Implementing Internet of Things in the Swedish Railroad Sector : Evaluating Design Principles and Guidelines for E-Infrastructures

Abstract: The Swedish Transportation Administration started an initiative to create a new e-infrastructure for the railroad sector in Sweden. The purpose is to follow the movement of railroad vehicles on the railway tracks and enhance logistics aspects of the transportation of goods by train. The Swedish initiative works as a pilot project for the railroad sector in the EU and if successful the e-infrastructure could be rolled out in the entire EU. It is a rare opportunity to be a part from the beginning of the creation of such a potential large scale e-infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to provide advice early in the development process to aid in the success of the design and creation on the e-infrastructure. In the doing of this we will need to evaluate the areas: (1) the current state of the e-infrastructure, (2) the usefulness of the EPCGlobal standard for this e-infrastructure and (3) the usefulness on established e-infrastructures design principles. As a result of the thesis we have provided advice to enhance the design and implementation of the e-infrastructure, also advice is given on how to make the EPCGlobal standard’s more compatibility with the transportation sector. We have found the design principles by Hanseth & Lyytinen (2004) and Eriksson & Ågerfalk (2010) useful for the evaluation of the e-infrastructure. We also advocate that new design principles should be created to encompass the new concept of Internet of Things in e-infrastructures.