Managing ubiquitous eco cities: the role of urban telecommunication infrastructure networks and convergence technologies

A successful urban management system for a Ubiquitous Eco City requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision making mechanism and necessary infrastructure and technologies. Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century improves urban management and enhances the quality of life and place. Telecommunication technologies provide an important base for monitoring and managing activities over wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Particularly technology convergence creates new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones and provides opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This paper discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities and how this technological shift is likely to be beneficial in improving the quality of life and place. The paper also introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for Ubiquitous Eco Cities

Micro systems technology

The emerging field of Micro Systems Technology is described. Micro Systems Technology can be seen as the meeting of disciplines, a product of convergence along different lines. Apart from the traditional and ever developing line of 'classical' precision engineering, there is a line along micro electronics, micro sensors and actuators. This is the line we focus on in this contribution. The third line worth mentioning is the one along the upcoming field of molecular engineering. The main purpose of this paper is to show the wealth of possibilities and consequently the need for 'integral design' management

Persuasive technology and digital design for behaviour change

Copyright @ 2012 Social Science Research NetworkThe convergence of the 'digital' and 'real' worlds has been rapid and transformative of everyday life, as well as design practice - to the extent that talking about 'digital design' and 'the digital context' seems anachronistic and redundant. Nevertheless, the arrival of digital technology, the Internet and social media has, from a design perspective, created a new field of a ffordances, constraints, information flows and possibilities. This paper reviews some of the ways in which digital architecture infl uences behaviour, and what the implications could be for designers seeking to infl uence behaviour for social and environmental bene fit. Topics covered include Persuasive Technology, gami fication, Lessig's 'Code is Law' perspective, digital rights management and Zittrain's concept of generativity

Unitarism, pluralism, and human resource management in Germany.

This paper discusses the convergence thesis using the example of human resource management in Germany. Convergence theories dominated social sciences in the 1950s and 1960s. Arguably the most influential contribution to this discussion was Kerr et al's "Industrialism and Industrial Man" (1960). They suggested that technology will, over an extended period, lead to the development of similar economic, political, social and organizational aspects in all industrialized societies. It assumed that there is a link between the development stage of an economy and its dominant managerial practices. Kerr et al. saw technology as the driving force behind convergence. Today competition and globalization are more often given as the main reasons for a convergence of managerial practices

Successfully Introducing the Methods and Instruments for Flexible Business Processes Automation into Romanian Companies

An approach containing methods and instruments adapted to the economical environment conditions with a high speed changing rate would be the synthetic description of the BPM (Business Process Management). This approach was absorbing instruments from both business management and information technology field, being situated at the border between the interests of two scientific communities, therefore revealing a high degree of modernity and innovation. Also, provided the innovative nature, this research domain was not properly explored by the specialized literature, consequently it emerges with a sharp need for specialized researching. The comprehension of the typical phases of this kind of projects and of the critical success factors is oriented towards the convergence of the aspects surveyed by the business and Information Technology (IT) communities, the usage of a common vocabulary, the understanding of the possibilities but also the limits of the current technological environment. This understanding represents the foundation of achieving the benefits supplied by the approach presented.business process; BPM; critical success factors; process automation; process improvement .

Memristor MOS Content Addressable Memory (MCAM): Hybrid Architecture for Future High Performance Search Engines

Large-capacity Content Addressable Memory (CAM) is a key element in a wide variety of applications. The inevitable complexities of scaling MOS transistors introduce a major challenge in the realization of such systems. Convergence of disparate technologies, which are compatible with CMOS processing, may allow extension of Moore's Law for a few more years. This paper provides a new approach towards the design and modeling of Memristor (Memory resistor) based Content Addressable Memory (MCAM) using a combination of memristor MOS devices to form the core of a memory/compare logic cell that forms the building block of the CAM architecture. The non-volatile characteristic and the nanoscale geometry together with compatibility of the memristor with CMOS processing technology increases the packing density, provides for new approaches towards power management through disabling CAM blocks without loss of stored data, reduces power dissipation, and has scope for speed improvement as the technology matures.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure