Organising innovation between multinational companies and innovation systems: the Brazilian ICT sector in the late 1990s and early 2000s

This thesis is concerned with the organisation of innovation in the interaction between multinational companies and host-country innovation systems. It proposes a framework for characterising the decentralised governance of innovation projects in sectors and identifying emerging organisational configurations in this specific context. The general characteristics of the project-based knowledge networks are examined in terms of (i) the shifting boundaries between subsidiaries and technological partners, (ii) the specialisation of actors in types of activities and (iii) the speed of change in the collaborations between multinational companies and technological institutes. The emerging configurations are classified in terms of (i) the knowledge and resources flows in different innovation projects and (ii) the common aims of the different groups of stakeholders. This framework is applied on the decentralised networks of innovation projects in the Brazilian ICT sector promoted by tax incentives to innovation activities (―Brazilian ICT Law‖). The empirical analysis combines the data of more than 10,000 innovation projects and in-depth case studies on the organisation of innovative activities in 11 R&D laboratories in subsidiaries of multinational companies and 11 of their main technological partners. The analysis of the project-based knowledge networks and emerging configurations is recognised as a useful tool for examining the dynamics promoted by the sectoral policy. This research provides insights on how the institutional framework such as the Brazilian ICT Law provided the space for the decentralised interaction between different organisations with very different interests. The analysis also shows that the regulation may support higher investments in R&D, but it does not necessarily enforce a project portfolio that promotes a sustainable knowledge flow between multinational companies and the sectoral innovation system. Finally, the thesis includes specific recommendations for addressing key challenges such as the organisational development of the subsidiaries, the emergence of private research institutes and the coordination of sectoral policies. Keywords: sectoral innovation systems, knowledge network, organisation of innovation, economic sociology, R&D policy, innovation projects, project-based learning, interorganisational networks

Intergiciel d'intergiciels adaptable à base de Services, Composants et Aspects

Cette habilitation à diriger des recherches présente mes travaux sur le génie logiciel des intergiciels, domaine à la croisée de l’informatique répartie et du génie logiciel. L’intergiciel est la couche logicielle permettant de s’abstraire de l’hétérogénéité des technologies de l’informatique distribuée et de répondre aux besoins d’interopérabilité, de portabilité, d’adaptation et de séparation des préoccupations des applications réparties. Mes travaux ont été guidés par deux questions de recherche ouvertes : 1) quel est le paradigme de programmation le plus approprié pour les applications réparties ? 2) quelle est l’organisation la plus appropriée pour l’intergiciel ?La première partie présente une synthèse de mes travaux et contributions. Premièrement, mes travaux ont porté sur la transition des objets vers les composants CORBA donnant lieu à deux contributions majeures : le langage de script CorbaScript standardisé auprès de l’OMG et la plate-forme OpenCCM pour le développement, le déploiement, l’exécution et l’administration d’applications réparties à base de composants CORBA. Deuxièmement, je me suis intéressé à la conception de canevas intergiciels hautement adaptables. Ces travaux basés sur les composants réflexifs Fractal ont donné lieu à un cadre de programmation par attributs sur lequel trois canevas flexibles pour la gestion du transactionnel, le déploiement de systèmes distribués hétérogènes et les composants Java temps-réels ont été bâtis. Enfin, mes travaux ont porté sur la proposition du modèle Services Composants Aspects (SCA) et l’intergiciel d’intergiciels FraSCAti.La deuxième partie opère un zoom sur le projet FraSCAti. La contribution scientifique de ce projet est de proposer un intergiciel réflexif pour l’informatique orientée service combinant deux idées originales : la notion d’intergiciel d’intergiciels et le modèle Services Composants Aspects réflexif. Partant du constat qu’il n’existe pas d’intergiciel universel capable de couvrir l’ensemble des besoins de toutes les applications distribuées, le projet FraSCAti propose un canevas intergiciel extensible pour l’intégration et la composition élégante des intergiciels et technologies SOA existants, c’est-à-dire un intergiciel d’intergiciels. Le modèle SCA réflexif est quant à lui le mariage fécond du standard OASIS Service Component Architecture (SCA), du modèle de composants Fractal et de la programmation orientée aspects (AOP). Dans ce modèle, tout est composant réflexif permettant ainsi d’adapter dynamiquement aussi bien les applications métiers, l’intergiciel, les liaisons de communication réseau que les aspects non fonctionnels. Cette contribution a été appliquée sur l’orchestration de services à large échelle, la construction de systèmes de systèmes et une plate-forme distribuée multi-nuages. La dernière partie dresse un bilan des contributions et présente mes perspectives de recherche centrées sur le génie logiciel pour l’informatique en nuage (cloud computing)

Modelling global behaviour with scenarios in object-oriented analysis

The first object-oriented analysis methods focused on the specification of the classes of a system and on the static relationships between them. Dynamic relationships between classes and the functional view of the system as a whole were neglected, and no models were offered for capturing system requirements. This changed with the publication of use case driven approaches such as OOSE (1992) and Fusion (1994). Modelling global behaviour by scenarios in both requirements analysis and design has since been adopted by many object-oriented methods. Scenarios are also called use cases, system operations or business processes, and they are modelled using different notations. Some of the analysis methods that use scenarios have common characteristics, namely i) the similarity of the relationship between the entities of a data model and the scenarios of a flat scenario model with a matrix, and ii) the assumption that the externally visible behaviour of the system can be subdivided into more or less independent scenario types. In the following, we will refer to these characteristics by the term matrix approach. While in many projects the matrix approach has been used successfully, several difficulties arise when more complex systems are modelled: relationships and similarities between different scenario types cannot be expressed, the dependencies between scenario types are not modelled, only one abstraction level can be represented, and the apparently seamless transition from the analysis to the design model may result in a low quality object model with a strong bias towards data modelling. These difficulties lead us to propose an enhanced scenario modelling technique (called SEAM) which overcomes some of the weaknesses of the matrix approach. This modelling technique includes composition, aggregation, specialisation and extension hierarchies of services, and is based on the paradigm of interacting objects (which can be atomic objects, subsystems or systems) offering services. Scenario types, showing the possible interaction sequences for a specific service, can be modelled on several abstraction levels, and can describe the services of any kind of object (and thus also the global behaviour of a whole system) from both an internal and external point of view. We describe the concepts and the notation of SEAM, and we show how it can be integrated into the Fusion method. The difficulties that may arise in projects using methods based on the matrix approach are not only due to the limitations of scenario modelling techniques. A major factor is the often contradictory definition of the analysis model goals, which leads to clashes of intent. Therefore we discuss the nature of such intent clashes and analyse how the different software development methods deal with them. Finally we give an overview of the various notations and basic concepts used by different scenario modelling techniques, and we provide summaries of current, mostly objectoriented, approaches to modelling global behaviour

Cutting Edge Nanotechnology

The main purpose of this book is to describe important issues in various types of devices ranging from conventional transistors (opening chapters of the book) to molecular electronic devices whose fabrication and operation is discussed in the last few chapters of the book. As such, this book can serve as a guide for identifications of important areas of research in micro, nano and molecular electronics. We deeply acknowledge valuable contributions that each of the authors made in writing these excellent chapters

Smart Urban Water Networks

This book presents the paper form of the Special Issue (SI) on Smart Urban Water Networks. The number and topics of the papers in the SI confirm the growing interest of operators and researchers for the new paradigm of smart networks, as part of the more general smart city. The SI showed that digital information and communication technology (ICT), with the implementation of smart meters and other digital devices, can significantly improve the modelling and the management of urban water networks, contributing to a radical transformation of the traditional paradigm of water utilities. The paper collection in this SI includes different crucial topics such as the reliability, resilience, and performance of water networks, innovative demand management, and the novel challenge of real-time control and operation, along with their implications for cyber-security. The SI collected fourteen papers that provide a wide perspective of solutions, trends, and challenges in the contest of smart urban water networks. Some solutions have already been implemented in pilot sites (i.e., for water network partitioning, cyber-security, and water demand disaggregation and forecasting), while further investigations are required for other methods, e.g., the data-driven approaches for real time control. In all cases, a new deal between academia, industry, and governments must be embraced to start the new era of smart urban water systems

Challenges and Opportunities in Applied System Innovation

This book introduces and provides solutions to a variety of problems faced by society, companies and individuals in a quickly changing and technology-dependent world. The wide acceptance of artificial intelligence, the upcoming fourth industrial revolution and newly designed 6G technologies are seen as the main enablers and game changers in this environment. The book considers these issues not only from a technological viewpoint but also on how society, labor and the economy are affected, leading to a circular economy that affects the way people design, function and deploy complex systems

Business Strategies for ASEAN\u27s Single Window in Southeast Asia

Since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007, members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) have sought to strengthen ASEAN\u27s regional economies through a digital trade project known as the ASEAN Single Window (ASW). The purpose of this case study was to explore the business strategies that multinational organizational leaders used to overcome business barriers while implementing ASEAN partnership contracts and ASW region-wide projects. This study may be unique in that, at the time of this research, there was no published study in which researchers had explored a single window for a vast, multination geographical region. Data collection was done via in-depth interviews with ASW executives, studying online ASW-related conferences, and examining relevant strategic documents. A 6-phase thematic analysis process based on methodological triangulation corroborated the data and addressed construct validity through data familiarization, generating initial coding, categorizing codes and searching for themes, breaking codes into subcategories, data reduction and defining and naming themes, and report generation. The 4 strategic themes that emerged were business models and processes, public-private partnerships, project management methodologies, and overlapping themes. The findings offer insights into ways to overcome the ASW\u27s constraints and barriers. These strategic themes developed into a list of critical success factors and a summary list of principle business strategies and best practices. The implication for social change is a regionally collaborative trading environment providing potential economic options that not only impede the deterioration of the regional social fabric but support new opportunities such as trade liberalization and economic stability

Proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress

Published proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress, hosted by York University, 27-30 May 2018