Innovative Responses Research Articles

The role and response of digital innovation in the transformation of enterprise business management models

The role and response of digital innovation in the transformation of enterprise business management models

Unveiling the Role of social media in Shaping Responses to Natural Disasters

Natural disasters pose significant challenges to affected communities, governments, and relief organizations, necessitating innovative disaster response and recovery strategies. The rise of social media platforms in recent years has transformed disaster management, presenting both opportunities and complexities. This study delves into the multifaceted role of social media in shaping natural disaster responses. Researchers examine its utilization before, during, and after disasters for information dissemination, relief coordination, resource mobilization, and emotional support. Additionally, employing classification models like Support Vector Machine (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR), and Decision Tree (DT), the study assesses their performance using accuracy, recall, precision, and F1 score metrics. The SVM model achieves 94% accuracy, with 92% precision and 94% recall, resulting in a 95% F1 score. LR demonstrates similar performance, scoring 95% across accuracy, precision, and recall, yielding a corresponding 95% F1 score. In contrast, the DT model outperforms both, achieving 97% accuracy, 96% precision, and recall, culminating in an impressive 97% F1 score. These results highlight nuances in model efficacy, with DT showcasing superior performance. Moreover, the DT model exhibits a faster computation time at 37.203 ms compared to SVM and LR. This research sheds light on the dynamic relationship between social media and disaster response, offering insights for stakeholders to harness its potential in bolstering preparedness, response, and resilience during natural disasters.

Pediatric Care Volunteerism: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This article explores the deep impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric care volunteerism and specifically highlights the innovative responses and adaptations made by Project Sunshine, an international nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, NY. Prior to the pandemic, Project Sunshine's in-person volunteers played a critical role in providing comfort and support to hospitalized children and their families, bridging the gap between clinical treatment and patient satisfaction. However, COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges to hospitals around the world, including widespread interruption of volunteer activities due to safety concerns and visitation restrictions. In response, Project Sunshine swiftly pivoted to virtual volunteering by launching TelePlay, an online playroom offering live interactive sessions between trained volunteers and pediatric patients. This approach addressed the immediate volunteering needs of patients during the pandemic and also extended support beyond traditional hospital settings, allowing Project Sunshine to reach children at home facing isolation and socialization challenges. Early pilot data is very encouraging: TelePlay participants were noted by their caregivers to be less anxious after a TelePlay session compared to before (p < 0.001). Additionally, the flexibility and accessibility of TelePlay have opened new avenues for volunteers to engage with their communities, transcending geographical barriers and accommodating varied schedules. As the healthcare landscape transitions back to in-person volunteerism, Project Sunshine embraces a hybrid model, offering both in-person and virtual volunteering opportunities. This flexible approach reflects the organization's commitment to helping shape the future of volunteerism to meet the evolving needs of pediatric patients and volunteers alike.

Implementing Industry 4.0 Technologies for Enhanced Material Flow and Handling Management: A Case Study in Logistics

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has emerged as a highly innovative response to market needs, particularly in logistics. This paper presents a structured case study on the implementation of I4.0 technologies for material flow and handling management. The study explores the contextual framework, historical development, and key characteristics of I4.0, focuses on the necessary characteristics for I4.0 certification and outlines the specific features exhibited by the company under study. Objectives include enhanced traceability of metallic materials and optimization of crane management. The paper outlines the project phases, highlighting the positive impact on lead time reduction and providing insights into operational procedures. This research contributes to understanding I4.0 practices in logistics and offers valuable insights for future implementations, driving enhanced efficiency and productivity.

Integrated Place-Based Primary Interventions: Levers and Tensions Related to Multilevel Governance for Community Integrated Pathways, A Multiple Case Study.

Integrated Place-Based Primary Interventions (IPPIs) are considered an innovative response to the challenges and complex issues faced in disadvantaged areas where traditional institutional services have difficulty reaching people in vulnerable situations. IPPIs are an innovative approach to the delivery of in services, conceived as an original community-based local care and service pathways. However, these intervention practices require adaptive modes of governance. In this article, we explore how and to what extent the mode of governance of IPPIs influences the performance of community-integrated pathways. To this end, using a qualitative exploratory multiple-case study design (observation and semi-structured interviews), we describe 4 IPPIs in 3 territories in Quebec. This includes an examination of the levers of action and tensions related to their governance and the performance levels of the community-integrated pathways. We conclude that collaborative and shared multilevel governance, despite its demanding nature, appears to contribute to the longevity of the actions and benefits of IPPIs and could prevent their relevance from being questioned.

