Olimpija Zaevska successfully defended her PhD thesis

Congratulations to Olimpija Zaevska who on June 21st, 2024 successfully defended her PhD thesis 'INDUSTRY 4.0 ECOSYSTEMS: STRUCTURE, VALUE CREATION AND IMPACT ON REGIONAL INNOVATION'.

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution shifts the technological focus of firms towards greater automation and cyber-physical integration, firms increasingly participate in multiple initiatives fostered by governments, universities, or private entities to access new technological knowledge and resources. This thesis conceptualizes such initiatives as Industry 4.0 ecosystems (I4Eses), empirically examining which structural features of the I4ESes create high ecosystem value and how I4ESes affect regional innovation across European regions. The findings suggest that I4ESes cannot be designed as a one-size-fit-all approach but depending on what kind of innovation they exactly try to support in firms, as well as depending on the existing regional context: are they trying to foster patenting, innovative products launch, adoption of technology, or simply share knowledge. Beyond academia, this thesis hopefully triggers the interest of policymakers who design innovation and technology adoption measures to support firms in navigating the Industry 4.0 technological era more easily.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk. 

Thank you for the work and support of supervisors and assessment committee members:

Primary Supervisor:
Associate Professor Bersant Hobdari
Department of International Economics, Government and Business
Copenhagen Business School 

Secondary Supervisors: 
Professor Carmelo Cennamo
Department of Strategy and Innovation
Copenhagen Business School 

Professor Lucia Piscitello
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale (DIG), School of Management, Politecnico di Milano

Assessment Committee: 
Professor with special responsibilities Björn Jindra (Chair)
Department of International Economics, Government and Business
Copenhagen Business School

Associate Professor Stefano Bianchini
BETA UMR
Université de Strasbourg

Professor Lisa de Propris
Business School
University of Birmingham