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Technology enabled care (TEC) equipment has been a part of adult social care (ASC) in most areas of the UK for decades. More recently, commissioners have been exploring mainstream technologies’ potential to support older people living in the community. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges and opportunities presented by the growing application of mainstream technologies in ASC against the backdrop of the planned UK-wide switchover from analogue to digital telecommunications by 2025.

This general review uses research evidence, literature, industry standards and policy documents to address the challenges presented by the UK’s digital switchover and the potential role of mainstream technologies such as “smart speakers” in ASC.

The use of digital TEC and mainstream devices in ASC brings challenges related to access to reliable internet connections in parts of the UK; the need to update TEC safety standards; the ethics, privacy and data security measures that ensure digital products and services safeguard the interests of users; and evidence and commissioning practice.

This general review explores emerging areas of policy and research related to the planned UK digital switchover and the use of mainstream technologies in ASC. It offers a conceptual approach and suggests ways forward for research, regulatory and commissioning agendas.

The paper aimed to summarize innovative rules of Chinese manufacturing enterprises, and put forward some insights in optimal allocation of innovation resources and enhancing the capability of indigenous innovation, so as to overcome the innovation dilemma.

Having diagnosed the current research of innovation flows, the authors defined the concept and stated characteristics of mainstream and new‐stream innovation. Innovation life cycle theory and technology trajectory theory were used to map two evolution patterns of mainstream and new‐stream innovation. It took weeks to stay in firms to obtain original data and interview managers, engineers, and mechanists. From the case study the authors proposed the improvement projects and opportunities for firms to overcome the “innovation dilemma”.

In the indigenous innovation process, enterprises should breed new‐stream innovation as they strengthen the mainstream innovation, view the new‐stream technology as the innovation direction, and fulfill the constant innovation in the convergent innovation and replace evolution process. Meanwhile, enterprises should take precautions both to expand and develop, and fulfill technology transition and innovation upgrade through convergent innovation. Furthermore, firms' convergent innovation, which will finally achieve the “projects‐talents‐products‐markets” collaborative innovation, should be clear about target market and project‐oriented, take the product as the carrier, and be committed to cultivate creative talents and innovative teams.

This paper enriches the existing theory on indigenous innovation by introducing the new concept of mainstream and new‐stream innovation. The findings would help firms to jump out from the innovation morass.

Disruptive technology and innovation represent complex conflicts in nature. This paper aims to present an analytical review of the heterogeneity and conflicts that exist in the disruptive technology/innovation between the eastern and western countries using Chinese high-speed railways to illustrate disruptive innovation.

The emerging economy brings about other theoretical and practical conflicts. Qualitative analysis is conducted on Chinese high-speed railways to assess the validity of innovation characteristics using Professor Clayton M. Christensen’s theories of disruptive technology/innovation and conflict. The authors explore the conflicts that can accompany the introduction of disruptive technologies in the current platform and how appropriately this specific context can lessen these conflicts.

The study revealed that Christensen’s theories could be applied 100per cent to the Chinese context if the western disruptive innovation theory can meet the practical requirements of Chinese disruptive technology/innovation. Qualitative analysis showed that Chinese high-speed railways had experienced greater success with disruptive innovation mechanism. The authors conclude that while the Chinese market is critical in shaping the kind of innovations that are emerging there, many disruptive technologies/innovations in China have their roots in the low-end market and new market. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

There exists a research gap in the literature on the Chinese context. Conflict of disruptive technology and innovation within China and the characteristics of the Chinese high-speed railway prompt further research for scholars and practitioners.

This chapter describes assistive technology (AT) and inclusive education and examines the juncture where AT works to support the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream settings, including classrooms, home and community settings. AT consists of a range of devices and services which work to support students to augment existing abilities, compensate for or bypass difficulties they may experience. Some AT has been specifically developed for functional use, while other, particularly emerging technology, can be adapted for, or used, in an assistive capacity. Where the AT promotes social interaction, curriculum access and the ability to express understanding, there is the potential for heightened inclusion in the classroom.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the accessibility of Apple’s iPad. The discussion focusses on the accessibility of this technology to children and young people with cerebral palsy (CP), reviewing a range of literature. Terms including “inclusion” are debated alongside the practicalities associated with implementing assistive technologies in educational settings. The benefits of technology for those with CP are explored, with examples including augmentative and alternative communication systems. The current suitability of the iPad for children and young people with CP is discussed, alongside ways in which eye-gaze technology may be employed to increase inclusivity.

The paper provides a consideration of multiple methods for evaluating the inclusivity of mainstream technologies. It is contended that the universal design for learning (UDL) principles are likely to be the most appropriate, due to their applicability to educational settings. Furthermore, the UDL principles acknowledge the heterogeneity of those with CP, and this is suggested to be useful due to its ability to be integrated alongside some of the principles of assistive technology.

The discussion contends that Apple’s iPad may be redesigned in order to meet the needs of users with CP. Eye-gaze technology is suggested as one way to include this group of users, due to the altered interface interaction. Despite some challenges with the eye-gaze technology, the paper suggests that this alteration to the iPad may result in increased accessibility not only for those with CP, but also others with fine motor difficulties. It is concluded that the integration of eye-gaze technology with Apple’s iPad may be a potential avenue for future investigation.

