Public entities driven robotic innovation in urban areas

Cities present new challenges and needs to satisfy and improve lifestyle for their citizens under the concept “Smart City”. In order to achieve this goal in a global manner, new technologies are required as the robotic one. But Public entities unknown the possibilities offered by this technology to get solutions to their needs. In this paper the development of the Innovative Public Procurement instruments is explained, specifically the process PDTI (Public end Users Driven Technological Innovation) as a driving force of robotic research and development and offering a list of robotic urban challenges proposed by European cities that have participated in such a process. In the next phases of the procedure, this fact will provide novel robotic solutions addressed to public demand that are an example to be followed by other Smart Cities.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Demand-oriented innovation policy: Mapping the field and proposing a research agenda for developing countries

This article conducts a scoping review of demand side innovation policies and its associated instruments in relevant English language academic literature. Demand-side innovation policies aim to improve contextual conditions to encourage innovation adoption to address government-defined societal challenges. From the demand approach, innovation policy is expected to involve a directionality, which originates from collective priorities around relevant problems. Based on a scooping review of the innovation policy literature from the demand perspective, this research has characterized trends in the discussion about innovation policies that target such challenges, a perspective that complements the traditional supply side policy instruments. Findings indicate that literature on demand-side policies has mainly addressed energy and sustainability issues in European countries and China. Additionally, although demand-side policies have been advocated for a relatively long time, the literature recognizes that a policy mix involving also the supply-side can be more effective in encouraging innovation. In Latin America, demand-side policies have been poorly understood, leading to a defective implementation of policies and instruments. The stage of research on demand-side policies is still evolving and this article advances research propositions on innovation policy, with a deep focus on how they can be implemented in innovation-lagging developing countries

Sustainable robotics solutions in smart cities: The challenge of the ECHORD++ Project

The objective of this paper is to explain novel sustainable robotics solutions for cities. Those new proposals appear under the ECHORD++ project which is a good tool to meet academia and industry with the objective of providing innovative technological solutions. In this paper, authors explain the tool as well as the methodology to promote robotics research in urban environments, and the on-going experience will demonstrate that huge advances are made in this field.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Politics of User-Driven Innovation: On innovative users, do-able needs, and frugal robots

Users play an increasingly important role in European innovation policy. They are commonly seen as drivers of and active co-creators within innovation processes. However, user-driven innovation remains infused with a number of assumptions about users, technology, and “successful” innovation, which (partly) undermine a more democratic, open approach to innovation. In this contribution, I investigate the interplay between broader policy assumptions in the European discourse on user-driven innovation and its practical performance within an innovation project centring on healthcare robotics. Here, I argue that the politics of user-driven innovation harbours particular assumptions that, in effect, restrict the agency of users while also engendering conflict and contradictory outcomes. Hence, user-driven innovation is not simply about users driving innovation but rather about interfacing users and their concerns with (robotics) developers and their technology. For this, I propose an analytics of interfacing, which draws together literatures on the performative dynamics of participatory processes and more recent work on the political economy of participation. Here, I contend that it is not enough to investigate the construction and performance of publics; rather, it is additionally necessary to follow the manifold practices by which those publics are rendered available for certain technological solutions – and vice versa. Such an analytical approach opens up a fruitful avenue to critically enquire into the politics of participation – sitting in between innovation policy and practice

Producció científica de l'ETSEIB a Futur. Articles publicats per investigadors de l'ETSEIB l'any 2017

Postprint (author's final draft

Public entities driven robotic innovation in urban areas

Cities present new challenges and needs to satisfy and improve lifestyle for their citizens under the concept “Smart City”. In order to achieve this goal in a global manner, new technologies are required as the robotic one. But Public entities unknown the possibilities offered by this technology to get solutions to their needs. In this paper the development of the Innovative Public Procurement instruments is explained, specifically the process PDTI (Public end Users Driven Technological Innovation) as a driving force of robotic research and development and offering a list of robotic urban challenges proposed by European cities that have participated in such a process. In the next phases of the procedure, this fact will provide novel robotic solutions addressed to public demand that are an example to be followed by other Smart Cities.This research has been funded by “ECHORD++ EU projectPF7-ICT-2012-601116”.Peer Reviewe

Public entities driven robotic innovation in urban areas

Cities present new challenges and needs to satisfy and improve lifestyle for their citizens under the concept “Smart City”. In order to achieve this goal in a global manner, new technologies are required as the robotic one. But Public entities unknown the possibilities offered by this technology to get solutions to their needs. In this paper the development of the Innovative Public Procurement instruments is explained, specifically the process PDTI (Public end Users Driven Technological Innovation) as a driving force of robotic research and development and offering a list of robotic urban challenges proposed by European cities that have participated in such a process. In the next phases of the procedure, this fact will provide novel robotic solutions addressed to public demand that are an example to be followed by other Smart Cities.Peer Reviewe