External dependency, value added generation and structural change: an inter-industry approach

The external dependency of many industries and the corresponding low value added generated in production, combined with a relatively weak export potential, create high external deficits and growing debt to GDP ratios in several open economies. In this paper we propose an empirical method to assess the evolution of these vulnerabilities, based on a new treatment of interindustry production multipliers. The (gross)output growth potential given by the column sums of the Leontief inverse matrix (backward linkage indicators) results from three terms: interindustry consumptions, value added and imported inputs. After a convenient arrangement of these terms, the evolution of backward linkage indicators can be used to detect structural changes, particularly quantifying a (net) growth effect (more value-added generation) and an external dependency effect (more imported inputs), and to classify the productive sectors accordingly. An application to the Portuguese Economy is made, using input-output tables for the years 1980, 1995 and 2005. This method can also be useful as a simple, but suggestive, device to compare the evolution of two or more economies, along their development processes in time.

How costumers’ way of life influence the value co-creation

Purpose: This article is a contribution to the understanding of how value arises in wellestablished markets, and under which circumstances actors integrate resources from different service ecosystems to generate value. To understand this phenomenon, it is fundamental to consider which practices are performed by customers to co-create value and how they do so. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a qualitative approach, the study provides fresh empirical insight into well-established market processes of value creation. After a literature review an ethnographic approach was chosen in order to understand how co-creation processes occur in the empirical setting of an international restaurant chain. Several observations, conversations and semi-structured interviews were undertaken concerning the analysis of the topic under study. Findings: The results show that even in a well-established market, a provider must consider individual customers’ distinct needs, present in their daily practices, to be able to assist them in the value creation process. It is argued that the practice styles are the building blocks for prevailing ways of life that actors assume, according to the context in which they are, to integrate resources. Practical implications: The study includes implications for service providers of a wellfounded market for facilitating value co-creation along with customers and fulfils the need to better understand this phenomenon. Originality/Value: Recent studies call for empirical evidence on co-creation processes in mature markets, accordingly, this study brings an additional understanding on how actors, depending on the context, adopt different ways of life that require unique resources, which activate to achieve what they want, in order to establish room for co-creation.peer-reviewe

External dependency, value added generation and structural change: an interindustry approach

The external dependency of many industries and the corresponding low value added generated in production create high external deficits and growing debt to GDP ratios in several open economies. In this paper we propose an empirical method to assess the evolution of these vulnerabilities, based on a new treatment of interindustry production multipliers. The (gross) output growth potential given by the column sums of the Leontief inverse matrix (backward linkage indicators) results from three terms: interindustry consumptions, value added and imported inputs. After a convenient arrangement of these terms, the evolution of backward linkage indicators can be used to detect structural changes, particularly quantifying a (net) growth effect (more value-added generation) and an external dependency effect (more imported inputs), and to classify the productive sectors accordingly. An application to the Portuguese Economy is made, using input-output tables for the years 1980, 1995 and 2005. This method can also be useful as a simple, but suggestive, device to compare the evolution of two or more economies, along their development processes in time.input-output linkages; external dependency; structural change; Portugal

Fostering e-participation sustainability through a BPM-driven semantic model

According to a recent Eurobarometer survey (2014), 68% of Europeans tend not to trust national governments. As the increasing alienation of citizens from politics endangers democracy and welfare, governments, practitioners and researchers look for innovative means to engage citizens in policy matters. One of the measures intended to overcome the so-called democratic deficit is the promotion of civic participation. Digital media proliferation offers a set of novel characteristics related to interactivity, ubiquitous connectivity, social networking and inclusiveness that enable new forms of societal-wide collaboration with a potential impact on leveraging participative democracy. Following this trend, e-Participation is an emerging research area that consists in the use of Information and Communication Technologies to mediate and transform the relations among citizens and governments towards increasing citizens’ participation in public decision-making. However, despite the widespread efforts to implement e-Participation through research programs, new technologies and projects, exhaustive studies on the achieved outcomes reveal that it has not yet been successfully incorporated in institutional politics. Given the problems underlying e-Participation implementation, the present research suggested that, rather than project-oriented efforts, the cornerstone for successfully implementing e-Participation in public institutions as a sustainable added-value activity is a systematic organisational planning, embodying the principles of open-governance and open-engagement. It further suggested that BPM, as a management discipline, can act as a catalyst to enable the desired transformations towards value creation throughout the policy-making cycle, including political, organisational and, ultimately, citizen value. Following these findings, the primary objective of this research was to provide an instrumental model to foster e-Participation sustainability across Government and Public Administration towards a participatory, inclusive, collaborative and deliberative democracy. The developed artefact, consisting in an e-Participation Organisational Semantic Model (ePOSM) underpinned by a BPM-steered approach, introduces this vision. This approach to e-Participation was modelled through a semi-formal lightweight ontology stack structured in four sub-ontologies, namely e-Participation Strategy, Organisational Units, Functions and Roles. The ePOSM facilitates e-Participation sustainability by: (1) Promoting a common and cross-functional understanding of the concepts underlying e-Participation implementation and of their articulation that bridges the gap between technical and non-technical users; (2) Providing an organisational model which allows a centralised and consistent roll-out of strategy-driven e-Participation initiatives, supported by operational units dedicated to the execution of transformation projects and participatory processes; (3) Providing a standardised organisational structure, goals, functions and roles related to e-Participation processes that enhances process-level interoperability among government agencies; (4) Providing a representation usable in software development for business processes’ automation, which allows advanced querying using a reasoner or inference engine to retrieve concrete and specific information about the e-Participation processes in place. An evaluation of the achieved outcomes, as well a comparative analysis with existent models, suggested that this innovative approach tackling the organisational planning dimension can constitute a stepping stone to harness e-Participation value

Mobile Application to support Scientific Conferences - UO ISEP

This dissertation aims to develop a mobile application for Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP), to support scientific conferences. With the increase in the use of mobile devices and the growing trend of providing mobile applications for scientific conferences, the need for a mobile application that can enhance the conference experience and provide a convenient and user-friendly way to access information about a conference is becoming more important. This application is designed to be used for live conferences and includes features such as an interactive event schedule, speaker bios, ticket management, and rating of events among others. The attendees can have a seamless conference experience and make the most of the time spent at the conference. The application also includes features for conference organizers such as event registration, attendee management, and real-time analytics. Organizers are able to manage attendees, track attendance, and access analytics on attendee behavior and preferences, and use these features to evaluate the success of the conference, gather insights for future conferences, and improve the attendee’s experience. The development of this application is based on best practices and guidelines for the design and development of mobile applications and user-centered design methodologies. The de sign process is based on user research, interviews, and usability testing, to ensure that the application meets the needs and expectations of the users. The impact of this application on the conference experience is evaluated through user test ing and feedback. The evaluation is focused on measuring the usability, usefulness, and user satisfaction of the application. The results of this evaluation are used to improve the application and ensure that it provides a high-quality user experience. Overall, this thesis aims to contribute to the field of mobile applications for conferences by providing a comprehensive solution that can enhance the attendee experience and improve the overall effectiveness of the conference.Esta dissertação tem como objectivo desenvolver uma aplicação móvel para o ISEP com o intuito de auxiliar nas conferências científicas que o mesmo Instituto organiza. Com o aumento do uso de dispositivos móveis e a crescente tendência de fornecer aos visitantes de conferências aplicações móveis, a necessidade de uma aplicação móvel que permita melhorar a experiência e fornecer uma maneira conveniente e amigável de aceder informações sobre uma conferência organizada pelo ISEP é imperativo. A aplicação desenvolvida no âmbito desta dissertação é projectada para ser usada em conferências ao vivo e incluirá recursos como uma programação interactiva de eventos, biografias dos oradores e materiais de apresentação, além de um directório de participantes e oportunidades de networking. Com esta aplicação, o objectivo é que os participantes tenham uma experiência bastante positiva e que consigam aproveitar ao máximo o tempo gasto na conferência. A aplicação também inclui recursos para os organizadores da conferência, como registo de eventos, gestão de participantes e análises em tempo real. Os organizadores podem gerir os participantes, acompanhar a presença e ter acesso a análises sobre o seu comportamento e preferências, usando essa informação para avaliar o sucesso da conferência, coleccionar e analisar métricas relativas à conferência a fim de melhorar a experiência do participante. O desenvolvimento desta aplicação é baseado nas melhores práticas e directrizes para o desenho e desenvolvimento de aplicações móveis e metodologias de desenho centrada na experiência do utilizador. O processo de desenho é baseado em entrevistas com os organizadores actuais de conferências no ISEP e testes de usabilidade, para garantir que a aplicação atenda às necessidades e expectativas dos utilizadores. O impacto desta aplicação na experiência da conferência é avaliado por meio de testes e feedback dos visitantes e organizadores da conferência. A avaliação é focada em medir a usabilidade, utilidade e satisfação dos utilizadores com a aplicação. Os resultados desta avaliação são utilizados para melhorar a aplicação e garantir que esta proporcione uma experiência de utilizador de alta qualidade. Em geral, esta dissertação quer contribuir para o campo de aplicações móveis para conferências científicas, fornecendo uma solução abrangente que possa melhorar a experiência do participante e melhorar a eficácia geral da conferência. Além disso, a dissertação pretende apresentar uma abordagem de desenho centrado no utilizador e que possa ser utilizada como referência para o desenvolvimento de futuras aplicações móveis em outros domínios

LytR Inhibition, an Approach to Avoid Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus dysgalactiae subs. dysgalactiae

Biofilm is a sessile bacterial growth phenotype, characterized by the cells being enclosed in a self-produced matrix, and attached to a surface. This makes the biofilms less susceptible to antibiotics, making them hard to eliminate, leading to chronic infections. Streptococcus dysgalactiae subs. dysgalactiae (SDSD) is a Gram-positive bacterium with the ability to form biofilms and also, a known animal pathogen, responsible for causing bovine mastitis and fish streptococcosis. Both diseases represent huge losses for the diary and fish industries. It is, then, very important to develop drugs capable of inhibiting the production of biofilms of this bacterium. Teichoic acids are glycopolymers present in the cell wall of all Gram-positive bacteria. These molecules are very important in the early stages of biofilm development, as they participate in the attachment events. SDSD possesses a LytR protein, belonging to the LytR-CpsA-Psr (LCP) family of proteins, that is necessary for the attachment of the teichoic acids to the peptidoglycan, which makes this protein a good target for biofilm inhibition. In this thesis, the LCP domain of SDSD LytR, that contains the LCP domains was overexpressed, in E. coli BL21. Purification of the protein was performed with an IMAC and a SEC. The produced protein was used for crystallization experiments and for the biophysical characterization of the interaction of SDSD LytR with putative ligands/substrates/inhibitors, by thermal shift assay (TSA), circular dichroism (CD), urea gel electrophoresis and microscale thermophoresis (MST). In the course of this work, the three-dimensional structure of SDSD LytR was determined, for the first time, at a resolution of 2.80 Å. Improvement of the resolution was not successful, as well as, the co-crystallization experiments. The techniques used did not reveal binding of the protein towards the tested compounds. We suggest that it might be due to low affinity of the compounds towards SDSD LytR

The trade-off unemployment rate/external deficit : assessing the economic adjustment program of the troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) for Portugal using an input-output approach

This article presents an evaluation of the economic adjustment program negotiated between the Portuguese government and the Troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) in May 2011, with an assessment different from the usual exercises. Instead of an ex-post comparison between the actual results and the proposed targets, an ex-ante assessment of the forecast errors is made. It is shown that these errors could be avoided if the productive (input-output) structure of the economy and the unemployment/external deficit trade-off were taken into account. The main conclusion of this assessment, a large under-estimation of the unemployment rate of about 4 percentage points, illustrates the technical incompetence of this adjustment program and the huge economic and social costs it unnecessarily caused. The methodology used can easily be replicated in assessing other similar programs, such those applied in Greece, Ireland and Cyprus

Industrial clustering and sectoral growth: a network dynamics approach

Cluster analysis has been widely used in an Input-Output framework, with the main objective of uncover the structure of production, in order to better identify which sectors are strongly connected with each other and choose the key sectors of a national or regional economy. There are many empirical studies determining potential clusters from interindustry flows directly, or from their corresponding technical (demand) or market (supply) coefficients, most of them applying multivariate statistical techniques. In this paper we follow a different strategy. Since it is expected that strongly (interindustry) connected sectors share a similar growth and development path, we will try to uncover clusters from sectoral dynamics, by applying a stochastic geometry technique, based on the yearly distances of industry outputs. An application is made, comparing these growth based cluster templates with interindustry based ones, using Portuguese input-output data. Identifying regional clusters and its dynamics can be a useful extension of the methods proposed in this paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio