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The global population is estimated to increase by 2.6 billion by 2050, in which 70% of the world's population will be staying in the cities. Countries will have to introduce solutions to traffic congestion, pollution, and security. South Africa is not immune to the global challenges and the rise in population. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Smart Transport Systems in developing countries. The study used a qualitative approach, and scoping research methodology technology to review the papers published between 2015-2021, which were specifically concentrated on South African smart cities and transport. Articles relating to smart cities and transport in South Africa were intensively reviewed and 250 papers were selected. It was found that despite the challenges which South Africa as a country is facing, relating to the socio-economic, its initiatives are gradually developing especially in different metropolitan municipalities which are leading to very successful projects in both the public and the private sector. South Africa does have smart transport infrastructure in place which gives a good kick start and development of smart transport. However, good monitoring, evaluation, and planning of the current infrastructure are of great importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important measures in manufacturing industry is Overall Equipment Effectiveness, commonly termed as OEE, it also indicates the degree to which a manufacturing process is truly productive and serves as a general and inclusive measurement of how well a company's manufacturing operations are performing. Optimization of OEE factors provides significant impact to the organization through efficient operations, cost effectiveness, gaining competitive advantage in the market and to provide sustainable supply of products. Optimization is providing sustainable solutions to the problems identified through root cause analysis through total productive maintenance or lean manufacturing methods or techniques towards the goal of zero to minimal wastage. With the applications of these methods the researcher was able to identify the critical issues and solved the issues affecting the overall equipment effectiveness of the subject company. The researcher was also able to propose a systematic roadmap to implement lean and TPM for the subject company that will ensure and sustain the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of rational choice involves several aspects, which I chose to present especially in highlighting the impact it has on economic agents. The issue I have chosen to address in this paper concerns how rational decisions that impact on available resources should be made at a given time. Man from the perspective of the economic agent expresses economic rationality in situations of all kinds of constraints, in other words, he realizes the importance of some resources when economic imbalances manifest negatively on the economic agent. The notion of homo oeconomicus has evolved over time depending on the economic realities at the time, whether we refer to the classical or neoclassical period, being essentially the expression of the theory of rational economic choice. Rationality is a permanent trait of human being, but at the same time it can also have better results while implemented in a context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the secure and intelligent functionalities in smart cities is a so-called smart lock and its operability. Smart door locks have been developed and deployed in home or hotel doors, building entrance doors, car doors, elevators, etc. It can be locked and unlocked by smartphone applications as well as it can be globally managed by a cloud server. However, the level of smartness in such door locks and its operability is not satisfied in part because the so-called smart lock is not inactive to the smartphone applications, and in part because the lock and the smartphone do not aware the situations surrounding one another. This paper surveys the current technologies and employ sensor and restful API server technologies to the smart lock development and the lock/unlock interoperability. The door locks will be smarter as the situations surrounding the smartphones is recognized or as the credentials of the human is verified. The most reliable requirement for smart self-check-in services includes 1) the appropriate services to guest's lock requests, and 2) the efficient and situation-awareness services in self-locking/-unlocking doors. To achieve the requirement, this paper proposes ways of resolving the errors by interoperating with sensors, and ways of improving the smartness of locks by interactive communications with a cloud server and smartphone applications. The contribution includes an improvement of the security and intelligence in smart self-check-in services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the areas in Romania where the environment felt from human activities is Jiu Valley (Petrosani Depression), an area where the main activity was mining. This fact led to pollution of the area, pollution that affects both health of population and tourism, which is considered as a viable economic alternative. Investigation of environmental components, identification and analysis of impact sources on air and surface waters are the objective of this paper, which is a first step of a larger research, that will lead to establishing the pollution degree of the area under study. The paper presents pollution sources, methods of analyzing environmental indicators, as well as the impact of economic activities on the environment. The main conclusion of the scientific approach is that, in addition to mining activities that had and still have a negative impact on the environment, other economic activities carried out in the area, including household activities, also leave a negative impact on the environment. Which of these (quantitatively speaking) leave a larger or smaller footprint will be the subject of a future paper, that will quantify all air and water quality indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the frequency and type of changes in the organisational architecture due to the implementation of ICT, in accordance with the basic characteristics of the surveyed companies. The research methods used in the paper are induction, deduction, quantitative analysis and synthesis, description, compilation, survey and statistical method and non-hierarchical clustering method in more than 200 companies of different sizes, numbers of employees, geographical position and activities. The research was conducted by analysing nine different variables and, through eleven iterations, five different clusters were derived. The selected variables are: size of changes in organisational structure, size of changes in business processes, size of changes in enterprise strategy, size of changes in human resources, company size, total income value, number of ICTs used, change of strategy and changes in the number of employees. The contribution of this paper is to determine the quantitative and qualitative impact of the implementation of ICT on the organisational architecture and in the grouping of companies according to the impact of ICT on certain elements of the organisational architecture. The practical contribution of the work is reflected in the research methodology and the ability to use the research results in companies of all sectors of the economy and of all sizes. The paper can be an incentive to explore the impact of ICT in other areas of human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste is a major global issue and responsible for significant environmental and socio-economic repercussions, while millions of people worldwide, are affected by food insecurity. Food insecurity occurs even in large cities with high economic growth, where at the same time there is a large number