NS Innovationplatform – Enhancing the power of innovation.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is driving sustainable accessibility in the Netherlands. The NS Innovationplatform plays a crucial role in validating and bringing new ideas to market. By partnering with us, the NS Innovationplatform was looking for a clear strategic direction to align its current business model with future innovation goals. Read on to learn how we co-created a unified vision and actionable steps to ensure NS remains at the forefront of innovation.

Service: Strategy

Challenge:

NS Innovationplatform needed a clear direction to align its current and future business models to its innovation ambitions.

Solution:

Creating a strategic framework, allowing NS Innovationplatform to gain clarity on its future direction and align its business with innovation goals.

Outcome:

A unified vision with future business models, enabling efficient innovation and continuous value creation for the NS Innovationplatform.

Aabout Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).

NS, the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands, serves over 1 million passengers per day and aims to make the country accessible in a sustainable way. Innovation is crucial to realizing this vision, extending beyond optimizing current transport methods and inspiring colleagues. The NS Innovationplatform is tasked with validating and bringing these ideas to market through a structured process.

The challenge: strategic direction for innovation

NS' Innovationplatform has made significant strides over the past two years. However, with multiple possibilities to pursue, they needed a clear strategic direction to ensure alignment between their current business model (execution) and future innovation goals (search). The challenge: establishing a unified vision to guide their execution and search sides of innovation.

Our collaboration: Co-creating a clear vision.

Through two strategic sessions with the NS innovationplatform, our team worked on a clear vision for the NS Innovationplatform. This comprehensive collaboration involved three key steps:

Understanding the current value: We analyzed their current business model, identified the (internal) customers and the value provided, and examined external trends and developments impacting the business and innovationplatform. Creating a common understanding with the team in our first co-creation session and designing what impact the innovationplatform wants to make.
Stakeholder validation: Between the co-creation sessions, the NS innovationplatform conducted validation conversations with current and future stakeholders through qualitative and quantitative research. This provided a clear perspective on how the innovationplatform can deliver value and set stakeholders up for success.
Defining vision and next steps: In the second co-creative session, we translated the team’s ambitions into a clear direction. This clarified the platform’s position within the organization. We explored multiple business models to determine the necessary steps for NS and made it concrete by defining the bold actions needed to achieve their goals.

"The step-by-step plan and developed business models provide us with a clear path to achieving our innovation goals."

Results.

After completing our strategic collaboration, the NS Innovationplatform was well-positioned for success in three key areas.

1. Unified vision and strategy.

We set a clear direction, enabling the NS Innovationplatform to make strategic decisions about its priorities. This clarity helps the platform focus on accelerating ideas, efficiently validating innovations, and ensuring well-planned resource allocation.

2. Validated stakeholder profiles.

Through our research, we developed validated customer profiles, offering insights into how innovation can deliver value to various NS stakeholders.

3. Business models for the future.

We provided detailed business models to support the strategic direction. This enables the NS Innovationplatform to communicate clearly on optimizing their current execution model while exploring new opportunities to deliver ongoing value.

Staying on track: Innovating for the future of railways.

By setting a five-year vision, we clearly defined and separated the NS Innovationplatform’s execution and search business models. This allows them to address immediate operational needs while exploring innovative solutions for broader challenges. This dual approach ensures the platform remains vital, continuously creating value.

The NS Innovationplatform will now translate this vision into further actions, optimizing current operations and validating new assumptions for future innovations.

Join us on your journey.

Inspired by our collaboration with the NS Innovationplatform? Discover how Business Models Inc. can help your organization unlock its potential and create value by setting a strategic direction with business models to achieve your vision. Contact us today to learn more.

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