By altering the interface interaction on Apple’s iPad, the device may be more accessible to users with fine motor difficulties, such as those with CP. It is suggested that the paper may inspire future research concerning the practicalities of integrating eye-gaze technology on a small, portable device.

Those who are of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have access to assistive technologies; the cost of Apple’s devices is relatively higher than those produced by other technology companies, confining their availability to wealthier consumers. This may also lead to a divide in inclusive technical capital (Hayhoe, 2015), whereby wealthier users may have an increased potential to access inclusive assistive technologies and thus increase their capital.

The paper integrates a discussion of the UDL principles with their application to both assistive technologies and educational settings. It is speculated that this paper may be valuable to those researching in the field of assistive technologies, who may build upon the present discussion with a research study. It is also anticipated that the consideration of the use of the iPad for children and young people with CP may be of use to those working in education who wish to integrate technology into the education of those with a range of special educational needs.

Disruptive technologies often disrupt the careers of middle-skilled workers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate career transition strategies of middle-skilled workers that partially continue or expand their careers under the condition of disruptive technologies.

This paper established a conceptual framework of career transition strategies for middle-skilled workers by integrating the existing studies of disruptive technologies, technological trajectory transition, boundaryless and protean careers, and careers as repositories of knowledge.

The authors proposed three types of career transition strategies to partially prolong middle-skilled workers’ careers, namely, industry-oriented transition strategy which refers to a transfer to other occupations in the original industry, technology-oriented transition strategy which refers to a transfer to occupations with original technical skills in other industries, and comprehensive transition strategy which refers to a transfer to other occupations in the related industries. Further, this paper discusses the external conditions and individual competencies for each career transition strategy, and timing for implementing a career transition strategy from the perspective of the technology life cycle.

This paper focused on sustainable careers of middle-skilled workers under the condition of disruptive technologies, which received very little attention from the current literature. The findings also suggested for middle-skilled workers to develop a sustainable or long-term career in the current era of many disruptive technologies. The findings may also imply on how firms and government should contribute to help workers on handling scenarios of technological disruption.

This paper aims to address the broad question of how organizations capture value from foresight exercises. Through a comparative case analysis, this paper looks at what firms do to make the information usable and create value. It explores factors that cause different firms to respond differently to the same trends. It analyzes the passenger car segment of the automobile industry and the response of six major firms to fossil fuel and changing environmental regulations through an analysis of their policies and strategic activities, such as new product development. It finds foresight to be an important link between firm capabilities and environmental changes.

This paper adopts the case approach to capture the linkage between the issue and the context (Yin, 1994) and uses multiple cases to explore the variables by comparing and contrasting the cases on key aspects (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). As the paper ' s objective is to understand the similarities and differences between dominant firms in the sector, it chooses through theoretical sampling, six firms that have a presence in all the major regions of the world – two each from the USA, Europe and Japan – Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota and Honda. This sample represents the firms and regions traditionally strong in the passenger car industry.

Thus, it is seen that the relationship that was posited in the conceptual model between the goal of the firms, the vision of the future and the nature of products and approach to technology/competence development seems to be valid. However, in addition, the paper perceives that some additional linkages that link between foresight and the goals and vision of the future seem to be influenced by the extent of uncertainty. In addition, the decisions regarding portfolio of products and approaches to technology and competence development seem to be also influenced by the perception of existing competencies and the external competitive context.

This paper was based on multiple cases created out of secondary information, hence the constructs used are those which are perceived and stated.

The paper could help firms understand decisions related to technology choices in field involving high levels of uncertainty and competition.

This paper could improve learning processes from foresight exercises, and enable strategic decisions to be taken on these.

Thus, this paper has explored the linkages between what firms perceive and state, and what is reflected in their actions. It has looked at this linkage from the perspective of foresight, and the strategic perspective of the firm. It has come up with additional issues and questions that influence this relationship. These can inform future research in this domain.

Disadvantaged regions in India suffer from various forms of problems aggravated by constraints of accessibility. This paper aims to conceptualize innovations as solutions to the problem at grassroots.

This paper tries to bridge empirical gaps in conceptualization of innovations at grassroots with the application of both empirical and theoretical methods.

Grassroots innovation is an important instrument to solve such problems in these regions, where appropriate solution is not developed by the government instrument or private agencies (market) in general with various forms of value creation.

This paper tries to bridge empirical gaps in conceptualization of innovations at grassroots.

Based on the resource bricolage theory, we investigate the impact of proactive market orientation and responsive market orientation on firms’ disruptive green innovation. We also examine the impact of resource bricolage on disruptive green innovation and the mediating role of resource bricolage.

Quantitative data were collected from 232 firms in China. Structural equation modelling was used to test hypotheses.

The result show that proactive market orientation had positive effect on firm’s disruptive green innovation, whereas responsive market orientation had negative effect on firm’s disruptive green innovation. In addition, resource bricolage positively promotes firm’s disruptive green innovation. Resource bricolage played a mediating role between proactive market orientation and disruptive green innovation. Resource bricolage had a suppressing effect between responsive market orientation and disruptive green innovation.

This study makes up for the deficiency of the existing research on the relationship between market orientation and enterprise disruptive green innovation, improves the guidance mechanism of disruptive green innovation.