… Senior Lecturer in Business Administration and researcher at CTF. Digital service infusion is the name of a project you are working on - what is it about?
"It is about how manufacturing companies can make profit on digital services and how they can find new, profitable service solutions. We focus on three current areas; the first area is business models and how they change when companies add digital services to their offerings. The second are is digital platforms and how companies can use them to, for example, drive service innovations or to have more satisfied customers. The third area is eco-systems where we study digital services from a larger perspective - we go beyond the individual company and its relationship to another party, and include other actors who can influence digital service investments and how they can be developed."
Who participates in the research and what have you done so far?
"It is a collaboration between CTF and Volvo, Kongsberg Maritime Sweden, Valmet and Miller Graphics. The work has initially been about getting to know each other and planning the work within the project. Due to the fact that the start of the project was at the same time as the spread of Covid19 occurred in Sweden, we have had to change parts of our planned work. Right now, we are looking forward to and are planning for workshops and seminars together with our partner companies during the autumn. Hopefully our partners will get inspiration to continue their service investments, and we will get some input for further research."
Why is this type of research important?
"The areas involved in the project are highly relevant for companies today. Many have digital solutions that make it possible to collect large amounts of data, but being able to convert this into profitable services is often a major challenge. Therefore, more research is needed to help companies find better solutions for digital services."
"Digital service infusion" is a sub-project of the project "DISCERN - Digital Services and Customer Experiences" which aims to contribute new knowledge on how digitalization affects customers and companies with a focus on customer experiences and service development. The project is funded by the Knowledge Foundation over a three-year period and is implemented with support from Ikea, Volvo, Miller Graphics, Valmet, Tobii Pro, Kongsberg Maritime Sweden, Löfbergs, QBIM, Maxi Ica Supermarket and Thingssquare.
