eThesis - Kauppakorkeakoulun sähköiset gradut

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the managerial aspects within the FI-WARE project, which is a part of the bigger Future Internet Public-Private Partnerships program initiated by the European Union in the 7th Framework Program. The managerial aspects were divided into communication mechanisms, analysis of the overall program characteristics, and developing an understandable framework for the program.

FI-WARE is a program that is intended to revolutionize the European ICT environment. It is characterized by its large amount of partners who provide the project with latest ICT technologies. The purpose is to be a technology transition that will ensure the competitive advantage of European SME's as they will be able to build products and services from a shared resource pool.

The study was conducted as a single case study within the pan-European project that will offer a new technology platform for European SME's. Seven semi-structured interviews were carried out with managers and reviewers of the project. Qualitative data analysis was performed to process and summarize the results and findings.

Findings of the study suggested that there is a severe lack of unified and coordinated communication within the project. This may harm the outcome in the future. Also, there was no single framework that was shared among the participants causing more irregularities in the interpretation of the project. Although there is already much written material on FI-WARE, the initial release of the actual platform has only recently been published and still it lacks a clear definition of business models. A high-level framework of the FI-WARE project relations was created to illustrate the relations of all the participants.

FI-WARE is heavily dependent on the willingness of the partners to continuously provide the project with their time and technologies. FI-WARE core management team will have to contribute much time and effort to ensure the future dedication and it is important that more SME's are taken in to give their opinions on how the project should be modified in order to comply with their needs.