Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) have emerged as an important means to address pressing societal challenges: Based on the collaboration across business, public, and civil society sectors, CSPs are expected to enable greater social effectiveness (i.e. addressing the social challenge and fostering positive societal impact) than unilateral or intra-sector actions. While previous studies in management research have examined the challenge of aligning diverse partner interests and ways of working in CSPs, insights into their social effectiveness remain surprisingly scarce. Initial evidence however suggests that CSPs do not necessarily live up to their potential, such as by failing to deliver on their targeted goals or by provoking beneficiary dependence. Consequently, this project is organized around two key aims. First, it aims to systematically explore the social impact of CSPs. It will do this by uncovering underlying mechanisms and extent deficits in CSPs’ social effectiveness through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary literature review. Second, this project aims to push extant research frontiers by scrutinizing opportunities to strengthen CSPs’ social effectiveness and elucidate the theoretical and managerial implications on the basis of a comparative, multiple case study design. The empirical approach thereby focuses on two, so far insufficiently analyzed levers to strengthen CSPs’ social effectiveness: companies’ evolutions from business-centric to society-centric approaches in their CSP engagement and the importance of investigating CSP closure dynamics and strategies through which social effects are sustained or eventually undermined. By integrating these insights into multi-level process frameworks, this project establishes much-needed connections between the discourse on CSP management and research insights into the addressing of societal grand challenges. From a societal perspective the project insights will help managers anticipate the challenges of and opportunities for strengthening CSPs’ social impact and, as a result, use this type of sector-spanning collaboration more effectively. Overall, advancing the CSP discourse and encouraging a more comprehensive view on these partnerships’ social effectiveness is critical at a time where the international community strongly advocates CSPs as a pivotal tool for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

With 3D digital events exciting e-gamers, luxury brands experimenting with NFTs, and the medical industry investigating virtual and augmented reality technologies for remote surgeries, the metaverse is currently a vibrant space in which firms dabble in identifying application areas for innovation and growth. In this project, we investigate how firms conduct nascent market work in metaverse markets. Nascent market work comprises the activities firms carry out to legitimize a new market and to create and capture value in it. We approach this topic in four steps: First, we carry out a longitudinal field study to propose how firm strategies, stakeholders’ legitimacy perceptions, and activities of companies co-evolve while forming opportunities and challenges for firm innovation performance in the metaverse. This study involves qualitative interviews with firms and relevant stakeholders (consumers, governmental institutions, NGOs, investors, media) to study the ways in which they engage in sensemaking and sensegiving to others. Second, we conduct a quantitative content analysis of archival data (press releases, media coverage, social media posts), to investigate which nascent market work receives more versus less public approval and why. Third we build on Step 1 & 2, to develop and validate multi-item scales that allows to capture firm’s nascent market work in quantitative studies. Fourth, and building on Steps 1-3, we carry out a quantitative study in three consecutive phases to capture how firm activities in the metaverse influence their performance. We expect that the results contribute to understanding the relevance of different activities and interactions between firms and their stakeholders in building a nascent market.

<< Background >>We observe the abundance of smart toys, adaptive learning applications, and digital assistants for schoolchildren on the market. These products are artificial intelligence (AI) based conversational agents that can communicate using natural language. The current pandemic challenge probably plays an important role in promoting their adoption. The truth is, however inconvenient, that we still do not know much about how schoolchildren harness these AI-based conversational agents for their benefits. Because of the way they are designed (i.e., real touchable physique versus digital character), schoolchildren may have different kinds of interaction and experience with them. Moreover, they may be perceived differently because of their appearances (i.e., pet-like and human-like characteristics). This project addresses a discussion that is likely to become more glaring in the next years, due to the increasing adoption of in AI-based conversational agents for learning and leisure activities. We focus on 11 to 13 years old schoolchildren in Liechtenstein, Germany, and France. In this age group, they begin to learn abstract reasoning (Jean Piaget’s concreate and formal operational stage) and develop belief in their own ability to solve tasks together with a sense of identity in relation to their social others (Erik Erikson’s stages 4 and 5 of psychosocial development). We also take into account the concerns about digital divide between schoolchildren and their caregivers, a cultural gap between digital natives and digital immigrants. By understanding how schoolchildren perceive and interact with conversational agents, we can equip parents and teachers with hands-on know-how in guiding schoolchildren to develop a mindful and healthy interaction with AI-based conversational agents.Ultimately, we wish to join ongoing European-wide initiatives that aim to provide a better and safer digital space for children. Examples of these initiatives are Better Internet for Kids (https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/policy/safer-internet-forum) and Eurochild (https://www.eurochild.org). We would also like to contribute to the broader discourse on artificial intelligence and children, joining the missions of UNICEF's (https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/media/661/file). Finally, we also learn from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)'s (https://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2018/artificial-intelligence-big-data-and-fundamental-rights) discussion about artificial intelligent and the fundamental rights.In comparison to other ongoing Erasmus+ projects on the subject matter, our focus is on the social and cogntivie consequences of AI-enabled CA use for schoolschildren and not on how to teach AI to children (e.g., Generation AI - Grant 275440, Internship of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Coding’ appliations in the light of EU knowledge - Grant 55756).<< Objectives >>Responding to the problematisation, we pursue two main objectives in this project:•To explore and understand how schoolchildren interact with different types of AI-based conversational agents and how they perceive these conversational agents compared to their existing social others (such as family, friends, and teachers). This objective is addressed in work packages 1 (conceptual development) as well as 2 and 3 (field study).•To equip schoolchildren as digital natives and their caregivers with hands-on knowledge in dealing with the rapid advancement of smart technologies, especially those that appear to be social and human-like in either appearance or intelligence. This objective is addressed in work package 4 (project blog and a collection of short stories).<< Implementation >>We divide our main project activities into four work packages (WPs):1.WP 1 - Conceptual development. We will analyze available AI-based conversational agents on the market that specifically target schoolchildren and dig deeper into their design purpose, working mechanisms, and potential pros and contras. We will develop a typology of these conversational agents.2.WP 2 - First field study. We will interview 11-13 years old schoolchildren to explore how they perceive and interact with AI-based conversational agents. 3.WP 3 - Second field study. We will investigate the implications of the new learning strategies that schoolchildren develop when using AI-based conversational agents, compared to the more traditional learning strategies.4.WP 4 - Dissemination to a wide audience. We will share the insights directly to participating parents and teachers. We will also use the storytelling approach in disseminating them on a dedicated blog.<< Results >>Result 1 - A typology of conversational agents for schoolchildren. This project result will be delivered upon the completion of WP 1.Result 2 - Insights on how schoolchildren perceive and interact with AI-based conversational agents. This project result will be delivered upon the completion of WP 2. Result 3 - Insights on schoolchildren’s learning strategies with AI-based conversational agents. This project result will be delivered upon the completion of WP 3.Result 4 - Dissemination to a wide audience. We will share the insights directly to participating parents and teachers. We will also use the storytelling approach in disseminating them on a dedicated blog. This project result is addressed in WP 4.

5G Communication Networks are today at the stage of maturity of developing key enabling technologies for extended proof-of-concepts (PoC). Although standardization of 5G is yet to be finalized, 5G players already reached a general agreement on key enabling technologies, architecture and deployment scenarios of 5G networks. The 5G community is now looking for translating 5G use cases, vertical industries requirements and ambitions in adopting 5G, into viable business cases. However, the support of 5G new services and seamless connectivity across various vertical industries and very diverse use cases, still requires the integration of multiple access technologies. The 5G ALL-STAR project builds on the outcomes and the cooperation experience of 5GCHAMPION to design, develop, evaluate and trial multi-connectivity based on multiple access, combining cellular and satellite access technologies to support seamless reliable and ubiquitous broadband services. The project will develop a set of technologies and validate system interoperability to provide global connectivity and support mission critical applications of interest in both European and Korean regions. To this end, 5G ALL-STAR will develop selected technologies targeting a set of PoCs to validate and demonstrate in heterogeneous real setup: i) 5G cellular mmWave access system for providing broadband and low-latency 5G services, ii) new radio based feasibility of satellite access for providing broadband and reliable 5G services, iii) multi-connectivity support based on cellular and satellite access, iv) spectrum sharing between cellular and satellite access. In addition, the project will actively contribute to v) global 5G standardization including 3GPP and ETSI focusing on multi-RAT interoperability and New Radio based satellite access, vi) creation of a cross-regional lasting synergy for 5G research, innovation and commercialization through value proposition assessment for vertical industries.

MAKERS is a collaborative research project (PRC), involving multidisciplinarity in SHS (ergonomics, sociology, management, urbanism and territory) in partnership with SPI (industrial engineering, ecodesign). The research team has already worked together, this project being in continuity with the ORCILAB project, which had shown a difficulty of collaboration between fablabs and industrials on innovation projects. The MAKERS project aims to understand the makers activity, considering them as "designers" in alternative production organizations. These communities respond to societal needs on a territory with citizen solutions, for which it is important to measure the consideration of ecodesign, ergonomics, safety and sustainability of projects. Our research questions concern their capacity to work together, in a network, to create original solutions and to be part of design process and sometimes to change scale (circular economy using the territory resources). The methodologies are mainly qualitative on twenty projects with interviews and observations of activities. We will also propose participatory approaches of simulation and experimentation to accompany some makers projects identified as holding sustainability objectives. The deliverables are well integrated in the industry of the future with the production of knowledge on sustainable and citizen innovations in the territory logic, carried by these communities. The production of design guidelines (eco-design, ergonomics, etc.) is also expected to support the makers in their activity and to changes of scale for some project.