This thesis examines the interactions within standard-setting consortia within the Audio/
Video/Multimedia sector, focusing on large company dominance, geographical proximity,
and technological proximity. It aims to uncover how these factors individually
and collectively influence the success of these consortia. The guiding research question is:
“What combinations of large company dominance, geographic proximity, and technological
proximity lead to successful outcomes in standard-setting consortia?”
Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the study reveals that successful consortia
strike a balance in large company influence, maintain significant geographical proximity,
and ensure proper technological alignment. While large company dominance significantly
impacts consortium success, an optimal balance is essential to avoid power struggles and
foster effective collaboration. Geographical proximity, especially at the UN subregion level,
consistently contributes to success by enhancing trust and communication. Technological
proximity within industry groups is beneficial but must be complemented by other factors
to significantly impact outcomes. It’s clear that the success of consortia is best understood
through specific configurations of these variables rather than any single factor alone.
To evaluate consortium success, the study employs a multifactor framework focusing on the
creation of standards, their adoption, and scholarly recognition. This framework combines
qualitative and quantitative measures, providing a comprehensive assessment of consortium
performance.
The research makes a valuable contribution to the field by offering empirical evidence on
the strategic influence of large companies within standard-setting consortia. It extends
the understanding of how large firms drive innovation while balancing the contributions
of smaller participants. The study also offers nuanced insights into the roles of geographical
and technological proximities, emphasizing their combined effects on consortium success.
These findings are useful for both theoretical knowledge and practical applications,
informing technology management practices and shaping policies that support effective
standard-setting efforts.
From a Management of Technology perspective, this thesis demonstrates how strategic engagement
in standard-setting consortia can enhance a firm’s technological capabilities and
market positioning. Technology managers can leverage these insights to navigate standardsetting
processes more effectively, ensuring that their firms benefit from collaboration while
maintaining an optimal balance of influence.
However, this study acknowledges certain practical limitations. The findings, while insightful
for the Audio/Video/Multimedia sector, may need adaptation when applied to other
industries with different dynamics. Additionally, the reliance on publicly available data
from consortium websites and LinkedIn profiles may lead to practical challenges, such as
gaps or inconsistencies in the data, affecting decision-making. The study’s cross-sectional
approach provides a snapshot of current conditions but does not capture consortium dynamics
over time. Practitioners should consider these factors when applying the insights
to other contexts, and future research should aim to include a wider range of industries
and explore these dynamics longitudinally to inform more adaptive strategies.

This thesis explores the ethical challenges that a potential research program for solar climate engineering via Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) could incur. These ethical challenges are comprised of epistemic hurdles in relation to the research process, as well as societal questions of justice and the value of nature. The thesis proposes a variety of tools and approaches to assess and possibly govern the risks and uncertainties invoked by the research of SAI and its societal implications. The methodological approach is based mainly on ethical and philosophical analysis and reflection and the main findings take the form of discursive argumentation and normative reflection.

SAI is a form of climate engineering that seeks to reduce global warming by increasing the planet’s reflection levels through the injection of reflective agents (aerosols) into the stratosphere. The mere potential of researching a technology that would actively intervene in the global climate is highly contentious and has led to passionate debates throughout the expert community. Designing a research process for such a polarizing technology such as SAI inevitably raises fundamental moral questions, wherein issues of global justice, democracy, the value of and humanity’s relationship with nature, and the societal impacts of technological innovation all intersect. Given these far-reaching consequences, the thesis operates under the assumption that SAI is a highly disruptive idea and technology, that has the potential to challenge and undermine existing societal values and institutions. Accordingly, this work presents a range of philosophical modes of inquiry and assessments, in order to supply any proposed SAI research governance program with the necessary ethical considerations and frameworks.

The thesis is structured along four major inflection points, which form the individual chapters tied together through differing but interrelated research questions. What follows is an overview of the research questions, along with a brief description of how those questions were answered…
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This article explores the implementation of the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) framework among small and medium-sized healthcare companies in China. The RRI framework has been widely discussed in Europe and the US but is still in the early stages of diffusion in emerging countries and economies. The lack of institutional support and enabling conditions in these countries make it difficult for SMEs to fulfill their mission of socially responsible innovation. Based on a single case study at Gaush Teleon, the article identifies 24 factors for implementing RRI in Chinese SMEs. It develops questionnaires to understand the diffusion of the RRI concept and the ranking of the influencing factors. The results of the data analysis show that policy factors are considered to be the most important influencing factor on the adoption of the RRI framework by Chinese SMEs, followed by organizational and financial factors. The study suggests that examining the alignment of Chinese society with RRI and exploring the feasibility of developing the RRI concept in China can help developing countries assess how emerging technologies and society can evolve together.

The accelerating development of algorithms causes a disruptive effect in many domains, including the complex decision-making of knowledge workers. Experts can manage difficult but repetitive decisions with software technologies like a Decision Support System (DSS). A DSS is used to monitor decisions, get additional insights and improve decisions over time. Their supportive performance characterises these systems to assist human decision-makers. To answer to the pressing demand for transparency in DSSs, Councyl developed Behavioural Artificial Intelligence Tenchnology (BAIT). BAIT is a DSS that adequately supports experts with making decisions. However, algorithms like BAIT may affect the autonomy of experts and their decisions in numerous ways. This thesis studies human moral autonomy (HMA) of end-users in the context of BAIT. We do this by measuring perceptions of end-users. The product arising from this study is the HMA Survey.

The municipality of Amsterdam plans to transition away from its reliance on fossil fuel-based energy sources for residential heating by 2040. The municipality has laid out a roadmap that details possibilities for sustainable heating on a per-neighborhood basis. One neighborhood of particular interest is Geerdinkhof in Amsterdam South East. There are three long-term sustainable transitions that can take place within Geerdinkhof; a high temperature (HT) district heating network, collectively-owned options and heating options per individual household. The present research refers to citizen social acceptance of these long-term transitions for sustainable heating. It would be ideal to address the possible lack of social acceptance for a new technology before it is implemented. It is argued that social acceptance issues can best be anticipated by understanding the underlying value conflicts associated with technologies. However, literature indicates that very few tools have been implemented for ex-ante analysis of social acceptance. It is argued that the consequences of value conflicts on a future lack of social acceptance can be anticipated by identifying scenarios of value change. In order to best balance the need for both quantitative and qualitative scenario analysis, Cross-Impact Balances (CIB) was chosen as the methodology execute this thesis. This method that can construct qualitative and semi-quantitative scenarios systematically. The values observed in this thesis regard affordability and comfort, which are at the forefront of the transition for citizens in Geerdinkhof. The analysis produced a total of 23 internally consistent scenarios of value change. This thesis defines “internally consistent” scenarios of value change as a reflection of how the prioritization of values shift over time, considering the mathematically plausible combinations of CIB calculations. Considering the heavy work-load to analyze each scenario individually, the scenarios were clustered into seven broad scenario clusters based on how these values may trend. Sensitivity analysis indicated that there is no extreme divergence in the number of consistent scenarios discovered. For each scenario cluster, the most fitting of the three possible heating initiatives in Geerdinkhof were assessed. Moreover, analysis indicated that a HT district heating network was the most fitting heating initiative as a result of the most commonly found scenario. However, it cannot be conclusively stated that this initiative is the most suitable for Geerdinkhof, given that the least commonly found scenario also suits HT district heating. Recommendations can be provided on the best possible procedure that the municipality can take in order to facilitate more socially accepted heating initiatives. Ex-ante assessment of social acceptance is dependent on observing possible trends in neighborhood and external factors. It is recommended that the municipality assess the current trends in these factors, and compare them to the findings in the present research. It is important to note that citizens would also need to demonstrate the need for sustainable initiatives. Another recommendation would be for the municipality to continue to emphasize the importance and urgency of the impending transition, for example through information campaigns or neighborhood gatherings.

The accessibility and affordability of small scale renewable energy sources cause a shift towards an decentralized energy system with distributed electricity generation. Together with the increased attention to responsible innovation, the polycentric development of multiple governing authorities gives room for social innovation. This empowers citizens to become prosumers via Local Renewable Energy Communities (LREOs). Despite the trend towards more polycentricity, the mismatch between the existing regulations and rules - with focus on system efficiency, reliability and affordability – and the growing attention to new sustainability related concerns of social equality, environmental well-being and energy autarky is seen as the cause for the emergence of LREOs. This manuscript explores how these new sustainability related concerns, evoked by climate events, influences the value systems of citizens and subsequently lead to the emergence of LREOs. By using agent based modelling approach, this research incorporates multiple scales of analysis, diverse agent configuration and focus on the emergence of structures at the societal level from individual actions.

The constructed agent based model uses an illustrative approach to showcase how the impact of disruptive climate events changes the value systems of citizens. Over the course of the simulation the citizens take part in the three core mechanisms of the model. First citizens slowly become responsible citizen by recognizing the sustainability related concerns evoked due to climatic disrupting events. Second, due to social learning and the recognition of the sustainability related concerns, citizens change their value prioritization. Third, citizens decide, based on their responsibility, value prioritization (motives) and leadership capacities, to adjust their energy provision by choosing between i) Fossil fuel market (market entity that supplies fossil fuel generated electricity), ii) Sustainable market (market entity that supplies sustainable generated electricity), iii) individual pv-owner (citizens buy solar pv panels for individual use), and iv) joining/initiating an LREO. In this thesis I will show that in each of these core mechanisms, values and value change play a dominant role. The experiments show that during the process of recognizing the sustainability related concerns, citizens from the value orientation Growth and Personal-Focus mainly struggle to acknowledge their own contribution to the problem of climate change, while citizens from the Social-Focus and Self-Protection-Focus population scenarios tend to stagnate because of disbelieve in the impact of individual actions. For the second mechanism, change in value prioritization, the analysis have shown that within the Mixed population scenario, the social pressure of friends hinder citizens to ascribe more priority to sustainable related values. Interestingly, within populations with a homogeneous value prioritization the combination of social learning and the completion of the responsibility-cycle led to the increased prioritization of the sustainability related values of universalism and benevolence. These so-called divergent patterns of change in value prioritization is more often observed among social networks with citizens who were social competent and receptive to new opinions (Growth and Personal-Focusvalue orientations).For the third mechanism, the emergence of LREOs, the experiments demonstrate that only within the population scenarios with the Growth and Mixed value orientations the emergence of LREOs was visible. This was due to the fact that only within these two scenarios, populations contained a large group of citizens i) who recognized the concerns of sustainability, ii) who were community-oriented, iii) who were willing to act, iv) whom of which a small group was capable to lead, and v) who jointly agreed on the organisational form and technology in-use. The experiments have shown a big diversity in the agency, goals and preferences between different population-scenarios. This research made a methodological contribution by introducing the new concept of perception thermometers to study the impact of value-weighted experiences, events and information on the value prioritization system of citizens. Next to the perception thermometers, the scientific contribution of this research study showcases how to integrate new values (e.g. energy justice) within the existing Value Circumplex of Schwartz by considering it as a change in value specification. Moreover, this research used a holistic approach of analysing the emergence of LREOs as it combines external factors (e.g. consistent energy policies) with social factors (e.g. disagreements during board meetings due to the different motives of individuals) and individual characteristics (e.g. responsibility, motives, leadership capacities). Applying this multiple perspective of studying the emergence of LREOs in practise, creates a better understanding why LREOs emerge and how to stimulate/facilitate their founding process. These insights allow a more in-depth understanding of the emergence LREOs and can equip relevant researchers and practitioners with fruitful knowledge.

The climate change around the globe driven by Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) is fueling the growth of Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) at a faster pace. However, the lack of acceptance of these systems by society has stifled its successful deployment. Societal values play a key role in evaluating the social acceptance and the broader consequences of SES. However, there exists a complexity of change in the values of people. Alternatively known as value change, although SES may embody values permanently during its design, the values that people hold important may change during the lifetime of SES. Value change may often be driven by various exogenous factors as well as due to the complex, emergent, and dynamic characteristics of SES. Consequently, this has led to high uncertainty in the future acceptance of SES. Exploring the uncertain scenarios of value change is crucial for social acceptance of SES as it can facilitate better consideration of values in evaluating social acceptance of SES, ultimately contributing to the future acceptability of SES by society. However, current approaches to explore value change in ethics of technology literature are scarce. Few have proposed to explore value change, but lack in dealing with value change after it has occurred, or they consider values in a static manner. Alternatively, simulation models show better prospects in exploring complex societal dynamics of which a human mind cannot picture. Simulation models such as Agent-Based Models are seen as a suitable solution to capture the underlying mechanisms that drive the value change considering the complex and dynamic characteristics of SES. The objective of this research is to gain an understanding of the mechanisms that drive the value change in SES, by formulating a modelling approach that integrates agent heterogeneity, common pool resource & dynamic behavior, transformative experience & bounded rationality, and social interaction, to explore value change under various policy and uncertainty scenarios of SES. To this end, this study combined Agent-Based Modelling and Exploratory Modelling approaches to explore the change in importance of values in SES.

The municipality of Amsterdam is currently in the middle of a heat transition. The municipalit aims to cut down the use of natural gas for space heating in order to reduce its impact on the natural environment. For the Geerdinkhof neighborhood in Amsterdam South-East, the municipality is planning to implement a district heating system. These systems make use of a collective heat source and rely on underground isolated pipelines to deliver the heat to the end-user. These systems are a significant investment in infrastructure and require adjustments to households before they are suitable for this type of system. A heat transition like the one in Geerdinkhof is a significant challenge, as the heating alternatives that are considered are sometimes met with some resistance from households. Households might not always want to switch to a heating alternative for a variety of reasons. The heat transition therefore becomes a question of social acceptance: are households going to make use of this new system or will they resist the implementation? This master thesis is an exploratory study into reasons for social non-acceptance of a new residential heating system in Geerdinkhof, Amsterdam. Given the long life-time of energy systems and large investments necessary, the municipality of Amsterdam is interested in identifying reasons households might not accept a new heating technology. This thesis makes use of the theory on human values, value change and value conflicts to evaluate how households are affected by a heating alternative in their value fulfillment. In order to simulate the effects different configurations of heating alternatives can have on the human values of households, an agent-based model is constructed. This model is used to anticipate possible value conflicts households could experience in a transition to a new residential heating system. Three recommendations are made to the municipality of Amsterdam in support of social acceptance of a new heating alternative in Geerdinkhof: increase the affordability of the system through subsidies, prioritize household insulation for increased thermal comfort and answer to the Geerdinkhof neighborhood characteristics. The households in this neighborhood might require higher levels of participation, ownership and overall inclusion before they are to socially accept the heating alternative.

Diversity as a topic is increasingly becoming important aspect of organizations and society in general. Team diversity could bring different perspectives and thus diverse teams could reap the benefits such as better performance, innovation, and problem-solving abilities. Teams face challenge of deciding between alignment activities focused on organizational goals vs adaptability activities helping organizations adapt to changing external environments. Teams that balance both types of activities are known as ambidextrous teams. Through literature review, it was found that there is knowledge gap in understanding the link between team diversity, performance, and ambidexterity. This thesis tries exploring various diversity factors and its relation to team performance and ambidexterity. Further the thesis investigates if there are any differences in the link between team diversity, performance and ambidexterity based on firm types, that is product vs service-based firms.
To find the solution to the link, semi-structured case interviews was conducted. 6 team managers from product-based firms and 4 managers from service-based firms participated in the research. Data from these 10 semi-structured case interviews was analyzed using AtlasTi software and results of qualitative research is presented in the thesis. Various ways in which one can conceptualize diversity, advantages & disadvantages of diversity and its effect on team performance & ambidexterity is presented in this thesis based on the qualitative analysis of semi-structured case interviews.
The exploratory study indicates that semi-conductor team mangers conceptualize diversity from both social and information/decision making perspectives. Common surface level diversities such as function, experience, gender etc. were reported. At the same surface level diversities such as working style, task motivation, etc. were reported. The results indicate that teams various diversity factors can lead to divergent thinking and elaboration of task-relevant information thus improving team performance. Some of the reported benefits of diversity include increased knowledge base, better service to customers, better decision making, etc. Realization of diversity benefits is not straightforward; it comes with challenges. Some of these challenges due to diversity include complex team management, increased conflicts, increased time and effort. Thus, it is important for organizations to provide necessary support and environment for reaping the benefits from diversity. Such organizational control is more in terms of structures of teams in case of product-based firms; structural decisions drive ambidexterity and division could take place based on diversity types such as functional diversity, experience diversity etc. However, decentralized structures and informalization of non-routine activities in firms can enable better exploration. And diversity types such as experience, function or skills act as deciding factors in determining extent of structural decentralization and informalization of non-routine activities. Decentralization of non-routine activities can thus enable ambidexterity. Contrary to product-based firm, all the service-based firms reported that employees need to have skills and abilities to capture customer needs and deliver them on time. Therefore, it is evident that all the employees in service-based firms could be involved in exploration. Thus, naturally the employees in service organizations are involved in both the types of activities. Diversities such as skill and working style can thus enable contextual ambidexterity in service-based firms by enabling employees to serve customers better.

The long time horizon of sustainable energy developments is often associated with all sorts of issues that are caused by changes in values. The public attitude can be affected by these changes and potential risks in the lack of social acceptance could occur, which always lead to public oppositions to the implementation of the sustainable energy system in a city district. Integrating social acceptance into the long-term planning of energy projects is necessary to lower the risks. However, it is hard to assess the future acceptance of energy consumers in different sustainable energy options. Also, different stakeholders always have different opinions and concerns on the public accepted solutions, which causes conflicts in negotiation in the planning and decision-making phases. This research employed a participatory modelling approach to forecast the possible future developments in the district heating network in Amsterdam Southeast concerning the value changes. This method also helps stakeholders to understand the design requirements of the more public accepted sustainable energy system in the future.

This research has been performed to help the Dutch government with the decisions and choices it has to make in order to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement and the Climate Agreement. Decentralized energy systems can be a solution for meeting these requirements, however trade-offs have to be made between different system criteria, which are evaluated as values in this research. The aim of this research is to find out what strategies can reduce and deal with value conflicts that can be identified when designing a decentralized energy system considering the properties of a city district. A specific city district is analyzed, i.e. 'De Vruchtenbuurt' in The Hague, the Netherlands. The research starts with an identification of values, conversion factors, governance models and technical designs which are important when changing to a decentralized energy system in 'De Vruchtenbuurt'. Following the Capability Approach is used to structure the different components and the relations between them. Subsequently, a translation of the components into a simulation model is made, using the values to evaluate the acceptability of the capabilities. By analyzing the values that are conflicting (for different conversion groups) for different input parameter settings, insights are gained about possible value conflicts that can emerge in 'De Vruchtenbuurt' and possibly also in other city districts. Finally, an analysis on strategies is developed that can be effective to limit the emergence of the identified value conflicts and therefore possibly support the change to a decentralized energy system in 'De Vruchtenbuurt' and in other city districts. Policies (financial instruments and supporting innovations) that create more feasible solutions for the heterogeneous households are effective to limit the context dependent value conflicts. It is not realistic to eliminate all value conflicts, since some of the values are inherently in conflict with each other. For these conflicts thresholds can be formulated that should be met for every value. Given that value conflicts exist, focusing on the process of the change to a decentralized energy system is seen as important factor for support and participation.

Ship emissions, from diesel, will cause an estimated 60 thousand people to die prematurely per year from emission related diseases such as, respiratory problems, cancer, high blood pressure and heart failure (Corbett, et al. (2007) has estimated that globally 60 thousand people will die prematurely because of (container) vessel emissions each year, especially people near shipping routes. To reduce the impact of these container vessels on public health an alternative sustainable energy sources needs to be developed. Thus, the port of Rotterdam needs to innovate.
In the development of the port area not all relevant stakeholder’s values are included in the decision process, this may lead to public resistance which impedes the development process. An example is the development of the Maasvlakte II, where public resistance impeded the development.
The aim of this report is to determine which technology, and which options for these technologies, are suitable and promising for the port of Rotterdam, hereby including public values to prevent adverse effects.
To determine which technical variant of the two trends, Shore Side Electricity and LNG, an MCA and scenarios were performed. The two technical options were determined by a desk research and interviews. The decision criteria were deducted from relevant stakeholders, by a document analysis.
The technical options that were obtained and compared in this report are a grid connected SSE option with off-shore wind power, and a containerised LNG PowerPac®. The SSE option prevails because it meets the decision criteria the best in the current situation and prevails in half of the scenarios. However, the port may implement an other option, because of practical issues or scenarios which were not included in this report

The need for an energy transition has arisen in response to a growing discrepancy between (A) what people find important or valuable in life, and (B) the performance of – or value delivered by – the physical energy system. Since the physical energy system has not changed much in recent decades, it is clear that changes in people’s values are responsible for the currently observed mismatch between A and B. It is relevant to investigate how – and/or whether – this divergence can be managed as levels of societal discontent rise in proportion to the incongruity between A and B.

Minimizing the divergence of A relative to B (and vice versa) calls for a deeper understanding of how belief system change happens. Anticipating belief system change may help to forestall the emergence of negative sentiments and consequent destabilization of socio-technical (energy) systems. One way in which belief system change may destabilize the functioning of the Dutch energy system is through altering patterns of consumer energy technology adoption behaviour.

A person’s values interact with her knowledge to determine the attitudes he/she
holds with respect to clean (i.e. low-carbon) energy technologies. These attitudes, in turn, impact one’s intention – and ultimately one’s decision – to adopt a clean energy technology. Hence, value and knowledge change induces attitude shifts which subsequently affect consumer intentions to adopt clean energy technologies. The dynamic interplay of values, knowledge, and attitudes is referred to as belief system change.

This thesis focusses on providing a way of thinking about how belief system change happens within an energy-system’s context. Additionally, this thesis investigates the usefulness of ABMs as research tools for systematically studying belief system change within socio-technical systems (energy systems in particular).

