Search Results (5)

Higher technical education plays a strategic role in equipping the workforce to navigate rapid technological advancements and evolving labor market demands. Within the Rome Technopole framework, Spoke 4 targets ITS Academies, promoting the development of flexible, modular programs that integrate advanced technical skills with ethical, legal, and societal perspectives. This study reports on a pilot training initiative on Artificial Intelligence (AI) co-designed by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), aimed at exploring the ethical, practical, and educational relevance of AI in higher technical education. The module was developed and tested through a multi-stakeholder collaboration involving educators, institutional actors, and learners. A four-phase approach was adopted: (1) initial stakeholder consultation to identify needs and content directions, (2) collaborative design of the training module, (3) online delivery and engagement using a CAWI-based focus group, and (4) mixed-method evaluation, combining quantitative assessments and open-ended qualitative feedback. This design facilitated asynchronous participation and encouraged critical reflection on the real-world implications of AI. Through the four-phase approach, the pilot module was developed, delivered, and assessed with 37 participants. Quantitative analysis revealed high ratings for clarity, relevance, and perceived utility in terms of employability. Qualitative feedback highlighted the interdisciplinary design, the integration of ethical reasoning, and the module’s broad applicability across sectors—particularly Healthcare and Industry. Participants suggested including more real-world case studies and collaborative learning activities to enhance engagement. The findings support the feasibility and added value of embedding ethically informed, interdisciplinary AI education in professional technical training pathways. Developed within the Rome Technopole ecosystem, the pilot module offers a promising approach to fostering critical digital literacy and preparing learners for responsible engagement with emerging technologies. Full article

This paper applies a multi-level social network analysis to examine Aragón’s innovation ecosystem, focusing on a decade of competitive public projects (2014–2023) aligned with the region’s Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) 2021–2027. By mapping and weighting the participation of regional entities across regional, national, and European calls, the study uncovers how all types of local actors organise themselves around key specialisation areas. Moreover, a comparative benchmark is introduced by analysing more than 33,000 Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe initiatives without Aragonese partners, revealing how to fill structural gaps and enrich the regional ecosystem through international collaboration. Results show strong funding concentration in four fields—Energy, Health, Agri-Food, and Advanced Technologies—while other historically strategic areas like Hydrogen and Water remain underrepresented. Although leading institutions (UNIZAR, CIRCE, ITA, AITIIP) play central roles in connecting academia and industry, direct collaboration among them is limited, pointing to missed synergies. Expanding previous SNA-based assessments, this study introduces a diagnostic tool to guide policy, proposing targeted actions such as challenge-driven calls, dedicated support programs, and cross-border consortia with top EU partners. Applied to two contrasting specialisation areas, the method offers sector-specific recommendations, helping policymakers align Aragón’s innovation capabilities with EU priorities and strengthen its position in both established and emerging domains. Full article

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between the Chinese government’s Strategic Emerging Industry Support Program and the innovation level of strategic emerging industry firms. We use panel data of A-share-listed firms from 2007 to 2017 and apply a difference-in-difference model. We obtain evidence that firms exhibit strategic innovation behavior in response to the Strategic Emerging Industry Support Program, as evidenced by firms focusing solely on increasing their research and development (R&D) input and number of patent outputs, neglecting innovation efficiency and quality, and failing to convert patent results into firm profitability. Moreover, we observe that the aforementioned support program, through the provision of subsidies, tax incentives, and easy access to credit, as well as the reduction in stock liquidity, prompts increases in firm R&D input and, consequently, the number of patents firms are granted. Our results also indicate that for state-owned enterprises in strategic emerging industries, government support in the form of subsidies and tax incentives has the strongest effect on innovation; by contrast, for private firms, innovation is more strongly stimulated through convenient credit support, tax incentives, and reduced stock liquidity. This paper provides empirical evidence on whether industrial policy promotes firm innovation and argues more generally whether government industrial policy is effective. Full article

The concept of academic spin-off (AS) has witnessed an increase in attention due to its effectiveness in solving industry problems using core technology and knowledge from academia. Most studies based on US and western Europe experiences have presented the main key factors for academic spin-offs. The present study aims to address a literature gap regarding AS survival factor identification for central and eastern European countries, to relate resource groups with these key factors from a literature perspective, and to statistically investigate the long-term performance of academic spin-offs in Romania, an eastern European country that has only recently understood the opportunity academic spin-offs offer for national and regional development. Since EU programs are setting the scene for AS development, this research brings new insights for university strategic management to achieve sustainable regional growth by proposing a novelty spin-off key factor specific to central and eastern European countries: team competency in accessing government funds. Since these emerging economies face similar challenges regarding AS formation and development, statistical evidence from Romania is insightful and valuable. Data were collected on Romanian AS companies founded from 2006–2010, and eleven survival factors were investigated within a quantitative survey to understand which had a significant impact on AS performance. By using Pearson’s correlation matrix and a Cobb–Douglas nonlinear regression model, this study validated two research hypotheses that, in Romania, the quality of scientific support received from a university or research center during the development of a product and the competency of a team in accessing government funds were the most important factors having nonlinear influences on AS performance. Their positive and negative influences were furthermore discussed, and managerial implications were outlined. Full article

In the current context characterized by turbulent market conditions and the increasing relevance of sustainability requirements, reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) offer great potentialities for supply chains and networks. While plenty of contributions have addressed RMSs from a technological and system-specific perspective since the mid-1990s, the research interest for the strategic potentialities of RMSs at the supply chain level is recent and mainly related to building supply chains’ resilience and sustainability. Despite the interest, methods to support supply chains to strategically exploit RMSs are still missing, while being highly needed. In this paper, a method—consisting of an index to assess machines reusability and a mixed integer programming (MIP) algorithm—is provided to support the identification of reusable and reconfigurable machine candidates at the early stage of the strategic network design. The overall method allows machines to be compared based on their reusability and geographical locations. The application of the method, as well as an example referring to the production of emergency devices during the COVID-19 pandemic are reported. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed, and, among others, strategic parameters related to machines have been identified and elaborated as enablers of supply chain reconfigurability; the proposed method supports practitioners in improving supply chain resilience and sustainability. The method also encourages practitioners towards the development and adoption of reconfigurable machines. Finally, this study also has social impacts for local communities and stimulates customer-centric collaboration among companies belonging to similar industries and sectors. Full article