Critical Mass

This paper focuses on the specific role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer and explores the knowledge flows from these mid-range universities which face a number of additional constraints in transitional Central Eastern European (CEE) regions. The first part focuses on the theoretical framework of knowledge transfers and on the types of university–industry linkages involving knowledge transfer in the case of mid-range universities. The next section examines the development path and specific trajectories of universities in post-communist countries. The following sections draw on the findings of the ERAWATCH research and focus on cases from the non-metropolitan regions of Hungary and the Czech Republic in order to examine the specific barriers to knowledge transfer and explain the reasons behind the traditionally weaker role of mid-range universities. The paper argues that ambitious university-based developmental models have to be revised in CEE regions and the future development role of universities has to be reconsidered from a more realistic perspective.

Recent years have witnessed a surge in self-organizing voluntary teams collaborating online to produce goods and services. Motivated by this phenomenon, this research investigates how these teams are formed and how individuals make decisions about which teams to join in the context of open source software development (OSSD). The focus of this paper is to explore how the collaborative network affects developers' choice of newly initiated OSS projects to participate in. More specifically, by analyzing software project data from real-world OSSD projects, we empirically test the impact of past collaborative ties with and perceived status of project members in the network on the self-assembly of OSSD teams. Overall, we find that a developer is more likely to join a project when he has strong collaborative ties with its initiator. We also find that perceived status of the noninitiator members of a project influences its probability of attracting developers. We discuss the implications of our results with respect to self-organizing teams and OSSD.

A collaborative research effort among construction companies has allowed the design and implementation of a performance measurement system in Chilean construction companies. This effort is starting to give preliminary results as new companies are adopting the system that is expected to reach critical mass in the Chilean construction industry. In the future, international organisations are expected to join this effort to extend the potential impact to new countries and companies. The system database will be useful to develop third party benchmarking to contribute to the improvement of the industry as a whole. The implementation of performance measurement systems, which include measures adapted to lean construction, is discussed in this paper. The paper discusses the development process, the performance measures selected and some implementation issues. The paper also shows some preliminary findings from the baseline data obtained from the companies and projects already included in the...

The aim of this paper is to determine and forecast the timing and level of critical mass in the development of market penetration for wireless communications. We assume that critical mass is fulfilled at the point when the acceleration of the diffusion process is at its maximum. In practice, this point is determined by calculating the second derivative with respect to time of the diffusion path. Thus, the diffusion has first to be modelled in order to have a function to differentiate. The diffusion of wireless communications in 30 countries is modelled employing the Bass diffusion model. These functions' second derivatives' maximums yield the timing of critical mass, and the respective penetration levels. The penetration levels and points of time of critical masses are regressed with explanatory variables, reflecting characteristics of the countries. A regression model for critical mass timings and levels by country characteristics is used for calculating values for 72 additional countries. The findings suggest that critical mass is achieved faster and on lower penetration levels in later adopting countries.

Several groups have outlined methodologies for systematic literature reviews of the effectiveness of interventions. The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) began in 1998. Its mandate is to provide research evidence to guide and support the Ontario Ministry of Health in outlining minimum requirements for public health services in the province. Also, the project is expected to disseminate the results provincially, nationally, and internationally. Most of the reviews are relevant to public health nursing practice. This article describes four issues related to the systematic literature reviews of the effectiveness of public health nursing interventions: (1) the process of systematically reviewing the literature, (2) the development of a quality assessment instrument, (3) the results of the EPHPP to date, and (4) some results of the dissemination strategies used. The eight steps of the systematic review process including question formulation, searching and retrieving the lit...

that the use of systems engineering concepts in education would be likely to reduce failure rates and improve quality. My focus here is different, given my concern to establish a theoretical framework for the themes of sustainable educational development and change that are the focus of this special issue, but the curious reader will find other interesting perspectives in O'Shea's article.

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an XML-based innovation which has the potential to play an important role in the production and consumption of financial information. In this paper, in-depth interviews are used to explore a range of issues surrounding the adoption of XBRL in Australia. Drivers that promote successful adoption of XBRL are discussed, together with inhibitors that obstruct it. We find that the current members of the XBRL community are waiting for a critical mass of either users or solutions to appear. Combined with other inhibitors and unfulfilled drivers, this has adversely affected XBRL adoption in Australia. While government agencies may play a significant role in breaking this deadlock through making XBRL use mandatory, we identify some important implications associated with this strategy.