Organisation and delivery of a dedicated multidisciplinary prone ventilation team in the intensive care unit: Strategies and lessons from COVID-19.

COVID-19 placed immense strain on healthcare systems, necessitating innovative responses to the surge of critically ill patients, particularly those requiring mechanical ventilation. In this report, we detail the establishment of a dedicated critical care prone positioning team at University Hospital Southampton in response to escalating demand for prone positioning during the initial wave of the pandemic. The formation of a prone positioning team involved meticulous planning and collaboration across disciplines to ensure safe and efficient manoeuvrers. A comprehensive training strategy, aligned with national guidelines, was implemented for approximately 550 staff members from a diverse background. We surveyed team members to gain insight to the lived experience. A total of 78 full-time team members were recruited and successfully executed over 1200 manoeuvres over an eight-week period. Our survey suggests the majority felt valued and expressed pride and willingness to participate again should the need arise. The rapid establishment and deployment of a dedicated prone positioning team may have contributed to both patient care and staff well-being. We provide insight and lessons that may be of value for future respiratory pandemics. Future work should explore objective clinical outcomes and long-term sustainability of such services.

Post-Hospitalization Home Monitoring Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Results from the Hospital Medicine Re-engineering Network (HOMERuN).

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hospitals and healthcare systems launched innovative responses to emerging needs. The creation and use of programs to remotely follow patient clinical status and recovery after COVID-19 hospitalization has not been thoroughly described. To characterize deployment of remotepost-hospital discharge monitoring programs during the COVID-19 pandemic METHODS: Electronic surveys were administered to leaders of 83 US academic hospitals in the Hospital Medicine Re-engineering Network (HOMERuN). An initial survey was completed in March 2021 with follow-up survey completed in July 2022. There were 35 responses to the initial survey (42%) and 15 responses to the follow-up survey (43%). Twenty-two (63%) sites reported a post-discharge monitoring program, 16 of which were newly developed for COVID-19. Physiologic monitoring devices such as pulse oximeters were often provided. Communication with medical teams was often via telephone, with moderate use of apps or electronic medical record integration. Programs launched most commonly between January and June 2020. Only three programs were still active at the time of follow-up survey. Our findings demonstrate rapid, ad hoc development of post-hospital discharge monitoring programs during the COVID-19 pandemic but with little standardization or evaluation. Additional study could identify the benefits of these programs, instruct their potential application to other disease processes, and inform further development as part of emergency preparedness for upcoming crises.

Coping with COVID-19: Standing up a comprehensive behavioral health response to the pandemic.

Integrating behavioral health (BH) into disaster preparedness and response is essential to mitigate and address the BH impacts of disasters, support incident response personnel well-being, and to integrate disaster BH concepts into response strategies and communications. This article describes the development, implementation, and lessons learned from a statewide BH response to this disaster by the COVID-19 Behavioral Health Group (COVID-19 BHG). Operating within the Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH), the BHG is comprised of psychologists and psychiatrists with expertise in disaster BH and response, BH epidemiologists, data analysts, systems specialists, emergency managers, and other DOH staff. The wide array of expertise on the team allowed the COVID-19 BHG to build response functions to match the demands created by the pandemic. This included an Impact & Capacity Assessment function, which developed and distributed monthly impact forecasts and weekly BH situational reports. A Training and Guidance team then collaborated with partners to develop and deliver trainings, resource documents, and public messaging. Additionally, the COVID-19 BHG worked closely with the Health Care Authority (HCA) and BH organizations statewide to maintain the ability of the BH system to deliver care and expand services to meet additional needs. This article describes the development and deployment of an innovative and unique statewide BH response, within the WA DOH during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of 1,7-malaria reactive community-based testing and response (1,7-mRCTR) approach on malaria prevalence in Tanzania

