Understanding audiences from industry sectors in knowledge exchange

This essay discusses the concept of Knowledge Exchange between industry and academia. In particular it focuses on ways in which academic organisations can learn about different industry sectors in order to identify potential Knowledge Exchange partners and how they operate. Three case studies of scoping approaches taken in the understanding of these audiences are presented followed by a discussion of their different strengths and weaknesses. This essay concludes with presentation of an initial framework for scoping and suggestions for where this work can be developed in the future

Translating data into narratives: Designing semantic interpretations for reflexive policy practices

Today more than ever, it is evident the role that data can play when designing policies. Not only can understandable data orient better strategies, but they can also enable reflexive practices within Public Administrations, giving directions for knowledge management and smarter governance. However, multiple gaps concur to affect data understanding and interpretation, hindering their subsequent translation into policy-valuable information. To tackle challenges related to data interpretation and usage, the article (i) illustrates a narrative approach for building profiles of cities as narrative feedback from sets of data and (ii) investigates their potential as a (self-)evaluation and a decision-making support device. The feedback structure relies on the conceptual model built for the DIGISER Project, which investigated multidimensional digital transition processes across European cities. Dynamic feedback retrieves data from the project dataset, translating them into discursive form. The effectiveness of the approach and its device is validated through a qualitative enquiry on a textual excerpt provided to three different departments of one of the cities that participated in the survey. The study corroborates that designing narrative feedback as semantic interpretations can trigger understanding, (self-)reflection and support policy change, informing policy formulation and facilitating cross-silo interactions across administrative units engaged in digital transformation processes

Deliverable 3.1. Field trial framework for the use of knowledge concerning climate adaptation measures and their implementation

This field trial framework aims to ensure that the various field trials at the EVOKED case study sites are carried out, as much as possible, in a consistent manner such that they may be cross compared, and lessons may be drawn. We do so by describing a framework using the key aspects of EVOKED: • Climate services: the service of providing climate information in such a way that it supports decision-making, as well as benefiting society. Examples of such services are projections, trends, economic analysis • Living Lab approach: an action-oriented research approach with committed stakeholders who actively participate in a real-life test and experimentation environment (i.e. laboratory) to test hypothesis, in this case hypotheses concerning climate services as well as coming up with solutions for complex problems such as climate adaptation or risk and uncertainty assessments. • Information: the creation of information from climate data so that it becomes meaningful, useful for stakeholders and end-users in making decisions. A series of hypotheses are formulated for each of these key aspects to translate the theoretical concepts into a field trial framework. Thus the goal of the field trials is to find ways in which climate information meets the needs of the end-EU, Horizon Europe European Research Area for Climate Services JPI Climate The Research Council of Norway Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) NWO FORMA

The interplay between social capital and international opportunities: a processual study of international ‘take-off’ episodes in Chinese SMEs

The paper presents a processual analysis of international take-off episodes in Chinese SMEs. In considering the dynamics of pre-internationalization, the paper posits four temporally finer-grained, phases based on an actor’s orientation towards international opportunities. Based on a sample of twenty Chinese SMEs, the paper theorizes 12 temporally fine-grained take-off episodes, or which appear in practice as a series of tactical moves through which Chinese SMEs advance through the four phases in the longer pre-internationalisation of the process. By considering the multi-dimensional nature of social capital in international take-off, the findings contribute to a greater understanding of how forming international relationships work in the context of pre-internationalization in SMEs, also adding insights into the dynamics of internationalisation as an entrepreneurial and networked endeavour