Technological change, and technology transfer as an aspect of this process, is examined by providing a comparative assessment of models of this phenomenon from economics, history, sociology, and neo-Schumpeterian-evolutionary studies. The Green Revolution, which is used as the empirical basis for testing these models, is generally referred to as the change in agricultural technology observed in some Third World countries in the 1960s and 70s as a result of the transfer of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds and a new culture of agricultural practice resulting in high productivity of the land. It is found that most of the examined models of technological change do not completely account for this process. It is argued that technological change should be conceptualized as a process of knowledge change. Artifactual change, which the examined models accentuate, should be viewed as the manifestation of the knowledge change at a secondary level. With the Green Revolution as the empirical basis, arguments are presented for a comprehensive model of technological change within the framework of "technology as knowledge." / Ph. D.

Notre mémoire de maîtrise porte sur l'appréhension des marques non traditionnelles par le régime du droit des marques français et canadien. L'objectif de ce travail est de démontrer que les marques atypiques n'ont pas la place qu'elles méritent au sein du droit des marques en France comme au Canada. A l'aire des nouvelles technologies, les entreprises redoublent d'efforts pour imaginer des moyens innovants afin d'attirer de nouveaux consommateurs et de fidéliser leur clientèle. Ainsi, depuis plusieurs années, de nouveaux types de marques font progressivement leur apparition dans le domaine du marketing. En effet, les marques traditionnelles, c'est-à-dire verbales et figuratives, laissent peu à peu la place à des marques non traditionnelles sollicitant d'autres sens que la vue. Jusqu'ici, les régimes de droit des marques français et canadien n'accordaient aucune protection à ces nouvelles sortes de marques. Toutefois, l'adoption de nouvelles législations européennes et canadiennes semble ouvrir une porte pour accueillir les marques atypiques. Finalement, nos recherches montrent que l'accueil offert aux marques non traditionnelles pourrait bien s'avérer n'être qu'une illusion et que des difficultés subsistent quant à leur acceptation. / Our master's dissertation focuses on the understanding of non-traditional trademarks in the French and Canadian trademark law system. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that atypical trademarks do not have the place they deserve in French and Canadian trademark law. In the age of new technologies, companies are intensifying their efforts in order to imagine innovative ways to attract new consumers and build their loyalty. Thus, for several years, new kinds of brands have gradually been emerging in the marketing field. Indeed, traditional trademarks, i.e. verbal and figurative trademarks, are progressively giving way to non-traditional trademarks, which require senses other than sight in order to be perceived. Until recently, French and Canadian trademark law did not grant any protection to these new categories of trademarks. However, the adoption of new European and Canadian legislation seems to open a door to the accommodation these atypical brands. Nevertheless, our research shows that the acceptance of non-traditional trademarks may well end up being an illusion, as difficulties remain regarding their acceptance.

Tyrimo objektas – UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ technologinių inovacijų diegimas klientų ūkiuose. Tyrimo tikslas – nustačius problemas su kuriomis susiduria UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ klientai diegdami siūlomas inovacijas, pateikti technologinių inovacijų diegimo valdymo tobulinimo kryptis. Uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti teorinius inovacijų klasifikavimo, jų diegimo valdymo aspektus; 2. Parengti inovacijų diegimo valdymo klientų ūkiuose tyrimo metodiką. 3. Nustatyti ir išanalizuoti inovacijų diegimo problemas bei galimybes UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ klientų ūkiuose. 4. Parengti inovacijų diegimo valdymo tobulinimo kryptis. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizės ir sintezės, palyginimo, grafinio vaizdavimo apklausos metodai. Tyrimo rezultatai: o pirmoje darbo dalyje pateikta lietuvių bei užsienio autorių mokslinė analizė inovacijų sampratos ir esmės, klasifikavimo bei inovacijų valdymo klausimais. o antroje darbo dalyje supažindinta su UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ veikla taip pat pateiktas tyrimo detalus planas, kurio metu siekta nustatyti problemos ir galimybės diegiant inovacijas UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ klientų ūkiuose. o trečioje darbo dalyje pateikta apklausos rezultatų analizė, taip pat pateikta inovacijų diegimo valdymo tobulinimo kryptys. Tyrimo rezultatai skelbti studentų mokslinėje konferencijoje ,,Jaunasisis mokslininkas 2014‘‘. / Research object – installation of technological innovation by UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai'' in clients' farms. Research aim – to indentify problems faced by clients of UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ in installation of proposed innovation, to propose the direction for technological innovation installation management improvements. Objectives: 1. To analyze theoretical aspects of innovations classification and installation management; 2. To prepare research methodology for innovation installation management in clients' farms; 3. To identify and analyze innovation installation problems and opportunities in UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai'' client farms; 4. To prepare directions for innovation installation management inprovements. Research metods: synthesis and analysis of scientific literature, comparison, graphical representation, interview. Research results: o the first part of work presents concept, essence, classification and management of innovations as described in the Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature. o the second part of work introduces activities of UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘, presents detailed research plan to analyse problems and oppurtunities in innovation installation in UAB ,,Dotnuvos projektai‘‘ clients' farms. o the third part of work analyses result of accomplished research, also proposes the directions of innovation installation management improvements. The research results are published at the students’ scientific conference: „Young Scientist 2014“.

Over the years, innovations such as community-oriented policing, problem-oriented policing, and hot spots policing have enabled the police to make substantial crime control and reduction gains. However, empirical research has shown that police occasionally misuse these strategies in practice. One possible solution is the co-implementation of these strategies with crime analysis. Yet, little is known about this relationship in practice. Using national survey data collected by the Police Executive Research Forum in 2008 from a sample of over 1,000 United States police agencies this thesis explores this relationship. Results of bivariate analysis between agency commitment to and integration of crime analysis within operations and the use of innovative strategies revealed positive relationships. Additionally, bivariate analysis between agency use of accountability mechanisms and innovative strategies revealed a strong positive relationship. Multivariate regression analysis revealed the use of accountability mechanisms and commitment to crime analysis as strong positive predictors of police agency innovation. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Information and communication technologies hope to revolutionize the healthcare industry with innovative and affordable solutions with a focus on pervasive care. Wearable sensors products can provide monitoring in a natural environment with a constant stream of information, enriching healthcare practices and enabling better pervasive care. Wearable sensor technologies could monitor patients' mobility, gait, tremor, daily activity and other health indicators in real time that could allow for simple, non-invasive, tracking of spine care that may lead to increased patient engagement, integration, feedback, post-surgery analysis, monitoring of patient's condition, patient's data extraction and analysis and possibly aiding in better diagnosis, intervention, adherence to treatment for the betterment of quality of care. This research focuses on the assessment of technology adoption potential of medical devices particular to tracking the mobility of patients of neurosurgery and orthopedics. Wearable medical devices that track the mobility of patients after spinal procedures could help surgeons in providing post-operative care, analysis of treatment outcomes and patient mobility. The assessment of those devices by physicians is a complex process associated with various perspectives and criteria. Therefore, the objective of this research is to assess the potential for technology adoption of those wearable medical devices through development of a hierarchical decision-making model (HDM) that incorporates the relevant perspectives and criteria encompassing the needs of hospital neurological surgery and orthopedics departments. The proposed research builds on an existing body of knowledge researched through literature review and background of the field and expands the health technology assessment field by implementation of a holistic, comprehensive and multi-perspective approach to technology assessment in wearable sensor products adoption for pervasive care in neurosurgery and orthopedics. The Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) approach is used to break the problem down into hierarchical levels and then calculate the alternatives using pairwise comparison scales and a judgment quantification technique. Inconsistencies, disagreement, sensitivity and scenario analysis are performed as well. HDM research software is created with Ruby and R to facilitate the computation of some of these important model parameters to higher precision than is available in current statistical analysis software packages or extensions targeted for decision making. Patient perspective dominates as the main perspective for the technology adoption potential of wearable devices for pervasive care in neurosurgery and orthopedics, followed by technical and financial perspectives. Valedo, a wearable device aimed to relieve back pain through exercises, motivation and mobility tracking, received the highest ranking for adoption potential, while other devices also received high relative scores. The framework could serve as a supplementary technology assessment tool and could be tested in other settings: private, small clinic etc. with the experts and special needs of physicians in particular healthcare departments.

As people age there is an overwhelming desire to remain in the familiar surroundings of the family home, what is called Aging in Place. But inevitable changes that occur in their lives force the aging adults and their families to consider a move to some form of institutional living. Living at a distance from one another, the adult child attempts to maintain peace of mind concerning the well-being of their aging parents but finds it to be a difficult task. I propose to address this problem by first proposing that technology can help minimize the anxieties experienced by the adult child concerning their aging parents well being by appropriately presenting information on the aging parents daily life. This technological design concept does not require that the aging parent input, or for that matter, do anything other than live their lives as they normally live them. Further, this technology provides this information in a manner that is continuously available to the adult child for either opportunistic or planned perusal. As a single instance of the technological design concept proposed above, the Digital Family Portrait embeds well-being related information into an item commonly found in homes, the picture in a picture frame. The Digital Family Portrait was first tested in a wizard-of-oz field trial, then redesigned based on the outcome of this initial field trial coupled with the results of two lab-based studies and a further informal evaluation. The redesigned Digital Family Portrait was built and installed in the home of an adult child while the sensors to drive it were installed in an aging parents home. A field trial of this installation lasting for one year was conducted. The result of this field trial was to find that the Digital Family Portrait was an acceptable means of resolving certain peace of mind issues for the adult child while not raising privacy. It was found to be used in a socially acceptable manner by the adult child while the aging parent to reported feeling less lonely.

