Keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology is a key challenge in teaching statistics. To equip students with essential skills for the modern workplace, educators must integrate relevant technologies into the statistical curriculum where possible. University-level statistics education has experienced substantial technological change, particularly in the tools and practices that underpin teaching and learning. Statistical programming has become central to many courses, with R widely used and Python increasingly incorporated into statistics and data analytics programmes. Additionally, coding practices, database management, and machine learning now feature within some statistics curricula. Looking ahead, we anticipate a growing emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the pedagogical implications of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. In this article, we explore these technological developments and discuss strategies for their integration into contemporary statistics education.
Women and men pursue different but complementary forms of scientific innovation. Analyzing 261,452 solo-authored papers by U.S. scholars, with patterns confirmed by millions of multi-authored articles, we show that women more often bridge distant disciplines through novel reference combinations, while men more often recombine concepts within fields. Women's interdisciplinary innovations prove more disruptive and more prescient, yet science penalizes them for it. For equally innovative work, women's papers land in lower-prestige journals and tend to receive less downstream citation credit, though their disruptive impact is greater. These gaps narrow only at extreme levels of novelty, suggesting women must produce exceptionally surprising work to achieve parity. Men's within-field concept innovations, by contrast, attract recognition from disciplinary gatekeepers who control careers. The asymmetry reveals not a deficit in women's contributions but a reward structure that systematically undervalues the boundary-crossing work most likely to transform fields.
Cassy Juhasz, Robert Gianni, Judith Kamalski
et al.
The societal uptake of AI has led to a proliferation of AI ethics guidelines that prescribe universal principles for ethical AI. However, these guidelines face limitations as the abstract nature of principles makes it difficult to translate them into practice and risks interpretations that allow for ethics-washing. Context sensitive frameworks, such as ELSA, RRI and VSD, are more attuned to the context-specificity required in AI development. However, these frameworks have faced limited uptake. Building on the tradition of these frameworks, we are developing a pragmatist approach named ELSA-by-design. We reflect on the implementation of this approach in the ELSA Lab Poverty & Debt, discussing the challenges we have faced and highlighting the opportunities of an iterative, experimental approach to ethics.
In a rapidly evolving landscape marked by continuous change and complex challenges, effective cash management stands as a cornerstone for ensuring business sustainability and driving performance. To address these pressing demands, cash managersare increasingly turning to innovative financing solutions such as venture capital, green finance, crowdfunding, advanced services from Pan-African banks, and blockchain technology. These cutting-edge tools are pivotal in bolstering resilience against market volatility, ecological transitions, and the accelerating pace of technological change. The present article aims to examine how such innovative financial approaches can serve as strategic drivers, enabling businesses to transform challenges into opportunities. The analysis underscores that rethinking cash management through innovation is a critical pathway toboost the performance of Moroccan companies. Therefore, embracing these forward-thinking strategies unlocks new avenues for development empowering them to adapt with agility amidst the uncertainties of a shifting environment.
A robust nonproliferation regime has contained the spread of nuclear weapons to just nine states. Yet, emerging and disruptive technologies are reshaping the landscape of nuclear risks, presenting a critical juncture for decision makers. This article lays out the contours of an overlooked but intensifying technological arms race for nuclear (in)visibility, driven by the interplay between proliferation-enabling technologies (PETs) and detection-enhancing technologies (DETs). We argue that the strategic pattern of proliferation will be increasingly shaped by the innovation pace in these domains. Artificial intelligence (AI) introduces unprecedented complexity to this equation, as its rapid scaling and knowledge substitution capabilities accelerate PET development and challenge traditional monitoring and verification methods. To analyze this dynamic, we develop a formal model centered on a Relative Advantage Index (RAI), quantifying the shifting balance between PETs and DETs. Our model explores how asymmetric technological advancement, particularly logistic AI-driven PET growth versus stepwise DET improvements, expands the band of uncertainty surrounding proliferation detectability. Through replicable scenario-based simulations, we evaluate the impact of varying PET growth rates and DET investment strategies on cumulative nuclear breakout risk. We identify a strategic fork ahead, where detection may no longer suffice without broader PET governance. Governments and international organizations should accordingly invest in policies and tools agile enough to keep pace with tomorrow's technology.
