Panorama de la contratación pública electrónica en Colombia

La implementación de los procesos de contratación pública electrónica permite aprovechar las ventajas de los avances tecnológicos en el manejo de la información y las telecomunicaciones, con el fin de aumentar la eficiencia y la eficacia de los procesos de contratación estatal, así como la transparencia de los mismos. En ese sentido, el presente trabajo de investigación se centrará en analizar si, de acuerdo con nuestro modelo jurídico, el procedimiento administrativo electrónico como “equivalente funcional” del procedimiento administrativo tradicional, posibilita la simplificación y racionalización de trámites en los procesos de contratación que adelanta la Administración Pública, permitiendo la realización de los principios de igualdad, moralidad, eficacia, economía, eficiencia, celeridad, imparcialidad y publicidad.

Colombia y Suiza un centenario de cooperación

El sector inmobiliario en Colombia ha venido creciendo durante los últimos años y se espera que continúe así, gracias a la reactivación económica del país. La empresa RECAMÁN KOPPEL Y CIA. LTDA. Ltda ha venido haciendo cambios para continuar con su participación en el mercado, pero debido a situaciones actuales como los tratados de libre comercio, mejoras tecnológicas, legislación del sector, fluctuaciones en la economía, y situaciones cotidianas, como la informalización del sector y la no profesionalización de la actividad, la compañía podría no estar preparada para competir en el sector en igualdad de condiciones. Este trabajo, mediante la planeación estratégica por escenarios, la “ciencia que estudia el futuro para comprenderlo y poder influir sobre él”. (Diccionario Petit Robert), identifica las variables, objetivos e hipótesis del sistema en el que se encuentra RECAMÁN KOPPEL Y CIA. LTDA. para poder generar estrategias factibles para afrontar los escenarios posibles del futuro y hacerla sostenible en el tiempo

Consumer Neuroscience as a reserach issue, concepts and applications. A paradigmatic approach

Consumer neuroscience allows a fullest and objective understanding about desires andactions of consumers, turning itself in a fickle tool to the use of the companies and to improve their Marketing strategies. The use of the Neuroscientific methods to the analysis, description and comprehension of human behavior related to consume open a lot of unknown possibilities to discover. Neuromarketing or The consumer Neuroscience as is known too is the study of mental process been part of the consumer behavior and contexts concerning the marketing as well, apply and follow in the environment of the real life of human been. Its supported by the paradigms and the technological development of Neurosciences whose progress has made possible for the seekers to deep in knowledge abouthow the brain work. Physiological operations of mind are a product of a structural and functional ensemble including the brain, as organ, and mind, emotion and cognition, asfunctions. Mind events just can be understood in the middle of the interaction between the organism and his environment. Neuromarketing paradigm it’s still in his infancy and whatfor it’s full of research possibilities. Inside the consumer neuroscience the ethic building doesn’t collapse, the morality isn’t threaten, inside the normal individual Will it’s alwaysWill. The present paper looking for a place to the consumer neuroscience paradigm over the perspective of research open to the Marketing, from the technological advances and hermeneutical vision offer by Neuroscience; it’s propose some of several possibilities ofresearch and practice been explored actually. To give an example its offer one of methods of research as is the Evoked Potentials.

Análisis financiero de la empresa Neoris Colombia S.A.S. y el sector de tecnologías de información en Colombia

El siguiente trabajo de grado para la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad del Rosario, tiene como objetivo principal realizar un análisis financiero de la compañía NEORIS COLOMBIA S.A.S., empresa resultante de las soluciones innovadoras que creó CEMEX, uno de los productores de cemento más grandes y rentables del mundo, y que se dedica a brindar consultoría interna de tecnología. Asimismo, indagar las implicaciones que tienen los cambios y el avance en los sistemas de implementación tecnológico de empresas dedicadas a TI en las finanzas de esta compañía. El presente trabajo busca determinar de qué manera NEORIS COLOMBIA S.A.S. implementa sus recursos para ser una de las empresas de consultoría más importantes de Colombia a pesar del incremento de la competencia en el sector dedicado a consultoría de TI brindando soluciones de tecnología emergente y servicios de outsourcing, que va de la mano con los avances tecnológicos que exige cada vez más el mundo actual. Aunque dentro del mercado la competencia es infaltable, NEORIS busca crear relaciones a largo plazo con proveedores de servicios generales, personas con la experiencia y el conocimiento y excelencia técnica necesaria para desarrollar aplicaciones y servicios especializados en una diversidad de plataformas tecnológicas que le permita seguir siendo una empresa líder. Para este análisis financiero, se utilizarán diferentes herramientas e indicadores financieros que ayudarán a identificar, analizar y evaluar si la compañía es viable o no.

