IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2023 - 53

Why Do We Need
" Transdisciplinarity " ?
Marcus R. Wigan
Conservatorium of Music
The University of Melbourne
Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Transport Research Institute (TRI)
Edinburgh Napier University
EH11 4BN Edinburgh, U.K.
 The Terms cross disciplinary, multidisciplinary,
and transdisciplinary (TD) are increasingly
used, but rarely unpacked for their actual application.
This article examines these different perspectives
and proposes a usable definition and applies
it to a range of circumstances. The rapid increase in
disintermediation between individuals and organizations
and the digitalization of many disciplines
has made such a careful examination of how different
disciplines can be productively engaged and
clarify the terminology used to describe the effective
processes of combining skills. One area of value is
security, as a rapid digital implementation of both
organizational design and processes requires great
care in the security aspects of how such enterprises
are framed, operated, and managed.
It is rare that crossdisciplinary multiple discipline
teams that secure a TD focus disentangle these different
foci. This hides an important set of quite distinct
ideas with very different practical impacts.
Examples within the arts are more easily found
than in other multiple field connections, although
medicine, engineering, and computing all offer a
rapidly increasing number of examples. In the arts,
visual, aural, and solid forms are to be found in stimulating
combinations, and a sound working framework
can be built from such experiences.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2023.3277097
Date of current version: 7 July 2023.
Sculpture, music, painting, and even dance can
be found in stimulating combinations. Often a substantial
digital support framework can also be identified.
These are quite distinct disciplines with each
with their own strong traditions, training, skill, and
judgment frameworks-yet often coherent works
of art emerge where the different disciplines have
added up to something more than any of the individual
disciplines involved.
Because the different cultures actually work
together, rather than undertaking their own
discipline-specific skills as tasks as part of a team of
different disciplines, creativity is enhanced. Fawcett
[2] cites yet another small cluster of disciplines,
this time involving nursing, as TD when the different
disciplines engage in " A holistic approach that goes
beyond the perspectives of different disciplines to
create a common conceptual-theoretical-empirical
structure for research. "
A practical exploration in the applied field of
policing [1] brought police into an academic security
environment and generated quite a clash of
cultures, presuppositions, and expectations of the
different groups brought together. These clashes are
understated in the Bronitt [1] report-but clearly evident.
This is not unexpected given the very different
working and academic cultures involved.
These two examples of situations where very
different cultures are brought together lead to the
proposed working definition of transdisciplinarity
June 2023
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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2023

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