Technology Acquisition Research Articles

Extensible Metaverse Implication for a Smart Tourism City

The metaverse is an innovation that has created the recent phenomenon of new tourism experiences from a virtual reality of a smart tourism destination. However, the existing metaverse platform demonstrated that the technology is still difficult to develop, as the service provider did not disclose the internal mechanisms to developers, and it was a closed system, which could not use or share the user’s data across platforms. The aim of this paper was to design and develop an open metaverse platform called the “extensible metaverse”, which would allow new developers to independently develop the capabilities of the metaverse system. The acquisition of this new technology was conducted through requirements analysis, then the analysis and design of the new system architecture, followed by the implementation, and the evaluation of the system by the users. The results found that the extended metaverse was divided into three tiers that created labels, characters, and virtual objects. Furthermore, the linking tier combined the 3D elements, and the deployment tier compiled the results of the link to use all three parts by using the Blender program, Godot Engine, and PHP + WebGL as their respective key mechanisms. This system was tested in Suphan Buri province, Thailand, which was evaluated by 428 users. The results of the metaverse satisfaction, created tourism experience, and overall satisfaction of the variation of the satisfaction of using the metaverse were 86.0%, 79.7%, and 92.9%, respectively. The relative Chi-square (χ2/df) of 1.253 indicated that the model was suitable. The comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.984, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was 0.998, and the model based on the research hypothesis was consistent with the empirical data. The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.024. In conclusion, the extended metaverse is more flexible than other platforms and also creates the user’s satisfaction and tourism experience in the smart destination to support sustainable tourism.

Study of Ancient Pottery from the Brazilian Amazon Coast by EDXRF, PIXE, XRD, Mössbauer Spectroscopy and Computed Radiography

This paper presents the application of five analytical methods to analyze ceramic fragments excavated in the archaeological sites of Sambaqui do Bacanga (SB), Sambaqui da Panaquatira (SP), and Rabo de Porco (RP) located on the Brazilian Amazon coast. It is a region that presents evidence of one of the oldest ceramic productions in the Americas. Characterization of ceramics from the three sites led to the identification of the production processes, technological acquisition and choices, and the origin of the raw materials. The analytical methods employed in this study were EDXRF, PIXE, Mössbauer spectroscopy, XRD, and computed radiography. It was concluded through the Mössbauer and XRD Spectroscopy analyses that the firing temperature range used on the ceramics was 750–900 °C, performed in an oxidizing environment. Fragments from the three archaeological sites were grouped into two groups through multivariate statistical analysis. The first group was composed of SB and SP samples, and the second of RP samples, indicating that different groups were manufactured with different clays. The result of the cluster analysis indicates that the clay used in the manufacture of the RP site fragments came from the bank of the Bacanga River. The ceramic fragments’ internal structures, observed by computed radiography, revealed the presence of various sizes and types of temper in the fragments, showing different production technologies.

글로벌 기술획득전략의 유형별 특성에 관한 실증연구

Although demands of global technology transfer have been expanded, extant studies tend to focus on the national or industry level and are still limited to describing firm-level technology transfer. This paper aims to identify behaviors of the global technology acquisition strategy of 89 Korean companies by analyzing TBP(Technology Balances of Payment) data which records disembodied technological asset flows. Based on four indicators such as activeness, concentration, persistence, and dependence on external technology, firms’ technology acquisition strategy can be clustered into four types: classmate, shy guy, opportunist, and outgoing person. In addition, this paper contributes to a practical understanding of firms’ global technology acquisition behaviors and provides implications for determining innovation policy directions or firms

해외기술도입 전략이 기업 성과에 미치는 영향 : 한국기업을 중심으로

As the complexity of technology and the convergence between technologies increases, firms have actively utilized foreign technology acquisition to strengthen their competitiveness. Based on TBP(Technology Balance of Payment) data of 243 Korean firms, this paper empirically explores the impact of foreign technology acquisition strategies on the financial performance and the moderating effect of a firm

