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Full-Text Articles in Science and Technology Studies

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski Jan 2010

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski

Sascha Vitzthum

Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper …


Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski Nov 2008

Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski

David A. Bray

We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and …


Emergence Of Nanodistricts In The United States: Path Dependency Or New Opportunities?, Philip Shapira, Jan Youtie Aug 2008

Emergence Of Nanodistricts In The United States: Path Dependency Or New Opportunities?, Philip Shapira, Jan Youtie

Philip Shapira

Multiple economic development theories suggest that research and innovation in emerging technologies will cluster in certain locations rather then distributing equally among all regions. If this is the case, this distributional pattern has implications for where future economic opportunities as well as future risks will be concentrated. In this paper, we probe nanotechnology (hereafter nano) research and commercialization at a regional level. The study examines the top 30 US “nanodistricts” or metropolitan areas which lead in nanotechnology research activity over the 1990-2006 timeframe. We explore the factors underlying the emergence of these 30 metropolitan areas through exploratory cluster analysis. We …


Eureka! Winning Ways: Analysis Of Early Client Experiences, Lynne Manrique, Kamau Bobb, David Roessner, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira Aug 2008

Eureka! Winning Ways: Analysis Of Early Client Experiences, Lynne Manrique, Kamau Bobb, David Roessner, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a longstanding record of helping small- and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers to identify and implement technologies and practices that improve manufacturing efficiency and product quality. More recently, MEP has begun to build a growth services portfolio to assist manufacturers with the development of new products, new customers, and new markets. Its first growth services offering, called Eureka! Winning Ways (E!WW), was piloted in late 2006 and has been implemented widely since the beginning of 2008. To explore the nature of early E!WW client experiences, as well …


Coercing Consensus: Unintended Success Of The Octopus Electronic Payment System, Leung-Sea, Lucia Siu Jun 2008

Coercing Consensus: Unintended Success Of The Octopus Electronic Payment System, Leung-Sea, Lucia Siu

Prof. SIU Leung-sea, Lucia

This paper contrasts the success and failure of two electronic payment systems in Hong Kong, Octopus and Mondex, during 1996-2002. The case illustrates the new properties of electronic currencies, and provides insights for product designers and regulators. Mondex was endowed with the full legal status of money, launched by a mammoth banking group, with Mondex cards given away for free to consumers. Yet the Mondex system went into oblivion within five years. Octopus started as a modest stored value transport ticket that required a deposit. It ended up as a city-wide multipurpose payment card used by 95% of the adult …


Refining Search Terms For Nanotechnology, Alan L. Porter, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira, David J. Schoeneck May 2008

Refining Search Terms For Nanotechnology, Alan L. Porter, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira, David J. Schoeneck

Philip Shapira

The ability to delineate the boundaries of an emerging technology is central to obtaining an understanding of the technology’s research paths and commercialization prospects. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the case of nanotechnology (hereafter identified as “nano”) given its current rapid growth and multidisciplinary nature. (Under the rubric of nanotechnology, we also include nanoscience and nanoengineering.) Past efforts have utilized several strategies, including simple term search for the prefix nano, complex lexical and citation-based approaches, and bootstrapping techniques. This research introduces a modularized Boolean approach to defining nanotechnology which has been applied to several research and patenting databases. …