Search

This paper aims to 'identify', 'analyse', and 'categorise' the barriers affecting the green transformation process in healthcare using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) and MICMAC analysis. The TISM technique was utilized to determine how the components interacted and the green transformation process barriers criteria were ranked and categorized using the MICMAC method. This study identified 11 barriers to green transformation process in healthcare organizations. The key factors identified in this study are inadequate strategic planning, financial barriers, and high technology adoption cost, information barriers, international issues in healthcare environmental sustainability, lack of supportive atmosphere. The TISM technique for healthcare is proposed in this paper as a novel attempt to address the subject of green transformation process barriers. This research will aid key stakeholders and academics in the better understanding the barriers affecting the green transformation process in healthcare organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the techno-hype in migration research and argues that this latter reproduces a state-gaze on migration and technology. It contends that instead of focusing exclusively on the surveillance exercised on migrants through technology, it is key to investigate how migrants are affected by technologies and which struggles they engage over these. The paper develops a counter-mapping approach to the techno-hype which involves taking migrants' struggles as a standpoint, challenging presentism, and investigating the assemblages of low-tech and high-tech in migration governance. The paper moves on by illustrating these two points. First, focusing on Greece, it interrogates what it means to see technology like a migrant, by considering how technologies obstruct migrants' access to asylum and by analysing migrants' claims over technology. Second, it undoes presentism by tracing the genealogy of border technologies, and explores the entanglements between low-tech and high-tech at the border. The paper concludes explaining that a counter-mapping approach conceptualises mobility not as a by-product of technologies of control but, rather, as what states try to bridle, channel and manage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SMEs in post catching-up economies are assumed to possess high tech (science-based) business savvy with which to innovate new business models. Businesses operating without it are encouraged to commit and contribute to a coordinated R&D consortium – or risk missing the boat in the process of developing niches. In our view, it is fallacious to be preoccupied with coordinated joint R&D and patenting activities in construing the importance of science and leading SME growth agendas. This paper seeks to provide a rich and robust narrative, with the goal of bringing qualitative rigour to our typology and discovering contextual details that might be overlooked in proposing such development measures. We used two authoritative cases to uncover the dynamics and dilemmas of SMEs during times of change. This paper sheds light on why desirable results might not result from narrating the importance of science and intellectual capital for SMEs, or from seeding a routine for patenting and science-related business venturing. The inherent characteristics highlighted for traditional and IT-software based SMEs in Taiwan lead us to dwell deeper on what led to emergence of SMEs – and what could result from different industrial migration rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-voltage solid state pulse modulators are designed to handle voltage levels, which are several times the order of individual device voltage ratings, necessitating series connection of switches. The main challenge in series connection is to ensure equal voltage across all the devices in the stack under steady state and transient conditions. This paper describes the circuit design for static and dynamic voltage equalization in series-connected high-voltage BiMOSFETs operating in the pulsed mode. A generalized expression for voltage equalization circuit parameters has been derived and standby protection is achieved by means of active clamping. The dynamic equalization circuit has low power loss and the designed system has the capability to withstand turn-on/turn-off failure of one or more devices. A prototype 4 kV series switch has been simulated in PSpice, built and tested under deliberate asynchronism and also by removing the gate pulse to the lower device in the stack. This work forms a part of high-voltage pulse modulator development at Pulsed High Power Microwave Division, Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology, Indore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a duopolistic contingent claim model to evaluate the equity values of life insurers during a trade war. Choosing advanced (technology-oriented) relative to backward (human capital-oriented) technology is crucial for insurance management. A result shows that holding more capital would enhance insurer survival. The enhancement becomes more significant when the trade war becomes more severe and when the technology chosen by the insurers is more backward. Capital, as such, contributes to insurance stability but discourages advanced technology development for insurers during the trade war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on organizational adoption of high-technology products has concentrated on two major elements. Researchers have primarily examined whether organizations adopted innovations and whether there are differences between organizations that adopt or do not adopt innovations. In contrast, the present research examines the decision-making process of adoption of high-technology products in organizations. Specifically, the paper examines the concept of organizational culture and its relationship with the adoption decision process. A survey of firms that had recently made an adoption decision for a high-technology product is reported. The results suggest that adoption decision processes are distinct within organizational cultures. The paper explains these results and discusses the implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper initially attempts conceptually to integrate marketing into the total innovation process within high technology small firms. It is argued that an understanding of marketing problems can only be achieved when viewed in terms of other preceding stages in the innovation cycle, of which marketing is a key final act. The subsequent presentation of evidence from two recent research studies indicates that marketing has been neglected in a surprising number of the high technology small firms studied, in which there was a considerable reliance on unsolicited orders as a reactive form of selling. It is argued that this lack of marketing vigour is partly caused by a shortage of human and financial resources which frequently stem from expensive earlier stages in the innovation cycle (e.g. R&D). It is concluded that vigorous marketing would increase output and growth in several of the currently reactive instances. Thus, the paper concludes with suggestions for a more pro-active policy on the part of government agencies towards the promotion of sales growth in these currently inactive high technology small enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China developed towards an innovation-driven economy, both domestic and international connectivity have come to play a central role in regional development. Furthermore, earlier research has shown that the structure of inter-provincial S&T networks has developed substantially. However, differentiated analyses on the effects of S&T connectivity on regional development have remained rare and robust inferences on the exact role of particular aspects consequently difficult. Based on co-publication and co-patent data this paper analyses the role of S&T connectivity as a determinant of provincial-level innovation-driven development in China. Unambiguously, it confirms the essential role of S&T connectivity proposed by earlier literature. At the same time, it finds that this role only develops in full after initial investments in the local environment and never exceeds that of S&T inputs. Furthermore, it finds that international technological collaboration has become more, not less important drivers of development for regions as China's innovative capacities increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policies focusing on the higher education landscape often pursue a paradigm shift among universities that may ultimately lead to the transformation towards entrepreneurial universities. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a higher education policy-induced transformation significantly influenced regional high-technology entrepreneurship. We thereby focus on the German Excellence Initiative, a higher education policy intervention designed to foster and support the transformative change of German universities towards an entrepreneurial paradigm. Our results reveal that the German Excellence Initiative had a positive and significant impact on regional high-technology entrepreneurship. Our results further show that the higher the interaction with industry, the more conducive universities become for regional high-technology entrepreneurship. In addition, universities' overarching scientific focus decisively affects regional high-technology entrepreneurship. Based on our results, we conclude our paper by outlining implications for policy makers, high-technology entrepreneurs and university managers as well as present future avenues for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While we have seen many technological innovations in the way most sports are administered or played, stadium interaction had been largely unchanged till recently. However, with increasing technological intervention in stadiums, it is natural to ask questions on the initiatives that spectators prefer. This paper attempts to create a comprehensive study of such technological initiatives in modern stadiums across different sports. We have collected data from stadiums, categorised them and analysed spectator willingness to pay for these initiatives. We find that age and frequency of stadium visits are the most important characteristics that define the willingness of spectators to pay for high technology initiatives in stadiums. Our study is one of the few in the domain that presents both spectator and stadium side issues in enhancing digital initiatives in stadiums. It would enable future managers of stadiums to better plan and target right initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart manufacturing is transforming the industry, and its adoption offers significant benefits to manufacturers, suppliers and customers, such as enhanced organisational performance, competitive advantage, mass customisation, improved sustainability and better collaboration. The objective of this research is to identify the implementation barriers of smart manufacturing and to explore the cause–effect relationship between them using a fuzzy-based Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach. Through expert opinions and literature review, 20 barriers to smart manufacturing adoption were identified. The results showed that 'lack of product digitisation', 'lack of ubiquitous design and manufacturing setup', 'resistance to change', 'lack of data synchronisation' and 'lack of high tech infrastructure support' were the significant barriers in the Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The paper intends to guide the managers, governmental organisations and smart manufacturing service providers to formulate effective smart factory adoption strategies in the manufacturing domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates persistence in entrepreneurship across Italian provinces over the period 1927–2017. We distinguish between a 'general' dimension (sociopsychological) and a 'specific' dimension (learning) of the role model effect. Based on data obtained from a comprehensive survey conducted in 1927 by the Italian National Statistical Institute, we find different drivers of persistence across sectors: the only driver of persistence in high-technology sectors is the share of entrepreneurs using motive power ('specific' role model effect), while the share of industrial entrepreneurs ('general' role model effect) is an important driver of persistence in low-technology manufacturing and service sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the importance of framing and conceiving smart urban initiatives and schemes in a highly context-sensitive way, and argues that place-based approaches are essential for enhancing the social sustainability of smart cities. It does so by highlighting how such a perspective is often ignored by discourses and visions that favor generalized and socially skewed ways of framing the "city" as well as the citizens who are expected to become "smart" and benefit from high