancy
Since the late 1980s, I have worked in numerous occasions as consultant, evaluator and rapporteur for a variety of directorates of the European Commission from strategic policy levels to specific project levels. I have also had a strategic advisory relationship with the most important networks of European cities and regions working on the Information Society.

Media
The activities of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale attract regular media attention. As a result, I have given many interviews to TV, radio, magazines and online sources.

• (Interview) “Meet the Champions: From Digital Divide to e-Inclusion Interview with Alfonso Molina,” Development Gateway, World Bank, October 2002. Online.
• (Interview) “A Revolutionary Embraces Information Technology,” Government Technology (USA), October 2002. Online.
• (Interview) “Leaders and Innovators” Issue of the Converge Magazine on Education (USA), vol. 41, issue 8, August 2001.

Selected Dissemination Activities & Networking

• 2012 – present
  Co-founder and acting chair of the Coordinating Table of the multi-sectoral cluster for education robotics (Italy).
• 2010 – present
  Founding member of the Stati Generali dell’Innovazione (Italy)
• 2000 – present
  Chairman of the international Jury of Global Junior Challenge, the world’s largest contest of information and communications technology for Education run by the Municipality of Rome.
• 1997 – 2004
  Chairman of the international Jury of the Stockholm Challenge Award, the world’s largest contest of information society projects run by the Municipality of Stockholm.
• 2003 – 2005
  Chairman of the International Jury of the European cities’s competition “e-Citizenship for All,” organized by Telecities and Deloitte-Touche.

Member of the Scientific Committee of the Third Global Forum, Fostering Democracy and Development through e-Government, Naples, 15-17 March 2001. Invited by the Italian Government.
Externally Funded Research

Selected European Projects

• 2011 – 2013
  CEC Project The Knowledge Volunteer – ICT and intergenerational solidarity
• 2008 – 2010
  CEC Project Silver – ICTs for Older People
• 2006 – 2008
  CEC Project Robodidactics – Robotics for didactics in schools
• 2003 – 2005
  CEC Project Auxilia – New technology for the integration of disable students in schools
• 2002 – 2004
  Terra Incognita – Research on digital divide
• 2002 – 2004
  CEC Project Leips, Learning about e-learning innovation projects in schools
• Jan2003 – Dec2003
  CEC Project Three Roses. Development of a Free/Libre Open Source Software Constituency in Europe

Projects in Italy
As Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, I have developed and written the concepts of many projects dealing with e-inclusion and ICT-based educational innovation. This includes projects dealing with the elderly, refugees, digital culture centres, international cooperation, refugees, immigrants, multi-sectotral networks and more recently, social innovation for community/territorial development. In the 12 years since its inception, the Fondazione Mondo Digitale (first Consorzio Gioventu Digitale) has raised about €12 milion in projects.

Selected Publications
Alfonso Molina has written and published numerous books, papers for academic journals, book chapters, conference papers and working papers. This section contains a selection of this work, particularly (a) papers containing various aspects of the author’s theory of sociotechnical constituencies, social innovation hybridity and knowledge-oriented nonprofit organizations, and (b) other papers associated with the work of the Foundation.

Theoretical Papers on STCs and SI Hybridity

• Molina, A., Transputers and transputer-based parallel computers: Sociotechnical constituencies and the build up of British-European capabilities in information technology, Research Policy, No.19, 1990, pp.309-333.
• Molina, A., Integrating the creation, production and diffusion of technology in the design of large-scale and targetted European IT programmes, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, Vol.4, No.3, 1992, pp.299-309.
• Molina, A., In search of insights into the generation of techno-economic trends: Micro- and macro-constituencies in the microprocessor industry, Research Policy, Vol.22, Nos.5/6, 1993, pp.479-506.
• Molina, A., Sociotechnical Constituencies as Processes of Alignment: The Rise of a Large-Scale European Information Technology Initiative, Technology in Society, Vol.17, No.4, 1995, pp.385-412.
• Molina, A., Insights into the Nature of Technology Diffusion and Implementation: The Perspective of Sociotechnical Alignment, Technovation, 1997, Vol.17, Nos.11/12, pp.601-626.
• Molina, A., The Role of the Technical in Innovation and Technology Development: The Perspective of Sociotechnical Constituencies, Technovation, Vol.19, 1999, pp.1-29.
• Molina, A., Transforming Visionary Products into Realities: Constituency-Building and Observacting in the Case of NewsPad. Futures, Vol.31, 1999, pp.291-232.
• Molina, A. and Kinder, T., National Systems of Innovations, Industrial Clusters and Constituency-Building in Scotland’s Electronics Industry, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol.1, No.2, 2001, pp.241-275.
• Molina, A. [with Kinder, T. and Klaes, M.], Sociotechnical Alignment in the Rise and Evolution of a Telemedicine Constituency in Scotland, Science and Public Policy, Vol.26, No.6, 1999, pp.415-435.
• Molina, A. and Michilli, M., Rome ’s Telematics Strategy-Making Process: Sociotechnical Alignment and Clusters, Journal of Technology Transfer, 27, 2002. pp.51-60.
• Molina, A. and Gregson, G., Real-Time Evaluation Methodology as Learning Instrument in High-Technology SME Support Networks, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol.2, No.1, 2002, pp.69-99.
• Molina, A., Insights into Governance Shaping Processes in Triple-Hybrid Alliances: Dynamic Power Asymmetries in Bangladesh’s Village Phone Constituency, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2006.
• Molina, A., Insights into the Governance-Shaping Process of Bangladesh’s Village Phone Strategic Alliance, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2008.
• A.Molina, Insights into the Nature of Hybridity in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Roma, 2010.
• Molina, A., Understanding Multi-sector Hybridity in Social Innovation, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2009.
• Molina. A., Hybridity in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: State of the Art and Theoretical Challenge, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2010.
• Molina, A., Towards a Knowledge-oriented Non-profit Organization – The Case of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2010. Also in Italian, Un’Organizzazione non profit orientata alla conoscenza, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Roma, 2011.
• Molina, A., Phyrtual.org: A Vision and Website for Social Innovation, Fondazione Mondo Digitale / Edinburgh University Business School, 2011. Also in Italian, Phyrtual.org, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Roma, 2011.
• Carr, J., Molina, A., Wattam, E. and Backhaus, M., The REAL deal? The Application of a New Social Innovation Model, 2011.

Papers associated to the work of the Foundation

• Molina, A., Innovazione Sociale e Tecnologica, Apprendimento Intergenerazionale e Volontariato del XXI Secolo per l’Invecchiamento Attivo. In L. Malfer and F Gagliarducci, Se Cresce la Famiglia, Cresce la Società, Atti del Festival della Famiglia, Riva del Garda, 25-27 Ottobre 2012, pp.192-196.
• Molina, A., Innovazione Sociale: un’Opportunità per diventare giovani cittadini, protagonisti della società, Saperi.forumpa.it, 9 Aprile 2013.
• Molina, A., Immigrazione e Mondo Digitale, Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2012, Caritas Migrantes, pp.220-222.
• Molina, A., Il Volontariato, un Pilastro dell’Educazione del 21° Secolo, LaScuolapossibile.it, Ottobre 2012.
• Molina, A., Per l’Accoglienza Integrata … “Ricominciodatre,” LibertàCivile, Luglio-Agosto 2011, pp.134-143.
• Molina, A., La Sfida dell’Innovazione Sociale, Corporate Responsibility & Management, Aprile-Maggio 2009, pp.12-13.
• Molina, A. and Falcetta, I., L’Innovazione nelle Scuole di Roma. Esperienze Raccolte nell’Anno Scolastico 2007-2008, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Roma, 2008.
• Molina, A., Ecological Humanism and Technology as an Enabler for a Better World. In P. Kidd (ed.), European Visions for the Knowledge Age. A Quest for New Horizons in the Information Society, Cheshire Henbury, 2007, pp.163-171.
• Molina, A. The Village Phone Constituency in Bangladesh. A Case of a Sustainable e-Inclusion Enterprise, Paper for SPRU 40^thAnniversary Conference, “The Future of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: Linking Research And Practice,“ 11^th-13^th September 2006.
• Molina, A., The Digital Divide: The Need for a Global e-Inclusion Movement, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, Vol.15, No.1, 2003, pp.137-152.
• Molina, A., Live Your Dreams. The Society of the 21^st Century – A Pragmatist Utopia” In: J. Schoof and K. Pfeiffer (eds), Wh@t Next? The Future of the Information Society – A Youth Perspective? (Hamburg: YOIS – Youth for Intergenerational Justice and Sustainability), 2003, pp.10-19.
• Molina, A. and Michilli, M., E-commerce Innovation in the Veneto Region: Sociotechnical Alignment in the Context of a Public Administration, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol.3, No.4, 2003, pp.415-425.
• Molina, A. Long-term Business Revolution in the Global Software Sector? The Emergence of Free/libre and Open Source Software for e-Government. Management School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 2003.
• Molina, A., Is ICT-based Innovation in Educational Systems Truly Important? Overview of Key Development, Trends and Policies Shaping Education in the 21^st Century, Management School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 2003.
• Molina, A., What Is Happening with ICT-based Innovation in Educational Systems? Overview of Educational Visions, Concepts, Difficulties and Developments for 21^st Century Education, Management School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh 2003.
• Molina, A., Bottom-Up Roadmap for Free/libre and Open Source Software on e-Government in Europe, Management School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 2003.
• Molina, A., Notes on EcHumanism, Holistic Governance and Pragdealism: Instruments for a 21C World-view, Governance and Practice. 2003.
• Molina, A., SITA – Studies in Information Technology Applications (SITA): Computer Skill Training Program for Low-income Women in India, Report for InfoDev, World Bank, 2002. Published in K. Sane (ed.) Proceedings of the Conference ICT and Gender Empowerment, UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Delhi, 2002.
• Molina, A., A Vision for a Better World in a Crossroad Century: The Dream of the Information Society for All and the Global e-Inclusion Movement, University of Edinburgh / Consorzio Gioventu Digitale, Rome, 2002.
• Molina, A., A Better World is Possible: An Invitation to Believe and Make It Happen Report for Post-Workshop (Rome) Development of the Global e-Inclusion Movement (GeM), University of Edinburgh / Consorzio Gioventu Digitale, Rome, 2002.
• Molina, A., The Digital Divide and The Stockholm and Rome Challenge, Third Global Forum: “Fostering Democracy and Development through e-Government,” Naples, Italy, 15-17 March 2001.