Velloso, GT.
2012.
{Brain-Computer Interface (BCI): a methodological proposal to assess the impacts of medical applications in 2022}, November. Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies. 8:57-81., Number 8
AbstractTechnology assessment is essentially an approach, a collective of the systematic methods used to scientifically investigate the conditions for and the consequences of technology and technicising and to denote their societal evaluation. It is an investigation about the technological developments as well as an evaluation of its potential impacts on society. The assessment of emerging technologies, however, requires special attention. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is an emerging technology which allows for the direct communication between the brain and an external device. It is a truly direct connection, with no use of the normal output pathways of peripheral nerves and muscles, allowing for the brain to have control over objects and software without intermediates. To address these kinds of technologies at early stages of development, Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA), a member of Technology Assessment approaches, has been considered as one of the most fitting approaches. As an emerging technology, BCI is at its early stages of research and thus many challenges are still ahead. Mainstream adoption is not expected in least 10 years many challenges are yet to be overcome. Therefore, the objective of this article is to discuss and present a methodological approach to assess brain-computer interface technology considering constructive technology assessment and future oriented technology analysis as the main processes to undertake the assessment. The assessment will focus only on the non-invasive type of BCI and for medical applications in three defined areas: Communication & Control, Motor Substitution and Motor Recovery for a time horizon of 10 years, 2022. These areas were chosen based on the capability of BCI to serve as a replacement of normal neuromuscular pathways. That makes it one of the best technologies to help people in activating and controlling assistive technologies which enable communication and control of the environment. However, the real impacts o
Moniz, AB.
2012.
{Avaliação participativa de tecnologia e sustentabilidade organizacional [Participative technology assessment and organisational sustainability]}, Apr. , Number 06/2012: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractTechnology Assessment (TA) considers the knowledge on (possible ou probable) technological effects in the processes of decision making and exploring potencial technological risks with secondary effects. Besides that, it is a scientific process with the aim of contributing the public and political opinion formation relative to social aspects of science and technology. That formation is done in an interactive and communicational mode. It overtakes the legitimacy and technology conflicts problems. TA is dealing with a political process either it is related with a parliamentary level decision on the introduction or limitation of new technologies, or at the level of participative processes of entities interested in the labour sphere. In this study, it is concluded that the TA processes at the level of organization of work can aim to fulfill higher levels of productivity and performance of installed equipment, or even to increase the quality of the product or the production process. That does not mean necessarily increases in income of workers and employees. That is why the participation of these actors is also so fundamental to this process.
Moniz, AB.
2008.
{Assessing scenarios on the future of work}, November. Enterprise and Work Innovation Studies. 4:91-106., Number 4
AbstractIn this paper will be discussed different types of scenarios and the aims for using scenarios. Normaly they are being used by organisations due to the need to anticipate processes, to support policy-making and to understand the complexities of relations. Such organisations can be private companies, R&D organisations and networks of organisations, or even by some public administration institutions. Some cases will be discussed as the methods for ongoing scenario-building process (Shell Internacional). Scenarios should anticipate possible relations among social actors as in the Triple Helix Model, and is possible to develop strategic intelligence in the innovation process that would enable the construction of scenarios. Such processes can be assessed. The focus will be made in relation to the steps chosen for the WORKS scenarios. In this case is there a model of work changes that can be used for foresight? Differences according to sectors were found, as well on other dimensions. Problems of assessment are analysed with specific application to the scenario construction methods.
Sampaio, J, Moniz A.
2007.
{Assessing Human And Technological Dimensions In Virtual Team’S Operational Competences}, Sep. , Number 6942: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractCognitive task automation may lead to over trust, complacency and loss of the necessary work environment situation awareness. This is a major constraint in complex work organizations teamwork, ending up into an operational gap, between system developments and its understanding and usability, by operators. This document presents a summary of the main results of author’s research on operational decision processes and occupational competences, applied to the air traffic control operational reality. Introducing a human/technological complementary approach to virtual team’s conceptualisation, the results show there is a dimension to be followed in human/machine integration, which stands beyond interface design, and calls for a deeper human comprehension of technological agent’s structure and functionalities, which will, ultimately, require the development of an operational cognitive framework, where work processes and technological behaviour are integrated in professional competences, as he two faces of the same coin.
Machado, T, Moniz A.
2003.
