Analysis of 2017 Gartner’s Three Megatrends to Thrive the Disruptive Business, Technology Trends 2008-2016, Dynamic Capabilities of VUCA and Foresight Leadership Tools

Nowadays, digitalization is the key element of business competition. This paper  analyzes the concept of dynamic capabilities in the context of technological and business digitalization. We investigate the dynamic competence needed to create and manage  a new Digital business, which is emerging from the technological transformation. Firstly, in this paper, we analyze the data of Gartner Hype Cycles 2008- 2017. Thus, we present a comparative analysis  of the changes in the Gartner hype cycle.    Secondly, our aim is to present Gartner ́s three  distinct megatrends. We will present a  summary of these Gartner evaluations and discuss key tendencies and trends of  technological changes. Thirdly, the special focus of this article is the challenges of  orchestration of dynamic capabilities in the special conditions of VUCA business disruptive business competition. Further, we define the role of competence gap  identification inside a firm. Finally, we are presenting some useful tools to manage dynamic capabilities.</div

Towards an optimal design for ecosystem-level ocean observatories

Four operational factors, together with high development cost, currently limit the use of ocean observatories in ecological and fisheries applications: 1) limited spatial coverage; 2) limited integration of multiple types of technologies; 3) limitations in the experimental design for in situ studies; and 4) potential unpredicted bias in monitoring outcomes due to the infrastructure’s presence and functioning footprint. To address these limitations, we propose a novel concept of a standardized “ecosystem observatory module” structure composed of a central node and three tethered satellite pods together with permanent mobile platforms. The module would be designed with a rigid spatial configuration to optimize overlap among multiple observation technologies each providing 360° coverage around the module, including permanent stereo-video cameras, acoustic imaging sonar cameras, horizontal multi-beam echosounders and a passive acoustic array. The incorporation of multiple integrated observation technologies would enable unprecedented quantification of macrofaunal composition, abundance and density surrounding the module, as well as the ability to track the movements of individual fishes and macroinvertebrates. Such a standardized modular design would allow for the hierarchical spatial connection of observatory modules into local module clusters and larger geographic module networks, providing synoptic data within and across linked ecosystems suitable for fisheries and ecosystem level monitoring on multiple scales.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The assessment and development of methods in (spatial) sound ecology

As vital ecosystems across the globe enter unchartered pressure from climate change industrial land use, understanding the processes driving ecosystem viability has never been more critical. Nuanced ecosystem understanding comes from well-collected field data and a wealth of associated interpretations. In recent years the most popular methods of ecosystem monitoring have revolutionised from often damaging and labour-intensive manual data collection to automated methods of data collection and analysis. Sound ecology describes the school of research that uses information transmitted through sound to infer properties about an area's species, biodiversity, and health. In this thesis, we explore and develop state-of-the-art automated monitoring with sound, specifically relating to data storage practice and spatial acoustic recording and data analysis. In the first chapter, we explore the necessity and methods of ecosystem monitoring, focusing on acoustic monitoring, later exploring how and why sound is recorded and the current state-of-the-art in acoustic monitoring. Chapter one concludes with us setting out the aims and overall content of the following chapters. We begin the second chapter by exploring methods used to mitigate data storage expense, a widespread issue as automated methods quickly amass vast amounts of data which can be expensive and impractical to manage. Importantly I explain how these data management practices are often used without known consequence, something I then address. Specifically, I present evidence that the most used data reduction methods (namely compression and temporal subsetting) have a surprisingly small impact on the information content of recorded sound compared to the method of analysis. This work also adds to the increasing evidence that deep learning-based methods of environmental sound quantification are more powerful and robust to experimental variation than more traditional acoustic indices. In the latter chapters, I focus on using multichannel acoustic recording for sound-source localisation. Knowing where a sound originated has a range of ecological uses, including counting individuals, locating threats, and monitoring habitat use. While an exciting application of acoustic technology, spatial acoustics has had minimal uptake owing to the expense, impracticality and inaccessibility of equipment. In my third chapter, I introduce MAARU (Multichannel Acoustic Autonomous Recording Unit), a low-cost, easy-to-use and accessible solution to this problem. I explain the software and hardware necessary for spatial recording and show how MAARU can be used to localise the direction of a sound to within ±10˚ accurately. In the fourth chapter, I explore how MAARU devices deployed in the field can be used for enhanced ecosystem monitoring by spatially clustering individuals by calling directions for more accurate abundance approximations and crude species-specific habitat usage monitoring. Most literature on spatial acoustics cites the need for many accurately synced recording devices over an area. This chapter provides the first evidence of advances made with just one recorder. Finally, I conclude this thesis by restating my aims and discussing my success in achieving them. Specifically, in the thesis’ conclusion, I reiterate the contributions made to the field as a direct result of this work and outline some possible development avenues.Open Acces