This paper presents two new techniques relating to inexact solution of subproblems in augmented Lagrangian methods for convex programming. The first involves combining a relative error criterion for solution of the subproblems with over- or under-relaxation of the multiplier update step. This analysis enables a new kind of inexact augmented Lagrangian method that adapts the amount of multiplier step relaxation to the accuracy of the subproblem, subject to a viability test employing the discriminant of a certain quadratic function. The second innovation involves solution of augmented Lagrangian subproblems for problems posed in standard Fenchel-Rockafellar form. We show that applying alternating minimization to this subproblem, as in the first two steps of the ADMM, is equivalent to executing the classical proximal gradient method on a dual formulation of the subproblem. By substituting more sophisticated variants of the proximal gradient method for the classical one, it is possible to construct new ADMM-like methods with better empirical performance than using ordinary alternating minimization within an inexact augmented Lagrangian framework. The paper concludes by describing some computational experiments exploring using these two innovations, both separately and jointly, to solve LASSO problems.
Health monitoring of dairy cattle plays a vital role for increasing the dairy products supply worldwide. Nowadays farmers are showing less interest in dairy sector as animals are suffering from various ailing health issues, unpredictable killing diseases, and advanced breeding costs. Therefore, it is necessary for farmers to adopt efficient technical methods for cattle health monitoring to increase the milk production supply. This study documented various wireless sensor network (WSN)-based automatic health monitoring systems for monitoring various diseases of dairy cattle. The main objective of WSN-based intelligent monitoring systems in farm automation is to monitor the health of dairy cattle on regular basis. This monitoring system needs to be installed in local and remote locations of farms that will assist the concerned farmers in monitoring their cattle activities from diverse locations for the whole day. All collected factors from the automated system will be stored in a database. Subsequently, with the help of farm automation, farmers can retrieve information for the execution of correct farm control strategies. Moreover, WSN is low-cost technology which is specific for the identification of diseases in dairy animals. This revolution in advanced technological farm automation will aid in improving the productivity rate with the reduction of human intervention. This review study concludes all cattle monitoring systems along with various issues and challenges.
Roksana Ulatowska, Elina Wainio, Marcin Pierzchała
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to analyze the digital innovations which are being introduced in the HRM field in organizations in the modern business services sector in Finland and Poland. It is also intended to identify the most important factors/trends that influence digital innovations and to identify the challenges they generate for HRM departments. The practical objective is to develop recommendations for organizations executives, policy makers and researchers.Design/methodology/approachThe research was mainly based on a quantitative research approach and a questionnaire survey. Additionally, the authors conducted a semi-structured interview was with the representatives of the HRM departments in the surveyed organizations. The qualitative research of the obtained results allowed to deepen the obtained quantitative data. The purpose of the data triangulation used was to increase the reliability of the data.FindingsNearly 90% of HRM employees declared that the companies they work for have implemented digital innovations. Among the introduced digital innovations, chatbots, dashboards, application software systems, a virtual HRM assistant and digital tools were indicated. The COVID-19 pandemic and the progress of robotization and automation have accelerated the implementation of digital technologies in HR departments in both Poland and Finland. There are however differences between the two countries – it is evident that in Finland digital innovations were already introduced by modern businesses organizations before the pandemic period, while in Poland the innovations were mostly implemented during and after the pandemic period. It is worth emphasizing the differences regarding the two countries in terms of the level of technology advancement.Research limitations/implicationsSimilar to most studies conducted, this study has its limitations and the authors are aware of them. First, future research using the tool which was used in this study should focus on confirming its reliability. Secondly, its scope and scale were limited as it was not possible to obtain an industry-wide sample. It should be noted that the obtained results cannot be generalized to a broader context, although they provide valuable conclusions and recommendations and may be an inspiration for further research. For the future research, it is recommended that the researchers should pay more attention to the challenges and difficulties that accompany digital innovations in HRM departments. One of the aspects is the need to pay attention to the cultural and psychological aspects of the presence of technology in organizational areas, which have only been signaled in this article. A more in-depth study could address the issue of negative attitudes toward the introduction and use of digital technologies. The future research could focus on creating the necessary conditions at each stage of introducing digital innovations and using the potential of these tools – starting with needs analyses, awareness of goals, benefits, dealing with concerns and risks, communication and evaluation and assessment of the technology in question. For future research, it is recommended that researchers pay more attention to the challenges and difficulties that accompany digital innovations in HRM departments. One of the aspects is the need to be aware of the cultural and psychological aspects of the presence of technology in organizational areas, which has only been signaled in this article. A more in-depth study could address the issue of negative attitudes toward the introduction and use