Identifying innovation opportunities emerging from technology and business trends

PhD thesis in TechnologyBusinesses are continuously looking for opportunities to innovate. There is a gap in the literature regarding innovation models and approaches that are systematic, practical and easy to apply. This thesis addresses this issue through investigation of the potential for identifying innovation opportunities emerging from technology and business trends and of how to evaluate ideas. Technology trends depict the evolving direction of technology; can they be used to innovate products? Inspired by ideation literature, a novel model is presented which combines technology trends with product breakdown to generate product innovation ideas. The empirical evidence suggests that the model can generate quality ideas. Further investigation of technology trends indicated that the largest trend of the near future will be autonomation, which suggests that many products and services will be delivered in a totally autonomous way. Operations that can be standardized have a high likelihood of being autonomated in the near future. This is because sensor advancement has made it possible to install low-cost sensors on machines; these act as senses for the machine, and then the sensor data can be processed in digital algorithms to carry out fine-tuned decision-making for the machine. This enables a paradigm shift in how machines and applications are operated. The megatrend of electrification has dominated the past century, during which the leading inspiration for innovators was how to electrify industry, households, automobiles, etc. The inspiration for future innovation could likewise be how to autonomate the same. Anecdotal evidence supports this claim. A model and case study are presented in this regard. In a similar way to technology trends, business trends are also agents of change, revealing how businesses are evolving. The largest trend observed is servitization. Companies are gradually shifting away from the traditional model of selling just products towards selling the functionality of the products as services. The shelf life of many products has been significantly reduced, and there is stiff competition in the market. Services, on the other hand, are more sustainable. Servitization is here defined as reducing tangibility in the product. A utility-driven approach is developed, in which the products are broken down into the utility features that encourage the customer to purchase the product and barriers that prohibit the customer from purchasing the product. The model presented in the study presents options to gradually enhance utility and reduce both barriers and the overall tangibility of the product. That can assist users in transforming their products into services. Another way to servitize is to add services to a product in the form of product-service-system. Financing/ownership value added services are explored, and the changes they bring to the business model are studied. These services do not require changes to the product or technological development and can add service benefits to the product. A systematic framework is presented, in which the options can be individually evaluated, and suitable value-added service options can be selected. Another important business trend observed is outsourcing. Start-ups and high growth companies have limited resources, and they do not have the flexibility to carry out all business activities internally. Companies tend to outsource business activities, to survive with limited resources. However, sometimes outsourcing the core activities of the business can invite competition. In this thesis, a decision tree for evaluating business activities for outsourcing purposes is presented. The decision tree assists users in evaluating those activities that can be outsourced with minimal side effects for the business. Traditionally, ideas are screened based on subjective judgement after a brainstorming session. In this thesis, a systematic high-level idea screening tool is presented, which is useful for screening ideas in a short period of time. Six key parameters, which are producibility, problem size, market size, novelty, profit margin and business alignment, are pillars of the idea screening tool, compiled by assorting the idea screening literature. The tool is useful for screening the ideas generated in the aforementioned models. Together, the appended papers contribute to filling the gap in the innovation literature regarding practical guidelines to innovate businesses

Integration of value adding services related to financing and ownership: A business model perspective

OA-merket på doi-sidenIt is an agreed fact among scholars that services are more sustainable compared to the products. By offering services, traditional companies can lock their customers into a long-term and sustainable revenue generation settlement. Available academic literature is abundant with methodologies related to service development. However, this study investigates various value adding service options related to financing and ownership of a product that can be offered on top of the existing products. It is important to understand these options from the consumer as well as supplier perspective. The most well established options available for financing/ownership are compiled, and sorted with respect to intangibility, ownership, financing and value addition scale. The study argues that the identified options incrementally add value to the existing offering by increasing the purchasing power and reducing the ownership obstacles for the customers. However, for the supplier, the decision depends on the trade-off between value addition for the customers and the business model changes required.publishedVersio

Cultural Impact of the Achaemenian on Ancient Pakistan

In the last quarter of 6th century BC the Achaemenians of Iran captured Indus region(correctly present Pakistan) and maintained their occupation almost for two centuries till they were overpowered by Alexander Macedonian. Unfortunately no connected account of the political history of this region survived except stray references in the works of classical writers. However, culturally, Achaemenians greatly contributed to this land which was benefitted even after Achaemenians political sway ended. Some of the cultural traits still survive to present days. In this paper author would critically evaluate Achaemenian cultural impact on this land in the following pages.&nbsp

Pre-Muslim Architectural Tradition in Ancient Pakistan

For thousands of years man had been taking refuge in the caves or under the trees to safe himself from the devastating effects of natural forces. For a long time the idea of making shelters like huts or rooms never struck his mind. Although building material like clay, stone boulder, or river pebbles, were lying all round him but, he even, accidentally, did not attempt to erect any kind of shelter for a long time. Why had he been unable to build an artificial refuge is now differently interpreted and explained. However, it seems that most dominant factor behind this was the lack of economic resources available at one place. When he was offered and provided by environment and nature with favoured circumstances, he, without losing opportunities began to exploit the land resources surrounding him. It is generally agreed that as soon as he discovered the art of agriculture and learned to domesticate the animals he began to build shelters in the open air beside the cultivable land by using, whatsoever available, such as wood, bushes, twigs, stone, river pebbles and clay. This was the earliest material used by man in the construction of huts and houses.&nbsp

Dynamic S-BOX using Chaotic Map for VPN Data Security

A dynamic SBox using a chaotic map is a cryptography technique that changes the SBox during encryption based on iterations of a chaotic map, adding an extra layer of confusion and security to symmetric encryption algorithms like AES. The chaotic map introduces unpredictability, non-linearity, and key dependency, enhancing the overall security of the encryption process. The existing work on dynamic SBox using chaotic maps lacks standardized guidelines and extensive security analysis, leaving potential vulnerabilities and performance concerns unaddressed. Key management and the sensitivity of chaotic maps to initial conditions are challenges that need careful consideration. The main objective of using a dynamic SBox with a chaotic map in cryptography systems is to enhance the security and robustness of symmetric encryption algorithms. The method of dynamic SBox using a chaotic map involves initializing the SBox, selecting a chaotic map, iterating the map to generate chaotic values, and updating the SBox based on these values during the encryption process to enhance security and resist cryptanalytic attacks. This article proposes a novel chaotic map that can be utilized to create a fresh, lively SBox. The performance assessment of the suggested S resilience Box against various attacks involves metrics such as nonlinearity (NL), strict avalanche criterion (SAC), bit independence criterion (BIC), linear approximation probability (LP), and differential approximation probability (DP). These metrics help gauge the Box ability to handle and respond to different attack scenarios. Assess the cryptography strength of the proposed S-Box for usage in practical security applications, it is compared to other recently developed SBoxes. The comparative research shows that the suggested SBox has the potential to be an important advancement in the field of data security.Comment: 11 Page

Evaluation of efficacy of bupivacaine and bupivacaine plus clonidine in transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for postoperative analgesia: a prospective, randomized, double blind, comparative study

Background: Pain is the commonest symptom encountered postoperatively and hence multimodal analgesia is tried to overcome it. In this study, we have compared bupivacaine and bupivacaine plus clonidine in transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries under spinal anaesthesia.Methods: Sixty ASA I and II patients in the age range of 18-60 years undergoing various lower abdominal surgeries were randomly divided into two groups, who were operated after giving spinal block using 2.5 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacine and 25ug of fentanyl. At the end of surgical procedure tranversus abdominis plane (TAP) block was given by giving 25 ml of injection bupivacaine 0.25% in group I and 25 ml of 0.25% of bupivacaine with 1 ug.kg-1 of clonidine in group II. Quality of analgesia was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS), categorical pain scoring system and frequency of rescue analgesia given and duration was assessed with the time at which first rescue analgesia was given. Side effects of clonidine such as sedation, bradycardia and hypotension were also noted. The hemodynamic parameters like heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were noted for both the groups.Results: Demographic characteristics like age, weight, sex, ASA class and type of surgeries were comparable in both groups. SBP, DBP and HR were less in group II than in group I and was statistically significant (p-value<0.05). The overall mean VAS score in group I was 3.03 ± 1.57 and group II was 1.72 ± 1.02 with p-value of 0.0005 and hence better quality of analgesia in group II. Categorical pain scoring system also showed statistically better scores in group II than group I. The duration of analgesia which was calculated by mean time for first rescue analgesia in group I was 6.38 ± 2.56 hours and group II was 14.23 ± 4.63 hours with a p-value of <0.0001 and the difference was statistically significant. The mean number of doses of rescue analgesia in group I for the first 24 hours was 1.37 ± 0.89 and in group II was 0.60 ± 0.62 with a p-value of 0.0003 and the difference was statistically significant. Group II patients showed more sedation scores than group I patients (p-value <0.05). None of the patients had any episode of bradycardia or hypotension.Conclusions: Addition of clonidine 1 ug.kg-1 to 25 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine compared to 25 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine alone in tranverse abdominis plane (TAP) block improves quality of analgesia, increases duration of postoperative analgesia and decreases postoperative analgesic requirements with minimal side effects

Performance optimization of CH3NH3Pb(I1-xBrx)3 based perovskite solar cells by comparing different ETL materials through conduction band offset engineering

Numerical simulations can provide the physical insights into the carrier transport mechanism in the solar cells, and the factors influencing their performance. In this paper, perovskite solar cell (PSC) based on the mixed perovskite (CH3NH3Pb(I1-xBrx)3 has been numerically simulated using the SCAPS simulator. A comparative analysis of different electron transport layers (ETLs) based on their conduction band offsets (CBO) has been performed, while Spiro-OMeTAD was used as a hole transport layer (HTL). Among the proposed ETLs, CdZnS performed better and demonstrated the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.20%. Also, the PCE of the PSC has been optimized by adjusting the doping concentrations in the ETL, Spiro-OMeTAD layer, and the thickness of the perovskite light absorber layer. It was found that the doping concentration of 1021 cm−3 for the CdZnS based ETL and 1020 cm−3 for Spiro-OMeTAD are the optimum concentrations values for demonstrating enhanced efficiency. A 600 nm thick perovskite layer has found to be appropriate for the efficient PSC design. For the initial guessing and numerical model validation, the photovoltaic data of a very stable (over one year with PCE ~13%) n-i-p structured (ITO/TiO2/CH3NH3Pb(I1-xBrx)3/Spiro-OMeTAD/Au) PSCs was used. These numerically simulated results signify the optimum performance of the photovoltaic device that can be further implemented to develop the highly efficient PSCs.This publication was made possible by the NPRP award [NPRP11S-1210–170080] from Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation). The findings made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The authors are thankful to Prof. Marc Burgelman, the University of Gent for the SCAPS developments package, and permission to use the SCAPS software

WORK RELATED INJURIES IN SMALL SCALE METAL PRESS INDUSTRIES OF SHAHDRAH TOWN, LAHORE, PAKISTAN

The work place injuries have to pay both direct and indirect cost of the accidents. With a population of 169 million, Pakistan has no reported estimate of the national impact of workplace injuries. This study presented a profile of workplace injuries associated with small medium enterprises of metal press cottage industries in Shahdra Town, Lahore (Pakistan) and determined the impact on the country’s economy besides to recommend strategies for delineating these important problems. The in-house accident investigation technique was used to collect the data from randomly selected small scale metal press cottage industries of study area for all types of injuries principally from minor to major ones. It was observed that role of human error in occupational injuries is momentous and keeping in view the necessity of proper safety training of the metal workers, thre is a dire need to institute an information system to evaluate the true impact of injuries and develop national safety standards

Highly Efficient Visible Hologram through Dielectric Metasurface

To achieve applied aspect of metasurfaces in the visible regime, dielectric materials with low absorption are indispensable. This work presents highly efficient generation of hologram via processed amorphous silicon, which exhibits significantly low absorption in the region of interest. The phase and the polarization of transmitted light are tailored by varying the orientation of dielectric nanorods whereas their conversion efficiency is optimized by adjusting their structural parameters. Better image fidelity and higher conversion efficiency (up-to 75%) are achieved as compared to previously reported work. The proposed design methodology paves a way toward on-chip realization of various novel phenomena with substantially enhanced performance.11Yscopu

Soil physical properties, nitrogen uptake and grain quality of maize (Zea mays L.) as affected by tillage systems and nitrogen application

Soil compaction is a global issue pertaining to agricultural lands. The frequent use of farm machinery and field operations at the same depth are the major causes of soil compaction. The gradual increase in soil compaction deteriorates maize grain quality due to reduced nitrogen (N) uptake. Quality food production by reducing soil compaction is the need of time, which can be achieved through deep tillage and N management. In this study, three tillage systems viz. conventional tillage (using cultivator), tillage with mould board plough +2-cultivations (MBP), and tillage with chisel plough +2-cultivations (CP); and three nitrogen levels viz. 100, 150 and 200 kg ha–1 were used to evaluate their effect on soil properties, N uptake and grain quality in maize. Lower bulk density (1.41 Mg m–3), higher total porosity (0.47 m3 m–3) and higher nitrogen uptake (96.01 kg ha–1) was recorded under chisel plough (CP) compared with other tillage systems. Different N levels had significant effect on grain and total N uptake and grain quality, while soil properties remains unaffected. Higher N uptake was recorded with 200 kg ha–1 N application than other treatments. Similarly, 8.51% and 8.57% more grain protein contents were recorded with 200 kg ha–1 N during first and second year respectively. Unlike grain protein, starch and oil contents were negatively affected by N application being higher starch (71.7%) and oil contents (3.41%) with less N supply (100 kg ha–1). However, interaction effect of tillage and nitrogen levels was found non-significant for all studied parameters except for oil contents. Higher oil contents were recorded with MBP along with 100 kg ha–1 N application. Overall study indicated that deep ploughing with CP is important for maize to explore more soil area for nutrient uptake and N is also important for improving grain quality especially protein contents an important food constituent