About i-Smile

The objectives of i-Smile are to explore how innovations in last mile may reduce the negative effects of e-commerce, create world-class delivery services for consumers, and increase sustainability in urban last mile deliveries.

 i-Smile develops an innovation platform for upscaling sustainable business models for urban last mile deliveries. The platform is both a knowledge base and used to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals and to further develop Nordic partnerships. The project investigates the rationale of stakeholders in last mile deliveries to identify the drivers for making sustainable choices and propose innovative business models. Primary stakeholders are consumers, shippers, and logistics service providers, as well as municipalities. To meet the growing demand for logistic services due to e-commerce, the project will further investigate the use of light electric freight vehicles (LEFVs) and automatized delivery vehicles in last-mile deliveries. The project also develops new Nordic partnerships that enable the establishment of innovative, sustainable, and integrated urban last-mile logistics chains and to build a strong consortium for future collaboration.

i-Smile investigates existing and potential innovations and value creation in the ecosystem of last-mile deliveries. Also, stakeholders’ motivation for developing and/or choosing sustainable last-mile deliveries are studied. A vital research approach for i-Smile is the potential for upscaling the use of light electric freight vehicles in parcel delivery service. The project also maps the impact and exploitation potential of the proposed logistics innovations and analyses the export potential of concepts and governance for export based on the logistics innovations. As a result, the project expands the Nordic level network both with the existing consortium and adding businesses, cities, and other partners for future applications of innovative last mile solutions.  

The project has four principal partners and a diverse range of collaborative partners in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The four principal partners are Hanken (Finland), VTI (Sweden), Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), and Institute of Transport Economics (Norway).