Spread Of Innovations Research Articles

다학제 분야 학술지의 주제어 동시발생 네트워크를 활용한 기술예측 연구

Keyword indexed in multidisciplinary journals show trends about science and technology innovation. Nature and Science were selected as multidisciplinary journals for our analysis. In order to reduce the effect of plurality of keyword, stemming algorithm were implemented. After this process, we fitted growth curve of keyword (stem) following bass model, which is a well-known model in diffusion process. Bass model is useful for expressing growth pattern by assuming innovative and imitative activities in innovation spreading. In addition, we construct keyword co-occurrence network and calculate network measures such as centrality indices and local clustering coefficient. Based on network metrics and yearly frequency of keyword, time series analysis was conducted for obtaining statistical causality between these measures. For some cases, local clustering coefficient seems to Granger-cause yearly frequency of keyword. We expect that local clustering coefficient could be a supportive indicator of emerging science and technology.

Diffusion of innovations in Axelrod’s model

.Axelrod’s model for the dissemination of culture contains two key factors required to model the process of diffusion of innovations, namely, social influence (i.e. individuals become more similar when they interact) and homophily (i.e. individuals interact preferentially with similar others). The strength of these factors is controlled by two parameters: F, the number of features that characterize the cultures, and q, the common number of states each feature can assume. For fixed F, a large value of q reduces the frequency of interactions between individuals because it makes their cultures more diverse. Here we assume that the innovation is a new state of a cultural feature of a single individual—the innovator—and study how the innovation spreads through the networks of the individuals. For infinite regular lattices in one (1D) and two dimensions (2D), we find that initially successful innovation spreads linearly with time t, but in the long-time limit it spreads diffusively (∼t1/2) in 1D and sub-diffusively (∼) in 2D. For finite lattices, the growth curves for the number of adopters are typically concave functions of t. For random graphs with a finite number of nodes N, we argue that the classical S-shaped growth curves result from a trade-off between the average connectivity K of the graph and the per-feature diversity q. A large q is needed to reduce the pace of the initial spreading of the innovation and thus delimit the early-adopters stage, whereas a large K is necessary to ensure the onset of the take-off stage at which the number of adopters grows superlinearly with t. In an infinite random graph we find that the number of adopters of a successful innovation scales with with for K > 2 and for K = 2. We suggest that the exponent γ may be a useful index to characterize the process of diffusion of successful innovations in diverse scenarios.

Integrative review of benefit levers' characteristics for system-wide spread of best healthcare practices.

To critically analyse the characteristics of the benefit levers that are required for effective system-wide spread of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based nursing practice is the cornerstone of quality patient care and merits system-wide implementation. Achieving system-wide spread of evidence-based innovations requires adoption of four benefit levers (the facilitators for spreading innovations), conceptualized by Edwards and Grinspun: alignment, leadership for change, permeation plans and supporting and reinforcing structures. Although these concepts have been explored and described in primary studies, they were only recently identified as benefit levers and their characteristics have not been reviewed in the context of health care using an integrative literature review. An integrative literature review using an adapted Whittemore and Knafl design. A comprehensive search using multiple sites such as Scopus, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Nexus, SAePublications, Sabinet, Google Scholar and grey literature was conducted (January-March 2012) and updated (December 2014). After reading the abstracts, titles and full-text articles, forty (N=40) research and non-research documents met the inclusion criteria. Thirty-five documents remained after critical appraisal. A systematic approach was used to analyse and synthesize the data and formulate concluding statements. Data revealed characteristics about alignment (personal, organizational and contextual attributes), permeation plans (phases), leadership for change (types, strategies, position, attitude and support) and supporting and reinforcing structures (types and requirements). Benefit levers should be used to promote the spread of evidence-based practices. However, more studies concerning benefit levers, specifically regarding 'alignment' and 'permeation plans', are required to promote system-wide spread of best healthcare practices.

Interdisciplinary Priorities for Dissemination, Implementation, and Improvement Science: Frameworks, Mechanics, and Measures.

Much of dissemination, implementation, and improvement (DII) science is conducted by social scientists, healthcare practitioners, and biomedical researchers. While each of these groups has its own venues for sharing methods and findings, forums that bring together the diverse DII science workforce provide important opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning. In particular, such forums are uniquely positioned to foster the sharing of three important components of research. First: they allow the sharing of conceptual frameworks for DII science that focus on the use and spread of innovations. Second: they provide an opportunity to share strategies for initiating and governing DII research, including approaches for eliciting and incorporating the research priorities of patients, study participants, and healthcare practitioners, and decision-makers. Third: they allow the sharing of outcome measures well-suited to the goals of DII science, thereby helping to validate these outcomes in diverse contexts, improving the comparability of findings across settings, and elevating the study of the implementation process itself.

University of California Center for Health Quality and Innovation: experiences from a system approach to scaling up effective interventions

The challenge of improving outcomes, costs, and access in health care among academic health systems is not a dearth of innovative research; but the difficulties encountered when attempting the dissemination and implementation of effective interventions throughout health systems. The University of California (UC) Center for Health Quality and Innovation (CHQI) was established to mitigate barriers to improvements among UC academic health systems. UC recognizes that engagement by leadership, strong evaluation processes, and innovator champions are key to overcoming dissemination and implementation barriers within large health systems. CHQI, led by five UC health system CEOs, six medical school deans, and the UC Senior Vice President of Health Sciences and Services, integrates evidence-based interventions by supporting a collaborative approach to innovative research and spreading best practices through grants, leadership, change management training, and convening task forces to facilitate system-wide change. CHQI employs a tactical and methodical performance-monitored approach to disseminating and implementing proven models of care, including quantifying the ROI (in quality and costs) of all programs prior to initiating a spread program. Once the ROI is assessed for scale and feasibility, a team of senior UC researchers provides guidance by reviewing program implementation and process measures with a focus on spreading best practices, as well as ongoing cost and outcome analyses. Since 2011, CHQI has funded 50 innovation projects, and trained and supported 23 fellows who additionally manage their own innovation projects. This panel presents CHQI's approach and experiences with scaling up effective interventions, through 3 of its multi-site programs that demonstrated a proven ROI before integrating and spreading evidence-based interventions across 5 UC health systems. The panelists will discuss barriers, challenges and successes of project design, evaluation, and implementation, such as data integration issues, organizational barriers (including culture and policies) among health systems, institutional impediments (workflow, workforce), and future plans.

A Compositional and Microstructural Study of Eighth‐Century BC Bronzes from Moita Da Ladra (Tagus Estuary): How Did the Spread of the Phoenician Metallurgy Take Place in Western Iberia?

AbstractMetals from a votive deposit at Moita da Ladra (Tagus Estuary) dating to the eighth century bc were studied by micro‐EDXRF, optical microscopy and Vickers testing to investigate the adoption of Phoenician innovations by indigenous communities. Artefacts are made of bronze alloys with suitable tin contents (11.6 ± 2.3 wt%) and very low iron impurities (<0.05 wt%), and were often manufactured using the long post‐casting sequence. Comparisons with indigenous and Phoenician metallurgies from western Iberia revealed a conservative technology suggesting that the spread of Phoenician innovations was very slow. In this region, the adoption of a diversified copper‐based metallurgy and reduction furnaces only seems to occur during the Post‐Orientalizing Period, c. sixth to fourth centuries bc.

Influence of Luddism on innovation diffusion.

We generalize the classical Bass model of innovation diffusion to include a new class of agents-Luddites-that oppose the spread of innovation. Our model also incorporates ignorants, susceptibles, and adopters. When an ignorant and a susceptible meet, the former is converted to a susceptible at a given rate, while a susceptible spontaneously adopts the innovation at a constant rate. In response to the rate of adoption, an ignorant may become a Luddite and permanently reject the innovation. Instead of reaching complete adoption, the final state generally consists of a population of Luddites, ignorants, and adopters. The evolution of this system is investigated analytically and by stochastic simulations. We determine the stationary distribution of adopters, the time needed to reach the final state, and the influence of the network topology on the innovation spread. Our model exhibits an important dichotomy: When the rate of adoption is low, an innovation spreads slowly but widely; in contrast, when the adoption rate is high, the innovation spreads rapidly but the extent of the adoption is severely limited by Luddites.

A subjective evidence model for influence maximization in social networks

This paper introduces the notion of subjective evidence, which fuels a new parallel cascade influence propagation model. The model sheds light on the phenomena of belief reinforcement and viral spread of innovations, rumors, opinions, etc., in social networks. Network actors are assumed to be testing a Bayesian hypothesis, e.g., for making judgment about the superiority of some product(s) or service(s) over others, or (dis)utility of a given program/policy. The model-based influence maximization solutions inform the strategies for market niche selection and protection, and identification of susceptible groups in political campaigning. The NP-Hard problem of influential seed selection is first solved as a mixed-integer program. Second, an efficient Lagrangian Relaxation heuristic with guaranteed bounds is presented. In small, medium and large-scale computational investigations, we analyze: (1) how the success of an influence cascade triggered in a (sub)community, long exposed to an opposite belief, depends on the structural properties of the underlying social network, (2) to what extent growing (increasing the density of) a consumer network within a market niche helps a company protect the niche, (3) given a competitor׳s strength, when a company should counter the competitor on “their turf”, and when and how it should look for limited-time opportunities to maximally profit before eventually surrendering the market.