technologies. These, the paper argues, leave out the important nuances and social and spatial interstices that make places unique, and by doing so weaken the ability of smart to be inclusive and afford a rich landscape of technological appropriation making cities more resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past years there have been many revelations that have made it clear autonomous technology will become increasingly prevalent in our communities. Despite optimism about the technology there is a high degree of uncertainty about how they will be deployed in urban environs, particularly with regard to street design. Based on the concepts of autonomy, livability and human scale design, this paper provides a dialogue of possible opportunities for street design in an autonomous future. This paper develops a framework for best practice, identifying policies including roadway design/thinning, curbside policy, and parking removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its focus on high tech sectors and the role played by FDI, the literature dealing with developmental opportunities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies underestimates the room for domestic developmental agency. In this paper, we contrast diverging strategies of positioning the Polish and Hungarian dairy sector in European markets. In Hungary, 'outsourcing' the integration of fragmented producers to multinational corporations (MNCs) led to competitive downgrading, providing a fertile terrain for economic nationalism in the wake of the financial crisis. In Poland, a developmental alliance between state and farmers upgraded the competitiveness of domestic cooperatives under the constraint of EU accession. Contrary to narratives that describe passive competition states in CEE, we show that the domestic politics of developmental alliances determined whether EU integration resulted in the neoliberal outsourcing of development to MNCs or gave rise to a sector-level developmental state. Using the notion of dynamic institutional complementarity, we explore why lesser-developed countries with similar initial conditions diverge in developmental strategies and outcomes within the same transnational integration regime that imposes the same rules and provides the same opportunities to member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite extensive discussion about the relationship between market competition and innovation performance, the impact of market competition on the innovation efficiency of high-technology industries in a transitional economy is still unclear. The article is based on panel data of 17 subsectors of China's high-tech industry spanning the 2001–2016 period. Using stochastic the frontier analysis model, we empirically test the impact of market competition on two-stage innovation efficiency from the perspective of the industry. The results indicate that market competition and firm scale have positive and significant effects on the efficiency of two-stage innovation, the effects of industry export intensity and government intervention on R&D efficiency are negative, but the effects are different for the efficiency of the commercialisation of technology. Based on the results of the empirical analysis, this paper compares the trends and the differences between R&D efficiency and commercialisation efficiency, and then uses cluster analysis to reclassify China's high-tech industries into three categories, thus revealing the disconnect and imbalance within China's high-tech industries. At the end of the article, we present some possible policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the implementation of cloud-based systems in startups to answer how and why hi-tech startups use cloud computing, an overlooked question to date. Thus, referring to an extended version of Ross and Blumenstein [2015. "Cloud Computing as a Facilitator of SME Entrepreneurship." Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 27 (1): 87–101] framework, encompassing issues of context and culture following Spanò et al. [2019. "Context, Culture and Control: A Case Study on Accounting Change in an Italian Regional Health Service." Journal of Management and Governance. doi:], we analyse cloud adoption in startup firms and rely upon a case study of an Italian hi-tech startup. The case study allowed us to tap into the main issues relating to cloud implementation that is increased opportunities, reduced costs, scalability, access to global markets, and access to international venture capital. The results offer interesting insights to the literature on cloud computing, and also have some managerial implications in that they better unfold the effects played by context and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocal Cord Ulcer (VCU) is a contact ulcer that decreases the musculoskeletal laryngeal tension when speaking. With the advanced technology, including high-decision cameras and computational energy, it appears to be easy to construct. However, identifying laryngeal variation caused by VCU in CT images is still problematic. The paper aims to use image processing techniques to quantify the laryngeal variation caused by VCU, determine, and analyze its severity. The proposed 3D Swin Transforms Volumetric Segmentation Network (STVSNet) reduces the entanglement and improves the segmentation accuracy. Volumetric quantification on Contrast-Enhanced computed tomography (CECT) uses 3D STVSNet to extract shapes feature to evaluate the VCU severity. Evaluation results were 96.20% sensitivity, 97.15% accuracy, and 96.16% specificity. Concomitantly compared different prevail methods show better results for quantitative data. Experimental results show that 3D STVSNet indicates precise segmentation results for detecting VCU in any image type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the high-tech enterprise certification (HTE certification) can facilitate firm performance and that this effect is mediated by external resource acquisition, including venture capital and human resource in the context of China. Using the Chinese industrial enterprise database and difference–in-difference approach, our results indicate that: (a) HTE certification is positively associated with external resource acquisition, namely, venture capital and human resource; (b) both venture capital and human resource are positively related to firm performance and (c) the external resource acquisition including venture capital and human resource mediates the relationship between HTE certification and firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today Richard Rogers + Partners' Underwriting Room at Lloyd's of London—known as "the Room"—is recognized as an icon of the High Tech movement, its modernity aestheticized through intersecting banks of escalators and a soaring twelve-story atrium. Yet on closer inspection, this interior represents a less satisfactory compromise. The product of years of protracted negotiations with a three hundred-year-old institution, the Room was conceived at a moment when the concept of risk, and the foundations of the insurance market, were transformed due to environmental crises, technological innovations and global financial deregulation. This paper contends that the changing nature of risk was mitigated through complex consultations over the design of the Room, simultaneously demanding new architectural solutions, whilst preserving the institution's spatial and object-oriented rituals and mythologies. It concludes that the new Room, and the design process underpinning it, was a mode of institutional risk management in an age of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study argues that easy access to new information using information and communication technologies (ICT) will bring both more technological development and information about new markets, together catalyzing high technology (high-tech) production. This paper aims to show the impact of digitalization on the technology intensity of export. We use the ICT Development Index (IDI) as a proxy for the digitalization level of a country and the value of the exports of high-tech products as a proxy for the technology intensity of export. IDI comprises three components, including ICT access, usage and skills. These statistics reflect the ICT development of the country. To analyze the relevant relationship, we use panel data on countries between 2007 and 2017. The system-generalized method of moments (system GMM) dynamic panel estimator is utilized in the estimations, permitting us to control for potential endogeneity problems between the main dependent and independent variables. Results show that in developing countries, IDI has a significant effect on the export of high-tech products. In addition, the significance of the main components of IDI varies. These results suggest that developing countries striving to increase the export of high-tech products should invest more in ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the focus is on identifying the technological linkages between the Finnish nanotechnology community and the large established companies. These linkages represent potential diffusion paths for nanotechnology. The technological linkages are first observed at a broader level in comparison with the technological strengths of the Finnish industries, and then in more detail at the level of companies. In addition, the absorptive capacity of the established companies is discussed to illustrate their ability to take advantage of external sources of knowledge. The descriptive analysis shows that the R&D activities of the Finnish nano-community are connected to the technological specialisation of Finnish industry in broader sense and that there are potential technological linkages to various industrial sectors, both in 'low-tech' and 'high-tech' areas. Further, the larger established companies with potential connections to nanotechnology are characterised by a higher level of absorptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a unique labour force survey to document workplace communication patterns in urban, suburban and rural areas. A number of interesting stylised facts are distilled relating to workplace communication: its intensity, within-firm communication, communication external to the firm and the media being used with a special focus on information technologies. The paper also investigates the complementarities across different media of communication and the evolution over time of workplace communication patterns. It is found that cities foster communication external to the firm and the use of telecommunications. By contrast, the hypothesis of a greater prevalence of face-to-face communication in cities does not receive much empirical validation. Also, complementarities across media do not lend much support to popular predictions about the forthcoming demise of cities following the replacement of face-to-face meetings by telecommunications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfluidic capillary electrophoresis (MCE) is the novel technique resulted from the CE mininaturization as planar separation and analysis device. This review presents and discusses various application fields of this advanced technology published in the period 2017 till mid-2019 in eight different sections including clinical, biological, single cell analysis, environmental, pharmaceuticals, food analysis, forensic and ion analysis. The need for miniaturization of CE and the consequence advantages achieved are also discussed including high-throughput, miniaturized detection, effective separation, portability and the need for micro- or even nano-volume of samples. Comprehensive tables for the MCE applications in the different studied fields are provided. Also, figure comparing the number of the published papers applying MCE in the eight discussed fields within the studied period is included. The future investigation should put into consideration the possibility of replacing conventional CE with the MCE after proper validation. Suitable validation parameters with their suitable accepted ranges should be tailored for analysis methods utilizing such unique technique (MCE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a series of articles on information technology. Review of the impact of text layout on reading from a screen; Survey of the influence of computer efficacy on computer use; Model of Internet privacy concerns; Short paper of a novel teching technique.

This paper explores the dynamics between design and technological change for regional innovation. We discuss a framework integrating persistence effects and processes of knowledge recombination that explicitly recognize the role of design as a separated yet synergic element to technological change within the context of regional innovation systems. Using a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) approach and information on over 900 NUTS-3 regions across 20 countries in Europe for the period 2000–12, we provide novel evidence of evolutionary dynamics for both design and technological change along with simultaneous complementarities expanding the set of combinatorial opportunities for regional innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of cyber threats, drones and artificial intelligence, will the future of inter-state warfare at sea inevitably be high tech? This paper challenges assumptions about the ubiquity and importance of high technology in any future naval clash between China and America. While taken as a given that the most advanced weapons and platforms will be vital to such a conflict, both navies also employ legacy weapons and older technologies. A case study is offered here of medium calibre naval guns, seen on the very latest naval surface combatants of both China, the USA, and other major navies. Why do modern navies persist with such seemingly old weapons? To what extent are they likely to be important in any future conflict? It is argued that overly focusing on the latest high-tech weapons risks a type of naïve technological determinism and obscures how high- and low-tech weapons are often complementary. It is this synergy that requires greater understanding and attention. Moreover, relatively low-tech weapons like guns could be surprisingly relevant in the context of hybrid and amphibious warfare scenarios involving China and the USA, especially for the diplomacy of the "shot across the bows". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we take as a point of departure an assumption that innovation governance matters as a local and regional policy instrument, and consequently we investigate whether local policy can be linked to local industry. To do this, we use Swedish survey data on policy and hightech agglomeration at the level of municipalities and present evidence on innovation governance nexuses, i.e. locations with greater industrial specialization paired with stronger formalization of innovation governance. Theoretically, this paper follows the literature on regional advantage, but a novel approach is used in which innovation governance literature is linked to that advantage. The findings indicate that these types of policy instruments are useful by creating networks that channel and direct resource and knowledge flows, particularly at locations with higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between export sophistication and economic performance using a panel data from 64 countries over 2005–2015. Following a dynamic GMM approach, strong evidence of the positive effect of the manufacturing sector on countries' economic performance is found. Similarly, high tech and ICT exported goods have a positive and significant effect on income. Relying on TiVA indicators gives new insights into countries' Global Value Chains (GVCs) participation gains. Backward linkages are shown to be strongly income enhancing. Forward linkage effects are mixed, depending on the end use of the exported domestic value-added, suggesting that countries should not take GVCs' benefits for granted and should consider interventionist policies in order to climb the sophistication ladder and develop more valuable parts of the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the innovation systems (IS) concept was coined in the late 1980s, it has been accepted as a mechanism of economic and technological development in policy circles. This recognition follows a change in our understanding of the characteristics of the innovation process as a non-linear process and having a systemic character. This changed understanding is also reflected in the movement in policy focus from science and technology (S&T) policy towards innovation policy. In recent years, the IS approach has been downscaled from the national level (NIS) to the regional level (RIS), a system's level that has gained the interest of policy makers. There are many rationales for this regionalization of innovation policy. However, as this paper points out, there are several challenges to implement an IS policy on the regional level. Based on a case study of a Swedish regional policy programme, this paper highlights (some of) the challenges related to defining the regional system's domain, implementing functional regions and securing sufficient regional knowledge infrastructure. This paper argues that when the IS approach is put into policy practice and downscaled to the regional level, it stands the risk of losing its strength as a tool for coping with the structural problems connected to innovation and globalization. Based on the identified challenges, the paper is concluded with a number of more general policy implications for IS-based policies with regional intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-based firms need to survive via technological changes. Technological entrepreneurship is concentrated on identifying and exploiting the tech-opportunities for creating product innovation. This paper introduces a fuzzy-based tool to promote innovation throughout firms in order to enhance technological entrepreneurship capabilities (TEC). The effort involves identifying components of TEC to develop the inference system, specifying the fuzzy relationship among these components, assessing the TEC in firms, and designing a TEC roadmap after a fuzzy-based gap analysis. Designed roadmaps introduce technological change priorities as a growth path to firms to move up along the ladder of competitiveness. Based on the results, a method for categorizing firms into four distinct levels that involve passive, reactive, proactive and innovative is introduced. Hence, firms have an action plan to enhance TEC from passive to innovative level in a time-based transition pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the association between internal barriers to innovation and the propensity of technology-based SMEs to cooperate with universities and research institutes (URIs). We examine empirically two types of internal company barriers – financial and knowledge obstacles to innovation. The data source is the latest edition of the Brazilian Innovation Survey (PINTEC). We analyse the full sample of technology-based SMEs as well as the subsamples of high-tech manufacturing companies and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Financial obstacles are shown to be strongly related to the propensity of KIBS to collaborate with URIs. Knowledge obstacles are moderately related to the propensity of high-tech manufacturing SMEs to collaborate with URIs. We conclude that while URIs have other important roles in the techno-economic system, their perceived contribution to alleviating internal innovation barriers