Special Issue: Big Data for context-aware applications and intelligent environments

Disruptive paradigm shifts such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are creating a wealth of streaming context information. Large-scale context-awareness combining IoT and Big Data drive the creation of smarter application ecosystems in diverse vertical domains, including smart health, finance, smart grids and cities, transportation, Industry 4.0, etc. This special issue addresses core topics on the design, the use and the evaluation of Big Data enabling technologies to build next-generation context-aware applications and computing systems for future intelligent environments.status: publishe

Smart occupational health and safety for a digital era and its place in smart and sustainable cities.

As innovative technologies emerge, there is a need to evolve the environments in which these technologies are used. The trend has shifted from considering technology as a support service towards making it the means for transforming all complex systems. Smart cities focus their development on the use of technology to transform every aspect of society and embrace the complexity of these transformations towards something leading to the well-being and safety of people inhabiting these cities. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is an essential aspect to be considered in the design of a smart city and its digital ecosystems, however, it remains unconsidered in most smart city’s frameworks, despite the need for a specific space for smart OHS. This paper summarizes a 9-month process of generation of a value proposition for evolving the sector of OHS based on a value-map in whose creation several stakeholders have participated. They focused on identifying the products, the methods, the organizational structures and the technologies required to develop an updated, dynamic and robust prevention model focused on workers in smart and complex contexts, and to improve the organizations’ capability to guarantee safety even in the most changing, digital and disruptive settings. To assess the relevance and validity of this value-map, a study was carried out to match the set of its elements and its specific and conceptual products discovered, considering also the definition of the past needs and future trends of the sector that a set of renowned stakeholders and key opinion leaders (with mastery in OHS from several companies and industries) have recently defined for the decade of 2020. A prospective analysis of this match is presented, revealing that there is still an existing gap to be covered in the context of smart cities design: the explicit guarantee of safety for workers.post-print650 K

Cyber-physical systems in manufacturing: Future trends and research priorities

In the last decades, the manufacturing ecosystem witnessed an unprecedented evolution of disruptive technologies forging new opportunities for manufacturing companies to cope the ever-growing market pressure. Moreover, the race to create value for the customers has been hindered by several issues that both small and large companies have been facing, such as shorter product life cycles, rapid time-to-market, product complexity, cost pressure, increased international competition, etc. In this scenario, ICT represent a crucial enabler for preserving competitiveness and fostering industry innovation. In particular, among these technologies, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) is growing an ever-high interest of industry stakeholders, researchers, practitioners and policy makers as they are considered the key technology that will transform manufacturing industry to the next generation. Indeed, CPS is a breakthrough research area for ICT in manufacturing and represents the cornerstone for achieving the EU2020 "smart everywhere" vision. At this early development phase, there is the urgent need to set the ground for future research streams, create a common understanding and consensus, define viable migration paths and support standards definition. This paper describes the identified research challenges and the future trends that will drive to the adoption of CPS in manufacturing. The main evidences on researches challenges expected for CPS in manufacturing are outlined by the authors that have been involved in the sCorPiuS project 'European Roadmap for Cyber- Physical Systems in Manufacturing', promoted by the European Commission to define a roadmap for future CPS in manufacturing adoption research agenda

The disrupters: Lessons for low-carbon innovation from the new wave of environmental pioneers

We need disruptive forms of innovation 13 cheaper, easier-to-use alternatives to existing products or services, often produced by non-traditional players for previously ignored customers. This report tells the stories of eight such "disrupters" and draws wider lessons for low-carbon innovation. Its recommendations include: 1. Government should provide an enabling policy framework within which low-carbon innovation ca

Technology, governance, and a sustainability model for small and medium-sized towns in Europe

New and cutting-edge technologies causing deep changes in societies, playing the role of game modifiers, and having a significant impact on global markets in small and medium-sized towns in Europe (SMSTEs) are the focus of this research. In this context, an analysis was carried out to identify the main dimensions of a model for promoting innovation in SMSTEs. The literature review on the main dimensions boosting the innovation in SMSTEs and the methodological approach was the application of a survey directed to experts on this issue. The findings from the literature review reflect that technologies, governance, and sustainability dimensions are enablers of SMSTEs’ innovation, and based on the results of the survey, a model was implemented to boost innovation, being this the major add-on of this research.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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