Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

Within the context of the increasing digitalisation and intertwining cyber and physical dimensions connected by Internet, the paper aims at contributing towards understanding and conceptualising extent and scope of design integration for smart production and services and value generation for smart society including enterprises, customers and end-users. Research on design integration within the industry 4.0 or “internet of things” phenomena from strategic management perspective is still marginalised. Concepts from strategic and innovation management as well as open innovation including design and industry 4.0 perceptions are linked to propose a practice-oriented design integration approach for business practices in developing and exploiting new products or services in industry 4.0 context. The paper proposes conceptual approach to design integration and implementation within product or process development processes leading towards valuable innovations on corporate and societal level. It exemplifies how smart digitalisation and new enabling technologies might generate innovations driven by design as a tool and process. Design’s role is demonstrated by intertwining dimensions of information, knowledge, technology, communication and society with different players and stakeholders, who share production or service inputs and outputs between different stakeholders in an open, distributed and co-existing way at different spatial and temporal scale.