scholarly journals Foresight as a tool of public administration in the field of science, technology and innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
T. Kvasha ◽  
◽  
L. Musina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Smart Specialization ◽  
High Level ◽  
First Time ◽  
Science Technology And Innovation

Given the growing role of technological foresight as a tool for reconciling visions, goals and ways of STI development in an era of rapid technological change and global challenges, the approach to foresight research to select priorities for science and innovation in Ukraine for 2022–2026 has been improved. It takes into account a wide range of national targets for achieving SDGs by 2030. The developed Methodological recommendations provided a thorough analysis of more than 3,000 potentially acceptable technological and innovative proposals. The approach to setting STI priorities is new for Ukraine and involves a consistent process of selecting the top 30 most acceptable proposals in each of the seven thematic areas through five stages of discussions and evaluations. The result was the formation of a database of technology passports and developments on the experts’ proposals, their selection by practitioners, ranking, evaluation in terms of the potential of Ukrainian science and relevance in terms of world science and new technologies using international databases. They are the basis for decisions by the Expert Councils and the High-Level Working Group on key thematic areas and the preparation of a relevant draft government decision. Despite the conditions of quarantine, for the first time more than 2,500 experts from science, business, state and public organizations took part in the discussions, which is the basis for impartial and public decision-making. To strengthen the role of foresight as a tool for public planning and management in the field of STI, it is proposed to develop a STI roadmap as part of a research and innovation strategy for smart specialization (RIS 3) at the national level.

scholarly journals THE EXPERIENCE OF SMART-SPECIALIZATION IMPLEMENTATION AS AN APPROACH TO STIMULATING THE ECONOMY OF REGIONS IN EU COUNTRIES: LESSONS FOR UKRAINE

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3(76)) ◽  
pp. 98-109
Author(s):  
H.O. PATYTSKA
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
National Level ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Adoption And Implementation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Smart Specialization

Topicality. The expediency of in-depth study of smart specialization as an approach to stimulating the economy of the regions at the present stage is related to the deepening of cooperation between Ukraine and EU countries within the neighborhood policy and consolidation at the legislative level in Ukraine since 2016 of smart specialization as a regional development. Aim and tasks. The aim of the article is to study the experience of developing and implementing smart specialization strategies in the EU, as well as to develop practical proposals for organizing the process of forming and implementing smart specialization strategies in the domestic realities. Research results. Formed as a concept of expanding public funding in the field of research and innovation, smart specialization has resulted in significant conceptual and economic-political consequences: the allocation of the key role of scientific-technological and economic specialization in the development of territories; determining the role of research and development work to substantiate the areas of current and future comparative advantage; formation of a mechanism for managing the process of implementing the strategy of smart specialization, based on the model "public sector - science - entrepreneurship". Research of foreign experience in the formation and implementation of smart specialization strategies was conducted in the following areas: 1) determining the levels of adoption and implementation of smart specialization strategies in different countries; 2) analysis of sources of financing the implementation of projects in the context of the implementation of strategies at the level of states and regions; 3) taking into account the differentiation of socio-economic development and policy traditions at the national and regional levels in the countries implementing RIS 3. Conclusion. Emphasis is placed on the possibilities of using the formed conclusions in the process of adaptation of smart specialization to Ukrainian conditions. It is established that Ukraine should pay attention to the following aspects on the way to the innovative model of regional development: 1) lack of capable institutional structures at the regional level capable of developing, implementing and financing innovation strategies, which requires involvement of the national level of smart specialization policy. ; 2) the feasibility of forming smart specialization strategies on clearly defined and sufficient sources of funding and an effective mechanism for monitoring and controlling the use of funds; 3) a prerequisite for the formation of a strategy of smart specialization in our country should be a wide range of information and consulting work in the business environment and research circles.

scholarly journals EUROPOL’S NEW MANDATE: BETWEEN SECURITY AND CIVIL FREEDOMS

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Olga Potemkina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Criminal Offenses ◽  
One Step ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
The Eu

The article presents the EU Commission’s legislative initiative to amend the current Regulation of 2016, which defines powers and functions of the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol). The author cites the arguments used by the EU Commission in its decision to expand the functions and powers of the agency: the successful acquisition of new technologies by criminal gangs, the challenges of digital threats for law enforcement and judicial agencies of Member States, which find it difficult at the national level to properly process big data for the investigation of cross-border crimes. The article analyses the main thematic blocks of the new Regulation: enabling Europol to cooperate in the fight against criminal offenses with private parties; empowering the agency to carry out preliminary processing of big and complex databases; strengthening the role of Europol in the field of research and innovation; enabling Europol to enter alerts into the Schengen Information System, etc. The author believes that the expansion of Europol's operational powers brings it one step closer to the «European FB», i.e., an organization of a supranational nature. At the same time, the author cites the arguments of the reform’s opponents, including the political groups of the European Parliament and human rights organisations, which can be divided into two groups: a) under the pretext of ensuring security, the Commission legalises the current practice of Europol, which has gone beyond its current mandate, b) the new functions of the agency for processing a big data pose a threat to the citizens’ rights.

Living with Barren Truths: A Tale of Triumphalism and Tribulations of a Technology

2021 ◽  
pp. 097168582110159
Author(s):  
Sital Mohanty ◽  
Subhasis Sahoo ◽  
Pranay Kumar Swain
Keyword(s):  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Fact ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship

Science, technology and human values have been the subject of enquiry in the last few years for social scientists and eventually the relationship between science and gender is the subject of an ongoing debate. This is due to the event of globalization which led to the exponential growth of new technologies like assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART, one of the most iconic technological innovations of the twentieth century, has become increasingly a normal social fact of life. Since ART invades multiple human discourses—thereby transforming culture, society and politics—it is important what is sociological about ART as well as what is biological. This article argues in commendation of sociology of technology, which is alert to its democratic potential but does not concurrently conceal the historical and continuing role of technology in legitimizing gender discrimination. The article draws the empirical insights from local articulations (i.e., Odisha state in eastern India) for the understandings of motherhood, freedom and choice, reproductive right and rights over the body to which ART has contributed. Sociologically, the article has been supplemented within the broader perspectives of determinism, compatibilism alongside feminism.

Figures of Authority in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
First Century ◽  
Western World ◽  
Catholic Priests ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Emotional Politics ◽  
Print Cultures

This interdisciplinary collection investigates the forms that authority assumed in nineteenth-century Ireland, the relations they bore to international redefinitions of authority, and Irish contributions to the reshaping of authority in the modern age. At a time when age-old sources of social, political, spiritual and cultural authority were eroded in the Western world, Ireland witnessed both the restoration of older forms of authority and the rise of figures who defined new models of authority in a democratic age. Using new comparative perspectives as well as archival resources in a wide range of fields, eleven chapters show how new authorities were embodied in emerging types of politicians, clerics and professionals, and in material extensions of their power in visual, oral and print cultures. Their analyses often eerily echo twenty-first-century debates about populism, the suspicion towards scholarly and intellectual expertise, and the role of new technologies and forms of association in contesting and recreating authority. Several contributions highlight the role of emotion in the way authority was deployed by figures ranging from O’Connell to Catholic priests and W.B. Yeats, foreshadowing the perceived rise of emotional politics in our own age. This volume stresses that many contested forms of authority that now look ‘traditional’ emerged from 19th-century crises and developments, as did the challenges that undermine authority.

Hydrotesting and In-Line Inspection: Now and in the Future

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Rau ◽  
Mike Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Inert Gases ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Inherent Safety ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
The Future ◽  
Integrity Assurance ◽  
High Level

Pressure testing of pipelines has been around in some form or another since the 1950s1–14. In its earliest form, operators used inert gases such as Nitrogen or even air to test for pipeline integrity. However, with the significant increases in pipeline pressures and inherent safety issues with a pressurized gas, the switch to using water happened in the late 1960’s15–17. Hydrostatic tests (referred to as hydrotests) have been used since then to set and reset the Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP) for pipelines but as other technologies develop and gain acceptance will hydrotesting still play a key role in pipeline integrity in the years ahead? Currently, hydrotesting is a topic for the impending US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Proposed New Rule Making (PNRM)18. Under the NPRM, hydrotesting is required to verify MAOP on pre-1970s US “grandfathered” pipelines, as well as on pipelines of any age with incomplete or missing testing record and include a high level test with a “spike” in pressure. But hydrotesting may not be the only method. Alternative methods and new technologies — used alone or used in combination with hydrotesting — may help provide a more comprehensive way for operators to identify and address potential problems before they become a significant threat. This paper explores both sides of the argument. Before In-Line Inspection (ILI) technology was even available, hydrotesting was the absolute means of the proof of integrity. However, hydrotesting is under scrutiny for many reasons that this paper explores. ILI was introduced in the 1960’s with the first commercially available Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) tools that presented the industry with an alternative. Currently there are a huge array of available technologies on an ILI tool and so is the role of the hydrotest over? The paper looks at the benefits of the hydrotest and these are presented and balanced against available ILI technology. Furthermore, as pipelines are being developed in even more harsh environments such as deepwater developments, the actual logistics of performing a hydrotest become more challenging. The paper will also look at both applications onshore and offshore where regulators have accepted waivers to a hydrotest using alternative methods of proving integrity. The paper concludes with the current use and needs for hydrotesting, the regulatory viewpoint, the alternatives and also what the future developments need to focus on and how technology may be improved to provide at least a supplement if not a replacement to this means of integrity assurance.