BackgroundProgress in malaria control has stalled in recent years and innovative surveillance and response approaches are needed to accelerate malaria control and elimination efforts in endemic areas of Africa. Building on a previous China-UK-Tanzania pilot study on malaria control, this study aimed to assess the impact of the 1,7-malaria Reactive Community-Based Testing and Response (1,7-mRCTR) approach implemented over two years in three districts of Tanzania.MethodsThe 1,7-mRCTR approach provides community-based malaria testing via rapid diagnostic tests and treatment in villages with the highest burden of malaria incidence based on surveillance data from health facilities. We used a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design with linear probability models and two waves of cross-sectional household surveys to assess the impact of 1,7-mRCTR on malaria prevalence. We conducted sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of our results, examined how intervention effects varied in subgroups, and explored alternative explanations for the observed results.ResultsBetween October 2019 and September 2021, 244,771 community-based malaria rapid tests were completed in intervention areas, and each intervention village received an average of 3.85 rounds of 1-7mRCTR. Malaria prevalence declined from 27.4% at baseline to 11.7% at endline in the intervention areas and from 26.0% to 16.0% in the control areas. 1,7-mRCTR was associated with a 4.5-percentage-point decrease in malaria prevalence (95% confidence interval: − 0.067, − 0.023), equivalent to a 17% reduction from the baseline. In Rufiji, a district characterized by lower prevalence and where larviciding was additionally provided, 1,7-mRCTR was associated with a 63.9% decline in malaria prevalence.ConclusionsThe 1,7-mRCTR approach reduced malaria prevalence. Despite implementation interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain challenges, the study provided novel evidence on the effectiveness of community-based reactive approaches in moderate- to high-endemicity areas and demonstrated the potential of South-South cooperation in tackling global health challenges.Graphical

Integrated Response to Address a Resurgent Syphilis Epidemic in a Rural American Indian Community, Whiteriver, Arizona, January 2022 to June 2023.

The United States has seen a significant rise in syphilis over the past 20 years with a disparate impact on American Indian communities. We conducted a thorough review of the local epidemiology that guided an innovative response to curb the epidemic. We analyzed syphilis data from a hospital in rural Arizona that serves an American Indian population of more than 18,000. Testing data were extracted from 2017 to 2023 with detailed chart reviews of all reactive results since January 2022. Descriptive and comparative statistics were computed using parametric and nonparametric methods where appropriate. Among 5888 tested persons, 555 (9.4%) had reactive results and 277 (4.7%) represented new infections. Among new cases, 151 (54.5%) were female and 55 (19.9%) were reinfections. The annualized incidence rate was 10.0 cases per 1000 persons with peak annualized incidence among women aged 30 to 34 years of 22.6 infections per 1000 persons. During the observation period and after the implementation of programmatic changes in June 2022, there were statistically significant reductions in median time to treatment (-80%), test positivity (-70%), infections (-60%), and no congenital syphilis cases during the observation period. We observed significantly elevated syphilis rates in American Indian/Alaska Native persons compared with the general population. Strategic implementation of new policies and practices led to a measurable and meaningful improvement in several epidemic variables, and our experience may serve as a model to other communities.

Quantifying community resilience to riverine hazards in Bangladesh

Every year, 30–70% of Bangladesh is inundated with flood waters, which combined with erosion, affect between 10 and 70 million people annually. Rural riverine communities in Bangladesh have long been identified as some of the poorest populations, most vulnerable to riverine hazards. However, these communities have, for generations, also developed resilience strategies – considered as the combination of absorptive, adaptive, and transformative approaches – to manage significant flooding and erosion. It is not clear whether such existing strategies are sufficient to generate resilience in the face of increasing hazards and growing pressures for land. In this study, we quantify community resilience to flooding and erosion of 35 of the most poverty-stricken and exposed communities in riverine Bangladesh by applying the systematic resilience measurement framework provided by the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities tool. The low levels of resilience observed in the riverine communities, as well as their continued focus on enhancing absorptive capacities are alarming, especially in the face of growing climate threats and continued population growth. Innovative transformative responses are urgently required in riverine Bangladesh, which align with and complement ongoing community-centred efforts to enhance rural resilience to riverine hazards.

Workplace learning during the COVID-19 epidemic and digital transition

Work experience is becoming an increasingly important part of human capital, so in this lifelong learning, organisations must encourage employees to perform better by providing career opportunities and multidimensional mobility. The shock effect caused by the pandemic and the changed circumstances had a noticeable impact on the organisations, which reacted to the changed environment sometimes with resistance and sometimes with adaptation (for example, collective learning and flexibility), the result of which were the various productive and innovative responses of the organisation to the changes (Spicer, 2020). As a result of the epidemic, millions of employees switched from one day to remote work, which has become a globally recognised form of work and the subject of research. Such a dynamic change in the digital transition has significantly impacted the workplace environment and learning and has changed attitudes about work, employment and workplace learning.