In the light of increasing promotion of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a tool for economic development, this thesis examines the relationship between ICTs, rural businesses and rural development among rural engineering and manufacturing firms in South Warwickshire and the Cotswolds. Despite high levels of general interest in this subject area, previous research has tended to concentrate on the technical (supply-side) issues of these new technologies; the human (demand-side) aspect has, so far, been largely overlooked. The devised theoretical framework distinguishes between influential factors internal and external to the firm. Empirical research draws upon humanistic behavioural concepts to investigate ICT adoption decision-making processes at the micro-level of individual sectors, enterprises and entrepreneurs in rural areas, and to evaluate the role of external agencies. Firms in the study area are diverse in terms of their ICT adoption and use, and entrepreneurial characteristic and linkages with other businesses and organizations are found to be major determinants of technology requirements and uptake. Two types of firms are identified: inwardly-oriented firms, with local buyer and supplier contacts, which make little use of technology; and outwardly-oriented firms, which use ICTs more intensively and have geographically dispersed networks of customers and suppliers. While notable levels of general awareness of ICTs exist among rural businesses, the initial financial outlay involved, coupled with a lack of knowledge of existing technological solutions and support, and a need for skills training, remain significant disincentives to ICT uptake among smaller firms. Agencies currently lag behind local businesses in terms of their ICT awareness and use, and understanding of the potential development implications of technology. In many cases there is a mis-match between agencies' perceptions of ICT use in rural firms and their response to this area of business support. Although there is a recognition amongst agencies that their client firms are applying new technologies in their business processes, ICTs are seen by the majority of agencies as a future component of business strategy. Thus, appropriate support for firms implementing ICTs is not yet widely accessible. Findings suggest that ICT implementation is not appropriate in all firms; requirements and applications vary widely and there is a need for a tailored approach by agencies and policy makers which takes account of the uniqueness of entrepreneur and firm characteristics.

The use of information communication technology in the 21st Century is very important. The skills and knowledge of using these technologies should start at high school level, as it is at this stage where learners are equipped for tertiary education and the business world. This study seeks to answer how much ICT is used at the average school in Port Elizabeth and how effective such use is. South Africa is one of the countries in the whole world that is still behind in using the new technology. Learners from high school still enter university with no knowledge of how to use a computer. This becomes a problem in the world of technology as almost everything is done using technology. It also becomes a big problem when learners look for jobs in the business world. An active learning theory has been used on the study because, if learners can learn and have access computer at school, life will be easy for both learners and teachers, there would be co-operation and discussion and the fast way of doing school work. For the purpose of the study a qualitative research method has been used to ensure that answers are received straight from, teachers and learners for evidence. It is therefore clear that there are schools in South Africa that still needs the attention of the government in terms of getting access to computers and to have professional teachers for teaching the subject. The government has a responsibility of making sure that all learners and teachers in high schools have access to computers and internet. This will improve the working and learning conditions of both parties involved.

Les récents développements concernant la nature du processus d’innovation nous ont amenés à vouloir mieux comprendre ce processus au sein des entreprises, en particulier chez les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME). Ces récents développements indiquent la nature interactive et ouverte de l’innovation qui est représentée par le modèle d’innovation ouvert, selon Chesbrough (2003a; b). Dans ce modèle, les entreprises dépensent peu en matière de R& D et sont néanmoins en mesure de réussir à innover : elles s’appuient en fait sur les connaissances et l’expertise d’un large éventail d’acteurs et de sources externes (Laursen et Salter, 2006). Le modèle d’innovation ouvert est devenu, selon le rapport du Conseil de la science et de la technologie (CST) de l’année 2009, une des grandes tendances observées dans le monde. Dans son rapport intitulé : Innovation ouverte, enjeux et défis pour le Québec, cet organisme vante les bienfaits de ce modèle d’innovation et propose des pistes pour en accélérer l’adoption au sein des entreprises manufacturières québécoises. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse a pour objectif de participer à cet effort en étudiant un aspect particulier du modèle d’innovation ouvert, soit l’openness. Introduite par Laursen et Salter en 2004, l’openness est un concept qui reflète surtout le nombre (étendue) et l’intensité (profondeur) des sources d’information externes utilisées par l’entreprise dans le développement ou l’amélioration de ses produits ou procédés. L’openness a été largement étudiée dans le contexte des grandes entreprises américaines (Chesbrough, 2003a; b) et européennes (Laursen et Salter, 2004; 2006; Criscuolo et al., 2006; Reichstein et Salter, 2006; Lichtenthaler, 2008a). Dans le cadre des PME, les études qui s’intéressent à l’openness sont encore rares, à part quelques études provenant de la République de la Corée et d’Europe. Au Canada, et particulièrement au Québec, les études qui portent sur l’openness dans le cadre des PME sont quasi inexistantes. Dans ce sens, il est nécessaire de combler cette lacune et d’étudier davantage le comportement innovateur des PME sous l’égide du modèle d’innovation ouvert. L’innovation dans les PME, expliquée en partie par le modèle d’innovation ouvert, fait surgir le caractère complexe des relations (Huizingh, 2011) existant entre les différents facteurs qui expliquent traditionnellement l’innovation au sein de cette classe d’entreprises. Ce besoin a été à l’origine du premier objectif de recherche dans cette thèse : 1. Étudier les déterminants qui expliquent les relations complexes qui existent entre les facteurs expliquant l’innovation au sein des PME sous l’égide du modèle d’innovation ouvert. Parallèlement à cet objectif, d’autres lacunes ont été recensées au sein de la littérature sur le modèle d’innovation ouvert, notamment les deuxième et troisième objectifs de cette recherche : 2. Étudier le degré d’openness des PME par l’entremise des dimensions de l’entendue et la profondeur et les déterminants liés à différents degrés d’openness. 3. Étudier la complémentarité ou la substitution des PME face à l’openness aux différentes sources d’informations externes et les déterminants liés à l’openness à ces différentes sources. Les résultats de cette thèse, ainsi que ses contributions déduites à partir des trois volets empiriques, sont répartis en fonction des objectifs spécifiques qui y sont soulevés; il s’agit notamment de : 1. L’étude de ce premier objectif nous a menés à approfondir notre compréhension des approches qui seraient complémentaires dans l’explication de l’innovation au sein des PME. Dans ce sens, la revue de littérature nous a conduits à suggérer un cadre conceptuel intégrateur qui nous semble plus approprié pour appréhender les relations complexes entre les différents facteurs qui expliquent l’innovation au sein des PME. Il s’agit principalement du modèle d’innovation ouvert, de la théorie basée sur les ressources et du système régional d’innovation. Ceci constitue une contribution théorique très importante issue de cette thèse. Par ailleurs, l’utilisation de l’analyse de cheminement a permis de clarifier, de façon empirique, les relations complexes existant entre les déterminants de l’innovation au sein des PME. En particulier, il y est montré que l’openness a un effet direct et indirect sur le degré de nouveauté de l’innovation des PME sondées. De plus, l’importance indirecte des proximités régionale et nationale via l’openness sur le degré de nouveauté de l’innovation au sein de ces entreprises a été mise en relief. 2. L’utilisation de l’analyse de classification en se basant sur les dimensions de l’openness, notamment l’étendue et la profondeur, a permis de proposer quatre classes de PME qui diffèrent par leur degré d’openness : les PME fermées, les PME interactives, les PME utilisatrices et les PME open. De plus, dans ce volet empirique, utilisant des modèles de régressions logistiques multinomiales et binaires, il a été possible de montrer que les variables relatives aux proximités régionale et nationale ainsi que les variables relatives aux obstacles internes, contribuent de façon très importante à expliquer la probabilité que les PME appartiennent à une classe de PME affichant un degré élevé d’openness plutôt qu’à une classe de PME affichant un faible degré d’openness. 3. L’utilisation du modèle d’équation structurelle et du modèle Multivariate Probit (MVP) ont permis, d’une part, de confirmer notre hypothèse relative à la complémentarité entre les quatre catégories de sources d’information externes (sources de marché, sources d’information généralement disponibles, sources de recherche et sources régionales) et, d’autre part, le MVP a permis de confirmer l’importance de la proximité régionale et nationale dans l’explication de l’openness aux différentes catégories de sources d’information externes. Finalement, une conclusion générale de cette thèse se révèle à la lumière des résultats obtenus dans les trois volets empiriques : outre l’importance de l’openness pour le processus d’innovation des PME sondées, il faut souligner celle de la proximité géographique telle que considérée dans cette thèse. Dans ce sens, on ne peut que souhaiter une implication majeure des décideurs politiques concernés par l’élaboration de politiques d’innovation, implication qui pourrait se traduire par la prise en considération du caractère crucial de la proximité, et ce, jusqu’à encourager celle-ci de façon à ce que les PME puissent tirer le maximum de retombées des relations avec leurs partenaires immédiats. / Recent developments regarding the nature of the process of innovation have led us to try to better understand this process among firms, in particular among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These recent developments indicate the interactive and open nature of innovation which is represented by the model of open innovation, according to Chesbrough (2003a; b). In this model, firms spend little on R& D and nevertheless are able to innovate : they rely on the knowledge and expertise of a wide range of actors and external sources (Laursen et Salter, 2006). The open innovation model has become, according to the report of the 2009 CST of, one of the major trends in the world. In its report entitled : Innovation ouverte, enjeux et défis pour le Québec, this institution promotes the benefits of this innovation model and proposes to accelerate its adoption by Quebec manufacturing firms. In this context, this thesis aims to contribute to this effort by studying a particular aspect of the open innovation model, namely openness. Introduced by Laursen and Salter in 2004, openness is a concept that primarily reflects the number (breadth) and intensity (depth) of the external sources of information used by the firm in the development or improvement of its products or processes. Openness has been widely studied in the context of large U.S. (Chesbrough, 2003a; b) and European companies (Laursen et Salter, 2004; 2006; Criscuolo et al., 2006; Reichstein et Salter, 2006; Lichtenthaler, 2008a). In the context of SMEs, the studies concerned with openness are still scanty, with only a few studies from the Republic of Korea and Europe. In Canada, especially Quebec, studies that focus on openness in SMEs are almost nonexistent. In this sense, it is necessary to fill this gap and to further explore the innovative behavior of SMEs under the care of the open innovation model. Innovation in SMEs, explained in part by the open innovation model, raises the complexity of the relations (Huizingh, 2011) between the different factors that traditionally explain innovation in SMEs. This need was at the origin of the first research objective in this thesis : 1. Study the determinants which explain the complex relationships that exist between the factors explaining innovation in SMEs under the care of the open innovation model. In addition to this objective, other gaps have been identified in the literature related to the open innovation model, including the second and third objectives of this research : 2. Study the degree of openness of SMEs through the dimensions of the breadth and depth, and the determinants related to varying degrees of openness. 3. Study the complementarity or substitution of SMEs to the openness towards the various sources of external information, and the determinants related to the openness towards these different sources. The results of this thesis and its contributions deducted from the three empirical parts are distributed according to the specific objectives that are raised, and these include : 1. The study of this first objective has led us to deepen our understanding of the theoretical approaches that would be complementary in the explanation of innovation in SMEs. In this sense, the literature review has led us to suggest an integrative conceptual framework which seems to us more appropriate to understand the complex relationships between the various factors which explain innovation in SMEs. It is primarily the open innovation model, the resource-based theory, and the regional innovation system approach. This is a very important theoretical contribution from this thesis. Also, the use of the path analysis has helped to empirically clarify the complex relationships between the determinants of innovation in SMEs. In particular, it is has shown that openness has a direct and indirect effect on the degree of novelty of the surveyed SMEs. The indirect importance of regional and national proximities through the openness on the degree of novelty in these firms has also been highlighted too. 2. The use of the cluster analysis based on the dimensions of openness, breadth and depth, has led to propose four classes of SMEs which differ by their degree of openness : closed SMEs, interactive SMEs, user SMEs and open SMEs. Moreover, in this empirical part of the thesis, by using multinomial and binary logistic regression models, it was possible to show that the variables related to regional and national proximities, as well as the variables related to the internal barriers to innovation, contribute very significantly to explain the probability that SMEs belong to a class of SMEs with a high degree of openness rather than to a class of SMEs with a low degree of openness. 3. The use of the structural equation model and of the Multivariate Probit (MVP) model has, on the one hand, confirmed our assumption related to the complementarity among the four categories of external sources of information (market sources, generally available information sources, research sources, and regional resources) and, on the other hand, the MVP model has confirmed the importance of national and regional proximities in the explanation of the openness to different categories of sources of external information. Finally, a general conclusion of this thesis is revealed in light of the results obtained in the three empirical parts of this thesis : in addition to the importance of openness for the innovation process of the surveyed SMEs, it should be noted that geographical proximity as considered in this thesis, is also important. In this sense, one can only hope for a major implication for policy makers concerned with policy innovation, involvement that could lead to the consideration, and as far as the promotion, of the crucial character of proximity, so that SMEs can get the maximum benefit from relationships with their close partners.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 E32 / Master of Science