Measurement and reporting of climate-smart agriculture: technical guidance for a countrycentric process

Given the extent of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives at project, national, regional and global levels, there is increasing interest in tracking progress in implementing CSA at national level. CSA is also expected to contribute to higher-level goals (e.g., the Paris Agreement, Africa Union’s Vision 25x25, and the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], etc.). Measurement and reporting of climate-smart agriculture (MR of CSA) provides intelligence on necessary the status, effectiveness, efficiency and impacts of interventions, which is critical for meeting stakeholders’ diverse management and reporting needs. In this paper, we build the case for a stakeholder-driven, country-centric framework for MR of CSA, which aims to increase coordination and coherence across stakeholders’ MR activities, while also aligning national reporting with reporting on international commitments. We present practical guidance on how to develop an integrated MR framework, drawing on findings from a multi-country assessment of needs, opportunities and capacities for national MR of CSA. The content of a unified MR framework is determined by stakeholders’ activities (how they promote CSA), needs (why MR is useful to them) and current capacities to conduct periodic monitoring, evaluation and reporting (how ready are institutions, staff and finances). Our analysis found that explicit demand for integration of data systems and active engagement of stakeholders throughout the entire process are key ingredients for building a MR system that is relevant, useful and acted upon. Based on these lessons, we identify a seven-step framework for stakeholders to develop a comprehensive information system for MR of progress in implementing CSA

Ecuador as an Academic Destination: Building a National Strategy

ABSTRACT The purpose of this capstone paper is to identify key stakeholders that can contribute to the design of a national strategy to increase academic mobility to Ecuador and, at the same time, support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in their efforts to internationalize their campuses. The methodology to be used is a stakeholder analysis with a trans-disciplinary approach, which will identify key players from different institutions and disciplinary backgrounds. This International Education Policy Advocacy course-linked capstone proposes the establishment of a national council constituted of key stakeholders to work on a strategy, which should be closely connected with other national priority areas including economic development, tourism and trade

The Role of Early User Participation in Discovering Software – A Case Study from the Context of Smart Glasses

Smart glasses facilitate advanced user interaction and increase workplace efficiency through innovation. Yet, their capabilities rely on user-driven discovery of new software that harnesses its benefits. This study investigates user participation during the discovery of new software, leveraging this emergent technology. We investigate user participation during software product discovery, i.e. during early activities that precede classical development and design activities, through an in-depth longitudinal case study with two representative user organizations. The results suggest an evolutionary perspective toward the benefits of different types of user participation: 1) user as a source of information, 2) user as a co-creator, and 3) user as an innovator. Practitioners benefit from our lessons learned, validation and extension of software discovery toward the emergent technology, and recommendations to apply user-driven software discovery. We distill three lessons: evolving types of user participation, enhancing desirability through user participation, and carefully discovering software products for emergent technologies

Interdisciplinarity: Building Bridges and Nurturing a Complex Ecology of Ideas

Abstract Much discussion of interdisciplinarity shows one or more of the following defects: 1. conceptual confusion - lack of a refined and consistent set of terms for analysing interdisciplinarity and its variants; 2. utopianism - lack of realism about constraints and possibilities in the social organization of science; 3. monism - advocacy of a single simple organizational model, rather than a complex heterogeneous model with multiple niches, nodes and forms of interaction. The paper presents a more refined, realistic, and pluralistic approach to interdisciplinarity. It does this with special reference to development studies, whose interest in long-run change and common combination of a case-focus and policy-orientation guide it strongly to interdisciplinarity; and to problems raised by the dominant economics conception of itself as a self-sufficient alpha-status discipline. The paper conceptualizes a range of types of interdisciplinarity, and considers how far exemplars of each—such as social capital theory and entitlements analysis—offer ‘bridging capital’, accessible paths to effective social analysis

How to leverage artificial intelligence for sustainable business development

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Knowledge Management and Business IntelligenceThe field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was founded as an academic discipline in the summer of 1956 (Muthukrishnan et al., 2020) at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, when several field experts gathered for a workshop focused on understanding how to humanize machine functioning (McCarthy et al., 2006). However, it was not until the beginning of the 21st century that AI research boomed, as a consequence of successful applications of machine learning algorithms across both academy and industry

Exploring how different innovation ecosystems create shared value: insights from a multiple case study analysis

Purpose: Innovation ecosystems (IEs) have attracted the attention of policymakers and researchers because of their potential to positively affect territories, creating shared value. However, due to the fragmentation of IEs, how this happens in different IEs has been explored only partially. This research aims to bridge this gap, aiming to support policymakers in understanding how to foster shared value in diverse IEs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper identifies, based on the literature, two “drivers of aggregation” of IE’s actors as key dimensions characterizing shared value in IEs, namely physical proximity and dominant issue. If these are combined, three archetypes emerge: Hub- and Chain-Driven, Place-Driven, Competence- and Issue-Driven IEs.Then, elements useful for understanding shared value creation in these archetypes are framed and studied in real cases. Findings: Results reveal that aggregation drivers affect shared value creation, which differ among archetypes: in Competence- and Issue-Driven IEs alignment is challenged by the low physical proximity, which in Place-Driven IEs is high, but not enough to grant shared value; in Hub- and Chain-Driven IEs, the hub is the orchestrator, representing both a driver and a risk. Originality/value: Differences in shared value creation processes relate to the set-up of the IE, which has relevant implications for policy definition. In Competence- and Issue Driven IEs, policies at diverse levels align in funding and promoting the IE; in Place-Driven IEs, policies support anchors’ development on-site; in Huband Chain-Driven IEs, policies, sometimes absent, should foster partnerships for projects for the territory, IE’s enlargement and resilience

Roles of Communication Centers in Communicating Science: A Multi-Disciplinary Forum

This multi-disclipinary forum addresses how Communication Centers bridge the gaps between scientists and their public constituents, provides ways to teach scientific communication from the voice of a scientist, and invokng the perspective of science and technology studies, a reflection on how to bridge epistemological divides that often lead to confrontational relationships between scientists and non-scientists is offered

Evaluation of cyber-tools in cultural tourism

Nowadays, e-services technology has demonstrated a pervasive character in the modern tourism industry. E-services implemented by the tourism industry, e.g., e-tourism, appeared to produce significant cost reductions and market efficiencies. Since online services are continuously accessible, time and geographic differences do not hinder the interaction between tourism service providers and their customers anymore. By usingICTs, (small) tourism organisations can enlarge their markets or operate in niche markets by serving a specific group of customers. The increased use of ICTs has thus resulted in a significant change in the structure of the tourism industry. The present paper aims to provide an overview of experiences and findings that address the socioeconomic impacts of e-services for the (cultural) tourist industry, on the basis of a systematic impact analysis. We use a SWOT approach to organise a systematic evaluation of various e-services effects, which are specifically differentiated for e-services and e-tourism (including cultural heritage) of socioeconomic importance. The main sources to identify the strengths and weaknesses of e-services are the academic and management literature that describes the experience in practice of various stakeholders. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd