Can the Power of Platforms be Harnessed for Governance?

The platform concept examines how strategic leadership and institutional and technological resources enable multiple distributed activities to innovate, adapt, and change. The central question addressed in this paper is: Can this potentially powerful organizing logic be harnessed for public purposes? Since governance platforms are still largely experimental, we cannot fully settle this question at present. However, we can begin to address the issue to help scholars and practitioners explore the potential of platforms. We start with a general statement about what governance platforms might offer to the public sector, before probing the concept more deeply. We then investigate the institutional mechanisms that purportedly make platforms powerful and propose a typology of governance platforms. Finally, we investigate the challenges and successes they have encountered

German and Israeli Innovation: The Best of Two Worlds

This study reviews – through desk research and expert interviews with Mittelstand companies, startups and ecosystem experts – the current status of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the Mittelstand region of North Rhine- Westphalia (NRW), Germany. As a case study, it highlights potential opportunities for collaboration and analyzes different engagement modes that might serve to connect the two regions. The potential synergies between the two economies are based on a high degree of complementarity. A comparison of NRW’s key verticals and Israel’s primary areas of innovation indicates that there is significant overlap in verticals, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), sensors and cybersecurity. Israeli startups can offer speed, agility and new ideas, while German Mittelstand companies can contribute expertise in production and scaling, access to markets, capital and support. The differences between Mittelstand companies and startups are less pronounced than those between startups and big corporations. However, three current barriers to fruitful collaboration have been identified: 1) a lack of access, 2) a lack of transparency regarding relevant players in the market, and 3) a lack of the internal resources needed to select the right partners, often due to time constraints or a lack of internal expertise on this issue. To ensure that positive business opportunities ensue, Mittelstand companies and startups alike have to be proactive in their search for cooperation partners and draw on a range of existing engagement modes (e.g., events, communities, accelerators). The interviews and the research conducted for this study made clear that no single mode of engagement can address all the needs and challenges associated with German-Israeli collaboration

Ideas Matchmaking for Supporting Innovators and Entrepreneurs

Käesolevas töös esitletakse süsteemi, mis on võimeline sirvima veebist ettevõtluse ja tehnoloogiaga seotud andmeid, mida saab siduda kasutajate poolt Innovvoice platvormil välja pakutud ideedega. Selline teenus on ideabator platvormi väärtuslik osa, mis toetab ettevõtluse uuendajaid ja potentsiaalseid ettevõtjaid.In this paper we show a system able to crawl content from the Web related to entrepreneurship and technology, to be matched with ideas proposed by users in the Innovvoice platform. We argue that such a service is a valuable component of an ideabator platform, supporting innovators and possible entrepreneurs

Korkean osaamisen freelance-alustat: luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien vaikutus huippuosaavien ohjelmistoalan freelancereiden houkuttelemisessa

