The Role of Nonprofit Leadership in Digital Transformation, Service Design and Delivery

Digital transformation requires a consideration of technology and organisational issues, including the role of organisational leaders (Nadkarni et al. in Leadersh Quart 32, 2021). But such transformation will not deliver its promise without the ability to access and use digital technology effectively, so called ‘digital citizenship’ (Jæger in J Technol Soc 34:122–137, 2021). Organisational leaders, operating in the rapidly evolving digital world, need to envision a service landscape which includes digital approaches to organisation, management and service delivery (Cortellazzo et al. in Front Psychol 10:1938, 2019). In recent times, this includes the introduction of artificial intelligence (‘AI’) and all its associated impacts. In nonprofit settings such as the disability and mental health sector, this includes understanding the capabilities of staff to effectively use technology, and the co-design of approaches which consider the digital literacy and skills of people accessing services (Shi et al. in J Nonprofit Technol 7:89–104, 2022). It also creates opportunities for to reduce both cognitive and emotional workloads for staff. This chapter will consider the opportunities created using digital technology to deliver co-design services, expand service reach, and better engage with the growing cohort of younger people considered digital natives (Philip et al. in J Serv Des 12:60–78, 2020). In this context, sociotechnical considerations of leadership (Butt et al. in J Organ Leadersh 15:45–62, 2021), and consideration of human rights and ethics as they relate to technology, are fundamental elements of the toolkit of an organisational leader (Jones in Hum Rights Rev 17:75–90, 2023). It also looks at how AI affects the group mindset of digital natives and how that will impact service design and delivery. It is acknowledged that these developments have led to calls for increasing regulation and oversight based on concerns about the impact of new technologies on privacy, the consolidation of big data, insights and AI more generally, and cyber security (Gerke et al. in Lancet Digit Health 2:E387–E399, 2020). But, digital technology, including AI and machine learning, provides important opportunities for service development and delivery, including diagnosis, treatment, advice, risk assessment, workflow scheduling, data analytics, process improvements and efficiencies, and quality improvement (Mitchell & Kan in Healthc Manag Rev 44:235–246, 2019; Zimlichman et al. in J Med Syst 45:144, 2021). Considering both issues, this chapter will explore the intersection of technology and the human rights issues highlighted by the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum as they are faced by nonprofit organisations (Davis et al. in J Digit Ethics 14:235–248, 2019). This will lead to consideration of new models of governance which allow nonprofit disability and mental health service organisations to gain the advantages of digital transformation, and these new technology-based approaches to designing and delivering services, enabling them to support and promote people’s health and well-being, while protecting their human rights (Morley et al. in Sci Eng Ethics 28:311–324, 2022; Ricciardi et al. in J Bus Res 102:202–213, 2019).