Open standards within the EV charging ecosystem A comparative case study exploring potential gaps between the intended and perceived openness
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Entrepreneurship and business design (MPBDP), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Friman, Sara
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The urgent need for the development of sustainable transportation solutions has called on
electrical vehicles as part of a potential solution. In parallel the automotive industry is facing
a shift going from hardware to a software solution focus. Thus, putting pressure on the
knowledge intensity of the firms and requiring a greater knowledge stock to be distributed
throughout the organizations. Open innovation tools, such as open standards, have been
pointed out as potential facilitators for the development of sustainable transportation
solutions. However, with the presence of paradoxes of innovation and a current knowledge
gap in how to apply open standards to improve the interoperability of the solutions, the actors
of the electric vehicle charging ecosystem are left with a complex dynamic of challenges.
By understanding the potential gaps between the various layers of electrical vehicles
interoperability, one may start to prioritize the efforts of enabling open innovation
collaborations. Through a comparison of the layers of; communication - open standards
(within the electric vehicle charging ecosystem), and business - the Swedish electro-mobility
business ecosystem, this paper investigates the openness, intended openness, and perceived
openness, to explore potential gaps, to further the insights of how open standards can be used
to facilitate the electrical vehicle adaptation of sustainable transportation solutions.
The findings of the study show that the electric vehicle charging ecosystem is indeed a
current area of great interest for sustainable transportation, with the potential for information
and communications technology developments to be used within cross-industry and cross sectional applications. The study confirmed the existence of potential gaps between the
intended and perceived openness. The results allured at there being a dissonance in the early
and late phases of the standard development. Specifically pointing towards the (technical)
interoperability, where the intended openness was evaluated to be high, while the real-world
experienced openness where not perceived to be at an optimal level for the application.
Further, the study displayed that the absence of a common concept of openness could be
directly correlated to the lack of both internal and external interoperability in the business
layer of electrical vehicles. Thus, creating barriers for the knowledge sharing that is required
for the innovation efforts to be effective. The electro-mobility business ecosystem actors’
positive attitude and realization of the need for open innovation, such as open standards,
indicate that there is a common perception that the complexity of the emerging information
and communications technologies within the electrical vehicle adaptation, invokes new forms
of open innovation management. However, the actors were hesitant to be the ones to make
the first move. With the high stakes of losing out on value creation through poor intellectual
asset management, the participant hinted at the need for a higher governance structure to take
on a more operational functionality than the current governing organs of the innovation
ecosystem. Hence, generating a clearer landscape with set rules, designated recipients, and
responsible roles. This may very well be the primary action needed for mending the gaps and
the creation of a stable environment for future open innovation collaborations to grow within.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
EMBE , EV , Interoperability , Openness , Open Standards , Open Standard requirements