Business model and plan for sulphide soils digital assessment tool

Sulfide soils are difficult from a geotechnical perspective with high water content, and high clay and silt content.

Incorrectly handled, the soil also contributes to acidifying soil and groundwater conditions and in some cases acidified waterways and lakes with elevated levels of e.g. aluminum.Within housing construction and infrastructure projects, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sulphide soil are excavated in Sweden.

In the absence of differentiated classification of sulphide soils, all assessed sulphide soils are usually handled as potentially acidifying, which leads to disposal and long transports. In the research project Management of Sulfide Soils, financed by i.a.

Trafikverket and SBUF, a more differentiated classification was developed, an assessment system that shows that up to 30% of the volume is not acidifying and the need to deposit can be less than about 50%.

With this more differentiated assessment, sulphide soil can be sorted and set aside for different purposes or deposited more cost-effectively and environmentally than at present.In order to be used effectively, the assessment system needs to become more user-friendly and accessible.

A more accessible assessment system and its widespread application would contribute to a more industrialized process of dealing with sulphide soils that is not as dependent on specialized expertise.

A digital tool has been developed at concept level with the aim of making the assessment system available.Within the call for Innovationsidén in spring 2022, the project Assessment tools for sulphide soils – business and price models was granted funds.

The purpose of the project was to identify the conditions for developing and offering an economically sustainable tool that supports a differentiated assessment and sustainable management of sulphide soils.

This included investigating different options for business and price models based on the business ecology, the environment, in which the tool operates.Within project, i.a. proposals for a managing actor and funding to offer, develop and guide forward.

The proposals were:The tool is managed by the Swedish Transport Administration Use of the tool is free and the tool is financed by the Swedish Transport Administration.The tool is managed by the Swedish Geotechnical Association (SGF) Use of the tool is free and the tool is funded through sponsorship.The tool is managed by a consultant or independent company The use of the tool costs per analysis and/or access to service (for example via subscription), the tool is thus financed through the consultant´s/company´s business model.The tool is managed by the laboratory The use of the tool costs per analysis and/or access to service (for example via subscription), the tool is thus financed through the laboratory´s business model.The project proposed in this application proceeds with option 3 as this is considered to be the most beneficial option when it comes to the tool´s duration and development.

In order to make a plan for how the tool will be put on the market, the business model needs to be deepened.

Particularly important will be the design of the specification for a technical platform (including payment solution and the tool´s user interface) which, in addition to enabling the tool to be offered to users, also promotes its ongoing development.

For this ongoing development, technical solutions that enable the data fed into the tool to be captured and strengthen the basis on which the tool´s assessments are based should be.

Central to the proposed project is also guidance in the form of training efforts with users of the tool as the target group.The purpose of the proposed project is to deepen the business model for proposal 3.

This includes description of the value proposition (including customer segments and relationships), how value is delivered (key partners, activities and resources and channels) and how value is captured (revenue streams and cost structure). This includes the de