Source Codes for the paper "Cultural Incubator and Spread of Innovation"

Source Codes for the paper "Cultural Incubator and Spread of Innovation"

Headmasters Training for Creating the In-School Quality Management System

The paper looks at the issue of the further professional training of educational staff for developing quality management systems. Mastering the qualitative educational practices provides the effective school training quality assessment, as well as optimization of staff, material, technical and financial resources, and consideration of the requirements of educational process participants. The peculiarities of the quality management penetration into the general educational sphere are analyzed. The factors obstructing the innovative experience spreading are denoted along with the corresponding ways of experimental practices. The content and organizational technological aspects of headmasters and teaching staff readiness for implementing the above innovation in the system of further professional training are defined. The stages of a lyceum readiness for certification of in-school quality management system according to the international standard ISO 9001:2008 are described. The author points out the necessity of developing the training system for managerial and teaching staff with regard to the person oriented and humanity approach.

Cultural Incubators and Spread of Innovation.

Several forms of social learning rely on the direct or indirect evaluation of the fitness of cultural traits. Here we argue, via a simple agent-based model, that payoff uncertainty, that is, the correlation between a trait and the signal used to evaluate its fitness, plays a pivotal role in the spread of beneficial innovation. More specifically, we examine how this correlation affects the evolutionary dynamics of different forms of social learning and how each form can generate divergent historical trajectories depending on the size of the sample pool. In particular, we demonstrate that social learning by copying the best model is particularly susceptible to a sampling effect caused by the interaction of payoff uncertainty, the number of models sampled (the sample pool), and the frequency with which a trait is present in the population. As a result, we identify circumstances in which smaller sample pools can act as "cultural incubators" that promote the spread of innovations, while more widespread sampling of the population actually retards the rate of cultural evolution.

CEO Cognitive Patterns and Spread of Innovations

This paper provides the initial framework for exploring the effects of CEO’s cognitive orientations on innovation adoption and assimilation in organizations. At the innovation adoption stage, I propose that abstract and concrete cognition orientations of the decision makers will determine which sources of innovation are exploited based on their proximity to the adopting entity. At the assimilation stage this cognitive pattern will determine whether the innovation is emulated in its original form, or adapted to ensure a fit with the adopting entity. To further understand the extent of CEO impact on innovation decisions, I propose CEO power as a moderating mechanism.

THE EVALUATION OF THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE (T.E.I) OF THESSALY-GREECE BY APPLYING A BENCHMARKING APPROACH

The remarkable and multilateral developmental impact and perspective of H.E.Is is widely known. Moreover, the spread of competence and technological innovation should not be a privilege for a few people who have the possibility of acquiring knowledge and skills from the International Academic Institutions. Unfortunately, raw reality remains the same and in order to be reduced, the “conventional” Academic Institutions ought to evolve constantly and develop more remarkable international collaborations in order to be able to exist, operate and contribute to the strongly competitive environment. Based on the above references, the undergraduate course of the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business and Economics, of the Technological Educational Institution (T.E.I) of Thessaly is being evaluated through the Benchmarking process as it has been defined by the Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (H.Q.A), as well as with the standards of other internationally recognized and accredited institutions (e.g. European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – E.N.Q.A, Chartered Management Institution – C.M.I etc.) in order to detect any deviations that would need specific suggestions and improvement procedures able to make this Department strongly competitive. Keywords : H.E.Is, Evaluation of Studies Program, Benchmarking, Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agencies, Suggestions – Improvements, Greece.

The Technology of Land Reclamation, Drainage and Irrigation Projects in MBA–LBA Greece and Possible Implications

Technology and its “products”, when unearthed from archaeologists, are irrefutable witnesses of the technological level of each era and place. Evaluation of archaeological finds in relation to the advanced technology of each era and compared to the ancient literature, could infer conclusions regarding the nature of relations between different civilizations. Metallurgy, construction technology and know-how (structures, flood-control works, Land Reclamation, Drainage and Irrigation works etc.), production and exchange of precious metals, silver and iron, as very rare metals, constituted “cutting-edge technology” for the Middle and the Late Bronze Age. In prosperity periods –of excessive wealth– the “Arts and Engineering” flourish, an advanced know-how in constructions is developed and monumental projects are launched. The examination of the technological level in (monumental) constructions and hydraulic works of Middle Bronze Age – Late Bronze Age (MBA, ca. 2200/2100-1580 B.C. – LBA, ca. 1600 – 1100 B.C.) Greece, and the environment that was shaped, as it is implied by the material evidence, could infer implications for the historical canvas of the period. There is a debate surrounding Technology and its “flow”, its nature and origins. Some researchers support the spread of innovation from East to West, and a contradictious aspect of cross-fertilization or diffusion between East and West. In the present study, a combination of the archaeological evidence (both material and textual) of the technological level in constructions –especially in MBA and LBA Greece– and metal production, the ancient literature, the written sources, is attempted, in order to infer conclusions for the Technological, environmental, cultural and socio-economic aspects regarding possible relations and exchanges of Technology among Minoan Crete and/or Mycenaean Greeks -Danaoi/Achaeans, as Homer calls them- with Egypt and the land of Hatti, specifically during the Middle and Late Bronze Age.

The Health Action Lobby releases its pre-election health platform.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) is a leading organization within the Health Action Lobby (HEAL), a coalition of 40 national health care organizations with a mandate to represent the collective interests of the health community with the federal government. In December, HEAL released its health care platform for federal political parties in advance of the next federal election. With a federal election expected in October 2015, HEAL has been working for the past 2 years to develop a set of recommendations aimed at strengthening the Canadian health care system. CPhA has been at the forefront in the development of the recommendations. The platform identifies steps that could be taken by the federal government to accelerate the pace of innovation, meet the changing health needs of Canadians, strengthen strategic partnerships with the provinces and territories and improve the health of Canadians and the care they receive. To meet these objectives, the HEAL platform identifies 6 key themes: Although HEAL recognizes that health care is delivered by provinces and territories, given the federal government’s own responsibilities in health, including the fact that it is the fifth largest health delivery body and a significant funder, the federal government needs to work more collaboratively with provinces and territories. Federal participation at the Council of the Federation’s Health Care Innovation Working Group would be a good first step. Greater clarity is needed with regard to the role of the federal government. HEAL has developed a vision statement that should guide future federal policy making in health care. A series of principles to transform the health system have been included in the platform, based on the work of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Triple Aim approach. HEAL believes that federal funding for health care should reflect the Romanow Commission’s goal of 25% of total cost, up from its current level of approximately 20%. To more equitably distribute federal funds, HEAL is also recommending a Demographic Top-Up Fund that would reflect provinces/territories with older populations requiring greater health care assistance. HEAL believes the federal government can play a more direct role in 3 key areas: Canada’s aging population—HEAL would like a national dialogue on how to help Canadians finance the costs associated with aging. HEAL is also proposing a National Community-Based Health Infrastructure Fund to ensure an adequate supply of nursing home and long-term care beds. Access to prescription drugs—HEAL has adopted CPhA’s 2008 position on catastrophic drug coverage, which calls on the federal government to introduce a catastrophic drug insurance program that would prevent undue financial hardships in the event of exorbitant costs for medicines. Accelerating the spread of innovation—HEAL is proposing the creation of a National Health Innovation Fund that could accelerate the adoption of innovative practices in primary care, mental health and addictions, and health human resources. The federal government needs to develop a set of pan-Canadian health system performance indicators that would be used by all jurisdictions. These indicators would provide Canadians and policy makers with a clearer picture of how health systems are performing in comparison to objectives. This platform is intended to provide political parties with the unified views and perspectives of the health community on ways the federal government can strengthen the health care system in Canada. In the lead-up to and during the next federal election, we encourage pharmacists, as integral members of the health care community, to attend all candidates’ debates, meet with your candidates in person or send them a note indicating your support for these ideas and asking where they stand on issues related to health care.

Complex contagion process in spreading of online innovation.

Diffusion of innovation can be interpreted as a social spreading phenomenon governed by the impact of media and social interactions. Although these mechanisms have been identified by quantitative theories, their role and relative importance are not entirely understood, as empirical verification has so far been hindered by the lack of appropriate data. Here we analyse a dataset recording the spreading dynamics of the world's largest Voice over Internet Protocol service to empirically support the assumptions behind models of social contagion. We show that the rate of spontaneous service adoption is constant, the probability of adoption via social influence is linearly proportional to the fraction of adopting neighbours, and the rate of service termination is time-invariant and independent of the behaviour of peers. By implementing the detected diffusion mechanisms into a dynamical agent-based model, we are able to emulate the adoption dynamics of the service in several countries worldwide. This approach enables us to make medium-term predictions of service adoption and disclose dependencies between the dynamics of innovation spreading and the socio-economic development of a country.

