Waterbird solves the string-pull test

String-pulling is among the most widespread cognitive tasks used to test problem-solving skills in mammals and birds. The task requires animals to comprehend that pulling on a non-valuable string moves an otherwise inaccessible food reward to within their reach. Although at least 90 avian species have been administered the string-pull test, all but five of them were perching birds (passeriformes) or parrots (psittaciformes). Waterbirds (Aequorlitornithes) are poorly represented in the cognitive literature, yet are known to engage in complex foraging behaviours. In this study, we tested whether free-living ring-billed gulls ( Larus delawarensis ), a species known for their behavioural flexibility and foraging innovativeness, could solve a horizontal string-pull test. Here, we show that 25% (26/104) of the ring-billed gulls that attempted to solve the test at least once over a maximum of three trials were successful, and that 21% of them (22/104) succeeded during their first attempt. Ring-billed gulls are thus the first waterbird known to solve a horizontal single-string-rewarded string-pull test. Since innovation rate and problem-solving are associated with species' ability to endure environmental alterations, we suggest that testing the problem-solving skills of other species facing environmental challenges will inform us of their vulnerability in a rapidly changing world.

Innovation rate as a quality indicator of economic development: case of the former Yugoslavian countries

When it comes to economic growth of modern day developed countries, it can be concluded that certain factors can be distinguished as definitive quality indicators of economic growth. Meaning that the rise of said factors will in most cases ensure sustainable economic growth. Considering the rise of capitalism and the growth of multinational companies, one challenge most modern day countries face is strengthening of a countries export rates and inspiring continuous entrepreneurial activity. One key indicator that has thus far been often overlooked is the innovation rate. The aim of this paper is to conclude whether or not the innovation rate can be used as a quality indicator of economic development. The focus in this paper has been put on the former Yugoslavian countries. The reason for this being that all of their economies started developing at the same time and under a very similar socio-political background and origin. This makes them a good subject for observation, seeing as how they all developed to different capacities and at various rates. Observing these countries and various influential factors can help discern the factors which impact the GDP rate the most. In particular, the innovation rate. Sažetak: Kad je riječ o ekonomskom rastu današnjih razvijenih zemalja, može se zaključiti da se određeni čimbenici mogu razlikovati kao konačni pokazatelji kvalitete gospodarskog rasta. Što znači da će porast navedenih čimbenika u većini slučajeva osigurati održivi gospodarski rast. Uzimajući u obzir rast kapitalizma i rast multinacionalnih tvrtki, jedan od izazova s kojima se suočava većina modernih zemalja je jačanje izvoza i poticanje kontinuirane poduzetničke aktivnosti. Jedan od ključnih pokazatelja koji se do sada često zanemarivao je stopa inovacija. Cilj je ovog rada istražiti može li se stopa inovacija koristiti kao pokazatelj kvalitete gospodarskog razvoja. Fokus u ovom radu je stavljen na zemlje nastale na prostoru bivše Jugoslavije. Razlog tome je taj što su se njihova gospodarstva počela razvijati u isto vrijeme i pod vrlo sličnom društveno-političkim okolnostima. To ih čini podobnim za istraživanje i zaključivanje o tome kako su se razvijali do različitih razina i različitom dinamikom. Istraživanje ovih zemalja i različitih čimbenika utjecaja može pomoći u prepoznavanju čimbenika koji najviše utječu na stopu BDP-a. Konkretno, stopa inovacija.

Is foreign technology acquisition to complement or substitute for internal technology development? A case of manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether foreign technology acquisition is complementary to internal technology development in the context of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach The selection model developed by Heckman (1979) was applied with the balanced panel data of manufacturing enterprises from the Annual Enterprise and Technology Surveys from 2012 to 2016 conducted by the Vietnamese General Statistics Organization. Findings The results indicate that foreign technology acquisition and internal technology development are complementary innovation options. Particularly, the number of patents granted for manufacturing enterprises positively affects the probability that enterprises acquire foreign technologies. This effect is stronger in cases of high-tech industries than in cases of low-tech industries. Research limitations/implications Regarding the relationship between internal technology development and foreign technology acquisition, the findings suggest that adoption of foreign technology acquisition and priority in budget allocation for foreign technology acquisition are different in nature and that budget allocation is a more complex issue and may depend on other factors. Practical implications For developing countries, governments should adopt policies supporting domestic enterprises in acquiring technologies from advanced countries that could complement the locally developed technologies. These supports should focus on the high-tech or high-innovation rate industries. Originality/value In the context of a developing economy, the complementary effect of internal technology development and foreign technology acquisition is stronger in cases of the high-tech industries than in cases of the low-tech industries.

