Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment: Crucial Steps in Technology Transfer to Developing Countries

Technology transfer has been a common practice of most developing countries and countries in economic transition as they usually don’t have their own R&D and industries for producing the required technology. In transferring a technology there are a lot of factors to be considered. Most failures of technology transfer occur because of the failure to consider those factors. This paper focuses on the initial (though often forgotten) and crucial steps of technology transfer, Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment, and identifies factors involved in those steps. The study is based on a literature survey and case study analysis of technical, institutional, economic and environmental factors that should be considered in the needs- and technology assessment processes. The model that is developed serves as a guideline for technology transfer processes for developing countries. To validate the model, case studies from literature are used and discussed.Peer Reviewe

Translating research findings into practice: example of treatment services for adolescents in managed care.

An important question in the alcoholism treatment field is how research findings can be translated into real-world clinical practice. Researchers have developed a new research-practice integration (RPI) model that can both drive the formulation of studies and new research questions and promote improvements in treatment quality. The hallmark of this model is a collaborative relationship between the key stakeholders in both alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment and research, including health plan administrators and clinicians, treatment program administrators, psychiatry and primary care departments, patients and their families, purchasers, and researchers. The issue of technology transfer is especially relevant in the realm of adolescent AOD treatment. The implementation and feasibility of the RPI model are illustrated by a case study of a managed health care plan's treatment services for adolescents with AOD dependence. In this setting, key research findings are being used to shape the plan's adolescent health services

Technology Transfer and Integrated Social Development: International Issues and Possibilities for Social Work

Technology transfer and integrated social development are closely linked aspects of social work practice that deserve more serious attention than they have received to date. Social workers need to play more knowledgeable and active roles in utilizing a broad-scale partnership model that will help communities and societies screen and adapt technologies so that they can be appropriately integrated with people\u27s values, culture, concerns and aspirations. Everyone should ultimately benefit if the poor and disempowered peoples of the world in particular become the primary focus and the beneficiaries of less arrogant and more inclusive strategies of technology transfer. The aim of the paper is to examine models for screening and transferring technology and reviewing practice principles and prospects for achieving a concerted social work approach to technology transfer and integrated social development

DISCUSSION

Any application of information and communication technology in education (ICTE) sits, at times uncomfortably, at the intersection of three key disciplines: technology, education and sociology (including reflexivity). To confuse matters, any specific study may need to take account of specific knowledge within subdisciplines, such as organisational management and technology transfer, and of knowledge within the domain of application (e.g. nursing, social work, fashion, etc.). Researchers must build a consistent model of knowledge that can integrate disparate methodologies, research goals and even conflicting interpretations of the same terminology. Without this, the ICTE research field will be dominated by what is simply novel, irrespective of the relevance of particular changes to educational practice. If existing models in this field are as limited as suggested by Moule, when should lecturers and teachers, with no motivation to use technology for its own sake and no additional financial support, review progress in this field for effective examples of innovative practice, let alone wide-scale change? On most of the criteria that could be introduced to compare two papers, the views of Moule and Salmon appear almost diametrically opposed and a detailed comparison would seem of limited value. Instead, this paper asks a more fundamental question: what could be the basis within this research community for establishing coherence within the field and ensuring that research can justify actual changes in educational practice

Judging The International Transfer Of Technology

International transfer of technology is a widely discussed area in the scientific\ud literature. Although many different factors are discussed in the literature that affect the transfer\ud of technology, it is not clear how to judge the performance of companies involved in\ud international technology transfer. In this paper indications are given on how the performance of\ud companies involved in the international transfer of technology can be judged. This is done by\ud first explaining what is meant by international transfer of technology in the context of this paper.\ud Based on this, a process model is developed for the transfer of technology. Several possible\ud viewpoints of judging are given related to the efficiency and effectiveness of the technology\ud transfer. However, judging the efficiency and effectiveness depends on the developed process\ud model and is cumbersome and subjective. Therefore, the application of an alternative instrument,\ud the learning curve is introduced. The learning curve offers great potential to judge the transfer of\ud technology because it is an aggregate measurement of the production performance. Companies\ud involved in a technology transfer have to be aware though that the learning rate can not simply\ud be copied. The case studies lead to the conclusion that for the transfer process a constant curve is\ud assumed but that in practice the learning rate at the Destination Company is lower than at the\ud Source Company

