Identifying Synergies and Barriers to the Adoption of Disruptive Technologies for Sustainable Societies - An Innovation Ecosystem Perspective

This paper contributes to the literature on the adoption of disruptive technologies for the transition to more sustainable societies by mapping businesses’ uptake in the Italian region of Piedmont from the perspective of innovation ecosystems. Despite their relevance for sustainability and competitiveness, evidence on the European Union indicates major weaknesses in the adoption of crucial disruptive technologies, recommending a stronger focus on the local and regional levels. This could be achieved via the perspective of innovation ecosystems so as to identify and strengthen industrial synergies in technology adoption, but current systematic research in this vein is limited by a lack of consistent and publically available data. Aiming to fill this gap, this study developed a highly scalable approach to map business actors and their uptake of emerging technologies. First, textual information on over 17,000 organizations operating in Piedmont was retrieved from the social network LinkedIn. Second, elementary text-mining techniques were used to verify their engagement with 5G Networks, Advanced Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Drive, Blockchain, and Drones. Third, uptakes within and across industries were statistically assessed. This identified 1273 businesses pertaining to 115 different sectors that already engaged with at least one of the above mentioned technological innovations, displayed some industrial synergies and complementarities, and confirmed key barriers to their uptake. Additional data would strengthen these results. Nonetheless, this study already provides preliminary evidence on technology adoption from the perspective of innovation ecosystems and a proof of concept for the use LinkedIn for ecosystem mapping

Trans-city data integration platforms: an explorative study on Smart Dublin and Torino City Lab

This paper contributes to the literature on living labs, innovation ecosystems, and the transformation to smart and sustainable cities by exploring the use of a trans-city data integration platform on the smart city programs Smart Dublin and Turin City Lab. Research on living labs and innovation ecosystems is growing and showing increasing interest in the urban scale and the development of smart cities. For the density and interconnectedness of actors and resources, smart cities are believed the perfect grounds for technological and social experimentation, and they may catalyze the transformation toward smart, sustainable, and inclusive societies. Crucially, this requires systematically collecting massive amounts of data from a multiplicity of local stakeholders. While research has often highlighted the opportunities and challenges related to this data collection at the city level, almost no study has yet investigated the potential of aggregating and integrating data from multiple cities via a common infrastructure. This explorative study aims at addressing this gap. Focusing on the smart city programs of Dublin and Turin, it fosters the conceptualization of trans-city data integration platforms and explores their applicability to two real-life smart city living labs. This was achieved by adopting the Quadruple Helix model of innovation, and then by qualitatively analyzing the two smart city programs and 53 subprojects. It was found that initiatives from Smart Dublin and the Torino City Lab display thematic overlaps and complementarities. Hence, this contributes to the existing literature by showing that a common infrastructure for data collection may be developed. Moreover, it informs policy makers and practitioners on the importance of collecting data that could be easily integrated also across geographies, so as to lead to major advantages of scale in the future

The green frontier of mobile applications in improvingconsumers' recycling behavior

In this article, we provide a new insight into overcoming resistance to emerging green technologies through mobile app users' environmental engagement. The use of a mobile recycling application is evaluated with regard to its media richness with a sample of 12 539 users in Italy. The research is developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when users have become more environmentally conscious and aware of plastic pollution. This time period has also seen an increase in the use of mobile applications, which provide social engagement and other benefits. Although it has encouraged new research on recycling behavior and how environmental messages are spread, as far as we know, no research has included a specific technology, such as mobile applications. Through the lens of consumer social media engagement behavior, it has emerged that media richness has a positive correlation with user engagement and recycling behavior. Theoretically, the research offers a novel technological tool worthy of further exploration in the fields of management and engineering. New practical insights are offered in terms of best practices for strengthening the relationships between companies and their clients. As users become more accustomed to social technologies, those technologies may help to establish responsible consumption patterns

Unfolding resilience in digital platforms from a microfoundations perspective

This article enriches current debates about multi-sided digital platforms focusing on the domain of resilience in the light of microfoundations perspective. Three processes of resilience – anchoring, objectification, and legitimization – are proposed to explain structural and behavioral dimensions of resilience for multi-sided digital platforms. Three levels are identified: 1] dyadic, 2] organizational, and 3] social/policy trough which platforms’ features are explained and the dynamics of resilience within the platform as the result of three microfoundations are decoded. Conceptualization herein can be useful both for strategizing around the platform and for defining policy actions for managing the (un)intended consequences of platform dynamics

