Strategic niche management as an operational tool for sustainable innovation : guidelines for practice

Strategic Niche Management provides an evolutionary analytical framework that has proven useful for the analysis of success and failure in the introduction of radical innovations in fields such as wind energy, biomass, public transport systems and food production. However, SNM has yielded few detailed and practical "how to do it" guidelines for practitioners interested in how to incubate new technologies. This paper takes one step towards greater operationalisation of SNM as a practical tool for managing the development of radically new technologies. We consolidate the existing SNM studies to identify the main gaps in that literature. Then we bring in studies on the development and commercialisation of radical innovations in large companies and draw lessons from these with respect to "how to do" radical innovation, shedding new light on the nature of niche-based learning processes that are needed for these innovations to mature. A number of concrete guidelines for implementing the Strategic Niche Development approach are given

What drives innovativeness in industrial clusters? : transcending the debate

The paper throws new light on the debate about the role played by local knowledge spillovers (LKS) as a driver of regional innovative activity. It transcends the regional level of analysis that has been commonly adopted in the literature so far, using insights from the evolutionary theory of the firm. This makes it possible to derive a typology of mechanisms through which regional agglomeration may stimulate learning and innovation. When this typology is brought to bear on the extant approaches in the debate, the contrasting viewpoints can be reconciled to some extent. The main conclusion is that little theoretical ground for the LKS debate remains

The Jatropha biofuels sector in Tanzania 2005-9 : evolution towards sustainability?

Biofuel production has recently attracted a great deal of attention. Some anticipate substantial social and environmental benefits, while at the same time expecting sound profitability for investors. Others are more doubtful, envisaging large trade-offs between the pursuit of social, environmental and economic objectives, particularly in poor countries in the tropics. The paper explores these issues in Tanzania, which is a forerunner in Africa in the cultivation of a bio-oil shrub called Jatropha curcas L. We trace how isolated Jatropha biofuel experiments developed since their inception in early 2005 towards a fully fledged sectoral production and innovation system; and investigate to what extent that system has been capable of developing ànd maintaining sustainable practices and producing sustainable outcomes. The application of evolutionary economic theory allows us to view the development processes in the sector as a result of evolutionary variation and selection on the one hand, and revolutionary contestation between different coalitions of stakeholders on the other. Both these processes constitute significant engines of change in the sector. While variation and selection is driven predominantly by localised learning, the conflict-driven dynamics are highly globalised. The sector is found to have moved some way towards a full sectoral innovation and production system, but it is impossible to predict whether a viable sector with a strong "triple bottom line" orientation will ultimate emerge, since many issues surrounding the social, environmental and financial sustainability still remain unresolved

Emergence of a biofuel economy in Tanzania : local developments and global connections from an institutional perspective

Jatropha is emerging as an important biofuel crop throughout developing countries in the tropics. Initially lauded as an environmentally-benign ‘wonder crop’ suitable for arid wasteland cultivation that would avoid competition with scarce livelihood resources, it has recently begun to attract mounting criticisms related to competition with food production, biodiversity impacts, insecurity of land access by local populations, exploitative employment conditions, and disappointing effects on greenhouse gas emission reduction. In this paper we analyse the nature of the local developments that have given rise to these criticisms, and the underlying innovation processes and global forces that are driving the sector in the direction of these contested outcomes. We focus on Tanzania, an important forerunner in Jatropha biofuels production whose experiences have informed the international biofuel debate more broadly. Two surveys among biofuel actors in Tanzania held in 2005 and 2008/9 are the primary data sources. An extended innovation systems perspective is adopted, which is instrumental in studying patterns of global and local institutional embeddedness from a long-term perspective. These patterns are found to be key drivers behind the emergence and evolution of three distinct organizational models in the sector: local energy production and use for rural communities; decentralised subcontracting for centralised oil processors; and large centralised plantations. Socio-economic interactions in these models seem to be regulated by institutions put in place by colonial and early post-colonial governance of agri-commodity production and exchange. Each is also closely associated with different social (network) relations, organizational choices, economic viability, and environmental sustainability effects

Is Moodle Accessible for Visually Impaired People?

Proceedings of: 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies. Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, May 6-9, 2011.Most educational centers are currently using e-learning tools to provide the pedagogical resources for the students, especially in higher education. Nevertheless, some students are not able to access to this information because these authoring tools are not as accessible as they should be. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate if one of the most widely e-learning tool used around the world, Moodle, is accessible for visually impaired people. The evaluation shows that the accessibility guidelines provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are not accomplished by the tool. Moreover, it shows that people using screen readers are not able to access to the majority of the functionality of Moodle.The work presented in this paper has been partially founded by MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542), GEMMA (TSI-020302-2010-141) and SAGAS (TSI-020100-2010-184) research projects.Publicad

Wirksame Vermittlung von Kompetenzen über das Internet : ein praktisches Beispiel

Universitäten wenden in zunehmendem Maße innovative Unterrichtsmodelle an, bei denen die Entwicklung von Kompetenzen im Vordergrund steht und nicht die Wiedergabe von Wissen. Diese neuen Unterrichtsmodelle betonen die Bedeutung der Wissensanwendung und der Entwicklung von Kompetenzen. Allerdings haben diese Unterrichtsmodelle in der Regel einen großen Aufwand der Dozenten für Korrektur und Bewertung zur Folge. Bildungseinrichtungen suchen nach Möglichkeiten, Studierenden kompetenzorientiertes Lehrmaterial anzubieten und dabei die Belastung für die Dozenten gering zu halten. In diesem Beitrag wird ein Marketingkurs als Beispiel aus der Praxis vorgestellt, der von der Fakultät für Managementwissenschaft der Offenen Universität der Niederlande entwickelt wurde. Es veranschaulicht, wie beide Ziele, Bereitstellung von kompetenzorientiertem Lehrmaterial und Minimierung des Korrekturaufwands, gleichzeitig erreicht werden können

Teaching competencies efficiently through the internet : a practical example

Universities increasingly adopt innovative teaching models, which focus on the development of skills instead of the reproduction of knowledge. These new teaching models emphasise the importance of knowledge application and the development of competencies. Yet, using these teaching methods usually implies a high assessment burden for lecturers. Educational institutions are on the look-out for ways of offering competency-oriented teaching materials to students and keeping the assessment burden for lecturers down at the same time. This article gives a practical illustration of a marketing course developed by the Faculty of Management Sciences of the Open University of The Netherlands. This course shows a successful way in which both aims can be achieved simultaneously