Rate Of Technological Innovation Research Articles

Software programmes employed as medical devices

The opportunity to successfully develop and roll out patient-centric digital health platforms is represented by Software as a medical device (SaMD).Software is now a crucial component of all products and is widely integrated into digital platforms that are used for medical purposes as technology in all areas of health care continues to progress. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a potent and currently evolving technology that has the potential to enhance capabilities in a wide range of sectors. Medical device companies have been fascinated in artificial intelligence. Nowadays Artificial intelligence based medical devices are gaining a lot of attention. Artificial intelligence-enabled medical devices have the potential to completely transform the way that healthcare is provided by enabling physicians to diagnose and treat their patients more precisely and successfully while also enhancing their overall level of care. The three primary objectives of the medical devices that are incorporated with AI are being developed by medical device companies as technology progresses are chronic disease management, medical imaging and Internet of Things (IoT). Quite apart from its advantages, artificial intelligence in medical devices also has drawbacks, such as the necessity for regulation to keep up with the rate of technological innovation. The softwares such as Eye Art and IDxDR for the identification of diabetic retinopathy, Quant X for breast abnormalities, Gleamer BoneView for fractures on X rays and software for the management of type 1 diabetes i.e., Dreamed Advisor Pro and as well as the AI-ECG platform are just a few instances of the artificial intelligence-infused software’s that are discussed in this article.

Can we combine 3D data obtained with a MicroScribe digitising arm and photogrammetry to address bioarchaeological research questions?

Virtual methods for studying human remains are becoming increasingly popular in bioarchaeology, and the rate of technological innovation in the last few years has been such that we now have multiple options to choose from when collecting data. This raises the question of whether datasets generated with different methods are transposable. In the study reported here, we investigated whether it is valid to combine 3D data obtained with a MicroScribe digitising arm and 3D data collected via photogrammetry. We did so by simulating a population-based analysis similar to those commonly undertaken in bioarchaeology. Our sample comprised 19 crania from two ethnic groups, Ancient Egyptians and Guanches, and the landmarks we employed pertained to facial shape.The analyses yielded several findings. First, we found that photogrammetry was significantly more precise than the MicroScribe digitising arm. Second, the photogrammetry-based method revealed the existence of facial shape differences between the two ethnic groups that were not captured by the MicroScribe-based method. Third, we found that the two methods did not consistently capture the same facial shapes—they did for one of the ethnic groups but not for the other. Fourth, the analyses indicated that using the two methods can result in ethnic group-level differences in facial shape when they are applied to individuals from a single ethnic group. Lastly, the two methods of data collection yielded different patterns of variation in facial shape. Together, these findings suggest that combining 3D landmark coordinates collected with a MicroScribe and those obtained via photogrammetry may introduce considerable error into an analysis, and, consequently, bioarchaeologists should be cautious about doing so.

Exchange Rate, Income Distribution and Technical Change in a Balance-of-Payments Constrained Growth Model

ABSTRACTThis article develops a formal model that accounts for the net effect of an exchange rate devaluation on the long-term balance-of-payments constrained growth rate. Such a model investigates how a currency devaluation impacts on the home country non-price competitiveness via changes in income distribution and the rate of technological innovation. The model is built upon two plausible hypotheses. First, it is assumed that the rate of technological innovation is directly related to the income elasticity of demand for exports and inversely related to the income elasticity of demand for imports. Second, it is assumed that a redistribution of income between labor and capital has an ambiguous direct impact on the income elasticities ratio. The model shows that the net impact of a currency devaluation on growth can go either way depending on the institutional framework of the economy.

The Relative Insignificance of Angel/VC Investing in America: An Unexceptional Business Model for Promoting Economic Growth

The theoretical anomaly about why monetary stimulus did not create U.S. economic growth is explained by a simple economic idea: When the rate of private capital investment in the U. S. goes down, then the rate of technological innovation goes down. When the rate of technological innovation goes down, then the rate of economic growth stagnates around a Nash equilibrium of about 2% per year. In the Nash equilibrium, the Fed, the banks, and venture capital do not have a reason to change what they are doing, and consequently, doing the same old thing leads to the same old result. In other words, more monetary growth and more government stimulus will not cause economic growth. Only capital investment causes economic growth, and almost all economic growth is caused by capital investments in a very small part of the economy that is connected to technology innovation.

World Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Global Future

The world is heading towards an inevitable divide. The basis for division is trends in per capita income, rate of technological innovation, continued reliance on non-renewable sources of energy and thus, impact of per capita carbon emissions on the environment. The Environmental Kuznets Curve illustrates these trends and defines a county's future towards Sustainable Development. This paper is an evaluation of 30 countries using the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). EKC examines relationship between per capita income and environmental degradation as reflected in per capita CO2 emissions. Environmental Kuznets Curve has been plotted using data from 1960-2050. The paper shows these countries characterised as per their CO2 emissions. It concludes by drawing attention to Asia and three other developing countries. In Asia, a lot can be implemented from experiences in South America and from the European Union. By 2050, many developing economies will transit from emerging market economies to developed status. The current century requires common goals in order to provide tomorrow's sustainable environmental solutions.

Do Cities Still Matter? The Economic Strength of Cities and the Economic Failure of Globalism in Promoting Regional Technological Innovation and Economic Prosperity

There are four areas of conflict of interest between the goals of democratically elected representatives in promoting regional technological innovation, and the goals of the senior managers of global corporations. These four conflicts involve:1. a conflict over information flows between industrial sectors;2. the openness of inter-corporate career transfers of scientific personnel between existing firms and the creation of new ventures;3. control over the path of technical change in the region;4. a conflict over whether collective decisions will be based upon the cultural/political values regarding globalist/collectivist values or the indvidualidualistic values of individual freedom and reward based upon individual merit.This paper concludes that the globalist laws and policies that were implemented in the early 1990’s disproportionately served the financial interests of global corporations to the detriment of metro regions in the United States. Those laws and policies had the effect of cutting off the flow tacit knowledge in each metro region because the policies disrupted the flows of knowledge in the regional interindustry relationships that had existed before 1992.Regional interindustry relationships are the communication pathway of technical knowledge, and without the flow of tacit knowledge, the metro regions suffered a lower rate of technological innovation, and consequently reduced rates of economic growth.What was true for economic decline in each metro region in America was true, cumulatively, for the national economy. Since the implementation of the globalist policies, the national economy has suffered two decades of reduced economic prosperity punctuated by a series of financial and economic meltdowns.The globalist laws and policies could not have been introduced and implemented in an earlier time period because the enabling technology platform of global information communication technology, (ICT), provided by the internet, did not yet exist.

Mid-Holocene occupation of the Dry Puna in NW Argentina: Evidence from the Hornillos 2 rockshelter

This paper summarizes the results of the research carried out during a decade at the Hornillos 2 rockshelter, located at 4020 m asl in the Dry Puna of Argentina. The human occupations in this site are bracketed between the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary and the mid-Holocene, challenging the idea of a widespread abandonment of the Andes highlands during mid-Holocene due to extreme arid conditions (i.e. the “silencio arqueológico” or archaeological silence hypothesis). Nine occupational levels have been recognized in the timed span at the site, the result of hunter–gatherer activities carried out in a highly oscillating and changing environment.Here we present the mean trends and patterns observed in the full set of lines of inquiry applied in the site: lithic evidence, zooarchaeological analysis, rock art, stratigraphic and spatial analysis, and isotopic data. The outcomes of these studies, together with the site location features, known raw materials sources and regional archaeological evidence, indicate that hunter–gatherer groups reduced their residential mobility, and increased the intensity of their occupations and the rate of technological innovations in the arid and unstable mid-Holocene landscapes.

Rise and Fall of the Contract System in the American Iron and Steel Industry

This paper investigates the historical accounts of the ineffectiveness of the contract system in the US iron and steel industry during the second half of the nineteenth-century. The high rate of technological innovation, along with the extensive bargaining power of the old industrial crafts, made output-related pay so costly as to be unsustainable in the long run. A sliding scale, together with piece-rate pay, did nothing but exacerbate the labour problem.

The Conundrum of Financial Regulation: Origins, Controversies, and Prospects

This review surveys the origins and development of financial regulation as a concept and as a set of legal (state) and extralegal policies aimed at controlling financial sector activity, specifically stock market exchange. It outlines the basic tools that made financial capitalism possible, the establishment of state regulatory agencies, the cyclical nature of disaster and reform, and struggles over the viability, purposes, and sanctions regulators should pursue. I argue that recent developments, notably globalized trade and the neoliberal policies that states have pursued since the 1980s, have weakened the ability of regulators to take meaningful actions to control the antisocial acts of a financial sector that has grown, literally, too big to fail. Recent evidence indicates that the rate of technological innovations in the financial sector has outpaced the normative capacity of legal and regulatory structures. The review concludes with an examination of the solutions and remedies posed by a range of different scholars across various theoretical positions.

Analysis of convergence in paper and printing industry

Fusion of new technologies and converge has led to the emergence of new industries. This paper uses patent data of the paper and electronics companies to evaluate their overlapping technologies in discovering new businesses based on technology convergence. Patent data was collected from the 87 main players operating in the RFID value chain. Backward citations and technology cycle time have been used to get an idea of knowledge spillovers and rate of technological innovation between the players. The recognised trends of the growing overlaps of the technological fields show indications for knowledge spillovers and convergence between industries. This type of patent analysis helps to recognise trajectory changes early in the industry and helps companies to take strategic decisions accordingly.

Product life-cycle implications for remanufacturing strategies

For remanufacturing to be successful, there is a need to gain information on future market needs of remanufactured products, and match this to information on the magnitude of return flows. One of the major issues impacting remanufacturing is in the difficulty of obtaining used products (cores) that are suitable for remanufacturing. The timing and quantity of product returns is dependent on the type of product. Factors such as the mean product lifetime, rate of technical innovation, and failure rate of components all influence the return rate of products from end-of-use and end-of-life. The balance between product returns and demand for remanufactured products is a function of many variables, where the rate of technological innovation and the expected life of a product are the major influencing characteristics. The main contribution of this paper is the support that is provided in different supply and demand situations. By using a product life-cycle perspective, the supply and demand situations can be foreseen, and support given regarding possible strategies in these situations.

CONVERGENCE AND INNOVATION IN TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES: AN ASSESSMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE COMPLEMENTARY ASSETS AND DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES THEORIES

Most of the telecommunications service providers, TSPs, are running their businesses based on few profitable services from the eighties, despite the fact that new network technologies have already been disposed of the organization infrastructures to provide new convergent services. The introduction of new telecommunications services seems to lag behind the rate of technological innovations in network equipment and the devices of end users. Consequently, this paper investigates whether or not the internal resources configuration of the Brazilian TSPs is affecting their capacity for services innovation. Based on an evaluation of the critical assets to telecommunications services innovation, this paper concludes with a discussion about TSP organization boundaries and outsourcing strategies.

The Impact of Technological Change on Incentive Provision

- The simple trade-off between incentive and risk, which is crucial to the agency problem, is not a sufficient explanation for the ineffectiveness of a specific output-related pay such as the contract system adopted in the US iron and steel industry during the second half of the nineteenth-century. The high rate of technological innovation along with workers' extensive bargaining power made output-related pay a sub-optimal solution. This stylised fact unveils the conflicting nature of piece-rate pay compared to fixed pay as new technology is introduced and stimulates an analysis of the interaction between technological change, bargaining powers, and payment systems which can be conducive to a better understanding of the agency problem and the use of incentive pay. Key words: Incentive Contracts, Inside Contracting, Unions, Technological Change. JEL Classification: J33, J51, N31, O33

Technological trajectories as moderators of firm-level determinants of innovation

Pavitt [Research Policy 13 (1984) 343] identified different patterns of technological change (technological trajectories) in four sectoral classes of industrial firms. This paper tests the applicability of Pavitt’s taxonomy (which derived from an economic perspective) to moderate the inconsistent results of the management literature on the determinants of technological innovation. An empirical test in a sample of 105 Greek companies showed that firms in different trajectories of Pavitt’s taxonomy had differences in the rate of technological innovation. ‘Specialised suppliers’ and ‘science-based’ firms were found to have higher rates of innovation than ‘supplier dominated’ and ‘scale intensive’ ones. Most importantly, different variables proved to be significantly associated with innovation for each category of firms: innovation for ‘supplier dominated’ firms was related to the competitive environment, acquisition of information, technology strategy, risk attitude and internal co-ordination. For ‘scale intensive’ firms, the important determinants were related to the ability to raise funding and the education and experience of personnel. For ‘specialised suppliers’, innovation was associated with high growth rate and exporting as well as training and incentives offered to the employees to contribute towards innovation. ‘Science-based’ firms depended upon technology-related variables, education and experience of personnel, growth in profitability and panel discussions with lead customers. The application of Pavitt’s model can resolve the apparent problem of inconsistent results in the management research on the determinants of technological innovation.

Beaver (1968) Revisited: Has the Information Content of Annual Earnings Announcements Declined in the Past Three Decades?

In 1968, Beaver published his seminal paper on the information content of earnings announcements, establishing that both trading volume and return volatility increase at the time of earnings announcements. Thirty-some years after Beaver's study, concerns have been raised about a perceived degradation in the informativeness of earnings because of the increasing availability of timely non-accounting information and the increasing rate of technological innovation and change not reflected in the accounting system in a timely manner. In this paper we examine changes over the past thirty years in the information content of earnings using the two metrics from Beaver (1968): abnormal trading volume and volatility. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, we find no evidence of a decline in the informativeness of accounting information over the past thirty years, as measured by both abnormal trading volume and return volatility around quarterly earnings announcements. If anything, our results suggest an increase over time in the informativeness of quarterly earnings announcements. Variables reflecting changes in firm-specific factors account for a portion of the observed increase.

How firms organize for successful innovation in a hostile environment

Managers in a business environment marked by rapid technological change face major challenges when making strategic decisions. A risk-averse, conservative strategy may be a safe route, but might lead to missing marketplace opportunities. This paper investigates whether a hostile business environment adversely affects either a firm's rate of technological innovation or its rate of success with new product launches. It also examines what successful innovating firms do, in terms of strategic posture and organizational structure, to adapt to hostile conditions. A model depicting relationships between environmental conditions, firm responses, innovation rates, and new product success was constructed and tested in an empirical study of 142 U.S. firms involved in technological innovation. The final section discusses managerial implications of the findings.

Rethinking development: A role for innovation networking in the ‘other two-thirds’

As global competition intensified and the rate of technological innovation and diffusion accelerated over the 1970s and 1980s, the sustainability of comparative advantage based solely on the existence of location-specific raw materials or cheap labour began to erode and innovation emerged as the key to competitiveness. For those few Third World countries that successfully passed through the window of opportunity for effective catchup strategies that opened in the 1970s, a base was laid for innovation in products, processes or organizational technologies. The ‘other two-thirds’, however, were singularly unprepared to meet the challenges of a changing technological and competitive environment. In large part this resulted from the contradictions generated by the mass production, import reproduction model to which they had remained wedded for several decades. During the 1980s, a number of changes took place, in the strategies of multinational corporations with respect to the internationalization of R&D and the role of overseas subsidiaries more generally, and in government policies with respect to the role of innovation in international competitiveness. A slow process of technological accumulation in both public and private sector enterprises and universities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean also got underway. These changes provide the foundation upon which well crafted policies to promote networks for innovation can be developed. In Latin America a number of such networks are already in place, and the article discusses the new role that both states and international donors are playing in stimulating and supporting them. A brief look at how such approaches might be adapted and generalized to Africa is also offered.

The Role of Transportation in the Industrial Revolution: A Comparison of England and France by Rick Szostak

816 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE The Role of Transportation in the Industrial Revolution: A Comparison of England and France. By Rick Szostak. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991. Pp. xii + 331; notes, bibliography, index. $44.95. The theme of this book is the essential role of transportation in industrial development and innovation and England’s superiority in this area over France. Rick Szostak describes what he considers to be the four phenomena of the English Industrial Revolution—regional specialization, the emergence of new industries (which he claims receives little attention in the literature), a rise in the scale of production, and a dramatic increase in the rate of technological innovation. The last phenomenon, he maintains, is largely the result of the other three. Szostak stresses the importance of not only the railways but also canals, navigable rivers, and coastwise shipping in aiding the progress of the English Industrial Revolution. He examines why and how England was able to overcome social, political, geographical, and technological constraints to the expansion of trade. “Factories” had long existed in Europe, but they tended to be government owned or subsidized and specialized in court luxuries or military hardware, with quality rather than quantity the main criterion and the cost of production much less important than in modern factories. There was a consequent absence of incentive to innovate. The large-scale enterprises developing in the 18th century were of a different nature, with production responding to market forces. It is a matter for discussion whether the new factories emerged in re­ sponse to innovations and new power-driven machinery, but many of the old industries relied on cottage-style equipment and hand ma­ chines. Obviously, centralized factories are more efficient than domes­ tic production, so why did this type of organization not develop until the 1750s? Szostak maintains that improvements in England’s trans­ port system are the answer. Growing industry demanded the devel­ opment of railways; England’s roads, waterways, and railways became a pattern for other countries. Szostak devotes a lot of time and space examining the origins of “inventions.” Surely it is accepted that British innovations were largely pragmatic. James Watt knew that his steam engine worked; it was for savants like Sadi Carnot, subse­ quently, to determine why and how. This stress on transportation is all very much chicken or egg, and coming down on one side or the other takes too little account of the essential political and economic dynamic interactions. The political organization in England was very different from that of feudal France. Indeed, a thorough analysis of the role of France’s Corps des ponts et chaussees as compared with English free enterprise would have been a useful exercise. Szostak accepts that the French had expertise in road building, and, indeed, he could have added that it was to TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 817 France that the Russian tsar Alexander I turned, at the beginning of the 19th century, for assistance in the improvement of communica­ tions. Considerable development and research were carried out by the French engineers at St. Petersburg, with P.-D. Bazaine and A. de Bet­ ancourt y Molina at the forefront. Szostak refers to French admiration for British roads, citing Charles Dupin, who went to England after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. There are much earlier examples, however. In 1785, the French en­ gineer P.-C. Lesage commented on the efficient turnpike system he saw during his visit, and he observed, significantly, that even the king was obliged to pay. Indeed, he attributed much ofBritain’s greatness to the political system and trade barriers favoring British products. Szostak is in agreement with modern writers who recognize the primary im­ portance ofinternal markets, and he maintains that internationaltrade leaves better records for the historian. Yes, internal developments come first, but Britain’s maritime superiority facilitated expansion. Northern France was lacking in harbors; he might have pointed out that Cherbourg was destroyed by the English in 1758! Szostak makes useful comparisons and provides surveys of French and English industry but does not discuss the political issues of 1789 on and their repercussions on production, as governments supported efforts to borrow British technology. This...

Die bestuur van tegnologie en hoëvlakmannekrag: Die identitisering van enkele terreine vir navorsing in Suid-Afrika

The managerial function of the modern manager has undergone a shift of focus mainly due to the epidemic rate of technological innovations. Less emphasis is placed on the recurring whilst more time and greater involvement is spent on one-off activities. The modern trend to move from heavy industry to the service sector and high technology has caused a larger and varied need for high level manpower. The manager of today and tomorrow thus has to be equipped with applicable knowledge and skills. However, the following questions need to be answered: what these knowledge and skills are?, in what sense does these differ from the present?, what remains applicable?, the extent of the knowledge on the 'new' requirements?. The aim of this research is therefore to determine the spectrum and facets, the level of research in South Africa and to identify aspects on which research can be undertaken within the fields of management of technology and high level manpower. The total spectrum of management of technology can be divided into three strata namely the macro-, intermediatory- and micro strata, and discussions will centre within this framework. The micro strata is a compilation of the technology process and its elements and other factors which might have an influence thereon or be dependent thereupon. The various elements of the technology process are discussed separately while each element is defined precisely. The present state of knowledge on this specific subject is outlined and areas for future research are identified. Identical aspects are discussed under the headings of the various other elements that function within the framework of management of technology but external to the technology process. The prime objective of the preliminary investigation on management of high level manpower was to identify the elements of management that will possibly change or expand during the management of high level manpower. Thereby a structure could be developed whereby information and techniques could be gathered and developed for the management of these activities.

Technological Change and Competition

The impact of science on business in the U.S. post‐World War II period has wrought a profound change in the spirit and nature of modern competition. In the 1930s, economists were concerned with such newly emerging problems as monopolistic and oligopolistic competition and the growing ability of large companies to deliberately retard the rate of technological innovation until the market was deemed “ready.” Such concerns were dramatically reflected in the famous hearings held by the Temporary National Economic Committee in the years 1937 to 1940.