Digitalization
Penetration of the economy and society with digital technologies
What is digitalization?
Digitalization describes the increasing penetration of digital technologies (e.g. social media, mobile computing, big data analytics, cloud computing, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchain) in business and society and its corresponding changes between organizations and individuals. The resulting pressure for innovation and technology means that digital change is capturing a large part of society, the private sector, administration and especially the business world at an unprecedented speed and disruptive force.
What are the benefits of digitalization for companies?
Digitalization is forcing companies to radically adapt their strategies, business models, processes, structure and culture in order to ensure sustainable value creation in the long term. Therefore, digitalization offers considerable opportunities for companies, but it also creates risks (e.g. through changes in established business models or investments in immature IT innovations). In particular, there is a massive pressure for companies to act, as new technologies and software-based innovations enter the market in shorter intervals and do not always establish themselves there. Companies that are too passive or too hesitant are in danger of losing out in the increasingly dynamic global competition. At the same time, economically unsound decisions on how to deal with new technologies entail the risk of considerable bad investments. For established companies, the main question is how to combine existing resources with new technologies to create viable business models.
Qualitative solutions for individual questions
The challenges for companies are therefore to make their business models future-proof (digital business), to make the best possible use of the potential of new technologies to enable innovative business models (digital disruption) and to continually adapt corporate structures to changed innovative business models (digital transformation).
We at the FIM Research Center and the Fraunhofer FIT Project Group Business & Information Systems Engineering offer companies scientifically, innovative insights and R&D services they need in order to create differentiating features in increasingly competitive ecosystems, considering the specific characteristics of each company and its competitive environment. Our services align to the individual customer needs of the companies in order to enable long-term sustainable improvements for companies. Due to the integration into the Fraunhofer Organization, the project group is able to take a holistic and integrated view on technology potentials, which guarantees a high usability of the developed solutions and results in the areas of Digital Business, Digital Transformation and Digital Disruption.
Curious?
Our activities
The Research Center FIM deals with relevant real-world problems both in publicly funded research projects and in applied research projects with partners in industry. Together with our partners, we develop unique and novel solutions based on our insights into the current state of research, our practical experience and the interdisciplinary and enthusiastic nature of our team. Selected projects are:
- Carl Zeiss:
Digital Progress Assessment – Creation of a control matrix for digital projects at company level and definition of a digital trend indicator for internal and external communication - Versicherungskammer Bayern:
Development of architecture lines for mobile apps and definition of deployment processes - Medi:
Development of a company-wide digital strategy and definition of a project roadmap for the operative implementation - Deutsche Bahn:
Development of a concept for IT support and process improvement in the context of digitalisation at DB Fernverkehr - Raps:
Identification & development of digital services for customers in the butchery trade - Deutsche Bank:
Development of data-based services including Go-To-Market strategies - Infineon:
Development of a driver-based forecasting tool for data-driven forecasting of the entire profit and loss statement and for enabling dynamic ad-hoc forecasts with comprehensive scenario functionality
The following studies, whitepapers and books were developed on the basis of research work and in cooperation with partners in industry:
The Advance of the Machines : Vision und Implikationen einer Machine Economy | Urbach, NilsAlbrecht, TobiasGuggenberger, TobiasJöhnk, JanArnold, LaurinGebert, JuliaJelito, DennisLämmermann, LuisSchweizer, André | |
Approaching Digital Transformation : Development of a Multi-Dimensional Maturity Modelin: Proceedings of the 28th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), s.l., 2020 | Berger, StephanBitzer, MichaelHäckel, BjörnVoit, Christian | |
Investigating the Co-Creation of IT Consulting Service Value : Empirical Findings of a Matched Pair Analysisin: Electronic Markets, 2020 | Oesterle, SeverinBuchwald, ArneUrbach, Nils | |
Marketing im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung : Chancen und Herausforderungen durch digitale InnovationenSpringer Gabler, Wiesbaden, 2020 | Urbach, Nils | |
Assessing IT Availability Risks in Smart Factory Networksin: Business Research, 2019 | Häckel, BjörnHänsch, FlorianHertel, MichaelÜbelhör, Jochen | |
Capturing Smart Service Systems : Development of a Domain-specific Modeling Languagein: Information Systems Journal, 2019 | Huber, RoccoPüschel, LouisRöglinger, Maximilian | |
The Impact of Digitalization on the IT Departmentin: Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2019 | Urbach, NilsAhlemann, FrederikBöhmann, TiloDrews, PaulBrenner, WalterSchaudel, FlorianSchütte, Reinhard | |
Structuring Digital Transformation : A Framework of Action Fields and its Application at ZEISSin: Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 2018 | Gimpel, HennerHosseini, SabiöllaHuber, RoccoProbst, LauraRöglinger, MaximilianFaisst, Ulrich | |
Conceptualizing Business-to-Thing Interactions : A Sociomaterial Perspective on the Internet of Thingsin: European Journal of Information Systems, 2018 | Oberländer, Anna MariaRöglinger, MaximilianRosemann, MichaelKees, Alexandra | |
How to Exploit the Digitalization Potential of Business Processesin: Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2018 | Denner, Marie-SophiePüschel, LouisRöglinger, Maximilian | |
How to Implement Agile IT Setups : A Taxonomy of Design Optionspresented at: 25th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Guimarães, Portugal, 2017 | Jöhnk, JanRöglinger, MaximilianThimmel, MarkusUrbach, Nils | |
Zehn Handlungsfelder für die digitale Transformation der ITin: Computerwoche, 2017 | Ahlemann, FrederikUrbach, Nils | |
Digital Business Transformation and the Changing Role of the IT Functionin: MIS Quarterly Executive, 2017 | Urbach, NilsDrews, PaulRoss, Jeanne | |
Performance Measurement im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung : Eine Balanced Scorecard für die Industrie 4.0in: Winkler, Herwig: Flexibilisierung der Fabrik im Kontext von Industrie 4.0, Logos Verlag, Berlin, 2017 | von Entreß-Fürsteneck, MatthiasKarl, JohannesUrbach, Nils |
