An Exploration of Experiences of Transdisciplinary Research in Aging and Technology

Transdisciplinary research (TDR) involves academics/scientists collaborating with stakeholders from diverse disciplinary and sectoral backgrounds. While TDR has been recognized as beneficial in generating innovative solutions to complex social problems, knowledge is limited about researchers' perceptions and experiences of TDR in the aging and technology field. We conducted a qualitative study to address this knowledge gap by exploring how members of a pan-Canadian research network on aging and technology perceived and experienced TDR. Thirty members participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview data were analyzed thematically. Participants identified benefits that can be gained from implementing TDR, including mutual learning, improved capacity to understand and solve problems, and community engagement and empowerment. Participants also identified challenges to implementing TDR: communication issues and conflicting priorities among team members; tensions between traditional and TDR approaches; and difficulties identifying partners and developing partnerships. In addition, contradictions between TDR principles and participants' understanding of them became apparent. Nevertheless, some participants described successful strategies for implementing transdisciplinary principles in their projects: stakeholder engagement; language and goal sharing; and open, respectful communication. We offer recommendations to support TDR in aging and technology that focus on education and reform of the culture and values that can constrain efforts to practice TDR.Im Rahmen transdisziplinärer Forschung (TDF) arbeiten Wissenschaftler*innen mit Stakeholdern unterschiedlicher disziplinärer und sektoraler Herkunft zusammen. Während es mittlerweile akzeptiert scheint, dass TDF hilfreich ist, um innovative Lösungen für komplexe soziale Probleme zu generieren, ist das Wissen um Wahrnehmungen und Erfahrungen transdisziplinärer Forscher*innen im Bereich Alter(n) und Technologie vergleichsweise gering. Mittels einer qualitativen Studie mit Mitgliedern eines Pan-Kanadischen Forschungsnetzwerks haben wir versucht, diese Wissenslücke zu schließen. Mit 33 Mitgliedern des Netzwerkes wurden teilstrukturierte Interviews geführt, die thematisch analysiert wurden. Zu den berichteten Benefits von TDF gehörten u.a. wechselseitiges Lernen, verbesserte Möglichkeiten zum Verstehen und Lösen von Problemen  sowie Zugehörigkeit zu und Einbettung in die jeweilige Community. Erlebte Herausforderungen betrafen insbesondere kommunikative Schwierigkeiten und Prioritätskonflikte im Team, Spannungen zwischen Vertreter*innen von traditionellen vs. TDF-Ansätzen sowie Hindernisse beim Identifizieren von potenziellen Partner*innen. Zusätzliche waren Widersprüche zwischen TDF-Prinzipien und deren Verständnis durch die Interviewten offensichtlich. Einige der Gesprächspartner*innen haben gleichwohl Strategien beschrieben, die auf eine erfolgreiche Implementierung transdisziplinärer Prinzipien verweisen, nämlich das Engagement von Stakeholdern, das Teilen von Zielen und Sprachen sowie eine offene, respektvolle Kommunikation. Hiervon ausgehend bieten wir Empfehlungen für TDF zu Alter(n) und Technologie mit einem Fokus auf Bildung und auf eine Reform von Kulturen und Werten, die in der Praxis Bemühungen um TDF entgegenstehen

Knowledge management, innovation and big data: Implications for sustainability, policy making and competitiveness

This Special Issue of Sustainability devoted to the topic of “Knowledge Management, Innovation and Big Data: Implications for Sustainability, Policy Making and Competitiveness” attracted exponential attention of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers from all over the world. Locating themselves at the expanding cross-section of the uses of sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) and insights from social science and engineering, all papers included in this Special Issue contribute to the opening of new avenues of research in the field of innovation, knowledge management, and big data. By triggering a lively debate on diverse challenges that companies are exposed to today, this Special Issue offers an in-depth, informative, well-structured, comparative insight into the most salient developments shaping the corresponding fields of research and policymaking

Open semantic service networks

Online service marketplaces will soon be part of the economy to scale the provision of specialized multi-party services through automation and standardization. Current research, such as the *-USDL service description language family, is already defining the basic building blocks to model the next generation of business services. Nonetheless, the developments being made do not target to interconnect services via service relationships. Without the concept of relationship, marketplaces will be seen as mere functional silos containing service descriptions. Yet, in real economies, all services are related and connected. Therefore, to address this gap we introduce the concept of open semantic service network (OSSN), concerned with the establishment of rich relationships between services. These networks will provide valuable knowledge on the global service economy, which can be exploited for many socio-economic and scientific purposes such as service network analysis, management, and control

How can I encourage multi-stakeholder narrative and reflection on the use of ICT in Teacher Professional Development programmes in Rwanda?

This is an action research enquiry into how I can improve my practice to encourage multi-stakeholder narrative and reflection on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programmes in Rwanda. I examine the complexity of the ICT-TPD landscape in the Africa Region. I describe two action research cycles in which I attempt to encourage reflection on ICT in professional development in Rwanda. In each cycle I explore the potential of an Activity Theory lens for probing the issues and examining the perspectives of the stakeholder community of teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and researchers affiliated to national ICT in TPD programmes and initiatives. I integrate a “Most Significant Change” narrative technique to engage participants in telling stories of significant change in their practice with technology integration. Through the rigour of the action research living theory approach I come to a number of conclusions about my own values and how I actually live my values in practice as I engage with partners in discourse and reflection for mutual learning on the issues of ICT integration in Teacher Professional Development

Multi-agent systems for power engineering applications - part 2 : Technologies, standards and tools for building multi-agent systems

This is the second part of a 2-part paper that has arisen from the work of the IEEE Power Engineering Society's Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) Working Group. Part 1 of the paper examined the potential value of MAS technology to the power industry, described fundamental concepts and approaches within the field of multi-agent systems that are appropriate to power engineering applications, and presented a comprehensive review of the power engineering applications for which MAS are being investigated. It also defined the technical issues which must be addressed in order to accelerate and facilitate the uptake of the technology within the power and energy sector. Part 2 of the paper explores the decisions inherent in engineering multi-agent systems for applications in the power and energy sector and offers guidance and recommendations on how MAS can be designed and implemented. Given the significant and growing interest in this field, it is imperative that the power engineering community considers the standards, tools, supporting technologies and design methodologies available to those wishing to implement a MAS solution for a power engineering problem. The paper describes the various options available and makes recommendations on best practice. It also describes the problem of interoperability between different multi-agent systems and proposes how this may be tackled

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: NL

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: N

Virtue integrated platform : holistic support for distributed ship hydrodynamic design

Ship hydrodynamic design today is often still done in a sequential approach. Tools used for the different aspects of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation (e.g. wave resistance, cavitation, seakeeping, and manoeuvring), and even for the different levels of detail within a single aspect, are often poorly integrated. VIRTUE (the VIRtual Tank Utility in Europe) project has the objective to develop a platform that will enable various distributed CFD and design applications to be integrated so that they may operate in a unified and holistic manner. This paper presents an overview of the VIRTUE Integrated Platform (VIP), e.g. research background, objectives, current work, user requirements, system architecture, its implementation, evaluation, and current development and future work