AI for business as a digital hybrid innovation ecosystem: Governance, course design, and learning experience in an asynchronous online micro-credential
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: PURPOSE: This study examines how hybrid innovation ecosystems operate and scale in fully digital, self-paced learning settings, where temporal, spatial, and organizational boundaries are redefined. The aim is to uncover the governance mechanisms, interaction dynamics, and value-creation processes that shape such ecosystems. METHODOLOGY: The study draws on one fully online, self-paced micro-credential with 31 learners, developed within the European Consortium of Innovative Universities, and combines course artifacts, participatory observation, learner evaluations, and reflections. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational techniques in Visual Studio Code with Python, while qualitative reflections were examined through textual, thematic, and sentiment analysis using Voyant Tools. Governance processes were interpreted through content and structural analysis, and experiential evidence was analyzed using narrative and interpretive methods. FINDINGS: Three principal findings emerge. First, governance in the micro-credential is enacted through digital infrastructures that provide transparent templates, structured workflows, and iterative feedback loops. Second, learner engagement depends less on activity type and more on the balance between standardization and flexibility, achieved through modular design and diverse activity formats. Third, evidence of value diffusion appears across public, private, and international pathways, indicating that modularity enables knowledge and competencies to transfer beyond academia. IMPLICATIONS: The study advances theory by showing how STI-DUI hybridization, innovation-ecosystem dynamics, Triple Helix interactions, and agility are operationalized in a fully digital, self-paced environment. It also challenges established assumptions in digital pedagogy by showing that, within this self-paced online micro-credential, passive and active formats yield comparable satisfaction in asynchronous contexts, and that immersive readings outperform videos. Practically, it offers guidance on designing scalable, engaging micro-credentials suitable for cross-sector capacity building. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: The paper conceptualizes a micro-credential as a hybrid innovation ecosystem operating entirely within a digital, self-paced learning environment and provides empirical insight into its governance, interaction mechanisms, and value diffusion. It further contributes by challenging dominant assumptions in digital learning and highlighting the specific dynamics of asynchronous micro-credentials.
DOI: 10.7341/20272313
Authors: Inga Stankevice, Rasa Laliene
Institution: Kaunas University of Technology
Language: English
Topic: Online and Blended Learning
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225823781
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