This paper uses the case of the IMEC (microelectronics research centre) to examine the compatibility between strategic IPR management of large independent research centres, and regional industrial policy missions given to such centres in return for government funding. In particular, the issue of whether a balance can be found between a necessary drive for international recognition and critical mass of funding, and a policy of IPR valorization towards regional firms is examined.

Varieties of Social Influence: The Role of Utility ... Robert E. Kraut * Ronald E. Rice * Colleen Cool ... Human Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 School of Communication, Information and ...

Academic debate on the strategic importance of women corporate directors is widely recognized and still open. However, most corporate boards have only one woman director or a small minority of women directors. Therefore they can still be considered as tokens. This article addresses the following question: does an increased number of women corporate boards result in a build up of critical mass that substantially contributes to firm innovation? The aim is to test if 'at least three women' could constitute the desired critical mass by identifying different minorities of women directors (one woman, two women and at least three women). Tests are conducted on a sample of 317 Norwegian firms. The results suggest that attaining critical mass -going from one or two women (a few tokens) to at least three women (consistent minority) -makes it possible to enhance the level of firm innovation. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between the critical mass of women directors and the level of firm innovation is mediated by board strategic tasks. Implications for both theory and practice, and future research directions are discussed.

This paper updates and extends previous analyses of the sociology of sport in the United States. It provides a chronology of major events in the history of the field as well as a description of the social context in which the field emerged and grew. Then a review of data from both sociology and physical education leads to the conclusion that the sociology of sport in the United States continues to lack full legitimacy and a critical mass of members in both disciplines. In fact, there are reasons to conclude that the continued numerical growth of those calling themeselves sport sociologists has peaked and will not change significantly in the immediate future. Finally, a content summary of papers published in the first 14 issues of the Sociology of Sport Journal reveals the priorities given to research topics and research methodologies among those Americans doing some of the more significant work in the field.

This tutorial paper looks back at almost 50 years of adaptive control trying to establish how much more we need to be able to offer the industrial community an adaptive controller which will be used and referred to with the same ease as existing PID controllers. Since the first commercial adaptive controller, significant progress in the design and analysis of these controllers has been achieved. Various forms of adaptive controllers are now readily available targeting a significant range of industries from process to aerospace. A general overview of adaptive control will allow the reader to place on the map several industrial architectures for such controllers, all with the aim of bridging the gap between academic and industrial views of the topic. Such a presentation of design and analysis tools currently opens a more philosophical question "Has the critical mass in adaptive control been reached?".

In studies of women's legislative behaviour, the concept of critical mass is widely used and, more recently, criticised as a tool for understanding the relationship between the percentage of female legislators and the passage of legislation beneficial to women as a group. In this research note, we revisit classic contributions by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Drude Dahlerup and outline and discuss their assumptions regarding anticipated connections between numbers and outcomes.We find that later gender and politics scholars have often misconstrued their work, with crucial implications for subsequent research on relations between the descriptive and substantive representation of women.We argue that clarifying the theoretical origins of the critical mass concept is crucial for forging a more coherent and cumulative research agenda on women's political representation.

Cell phone usage has grown phenomenally in Africa, and particularly in South Africa where initial growth forecasts have been greatly exceeded. This technology therefore provides opportunities for services such as banking to reach critical mass. All major retail banks in South Africa provide cell phone banking, but very few customers actually use it. This study examines the factors that influence the adoption of cell phone banking in South Africa, as a means of understanding how to possibly increase the rate of adoption. A framework developed in Singapore identifying factors influencing the adoption of Internet banking was used as a basis, and amended to assess cell phone banking. Factors identified as influences included relative advantage, trialability, and consumer banking needs, with perceived risk having a major negative influence. r

This paper aims to explore aspects of women's careers in higher education internationally. In so doing it considers research findings on gender equity in higher education specifically and more broadly on women in the professions. It also attempts to provide a range of theoretical frameworks to analyse gender inequalities. It considers inclusion and exclusion, gender and authority, gendered divisions of

This essay investigates how Kuran’s (1991) threshold model of
collective action can explain how the NGO Addiopizzo, started
in 2004 in the Sicilian city Palermo, persuaded 857 Italian businesses to stop paying the pizzo—an illicit racketeering tax levied by the Cosa Nostra on businesses in exchange for “protection.”
The essay expands on Kuran’s dynamic model by discussing
the concept of critical mass and whether it is achieved in Palermo. The future of Addiopizzo is briefly discussed in terms of the mechanisms of social network interaction as geographical spread increases.