Towards a multisensor station for automated biodiversity monitoring

Rapid changes of the biosphere observed in recent years are caused by both small and large scale drivers, like shifts in temperature, transformations in land-use, or changes in the energy budget of systems. While the latter processes are easily quantifiable, documentation of the loss of biodiversity and community structure is more difficult. Changes in organismal abundance and diversity are barely documented. Censuses of species are usually fragmentary and inferred by often spatially, temporally and ecologically unsatisfactory simple species lists for individual study sites. Thus, detrimental global processes and their drivers often remain unrevealed. A major impediment to monitoring species diversity is the lack of human taxonomic expertise that is implicitly required for large-scale and fine-grained assessments. Another is the large amount of personnel and associated costs needed to cover large scales, or the inaccessibility of remote but nonetheless affected areas. To overcome these limitations we propose a network of Automated Multisensor stations for Monitoring of species Diversity (AMMODs) to pave the way for a new generation of biodiversity assessment centers. This network combines cutting-edge technologies with biodiversity informatics and expert systems that conserve expert knowledge. Each AMMOD station combines autonomous samplers for insects, pollen and spores, audio recorders for vocalizing animals, sensors for volatile organic compounds emitted by plants (pVOCs) and camera traps for mammals and small invertebrates. AMMODs are largely self-containing and have the ability to pre-process data (e.g. for noise filtering) prior to transmission to receiver stations for storage, integration and analyses. Installation on sites that are difficult to access require a sophisticated and challenging system design with optimum balance between power requirements, bandwidth for data transmission, required service, and operation under all environmental conditions for years. An important prerequisite for automated species identification are databases of DNA barcodes, animal sounds, for pVOCs, and images used as training data for automated species identification. AMMOD stations thus become a key component to advance the field of biodiversity monitoring for research and policy by delivering biodiversity data at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier GmbH on behalf of Gesellschaft fur Okologie

Avian Populations in Human-Dominated Landscapes: An Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Dynamics at the Urban-Rural Interface.

To measure the ecological effects of urbanization this research focuses on bird-habitat relationships at the urban-rural interface by: investigating static and change relationships between local landscapes and local birds (Chapter 2); proposing and evaluating the use of bioacoustic recording equipment for avian point-sampling in an urbanized environment (Chapter 3); and, testing the relationships between forest birds and the landscape characteristics of forest and developed land covers (measured via development density) that are commonly intermixed in the study region (Chapter 4). I assessed the relationships between compositions and changes of landscapes and avian abundances in Southeast Michigan using three bird guilds to group species of interest including woodland, grassland, and urban birds. The predominant landscape changes were agricultural abandonment, urbanization, and afforestation. I found that grassland and urban birds experienced the most consistent declines and that both average species richness and total abundance of birds also consistently declined. These results highlight that some bird guilds (e.g., grassland birds) suffered significant declines associated with habitat loss, while other guilds (e.g., woodland birds) did not respond to marked habitat increases. Then, I tested the effectiveness of omni-directional bioacoustic recording equipment versus traditional in situ point counts, along an urban-rural gradient. I found that recording-based interpretations were subject to the same ambient noises, and similar resulting levels of distraction associated with those noises, as were field-based observations; and, although not in perfect agreement with field-based observations, recordings can serve as an effective point-count mechanism in urbanizing environments. Finally, to explore how habitats within developed landscapes can be beneficial to birds, I tested community and species-level effects of patch- and matrix-characteristics on bird richness and occurrence. I found that focal-patch area is the primary contributor to a site’s overall species richness, but that the addition of matrix tree-cover area influences the ability of the patches to support many forest-obligate species, especially Neotropical migrants. This relationship suggests that the amount of matrix tree cover surrounding woodlots, parks, and other preserved set-asides may play a critical role in supporting area-sensitive species in urbanizing environments.Ph.D.Natural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60677/1/jayt_1.pd

The urban ecology of bats in Singapore: understanding the human-wildlife interface

Urbanisation is a transformative land use change that has drastic ecological consequences worldwide, including biodiversity loss. There is more at stake in the tropics because these regions are global centres of biodiversity, yet very few studies of tropical wildlife in urban areas exist. Based in the urban tropics of Singapore, this thesis intends to fill a knowledge gap using acoustic approaches to sample biodiversity. I used acoustic recorders to quantify the impacts of major roads, the habitat value of green roofs, and the effects of large-scale transboundary smoke-haze pollution on biodiversity in Singapore. For the first two studies, bats were used as a focal taxon because of their ubiquity in the urban environment and their recommended roles as suitable indicators of the effects of urbanisation. Prior to these studies, acoustic guidelines for bat sampling were written and compiled. The third study involved soundscape recordings from a monitoring project, which coincided with one of the worst smoke-haze pollution events in Southeast Asia. The studies revealed that: i) Lighting on major roads had a negative impact on bat activity in both forest and urban habitats, and may present a barrier for forest-dependent bats, while some species utilised areas near to roads to some degree; ii) Green roofs supported substantial bat activity, especially on those that were newer, low, had higher shrub cover, higher night time temperature and a medium pruning regime, at the expense of pesticide use, and iii) Levels of acoustic activity dropped drastically during the peak of the pollution event and there was only partial recovery to pre-haze levels after 16 weeks. The outcomes from these three studies were informative for the design of mitigation and enhancement measures to support urban biodiversity, to identify future research directions using more process and mechanistic approaches to study the urban environment, and to explore avenues to involve citizens in biodiversity monitoring