NEW RESEARCH | Collaboration key for a sustainable manufacturing industry

The digital revolution in manufacturing presents several challenges. A new doctoral thesis at Luleå University of Technology presents a framework for the industry to relate to.

As industrial companies move from product-oriented business models to digital servitization, they need to invest heavily. This involves, for example, the transformation of digital infrastructures, the implementation of infrastructures and formal governance principles, and close collaboration between companies. Collaboration, in so called innovation ecosystems, is crucial in the transition as few companies have all the technical resources and skills needed to create and deliver digital services.

For the actors in the ecosystem to reap the benefits of digital servitization, the industry needs to establish collaborations between different actors. This is to facilitate the formation, orchestration and expansion of ecosystems over time.

In the doctoral thesis Ecosystem Orchestration within Digital Servitization: A Path towards Sustainable Industrypresented at Luleå University of Technology, Milad Kolagar presents a framework for how this process towards a more sustainable industry can take place. The framework describes three key activities for ecosystem orchestration: 1) digital value architecture, 2) the contractual governance mechanism; and 3) relational governance of the ecosystem. The parts integrate with each other and interact to a high degree.

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