Technology adoption and the investment climate : firm-level evidence for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The international diffusion of technology presents an opportunity for developing economies distant from the world technological frontier to reduce their income gap relative to advanced economies. It is therefore crucial to understand why, when faced with similar technological alternatives different firms in different countries choose to adopt different vintages of capital. This paper examines technology adoption across firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings show that access to complementary inputs - managerial capacity, skilled labor, finance, and good infrastructure - and to international knowledge - through foreign direct investment or exports - is an important correlate of technology adoption. The link between market incentives and technology adoption is more nuanced. Although consumer pressure results in technology adoption, competitor pressure does not, suggesting that only firms with rents are able to adopt technology given substantial resource constraints. Privatized firms exhibit better technology adoption outcomes but only when a clear private owner with a profit incentive is present. Better governance is associated with technology adoption only in the countries that joined the European Union in 2004. Future increases in technology adoption by firms in the region will require complementary reforms of the investment climate.E-Business,Technology Industry,ICT Policy and Strategies,Microfinance,

Ensino de empreendedorismo no domínio do software: 6 anos de história na UMinho

Há atualmente uma aposta no fomento do empreendedorismo no seio das universidades através de paradigmas de ensino eficazes. Estes, por sua vez, necessitam de estar em permanente adaptação e evolução. Neste artigo, apresenta-se e discute-se o ensino do empreendedorismo no domínio do software através de um estudo de caso. No âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática da Universidade do Minho, é oferecida desde 2009/10 uma unidade curricular (UC) de 15 ECTS, designada de Projeto em Engenharia Informática (PEI). Esta UC procura instigar nos estudantes que a frequentam o reconhecimento da necessidade de conciliarem a visão mais técnica com uma visão mais ligada a aspetos de negócio, comerciais e empresariais, que a maioria nunca abordou em contexto educativo. Uma série de entrevistas semi-estruturadas permitiu obter evidências relevantes sobre o processo de ensino-aprendizagem subjacente a esta UC e sobre a evolução que esta sofreu ao longo de um período de seis anos. Por outro lado, foi consultado material produzido pelos responsáveis da UC com o objetivo de orientar os estudantes na UC. Deste modo, apresenta-se e discute-se evidências sobre o processo de capacitação para o empreendedorismo de estudantes no âmbito específico de projetos de ensino no domínio do software, salientando as suas particularidades e os seus desafios

A software engineering course that promotes entrepreneurship: Insights from a VUCA perspective

In a context of higher volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), engineering education must promote active learning approaches, where the responsibility of learning is focused on students, enhancing their competencies and ability to be competitive in the market. But, such educational strategies encompass many issues, questions and challenges, both for teachers and students. This article presents and discusses the main changes that have been introduced in a course that promotes entrepreneurship in the field of software engineering. The changes were introduced to address two main aims: (1) to provide opportunities for students to experiment new skills, that prepare them to better behave in a VUCA context, and (2) to make the course more efficiently managed. External elements and personal issues complement the intrinsic motivation related to the course on entrepreneurship.This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/202

Engineering education in a context of VUCA

Nowadays the world is very dynamic and thus we are faced with scenarios with a high degree of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). This reality affects engineering educators that need in many circumstances to promote more active learning approaches that transfer to the students the responsibility of learning. The aim is to allow students to get better prepared to face the market, after their studies. Such learning strategies encompass many challenges, both for educators and students. This manuscript discusses the major changes that have been introduced in a university course that promotes entrepreneurship in the field of software engineering. The promotion of entrepreneurship within universities asks for effective approaches that must be frequently evaluated and changed. The course is analyzed along two major VUCA angles: (1) how to adapt it to satisfy the students, and (2) how students can be stimulated to learn how to behave in VUCA contexts.This work has been supported by FCT - Fundaçõo para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Business model development and maturity in software-based startups: Insights from a case study

Nowadays, the success or failure of software-based startups is highly dependent on a good alignment of technology, market needs and business model. In this context, an appropriate business design is extremely important for such (new) companies. Commonly, software-based startups are technology-centred and tend to neglect the importance of the business model. Nevertheless, they need to go beyond the development of innovative and effective products or services and take into account the profitability of the company through a proper business model. Based on an exploratory case study of a Portuguese startup, this paper suggests three different levels of maturity for software startups named here as first phase: (i) first product and rookie mistakes, (ii) second phase: the market-driven approach and (iii) third phase: mass market orientation.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013

O utjecaju pojedinih parametara ložišta izvedenih iz Rothermelovog modela ravnoteže toplinske energije na stopu širenja požara

