Maria Stefania Festila

Maria Stefania Festila is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Culture and Language, University of Southern Denmark, specializing in socio-technical dimensions of digital transformation within public sector and critical infrastructure contexts. Her work bridges humanities and social sciences through techno-anthropological frameworks to examine digital artifacts' impact on social practices and organizational dynamics.

Education

• PhD in Information Systems Management, Aarhus Business School (awarded July 12, 2022)

Research Focus

Festila employs ethnographic methods to investigate digital work transformation, public sector digitalization, and complex legacy system transitions. Her research integrates practice theory, actor-network theory, and organizational cognition frameworks to analyze:

• Digital transformation in critical infrastructure (e.g., district heating, water systems)
• Data-driven decision-making in complex work environments
• Knowledge coordination during technology-mediated handoffs
• Socio-technical implications of digital transitions in public services

Publication Trends

Her 13 research outputs (2016-2025) reveal an evolving trajectory from healthcare IT affordances (2016-2018) toward infrastructure digitalization (2022-2025). Recent work emphasizes organizational cognition in digital transitions, employing case studies from Denmark with methodologies including ethnography, socio-technical network analysis, and actor-network theory. Key thematic clusters include infrastructure resilience, data-driven intuition, and knowledge coordination in critical systems.

Projects and Collaborations

Festila contributed to the DRONe project (Determinants of Resilience in Organizational Networks, 2022-2025) as core team member alongside Rasmus Gahrn-Andersen and Davide Secchi. She has presented research at 6 activities including HICSS 2025 and workshops on organizational cognition, demonstrating strong interdisciplinary collaboration patterns within organizational studies and information systems research communities.