Search results for: value creation
1388 Towards Innovation Performance among University Staff
Authors: Cheng Sim Quah, Sandra Phek Lin Sim
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This study examined how individuals in their respective teams contributed to innovation performance besides defining the term of innovation in their own respective views. This study also identified factors that motivated University staff to contribute to the innovation products. In addition, it examined whether there is a significant relationship between professional training level and the length of service among university staff towards innovation and to what extent do the two variables contributed towards innovative products. The significance of this study is that it revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the university staff when contributing to innovation performance. Stratified-random sampling was employed to determine the samples representing the population of lecturers in the study, involving 123 lecturers in one of the local universities in Malaysia. The method employed to analyze the data is through categorizing into themes for the open-ended questions besides using descriptive and inferential statistics for the quantitative data. This study revealed that two types of definition for the term “innovation” exist among the university staff, namely, creation of new product or new approach to do things as well as value-added creative way to upgrade or improve existing process and service to be more efficient. This study found that the most prominent factor that propel them towards innovation is to improve the product in order to benefit users, followed by self-satisfaction and recognition. This implies that the staff in the organization viewed the creation of innovative products as a process of growth to fulfill the needs of others and also to realize their personal potential. This study also found that there was only a significant relationship between the professional training level and the length of service of 4-6 years among the university staff. The rest of the groups based on the length of service showed that there was no significant relationship with the professional training level towards innovation. Moreover, results of the study on directional measures depicted that the relationship for the length of service of 4 - 6 years with professional training level among the university staff is quite weak. This implies that good organization management lies on the shoulders of the key leaders who enlighten the path to be followed by the staff.Keywords: innovation, length of service, performance, professional training level, motivation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3151387 The Digital Living Archive and the Construction of a Participatory Cultural Memory in the DARE-UIA Project: Digital Environment for Collaborative Alliances to Regenerate Urban Ecosystems in Middle-Sized Cities
Authors: Giulia Cardoni, Francesca Fabbrii
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Living archives perform a function of social memory sharing, which contributes to building social bonds, communities, and identities. This potential lies in the ability to live archives to put together an archival function, which allows the conservation and transmission of memory with an artistic, performative and creative function linked to the present. As part of the DARE-UIA (Digital environment for collaborative alliances to regenerate urban ecosystems in middle-sized cities) project the creation of a living digital archive made it possible to create a narrative that would consolidate the cultural memory of the Darsena district of the city of Ravenna. The aim of the project is to stimulate the urban regeneration of a suburban area of a city, enhancing its cultural memory and identity heritage through digital heritage tools. The methodology used involves various digital storytelling actions necessary for the overall narrative using georeferencing systems (GIS), storymaps and 3D reconstructions for a transversal narration of historical content such as personal and institutional historical photos and to enhance the industrial archeology heritage of the neighborhood. The aim is the creation of an interactive and replicable narrative in similar contexts to the Darsena district in Ravenna. The living archive, in which all the digital contents are inserted, finds its manifestation towards the outside in the form of a museum spread throughout the neighborhood, making the contents usable on smartphones via QR codes and totems inserted on-site, creating thematic itineraries spread around the neighborhood. The construction of an interactive and engaging digital narrative has made it possible to enhance the material and immaterial heritage of the neighborhood by recreating the community that has historically always distinguished it.Keywords: digital living archive, digital storytelling, GIS, 3D, open-air museum, urban regeneration, cultural memory
Procedia PDF Downloads 1021386 GBKMeans: A Genetic Based K-Means Applied to the Capacitated Planning of Reading Units
Authors: Anderson S. Fonseca, Italo F. S. Da Silva, Robert D. A. Santos, Mayara G. Da Silva, Pedro H. C. Vieira, Antonio M. S. Sobrinho, Victor H. B. Lemos, Petterson S. Diniz, Anselmo C. Paiva, Eliana M. G. Monteiro
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In Brazil, the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) establishes that electrical energy companies are responsible for measuring and billing their customers. Among these regulations, it’s defined that a company must bill your customers within 27-33 days. If a relocation or a change of period is required, the consumer must be notified in writing, in advance of a billing period. To make it easier to organize a workday’s measurements, these companies create a reading plan. These plans consist of grouping customers into reading groups, which are visited by an employee responsible for measuring consumption and billing. The creation process of a plan efficiently and optimally is a capacitated clustering problem with constraints related to homogeneity and compactness, that is, the employee’s working load and the geographical position of the consuming unit. This process is a work done manually by several experts who have experience in the geographic formation of the region, which takes a large number of days to complete the final planning, and because it’s human activity, there is no guarantee of finding the best optimization for planning. In this paper, the GBKMeans method presents a technique based on K-Means and genetic algorithms for creating a capacitated cluster that respects the constraints established in an efficient and balanced manner, that minimizes the cost of relocating consumer units and the time required for final planning creation. The results obtained by the presented method are compared with the current planning of a real city, showing an improvement of 54.71% in the standard deviation of working load and 11.97% in the compactness of the groups.Keywords: capacitated clustering, k-means, genetic algorithm, districting problems
