Research

Digital businesses and digitalisation are about the commercialisation of new and emerging technologies. Our futures-oriented research delves into the converging and ever-changing world of different technological contexts—such as mobile communications, cloud computing, platforms, blockchain, and artificial intelligence—to examine new business models and strategies and the emergence and transformation of business ecosystems and markets.

Our aim is to understand and explain from complementing theoretical perspectives how technology and businesses co-emerge, and how the increasing regulation and demands for sustainability influence digital businesses. The results of our research provide new insights into technological innovation processes and benefiting from innovation via the commercialisation of new technologies. We also aim at impacting and advising policymaking and regulation in the context of new and emerging technologies.

Our research theme Responsible Leadership and Social Sustainability in Business emphasizes the importance of leadership relationships as the cornerstone of business responsibility. We explore the roles of various stakeholders within these relationships. Our sustainability focus encompasses environmental, financial, and social dimensions, examining their interconnections.

We investigate the phenomenon of business responsibility on both local and global scales. We conduct multidisciplinary research through real-life cases in business, public sector, and NGOs and provide knowledge on contemporary themes of responsibility and sustainability. We aim to enhance equitability in society and have an impact on social sustainability through our research.

Digital Health and Entrepreneurship research theme explores the intersection of technology, healthcare, and business model innovation. We investigate the development, implementation, and scaling of digital health innovations, as well as the challenges associated with regulatory compliance, data security, and patient engagement. We focus on how digitalisation and digital tools—such as mobile health apps, telemedicine platforms, wearable devices, and AI-driven diagnostics—are transforming the healthcare landscape. The entrepreneurial aspect centers on how startups and established firms can create viable business models to commercialise these technologies while addressing critical healthcare needs such as access, affordability, and personalized care.

The research theme also examines the role of entrepreneurs and innovators in navigating the complex healthcare ecosystem, including partnerships with healthcare providers, investors, and government entities. Additionally, digital health entrepreneurship research looks into how technology-driven ventures can contribute to global health objectives, such as improving health outcomes, reducing healthcare disparities, and driving economic development through innovation. With the growing demand for healthcare modernisation, this research theme becomes increasingly vital for shaping the future of both healthcare and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Our research takes a holistic approach to business analytics, covering data acquisition and management and deployment of information for business development and execution, optimisation and decision-making.

By bridging the gap between data science, information systems and business strategy, business analytics as an academic research field aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational decision-making processes. Business analytics provides tools and knowledge needed to harness the power of data for strategic advantage. With a broad, forward-looking approach to business analytics and data-driven decision making our aim is to increase understanding of the possibilities of different types of data. The role of business analytics research is to enhance strategic decision making and create sustainable benefits to all societal stakeholders.

Green transition and digitalisation go hand in hand in today’s businesses that need to deal with increasing demands for sustainability. Digitalisation can support green transition and decrease footprint and increase handprint, but digital technologies themselves are required to become more sustainable, or regenerative, too. Our research examines how green transition and sustainability demands impact and shape businesses and business ecosystems, for example in the contexts of electrification of heavy-duty logistics and mobile communications, with the aim to find ways to conceptualize, measure and influence sustainability actions and outcomes at organisational and ecosystem levels of analysis.

The outcomes of the research can help firms build more sustainable and resilient business, not only environmentally, but also socially and eventually economically. Our research’s impact can also help support the improvement of regulations and development of policies to improve sustainability and speed up green transition.

Our research focuses on integrating the business model approach to the development of smart cities, exploring how these models serve as strategic tools to drive sustainable urban development. In smart city context a business model approach provides a framework for planning, deploying, and managing technological and infrastructural advancements that cater to the needs of urban populations and the strategic management of cities.

By examining various business models tailored for smart city ecosystems and platforms, smart city research highlights how the business model approach can contribute to a holistic view of sustainable cities. Twin transition, that integrates digitalisation and green thinking highlights the importance of cooperation, improving citizen engagement, and fostering economic growth, all while balancing the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of urban development.