The context

There is large evidence in the literature that digitalisation improves the market performance of enterprises and, as a consequence, it helps the growth of their businesses. Through digital platforms companies connect with people, improve awareness of their brands, influence consumer’s attitudes, collect feedback from them, improve products and services on sale and, at last, increase their incomes. Clark et al. [2] conclude that providing basic information should be the dominant role of advertising. This typology of advertising is called Informational in [3]. The informational message strategy presents factual product/services information in clear and concrete terms. In order for an informational advertisement to become informative the message must be perceived as such by the consumers.

Materials & Methods

In this paper we adopt the IT-platform conceptual model given by Sun et al. (2015) [6] and the linked definition they propose.

Results

We instantiate the platform conceptual model proposed by by Sun et al.[6]. The website technology is the "heart" of our digital platform. There is large evidence in the literature that websites are largely used across companies all over the world [12, 13]. The cost necessary for setting up the platform is low, therefore such a technological solution is within the reach of most enterprises. Moreover, the paper describes the steps of the Informative Marketing process based on the adoption of the proposed Technological Platform. We use the adjective informative instead of informational because the advertisings about the product/service are sent to a community of ad hoc recruited stakeholders, therefore we can assume as relevant the information they receive.

Conclusion

The emphasis of the paper is oriented towards companies whose primary goal is selling, but it is worth notice that the proposed technological platform can be very useful, for example, to national institutes of health to promote campaigns on healthy (and sustainable) food consumption [17].

References

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12. Sharma, A., Sharma, S., and Chaudhary, M.: Are small travel agencies ready for digital marketing? Views of travel agency managers Tourism Management 79 2020 104078
13. Said, Y.B., Bragazzi, N.L. and Pyatigorskaya, N.V.: Prevalence and Perceived Effectiveness of Pharmaceutical Digital Marketing among Community Pharmacies in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire-Based Survey Pharmacy 2020, 8, 9; doi:10.3390/pharmacy8010009
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17. Formoso, G. et al.: An Italian Innovative Small-Scale Approach to Promote the Conscious Consumption of Healthy Food. Applied Sciences 2020, 10, 5678; doi:10.3390/app10165678

Nowadays, in order to reach a more sustainable cement industry, several strategies have been put into practice. One of them is to increase the use of eco-friendly cements with lower content of clinker, replacing it by additions. Among them, the characterization of the performance of mortars and concretes prepared using cements made with ternary binders, which incorporate two additions, are now an important field of study

In this research, the microstructure, durability-related properties and mechanical strength of mortars prepared using three ternary binders with incorporation of ground granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash and limestone have been studied. In these ternary binders, 30% of clinker has been replaced by two additions, and they consisted of 15% slag and 15% fly ash, 15% limestone and 15% fly ash, and 15% slag and 15% limestone, respectively. As reference mortars, it has also been prepared specimens with ordinary Portland cement without additions, as well as specimens made with other three binary binders, with only one of the studied additions, consisting of 30% limestone, 30% fly ash, and 30% ground granulated blast furnace slag, respectively. The mortars were exposed to an optimum laboratory condition (20ºC and 100% relative humidity) until 28 hardening days, when they were tested. The pore structure has been characterized using mercury intrusion porosimetry, electrical resistivity and differential thermal analysis. Absorption after immersion, ultrasonic pulse velocity and flexural and compressive strengths have also been studied. According to the results obtained, mortars with ternary binders showed an adequate performance.

Generally, grout is a combination of cement, sand, and water (with or without admixtures), which poses low viscosity and high penetrability. Grout is very suitable for anchoring application, jacking of concrete elements, grouting of ducts in prestressing application, application in narrow joints and many more. Nowadays it is used to provide additional strength to load-bearing structures. The grout characteristics includes the flow capacity in narrow space and physical-chemical compatibility with the substrate materials. However, shrinkage, stability, leaching of the grouts, etc. are the main problems of cement grouting. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), silica fume (SF) etc. can be used as admixtures in cement grout to reduce the problems associated with grout. This paper provides a review on the assessment of the flowability, strength, shrinkage and durability characteristics of the cementitious grouts containing SCMs, and its feasibility in grouting applications. This paper reveals that combination with SCMs in the production of cement-based grouts provides advantages in specific uses in concrete industry.

