With its strong industrial clusters and research institutions, Aargau’s digital transformation can be further developed by connecting isolated initiatives, cross-sector collaboration, and coordinated governance. An orchestrated ecosystem approach can strengthen opportunities for innovation, resource synergies, and sustainable growth. A new entity of TransformAARE could focus on raising visibility of existing projects, events, initiatives, and companies. This is expected to foster mutual learning among companies and thus unlock collective innovation potential.

A qualitative research design combined literature review regarding ecosystem design and global best practices, analysis of five Swiss case studies, and ten stakeholder interviews across business, academia, and public institutions. Technological and socio-economic trend analysis enriched the findings, mainly helping to identify thematic focus areas for the ecosystem. From the data, a tailored framework for regional (digital tech) ecosystem design was developed to facilitate the transition.

This thesis delivers a concrete orchestration model for TransformAARE. The identified services aim to foster collaboration, accelerate knowledge transfer, and promote regional visibility. Policymakers can gain actionable guidance to mobilize resources and align stakeholders, while companies benefit from improved access to partnerships, markets, and expertise. By integrating best practices with local context, the developed framework can strengthen Aargau’s capacity to adapt to rapid technological change, support sustainable economic development, and position the canton as a leading (digital tech) innovation region in Switzerland. The research can help to enhance the understanding and design of necessary elements for the TransformAARE ecosystem. Furthermore, concrete recommendations can support the operationalization of the new entitity TransformAARE.