Books
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Smart Cities: Lock-in, Path-dependence and Non-linearity of Digitalization and SmartificationThis book seeks to identify and to examine factors and mechanisms underlying the growth and development of smart cities. It is commonplace to discuss smart cities through the lens of advances in ICT. The resulting overemphasis on what is technologically possible downplays what is politically, socially and economically feasible. This book, by analysing the smart city through a variety of perspectives, offers a more comprehensive insight into and understanding of the complex and the open-ended nature of the growth and development of a smart city. A solid conceptual framework is developed and employed throughout the chapters, and a selection of case studies from Europe, Asia, and the Arab Peninsula grants the readers a hands-on perspective of the matters discussed. The chapters included in this book address a set of questions, including: How do the twin-processes of digitalization and smartification unfold in the context of the smart city agenda? How do these processes relate to the concepts of smart city 1.0, 2.0., 3.0. and 4.0? In which ways have the spatial aspects of city functioning been influenced by the intrusion of ICT? In which ways do the same processes contribute to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What are the implications of smartification and the emergence of smart organizations (public, private, and voluntary) for the spatial development of smart cities? Do ICT and its application in the city space boost the processes of revitalization and how does ICT influence the process of gentrification? To what extent and how does the intrusion of ICT-enhanced tools and applications in the city space impact on a city’s relationship with its broader territorially defined context? Are the administrative borders and divisions inherent in the fabric of a city becoming less/more porous? How should urban sprawl be conceived in the context of the smart city debate?
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Supporting the Implementation of the SDGs Through a Blockchain-Based Platform: The Case of ItalyOne of the very successful collective efforts aimed at improving the lives of billions of people are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their predecessors, i.e., the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The assessment of the implementation of the SDGs in Italy in 2019 demonstrates that, overall, Italian cities have achieved 53% of the targets. Nevertheless, a performance output gap exists between Italy’s North and South. Considering the—proven by research and practice—value of blockchain, the objective of this paper is to explore how blockchain may improve the implementation of the SDGs in Italy. To this end, a qualitative analysis supported by systematic literature review and thematic analysis have been adopted. Against this backdrop, a comprehensive and structured model outlining the key imperatives (governance, sustainability, and data sciences) pertaining to the SDGs has been built to offer a meta-framework for the performance output analysis. This model, integrating blockchain Ethereum, and Inter Planetary File System (IPFS), offers insights on the scope and scale of the SDGs implementation by local and regional stakeholders. In this way, it may serve as a tool for policymakers, at the regional and national levels, to support strategy and decision-making process geared toward the implementation of the SDGs in Italy.
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Characterization of the Citizen Profile in the Context of the Smart SocietyThe Smart Society is a model of social organization that, under a participatory approach, explores the opportunities generated by emerging technologies to establish a perspective of social progress that enables citizens to contribute in two main areas: (1) the possibility of participating in the process of development and implementation of public policies and services; (2) citizens are established as the main force to address the phenomena that affect society. The aim is to transfer the potential shown by citizens to influence the social sphere, and thereby improve the mechanisms to address the challenges that limit the process of social development. Promoting this perspective of thinking requires the transformation of traditional foundations, not only on the side of governments and political leaders, business, and other stakeholders, but also on the side of citizens themselves. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the new profile that the citizen must adopt in the context of the Smart Society.
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Research and Innovation Forum 2023. Navigating Shocks and Crises in Uncertain Times—Technology, Business, SocietyFeatures research presented and discussed during the Research & Innovation Forum Offers a unique insight into emerging topics, issues, and developments pertinent to the fields of technology Gives an essential venue where diverse stakeholders can engage in a meaningful dialogue
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Placing China’s Green Technology Innovation in a ContextConsidering that green technology innovation is trending worldwide, whereby China’s stance towards issues environmental is frequently contested, this paper offers an insight into the scale and scope of green technology innovation in China today. By conducting a quantitative analysis of data on key green-technology investment statistics collected from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and China’s National Statistical Bureau, the findings of this paper suggest that China’s green technology innovation activities have increased dramatically in terms of (i) green patent applications and grants, (ii) propensity to engage in international collaboration, (iii) diffusion of environment-related technologies, and (iv) increasing government spending on research and development (R&D), especially in terms of personnel/talent development. This notwithstanding, the data demonstrates that a gap exists between China and other countries in per capita comparisons of performance and progress attained. This suggests that a great potential exists for China to improve, whereby the prospect of improving China’s performance is a function of increased investment and strengthened international collaboration.
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Managing Smart Cities: Sustainability and Resilience Through Effective ManagementThis book adopts the managerial perspective to the study of smart cities. As such, this book is a necessary addition to the existing body of literature on smart cities. The chapters included in this book prove the case that transformation of cities to smart cities is a function of effective and efficient management practices implemented at diverse levels of smart cities. While advances in information and communication technology (ICT) are crucial, it is the ability to apply ICT consciously and efficiently that drives the transformation of cities to smart cities in a manner conducive to cities’ sustainability and resilience. The book covers three sets of interconnected topics: Management and decision-making for urban design and infrastructure development Management and decision-making in context of smart cities development Ways of promoting and ensuring participation, representation and co-creation in smart cities These three groups of topics offer a great opportunity to acquire a clear, direct, and practice-driven knowledge and understanding of how effective management allows ICT-enhanced tools and applications to change smart cities, possibly making them smarter.
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Explaining China's Pivots and Priorities Through the Aerospace Industry Development StrategyGiven the question of China's role in international politics today, including the notions of China's pivots and priorities, it is mandatory to identify and explore the mechanisms that recast China's role in the world today. A great number of domestic and external factors weigh in on the analysis. Recognizing the relevance of these, this paper focuses explicitly on the aerospace industry and its development strategy. Accordingly, it is argued that—while a seemingly domestic set of developments—the emerging regulatory framework pertaining to China’s aerospace industry, along with the institutional interdependencies that it triggers, serve as an important component of a broader long-term strategy and related pivots and priorities that China pursues. To support this point, following the introduction, and the methodology section, the domestic and external factors influencing the evolution of China's role in the world are conceptualized and mapped. Against this backdrop, the case of the aerospace industry is examined in section four. Discussion and conclusions follow.
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Rethinking innovation through industry and society 5.0 paradigms: a multileveled approach for management and policy-makingIndustry 4.0 defines the application of digital technologies on business infrastructure and processes. With the increasing need to take into account the social and environmental impact of technologies, the concept of Society 5.0 has been proposed to restore the centrality of humans in the proper utilization of technology for the exploitation of innovation opportunities. Despite the identification of humans, resilience and sustainability as the key dimensions of Society 5.0, the definition of the key factors that can enable Innovation in the light of 5.0 principles has not been yet assessed. The findings allow the elaboration of a multileveled framework to redefine Innovation through the 5.0 paradigm by advancing the need to integrate ICT and technology (Industry 5.0) with the human-centric, social and knowledge-based dimensions (Society 5.0).