{Assembling Toyota in Portugal}, Jun. , Number 5881: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractA lot has been written over the last decade with regard to Toyota and the productive model associated to it (toyota-ism). And more specifically concerning the "(…) best-seller that changed the... sociological world" (Castillo, 1998: 31). But the case of Salvador Caetano’s Ovar Industrial Division (OID), that assembles Toyota light commercial vehicles in Portugal, allows us to put forward a sub-hypothesis that fits into the analysis schema proposed in the First GERPISA International Program – "In short, GERPISA members considered that the plurality of models was much a plausible hypothesis deserving testing as that of the diffusion of a unique model (…)" (Boyer, Freyssenet, 2001: 42). So we add: and within Toyota itself, is it not true that different productive models co-exist – especially when delocalised – depending, amongst other factors, on the degree of Toyota participation – in terms of capital and technology transfer – in the local company (strong or weak) and on the markets to be reached (internal or external)? If so, what work system can we expect to find in a plant that presents such peculiar characteristics as this one?
Paulos, MR, Moniz AB.
2009.
{Are societal changes new? Questions or trends and future perceptions on knowledge-based economy}, Feb , Number 02/2009: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractWith the emergence of a global division of labour, the internationalisation of markets and cultures, the growing power of supranational organisations and the spread of new information technologies to every field of life, it starts to appear a different kind of society, different from the industrial society, and called by many as ‘the knowledge-based economy’, emphasizing the importance of information and knowledge in many areas of work and organisation of societies. Despite the common trends of evolution, these transformations do not necessarily produce a convergence of national and regional social and economic structures, but a diversity of realities emerging from the relations between economic and political context on one hand and the companies and their strategies on the other. In this sense, which future can we expect to the knowledge economy? How can we measure it and why is it important? This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the future visions and possible future trends in different countries, sectors and industries, given empirical evidences of the case studies applied in several European countries, underling the importance of foresight exercises to design policies, prevent uncontrolled risks and anticipate alternatives, leading to different ‘knowledge economies’ and not to the ‘knowledge economy’.
Moniz, AB.
2010.
{Anthropocentric-based robotic and autonomous systems: assessment for new organisational options}, Jul. , Number 07/2010: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractResearch activities at European level on the concept of new working environments offers considerable attention to the challenges of the increased competencies of people working together with automated technologies. Since the decade of 1980 the development of approaches for the humanization of work organization, and for the development of participative organizational options induced to new proposals related to the development of complex and integrated automated systems. From such parallel conceptual development emerged the concept of “anthropocentric robotic systems” and quickly it covered also other fields of automation. More recently, the debate also covers issues related to working perception of people dealing with autonomous systems (e.g. Autonomous robotics) in tasks related to production planning, to programming and to process control. In fact, today one can understand the wider use of the anthropocentrism concept of production architectures, when understanding the new quality of these systems. In this chapter the author analyses the evolution of these issues related to governance of ICT applied to manufacturing and industrial services in research programmes strengthening very much the ‘classical’ concept of anthropocentric-based systems. It is emerging a new value of the intuitive capacities and human knowledge in the optimization and flexibilization of the manufacturing processes. While this would be a pre-condition to understand the human-robot communication needs, there is also a need to take into consideration the qualitative variables in the definition and design of robotic systems, jobs and production systems.
Boavida, N, Cabrita N, Moretto SM.
2010.
{Análise do processo de participação pública no projecto de Alta Velocidade Ferroviária [Analysis of the public participation process in the High-Speed Railway project]}. , Number 06/2010: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractThe study focuses on the public participation during the decision-making process of the High Speed Rail Project (popularly known as TGV) in Portugal. The study analyzes the media references on the topic and its actors in a quantitative and qualitative way from September 2008 to November 2009 anchored in the 2009 Legislatives and Local elections. The work concludes that despite the political polarization around the High Speed Rail Project, contributing to bring it to public debate, it didn’t allow for an improvement in qualitative information that could allow the emergence of an active and informed citizen participation in the debate.
Maia, MJ, Moiteiro AI, Horstink L, Farelo M, Antunes R.
2012.
{Análise de um processo decisório controverso: a co-incineração em Souselas [Analysis of a controversial decision process: the co-incineration at Souselas]}. , Number 10/2012: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractThe scientific controversy generated around the destiny given to the fraction of hazardous industrial waste produced in Portugal and how the country dealt with this situation was the stand out point in Souselas case. Here, the dominant aspect of the analysis focused on the implementation of a solution for the treatment of hazardous industrial waste. These wastes result from industrial processes contain or are contaminated, by substances that, at certain concentrations, represent a risk to human health or to the environment. Their treatment can be done using co-incineration in existing cement factories. Having in mind the environment analysis of a controversial process, through the statements made by the different actors involved, the case of Souselas was our object of study. Initially, the actors involved in the process were identified and characterized, in terms of position, interests and / or concerns. This analysis has strengthened with the gathering of documentary elements of analysis. In a second phase the historical process was prepared. Only then, the conditions to make an interpretation of what really happened in the process were gathered, then , it was possible to identify which parts were successful and unsuccessful, and to interpret “why” these successes and failures occurred. Thus, after the identification of key variables and leverage points, a causal diagram and a schematic simulation of the behaviour of reference in case Souselas was designed. We conclude that the process of Souselas was a significant milestone with regard to social organization and spontaneous local actors in situations of opposition to central government decisions with local impact. It was also a turning point in governance according to the model of representative democracy, whose technocratic and elitist character is called into question. The Souselas case emphasized itself as a microcosm on the conflict of interests that we find at a global level heightened since the 90s and that
Boavida, N.