Freelance economy is growing and platforms intermediating freelance workforce are increasingly utilized in organizations. The market is booming especially in high-skilled services, such as in software development and design, which enable talented freelance software professionals to charge higher prices than they would earn in traditional employment. Therefore, increasing number of highly skilled individuals work as freelancers either independently or through different platforms. Moreover, freelancing provides e.g. better work/life balance, flexibility and autonomy. Freelance platforms are approached due to their ability to provide enhanced matchmaking and build trust between freelancers and companies which is in general, difficult for individual freelancers to do on their own. However, current research has mainly focused on low-skilled freelancing and large online labor platforms that intermediate relatively cheap remotely performed high-skilled freelance work. Additionally, the crucial role of trust building on freelance platforms is lacking comprehensive academic research. This thesis approaches the identified research gap by focusing on providing better understanding of current trends in high-skilled freelance markets and the strategical significance of trust building mechanisms and factors on high-skilled freelance platforms focusing on the top talent. The literature review of this study explores recent research and business literature about freelance economy, high- skilled freelance platforms and trust building on them, whereas the empirical part aims to provide comprehensive overview of trust building mechanisms on high-skilled freelance platforms and factors that drive companies and top freelance software professionals to use platforms. This qualitative case study is conducted by interviewing 6 case companies and 9 high-skilled freelance software professionals. The empirical data is analyzed following the thematic analysis method introduced by Braun and Clarke (2006). The findings of this thesis indicate that platforms implementing the characteristics of tech talent agencies are most likely to attract top freelance software professionals to join the platform. Additionally, this thesis provides a precise categorization of high-skilled freelance platforms and identifies the key trust building mechanisms and factors as well as their interrelations on high-skilled freelance platforms. Finally, a process framework for trust building on high-skilled freelance platforms is presented. The framework provides a new approach for viewing trust building and understanding the interrelations between each trust building mechanisms and factors.Freelance-talous on kasvamassa ja organisaatiot hyödyntävät yhä useammin alustoja, jotka välittävät freelance-työvoimaa. Markkinat kukoistavat erityisesti korkeaa ammattitaitoa vaativissa palveluissa, kuten ohjelmistokehityksessä ja designissa, mikä on mahdollistanut korkeampien hintojen laskuttamisen freelance-työssä kuin perinteisessä työsuhteessa. Sen vuoksi, yhä useammat erittäin ammattitaitoiset yksilöt työskentelevät freelancerina joko itsenäisesti tai erilaisten alustojen kautta. Lisäksi, freelance-työ tarjoaa esimerkiksi paremman työ- ja muun elämän tasapainon, joustavuuden sekä itsenäisyyden. Freelance-alustojen puoleen käännytään, koska ne helpottavat sopivan freelancer/yritys -parin löytämistä ja rakentavat luottamusta freelancereiden ja yritysten välillä. Yleisesti ottaen, luottamuksen rakentaminen yritysten kanssa on yksittäisille freelancereille vaikeaa. Näistä asioista huolimatta, nykyiset tutkimukset ovat pääasiassa keskittyneet matalan osaamisen freelance-työhön sekä online- alustoihin, jotka välittävät suhteellisen halpaa korkean osaamisen freelance-työtä, joka tehdään etänä internetin välityksellä. Lisäksi, luottamuksen rakentamisen kriittistä roolia freelance-alustoissa ei ole tutkittu riittävän kokonaisvaltaisesti. Tämä tutkimus lähestyy tunnistettua tutkimuksellista aukkoa tarjoamalla paremman ymmärryksen nykyisistä trendeistä korkean osaamisen freelance-markkinoilla sekä luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien ja tekijöiden strategisesta merkityksestä korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa, jotka keskittyvät huippuosaajiin. Tutkimuksen kirjallisuuskatsaus tarkastelee viimeaikaisia tutkimuksia ja bisneskirjallisuutta, jotka käsittelevät freelance-taloutta, korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoja sekä luottamuksen rakentamista niissä, kun taas empiirinen osuus pyrkii tarjoamaan kattavan yleiskuvan luottamusta rakentavista mekanismeista korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa sekä tekijöistä, jotka ajavat yritykset ja huippuosaavat ohjelmistoalan freelancerit käyttämään alustoja. Tämä laadullinen tapaustutkimus on suoritettu haastattelemalla kuutta tapausyritystä ja yhdeksää korkeaa osaamista vaativissa tehtävissä olevaa ohjelmistoalan freelanceria. Empiirinen aineisto on analysoitu noudattamalla teema-analyysimenetelmää, jonka Braun ja Clarke (2006) ovat esitelleet. Tutkimuksen löydökset osoittavat, että todennäköisimmin huippu-freelancereita houkuttelevat alustat, jotka omaksuvat tech talent -agentuurien ominaispiirteet. Lisäksi, tämä tutkimus tarjoaa korkean osaamisen freelance-alustojen täsmällisen luokittelun sekä tunnistaa keskeisimmät luottamusta rakentavat mekanismit ja tekijät, kuten myös niiden väliset suhteet korkean osaamisen freelance- alustoissa. Lopuksi tutkimus esittelee viitekehyksen, joka kuvaa luottamuksen rakentamisen prosessia korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa. Viitekehys tarjoaa uuden lähestymistavan luottamuksen rakentamisen tarkasteluun sekä luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien ja tekijöiden keskinäisten suhteiden ymmärtämiseen

