Why cities need economic intelligenceThe economies of Europe’s cities are changingfast, and it is not easy to predict which segmentsof the local economy will grow and which oneswill decline. Yet, cities must make decisions as towhere to invest, and face a number of questionsthat are difficultto answer:Where dowe putour bets? Should we go for biotech, ICT, or anyother sector that may have growth potential?Do we want to attract large foreign companies,or rather support our local indigenous smallerfirms, ormustwe promotethestart-up scene?Or is it better not to go for any particularindustry but just improve the quality of lifein the city, hoping that this will help to retainskilled people and attract high tech firms?
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The aim of this study was to understand the motives for using the Internet, and its associations with users' attitudes, social values, and relational involvement. Also, this study attempted to crossculturally compare the difference in the pattern of motives and the associations among three countries ' the US, the Netherlands, and S. Korea. The design of methods was based on examination and revision of uses and gratification approach toward Internet users. Findings from factor analysis revealed that information seeking and Self-Improvement were the dominant and common reasons for using the Internet across three countries. The differences in the composition of motives in each country were also reported. Strong correlations across countries were found between all the motives and satisfaction of the Internet. Expectation and positive evaluation of the Internet were also important attitudes associated with Internet use motives. Postmaterialist value showed strong association with motives of information seeking and Self-Improvement. Community involvement was significantly associated with Internet use motives in Korean users.
Social media zijn momenteel het gesprek van de dag. In slechts enkele jaren tijd hebben social media sites als YouTube, Facebook en LinkedIn een miljoenenpubliek aan zich gebonden. En het aantal consumenten en bedrijven dat gebruik maakt van deze online platformen groeit nog steeds sterk. Hoewel er dagelijks nieuwe cijfers verschijnen over het gebruik van social media is er vooralsnog weinig bekend over de adoptie van social media door bedrijven. Middels dit boek willen de onderzoekers van het lectoraat Online Ondernemen van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam een bijdrage leveren aan het opvullen van deze kennisleemte door het social media gebruik binnen de detailhandel in Nederland in kaart te brengen. Het boek bevat de resultaten van een onderzoek naar gebruik van de social media sites Hyves, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, weblogs, Twitter en fora door (web)winkels en consumenten in Nederland. Welke social media sites worden veel en welke weinig gebruikt door (web)winkels en consumenten in Nederland? Wat zijn de kenmerken van de (web)winkels en consumenten die voorop lopen en achterblijven in het gebruik van social media platformen? In hoeverre zijn Nederlanders geïnteresseerd in het volgen van commerciële bedrijven via social media? Hoeveel volgers hebben (web)winkels op Hyves, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube en Twitter? Op deze en andere vragen over het gebruik van social media in de detailhandel in Nederland wordt in dit boek antwoord gegeven.
Manual labour is an important cornerstone in manufacturing and considering human factors and ergonomics is a crucial field of action from both social and economic perspective. Diverse approaches are available in research and practice, ranging from guidelines, ergonomic assessment sheets over to digitally supported workplace design or hardware oriented support technologies like exoskeletons. However, in the end those technologies, methods and tools put the working task in focus and just aim to make manufacturing “less bad” with reducing ergonomic loads as much as possible. The proposed project “Human Centered Smart Factories: design for wellbeing for future manufacturing” wants to overcome this conventional paradigm and considers a more proactive and future oriented perspective. The underlying vision of the project is a workplace design for wellbeing that makes labor intensive manufacturing not just less bad but aims to provide positive contributions to physiological and mental health of workers. This shall be achieved through a human centered technology approach and utilizing advanced opportunities of smart industry technologies and methods within a cyber physical system setup. Finally, the goal is to develop smart, shape-changing workstations that self-adapt to the unique and personal, physical and cognitive needs of a worker. The workstations are responsive, they interact in real time, and promote dynamic activities and varying physical exertion through understanding the context of work. Consequently, the project follows a clear interdisciplinary approach and brings together disciplines like production engineering, human interaction design, creative design techniques and social impact assessment. Developments take place in an industrial scale test bed at the University of Twente but also within an industrial manufacturing factory. Through the human centered design of adaptive workplaces, the project contributes to a more inclusive and healthier society. This has also positive effects from both national (e.g. relieve of health system) as well as individual company perspective (e.g. less costs due to worker illness, higher motivation and productivity). Even more, the proposal offers new business opportunities through selling products and/or services related to the developed approach. To tap those potentials, an appropriate utilization of the results is a key concern . The involved manufacturing company van Raam will be the prototypical implementation partner and serve as critical proof of concept partner. Given their openness, connections and broad range of processes they are also an ideal role model for further manufacturing companies. ErgoS and Ergo Design are involved as methodological/technological partners that deal with industrial engineering and ergonomic design of workplace on a daily base. Thus, they are crucial to critically reflect wider applicability and innovativeness of the developed solutions. Both companies also serve as multiplicator while utilizing promising technologies and methods in their work. Universities and universities of applied sciences utilize results through scientific publications and as base for further research. They also ensure the transfer to education as an important leverage to inspire and train future engineers towards wellbeing design of workplaces.
How can European migration, between countries and within countries between regions, contribute to the development of vulnerable regions in Europe? This is the central question of project Premium_EU (Policy REcommendations to Maximise the beneficial Impact of Unexplored Mobilities in and beyond the European Union), which is financed by Horizon Europe.The key goal of Premium_EU is the development of a Regional Policy Dashboard for national and regional policy makers to help them in the formulation of new policies aimed at the potential of migration to enhance the development of vulnerable regions. The Dashboard combines all available knowledge of three domains in three modules: the Mobility Module, the Regional Development Effects Module, and the Policy Module.The Mobility Module includes both past trends and projections and scenarios, in addition to new mobility estimates based on data from social media usage, such as LinkedIn and Facebook. The module also includes qualitative information from case studies on specific types of mobility groups, such as Polish seasonal workers, or Turkish migrants to EU countries. These trends, projections and case studies will be summarized in a regional typology on the basis of the mobility profile of the region.In the Regional Development Effects Module all available data on regional development is summarized in a regional development typology, where regional development is interpreted much broader than economic development. Using causal models the role of regional mobility in regional development will be established.In the Policy Module all possible forms of regional policies will be collected and linked to the mobility- and regional development characteristics of the region.The Dashboard integrates these modules so that a policy maker, on the basis of the unique mobility and regional development profile of his or her region is able to make an evidence based choice out of a relevant set of policy options. Users of the Dashboard will also be able to add their experiences to the Dashboard, so that other users can benefit from their knowledge.
How the availability of residential parking facilities affects travel behaviour has received little attention. Some studies show that longer distances between home and the residential parking facility reduce the car’s modal share. However, no insight exists in the question whether a change in residential parking facilities would lead to a change in attitudes and transport mode choice of residents. Therefore, the research question the proposed research aims to answer is: to what extent do travel mode attitudes, travel behaviours (walking, cycling, bus, train, car use) and car ownership of residents change after the removal of parking spaces in residential areas? In 2020, parking spots will be removed in several areas in the city centre of Utrecht. Residents of these areas will have to park their car further away from home after the removal. We apply a mixed-methods design in order to: 1) gain insight in impacts of the removal of residential parking spots (effect evaluation), and 2) gain insight in the underlying mechanisms that may explain these changes (qualitative interviews). The results of our project are highly relevant for the municipality of Utrecht, as for other cities in the Netherlands. Having parking spaces nearby (home and/or destination) is often seen as having positive effects (for economic competitiveness). Our research can show that parking further away can also have important positive effects, namely all the beneficial effects of a modal shift from car to walking, cycling or public transport use, in terms of health, environment, use of space, and social aspects.
