Topic Review
Technology Solutions for Circular Economy
The concept of circular economy (CE) is becoming progressively popular with academia, industry, and policymakers, as a potential path towards a more sustainable economic system. CE comes as an alternative to the linear economy model, embracing and incorporating a series of ideas in various so-called “R” frameworks (e.g. “reduce”, “reuse”, and “recycle”). Information and communication technology (ICT) systems have influenced every aspect of modern life and the CE is no exception. Cutting-edge technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, internet of things, virtual and augmented reality, and blockchain, can play an integral role in the embracing of CE concepts and the rollout of CE programs by governments, organizations, and society as a whole. There are many ICT solutions found in the literature, which can pave the way towards a CE. The categorization of these solutions can be done either from a technological perspective (e.g., communications, computing, data analysis, etc.), or from the viewpoint of the main CE concept(s) (i.e., reduce, reuse, recycle and restore) that each solution is most relevant to. ICT solutions related to data collection and data analysis, and in particular to the Internet of Things, blockchain, digital platforms, artificial intelligence algorithms, and software tools, are amongst the most popular solutions proposed by academic researchers. Also, greater emphasis is placed on the “reduce” component of the CE, although ICT solutions for the other “R” components, as well as holistic ICT-based solutions, do exist as well. Specific important challenges impeding the adoption of ICT solutions for the CE also exist, especially related to consumer and business attitude, economic costs, possible environmental impacts, lack of education around the CE, and lack of familiarization with modern technologies being found among the most prominent ones.
  • 1.7K
  • 20 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Technology Roadmap
A technology roadmap is a flexible planning schedule to support strategic and long-range planning, by matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process and may include using technology forecasting or technology scouting to identify suitable emerging technologies. It is a known technique to help manage the fuzzy front-end of innovation. It is also expected that roadmapping techniques may help companies to survive in turbulent environments and help them to plan in a more holistic way to include non-financial goals and drive towards a more sustainable development. Here roadmaps can be combined with other corporate foresight methods to facilitate systemic change. Developing a roadmap has three major uses. It helps reach a consensus about a set of needs and the technologies required to satisfy those needs, it provides a mechanism to help forecast technology developments, and it provides a framework to help plan and coordinate technology developments. It may also be used as an analysis tool to map the development and emergence from new industries.
  • 724
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Technology Forecasting
Technology forecasting attempts to predict the future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or techniques. Researchers create technology forecasts based on past experience and current technological developments. Like other forecasts, technology forecasting can be helpful for both public and private organizations to make smart decisions. By analyzing future opportunities and threats, the forecaster can improve decisions in order to achieve maximum benefits. Today, most countries are experiencing huge social and economic changes, which heavily rely on technology development. By analyzing these changes, government and economic institutions could make plans for future developments. However, not all of historical data can be used for technology forecasting, forecasters also need to adopt advanced technology and quantitative modeling from experts’ researches and conclusions.
  • 4.0K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Technology for Science Education
The COVID-19 confinement has represented both opportunities and losses for education. Rarely before has any other period moved the human spirit into such discipline or submission—depending on one’s personal and emotional points of view. Both extremes have been widely influenced by external factors on each individual’s life path. Education in the sciences and engineering has encountered more issues than other disciplines due to specialized mathematical handwriting, experimental demonstrations, abstract complexity, and lab practices. 
  • 670
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Technologies for Improving Storage Efficiency in Blockchain-Based IIoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain have contributed to massive advancements in the fields to which they have been applied. The benefits of the blockchain, which include enhanced security, transparency, and greater traceability, make it a promising technology for integration with IIoT, which has long had issues with security. However, there are several issues that limit the integration of blockchain into Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems. One of these issues is the huge storage requirement of the blockchain. There are several solutions to address these concerns. These solutions, which include summarization-based, compression-based, and storage scheme optimization methods, are necessary to enable the further development of blockchain–IIoT integration. However, these solutions have shortcomings that reduce their effectiveness. Compression-based schemes produce compressed blocks or data that accumulate over time and may not ensure enough storage savings on peers. This can be alleviated by designing compression techniques that provide an efficient representation of data for IIoT systems to yield better compression ratios. Summarization-based schemes reduce redundancy in block data by using the net change in transferring entities between parties and, thus, are better suited for financial systems than for IIoT systems. 
  • 702
  • 30 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Technologies for Down Syndrome Persons
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the lifespan of people born with Down syndrome (DS) has increased. They now outlive their parents and rely on their relatives who usually sacrifice their own families to care for their disabled siblings. To reduce the pressure on families and the wider community, it is crucial to prepare DS people for independent life from early childhood. Emerging technologies can significantly support the process of acquiring the skills that are necessary for solving real-life problems at home and work.
  • 808
  • 05 May 2022
Topic Review
Technologies for Big Data
Big data is growing so fast that current storage technologies and analytical tools are gradually feeling their inefficiencies not only to store and manage the valuable data but also to take full advantages of the opportunities and business insights that enormous data can offer. Since 2014, the concept of a data lake is increasingly becoming a popular solution among information leaders and big data-driven companies to deal with the challenges that brought about by big data. However, due to lacking of enough established best practices or related theories, some practitioners are still being kept outside the gate to a less risky implementation of a data lake. Besides, practitioners can hardly find any references which are free of bias, such as academic researches or reports, and are hardly able to support them with the reality of building a data lake at preset from an independent perspective.  
  • 3.1K
  • 06 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Technologies and AI for Human-Centered Digital Experiences
Human–computer interaction (HCI) and information and communication technologies (ICT) are experiencing a transition due to the emergence of innovative design paradigms that are affecting the way we interact with digital information. Immersive technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), are considered the building blocks of modern digital experiences. Knowledge representation in a machine-interpretable format supports reasoning on knowledge sources to shape intelligent, user-centric information systems. From a human-centered perspective, these systems have the potential to dynamically adapt to the diverse and evolving needs of users. Simultaneously, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into ICT creates the foundation for new interaction technologies, information processing, and information visualization.
  • 278
  • 09 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Technological Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence Algor-ethics
Since 2018, a new terminology has been developed, called Algor-ethics, indicating the necessity for a dedicated study concerning the evaluation of an ethics applied to technology, to Algorithms and to Artificial Intelligence (AI). At the same time, since 1987, when the concept of sustainability was introduced, the discussion on this issue has become increasingly lively and has now spread to every area of life. An application of the concept of sustainability to technological processes and in particular to the elaboration of AI systems, for the construction of an ethics that could confer meaning, motivations and impetus in using new technologies and Artificial Intelligence is proposed here. Researchers first try to build an ethical framework, here called Dynamical Techno-Algor-Ethical Composition, to define the interaction between the most important ethical ingredients involving the human person in relation to technology, taking a person-centered approach. Out of this it will emerge a possible structure and definition of Technological Sustainability. The second step consist of evaluating the process for the elaboration of an AI algorithm as a concrete application of the previously analyzed framework, to set ethical contents composing what researchers might call a good and sustainable algorithm.
  • 599
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Technological Solutions for Social Isolation Monitoring of Elderly
Social isolation is likely to be one of the most serious health outcomes for the elderly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for seniors living alone at home. In fact, two approaches have been used to assess social isolation. The first is a self-reported survey designed for research purposes. The second approach is the use of monitoring technology.
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  • 29 Jan 2023
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