Technology transfer evaluation in the high technology industry: an interdisciplinary perspective

The objective of this study is to suggest a novel approach to evaluate the potential for commercialisation of a new technology by developing a framework. More specifically, this study will examine the 'ex-ante' evaluation of the technology transfer process, in this case where the final application falls in the asset management discipline. For this purpose, a case study focusing on a chosen technology stemming from the high technology sector will be used. The technology relates to the application of software for detection of weak signals which is an established method of signal processing in the field of astronomy. This technology has the potential to be used in areas other than astronomy with several possible applications in asset management such as detecting water leakage in pipes amongst others. The applicability to detect water leakage is chosen owing to several problems with detection in the industry as well as the impact it can have in saving water in the environment. This study, therefore, will demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary technology transfer. The study will employ both technical and business evaluation methods including lab experiments and using the Delphi technique to address the research questions. In conclusion, the chosen technology's commercial potential will be tested through expert opinion thereby focusing on the impact of a new technology and the feasibility of alternate applications and potential future applications

The complex interaction between Global Production Networks, Digital Information Systems and International Knowledge Transfers

Traditionally many studies of knowledge in economics have focused on localized networks and intra-regional collaborations. However, the rising frequency by which firms collaborate within the context of global networks of production and innovation, the increasingly intricate divisions of labor involved and the extensive use of the Internet to facilitate interaction are all relatively novel trends that underline the importance of knowledge creation and flows across different locations. Focusing on this topic, the present chapter examines the complex interactions between global production networks (GPN), digital information systems (DIS) and knowledge transfers in information technology industries. It seeks to disentangle the various conduits through which different kinds of knowledge are transferred within such networks, and investigate how recent generations of DIS are affecting those knowledge transfers. The paper concludes that the dual expansion of GPN and DIS is adding new complexity to the practice of innovation: To access knowledge necessary for sustained creativity firms often have to link up with remote partners in GPN, but to be able to absorb and utilize this knowledge, they also frequently have to engage in local interactive learning processes. These local- global linkages - and the various skills necessary to operate them - are strongly interdependent, mutually reinforcing and critical for the development and maintenance of innovation-based competitiveness.

The Internationalization of Small and Medium Enterprises in Regional and Global Value Chains

Production networks and the regional division of labor have been established in East Asia resulting in massive vertical intra-industry trade in parts and components within the region. This phenomenon is known as cross-border production sharing or the fragmentation of production processes into many stages across different countries. New development strategies claim that participation in international production and distribution networks is the key to accelerating economic development in the era of globalization. This process suggests that vertical input-output linkages between local firms and multinational corporations are the most powerful channels to accelerate technology transfers and spillovers. Given the trends of globalization and economic integration in East Asia, there is significant potential for the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector to increase its contribution to the region's development through greater participation in global value chains. However, multiple market failures exist with regard to the development of SMEs and local entrepreneurship. These risks can be mitigated by proper policy measures such as strengthening technological and human resource capabilities through better networking and facilitating access to financing for SMEs. Despite many distortions and inefficiencies in implementing regional economic integration schemes in East Asia, there are many cumulative positive effects contributing to the emerging trend internationalization of SMEs in the region. This process can be significantly strengthened by creating a positive business environment through the standardization of products and services, rules and regulations, and a seamless market infrastructure in the region.internationalization SMEs; regional development policies; regional market failure

Handling Parallelism in a Concurrency Model

Programming models for concurrency are optimized for dealing with nondeterminism, for example to handle asynchronously arriving events. To shield the developer from data race errors effectively, such models may prevent shared access to data altogether. However, this restriction also makes them unsuitable for applications that require data parallelism. We present a library-based approach for permitting parallel access to arrays while preserving the safety guarantees of the original model. When applied to SCOOP, an object-oriented concurrency model, the approach exhibits a negligible performance overhead compared to ordinary threaded implementations of two parallel benchmark programs.Comment: MUSEPAT 201

Development strategies and foreign aid policies for low income countries in the 1990s

