Technological Niches Research Articles

Developing educational modules to enhance care of aged and dying inmates: Set-up phase.

The purpose of this article is to explain the strategies used in the "Set-up" phase of developing computer-based education on the care and management of incarcerated people who are older and/or dying. Public health nurses have an opportunity to support efforts in educating corrections staff to enhance health care for older and dying inmates. Such endeavors can promote social justice through inmates receiving evidence-based care that parallels that received by the community at large. "Set-up" is the first of four phases in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Framework for Going to Full Scale. Our design approach was threefold and included an environmental scan, a modified Delphi survey, and a usability study. An expert advisory board was consulted throughout the Set-up Phase. Participants for the Delphi Survey had expertise in geriatrics and corrections health care. Usability testing was conducted at two State Correctional Institutions. The Delphi Survey consisted of three Qualtrics surveys. Usability testing examined navigability; detected problems; observed time spent solving problems; identified problem severity; and developed recovery strategies. The Set-up established proof of concept, three prototype modules, and a specifications document to guide future programming. In addition, a Technology Niche Analyses® provided a preliminary commercialization plan (NIH, 2017). The Set-up phase has been instrumental in exposing the available infrastructure for dissemination of an educational product within corrections and may be a first step in addressing public health concerns on issues in aging. Commercial feasibility of the program and the need for continued research for Developing the Scalable Unit were established.

REGIONAL ECONOMY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF BIOECONOMY

The importance of bioeconomy for society and its development in the 21st century creates responsibility to monitor how national and regional economies in Europe respond to the cause called bioeconomy. The report aims to trace the change in the sectoral structure of the economy in the NUTS 2 regions in Bulgaria, paying particular attention to those who are primary consumers and producers of biological resources. For the objective and the tasks of the present study methodology for structural analysis based on aggregated nomenclature А10 from the Classification of Economic Activities (NACE.BG 2008) is applied, as well as other economic and statistical methods of analysis - growth rate and accretion, localization quotient and concentration. The indicators used are the number of employees per sector and share in the GVA of each region for four selected economic activities. The results of the study refer to the change in their localization benefits by regions for the period 2007-2016. The conclusions point to the need for a targeted support approach for identifying and developing sectoral and technological niches of bioeconomy that are promising for the respective region as well the need to develop regional statistical information for the bioeconomic sector.

Of balls, inks and cages: Hybrid biofabrication of 3D tissue analogs.

The overarching principle of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is the placing of cells or cell clusters in the 3D space to generate a cohesive tissue microarchitecture that comes close to in vivo characteristics. To achieve this goal, several technical solutions are available, generating considerable combinatorial bandwidth: (i) Support structures are generated first, and cells are seeded subsequently; (ii) alternatively, cells are delivered in a printing medium, so-called “bioink,” that contains them during the printing process and ensures shape fidelity of the generated structure; and (iii) a “scaffold-free” version of bioprinting, where only cells are used and the extracellular matrix is produced by the cells themselves, also recently entered a phase of accelerated development and successful applications. However, the scaffold-free approaches may still benefit from secondary incorporation of scaffolding materials, thus expanding their versatility. Reversibly, the bioink-based bioprinting could also be improved by adopting some of the principles and practices of scaffold-free biofabrication. Collectively, we anticipate that combinations of these complementary methods in a “hybrid” approach, rather than their development in separate technological niches, will largely increase their efficiency and applicability in tissue engineering.

Does internationalization matter? Comparing the innovative performance of Brazilian multinational and non-multinational companies

Using data from the Brazilian Innovation Survey (PINTEC) and from a reference group composed of 110 Brazilian internationalised companies, the article applies a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to obtain a control group of non-internationalised companies with similar characteristics to the reference group. PSM tests the following hypotheses: internationalised companies introduce more process and product innovations that display higher degrees of novelty, better technical enhancements and better organisational and marketing innovations. The results show that internationalisation matters to Brazilian companies only in terms of higher-level innovation novelty. The Brazilian case reveals also that the development of domestic technological leadership is a precondition for internationalisation even when it is strongly supported by public policies. Finally, internationalisation matters for developing countries to catch up as long as companies are able to explore technological niches and acquire rare resources of knowledge to get a technological leadership at global scale.

Archaeology and the evolutionary neuroscience of language

Abstract Comparative approaches to language evolution are essential but cannot by themselves resolve the timing and context of evolutionary events since the last common ancestor with chimpanzees. Archaeology can help to fill this gap, but only if properly integrated with evolutionary theory and the ethnographic, ethological, and experimental analogies required to reconstruct the broader social, behavioral, and neurocognitive implications of ancient artifacts. The current contribution elaborates a technological pedagogy hypothesis of language origins by developing the concept of an evolving human technological niche and applying it to investigate two key transitions posited by Arbib’s Mirror System Hypothesis: (1) from complex action recognition and imitation to proto-language, and (2) from proto-language to language.

