
Niklas Bäcklund and Björn Tomas Minde. Bild privat
7 June 2024
Double award-winning paper on AI in industrial economics
Recent graduates in Industrial Engineering and Management, Niklas Bäcklund and Björn Tomas Minde, have been awarded prizes from the Bo Rydins stiftelse (Bo Rydin Foundation and the Umeå Sustainability Prize, respectively, for their master's thesis in innovation and strategic business development. The work examined how AI can be used to strengthen the circular economy.
The paper is entitled “Unlocking the Potential of AI-driven Circular Business Model Innovation: A case study of an industrial symbiosis”. The study resulted in a comprehensive framework for AI-driven circular business model innovation that can be applicable to many companies and industries that want to contribute to a sustainable transition.
“Despite the enormous potential, many industrial companies fail with AI because it requires so much more than just a working AI model. You need to rethink processes, collaborations, mindset, data sharing and much more, which means that companies need to change their business models to fully realise the sustainability potential of AI”, says Niklas Bäcklund.
In the paper, the authors investigate SSAB's industrial symbiosis where residual gases from steel production are used for electricity and district heating production in Luleå. They conducted 32 interviews with experts and with representatives from five companies involved in an AI innovation initiative.
Both students stated that they have always had a strong interest in technology and that Luleå University of Technology further reinforced this by hosting some of the top researchers in AI and in industrial digitalisation, business models and innovation respectively. In addition, both teachers and, in particular, the tutors, David Sjödin and Milad Kolagar, contributed to raising curiosity about sustainability and the potential of AI for circular business models.
The Umeå Sustainability Prize for essays in business administration includes a scholarship of SEK 25,000 and is awarded in collaboration betweenResearch Institute for Organization and Business in Sustainable Transitions (ROBUST) at Umeå School of Business and Umeå Energi.
The authors are awarded SEK 20,000 each from the Bo Rydin Foundation. Each year, the Bo Rydin Foundation rewards a number of degree projects carried out in areas prioritized by Essity and SCA..
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