A cross-country comparison of innovation efficiency

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the weakness of innovative activities and guide the improvement of innovation efficiency at country-level through carefully comparing innovation efficiency across countries. Following the conceptual framework which divides innovation processes into knowledge production process (KPP) and knowledge commercialization process (KCP) and applying dual network-DEA models, this paper tries to take economic benefit of R&D outputs into account. Moreover, we construct the production frontier of the innovation processes and two component processes under different assumptions (e.g., constant returns-to-scale, variable returns-to-scale and non-increasing returns-to-scale) for 35 countries over the period 2007–2011. Based on the production frontier, we do not only estimate technical efficiency and scale efficiency for each country but also investigate and verify whether returns-to-scale of each country are decreasing or increasing. Furthermore, we add together the radial movement and the slack movement to acquire input redundancy. We decompose the input redundancy into two parts: redundancy caused by technical inefficiency (R_TI) and redundancy caused by scale inefficiency (R_SI), and carry out a detail analysis of the input redundancy. We find specific circumstances of inefficiency and redundancy vary with the different countries’ characteristics and development stages. Moreover, innovation efficiency statistically mainly depends on the KCP efficiency. In particular, the study reveals that China suffers scale inefficiency is attributed to insufficient macro-level coordination, malfunctioning funding system, and flawed evaluations and incentives. Finally, public policy implications are proposed for the inefficient countries.     

The sociotechnical constitution of cognitive work analysis: roles,affordances and malfunctions

Analysis of everyday work practices in sociotechnical systems for eliciting design/intervention requirements involves appropriate work analysis frameworks. The current article provides an extension to one such framework — Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) — by scrutinising its sociotechnical basis. CWA's forte depends on its ‘design for adaptation’, system related operations, and operators. In contrast, sociotechnical work systems require not only operators and adaptation, but also a significant emphasis on ‘users’ and ‘appropriation’. The current article extends CWA (based on Rasmussen's original concepts) for users; subsequently allowing for system flexibility and possibilities of ‘appropriation’ within acceptable boundaries of the system's correct functioning. To this end, the first phase of Work Domain Analysis is extended by adding a new layer to the abstraction hierarchy (AH), based on Rasmussen's original insights.     

A model for social interaction between cognition and action through a key-word simulation of knowledge growth

The question of knowledge construction can be regarded as a question of cognition in relation to action.Callon and al. have suggested interactive processes mixing both cognitive and social aspects of knowledge or technology. Both actors and interactions can usually be described by texts, and namely, by words. Thus knowledge development can be described through key-words network development. The authors have made simulations for knowledge development according to a local positive feed-back rule within small sets of word associations. In comparison with real data, the simulation results are fairly good. This approach leads to a general and very simple interaction model describing knowledge development. In this model, as opposed to usual cybernetics, actors constantly change, building a common scenario in relation to a mutual definition rule.     

Multi-actor perspectives on human robotic collaboration implementation in the heavy automotive manufacturing industry - A Swedish case study

Implementing an industrial collaborative robot for Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) in the automotive manufacturing industry is an emerging technology-driven solution aiming to increase production efficiency and reduce the human operator's ergonomic load. Successful implementation of innovative technology depends on technical feasibility and on the acceptance by the affected actors. Many studies exist that focus on the technical aspects of HRC, however, research that focuses on understanding the multi-actor concerns of HRC adoption is rare. In an effort to support the successful adoption of industrial collaborative robots, this study aims to understand the concerns of the various actors who work at the operational and management levels influencing future HRC adoption in the heavy automotive manufacturing industry.A literature review was conducted to understand the HRC implementation challenges and the methods used to investigate multi-actor involvement in advance of, and during, the implementation stage. After reviewing existing studies, the actor analysis method was selected to present the actors' perceptions using the action, factor, and goal (AFG) list to understand different actors’ opinions of HRC adoption, using a Swedish heavy vehicle manufacturing company case study.The case study results showed that the actors from the same organization had different concerns but mostly positive expectations for future HRC adoption. The actors’ perception map shows the details pertaining to Actions, Concerns, and Goals as well as the logical flow between these elements in regards to HRC future adoption. The involvement of different actor groups prior to new solution implementation contributes to a holistic view of potential implementation influences and challenges in the organization. Actor analysis can provide a set of analysis processes that comply with multi-actor perceptions to understand future adoption challenges from different perspectives. In the next step, safety-related issues and under-development standardization are the key challenges of HRC implementation.     

Toward TechnoAccess: A narrative review of disabled and aging experiences of using technology to access the arts

This paper presents a narrative literature review that addresses the issue of how disabled and aging people access the arts through technology. Our review synthesized 56 studies about disabled and aging people's experiences of access through technology, with a focus on methods used and accounts of user experiences/stories to inform a Canadian research and development initiative called Accessing the Arts. We urge designers and developers to consider the complex, multimodal sociotechnical relationships surrounding technology and access—or TechnoAccess—as they develop technology with disability, aging and access in mind. Although existing evidence offers ways to improve everyone's access to the arts, recommendations are provided for research around access and technology as an inherently politicized topic that must be informed by disabled and aging people's intersectional cultural experiences, including how they wish to use technology to access the arts.     

Sociotechnical systems, risk management, and public health: comparing the North Battleford and Walkerton outbreaks

Accidents in different complex sociotechnical systems are rarely compared using the same theoretical framework for risk management. We conducted a comparative analysis of two Canadian public health disasters involving drinking water distribution systems, the North Battleford Cryptosporidium parvum outbreak in April 2001 and the Walkerton E. coli outbreak in May 2000. Both accidents resulted from a complex interaction between all levels of a complex sociotechnical system. However, the low-level physical and individual factors differed in the two cases, whereas, the high-level governmental and regulatory factors tended to be the same. These findings may have implications for the design of public policies to minimize risk in complex sociotechnical systems.     

An epistemological approach to human systems integration

Can we contribute to developing a consistent terminology and, to some extent, an acceptable ontology in the rapidly expanding field of human systems integration (HSI)? We often define HSI as a process and a product at the confluence of several areas, such as systems engineering, human factors and ergonomics, information technology, and specific sectors, such as aerospace, health, and energy. It is a broader transdisciplinary field in our increasingly complex human-machine world that focuses on integrating technology, organizations, and people within a complex sociotechnical system throughout its life cycle. Therefore, HSI is no longer a question of usability and user interface design once a complex machine is technologically developed, but also about considering people and organizations early on in the design and development processes. Indeed, rooted in industrial engineering research and operational worlds, HSI requires a deeper foundation based on an epistemological approach. This assertion is even more crucial today as technology has become predominantly digital, and, more specifically, the concept of the digital twin is emphasized because it has become essential to support model-based HSI. In other words, software-based assistant systems are replacing traditional tools. Therefore, appropriate social-cognitive (multi-agent) models and methods are helpful throughout the life cycle of contemporary sociotechnical designs to account for the complexity and tangibility of their human-centered context-sensitive architectures, combining procedural and declarative knowledge. By considering these reasons, this article provides a set of fundamental axioms, some theoretical abstractions, and valuable practical models, which are presented and illustrated through the lens of an evolutionary HSI ontology.     

Knowledge Production and Knowledge Flows in the Swedish Biotechnology Innovation System

As a basis for policy decisions, governments are increasingly using analysis of systems of innovation. Fundamental to the systems of innovation approach is the recognition that innovation processes essentially are interactive activities.The present paper illustrates the use and limitations of bibliometries in analysing the knowledge production and knowledge flows in a section of an innovation system focusing on life science subject fields relevant to innovation processes in biotechnology. Bibliometrics can in this context be used to identify the actors in a research intensive innovation system, the scientific profiles of actors as well as identifying networks and collaboration patterns.     

Marginalising household users in smart grids

Unless just and inclusive, transitions to low carbon-energy systems are unlikely to receive sufficient legitimacy and broad public support. While research on inequalities and injustices in energy transitions is growing, these issues remain less explored in the case of the digitalisation of the energy systems through smart grids and smart homes. This paper aims to synthetise our understandings of inequality, exclusion and vulnerability in energy transitions by systemically analysing different dimensions of marginalisation in the transition to a digitalised electricity infrastructure in Sweden. To synthetise understandings of marginalisation and exclusion, conceptualisations of these processes in different social science approaches to energy studies are reviewed. Moreover, an empirical analysis of interviews with a range of Swedish actors such as energy utilities, social housing developers or pensioner organisations is carried out and enriched by previous research on smart grid users. The empirical analysis demonstrates what specific forms that diverse categories of marginalisation, as already identified generally in different social science approaches to energy studies, may take in smart grids. We argue that marginalisation of household users in smart grids may take place along multiple dimensions, relating to matters of literacy, participation, infrastructure, and the economy. The analysis suggests that bundles of marginalisation aspects concerning household users in sustainable energy transitions should be recognised and addressed simultaneously.     

System thinking applied to near misses: a review of industry-wide near miss reporting systems

Abstract

Learning from near misses is an important component of maintaining safe work systems. Within safety science it is widely accepted that a systems approach is the most appropriate for analysing incidents in sociotechnical systems. The aim of this article is to determine whether industry-level near miss reporting systems are consistent with systems thinking. Twenty systems were identified, from a range of work domains, and were evaluated against systems thinking-based criteria. While none of the reporting systems fulfilled the full set of criteria, all are able to identify actors and contributing factors proximal to events in sociotechnical systems and many capture information on how accidents were prevented. It is concluded that the explanatory power of near miss reporting systems is limited by the systems currently used to gather data. The article closes by outlining a research agenda designed to ensure that near miss reporting systems can fully align with the systems approach.     

