A data-to-value framework for freight ITS: Insights from a living lab

Abstract

The emergence of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for freight transport in recent times has created interest among practitioners and researchers to extend freight ITS to support broader logistics processes, including dynamic tour scheduling, loading and unloading, warehousing, and even production. However, connecting transport data, ITS and logistics information systems require collaboration between different organizations and new business models to create business value for logistics actors. It is critical for these stakeholders to consider how their business models connect to create meaningful new data-to-information value chains. This study develops a conceptual framework to identify opportunities for logistics value creation with freight transport data. Building on the literature we construct a framework that reconciles multi-firm and firm-level business modelling. The main component is a generalized framework for Data-to-Value (DtV) chains for applications in information and communications technology. In order to support its business validity, we extend this framework with Business Model Canvases (BMCs) of the actors in the value chain. Three real-life use cases from a freight ITS community in the Netherlands are used to evaluate and illustrate the framework.