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

Projects

Studies

Publications

Projects

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

Studies

The following studies, whitepapers and books were developed on the basis of research work and in cooperation with partners in industry:

“Successful integration of smart devices in production processes”

“Digital Transformation Changes and Chances”

„What’s Beyond Digital: Defining the Corporate Agenda 2025“ – in cooperation with Fujitsu

„Blockchain: Basics, Applications and Potentials“

„eHealth: Innovation potentials in health care or the way to the ‘transparent’ human being?“

„Data privacy: Necessary bureaucracy or competitive advantage in dealing with digital customer data“

„Digital Stress in Germany“ – with support of the Hans-Böckler-Foundation

„IT management in the age of digitalization“ – Book by Prof. Dr. Nils Urbach and Prof. Dr. Frederik Ahlemann

„Digitalization Cases“ – Book by Prof. Dr. Nils Urbach and Prof. Dr. Frederik Ahlemann

„Digital Finance: Results of an empirical study on digitization in the financial sector“ – in cooperation with KPMG

„Study: Designing IT Setups in the Digital Age“ – in cooperation with A.T. Kearney

„Smart Data Transformation“ – in cooperation with Infosys Consulting