Modelling and simulation techniques for forced convection heat transfer in heat sinks with rectangular fins

The official published version of this article can be found at the link below.This paper provides a comprehensive description of the thermal conditions within a heat sink with rectangular fins under conditions of cooling by laminar forced convection. The analysis, in which increasing complexity is progressively introduced, uses both classical heat transfer theory and a computational approach to model the increase in air temperature through the channels formed by adjacent fins and the results agree well with published experimental data. The calculations show how key heat transfer parameters vary with axial distance, in particular the rapid changes in heat transfer coefficient and fin efficiency near the leading edges of the cooling fins. Despite these rapid changes and the somewhat ill-defined flow conditions which would exist in practice at the entry to the heat sink, the results clearly show that, compared with the most complex case of a full numerical simulation, accurate predictions of heat sink performance are attainable using analytical methods which incorporate average values of heat transfer coefficient and fin efficiency. The mathematical modelling and solution techniques for each method are described in detail.This work was part of a project funded by Solas Technology Limited, Ireland

Work-integrated practices in a technology education setting

Published ArticleThis study sought to explore emerging university-industry partnerships in technology transfer education, the process for the engagement, and benefits to the learning and teaching experience Participants were a convenience sample of ten lecturers at a technology university (females = 80%; management sciences = 70%) Data on the scope and nature of industry partnership practices and experiences were collected using semi-structured interview Thematic data analysis revealed the lecturers to perceive benefits to learning and teaching from the university-industry engagement, including the use of field practice examples, customer service-orientated skills, innovation learning and technology transfer, curriculum enhancement and professional learning A work-integrated approach to learning appears to be a serviceable model for real-world technology transfer education outcome

Chatbot Introduction and Operation in Enterprises – A Design Science Research-based Structured Procedure Model for Chatbot Projects

Chatbot research has become an emerging research area. Researchers survey the technology behind and the whole ecosystem from different perspectives, e.g., human-computer interaction, design research, or anthropomorphism. To foster the transfer from research to practice, a comprehensive structured procedure model is missing yet. Due to this, the transfer of the research results into real-world settings in enterprises is often complicated. Hereto, we propose a comprehensive structured procedure model to guide practitioners in chatbot projects based on a Design Science Research study. In doing so, necessary project steps are pointed out and corresponding research results are highlighted to make them reusable for practice in a targeted manner. Thus, we provide structured support for chatbot projects in enterprises

Information Technology Usage Transfer in Online Context: A Brand Extension Perspective

Information technology (IT) adoption and acceptance have been the subject of increasing interest and scholarly investigation by information system researchers for over a decade. However, most have examined the usage behavior of various IT products in isolation while the brand nature of technology products has been generally ignored. The current study examines usage transfer behavior from the brand extension perspective and identifies salient determinants of brand extension effect in the adoption Web-based technology. Drawing upon the categorization theory, we propose a research model and try to validate it using cross-sectional field data collected for a search engine and its extensions to a virtual community and web portal. This research contributes to both research and practice by advancing understanding of transfer behavior between products sharing the same brand as well as by providing insights on technology product design and marketing promotion strategies in electronic markets

The Role of Spin-Off Companies in the Technology Transfer and IS Management Potential in Developing a Sharing Economy

The development of all dimensions of digitization, in particular the global Internet penetration into most business areas, creates a better condition for sharing technology. Start-up and spin-off companies, supported by university centres, directly support the transfer of the latest technology into practice. Using the model of economic management, the effectiveness of such economics will be researched. Practices and recommendations that should eliminate barriers to successful spin-offs and start-ups as well as SMEs doing business in competitive area will also be proposed. The assessment of the views of 189 managers of Slovak SMEs and 26 managers of IT companies creates the opportunity to assess the extent to which companies want to apply innovation opportunities and IT potential in practice as a driver of changes. These results will be compared with the results of similar research in the EU. The verification of the mutual dependencies of selected indicators using statistical methods and validation tools that are part of the SPSS program will be provided. Based on the synthesis of all knowledge and experience, it will be suggested to managers the ways how to apply technology transfer and regulatory treatment of sharing economy in practice as effectively as possible