Procedia PDF Downloads 1901385 Design for Sustainability
Authors: Qiuying Li, Fan Chen
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It is a shared opinion that sustainable development requires continuously updated, meaning that apparent changes in the way we usually produce our buildings are strongly needed. In China’s construction field, the associated environmental, health problems are quite prominent.Especially low sustainable performance (as opposed to Green creation) flooding the real estate boom and high-speed urban and rural urbanization. Currently, we urgently need to improve the existing design basis,objectives,scope and procedures,optimization design portfolio.More new evaluation system designed to facilitate the building to enhance the overall level.Keywords: design for sustainability, design and materials, ecomaterials, sustainable architecture and urban design
Procedia PDF Downloads 5151384 Bi-Dimensional Spectral Basis
Authors: Abdelhamid Zerroug, Mlle Ismahene Sehili
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Spectral methods are usually applied to solve uni-dimensional boundary value problems. With the advantage of the creation of multidimensional basis, we propose a new spectral method for bi-dimensional problems. In this article, we start by creating bi-spectral basis by different ways, we developed also a new relations to determine the expressions of spectral coefficients in different partial derivatives expansions. Finally, we propose the principle of a new bi-spectral method for the bi-dimensional problems.Keywords: boundary value problems, bi-spectral methods, bi-dimensional Legendre basis, spectral method
Procedia PDF Downloads 3811383 The New Approach to Airport Emergency Plans
Authors: Jakub Kraus, Vladimír Plos, Peter Vittek
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This article deals with a new approach to the airport emergency plans, which are the basic documents and manuals for dealing with events with impact on safety or security. The article describes the identified parts in which the current airport emergency plans do not fulfill their role and which should therefore be considered in the creation of corrective measures. All these issues have been identified at airports in the Czech Republic and confirmed at airports in neighboring countries.Keywords: airport emergency plan, aviation safety, aviation security, comprehensive management system
Procedia PDF Downloads 4991382 Rethinking Entrepreneurship Education as a Remedy for Graduates Unemployment in Nigeria
Authors: Chinwe Susan Oguejiofor, Daniel Osamwonyi Iyioha
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Over the last two decades, Nigeria has witnessed an upsurge in graduate unemployment occasioned by the lack of industries and proliferation of tertiary institutions churning out thousands of graduates every year to compete for the few available job space. The astronomical rise in the unemployment rate amongst Nigerian graduates however, is principally assumed to be the defective curricula of the universities and other tertiary institutions whose focus is on training for white-collar jobs. Although graduate unemployment has become a global scourge, its adverse economic impact is believed to be more in developing economies like Nigeria with a huge young population within the working age who cannot seem to find gainful employment to make out a respectable livelihood. Thus, higher institutions especially Universities found itself under pressure and intense competition to produce graduates who can think outside the box and create jobs; hence there was the need to focus on instilling hands-on practical job skills into their students that will make them job creators rather than job seekers on graduation. In the same vein stakeholders in education have continued to lend their voices to the philosophy that the undergraduate curricula should be completely overhauled to accomodate the development of hand-on practical skills and innovative capacity relevant to creating solutions to societal problems. In a bid to correct this anomaly, the Federal Government of Nigeria in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment inaugurated a programme tagged “University Entrepreneurship Development Programme” (UNEDEP) whose objective was basically to promote self-employment among the youth right from the institutions of higher learning. But the question is whether the objectives of the programme have actually been achieved. Despite the inclusion in Nigerian educational curriculum close to two decades now,, one wonder if the essence has been aborted. Thus, the paper focused on the concept of entrepreneurship education, objectives of entrepreneurship education, Graduates unemployment, rethinking entrepreneurship education programme in tertiary institution for employment generation , role of entrepreneurship in job creation, challenges of entrepreneurship education in tertiary institution in Nigeria, conclusion and recommendations were drawn accordingly.Keywords: rethinking, entrepreneurship education, remedy, unemployment, job creation
Procedia PDF Downloads 691381 Symptomatic Strategies: Artistic Approaches Resembling Psychiatric Symptoms
Authors: B. Körner