2011.
{A selecção de indicadores no estudo prospectivo “Forecasting the carbon footprint to road freight transport in 2020” [Indicator selection in the foresight study “Forecasting the carbon footprint to ro}, Jun. , Number 06/2011: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractThis work examines a recent study that used various forecasting methods and in particular the Delphi method, to understand how the indicators were selected during the development of the prospective study. It can be concluded that the indicators in the study were selected through discussion on existing knowledge (formal and informal) and the broad consensus of the respective community, which established and confirmed the choice of indicators as the most relevant to prospectively examine the matter concerned. The technical support provided to choose certain forecasting methods as well as to choose the methods that could not be used throughout the development of the work, contributed to the strength of the list of indicators.
Moniz, AB.
2002.
{A contribuição da Sociologia para a formação em Engenharia[Contribution of sociology to the engineering training]}, May. , Number 8103: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractThis article is based on the lesson presented in the scope of academy activities in the area of Sociology (at FCT-UNL). It is intended to approach the controversies concerning the relation between technology and society (technological determinism, effect on employment, importance of the social behaviours in the definition of needs for new products and equipment), and on the most recent trends (over all, since middle of the last century) in terms of technological evolution and of its social and cultural change. Finally, this subject was dedicated to the presentation of the main factors that has lead to the development of the contribution of sociology for the training and education in engineering. Thus, one intends to acquire new elements on this area of knowledge also presented in other schools of engineering of other countries (for examples, United States and Holland), and how the theoretical beddings are been developed since the beginning of 20th century on the modalities of work organization that imply a cooperation between engineering and social sciences.
Baumann, M.
2013.
{A constructive technology assessment of stationary energy storage systems: prospective life cycle orientated analysis}. , Number 01/2013: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, IET/CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre on Social Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology
AbstractEnvironmental concerns over the use of fossil fuels and their resource constraints have increased the interest in generating electric energy from renewable energy sources (RES) to provide a sustainable electricity supply. A main problem of those technologies (wind or solar power generation) is that they are not constant and reliable sources of power. This results inter alia in an increased demand of energy storage technologies. Related stake holders show a big interest in the technical, economic and ecologic aspects of new emerging energy storage systems. This comes especially true for electrochemical energy storage systems as different Li-Ion batteries, Sodium Sulfur or Redox Flow batteries which can be utilized in all grid voltage levels, a wide range of grid applications as well as end user groups (e.g. private households, industry). A prospective and active Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA) can help to minimize potential mismatches, wrong investments, possible social conflicts, and environmental impacts of new energy storage technologies in an early development stage. It is insufficient to exclusively look at the operation phase to assess a technology. Such an approach can lead to misleading interpretations and can furthermore disregard social or ecological impact factors over the whole life cycle. Different energy storage technologies have to be evaluated in a prospective manner with a full integrated sustainability and life cycle approach to form a base for decision making and to support technology developers in order to allow distinctions between more or less sustainable battery technology variations. Therefore CTA is used as a scientific approach using several “neighbouring” engineering orientated disciplines e.g. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) or Life Cycle Costs (LCC) and their methodologies which were initially developed for other purposes.The aim of the presented PhD Thesis is to make an economic, technological and
Moniz, A, Godinho MM.
2001.
{A análise prospectiva como ferramenta de política de inovação: uma perspectiva socioeconómica[Foresight analysis as an innovation policy tool: a socio-economical approach]}, Mar. , Number 6412: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractAt the last National Conference of Industrial Sociology in Portugal (in March 1999) was presented a paper on the topic of “foresight as a technology and employment policy instrument” (A.B. Moniz) where there was a reference to the need of development of this kind of tools and instruments. This need is clear when one should neutralize the negative effects of such policies, and could support the positive influences, especially with the main aims of improvement of quality of working life. Thus, is today possible to make a first balance of the application in Portugal of a type of foresight analysis exercise: the Delphi method. After some of the uses of this method in Portugal on the fisheries socio-economical system and on the relation between information society and employment, we present in this paper a first assessment of such experiments and present some recommendations for future uses of this foresight technique. We conclude that they must be applied within the context of socio-economical perspectives, and not only the technological ones, although they should include that dimension.