Greek philosophers built great discussions about reality, which are still current in our times and still inspire today's great thinkers. From mathematical teachings by Pythagoras, encompassing Plato's and Aristotle's ideas, these great discussions have been essential for our present intelectual development. Today, however, this role has been adopted by a new class of visionaries. Brought together by this new Platonic Academy based in Stanford University; devoted to proving and making use of the supremacy of numbers and mathematics in the digital world; intent on finding the new Holy Grail embodied in the perfect algorithm, present time's entrepreneurs of new technologies have radically transformed, for good or otherwise, the world as we know it. Ulrich Richter Morales delves deep into the legacy – sometimes clear, sometimes mystical and esoteric – of the Pythagoreans in their diverse historical incarnations. He particularly emphasizes their dominant role in these digital times, while he introduces a debate regarding the sort of machines we ought to develop. Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, among others, are declared heirs of the Mathematician from Samos and, always engrossed in polemic discussions, they are inseparable from our concept of how the world works. Getting to know them as persons and as thinkers is a way to better understand modern day life and our role as citizens, in the unstable, volatile grounds we tread on today.

This book gathers contributions related to the most pressing problems and challenges that new information and communications technologies (ICT) and digital platforms introduce into the labour market, and the impact they have on the way that people work, their rights and even their health and dignity. In addition, there are also chapters studying personal data protection, which is currently a topic of maximum interest due to the New European Regulation about it. The contributors here are drawn from around the world, with several countries represented, such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Australia and Venezuela. The book will appeal lawyers, legal and human resources experts, economists, judges, academics and staff from trade unions, and employers’ representation. The volume features insights and contributions in different languages, with chapters in Spanish (12), English (6) and Portuguese (4).

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This timely book provides an innovative study of the profound changes and latest challenges facing the construction sector. It adopts a socio-technical approach to analyse not only the role of technological factors, but also that of actors and their social dialogue and industrial relations.

The integration of technological innovations, such as In-Memory Analytics, Cloud Computing, Mobile Connectivity, and Social Media, with business practice can enable significant competitive advantage. In order to embrace recent challenges and changes in the governance of IT strategies, SAP and its think tank - the Business Transformation Academy (BTA) - have jointly developed the Digital Capability Framework (DCF). Digital Enterprise Transformation: A Business-Driven Approach to Leveraging Innovative IT by Axel Uhl and Lars Alexander Gollenia outlines the DCF which comprises six specific capabilities: Innovation Management, Transformation Management, IT Excellence, Customer Centricity, Effective Knowledge Worker, and Operational Excellence. In cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), Queensland University of Technology (Australia), University of Liechtenstein (Principality of Liechtenstein), and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), SAP and the BTA have been validating each capability and the corresponding maturity models based on analyzing several ’lighthouse’ case studies comprising: SAMSUNG, IBM, Finanz Informatik, The Walt Disney Company, Google Inc., HILTI AG. Digital Enterprise Transformation presents how these companies take advantage of innovative IT and how they develop their digital capabilities. On top the authors also develop and present a range of novel yet hands-on Digital Use Cases for a number of different industries which have emerged from innovative technological trends such as: Big Data, Cloud Computing, 3D Printing and Internet of Things.

This book situates information technology at the centre of public policy and management. IT is now a vital part of any government organisation, opening new policy windows and enabling a vast range of tasks to be carried out faster and more efficiently. But it has also introduced new problems and challenges. Four in-depth case studies demonstrate how information systems have become inextricably linked with the core tasks of governmental organisations. The key government departments examined are: * the Inland Revenue Service and Social Security Administration in the US * the Inland Revenue and Benefits Agency in the UK