Editors,librarians, and publication exchange: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the long 19th century

The paper discusses the publications of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) as part of a wider network of publication exchange, linking learned societies, libraries, and archives. The periodicals of the RSAS went through several reorganisations between 1813 and 1903, all to some extent related to their role in publication exchange. Although subject to many of the same deliberations of commercial value and institutional prestige as the expanding book trade, publication exchange offered a means of communication for institutions with widely differing financial, linguistic and scientific status, and a forum for articulating a wide range of values significant in scientific publication. In the context of publication exchange, the roles of producers and consumers, and of publishers and repositories of scientific knowledge overlap, and librarians emerge alongside editors as central actors in scientific communication. Scientific editorship should be viewed not only as a means of disseminating scientific findings to wider audiences, but as designing a product that could be used to forge institutional connections, to acquire publications, and to build collections. The case of the RSAS periodicals highlights the importance of publication, not only for the distribution of scientific knowledge, but for its acquisition.     

Applying cognitive work analysis to the design of rapidly reconfigurable interfaces in complex networks

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the interconnections between the different phases (or tools) within the cognitive work analysis framework; the benefits of extending an analysis across each of the five phases are highlighted through these interconnections. The paper uses a command and control micro-world example to describe how each of the five phases can be used to describe the constraints within the micro-world domain from a different perspective. Based upon the social organisation and cooperation analysis, design requirements are extracted in order to develop role specific customisable interfaces for use within the micro-world. The interfaces have been specifically developed to communicate real time reconfiguration of the network through each of the individual interfaces; the reallocations of functions or roles are communicated to the actors through changes to the interface.     

Human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing in the industry 4.0 context – A scoping review

Industry 4.0 revolution has brought rapid technological growth and development in manufacturing industries. Technological development enables efficient manufacturing processes and brings changes in human work, which may cause new threats to employee well-being and challenge their existing skills and knowledge. Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) is a scientific discipline to optimize simultaneously overall system performance and human well-being in different work contexts. The aim of this scoping review is to describe the state-of-the-art of the HF/E research related to the industry 4.0 context in manufacturing. A systematic search found 336 research articles, of which 37 were analysed utilizing a human-centric work system framework presented in the HF/E literature. Challenges related to technological development were analysed in micro- and macroergonomics work system frameworks. Based on the review we frame characteristics of an organisation level maturity model to optimize overall sociotechnical work system performance in the context of rapid technological development in manufacturing industries.     

Quintuple helix structure of Sino-Korean research collaboration in science

The Triple Helix Model has been used for science-mapping in research collaboration since the 1980s. As knowledge-producing activities have rapidly expanded and become interrelated, the triple helix framework is limited in uncovering a broader range of stakeholders and multilateral collaborative activities. In this vein, the present study employs the N-tuple Helix Model as a suitable alternative to analyze the structure of scientific collaboration networks beyond university–industry–government (UIG) relations. The networks of N-tuple Helix relations embedded in Sino-Korean research collaboration are examined in terms of five actors, such as universities, industries, governments, hospitals, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The results found that the quintuple helical network exists in Sino-Korean research collaboration. While traditional UIG actors play a pivotal role, hospital and NGO sectors emerge as new drivers for knowledge production and innovation. Each sector is significantly associated with the others and plays distinctive roles and functions. The overall findings provide new insight into a possible change in the traditional Triple Helix framework by demonstrating an alternative “five-helix model” of innovation as a new evolving structure and new dynamic of international collaboration in science.     

Journal relatedness: An actor-actor and actor-objectives case study

Using the MACTOR (Matrix of Alliances and Conflicts: Tactics, Objectives and Recommendations) method, a set of 13 related journals covering the subject category “Chemistry, Multidisciplinary” was analyzed in terms of direct and indirect reciprocal influences (measured by relatedness indexes Rji), their positions towards a generic set of common objectives (total cites; impact factor; immediacy index; number of published articles; cited half life) and the convergences (Actors x Actors and Actors x Objectives) existing in the above-mentioned relatedness network. The study identified 4 types of actors: dominant (3), independent (8), relay (1) and dominated (1). Maps of: influences and dependences between actors; convergence between actors; net distances between actors and actors-objectives relationships are presented, together with short interpretations. Defining scientific journals as actors on a specific “knowledge market”, identifying influences and dependences between them and positioning these journals towards a set of measurable objectives creates an interesting possibility to define “relationships of power” of a strategic nature and enables the introduction of more complex future-oriented scientometric analyses than those based solely on standard bibliometric indicators such as the impact factor.     

