The book starts with an overview of the role of cities in climate change and environmental pollution worldwide, followed by the concept description of smart cities and their expected features, focusing on green technology innovation. This book explores the energy management strategies required to minimize the need for huge investments in high-capacity transmission lines from distant power plants. A new range of renewable energy technologies modified for installation in cities like small wind turbines, micro-CHP and heat pumps are described. The overall objective of this book is to explore all the green and smart technologies for designing green smart cities.

This book presents the proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Innovation and Research—A Driving Force for Socio-Econo-Technological Development (CI3 2021). CI3 was held on September 1–3, 2021. It was organized by the Instituto Tecnológico Superior Rumiñahui and GDEON, in co-organization with Higher Institutes: Bolivariano de Tecnología, Central Técnico, Espíritu Santo, José Chiriboga Grijalva, ISMAC, Policía Nacional del Ecuador Vida Nueva; and sponsored by the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru), Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil) and City University of New York (United States). CI3 aims to disseminate the research project results that are being carried out in different Higher Education Institutions, research centers, and the business sector.

This book examines the implementation of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in eight Latin American countries and the different paths these policies have taken. It provides empirical evidence to examine the extent to which STI policies are contributing to the development of the region, as well as to the solution of market failures and the stimulus of the region’s innovation systems. Since the pioneering work of Solow (1957), it has been recognized that innovation is critical for economic growth both in developed and in less-developed countries. Unfortunately Latin America lags behind world trends, and although over the last 20 years the region has established a more stable and certain macroeconomic regime, it is also clear that these changes have not been enough to trigger a process of innovation and productivity to catch-up. Against this rather grim scenario there is some optimism emerging throughout the region. After many years of inaction the region has begun to invest in science, technology and engineering once again. Furthermore, after many changes in innovation policy frameworks, there is now an emerging consensus on the need for a solution to coordination failures that hinder the interaction between supply and demand. Offering an informative and analytic insight into STI policymaking within Latin America, this book can be used by students, researchers and practitioners who are interested in the design and implementation of innovation policies. This book also intends to encourage discussion and collaboration amongst current policy makers within the region.

Faced with chaotic environments, it is not possible to make totally efficient forecasts, especially when it is necessary to analyze events with multiple variables and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) constantly face events that escape the laws of the market. The handling that has been given to the crisis caused by the coronavirus has been trial and error, and the economic, social, and environmental results remain to be seen. The markets and the world are chaotic. With the markets in chaos due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to look at the methods used in these environments to promote business success. The Handbook of Research on Management Techniques and Sustainability Strategies for Handling Disruptive Situations in Corporate Settings elaborates on the skills, techniques, and tools that are more useful for these environments and identifies what makes companies that work well in organizational chaos and in chaotic economic environments perform better than companies that are well organized. Covering topics such as strategic management, multidimensional chaos approach, and the global unstable market, this book is essential for managers, executives, academicians, policymakers, entrepreneurs, researchers, undergraduate and graduate business students, and any person interested in state-of-the-art business issues.