In Mirko Farina, Paolo Ciancarini, Xiao Yu and Jin Chen (eds), Digital Transformation in Artificial Systems: Engineering Requirements and Political, Economic, and Philosophical Challenges. Elsevier, 2026, Chapter 10.
Digitalization is driving profound changes in society. For the European Union, digitalization is a key enabler of its envisaged green transition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Recent studies highlight conflicting socio-economic impacts of digitalization, including socially undesirable outcomes. For example, the widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence shows a contradiction between the anticipated benefits of these technologies and potential societal risks in terms of transparency, accountability, privacy infringement, human rights, and democracy. In the energy sector, digitalization can transform energy supply, trade, and consumption by optimizing decision-making and operations. Yet, its effect on ensuring affordable energy remains unknown. Rapid digitalization of society and energy infrastructures may create disruptions and risks that exacerbate socio-economic inequalities or reproduce power disparities in society. This paper explores the societal effects of energy digitalization by investigating how citizens adapt to it and how social practices evolve in response. This paper seeks to address the following research question: How do citizens influence and adapt to the digitalization of energy infrastructure, particularly in the context of the rollout of Smart Electricity Meter (SEM)? Using the concept of bricolage from critical institutionalism, the research examines individual and societal drivers of digital and energy practices in the process of local energy digitalization. This is situated in a broad understanding of interactions between institutions governing the digitalization of energy infrastructures and households' practices using energy as key agents in the transformation process. The research builds on an empirical analysis of local energy digitalization exemplified by Italy's rollout of the second-generation SEM. Drawing on 23 semi-structured citizen interviews in the city of Trento, the research examines the social changes associated with the energy infrastructure upgrades, particularly how agency manifests and how new digital practices emerge. The study aims to identify equitable and sustainable pathways of energy digitalization.