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This paper compares deviant behaviour in two different readings: 1) as symptomatic for so-called ‘mental illness’ and 2) as part of artistic creation. It analyses works of performance art in the respective frames of psychiatric evaluation and performance studies. This speculative comparison offers an alternative interpretation of mad behaviour beyond pathologisation. It questions the distinction of psychiatric diagnosis, which can contribute to reducing the stigmatisation of mad people. The stigma associated with madness entails exclusion, prejudice, and systemic oppression. Symptoms of psychiatric diagnoses can be considered as behaviour exceptional to the psychological norm. This deviant behaviour constitutes an outsider role which is also defining for the societal role of ‘the artist’, whose transgressions of the norm are expected and celebrated. The research proposes the term ‘artistic exceptionalism’ for this phenomenon. In this study, a set of performance artworks are analysed within the frame of an art-theoretical interpretation and as if they were the basis of a psychiatric assessment. This critical comparison combines the perspective on ‘mental illness’ of mad studies with methods of interpretation used in performance studies. The research employs auto theory and artistic research; interweaving lived experience with scientific theory building through the double role of the author as both performance artist and survivor researcher. It is a distinctly personal and mad thought experiment. The research proposes three major categories of artistic strategies approaching madness: (a) confronting madness (processing and publicly addressing one's own experiences with mental distress through artistic creation), (b) creating critical conditions (conscious or unconscious, voluntary or involuntary creation of crisis situations in order to create an intense experience for a work of art), and (c) symptomatic strategies. This paper focuses on the last of the three categories: symptomatic strategies. These can be described as artistic methods with parallels to forms of coping with and/or symptoms of ‘mental disorders.’ These include, for example feverish activity, a bleak worldview, additional perceptions, an urge for order, and the intensification of emotional experience. The proposed categories are to be understood as a spectrum of approaches that are not mutually exclusive. This research does not aim to diagnose or pathologise artists or their strategies; disease value is neither sought nor assumed. Neither does it intend to belittle psychological suffering, implying that it cannot be so bad if it is productive for artists. It excludes certain approaches that romanticise and/or exoticise mental distress, for example, artistic portrayal of people in mental crisis (e.g., documentary-observational or exoticising depictions) or the deliberate and exaggerated imitation of their forms of expression and behaviour as ‘authentic’ (e.g., Art Brut). These are based on the othering of the Mad and thus perpetuate the social stigma to which they are subjected. By noting that the same deviant behaviour can be interpreted as the opposite in different contexts, this research offers an alternative approach to madness beyond the confines of psychiatry. It challenges the distinction of psychiatric diagnosis and exposes its social constructedness. Hereby, it aims to empower survivors and reduce the stigmatisation of madness.Keywords: artistic research, mad studies, mental health, performance art, psychiatric stigma
Procedia PDF Downloads 761380 Analysis of Citation Rate and Data Reuse for Openly Accessible Biodiversity Datasets on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Authors: Nushrat Khan, Mike Thelwall, Kayvan Kousha
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Making research data openly accessible has been mandated by most funders over the last 5 years as it promotes reproducibility in science and reduces duplication of effort to collect the same data. There are evidence that articles that publicly share research data have higher citation rates in biological and social sciences. However, how and whether shared data is being reused is not always intuitive as such information is not easily accessible from the majority of research data repositories. This study aims to understand the practice of data citation and how data is being reused over the years focusing on biodiversity since research data is frequently reused in this field. Metadata of 38,878 datasets including citation counts were collected through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) API for this purpose. GBIF was used as a data source since it provides citation count for datasets, not a commonly available feature for most repositories. Analysis of dataset types, citation counts, creation and update time of datasets suggests that citation rate varies for different types of datasets, where occurrence datasets that have more granular information have higher citation rates than checklist and metadata-only datasets. Another finding is that biodiversity datasets on GBIF are frequently updated, which is unique to this field. Majority of the datasets from the earliest year of 2007 were updated after 11 years, with no dataset that was not updated since creation. For each year between 2007 and 2017, we compared the correlations between update time and citation rate of four different types of datasets. While recent datasets do not show any correlations, 3 to 4 years old datasets show weak correlation where datasets that were updated more recently received high citations. The results are suggestive that it takes several years to cumulate citations for research datasets. However, this investigation found that when searched on Google Scholar or Scopus databases for the same datasets, the number of citations is often not the same as GBIF. Hence future aim is to further explore the citation count system adopted by GBIF to evaluate its reliability and whether it can be applicable to other fields of studies as well.Keywords: data citation, data reuse, research data sharing, webometrics
Procedia PDF Downloads 1701379 Problem Solving: Process or Product? A Mathematics Approach to Problem Solving in Knowledge Management
Authors: A. Giannakopoulos, S. B. Buckley
