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International audience; This paper aims to identify drivers and barriers to the achievement of EU water policy objectives in the agricultural sector by adopting an institutional perspective on water quality management at the landscape level. We apply a conceptual framework combining Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) and Institutional Design Principles (IDP) perspectives to analyze cooperation initiatives involving water suppliers and agricultural stakeholders to protect drinking water catchments from agricultural diffuse pollution. Three cases representing different forms of cooperation in rural landscapes in France were investigated on the basis of primary data collected at the local, water-basin and national levels. The results show that the success of multi-stakeholder collective action depends on both local factors such as characteristics of the water resource and stakeholders (knowledge, resources, trust and social capital) and on factors linked to the EU and national water and agricultural policy frameworks. In addition to the identification of drivers of and constraints on the implementation of EU water policy in agricultural landscapes, the analysis highlights the conceptual added value in combining the IDP and ILM approaches to understand policy implementation processes at the landscape level.

Earth has been used worldwide as a building material for centuries and it is still one of the most used construction materials. In many countries the excavated soil is becoming one of the largest construction waste and its disposal is costly and problematic. For this reason, there is a rising interest in employing the excavated soil directly in field, possibly as an added value construction material. In this paper a new type of rammed earth is presented. This new material is based on the shotcrete technology and has been named shot-earth. A mix of stabilized soil, aggregates and water is consolidated by high speed projection rather than by mechanical compaction to obtain both structural and non-structural elements. The first characterization of the physical properties of this material has shown the great potential of this technology.

Under the green building policy, the recycling of construction waste has become an important issue. However, many obstructions in the industrial chain of construction waste recycling, slow integration of production elements in the chain, and inefficient resource allocation hinder the development of the construction waste recycling industry. In this study, a co-evolution model of the industrial chain of construction waste recycling is constructed based on the Lotka–Volterra model, and the Jacobian matrix is used for stability analysis. Finally, a numerical simulation is performed. The simulation results indicate that: (1) There is a high product correlation between upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain of construction waste recycling; (2) The conversion coefficient of supply and demand of upstream and downstream enterprises has a higher impact on and is more sensitive to the evolution of this industrial chain; (3) The co-evolution of upstream and downstream enterprises promotes the added value of products and maximizes the overall benefits of the industrial chain, which provides reference value and theoretical basis for the development of the industrial chain of construction waste recycling.

PurposeSome studies and reports have recently suggested using blockchain technology to improve transparency and trust in humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). However, evidence-based studies to display the utility and applicability of blockchains in HSCs are missing in the literature. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of blockchain application to HSCs and explore whether evidence could support that the application of blockchain improves transparency and trust in HSCs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper puts forward a two-stage approach to explore the blockchain application in HSCs: an initial exploration of humanitarian practitioners and academicians interested in blockchain through focus group discussions; semi-structured interviews with practitioners involved at the UK Department for International Development's Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project.FindingsFirst, we found that main drivers include accountability, visibility, traceability, trust, collaboration, time efficiency, reducing administrative work and cross-sector partnership. Main barriers, however, are composed of engagement issues, lack of technical skills and training, lack of resources, privacy concerns, regulatory problems, pilot scalability issues and governance challenges. Second, evidence from our case study revealed the blockchain application could have added value to improve visibility and traceability, thus contributing to improve transparency. Concerning trust, evidence supports that blockchain could enhance both commitment and swift trust in the pilot study.Practical implicationsOur study contributes to a more understanding of added values and challenges of blockchain application to HSCs and creates a perspective for humanitarian decision-makers.Originality/valueThis study provides the first evidence from the actual application of blockchain technology in HSCs. The study discovered that it is still less evident in many humanitarian organizations, including medium- and small-sized nongovernmental organizations, that they engage in a direct deployment of in-house or customized blockchain-based HSC. Instead, these actors are more likely to indirectly use blockchain in HSCs through a private commercial partner.

Innovation in production use of insects allows us to speak about entomo-industry, which could cause in the future a drop in the relative cost of food. On the basis of biotechnology by using the fly Hermetia illucens the article draws theoretical and applied economic conclusions. Larvae of this fly by eating organic wastes during a few days can grow in hundred times and become a feed for animals, a basis for medicine or even a nutritious supplement, while their waste can become a fertilizer (zoo-humus). From means of labour they turn into the subject of labour with selfreproduction and solution to ecological problem, which can create the added value. In traditional livestock breeding fast transformation does not take place and animal acts mainly as the subject or means of labour. Commercialization of the technology can be achieved through development of module equipment for each of 9 processes and this can make it possible to purchase it stage by stage, depending on the need and resources. Due to this fact competitive advantage for technological entrepreneurship can be provided that can take one of the following three types: in the narrow sense (developing and selling equipment), in the broad sense (manufacturing the product with own equipment) and mixed one (manufacturing and selling of the equipment and finished product, joint work of the developer and user of the equipment). The author designed a synthetic graphic business-model of entomo-technological entrepreneurship. Logical schemes of waste treatment were put forward: centralized and decentralized. It was found out that for agricultural waste the decentralized scheme is more appropriate, as it implies treatment at the place of shaping and economizing on transportation. In Russia the process of commercialization of biotechnologies with the use of Hermetia illucens started in 2015, which is proven by patent activity. However, the market develops rather slowly.

Purpose This paper aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices adopted among University of Sharjah (UOS) students toward sustainability efforts done by their university. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was emailed to students with the assistance of the UOS Sustainability Office. The survey consisted of four sections assessing knowledge, attitudes, practices and preferred media to obtain sustainability information. A total of 200 responses from male and female students, representing 4 levels of study in sciences and humanities colleges, were received. Research data is analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (version 26). For assessing knowledge, eight items were developed to measure if the student knew about the university’s projects and activities in the field of sustainability. For assessing attitudes, six items were developed to indicate the level of agreement or disagreement toward main sustainability issues. For assessing practices, ten items were developed to measure the frequency of acting in a sustainable manner. Findings Survey results showed an advanced level of basic knowledge among university students regarding the programs and activities conducted by UOS, and a positive attitude toward these efforts and toward the importance of supporting sustainable practices. Most of the participating students disagreed with limiting the use of cars on campus – this may be because of a cultural aspect among young people in the Emirati society, who consider driving cars as an essential part of their daily life. Most students also indicated that they care about the behavior that supports sustainability in the university environment, such as rationalizing water consumption and using environment friendly products. Research limitations/implications The study’s limitations are that it was applied to one university – UOS. The sample of the online survey was only 200 students from undergraduate students. Different universities may have their own sets of different environmental approaches, and because of this reason, university students may exhibit different levels of knowledge, attitude and practice toward sustainability in contrast to the findings from this study. Practical implications Findings from this research can give decision-makers a good picture of the university’s performance in accomplishing sustainability. The authors recommend that UOS sustainability communication programs should be more comprehensive, and not only limited to protecting the environment that some students perceive as the primary aspect of sustainability. These efforts must address all economic and social aspects emphasized by the United Arab Emirates 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is considered one of the first studies addressing sustainability efforts in Emirati universities and seeking to assess the level of student knowledge, attitudes and practices toward sustainability issues in the country. The study is crucial in providing better insights such as the level of knowledge, attitude and practices toward UOS sustainability performance. As found in this study, even with sufficient knowledge, students still lack the drive to convert them into actions. So, future research could investigate deeper into the barriers of converting sustainable knowledge and attitudes into practices. The results represent an added value to the research literature concerned with sustainability issues in the Arab world and the Middle East region. This paper will also contribute to the sustainability literature that will be benefited by other various organizations.

This paper proposes an exploratory framework for assessing the economic impacts of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) based on the example of the GEOSUD SDI and clear-cutting maps related to forest management. The valuation is based on an online survey covering the Ministry of Agriculture services in charge of controlling clear-cutting operations carried out by forest operators. The approach developed crosses two complementary points of view. On the one hand, it is based on an economic logic to estimate certain effects at the scale of the value chain related to the production and the use of satellite imagery and derived thematic products and services. The main effects measured concerned the cost and productivity savings, the added value created at the scale of the value chain linked to these clear-cut maps. In total, it appears that for one euro invested in the operation of the SDI (excluding initial investment), the added value created directly and indirectly amounts to a maximum of €63 and the transaction costs avoided to €24. On the other hand, it is also part of a management logic to understand the effects of IDGS linked to innovation processes at the level of a community of practice. SDI enable coordination and pooling gains to be made in order to co-construct knowledge leading to new products and/or processes. The study showed that nearly two-thirds of the structures surveyed observed qualitative effects in terms of networking and a strengthening of skills linked to the training and support services offered by the GEOSUD platform. Qualitative effects on the properties of forest policies and more generally on territorial development dynamics are also considered.

Based on the theory of trade added value, this paper discusses the potential actual trade scale and benefit damage degree of the two countries under the background of big country game by measuring the real trade scale of China and the USA, simulating the economic impact of tariffs imposed by China and the USA and utilizing Wang–Wei–Zhu (WWZ) method to decompose the potential changes in Sino-US trade. The results show that: firstly, the size of China-US trade in terms of total value is significantly overestimated and China's overall trade with the USA in 2001–2014 was overestimated by an average of 3.06 percent, of which goods trade was overestimated by 8.06 percent. Secondly, although tariff increases can reduce the degree of trade imbalance between China and the USA to some extent, the adverse effects are mutual and global, and the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and Canada become the main transfer countries of Sino-US trade. Thirdly, the pattern of China's final exports and the US' intermediate exports determines that China's trade interests are more damaged than those of the USA. It is proved that there is a big gap between China and the USA in the depth and breadth of China's participation in the value chain division of labor and the trade scale measured by Gross Domestic Product is more instructive than the total value.

The article examines the issues of intersectoral price relations in agri-food chains in Ukraine. It is proved that the imbalance of relations between different spheres of the agro-industrial complex due to price disparity causes the withdrawal of financial resources from one industry to another, without creating conditions for expanded reproduction. The factors influencing prices in agri-food chains are systematized: inflation, disparity, currency fluctuations, sales channels, etc. It is confirmed that the subjects of entrepreneurial activity of the agricultural sector of economy operated in conditions of price disparity during 2000–2019, which led to a relatively low value of their profitability. At the level of a participant in the chain of food industry entities, the price index for food industry products has been exceeded over the agricultural level, but there is a very low level of profitability – 1.4% in 2019. Analytically proved existence of a disparity between retail prices for food and agricultural products provides a profitability of wholesale and retail trade at 15.8–23.3%. Violation of the equivalence of exchange in supply chains at the level of wholesale and retail trade leads to the entry of agricultural enterprises into vertically integrated associations of the holding type. It is substantiated that ensuring the equivalence of exchange in agri-food chains requires the introduction of a set of value-added tools in the agricultural sector of antitrust regulation, market infrastructure development, rural cooperation and integration, and support for the development of small producers.

Infrastructure Projects (IP) are characterised by their extreme complexity in construction and management. Lack of effective risk analysis in construction of IP can cause failure in projects delivery. This paper aims to produce specific guidelines for the efficient application of quantitative risk analysis process. The literature guided contractors into efficient quantitative risk analysis (QRA) of IP to improve contractors QRA practices in the presence of uncertainty during the construction stage. The paper reviewed the literature of QRA process in construction of IP, and then performed a full quantitative risk analysis on a case study of IP in Egypt. The study includes sewage networks, water networks, irrigation networks, and district cooling networks of Cairo festival city project. The paper used an infrastructure schedule to apply the quantitative risk analysis. The schedule included activities for the construction of sewage networks, irrigation network, water network, and district cooling network. Based on the findings, Monte Carlo analysis technique has proved to be an efficient quantitative technique in supporting project managers in allocating deviations. Whereas, sensitivity analysis technique helped in ranking the most driving activities to failure in delivery of IP. The paper added value by providing knowledge and practical guidance for contractors in improving their QRA practice and decision making during the construction of IP.

The Internet of Things penetrates all areas of life and work, giving physical objects the characteristics of digital technologies. Also, in the energy sector, physical products such as photovoltaic systems, battery storage systems, and thermostats are equipped with smart and connectivity components and become smart energy products. Smart energy products enable new types of services that are smart energy services. For example, a smart thermostat can offer an intelligent preheating service based on data collected and analyzed. Against this background, smart energy services offer new business potentials for companies as well as added value for private households. To benefit from this development, companies need an understanding of the characteristics and capabilities of the products and the services building on them. Smart energy services, in particular, appear promising, as services are seen as a bridge to the customer. However, there is little research that supports the design of smart energy services. To close this gap, a morphological analysis of smart energy services along several dimensions is conducted. In highlighting the unique characteristics of smart energy services, the paper provides a more nuanced picture on the nature of smart energy services and their potential in terms of new consumer and business values. Additionally, the phenomenon of consumer-oriented smart energy services will be further conceptualized, and the morphological box can be considered a structured approach for the design of smart energy services.

This chapter reviews why people design institutions to solve shared problems and what makes institutions work, focusing on Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) research. It extracts practical insights and research strategies from IAD scholarship framework and provides a brief background of the IAD's foundational concepts and the framework's theoretical and empirical underpinnings. It details the development of a novel synthesis of strands of IAD research that help translate the opaque language of the IAD. The chapter examines the research within the extensive IAD framework that has emerged over several decades as part of a larger research programme, often associated with the work of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom and their colleagues. It refers to the IAD's lessons on self-governance, core concepts and features of the IAD framework, and how IAD studies have produced contextually specific insights on institutional design.

