EU-MACS Coordinator: Prof. Adriaan Perrels, forename.surname@fmi.fi

Glossary of Terms

Climate change projections

The calculated response of the climate system to emissions or concentration scenarios of greenhouse gases and aerosols, or radiative forcing scenarios, often based on simulations by climate models. Climate projections are distinguished from climate predictions, in that the former critically depend on the emissions/concentration/radiative forcing scenario used, and therefore on highly uncertain assumptions of future socio-economic and technological development.

Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA)

CTA implies a modulation of ongoing technological developments by ‘soft intervention’ aiming at a better understanding of the technology in focus and its impacts. There are three generic strategies for CTA: technology forcing, strategic niche management, and loci for alignment.

Decadal projections

A prediction of the climate for the coming decades. Decadal predictions are in an early development stage. A combination of a boundary value problem and an initial value problem, as the evolution of the system depends also on the observation-based information used to initialize the decadal climate models.

Economies of scale

Cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to size, output, or scale of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scale as fixed costs are spread out over more units of output.

Economies of scope

Cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to variety of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scope if diversification is based on the common and recurrent use of proprietary know-how or on an indivisible physical asset .

Joint fact-finding

Employing joint fact-finding means addressing a factual dispute by forming a single fact-finding team comprised of experts and decision-makers representing both sides of a conflict. The team works together in an effort to come to agreement regarding relevant facts,

Landscape

In multi-layer perspective referring to a backdrop of opportunities and constraints for technology (and service, market, policy) development, e.g. socio-technical infrastructure, trends in political, consumer, and economic culture.

Living lab (LL)

Living Labs are ecosystems for experimentation and co-creation with real users in real life environments, where the end-users together with researchers, firms and public institutions jointly explore, design and validate new and innovative products, services, solutions and business models.

Market failure

A situation in which the allocation of goods and services is not efficient. That is, there exists another conceivable outcome where an individual may be made better-off without making someone else worse-off.

Niche

In multi-layer perspective (Rip 2012) referring to protected spaces for vulnerable novelties, shaped by requirements for protection and some boundary maintenance; carved out in selection environments, e.g. by benevolent selectors (sponsors of start-up firms); lead to mini-paths anda lock-in into the requirements of the protected space; strategies to gradually un-protect and survive in the broader regime and landscape are of particular interest for this project.

PEST / PESTEL framework

The PEST/PESTEL framework is used in market research to systematically screen designated markets with respect to premeditated external influences on that market. The PEST framework includes the factors regarding Policies, Economics, Socio-culture and Technology and the PESTEL framework includes Policies (governance), Economics, Science, Technology, Ethics, and Legislation (regulation).

Principal-agent problems / agency problems

Problems where one party (the principal) hires another party (the agent) to perform a certain task for her. The objectives of the principal and agent conflict, there is non-contractible information and the action chosen or information known by the agent cannot be inferred from the outcome alone.

Regime

In multi-layer perspective referring to a set of rules, practices and institutions structuring the further development of a technology (and service, market, policy).

Seasonal projections

A prediction of the long-term average weather over three-month periods, stated in probability.

Value Proposition Design (VPD)

A tool to design, test, create, and manage products and services. The tool helps to find out information about customers and what they want. Subsequently patterns of value creation can be easily recognized.

Weather projection

A prediction of future weather, often for a specific locality, for a certain number (usually max 10) of days ahead given in different time intervals.

Willingness-to-pay (WTP)

The maximum amount an individual is willing to sacrifice to procure a good or avoid something undesirable.

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