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Problem solving in any field is recognised as a prerequisite for any advancement in knowledge. For example in South Africa it is one of the seven critical outcomes of education together with critical thinking. As a systematic way to problem solving was initiated in mathematics by the great mathematician George Polya (the father of problem solving), more detailed and comprehensive ways in problem solving have been developed. This paper is based on the findings by the author and subsequent recommendations for further research in problem solving and critical thinking. Although the study was done in mathematics, there is no doubt by now in almost anyone’s mind that mathematics is involved to a greater or a lesser extent in all fields, from symbols, to variables, to equations, to logic, to critical thinking. Therefore it stands to reason that mathematical principles and learning cannot be divorced from any field. In management of knowledge situations, the types of problems are similar to mathematics problems varying from simple to analogical to complex; from well-structured to ill-structured problems. While simple problems could be solved by employees by adhering to prescribed sequential steps (the process), analogical and complex problems cannot be proceduralised and that diminishes the capacity of the organisation of knowledge creation and innovation. The low efficiency in some organisations and the low pass rates in mathematics prompted the author to view problem solving as a product. The authors argue that using mathematical approaches to knowledge management problem solving and treating problem solving as a product will empower the employee through further training to tackle analogical and complex problems. The question the authors asked was: If it is true that problem solving and critical thinking are indeed basic skills necessary for advancement of knowledge why is there so little literature of knowledge management (KM) about them and how they are connected and advance KM?This paper concludes with a conceptual model which is based on general accepted principles of knowledge acquisition (developing a learning organisation), knowledge creation, sharing, disseminating and storing thereof, the five pillars of knowledge management (KM). This model, also expands on Gray’s framework on KM practices and problem solving and opens the doors to a new approach to training employees in general and domain specific areas problems which can be adapted in any type of organisation.Keywords: critical thinking, knowledge management, mathematics, problem solving
Procedia PDF Downloads 5901378 The Gender Digital Divide in Education: The Case of Students from Rural Area from Republic of Moldova
Authors: Bărbuță Alina
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The inter-causal relationship between social inequalities and the digital divide raises the relation issue of gender and information and communication technologies (ICT) - a key element in achieving sustainable development. In preparing generations as future digital citizens and for active socio-economic participation, ICT plays a key role in respecting gender equality. Although several studies over the years have shown that gender plays an important role in digital exclusion, in recent years, many studies with a focus on economically developed or developing countries identify an improvement in these aspects and a gap narrowing. By measuring students' digital competencies level, this paper aims to identify and analyse the existing gender digital inequalities among students. Our analyses are based on a sample of 1526 middle school students residing in rural areas from Republic of Moldova (54.2% girls, mean age 14,00, SD = 1.02). During the online survey they filled in a questionnaire adapted from the (yDSI) ”The Youth Digital Skills Indicator”. The instrument measures the level of five digital competence areas indicated in The European Digital Competence Framework (DigiCom 2.3.). Our results, based on t-test, indicate that depending on gender, there are no statistically significant differences regarding the levels of digital skills in 3 areas: Information navigation and processing; Communication and interaction; Problem solving. However, were identified significant differences in the level of digital skills in the area of ”Digital content creation” [t(1425) = 4.20, p = .000] and ”Safety” [t(1421) = 2.49, p = .000], with higher scores recorded by girls. Our results contradicts the general stereotype regarding the low level of digital competence among girls, in our sample girls scores being on pear with boys and even bigger in knowledge related to digital content creation and online safety skills. Additional investigations related to boys competence on digital safety are necessary as the implication of their low scores on this dimension may suggest boys exposure to digital threats.Keywords: digital divide, education, gender digital divide, digital literacy, remote learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 931377 Saudi Twitter Corpus for Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Adel Assiri, Ahmed Emam, Hmood Al-Dossari
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Sentiment analysis (SA) has received growing attention in Arabic language research. However, few studies have yet to directly apply SA to Arabic due to lack of a publicly available dataset for this language. This paper partially bridges this gap due to its focus on one of the Arabic dialects which is the Saudi dialect. This paper presents annotated data set of 4700 for Saudi dialect sentiment analysis with (K= 0.807). Our next work is to extend this corpus and creation a large-scale lexicon for Saudi dialect from the corpus.Keywords: Arabic, sentiment analysis, Twitter, annotation
Procedia PDF Downloads 6241376 The Impact of Water Reservoirs on Biodiversity and Food Security and the Creation of Adaptation Mechanisms
Authors: Inom S. Normatov, Abulqosim Muminov, Parviz I. Normatov
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Problems of food security and the preservation of reserved zones in the region of Central Asia under the conditions of the climate change induced by the placement and construction of large reservoirs are considered. The criteria for the optimum placement and construction of reservoirs that entail the minimum impact on the environment are established. The need for the accounting of climatic parameters is shown by the calculation of the water quantity required for the irrigation of agricultural lands.Keywords: adaptation, biodiversity, food security, water reservoir, risk
Procedia PDF Downloads 2501375 Isolated Microspore Culture in Durum Wheat
Authors: Zelikha Labbani
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Since its creation in 1964 by Guha and Maheshwari in India on Datura innoxia Mill, in vitro androgenesis has become the method of choice in the production of doubled haploid in many species. However in durum wheat, the Doubled haploid plant breeding programs remained limited due to the low production of androgenetic embryos and converting them into fertile green plants. We describe here an efficient method for inducing embryos and regenerating green plants directly from isolated microspores of durum wheat.Keywords: Durum wheat, haploid embryos, on in vitro, pretreatment
