Division Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS
Division Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS

Department of Innovation and Transformation

The department »Innovation and Transformation« develops management-oriented models and tools as well as data-based methods for designing data-driven and sustainable organizations.

The goal is to guide organizations through the challenges of digital and sustainable transformation by harnessing the potentials of data economy and new IoT and AI-driven solutions. The department focuses its research on four thematic areas: Smart Circular Economy, Human AI, Market Intelligence & Technology Foresight, and Retail Innovation. In this context, the employees explore how to identify corresponding market and technology potentials, derive strategic recommendations and solution concepts, and transfer them into new business models and service systems that are user- and value-oriented. They also examine the organizational changes necessary for successful digital and sustainable transformation.

The members of the »Innovation and Transformation« team see themselves as science-guided trend scouts, idea generators, designers, and facilitators for the path of digital and sustainable transformation. The instruments used are data-based and involve users, customers, employees, and organizational ecosystems. The domain and industry focus is on manufacturing companies, the energy industry, retail, and the healthcare industry.

Applied research on future trends, organization, and people in digitalization

With our methods and infrastructure, we bring three perspectives into companies in the context of digital and sustainable transformation:

  • We analyse AI-supported market and technology trends as well as customer attitudes,
  • We provide implications and recommendations for smart circular innovations and solutions in organisations; this includes corporate strategies as well as entrepreneurial ecosystems, business models, organisational structures and processes, products, and services;
  • And we deliver qualitative and quantitative insights and recommendations related to the human factor; that is, we evaluate the acceptance of data-driven solutions at the interface with humans and show how humans can be involved in development, implementation, and change processes.

Three groups: The competences of the department

Through publicly and privately funded projects and studies, the teams of the department illuminate the digital and sustainable transformation from the perspectives of future trends, organization, and human in digitalization. The department is organized accordingly into the following three groups:

Future Engineering

We analyze market and technology trends as well as customer attitudes using AI: Read more about our expertise in market, trend, and scenario research.

Group Future Engineering

Business Transformation

We present implications and recommendations for smart circular innovations and solutions in organizations: Read more about our expertise in data-driven, sustainable business model, organizational, and ecosystem development.

Group Business Transformation

Human Centered Innovation

We provide qualitative and quantitative insights and recommendations related to the human factor. Read more about our expertise in the context of acceptance of data-driven solutions and the involvement of humans in development, implementation, and change processes.

Group Human Centered Innovation