Florian Urmetzer

Dr. Florian Urmetzer serves as Associate Teaching Professor and founding Director of the Ecosystems, Platforms & Strategy (EPS) Research Group at the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing (IfM). His expertise centers on strategy formulation tools for business ecosystems and platforms within manufacturing and services sectors. He teaches the Business Ecosystem Strategy course and leads IfM Engage consultancy projects for clients including IBM, ATOS, ABN-AMRO, CEMEX, Pearson Education, Leonardo rescue helicopters, and the NHS.

Urmetzer holds a distinction MSc in Network Centred Computing and PhD from the University of Reading's School of Systems Engineering. His doctoral research developed real-time usability evaluation methods for distributed collaborative environments. Academically, he has been a visiting researcher at Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Politecnico di Milano.

His research investigates industrial ecosystems from strategic and managerial perspectives, encompassing supply chains, digital platforms, and business ecosystem dynamics. This work has been published in leading journals including Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Information Systems, and Journal of Service Research. Analysis of his recent publications reveals dominant trends in technological sovereignty, platform ecosystem governance, and manufacturing relocation strategies.

Prior to Cambridge, Urmetzer gained extensive industry experience as a consultant at Accenture in Zürich, Senior Researcher at SAP labs, and roles at Volkswagen AG, Gartner Inc., and IBM. He currently leads the EPS Research Group, which develops frameworks for organizations navigating complex industrial ecosystem dynamics.