Procedia PDF Downloads 3391374 Automatic Flood Prediction Using Rainfall Runoff Model in Moravian-Silesian Region
Authors: B. Sir, M. Podhoranyi, S. Kuchar, T. Kocyan
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Rainfall-runoff models play important role in hydrological predictions. However, the model is only one part of the process for creation of flood prediction. The aim of this paper is to show the process of successful prediction for flood event (May 15–May 18 2014). The prediction was performed by rainfall runoff model HEC–HMS, one of the models computed within Floreon+ system. The paper briefly evaluates the results of automatic hydrologic prediction on the river Olše catchment and its gages Český Těšín and Věřňovice.Keywords: flood, HEC-HMS, prediction, rainfall, runoff
Procedia PDF Downloads 3871373 Comparison between Approaches Used in Two Walk About Projects
Authors: Derek O Reilly, Piotr Milczarski, Shane Dowdall, Artur Hłobaż, Krzysztof Podlaski, Hiram Bollaert
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Learning through creation of contextual games is a very promising way/tool for interdisciplinary and international group projects. During 2013 and 2014 we took part and organized two intensive students projects in different conditions. The projects enrolled 68 students and 12 mentors from 5 countries. In the paper we want to share our experience how to strengthen the chances to succeed in short (12-15 days long) student projects. In our case almost all teams prepared working prototype and the results were highly appreciated by external experts.Keywords: contextual games, mobile games, GGULIVRR, walkabout, Erasmus intensive programme
Procedia PDF Downloads 4951372 Competitiveness of Animation Industry: The Case of Thailand
Authors: T. Niracharapa
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The research studied and examined the competitiveness of the animation industry in Thailand. Data were collected based on articles, related reports and websites, news, research, and interviews of key persons from both public and private sectors. The diamond model was used to analyze the study. The major factor driving the Thai animation industry forward includes a quality workforce, their creativity and strong associations. However, discontinuity in government support, infrastructure, marketing, IP creation and financial constraints were factors keeping the Thai animation industry less competitive in the global market.Keywords: animation, competitiveness, government, Thailand, market
Procedia PDF Downloads 4301371 Using the Dokeos Platform for Industrial E-Learning Solution
Authors: Kherafa Abdennasser
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The application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to the training area led to the creation of this new reality called E-learning. That last one is described like the marriage of multi- media (sound, image and text) and of the internet (diffusion on line, interactivity). Distance learning became an important totality for training and that last pass in particular by the setup of a distance learning platform. In our memory, we will use an open source platform named Dokeos for the management of a distance training of GPS called e-GPS. The learner is followed in all his training. In this system, trainers and learners communicate individually or in group, the administrator setup and make sure of this system maintenance.Keywords: ICT, E-learning, learning plate-forme, Dokeos, GPS
Procedia PDF Downloads 4731370 On In vitro Durum Wheat Isolated Microspore Culture
Authors: Zelikha Labbani
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Since its creation in 1964 by Guha and Maheshwari in India on Datura innoxia Mill, in vitro androgenesis has become the method of choice in the production of doubled haploid in many species. However, in durum wheat, the Doubled haploid plant breeding programs remained limited due to the low production of androgenetic embryos and converting them into fertile green plants. We describe here an efficient method for inducing embryos and regenerating green plants directly from isolated microspores of durum wheat.Keywords: durum wheat, haploid embryos, on in vitro, pretreatment
Procedia PDF Downloads 3521369 Innovation Management in State-Owned-Enterprises in the Digital Transformation: An Empirical Case Study of Swiss Post
Authors: Jiayun Shen, Lorenz Wyss, Thierry Golliard, Matthias Finger
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Innovation is widely recognized as the key for private enterprises to win the market competition. The state-owned-enterprises need to be innovative to compete in the market after the privatization as well. However, it is a lack of research to study how state-owned-enterprises manage innovation to create new products and services. Swiss Post, a Swiss state-owned-enterprises, has established a department to transform the corporate culture and foster innovation to achieve digital transformation. This paper describes the innovation management process at the Swiss Post and analyzes the impacts of the instruments, the organizational structure, and explores the barriers of innovation. This study used qualitative methods based on a review of the literature on innovation management and semi-structured interviews. Being established for over five years, the Swiss Post’s innovation management department has established a software-assisted modularized platform with systematic instruments to help the internal employees with the different innovation processes. It guides the innovators from idea creation to piloting in markets and supports with a separate financing source, with knowledge inputs and coaching, as well as with connections to external partners through the open innovation and venturing team. The platform also adapts to different business units within the corporate with a customized tailor for the various operational business units. The separate financing instruments enabled the creation and further development of new ideas; the coaching services contribute greatly to the transformation of teams’ innovation culture by providing new knowledge, thinking methods, and use cases for inspiration. It also facilitates organizational learning to help the whole corporate with the digital transformation. However, it is also confronted with a big challenge in twofold. Internally, the disruptive projects often hardly overcome the obstacles of long-established operational processes in the traditional business units; externally, the expectations of the public and restrictions from the federal government have become high hurdles for the company to stay and compete in the innovation track.Keywords: empirical case study, innovation management, state-owned-enterprise, Swiss Post
Procedia PDF Downloads 1161368 Investigation of Turbulent Flow in a Bubble Column Photobioreactor and Consequent Effects on Microalgae Cultivation Using Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation
Authors: Geetanjali Yadav, Arpit Mishra, Parthsarathi Ghosh, Ramkrishna Sen
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The world is facing problems of increasing global CO2 emissions, climate change and fuel crisis. Therefore, several renewable and sustainable energy alternatives should be investigated to replace non-renewable fuels in future. Algae presents itself a versatile feedstock for the production of variety of fuels (biodiesel, bioethanol, bio-hydrogen etc.) and high value compounds for food, fodder, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Microalgae are simple microorganisms that require water, light, CO2 and nutrients for growth by the process of photosynthesis and can grow in extreme environments, utilize waste gas (flue gas) and waste waters. Mixing, however, is a crucial parameter within the culture system for the uniform distribution of light, nutrients and gaseous exchange in addition to preventing settling/sedimentation, creation of dark zones etc. The overarching goal of the present study is to improve photobioreactor (PBR) design for enhancing dissolution of CO2 from ambient air (0.039%, v/v), pure CO2 and coal-fired flue gas (10 ± 2%) into microalgal PBRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), a state-of-the-art technique has been used to solve partial differential equations with turbulence closure which represents the dynamics of fluid in a photobioreactor. In this paper, the hydrodynamic performance of the PBR has been characterized and compared with that of the conventional bubble column PBR using CFD. Parameters such as flow rate (Q), mean velocity (u), mean turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) were characterized for each experiment that was tested across different aeration schemes. The results showed that the modified PBR design had superior liquid circulation properties and gas-liquid transfer that resulted in creation of uniform environment inside PBR as compared to conventional bubble column PBR. The CFD technique has shown to be promising to successfully design and paves path for a future research in order to develop PBRs which can be commercially available for scale-up microalgal production.Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, microalgae, bubble column photbioreactor, flue gas, simulation
Procedia PDF Downloads 2291367 On the Way to the European Research Area: Programmes of the European Union as Factor of the Innovation Development the Scientific Organization in Ukraine
Authors: Yuri Nikitin, Veronika Rukas
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Within the framework of the FP7 project "START" the cooperation with European research centres has had a positive impact on raising the level of innovation researches and the introduction of innovations Institute for Super hard Materials of the National Academy of Sciences (ISM NAS) of Ukraine in the economy of Europe and Ukraine, which in turn permits to speeds up the way for Ukrainian science to the European research area through the creation in Ukraine the scientific organizations of innovative type.Keywords: programs of the EU, innovative scientific results, innovation competence of the staff, commercialization in business of industry of the Europe and Ukraine
Procedia PDF Downloads 3221366 Creation of a Care Robot Impact Assessment
Authors: Eduard Fosch-Villaronga
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This paper pioneers Care Robot Impact Assessment (CRIA), a methodology used to identify, analyze, mitigate and eliminate the risks posed by the insertion of non-medical personal care robots (PCR) in medical care facilities. Its precedent instruments (Privacy and Surveillance Impact Assessment (PIA and SIA)) fall behind in coping with robots. Indeed, personal care robots change dramatically how care is delivered. The paper presents a specific risk-sector methodology, identifies which robots are under its scope and presents some of the challenges introduced by these robots.Keywords: ethics, impact assessment, law, personal care robots
Procedia PDF Downloads 5681365 Common Space Production as a Solution to the Affordable Housing Problem: Its Relationship with the Squating Process in Turkey
Authors: Gözde Arzu Sarıcan
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Contemporary urbanization processes and spatial transformations are intensely debated across various fields of social sciences. One prominent concept in these discussions is "common spaces." Common spaces offer a critical theoretical framework, particularly for addressing the social and economic inequalities brought about by urbanization. This study examines the processes of commoning and their impacts through the lens of squatter neighborhoods in Turkey, emphasizing the importance of affordable housing. It focuses on the role and significance of these neighborhoods in the formation of common spaces, analyzing the collective actions and resistance strategies of residents. This process, which began with the construction of shelters to meet the shelter needs of low-income households migrating from rural to urban areas, has turned into low-quality squatter settlements over time. For low-income households lacking the economic power to rent or buy homes in the city, these areas provided an affordable housing solution. Squatter neighborhoods reflect the efforts of local communities to protect and develop their communal living spaces through collective actions and resistance strategies. This collective creation process involves the appropriation of occupied land as a common resource through the rules established by the commons. Organized occupations subdivide these lands, shaped