Special Issue "Technology and Innovation Management for Sustainable Society"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Shintaro Sengoku
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Innovation Science, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan
Interests: technology management; innovation management; research policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is becoming a global agenda and includes complex and wide-ranging issues and goals for sustainable environment and society. Innovation is expected to contribute to the development of a sustainable society and to resolve conflicts amongst different goals and stakeholders. However, our expertise in sustainability and innovation is still at a nascent stage to meet expectations and to realize a sustainable society.

This Special Issue covers a wide range of topics on technology and innovation management related to the scope of sustainability. It will include but is not limited to:

  • Conceptual propositions on technology and innovation for sustainability;
  • Systematic reviews on technology and innovation for sustainability;
  • Methodology for the analysis, design, and implementation of innovative technology, products/services, and systems to realize sustainable society;
  • Practices and case studies on technology and innovation management for sustainability.

We invite papers that comprehensively examine the current status based on credible analysis and evidence and also provide potential solutions with salient ideas and future perspectives with profound insights and normative perspectives. We appreciate papers dealing with specific topics from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. We also welcome papers with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. We expect that this Special Issue will serve as a forum for anyone with an interest in and passion toward the realization of a sustainable society through technology and innovation.

Prof. Dr. Shintaro Sengoku
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability science
  • technology and innovation management
  • science, technology and innovation policy
  • methods and tools for sustainability and innovation
  • case studies and action research

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
Drug Discovery Firms and Business Alliances for Sustainable Innovation
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3599; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073599 - 24 Mar 2021
Viewed by 543
Abstract
Biotech startup firms developing pharmaceutical seeds from scientific and technological innovation are burdened by significant Research & Development (R&D) expenses, long-term R&D operations, and low probability of R&D success. To address these challenges while sustainably creating innovations and new drugs, business alliances with [...] Read more.
Biotech startup firms developing pharmaceutical seeds from scientific and technological innovation are burdened by significant Research & Development (R&D) expenses, long-term R&D operations, and low probability of R&D success. To address these challenges while sustainably creating innovations and new drugs, business alliances with existing pharmaceutical companies are one of the most important issues on the management agenda. The present study explores the necessity and significance of business alliances with pharmaceutical companies for the development of drug-discovery by Japanese biotech startup firms under high uncertainty. This study investigates the types of alliances to understand the origins of sustainability of these creative activities. First, we investigate and analyze the details of the partnership and its impact on the products under development based on the publicly available information of 16 drug discovery biotech startup firms in Japan that had become public since 2010. As a result, all firms continued their operations with the funds obtained from the business alliances with pharmaceutical firms at the time of their initial public offering (IPO). In addition, 56% of these firms’ alliance projects (n = 73) were seeded-out, and 32% seeded-in, indicating that they had adopted flexible alliance strategies not limited to seed-out ones. For sustainable going concern of the biotech startup business, it is valuable to consider multiple strategic options: “in-licensing and value up”, “best-in-class”, “platform leadership” and “first-in-class” depending on the characteristics of seeds and environmental restrictions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Innovation Management for Sustainable Society)
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Article
Implementation of a TeamWork-HBIM for the Management and Sustainability of Architectural Heritage
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2161; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042161 - 18 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1102
Abstract
The benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM) accrue from the needs of the interoperability of applied technologies. This scope is strongly related to heritage buildings. Protection plans encompassing phases of heritage conservation, interpretation, intervention and dissemination could lead to a sustainable model through [...] Read more.
The benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM) accrue from the needs of the interoperability of applied technologies. This scope is strongly related to heritage buildings. Protection plans encompassing phases of heritage conservation, interpretation, intervention and dissemination could lead to a sustainable model through a TeamWork-HBIM project. This work develops a step by step semantically enriched 3D model, from accurate data acquisition to the creation of a container of artistic assets. TeamWork-HBIM acts as a database for movable assets, i.e., parametric objects (GDL) with graphical and semantic information, which are valid for recording, inventory and cataloguing processes. Thus, heritage properties were created and used to create recording and inventory sheets related to movable assets. Consequently, a parametric object was edited in the HBIM project, so a new category called “Heritage Furniture” was available. Data from the monitoring of the artistic asset were included in that category. In addition, the specialist technicians from the TeamWork-HBIM team catalogued a dataset related to artistic, historical and conservation properties. Another advantage of the system was the reliability of the structure of the HBIM project, which was based on the actual geometry of the building provided by the point clouds. The information was valid for both modelling works and specialists in virtual monitoring. Moreover, the reliability of metadata was collected in a common data environment (CDE), which was available for everyone. As a result, the Teamwork-HBIM-CDE project meets the needs of private institutions, such as the Foundation of the Church of the Company of Jesus in Quito, related to the sustainability of the historic site. This sustainability is shown by the implementation of a methodology that strengthens the interdisciplinary information flow by including all disciplines of historical heritage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Innovation Management for Sustainable Society)
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Article
Intellectual Property Management in Publicly Funded R&D Program and Projects: Optimizing Principal–Agent Relationship through Transdisciplinary Approach
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9923; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239923 - 27 Nov 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 832
Abstract
Large-scale, publicly funded research and development (R&D) programs are implemented to accelerate state-of-the-art science, technology, and innovation applications that are expected to solve various societal problems. The present study aims to build on the body of theory on the mechanisms that promote or [...] Read more.
Large-scale, publicly funded research and development (R&D) programs are implemented to accelerate state-of-the-art science, technology, and innovation applications that are expected to solve various societal problems. The present study aims to build on the body of theory on the mechanisms that promote or impede the creation of intellectual property in such programs. Using a mixed methods approach and combining quantitative network analysis and qualitative semistructured interviews, we conducted a case study to investigate best practices in terms of intellectual property creation in a Japanese governmental research and development program. The results of the network analysis showed that the core/periphery structure in the co-inventor network of patents and joint application by a university and a startup promoted intellectual property creation. The results of the interview confirmed the significance of a reciprocal mindset, which the researchers in academia could acquire through collaboration with a startup. These results suggest that a knowledge logistics system for agile intellectual property management can be established by learning to acquire tacit knowledge on social implementation. Furthermore, we focus on the principal–agent relationship between knowledge producers and knowledge consumers as a factor that impedes the creation of intellectual property. We also discuss adverse selection and moral hazards caused by information asymmetry between knowledge producers and knowledge consumers and how to deal with them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Innovation Management for Sustainable Society)
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Commentary
Understanding China’s National Emergency Command System from the Perspective of Power and Responsibility Allocation
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 301; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010301 - 31 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 651
Abstract
The structure between the Party and the government is the core and soul of China’s emergency management, and the allocation of power and responsibility is the core of China’s national emergency command system (NECS). The allocation of power and responsibility between the Party [...] Read more.
The structure between the Party and the government is the core and soul of China’s emergency management, and the allocation of power and responsibility is the core of China’s national emergency command system (NECS). The allocation of power and responsibility between the Party and the government, as well as between departments, is the main aspect of the allocation of power and responsibility in China, and is also an important component of the NECS. This paper mainly introduces the characteristics of power and responsibility allocation between the Party and the government, as well as between departments in China’s NECS, and analyzes the above-mentioned power and responsibility allocation, based on the prevention and control of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), and analyzes their development, changes, and unchanged characteristics. Through the above analysis, we found that the Party’s leadership style in dealing with emergencies has changed from indirect leadership to direct leadership. The joint defense and control mechanism has replaced the national headquarters of emergency management as the common mode. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology and Innovation Management for Sustainable Society)
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