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Preface
Sincethelate20thcenturywehavewitnessedamajoraccelerationofscientificandtech-
nologicaladvance.TheadventoftheInternetasaresultofalongtermdevelopment
processinthefieldofinformationandcommunicationtechnologiesinthemid-90’scom-
pletelychangedtheinnovationparadigm,makingpossiblethereconfigurationofthepro-
cessofdisruptiveinnovation:alargenewbaseofgenerictechnologieswasmadeavail-
ablethroughamodelthatfavourednewviewsandapproaches,heavyuserfeedbackand
involvementandnewmethodologiesforrapidprototypingandproduct/processinitiation.
Thenatureofthenewinnovationprocessisveryimportant,inthesensethatithasset
upandisbeingfedbynewcreativeplatformswherealotofconvergingtechnologiesmeet,
andintheprocesstheygeneratenewmodelsforintroducingnewconceptsandparadigms
inanendlessreconfigurationcontinuum.Amajorcharacteristicofthesenewplatforms
isthattheydonotnecessarilyneedcompletelynewtechnologiestorunandproducetheir
efects:thepoweroftheplatformapproachresidesintheself-organizingprofileofopen
technologiesandservicesthatcreatenewopportunitiesindrivingforwardconvergence,
whichisthemajormodelfordisruptivenewapproachesinproduct/processgeneration.
ICTemergedasapowerfulenablerforglobalconvergence,creatingnewdevicesandnew
servicesthroughanever-progressingcombinationoffeatures,generictechnologiesand
scientificdomains.Newareashaveemergedinbiotechnology,medicine,chemistry,drug
conceptionandproductionheavilyimpactedbyICT(insilicomodesareoverwhelmingly
overtakinginvitropreparationinmostoftheaforementionedfields).Newserviceshave
emergedforthecitizen,thathasnowbecometheepicentreofamajorremoteaccessrev-
olutioncoveringinformation,banking,work,travel,leisure,andincreasinglyhealthcare,
securityandcommunication.
Thedigitalrevolutionhasnowenteredanewphasewithemphasisondataandanalyt-
ics,promisingtomodifycompletelytheproductionchain(industry4.0,3-DPrinting,big
dataforcitiesmanagement)asweknewit.Asecondwaveofnewanddisruptivetechnolo-
gieshashitthemarketandmakesalreadyahugeimpactonreconfiguringthetechnological
oferavailabletomoderneconomies.
Yet,conditionsforthedeploymentanduptakeofthesetechnologies(andscientific
breakthroughs)arenotideal;somecountriesaresimplytoofarawayfrombeingable
tofollowthenewachievementsoftheknowledgeeconomy.Diferencesinknowledge
andinnovationcapabilitiesarepotentiallybig,andEuropeisnoexceptioninthisrespect.
Theknowledgeeconomyhasaprice,andthemoreacountryfailstoadjusttothespeed
anddepthofsuchtechnologicalchange,thegreatertheriskofitsbeingmarginalizedand
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