Search results

To analyse the policies, posting trends and worker experiences during the pandemic, this study uses the concept of motility, i.e. workers' mobility capital, and examines how posted workers' geographical mobility, their access to and conditions of employment and social protection were impacted. The authors discuss how the measures against the pandemic undertaken at the European Union (EU) and national level have affected labour mobility, the impact these measures have had on macro trends of posting to Austria, and lastly, how the pandemic and the actions against it have influenced the lives of posted workers at the individual level.

In this article, the authors focus on the specific case of posting to Austria. The authors ask whether, and if so, how EU and national policies which came about during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the motility of posted workers, and how these workers used their mobility capital in this unfolding context. The authors address the research questions with analyses of EU and national level policies, use administrative data on posting, and individual-level data based on interviews with posted workers and public authorities.

The authors find that the Austrian government's public health and economic priorities were jointly influential on the motility of cross-border workers. The specific case of the posted workers shed new light on the limits to such a national sovereignty approach when it comes to economic interests in an increasingly interdependent European labour market. This study’s findings show that despite the access provided at the policy levels, the motility of posted workers was also affected by their individual circumstances, or competences, which produced different forms of appropriation.

The authors apply the theoretical framework of motility by studying policy developments through the element of access options and conditions, and the posting trends to Austria and worker experiences at the individual level through the lenses of appropriation and competences. The authors find that while the EU and national public policy in enhancing access options have been successful during the COVID-19 period, amelioration attempts in access conditions have not been realised as observed in our analysis of the competence and appropriation dimensions of the posted workers in Austria. This highlights the need for a more integrated approach in the study of policies by exploring beyond the national and EU level policies and focussing on the implementation and observations at the individual level.

The Cloud of Things (IoT) that refers to the integration of the Cloud Computing (CC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), has dramatically changed the way treatments are done in the ubiquitous computing world. This integration has become imperative because the important amount of data generated by IoT devices needs the CC as a storage and processing infrastructure. Unfortunately, security issues in CoT remain more critical since users and IoT devices continue to share computing as well as networking resources remotely. Moreover, preserving data privacy in such an environment is also a critical concern. Therefore, the CoT is continuously growing up security and privacy issues. This paper focused on security and privacy considerations by analyzing some potential challenges and risks that need to be resolved. To achieve that, the CoT architecture and existing applications have been investigated. Furthermore, a number of security as well as privacy concerns and issues as well as open challenges, are discussed in this work.

This paper aims to present a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experiences of a prominent robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market.

The interviewee is Russ Angold, Co-Founder and President of Ekso™ Labs. Mr Angold has a bachelor’s degree in BioResource and Agricultural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a California-registered Professional Mechanical Engineer and has two granted patents and another seven pending.

In 2004, two weeks after Mr Angold was hired by a former colleague to work on exoskeletons (Exos) at the University of California, Berkeley, one of Mr Angold’s six brothers has an accident that leaves him as an incomplete quadriplegic. This is the catalyst that eventually leads him and the company to design and create robotic Exos for medical applications in addition to military applications.

Russ Angold, via a personal tragedy, becomes a bionic entrepreneur who provides many of the concepts that shape the current inventions and intellectual property of Ekso Bionics, a pioneer in the field of robotic Exos. Ekso was selected as WIRED magazine’s number two “Most Significant Gadget of 2010”, was included in Time magazine’s “50 Best Innovations of 2010” and was also featured in Inc. Magazine as one of the “5 Big Ideas for the Next 15 Years”. Ekso is listed on the US over-the-counter QB securities.

Shrinking population can have significant negative impacts on the social and economic fabric of a city. This paper aims to understand different urban transportation policies to respond to population decline in shrinking cities by examining two case studies of urban interventions in mid-size cities in Japan.

The paper analyzes the implementation of sustainable mobility strategies in the urban transport sector in the Japanese cities of Toyama and Kanazawa, which risk having their populations significantly reduced in the next decades. The analysis is based on case study research that uses the data and information collected through desk and field research. Interviews with local actors, as well as published policy and academic documents on the case studies provided critical data and information to analyze the case studies.

Both cities have tried to make urban mobility more sustainable via different strategies. Toyama used more structural changes, called the “sticks and dumplings” approach, having land use incentives and the Light Rail Transit reinforced by bus routes as the backbone of its strategy. Kanazawa relied on a city center revitalization plan to densify residential use in the city center.

