Stuck in Pilot Purgatory: Understanding and Addressing the Current Challenges of Industrial IoT in Manufacturing

The Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) is one of the most hyped concepts embedded in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. IIoT can provide a multitude of benefits to firms, such as enhanced productivity and better insight into company operations. Despite these benefits, manufacturing companies are considerably struggling to realize the potential of IIoT. Several consulting companies, such as McKinsey and Deloitte, coined the term “pilot purgatory” to define the state of being in which most IIoT projects get stuck. Based on a series of interviews with 12 experts in the field, this study identifies and addresses IIoT-specific challenges in manufacturing. Our study provides two main contributions. First, our analysis provides a broad, practice-based overview of IIoT challenges by considering both the technological, organizational and environmental contexts of manufacturing firms, following the TOE framework as a theoretical lens to structure the results. Second, we derive specific management guidelines for each of the identified challenges

A structured framework to assess the business application landscape of blockchain technologies.

Blockchain is emerging as a game changing technology in many industries. Although it is increasingly capturing the business community’s attention, a comprehensive overview of commercially available applications is lacking to date. This paper aims to fill this gap. Firstly, we propose a structured approach to assess the application landscape of blockchain technologies. To build our framework, we relied on largely accepted classifications of blockchains, based on protocols, consensus mechanisms and ownership, as well as on the most cited application areas emerging from the literature. Secondly, we applied the framework on a database of 460 released blockchains. The analysis confirms a dominance of applications for cryptocurrencies, financial transactions and certification purposes, with a prevalence of permissionless platforms. We also found new application fields that go far beyond the seven initial areas addressed by the current body of knowledge, leading to some interesting takeaways for both practitioners and IS researchers

Towards a Comprehensive Blockchain Architecture Continuum.

The increasingly need for companies to keep a high level of synchronization globally and the advent of new technologies are pushing more and more to move decision-making and operational power from the centre of organizations to their edges. The blockchain could be the key technology to make this change possible. However, there is no bridge yet capable of shortening the still long distance between this new technological phenomenon and today\u27s business realities. Our work aims precisely at this goal; we propose a framework of blockchain models to help practitioners understanding and potentially implement new solutions based on this technological paradigm. In particular, we have developed an ontology that helps to identify and clarify in detail what are the concepts and structures revolving around this technology, and built a continuum of blockchain architectural solutions, ranging from a classic centralized IT architecture to one completely distributed within a public ecosystem

Beyond a Blockchain Paradox: How Intermediaries Can Leverage a Disintermediation Technology

New digital technologies are changing the way organizations create and capture value. In particular, blockchain is bringing up opportunities for organizations in terms of transparency and security, and at the same time threatening the position of intermediaries such as banks and notaries. Therefore, intermediaries need to design new business models to generate value from blockchain. Little academic re-search has been conducted to identify the business models that intermediaries could exploit to leverage a disintermediation technology such as blockchain. Employing a qualitative research based on focus group and interviews, this study highlights how a specific intermediary, the Italian notaries, tried to design appropriate business models to derive value from blockchain ecosystems. Specifically, drawing on the key concepts of value configuration, value creation and business model dimensions, this paper identifies three different business models that Italian notaries can implement to create and capture value from permissionless blockchain ecosystems

Understanding the Role of Leadership Competencies in Cyber Crisis Management: A Case Study

The amount and severity of cyber-attacks has been constantly increasing in recent years, and the number of cyber-related organizational crises grew accordingly. Despite the relevance of the topic, the literature on the subject is still limited, especially from a non-technical point of view. In the context of leadership, traditional crisis management literature identified specific competencies that organizations can leverage to mitigate the effects of a crisis, but there is a research gap as to whether or not these capabilities make sense in a cyber crisis context. This study aims to bridge this gap by analyzing the case of Norsk Hydro – a Norwegian company that in 2019 fell victim of a disruptive ransomware attack – through the lenses of a traditional crisis leadership model

A tool for the boardroom: the Devo Lab Hit Radar

The increasingly important role played by digital technologies in challenging and overcoming consolidated conceptions of business models makes urgent for CIOs to grasp their value to remain competitive. However, being a savvy adopter is hard, as hasty decisions may easily lead to disappointing results and a waste of money. In order to try to solve this issue, the DEVO Lab developed the HIT Radar, a tool to evaluate the impact, ecosystem, and dynamics of digital technological objects for mid- to large-sized enterprises. In the following chapter, we describe the HIT Radar with particular reference to: Differences and similarities compared to other technology assessment tools Its methodology and the related construction process Its main benefits and limitation

5G: infrastruttura in cerca di autore

L’impatto atteso del 5G sull’economia globale è stimato in 12 trilioni di dollari entro il 2035, aprendo a una serie di scenari applicativi i cui benefici saranno sia di natura sociale che economica. Il 5G dovrebbe diventare l’infrastruttura portante per una serie di campi di applicazione che vanno dall’ampliamento del potenziale della banda larga (non solo streaming video in 4K, ma anche e soprattutto l’accesso alle prime applicazioni mainstream basate su realtà virtuale e realtà aumentata) allo scambio di dati ininterrotto e affidabile (il che favorirebbe la telemedicina e i sistemi di guida autonoma), passando per l’interazione macchina-macchina (il cosiddetto massive IoT ). Risulta tuttavia indispensabile condurre test in ambienti protetti per comprendere i benefici e i limiti del 5G e coinvolgere i provider e gli operatori telco di riferimento, in modo da lavorare in sinergia rispetto alle loro strategie di sviluppo della nuova rete

La sfida nascosta della trasformazione digitale

La trasformazione digitale degli ultimi dieci anni ha messo le aziende davanti a sfide molto impegnative. La consumerizzazione delle tecnologie dell’informazione in ambito lavorativo ha comportato un passaggio dalle tradizionali interfacce utenti legacy a interfacce user-friendly già in uso nei prodotti di consumo. La proliferazione della telefonia mobile e dell’IoT ha allargato i confini delle aziende ben al di là della portata del controllo fisico. La sensorizzazione delle linee di produzione, così come dei prodotti, ha reso meno distinguibili i confini intra-organizzativi tra IT, sviluppo del prodotto e produzione. La quantità di dati che un’azienda crea o che comunque ha a disposizione, e la velocità con cui questi viaggiano in tutte le direzioni, superano ogni immaginazione. La trasparenza creata dai dati, combinata con gig e smart working, sta cambiando radicalmente il tessuto, la cultura e i processi decisionali dell’impresa