The impact of employee experience in uptake of company collaborative tool

Working behaviours are not easily changed, even though technology has been put into place to improve employee productivity and performance. Although construction projects are completed by multidisciplinary teams, human input is a common feature which provides lesson learning beyond the confinement of discipline specific procedures. This research focuses on an SME Civil and Structural engineering consultancy which is in the process of adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the context of the UK government 2016 mandate. This research will explore how organisations can capitalise on user experience to maintain continuity amidst technological and social changes. A qualitative research strategy was adopted, based on an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews in order to provide a snapshot of the actions undertaken by organisations to profit from employee experience. Reliance on an employee’s ability and experiences can be a bar as it limits an individual’s willingness to adopt different and new ways of working. As such, experience is a double edged sword as past ways of working can act as an inhibitor to the adoption of new practices

Macroeconomic Modelling of R&D and Innovation Policies

This open access book encompasses a collection of in-depth analyses showcasing the challenges and ways forward for macroeconomic modelling of R&D and innovation policies. Based upon the proceedings of the EC-DG JRC-IEA workshop held in Brussels in 2017, it presents cutting-edge contributions from a number of leading economists in the field. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current academic and policy challenges surrounding R&D as well as of the state-of-the-art modelling techniques. The book brings to the forefront outstanding issues related to the assessment of the macroeconomic impact of R&D policies and its modelling. It speaks to the rising importance of R&D and innovation policy, and the proliferation of macroeconomic models featuring endogenous technological change. The contents of this book will be of interest to both academic and policy audiences working in the fields of R&D and innovation

Ways of Following

In Ways of Following, Katve-Kaisa Kontturi offers rare, intimate access to artists’ studios and exhibitions, where art processes thrive in their material-relational becoming. The book argues for an ethical and affirmative mode of engaging with contemporary art that replaces critical distance with sensuous and transformative proximity. From writing-with to dancing and breathing, from conversations to modelling, it maps ways of following that make the moving materiality of art intensively felt. Drawing on long-term engagements with selected contemporary artists and their art-in-process, Kontturi expands the concept and practice of collaboration from human interactions to working with, and between, materials. With this shift, Ways of Following radically rethinks such core tenets of art theory as intention, artistic influences and the autonomy of art, bringing new urgency to the work of art and its political capacity to propose new ways of being and thinking

Industry Trends to 2040

The engineering design community needs to development tools and methods now to support emerging technological and societal trends. While many forecasts exist for technological and societal changes, this paper reports on the findings of a workshop, which addressed trends in engineering design to 2040. The paper summarises the key findings from the six themes of the workshop: societal trends, ways of working, lifelong learning, technology, modelling and simulation and digitisation; and points to the challenge of understanding how these trends affect each othe

Intelligent computational sketching support for conceptual design

Sketches, with their flexibility and suggestiveness, are in many ways ideal for expressing emerging design concepts. This can be seen from the fact that the process of representing early designs by free-hand drawings was used as far back as in the early 15th century [1]. On the other hand, CAD systems have become widely accepted as an essential design tool in recent years, not least because they provide a base on which design analysis can be carried out. Efficient transfer of sketches into a CAD representation, therefore, is a powerful addition to the designers' armoury.It has been pointed out by many that a pen-on-paper system is the best tool for sketching. One of the crucial requirements of a computer aided sketching system is its ability to recognise and interpret the elements of sketches. 'Sketch recognition', as it has come to be known, has been widely studied by people working in such fields: as artificial intelligence to human-computer interaction and robotic vision. Despite the continuing efforts to solve the problem of appropriate conceptual design modelling, it is difficult to achieve completely accurate recognition of sketches because usually sketches implicate vague information, and the idiosyncratic expression and understanding differ from each designer

The impact of tax credits on mothers' employment

This study reviews the impact of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit on working mothers. April 2003 saw the introduction of two new tax credits, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. Although working in different ways, these were both intended to support families with children, reduce child poverty, and make work pay for those on low incomes. They are a central plank of the Labour Government’s ambitious policy of reducing and eventually abolishing child poverty. This report: investigates the impact of the tax credits on the participation of women with children in the labour market ; explores why those eligible to receive these credits do not always take them up ; assesses whether the credits act as an incentive for mothers to reduce their working hours, and ; reviews the policy implications of the findings. The study used data from the three latest available rounds of interviews of the longitudinal Families and Children Study (FACS), 2002/03–2004/05. The methodology also has lessons for those interested in pinpointing the most appropriate way of modelling the impact of the new tax credits

An Exploration of Lean and BIM synergies with a focus on SMEs in Construction

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) account for 99.7% of the Irish Construction Industry and contribute to 68% of all employment in the sector. These organisations now find themselves facing the challenge of returning to productive business post the Covid 19 shutdown. More than ever, SMEs must modernise and adapt their business models to embrace new ways of working, such as Lean Construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM), in the absence of clear business incentives. It has proved difficult to persuade SMEs to change their ways of working due to limited finances, internal resources and above all, the cultural shift required to embrace new ways of working. The vast bulk of Irish construction SMEs are accustomed to working in a sector that produces low product quality, budget overruns, and substantial construction waste. When partnered with lean construction, BIM can address many of these issues, as the two processes can work together to target and eliminate waste while streamlining the value stream. The primary goals of lean construction are to maximise value and minimise waste. Therefore, BIM can be seen as a lean tool that helps eliminate waste and, at the same time, increases business opportunities and promotes sustainability. This paper will explore the synergies between Lean and BIM in the context of construction SMEs through a literature review. The findings will address a number of barriers to entry for SMEs, focusing on how digital technologies, such as BIM can complement lean construction in targeting major types of wastes. Some of the barriers identified include financial and legal concerns, lack of implementation strategies/guides, knowledge retainment, training impendiments, software and hardware restrictions, as well as employee resistance

Assessment and analysis of territorial experiences in digital tele-echocardiography

Nowadays digital ultrasound-cardiovascular devices are able to send out directly digital images and films. Thanks to the large adoption of such devices, the echocardiographic world is facing new ways of exchanging images and collaborating. What we present in this paper is a review of the experimental projects carried in Lombardy, meant to support the work of specialists by means of second opinion and telemedicine services. On the medical point of view echocardiography is a widely used activity where operators are perfectly accustomed to do repetitive operations and steps. Tele-echocardiography (T-E) introduces new methods and technologies into stable and everyday medical practice, causing disruptions either on the side of the specialists' way of working or on the new opportunities and service. Introducing such a service means to properly model it in order to reduce the changes in the operators' way of working while maximizing the benefits. A proper method of modelling the operators' needs is then a key factor which must be correctly addressed. This paper will present some successful projects and the assessment procedure but it will also discuss a possible service modelling method, which has been adopted for the described experiences