We analysed the role of some fuel bed properties on forest fire-spread rate based on the thermal energy balance upon which the well-known fire-spread rate model of Rothermel (1972) was developed, showing that neither fuel bed height, load or density directly influence the thermal energy balance. The influence of such parameters, often inferred from empirical descriptions of spread rate, must result from indirect effects on heat transfer mechanisms. The fraction of heat transferred from the flame to the unburned fuel depends mostly on fuel moisture content and is independent of spread rate and flame geometry. Because empirical models usually implicitly assume the underlying mechanisms of fire spread for describing fire behaviour, this study results can assist at idealizing and delineating future experiments and approaches.Analizirana je uloga pojedinih svojstava ložišta u stopi širenja šumskog požara, na temelju ravnoteže toplinske energije, iz koje je razvijen poznati Rothermelov model širenja požara (1972), pokazujući da niti visina ložišta, jednako kao ni količina i gustoća ne utječu izravno na ravnotežu toplinske energije. Utjecaj tih parametara, često izvedenih iz empirijskih opisa stope širenja, nužno proizlazi iz neizravnih utjecaja na mehanizme prijenosa topline. Udio topline prenesen iz plamena na nesagorijelo gorivo, pretežno ovisi o sadržaju vlage u gorivu te je neovisan od stope širenja te oblika plamena. S obzirom na to da empirijski modeli uglavnom impliciraju mehanizme širenja požara u opisivanju njegovog ponašanja, rezultati ove studije mogu biti od pomoći u osmišljavanju i ocrtavanju budućih eksperimenata i pristupa

MODELIRANJE GORIVA I POTENCIJALNO PONAŠANJE POŽARA U TURSKOJ

Description of fuel characteristics is an essential input to fire behavior models that can provide decision-support for fire management. Fuel models describe fuel characteristics for fire modeling systems based on Rothermel’s fire spread model. In this study, fire behavior data collected in field experiments in different fuel complexes in Turkey is used in the process of fuel model development. Nine fuel models were built for low and tall maquis, Anatolian black pine (P. nigra J.F. Arnold subsp. nigra var. caramanica (Loudon) Rehder), litter, and slash variable in age and load. BehavePlus simulations of fire rate of spread, flame length and fireline intensity for typical summer weather conditions highlight the quite different fire potential between the studied fuel types. The difficulty in dealing with fuel complexes dominated by live fuels was evident from the simulations. On the contrary, the model correctly predicted the observed temporal decrease of fire behavior in slash. This study shows the crucial importance of experimental fire data to parameterize fuel models.Opis karakteristika goriva je nužan podatak za modele ponašanja požara koji mogu dati podršku odlukama za požarno upravljanje. Modeli goriva opisuju karakteristike goriva za sustave modeliranja požara koji se temelje na Rothermelovom modelu širenja požara. U ovoj studiji, podaci o ponašanju požara prikupljeni u terenskim eksperimentima u različitim kompleksima goriva u Turskoj korišteni su u procesu razvoja modela goriva. Napravljeno je devet modela goriva za nisku i visoku makiju, anatolski crni bor (P. nigra J.F. Arnold subsp. nigra var. caramanica (Loudon) Rehder), stelju te otpad, varijable u starosti i težini. BehavePlus simulacije stope širenja požara, duljine plamena i intenziteta požarne fronte za tipične ljetne vremenske uvjete naglašavaju potpuno drukčiji potencijal požara između izučavanih tipova goriva. Iz simulacija su očite teškoće u bavljenju kompleksom goriva kojima dominira živo gorivo. Nasuprot tomu, model je točno predvidio privremeno smanjenje ponašanja požara u otpadu. Ova studija pokazuje ključnu važnost eksperimentalnih podataka o požaru, kako bi se izvršila parametrizacija modela goriva

Using Pre-Fire High Point Cloud Density LiDAR Data to Predict Fire Severity in Central Portugal

[EN], The wall-to-wall prediction of fuel structural characteristics conducive to high fire severity is essential to provide integrated insights for implementing pre-fire management strategies designed to mitigate the most harmful ecological effects of fire in fire-prone plant communities. Here, we evaluate the potential of high point cloud density LiDAR data from the Portuguese áGiLTerFoRus project to characterize pre-fire surface and canopy fuel structure and predict wildfire severity. The study area corresponds to a pilot LiDAR flight area of around 21,000 ha in central Portugal intersected by a mixed-severity wildfire that occurred one month after the LiDAR survey. Fire severity was assessed through the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) index computed from pre- and post-fire Sentinel-2A Level 2A scenes. In addition to continuous data, fire severity was also categorized (low or high) using appropriate dNBR thresholds for the plant communities in the study area. We computed several metrics related to the pre-fire distribution of surface and canopy fuels strata with a point cloud mean density of 10.9 m−2. The Random Forest (RF) algorithm was used to evaluate the capacity of the set of pre-fire LiDAR metrics to predict continuous and categorized fire severity. The accuracy of RF regression and classification model for continuous and categorized fire severity data, respectively, was remarkably high (pseudo-R2 = 0.57 and overall accuracy = 81%) considering that we only focused on variables related to fuel structure and loading. The pre-fire fuel metrics with the highest contribution to RF models were proxies for horizontal fuel continuity (fractional cover metric) and the distribution of fuel loads and canopy openness up to a 10 m height (density metrics), indicating increased fire severity with higher surface fuel load and higher horizontal and vertical fuel continuity. Results evidence that the technical specifications of LiDAR acquisitions framed within the áGiLTerFoRus project enable accurate fire severity predictions through point cloud data with high density.SIPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog