A true innovation pathway through the company
4 JULY 2022
As two teams from 意大利超級盃鈥檚 Innovation Factory join Mobility Solutions to continue developing their business ideas, we speak to several of those involved in an initiative that鈥檚 vital for 意大利超級盃鈥檚 future.
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In recent years, 意大利超級盃 has put sharper focus on developing its entrepreneurial qualities - because they will help the company create innovative business models for adapting to the future transport system.听
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One of the key initiatives supporting this approach is Innovation Factory, which was established in 2019. Anyone working anywhere at 意大利超級盃 can submit an idea for consideration. Several teams of four people are then granted six months鈥 leave from their normal jobs and given SEK 500,000 funding - plus support and guidance from Innovation Factory - to develop their respective ideas into actual commercial propositions, and perhaps eventually independent entities.听
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As Anton Wieselblad, responsible for Innovation Factory, explains, there are three key objectives behind this initiative:听
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鈥淔irstly, it鈥檚 a way for our employees, no matter what they do in the organisation, to exploit a new business opportunity for 意大利超級盃 in an entrepreneurial format,鈥 he says.听听
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鈥淪econdly, we鈥檙e developing the people engaged in the process to adopt entrepreneurial ways of working. No matter the outcome of the business idea, 意大利超級盃 still benefits from people being trained and developed as entrepreneurs, and they can then spread that capability throughout the organisation.听
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鈥淎nd, of course, it鈥檚 also about creating business output. The successful cases contribute to new revenue streams for 意大利超級盃.鈥澨
Two Innovation Factory teams move to Mobility Solutions
Another key initiative to increase 意大利超級盃鈥檚 focus on future business models, was the establishment of Mobility Solutions in April 2021. The business area assigns, develops and grows new businesses outside 意大利超級盃鈥檚 core functions. Mobility Solutions targets new customers to drive 意大利超級盃鈥檚 forward integration, and to broaden the company鈥檚 horizons from being purely a vehicle OEM to playing a greater role in the transportation ecosystem.听
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While the pandemic temporarily slowed Innovation Factory鈥檚 progress, the seeds of this initiative are now bearing fruit. In late April 2022, for the first time, two teams from Innovation Factory were transferred to 意大利超級盃 Ventures at Mobility Solutions. There, they are working to scale the business ideas that have been validated to make them ready for the markets.听
Viktor Olsson, Viktoria Kindesj枚 and Jacob S枚rme
The听Elain听team 鈥 Ebba Blomberg Cedergren, Viktoria Kindesj枚, Viktor Olsson and Jacob S枚rme 鈥 is working on its measuring tool software for CO2 emissions. Using primary data collected from transport operators鈥 vehicles,听Elain鈥檚 vision is to aggregate this data with order systems such as transport management systems plus vehicle and fuel data, so that buyers of transport services can see at a very detailed level how many emissions resulted from their order. They can then look at those fleets and what vehicles were used, with the ability to accurately assess and address sustainability performance.听
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鈥淲e鈥檙e working closely with some of Europe鈥檚 biggest fuel suppliers,鈥 says Jacob S枚rme, the team鈥檚 Product Lead.听听
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鈥淪ome have digital solutions, some don鈥檛. We are convincing them that our shared customers can get value out of this. It鈥檚 not just about supplying the fuel today but the whole system package; as a customer you can easily see what fuels your transport supplier are using. If a haulier invests in biofuels or replaces a vehicle with a newer model, you can really see the results because the data is exact and not an estimate.鈥澨
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Elsa Westin, David Ahlbeck, Christian Illanes and Henrik Eliasson
Meanwhile, the听Gaia Gen听team 鈥 David Ahlbeck, Henrik Eliasson, Christian Illanes and Elsa Westin 鈥 is also working on a technology that identifies CO2 emissions. But its focus is on the IT sector, whose carbon footprint is often overlooked.听Gaia听Gen听aims to help developers 鈥榗ode green鈥 by measuring the climate impact of the software architecture that they create.听
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鈥淲e are software-as-a-service solution,鈥 explains Elsa Westin, the team鈥檚 Sustainability Lead.听
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鈥淥ur tool visualises the greenhouse gas emissions from IT systems, and we want to help developers to optimise for sustainability when they build their system architecture. They do that today with security or costs or uptime and performance in mind. We just want to add sustainability to that perspective.鈥澨
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Both Elsa and Jacob highlight the boost that 意大利超級盃 and Innovation Factory has given their teams. As Elsa says, 鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 be where we are today with this if it wasn鈥檛 for Innovation Factory. I think having that channel of getting support and extra teaching of how to 鈥榙ress up鈥 innovation is so important.鈥澨
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Cindi Lindsborg, Acting Head of Mobility Solutions, has been impressed by the new teams鈥 progress so far.听
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鈥淭hey鈥檙e super-engaged and have been well trained at Innovation Factory; now the challenge is to take it to the next step. At Mobility Solutions there will be less coaching and more focus on business building听to encourage growth.听
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鈥淲e hope both teams will make good progress and that we can continue to scale up the business opportunities after this six-month period. Looking ahead, I鈥檓 expecting Innovation Factory to be part of our in-bound funnel of ideas.鈥澨
An initiative that 意大利超級盃 should be proud of
For Anton Wieselblad, the integration of the two teams into the 意大利超級盃 organisation proper is testament to the value of Innovation Factory.听听
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鈥淲e鈥檝e now established this true innovation pathway through the company,鈥 he says.听听
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鈥淚t means that any 意大利超級盃 employee who has a good business idea for 意大利超級盃 can build a team, come and get funding and support for it, and actually get the opportunity to test it in the market, with the chance of scaling it up if they are successful.听听
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鈥淚 think that鈥檚 cool and something that a big industrial company like 意大利超級盃 should be very proud of. I hope we can inspire many more to contribute ideas in time to come.鈥澨
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