of catering businesses and restaurants, which due to wrong forecasting and their effort to meet the predicted demand, prepare more fresh meals than necessary. As a result, quality food ends up in the garbage, in a daily basis. The research presented in this paper introduces a solution, based on Blockchain technology, that allows food-service establishments to offer the extra meals they have already prepared and would otherwise be disposed of, to food insecure people. The project's research focuses on the one hand on mitigating the food waste phenomenon in urban areas with high number of businesses providing fresh meals and on the other hand, on providing free, safe and nutritiousmeals to food insecure people. The integrated system ensures continuous communication between both parties and optimizes the allocation of food surplus and thus, minimizes food waste. The aim of the project is to develop a unique marketplace for food surplus, through a mobile platform and application, that can be utilized in the concept of smart cities, in order tomitigate the food waste phenomenon and actually contribute to the well-being of insecure members of our society, with the discretion and anonymity that is offered by the Blockchain characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities are considered data factories that generate an enormous amount of data from various sources. In fact data is the backbone of any smart services. Therefore, the strategic beneficial handling of this digital capital is crucial for cities. Some smart city pioneers have already written down their approach to data in the form of data strategies, but what should a city's data strategy include, and how can the goals and measures defined in the strategies be operationalized? This paper addresses these questions by looking closely at the data strategies of cities in Germany and the top three countries in the EU Digital Economy and Society Index. The in-depth analysis of 8 city data strategies has yielded 11 dimensions that cities should consider in their data strategy. These are (1) relevance of data, (2) principles, (3) methods, (4) data sharing, (5) technology, (6) data culture, (7) data ethics, (8) organizational structure, (9) data security and privacy, (10) collaborations, (11) data literacy. In addition, data governance is a concept to put these 11 strategic dimensions into practice through standardization measures, training programs, and defining roles and responsibilities by developing a data catalog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the opportunities for South Africa to promote economic activities in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. Hence, the study examined science, technology & innovation (STI) as the main driver of the fourth industrial revolution. Meta-analysis was conducted to elicit information from key government policy documents on STI since 1994 to check the political will of South Africa's government. Grey literature from government departments were also reviewed to examine the strength of South Africa’s Research and Innovation System. Based on the assessment of data and information gathered, the study concludes that though strong institutions characterize South Africa's research and innovation system, but the relatively low intensity of linkages and interaction among the key actors of the innovation system continues to pose a threat to South Africa taking a leadership position to significantly contribute to the fourth industrial revolution. However, strong coordination among South Africa’s financial, human, natural, physical, and institutional resources will situate the country in a position to develop the necessary capabilities for the fourth industrial revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approaches to formulate effective and evidence-based innovation policies is a question that is often debated amongst researchers, innovators and policy makers. Evidence-based policy making which is based on innovation measurements and indicators is known to have a positive impact on a country's innovation performance. This paper demonstrates the case of the small island developing state of Mauritius where such indicators (R&D expenditure, number of researchers and publications) were used to collect, analyse data via a national survey of different sectors and conduct a bibliometric analysis of the publications output to inform a national Innovation Scoreboard. The use of the findings and insights from these measurements are discussed and how the future R&D and innovation strategies post the COVID-19 pandemic should be further aligned to the country’s goals of becoming a blue economy and a regional knowledge hub driving responsible innovation and leadership through its growing innovation ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the research field of innovation management, so-called circular-oriented innovations are focused on combining circular economy tenets within the development of innovation. Even though academia agrees that an economic transition has to develop from the bottom up, studying the implementation of circular economy on micro-level has been thus far neglected. Thus the paper examines the circular oriented innovation specific activities within the general innovation process and its distinct phases. Via multiple case study, the paper analyses the development of innovations suitable for the biological cycle of circular economy in the industry of biodegradable plastic substitutes. The findings show that circular economy aspects influence the innovation development from its very beginning. Starting from the triggering of idea generation, the end-of-life considerations and material choice show high importance in the front-end of innovation. Moreover, the research shows the high importance of cross-cycle and cross-sector collaborations throughout the entire development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pricing plays an important role in any market competition, but particularly in those businesses that hold a seat in hyper competitive economic activities such as hotels. This paper analyses a market competition between one corporate social responsibility (CSR) hotel and one for profit (FP) hotel, in which both hotels set room prices. We study three different market behaviors: (i) both hotels take their decisions simultaneously; (ii) the CSR hotel takes the leader position; (iii) the FP hotel takes the leader position. For each situation, by using game theory techniques, we compute the different outcomes of the model at equilibrium. We also describe the effects of CSR on the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet provides benefits that are encountered by the wider community as a development in the business world from now to the future and continues to color digital economic activities. Selling products on the internet will certainly change the way marketing purchases are made. With the rapid development of science and technology, it is used by business service providers to develop their business. In order to compete with other service providers, business people continue to improve quality to attract consumer buying interest. Currently, there are many studies examining the effect of quality on interest in buying food on the Shopee and Gojek applications. So it is necessary to review journal papers that discuss interest in buying food on the Shopee and Gojek applications. The method used in this research is the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of journal papers published from 2016-2019. There is a research Question (RQ) set in this study. The final results obtained from this research are the names of the features of the online food buying application, namely Shopee Food and Go Food, the factors that influence consumer food buying interest in the Shopee Food application and the Go-Food application are seen from the advantages and promotions and vouchers that the application provides, and there is a difference between people's buying interest in the Shopee Food application and the Go-Food application seen from the needs and purchasing ability of consumers. The results obtained in this study are expected to provide information so that the two applications studied continue to maintain excellence and improve service quality so as to increase consumer buying interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the most important categories of revenue and expenditures in assistance insurance in the Republic of Croatia. An analysis of acquisition costs, settled claims, expenditures for insured events and annual premium was conducted in order to explore specificities in this type of insurance. By application of statistical and mathematical methods, the main characteristics of the analysed period and movement trends were formed and described. The most important revenues and expenditures were first analysed in relation to previous annual periods in order to illustrate performances of the analysed categories through annual movements. The shares of costs and expenses in the annual premium were analysed, which facilitated consideration of movement of acquisition costs, settled claims and expenditures for insured events in relation to the insurance premiums. After that, a trend analysis of insurance premiums, claims and acquisition costs was conducted. By testing the time movements through annual periods, the connections were explored, and annual movements described using representative trend models. By testing of the relationship between revenue and expenditure, correlation was explored between the movements of premiums and elements of acquisition costs and expenditures for insured events. The research results have been shaped into models which show the effect between analysed categories through time periods. Apart from proving that there are relationships in variables, which can be described through significant indicators and models, production of prognostic information is also enabled from the interrelationships in analysed variables. The upgrade on the obtained research results is the conduct of CVP analysis for calculation of the break-even point and planned profit in assistance insurance. The aim of the paper is reflected in the above stated, which is to research the movement and relationship between revenue and expenditure categories in assistance insurance in the Republic of Croatia and, based on the findings, to model mutual categories and altogether link them into a single whole for the creation of new prognostic information. Also, by implementation of the researched relationships between revenue and expenditure categories through the application of CVP analysis, the paper shows the development, the model and the application of the research results for widening of scientific knowledge about financial performances in assistance insurance in the Republic of Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing is starting to take on completely new dimensions and it is almost unthinkable, nowadays, for a company to function without performing e-marketing. Internet marketing has given even the smallest trades a chance to find their market. Online ads can be created in various forms and, with minimal investment, great results can be achieved. The main advantage of online advertising is that it can accurately target the audience it wants to reach. If the target group is older adolescents - how should they be addressed, and through which forms of advertising? This paper deals with answering these questions applying the survey method whereas its main contribution is an originally developed questionnaire and related findings. The results indicate that older adolescents change their reactions to online advertising depending on the platform which displays ads -- skipping ads regularly on some platforms while not so often on others, being more susceptible to ads on some social media, while noticing them less frequently on other social media. Furthermore, respondents, young people aged 17 to 20 years old, were found to be not well enough acquainted with advertising on search engines, which was discovered by combining trick questions. Through the description of the behaviour of older adolescents and their interaction with ads, this paper also explores which form of online advertising influences them the most. Thus, this research provides valuable information to marketers who target this market segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the roles and challenges faced by Brazilian national and regional State-owned financial institutions (SFIs). SFIs' actions go beyond complementing private institutions or acting countercyclically; they have a permanent mandate as a public policy toolkit in the development process. In Brazil, SFIs have historically shown a strong presence in financing fixed capital formation and innovation. After revising the historical path of Brazilian SFIs, the paper concludes with a specific discussion on the obstacles currently faced by regional SFIs. This paper's main contribution is to describe the complexity of the Brazilian set of SFIs as well as to draw a set of policies to strengthen them and their impact on regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the role of SMEs in the economic development of countries, but also from the current challenges generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, through this paper we aimed to identify the changes and challenges faced by SMEs from the European Union countries in the current context. SMEs and entrepreneurship have been severely affected by the economic changes caused by the pandemic. Thus, we aim to analyse and debate the changes that have taken place in the entrepreneurial environment but also the challenges generated by the pandemic. To perform the analysis, we use data from the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, and we compare the data before the pandemic and from pandemic times to identify the changes that have taken place. As the method of analysis, we use the quantitative analysis running a Vector Autoregression Model (VAR) and impulse response. Our results highlight the high negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship and especially on SMEs. In this turbulent environment, whoever adapts to change as easily as possible survives and so small and early-stage businesses have to adapt to face the challenges if they want to continue their activity. The added value of our study comes from conducting an extensive analysis on a large number of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space beneath the flyovers in Dhaka has already been occupied with an informal economic activity, just like other traditional street usages in Dhaka. These organically formed, off-the-grid activities should be an integrated part of our planned urbanization activity. Evicting street vendors from the streets overnight is not a feasible alternative. The City Authority has continually failed in its quest over the decades. The visible conflict between the street vendors and the rest of the city authority has become classic. We need to establish a win-win arrangement for both parties. Through theory and practice, we must attempt to comprehend the issue. This paper aims to understand the informal activity placed space beneath flyover theoretically. On the contrary, Flyovers can be found throughout Dhaka, and providing architectural solutions for specific sites requires a long period. Hence, this research will explore the scope of module design as a prospective solution to accommodate the module design. Maybe a probable solution to shape the informal activity gathered in the space beneath flyover into organized arrangements. The research will follow a case study-based method and a qualitative inquiry. The research will study several flyovers in Dhaka and their informal activity. Finally, the paper aims to develop an architectural module design framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest rate has been a major issue worldwide, as well as in ASEAN countries. It shifts almost every minute driven by lots of factors. The main goal of this research is to look at the relationship between lending interest rate with the macroeconomic variables related to economic activities including during crisis periods and to forecast the rate in 2020. Approaches used in the study include line charts, multiple linear regression model and the ARIMA model. The paper utilized annual data period between 1971 and 2019 in.Malaysia which includes three crisis periods while forecasting into the fourth crisis as we currently face the COVID-19 period. The result shows that the lending interest rate has somewhat negative correlation with the macroeconomic variables throughout three major financial crises in Malaysia. The GDP growth and manufacturing are found to have significant effect on the lending interest rate via multiple linear regression. However, the industry and the agriculture have no significant impact on the lending interest rate. As COVID-19 fractured world economies and led countries to great depression, worldwide central banks decided to take action to lower interest rates to significantly boost consumer spending and cash flow. Due to this reason, the findings revealed the actual value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 3.51 while as the projected value of lending interest rate in 2020 is 4.85 which indicates that the actual value is slightly smaller compared to the forecasted value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, more and more social movements have emerged around the world. What followed was a shift in consumer values. In 2019, Hong Kong people launched the anti-ELAB movement, a lot of demonstrations and protests appeared in Hong Kong. Moreover, Hong Kong people used their purchasing power to carry out "protest", through boycotting pro-China and pro-government stores (also known as Blue shop), and boycotting the stores which support the anti-ELAB movement and Hong Kong's democracy (also known as Yellow shop). These political consumers form communities because of the shared values, and they share information and propose consumption movement in the communities. As political consumption became more and more common in recent years, many research papers emerged. However, limited research has been made on the process between political customers, the different stakeholders involved in the consumption process, and the extended community of political consumers. To this end, this research aims to explore how political consumers and different stakeholders in the consumption process build a community by co-creating social value. Based on the secondary data and the timeline of the Yellow Economy, this research uses and modifies Wenger’s framework to provide a new version of Yellow Economy community. However, there are some details that have not discussed in this paper [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes that collaborative relationships in the context of research and innovation projects can be a first step towards the development of new products or adaptation to new markets that may drive diversification processes in established/mature sectors; and that technology-based firms can play a key role in these processes, as intermediaries and co-innovators. It addresses the case of projects in the field of “blue economy”, which aims at combining socio-economic development and sustainability in the conduction of human activities related with the ocean. Transformative activities in this field are especially important, given the weight of ocean-related traditional sectors in the economic activity of several European countries. The paper maps the interactions between new and established Portuguese industries, to investigate whether and to extent inter-sectoral relationships are leading to the development of innovative and sustainable solutions, as well as which sectors have a more determinant role. Then it looks for evidence of revitalization and transformation processes being induced by collaboration with firms from new industries. Implications for transformative innovation policies are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research paper is to analyze PT Angkasa Pura II business and operational strategy. The study was conducted based on report data of PT Angkasa Pura II in form of annual report and statistical data. This paper has shown that PT Angkasa Pura II had used multiple strategies in "11 types of strategies" in order to keep the company competitive. In this paper the author uses 11 types of strategies which are distinguished by four categories; integration strategies, diversification strategy, intensive strategy, and defensive strategy. This study shows that in order for a company to stay competitive they need to combine one or more strategies depending on the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 virus, which was first detected in 2019, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 and turned into a historical event that affected the whole world. In addition to being a global health crisis, controlling the epidemic, which has become an economic, political and social problem, has become the number one priority of the world's countries. Studies and statistics on the subject have shown the importance of case detection in order to prevent COVID-19. The finding that the number of cases decreases as the number of tests increases is the main reason for this paper. The drive-through test station, which was first built in South Korea, has demonstrated that the COVID test practice is much safer, efficient, and practical. Although the application started to be used in many countries later on, there is no example in Turkey yet. This paper uses two different multi-criteria decision-making approaches for the drive-through test station location selection in cases of epidemics in the Şehitkamil and Şahinbey districts of Gaziantep. In the study, while the considered criteria are prioritized using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the alternative sites illustrated using Bing Maps are ranked using the combinative distance-based assessment (CODAS) approach. As a result of the research, candidate places for drive-through test stations that could be established in the event of a possible epidemic in the future, and it is determined that these candidate places could also be used as distribution points in future emergencies other than the epidemic situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews the primary sources on the history of open innovation. Its findings are that, while the dominant understanding of open innovation is situated in Xerox PARC, there was, around the 1960s, an intense period of activity of implementing foundational concepts of open innovation slightly earlier and outside a technology focused context. The paper explores this activity as a way to provide an alternative history to open innovation that may root its history in music and the musical group The Grateful Dead. As a result, the lens of the music genre of jamband can inform our view of open innovation and open models of innovation, in order to establish more relatable concepts and to understand the direction where future open innovation application, adoption and transformation may occur through an inquiry of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy aims to decouple growth from resource input. While significant scholarly attention has been put on technical solutions behind circular business models, the lack of consumer acceptance for these offers was recognised as a significant barrier in the transition towards the circular economy. Still, this topic remains underexplored. This paper aims to address this gap through a semi-systematic literature review. It conceptualises consumer behaviour in the circular economy in a framework and suggests definitions for the relevant terms. Further, it develops comprehensive frameworks for factors of consumer acceptance and for practices that companies can deploy to foster consumer acceptance. Thereby, the paper contributes to the theoretical conceptualisation of consumer acceptance in the circular economy. Moreover, it equips companies with knowledge to innovate their circular business models, increase sustainable consumption, and accelerate the transition towards the circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has caught us off guard. Policy makers did not have a chance to study various options of mitigation policy measures and the respective consequences on the public health and economic activity in the long term. People were dying and many. Politicians needed to act and act fast. Majority of countries have imposed rather strong COVID-19 containment measures. Paper discusses the various effects of mitigation policies and most importantly the effects on the GDP and the costs of long term recovery. The analytics will uncover various correlations between stringency of containment measures and the mobility of population. Voluntary and orderly self-distancing of people is also important determinant of the stringency and mobility reduction associated with that. The economic crises of such magnitude requires fast and coordinated monetary and fiscal policy action. It is also clear that just taking the decisions of providing massive amounts of money to stimulate economy does not guarantee a success. There are many other factors, which could be also important to tackle the economic crises, besides for monetary and fiscal policy. Thus, the paper will analyze the fiscal measure packages the countries have approved in order to mitigate the decrease of GDP. Speed, of implementation of the relief package is of the essence, because many good decisions if remain only on paper and awaiting their implementations, or money otherwise is staying on the account of the treasury, not increasing the economic activity and not preserving the jobs. The paper discovers that the road to the Old Normal will be very long and protracted. Few countries will manage to exit the crises soon and to reach the GDP levels of 2019, but unemployment and public debt levels will not reach pre-crises levels in foreseeable future. Therefore, in conclusion, as the novelty the paper will sum up all outstanding crucial elements and issues attributed to the so-called policy mix or recipe for the COVID-19 like and other crises, in order to avoid dramatic fall in the output levels, huge increase of the outstanding public debt and budget deficit level increases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two different strategies are presented that allow for the assessment of the effects of climate change on urban pluvial flooding, in order to understand potentialities and limitations, advantages and drawbacks. The two strategies are hereby defined as "top-down" and "bottom-up", according to the relative position of climate change modelling with respect to flood modelling (upstream for top-down, downstream for bottom-up). To provide a practical example, the two strategies are applied to a case study located in Naples, Italy. However, they can be successfully extended for the assessment of any potential impact of climate change in any location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data Analytics projects often suffer from low data availability, inconsistent data formats and data models. In mobility data projects this especially means there are inconsistent attributes for specifying time and space dimensions. Also, non-data management and data analytics experts have so far had little opportunity to obtain an overview of data products, since data repositories and catalogs usually do not present the data in a self-describing manner. Data mostly exists in organizational silos as well as inadequate quality. In organizational departments data literacy is often focused on the own work area and does not include an overreaching view on data management. Arguing from a holistic view including data analytics as well as data management knowledge, here a "data analytics - data excellence gap" exists. This paper describes and motivates a smart city and mobility data ecosystem data catalog as a core component to bridge this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the development of Smart City Construction that prioritizes the needs of citizens. We highlight the Smart Tunnel Livelihood System as a case study, which provides an innovative and practical solution to improve safety, traffic efficiency, and emergency response in urban tunnels. In today's cities, smart tunnels should offer a revolutionary way to manage emergency vehicle traffic. Our system consists of three crucial components: traffic flow monitoring, closed-loop data sharing applications, and real-time traffic monitoring and guidance. By integrating these three components, we can address the challenges faced by smart tunnels, enhance their safety, and improve traffic efficiency in urban areas. Through our multi-layered approach to data management and real-time traffic monitoring, we demonstrate how to design a solution that meets the demands of citizens in the modern Smart City Construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The WHO estimates that cancers caused by radon gas may account for 14% of all lung cancers. The concentration of indoor radon gas is a well-known public health threat and has been the subject of many scientific studies. The WHO has issued recommendations to encourage countries to act against radon exposure to reduce the associated cancer risks. However, despite the vast knowledge on this subject, the measures already taken and the information available, much of the population at risk remains unaware of what radon gas is and its impact on health. In this context, an approach has been designed to perform the pre-diagnosis of indoor radon potential based on the geographical location of the building, its construction characteristics, and its use profile. Recently, a model has been built that performs automatic classification of radon potential in indoor environments. This paper describes the development of a web platform integrating this model to enable citizens to obtain an assessment of the radon potential of the buildings where they work or live. The platform aims to promote radon measurements by the general population and raise awareness about radon risk. These measurements will generate new data that will be used to build more robust classification models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper proposes the analysis of the sectors of the national economy from the point of view of production (Gross Domestic Product) but also from the point of view of consumption (average monthly labor costs). This paper is based on the analysis of the statistical data from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, in order to be able to raise awareness of the current level and the evolutions of the sectors and economic branches of Romania in the formation of GDP, but also in terms of labor productivity and labor cost. Finally, a comparison will be made between labor productivity (from a value point of view) and labor costs, and on the other hand it will analyze the value of the agricultural branch in order to determine the influence of this productivity / cost ratio on the value of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is considered as a driver for growth, and it is expected that in the long-run it will improve the welfare of all. The concept of inclusive innovation emerged in response to this reality. It is particularly relevant to less developed countries. The objective of this paper is to discuss the role of business, technology and policy in supporting inclusive innovation. The methodology of the study consists in exploring the enormous potential of the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP) market and evidencing the unmet needs of consumers in BoP. The results put in evidence the opportunities for business of inclusive innovation, how the large national company conducts its business in a difficult environment, the role of multinational companies that can make more substantial investments to overcome barriers, social business undertaking inclusive innovation which need a substantial donor or government support, the non-profit sector which is currently operating in a rapidly changing environment, enablers of inclusive innovation, multinational companies technology, the role of Government policy and drawbacks of policies supporting inclusive innovation. Conclusion revel that BoP market creates many challenges to business that should be carefully navigated: very low purchasing power, lack of information, limited infrastructure and distribution challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 crisis has been the biggest global crisis since World War II. The basic problem was that money could not circulate normally. It has not happened since World War II that so many economies had to come to a lockdown almost simultaneously. The aim of this paper is to highlight the key features of crisis management measures at both the government and firm levels. We study the response and adjustment of firms to the crisis in a dynamic context of economic policies that influence important parameters in the firm's environment. In this paper, we present the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on corporate governance and, consequently, on corporate strategies. We find that the COVID-19 crisis will significantly accelerate inclusive corporate governance and sustainable strategies, in addition to the digitalisation of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical work indicates a strong and positive association between trust and economic growth, but the question of how trust can increase economic efficiency and prosperity remains disputed. This paper presents two arguments that explain the influence of trust on economic performance. Firstly, it is shown that trust contributes to interorganisational efficiency by enabling economic actors to move out of committed relationships and invest their resources in more uncertain, but at the same time more profitable, projects. Secondly, it is shown that trust contributes to interorganisational efficiency by contributing to higher effort, increased productivity and less monitoring in situations where effort cannot be fully specified contractually. Both mechanisms are relevant to understand why high-trust societies manage to run more prosperous economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of Internet and technology, new social networks are born. New ways of communication through social networks are an unavoidable part of everyday life among younger generations. Generation Z is very attached to their mobile devices, so they spend most of their free time on various social platforms. Members of Generation Z use the social networks for several reasons: to communicate, share various information and contents, but also when shopping. The influence of social networks has greatly changed the ways of living, as well as shopping habits, of various generations, especially of Generation Z. A rich range of products and services is available to all users who have Internet and social networks in just a few steps. In this way, users began to increasingly follow the trends taking place in the world and created a desire for a particular product and service. Online shopping has come to life with the help of various ads and influential people (influencers) who are more and more present on social networks and encourage people to consume. The aim of this paper is to find out how social networks affect Generation Z, but also their consumer habits when buying a particular good or service. The results of the research were collected applying an originally developed questionnaire, which showed a significant influence of social networks in the pre-purchase behaviour of Generation Z, thus entailing numerous implications for theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a paradigm of international economic relations and globalisation in the broadest meaning. In this context, the European Union is one of the pillars of global investment flows and a leader in cross-border investment. Despite declining tendencies, the European Union is still one of the largest net exporters of capital, from which it generates significant income. This research is based on an analysis of the relationship of selected economic factors (explanatory variables) of FDI outflows from the European Union (dependent variable) on a sample of 27 Member States. The paper analyses the influence of economic factors: interest rates, realised income from investments abroad, net current account and gross savings of EU members, on the outflow of foreign investments for the period 2008-2019. The relationship between explanatory and dependent variables was estimated by means of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. The preconditions for the application of this model have been met. These include descriptive statistics, multicollinearity, estimation of the optimal number of lags, and stationary variables. Results ARDL models show a positive relationship between FDI outflow and interest rates on government bonds, gross savings and income earned from abroad. There is a negative relationship between FDI outflow and net current account. All predictor variables are statistically significant in the long run and relevant to the movement of FDI in the European Union. A long-term balance between variables and rapid adaptation to external shocks was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's hectic work environment, more than ever before, employees feel stressed when they cannot cope with demands, opportunities, or restrictions that arise from the work they perform. Workplace stress mainly occurs when a person cannot perform work tasks or expectations and consequently feels high pressure from a superior or business environment. Regardless of its intensity, workplace stress has a critical effect on an individual's physical and mental health, and it is crucial to discover its causes and prevent it. This paper focuses on workplace stress among seasonal employees. It aims to analyse the workplace stressors among seasonal workers and how they could be managed and prevented. Data was collected from 110 seasonal workers in Croatia during the summer of 2021. The results revealed that seasonal workers are stressed in their workplace. The main stressors are workload, job completion problems, working conditions, fear and insecurity in the workplace and relationships with colleagues. In addition, the results showed that managers do care for their employees. Also, managers and seasonal employees are aware of the importance of stress management and its prevention. The research results are beneficial for organisations and society, indicating the stressors and showing a direction for reducing the causes of stress. Overall, the results highlight the importance of stress management and the prevention of stress-related problems in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is all around us nowadays. Every day we are poured in with initiatives and information related to sustainable development. The world leaders talk about the green economy, circular economy, green deals, and sustainable development. However, what actually drives the companies to apply sustainable development principles in their business operations? Whether these are the different legislative requirements at the national and international level or the pure economic interest of the companies to earn additional income from their sustainable actions? The present paper highlights the key results of the project "International Business and Sustainable Practices" and attempts to summarize the motivations for the business to be sustainable. The research focuses on the three key dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) and the sustainable development practices of internationally operating companies. The main objectives of the study are to identify the major business environment factors influencing the implementation of sustainable practices by companies operating internationally and to analyze the best sustainable development practices. The present study is primarily desk research based on the review of existing literature for developing and promoting the concept of sustainability in everyday business practices. Research papers, projects, and reports of international organisations working for sustainable development are extensively reviewed. The study found that internal environment factors like managers' attitude, employees, and financial benefits are the key motives for the organisations to apply sustainable development practices in their business operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises are considered the engine of economic growth, as they play an important role in a country's economy by significantly contributing to its economic growth and job creation. However, one of the biggest problems SMEs face is the lack of access to finance. Lack of access to finance affects the existence of SMEs and the possibility of their speedy recovery from a crisis. The present study aims to conduct an empirical analysis of the influence of macroeconomic variables on the performance of small and medium enterprises. The study also includes the credit indicator granted to the private sector by banks, to analyze whether SMEs performance is influenced by access to finance, especially in a competitive economy. The main objective of the study is to investigate the determinants for improving the SME's performance and the impact of access to finance on it among the Member States of the European Union located in south-eastern Europe. The economic theory states that access to finance influences a company's performance. The present study is based on the secondary data on the macroeconomic environment of the states under study and is obtained from the Eurostat and the World Bank. The study is empirical cum qualitative in nature and based on Panel data. The analysis period is 11 years from 2010 to 2020. The data analysis is done with the help of the econometric software "EViews". The findings of the study indicates that the macroeconomic environment influences the financing decisions of most small and medium-sized enterprises. Also, due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated, and access to finance is especially a vital issue for the SME sector. The results confirm that the real GDP growth rate influences the financing decision of SMEs. Considering the vital importance of the SMEs in a country's economy and the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium-sized enterprises, the paper is of high interest in solving the problems of access to finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 crisis has led to major changes in economic and social relations around the world. These changes have not bypassed the tourism industry, which is disproportionately more affected than other economic activities, due to numerous restrictions imposed on passengers and companies for the transport of goods and passengers. In order for the tourism economy to recover as quickly as possible and establish stable business, it is necessary to overcome current obstacles through the implementation of inventive solutions. Thus, the paper focuses on main obstacles imposed by COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions on tourism industry and their influence on tourism business model which has been called into question. The goal of the paper is to analyze key factors affecting the tourism industry, as well as to produce possible directions for future development after the establishment of normal conditions in the tourism market. In that sense, the emphasis was placed on sustainable development of tourism, further digitalization, strengthening of eco-tourism and personalization and customization of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic is undoubtedly a global crisis, which has had a negative impact on all economic activities. Tourism, as an extremely sensitive branch, is unquestionably the most affected sector. The Republic of Croatia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, has continuously had an increase in tourist traffic in the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays until the moment of the pandemic crisis. The aim of this paper is to consider the consequences on tourist flows on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Tuzla County and the Republic of Croatia -- Sisak-Moslavina County. The results of the research, conducted through a questionnaire, will detect the problems in the pandemic crisis faced by economic operators in tourism, and we will try to find answers on how to overcome this health crisis with the least possible consequences for tourism, improve the efficiency of tourist boards, as initial affirmers and promoters of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet presence in modern enterprises and government departments has led to the economy relying heavily on software applications in many sectors. This heavy reliance on software applications has increased the amount of sensitive information stored online, which has contributed to the growth of cyber-attacks posed to software application vulnerabilities. Exploits to these vulnerabilities have led to severe financial losses and has left these organisations with a bad reputation. The major cause of these software vulnerabilities is contributed to programmers' lack of the requisite knowledge relating to secure coding practices. These secure coding practices can be taught to programming students at universities, however, many programming lecturers also lack the knowledge relating to these secure coding practices, and how these can be integrated without adding more load to the lecturers and the students. This results to students not being taught these secure coding practices. This paper proposes a framework for teaching secure coding practices to programming students to help ensure an increase in knowledge and an improved adherence to secure coding practices. The proposed framework is based on experiences and lessons learnt at a South African university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion is one of the most common problems in line with the increase in population and economic activity. To tackle this problem, many places in the world place a traffic light in most major or dense traffic intersections. The traffic lights, especially in Indonesia, are conventionally giving the signals; it always repeats the same cycle over time. This practice has a weakness in its inability to adapt to various traffic conditions. Reinforcement learning is a popular approach for intelligent traffic signal controller as it has advantages such as self learning without the need of supervision, goal oriented, real-time adaptation and curse of dimensionality management. One of the algorithms that can be used is Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C). This paper will discuss the experiments of Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic performance compared to stable baseline Advantage Actor-Critic performance using real-life-like traffic rules environments in SUMO with an open-source repository using the Indonesian traffic rules Environment. Results given in this study show that Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) got a faster learning time and effective in gaining optimal result compared to Advantage Actor-Critic (A2C) using real-life-like traffic rules environments in SUMO with an open-source repository. Furthermore, our results indicate that the advantage of using A3C is not that visible in the single intersection scenario, but notable in the four and nine intersections scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the symbolic representations and social uses of different types of waters on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. In this research, the authors discuss some of these differences in a specific socio-spatial context, the island of São Miguel, the island with the largest territorial dimension of the Azores, corresponding to about one third of the total area of the Azores archipelago. This island accounts for more than half of the Azorean population, has the highest economic activity and presents some of the main “eruptive centers” of the Azores: the volcanoes of Furnas, Fogo and Sete Cidades. To attain this goal, the authors analyzed, through participant and non-participant observation, the social representations of waters in the Azores through three symbolic analytical frameworks: fresh waters, salty waters and sour waters. In this study of symbolic water, the following categories resulted from the sociological analysis: sweet waters (the images of water that tends to be drinkable), salty waters (the allegories related to the sea) and sour waters (the allegories related to those waters that come from volcanic phenomena). This proves that the element of water itself can be understood differently, and that the social context in which individuals live is very relevant in helping to understand these different significations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual Assault Prevention programming is prevalent at colleges and universities receiving federal funds. Currently, there are no comprehensive, systematic reviews of evaluation research on primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration (Basile, et. al, 2016). Galileo is a novel approach for conceptual analysis for understanding the thinking about Sexual Assault Prevention Training. The thinking of Title IX Coordinators is an appropriate place to begin the steps necessary to improve practice and results. By creating the foundation of conceptual elements using Galileo, the efficacy of sexual assault prevention training becomes achievable. First, the three-stage process of Galileo can be used to recognize the important conceptual networks currently in place in Sexual Assault Prevention Training. That first step is reported here in preliminary form. The findings represent the shared conceptual space of the Title IX professionals at present. The research will assist in forming a strategic plan for helping Title IX Coordinators continue the work of more efficacious prevention training. The authors explain the Neighborhood Concept of the Galileo Approach. This paper reports analysis of 66-15-minute interviews with Title IX professionals. Semi-structured open-ended questioning was used to explore coordinators’ thinking about Title IX and important related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street vending is one of the most visible occupations within self-employment. They play a very vital role in the urban informal economy by providing employment, income, goods, and services to the poor and marginal working class. Inadequate employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors contribute to the rise of informal workers. Poverty and lack of gainful employment in rural areas and in smaller towns drive large numbers of people to the cities for work and livelihood. This review paper aims to see women street vendors accessing different dimensions of livelihood assets that will help them manage and improve their lives, the vulnerability shocks faced by women street vendors, and to understand the legal and protective measures that strengthen the activities of women street vendors towards sustainable livelihood. The sustainable livelihood approach is a method of understanding the lives of people experiencing poverty and disadvantages. The assets are divided into five categories, driving people to adopt different livelihood strategies: natural capital, physical capital, human capital, financial capital and social capital. Women street vendors are resilient despite their vulnerabilities because of strong individual human capacity, trust, social relationships, support from external forces, utilization of public space for living, material possessions, income, savings, natural resources and other economic linkages, which are means and source of generating income that keeps sustaining their livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat transition is one of the central topics of future climate-neutral energy production and supply in Germany as well as in Europe. While renewable electricity already accounts for the largest share of German electricity generation at around 40 %, the renewable share in heat supply has stagnated at a consistently low level of about 15 % between 2010 and 2020. With a comprehensive implementation of innovative, sustainable, municipal heat supply solutions and the associated investments in the necessary heat generation and heating infrastructures, significant, previously unimplemented CO2 reduction potential and flexibility capacities necessary for sector coupling can be developed. The research project KoWa - 'Heat transition in municipal energy supply' in general aims to support municipal utilities in the development of sustainable heat supply systems. The focus points of the project include a stakeholder analysis as well as a multi-criteria sustainability assessment. In this paper the results of the stakeholder analysis are presented. For the purpose of the stakeholder analysis, a total of 45 semi-structured interviews were conducted in six study areas. The interview partners were chosen on the basis of existing studies, e.g. Dunkelberg et al. Content logs were prepared by the research team. These were analysed using a qualitative content analysis based on Mayring. In order to ensure a comparable and transparent procedure, a methodology report on the stakeholder analysis was published. This article presents the most significant results regarding stakeholder perspectives and the constellation of stakeholders which is necessary for the successful implementation of sustainable heat supply systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gert Biesta makes a distinction on three dimensions when he discussed the purposes of lifelong learning, the economical dimension, the democratic dimension, and the personal dimension. In this paper I would like to emphasize on the importance of democratic dimension. But it is necessary to explore some important questions. What kind of content about democracy that we would like to implement through adult education? What is the educational approach to implementing democracy? Generally speaking, democracy is related to concepts and ideas such as inclusion, consensus through deliberation, active citizenship. However, they have some problems in relation to democracy. The aim of this paper is to elucidate these problems. If we do not consider these issues, we could not adequately evaluate our education praxis, but staying on inconsequential discussion without challenging the supremacy of economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors explore the tourism industry and its role in increasing income and employment in the Istrian economy. The research in this paper is based on tourism that generates production growth in all branches and activities of the general economy that directly or indirectly meet the tourist needs, thus contributing to the growth of income and employment in the same. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlation and effects of tourism in generating income and employment. The research will confirm the hypothesis that tourism generates revenue and employment in all activities of the economy. The survey is conducted on the example of Istria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]