Electricity is a scarce resource and the demand for electricity is always increasing. Conventional energy generation plants use non-renewable sources of energy like gas and coal. There is a growing demand for alternative sources of energy in the current world and extensive research is being done to find out ways to do so as well as increase the efficiency of the existing methods. Thermoelectric power generation has emerged as a promising green technology due to its many advantages. Thermoelectric generators use thermoelectric modules, a solid state device, which can convert thermal energy to electrical energy from a temperature gradient and works by using the Seebeck effect. These can be utilized to harness waste heat that is abundant in homes and industries. In rural or remote areas, where electricity from the national grid is not available, thermoelectric generators can be used to power electronic devices. This paper demonstrates the potential of thermoelectric power generation using Peltier places and how it can be used to harness waste heat using a portable thermoelectric generator.

Thermoelectric power generation hasn’t quite hit the benchmark yet to be considered a long term solution to the power problems because of the efficiency of the system. Most thermoelectric power generators are about 3-4% efficient with the maximum limit standing at around 10% under ideal conditions. More research is required on how to increase the efficiency in order to make it a feasible long-term solution. Finding or creating substances with higher Seebeck coefficient would be one way to tackle the problem. However, there are existing modules made of bismuth-telluride that can generate a greater power output but the problem with those is that they are expensive. Unless cheaper alternatives to these modules become available there will be little development in this method of generating electricity. Other future work possibility includes incorporating more modules and reducing the effects of temperature mismatch in series or parallel combinations of the modules so that the outputs generated from individual modules do not cancel out each other. This problem could be tackled by the use of a summing amplifier, instead of using a series or parallel combination. NASA uses a similar technology where the heat is supplied by the decay of plutonium-238(pu-238) fuel. But further development in the modules with higher efficiency might result in the device being implanted all around the spaceships or space stations with enough power to supply electricity for the entire spaceship or space station.

With rapid urbanization need for better and more comfortable homes are increasing. But as a result of this rapid urbanization, harm is done to the environment. Green house gases are produced from making of raw materials and energy generation for the house which has numerous negative environmental impacts. Lot of energy and resource is consumed and wasted by an average household making it expensive. The house is less sustainable on its own as it can’t survive without power from the grid. Gases produce from the fossil fuel powered plants are- Carbon dioxide (CO2), Sulfur oxides, Nitrogen oxides, Mercury. Because of this rapid urbanization the level of CO2 gas in the atmosphere is rising rapidly. Coal burning produces huge amount of CO2.Geothermal, Hydropower and Nuclear systems produce small amount of CO2. Deforestation for power plants will increase CO2.Methane has heat trapping capacity of CO2. A power plant that captures methane and increase global warming is also harming the environment. Our goal is to develop and deliver innovative and sustainable building solutions that will minimize the negative impact of residential sector construction on the environment reduce the energy and resource consumption and increase the over-all sustainability of future smart cities. In order to do these we need to improve the sustainability of communities by developing innovative building solutions. Remove negative impacts of the house on the environment. Make the house more comfortable while cutting down energy waste. Reduce consumption of energy and resource made by the house. Our vision is to become 100% off grid. That means we won’t take any electricity supply from the grid. Most houses at present are built using conventional techniques with brick, cement and rods. Not only these houses are risky to be in when an earthquake strikes, but are also expensive to built, wastes lot of energy and causes harm to the environment. On the other hand it has less implementation of software and technology to save energy that makes life more comfortable and safe. Addressing all these problems we are going to make a house with the combination of solar tiles, rotating solar panel, power wall and latest technologies to make a sustainable cheaper house for the future smart cities. Development and delivery of innovative and sustainable building solutions that will minimize the negative impact of residential sector construction on the environment reduce the energy and resource consumption and increase the over-all sustainability of future smart cities using solar roof tiles, rotating solar panel and power wall.