Human evolution, nutritional ecology and prebiotics in ancient diet

Modern studies of prebiotic non digestible carbohydrates continue to expand and demonstrate their colonic and systemic benefits. However, virtually nothing is known of their use among ancient populations. In this paper we discuss evidence for prebiotic use in the archaeological record from select areas of the world. It is suggested that members of our genus Homo would have had sufficient ecological opportunity to include prebiotic-bearing plants in diet as early as ~ 2 million years ago, but that significant dietary intake would not have taken place until the advent of technological advances that characterized the Upper Paleolithic of ~40,000 years ago. Throughout human evolution, hominid populations that diversified their diet to include prebiotic-bearing plants would have had a selective advantage over competitors.

Non-intrusive monitoring of atmospheric CO2 in analogue models of terrestrial carbon cycle

1. Closed Ecological Systems (CES) are small manmade ecosystems which do not have any material exchange with the surrounding environment. Recent ecological and technological advances enable successful establishment and maintenance of CES, making them a suitable tool for detecting and measuring subtle feedbacks and mechanisms. 2. As a part of an analogue (physical) C cycle modelling experiment, we developed a non-intrusive methodology to control the internal environment and to monitor atmospheric CO2 concentration inside 16 replicated CES. Whilst maintaining an air-tight seal of all CES, this approach allowed for access to the CO2 measuring equipment for periodic re-calibration and repairs. 3. To ensure reliable cross-comparison of CO2 observations between individual CES units and to minimise the cost of the system, only one CO2 sampling unit was used. An ADC BioScientific OP-2 (open-path) analyser mounted on a swinging arm was passing over a set of 16 measuring cells. Each cell was connected to an individual CES with air continuously circulating between them. 4. Using this setup, we were able to continuously measure several environmental variables and CO2 concentration within each closed system, allowing us to study minute effects of changing temperature on C fluxes within each CES. The CES and the measuring cells showed minimal air leakage during an experimental run lasting, on average, 3 months. The CO2 analyser assembly performed reliably for over 2 years, however an early iteration of the present design proved to be sensitive to positioning errors. 5. We indicate how the methodology can be further improved and suggest possible avenues where future CES based research could be applied.

Understanding stakeholder requirements on an NHS hospital project: application of semiotics-rooted theories.

Hospitals represent complex and difficult contexts for AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) professionals to engage with due to their functional complexity and diversity of stakeholder interests (i.e. patient, visitor, medical specialist). Hospital designers need to take note of changing NHS policy contexts (e.g. the possible empowerment of general practitioners to shape services), technological advances in medical equipment design and the potential health needs of future generations. It is imperative for hospital designers and architects to align their processes and methodologies (e.g. briefing and requirements capture) to the needs and desires of their clients so that a medical facility design is produced which is truly aligned to the requirements of the hospital stakeholders. Semiotics, the “study” or “discipline” of signs aims to investigate the nature of signs (their inception, representation and meaning), whilst semiotics-rooted theories are concerned with investigating how meaning and understanding is mobilized between persons and between organisations. This paper details a semiotics-rooted research approach for investigating the interactions between hospital designers and stakeholders on a forthcoming NHS hospital project in the UK. A semiotics grounded study will potentially provide a deeper understanding of how meaning and understanding is established between hospital project stakeholders and construction professionals.

Adoption of green revolution services and poverty reduction in Ghana

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the technological advances of the Green Revolution (GR) have not been very successful. However, the efforts being made to re-introduce the revolution call for more socio-economic research into the adoption and the effects of the new technologies. The paper discusses an investigation on the effects of GR technology adoption on poverty among households in Ghana. Maximum likelihood estimation of a poverty model within the framework of Heckman's two stage method of correcting for sample selection was employed. Technology adoption was found to have positive effects in reducing poverty. Other factors that reduce poverty include education, credit, durable assets, living in the forest belt and in the south of the country. Technology adoption itself was also facilitated by education, credit, non-farm income and household labour supply as well as living in urban centres. Inarguably, technology adoption can be taken seriously by increasing the levels of complementary inputs such as credit, extension services and infrastructure. Above all, the fundamental problems of illiteracy, inequality and lack of effective markets must be addressed through increasing the levels of formal and non-formal education, equitable distribution of the 'national cake' and a more pragmatic management of the ongoing Structural Adjustment Programme.

Bit-index sort: a fast non-comparison integer sorting algorithm for permutations

This paper describes a fast integer sorting algorithm, herein referred as Bit-index sort, which is a non-comparison sorting algorithm for partial per-mutations, with linear complexity order in execution time. Bit-index sort uses a bit-array to classify input sequences of distinct integers, and exploits built-in bit functions in C compilers supported by machine hardware to retrieve the ordered output sequence. Results show that Bit-index sort outperforms in execution time to quicksort and counting sort algorithms. A parallel approach for Bit-index sort using two simultaneous threads is included, which obtains speedups up to 1.6.

Comparison of low-power wireless communication technologies for wearable health-monitoring applications

Health monitoring technologies such as Body Area Network (BAN) systems has gathered a lot of attention during the past few years. Largely encouraged by the rapid increase in the cost of healthcare services and driven by the latest technological advances in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and wireless communications. BAN technology comprises of a network of body worn or implanted sensors that continuously capture and measure the vital parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels and movement. The collected data must be transferred to a local base station in order to be further processed. Thus, wireless connectivity plays a vital role in such systems. However, wireless connectivity comes at a cost of increased power usage, mainly due to the high energy consumption during data transmission. Unfortunately, battery-operated devices are unable to operate for ultra-long duration of time and are expected to be recharged or replaced once they run out of energy. This is not a simple task especially in the case of implanted devices such as pacemakers. Therefore, prolonging the network lifetime in BAN systems is one of the greatest challenges. In order to achieve this goal, BAN systems take advantage of low-power in-body and on-body/off-body wireless communication technologies. This paper compares some of the existing and emerging low-power communication protocols that can potentially be employed to support the rapid development and deployment of BAN systems.

Not all adolescents are sleep deprived: A study of rural populations

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of environmental factors in sleep duration among adolescents living in rural areas. A total of 1140 students (569 males), aged 10-19 years, and attending two schools in rural regions in southern Brazil, completed a questionnaire about their sleep habits. Demographic data were also obtained. Prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated for the cases of more than 9 h of sleep on weekdays. Sleep duration in adolescents with and without electric lighting at home was analyzed. Average sleep duration at night was 9.63 (1.64) h on school-going days and 10.14 (2.42) h on weekends. The prevalence of adolescents sleeping for more than 9 h at night on school-going days was 58.3%. Older adolescents showed a tendency to delay their sleep onset times, which is associated with a reduction of sleep duration. Adolescents without electric lighting at home slept longer on school-going days (P < 0.001) and on weekends (P = 0.013) when compared to those with electric lighting at home. From multivariate analysis, age (P < 0.001), school schedule (P = 0.007) and work (0.042) were factors affecting sleep duration. In contrast to the data previously reported for urban populations, we found a high prevalence of adolescents sleeping for more than 9 h on school nights. Data on populations living in less industrialized regions reinforce the idea that technological advances are associated with the negative impact of sleep phase delay in adolescents.

