Follow-up and evaluation of innovation pilots for road maintenance

The purpose of the project is to follow-up and evaluate the experiences and the effects of the innovation pilots’ business strategies, organizations and work procedures for prerequisites of development and innovation on the supplier market.

Project background

The Swedish Transport Administration has for many years pushed the supplier market within road maintenance towards increased efficiency which has led to the supplier market reaching a state where further increase of efficiency demands innovation and development. The Swedish Transport Administration needs to develop its business strategies and work procedures to support supplier led development and innovation. Among other things the Swedish Transport Administration needs to renew its business strategies to utilize, for example, the digitalization’s and automation’s possibilities for a renewal of the operation and maintenance and also for reaching the goals of a lower LCC and a better sustainability. The Swedish Transport Administration needs to improve its ability to innovate as a client for an increase of innovation and productivity.

For the procurement round of 2018 the Swedish Transport Administration created two “innovation pilots” within road maintenance, with the long-term goal of developing successful business strategies and work procedures that will create the best possibilities and driving forces for development and innovation on the supplier market. It is important that these contracts are followed up and evaluated to create the knowledge base that is needed for continued development of the business strategies for road maintenance.

Research methods

The general strategy of the project is on-going evaluation of the contracts, the two innovations pilots and also two traditional contracts. The on-going evaluation and its continual data collection is based on qualitative case studies and the collection of data is done partly through participatory observations and partly through interviews with both the client and suppliers in all four contracts.

Facts: The research project is performed during 2018-2021 and is financed by the Swedish Transport Administration and ProcSIBE (www.procsibe.se). Participating researchers: Emilia Nilsson Vestola, Per Erik Eriksson and Johan Larsson from Luleå University of Technology and Tina Karrbom Gustavsson from KTH.

Link to ProcSIBE External link.

Emilia Nilsson Vestola, Johan Larsson och Per-Erik Eriksson