Alongside technical developments, the knowlEdge consortium has also considered the business model implications. The operation of the knowlEdge network from business perspective has been described from three generic stakeholder perspectives. These are: 1) marketplace perspective, 2) AI technology provider perspective, and 3) manufacturer perspective. Business model canvas and platform canvas were used as analysis frameworks. The marketplace business model gives the overall view on the business relations of different participants around the platform, while the marketplace operator, the AI technology provider, and the manufacturer business models focus on these actors specifically. For the AI technology provider two separate business models (AI model provisioning and consultation) were created. Two separate business models were also created for manufacturers, the other taking a bit visionary perspective of manufacturer as AI prosumer, i.e. providing trained models to other manufacturers.
A survey was carried out among the project partners to collect their initial views on the different aspects of business models. Limited to the project partners only, the survey does not give statistically relevant results for broader discussion, but provides some ground to elaborate the knowlEdge business models further during the rest of the project. One interesting finding was that many partners aim to provide AI related consultation services alongside AI technology solutions, which was perhaps not anticipated when business model discussions started. However, this seems to be in line and confirming the findings of some earlier studies. Regarding pricing, the partners mostly prefer software licensing and subscription fee models. In addition, many partners aim to get revenue from implementation services, confirming the intention to provide consultation as well.