Enhanced Dynamic Control Strategy for Stacked Dynamic Regulation Frequency Response Services in Battery Energy Storage Systems

Energy storage systems are undergoing a transformative role in the electrical grid, driven by the introduction of innovative frequency response services by system operators to unlock their full potential. However, the limited energy storage capacity of these systems necessitates the development of sophisticated energy management strategies. This paper investigates the newly introduced frequency response service, Dynamic Regulation, within the Great Britain electrical grid. Our study not only establishes control parameters but also demonstrates a novel approach to energy management that pushes the boundaries of the allowable service envelope. We present two distinctive control methods, the first serving as a reference for standard response, and the second as a dynamic control approach, exploiting the extremities of the allowable service envelope. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis that considers availability, the number of equivalent full cycles, and cost–revenue analysis based on grouped dynamic control state of charge setpoints is carried out. Our results underscore that the optimization of average availability takes precedence over merely minimizing the number of cycles, which leads us to define a target state of charge range of between 40% and 45% for a 1-h battery to achieve an availability &gt;95%. Furthermore, our study presents simulated results utilizing real-world frequency data, which reveal the transformative potential of the latter control method. By enhancing the availability of battery energy storage systems, this innovative approach promises not only higher revenues for the asset owner but also assists the system operator in managing frequency.

The Open Mind Portrait: An Innovative Method to Promote Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking

This teaching tip article highlights the “Open Mind Portrait” as a visual art strategy to assess middle and secondary students’ complex expressions of texts backed by research, the steps involved for implementation, and a student example to highlight the power of visual art projects. Employing visual art projects to promote reading comprehension and critical thinking offers classroom teachers an innovative reading response method to the standard constructed response. Through the combination of reading and art, teachers can assess students’ comprehension of literary characters as students analyze the role of a character in a story, as well as the larger social, historical, and cultural world occupied by the character when responding to texts.

The Impact of Regulation on Innovation

We present a framework that can be used to assess the equilibrium impact of regulation on endogenous innovation with heterogeneous firms. We implement this model using French firm-level panel data, where there is a sharp increase in the burden of labor regulations on companies with 50 or more employees. Consistent with the model’s qualitative predictions, we find a fall in the fraction of innovating firms just to the left of the regulatory threshold. Furthermore, we find a reduction in the innovation response of firms to demand shocks just below the threshold. Regulation reduces aggregate innovation by 5.7 percent. (JEL D22, K31, L11, L25, L51, O31, O34)

From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and Back: Sardinia, Iberia, and the Transfer of Knowledge in Late Bronze Age Networks

Abstract Sardinia was a hub of sea routes in the Final Bronze Age, c. 1200–850 BC, connecting the Aegean and the Levant in the East with the Iberian Atlantic façade in the West at its latitudinal extremes. Although situated some 1,200 nautical miles apart, bronze working techniques on the island, specific decorations, and implement typologies were clearly related to those in western Iberia, which was a pivotal node connecting the Atlantic and Mediterranean worlds. Without doubt, individuals have travelled between and beyond both regions, and transported objects alongside technological as well as theoretical information. Although serious challenges accompanied the multi-directional intensification of interactions, the local communities had innovative responses to them, managing to integrate new people and knowledge. The general aim of this contribution is to provide a theoretical framework with which to analyse the motivations and social mechanisms for cooperation and communication that facilitated technology transfer in an environment of dispersed, socially heterogeneous communities. The exchanges and interactions within this decentralised network must have been self-organised by individuals and communities, and encompassed all forms of entanglement. Consequently, practises of self-governance, hospitality, conflict management, and inter-group communication as well as shared symbols are of central interest.

