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Relatively few studies have focused on systematically mining the patent databases of different countries. This study mines the databases of the main &lsquo ; technological powers&rsquo ; using several methods. By using descriptive statistical methods, the study yields key insights regarding patenting activities affecting the succession and &lsquo ; crowding out&rsquo ; of technologies, the &lsquo ; hottest technologies&rsquo ; and the patent application strategies in these countries. The spectrums of technological strength in these countries are further analysed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), as two principal components are sufficient to resolve over 92% of the total variance. The US, EU and China are the economies that all technological powers may regard as important ; similarities in the application strategies used in these countries are thus further investigated. Another extensive analysis utilising K-means clustering is also performed. Except for the optimal number for patent clustering, surprisingly, the top 10 &lsquo ; most important technologies&rsquo ; are identical to the top 10 hottest ones that were previously identified. The knowledge and insights gained from this study are valuable not only for technological development policy makers, but also for business decision makers seeking suitable markets and areas to enter and invest in. Some data visualization and analysis methods are applied for the first time to this knowledge discovery problem.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has become an influential player in the field of direct taxation in the European Union in the past twenty years. However, it is unclear whether the ECJ's decisions actually increase tax neutrality and therefore contribute to the achievement of an internal market as stipulated by the European treaties or not. In 2006, the ECJ limited the applicability of specific tax rules in Europe that are intended to prohibit the excessive use of low-tax countries. Our counterfactual scenarios show that this restriction of so-called controlled foreign company (CFC) rules and the related emergence of IP boxes cast doubt on the positive effects the ECJ is assumed to have. Additionally, we show that the abolishment of IP boxes would strengthen tax neutrality in Europe. Overall, further research is needed to relate and harmonise economic and legal concepts of tax neutrality.

Archives, libraries, museums and documentation centers were memory institutions par excellence. Changes arise in the management of cultural and scientific heritage: Digital preservation: semantic web and cloud Information dissemination and diffusion: open Access Government transparency: o-gov and Opendata

Current policies demanding an increase in transparency, open government and smart cities share open data publication as one of their basic pillars. However, there is a limited availability of mechanisms to assess the use and value of this information. The goal of this paper is to present a new metric, Meloda, that qualifies the information and helps to assess its reusability. Meloda's four dimensions are described: technical standards, access, legal considerations, and data model. Finally Meloda's assessment process is explained.

Metadata only record ; Challenges to food security have renewed interest in agricultural research, in which agronomy is a core element. The editors of this book seek to contextualize the production, validation, communication and use of agronomic knowledge through a political analysis of agronomic research which they label political agronomy. In doing so, they aim to understand the incentives, prioritizations, and perspectives of agronomic research as it faces contestation in peer-reviewed journals, in public critique from organizations, and in national and subnational committees. Chapters provide case studies which portray the value of a political agronomy perspective in the analysis of agricultural development, highlighting issues such as conservation agriculture, rice intensification, and biofortification.

The Great King Sejong initiated an active agricultural research and development (R&D) policy in Korea about 570 years ago. Famous for many scholarly and scientific achievements, including the creation of the Korean phonetic alphabet, he founded a national scholarly institute, known as the "Hall of Worthies," encouraging the most talented scholars in the country to conduct a variety of research activities (Eckert et al. 1990). Sejong's focus was on efforts to improve the welfare of the common people, including the promotion of agriculture to secure an adequate food supply. One part of his agricultural R&D effort was to transfer relatively advanced agricultural techniques used in the southern provinces to the north, where farmers were still using Chinese techniques that were not well suited to Korean conditions. King Sejong sent out officials from Seoul to study advanced agricultural technology and prepared a manual, "Straight Talk on Farming," designed to help advisers and farmers suit their agricultural practices to the agronomic and climatic conditions on the peninsula. Based on survey data, the king reported that the average farming household in the province around Seoul could produce "several times" more using better farming methods. Recognizing the importance of climate to farmers, the crown prince invented a rain gauge, which ranks among the major technological achievements of the period. Every village in the country was required to report rainfall and the amount of rain absorbed into the soil (Eckert et al. 1990). Despite this impressive start, for many reasons, Korean agricultural R&D, Korean agricultural progress, and the Korean economy all languished for much of the next 500 years. ; PR ; IFPRI1; Pro-poor science and technology policies; Public Policy and Investment ; ISNAR