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With the emergence of knowledge-based economies, the performance evaluation of state budget in the field of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) through a comprehensive approach has become essential. However, the existence of a wide range of influential dimensions, including different types of scientific fields, stakeholders, organisations receiving the budget, and more importantly, the necessity of attention to the whole innovation process, has made the STI evaluation process difficult. This paper aims at breaking down the mentioned dimensions and integrating them in a comprehensive evaluation dashboard in order to evaluate STI process. Therefore, the proposed evaluation dashboard considers efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, utility, sustainability, and different stakeholders' opinions, applies required indicators for five main scientific fields, and pays attention to the differences between the different types of state organisations. To this end, design science was used as the research methodology. Through interview and questionnaire, viable indicators were extracted and refined from indicators pool. Finally, STI evaluation dashboard including five radar charts of each scientific field for three types of state organisations was provided. Based on this, efficiency, effectiveness, and utility coefficients of each organisation for the state STI budget spent in each scientific field which includes a set of indicators were calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for analysing the role of Industry 4.0 in mitigating the intertemporal tensions of balancing the short-term and long-term sustainability objectives rife in sustainable manufacturing. It is argued here that Industry 4.0 has the unique potential to unlock juxtaposition of the short and long-term dimensions of sustainable manufacturing without restricting manufacturing organisations growth potential. In this context, successful mitigation of intertemporal tensions relies on understanding the role played by five different mechanisms that manufacturing organisations need to well practice and manage when adopting Industry 4.0-associated technologies. Since this is the first study of its kind, this paper presents a novel conceptual model enhancing the application of mechanisms that may mitigate intertemporal tensions in manufacturing organisations using Industry 4.0. The model also suggests five different research propositions that call for future research agenda to further investigate this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability transitions require that sustainable innovations develop and scale-up. Two promising approaches contribute to this purpose. Design thinking (DT) focuses on the creative development of sustainable innovations to achieve desirable, feasible and viable products. Strategic niche management (SNM) addresses how sustainable innovations should be deployed to the market. At first sight, these concepts seem to pursue a complementary mission, yet, academic literature has not explicitly addressed their complementary nature. Therefore, this paper addresses this gap by reviewing, proposing and empirically exploring the merits of SNM and how these can be used in DT through a workshop to increase successful market implementation of sustainable innovations. The study finds that SNM potentially helps the DT design process to (1) change market preconditions for the design, (2) create a protected niche for development, (3) establish a (long term) commercial viability, and (4) create an innovation development plan through definition of a set of testable propositions. The paper concludes that the inclusion of SNM into DT substantially increases the preparedness of an innovation team for a successful market implementation of sustainable innovations and coins the term 'Design to Market Thinking' for the integrated use of SNM in DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnobotany genomics is gaining popularity, and there is a renewed interest in traditional medicine around the world. Ethnobotany genomics is proving useful not only for the conservation of biodiversity and agricultural productivity but also for drug discovery. In terms of traditional medicine and biodiversity, India is one of the world's richest countries. However, as industrialisation, population pressures, migrations, and urbanisation have increased, socio-environmental changes have become more dynamic and complex. This has raised concerns about sustainable production and consumption, as well as governance. As a result, the current paper is an attempt to map the emerging innovation system in Indian ethnobotany genomics. The paper examines the actors', agencies', and institutions' responses to the emerging innovation system's requirements. Finally, this paper provides new insights into the opportunities and challenges of developing Indian ethnobotany genomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of blockchain technology is gaining trends, leading to the need for investigations into the reasons that persuade the intention to adopt it by companies. However, empirical studies in the tourism industry are still scarce. This investigation aims to design a new adoption model that combines Human-Organisation-Technology-Fit (HOT-fit), Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) and sustainability dimensions. The model is validated using new empirical evidence in a relatively understudied geographic context, with a sample of 210 Portuguese tourism companies. The information was examined utilising Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The outcomes indicate that reasons such as sustainability and competition intensity significantly impact the objective to adopt blockchain. The work provides practical implications for businesses, governments and society. Additionally, this paper offers a pioneering study of blockchain adoption by tourism companies in Portugal, which may help future researchers extend their study of this field to other sectors and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing attention in theories and practices to achieve sustainable business models (SBMs). However, achieving SBMs for incumbents is an arduous and challenging process. Based on the literature on SBMs and managerial cognition, we explore how managers use their cognitive processes to adapt business models to environmental changes. Based on the study of a Chinese incumbent, this paper reveals the evolution process of incumbents' SBMs in the manufacturing sector and indicates managers' effective cognitive processes under different environmental conditions. This study attempts to open the black box of the link between cognitive processes and SBMs, reveal the role of cognitive heuristics, and provide practice guidance for incumbent firms to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disruptive innovations are perceived necessary for accelerating sustainability transitions. However, it is not always clear what exactly is meant by it, what is to be disrupted, and by whom. Socio-technical transition research on pays too much attention at the technological niche-innovations in the production, and overlooks business model innovation and user practices in the consumption, whilst management literature on disruptive innovation falls short in the scale and scope of disruption in terms of systemic outcome. Thus, the first aim of the paper is to synthesise the extant literature and put forward a general practice-based view on disruptive sustainable innovation. The second aim of the paper is to use empirical data to elaborate the theoretical framework in the Finnish food system context. Four firm-level cases provide empirical scrutiny to each type of disruptive sustainable innovation in the food system and shed light on the interlinked practices of producer-entrepreneurs and citizen-consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper draws from two case studies of tech hubs in Nigeria and Kenya to investigate the importance of business models to the hubs' viability and sustainability as economic and social agents. Adopting the triple-layered business model of economic, social and environmental value creation, the study finds that the advanced, and growing, technological capabilities of the hubs are not matched with enough attention on innovative business models that can enable them to better capture value, expand the domestic markets, and compete at the international stage. We argue that a triple-layered orientation can be a win-win, integrated and mutually reinforcing model in which the hubs' social and environmental impact can enable them to better capture economic value through the development and deployment of advanced technological capabilities and innovative business models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy sector needs to transform towards sustainability. The multi-level perspective on sociotechnical transitions is embracing an enactment perspective, which focuses on the agency of various actors in shifting transitions pathways but has yet to study local urban experiments from such an enactment perspective. Our empirical research examines an innovation intermediary’s work in destabilising the regime rules in relation to the local energy incumbent company in Helsinki, Finland. Our paper seeks answers to the questions: How does the collaboration of the intermediary and the local energy company unfold? What are the impacts of the intermediary work on the local energy company in terms of enactment of transition pathways and what are the mechanisms causing the impact? Our research shows that the intermediary contributes to the transition by disturbing existing rules, structures, practices and networks by convening innovation champions from different constituencies, renegotiating regime rules and disrupting existing R&D alliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of socio-technical innovation. Here we test the applicability of co-evolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (strategic niche management, SNM) to the context of ‘grassroots innovations’ (GIs). We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as Local Exchange Trading Schemes, time banks, and local currencies). These are parallel systems of exchange, designed to operate alongside mainstream money, meeting additional sustainability needs. Our findings confirm SNM predictions that niche-level activity correlates with diffusion success, but we highlight additional or confounding factors, and how niche theories might be adapted to better fit civil society innovations. In so doing, we develop a model of GI niche diffusion which extends existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically informed recommendations for practitioners and policy-makers to support the development and potential of GIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite almost two decades of research, authors have disagreed about the concept of smart cities. In this article, we provide a systematic review and a meta-synthesis analysis of smart cities. We find a convergence in the literature on the following primary characteristics of smart cities: (a) advanced ICT Technology, (b) sustainability, (c) innovative and high-skilled society, (d) high-tech governance and citizen participation, and (e) knowledge-based economy. Based on these findings, we suggest a new notion: A smart city engenders an innovative and qualified society, oriented towards the development of the knowledge economy, which makes advanced ICT technologies aimed at promoting sustainability and participatory urban governance. Our study robustly offers an understanding of smart cities and presents a creative perception encompassing these five principal characteristics worthy of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study presents a combination of insights from corporate sustainability practices, supply chain management, and innovation literature, and a case study to discover new understandings on factors influencing firms to incorporate sustainable innovation initiatives into their supply chain practices. There is an apparent lack of literature in this field due to its modernity and evolving nature. Also, there is a lack of insights into how firms could translate sustainable innovation initiatives into practice. This study addresses this gap by examining a successful glass recycling company through the lenses of sustainable innovation context and the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guideline framework. Primary data are collected through observations and in-depth interview before it is coded and analysed using nVivo. The findings show that sustainable innovation practices are mainly directed at improving the technological processes, resource sharing, and reduction of production cost among supply chain partners. A conceptual sustainable innovation framework is also proposed. This study contributes to sustainable innovation literature by providing insights into the evaluation of a firm's innovative sustainability efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to large-scale renewable energy systems, distributed systems have diffused relatively slowly in recent years, particularly in developing countries. In this study, we analysed the barriers to the diffusion of distributed photovoltaics in South Africa by applying the technological innovation system framework. More specifically, we carried out an interview-based structural-functional analysis to identify underlying systemic problems, reveal their patterns of interaction, and analyse the implications of these patterns for the relationship among the key processes within the innovation system, the so-called system functions. We identified a variety of interlinked problems, shed light on the specific roles of different, mal-performing, system functions, and revealed constellations where specific functions blocked each other and, thereby, created lock-in situations. Although the findings reveal the complexity of the problems that are associated with the implementation of distributed energy technologies, they also indicate that these problems may be addressed successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased environmental and social responsibility awareness, while producing unique opportunities for sustainability-oriented innovations, has generated important challenges for companies. The path to sustainability requires corporate strategies that guarantee profitability, managing simultaneously environmental and social responsibilities. An attempt is made to provide an understanding of sustainable development thinking in business, discussing how the combination of the transition management, adaptive planning and sociotechnical approaches can contribute towards an effective implementation of sustainability-oriented innovations in business context. The article proposes a conceptual model, which incorporates this contribution, developed through a four-year action-research project carried out within a large Brazilian energy company – Petrobras. The authors argue that the adoption of the proposed model by other large firms operating in different societal sectors might trigger organisational changes related to current corporate practices of technological innovation management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite repeated calls for novel forms of innovation and governance, including responsible innovation, anticipatory governance, and sustainability-oriented governance, nanotechnology continues to be mainly innovated following conventional schemes – with persistent shortcomings and negative impacts. Shifting these schemes towards sustainable and responsible innovation and fully utilising the benefits of sustainable nanotechnologies will necessitate difficult changes across all stages of and actors in the innovation process. We outline an agenda for intervention research in support of such changes. The article synthesises insights from four years of research on nanotechnology innovation, anticipatory governance, and sustainability in urban environments, with a focus on Phoenix, Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many national energy policies envisage residual and renewable heat sources with district heating (DH) as a component of sustainable energy systems. There is however limited empirical evidence about facilitation of development in the context of liberalised markets and diminished local government control over direct service provision. Recent attempts to stimulate DH have had variable outcomes in different countries. Using five case studies, we ask why heat network development in the UK takes a relatively piecemeal and fragmented form in comparison with the Netherlands and Norway, countries whose heating sectors are comparable with the UK and where DH provision is limited. We argue that energy market liberalisation has been enacted differentially, resulting in different political and economic governance structures: in comparison with the UK liberal market economy, the more coordinated market economies of the Netherlands and Norway retain greater capacity for collaboration between energy utilities, localities and states, resulting in stronger foundations for district energy. Implications for UK governance are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]