Intelligent Agents in Co-Evolving Knowledge Networks

We extend the agent-based models for knowledge diffusion in networks, restricted to random mindless interactions and to “frozen” (static) networks, in order to take into account intelligent agents and network co-evolution. Intelligent agents make decisions under bounded rationality. This is the key distinction of intelligent interacting agents compared to mindless colliding molecules, involved in the usual diffusion mechanism resulting from accidental collisions. The co-evolution of link weights and knowledge levels is modeled at the local microscopic level of “agent-to-agent” interaction. Our network co-evolution model is actually a “learning mechanism”, where weight updates depend on the previous values of both weights and knowledge levels. The goal of our work is to explore the impact of (a) the intelligence of the agents, modeled by the selection-decision rule for knowledge acquisition, (b) the innovation rate of the agents, (c) the number of “top innovators” and (d) the network size. We find that rational intelligent agents transform the network into a “centralized world”, reducing the entropy of their selections-decisions for knowledge acquisition. In addition, we find that the average knowledge, as well as the “knowledge inequality”, grow exponentially.

Human resources optimization with MARS and ANN: Innovation geolocation model for generation Z

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>Human resources (HR) have a key impact on the creation and implementation of modern products, solutions and concepts. Relatively new and rarely undertaken research challenge in enterprise is optimization of HR in the context of their location and requirements for working conditions. A great challenge here is the transparency and reliability of the collected data. In the article, we present a modern approach to knowledge extraction based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines optimizing the availability of HR with a high innovation rate, taking into account their availability time and location. This study was conducted on a group of 5095 young people from the Z generation. A total of 11 variables were analyzed in the context of innovation and presented in this article. The effect of research using machine learning methods is the analysis of the characteristics of generation Z representatives, whose desire is to work in innovative companies. Research results indicate that some regions offer candidates with a higher level and commitment to innovation, and thus make HR more available for the development of innovative products. Chosen models designed by using AI and Operational Research Analytics were presented in the graphic visualization, which is a novelty in the presentation of similar issues in relation to HR.</p>

La interacción entre los derechos de propiedad intelectual y los procesos de innovación abierta aplicados en el mejoramiento vegetal moderno

The knowledge requirements and the need to generate new inventions in both products and processes of modern plant breeding are highly demanding and on the frontiers of science. There is no self-sufficient technological capacity in the public or private sector capable of completely dominating such undertakings. In this general framework, the processes of open innovation, both public/private, public/public and private/private, are key to success.Despite the opportunities generated by open innovation processes applied to modern plant bre-eding, an increase in the innovation rate is not detected, as measured by the average increase in crop productivity. One possible explanation for this fact is that the genetic basis on which mo-dern plant breeding is being supported has been significantly narrowed by a lack of utilization or underutilization of genetic resources.Intellectual property rights are part of the variables of this complex equation and their applica-tion leads to three hypotheses that were tested against four real cases of open innovation applied in modern plant breeding in Argentina.In no case it was observed that the suppression of intellectual property rights has been considered a tool to promote innovation (hypothesis #1). On the contrary, what was observed is that the innovation was oriented towards those products or processes capable of being managed in an innovative way by some current intellectual property system, although protection is limited by the speed of technological advance. An alternative solution (hypothesis #3), is that the legal fra-mework to promote development should be reformulated in an integral way to adapt it to the de-velopments of modern plant breeding under open innovation processes. The decision for one or the other alternative is critical since the innovation rate resulting from the crops will depend on it.

Atividade Econômica e Inovação na Indústria Brasileira: uma análise com dados em painel (2010-2016)

The aim of the present work is to analyze the relationship between the level of economic activity and technological innovation in Brazilian industry from 2010 to 2016. The central hypothesis of the paper is that the greater the economic activity, the higher the positive impact on the innovation rate, through channels such as the increase in investments in fixed capital and the improvement in the financing conditions for innovation activities. The analysis is based on a database of the first six years of the survey called Innovation Survey in which it was possible to obtain a panel segmented by four blocks of industrial sectors. These data were analyzed by means of panel data regression model that reveals the temporal evolution of the relation between the level of industrial activity and the rate of innovation of firms. The main result suggests that the overcoming of the current crisis and the consequent recovery of economic activity are important elements for the increase of innovation rates in the Brazilian industry.