Technological Innovation and Urban Processes

Technological innovation pushes transformatioin, rennovation and urban regenaration of areas and services. Special attention is given to the major urban centres, for the most related to nationale and/or Ue policy (Ce, 2003; Ce, 2004). A number of important questions are emerging between the reinforcement of the bigger areas, both metropolitan and urban, and the smaller centres. Moreover, according with different institutional actors it would be better more balanced process of anthropization because environmental and social reasons (APAT, 2004). In Calabria there are very few towns with more then 15.000 residents, often they are isolated and in the internal land. It requires to connect these areas by network, to push the diffusion of innovation and technology, to build up the “educated technology†(Del Nord, 1991). As said in other place (Aragona, 2003), the region is becoming to partecipate to the global village and the Ue (Ue, 1994; 1995; 1996) have policies and areas of implementation (Information Society, POR Calabbria 2000-20006; RIS+ 2001-2002). The paper faces a number of questions continuing such a topic. How are changing some of these areas that have implemented the technological innovation? Which impact are making the strategies and the choices on the spatial, functional and social context. The social effectiveness related to the quality life, said by Gasparini (1990) does it better? Could it be the outcome due to the absence of concentrated localization as is the case of other territorial areas marked by the “reticular†network (Dematteis, 1990)? Above all it requires to evaluate, said that the technological facilities are present enough, the role plays by the innovation as engine for both the cultural and awareness growth. Push for and knowledge that overcomes the mere informatization and suggestes the e-government: a formation and information path dedicated to build up new tools for local action and planning in the global competition. Identification of new settlements and spatial criteria (Appold et al., 1990), construction of urban spaces as signs of the past (Augè, 2004) but also signals of a new development and of social choesion, new citizenship (Cacciari, 1991).

Theoretical bases for conducting certain technological processes in space

Dimensionless conservation equations are presented and the theoretical bases of fluid behavior aboard orbiting satellites with application to the processes of manufacturing crystals in weightlessness. The small amount of gravitational acceleration is shown to increase the separation of bands of varying concentration. Natural convection is shown to have no practical effect on crystallization from a liquid melt. Barodiffusion is also negligibly small in realistic conditions of weightlessness. The effects of surface tension become increasingly large, and suggestions are made for further research

Intensified processes for FAME production from waste cooking oil: a technological review

This article reviews the intensification of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) production from waste cooking oil (WCO) using innovative process equipment. In particular, it addresses the intensification of WCO feedstock transformation by transesterification, esterification and hydrolysis reactions. It also discusses catalyst choice and product separation. FAME production can be intensified via the use of a number of process equipment types, including as cavitational reactors, oscillatory baffled reactors, microwave reactors, reactive distillation, static mixers and microstructured reactors. Furthermore, continuous flow equipment that integrate both reaction and separation steps appear to be the best means for intensifying FAME production. Heterogeneous catalysts have also shown to provide attractive results in terms of reaction performance in certain equipment, such as microwave reactors and reactive distillation

Development program for a 200 kW, technological processes in space

Dimensionless conservation equations, are presented and the theoretical basis of fluid behavior aboard orbiting satellites are reviewed with application to the processes of manufacturing crystals in weightlessness. The small amount of gravitational acceleration is shown to increase the separation of bands of varying concentration. Natural convection is shown to have no practical effect on crystallization from realistic conductions of weightlessness. The effects of surface tension become increasingly large, and suggestions are made for further research

A Peer-to-Peer Architecture for Distributed Knowledge Management.

Most of the knowledge management systems of complex organizations are based on technological architectures that are in contradiction with the social processes of knowledge creation. In particular, centralized architectures are adopted to manage a process that is intrinsically distributed. In this paper, assuming a Distributed approach to Knowledge Management (DKM), is proposed that technological and social architectures must be reciprocally consistent. Moreover, in the domain of Knowledge Management, technological architectures should be designed in order to support the interplay between two qualitatively different processes: the autonomous management of knowledge of individuals and groups - here called Knowledge Nodes (KNs) -, and the coordination required in order to exchange knowledge among them. Finally a peer to peer architecture to support knowledge exchange across distributed and autonomous KNs is presented

Technological change and educational training processes

Con la consolidación de la era digital en todas las actividades económicas y sociales a nivel mundial, se han experimentado cambios significativos en los procesos de aprendizaje, en general y de los estudiantes en particular, especialmente como consecuencia de las dificultades que enfrentan hoy las personas para concentrarse en tareas concretas; esto puede evidenciarse fácilmente al tomar en cuenta los múltiples distractores a que estamos expuestos cotidianamente al estar conectados a la red, inclusive cuando realizamos actividades intelectuale

Modeling Generational Transitions from Aggregate Data

Using only aggregate sales data, the model we propose decomposes the diffusion processes of the respective technological generations and tests if different technological generations have different diffusion parameters. It also estimates the location of the generational transition from the old to the new technology. We develop a routine to test whether the maturation point of the old generation occurs before or after the transition to a new technological generation. Finally, we show that, when the aggregate sales data are generated by multiple technological generations, our model does better in forecasting than a single-regime Bass model.diffusion modeling;regime-switching models;technological generations

Realizing Innovations in Service Firms: new organizational forms and supporting processes

This paper describes a number of innovation forms that are of special relevance to firms in the service industry. Not only technological innovations but also organizational innovations have been distinguished. In the service industry organizational innovations seem to play a significant role. The literature on innovations makes little mention of new organizational arrangements in services. Based on the service management literature a scheme with three forms of organizational innovation and one form of technological innovation is developed. This scheme is illustrated and elaborated in ten case studies of firms in various service industries. The case studies shed some light on innovations in multi-unit forms, combinations of services and co-operation with customers. On a basis of the service management literature and the case studies some of the main processes supporting the (organizational) innovations are analysed.client as co-producer;multi-unit organization;supporting processes;technological innovations

TECHNOLOGICAL COLLABORATION: BRIDGING THE INNOVATION GAP BETWEEN SMALL AND LARGE FIRMS

This paper analyses technological collaboration as an input to the innovation processes of SMEs. Technological collaboration may be a useful mechanism to offset some of the weaknesses in SMEs’ resource endowments and bring their innovation capabilities closer to that of their large counterparts. The results, based on a large longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, show that technological collaboration is a critical factor in improving the capabilities and innovativeness of SMEs. While a general bridging of the gap between the innovativeness of SMEs and large firms was observed, the most significant advance was in product rather than process innovations.