through collective creation processes. For the squatter communities striving for economic and social adaptation, these areas serve as buffer zones for urban integration. In squatter neighborhoods, bonds of friendship, kinship, and compatriotism are strong, playing a significant role in the creation and dissemination of collective knowledge. Squatter areas can be described as common spaces that emerge out of necessity for low-income and marginalized groups. The design and construction of housing in squatter neighborhoods are shaped by the collective participation and skills of the residents. Streets are formed through collective decision-making and labor. Over time, the demands for housing are communicated to local authorities, enhancing the potential for commoning. Common spaces are shaped by collective needs and demands, appropriated, and transformed into potential new spaces. Common spaces are continually redefined and recreated. In this context, affordable housing becomes an essential aspect of these common spaces, providing a foundation for social and economic stability. This study evaluates the processes of commoning and their effects through the lens of squatter neighborhoods in Turkey. Communities living in squatter neighborhoods have managed to create and protect communal living spaces, especially in situations where official authorities have been inadequate. Common spaces are built on values such as solidarity, cooperation, and collective resistance. In urban planning and policy development processes, it is crucial to consider the concept of common spaces. Policies that support the collective efforts and resistance strategies of communities can contribute to more just and sustainable living conditions in urban areas. In this context, the concept of common spaces is considered an important tool in the fight against urban inequalities and in the expression and defense mechanisms of communities. By emphasizing the importance of affordable housing within these spaces, this study highlights the critical role of common spaces in addressing urban social and economic challenges.Keywords: affordable housing, common space, squating process, turkey
Procedia PDF Downloads 221364 Reflections on Opportunities and Challenges for Systems Engineering
Authors: Ali E. Abbas
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This paper summarizes some of the discussions that occurred in a workshop in West Virginia, U.S.A which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in February 2016. The goal of the workshop was to explore the opportunities and challenges for applying systems engineering in large enterprises, and some of the issues that still persist. The main topics of the discussion included challenges with elaboration and abstraction in large systems, interfacing physical and social systems, and the need for axiomatic frameworks for large enterprises. We summarize these main points of discussion drawing parallels with decision making in organizations to instigate research in these discussion areas.Keywords: decision analysis, systems engineering, framing, value creation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3231363 Territorialisation and Elections: Land and Politics in Benin
Authors: Kamal Donko
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In the frontier zone of Benin Republic, land seems to be a fundamental political resource as it is used as a tool for socio-political mobilization, blackmail, inclusion and exclusion, conquest and political control. This paper seeks to examine the complex and intriguing interlinks between land, identity and politics in central Benin. It aims to investigate what roles territorialisation and land ownership are playing in the electioneering process in central Benin. It employs ethnographic multi-sited approach to data collections including observations, interviews and focused group discussions. Research findings reveal a complex and intriguing relationship between land ownership and politics in central Benin. Land is found to be playing a key role in the electioneering process in the region. The study has also discovered many emerging socio-spatial patterns of controlling and maintaining political power in the zone which are tied to land politics. These include identity reconstruction and integration mechanism through intermarriages, socio-political initiatives and construction of infrastructure of sovereignty. It was also found that ‘Diaspora organizations’ and identity issues; strategic creation of administrative units; alliance building strategy; gerrymandering local political field, etc. These emerging socio-spatial patterns of territorialisation for maintaining political power affect migrant and native communities’ relationships. It was also found that ‘Diaspora organizations’ and identity issues; strategic creation of administrative units; alliance building strategy; gerrymandering local political field, etc. are currently affecting migrant’s and natives’ relationships. The study argues that territorialisation is not only about national boundaries and the demarcation between different nation states, but more importantly, it serves as a powerful tool of domination and political control at the grass root level. Furthermore, this study seems to provide another perspective from which the political situation in Africa can be studied. Investigating how the dynamics of land ownership is influencing politics at the grass root or micro level, this study is fundamental to understanding spatial issues in the frontier zone.Keywords: land, migration, politics, territorialisation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3541362 Creating Positive Learning Environment
Authors: Samia Hassan, Fouzia Latif
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In many countries, education is still far from being a knowledge industry in the sense of own practices that are not yet being transformed by knowledge about the efficacy of those practices. The core question of this paper is why students get bored in class? Have we balanced between the creation and advancement of an engaging learning community and effective learning environment? And between, giving kids confidence to achieve their maximum and potential goals, we sand managing student’s behavior. We conclude that creating a positive learning environment enhances opportunities for young children to feel safe, secure, and to supported in order to do their best learning. Many factors can use in classrooms aid to the positive environment like course content, class preparation, and behavior.Keywords: effective, environment, learning, positive
