Ulrika H. Westergren serves as Professor of Informatics at Umeå University within the Faculty of Social Sciences, holding dual appointments at the Department of Informatics (MIT Building, Campustorget 5) and Faculty Office of Social Sciences (Administration Building, Universitetstorget 16). As of July 1, 2025, she assumed the role of Vice Dean for Educational Affairs responsible for bachelor's and master's programs, following nine years (2016-2025) as Deputy Head of Department and Director of Studies where she contributed to departmental management and faculty education committees. Her research investigates digitalization's societal impact through organizational change lenses, specializing in Internet of Things (IoT) implementations across public and private sectors. She examines how new technologies reshape business models, value creation processes, and trust dynamics, with recent work emphasizing sustainability convergence in digital projects and municipal smart city transformations. As a member of the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation, she bridges academic research with practical industry applications. Analysis of her publication trajectory reveals consistent focus on socio-technical dimensions of digital transformation, particularly organizational adoption barriers and IoT's role in operational agility. Her work increasingly integrates sustainability outcomes with digital initiatives, highlighting municipal IoT deployments as critical testbeds for societal-scale innovation. The Swedish context features prominently in her empirical studies of technology diffusion. Scientific awards and pedagogical recognition include: Excellent teacher qualification Distinguished university teacher designation Professor Westergren actively shapes educational policy through her Vice Dean role while maintaining research leadership in digital transformation. Her administrative experience as Director of Studies informs evidence-based curriculum development, though specific grant details and student supervision records aren't documented in source materials. Current projects explore trust frameworks for data-driven public services. She contributes to the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation as a core researcher, facilitating cross-sector collaboration between academia, industry, and government on IoT implementation challenges. This hub enables her fieldwork with Swedish municipalities on smart city initiatives and supports knowledge transfer to public sector organizations navigating digital transformation.