Access to knoledge in Brazil: new research on intellectual property, innovation and development

The present volume is the fruit of a research initiative on Access to Knowledge begun in 2004 by Yochai Benkler, Eddan Katz, and myself. Access to Knowledge is both a social movement and an approach to international and domestic policy. In the present era of globalization, intellectual property and information and communications technology are major determinants of wealth and power. The principle of access to knowledge argues that we best serve both human rights and economic development through policies that make knowledge, knowledge-creating tools, and nowledgeembedded goods as widely available as possible for decentralized innovation and use. Open technological standards, a balanced approach to intellectual property rights, and expansion of an open telecommunications infrastructure enable ordinary people around the world to benefit from the technological advances of the information age and allow them to generate a vibrant, participatory and democratic culture. Law plays a crucial role in securing access to knowledge, determining whether knowledge and knowledge goods are shared widely for the benefit of all, or controlled and monopolized for the benefit of a few.

Admirável estado novo: um estudo de prospectiva e estratégia

Este trabalho estuda os impactos dos avanços tecnológicos da atualidade sobre as várias dimensões da sociedade suas conseqüências para Estado. Os avanços tecnológicos são grupados ao longo de cinco vertentes históricas: infomação, transportes, fabricação, energia biotecnologia. As dimensões da sociedade são estabelecidas como sendo: econômica, social, política, tecnológica militar. Utilizando as vertentes tecnológicas como as componentes da dimensão tecnológica se sistematiza análise dos impactos destas novas tecnologias sobre as demais dimensões. análise desta matriz de impacto serve de base para estabelecer os principais desafios possibilidades da sociedade do Estado num futuro próximo. Finalmente, estudo das possibilidades futuras feito através da técnica de cenários, onde se estabelecem duas variáveis chave, que resultam em quatro cenários, apresentados também de forma pictórica.

Fidelização de clientes a livrarias virtuais: um modelo heurístico

The conventional commercial relationship between suppliers and customers has undergone a profound change as a result of the technological advances that have been made in electronic transactions, such as the Internet. These transformations have not been entirely technological in nature, as they have also directly altered marketing activities. Due to a series of factors, companies are increasingly driven by their customer wishes and requirements, with Electronic Commerce being just one of the means of developing and maintaining this type of relationship, called Customer Relations Marketing. The Internet sites available allow companies to obtain information more easily about which aspects are most relevant to their target customer group in terms of their products and services, helping them to increase the value of commercial transactions on offer. The online marketing strategies of electronic retail companies aim to cultivate customer loyalty after the first purchase has been made, so that customers make repeat purchases. Virtual bookstores represent a particularly successful sector in the world of Electronic Commerce. However, to ensure profitability, the business models of these companies need to be based on customer loyalty, as there is stiff competition in this area. This research study seeks to develop a heuristic model, called 4Ps and 1F, for customer loyalty to virtual bookstores. The 4Ps represent one of the most traditional marketing concepts and the F relates to Customer Loyalty. In developing this model the aim is to see how each marketing P influences customer loyalty, thus identifying the factors critical to the success of virtual bookstores retaining customer loyalty.

Busca pelo homem social nas organizações: indícios, constatações, possibilidades

This study approaches the question of organizations in search for competitiveness when globalization, knowledge and technological advances in the First World is a challenge in developing countries. The case study research focus on Bahia Sul ¿ a large organization which belongs to the important sector of paper and cellulose, especially in terms of exports. This study analyses an organization in that underpriviledged situation of a third world country in which the majority of organizational strategies are heavily thrown on people who are simultaneously reduced to instruments for economic results and who are highly demanded in terms of productivity and creativity. Due to that reality, references chosen present two key contrasting concepts. Mass man, going back to Taylor¿s blue collars as well as to Marcel¿s knowledgeable but empty words man, whose abilities do not feet his needs, in contrast with rogerian expectations of person as a mutable and continuously enriched human being and with habermasian position looking for political and decision making participation in work an social situations. Results show a strong presence of mass man, despite his technological knowledge, and scarce indications of the social man and which appears in mere aspirations out of labor situations. Conclusions emphasize a need for coherence between organizational practices in search for competitiveness and expectations on persons¿ performance because they stimulate exchanges in terms of working places for obedience and some material comfort which is aggravated by the fact that any possibility of personal fulfillment is interpreted as only possible in out of work situations. Competitiveness in such a context is not to be expected.