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In this paper, we present a method for evaluating the success of digitalization projects, namely the Project Successful Deployment (PSD). With the term digitalization, we mean the use of digital technologies and digitized information to create value in new ways and to benefit from them. The existing methods for project evaluation emphasize the capability of a project to deliver its results by respecting times and costs. The method we propose, instead, suggests evaluating projects by means of its external dimensions, namely the functionalities and quality of the deliverables. These external project dimensions are reflected on the project scope, and thus evaluate the requirements of the deliverables, and the degree to which the deliverable meet their quality objectives The method is composed of a set of matrixes, and it uses a structured procedure to define and refine its items and their weights, by means of a panel of experts. It has been applied to a practical case study, a digitalization project of a network of research and teaching laboratories. The method allowed a structured project evaluation, and the practical case study showed strengths and weaknesses of the PSD model, which proved to be robust and effective, in providing a timely evaluation of the project.

In this paper, we present a pattern for assessing the feasibility of laboratories and lab networks to operate in a service-oriented form of business. Our focus is on the field of engineering, and on a network of academic labs, and we aim to provide a practical tool for disclosing the opportunity of servitization, or to use Laboratories-as-a-Service (LaaS), for interested companies. By using a traditional pitch deck approach, we define the available digital online offer of the specific labs, and we structure a questionnaire to investigate the market demand. Afterwards, we sketch the main servitization characteristics required to digital online labs from a business perspective. The pattern we propose has been used as a guideline for interviews to selected stakeholders of two specific labs, namely a remotely available RFID lab for internal logistics in the retail sector, and a serious game for operations and supply chain management. The answers we collected suggested the feasibility of the labs servitization, by defining both strengths and weaknesses.

Lab-based education has always played an important role in teaching students. Making remote and virtual labs communicate with one another by creating networks of labs can enhance the traditional way of learning as well as reduce the costs of implementing and using labs. This paper provides a review of the literature on non-traditional labs and lab network initiatives up to 2020. With the term ‘non-traditional labs’, we mean virtual, remote and hybrid labs, whereas with the term ‘lab network’, we indicate a set of two or more cooperating labs typically connected through the internet. In this study, we used a recent and comprehensive framework for data collection, organization and analysis to gather information on 40 non-traditional labs and lab network initiatives. Thanks to this framework, the outcomes of our work highlight interesting trends of lab-based education, which pertain to didactical, organizational and technical aspects.

The interest of the educational community in the laboratory- (lab) based education has grown steadily. As remote labs have started to be a reliable alternative to traditional hands-on labs, security and safety issues are becoming increasingly important, as their interconnected nature raises new and challenging issues. The complexity increases when multiple institutions are involved in a federated lab infrastructure. This paper provides a guideline for assessing safety and security in federated labs following the VDI/VDE 2182 guideline and verifies the concept based on remote labs in three different academic institutions.