The E-LAND Toolbox: The Business Model Innovator Tool

‘’I think the Business Model Innovator is important because there is no one-fits-all business model, for different energy islands’’ says Prof. Moritz Loock from St. Gallen University. The Business Model Innovator is one of the many tools the E-LAND project aims to create during the project.

Prof. Dr.  Moritz Loock, in a discussion together with Dr. Merla Kubli from St. Gallen University, and Senior Researcher Sanket Puranik from Smart Innovation Norway, has explained the concept behind the Business Model Innovator Tool that they are working to create in for E-LAND.

Building blocks for a complete business model

The Business Model Innovator tool is built on two dimensions. One dimension is looking at single energy vectors and multiple energy vectors and another one is looking into community and behavioral change.  The tool came as a response to a need in the energy sector, for resources in terms of business model patterns and frameworks to combine these business model patterns. ‘’Business model patterns are building blocks for a complete business model’’ so there is a need for a lot of resources in helping building viable business models, states Sanket Puranik, Senior Researcher at Smart Innovation Norway.

Energy Islands are not alike

There are specific conditions that pertain to specific energy islands such as regulation across energy islands ‘’and the business model innovator tool facilitates to consider those specifics and then to tailor very specific business models for the different energy islands’’ says Dr. Moritz Loock.

Pattern-based approach

The Business Model Innovator tool hopes to integrate innovation into the business model approach by focusing on the engagement of local communities and customer acceptance: ‘’We hope to develop 25 business-model patterns for energy islands and that should serve as a framework for energy islands to really find their most suited business model for their very local context’’ says Dr. Merla Kubli from the University of St Gallen.

You can watch the full video below:

Chapter Markers:

00:48 How the Business Model Innovator Tool was developed

01:54 The framework of Energy Islands and the Business Model Approach

02:34 Business Model Patterns, Customer Acceptance, and Cross Energy Vector Optimizations

03:51 Prosumers engaged in Business Models

04:14 Testing and developing Business Model patterns alongside the pilot sites

05:12 What is novel about the E-LAND Business Model Innovator?