Timo Ali-Vehmas

Evolution of Wireless Access Provisioning: A Systems Thinking Approach

In this paper we examine the evolution and dynamics of value systems around GSM based mobile communications and Wi-Fi based wireless local area access. Drawing basis from value system modeling and systems thinking research a holistic framework, describing the underlying structures and dynamics of a value system at different stages and levels of service production, is created and used retrospectively to model the evolution of GSM based mobile communications and Wi-Fi based wireless local area access. The analysis based on the framework highlights that an important factor in the widespread diffusion of GSM and Wi-Fi has been the structural fit of the business and technology architectures as well as the alignment and synchronization of the different stages of service production and markets. The analysis also shows how the value systems around GSM and Wi-Fi follow distinctly different dynamics and evolution paths and how they are on a colliding course.

Examining Possible Value System Transitions: The Case of Smart Mobility Services

The application of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to mobility has produced a wide range of smart mobility services. These services have been deployed either as large, vertically integrated solutions driven by governments or as fragmented initiatives by competing companies and consortia. Lack of open approaches has restricted the diffusion of these services. In this paper we explore two possible paths for how the value systems around smart mobility services could transition from a closed model to an open model. We use a framework and two case examples from prior research [1] to study these transitions in either centralized or decentralized path. We aim to address the potential conflicts in the evolution of smart mobility services especially from the European perspective.

Value system evolution towards a Cognitive Radio era: Implications of underlying market dynamics

This paper explores the possibilities of how the value system around wireless networks could be organized in the future and what would be the underlying market dynamics given the introduction of Cognitive Radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies. Using a combination of systems thinking tools and platform theory four value system configurations around the future radio platform are introduced and the corresponding underlying dynamics are characterized. Based on this a feedback model using system dynamics and agent based modeling is built, configured with historical market data and used to evaluate future evolution possibilities both for GSM based mobile cellular and Wi-Fi based wireless local area radio platform paths. The results show how the value system could continue on established evolution paths but also how it could transition to a so called complex adaptive system. Furthermore, for policy makers, the results point out threats of winner-takes-all and fragmentation type of scenarios, and highlight the possible importance of aligning the underlying market dynamics with the natural allocation and assignment cycle of spectrum frequency bands.

Evolution toward an open value system for smart mobility services: The case of Finland

The markets around transport and mobility are undergoing significant changes. One of the central drivers for these changes is the deployment of information and communications technology throughout the transport system, which in turn enables a wide range of smart mobility services. At the moment, however, smart mobility services are rather fragmented and work in isolated silos. A key issue in future development is how these isolated systems will become interconnected and in general more open. In this article, we apply the framework introduced by Ali-Vehmas and Casey (2012) to model how the evolution toward an open value system for smart mobility services could occur in Finland. In particular, we apply analogies from the emergence of GSM-based mobile networks and the Internet where the former has followed a more centralized path and the latter a more decentralized path.1