Enhancing pharmaceutical packaging through a technology ecosystem to facilitate the reuse of medicines and reduce medicinal waste

The idea of reusing dispensed medicines is appealing to the general public provided its benefits are illustrated, its risks minimized, and the logistics resolved. For example, medicine reuse could help reduce medicinal waste, protect the environment and improve public health. However, the associated technologies and legislation facilitating medicine reuse are generally not available. The availability of suitable technologies could arguably help shape stakeholders’ beliefs and in turn, uptake of a future medicine reuse scheme by tackling the risks and facilitating the practicalities. A literature survey is undertaken to lay down the groundwork for implementing technologies on and around pharmaceutical packaging in order to meet stakeholders’ previously expressed misgivings about medicine reuse (’stakeholder requirements’), and propose a novel ecosystem for, in effect, reusing returned medicines. Methods: A structured literature search examining the application of existing technologies on pharmaceutical packaging to enable medicine reuse was conducted and presented as a narrative review. Results: Reviewed technologies are classified according to different stakeholders’ requirements, and a novel ecosystem from a technology perspective is suggested as a solution to reusing medicines. Conclusion: Active sensing technologies applying to pharmaceutical packaging using printed electronics enlist medicines to be part of the Internet of Things network. Validating the quality and safety of returned medicines through this network seems to be the most effective way for reusing medicines and the correct application of technologies may be the key enabler

Recent advances in industrial wireless sensor networks towards efficient management in IoT

With the accelerated development of Internet-of- Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSN) are gaining importance in the continued advancement of information and communication technologies, and have been connected and integrated with Internet in vast industrial applications. However, given the fact that most wireless sensor devices are resource constrained and operate on batteries, the communication overhead and power consumption are therefore important issues for wireless sensor networks design. In order to efficiently manage these wireless sensor devices in a unified manner, the industrial authorities should be able to provide a network infrastructure supporting various WSN applications and services that facilitate the management of sensor-equipped real-world entities. This paper presents an overview of industrial ecosystem, technical architecture, industrial device management standards and our latest research activity in developing a WSN management system. The key approach to enable efficient and reliable management of WSN within such an infrastructure is a cross layer design of lightweight and cloud-based RESTful web service

China’s Sharing Mobility Economy

Evolution in the urban landscape is key for sustainable development in the world because people have progressively moved from rural areas to live in urban cities. The mobility and transport industry offer the greatest potential to reduce carbon emissions in cities. The arrival of application-based and intelligent-sharing systems into the shores of China has been disruptive to local and international businesses. These has led to a liberation of an automobile sharing economy at a much deeper and greater level: a rise in the use of electric vehicles (EVs), car-pooling, and the utilization of bike-sharing models. Integrating the pre-existing but under-utilized low-carbon transportation vehicles in urban cities, such as public transportation, with the various application-based mobility sharing business systems surfacing, we see immense potential in the transformation of urban transportation to long-term viability. However, the accelerated expansions of businesses and innovation in the sharing economy have been challenging pre-existing sources of knowledge, socio-economic ties, and physical and geographical urban infrastructures. This research investigates the relationship between the continual progress of urban structures and the socio-ecological innovations in the sharing mobility economy, utilizing observational statistics from three studies that focus on sharing transportation industry -- in particular, the sharing of rides, EVs, and bicycles in China. These statistics show that there is a robust evolutionary system that integrates the increasingly sustainable macro-level urban landscape and the innovative business structures to form a meso-level intelligent and green transport framework. Namely, these two levels of evolutionary change in urban landscapes and business structures generated by the disruptive technologies of the sharing mobility sector and brought forth by the urban changes towards increasing sustainability, both subsequently shape one another and reinforce sustainable practices and principles in the swift-changing urban sector and corporate innovation sectors in Shanghai, China

Next Generation intelligent transport systems: a multidimensional framework for eCall implementation

The present use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can be defined as a hybrid between information and communication technologies to improve different aspects of mobility and transport. The potential value of the next generation ITS can be assessed as an integrated array of services satisfying customer preferences, optimising policy objectives and generating business revenues. Based on industry interviews, the analysis of a traffic information service and an 'emergency call' service permitted the multidimensional appreciation of deployment scenarios of these next generation Intelligent Transport Systems. The implementation of an on-board emergency call (eCall) is an ITS service which has already been deployed in different countries. Several private and public initiatives have already resulted into preliminary and purely private eCall services, mainly proprietary to the car industry, each with different underlying revenue and cost models. On the European level, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) instigated on the national enactment to implement a standardised eCall system. The research question involved in this paper is whether the specified ecosystem for the Belgian case confirms that all stakeholders have a particular interest in the effectuation of eCall. The findings are the result of a case study performed within the Flemish IBBT research project NextGenITS. --

Optimising Solar Energy Integration for Efficient Electric Vehicle Charging via Intelligent Shading Charging Systems

Intelligent shading charging systems combine the benefits of solar energy generation, efficient electric vehicle charging, and smart control mechanisms to create a sustainable and optimized charging infrastructure. These systems integrate solar panels with advanced shading mechanisms, control algorithms, and sensor technologies to dynamically adjust the shading patterns and maximize solar energy generation while providing shade to parked vehicles. By leveraging real-time data and intelligent control algorithms, these systems ensure efficient energy utilization, grid integration, and a seamless charging experience for electric vehicle owners.  Intelligent shading charging systems offer numerous advantages, including reduced carbon emissions, enhanced utilization of renewable energy, and improved grid stability. They can be deployed in various settings, including parking facilities, residential areas, commercial complexes, and public spaces. As technology advances and costs decrease, the future prospects of these systems hold promise, with potential integration with vehicle-to-grid systems, smart city initiatives, and increased scalability. Intelligent shading charging systems are poised to play a vital role in shaping a sustainable and cleaner future for transportation and energy ecosystems

Eco‐Holonic 4.0 Circular Business Model to Conceptualize Sustainable Value Chain Towards Digital Transition

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a circular business model based on an Eco-Holonic Architecture, through the integration of circular economy and holonic principles. A conceptual model is developed to manage the complexity of integrating circular economy principles, digital transformation, and tools and frameworks for sustainability into business models. The proposed architecture is multilevel and multiscale in order to achieve the instantiation of the sustainable value chain in any territory. The architecture promotes the incorporation of circular economy and holonic principles into new circular business models. This integrated perspective of business model can support the design and upgrade of the manufacturing companies in their respective industrial sectors. The conceptual model proposed is based on activity theory that considers the interactions between technical and social systems and allows the mitigation of the metabolic rift that exists between natural and social metabolism. This study contributes to the existing literature on circular economy, circular business models and activity theory by considering holonic paradigm concerns, which have not been explored yet. This research also offers a unique holonic architecture of circular business model by considering different levels, relationships, dynamism and contextualization (territory) aspects

Product service systems in the automotive industry: An alternative business model for a sustainable satisfaction system

Copyright @ 2008 Brunel UniversityThe paper presents the intermediate results of an on-going research project called Vehicle Design Summit (VDS), run by an international Consortium of Universities coordinated by the MIT of Boston. The project aims at designing and prototyping an eco-efficient vehicle as well as defining an innovative and sustainable business model to introduce and diffuse it into the mobility sector. In this framework the paper explores the potential contribution that PSSs can have in moving beyond incremental technological improvements towards system innovation in the automotive industry. This is outlined presenting and discussing an alternative business model, characterized by: an approach to mobility as the scope of design; an innovative stakeholders network; a shift from selling products to selling results; a change in product ownership; and a consequent change in vehicle design

Synergizing Roadway Infrastructure Investment with Digital Infrastructure for Infrastructure-Based Connected Vehicle Applications: Review of Current Status and Future Directions

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The safety, mobility, environmental and economic benefits of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) are potentially dramatic. However, realization of these benefits largely hinges on the timely upgrading of the existing transportation system. CAVs must be enabled to send and receive data to and from other vehicles and drivers (V2V communication) and to and from infrastructure (V2I communication). Further, infrastructure and the transportation agencies that manage it must be able to collect, process, distribute and archive these data quickly, reliably, and securely. This paper focuses on current digital roadway infrastructure initiatives and highlights the importance of including digital infrastructure investment alongside more traditional infrastructure investment to keep up with the auto industry's push towards this real time communication and data processing capability. Agencies responsible for transportation infrastructure construction and management must collaborate, establishing national and international platforms to guide the planning, deployment and management of digital infrastructure in their jurisdictions. This will help create standardized interoperable national and international systems so that CAV technology is not deployed in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner

Eras of electric vehicles: electric mobility on the Verge. Focus Attention Scale

Daily or casual passenger vehicles in cities have negative burden on our finite world. Transport sector has been one of the main contributors to air pollution and energy depletion. Providing alternative means of transport is a promising strategy perceived by motor manufacturers and researchers. The paper presents the battery electric vehicles-BEVs bibliography that starts with the early eras of invention up till 2015 outlook. It gives a broad overview of BEV market and its technology in a chronological classification while sheds light on the stakeholders’ focus attentions in each stage, the so called, Focus-Attention-Scale-FAS. The attention given in each era is projected and parsed in a scale graph, which varies between micro, meso, and macro-scale. BEV-system is on the verge of experiencing massive growth; however, the system entails a variety of substantial challenges. Observations show the main issues of BEVsystem that require more attention followed by the authors’ recommendations towards an emerging market

Green revolution 2.0: a sustainable energy path

This repository item contains a single issue of Sustainable Development Insights, a series of short policy essays that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The series seeks to promote a broad interdisciplinary dialogue on how to accelerate sustainable development at all levels.The Green Revolution in agriculture greatly increased crop yields and averted mass starvation, but it also turned small farms into factory farms that concentrated production in a few locations and reduced the diversity of crops. In this paper, Professor Nalin Kulatilaka, Co-Director of BU’s Clean Energy & Environmental Sustainability Initiative, calls for a Green Energy Revolution that decentralizes energy supplies through a smart electricity network. He argues that such a revolution could provide for a diversity of energy sources located closer to users, which in turn could shift consumption patterns, reduce losses and decrease overall energy demand. He concludes that shifting to such a system “will adopt clean energy technologies while fostering new businesses, creating new jobs and ultimately empowering society to reach new heights in energy conservation and sustainability“