During the last decades, public authorities worldwide have invested heavily in electronic public services (PSs). This includes efforts for publishing information about PSs and for providing online PSs. Each of these efforts is based on an underlying PS Model, i.e., a data model developed for describing and/or developing PSs. Although many PS models exist, none has been universally accepted. This resulted in a fragmented landscape where resources are wasted, economies of scale cannot be achieved, and interoperability is hampered. Recently, the European Union (EU) launched the Core Public Service Vocabulary-Application Profile (CPSV-AP) as a reference PS model. However, CPSV-AP has not been thoroughly evaluated yet for comprehensiveness and compliance with EU policies. The aim of this work is to identify and analyze in a systematic way existing PS models and compare them with CPSV-AP. We conclude that CPSV-AP is comprehensive but can be further enriched with concepts from other PS models. We also provide evidence that the proposed enriched CPSV-AP better supports EU policies. Finally, we present a proof-of-concept pilot of the enriched model using linked data to demonstrate its technical feasibility and added value. Researchers, policy makers and practitioners could use the enriched model for conceptualizing and implementing electronic PSs.

The growing demand for high added-value products, such as vanilla-derived compounds, and increasing environmental regulations make evident the need to find new sustainable solvents for extraction p...

Improved value generation and efficient use of resources are important steps national economies can implement to minimize the use of resources and mitigate the creation of waste and toxic emissions. The increase of resource efficiency is eminent to tackle the imminent challenges of depleting resources and the emerging environmental crisis. In this study, we explore the value generation and efficiency of resource recovery in waste streams in the most important economic sectors in Iceland, namely, (i) fisheries, (ii) domestic waste processing, (iii) geothermal energy production, and (iv) aluminium production. By describing the processes, the opportunities, and the market potential of the value generation through enhanced resource efficiency in the four case studies, we identify possible solutions towards a more sustainable society. The results reveal that the increase in resource efficiency reduces the environmental impacts, increases the economic output, and enhances the resilience of the economy. We conclude that the presented concepts of added value generation could be the first step towards a circular economy, adhering to a more sustainable world while preserving vital resources for the next generations. While our results are based on the presented examples in Iceland, the described processes of resource recovery can be applied in any other country with similar resources.

The article presents results from analyzing the state of the art achieved in the coal gasification technologies developed around the world and the demand for them. It is shown that such technologies have presently arrived at a crossroad in their development. Their future will be determined by the development prospects of coal energy as a whole. Coal still continues to play the most important role in the world energy. In recent years, external factors have become extremely negative for the development of coal energy. Among other fuels, coal produces the largest specific emissions of CO2 during its combustion, in view of which it may become the first victim of the unfolding energy decarbonization policy. Under such conditions, there is a need to diversify the coal utilization fields, primarily through manufacturing a wide range of chemical products with a high added value. This generates the need to develop the appropriate technologies, and, first of all, gasification technologies, the use of which opens the possibility of making almost the entire range of products from coal that are obtained from petroleum and natural gas. It has been determined that gasification technologies have already reached a high level of technical maturity, and a large number of gasifier designs have been proposed. It has been determined that the majority of operating coal gasification plants are presently used for manufacturing various chemical products, first of all, natural gas substitute (which is then forwarded to gas networks) and also methanol and ammonia. It is pointed out that only a few integrated gasification combined cycle plants have been implemented and planned for construction, which means that the private sector shows little interest in this technology. At the same time, such plants have quite a high potential for being used in low-carbon energy, of course, provided that the problem of disposing the captured CO2 is solved. It is shown that a large number of gasifier equipment manufacturers are available around the world. However, gasifiers are produced in single units or in a small series, which unavoidably leads to the high cost of this equipment. For the further innovative development of the gasification technology, combined efforts should be taken by the private sector and the state.

Purpose All industry has been facing tremendous pressure since the beginning of 2020 owing to COVID-19 crisis, including real estate construction. The research is a case study investigating challenges and action plans faced by stakeholders (developers/consultants/contractors) in real estate construction in some major cities in Indonesia. This study aims to identify and prioritize on action plans related to real estate construction stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The study gathered challenges and action plans by distributing open questionnaire to expert to get insights in their own verbatim. Data reduction was then performed to get high-level challenges and high-level action plans. High-level action plans were then analyzed using proposed Eisenhower-simultaneous importance performance analysis (SIPA) matrix which help prioritize high-level action plans. Correlation matrix was also constructed to gain insight on relation between action plans to challenges and to three main LEAN elements (Muda, Mura and Muri). Alternative ranking method using “sum-product to 3M” approach was also performed to give complementary insights. Findings Ten action plans fall under category “Act now and become COVID-19 champion company.” One falls under category “prepare and invest now to gain competitive advantage,” one falls under category “external collaboration now to survive,” one falls under category “external collaboration for potential efficiency,” whereas the remaining six action plans fall under category “let-it-go” or “do-nothing.” Research limitations/implications The study gathered only 48 and 64 respondents in its first and second questionnaires. Despite small number, the respondents are experts in their own field, and their valuable insights and responses off-set the limited number of participants. The study gives insightful action plans that can be taken by stakeholders in real-estate construction in Indonesia’s major cities analyzed by proposed Eisenhower-SIPA matrix. Originality/value The novelty of the research lies in the insights from industry experts in dealing with current COVID-19 pandemic in real-estate construction in Indonesia. Added value is also given through the use of Eisenhower-SIPA matrix.

The ability to trace and analyze the processes over various stages of the production value chain has become vital to generate the added value. In this context a thorough integration of the business and manufacturing processes is an essential prerequisite to facilitate the data-driven decision making which is crucial for product personalization. Implementing process analytics techniques on the critical production process data delivered by Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) provides excessive opportunities to enhance the traceability and planning processes. To illuminate such an analytical approach, we examine in this article a use case from the individual manufacturing domain and discuss the details of the integration scenarios for MES data-driven analytics. The necessity of embedding the construction design data generated in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems to the proposed analytics process is particularly highlighted. The scientific and practical implications of the process analytics for different manufacturing analytics scenarios are discussed as well.

This article discusses the reconfiguration and improvement of electronics components assembly lines through the use of Lean Thinking principles. This reconfiguration was undertaken in a project that followed the action-research methodology. There were three main distinct problems related with the outdated assembly lines. The first came from a diagnosis of the assembly line itself, where quality problems and difficulties with compliance with the takt-time were identified, as well as activities that do not added value. The second happened due to an adjustment in demand that requires a reconfiguration of the line and, the third problem, related to the integration in an existing assembly line of a new process for a product pertaining to the same family, forcing the exploitation of synergies in production of these two products. Regarding the improvement proposals, some managed to be implemented in a timely manner, others, despite not having been implemented, their impacts has been predicted. Overall, the level of scrap was reduced by 57% through the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma methodology, and the cycle time of an operation was reduced by 12,5% by eliminating non-value adding operations. Also, gains were obtained by reducing the previous occupation with the project of an assembly line segment dedicated to the new product. With this, a reduction of one employee with the integration of two workstations was achieved.

