María Isabel Rivas Ginel, Janiça Hackenbuchner, Alina Secară
et al.
This paper examines how value is constructed and negotiated in today's increasingly automated language and translation industry. Drawing on interview data from twenty-nine industry stakeholders collected within the LT-LiDER project, the study analyses how human value, technological value, efficiency, and adaptability are articulated across different professional roles. Using Chesterman's framework of translation ethics and associated values as an analytical lens, the paper shows that efficiency-oriented technological values aligned with the ethics of service have become baseline expectations in automated production environments, where speed, scalability, and deliverability dominate evaluation criteria. At the same time, human value is not displaced but repositioned, emerging primarily through expertise, oversight, accountability, and contextual judgment embedded within technology-mediated workflows. A central finding is the prominence of adaptability as a mediating value linking human and technological domains. Adaptability is constructed as a core professional requirement, reflecting expectations that translators continuously adjust their skills, roles, and identities in response to evolving tools and organisational demands. The paper argues that automation reshapes rather than replaces translation value, creating an interdependent configuration in which technological efficiency enables human communicative work.
Abstract This study aims to evaluate the construction project performance by the earned value management system in the Amhara Water Works construction enterprise. The study was conducted using a questionnaire survey, interviews, and document review at Amhara Water Works Construction Enterprise projects. The study was conducted on 12 projects to measure project performance. A total of 44 respondents participated in the quantitative study and six in qualitative data. The study focused on the assessment of the practice of the earned value management system and factors that hinder its implementation in construction. Based on the study, one project was incurred over cost, two projects were completed at planned cost, and the other three were performed under the budget. These projects were needed over cost to complete the project due to improper resource planning, inflation, and poor employee management. Poor managers' commitment to practicing EVMS, a lack of support from team members, and a lack of common understanding and proper training are the main barriers hindering the practice of EVMS. Training project practitioners have a vital role in implementing an earned value management system. An earned value management system enables project managers to track potential cost challenges and time delays earlier than project progress. It is also vital to enhance the communication between contract parties and develop the productivity of machineries and labour by optimizing resource allocation. Integrating EVMS with BIM and lean construction concepts is vital to boost the Ethiopian construction industry.
Katharina Ledebur. Ladislav Bartuska, Klaus Friesenbichler, Peter Klimek
The automotive industry is undergoing transformation, driven by the electrification of powertrains, the rise of software-defined vehicles, and the adoption of circular economy concepts. These trends blur the boundaries between the automotive sector and other industries. Unlike internal combustion engine (ICE) production, where mechanical capabilities dominated, competitiveness in electric vehicle (EV) production increasingly depends on expertise in electronics, batteries, and software. This study investigates whether and how firms' ability to leverage cross-industry diversification contributes to competitive advantage. We develop a country-level product space covering all industries and an industry-specific product space covering over 900 automotive components. This allows us to identify clusters of parts that are exported together, revealing shared manufacturing capabilities. Closeness centrality in the country-level product space, rather than simple proximity, is a strong predictor of where new comparative advantages are likely to emerge. We examine this relationship across industrial sectors to establish patterns of path dependency, diversification and capability formation, and then focus on the EV transition. New strengths in vehicles and aluminium products in the EU are expected to generate 5 and 4.6 times more EV-specific strengths, respectively, than other EV-relevant sectors over the next decade, compared to only 1.6 and 4.5 new strengths in already diversified China. Countries such as South Korea, China, the US and Canada show strong potential for diversification into EV-related products, while established producers in the EU are likely to come under pressure. These findings suggest that the success of the automotive transformation depends on regions' ability to mobilize existing industrial capabilities, particularly in sectors such as machinery and electronic equipment.
As labor shortages and productivity stagnation increasingly challenge the construction industry, automation has become essential for sustainable infrastructure development. This paper presents an autonomous payload transportation system as an initial step toward fully unmanned construction sites. Our system, based on the CD110R-3 crawler carrier, integrates autonomous navigation, fleet management, and GNSS-based localization to facilitate material transport in construction site environments. While the current system does not yet incorporate dynamic environment adaptation algorithms, we have begun fundamental investigations into external-sensor based perception and mapping system. Preliminary results highlight the potential challenges, including navigation in evolving terrain, environmental perception under construction-specific conditions, and sensor placement optimization for improving autonomy and efficiency. Looking forward, we envision a construction ecosystem where collaborative autonomous agents dynamically adapt to site conditions, optimizing workflow and reducing human intervention. This paper provides foundational insights into the future of robotics-driven construction automation and identifies critical areas for further technological development.
The tech industry's shifting landscape and the growing precarity of its labor force have spurred unionization efforts among tech workers. These workers turn to collective action to improve their working conditions and to protest unethical practices within their workplaces. To better understand this movement, we interviewed 44 U.S.-based tech worker-organizers to examine their motivations, strategies, challenges, and future visions for labor organizing. These workers included engineers, product managers, customer support specialists, QA analysts, logistics workers, gig workers, and union staff organizers. Our findings reveal that, contrary to popular narratives of prestige and privilege within the tech industry, tech workers face fragmented and unstable work environments which contribute to their disempowerment and hinder their organizing efforts. Despite these difficulties, organizers are laying the groundwork for a more resilient tech worker movement through community building and expanding political consciousness. By situating these dynamics within broader structural and ideological forces, we identify ways for the CSCW community to build solidarity with tech workers who are materially transforming our field through their organizing efforts.
Vera A. Matveeva, Maria A. Chukaeva, Aleksandra I. Semenova
The paper presents the results of experimental research into the recovery of Fe-Al coagulant from iron ore tailings (IOTs). The variables investigated in the laboratory tests included sulphuric acid concentration, temperature, leaching time, solid/liquid phase ratio (S:L) and the presence of stirring. The experiment determined the composition of the coagulant and the solid residue after leaching. The maximum iron content in the solution after leaching was obtained using 40 % H2SO4 at a temperature of 100 °C (or with stirring at 75 °C) and a contact time of 60 minutes. In this case, the iron yield was at the level of 25 % of the total content in the iron ore tailings. Chemical analysis of the solution obtained after leaching showed Fe and Al sulphate contents of 11 and 2 % respectively. In the next step, the efficiency of the coagulant was evaluated on model solutions of colour. The experimental results showed that the coagulant obtained from the iron ore tailings can be used for wastewater treatment in a wide pH range from 4 to 12 pH units. The solid residue after leaching is a fine-grained powder rich in silica, which can potentially be used as an artificial raw material in the construction industry. The research carried out in this thesis has shown that the extraction of coagulants from iron ore tailings can be considered as a way to extend the production chain of iron ore mining and to minimise the amount of tailings to be stored in tailing ponds. The technical solution presented in this work allows to comprehensively solve the problem of environmental protection by creating new target products for wastewater treatment from IOTs.
National parks are rare natural resources that provide refuges for wildlife, harmonious ecology, and leisure activities. These protected areas, which include a variety of ecosystems, habitats for wildlife, and geological wonders, have been set aside to preserve and highlight the beauty of the natural world. Under the goals of carbon neutrality of all countries in the world, it is urgently need to pay attention to the relationship between climate change and protected natural resources. This study uses the Xianju pilot national park as an example to identify key activities that increase carbon absorptions and reduce carbon emissions, calculate the carbon sink of national park construction, and discuss whether tourism industry can achieve low carbon or even negative emissions based on the analysis of low-carbon measures of national parks. Using the Mento-Carlo method, we find that the total carbon sink in Xianju National Park is around 70832–97930 tons CO2, which accounts for about 10 % of Xianju County's total carbon emissions. This illustrates that the development of tourism has indeed brought benefits to the low carbon development of Xianju National Park. From the perspective of stakeholders, this paper also summarizes the stakeholders, relevant actions and policy tools for Xianju National Park to carry out low-carbon tourism. Finally, compared with the development experience of national parks in France and the United States, this paper gives policy suggestions on low-carbon development of Xianju National Park, and proposes to mobilize stakeholders to participate in low-carbon tourism and low-carbon governance.
With the rapid development of China’s urbanization process and the promotion of the ‘double carbon’ strategy, green buildings will become an inevitable trend in the future development of the construction industry. Among the various building evaluation criteria, it is important to discuss how to promote the development of green buildings more efficiently and adaptively according to the characteristics of personnel needs. This study constructed a questionnaire to assess building use satisfaction based on China’s national standards. Field research was conducted on 23 projects in six cities in Hubei Province, China, and a total of 2251 questionnaires were collected. The survey evaluated satisfaction with the current use of green buildings across different age groups and genders. A new satisfaction evaluation model is constructed through fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to provide guidance for the differentiated development of green buildings in different cities.
Peter Klimek, Maximilian Hess, Markus Gerschberger
et al.
