NATIONAL PHD IN HERITAGE SCIENCE

Thesis title: Digital Transformation nelle istituzioni GLAM: Configurazioni emergenti e implementazione di Industry 5.0

Digital transformation constitutes a complex phenomenon that transcends the technological dimension and structurally affects organizational arrangements, professional competences, service models, and relational systems. In the cultural sector, this process acquires distinctive features, as institutions must balance epistemic responsibilities, economic sustainability constraints, and expectations of social accessibility. This study examines how GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) interpret and implement digital transformation processes in alignment with the emerging principles of the Industry 5.0 paradigm. The research addresses a dual limitation in the management literature: the fragmentation of studies often focused on single technologies, and the weak empirical operationalization of the principles of human-centricity, organizational resilience, and sustainability that define the Industry 5.0 framework. The study adopts a mixed-methods research design structured in two complementary phases. The first, quantitative and extensive, analyzes a large sample of digital transformation projects promoted by Italian GLAM institutions through cluster analysis, identifying four recurring configurations based on specific combinations of organizational logics, technological solutions, target audiences, and collaborative arrangements. The second phase, qualitative and intensive, investigates twelve case studies of artificial intelligence projects implemented in Italian and French contexts, operationalizing the principles of Industry 5.0 through thematic analysis of human-centricity, resilience, and sustainability dimensions. Findings show that digital transformation in the cultural sector primarily emerges as an organizational and institutional process rather than a purely technological shift, characterized by significant tensions between normative aspirations and structural constraints. The results highlight heterogeneity in the consolidation of organizational resilience, structural fragilities in economic sustainability models reliant on temporary funding, and a persistent underestimation of the environmental dimension. The main contribution of the study lies in the integration of large-scale configurational quantitative analysis with in-depth qualitative investigation, providing a system-level, empirically grounded interpretation of digital transformation in GLAM institutions and proposing a critical and contextualized extension of the Industry 5.0 paradigm to cultural organizations. The findings offer relevant managerial and policy implications, emphasizing the need for structural interventions in governance, skills development, and long-term funding models.