New Innovation Capabilities for External Recombination (NICER)

Important results from the project

The results are an important starting point for identifying the implications of the digital transformation and its consequences for system building industry. The project has generated important insights into the strong connection between technologies, the products and the organization. To enable generativity and open innovation in complex systems, where errors may cause serious consequences for individuals, organizations or society, these need to be considered in an integrated way.

Expected long term effects

The project intended to shed light on recombination as an important part of the development of complex systems. The results show that recombination implies challenging tensions within management. The creation of a platform and its corresponding organization for complex systems may lead to technology and ecosystems that enable an expanding recombination beyond initial intentions. This results in the need for a new role for management, for engineers as well as new types of architectures.

Approach and implementation

The project was executed together with actors in Swedish system building industry. The possibilities for recombination as an important part of the development of complex systems have been investigated through studies of tensions and contradictions between various aspects of these systems and connections to organization and innovation management. The results have been thoroughly validated with national and international researchers and system building industry.