Data Analytics on Online Labor Markets: Opportunities and Challenges

The data-driven economy has led to a significant shortage of data scientists. To address this shortage, this study explores the prospects of outsourcing data analysis tasks to freelancers available on online labor markets (OLMs) by identifying the essential factors for this endeavor. Specifically, we explore the skills required from freelancers, collect information about the skills present on major OLMs, and identify the main hurdles for out-/crowd-sourcing data analysis. Adopting a sequential mixed-method approach, we interviewed 20 data scientists and subsequently surveyed 80 respondents from OLMs. Besides confirming the need for expected skills such as technical/mathematical capabilities, it also identifies less known ones such as domain understanding, an eye for aesthetic data visualization, good communication skills, and a natural understanding of the possibilities/limitations of data analysis in general. Finally, it elucidates obstacles for crowdsourcing like the communication overhead, knowledge gaps, quality assurance, and data confidentiality, which need to be mitigated

Data Analytics on Online Labor Markets: Opportunities and Challenges

The data-driven economy has led to a significant shortage of data scientists. To address this shortage, this study explores the prospects of outsourcing data analysis tasks to freelancers available on online labor markets (OLMs) by identifying the essential factors for this endeavor. Specifically, we explore the skills required from freelancers, collect information about the skills present on major OLMs, and identify the main hurdles for out-/crowd-sourcing data analysis. Adopting a sequential mixed-method approach, we interviewed 20 data scientists and subsequently surveyed 80 respondents from OLMs. Besides confirming the need for expected skills such as technical/mathematical capabilities, it also identifies less known ones such as domain understanding, an eye for aesthetic data visualization, good communication skills, and a natural understanding of the possibilities/limitations of data analysis in general. Finally, it elucidates obstacles for crowdsourcing like the communication overhead, knowledge gaps, quality assurance, and data confidentiality, which need to be mitigated

Mapping the evolution of e-commerce research through co-word analysis : 2001–2020

This current study examines how research themes and trends have developed in the e-commerce field, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of e-commerce research based on prior literature. To answer this question, the current study applied a bibliometric method, word co-occurrence (co-word) analysis, to identify core research themes and trends in the e-commerce field, based on 17,416 author-provided keywords collected from 3,284 academic articles published between 2001 and 2020 in seven major journals in e-commerce field. Specifically, the data were analyzed based on two periods: 2001–2010 and 2011–2020. We found that the research themes in the e-commerce field have evolved alongside technology's development and diffusion. Some research themes, such as recommended system and eGovernment, have persisted as important research themes and studied continuously over the 20 years studied. Some research themes studied in 2001–2010, such as B2C and XML, disappeared in 2011–2020, whereas some new research topics, such as cloud computing, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, emerged in recent years. This study provides a good understanding of e-commerce research's evolution, as well as useful suggestions to direct future research by scholars in the e-commerce field.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

A practical idea creation, capture and management framework for innovation

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.Innovation is an activity essential to the success of individuals, organizations and wider society. Idea creation, capture and management account for a significant part of the innovation process, and yet have been widely disregarded by individuals, organizations and society. A small (and growing) number of individuals and organizations have begun to realize this and have moved to implement innovation frameworks in their own contexts. These tools and previous work address innovation from an organizational standpoint. However, it is individuals that initiate, create, cultivate and implement ideas. This thesis proposes a research-based framework that supports innovation which is instigated and driven by individuals. The key objective is to provide methods for structuring and sharing ideas, thus supporting innovators and driving the innovation process. The thesis develops the framework through analysis of existing tools, as well as a qualitative and quantitative analysis of innovator’s practices and mindset. In summary, this thesis presents a new paradigm of mobile open innovation that allows individuals to share and pursue their ideas with greater efficiency and ease. This new perspective in conjunction with the framework improves innovation practice and benefits the productivity of organizations and the world