The essay argues that Addiopizzo overcame the collective action problem by strategic use of selective benefits, thus pushing itself into a self-augmenting state. The NGO created a strong brand that both communicated a committed level of participation in Palermo and provided selective benefits to business owners.
Coupled with measures to sustain its ideology among the youth, Addiopizzo has gathered momentum toward critical mass. Critical mass, however, is a fragile state, vulnerable to strong external shocks that the mafia have a financial incentive to administer.

With increased global connectivity, managers are faced with new technologies and rapid organizational changes. For instance, organizations may adopt emerging technologies such as Instant Messaging in order to increase collaboration at a distance and to decrease communications costs. However, the impact and implications of these technologies for managers and employees often go far beyond the original intent of the technology designers. Consequently, in this study, instant messaging (IM) and its use in organizations were investigated through interviews with employees. Results suggest that critical mass represents an important factor for IM success in the workplace that IM symbolizes informality, and that IM is perceived to be much less rich than face-to-face communication. Further, results demonstrate that employees use IM not only as a replacement for other communication media but as an additional method for reaching others. With IM, employees engage in polychronic communication, view IM as privacy enhancing, and see its interruptive nature as unfair. The paper concludes by discussing research and practice implications for organizational psychologists.

Disasters are large intractable problems that test the ability of communities and nations to effectively protect their populations and infrastructure, to reduce both human and property loss, and to rapidly recover. The seeming randomness of impacts and problems and uniqueness of incidents demand dynamic, real-time, effective and cost efficient solutions, thus making the topic very suitable for OR/MS research. While social sciences and humanities literatures enjoy an abundance of articles on disaster management, the OR/MS community is yet to produce a critical mass. In this paper, we survey the literature to identify potential research directions in disaster operations, discuss relevant issues, and provide a starting point for interested researchers.

"Although millions of people in the United States love to ride bicycles for exercise or leisure, statistics show that only 1 percent of the total U.S. population uses bicycles for transportation—and barely half as many people bike to work. In his original and exciting book, One Less Car, Zack Furness examines what it means historically, culturally, socioeconomically, and politically to be a bicycle transportation advocate/activist."

This paper uses empirical field research to examine whether short-term best practice interventions (BPIs) can lead to improvements that are sustained in the long term. In addition, this research investigates the implied conflict between striving for short-term results and achieving long-term development of capabilities. It also examines the tension between the lack of resources of the typical small and medium sized enterprise (SME) users of BPIs and the time required to develop a critical mass of capability. A longitudinal case-based study of eight SME contexts examined BPI outcomes and factors leading to short-and long-term success and sustaining best practices. The research identifies factors related to the intervention context, implementation and change-agent approach. The data indicate that in resource-limited SMEs BPIs are limited in their ability to develop adequate capability for long-term change.

Many proposals for electronic payment systems (EPS) have been made but the great majority have failed to achieve widespread adoption. The reasons why some proposals succeed and others fail remains unclear. The successful operation of these systems depends on the cooperation of a number of stakeholders including consumers, merchants, financial institutions and infrastructure providers. In this paper we analyse the conditions for success in terms of the benefits and costs of the system to these stakeholders. On the basis of theoretical arguments, we present two hypotheses about the necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for successful diffusion of an EPS: the distribution of costs benefits and risks among stakeholders must be mutual; and a critical mass of customers and merchants must be provided for the EPS by the financial or technology infrastructure partners. We illustrate the arguments with three case studies of recent attempts to create new electronic payments systems.

Internet adoption by small business is important to the generation of critical mass for Internet commerce ± governments in the G8 countries are setting up initiatives to ensure that small businesses adopt Internet commerce. This paper reports of a qualitative study into why small businesses are online. The study found that the small business Internet commerce (SBIC) phenomenon is still in its infancy, although small businesses are ®nding e-mail useful for business communication and document transfer; the perception of long-term bene®ts and potential business opportunities is what is driving SBIC; at present, the uptake of Internet-based ®nancial transactions is still slow; there is almost no integration between the Internet and internal applications; and, ®nally, that SBIC seems likely to continue to expand in this sector of market only if small ®rms actually experience tangible bene®ts in the future. #