for technology-based SMEs may be less prominent than policy decision-makers in emerging economies may expect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid progression of the Internet has impacted dramatically on contemporary society, transforming communications, business and trade. The global nature of the Internet has challenged traditional models of regulation. What has emerged is a new international framework, governed by an increasing number of actors and regulatory processes. By drawing upon the regulatory experience of the Internet, including an examination of the forces and dynamics that have shaped the regulatory framework, this paper considers the regulatory developments of another emerging and ubiquitous technology, nanotechnologies. It examines the rapid advancement and promise of nanotechnology-based products and processes, and the policy and regulatory challenges facing government, regulators, and industry alike. The paper argues that while the regulatory future for nanotechnologies appears to be uncertain, and highly contested, regulatory regimes will most likely reflect the commodities and services that the technology helps to produce. Anything other than this is unlikely because the 'nanotechnology genie' is already out of the bottle, and regulatory issues will evolve as the nature of the technology itself evolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the theoretical underpinnings for the pedagogical role and rationale for adopting 3D virtual worlds for socialisation and knowledge creation in distance education. Socialisation or 'knowing one another' in remote distributed environments can be achieved through synchronous technologies such as instant messaging, audio and video-conferencing. However, a 3D virtual world can provide an immersive experience where there is a visual presence and virtual proximity of the group members in terms of their 3D selves (avatars). We discuss the affordances of a 3D virtual world and its role in providing a platform for pedagogical design that engenders socialisation, synchronous communication and collaboration. We propose the use of a knowledge construction model as a framework for guiding the design of collaborative activities in a 3D virtual world for blended learning environments. We believe that this framework will also be useful for integrating 2D environments such as blogs, wikis and forums with a 3D learning environment. We consider the implications of this in the context of blended learning in distance education. This paper would be of interest to course designers, researchers, teachers, staff developers and policy-makers who are involved in integrating 3D virtual worlds within the curriculum of their programmes and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates strategic actions and grand strategies in the aviation industry. To address this purpose, a review of main strategic change is conducted and information technology is considered as a key factor to identify behaviours of main players. In this context, collaboration emerges as one of the core aspects driving the e-supply chain management. A specific and increasing role is given to e-marketplaces where integration and co-operation seem to be the appropriate competences to create durable competitive advantages. This paper does not attempt to consider the full range of e-tools developed in the aviation industry, but at the same time it highlights the impact of information and communication technologies on customer relations and supply chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart technologies with higher degrees of autonomy will be essential to achieve the next breakthrough in both agility and productivity in future manufacturing systems, often referred to as Industry 4.0. However, the technologies will also bring substantial design and integration challenges and novelty risks to manufacturing businesses. The aim of this paper is to analyse the current landscape and to identify the challenges for introducing smart technologies into manufacturing systems in Europe. Expert knowledge from both industrial and academic practitioners in the field was extracted using an online survey. A workshop was used to triangulate and extend the survey results. The findings indicate three main challenges for the ubiquitous implementation of smart technologies in manufacturing are: i) the perceived risk of novel technologies, ii) the complexity of integration, and iii) the consideration of human factors. Recommendations are made based on these findings to transform the landscape for smart manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores what it takes to develop a common language and shared sense of purpose between Māori and the high-tech science sector. Robotics and automation, 3-D printing, sensors, and digital technologies are shaping New Zealand's economy in fundamental ways. If, as envisioned under New Zealand's Vision Mātauranga policy, Māori contribution to economic growth through distinctive Indigenous innovation is to be recognised and valued, then how this happens in these frontier science domains requires investigation. Findings are presented from the first phase of a longitudinal study of one National Science Challenge: Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) -- Kia Kotahi Mai, Te Ao Pūtaiao me te Ao Hangarau. Collecting a variety of data from science, business and Māori participants, the findings suggest that while there is enabling macro policy, organisational and science team human and relational capacities require recalibrating. The authors outline a model of how this can be done through a focus on mātauranga (knowledge), tikanga (practice) and kaupapa (focus areas) and how SfTI is reshaping its organisational practice to align to this model. The research also identifies the important role of the science intermediary as crucial to this alignment within teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores whether venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investments have complementary or substitute effects on innovation in high-tech entrepreneurial firms in different institutional settings, focusing on different levels of capital market development, entrepreneurial culture, and intellectual property rights protection. Using a panel sample of 326 firms from 12 EU countries observed from 2009–2013, the empirical results show that the VC/PE effect on high-tech entrepreneurial firms' innovation is stronger in countries with a less-developed capital market. This suggests that VC/PE investments