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Due to unsustainable production and consumption patterns that cause climate changes, current socio-technical systems, such as the agro-food system, must rapidly undergo sustainability transitions. To transition socio-technical systems is however complex and it usually takes decades, and it is therefore crucial to study how socio-technical systems can transition faster.  Aim – This study aims to investigate under what circumstances a sustainability transition through an increased cultivation of grain-legumes in Sweden can take place and be accelerated. In order to guide the study and thus fulfil the purpose, two research questions have been formulated: 1)  “What are the current main factors that hinder a sustainability transition in terms of an increased cultivation of grain-legumes in the current agricultural value chain of crop production in Sweden?” 2)  “What prerequisites are required to accelerate sustainability transitions in the agricultural value chain of crop production in terms of an increased cultivation of grain-legumes in Sweden?” Method – The methodology used is a qualitative case study of the Swedish agricultural value chain of crop production. The data was collected through interviews, literature review and webinars. The data collected through interviewing was analyzed by using a thematic analysis.  Findings – One main hindering factor refer to the absence of certain value chain processes, both when it comes to actors that can provide Swedish plant-based food producers with extracted proteins from grain-legumes and when it comes to actors that can receive, sort, peel and pack grain-legumes for human consumption at an industrial level. Other main hindering factors regards the lack of financial incentives at several levels as well as a structured and stabilized agricultural socio-technical regime characterized by path dependencies and lock-ins. The found prerequisites required in order to accelerate sustainability transitions include for instance having certain value chain processes to come into place, steer large investments and educated people in the right direction to drive innovation and development as well as an increased sustainability transitioning pressure from the civil society in Sweden.   Implications – The findings of this thesis can increase the knowledge of actors engaged in the agricultural value chain of crop production, but also provide valuable insights for the whole Swedish agro-food sector. This study also provides insights regarding how a sustainability transition can be accelerated based on the findings from the studied case. Another implication is that a larger focus, when researching sustainability transitions, should be put on the role of civil society to understand and facilitate faster sustainability transitions in socio-technical systems. Limitations – The political perspective is not considered, the internal strategies of actors have not been investigated and the focus has only been at the environmental dimension of sustainability, not on the social or economic dimensions.

Digitalization is an important theme in Informatics research. Especially in today's digital society, people cannot live without the help of information technologies. The purpose of the study was to explore how the digitization process happened in the bicycle industry. The study was based on the background of bicycle-sharing system in Beijing and a qualitative methodology was followed. The findings show how bicycle-sharing system evolve step by step by applying advanced digital technologies. In the coming 5G era, organizations need to reconsider the situation of bicycle-sharing system and this research may give some references.

Healthcare in developing countries is confronted with a shortage of skilled healthcare workforce, medical errors, inequity and inefficient healthcare service delivery. Innovative ways of solving healthcare problems through Information and communication technology (ICT) can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, access and quality of the healthcare system. Despite highly anticipated benefits of eHealth system to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery, the healthcare had barely begun to take advantage of ICT mainly in a resource-constrained environment. The implementation of eHealth systems in developing countries could not proceed beyond the pilot phase to demonstrate sustainability in a large-scale rollout. The general research problem in this thesis focuses on how factors of eHealth implementation interplay to influence technology and information use to ensure the long-term sustainability of eHealth in resource-constrained settings. Systems thinking and system dynamics modelling method were used to handle complexity in the implementation of eHealth. Moreover, sustainability theory, technology acceptance model (TAM) and IS success models were used to develop a system dynamics model of sustainable eHealth implementation. The socio-technical, techno-organizational and techno-economic factors of sustainable eHealth systems are discussed to address the research objectives. The system dynamics simulation model of sustainable eHealth implementation is developed, verified, validated and tested. This applied research study focused on addressing the problems of sustainable eHealth systems implementation in resource-constrained environments. The model-based theory-building research study followed in this thesis aimed at enhancing the understanding of sustainable eHealth implementation in a resource-constrained environment to maximize the acceptance of eHealth by the end-users. Both the ontological and epistemological assumptions of this research study supported the position of the constructivist research paradigm. Methodologically, this study mainly applies qualitative research methodology which is common in the interpretive approach. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to elicit information from purposefully sampled eHMIS and SmartCare health facilities in Ethiopia. Field notes, document review, interview and focus group discussion data were analysed using ATLAS.ti software. Vensim DSS Version 6.3D was used to model and simulate the system dynamics model. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was followed in the systematic literature review of techno-economic factors. The simulation results confirmed that the ‘effectiveness of training’ was a dominant factor to improve the ‘acceptance rate’ of eHMIS and SmartCare in the socio-technical dimension of sustainable eHealth implementation. The adequacy of ICT and healthcare workforce within eHealth implementing facility and end-users’ familiarity with digital technology showed a stronger influence on the ‘acceptance rate’ of both eHMIS and SmartCare systems in the techno-organizational dimension. An economic incentive, funding duration, funding amount, funding source and economic benefit are identified as techno-economic factors that influence the long-term sustainability of eHealth projects. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / PhD / Unrestricted

Brazil is one of the largest biomass producers in the world, thus it has a huge potential for biogas production across all its territory. Nowadays, biogas production remains largely unexplored, representing just a small fraction of its potential. The adoption of biogas technologies has grown over the past years, but it is unevenly distributed across Brazilian states. This master thesis investigates the conditions under which the widespread diffusion of biogas technologies can be enabled in the Brazilian context by looking at the factors that influence the adoption of biogas technologies and why it differs across the Brazilian territory. Technological innovation systems (TIS), societal embedding, and diffusion of innovation theory are combined in the theoretical framework to create a broad understanding of the diffusion process of biogas technologies in Brazil. While TIS focusses on what are the functions been performed within the system, Societal embedding contributes to the understanding of why technological diffusion may not happen in the same way in different regions and how technologies are rooted in society. Diffusion of innovation theory adds to the importance of individual choices and strategies in the adoption of technologies. A comparative case study was design between the states São Paulo and Paraná. 16 semi-structured interviews served as the main research instrument with the support of document studies. When looking at the factors that could impact the adoption of biogas technologies the presence of specialized actors that can offer technical support to the implementation of projects locally proved to be positive considering that biogas technologies are still novel in Brazil. The unreliability of the energy grid in rural regions also favours the adoption of biogas technologies for electricity generation in agriculture properties that can combined waste treatment with energy security. Access to financial and human resources is still the largest barrier for the diffusion of biogas technologies. Financial institutions are at large unprepared to offer good conditions for the implementation of biogas projects, mainly because they do not understand the singularities of these projects. The adoption of biogas technologies in the case studies was mainly dictated by the economic activities in place, which shaped the view on biogas technologies. The complexities of the regulatory environment in Brazil could explain why electricity generation is still the main application of biogas technologies as the electricity market is regulated at national level while gas markets are the responsibility of individual states. When biogas technologies are portraited as a tool for sustainable development, other advantages of these technologies are highlighted – environmental and social benefits such as waste treatment and job creation – creating a better claim for biogas technologies which could boost adoption.

Construction worker safety is normally a construction activity in the United States, even though there is an emerging body of literature discussing the positive effects of considering safety earlier in the construction lifecycle.  This literature has discussed the fragmentation in terms of safety attitudes between owners and designers and those carrying out the construction of a project.  Quantitatively identifying the specific areas that the differences exist in terms of safety attitudes between common roles on a construction project could be a step toward reducing the fragmentation that currently exists in the work system and promoting safety to be more of a consideration earlier in the project lifecycle.  One common technique for measuring safety attitudes is the use of safety climate survey instruments, but in the construction industry these have historically focused on just construction personnel.  This research will discuss the development of a survey instrument to measure differences in safety attitudes between typical members of the entire construction project work system in order to identify specific areas that gaps exist.  Phase I of the research include the development of an instrument using Mohammed\'s (2002) survey as a base, validation of the measurement model using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and using applied nonparametric statistics to analyze the data and identify significant differences.  These results will be used in Phase II to develop a training tool to educate relevant project personnel on differences that were identified in Phase I, and to determine the best mediums for conveying this type of information. / Ph. D.

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Background: Digital transformation is an important step in businesses’ quest for environmental sustainability, that changes their business models to create, deliver, and capture value from the use of digital technologies. Another field of research that concerns transformations, is research on socio-technical systems. It explains the adoption of new technologies, by incorporating the social context in which transitions happen. An industry that has been notoriously blamed for being conservative and having sustainability concerns, is the construction industry. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to contribute to socio-technical systems theory, by investigating how interactions in the socio-technical regime can help digitally transform established construction companies and make them more environmentally sustainable. Method: A qualitative case study was performed around Smart Built Environment, a strategic innovation program. From the program, nine reports were examined, and four employees were interviewed. Furthermore, three interviews were conducted with employees of three large construction companies, which were part of Smart Built Environment’s projects. The reports and interviews were used to develop a theoretical framework, which was constructed from existing literature on socio-technical systems, business models, and digital transformation. Conclusion: The results show that culture and habits, and policy and regulations in the regimes have the greatest influence on the digital transformation of construction companies. This is because they influence the relationships between the construction companies and other actors in the construction value chain. Changes to business models that were identified to facilitate the digital transformation were long-term collaborations, product-based development, co-creation, and using digital technologies as a use case for sustainability.

Urban planning needs to address the future role of transport infrastructure in cities. Due to previous planning ideals, our cities consist of transport networks that stand in conflict with ambitions to create dense and multifunctional urban environments, decrease pollution, and create safe urban space. Here, the urban street is a measure that enables new multifunctional solutions for transport infrastructures. This thesis, therefore, investigates street redevelopment projects in relation to the Swedish planning process, which is assessed through five case studies of street redevelopment projects in Swedish cities. Interviews combined with a desktop study are utilised as methods. The theoretical framework of obduracy and socio-technical transitions is applied to understand the mechanisms behind the hindering- and enabling factors present in the projects.  Our results show that hindering factors exist on the interpersonal scale in the projects between planners and planning departments, internally within the municipalities between planning organisation and politics, and externally between different actor groups such as public and state actors. Hindering factors are also identified in the physical infrastructure and historical context of the streets where older planning ideals still influence the physical and societal preconditions of the street networks. These factors slowed down the planning processes and led to compromises in aim and vision. It is not evident that the formal planning process should change in order to overcome these obstacles. Rather, it is the cooperation and coordination between actors that mainly determines the functionality of the process. Successful strategies in the projects have been; anchoring projects in municipal goals, combining incorporating different urban planning aspects and departments, municipalities as main actors, carefully assessing the location and context and integrating street redevelopment projects with broader development projects.

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