En los últimos años una de las iniciativas que está siendo apoyada desde diferentes organismos y administraciones con un mayor grado de consenso, es la economía circular. Un nuevo modelo que tiene como objetivo principal unir la economía con la sostenibilidad, generando valor añadido a la materia prima, favoreciendo el reciclaje y creando pocos residuos. Se pretende constituir un marco político destinado a generar un crecimiento sostenible, integrador y que permita crear crecimiento y empleo. En España ya hay diversos documentos sobre economía circular, en el que determinados sectores poseen una serie de características que las vinculan más directamente como es la industria forestal, donde la madera es su principal materia prima y se trata de un material renovable, reutilizable y reciclable. Por lo que en este trabajo se realiza una primera evaluación de la situación en que se encuentra la industria forestal de España dentro de la economía circular. In recent years, one of the initiatives that is being supported by different organizations and administrations with a greater degree of consensus is the circular economy. An initiative whose main objective is to unite the economy with sustainability, generating added value to the raw material, favouring recycling or creating little waste. The aim is to create a political framework aimed at generating sustainable, inclusive growth that allows growth and employment to be created. In Spain there are already several documents on circular economy, in which certain sectors have a series of characteristics that link them more directly such as the forestry industry, where wood is its main raw material and it is a renewable, reusable and recyclable material. Therefore, in this work a first evaluation of the situation in which the Spain forest industry is located within the circular economy is carried out. Ces dernières années, l'économie circulaire est l'une des initiatives soutenues par différentes organisations et administrations avec un plus grand consensus. Un nouveau modèle dont l'objectif principal est d'unir l'économie à la durabilité, en générant de la valeur ajoutée à la matière première, en favorisant le recyclage et en créant peu de déchets. Il est destiné à constituer un cadre politique visant à générer une croissance durable et inclusive qui permette la création de croissance et d'emplois. En Espagne, il existe déjà plusieurs documents sur l'économie circulaire, dans lesquels certains secteurs ont une série de caractéristiques qui les relient plus directement, comme l'industrie forestière, où le bois est sa principale matière première et est une matière renouvelable, réutilisable et recyclable. Ainsi, dans ce travail, une première évaluation est faite de la situation de l'industrie forestière espagnole au sein de l'économie circulaire.

The profuse generation of polymer waste around the world has prompted a search for adequate disposal methods. One option is combined coking (gasification) with coal. The combined processing of polymer waste and coal results in the formation of composites with high added value.

The article aims to present practical methods for prioritising the activities of maintenance departments based on the Pareto analysis and the failure risk analysis. Based on the collected data on the number of observed failures and their removal times, commonly known reliability indicators were determined, which were then used to estimate the probabilities and consequences of failures in terms of the risk of loss of production continuity. Based on commonly collected failure data, the developed methods allow proposing to the maintenance departments the sequence of maintenance and repair work to be undertaken in terms of minimising the risk of failure. Risk analysis is somewhat commonly used in the practice of maintenance departments (e.g. RBI, FMEA, ETA, FTE, HIRA). The added value of this work is the use of reliability indicators for estimating the values of risk components, i.e., probability and consequences. The method was developed on the basis of operational data collected in one of the plants of the dairy cooperative and, after assessing the effects of its implementation, it was implemented in other enterprises of the cooperative.

Purpose One of the leading factors that shape product and service delivery are data collected in databases and other repositories maintained by companies. The transformation of such data into knowledge and wisdom may constitute a new source of income. This paper aims to explore how small/medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) advance their business models (BMs) around data to handle data-driven products and how this contributes to their innovativeness and performance. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the phenomenon, the as-is BM of a multinational SME was mapped and its limitations were revealed through a qualitative study. The BM canvas was used. Then the data-driven approach was innovated within the facility management (FM) industry, where a high volume of operational and sensor-based data being collected creates added value in terms of new data-based products. Findings A data-driven business model (DDBM) blueprint for the FM industry that supports the need to complement service-driven operations with the data-driven approach is delivered. Enhanced BM equips a facility manager with additional managerial tools that enable decreasing property utilization costs and opens up new opportunities for generating revenue. This paper drafts the way to evolve from service to data-driven business and point out the attitudes that managers should adopt to promote and implement DDBM. Practical implications The DDBM constitutes a guideline that supports FM organizations in focusing their activities and resources on generating business value from data and monetizing data-driven products. Originality/value The research expands knowledge regarding BMs and their evolution. The gap regarding the DDBM innovation within the FM industry is filled.

Purpose: The subject of interest in the work is social goals, the importance of which was increased in relation to the previously binding Lisbon Strategy when it turned out that they were too underdeveloped in it. The main aim of the paper is to assess the implementation of the social goals of the Europe 2020 strategy by the EU Member States in the period 2010-2019, i.e. a year before its expiry, as well as to compare the results achieved by them. Design/Methodology/Approach: The article proposes an effective and easy-to-use measure of ranking and monitoring member states in terms of their results using a procedure based on the taxonomic research with application of zero-unitarization method (min-max normalization). This method allows the integration of 10 indicators - 7 main statistical indicators provided for this purpose and 3 additionally selected by the authors - which is an extension of the previously used set of variables serving this purpose. Findings: The obtained results allow not only to assess the implementation of the social goals of Strategy 2020, but also to use the knowledge gained on this subject when planning future strategic goals and their indicators. Practical Implications: The practical advantage of the analytical method used in the article is not only the possibility of using taxonomic research using the zero unitarization method to evaluate individual objects in terms of the implementation of multidimensional goals, but also obtaining additional information about the internal structure and characteristics of this implementation. Originality/value: The added value of the applied research method, apart from the aforementioned extension of the set of variables, is the fact that the level of achieving the social goal of each object is assessed on the basis of the results obtained in each group of indicators taken into account for this purpose. It is also worth emphasizing that this work focuses solely on the implementation of social goals, while other researchers deal with the synthetic (general) evaluation of the Strategy., peer-reviewed

We examine the conditions for transport accessibility of the key deposits of raw mineral resources of the Far East and the directions of its further development. The characteristics of the raw mineral base of the region are considered in terms of the reserves and volumes of extraction of separate kinds of mineral resources. The key problems of developing mineral resources at the present stage are discussed. We demonstrate the development prospects for the raw mineral sector on the basis of creating processing facilities and switching over from the extraction of raw materials to obtaining the product with a high degree of processing and added value. A significant importance of the transport factor is emphasized for development of the deposits in the Far East which is most clearly pronounced in the northern regions. An unevenness of development of the region’s transport infrastructure, its poor quality (incompliance with the normative requirements of motor roads, and a limitation of railroad capacity) are highlighted. An analysis is made of the limiting influence of the poor transport accessibility on the raw mineral complex. The characteristics of the formation of transport schemes are outlined according to the location and volumes of transported resources. The study revealed a high demand of the enterprises of the extractive sector for the transport infrastructure which is not satisfied by the State. Examples of the development of the transport infrastructure elements by private companies on the territory of the Far East are investigated. The role of the Northern Sea Route as an important transport route in the medium- and long-term future is characterized. The efforts made to develop further this direction are pointed out: hydrographic investigations in the sea area, change in the institutional conditions of the functioning, and development of the icebreaker fleet of Russia. China’s interest in using the arctic sea routes for cargo transportation is shown. It is concluded that of strategic importance is an active exploitation of the Northern Sea Route by Russian companies for economic development of the deposits in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

Обґрунтовано необхідність розвитку механізму енергосервісу в Україні як напряму енергоефективності. Енергосервісну діяльність розглянуто як засіб реалізації політики енергозбереження для підвищення економічної безпеки України. Доведено, що енергосервіс є найефективнішим механізмом для здійснення швидкої модернізації енергетичної системи. Проаналізовано принципи і схему роботи енергосервісних компаній та особливості їх функціонування на ринку енергосервісних послуг. Розглянуто питання забезпечення фінансування енергоефективних заходів енергосервісними компаніями. Енергосервісна компанія повністю приймає на себе всі фінансові ризики і є відповідальною за реалізацію проєкту з підвищення енергоефективності. Проаналізовано основні методи реалізації енергосервісних контрактів, які використовуються у світовій практиці, визначено їх переваги і недоліки. Розглянуто основні моделі доданої вартості підприємств (ЕVA) у контексті їх застосування у вартісно-орієнтованому управлінні на мікрорівні сучасної економіки і розкрито їх економічний зміст. Вони спрямовані на визначення величини приросту вартості підприємств. Наведено розрахунок показника ефективності енергосервісного договору як суми дисконтованих грошових потоків та охарактеризовано механізм здійснення оплати за цим договором енергосервісній компанії. Обґрунтовано економічний зміст показника доданої вартості. Визначено основні підходи до оцінки доданої вартості компаній. Розглянуто моделі доданої вартості (модель ринкової доданої вартості та модель рентабельності інвестицій), які можуть використовуватися для розрахунку показників ефективності діяльності енергосервісних компаній. Наведено основні підходи до побудови та обґрунтована модель доданої вартості та її максимізації для енергосервісних компаній. Розкрито значення цієї моделі для досягнення економічного ефекту компанії і підвищення енергоефективності всієї економіки.

Gross Regional Domestic Product (PDRB) is the amount of gross added value arising from all economic sectors in the region. It aims to help formulate regional policies, plan and evaluate development results, and provide information that can describe the regional economic performance. The purpose of this research is to analyse sustainable economic sector in Probolinggo district east Java province – Indonesia. A sustainable sector means a sector that is currently included as a basis and will remain a basis sector in the future even if the growth is slow or fast. The analytical methods used include analysis of Location Quotient (LQ), Dynamic Location Quotient (DLQ), and Klassen Typology. Of the 17 economic sectors that contributed to the PDRB of Probolinggo district, with the results of the LQ analysis, 7 sectors were in basic categories and 10 sectors were in non-basic categories. Results of the comparative analysis of LQ and DLQ indicates that there are 5 leading sectors, 2 prospective sectors, 6 mainstay sectors, and 4 lagging sectors. The results of the classification typology analysis consisted of 3 fast-growing and fast-growing sectors, 7 sectors is growing fast, 4 advanced and slow-growing sectors, and 3 relatively lagging sectors. From the three analysis results, it can be seen that the sustainable sectors are agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (second rank ); electricity and gas procurement sector (first rank); water supply, waste management, waste and recycling sectors (third rank); health service sector and social activities (fourth rank); other service sectors (rank fifth); processing industry sector; construction sector; transportation and warehousing sector; the accommodation and food and drink provision sector; information and communication sector; and the education services sector.

STEM presents a challenge to education at large. The enrollment numbers in higher education STEM tracks are ever-decreasing numbers all around the globe. More so, young people’s interest in and attitudes towards STEM seem to be free falling. Educational interventions that can help boost the attractiveness of STEM are therefore needed, and diverse such interventions are implemented worldwide. We present a longitudinal impact study of a STEM education intervention focusing on the attitudes of pupils towards technology. The intervention involves young students visiting a high-tech truck (Techno Trailer) at their schools. Inside this truck grade 5 and 6 students (average age 11 years) experience diverse interactions with high tech material and exhibits, focusing on how technology can contribute to solving problems in industry and society. 1496 elementary school students aged 10–12 years old (grades 5 and 6) participated in the study. Some of their teachers were prepared for the visit through a preparatory workshop, while others were not. We used the PATT to measure the pupil’s attitudes towards technology. Three separate measurement occasions were included: just before, 3 days after and 3 weeks after the intervention. Differences between the measurement occasions reflect changes in attitudes over time. Overall, the study shows that the intervention rendered technology as less boring, more interesting and more viable as a career option for the pupils. For girls specifically, the intervention contributed to reversing the gender stereotypical view that technology is mainly a topic for boys. For boys we did not observer such an effect. The immediate educational impacts (3 days later) tended to decrease across time but most remained significant (3 weeks later) as compared to the base line. The results of this study show that short-term high-tech STEM education interventions can positively impact on students’ attitudes towards technology. At the same time, they show that such interventions in themselves are not enough and that they need to be part of a wider strategy to boost STEM attractiveness. Furthermore, our results highlight the added value of the preparatory workshop for teachers in terms of generating educational impact on pupils’ attitudes towards technology.

Purpose. The aims of this paper are (i) to explore public-private partnerships as a tool for economic development of rural economies in developing countries and countries with economies in transition in order to ensure sustainable use of nature and increase public welfare of rural communities through the added value chain; (ii) to develop proposals for the implementation of public-private partnerships on land management and land use in Ukraine. Methodology / approach. The methodological approach involves study of the world’s PPP practice in land management and land use (including the use of land in forestry), study of the connections between PPP projects and scientific approaches to the concept of sustainable development and the added value chain, as well as analysis of domestic scientific bibliography, which relate to the subject of this study. Results. The authors found that the declared priorities of the Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030 require the application of integrated approaches. In particular, the programme in the mechanism of sustainable development management in the form of PPP to ensure sustainable use of nature and increase the social welfare of rural communities. Because the programme approach here involves investing in natural resources and environmental protection and should cover the entire value chain, which directly or indirectly affects the efficiency of natural rural assets, as well as the use and application of innovative technologies. Originality / scientific novelty. It is substantiated that progress in achieving the declared priorities, in particular in the field of environmental protection, growth of public rural welfare, etc. is possible only in a combination of strengths of all PPP partners, which will eliminate the shortcomings and weaknesses of rural communities. In contrast to existing approaches to the development of the land use economy of rural territories, the basis of the synergy of the parties to PPP is a special natural resource – land, which performs environmental, economic, legal and socio-cultural functions, and determines the form and content, which actually builds sustainable development, including rural. A wide range of PPP forms has been further developed, varying in the degree of involvement and risk taken by the private party in relation to the development of the land use economy of rural territories. The approach to the value chains organization in the development of PPP projects on land management and land use and providing security of land use in terms of taking into account the land use of farmers, formed on different rights, has been improved. The author’s project PPP in the production of pellets a private investor in lumber logging waste provided by some state-owned enterprise both subject to the extension of the moratorium and without its effect is developed. Practical value / implications. The authors’ research shows that the introduction of the value chain in the mechanism of public-private partnership will lead to significant effective changes in the development of the land use economy, in particular of rural territories. Namely, with the use of appropriate policies it will ensure the provision of sustainable use of natural resources and growth of public welfare, in particular rural communities. This approach allows to involve all stakeholders (government, community, business) for effective management of natural assets in general and agriculture in particular and will increase their level of capitalization and investment attractiveness.

This article builds upon the concept of vernacularization as a way to better understand the circulation and implementation of global policy assemblages. The added value of a vernacularization appro...

PurposeThe net-present-value (NPV) method is well-known for its drawbacks. To overcome some of these NPV weaknesses this paper aims to provide a methodology to determine an optimal concession period that treats risk and time separately. The purpose of this paper is to apply the notion of risk-adjusted decoupled net present value (risk-adjusted DNPV) to determine a conception period taken into consideration synthetic insurance premiums as compensation for risks.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts theoretical and empirical analysis and provides an integrated model for deriving concession periods of any PPP projects. The model is able to capture several contractual issues such risks costing and other contractual scenarios. Methodologically, the paper addressees both the issues of risk-based cost–benefit analysis and cash flow analysis bearing an emphasis of risk-adjusted DNPV to compute an optimum concession period.FindingsThe results show that using DNPV will produce a shorter concession period comparatively to NPV. The consequence of this is that the public sector will gain financially from an earlier transfer of the concession.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper contributes to the PPP literature by combing DNPV and risk to determine the PPP concession period for the mutual benefits both the private and public sectors. The decoupling of risk from traditional NPV computation will allow for risk pricing and tradability through insurance and allocation.Originality/valueThe attempt to decouple time and risk in the computation of NPV is the added value to the body of knowledge.

Studying megaprojects from the micro-foundations rooted in organizational action and interaction, this research started with an extensive literature review and therefore proposed a conceptual model for governing government-project owner relationships. A cooperative game model was further developed based on the conceptual model and concession game theory. The results showed that the relationships between government and project owner could be indeed improved by considering the allocation of control rights within a certain range (0, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ \frac{A_1-{A}_2+2{B}_2}{2{B}_1+2{B}_2} $$\end{document}A1−A2+2B22B1+2B2). Also, it was shown in two cases that project value was increased by over 10% on average when achieving the concession equilibrium, which could bring gains to both the government and project owner by redistributing the added value. This study contributes to existing research on top-level inter-organizational relationships in water megaprojects, provides important implications for maintaining cooperation between megaproject stakeholders, and suggests interesting trajectories for future research.

Both loneliness and social isolation are linked to numerous negative health outcomes and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reduce that loneliness and social isolation. Therefore, a new social technology (mobile application) which encourages social participation for community-dwelling older adults was developed and deployed. The objective of this study was to assess the usability, end-user experience, and potential added value of this mobile application among community-dwelling older adults. After recruitment and after the weeks of use participants were asked to complete a range of questionnaires, and log-data was gathered to provide information on actual use. Of the 91 older adults who started using the mobile application 41 (80% female, age 73.4 years (SD 7.8)) were willing to participate in this study. On average the application was used for 11 weeks. The usability was acceptable (SUS score of 65.3 (SD18.0)) and 59% of the participants were willing to continue using the application. To conclude, the mobile application to encourage social participation was accepted by community-dwelling older adults and the measured change in quality of life was positive and clinically meaningful. After improving the technology a next step is to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

The need for open science has been recognized by the communities of meteorology and climate science. While these domains are mature in terms of applying digital technologies, the implementation of open science methodologies is less advanced. In a session on “Weather and Climate Science in the Digital Era” at the 14th IEEE International eScience Conference domain specialists and data and computer scientists discussed the road towards open weather and climate science. Roughly 80 % of the studies presented in the conference session showed the added value of open data and software. These studies included open datasets from disparate sources in their analyses or developed tools and approaches that were made openly available to the research community. Furthermore, shared software is a prerequisite for the studies which presented systems like a model coupling framework or digital collaboration platform. Although these studies showed that sharing code and data is important, the consensus among the participants was that this is not sufficient to achieve open weather and climate science and that there are important issues to address. At the level of technology, the application of the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles to many datasets used in weather and climate science remains a challenge. This may be due to scalability (in the case of high-resolution climate model data, for example), legal barriers such as those encountered in using weather forecast data, or issues with heterogeneity (for example, when trying to make use of citizen data). In addition, the complexity of current software platforms often limits collaboration between researchers and the optimal use of open science tools and methods. The main challenges we observed, however, were non-technical and impact the practice of science as a whole. There is a need for new roles and responsibilities in the scientific process. People working at the interface of science and digital technology – e.g., data stewards and research software engineers – should collaborate with domain researchers to ensure the optimal use of open science tools and methods. In order to remove legal boundaries on sharing data, non-academic parties such as meteorological institutes should be allowed to act as trusted agents. Besides the creation of these new roles, novel policies regarding open weather and climate science should be developed in an inclusive way in order to engage all stakeholders. Although there is an ongoing debate on open science in the community, the individual aspects are usually discussed in isolation. Our approach in this paper takes the discourse further by focusing on “open science in weather and climate research” as a whole. We consider all aspects of open science and discuss the challenges and opportunities of recent open science developments in data, software, and hardware. We have compiled these into a list of concrete recommendations that could bring us closer to open weather and climate science. We acknowledge that the development of open weather and climate science requires effort to change, but the benefits are large. We have observed these benefits directly in the studies presented in the conference and believe that it leads to much faster progress in understanding our complex world.

Availability of a common, shared benchmark to provide repeatable, quantifiable, and comparable results is an added value for any scientific community. International consortia provide benchmarks in a wide range of domains, being normally used by industry, vendors, and researchers for evaluating their software products. In this regard, a benchmark of untimed Petri net models was developed to be used in a yearly software competition driven by the Petri net community. However, to the best of our knowledge there is not a similar benchmark to evaluate solution techniques for Petri nets with timing extensions. In this paper, we propose an evaluation framework for the comparative analysis of generalized stochastic Petri nets (GSPNs) simulation techniques. Although we focus on simulation techniques, our framework provides a baseline for a comparative analysis of different GSPN solvers (e.g., simulators, numerical solvers, or other techniques). The evaluation framework encompasses a set of 50 GSPN models including test cases and case studies from the literature, and a set of evaluation guidelines for the comparative analysis. In order to show the applicability of the proposed framework, we carry out a comparative analysis of steady-state simulators implemented in three academic software tools, namely, GreatSPN , PeabraiN , and TimeNET . The results allow us to validate the trustfulness of these academic software tools, as well as to point out potential problems and algorithmic optimization opportunities.

In this study we reveal the measures taken by the Council of the European Union in the field of VAT to support SMEs and the reasons that led the Council of the European Union to take these decisions. It is also indicated the general definition of SMEs in European law as it has been taken up by various other authors, as well as the supportive behavior of SMEs that the European Commission has always had. On the other hand, we carried out a study that included variables defining SMEs in three fields of activity from four countries, located territorially in different areas of the European Union and we identified, using statistical correlation, different coefficients of correlation between the value added the number of SMEs, the number of people employed by SMEs, their turnover in that field of activity. The correlation coefficients that indicated a strong / moderate linearity link indicated that the measures taken by the European Union, through the Council and the European Commission, are welcome as the added value in many areas of activity shows a strong correlation with the number of taxable persons, the number employees of those taxable persons and their turnover.

ObjectivesMixed home care, in which informal and professional actors work closely together, contributes significantly to ensuring home care up to old age. In this context, collaboration applications can considerably enhance the interactions among caregivers. However, although much research is conducted on need and requirement analyses of such applications, little is known about their introduction and use in care models. The purpose of this contribution is to identify studies that evaluate collaboration applications for mixed home care and compare their outcomes.MethodsTo identify literature on mixed home care collaboration applications (mHCA) and their evaluation, a systematic literature review was conducted in five bibliographic databases covering the years 2008 through 2019. The results were supplemented by a search in the meta-database Google Scholar. The evaluation approaches of the studies were analyzed and results compared by using the NASSS framework. Finally, a context concretized model was derived which summarizes interrelations.ResultsTwelve qualitative studies evaluating eleven applications could be identified. They report on increased competency in self-management, psychological relatedness, involvement, and understanding. However, most studies conclude that large scale platform tests are still needed to prove significant changes in care processes, communication, or organization.ConclusionAmong other things, their implementation is rather difficult due to the specifics of the target group. To enable a more targeted and successful implementation, it might be helpful to classify care networks beforehand and assess their communication behavior and needs. To prove the added value of mHCAs standardized assessment tools should be used.

PurposeStrict carbon-cap policy is one of the basic policies proposed by the regulatory bodies to reduce the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether it is beneficial for a company to invest in green technology or not under the strict carbon-cap policy and for that a two echelon supply chain model is developed. This paper gives insight about judicious decision about investment on green technology.Design/methodology/approachMathematical modeling approach has been adopted to understand the effect of investment on green technology. All the cost and emissions parameters have been derived and the total cost (TC) and total emission equations have been formulated mathematically. Two constrained mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problems have been formulated and solved considering with or without green investment. Further, supply chain cost is optimized without carbon constraint to understand the effect of carbon constraint.FindingsThe investment in green technology can reduce the total supply chain cost. The study reveals that handling different parameters optimally can reduce both cost and emissions.Originality/valueThis paper tries to assess the effectiveness of green investment on technology under strict carbon-cap policy on a supply chain and, thereby, added value to the existing work. It examines the role played by various parameters under strict carbon-cap policy to draw insights, which will be beneficial for the academic community and managers.

Information is presented regarding the output of byproducts at coke plants in Russia and around the world. Traditional approaches to coal-tar processing are discussed. The variation in coal-pitch parameters with change in temperature and isothermal-holding time in coal-tar distillation at PAO Koks is described. Coal tar may be regarded as a potential source of innovative products characterized by high added value and global market demand.

International audience; The architects of inter-organizational R&D projects organize collaboration by structuring the activities and the knowledge base of the project. How do these two dimensions interplay and what are the implications on the project execution? The paper aims at developing new perspectives on inter-organizational multi-actor R&D projects using an exploratory inductive multi-case study of projects funded by the European Union's Research and Innovation Programmes. The projects have been studied simultaneously in terms of activity coordination and knowledge integration as well as the implications of their interplay on collaboration, project resilience and project management. The paper provides empirical evidence about six patterns of project architecture. The workflowintegrated architecture disintegrates the knowledge base, provides a lower collaboration potential and may require high management efforts, while a workflow-decomposed architecture makes project management easy but provides little added value from the inter-organizational setting. Nearly decomposable architectures offer the highest collaboration potential under contingent conditions.

Purpose This paper aims to propose a new strategic foresight process that combines aspects from science fiction, speculative design and tools linked to organizational processes, first, to generate potential new services and products and, second, to reduce problems associated with the construction of low-impact and irrelevant scenarios for decision-making processes. As a new proposal, it invites reflection and debate. Design/methodology/approach After reviewing the literature on the key concepts that represent the essence of strategic foresight, as well as the traditional processes to reflect on the future, a proposal for a new hybrid, integrative foresight process that allows moving from imagination to the materialization of scenarios will be presented. Findings The new hybrid process makes evident the need to articulate strategic foresight with other areas of knowledge and management tools to build scenarios with greater impact on decision-making and greater added value from strategic foresight to organizational processes. Originality/value The proposed integrative model articulates tools that already exist, but the originality of the proposal lies in that there are no models that integrate science fiction, speculative design, and other organizational tools in a single process.

Novel renewable energy technologies in the Middle East and North Africa region can be developed through microgeneration systems aiming to supply local energy demands in a sustainable way. In this study, we carried out a sustainability assessment combining two reputable methodologies which have been applied to a facility comprising a hybrid solar/biomass micro‐cogeneration organic ranking cycle system located in Morocco. We first applied a multiregional input–output analysis where economic issues such as the production of goods and services generated in all project's phases, as well as the added value and employment created, are estimated. Then, environmental impacts were assessed through a life cycle assessment (LCA). In terms of socioeconomic analysis, the total production of goods and services shows a value of 1.18 €/kWh. The added value and employment creation were 0.56 €/kWh and 0.05 full‐time employees/MWh, respectively. The levelized cost of electricity results in 0.218 €/kWh and the multiplier effect amounts to 2.26. The largest increase in sectorial output is produced in the Moroccan electricity sector and the largest job creation takes place in the agriculture sector from the biomass supply. Regarding environmental results, LCA shows a climate change potential of 11.8 g CO eq/kWh, of which more than 70% comes from the boiler operation and specifically from the emissions due to biomass transportation. These results can help in promoting micro solar‐biomass systems in Morocco as they identify the socioeconomic and environmental benefits that can counterbalance the higher costs of such systems compared to fossil technologies.

Introduction Competency-based medical education (CBME) hinges on robust assessment. However, integrating regular workplace-based assessment within demanding and sometimes chaotic clinical environments remains challenging. Many faculty lack assessment expertise, and some programs lack the infrastructure and faculty numbers to fulfill CBME’s mandate. Recognizing this, we designed and implemented an assessment innovation that trains and deploys a cadre of faculty to assess in specialties outside their own. Specifically, we explored trainees’ perceptions of and receptiveness to this novel assessment approach. Methods Within Western University’s Surgical Foundations program, 27 PGY‑1 trainees were formatively assessed by trained non-surgeons on a basic laparoscopic surgical skill. These assessments did not impact trainees’ progression. Four focus groups were conducted to gauge residents’ sentiments about the experience of cross-specialty assessment. Data were then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results While a few trainees found the experience motivating, more often trainees questioned the feedback they received and the practicality of this assessment approach to advance their procedural skill acquisition. What trainees wanted were strategies for improvement, not merely an assessment of performance. Discussion Trainees’ trepidation at the idea of using outside assessors to meet increased assessment demands appeared grounded in their expectations for assessment. What trainees appeared to desire was a coach—someone who could break their performance into its critical individual components—as opposed to an assessor whose role was limited to scoring their performance. Understanding trainees’ receptivity to new assessment approaches is crucial; otherwise training programs run the risk of generating more assessments without added value.

Many companies face a challenge while defining their individualized digitalization strategy. Therefore, the interrelation of corporate and digitalization strategy is addressed and a novel procedure model to assist companies in defining their strategy is introduced. Based on their corporate strategy, the introduced model allows companies to simply identify suitable business model patterns, digitization use cases and offers a possibility to asses the maturity level of their internal processes and evaluate the added value from an economic point of view.

Context: In preclinical dental education, plastic and extracted teeth have been broadly used for skills training without specific focus on the patient behind the procedure. A patient-centered approach remains challenging in traditional simulation, which does not resemble realistic clinical situations. Objective: This article describes the development and first experiences with a patient-centered virtual reality training module (PC-VR) that allows dental care providers to prepare, beforehand and in virtual reality (VR), specific procedures required by their patients. Experiences with this patient-centered practice are described to reflect on its value for clinical training in dentistry. Design: Using an intraoral scanner, digital impressions of 10 patients were made; these served as stereolithography (STL) digital files, which were converted into volumetric haptic models for display in a VR dental simulator. In this study, students’ experiences were investigated through a short open-answer survey in 2018. Atlas.ti was used for qualitative analysis of the answers through the inductive methodology of the grounded theory approach. Results: Drillable virtual models of real patients were made available for training using VR. Inductive analysis of the experiences identified 5 dimensions describing the main features of PC-VR: added value, competence development, self-efficacy, outcomes, and room for development. Conclusion: This article provides a general overview of the possibilities and challenges of the implementation PC-VR in dental education. Although concrete effects on trainees’ self-confidence and performance are yet to be determined, all participants appreciated the opportunity to explore clinical situations before experiencing them in the context of a real patient.

We consider the problem of optimizing the production planning with aggregation of operations and selection of their intensities for batch processing of a given family of products on a multi-position reconfigurable production system at specified (time) intervals under nonstationary deterministic demand. Backlog is allowed. Aggregation of operations is invariable for the entire planning period, the composition of the batch and intensities of processing operations are invariable within an interval, but can vary from interval to interval. As the objective function we use the planned profit. Investment costs are determined by the aggregation option. Time and material costs for the manufacturing of a batch of products during each interval depend on the aggregation of operations, intensities of their implementation, and costs of reconfiguring the equipment. Logistic costs include the cost of storing unclaimed products, lost added value, and penalties for unmet demand. We propose a three-level decomposition method for solving the problem.

By adopting PSS paradigm (Product–Service System), companies are growing to new business fields that require hard changes in the industrial practices. PSS realizes smart integration of physical, cyber and organizational elements to deliver added value to the customer, through a long-term relationship and solution-centered offers. This complexity makes the management of whole PSS lifecycle challenging. The paper presents a new development aided tool, part of the ICP4Life European platform, as an innovative answer to this challenge. Designed as a collaborative knowledge-based solution, the platform originality is to support all PSS design, production and usage planning of industrial PSS, at both methodological and technical aspects. The main idea is to encapsulate a collection of potential verified solutions as knowledge fragment, able to achieve a product–service with certain performance value with regard to a set of requirements. This knowledge asset is then used to support collaboratively the stakeholders by several innovative functionalities along the PSS development project.

The advances in data computing and analysis methodologies have contributed to the added value of data. Several years ago it was difficult to imagine that we would ever be able to extract such a large amount of information from the Internet. All this thanks to the ability of current techniques to process large volumes of data in a short period of time. The Internet provides access to a large amount of unstructured or unlabelled data, which are hard to retrieve for any human due to the lack of knowledge of the available sources of information. Moreover, in many cases people are unaware of the online availability of their personal data. This article presents a system for retrieving personal information from the Internet on the basis of several input criteria. The system is capable of differentiating the information of different people with the same name by using artificial intelligence techniques. In the conducted case study, the information has been gathered from sources containing information about people living in Spain, but it could be adapted to the specific sources of information of other countries. The system has been validated in a case study which included several participants and the obtained results have been quite satisfactory.

Environmental problems - specifically relating to water - have become the key factors restricting sustainable development. To evaluate the performance of water environment, this study takes 31 provinces in China as the research area and constructs a water environment performance evaluation index system based on a DPSIR framework (Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact and Response). The undesirable output slack measure model (SBM) is used to calculate the water environment performance of 31 provinces from 2005 to 2017. According to the study, the performance of the water environment in China shows a trend of decline, and the overall performance is low. The water environment performance in different provinces shows obvious differences. The Tobit model is then introduced to analyze the influence of indicators on water environment efficiency. The driving force indicators have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The pressure indicators have significant positive effects on the water environment performance. The state indicators play a significant role in promoting the improvement of water environment performance. With regard to the impact indicators, both industrial added value water consumption and GDP growth rate have significant negative effects on water environment performance. The impact of different response measures on water environment performance is inconsistent.

In recent years, the use of information technologies in Critical Infrastructures is gradually increasing. Although this brings benefits, it also increases the possibility of security attacks. Despite the availability of various advanced incident handling techniques and tools, there is still no easy, structured, standardized and trusted way to manage and forecast interrelated cybersecurity incidents. This paper introduces CyberSANE, a novel dynamic and collaborative, warning and response system, which supports security officers and operators to recognize, identify, dynamically analyse, forecast, treat and respond to security threats and risks and and it guides them to handle effectively cyber incidents. The components of CyberSANE are described along with a description of the CyberSANE data flow. The main novelty of the CyberSANE system is the fact that it enables the combination of active incident handling approaches with reactive approaches to support incidents of compound, highly dependent Critical Information Infrastructures. The benefits and added value of using CyberSANE is described with the aid of a set of cyber-attack scenarios.