Digital transformation is taking place all around and there is hardly anything has not been affected (Reddy & Reinartz, 2017). It is reshaping a wide range of activities, influences the way we work, our communication and our consumer behaviors (Piccinini, Hanelt, R.W., & L.M., 2015). Benefits are less visible in certain situations, but a lot of administrative processes can be automated or digitized and manual labour can be reduced (Salo, 2006). In a business context, digital tools are widely adopted as ERP, CRM and e-business solutions, however some, like e-business exhibit a significant gap between adoption and widespread adoption use (Zhu, Dong, Xu, & Kraem, 2006). Various theories predict the adoption of technologies such as innovation diffusion, TAM and TOE Framework, but there is a gap in digital transformation literature that depicts the barriers to digital transformation, particularly taking into consideration its nature as a discontinuous change process that holistically transforms its people, organization, structure, in the pursuit of value creation (Henriette, Feki, & Boughzala, 2016). Furthermore, the chemical B2B industry has garnered a reputation for being a latecomer industry (Koehn, 2018). New startups have begun to enter the market where they leverage platform e-commerce services to lower prices and retain cost advantages, where large incumbent companies hesitate to try digital channels.

The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in healthcare is expected to set a paradigm shift to medical practice because these systems will have a significant role in applications such as diagnosis-support and image analysis. However, this implementation does not come without risks. There are important ethical concerns that should be addressed beforehand to ensure public trust and acceptability. Privacy, safety, transparency, reliability and potential biases are some of the issues to consider. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) frameworks have been designed by academics to tackle this sort of problems but there is no application of these frameworks in the field of AI in healthcare. This problem is even more salient in the private sector, due to the unawareness of the RRI concept in industry. Consequently, the research objective of this project was to offer recommendations on how to implement RRI practices to avoid potential risks and improve the social acceptability of AI. For this, we studied the case of Philips and carried out interviews with the company’s experts in AI and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This information was complemented with a comprehensive study of the literature on topics related to AI in healthcare and RRI. The results from these activities were used to create a roadmap to introduce RRI practices in the AI innovation activities within Philips. The results showed that large companies should build upon their existing CSR practices to develop RRI. This will increase the acceptability of RRI within the research and development (R&D) teams. Based on that, we came up with 14 recommendations for the case of Philips. These actions range from current practices, such as continuing with the rigorous process of patient data selection and curation, to novel solutions such as including better interactive features in the design of telehealth platforms (i.e. virtual reality, video calls or social networks). Further research can be carried out in different companies to come up with common principles that contribute to the creation of a more comprehensive RRI framework for AI in healthcare.

Increased Feed-in of renewable energy sources and an increase of sales of electric vehicles (EVs) complicate balancing of demand and supply. EVs are considered core enablers for dealing with intermittency due to their storage potential. This does however require that these EVs are charged according to smart charging protocols, which is a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Options exist for designing such a system. However, due to the gathering of personal (transactional) data, and the involvement of monetary assets, ethical concerns such as privacy and trust issues are assumed to arise at or after the introduction of such a technology. This has been the case with for instance smart meters. The effects of such ethical concerns on the usage of smart charging systems are unknown.

The main research question for this thesis is: “How can a smart charging system be designed which is both used on the short- and long-term and fulfils ethical values of EV owners?”

The purpose of this thesis was to explore and assess different smart EV charging system designs concerning factors contributing to system performance and possible ethical concerns. The research was conducted by creating an integrated framework of both the capability approach and complex adaptive systems. Agent-based modeling was used as the main research method in order to model the behaviour of EV owners within an smart charging environment. The model aims at providing valuable insights concerning which system design performs best with respect to system performance and ethical value fulfilment. Several architectural design decisions are elaborated on with respect to a decentralised or a centralised system. The research outcomes indicate possible short- and long-term ethical concerns of users with respect to the designed system. The effects of these concerns are at this point unknown, but are considered to have an ongoing effect on the performance of the system.

The research objectives involve the identification of four key architectural design decisions which consist of both decentralised and centralised alternatives. The conceptual framework built upon the capability approach, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and complex adaptive systems is used as conceptual basis for the agent-based model. The experimental design revolves around comparing three experimental design alternatives: a (1) public centralised system, (2) public decentralised system, and (3) a private decentralised system. The public centralised system describes a system which is controlled by a single authority, and in which data is stored within an external database. Furthermore, participants are free to participate. The public decentralised system describes a system which is not controlled by a single authority, and in which transactions are validated through shared consensus. Within the private decentralised system, power is exerted towards a single facilitator, which is authorised to whitelist participants. Aside from whitelisting privileges, the platform is not controlled by a single authority. The combined theoretical framework induces a wide variety of uncertain parameters. Therefore, the experimental designs are explored through an EMA study. The main purpose of this EMA study was to assess the three designs with respect to system usage, system performance, and ethical value fulfilment across a wide range of possible scenarios.

The model outcomes provide knowledge regarding promising design directions as well as directions for further research. The developed model describes the interactions between EV owners and the smart charging platform. The performance of the system is based on three constructs originating from UTAUT. These constructs are: performance-expectancy, effort-expectancy, and social influence. The total performance of the system combined with the personality traits of the EV owners determine whether an EV owner uses the system. Effort-expectancy describes the degree of effort needed to participate on the platform. Social influence is rooted within the capability approach and incorporates a combination of effects resulting from direct and indirect interaction between EV owners. Electricity is traded through the use of the platform which creates demand and supply. For model experimentation the KPIs for assessment are: the number of system users, the number of transactions, the number of traded kilometers, and the selected ethical values.

Regarding ethical values, the experimental outcomes provide strong indications that a decentralised system scores best on privacy, security, anonymity, and confidentiality. The scores indicate that problems regarding these ethical values are less expected on the short- and long-term as compared to a centralised system. When aiming to design a decentralised EV charging platform, special focus should be placed on achieving trust, as indications are present that trust issues could arise for decentralised systems. Concerning the KPIs related to system usage and performance, the results indicate that a centralised system is highly preferred. For each of the KPIs (number of users, enabled users, number of transactions, and number of traded kilometers), a centralised system scores higher. However, due to the large number of users, centralised systems have high oscillations in demand and supply.

Concerning the main research question, the research outcomes indicate that when designing a smart EV charging system, one should consider both decentralised and centralised design elements. Both elements are needed as solely focusing on either centralised or decentralised systems has implications for value fulfilment as well as system performance. The optimal combination of design elements is at this point uncertain. The research outcomes clearly indicate that extended research in this field is justified. It is important to further identify which system components in both centralised and decentralised systems positively contribute to the chosen KPIs. These components can then be combined in order to work towards an optimal system design. The operationalisation of the capability approach opens new possibilities to assess these combined design alternatives with respect to system usage and ethical values. In that sense, this thesis provides a tool for assessing the designs of smart charging platforms by providing an integrated framework of the capability approach and agent-based modeling.

The research described in this thesis has several implications for designing smart EV charging systems. The capability approach was found to be a proper method for assessing ethical values concerned with the usage of technology. Furthermore, it was found useful to extent the capability approach with other theories and methods such as the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, complex adaptive systems, and agent-based modeling. Using this approach for assessing smart EV charging systems helps to keep focus on the actual well-being of system users, rather than solely focusing on technological performance. Furthermore, the approach is long-term oriented. Directions for further research are presented. Essentially, these directions stimulate the further exploration of feasible smart charging system designs by extending the scope of design alternatives, further explore the integrated approach of CA and CAS, and further quantify the agent-based model.

Transition experiments are thought to be important tools for achieving transformational change in the urban water system. The governance of these experiments is described as a key factor in the success of these experiments. This paper sets out to operationalize and validate an evaluative scheme for the appraisal of transition experiments. This paper employs a case study approach to evaluate the governance of two transition experiments through the application of the evaluative scheme. This research indicates that learning-by-doing and applying the principles of good governance are enabling factors for realizing stakeholder empowerment and social change. The large size of the evaluative scheme is a point of concern for the broad applicability and usability of the framework as a common method for evaluation.

Entrepreneurship is often seen as one of the main measures to combat poverty in SSA. Yet, efforts still have not led to sustainable economic development. Scholars are arguing that new policies should be developed that build forth on existing values and institutions, instead of working against it. For this reason, this research is developed a qualitative research project that investigates the behaviours and strategies exercised by local entrepreneurs in Tanzania in light of the socio-cultural and economic context. It will therefore answer the research question:

How are SMEs operating in the technology industries dealing with the socio-cultural and economic demands originating from the Tanzanian business environment?

