TY - JOUR A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Technology adoption and digital maturity in the conformity assessment industry: Empirical evidence from an international study N2 - Technological innovation and digitalization are transforming industries and organizations worldwide. Digital Maturity Models often serve as a reference point to monitor the digitalization progression through prescribed stages. Yet, little is still understood about (i) how a digital maturity model should be designed and deployed in a specific industry setting and (ii) the association between digital maturity and technology adoption. Building on extant literature and extensive interviews with industry experts, we first develop a digital maturity model in the context of the conformity assessment industry (a globally regulated industry responsible for assessing compliance of organizations with standards and regulations). Second, we implement the model and conduct a survey across 1447 organizations in 15 countries. Our findings reveal that the digital transformation journey of the industry progresses along five stages of maturity (with most organizations in the early/ intermediate stages of digital maturity) with distinctive patterns of technical and managerial practices across all stages. Adoption of technologies is (unsurprisingly) associated with higher digital maturity levels - albeit that association does not hold for complex technologies (such as Blockchain) and is impacted by country specifics (measured by the Digital Skills Gap Index). Our study provides insights into digital maturity and the adoption of technologies in an institutional environment that is highly regulated and conservative, in which high integrity of service provision is primary, and digitalization is a secondary focus of organizations. KW - Digital Maturity KW - Standardisation KW - Digital Maturity Scores KW - Technology Adoption KW - Digital Technologies PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601930 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102564 SN - 0160-791X VL - 77 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-60193 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schutter, Jan David A1 - Eberhardt, Karl A1 - Elert, Anna Maria A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem T1 - Synthesis and characterization of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) anchored polystyrene microparticles as a synthetic model system for attachment studies N2 - Outer membrane lipopolysaccharides (LPS) play a crucial role in determining attachment behavior and pathogenicity of bacteria. The aim of this study was to develop a simple procedure for anchoring bacterial lipopolysaccharides to polystyrene (PS) microparticles as a model system for in situ attachment studies. By using a swellcapture methodology, commercially available LPS of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain ATCC 27316 serotype 10.22) was anchored onto PS microparticles in a proof-of-concept study. A detailed chemical and morphological characterization has proven the success of LPS incorporation. It was shown that the coverage and structure of the LPS film was concentration dependent. The procedure can easily be adapted to LPS of other bacterial strains to generate a synthetic model toolkit for attachment studies. KW - Bacterial lipopolysaccharides KW - Pseudomonas aeruginosa KW - Polystyrene microparticles KW - Swell-capture KW - Biomimicry PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-579818 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2023.113301 SN - 0927-7765 VL - 226 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-57981 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Matovic, Nikola A1 - Imbert, Enrica A1 - Encino-Munoz, Ana T1 - How to measure the robustness and effectiveness of certification schemes and labels in ensuring the sustainability of bio-based products N2 - The rapid proliferation of sustainability certification schemes and labels (CSLs) reflects the rising demand for sustainable products, although the robustness and effectiveness of these certification systems have been increasingly questioned. While CSLs aim to mitigate environmental and socio-economic risks and support responsible market practices, current monitoring systems of CSLs often lack coherence, transparency, and methodological robustness. This study addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual monitoring framework specifically tailored to the bioeconomy, addressing the complexity of global bio-based value chains. Developed through a systematic literature review, a comparative analysis of 26 academic studies and 19 monitoring tools, and stakeholder engagement via interviews and co-creation workshops, the framework introduces a multidimensional structure for evaluating CSLs across three core functions: (I) Building Trust and Transparency, (II) Protecting Sustainability Areas of Concern, and (III) Driving Continuous Improvement. A pilot benchmarking exercise using the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) demonstrates the framework’s applicability and diagnostic value, revealing both strong alignment in some areas and performance gaps in others—particularly in the economic and circularity dimensions. The framework is designed as a dynamic and modular tool, suitable for use by policymakers, scheme owners, businesses, and consumers. It holds potential to harmonize evaluation practices, guide co-regulatory policy integration, and foster more transparent and credible sustainability certification systems in the bioeconomy meta-sector. KW - Monitoring System KW - Sustainability Certification Schemes KW - Labels KW - Standards KW - Bioeconomy PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-640000 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126240 SN - 1095-8630 VL - 390 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-64000 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -