Service design and stakeholder inclusion in sustainable technology transfer projects

Abstract

Objectives of the study The objective of this thesis is to examine service design methodology as a possible facilitator in stakeholder inclusion on projects that bring sustainable technology solutions to low-income countries. These projects are crucial to ensure sustainable development, but need to be done with the understanding of local context to ensure successful implementation and long-term viability. Service design is an emerging human-centered methodology that can be used for the inclusion of local stakeholders when designing these projects. The goal of this research is to find success factors for stakeholder inclusion from the use of service design tools in the context of sustainable technology transfer projects in developing countries, and develop practical suggestions on implementation. The thesis is a part of research done for Nusa Sentara, a sustainable project developer piloting small scale waste-to-energy powerplants in Indonesia.

Theory and methodology The literature review of the thesis explores the topics of sustainable development and technology transfer, and introduces the important concepts and tools of service design and the earlier research done in this field. The existing research identifies benefits and approaches of collaborative service design for stakeholder inclusion mostly in the context of developed countries. The theoretical framework in this study focuses on exploring the benefits of the different approaches in developing country context. Indications that support the derived hypotheses are explored by using qualitative methods, as projects from low-income countries are selected and analyzed by conducting semi-structured expert interviews to extract in-depth qualitative insights. The findings are applied to the Nusa Sentara case, and multilevel design model is used to identify possible touchpoints for service design and stakeholder inclusion in their pilot projects.

Findings and conclusion The findings of the study indicate that service design methods have similar benefits in the sustainable technology transfer context, and that leading and facilitating service design approaches are useful in diffusing technical knowledge in communities, as well as generating tacit knowledge from stakeholders for understanding the local context.