Customers driving a firm's responsible innovation response for grand challenges: A co‐active issue‐selling perspective

AbstractGrand challenges vary across industries and call for firms to craft a responsible innovation response to effectively address them. However, key questions concerning why firms embrace responsible innovation and the process by which they respond to grand challenges have yet to be fully answered. We integrate an issue‐selling theoretical lens and the customer role from an innovation perspective to theorize about the different influencing motives that customers exert on their corresponding supplying firm to craft a more responsible innovation response to grand challenges. Based on qualitative data collected in almost a 10‐year period from multiple respondents across eight customer firms and two supplying firms, we identify three core motives—regulatory, business opportunity, and socio‐environmental motives—that propel customers to influence supplying firms to craft different forms of responsible innovation responses. Our research also reveals three vital socio‐human capital pathways—human capital, socio‐behavioral, and relationship—which, in turn, foster a co‐active engagement in addressing grand challenges innovatively and responsibly. In so doing, this research advances novel theorizing on co‐active engagement in responsible innovation where the customer acts as the primary champion and the supplier as the implementer. We discuss the important implications for customers and other stakeholders.

A resilient workforce: patient safety and the workforce response to a cyber-attack on the ICT systems of the national health service in Ireland

BackgroundIn May 2021, the Irish public health service was the target of a cyber-attack. The response by the health service resulted in the widespread removal of access to ICT systems. While services including radiology, diagnostics, maternity, and oncology were prioritised for reinstatement, recovery efforts continued for over four months. This study describes the response of health service staff to the loss of ICT systems, and the risk mitigation measures introduced to safely continue health services. The resilience displayed by frontline staff whose rapid and innovative response ensured continuity of safe patient care is explored.MethodsTo gain an in-depth understanding of staff experiences of the cyber-attack, eight focus groups (n = 36) were conducted. Participants from a diverse range of health services were recruited, including staff from radiology, pathology/laboratories, radiotherapy, maternity, primary care dental services, health and wellbeing, COVID testing, older person’s care, and disability services. Thematic Analysis was applied to the data to identify key themes.ResultsThe impact of the cyber-attack varied across services depending on the type of care being offered, the reliance on IT systems, and the extent of local IT support. Staff stepped-up to the challenges and quickly developed and implemented innovative solutions, exhibiting great resilience, teamwork and adaptability, with a sharp focus on ensuring patient safety. The cyber-attack resulted in a flattening of the healthcare hierarchy, with shared decision-making at local levels leading to an empowered frontline workforce. However, participants in this study felt the stress placed on staff by the attack was more severe than the cumulative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsLimited contingencies within the health system IT infrastructure - what we call a lack of system resilience - was compensated for by a resilient workforce. Within the context of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, this was an enormous burden on a dedicated workforce. The adverse impact of this attack may have long-term and far-reaching consequences for staff wellbeing. Design and investment in a resilient health system must be prioritised.

Contemporary Resource Management: Adaptive, Innovative, Participatory, and Interactive Strategies for Dealing With Unexpected Crises

Unexpected challenges and crises can arise at any time and affect various aspects of life. Such crises require quick, appropriate and innovative responses from the parties involved. This research aims to identify and analyze the adaptive, innovative, participatory, and interactive strategies used in dealing with unexpected crises. This research uses qualitative research methods. The data collection technique was carried out by literature study obtained through Google Schoolar. The data obtained were then analyzed through three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results showed that there are several adaptive, innovative, participatory and interactive strategies that can be used to deal with unexpected crises, including forming an emergency response team consisting of various elements of the community, conducting effective communication and coordination with the community, using information technology to disseminate information and coordinate crisis management activities, developing an early warning system to anticipate the occurrence of a crisis and increasing the capacity of the community to deal with crises

Responsible Social Robotics and the Dilemma of Control

Social robotic platforms are increasingly entering into human social practices, but to date the question of control and direction of innovation processes surrounding social robotics is still highly debated. In this paper I seek to make a two-fold contribution. Firstly, I critically discuss the “Collingridge Dilemma”, also known as the “dilemma of control” in Science and Technologies Studies, and contemporary efforts to address such a dilemma. I demonstrate how such efforts have neglected some wider implications of the dilemma, whose relevance is instead crucial for addressing ethical implications in social robotics. Secondly, to help improve the understanding of control in social robotics, I investigate two guiding principles that have been identified in responsible innovation literature, e.g., inclusion and responsiveness, and I identify potential methods and paradigms to put them into practice. The general aim of this paper is thus to bridge the gap between the theoretical assumptions of responsible innovation and its realisation in practice, as well as to explicitly integrate social robotics with an ethical dimension that can improve the inclusiveness, transdisciplinarity, and social sustainability of this emerging field.