987 resultados para automation roadmap
Resumo:
This background brief looks into the new research and innovation strategy introduced by the European Union embodied in the Horizon 2020 funding programme. It focuses on the prospect for international collaboration in Horizon 2020, and presents a roadmap for both European institutions and those from key third countries to get ready for the opportunities provided by this funding instrument to embark on interesting research and innovation. The brief begins by outlining the efforts by the EU to address issues of economic competitiveness with a new growth strategy Europe 2020 in response to the enormous challenges faced by Europe in the midst of the debt crisis. It looks at the introduction of the Innovation Union as a Europe 2020 initiative, and explains how the new financial instrument, Horizon 2020, may be used to support the primary goals of more jobs, improved lives, better society and the global competitiveness of Europe. The brief also outlines the major differences of Horizon 2020 from the previous framework programmes, and recommends close collaboration between the European and the key third countries. The brief also proposes general and priority‐specific strategies for national research councils, universities and research institution to get ready to participate in the Horizon 2020 programme.
Resumo:
This paper addresses the urgent need for a sustainable energy transition in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region. It analyses the unsustainable burden of universal energy subsidies and calls for new development paths unlocking the huge potential for low-cost energy efficiency and demand-side management as well as for renewable energy. It argues that a new structure of regional and interconnected energy markets is needed. It then proposes some original approaches regarding the financing of this sustainable energy transition and finally calls for an ambitious, Euro-Mediterranean Energy Roadmap, which should contribute not only to the economic and environmental development of the region, but also to its social and political stability.
Resumo:
In the long term, productivity and especially productivity growth are necessary conditions for the survival of a farm. This paper focuses on the technology choice of a dairy farm, i.e. the choice between a conventional and an automatic milking system. Its aim is to reveal the extent to which economic rationality explains investing in new technology. The adoption of robotics is further linked to farm productivity to show how capital-intensive technology has affected the overall productivity of milk production. The empirical analysis applies a probit model and an extended Cobb-Douglas-type production function to a Finnish farm-level dataset for the years 2000–10. The results show that very few economic factors on a dairy farm or in its economic environment can be identified to affect the switch to automatic milking. Existing machinery capital and investment allowances are among the significant factors. The results also indicate that the probability of investing in robotics responds elastically to a change in investment aids: an increase of 1% in aid would generate an increase of 2% in the probability of investing. Despite the presence of non-economic incentives, the switch to robotic milking is proven to promote productivity development on dairy farms. No productivity growth is observed on farms that keep conventional milking systems, whereas farms with robotic milking have a growth rate of 8.1% per year. The mean rate for farms that switch to robotic milking is 7.0% per year. The results show great progress in productivity growth, with the average of the sector at around 2% per year during the past two decades. In conclusion, investments in new technology as well as investment aids to boost investments are needed in low-productivity areas where investments in new technology still have great potential to increase productivity, and thus profitability and competitiveness, in the long run.