More structural interventions are necessary to change the declining of shrinking cities, mitigating some of the negative effects. City administrations need to have clear policy priorities and should not allocate their limited resources to competing policy agendas.

The study is unique as it is one of the first efforts to analyze urban transportation interventions in shrinking cities in Japan.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how women's individual differences influence urban mobility service technology-use behavior. The reduction in urban mobility is a major problem in countries with emerging economies, thus affecting both the economy and quality of life.

The theoretical approach follows the individual differences theory of gender and information technology (IDTGIT). This research combines structured interviews to understand how the use of urban mobility service technology in daily routines is perceived, questionnaires to map individual differences and user demonstrations to capture how participants used mobility applications on their cell phones.

This study shows the influence of individual characteristics on the use of mobile apps and presents five behavioral profiles of women. This article goes beyond gender segregation to also show intragender differences.

This study explains women's behavior regarding urban mobility mobile applications through the generation of five profiles. These profiles can inform public policy managers on urban mobility and provide opportunities for improving the services of companies in the urban transport service chain.

With an intragender perspective, this study identifies the influence of individual characteristics on the use of technology and suggests that contextual identity, a novel dimension of characteristics that influence technology-use behavior, is relevant in the adoption of technology by its users.

With the growing preference of the generation of ageing baby boomers to age in place, mobility has played an increasingly important role in their continued physical and mental well-being. As older adults drive less, their ability to travel freely where and when they desire becomes increasingly limited. Consequences of this include the cessation of various activities and services that are necessary for daily living. Transportation immobility is known to negatively impact the quality of life through physical, mental, and social isolation. For any initiative or policy to be put in place, an assessment of the current state of transportation services, specifically for older adults, needs to be carried out. The purpose of this paper is to assess the access to public transit in the Greater Lansing, Michigan region, which has a population density of about 2,042 people per square kilometre, available to ageing adults, especially when they have to stop driving.

The study uses a spatial approach through the use of geographical information systems to assess the transit infrastructure available for use by older adults in the Greater Lansing region.

This paper finds a considerable gap in available options and that some of these can be addressed by quite simple actions and initiatives.

Because the data were drawn from the US Census, the spatial analysis is limited to block-level data. The US Census (2011) defines blocks as “statistical areas bounded by visible features such as roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by nonvisible boundaries such as property lines, city, township, school district, county limits and short line-of-sight extensions of roads”. More detailed geographical data would have enabled a more comprehensive analysis.

This study area is typical of many small towns in the USA and underlines the need for more policy- and community-led transit initiatives to address this critical barrier to optimal ageing.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the transit infrastructure of a range of urban areas and ascertain whether it currently fulfils mobility needs of older adults who do not drive.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors informing spousal global mobility decisions within the context of sporting expatriation. Findings contribute to the non-corporate global mobility literature as well as providing an empirical enhancement to the family relatedness of work decisions framework.

In this qualitative study, in-depth interviews gave voice to 21 spouses of professional sailors who have experienced both trailing their spouse and staying behind.

Access to empathetic social support, the potential impact on children, and the spouse’s career were all found to influence the spouse’s dynamic global mobility decision making.

The study is limited by the cross-sectional nature of the research. Future longitudinal research into the impact of spousal preferences would identify the on-going effect of their decision(s) to relocate or to stay behind.

Providing organisations with an understanding of the familial issues their global talent may factor into their work mobility decisions will allow them to implement appropriate family-focussed support, irrespective of the choice to engage, or not engage, in global mobility.

By grounding the study in the under-researched sporting arena, the author contributes to the emerging non-corporate expatriate conversation. Furthermore, the family relatedness of work-related decisions framework was found to provide a useful conceptual foundation for understanding decision making in an international context.

The concept of green urban mobility has emerged as one of the best approaches for promoting environmental-friendly transportation in local communities. Green urban mobility aims to reshape public transportation system and enhance mobility, with emphasis on deploying digital technologies to promote sustainable public transportation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze existing public transportation policies by exploring how local communities can facilitate green urban mobility by developing a sociotechnical urban-based mobility model highlighting key factors that impact regions transitioning toward sustainable transportation.

This study investigates “the role of data for green urban mobility policies toward sustainable public transportation in local communities” in the form of a systematic literature review and insights from Norway. Secondary data from the literature and qualitative analysis of the national transport plan document was descriptively analyzed to provide inference.

Findings from this study provides specific measures and recommendations as actions for achieving a national green mobility practice. More important, findings from this study offers evidence from the Norwegian context to support decision-makers and stakeholders on how sustainable public transportation can be achieved in local communities. In addition, findings present data-driven initiatives being put in place to promote green urban mobility to decrease the footprint from public transportation in local municipalities.

This study provides green mobility policies as mechanisms to be used to achieve a sustainable public transportation in local communities. Practically, this study advocates for the use of data to support green urban mobility for transport providers, businesses and municipalities administration by analyzing and forecasting mobility demand and supply in terms of route, cost, time, network connection and mode choice.

This study provides factors that would promote public and nonmotorized transportation and also aid toward achieving a national green urban mobility strategy. Socially, findings from this study provides evidence on specific green urban mobility measures to be adopted by stakeholders in local communities.

This study presents a sociotechnical urban-based mobility model that is positioned between the intersection of “human behavior” and “infrastructural design” grounded on the factors that influence green urban mobility policies for local communities transiting to a sustainable public transportation. Also, this study explores key factors that may influence green urban mobility policies for local communities toward achieving a more sustainable public transportation leading to a more inclusive, equitable and accessible urban environment.

This paper aims to identify and to characterize the current evolution of “sustainable mobility” solutions. After considering this trend as an expression of eco-innovation, the authors look at the impacts of the emerging business models for the introduction of these eco-innovations, on the wider “eco-system” of mobility.

This paper uses both an abductive as well as a inductive approach of responsible innovation. To assume contextualization of responsible innovation, the authors choose eco-innovation in the mobility sector that impacts as much on business models as on industrial organizations and as a global value chain.

Eco-mobility is defined as a disruptive innovation that must be understood as a responsible innovation. The importance of social and institutional dimensions defining acceptance and uptake of the innovation is integrated in innovation characterization. Modifying the perception of eco-innovation, the e-mobility business model has to be reinvented. Doing this, impacts on global value chain of the mobility sector organization have to be analysed.

If the academic literature proposes a satisfactory analysis of the determinants of eco-innovation, the presentation of the “smart mobility” ecosystem as an open and shared innovation remains limited, compared with the question of value creation. The business models which are at present under development will deepen these questions.

This paper discusses inputs for decision-makers in climate change policy and insights for reorganization of the global value chain in the car manufacturing sector.

This paper presents solutions to reduce the negative externalities (social and environmental) of the car manufacturing sector with good possibilities of mobility, inputs to accelerate new markets and new jobs in mobility sector and adequation of mobility services to social demand.

Mixed analyses of sustainable development economics, innovation economics and organization management, and elements to build new business models in eco-mobility as a first step for the question of the adequate business models for “Smart Cities” – an application sector of functionality or service economy – have been presented.

This paper aims to examine driving retirement and its impact on the well-being of older citizens. The concepts of value creation and destruction are used to understand older consumers’ experiences with the self-service consumption activity of driving. This paper formally introduces the concept of value re-creation, as a means of restoring the overall value lost from the destruction of certain components of previous value structures. In doing so, this paper explores the different ways that resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem can be re-aligned, in order for older citizens to maintain their well-being after driving retirement.

A qualitative, individual-depth interview approach was undertaken with 26 participants living in New South Wales, Australia. The participants comprised of both drivers approaching driving retirement age, as well as driving retirees. Thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse the data.

The findings identified that emotional value in the forms of freedom, independence/autonomy and enjoyment, functional value in the forms of convenience and mobility and community value are created from driving. Driving retirement destroys certain components of this value (e.g. enjoyment and convenience) irrevocably, however freedom, independence/autonomy, mobility and social connectedness can still be maintained through re-aligning resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem. New components of value are also created from driving retirement. These include peace of mind, which contributes to the re-creation of the emotional value dimension, and cost savings, which creates the new value dimension of economic value. These changes to the value structure effectively re-create the overall value obtained by individuals when they retire from driving.

The main contribution of this work is the formal introduction of the concept of value re-creation at the overall and value dimension level, and development of a conceptual model that explains how this value re-creation can occur. The model shows the resource contributions required across all levels of the ecosystem, expanding on existing conceptualisations that have predominantly focussed on resource contributions at the individual and service levels.