Evaluation of the Madrid Treaty for the Protection of Trademarks

In recent decades, the world has globalized at a rapid pace bringing hitherto unimaginable developments to different facets of life, socially, economically and otherwise. This trend has impacted virtually all aspects of human endeavor, especially in the areas of commerce, and cross-border travels of goods and services through information technology and dissemination, and technology acquisition. Also, the movement of goods and services across international borders has been made relatively seamless through the availability of instant information courtesy of the internet. With all these developments, the need has arisen, unlike ever before, for the protection of investors’ businesses and other related proprietary interests, especially in foreign countries. One of these interests, and undoubtedly, the subject of this paper, is intellectual property. Specifically, this paper discusses the issue of international trademark protection in the context of the Madrid Agreement and Protocol on the protection of trademarks. Adopting the doctrinal method of research approach, the work did a comparative analysis of the two instruments. It xrayed the system, bringing to the fore, the enormous benefits accruing to the use of the system. Prominent among them is that an applicant under the system has the advantage of single registration in a single language. Findings revealed among other things that, though the Protocol undoubtedly complements the Agreement, there are significant differences between the two, pointing to the inference that the Protocol was made to ameliorate the difficulties encountered in trademark registration under the Agreement. Also,it is our finding that Nigeria is yet to accede to these treaties. It was accordingly recommended that the Government of Nigeria should immediately accede to the System for Nigerians to enjoy the full benefits arising from the system without more.

Qualitative Analysis of Use of ICTs and Necessary Personal Competencies (Self-Efficacy, Creativity and Emotional Intelligence) of Future Teachers: Implications for Education

(1) Background: The acquisition of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) skills and competencies has become enormously important in regard to the effective management of studies or schooling. The questions that guided this study were: What are future teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of new technologies in teaching/learning? What are their opinions of the personal competencies necessary to appropriately make use of ICTs? The purpose of this study was to discover the opinions of future teachers—current master’s degree students—regarding the use of ICTs in teaching/learning, as well as the personal competencies involved in their best use, such as self-efficacy, creative intelligence, and emotional intelligence. (2) Methods: Three focus groups were conducted, comprising 27 graduate students. The participants were asked about their knowledge of ICTs, how they had acquired this knowledge, their attitudes when faced with a new tool, whether they considered themselves to be creative, and whether they considered themselves to be emotionally competent. (3) Results: The data analyzed revealed different opinions on the use of new technologies for innovation, as well as other factors involved in academic or professional performance. Three themes were extracted: Training experiences and ICT skills; Feelings experienced when confronted with an ICT tool; and Task-oriented personal competencies. The identification of these three themes enabled us to extract eight sub-themes. (4) Conclusions: Professionals’ evident lack of knowledge and training regarding ICTs makes it necessary to promote ICTs’ importance and to propose training programs directed at future teachers so they can improve their competencies, and thus, become better able to prepare their students, which, in turn, would allow the students to master these new technologies and make adequate use of them.

A paediatric English linguistics intervention on spoken language for English-speaking parents of deaf children having hearing problems

Background: This research aimed to find internet information about hearing loss, hearing technology, and spoken language acquisition for Pakistani English-speaking families of deaf or hard-of-hearing children (DHH). Methods: The existence or lack of parent education material on various websites was investigated using an exploratory, descriptive methodology. The research looked at the many Internet resources available. Results: Many websites with information for parents of DHH children acquiring spoken communication were found to be international. Each website was examined in fifteen different content categories. These websites featured English content. According to the present research findings, internet resources for Pakistani English-speaking parents with DHH students struggling with spoken dialect are typically less and less and not deeply involved. Conclusion: A Paediatric English Linguistics Mediation on Spoken Language for Parents of Deaf Children with Hearing Problems in Pakistani English internet alternatives for Pakistani English-speaking parents of DHH children who are having difficulty with spoken dialect are becoming fewer and more uninvolved.

Agricultural Insurance in the Philippines: Innovative Product Development and Scale-Up Amid Climate Risks and Other Hazards

The Philippines, an archipelago situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire and the typhoon belt, is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. The continued global warming experienced in the country in the past years shows a trend of climate changes that have caused casualties and losses in agriculture and properties. One of the solutions to address the negative effects of climate change is agricultural insurance. The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) is a government institution that has served as the country’s sole provider of traditional crop insurance since 1981. However, because of PCIC’s limited resources, the private sector’s participation in the agricultural insurance business is necessary to increase the number of farmers, fisherfolk, and other stakeholders protected with insurance. The issuance of rules and regulations for private agricultural insurance operations and the formation of a Public-Private Partnership composed of the PCIC and private insurance companies are vital strategies to scale-up agricultural insurance business in the country. Further, to improve the agricultural insurance program, innovative/index-based agricultural insurance products, such as Weather Index-Based Insurance (WIBI) and Area-Based Yield Index Insurance (ARBY), have been developed and piloted with funding from donor agencies. New products such as the Yield Insurance Products for High-Value Crops (a hybrid of traditional, ARBY, and WIBI schemes), initially for coconut, coffee, and cacao crops could enable the PCIC and private insurers to provide insurance services at lesser loss adjustment cost and with a faster settlement of claims. Challenges to a successful and sustainable implementation of the new products need to be met, namely the (1) development of the required data infrastructure; (2) acquisition of advanced weather equipment and technologies for crop modeling and experimentation; and (3) collaboration with government research institutions and state colleges and universities to undertake science-based modeling and experimentation for the development of various weather indices/parametric for crops, fisheries/aquaculture, and livestock. Further measures to strengthen the existing agricultural insurance program include (1) integrating plans for agricultural insurance in the development and implementation plans of all concerned government institutions involved in agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors and (2) organizing small farmers and fisherfolk to undertake collective farming and business activities as they cannot cope with rapid changes in climate on their own that affect their livelihood.

Quantitative Proteomics Identifies Reduced NRF2 Activity and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is the most common inflammatory skin disease and is characterized by a deficient epidermal barrier and cutaneous inflammation. Genetic studies suggest a key role of keratinocytes in atopic dermatitis pathogenesis, but the alterations in the proteome that occur in the full epidermis have not been defined. Using a pressure-cycling technology and data-independent acquisition approach, we performed quantitative proteomics of epidermis from healthy volunteers and lesional and nonlesional patient skin. Results were validated by targeted proteomics using parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry and immunofluorescence staining. Proteins that were differentially abundant in the epidermis of patients with atopic dermatitis versus in healthy control reflect the strong inflammation in lesional skin and the defect in keratinocyte differentiation and epidermal stratification that already characterizes nonlesional skin. Most importantly, they reveal impaired activation of the NRF2-antioxidant pathway and reduced abundance of mitochondrial proteins involved in key metabolic pathways in the affected epidermis. Analysis of primary human keratinocytes with small interfering RNA‒mediated NRF2 knockdown revealed that the impaired NRF2 activation and mitochondrial abnormalities are partially interlinked. These results provide insight into the molecular alterations in the epidermis of patients with atopic dermatitis and identify potential targets for pharmaceutical intervention.

The effect of technology driven mergers and acquisitions on firm performance in the U.S. textile industry

To maintain the pace of innovation and survive in today’s competitive global market, a growing number of textile companies are acquiring technology assets strategically through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This study examines how technology-driven M&A affects firm performance in the U.S. textile industry using U.S. patent and stock market data spanning a 35-year timeframe (1980–2015). The study primarily compares technology-driven M&A stock performance with its non-technology-driven counterpart. The results suggest that technology-driven M&A lead to significantly improved stock performance immediately following the M&A announcement, whereas non-technology-driven M&A negatively impact acquiring firms’ stock market performance in both the short and long terms. This study provides direct insight into the impact of technological acquisition on shareholder value in the U.S. textile industry.

Tele-ECP: A feasible telemedicine-based approach to extracorporeal photopheresis

The acquisition of telecommunication technologies in clinical practices is transforming medical care capabilities, whereas applying telemedicine in apheresis medicine has resulted in the revolutionary concept of “telapheresis.” This manuscript aims to describe the regulatory landscape of telapheresis by presenting the first “tele-ECP” (telemedicine-based approach to extracorporeal photopheresis) reported in the United Arab Emirates. The tele-ECP procedure was done successfully in a patient with chronic graft-versus-host disease, who, despite having one vascular access-related adverse event, it was solved promptly without further complications. Therefore, this telemedicine-based approach arose as a feasible practice, but required direct physical contact with other trained and privileged/credentialed staff.

Affective atmospheres of weapons technologies: The case of battle drones, combat fighters and bodies in contemporary German geopolitics

Using the example of the defense and security sector at the Innovation and Leadership in Aerospace aviation fair in Berlin, this paper interrogates how the presentation of weapons technologies at German security and aviation fairs produces a/effects that influence the body and serve to legitimize political decisions. It examines to what extent the body becomes the site of geopolitical negotiation via affective atmospheres and how different scales interact within this process. First, I argue that affective connections between weapons technologies and spectators are essential for legitimizing warfare technologies. Second, I argue that affects of weapons technologies are subject to ambivalence and ambiguity, and that they are to be understood as entangled with other affects in the same body. Third, I argue that affects become effective across material and spatial scales. Drawing on geographic work on affective atmospheres, debates in intimate geopolitics and feminist science and technology studies, the paper contributes to critical geopolitics by unpacking the role of affective dimensions in naturalizing the development and acquisition of weapons technologies. In doing so, it also contributes to debates on the methodological operationalization of theories of affect and to emotional geographies of (in)security.

Improving Assistive Technology Access for Students With Chronic and Complex Medical Conditions: Lessons Learned From Young Cancer Survivors

Students with chronic and complex medical conditions often require assistive technologies in order to accommodate both physical and cognitive needs. Survivors of childhood cancer who are eligible for special education offer a lens through which to examine barriers to assistive technology assessment, acquisition, use, and support for students with health impairments. In this article, we examine literature that suggests that special education students with a history of cancer are unlikely to gain access to assistive technology, despite clearly demonstrated needs. We discuss assistive technology literature to determine research-supported steps schools can take to increase and improve access to assistive technology for students with chronic and complex medical conditions.

The role of international networks in upgrading national innovation systems

Technological learning within national innovation systems (NIS) stands at the core of technological upgrading at the firm and economy level. The common understanding is that NIS are the primary source of technological knowledge acquisition for innovating firms, but the opening of economies, the globalization of innovation networks, and the rapid internationalization of innovative firms challenge this view -- especially with respect to small open economies in transition. We applied PLS-SEM to data from 131 R&D intensive firms responding to a survey investigating the mediating role of international networks for technological learning within Lithuania's NIS. The findings demonstrate a full mediating role of global innovation system networks in facilitating technological learning within NIS, partially contradicting the prevailing understanding of the primary importance of NIS based networks for firm learning. Technological learning of firms, and thus the upgrading of the NIS they are embedded in, relies more on international networks than previously assumed. These results call for a more careful design and facilitation of technological learning networks, recognizing global networks as a complementary and necessary component in NIS upgrading. This study contributes to the literature of technological learning within national innovation systems, with a special focus on R&D intensive firms leading the technological upgrading of a country's NIS.

Labour, Self -Care and Respite: Neoliberal Rationalities in Sleep Crisis Rhetoric

This article tracks the emergence of sleep discourse in the past ten years in the USA, illustrating a democratisation of this rhetoric insofar as it has begun to interpellate populations beyond midlife women. Despite the sociological and demographic inequities associated with sleep deficits in marginalised populations, the much vaunted 'sleep crisis' is more widely appreciated as a distinct self-care frontier. Such behavioural scripts resonate with exaltations of the self as resilient entrepreneurial problem-solver and are linked to the broader positioning of self-care as salve for the injuries of neoliberalism. Beginning with sleep's ties to women's wellness and consumerist culture writ large, we apprehend sleep as an economy, one with staggering new commercial dimensions. Sleep remedies tend to be focused narrowly on the acquisition of products and technologies (sleep sprays, essential oils and melatonin gummies, blackout curtains, premium bedding, sleep apps, sound machines, adult sleep coaches), all of which come under consideration here. The investigation then turns to the heightened attention paid to the experience of sleep during COVID-19, discusses how sleep discourse articulates to and with a sense of ambivalent dispossession from work regimes and, finally, argues that the sleep crisis has been leveraged to intensify neoliberal brutalities.

Knowledge Sharing Efficiency Analysis Model Design of Internet Open Innovation Community

The emergence of Internet technology has changed the technological innovation path and knowledge acquisition paradigm of enterprises and promoted the construction of digital technology, digital platform, and digital infrastructure. A large number of companies have begun to create brand communities and obtain suggestions for product improvement and innovation from the communities. However, obtaining innovative opinions and inspiration through the community to the final realization is not achieved overnight. It needs to go through the process of knowledge sharing to user interaction, from user interaction to knowledge creation and discovery and from knowledge discovery to innovation contribution. To study the efficiency of Internet community innovation, it is necessary to decompose the innovation process into two parts: problem adoption and problem solution, and then analyze them separately to get the influence combination and path. Taking Xiaomi (one of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers) online community as an example, this article decomposes the process of issue solution into adoption stage and solution stage by crawling the relevant data of posts through web crawlers, takes the adoption efficiency and problem-solving efficiency as antecedents, and uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to analyze the combination of conditions that affect the former two. It is of great significance to improve the knowledge sharing and innovation research of the open innovation community.

Starting a Digital Business: Being a Millennial Entrepreneur Innovating

Indonesia is now entering the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industrial Revolution 4.0. Therefore, the economic sector's change towards smart business is good, and the progress of existing digital business may contribute to the economic development of Indonesia, especially e-commerce. With the development of information and digital technologies, the business and development competition, which was initially focused on the use of natural resources, will shift to the acquisition of information and digital technologies. This is the importance of innovation in business. The era of Industry Revolution 4.0 opens up opportunities for young millennial entrepreneurs in the business sector to become experts in the latest knowledge and technology development. For this reason, skill improvements and skills updates need to be implemented so that the workforce can compete based on the current needs of industry.

Starting a Digital Business: Being a Millennial Entrepreneur Innovating

Indonesia is now entering the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industrial Revolution 4.0. Therefore, the economic sector's change towards smart business is good, and the progress of existing digital business may contribute to the economic development of Indonesia, especially e-commerce. With the development of information and digital technologies, the business and development competition, which was initially focused on the use of natural resources, will shift to the acquisition of information and digital technologies. This is the importance of innovation in business. The era of Industry Revolution 4.0 opens up opportunities for young millennial entrepreneurs in the business sector to become experts in the latest knowledge and technology development. For this reason, skill improvements and skills updates need to be implemented so that the workforce can compete based on the current needs of industry.

When degree of integration mediates level of acquired ownership and post-acquisition innovation performance: evidence from cross-border technological acquisitions

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test a model for cross-border technological acquisitions (CBTAs) focusing on the level of ownership acquired in the target firm and the acquiring firm's post-acquisition innovation performance (PAIP), with the degree of integration as a mediator, based on the dynamic capability perspective of the resource-based view. This study further concludes the role of the country-of-origin effect (COE) (when emerging economies' acquiring firms purchase technological resources from developed economies' target firms) on the success of the acquiring firms in CBTAs.Design/methodology/approachData on CBTAs initiated by 542 acquiring firms was quantified from four high technology industries from 1995 to 2015 for the empirical investigation of the research hypotheses. Hierarchical fixed year effect negative binomial regression technique was used to analyze the proposed model for the success of CBTAs.FindingsThe analysis of the CBTAs confirmed that acquiring firms who opt for a higher level of acquired ownership strategy increase the degree of integration of the target firm's technological resource stock. The level of acquired ownership improves the PAIP of the acquiring firms; however, the degree of integration positively accelerates the relationship between the acquired ownership and the PAIP. Considering the COE, acquiring firms that initiated CBTAs from emerging economies to purchase technological resources from developed economies' targets have firm-specific technological capability holes to execute the integration, which negatively impacts the emerging economies acquiring firm's PAIP.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the CBTAs literature by exploring the enabling role of the degree of integration between the level of acquired ownership and the PAIP of the acquiring firms. Further, this study put forward empirics on the COE of the acquiring firms for their integrative capability to integrate the target firm's resource stock and subsequent innovation performance.

Explaining the Length of the Due Diligence Process in Technology Acquisitions

Drawing on information economics, the theory of the firm and the organizational learning literature, we theorize about the probability of length of the due diligence process. In particular, we examine to what extent uncertainty regarding the value of a target’s resources and differences between the acquiring and target firms lengthen the acquirer’s due diligence effort. Given that we focus on the (target) technological resources we investigate the role of technological uncertainty and absorptive capacity proxying them by the number of pending patent applications of target firms and the technological distance between the two firms’ patent portfolio, respectively. Further, we argue that business relatedness (similarity) reduces the understanding gap. Using a longitudinal data on completed and non-completed technology acquisitions in the UK, we find a significantly positive effect of targets’ pending patent applications on due diligence length that is amplified by technological distance but reduced by business relatedness. Our study contributes to the M&A literature by revealing that higher information gap and uncertainty prolong the due diligence process of the acquirers in the hope of effectively evaluating prospective target firms.