Procedia PDF Downloads 5601361 Mean Reversion in Stock Prices: Evidence from Karachi Stock Exchange
Authors: Tabassum Riaz
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This study provides a complete examination of the stock prices behavior in the Karachi stock exchange. It examines that whether Karachi stock exchange can be described as mean reversion or not. For this purpose daily, weekly and monthly index data from Karachi stock exchange ranging from period July 1, 1997 to July 2, 2011 was taken. After employing the Multiple variance ratio and unit root tests it is concluded that stock market follow mean reversion behavior and hence have reverting trend which opens the door for the active invest management. Thus technical analysis may be help to identify the potential areas for value creation.Keywords: mean reversion, random walk, technical analysis, Karachi stock exchange
Procedia PDF Downloads 4201360 Analysis of Reflection Coefficients of Reflected and Transmitted Waves at the Interface Between Viscous Fluid and Hygro-Thermo-Orthotropic Medium
Authors: Anand Kumar Yadav
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fluctuation of amplitude ratios of various transmitted and reflected waves. Design/methodology/approach – The reflection and transmission of plane waves on the interface between an orthotropic hygro-thermo-elastic half-space (OHTHS) and a viscous-fluid half-space (VFHS) were investigated in this study with reference to coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity. Findings – The interface, where y = 0, is struck by the principal (P) plane waves as they travel through the VFHS. Two waves are reflected in VFHS, and four waves are transmitted in OHTHS as a result namely longitudinal displacement, Pwave − , thermal diffusion TDwave − and moisture diffusion mDwave − and shear vertical SV wave. Expressions for the reflection and transmitted coefficient are developed for the incidence of a hygrothermal plane wave. It is noted that these ratios are graphically displayed and are observed under the influence of coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity. Research limitations/implications – There isn't much study on the model under consideration, which combines OHTHS and VFHS with coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity, according to the existing literature Practical implications – The current model can be applied in many different areas, such as soil dynamics, nuclear reactors, high particle accelerators, earthquake engineering, and other areas where linked hygrothermo-elasticity is important. In a range of technical and geophysical settings, wave propagation in a viscous fluid-thermoelastic medium with various characteristics, such as initial stress, magnetic field, porosity, temperature, etc., gives essential information regarding the presence of new and modified waves. This model may prove useful in modifying earthquake estimates for experimental seismologists, new material designers, and researchers. Social implications – Researchers may use coupled hygro-thermo-elasticity to categories the material, where the parameter is a new indication of its ability to conduct heat in interaction with diverse materials. Originality/value – The submitted text is the sole creation of the team of writers, and all authors equally contributed to its creation.Keywords: hygro-thermo-elasticity, viscous fluid, reflection coefficient, transmission coefficient, moisture concentration
Procedia PDF Downloads 611359 Inclusive Design for Regaining Lost Identity: Accessible, Aesthetic and Effortless Clothing
Authors: S. Tandon, A. Oussoren
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Clothing is a need for all humans. Besides serving the commonly understood function of protection, it also is a means of self-expression and adornment. However, most clothing for people with disabilities is developed to respond to their functional needs merely. Such clothing aggravates feelings of inadequacy and lowers their self-esteem. Investigations into apparel-related barriers faced by women with disabilities and their expectations and desires about clothing pointed to a huge void in terms of well-designed inclusive clothing. The incredible stories and experiences shared by the participants in this research highlighted the fact that people with disabilities wanted to feel, dress, and look at how they wanted to look by wearing what they wanted to wear. Clothing should be about self-expression – reflecting their moods, taste, and style and not limited to fulfilling merely their functional needs. Inclusive Design for Regaining Lost Identity was undertaken to design and develop accessible clothing that is inclusive and fashionable to foster psycho-social well-being and to enhance the self-esteem of women with disabilities. The research explored inclusive design solutions for the saree – a traditional Indian garment for women. The saree is an elaborate garment that requires precise draping, which makes the saree complicated to wear and inconvenient to carry, particularly for women with physical disabilities. For many women in India, the saree remains the customary dress, especially for work and occasions, yet minimal advancement has been made to enhance its accessibility and ease of use. The project followed a qualitative research approach whilst incorporating a combination of methods, which consisted of a questionnaire, an interview, and co-creation workshops. The research adhered to the principles of applied research such that the designed products aim to solve a problem that is functional and purposeful. In order to reduce the complications and to simplify the wrapping of the garment fabric around the body, different combinations of pre-stitching of the layers of the saree were created to investigate the outcomes. The technology of 3D drawing and printing was employed to develop feasible fasteners keeping in mind the participants’ movement limitations and to enhance their agency with these newly designed fasteners. The underlying principle of the project is that every individual should be able to access life the way they wish to and should not have to compromise their desires due to their disability.Keywords: accessibility, co-creation, design ethics, inclusive
Procedia PDF Downloads 110