Relações Multiníveis e Inovação Sustentável: O Programa Veículo Elétrico da Itaipu Brasil

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar as relações multiníveis e a transição para ecoinovação a partir do caso do Programa Veículo Elétrico da Itaipu Brasil. Argumenta-se que o processo de transição sociotécnica é influenciado por relações de coevolução nos níveis micro, meso e macro. Essa temática já é recorrente em pesquisas internacionais, mas percebeu-se que no Brasil ainda é pouco difundida. Devido à complexidade de relação entre os temas e o caráter longitudinal dessa pesquisa, optou-se por uma abordagem qualitativa e exploratório-descritiva com estudo de caso em que foram coletados dados a partir da observação, entrevistas em profundidade e pesquisa documental. Os principais resultados evidenciam a importância de grandes organizações como agentes “empreendedores” e da formação de parcerias nos nichos tecnológicos como fatores que influenciam a criação das ecoinovações e que passam a modificar os valores compartilhados e as instituições dos agentes do nível meso, em um processo de influência bottom up. Além disso, as mudanças do nível macro exerceram pressão sobre os níveis meso e micro em um processo de influência top down.

Explorando la innovación local como proceso clave en la transformación de las instituciones del nuevo milenio

La incompatibilidad entre las políticas energéticas y aquellas ambientales está marcando la historia de la administración pública de los recursos naturales durante el nuevo milenio, particularmente en la región latinoamericana. Este artículo, contrastando los objetivos de las políticas energéticas respecto a aquellos de las políticas ambientales, plantea que la innovación en gobernanza debería considerar articulaciones, en un contexto multinivel policéntrico de impacto local-global. A nivel metodológico conceptual este escrito presenta el enfoque de “gobernanza multinivel”, el modelo de “Administración estratégica de nichos tecnológicos” y el concepto “innovación en gobernanza” como para la implementación de dichas sinergias. Este artículo concluye explorando la integración entre sectores gubernamentales, nichos tecnológicos y conocimiento ecológico local, como coalición clave para avanzar en la articulación intersectorial de las políticas públicas mencionadas.

Глобальная демографическая теория

Работа посвящена построению математической теории глобального демографического процесса, охватывающей как стадию демографического роста, так и стадию демографического перехода.
 На протяжении почти всей истории вида Homo sapience его численность росла в режиме с обострением. Однако в последние десятилетия рост начал замедляться и наметилась тенденция к стабилизации населения мира. Количественное описание нашей популяционной динамики, объяснение ее фундаментальных отличий от популяционной динамики других видов и глобальный демографический прогноз являются первоочередными задачами теоретической демографии. Для их решения в работе введено понятие о жизнесберегающих технологиях, развитие которых трактуется как двигатель истории, и сформулирован принцип технологического императива, прямо привязывающий число живущих людей к технологическому уровню.
 Жизнесберегающие технологии создаются в ходе повседневной деятельности людей на основе уже имеющихся технологий. Их совершенствование, с одной стороны, сокращает смертность, изменение коэффициента которой и определяет уровень технологического развития, а с другой – увеличивает число востребованных технологиями людей, обеспечивая ускоряющийся демографический рост. Однако ограниченность снизу коэффициента смертности создает естественный предел и численности населения, обусловливая демографический переход, который с биологической точки зрения является кризисом.
 Одновременно с приближением технологического уровня к предельному значению происходит перестройка возрастной структуры населения. Формальный учет этих двух факторов позволяет построить феноменологическую модель демографического перехода. Для определения ее параметров разработана методика обработки демографических данных, относящихся к стадии роста. Предложенная модель показала много лучшее согласие с реальностью, чем классические модели глобальной демографии.
 Ключевым следствием модели демографического перехода оказывается увеличение в его результате технологической ниши человечества – отношения его численности к уровню жизнесберегающих технологий. На фоне роста доли взрослых в популяции это чревато неустойчивостями развития, в результате которых демографическая стабилизация может смениться сокращением мирового населения.

Encircling Cities From Rural Areas? Barriers To The Diffusion Of Solar Water Heaters In China’s Urban Market

Abstract Researchers have contributed a fruitful understanding of the facilitating factors for solar water heaters (SWH) diffusion in China at different governance levels. However, the barriers to its further diffusion in the urban environment have so far not been addressed. One feature of SWH diffusion in China is that it emerged from the rural market, mainly driven by market demand. This article explicitly focuses on China's diffusion of SWH from rural areas to urban cities and explores the problems and barriers obstructing its full potential in cities. Applying the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) framework, the results find that the technological niche is still not mature enough, and the urban regime is still powerful in terms of building infrastructure, consumer demand, policy coordination and vested interests. SWH development in China is promoted more as a business opportunity, while environmental discourses have not been powerful enough to promote further diffusion in the urban context. We suggest there is a need to focus on technology innovation with higher industry standards and to implement more benefit-based incentive policies to motivate incumbent actors.

