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Doctoral education is transforming, along with societal changes, as it is no longer solely aimed at academic careers. A new landscape with various models for doctoral education is emerging with an increased alignment with industry. This study aims to deepen research by critically exploring industrial PhD education collaboration in Sweden. The perspectives of industrial PhD students, academia, and industry are integrated with work-integrated learning as a theoretical lens to identify benefits, challenges, and prerequisites for how to structure and manage such a collaboration. Qualitative methods are applied including a total of 38 respondents. Industrial PhD students embody PhD education, research, and university-industry collaboration, generating learning and understanding across sectors and industries. The current knowledge of PhD education is advanced by integrating multiple perspectives, to reveal prerequisites that are vital for how to structure and manage industrial PhD education collaboration, to promote work-integrated learning towards a way to build knowledge., CC-BY 4.0

Background University-industry collaboration is a widespread phenomenon in response to complex societal challenges. All sectors of society struggle to meet contemporary challenges by including various perspectives and competences (Bernhard and Olsson, 2020; Olsson et al., 2021; Stegeager and Thomassen, 2021). There is a need to continuously learn at work and redevelop work practices by relating to new concepts, technologies, and organizational principles. University-industry interactions are of importance for mutual learning in higher education as well as in industry (Bölling & Eriksson, 2016; Olsson et al., 2021). Universities have an essential role supporting life -long learning and acting as knowledge hubs embedded in society (Lind et al., 2013) providing trained res earchers prepared to meet these challenges (Altbach et al., 2019; Hayes, 2021). There is an emerging interest for collaboration with university in third-cycle education as the importance of PhD education is recognized in contemporary society (Bernhard & Olsson, 2020; Bin et al., 2016; Borrell-Damian et al., 2010; Gill & Mullarkey, 2015; Gustavsson et al., 2016; Jones, 2018; Roolaht, 2015). European higher education policies call for PhD educations that are transformed along with societal needs and labor markets for PhDs. Especially since PhD education does not merely aim for academic careers (Malfroy, 2011; Santos & Patricio, 2020; Valencia -Forrester, 2019). Industrial PhD education is emerging as one way of increasing collaboration between university and wo rklife during the PhD education. Industrial PhD students here refer to students who originate from and are fully employed in industry (industry funded) during their PhD education, i.e., the company is investing in an employee to become a PhD. Accordingly, industrial PhD students are acting in the intersection of academia and work-life, but with the same academic demands as traditionally enrolled academic PhD students. One transdi, The general theme of the conference is: “WIL in the service of society”AcknowledgementThis study is partly funded by the LINA research environment (Learning in and for the new working life) at University West, Sweden.

The increasing use of automated systems for decision-making and decision support in public administration is forming new practices and challenging public values since public services must be impartially accessible and designed for everyone. New robotistic process automation (RPA) systems are generally designed based on back-office structures. This requires clients to submit relevant data correctly in order for these services to function. However, not all potential or intended users of these services have the competence and the capacity to submit accurate data in the correct way. Front-line case workers at public agencies play critical roles in supporting those who have problems using the services due to the a forementioned accessibility requirements and there by work in bridging digital divides. This article analyses strategies used by front-line case workers to complement RPA and improve the inclusion of all clients in the services. It builds on qualitative case studies at two Swedish authorities, including in-depth interviews and observations. The study shows that the discretion of the front-line case workers is limited by the RPA systems, and they also have limited discretion to support clients in their use of the digital services. Instead, they develop strategies in line with more service- and socially-oriented values; duty-oriented values are integrated into the RPA. The analysis shows the importance of forming new support structures for inclusion when public services are automated to maintain the core public values of inclusion and democratic legitimacy.

The aim of this study is to further expand research on cross-boundary organisational collaboration for learning by focusing on industrial PhD education and the overlapping role of industrial PhD students. This paper reveals the perspectives of industrial PhD students, academia, and industry involved in collaboration for organisational learning. Work-integrated learning is applied as a theoretical lens to identify vital issues for collaboration. Qualitative methods are applied. The sample includes three categories of respondents (in total 38): 19 industrial PhD students from the three disciplines, 9 representatives from academia and 10 respondents from industry. This explorative study contributes to advance the current knowledge on PhD education by integrating multiple perspectives insights to reveal issues that are vital for a successful industrial PhD education collaboration to generate organisational learning. Findings state that industrial PhD education collaboration is generating organizational learning and understanding across sectors and industries.

Aim/Purpose: The aim is to explore the benefits and challenges of industrial PhD education through the perspectives of industrial PhD students who are acting in the intersection of academia and work-life by applying a work-integrated learning (WIL) approach to highlight issues that academy and industry need to consider. Background: Industrial PhD education is a vital part of collaboration between academia and society although still an under-researched field. This paper reveals the perspectives of the industrial PhD students who are at the same time involved in both academia and industry, with the same academic demands as traditionally enrolled academic PhD students combined with demands and expectations from their industrial employers. Methodology: Qualitative methods were applied and 19 semi-structured interviews with industrial PhD students were conducted. The empirical context is a Swedish university profiling work-integrated learning offering PhD programs for industrial PhD students from both the private and public sectors. Contribution: This explorative study contributes to advance the current knowledge of third cycle education to deepen the insights into benefits and challenges in industrial PhD education through the perspectives of industrial PhD students acting in the intersection of academia and work-life. By applying a WIL approach on third-cycle education, issues that academy and industry need to consider for successful collaboration within doctoral education are identified. Findings: Findings indicate that industrial PhD students acting in the intersection of academia and work-life are developing practical and transferable skills requested by employers outside academia, hence increasing societal impact. Findings show that industrial PhD education generates several WIL benefits. Novel challenges identified include unclear financial agreements, conflicts of interest, administrative bureaucracy, work promotion opportunities, and lack of be-longing and ident, CC BY-NC 4.0 license

Purpose: Within the ongoing digitalization of society and dimensions of integration, equality, citizen needs, sustainability and quality of life are of increasing importance as driving forces for cities to become smart. The purpose of this paper is to examine participatory management challenges in becoming a smart old town in the context of cultural heritage. Design/methodology/approach: An explorative approach was applied on a qualitative single case study including in-depth interviews with 21 stakeholders representing local entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, the municipality, politicians, tourism organization and residents of an old town district in a Norwegian city. Additionally, participatory observations and document studies were performed. Findings were continuously validated with the respondents. Findings: The present study contributes with stakeholder views on challenges arising from the development of a smart old town and suggests possible innovative solutions for participatory management. The transformation of a city with cultural heritage into a smart city require efforts that go beyond smart ICT implementations into issues of social sustainability. Research limitations/implications: The study brings forward the opportunities that lie in the dynamics of interaction between the spirit of cultural heritage and the body of participatory management. It con-tributes by responding to calls for further research to deepen the insights into stakeholder inclusion in cultural heritage-based city transformation. This explorative study has its limitations as it is based on one qualitative single case. Practical implications: Participatory management insights and recommendations for smart city transformation are provided. Social implications: The study addresses socially sustainable outcomes to create democratic conditions that promote inclusion and community building by understanding what people need and expect from the place where they live and work. Originality, This study is partly funded by the European Union Development Fund, Interreg Sweden–Norway inthe project, “Urban Platsinnovation” years 2015–2018.

It is well-known that development is uneven across regions. The current academic and political consensus calls for policy interventions targeted towards a more balanced, inclusive and regionally cohesive growth. Yet, despite decades of sizeable policy efforts, there is no clear evidence of economic and social convergence across regions within countries. Entrepreneurship and innovation are proven to be strong drivers of regional economic development, and therefore they offer a source of potential solutions to the challenges imposed by an adverse international context. However, both entrepreneurial and innovative activity are themselves highly unevenly distributed in space, which might in itself be a main cause of the persistent regional inequalities in both developed and developing countries. A deeper understanding of the drivers and the implications of sub-national disparities in entrepreneurship and innovation is therefore a priority for implementing policies aimed at unlocking the potential of all regions in order to maximize their contribution to national growth and prosperity. In this introductory chapter, we create a background and a foundation for the rest of the chapters in this edited volume. © Iréne Bernhard, Urban Gråsjö and Charlie Karlsson 2021., open access

Illuminating and timely, this book explores several theoretical and empirical issues related to the potential for increasing capacities for innovation, knowledge and entrepreneurship. It highlights the current academic and political consensus that calls for policy interventions targeted towards more balanced, inclusive and regionally cohesive growth. © Iréne Bernhard, Urban Gråsjö and Charlie Karlsson 2021.

Aim/PurposeThe aim is to explore the informing flows framework as interactions within aPhD education practicing a work-integrated learning approach in order to revealboth the perspectives of industrial PhD students and of industry. Background An under-researched field of university-industry collaboration is explored revealing both the perspectives of industrial PhD students and of industry. Methodology Qualitative methods were applied including interviews and document studies. Intotal ten semi-structured interviews in two steps were conducted. The empiricalcontext is a Swedish PhD program in informatics with a specialization in workintegrated learning. Contribution By broadening the concept of work-integrated learning, this paper contributesempirical results on benefits and challenges in university-industry collaborationfocusing on industrial PhD students and industry by applying the informingflows framework. Findings Findings expose novel insights for industry as well as academia. The industrialPhD students are key stakeholders and embody the informing flows betweenpractice and university and between practice and research. They are spanningboundaries between university and industry generating continuous opportunities for validation and testing of empirical results and models in industry. Thismay enable increased research quality and short-lag dissemination of researchresults as well as strengthened organizational legitimacy.

The aim of this study is to explore women entrepreneurs participation in networks with focus on local community collaboration. In recent years interest in the importance of women entrepreneurship worldwide has increased, especially from the viewpoint of local and regional development. Previous studies show that local competitors coordinated in networks can gain cross sector knowledge sharing and boost the attractiveness of a region. Using case study methodology with 14 qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews in two phases with business counselors and women entrepreneurs, participatory observations and document studies, this study explores women entrepreneurs in smaller cities and their collaboration in networks with particular reference to a Swedish context. Results state that women entrepreneurs are active and participate in various local community networks and that networks are viewed as valuable assets for business development. Women entrepreneurs strategically choose to join strong networks that have an impact on local community development. Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs are mainly related to the role as entrepreneur and running a business in a smaller city. However, some specific gendered challenges are lack of trust or respect from other business and public actors, especially in contact with authorities. The women entrepreneurs have mixed experiences of local community support hence the main sources for renewal processes and knowledge sharing are co-owners, staff, digital tools, networks partners, families and friends.

The ongoing digitalization of society is of increasing importance for city transformation and a driving force for cities to become smart. The aim of this study is to explore stakeholder challenges in becoming a “smart old town” and to contribute with innovative implications based on stakeholder involvement and governance. An interpretative single case study with qualitative interviews was conducted in an old town district in a Norwegian city. The results reveal that in order to transform a city with cultural heritage into a smart city requires efforts that go beyond smart ICT implementations. We argue for collaborative governance based on an open and coordinated involvement of stakeholders.

University collaboration and networking with society and practice are of crucial importance in contemporary society. Contemporary societal challenges, on all levels from local to global, are complexand often call for the inclusion of many perspectives and competences. There is thus a demand for increased university-society collaboration generating learning, new knowledge, dissemination ofresearch findings, innovation and societal impact. One aspect of this is the collaboration between universities and industry through industrial PhD students who are active in the university-industryinterface, i.e., employed in industry during their PhD third-cycle education, while at the same time they are involved in both theory and practice. The aim of this paper is to explore university-industrycollaboration by focusing on industry perspectives in investing in industrial PhD students, third-cycle education. The research is conducted as an explorative case study, focusing on collaborations betweenindustry and the discipline of informatics with the specialization of work-integrated learning at University West in Sweden. Qualitative methods were applied including semi-structured interviews with fiverespondents from industry. Findings showed benefits to industry such as the mutual benefits of applying the WIL concept, knowledge creation and dissemination, short-term societal research impact,competence development, product development, innovation and increased organizational legitimacy.Some challenges were identified that need to be considered in order to strengthen the industrial PhD program as well as the university-industry collaboration. The industrial PhD students generatedknowledge and learning as both short-term and long-term dissemination of research results. The continuous opportunities for validation and testing of results in the organization was highly valued. Thisstudy contributes furthermore by broadening the work-integrated learning concept to include the category of ind

Today universities and higher education face challenges related to collaboration with the society. Societal impacts and innovation from academia are highly valued from governments and interaction with and impacts on society and practice are of crucial importance for universities today (Gellerstedt, et al. 2018; Galan, 2018). University West in Sweden has a profile area in work-integrated learning (WIL), which generally aims to address issues on integrating theory and practice in education in a sustainable and coherent way (Olsson et al. 2019; Gellerstedt et. al. 2015). In this paper the arguments are based on a study of a PhD-education (3rd cycle) in Informatics with the specialization of work-integrated learning. at University West. The focus is on the collaboration between the university and industry through industrial PhD-students who are active in the university-industry interface i.e. fully employed by the industry during their PhD-education.Research on collaboration between PhD- students and industry is, according to Thune scarce. Previous research mainly focuses on the students´ learning outcomes and educational experiences (Thune, 2009) although some benefits of this kind of collaboration are recognized (Assbring and Nuur, 2017). Thus, research on interaction and informing flows between university, students, research and practice needs to be further developed ( Bernhard et al, 2018). In a recent study aiming at evaluating a PhD education (third-cycle) and research environment from a WIL perspective several collaboration activities were identified at key stakeholders in university as well as in the industry (Bernhard et al 2018) by adopting an informing science model in order to conduct a current state analysis. The findings implicate e.g. that flows from PhD-student and research environment towards stakeholders were generally strong, while the opposite flows were weaker. This was especially crucial for the flows originating in practice.Thus, the overall aim

