Research projects

The research project "unIT-e² - Reallabor für verNETZte E-Mobilität" is investigating how electromobility can be optimally integrated into the power grid in four field trials.
To address the complex issue from all sides simultaneously, 29 partners from the automotive and energy industries, the IT and charging infrastructure, and academia are participating in the collaborative project. The emphasis is on the user-friendliness, large-scale implementation of bidirectional charging concepts. The three-year project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The project will provide holistic solutions for the further expansion of electromobility. There exists a budget of 60 million euros which is only available for the realization of field trials in the urban areas of Munich and Düsseldorf as well as rural field trials in eastern Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and northern Hesse.

The unIT-e² project brings together all partners involved in the mobility transformation and creates a cross-sector exchange and research platform at the interface of the automotive and research platforms. 

Subproject of the University of Kassel: behavioral and legal economic analyses

Project objective:

The project "unIT-e² - Real Labs for Networked E-Mobility" addresses the many challenges necessary for the widespread use of e-mobility as a building block of the energy transition. With unIT-e², real laboratories are created that offer a neutral framework for stakeholders with sometimes competing interests. Therein, solutions can be jointly developed under scientific supervision without postponing the individual entrepreneurial goals. One objective is to demonstrate interoperable solutions for holistically optimised integration into the energy system. In addition to the technical and IT developments that form the basis for the mass application of electric mobility (e-mobility), user acceptance is of outstanding importance. In this context, the development of individual preferences and the design of legal framework conditions play a decisive role. The sub-project "Behavioural and legal-economic analyses" at the University of Kassel aims to research user behaviour in the context of e-mobility use in general and charging behaviour in particular. The research focuses on incentive systems to influence the charging behaviour. With a combination of conceptual design, field experiments, and representative empirical studies, comprehensive and at the same time practical results are generated, which are relevant as a basis for the design of tariffs and products of the practice partners, but also for the further development of the current legal framework.


Objective in detail:

  • Behavioural economic studies of charging behaviour, especially in the context of the interaction of user preferences with the requirements of the electricity grid
  • Microeconomic and behavioural analysis of the incentive effects of different contract and tariff designs ("behavioural law and economics")
  • Analysis of adoption barriers in the different phases of the adoption process and identification of measures to reduce barriers
  • Development of different tariff and contract designs and comparison of these concerning legal admissibility, incentive effects and benefits for companies and households.

 

Project partners: Bayernwerk Netz GmbH, BMW AG, Consolinno Energy GmbH, EAM Netz GmbH, EEBUS Initiative e.V., EWE GO GmbH, EWE NETZ GmbH, FfE e.V., FfE GmbH, Flavia IT Management GmbH, Ford Werke GmbH, Fraunhofer SIT, Kostal Industrie Elektrik GmbH, Lechwerke AG, Mercedes Benz AG, Power Plus Communications AG, Regionalmanagement Nordhessen GmbH, RWTH Aachen, Schneider Electric GmbH, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG Stadtwerke München GmbH, Stiftung Umweltenergierecht, TenneT TSO GmbH, The Mobility House GmbH, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universität Kassel, Universität Passau, Viessmann Climate Solutions SE, Volkswagen AG Group Innovation

Partners at the University of Kassel:

Prof. Dr. Patrick Spieth, University of Kassel

Prof. Dr. Heike Wetzel, University of Kassel

Prof. Dr. Georg von Wangenheim, University of Kassel


Duration: Aug 1, 2021 to Jul 31, 2024

Project objective:

The project pursues the vision of raising the awareness of the handcraft industry to IT security and empowering them technically, organisationally, and competence-based for IT security. Since the handcraft industry is still at the beginning of digitalisation, this requires targeted interdisciplinary cooperation within a joint research project. Accordingly, approaches from management research on business models, skills and technology assessment (University of Kassel) are combined with expertise in the design, development, and testing of reliable, secure, user-friendly and valuable applications, information infrastructures, as well as decision support systems (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). Transfer to the handcraft industry is ensured by the network of the Berufsförderungswerk des Handwerks and associated partners. The University of Kassel complements the technical development of the AI-supported IT security assistant with a training concept. Based on a comparison of existing and required competence and skill profiles, demand-oriented further training offers are being developed and tested to raise the awareness of skilled workers to IT security and enable them to improve IT security management in their own companies. In order to enable a long-term follow-up application, suitable business models for the intelligent IT security assistant will further be explored. The project thus makes an essential contribution to the goals of the "IT Security in the Economy" initiative, not only by raising awareness of IT security in the skilled trades but also by building up technical, organisational, and social security skills so that the level of IT security in the skilled trades is increased.


