Page - 22 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

Unleashing theCreativity of EntrepreneurswithDigital Technologies Robert D. Hisrich andMariusz Soltanifar Abstract Fordecades, creativityhasbeenused togenerate ideas amongentrepreneurs and their teams. Although extensive research has been conducted on creativity, the majority of studies have focused on traditional ways of stimulating creativity, such as focus groups, the collective notebook method, brainstorming, brain- writing, reverse brainstorming and problem inventory analysis. However, the digital age appears to challenge much of this existing work on the nature of creativity. It is clear that online creativity and audiences are affecting the meaning, expression and impact of creativity. The traditional techniques of stimulating creativity have been replaced and aided by technology-driven innovations, such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and the Internet of things (IoT). This chapter exploresways to activate the creativity of entrepreneursand their teams through theuseofdigital technologies.Webelieve that this chapter provides a rich source of examples on how technology is currentlybeingused to support creativitybyencouragingentrepreneursand their teams to make connections, develop ideas, create meaning, collaborate and communicate. We present, in detail, three case studies and discuss practical implications for the future. R. D.Hisrich (&) Kent State University, Ohio, USA e-mail: rhisrich1@kent.edu M. Soltanifar HanzeUniversity ofApplied Sciences, Groningen, TheNetherlands M. Soltanifar OpenUniversity, Heerlen, TheNetherlands ©TheAuthor(s) 2021 M.Soltanifar et al. (eds.),DigitalEntrepreneurship, FutureofBusiness andFinance, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53914-6_2 23