The steel industry is a major contributor to CO2 emissions, accounting for 7% of global emissions. The European steel industry is seeking to reduce its emissions by increasing the use of electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which can produce steel from scrap, marking a major shift towards a circular steel economy. Here, we show by combining trade with business intelligence data that this shift requires a deep restructuring of the global and European scrap trade, as well as a substantial scaling of the underlying business ecosystem. We find that the scrap imports of European countries with major EAF installations have steadily decreased since 2007 while globally scrap trade started to increase recently. Our statistical modelling shows that every 1,000 tonnes of EAF capacity installed is associated with an increase in annual imports of 550 tonnes and a decrease in annual exports of 1,000 tonnes of scrap, suggesting increased competition for scrap metal as countries ramp up their EAF capacity. Furthermore, each scrap company enables an increase of around 79,000 tonnes of EAF-based steel production per year in the EU. Taking these relations as causal and extrapolating to the currently planned EAF capacity, we find that an additional 730 (SD 140) companies might be required, employing about 35,000 people (IQR 29,000-50,000) and generating an additional estimated turnover of USD 35 billion (IQR 27-48). Our results thus suggest that scrap metal is likely to become a strategic resource. They highlight the need for a massive restructuring of the industry's supply networks and identify the resulting growth opportunities for companies.
This paper argues for the strategic treatment of artificial intelligence as a key industry within broader industrial policy framework of Pakistan, underscoring the importance of aligning it with national goals such as economic resilience and preservation of autonomy. The paper starts with defining industrial policy as a set of targeted government interventions to shape specific sectors for strategic outcomes and argues for its application to AI in Pakistan due to its huge potential, the risks of unregulated adoption, and prevailing market inefficiencies. The paper conceptualizes AI as a layered ecosystem, comprising foundational infrastructure, core computing, development platforms, and service and product layers, supported by education, government policy, and research and development. The analysis highlights that AI sector of Pakistan is predominantly service oriented, with limited product innovation and dependence on foreign technologies, posing risks to economic independence, national security, and employment. To address these challenges, the paper recommends educational reforms, support for local AI product development, initiatives for indigenous cloud and hardware capabilities, and public-private collaborations on foundational models. Additionally, it advocates for public procurement policies and infrastructure incentives to foster local solutions and reduce reliance on foreign providers. This strategy aims to position Pakistan as a competitive, autonomous player in the global AI ecosystem.
An important role in the development of global international tourism is played by business tourism, or corporate tourism, aimed at meeting the needs of business travelers and forming specific trends in the development of the global tourism industry. The study of problems and prospects for the development of the global market of business tourism is aimed at the understanding by market players of its dynamics and the adoption of effective strategic solutions for its future development. The subject of research in the article is the theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of the business tourism global market development. The goal is to analyze the current state and identify trends and prospects for the business tourism global market development. The objective is to research the problems and prospects for the business tourism global market development. General scientific methods are used: systematic analysis - to determine the features of the business tourism global market development, comparative analysis - in the analysis of existing approaches to the definition of business tourism. The following results were obtained: based on the analysis of the dynamics of changes in the main indicators of the business tourism global market, the main problematic aspects and trends of its development were determined. Conclusions: business tourism is one of the most relevant industries for the tourism destination development, as it can bring significant income to the local budget. The process of business tourism development requires prior planning and preparation, including the construction or restoration of infrastructure, which requires cooperation between enterprises of different industries.
Following the ongoing advancement of the communication industry, data traffic and information have achieved rapid growth. As the core technology of contemporary mobile communication, 5G technology can not only meet the transportation needs of massive data traffic but also be expanded to various industries, expanding the development field of intelligent communication and realizing further improvement of production efficiency. At present, 5G mobile communication technology is widely used in communication engineering, providing effective technical support for engineering construction and operation. However, while the progress of the times brings innovation and refinement in mobile communication technology, it also increases the complexity of market development, in this context, the practical application of 5G technology in communication engineering is limited, which limits the development of both. In order to solve this dilemma, this paper integrated the communication method of the robot controller, and based on the analysis of the characteristics and application status of mobile communication technology, the application of 5G technology in communication engineering was deeply studied. In order to prove the effect of the robot controller communication method, in this paper, simulation experiments were carried out to analyze the application effect of 5G in communication engineering from three aspects of throughput rate, energy efficiency, and signal suppression effect and to compare it with traditional communication methods. The results of the signal suppression experiment showed that the average peak value of the signal under the traditional communication method was 18.134 dB, and the average peak value of the signal under the method in this paper was 11.296 dB, which showed that the 5G technology integrating the communication method of the robot controller is more practical in communication engineering.
Feature construction can contribute to comprehensibility and performance of machine learning models. Unfortunately, it usually requires exhaustive search in the attribute space or time-consuming human involvement to generate meaningful features. We propose a novel heuristic approach for reducing the search space based on aggregation of instance-based explanations of predictive models. The proposed Explainable Feature Construction (EFC) methodology identifies groups of co-occurring attributes exposed by popular explanation methods, such as IME and SHAP. We empirically show that reducing the search to these groups significantly reduces the time of feature construction using logical, relational, Cartesian, numerical, and threshold num-of-N and X-of-N constructive operators. An analysis on 10 transparent synthetic datasets shows that EFC effectively identifies informative groups of attributes and constructs relevant features. Using 30 real-world classification datasets, we show significant improvements in classification accuracy for several classifiers and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed feature construction even for large datasets. Finally, EFC generated interpretable features on a real-world problem from the financial industry, which were confirmed by a domain expert.
