Center for Research-based Innovation: BI Norwegian Business School is one of the academic partners in the Information Access Disruptions (IAD) project – one of a total of 14 projects approved as centers for research-based innovation by the Norwegian Science Foundation. NSM’s part of the project, is about ca. 2 mill. NOK annually, with a project start of January 1, 2007 and a planning horizon of 5-8 years.
The aim of the project is to do advanced research and development around new technologies for information access. FAST is one of the world’s leading companies in search technology, but less well known than Google.
Search technology and it use is developing rapidly. Increased use of search technology and new ways to classify and access information is expected to have large consequences for many industries. iAd aims to make sure that much of that development happens within Norway or in companies with Norwegian connections.
Disruptive innovation
BI Norwegian Business School have the responsibility to develop an understanding of and methods to exploit the disruptive potential of the iAD technology – both in the form of market understanding, pricing and collaboration with other technology- and content producers. This is one of five main areas of the project. NSM will collaborate closely with FAST, Schibsted and Accenture and the technical research environments.
- The main theme for NSM’s research will be to study business models enabled by the new technology. NSM will help develop frameworks and models to understand how who this will change industries which today make their living from providing guidance through masses of information, and to understand how the technology should be changed to make inroads in markets characterized by strong externalities and complementarities, says Associate Professor Espen Andersen, who is the project leader for the NSM research team. The other main participants are Professors Torger Reve og Ingunn Myrtveit.
The project creates tight links between important technology and business communities in Norway. FAST is a splendid example of a new type of software companies surfacing in Norway: Companies that develop world-class technology and are global in their marketing and recruitment from their first day, and who has large ambitions both for their future and their stock price.
- The project is important to the BI Norwegian Business School because it is technology-based and future-oriented – business research is there while the technology is formed, underscores Andersen.
The NSM researchers sees this project as a unique possibility to build a knowledge base and a research community around technology-based competition.
(Translated from Norwegian press release August 22, 2006)