Encircling cities from rural areas? Barriers to the diffusion of solar water heaters in China's urban market

Researchers have contributed a fruitful understanding of the facilitating factors for solar water heaters (SWH) diffusion in China at different governance levels. However, the barriers to its further diffusion in the urban environment have so far not been addressed. One feature of SWH diffusion in China is that it emerged from the rural market, mainly driven by market demand. This article explicitly focuses on China's diffusion of SWH from rural areas to urban cities and explores the problems and barriers obstructing its full potential in cities. Applying the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) framework, the results find that the technological niche is still not mature enough, and the urban regime is still powerful in terms of building infrastructure, consumer demand, policy coordination and vested interests. SWH development in China is promoted more as a business opportunity, while environmental discourses have not been powerful enough to promote further diffusion in the urban context. We suggest there is a need to focus on technology innovation with higher industry standards and to implement more benefit-based incentive policies to motivate incumbent actors.

An overview of the cognitive implications of the Oldowan Industrial Complex

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the empirical evidence for the cognitive abilities of early hominins of the Oldowan Industrial Complex (c. ≥2.6 to 1.4 Mya) on the African continent. It profiles various researchers’ approaches to and inferences about the cognitive abilities of Oldowan (Mode 1) toolmakers, based on the excavated archaeological evidence, primate models, experimental archaeology and neuroimaging techniques. Although there is a great deal of variation with regard to how to interpret such evidence, a variety of archaeological and palaeoneurological evidence indicates that Oldowan hominins represent a stage of technological and cognitive complexity not seen in modern great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans), but transitional between a modern ape-like cognition and that of later Homo (erectus, heidelbergensis, sapiens). Prevailing evidence and evolutionary models suggest that this new evolutionary stage entailed the growing elaboration of a problem-solving, technological niche that incorporated manufactured tools as a critical component of adaptation, especially to enhance food procurement and processing, as well as enhancements and greater complexity in social behaviours and communication.

The three roles of business models in societal transitions: New linkages between business model and transition research

Abstract Following recent calls from sustainable business model and transition research, we establish the link between both fields. We systematically integrate existing knowledge on business models into the well-established multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions and identify three roles of business models and their respective impact on transition dynamics: (1) As part of the socio-technical regime, existing business models hamper transitions by reinforcing the current system's stability, (2) as intermediates between the technological niche and the socio-technical regime, business models drive transitions by facilitating the stabilization process of technological innovation and its breakthrough from niche to regime level, and (3) as non-technological niche innovation, novel business models drive transitions by building up a substantial part of a new regime without relying on technological innovation. We illustrate our findings with examples from the German energy sector and discuss our contributions to (sustainable) business model and transition research.

Policies to Attract R&D-related FDI in Small Emerging Countries: Aligning Incentives With Local Linkages and Absorptive Capacities in Chile

Abstract Over the last decade we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of cross-border R&D investments towards large emerging countries such as China and India. However, small middle-income countries have played a marginal role as recipients of R&D-related FDI despite increasing policy efforts. In particular, several Latin American countries have recently launched new policy programs with the aim of attracting this kind of investments, but it remains uncertain whether public incentives can be useful to compensate for other locational disadvantages. The case of Chile provides an interesting empirical setting to explore these issues because during the last decade its government has been actively promoting R&D-related FDI through a new policy mix. This article suggests that for national innovation systems to benefit from the attraction of internationally-mobile R&D it is critical for public policies to ensure that appropriate linkages are established with local actors that hold absorptive capacities. Equally important for a small emerging economy like Chile is to prioritize R&D-related FDI in strategic technology niches where the country can realistically attain critical mass.

Key technology network model for the industrialization of research output: A university patent perspective

In recent years, university patents have been substantially developed mainly because topics on the industrialization of university research outputs have received considerable attention. Previous studies on university patents have mostly focused on factors influencing the production of those patents, but have not yet distinguished between industrialized university patents and unindustrialized university patents. In addition, previous studies have not clearly recognized university patents with commercial value, technological networks, or key technologies that promoted industrialization. Moreover, a few studies have focused on the national dimension attached to university patent technological networks. In this study we incorporate several countries into our model and identify the technological niche positions of those countries. Here, Japan and the United States are playing critical roles in the worldwide technology network of university patents. The results of our study can serve as a reference point for universities worldwide in their allocation of resources and promotion of novel technologies.