Integrating ecosystem services in Swedish environmental assessments: an empirical analysis

Given the growing number of policies and laws that encourage inclusion of ecosystem services (ES) in processes, we have investigated environmental impact assessments (EIA) and strategic environmental assessments (SEA) conducted in Sweden in order to analyse whether ES may be integrated to enhance and improve environmental assessment of today. Representative Swedish environmental projects were reviewed. Three cases with different geographic and environmental settings were selected to allow us to study consideration of a wide range of different ES. We investigated the processes and discussions taking place using documentation from the cases. We formalized and labelled the expected impacts into an ES framework. Summarizing each case, we described conformities and divergences in explicit and implicit prioritizations between the actors. We discussed the benefits of integrating ES into current practices and possible improvements in the processes and methodologies. When ES could be integrated into EIAs and SEAs more aspects would be visualized and a larger stakeholder engagement stimulated leading to improved support for decision-making.     

Knowledge transfer in time of crisis: evidence from the Trentino region

The last decade has shown a shift of focus of the literature on networks to a more dynamic perspective, and towards the study of mechanisms that drive network evolution inside regions. The strategic behaviour of network agents and the evolution of networks may be affected by the occurrence of macroeconomic events external to the region. This paper assesses the impact of different factors on the trust created between agents through repetition of previous collaborations before and after the global economic recession of 2008. Main findings show that actors in periods of crisis prefer collaboration with trustful actors with whom they cooperated in the past, than to actors with whom they share common characteristics (proximities). In high-risk periods, the knowledge network is more inert, while in low risk periods, actors prefer to expand the knowledge network of the region, investing in global pipelines and importing knowledge from distant regions.     

Protein‐Based Artificial Nanosystems in Cancer Therapy

Proteins, like actors, play different roles in specific applications. In the past decade, significant achievements have been made in protein‐engineered biomedicine for cancer therapy. Certain proteins such as human serum albumin, working as carriers for drug/photosensitizer delivery, have entered clinical use due to their long half‐life, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and inherent nonimmunogenicity. Proteins with catalytic abilities are promising as adjuvant agents for other therapeutic modalities or as anticancer drugs themselves. These catalytic proteins are usually defined as enzymes with high biological activity and substrate specificity. However, clinical applications of these kinds of proteins remain rare due to protease‐induced denaturation and weak cellular permeability. Based on the characteristics of different proteins, tailor‐made protein‐based nanosystems could make up for their individual deficiencies. Therefore, elaborately designed protein‐based nanosystems, where proteins serve as drug carriers, adjuvant agents, or therapeutic drugs to make full use of their intrinsic advantages in cancer therapy, are reviewed. Up‐to‐date progress on research in the field of protein‐based nanomedicine is provided.     

Innovation strategies,external knowledge and productivity growth

This paper studies firms′ capability to recombine internal and local knowledge. It measures the outcome in terms of total productivity growth. Using Swedish data on commuting time for face-to-face contacts across all 290 municipalities, we employ a time-sensitive approach for calculating localized knowledge within a municipality and and its close neighbors. Internal knowledge is captured by register data on firms’ innovation intensity. The two sources of knowledge are modeled in a production function setting by discrete composite variables with different combinations of input factors. Applying the model on Swedish firm level panel data, we find strong evidence of differences in the capacity to benefit from external knowledge among persistent innovators, temporary innovators and non-innovators. The results are consistent regardless of whether innovation efforts are measured in terms of the frequency of patent applications or the level of R&D investment.     

Identification of technological knowledge intermediaries

Intermediaries in a technological knowledge network have recently been highlighted as crucial innovation drivers that accelerate technological knowledge flows. Although the patent network analysis has been frequently used to monitor technological knowledge structures, it has examined only sources or recipients of the technological knowledge by mainly estimating technological knowledge inflows or outflows of a network node. This study, therefore, aims to identify technological knowledge intermediaries when a technology-level knowledge network is composed of several industries. First, types of technological knowledge flows are deductively classified into four types by highlighting industry affiliations of source technologies and recipient technologies. Second, a directed technological knowledge network is generated at the technology class level, using patent co-classification analysis. Third, for each class, mediating scores are measured according to the four types. The empirical analysis illustrates the Korea’s technological knowledge network between 2000 and 2008. As a result, the four types of mediating scores are compared between industries, and industry-wise technological knowledge intermediaries are identified. The proposed approach is practical to explore converging processes in technology development where technology classes act as technological knowledge intermediaries among diverse industries.