play a substitute role. A partial substitute role of VC/PE is also detected in firms located in countries with a low entrepreneurial culture. However, no significant evidence emerged regarding the level of protection of intellectual property rights. The results are generally robust to various econometric specifications. The implications of the resulting framework, the study's limitations, and opportunities for further research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on quantitative calculation of longwave radiation and shortwave radiation from MODIS data in the Poyang Lake area of Jiangxi Province, China. The sum of the net longwave radiation and the shortwave radiation is the net radiation. These parameters are critical for the study of energy exchange in the lower boundary layer on land surface. Two of the most important factors for the retrieval of longwave radiation are the land surface temperature and emissivity. In this paper, the land surface temperature and emissivity were calculated from MODIS data using the regional self-iterative split-window method. The most important factor in the determination of the shortwave radiation is Earth surface albedo. The spectral reflectance and surface albedo were derived from MODIS data using the Synergy of TERRA and AQUA MODIS data (SYNTAM) algorithm. The net shortwave and longwave radiation were calculated and compared with the in situ measurement data. Our results indicate that the methods for quantitative calculation of net longwave radiation, shortwave radiation and net radiation from MODIS data can have a good accuracy. The relative errors are between 2.1% to 9.72% for longwave radiation, 0.15% to 10.48% for shortwave radiation and 0.64% to 13.7% for net radiation. We can conclude that a good accuracy can be achieved for deriving longwave radiation, shortwave radiation and net radiation, which are helpful for heat exchange, environmental, hydrology and ecology research in land areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the sectoral systems of innovation (SSI) framework for analysing shifts in technological trajectory and economic growth has evoked a great deal of interest. Many researchers working on the National Systems of Innovation (NSI) concept have welcomed the approach and shown interest in the interplay between national and sectoral frameworks and related policy prescriptions. This paper attempts to analyse emerging and missing linkages between SSI and NSI in the biopharmaceutical sector in India. It does so in the light of major expansion in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and the new efforts to incorporate strategies targeting biotechnology innovation. The paper studies the policy regime facilitating this new era and discusses the future growth prospects of the Indian biopharmaceutical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a study of research partnerships with industry across the higher education sector in three high technology fields in South Africa, the paper identifies five key tensions, the resolution of which shapes the way partnerships are facilitated and constrained in distinct institutional contexts. The paper highlights the significance of policy coherence between organizational levels within an institution, the importance of seeking a balance between financial and intellectual research imperatives, the necessity of promoting a strategic balance between the forms of partnership that are allowed and encouraged to develop, and the need for flexible regulation within institutions to provide levers and incentives without being heavy‐handed or constricting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact that locational spillovers have on firm performance. On the basis of a uniquely created data set consisting of high-technology start-ups publicly listed in Germany, this paper tests the proposition of locational spillovers positively affecting firm performance, as measured by abnormally high profits on the stock market. The results provide evidence that geographic proximity and university spillovers are complementary determinants of firm performance. Although neither geographic proximity nor academic research spillovers alone can explain firm performance, a combination of both factors results in significant higher stock market performance. The results also show that academic spillovers are heterogeneous in their impact, depending on the type. In particular, spillovers from social sciences have a different impact on firm performance than do spillovers from natural sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this paper is to critically evaluate empirical research on some variables relating to the configuration of text on screen to consolidate our current knowledge in these areas. The text layout variables are line length, columns, window size and interlinear spacing, with an emphasis on line length due to the larger number of studies related to this variable. Methodological issues arising from individual studies and from comparisons among studies are identified. A synthesis of results is offered which provides alternative interpretations of some findings and identifies the number of characters per line as the critical variable in looking at line length. Further studies are needed to explore the interactions between characters per line and eye movements, scrolling movements, reading patterns and familiarity with formats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to conventional wisdom based on the product cycle and technology gap models, this paper argues that the technology factor can prove to be a key determinant of manufactured exports from less-developed countries (LDCs). The technological advantages enjoyed by LDCs rest on a very different foundation, technological capability, rather than on major technological advancements or breakthroughs. This paper attempts to capture and analyse how technological capability augments export competitiveness of LDC enterprises by introducing quantifiable concepts of technological capability and estimating econometric models of firm-level export performance for two R&D-intensive industries in India, pharmaceuticals and electronics/electricals. The results of our econometric analysis provide new insights into the relationship between technological capability and export performance, highlighting significant inter-industry differences. We find that simple production engineering capabilities augment exports of both sectors, while efficiency of reverse engineering proves to be particularly important