Tanzania is transforming from a traditional system that includes traditional socio-cultural and economic values and institutions, towards a modern system including more modern values and institutions. A clear distinction between the two systems has thus been proposed, where practices that are value- and institutional laden are identified and classified over these systems and the levels of the company, the civil society and the state. A total of 16 cases were developed of SMEs operating in the tech-industries by interviewing managing directors and senior managers, as well as making observations, which were consequently cross-analysed. This led to the development of a model that contain the values and institutions across the aforementioned levels and systems.
The main findings include that Tanzanian businesses tend to be hierarchical, are socio-culturally connected to informal ties including reciprocities, have a fatalistic attitude to production controls and rules, and have a synchronic time management. Supply chains are compartmentalised with little cooperation, coordination, information sharing and suggestions for innovations. In addition, due to the prevailing copying behaviour of many entrepreneurs, markets are characterised as either being very competitive with little to no product differentiation, or as being severely underdeveloped. The institutional environment remains unfavourable, where regulatory compliance is often time-consuming and expensive due to the bureaucratic systems. In addition, a combination of bureaucracy, weak law enforcement and a lack of transparency generates an unequal playing field, with unfair competition, privileges and corruption. Entrepreneurs often face a dilemma, where not participating in these practices leads to losing business opportunities. Nonetheless, the ICT sector seems to struggles less with these issues and the companies tend to be more successful.
The amount of the developments happening in Tanzania are tremendous and four of these stood out from the rest. These include a shift towards egalitarian management, a reduction of the social ties, a decrease in corruption and strong market developments. Drivers for these changes include improvements in the institutional surrounding, urbanisation, developments in infrastructure and technologies, and education.
Companies will benefit from implementing teamwork and remuneration policies, balancing social ties, rotate employees over station, implement basic SCM principles, occasionally pay allowance fees, apply to support organisations and have an open debate on more controversial practices.

Hydrogen technology offers a promising opportunity to mitigate problems that arise due to the energy transition. It can enable storage and balancing for surplus in electricity production from intermittent resources as solar energy and wind power. Electrolysis converts green electricity into hydrogen. Hydrogen is suggested to be introduced into the current natural gas grid as sustainable replacement of natural gas in households. This allows for reduction of CO2 emissions and heating buildings that are not easily insulated. The number of poorly insulated homes is difficult using electrical low temperature heat pumps.
Even though hydrogen offers many functional advantages, there are potential barriers that may restrain the introduction of hydrogen into the energy system. Often siting of large-scale renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels, causes anxiety and societal opposition. The reason for opposition is often distrust in institutions and technology that fails to equally distribute costs and benefits amongst stakeholders, authorities and residents.
To prevent this for hydrogen infrastructure, this research studies how hydrogen technology can incorporate local values. This allows for adapting technology to local needs and involving households in decision making. Acceptable technology and a responsible process increase trust and acceptance when the infrastructure is actually adjusted. This research answers the question which technical design choices provide for an acceptable and responsible design of hydrogen distribution and domestic use to households in Stad aan ´t Haringvliet.
Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet is used as case to research how to identify values and capabilities that play a role when designing hydrogen infrastructure for a specific local context. A participatory modelling approach is developed and executed. The approach involves stakeholders and households in the process of developing an Agent-Based Model. The model simulates the acceptability of hydrogen technology for households and identifies issues to be addressed in the next project phases. The Capability Approach and Value-Sensitive Design form the conceptual basis of this research. The effects of technology on households is assessed in terms of valuable capabilities and individual well-being. Capabilities create well-being as they allow users to choose e.g. how to heat and what technology to buy.
The outcomes of this research are specific local requirements and general knowledge on how to develop acceptable technology. Hydrogen infrastructure is acceptable when it has only a small impact on households and offers comfort and security against the same costs as the current system. Higher costs are possibly acceptable when the new system reduces CO2 emissions or offers higher comfort. However, technology alone is not able to incorporate the whole set of important values. Additional institutional measures as for example information, participation and support are required to gain long term acceptance.

To understand the full impact of broadband implementation to development, investigations beyond its relationship with economic measures are needed. In this study, we particularly want to assess the impact of broadband to human development. The objective of this study is to build knowledge and insight into impact assessment in the field of human development and broadband by developing a methodology of human development impact assessment and applying it to Palapa Ring Project. Palapa Ring project is a backbone network deployment to all the municipalities in Indonesia, mainly in the form of fiber optic cable. After the methodology was developed by doing literature review, twelve interviews to various governmental and non-governmental organizations in Jakarta, Nusa Tenggara, and Papua as well as desk research are conducted as parts of applying the methodology. As a result, is it found that mostly positive impacts are expected in the productivity and empowerment components of human development, while equality and sustainability components are expected to receive positive and negative impacts. Based on the result, it is recommended to take measures to enhance the positive impacts and mitigate the negative impacts, most notably by addressing implementation issues related to broadband utilization, promoting e-literacy, engaging less privileged groups, and promoting environmentally sustainable use of broadband. Ultimately, this study has contribute in developing methodology of human development impact assessment that can be applied to other cases as well as giving feedback to the literatures on broadband impacts to human development.