Let the Game Begin: Enhancing Sustainable Collaboration among Actors in Innovation Ecosystems in a Playful Way

Anastasia Roukouni, Heide Lukosch, Alexander Verbraeck and Rob Zuidwijk
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Anastasia Roukouni: Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Heide Lukosch: HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, 69 Creyke Road, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
Alexander Verbraeck: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
Rob Zuidwijk: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: Logistics and transport systems are complex systems for which sustainable innovations are urgently needed. Serious games are an acknowledged tool for training, learning, and decision making, as well as for helping to introduce innovative concepts for complex systems. Technological innovations for the transport domain that can improve sustainability are usually heavily dependent on the collaboration among actors. A simulation gaming approach can help these actors in understanding the challenges involved, and in finding solutions in a playful, interactive way. Our research approach includes a thorough literature review on games for innovation and collaboration in transport networks, and the development of two dedicated simulation games addressing sustainability innovations for the Port of Rotterdam, the largest seaport in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The two innovation cases are truck platooning and multi-sided digital platforms for barge transportation, both improving the sustainability of hinterland transportation. The games serve as instruments to reveal interactions and tensions among actors, contribute to the interpretation of their behavior, and eventually help all parties to reach a better understanding on how innovation adoption can be fostered, using an innovation ecosystem perspective. We are convinced that serious gaming, by providing a better understanding of the innovation process, will help the implementation of sustainability innovations in complex systems.

Keywords: transport networks; logistics; simulation games; serious games; innovation ecosystem; Port of Rotterdam; complex systems; truck platooning; barge transport; multi-sided platforms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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