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The paper shows that visions of the future can be used as a predictor of cooperation and division between actors in their efforts to shape the institutional environment, specifically policy in socio‐technical systems. Accordingly, the paper suggests a new method to analyze visions: a virtual solution space in which visions can be grouped according to their similarity. The similarity of visions is calculated based on cluster analysis. Empirically, the paper focuses on the networks between industry associations in the heating transition in the German building sector. It shows that actors whose visions of future socio‐technical system developments overlap are more likely to cooperate with each other. It also suggests that the fragmentation of the residential heating system in Germany is reflected in a fragmented actor network. Furthermore, the authors show that shared technological interests can outweigh similar visions. These fragmented technological interests hinder meaningful cooperation. This is potentially one reason why a powerful low‐carbon heating coalition in Germany that could facilitate an accelerated deployment of low‐carbon heat systems by driving policy change has not emerged to date. The paper contributes to a better understanding of how niche actors in sustainability transitions use their agency and specifically strategize to bring about institutional change. In this respect, the authors discuss how differing levels of system‐fragmentation influence transition dynamics in general and institutional change dynamics in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire detection and fire alarm systems (FDAS) have the function of warning people swiftly of the hazards of a fire and thus permitting rapid rescue, protecting material assets (particularly where unattended), ensuring operational processes, and preventing fires from spreading, i.e. ensuring early and effective firefighting. In attaining these objectives, installed FDAS contribute substantially to fire protection. In this context, automatic fire detectors have the function of detecting fires early, swiftly and reliably. Fire detectors are sensor systems and form part of a wider safety system. They are exposed to numerous environmental conditions specific to their use and, like other socio-technical systems, undergo natural ageing processes which limit their service lifespan. Owing to the numerous risks that arise when a fire detector fails or its function is impaired, the continuous serviceability of a FDAS must be ensured. This requires controlled replacement of fire detectors. In some countries, this is ensured by standards. This paper explains the need for controlled replacement of fire detectors and the associated causes and effects, with reference to the example of Germany and the provisions of DIN 14675-1. The paper explains, in terms of practical relevance and with reference to examples, the basic concept of preventing possible failure of a technical safety system in order to assure its protective function in the event of a hazard occurring, together with the range of essential causes and effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the integration of born-digital and digitized content into an outdated classification system within the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin. It underscores the predicament encountered by smaller to medium-sized cultural institutions as they navigate between adhering to established knowledge management systems and preserving an expanding array of contemporary cultural artifacts. The perspective of infrastructure studies is employed to scrutinize the representation of diverse viewpoints and voices within the museum's collections. The study delves into museum personnel's challenges in cataloging and classifying ethnographic objects utilizing a numerical-alphabetical categorization scheme from the 1930s. It presents an analysis of the limitations inherent in this method, along with its implications for the assimilation of emerging forms of born-digital and digitized objects. Through an exploration of the case of category 74, as observed at the Museum of European Cultures, the study illustrates the complexities of replacing pre-existing systems due to their intricate integration into the socio-technical components of the museum's information infrastructure. The paper reflects on how resource-constrained cultural institutions can take a proactive and ethical approach to knowledge management, re-evaluating their knowledge infrastructure to promote inclusion and ensure adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Illuminates the dynamics of stability in socio-technical systems by reviewing and advancing the concept of lock-ins. • Reviews deep and shallow material, institutional, behavioral and discursive lock-in mechanisms. • Analyzes the lock-ins and their interactions reinforcing single-use packaging over reusable alternatives. • Introduces archetypical interlock-ins and clusters of lock-ins. • Contributes to understanding the complexity of resistance to sustainability transitions. Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallow and deep lock-ins reinforcing the persistent dominance of single-use over reusable food packaging in Germany. Additionally, we explore the lock-in interactions both within and between the socio-technical elements. Hence, we introduce archetypical interlock-ins and lock-in clusters pointing to core trends of resistance towards reusable packaging alternatives. This study advances the lock-in concept for future socio-technical analyses while guiding the illumination of the complex dynamics of stability, the assessment of current sustainability transition interventions, and the search for potential unlocking strategies to enable change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this research, the emphasis is multifold. First objective is to study differences amongst India's Make-in-India, Germany's Industry 4.0 and China's Made-in-China 2025 on a macro level. Second objective is to identify where does individual industry segment out of the five broad segments (prioritized by Make-in-India initiative) represented by ten firms in India stand in terms of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Third objective is to identify key barriers for each of these five industry segments. Finally, socio-technical interventions are also proposed aimed at faster adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed methodological approach is followed to achieve the research objectives. First, for the macro-level comparison of three pertinent countries, extant research and industry literature have been relied upon. Thereafter, at a micro level, inputs from experts belonging to focal sectors are included in this study to ascertain the current level of readiness of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and the barriers to adoption. Finally, the authors argue for and propose some socio-technical interventions that are aimed at mitigation of barriers for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Findings: It has been ascertained that amongst the ten firms (two each from given focal sectors) considered in the study, the automotive and the software firm are perhaps best placed to adopt the Industry 4.0 technology, while the infrastructure project management firm is least ready for Industry 4.0 technologies. The common barriers to adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, as elaborated by experts belonging to each of the ten firms, are also identified. These three commons barriers are resistance to change, unclear economic benefits and problems related to coordination and collaboration. Research limitations/implications: The study is one of first attempts to understand the nuances related to technology readiness across focal industries pertaining to the Make-in-India initiative and Industry 4.0. The study furthers the extant understanding of common and distinct barriers across industries. Employing the soft-systems methodology, the study advocates for a number of socio-technical interventions pertaining to establishment of e-skill ecosystem, community learning clusters and sector-focussed skill acquisition and augmentation. Since the study considers only two firms corresponding to each of the five focal sectors, including more firms across industries could have resulted in further validation of study as well. Practical implications: Contrasting the initiatives of the three countries results in identification of different thematic focus of the respective initiatives. While India's Make-in-India initiative has a strong social dimension, Germany's Industry 4.0 and Made-in-China 2025 have key objective related to integration of cyber-physical systems and to graduate to innovation-driven country, respectively. Further, analysis on the technology readiness for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies based on the respective experts' assessment results in understanding of the underlying barriers. Social implications: Adopting the soft-systems perspective linking nuances of stakeholders, socio-technical systems and socio-economic characteristics results in several propositions to further the social objectives of India's Make-in-India initiative. These propositions advocate for pathways in which extant strengths in terms of technology, people and existing socio-technical structures can be brought together to cater to the requirements related to employability and skill augmentation of new as well as existing workforce. Originality/value: Extant research literature is primarily focussed on certain specific topics within Industry 4.0 implementation and is mainly based on conceptual or theoretical basis. From a practitioners' perspective, only a few empirical papers could be found that too are typically focussed on single case studies resulting from pilot applications of Industry 4.0. However, such papers have not examined the broad implications of Industry 4.0 in terms of differences between key countries' manufacturing initiatives, readiness of key sectors, sectoral barriers and accompanying policy-level implications associated with implementation of Industry 4.0. Thus, the objective of this research is to abridge these research gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore interorganisational collaboration on event security in Germany. Therefore, it focusses on perceptions of representatives from emergency and law enforcement agencies (ELEAs) as well as commercial event stewards and security providers (ESSPs) who work together in the area. The following questions are addressed in this paper: how do the actors perceive inter-organisational collaboration on event security? In these actors' view, what factors define collaboration? Design/methodology/approach: For this study, a literature review was carried out on success-critical factors of inter-organisational collaboration at security-related settings. The results have been grouped into categories, which are assigned to sociotechnical core elements. These are the basis of a qualitative content analysis of 47 semi-structured interviews with ELEA and ESSP representatives in the context of 15 major events in Germany. Findings: The findings support the assumption that interorganisational collaboration on event security theoretically and in the perception of on-site experts emerges as a sociotechnical system within the setting of major events. Successful collaboration is determined by human, technical and organisational factors, which interconnect the collaborating actors and ideally stabilise their work relations. Originality/value: This article contributes to the literature regarding event and security research. The results provide insights into hitherto under-represented perspectives of stakeholders on collaboration in event security. The sociotechnical category system adds an approach for the systematic analysis of interorganisational security production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Actor narratives relating to electric vehicles are examined in Lower Saxony, Germany. • These are set in a strong structuration frame to theorise agency-structure connections. • The narratives are assumed to indicate situated or 'conjunctural' knowledge. • A connection is thus made between subjective experience and structural processes. • While narratives of obstacles to EV transition dominate, those of entrepreneurial initiative are also present. We apply an approach that theoretically connects processes at different scales within a sociotechnical sustainability transitions frame, focusing on individual actors. Drawing on interviews with actors involved in the electric mobility transition in Lower Saxony, Germany, we analyse actors' narratives as revelatory of situated or 'conjunctural' knowledge, as viewed from a strong structuration perspective of sociotechnical change. The purpose is to shed a particular type of light on structure-agency processes. Strong structuration is an extended version of Giddens' social theory that takes account of actors' subjective experience of their situation, viewing this as both shaped by - and shaping of - structure, in the sense of rules that are internal and external to individuals. Here we show how actors' narratives of their experiences and positions in the sociotechnical system reveal themes relevant to the on-going structuration electric vehicles in the case study region of Lower Saxony, Germany. We identify general 'meta-narratives' that span more than one individual, as well as personal narratives that are specific to individuals. In addition, the analytic value of narratives in transition literature is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to understand the current state and challenges of deploying collaborative applications in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of 101 SMEs in Germany showed how intensively collaborative applications are used today and the positive and negative effects associated with their use. Analyses proved correlations between the use of collaborative applications, the need for cooperation within SMEs and the effects and benefits of their use. Findings: The company representatives surveyed reported a positive balance of their pro and con experiences with collaborative applications. The use of collaborative applications closely interacts with work-related demands: the more complex the requirements of joint action, the broader the benefits and challenges are of their use. The data also revealed three gaps between demand of cooperation and use of specific applications, supporting the argument that implementation of collaborative applications is challenging for SMEs. A successful use requires major changes in work systems and culture of the company. Research limitations/implications: The data of the survey are not representative of the population of SMEs in Germany. Originality/value: These empirical findings contribute a unique as well as substantive view of today's state of digitalisation of project communication and management within SMEs, specifically their deployment of collaborative software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study at hand investigates a largely neglected phenomenon: the discontinuation of incumbent socio-technical regimes by means of deliberate governance. Comparing actor constellations and policy measures in four different countries (the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands) and on the EU level, we identify strategies and measures that have been applied to challenge the automobility regime. Instead of creating a new analytical framework for studying the governance of discontinuation, we propose to use three existing concepts, namely the multi-level perspective (MLP), multi-level governance (MLG) as well as actor-centred approaches, combining them into one integrated concept labelled “multi-level governance of socio-technical regimes”. From this perspective, the European Union is the most active actor in attempts to restrict automobility, especially exerting pressure at the landscape level. However, in spite of various challenges, the automobility regime still remains considerably stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrification of transportation in Germany has failed so far, but the disappointment has given way to more radical visions and new coalitions. Utilities, grid operators, and ICT companies have started to challenge the traditional image of the car. In their future scenarios, transportation, energy, and communication infrastructures must be aligned in order to achieve a sustainable society. This paper explores the co-production and enactment of this technological vision using the analytical framework of sociotechnical imaginaries. First, I describe how the idea of the electric vehicle as energy infrastructure was able to take hold within the German expert community. To understand how this approach might transform the existing mobility and energy practices, I examine two of the first R&D experiments that have enacted this vision in two radically different ways. Both reflect unarticulated assumptions about social life, including implicit cultural notions of selfdetermination, ownership, living arrangements, privacy, and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]