Physical fitness trend after COVID-19 restrictions in Italian school-aged children: a cross-sectional study

Background: Physical fitness (PF) is a marker of health in children. Muscular strength and speed-agility PF components play a crucial role in musculoskeletal development and bone health. The outbreaks of COVID-19 pandemic changed the daily and sports activities in younger increasing sedentary habits with a detrimental effect on PF. We aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on PF in Italian school-aged children. Methods: We recruited 286 elementary school children, and they were tested through an internationally validated battery test, which evaluate muscular strength and speed-agility (as a multifactorial performance) prior (2018) and after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic (2021). Results: Our results showed a reduction in the lower limb strength (SBJ in boys mean difference (MD) -0.42 m; SBJ in girls MD=-0.20 m; P<0.05) and in the speed-agility ability (10x5 m in boys MD=14.1 s; 10x5 m in girls MD=11.2 s; P<0.05), while the upper limb strength remained steady before and after the restrictions. Specifically, for boys of all ages there was a reduction in lower limb strength and in speed-agility but not in upper limb strength. For girls of all ages there was not a recurrent trend, while for 6-8 girls there was a reduction only speed-agility, for 9-11 girls there was a reduction in lower limb and speed-agility. Conclusions: Our results could be useful to help teachers and sport specialists to evaluate and improve strength and speed-agility in children. We encourage trainers and sport specialists to implement programs to help children to become more active and healthier during their lifespan

European e-Delphi process to define expert consensus on electrochemotherapy treatment indications, procedural aspects, and quality indicators in melanoma

The application of electrochemotherapy in patients with melanoma lacks consensus regarding treatment indications, procedural aspects, and quality indicators. A large European expert panel engaged in a Delphi process, and provided consensus recommendations on patient selection criteria, procedural aspects of electrochemotherapy, and quality indicators with benchmarks to improve future research and current clinical practice.Lay summary Electrochemotherapy is an effective locoregional therapy for skin metastases from melanoma, a problem faced by almost half of patients with metastatic disease. The lack of comparative studies and the heterogeneity of its clinical application among centres make it challenging to support consistent, evidence-based recommendations. To address this unmet need, a three-round online survey was conducted to establish a consensus on treatment indications, standard operating procedures, and quality indicators. In the survey, a panel of 100 European melanoma experts agreed on 56 statements that can be used to improve patient selection, homogenize treatment application, and monitor outcomes.Background Skin metastases are an important co-morbidity in melanoma. Despite broad adoption, electrochemotherapy implementation is hindered by a lack of treatment indications, uncertainty regarding procedural aspects, and the absence of quality indicators. An expert consensus may harmonize the approach among centres and facilitate comparison with other therapies. Methods An interdisciplinary panel was recruited for a three-round e-Delphi survey. A literature-based 113-item questionnaire was proposed to 160 professionals from 53 European centres. Participants rated each item for relevance and degree of agreement on a five-point Likert scale, and received anonymous controlled feedback to allow revision. The items that reached concordant agreement in two successive iterations were included in the final consensus list. In the third round, quality indicator benchmarks were defined using a real-time Delphi method. Results The initial working group included 122 respondents, of whom 100 (82 per cent) completed the first round, thus qualifying for inclusion in the expert panel (49 surgeons, 29 dermatologists, 15 medical oncologists, three radiotherapists, two nurse specialists, two clinician scientists). The completion rate was 97 per cent (97 of 100) and 93 per cent (90 of 97) in the second and third rounds respectively. The final consensus list included 54 statements with benchmarks (treatment indications, (37); procedural aspects, (1); quality indicators, (16)). Conclusion An expert panel achieved consensus on the use of electrochemotherapy in melanoma, with a core set of statements providing general direction to electrochemotherapy users to refine indications, align clinical practices, and promote quality assurance programmes and local audits. The residual controversial topics set future research priorities to improve patient care