Most low income countries are characterised by a high dependence on exports of a small number of agricultural or mineral commodities. In the 1980s, the economic and social performance of these countries has been extremely dismal. Declining per capita incomes, stagnating food production, and an increasing foreign debt burden indicate a failure of development strategies applied in these countries as well as of foreign aid policies pursued by donor countries and institutions. Low income countries have suffered from a combination of adverse commodity price movements and an increasing inability to adjust to a changing external environment. Adjustment has been hampered by conflicting and often misguided policy signals, weak economic institutions, and a rapid deterioration of public management in general. These shortcomings were rooted in fundamental social conflicts, in particular the "personal rule" of parasitic elites or the emergence of a non-productive state class. A development strategy for the 1990s has to pave the way towards economic diversification and a better integration of domestic markets in low income countries. Such a strategy requires the discrimination of the commodity producing sector to be abandoned, a return to macro-economic stability, and institution building. Necessary prerequisites for success are improved access of low income countries to the markets of industrialised countries and the necessity to convince the ruling elites to sustain policy reform. Industrialised countries have hitherto neglected the political economy of decision-making in low income countries. Neither stricter conditionality nor more foreign aid or more sophisticated international commodity policies alone will be able to turn the tide. Policy reform has to be initiated from within low income countries with foreign donors mainly playing a catalytic role. For this reason, foreign aid policies should give priority to a strengthening of political bargaining processes within low income countries and to supporting actually implemented reform programmes. Such a foreign aid policy for the 1990s would require new criteria for aid allocation among countries and new priorities for aid programmes and projects. To remove politico-economic constraints and institutional weaknesses, foreign aid should focus on the development of a well-functioning domestic economic order, human resource development, and financing of poverty or ecology-related programmes. If some governments of low income countries are notoriously unwilling to improve fundamental economic conditions donors should not hesitate to reduce their efforts to the supply of emergency relief. --

Electronic marketplace-to-marketplace alliances: emerging trends and strategic rationales

The electronic marketplace domain has recently witnessed the joining together of a number of previously independent marketplaces and the formation of collaborative alliances between others. This study seeks to determine the nature or type of cooperative arrangements or alliances that are currently being forged between electronic marketplaces, and the strategic rationale that is leading to this observed alliance formation. The findings of the study are based upon an examination of statements made to the press by marketplaces undertaking strategic alliances. This published data was supplemented with face-to-face interviews with managers at three relevant electronic marketplaces. Three distinct types of alliance are observed; the merger between previously separate marketplaces, the acquisition of one marketplace by another and the formation of an interoperability agreement between two marketplaces. Three rationales for alliance formation were observed: an increase in the number of buyers or suppliers in a given market sector that can access the marketplace (an increase in scale of operations), an increase in the breadth or depth of services that are offered to users of the marketplace (an increase in the scope of operations) and providing the ability to exchange information across multiple tiers of a supply chain. A broader discussion of the findings is given and suggestions for further research are made

Wireless Valley, Silicon Wadi and Digital Island - Helsinki, Tel Aviv and Dublin in the ICT Boom

In the context of the global production network (GPN) paradigm, this paper considers the combination of local and global factors which have contributed to the development of the ICT clusters in three small countries. Developments in each country reflect the combination of local advantages in human, knowledge and institutional capital and each nation?s global economic and socio-political linkages. A key focus of the paper is the role of each nation?s capital city ? or more accurately the capital city region ? in the development of the ICT cluster. The consequences for the regional distribution of ICT activity within the three countries are discussed, along with the potential technological and competitive implications of this distribution. Initial sections of the paper focus on the factors which underpinned the massive growth of the ICT sector in each country in the latter half of the 1990s. This leads to an assessment of the global market position of each industry and its prospects in any future upturn. The paper considers different aspects of the role of Tel Aviv, Dublin and Helsinki in attracting and supporting ICT development are considered. Symbolic and image factors are considered in terms of the cities? ability to attract internationally mobile human and financial capital. Institutional (e.g. higher education, thickness of financial institutions) and infrastructural factors are also considered in terms of the cities? ability to support and facilitate ICT companies. The role of entrepreneurship is also considered alongside the availability of venture capital etc.

Commercial-off-the-shelf simulation package interoperability: Issues and futures

Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Simulation Packages (CSPs) are widely used in industry to simulate discrete-event models. Interoperability of CSPs requires the use of distributed simulation techniques. Literature presents us with many examples of achieving CSP interoperability using bespoke solutions. However, for the wider adoption of CSP-based distributed simulation it is essential that, first and foremost, a standard for CSP interoperability be created, and secondly, these standards are adhered to by the CSP vendors. This advanced tutorial is on an emerging standard relating to CSP interoperability. It gives an overview of this standard and presents case studies that implement some of the proposed standards. Furthermore, interoperability is discussed in relation to large and complex models developed using CSPs that require large amount of computing resources. It is hoped that this tutorial will inform the simulation community of the issues associated with CSP interoperability, the importance of these standards and its future