of digital technologies. The future research could focus on creating the necessary conditions at each stage of introducing digital innovations and using the potential of these tools – starting with needs analyses, awareness of goals, benefits, dealing with concerns and risks, communication and evaluation and assessment of the technology in question.Practical implicationsThe study provides suggestions for practice, providing companies in Finland and Poland with the insight into the impact of the trends on the development of digital innovations in HRM departments and the challenges they generate. The contributions of this study are also the recommendations and guidelines for organizations to effectively implement digital technologies. This will allow not only to better adapt to the present situation, but also to more accurately predict future trends.Social implicationsThe research results can be useful for the development of HRM practices, as traditional practices are increasingly being replaced by new digital modes of leading and managing capital resources in organizations. This development is followed by the need for new competencies in HRM (Mazurchenko, Maršíková, 2019), a new understanding of leadership, thus digital tools may prove particularly supportive in this context (Salojärvi, 2018). Digital innovation research conducted in the modern business services industry can be particularly valuable in the context of the flow of technological innovations, including know-how, implementation of modern organizational solutions; which transfers to other industries (MORR, 2017). Digital innovations can contribute to reducing the complexity of HRM functions, which will accelerate management and personnel decisions. It will improve the quality of analytical data, as well as increase access to employees and opportunities in planning their personal development. As a result, the introduction of digital innovations will contribute to reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of HRM processes.Originality/valueThis study provides a new and timely perspective by examining applied digital innovations and related challenges affecting the implementation of digital innovations by HRM departments in the modern business services sector. This survey provides comprehensive information on how and what can enhance the capacity for digital innovation in Finnish and Polish organizations. This article theoretically analyzes the importance of technological development for HRM departments and reviews the previous research on digital technologies in HRM departments and the factors and challenges of introducing digital innovations. It also characterizes the modern business services sector, which is very active in introducing digital innovations.
The purpose of the study is to characterize the phenomena of "digital inequality" and "digital divide" from the standpoint of global challenges of socio-economic development and international trade in the context of techno-globalism. It is argued that technoglobalism is both a kind of constructor of a new economic reality, in which technology is entrusted with the function of a generator of economic development and growth, and the result of increased asymmetries of international division in the context of the transnationalization of the world economy: on the one hand, governments of countries and corporations in the conditions of innovative rivalry all they compete more actively for the opportunity to develop new market niches, taking a course towards the technological complication of products that are in the arsenal of their specialization, not avoiding the use of market distortion and protectionism tools, despite the development of new forms of public-private partnership; on the other hand, although the geopolitical struggle, often centered around the issue of digital patents, standards and production, significantly weakens multilateral decision-making and collective action in the field of innovation, the growth of international scientific and technological cooperation, the intensification of the exchange of patents and licenses, the diffusion of knowledge through channels of exchange of scientific personnel, testify to the inevitability of a global technological dialogue. The analysis made it possible to establish that the digital divide is most clearly manifested, firstly, in the use of digital technologies (due to the availability of basic infrastructure, accessibility, etc.), secondly, in the benefits received from digital technologies, and, thirdly, in the level of digital skills. The parameters by which the digital divide is defined include mainly the state of development of a country compared to other countries (capacity gap, participation gap, performance gap), the state of development of urban and rural areas and their populations, indicators of individual income, level of education, age structures (access gap, literacy gap, use gap) within a country and compared between countries. Because this digital divide exists in all digital technologies, it has the potential to widen. The digital transformation of the economy is accompanied by an increase in demand for automation of production processes, resulting in an unlimited pool of robotic workforce in a sector prone to automation, distorting the international labor market. This "reserve army of robots" is gradually displacing the workforce from the automation-prone sector to the automationresistant sector, in a process that can be called "digital crowding out" and accompanied by rising unemployment and lower wage costs, indicating a worsening social economic inequality. Although income inequality in most developed countries has been increasing even before the spread of global dominance of technology companies, it can be assumed that the further spread of ICT will increase the sources of income of market participants who use digital technologies. Outlined is a manifestation of the network effect in markets where the value of the product increases with each additional unit sold/produced, then the early advantage allows for increased value for each subsequent user, creating a Matthew effect. Keywords: socio-economic development, global inequality, technological development, innovative development, technoglobalism, digital economy, digital divide, digital inequality, digital business models, digital trade, international trade, world economy, labor market, unemployment, pandemic.
The circular economy (CE) model has gained greater recognition and acceptance in recent years for its potential to enhance sustainability. Within this context, many practices in the retail sector are being overhauled through technological innovation, thereby changing the business landscape. Digitalization facilitates this transformation to mitigate the impacts of climate change without sacrificing productivity. This article explored the implications of digitalization in retail processes for CE in Nigeria and advanced practices that improve efficiency. Research efforts on circularity and digitalization have concentrated on advanced economies; consequently, little is known about the situation in lower-income countries. Due to the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative approach that combined multiple data sources was adopted. Specifically, a case study of four major grocery retailers was carried out through documentary evidence supplemented by integrating thematic categories from semi-structured interviews with seasoned retail professionals. The findings revealed that (i) the circularity paradigm is a relatively vague concept among retailers in Nigeria; (ii) digital technologies are adopted primarily for the business value they create rather than to regenerate the ecosystem; (iii) the retailers have adopted technological processes such as e-commerce channel, automation, real-time tracking, social media marketing, and digital payment; and (iv) retailers familiar with circularity favor shortening supply chains by investing in rural hubs, food waste reduction, and closed-loops and reducing the use of non-biodegradable packaging. Retail managers could gain insights from these results to move towards CE, foster efficient business processes, and enhance customer satisfaction.
The article examines global trends in the digitalization of economies and society. The current state and level of digitalization of the world's countries is studied using modern tools for determining its level, namely the digitalization index, the index of digital economy and society, and the network readiness index. The experience of the leading countries, in particular Denmark, Finland and the United States, in securing leading positions is analyzed, and further prospects for their development are identified. The main trends in the digitalization of economies and society are determined, namely the development of 5G communication technology, the use of data analytics, increasing the level of cybersecurity, automation of business processes, and the introduction of artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. The dynamism of the digitalization process today covers all aspects of society, including economic and cultural, which form the prerequisites for transformational changes in global economic systems. It is quite difficult to imagine the life of a modern citizen or business entity without the tools and means of digital technologies, namely highspeed Internet, various gadgets and services that speed up most household and management processes. All of this causes instability and variability in the external environment in which businesses operate and the internal environment in which society participates. Digitalization is fundamentally changing the economy and society as a whole, which stimulates the development of entrepreneurial innovations, productivity, labor market growth, and intensifies globalization processes and regional economic growth. All of this requires new skills and abilities, improving the level and adaptation of information and communication technologies to new requirements. The identified technological trends of digitalization will lead to a further process of digital transformation, which will ensure the introduction of significant innovative solutions to the market and improvement of various processes of life of society, business and the country. That is why the role of further research of digitalization trends and tendencies that will have a significant impact on everyday life of society, business processes and the economy as a whole remains.
Orlando Enrique Contreras-Pacheco, Juan Felipe Reyes-Rodríguez, Hugo Ernesto Martínez-Ardila
Partiendo de la identificación de requerimientos necesarios para un cargo, el presente estudio tiene por objeto proponer el diseño de especificación del trabajo genérico de un guardia de seguridad. Para ello, se diseña una investigación cualitativa de naturaleza deductiva, basada en la recolección de datos a través de entrevistas semi-estructuradas. El trabajo de campo se lleva a cabo sobre 22 representantes de las partes interesadas del trabajo de guardia de seguridad en el nor-oriente de Colombia. Posteriormente, mediante un análisis de contenido de aproximación directa, se obtiene un planteamiento estructurado del perfil respectivo. El estudio encuentra que los requerimientos del trabajo de guardia de seguridad trascienden los conocimientos y habilidades básicas en normativa, atención y manejo de armas, ya que resulta primordial poseer una tendencia hacia una personalidad escrupulosa, además de requerir una serie de aptitudes emocionales específicas para ejercer adecuadamente el trabajo respectivo.
Aleksandr Kulikov, Pavel Ilyushin, Konstantin Suslov
et al.