The Development and Establishment of Technology in South Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
N.P. du Preez ◽  
P. van Eldik ◽  
M. Möhr ◽  
H.H. van der Watt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Literature Survey ◽  
Manufacturing Efficiency ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
High Level ◽  
Detailed Questionnaire

In a two-part analysis (see pp 17–26 for Part 1), the authors discuss the key results of a South African project conducted during 1996 which focused on the factors relating to the development and establishment of technology in a country. The study investigated through a detailed questionnaire survey and a literature survey the various factors that promote the development and establishment of technology by comparing their perceived importance with the actual role they currently play in South Africa. This paper, Part 2, concentrates on the role of industry. The study showed that the availability of high-level technological people dominated the top (at 90%) of the list of factors relating to individual organizations and the role they play in the development of technology. Other prominent factors were the existence of a corporate technology strategy (88.4%), the need to improve manufacturing efficiency and processes (88.4%), the ability of top management to understand new technologies (87.9%), and the availability of funds for research and development (86.2%). The survey clearly indicated that South African organizations were not performing well with respect to these and other factors evaluated. All of them have been rated below 50%, indicating the seriousness of the problem. The corresponding recommendations made are of importance to younger countries with developing economies.

scholarly journals THE IMPORTANCE OF ECO-CLUSTERS IN THE CONSTANTA COUNTY

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
MIRELA IULIANA SUNDRI
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Strategic Positioning ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Smart Specialization ◽  
Ecological Transition

Economic theory and international practice confirm the role of clusters as catalysts for competitiveness based on innovation and internationalization. Europe is facing the challenge of becoming a fair and prosperous society based on a modern, competitive and resource-efficient economy. Mobilizing industrial actors towards a clean and circular economy through in-depth cooperation along value chains as well as the use of new technologies, sustainable solutions and disruptive innovation are critical to achieving this goal. Clusters play an important role in operationalizing smart specialization strategies. Eco-clusters aim to increase the competitiveness of enterprises included in "cluster" structures in sectors of economic relevance, by concentrating resources and developing the production of innovative goods such as technologies, products, services, with the greatest possible reduction of waste. Constanta County, through its strategic positioning, through the concentration of economic activities, education and research is an area of maximum interest for the development of eco-innovation and eco-clusters. This study highlights the premises for the establishment of eco-clusters in the Constanta area, given their role as a driver in greening economic policies in the region and developing partnerships in order to obtain clean products. Through eco-clusters, there are also developments in the process of eco-innovation and implementation of sustainable development strategies in the Constanta area, as a means for a long-term socio-ecological transition.

scholarly journals A functional spleen contributes to afucosylated IgG in humans

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Wojcik ◽  
David E. Schmidt ◽  
Lisa A. de Neef ◽  
Minke A. E. Rab ◽  
Bob Meek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Lymphoid Organ ◽  
Immune Effector ◽  
Adaptive Immune ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Humoral Responses ◽  
First Time

AbstractAs a lymphoid organ, the spleen hosts a wide range of immune cell populations, which not only remove blood-borne antigens, but also generate and regulate antigen-specific immune responses. In particular, the splenic microenvironment has been demonstrated to play a prominent role in adaptive immune responses to enveloped viral infections and alloantigens. During both types of immunizations, antigen-specific immunoglobulins G (IgGs) have been characterized by the reduced amount of fucose present on N-linked glycans of the fragment crystallizable (Fc) region. These glycans are essential for mediating the induction of immune effector functions. Therefore, we hypothesized that a spleen may modulate humoral responses and serve as a preferential site for afucosylated IgG responses, which potentially play a role in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) pathogenesis. To determine the role of the spleen in IgG-Fc glycosylation, we performed IgG subclass-specific liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analysis of Fc glycosylation in a large cohort of individuals splenectomized due to trauma, due to ITP, or spherocytosis. IgG-Fc fucosylation was consistently increased after splenectomy, while no effects for IgG-Fc galactosylation and sialylation were observed. An increase in IgG1- and IgG2/3-Fc fucosylation level upon splenectomy has been reported here for the first time, suggesting that immune responses occurring in the spleen may be particularly prone to generate afucosylated IgG responses. Surprisingly, the level of total IgG-Fc fucosylation was decreased in ITP patients compared to healthy controls. Overall, our results suggest a yet unrecognized role of the spleen in either the induction or maintenance of afucosylated IgG responses by B cells.

Catalan universities and the entrepreneurial discovery process

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 360-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Marinelli ◽  
Susana Elena-Perez
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implications ◽  
Quadruple Helix ◽  
Entrepreneurial Discovery ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Private Research ◽  
Smart Specialization ◽  
Strategic Market ◽  
Different Characteristics

This article provides new insights into the role of public universities in regional development by looking at their involvement in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3), a key element of the current European Cohesion Policy. In the latter, stakeholders from the triple or Quadruple Helix (public, private, research and nongovernmental sectors) jointly identify areas for research, development and innovation (RDI) investment. The analysis focuses on the region of Catalonia, which hosts a mix of higher education institutions (HEIs) with different characteristics and different relationships with local innovation stakeholders. The authors examine in-depth one of the main RIS3 funding instruments recently implemented in the region: the Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy for Catalonia Communities. The Communities support the implementation of action plans for industrial research and development, jointly defined by research and private-sector stakeholders in RIS3 strategic areas. The instrument embeds the characteristics of a continuous EDP and enables exploration of the challenges and opportunities that emerge when researchers engage in strategic market-oriented RDI activities. The article highlights how HEIs are evolving and adapting to the new policy environment and concludes with policy implications.

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