This chapter contributes knowledge on the challenges of collaboration within local community regeneration in order to identify innovative approaches at work in smaller cities through case studies in Sweden and Norway. Place innovation perspectives are applied to address issues of diversity and inclusiveness in the renewal of a small city centre or district based on cultural heritage. In-depth qualitative interviews in 2016–2018, participatory observations and document studies were conducted. The results reveal stakeholders' views on challenges related to collaborative approaches for place innovation. The complex nature of the two cases is characterized by diverse perspectives, conflicts and attitudes; limited inclusion of stakeholders; lack of digital communication and information as well as face-to-face information, and indistinct place identity. Findings indicate that place innovation requires an integrated approach based on including diverse stakeholder perspectives through common communication spaces, cultivating place identity and applying a step-by-step regeneration.

This study aims to explore how women entrepreneurs encounter and learn to use ICT at work in response to calls for further research regarding ICT and small businesses, especially women entrepreneurs' adaptation to an increasingly digitalized workplace. Qualitative methods were applied including a total of 13 interviews in two phases with 11 women entrepreneurs, and observations of the irdigital presence. Findings indicate the benefits of digitalization of small businesses, although the women entrepreneurs also emphasize digital disadvantages such as negative online comments and reviews and digital stress. Informal learning and self development were practiced. In order to remain competitive, the women entrepreneurs were aware that they constantly have to learn new things to capture the potential and keep up the pace in digitalizing their workplaces. The importance of recruiting young digitally skilled employees was strongly highlighted.

The increasing use of automated systems for decision making and decision supportin public administration is forming new practices and challenging public values. Automated decision-making systems are mainly used in administrative systems but require end-users of services to submit relevant data in correct ways to make the services functional. However, not all potential or intended users of these services have the competence and capacity to use them. There is a pressing need to uncover and analyze how professional staff at public agencies respond to users' problems caused by digitalization in general and automation in particular for those who have problems using the services since there is a legal requirement to provide impartial public services. The case study presented in this paper builds on a bottom-up qualitative study including in-depth interviews and observations at two Swedish authorities, the Swedish Public Employment Agency and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, in two Swedish municipalities. The main contribution by the case study shows how challenges that the professional staff face when they have to support everyone when the main management method is to use automated systems. The first way of addressing risk of exclusion is improved personalized support by the professional "street-level" bureaucrats, and the second is the important support also provided by other citizens and users of the services that enhances inclusion. The study indicates the importance of forming new support structures when public services are digitalized with ambitions to be more efficient.

In this chapter, the focus is on incentives for inclusive e-government. Five case studies of the implementation of contact centers in Swedish municipalities are described and discussed. The research methods used are mainly qualitative interviews with different categories of municipal personnel and with citizens. The main conclusion is that the implementation seems to contribute to increased accessibility of municipal services, even for those citizens who might have problems using Internet services. The study indicates a development towards increased equal treatment of citizens and a contribution to reducing problems related to the "digital divide." Municipal services became more adapted to citizens' needs by using citizen-centric methods during the development process and in the daily work of the contact centers. The implementation of municipal contact centers can thus be seen as indicating incentives for local e-democracy and a step towards inclusive e-government, although there is still a need to go further in this direction.

The concept of digital divides has been on the agenda in research and policy making for at least the last 20 years. But it is still, a challenge to grasp this concept that is so elusive and transforming. Inclusion, access and equality are still key values for democratic governance and must be addressed in particular when forming and contributing to a digital government. This paper seeks to intervene in current debates on digital divides and digital inclusion by analyzing two cases of responses among street-level public administration in relation to e-government services in Sweden. The case studies are strategically chosen and conducted in national agencies and in local public libraries. Three lines of contributions are discussed, firstly thei mportance to care for equality secondly the need to seethe non-users, and thirdly to discuss the potential of putting focus on digital diversity.