This paper analyzes the key defining features of modern electric power distribution networks of industrial enterprises. It is shown that the requirements set by industrial enterprises with respect to power quality parameters (PQPs) at the points of their connection to external distribution networks of utilities have been becoming increasingly strict in recent years. This is justified by the high sensitivity of critical electrical loads and distributed generation facilities to distortions of currents and voltages from a pure sine wave. Significant deviations of PQPs lead to significant damage at the consumer end due to the shutdown of electrical equipment by electrical and process protections as a result of overheating and increased wear and tear of individual elements of process lines. This necessitates the implementation of continuous monitoring systems at industrial enterprises, or sampling-based monitoring of PQPs at the boundary bus with an external distribution network. When arranging sampling-based monitoring of PQPs at certain time intervals, only those parameters that are critical for specific electrical loads should be calculated. We provide a rationale for the transition from the monitoring of a set of individual PQPs to a generalized PQP with the arrangement of simultaneous monitoring of several parameters. The joint use of the results of simulation and data from PQP monitoring systems for PQP analysis using the sampling-based procedure produces the desired effect. We present an example of a sequential decision-making process in the analysis of a generalized PQP based on Wald’s sequential analysis procedure. This technique makes it possible to adapt the PQP monitoring procedure to the features of a specific power distribution network of an industrial enterprise. We present the structural diagram of the device developed by the authors, which implements the sampling-based monitoring procedure of the generalized PQP. We put forward an approach for determining the average number of sampling data points required to make a decision about the power quality in the implementation of the sequential analysis procedure.
Engineering machinery, tools, and implements, Technological innovations. Automation
Hard X-/soft Gamma-ray astronomy (> 100 keV) is a crucial field for the study of important astrophysical phenomena such as the 511 keV positron annihilation line in the Galactic center region and its origin, gamma-ray bursts, soft gamma-ray repeaters, nuclear lines from SN explosions and more. However, several key questions in this field require sensitivity and angular resolution that are hardly achievable with present technology. A new generation of instruments suitable to focus hard X-/soft Gamma-rays is necessary to overcome the technological limitations of current direct-viewing telescopes. One solution is using Laue lenses based on Bragg's diffraction in a transmission configuration. To date, this technology is in an advanced stage of development and further efforts are being made in order to significantly increase its technology readiness level (TRL). To this end, massive production of suitable crystals is required, as well as an improvement of the capability of their alignment. Such a technological improvement could be exploited in stratospheric balloon experiments and, ultimately, in space missions with a telescope of about 20 m focal length, capable of focusing over a broad energy pass-band. We present the latest technological developments of the TRILL (Technological Readiness Increase for Laue Lenses) project, supported by ASI, devoted to the advancement of the technological readiness of Laue lenses. We show the method we developed for preparing suitable bent Germanium and Silicon crystals and the latest advancements in crystals alignment technology.
Fatemeh Zarei, Jan Ryckebusch, Koen Schoors
et al.
Innovation is fundamental for development and provides a competitive advantage for societies. It is the process of creating more complex technologies, ideas, or protocols from existing ones. While innovation may be created by single agents (i.e. individuals or organisations), it is often a result of social interactions between agents exchanging and combining complementary expertise and perspectives. The structure of social networks impacts this knowledge exchange process. To study the role of social network structures on the creation of new technologies, we design an evolutionary mechanistic model combining self-creation and social learning. We find that social heterogeneity allows agents to leverage the benefits of diversity and to develop technologies of higher complexity. Social heterogeneity, however, reduces the group ability to innovate. Not only the social structure but also the openness of agents to collaborate affect innovation. We find that interdisciplinary interactions lead to more complex technologies benefiting the entire group but also increase the inequality in the innovation output. Lower openness to interdisciplinary collaborations may be compensated by a higher ability to collaborate with multiple peers, but low openness also neutralises the intrinsic benefits of network heterogeneity. Our findings indicate that social network heterogeneity has contrasting effects on microscopic (local) and macroscopic (group) levels, suggesting that the emergence of innovation leaders may suppress the overall group performance.
Funding information Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Grant/Award Number: EP/ R009902/1; Pharma Innovation Platform Singapore; Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise; National Research Foundation Abstract Product design for formulations is an active and challenging area of research. The new challenges of a fast-paced market, products of increasing complexity, and practical translation of sustainability paradigms require to re-examine the existing theoretical frameworks to include the advantages deriving from the new reality of digitalization of business and research. In this work, we review the existing approaches, clearly stating the role of automation and machine-learning-guided optimization in the broader framework. Moving from this, we review the state of the art of automated hardware and software for formulated product design, and identify the open challenges for future research. Perspectives are given on the emerging fields of automated discovery, scale-up, and multistage optimization, and a unitary picture of the existing connections is provided, in the general context of a completely digital R&D workflow.