Fostering cooperation between farmers and public and private actors to expand environmentally friendly rice cultivation: intermediary functions and farmers’ perspectives

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the intermediary functions and the farmers’ perspectives in the development and implementation of agri-environmental schemes in Shiga Prefecture of Japan by employing the innovation journey analysis and the statistical analysis. The innovation journey analysis demonstrates that the prefectural government served as an ‘innovation intermediary’ to: (1) provide a clear vision of sustainable agriculture for farmers and other actors, (2) create and reinforce both technological and market niches and (3) develop actor networks involving local actors. It also identifies the following roles of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JAs) and the specialist wholesaler as innovation intermediaries to: (1) develop new farming materials such as fertilizers, (2) translate and deliver practical farming knowledge for farmers and (3) establish the market of environmental-friendly rice. Statistical analysis uncovers that farmers more appreciated the supports from the JAs than those from other intermediaries to participate in the schemes. Complemented by the innovation journey analysis, our findings suggest that the keys to increasing farmers’ participation in the schemes include a clear vision and economic incentives for farmers as well as the coordination among intermediaries who have different expertise.

Scaling Agricultural Innovations: Pigeonpea in Malawi

Successful scaling of agricultural development strategies is fundamental to increased production and yields, yet targeting efforts frequently fail to fully consider the underlying biophysical drivers of agricultural marginality, particularly at fine spatial resolutions. We present a heuristic for intelligent targeting, utilizing remotely sensed information to identify the intersection between marginal conditions for performance of a staple crop and the optimal niche for technologies that improve crop performance. Here, we explore the geographic potential of maize diversification with pigeonpea, a crop with soil productivity enhancing properties. Overall, 79 percent of agricultural land in Malawi exhibits climate conditions optimal for pigeonpea cultivation and, in total, approximately 51 percent of Malawian maize-based farming is expected to receive some benefit from pigeonpea integration, with 9 percent receiving predictable and substantial benefits. These findings illustrate the geographic scaling potential of pigeonpea in Malawi and provide direction for informed pigeonpea deployment and market development across the country.

Evolutionary neuroscience of cumulative culture

Culture suffuses all aspects of human life. It shapes our minds and bodies and has provided a cumulative inheritance of knowledge, skills, institutions, and artifacts that allows us to truly stand on the shoulders of giants. No other species approaches the extent, diversity, and complexity of human culture, but we remain unsure how this came to be. The very uniqueness of human culture is both a puzzle and a problem. It is puzzling as to why more species have not adopted this manifestly beneficial strategy and problematic because the comparative methods of evolutionary biology are ill suited to explain unique events. Here, we develop a more particularistic and mechanistic evolutionary neuroscience approach to cumulative culture, taking into account experimental, developmental, comparative, and archaeological evidence. This approach reconciles currently competing accounts of the origins of human culture and develops the concept of a uniquely human technological niche rooted in a shared primate heritage of visuomotor coordination and dexterous manipulation.

Exploring the Roles of Business Models in Societal Transitions

Following recent calls from sustainable business model and transition research, we establish a link between these two fields. We systematically integrate existing knowledge on business models into the well-established multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions and identify three roles of business models and their respective impact on transition dynamics: (1) As part of the socio-technical regime, existing business models hamper transitions by reinforcing the current system’s stability, (2) as intermediates between the technological niche and the socio- technical regime, business models drive transitions by facilitating the stabilization process of technological innovation and its breakthrough from niche to regime level, and (3) as non-technological niche innovation, novel business models drive transitions by building up a substantial part of a new regime without relying on technological innovation. We discuss our contributions to (sustainable) business model and transition research.

Fourth Industrial Revolution: technological drivers, impacts and coping methods

The world is marching into a new development period when the digital technology, physical technology, and biological technology have achieved an unprecedented development respectively in their own fields, and at the same time their applications are converging greatly. These are the three major technological drivers for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper discusses the specific technology niches of each kind technological driver behind the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and then evaluates impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on global industrial, economic, and social development. At last this paper proposes possible measures and policies for both firms and governments to cope with the changes brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Multiagent cooperation and competition with deep reinforcement learning

Evolution of cooperation and competition can appear when multiple adaptive agents share a biological, social, or technological niche. In the present work we study how cooperation and competition emerge between autonomous agents that learn by reinforcement while using only their raw visual input as the state representation. In particular, we extend the Deep Q-Learning framework to multiagent environments to investigate the interaction between two learning agents in the well-known video game Pong. By manipulating the classical rewarding scheme of Pong we show how competitive and collaborative behaviors emerge. We also describe the progression from competitive to collaborative behavior when the incentive to cooperate is increased. Finally we show how learning by playing against another adaptive agent, instead of against a hard-wired algorithm, results in more robust strategies. The present work shows that Deep Q-Networks can become a useful tool for studying decentralized learning of multiagent systems coping with high-dimensional environments.