Due to the interaction of physics and astrophysics we are witnessing in these years a splendid synthesis of theoretical, experimental and observational results originating from three fundamental physical processes. They were originally proposed by Dirac, by Breit and Wheeler and by Sauter, Heisenberg, Euler and Schwinger. For almost seventy years they have all three been followed by a continued effort of experimental verification on Earth-based experiments. The Dirac process, e + e − → 2γ, has been by far the most successful. It has obtained extremely accurate experimental verification and has led as well to an enormous number of new physics in possibly one of the most fruitful experimental avenues by introduction of storage rings in Frascati and followed by the largest accelerators worldwide: DESY, SLAC etc. The Breit-Wheeler process, 2γ → e + e − , although conceptually simple, being the inverse process of the Dirac one, has been by far one of the most difficult to be verified experimentally. Only recently, through the technology based on free electron X-ray laser and its numerous applications in Earth-based experiments, some first indications of its possible verification have been reached. The vacuum polarization process in strong electromagnetic field, pioneered by Sauter, Heisenberg, Euler and Schwinger, introduced the concept of critical electric field E c = m 2 e c 3 /(e ). It has been searched without success for more than forty years by heavy-ion collisions in many of the leading particle accelerators worldwide.

Accounting history has emerged as an academic discipline over the last 40 years within English speaking countries. There is now a critical mass of researchers, dedicated journals and conferences, and a significant body of literature that is increasing in scope and depth. This article examines the strategies that, ex post, can be seen as important in developing accounting history as a discipline. Three strategies are identified: (1) making accounting history relevant (to education, standard-setting, and organizational memory/identity), (2) making accounting history controversial (by identifying positive and negative exemplars, providing historical critiques of mainstream research, and encouraging methodological/ theoretical pluralism within accounting history), and (3) institutionalizing accounting history (by developing academic associations, journals and conferences, and embedding accounting history within a network of supporting organizations including universities, professional associations, libraries, research centers and publishers). The article concludes by identifying the weak points in the disciplinary project.

El cuarto capítulo (Bicicletas viejas, ciudades nuevas: ReCiclos y la Masa Crítica) profundiza las relaciones entre el cuerpo y la ciudad, mediadas esta vez por un concreto artefacto cultural, la bicicleta, y
por la vía de una etnografía ambulatoria. El trabajo de campo que sirve para desarrollar este apartado tuvo lugar intermitentemente entre septiembre de 2010 y julio de 2012. Las localizaciones incluyen,
principalmente, los bajos de Própolis –en el taller de reciclaje y auto-reparación de bicis (ReCiclos)– y las calles coruñesas, pedaleando junto a los cicloactivistas de la Masa Crítica, así como puntuales
desplazamientos a otras ciudades gallegas, a Madrid y a varios puntos de Austria. El seguimiento a los objetos (objetos-actantes, en este caso) se combina con pinceladas de auto-etnografía y observación interior, poniendo mi cuerpo en la narración y deteniéndome en el análisis fenomenológico de las vidas rodantes de los ciclousuarios. La atención a los procesos de metropolización y difusión urbana se combina
con el análisis crítico de los discursos activistas, quienes contraponen a la tendencia centrífuga de la urbe un movimiento centrípeto con el que reconectar con su entorno, siendo la bici una herramienta de
recentramiento, politizada en pos de otra cultura de la movilidad urbana. Entendiendo dicha movilidad como un “habitar móvil”, los protagonistas defenderán el derecho a la movilidad como elemento básico
del derecho a la ciudad. Las conexiones entre el cuerpo, la ciudad y la tecnología serán los ejes vertebradores del capítulo, atendiendo además a las políticas de la materialidad, a la retroalimentación
entre capitalismo y urbanización, a la correlación entre cambios urbanos y cambios políticos, y a una cierta transición mitológica que sitúa a la bicicleta en el centro de un horizonte verde y ecológico que
hace del cuerpo un lugar de salud.

The formation of customary international law has long been criticized for its lack of a clear methodology, characterized by an ambivalent relationship with state consent. Although customary international law seems to be entirely a creature of state consent, after all it is based on actual practice, in reality the fit with state consent is loose at best. Customary international law only awkwardly bridges the gap between a descriptive and prescriptive norm. Unable to move forward, the study of the formation of customary international law appears to have largely reached an impasse. Yet, states still appear to support and apply customary international law as a source of law, so we are faced with the situation of embracing a source of law that we do not understand well and where the applicable law is often vague.

This article is an attempt to bring into international law a perspective from the hard and soft sciences for discussing the formation of customary international law, specifically the study of critical mass in collective group behavior. This language is not entirely new to discussions on customary international law. Where it has been mentioned, the implications of critical mass theory have not been fully explored. Critical mass can be a loose concept to simply describe the accumulation of small actions that result in large shifts in collective behavior; however, it is also an empirically-based scientific study that attempts to assess how those changes come about. This article seeks to delve more deeply into critical mass and apply the insights from this study to the formation of customary international law.

Following a very brief introduction with background on customary international law, the paper will describe how the social sciences have embraced the critical mass theoretical perspective in the study of collective decision-making. Three primary elements of social change will be identified: (1) the importance of the content of the norm, (2) the role of influence through networks, and (3) the role of key individuals, “opinion leaders” and “opinion diffusors”.

Following this review of the science, the author will draw some implications for customary international law. In particular, the author will re-characterize three major discussions within customary international law into the three key factors of critical mass. The first discussion is that over the qualitative assessment of norms. The second is the growing influence of networks either as transnational governance or international organization rule-making. The final discussion is a proposal to understand the role of the “specially interested” state as a norm entrepreneur. The paper will conclude that study of critical mass can contribute to a better, and more formal, methodology for understanding customary international law.

Despite the devastating impact of the global crisis in the US over the past few years-rising unemployment, massive transfer of wealth to banks, widespread foreclosures, etc-the streets appear all too quiet. Or are they? For Chris Carlsson, new forms of resistance have been bubbling just beneath the surface out of sight of not only the mainstream media and social movement watchers but even the left.

The Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility (LACEF) was the last operational, general-purpose, critical-mass laboratory in the United States. The long history of remote operations and large-scale critical-mass experiments at LACEF began in 1948, and it effectively ended in July 8th, 2004, when the last critical experiment was performed on the Planet critical assembly. The experimental activities at the Pajarito Site began in April 1946 as a way to obtain subcritical measurements for weapons safety guidance. A year later, the first Kiva (a concrete-reinforced building) was constructed, and 18 months afterward the first remote critical operation was reported with the Topsy critical assembly. In the early years, the Pajarito Site primarily supported the weapons program; later, for almost 17 years, the neutronics of the Rover nuclear-propulsion program dominated activities at Pajarito Site. More recently, Pajarito Site added some new dimensions to its operations in order to support emergency response, the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program, and radiation-detection development. The long history of critical-assembly measurements and operations is documented in hundreds of peer-reviewed technical papers, laboratory reports, personal files, and video sessions with some of the pioneers. It is the intent of this paper to capture, in one single document, a summary and the highlights of the glorious days of this facility. In essence, this paper is a summary of the programs conducted in the last 58 years and of the numerous critical assemblies and reactors that operated at LACEF. It also provides a list of references to the reader who might want to learn more about this facility's rich history.

Several independent molecular genetic linkage maps of varying density and completeness have been constructed for cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Because of the dearth of sequence and probe-specific DNA markers in the public domain, the various genetic maps of sunflower have not been integrated and a single reference map has not emerged. Moreover, comparisons between maps have been confounded by multiple linkage group nomenclatures and the lack of common DNA markers. The goal of the present research was to construct a dense molecular genetic linkage map for sunflower using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. First, 879 SSR markers were developed by identifying 1,093 unique SSR sequences in the DNA sequences of 2,033 clones isolated from genomic DNA libraries enriched for (AC)n or (AG)n and screening 1,000 SSR primer pairs; 579 of the newly developed SSR markers (65.9% of the total) were polymorphic among four elite inbred lines (RHA280, RHA801, PHA and PHB). The genetic map was constructed using 94 RHA280 × RHA801 F7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and 408 polymorphic SSR markers (462 SSR marker loci segregated in the mapping population). Of the latter, 459 coalesced into 17 linkage groups presumably corresponding to the 17 chromosomes in the haploid sunflower genome (x = 17). The map was 1,368.3-cM long and had a mean density of 3.1 cM per locus. The SSR markers described herein supply a critical mass of DNA markers for constructing genetic maps of sunflower and create the basis for unifying and cross-referencing the multitude of genetic maps developed for wild and cultivated sunflowers.

New business models and applications have been continuously developed and popularized on the Internet. In recent years, a number of applications including blogs, Facebook, iGoogle, Plurk, Twitter, and You-Tube known as Web 2.0 have become very popular. These aforementioned applications all have a strong social flavor. However, what social factors exert an influence onto their use is still unclear and remains as a research issue to be further investigated. This research studies four social factors and they are subjective norm, image, critical mass, and electronic word-of-mouth. A causal model of the satisfaction and continuance intention of Web 2.0 users as a function of these four social factors is proposed. Results indicate that user satisfaction with Web 2.0 applications significantly affects electronic word-of-mouth, which in turn significantly influences their continuance intention. In addition, subjective norm, image and critical mass all have a significant impact onto satisfaction, which in turn has an indirect significant influence on electronic word-of-mouth. Finally, all social factors have a significant direct impact on continuance intention. Finally, implications for service providers and researchers are discussed.

Agricultural restructuring has disproportionately impacted smaller US farms, such as those in Michigan where the average farm size is 215 acres. To keep agricultural land in production, entrepreneurial Michigan farmers are utilizing agritourism as a value-added way to capitalize on their comparative advantages, their diverse agricultural products, and their locations near large, urban, tourist-generating areas. Using focus groups, this paper illustrates how entrepreneurial farmers have strengthened Michigan agritourism by fostering producer networks through brochures and web linkages, information sharing in refining the agritourism product, referrals to other agritourism businesses that serve different markets or offer different products, purchase linkages, and a regional approach to establishing agritourism destinations and increase visitation. Successful entrepreneurial, agritourism developers thus work cooperatively, rather than individualistically and competitively. Agritourism destinations facing stiff competition from alternative venues for leisure time and food purchases benefit from supportive linkages that help sustain a critical mass of producers who offer diverse goods, maintain land in agriculture, and thus, reinforce Michigan's image for agritourism.

The traditional answer that increased enforcement will increase compliance is supported by both economic modeling and numerous experiments. Some scholars have countered that vigorous enforcement of the tax laws may be counterproductive because it may suggest that noncompliance is the norm.

The literature on science and technology park locat ion strategies suggests that at least three factors are considered critical: proximity to a wor ld-class research university with enough scientific critical mass in technologically relevan t domains of expertise, strong cooperation among governmental, academic and industrial entities around the project and the quality of life inherent to the chosen territory. This article argues that the absence of the first criterion may be partially compensated by the other two criti cal success factors. We look into the case studies of one of Europe's largest and most success ful technology parks, Sophia Antipolis in the French Riviera, and compare its development gui delines with the strategic choices of TecnoVia, an innovation habitat under construction in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The hindsight on Sophia Antipolis' history indicates th at the chances of survival and perpetuation of a technology park in such an immature regional ...

This paper presents an evolutionary framework for horizontal technology policies (HTPs) especially market-friendly ones involving project-based incentives (e.g. R&D project based grants rather than tax-based incentives to yearly expenditures on R&D). HTPs are a category of technological policies whose objective is to promote technological development per se, and associated management and organizational routines, irrespective of industrial branch or technological area. They are being increasingly adopted by both advanced countries and newly industrialized countries in response to the new opportunities and threats opened up by the technological revolution and by the processes of liberalization and globalization; and they complement the more specific and well-known selective and vertical policies aimed at individual sectors and technologies. The analysis is conducted within a learning-to-innovate framework with emphasis on collective, organizational learning; search; and market-building. The outcome is a technology policy cycle with distinct infant, growth, and mature phases. Proactive 'generation" of a critical mass of projects for efficient learning and diffusion of innovation routines becomes the aim of the infant phase; while the mature phase of the policy should focus on policy restructuring including drastic reductions in the support of routine projects and enhanced support of more complex types of innovation. The paper also emphasizes the importance of a neutrality component in incentives in the infant phase of increasing selectivity; and of building policy capabilities for efficient policy design and implementation.

The concept of authenticity is in flux (Lowenthal 1995). It is a complex notion to pin down and often takes on different nuances and applications in successive contexts. This paper presents one approach for the clarification of the concept of authenticity in relation to contemporary art. It introduces the idea of an artwork's 'critical mass' which provides a core of continuity that transcends inevitable material and contextual variation. This philosophical framework will be explored in relation to the various incarnations of an installation by the artist Ross Sinclair, Journey to the Edge of the World-The New Republic of St. Kilda, 1999-2002.