Objective in detail:

  • Technology assessment concerning IT security in the digital transformation in the handcraft industry
  • Identification of viable business models for the intelligent IT security assistant and the accompanying service offering
  • Need-based further training of skilled workers in dealing with IT in order to sensitise them to IT security-relevant aspects and to strengthen their competencies & skills
  • Ongoing (supra-)regional networking of the project with existing and other associated partners


Partner:

Prof. Dr. Patrick Spieth, University of Kassel

Prof. Dr. Ali Sunyaev, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Berufsförderungswerk des Handwerks gGmbH (BFH)


Duration:

Aug 1, 2021 to Jul 31, 2024

 

For more information, please visit: https://intelligent-security-handwerk.de/

Project objective:

Due to an increasing distribution of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in nearly all realms regarding private life as well as working life, those technologies are essential to people. However, craft businesses are still at a starting point of digitalization due to high amounts of non-automatable and experience-based operations, resulting in the threat of a digital separation for two reasons: First, in times of high global competition, the use of ICTs has the potential to gain competitive advantages. Second, there is a discrepancy between employees’ capabilities regarding the use of ICTs. These reasons foster the separation of successful, digitalized handcraft enterprises and those who are less digitalized. Therefore, it is necessary to counter this separation by analyzing the status quo, ensuring sufficient utilization possibilities of digital technologies and by developing appropriate teaching and learning material.

Thus, “FachWerk” pursues the objective to enhance digitalization and the development of competencies amongst craft businesses. 

 

Objective in detail:

  • Digitalization of craft: Analysis of future use possibilities of ICTs & development, technical evaluation and exploitation of a teaching and learning platform
  • Competencies of skilled workers: Analysis of needs, conception and development of a teaching and learning platform and pedagogical evaluation of the platform
  • Adequate qualification in craft: Testing of the teaching and learning platform
  • Digitalization of work in building craft: Testing, evaluation and qualification of skilled workers
  • Digitalization of work in electronic guild: Testing, evaluation and qualification of skilled workers

 

Partners:

  • Prof. Dr. Patrick Spieth, University of Kassel
  • Prof. Dr. Ludger Schmidt, University of Kassel
  • Prof. Dr. Steffi Robak, Leibnitz University Hanover
  • Berufsförderungswerk des Handwerks gGmbH (BFH)
  • Gringel Bau + Plan GmbH
  • Hübschmann Aufzüge GmbH & Co KG
  • Agentur für Arbeit Korbach
  • Handwerkskammer Kassel

 

Duration:

Feb 1, 2017 to Jan 31, 2020

Project objective

With steadily increasing innovation expenditures in the German economy there is an increasing risk of misallocating resources to unsuccessful innovations. Consequently, knowing the determinants of successful innovation is vital to a systematic and successful innovation management. The significance of these determinants is further reflected in a great scholarly interest, which has led to a great number of publications in the field of empirical research on success factors of innovation since the late 1950s. However, despite extensive efforts in science and practice, innovative new products generally still have a failure rate of up to 90%. The key factors of market success of innovations are customer acceptance and adoption. 

In this research project, first, forms of rejection along the adoption process will be identified. Second, potential reasons for the identified forms of customer rejection will be determined in an exploratory study and quantified through a large-scale study. Third, strategies of overcoming these adoption constraints will be developed. Last, the developed strategies will be tested in experiments.

 

Research Questions:

  • What adoption constraints are significant in the early phases of the adoption process? 
  • What adoption constraints are significant in the middle phases of the adoption process?
  • What adoption constraints are significant in the late phases of the adoption process?
  • What measures to reduce adoption constraints are most effective in the early phases of the adoption process?
  • What measures to reduce adoption constraints are most effective in the middle phases of the adoption process?
  • What measures to reduce adoption constraints are most effective in the late phases of the adoption process?

 

Participants:

  • Prof. Dr. Patrick Spieth, University of Kassel
  • Prof. Dr. Sven Heidenreich, Saarland University

 

Duration:

Aug 1, 2015, to July 31, 2017

(The Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts / House of Logistics and Mobility GmbH: Impact of demographic change on mobility-related user behavior)

 

Project objective:

Due to an aging, shrinking and moving population as well as to an increasing climate awareness, the use of short-range public transportation is decreasing. As a consequence, an important source of income for public transportation providers is declining. There are two noticeable trends: First, due to the effects of urbanization there is an increased demand for public transportation in cities. Second, whereas the overall demand for public transportation in suburbs and rural areas is decreasing, it remains stable for individual persons in rural areas. It is, thus, a major challenge for transportation providers to secure the accessibility of public service facilities as well as to enhance individual mobility opportunities.

This research project aims at analyzing current traffic concepts and infrastructural facilities. Subsequently, it will be possible to show future scenarios of adjusted and flexible mobility opportunities with regard to urbanization, demographic change and climate change. To successfully finalize the project, a concept of need-based solutions for the development of an adjusted mobility offer, which takes problems of demographic change into account, will be presented. Research results will be discussed in trans regional workshops with transportation providers in order to establish comprehensive strategies for action.

 

Research questions:

  • What impact factors of demographic change on mobility behavior can be identified on the basis of the current state of research?
  • What future scenarios can be deduced from the identified impact factors?
  • What recommendations for public transportation in northern Hesse can be deduced?

 

Participants:

  • Prof. Dr. Patrick Spieth
  • Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund
  • Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft
  • MoWiN.net - Mobilitätswirtschaft Nordhessen

 

Duration:

Jan 1, 2016, to Dec 31, 2016