The quest for combined generativity and criticality in digital-physical complex systems

The transformation from physical systems into digital-physical systems puts new engineering and technology management challenges at the foreground. This paper explores how industrial firms engaged in such systems simultaneously can address the seemingly disjunct properties of criticality and generativity in platform-based systems including the connected (inter)-organizational processes and related strategic choices. The in-depth embedded single case study of avionics, the electronics on aircraft, underline the importance of (1) considering organizational and technology aspects together, (2) the long-term gradual transition towards digitalization, and (3) openness in innovation including temporality and cross-industry aspects. Digital innovation appears as a double-edged sword as it enables mastering an increasingly complex system, facilitating its safe operation and maintenance, but at the same time requires new approaches to manage increased complexity during the development and evolution of systems.