Ivana Šandrk Nukić, Josipa Matotek, Zlata Dolaček-Alduk
Leadership has been widely studied both in business schools and by scholars. However, little attention has been given to leadership specifics in project-based organizations, especially in the construction industry. Aiming to decrease the gap in aforementioned body of knowledge, this article intended to contribute by identifying competences that are crucial to the success of project management as well as by revealing their manifestation in future construction project engineers.
Therefore, theoretical framework of this article offers a literature review on variety of leadership theories. Building onto that, empirical part investigated importance of different leader competences, as perceived by future project managers, being graduate civil engineering students.
The use of the mixed method research has been chosen as the most appropriate for this study. It combined the use of qualitative methods with survey obtained data based on a Likert scale. In respect of that, theoretical framework was constructed relying on the research of secondary data sources, whilst empirical part data were processed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests.
Findings show that there are no significant differences in opinion among students in respect of their gender and almost none in respect of study course. The lowest rated competence concerns indecisiveness, suggesting high level of students' self-confidence and self-awareness. The highest rated competence indicates students' tendency to have things under control. Such reluctance toward risk taking has been found as potentially harmful for their personal and professional growth. Although their propensity to risk is expected to increase with experience, fostering emotional intelligence related competences has been advised as a tool of smarter risk perception.
Nguyen Van Tam, Tsunemi Watanabe, Nguyen Luong Hai
Work autonomy (WA) is an important factor in improving work performance, yet such freedom and its role in construction workforce management have rarely been discussed. To address this gap, this study quantitatively measured the WA of onsite construction workers in Vietnam, developed a new model by which to discover the function of WA in increasing construction labour productivity (CLP) and determined the ways through which WA can be cultivated and maintained. The WA of 215 workers was measured using the relative autonomy index (RAI) and an aggregated motivation index (AMI) that was developed in this research. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to examine the effects of WA on CLP. The SEM results indicated that WA positively and significantly contributed to CLP. Promoting WA required paying attention to the competence and relatedness satisfaction of the workers. Furthermore, latent and potentially extensive labour management-related problems were identified, namely, unsuccessful career development and the underutilisation of experienced workers. Three meaningful policy recommendations were put forward to solve the aforementioned problems and improve CLP: the effective organisation of crew members, the improvement of training and the improvement of site amenities. This study expands theoretical knowledge by (1) developing and justifying the AMI as an auxiliary to conventional indices, (2) proposing five conditions necessary for optimal scoring in WA measurement and (3) developing a motivation matrix that identifies and distinguishes the attributes of different groups. In practical terms, the findings support the introduction of reasonable policies that advance the career development of workers, promote WA and improve CLP. These achievements, in turn, significantly advance effective and sustainable construction workforce management.
Debugging is arguably among the most difficult and extremely time consuming tasks of the software development life cycle. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that researchers have invested a considerable amount of effort in developing automated techniques and tools to support developers excel in these tasks. Despite the significant advances, including demonstrations of usefulness, efficacy, and efficiency, these techniques are yet to find their way into industrial adoption. In this paper, we reflect upon the commercialization efforts of a particular automated debugging technique and lay down potential reasons for lack of success stories as well as ideas to move forward.
Purpose Some initiatives have been proposed and implemented to facilitate successful project delivery and improve coordination and collaboration in the design, construction and management phases of project development. Building information modeling (BIM) is one of those initiatives that, though recent, however, have made a significant impact on the construction industry in some countries. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper aims to explore the critical success factors for BIM implementation in the architecture, engineering and construction industry of Hong Kong through a mixed research method (structured empirical questionnaire survey and expert interviews). Findings The most influential success factor relates to the client’s acceptance with BIM projects, proper organizational structure to support a BIM system within the company and financial aid from the government to set up the BIM system. The expert interviewees also stressed the need for willingness from project staff members to learn and utilize BIM. Practical implications This study has contributed to the establishment of more practical and effective strategies for ensuring full adoption of BIM in Hong Kong. Practical recommendations for enhancing BIM adoption in the construction industry were highlighted. Originality/value This study has established the key drivers leading to the success of BIM implementation in Hong Kong, as well as in the perspective of construction experts on how to enhance its uptake in construction projects.