The study “Boosting firms’ absorptive capacity: the digital technologies edge”, published on European journal of innovation management and conducted by Valentina Lazzarotti (LIUC) with Salvatore Tallarico, Luisa Pellegrini e Simone Lazzini, aims to explore how firms can support their innovation processes by effectively utilizing external knowledge and employing digital technologies.

Specifically, it emphasizes the role of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in external knowledge acquisition and assimilation (potential ACAP), as well as transformation and exploitation (realized ACAP), highlighting the necessity of equipping firms with digital technologies to support ACAP activities.

To achieve the research purpose, we conducted a structured literature review of academic papers sourced from Scopus-Elsevier. The results show that social media and online communities are the most studied technologies in relation to ACAP activities, above all acquisition activity. The findings offer valuable guidance to innovation managers, aiding them in selecting appropriate digital technologies to strengthen ACAP activities.