for pharmaceutical exports only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an account of the emergence and development of a Venture Capital Industry in Israel, and the role it played in the recent successful growth of Israel's high tech cluster. The paper focuses on Israel's Venture Capital Industry, its emergence and operation during the 90s, in which period the number of VC Funds increased from 2 to over 100. The context is the transformation of Israel's high tech industry from the Defense-dominated Electronics industry of the 70s/80s to the 'Silicon Valley' model of the 90s characterized by large numbers of SU companies. During this period the share of high tech in manufacturing industry; and ICT's share in the Business Sector increased considerably attaining one of the highest levels worldwide. Given the importance of Venture Capital an analysis of the waves of new SU companies should be done jointly with an analysis of the emergence and development of Venture Capital (and vice-versa). The approach adopted is Evolutionary & Systemic rather than a focus on 'the operation' of a mature Venture Capital industry, which has been more frequent in the VC literature.We focus on the Dynamics of Venture Capital particularly of the emergence and of subsequent development of the industry. We link these with core Evolutionary concepts such as variation, selection and reproduction (Nelson 1995). The paper discusses the co-evolutionary and dynamic process involving the business sector, technology policies, venture-capitalists, individuals & Startup companies, and foreign linkages. We attempt to show that VC emergence is part & parcel of the reconfiguration of a pre-existing Electronics Industry one involving large amounts of SU and new and powerful links with global capital markets. The main conclusions and policy lessons of the paper are that specific technology policies targeted to the Venture Capital sector can be effective only to the extent that favorable background conditions exist or are created. The main groups of factors, events or sub-processes influencing the emergence process which started in 1993, and subsequent development, are: (1) favorable background conditions; (2) features of the immediate pre-emergence period (1989-92); (3) Targeted Policies which directly triggered VC Emergence (1993-98); (4) Strong VC-SU co-evolution; (5) Global Capital Market Links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product platforms have been effectively used by many successful companies for product family design. Technological advancements and changes in customer needs pose problems for robustly designing product platforms over a given planning horizon. To date, most product platform formation approaches are directed by structural (subassemblies and components) considerations and are seldom undertaken at the conceptual design stage. We argue that product platform design should commence at the conceptual design stage rather than the detailed design stage. It is noteworthy that physical structures are the end results of designs already frozen at higher level of functional abstraction. Hence, tackling the platform formation problem should start much before structures are materialized. We propose that the product platform formation approach should be considered at two different stages: (i) conceptual design stage; and (ii) detailed design stage. In reference to the Function - Behavior - Structure model proposed by Gero and Kannengiesser (Gero, J.S. and Kannengiesser, U., Function-behavior-structure: A model for social situated agents. Workshop on Cognitive Modeling of Agents and Multi-Agent Interactions, International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2003, Acapulco, Mexico, 2003, pp. 101-107), conceptual design would refer to the design of products at function and technology stage, whereas detailed design would refer to the design of products at the structure stage. This paper discusses a method to form product platforms at the Function-Technology stage which can be correspondingly mapped to the structural stages. Thus, forming product platforms at a higher level of abstraction would enable a better understanding of the complications met at structural level. The FT approach uses Function Technology Ant Colony Optimization (FTACO) method to determine product platform configuration(s). We demonstrate the proposed approach using the example of a computer mouse product family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software reuse--the application of existing software artifacts in the development of a new system--has been claimed to dramatically improve system development productivity and quality. These claims have been particularly pronounced with respect to the reuse of object-oriented (OO) software artifacts. However, the empirical evaluations of these claims are relatively sparse and often inconsistent. This paper begins to address the gap in the literature. A verbal-protocol study was conducted in which analysts created a model for a problem (the target) and were given an example problem and solution (the source) to reuse. The results show little support for reuse in OO analysis. First, reuse had no effect on the quality of the OO analysis models. Subjects given a highly reusable example produced solutions that were no better than those of subjects in the control group. Second, the degree of similarity between the source and target problems did have an effect on the reuse process, although it did not impact the reuse outcome. Subjects given the example with the most similarity to the target problem quickly recognized the reuse potential, attempted a fair amount of reuse, but made several errors stemming from lazy copying. Subjects given an example with a lesser (but still significant) degree of similarity were often unable to recognize the reuse potential, and thus engaged in less rescue activity. Thus, the characteristics of the source-target comparison that facilitate noticing the reuse potential of the source do not necessarily help in applying the source solution to the target problem. These results suggest that the claims associated with reuse should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We trace in pragmatic terms some of what we know about knowledge, information technology, knowledge management practice and research, and provide two complementary frameworks that highlight potential opportunities for building a research agenda in this area. The papers in this special issue are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]