Extracting information from S-curves of language change.

It is well accepted that adoption of innovations are described by S-curves (slow start, accelerating period and slow end). In this paper, we analyse how much information on the dynamics of innovation spreading can be obtained from a quantitative description of S-curves. We focus on the adoption of linguistic innovations for which detailed databases of written texts from the last 200 years allow for an unprecedented statistical precision. Combining data analysis with simulations of simple models (e.g. the Bass dynamics on complex networks), we identify signatures of endogenous and exogenous factors in the S-curves of adoption. We propose a measure to quantify the strength of these factors and three different methods to estimate it from S-curves. We obtain cases in which the exogenous factors are dominant (in the adoption of German orthographic reforms and of one irregular verb) and cases in which endogenous factors are dominant (in the adoption of conventions for romanization of Russian names and in the regularization of most studied verbs). These results show that the shape of S-curve is not universal and contains information on the adoption mechanism.

Fragmented Romanian sociology: growth and structure of the collaboration network.

Structural patterns in collaboration networks are essential for understanding how new ideas, research practices, innovation or cooperation circulate and develop within academic communities and between and within university departments. In our research, we explore and investigate the structure of the collaboration network formed by the academics working full-time within all the 17 sociology departments across Romania. We show that the collaboration network is sparse and fragmented, and that it constitutes an environment that does not promote the circulation of new ideas and innovation within the field. Although recent years have witnessed an increase in the productivity of Romanian sociologists, there is still ample room for improvement in terms of the interaction infrastructure that ought to link individuals together so that they could maximize their potentials. We also fail to discern evidence in favor of the Matthew effect governing the growth of the network, which suggests scientific success and productivity are not rewarded. Instead, the structural properties of the collaboration network are partly those of a core-periphery network, where the spread of innovation and change can be explained by structural equivalence rather than by interpersonal influence models. We also provide support for the idea that, within the observed network, collaboration is the product of homophily rather than prestige effects. Further research on the subject based on data from other countries in the region is needed to place our results in a comparative framework, in particular to discern whether the behavior of the Romanian sociologist community is unique or rather common.

Spreading and sustaining best practices for home care of older adults: a grounded theory study.

BackgroundImproving health care quality requires effective and timely spread of innovations that support evidence-based practices. However, there is limited rigorous research on the process of spread, factors influencing spread, and models of spread. It is particularly important to study spread within the home care sector given the aging of the population, expansion of home care services internationally, the high proportion of older adult users of home care services, and the vulnerability of this group who are frail and live with multiple chronic conditions. The purpose of this study was to understand how best practices related to older adults are spread within home care organizations.MethodsFour home care organizations in Ontario, Canada that had implemented best practices related to older adults (falls prevention, pain management, management of venous leg ulcers) participated. Using a qualitative grounded theory design, interviews were conducted with frontline providers, managers, and directors at baseline (n =44) and 1 year later (n =40). Open, axial, and selective coding and constant comparison analysis were used.ResultsA model of the process of spread of best practices within home care organizations was developed. The phases of spread included (1) committing to change, (2) implementing on a small scale, (3) adapting locally, (4) spreading internally to multiple users and sites, and (5) disseminating externally. Factors that facilitated progression through these phases were (1) leading with passion and commitment, (2) sustaining strategies, and (3) seeing the benefits. Project leads, champions, managers, and steering committees played vital roles in leading the spread process. Strategies such as educating/coaching and evaluating and feedback were key to sustaining the change. Spread occurred within the home care context of high staff and manager turnover and time and resource constraints.ConclusionsSpread of best practices is optimized through the application of the phases of spread, allocation of resources to support spread, and implementing strategies for ongoing sustainability that address potential barriers. Further research will help to understand how best practices are spread externally to other organizations.

Identifying Central Individuals on the Internet: A Case Study with Food-Related Weblogs

The potential of social media is huge. Millions of individuals interact on these platforms, creating networks through which electronic word-of-mouth flows. By observing and analyzing these social networks, researchers can identify the spread of innovations throughout the network and obtain valuable and useful feedback for developing new ideas. This article presents an analysis of a food-related network on the Internet, identifies the most prominent actors, and discusses some of the managerial implications.