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The complexity of industrial challenges is emerging together with the exponentially developing information and communication technologies (ICT) that provide several implementation approaches for systems engineering. It is difficult for a single company to follow technological development and remain a pioneer in every topic. Still, the industrial challenges require experts in each technology. Therefore, collaboration among technology providers is an opportunity to gather all resources and competences needed for full delivery. A joint offering (JO) is a solution, that is, co‐created in collaboration between two or more actors that usually have complementary technological skills or value‐creation logics. A JO has several doubts relating to the use case (UC) in hand, the feasibility of the joint solution to be co‐created, the resources and skills needed to deliver the joint solution, the partners, the business value creation, the elements of the contract and the ownership of the outcome, just to mention a few. The Joint Offering Evaluation Framework (JOEF) uncovers these issues and supports decision‐making before the development of a JO starts. The JOEF comprises the Joint Offering Playbook and the Business Value Toolset (BVT). The Playbook offers seven viewpoints with checklists and tools for IT solution providers considering collaboration and co‐creation for a solution that they cannot deliver or sell alone. The BVT evaluates and illustrates the business value of a JO from the viewpoints of both creation and delivery, together with value capture and assessment. The JOEF was piloted with a digital twin (DT) UC from the pulp and paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study evaluating student perceptions of online assignment submission. 47 students submitted assignments and received feedback via features within the Virtual Learning Environment Blackboard™. The students then completed questionnaires comparing their experience of online submission and feedback with traditional methods. Results indicated that 88% of students reported a time saving and many reported financial benefits using online submission. 93% of students preferred having their feedback available online rather than printed and handed to them. Overall, students preferred online assignment management to postal or physical hand-in. The main disadvantage of electronic submission appeared to be student distrust of the receipt system. The use of online assignment submission and management is recommended for use in Higher Education establishments where students may be remote. It is most suitable for assignments that do not require inclusion of many images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses cooperation between countries in the Global South based on information and communications technologies (ICTs) and also triangular cooperation including partners in the developed countries. It is argued that now is an important time for research and action in this space and in information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D) more generally. Some opportunities are identified, selecting mainly from papers in the IFIP WG9.4 conference in Dar‐es‐Salaam, Tanzania, in May 2019. The paper has a strong critical dimension, asking questions such as who is driving ICT4D projects, who benefits from the work, and are the less advantaged adequately included in the process. The paper ends with five broad principles on which further ICT4D research could build. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: "Screen inferiority" refers to a well‐established phenomenon observed among adults and teenagers, wherein they demonstrate higher reading comprehension when reading from paper compared to screens. However, there is limited research focusing on readers in the initial stages of reading development. The current study aims to investigate reading comprehension in both screen and paper settings, as well as modality preferences, among young typical and struggling readers in the second and third grades. Methods: The study included 342 second graders and 284 third‐grade Hebrew readers. Their reading comprehension performance in both modalities and their preferences for a particular modality were assessed. Results: The results suggested no differences in reading comprehension between the two modalities in the second and third grades. The only group that showed numerically higher performance on paper over computer was struggling readers in the second grade. The numeric proportion of modality preferences was higher on the computer rather than on paper. Conclusions: The current study did not find an effect of modality on reading comprehension in the second and third grades. We did find that children in these grades prefer to read on screens. It is essential to examine the specific characteristics of the digital task to determine when it benefits young readers and when it may be detrimental to them. Highlights: What is already known about this topicAdults and teenagers show screen inferiority effect.Elementary school children in fourth to sixth grades also present lower reading comprehension on digital reading compared to paper reading.Less is known about first‐ to third‐grade readers in the initial steps of reading acquisition. What this paper addsSecond and third graders achieve similar reading comprehension in computer screen reading and paper reading.Second‐ and third‐grade readers show a greater preference for reading texts from screens rather than paper.Struggling readers in the second grade achieved numerically higher reading comprehension in reading from paper compared to screens. Implications for theory, policy or practiceScreen reading, with minimal differences in task characteristics compared to paper, does not impede developing readers' reading comprehension.These young readers prefer to read on screens.Designing digital reading tasks should be research‐based and refer to the specific characteristics of the readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to Smart Grids increases the complexity of power grids by involving many more interdependent actors and integrating additional information and communications technology. To provide a common basis for Smart Grid data representation and exchange, the standardized Common Information Model (CIM) has been introduced and extended, i. a., by the Common Grid Model Exchange Specification (CGMES). An increasing acceptance by power grid operators and other actors has made CIM and CGMES more and more relevant. However, the implementation of CIM / CGMES support in software projects appears to be challenging due to the complexity of CIM / CGMES and the ongoing standardisation process with iterative adaptations. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is the presentation of a methodology for an automated generation of programming language specific code from CIM / CGMES specifications. The approach is based on the use of a template language and enables to keep software projects fully compliant with CIM / CGMES specifications. The paper outlines the process of code generation and the consecutive codebase integration for a JavaScript based CIM / CGMES web editor and for two CIM / CGMES de‐/serialiser libraries in C++ and Python. The approach is evaluated in use cases involving the visualisation and simulation of a benchmark grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend toward global software development (GSD) has grown tremendously in recent years because of the rapid acceleration in information and communication technologies (ICTs). The reason for the changing trend toward GSD is to develop high‐quality software with minimum cost and time with round the clock. Despite the benefits gained from GSD, there are certain challenges associated with it. Literature reveals that software integration is an integral challenge in the GSD domain and vendors face numerous difficulties in integrating the software components to build the final product. The main aim of this research study is to develop a software integration model (SIM) that will assist GSD vendors to address the factors linked with various stages of software integration. This model is basically designed for GSD vendor organizations to assess and improve their software integration‐related activities. However, it is also beneficial for GSD client organizations in getting knowledge about the status of the GSD vendor organization's software integration capabilities. The research design is composed of well‐known research strategies including systematic literature review (SLR), questionnaire survey, and case study approach. This research study yielded the SIM. We identified nine critical success factors (CSFs) and 10 critical barriers (CBs) in software integration through SLR‐1 by extracting the data from a sample of 105 papers. Similarly, we also identified a total of 132 practices/solutions, for the identified CSFs and CBs in software integration, through SLR‐2 from a sample of 40 papers. These identified factors and practices were validated from 96 global software industry experts/practitioners through online survey. The identified CSFs, CBs, and their associated practices have been arranged adequately across the six software integration levels of SIM. We have adapted SIM structure from capability maturity model integration (CMMI), implementation maturity model (IMM), and software outsourcing vendors readiness model (SOVRM). We also conducted six case studies in the software industry for SIM applicability and validity. The participants' feedback from the six case studies in GSD vendor's organizations portray that the SIM is beneficial for GSD vendors to assess their software integration capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of papers gathered in this special issue with topics including the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the agricultural sector, application of behavioral sciences to policies for hunger, nutrition and obesity; and policy options for mitigating climate change.

This paper uses the World Bank survey database of Chinese enterprises to investigate the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on Chinese enterprises' innovation performance and the internal mechanism at the micro‐level. The results show that ICTs have significantly improved the innovation performance of Chinese enterprises. This conclusion does not change with the addition of other control variables and dummy variables, showing strong robustness. This study also finds that the impact of ICTs on enterprise innovation performance shows obvious heterogeneity across different industries and regions. We should enhance the transmission effect of ICTs on enterprise innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cloud computing and its service models, such as Platform as a Service (PaaS), have changed the way that computing resources are allocated to Information and Communications Technology enterprises and users. Although multiple cloud providers support dynamic service provisioning, it is necessary to facilitate the management of the cloud infrastructure and applications in order to allow the continuous refinement of cloud models. Therefore, issues are raised regarding the cloud orchestration, including the flexible portability and interoperability of cloud applications among multiple cloud providers. Having said that, there is a need for a standardized design and management of the cloud use cases (during the creation of scenarios, application's deployment, and patching) to ensure efficient applications' migration between different providers. This paper proposes an artifact, GITS, a generic input template for CloudSim and other cloud simulators. GITS can be provided by PaaS offering to manage the creation, monitoring, administration, and patching of infrastructure and applications in the cloud. GITS defines the cloud schema that can be used with conforming cloud models and independent cloud providers; thus, portability and interoperability can be enabled in PaaS cloud models. GITS focuses on the architecture‐based modeling for cloud infrastructure and application not only in terms of computational resources but also in terms of high availability properties associated with infrastructure and applications. The main objective of the GITS template is to provide the cloud user with a modular, simple, readable, and reusable model that still supports the essential components and provide them with the ability to control the applications' execution, deployment, and other management needs in addition to the allocation environment. This paper describes GITS usage, specifically as an input template for CloudSim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the effects of productive capacities on tax revenue mobilization in 37 Sub‐Saharan African countries. Using the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) approach, the results show that productive capacities measured by the aggregate Productive Capacity Index (PCI) and its eight components, namely human and natural capital, energy, transport, Information and communication technologies, private sector, institutions and structural change positively and significantly affect total tax revenue mobilization. For example, an increase in one point of the PCI corresponds to an increase in total tax revenues by 0.0016 point. The effect of productive capacities also remains positive and significant on tax revenues, even when disaggregated into direct and indirect taxes. This paper contributes empirically to highlighting the importance of productive capacity in tax revenue mobilization. Hence, strengthening productive capacities is important to enhance tax revenue mobilization in Sub‐Saharan African countries. To meet the current challenges of mobilizing the fiscal resources needed to meet international agendas, Sub‐Saharan African countries must not only work to strengthen overall productive capacity, but also promote the quality of institutions, transport and energy, invest in human capital, create the conditions for real structural transformation, promote good digital governance and a more dynamic private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine empirically the relationship between international quality certification, and information and communication technology (ICT) capability with the firm's export performance by considering the variables of the firm's innovation as a mediator. The data used in this research is derived from the Enterprise Survey from the World Bank involving total more than 4000 firms' respondents from four countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. Analyzed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) technique, the findings show that both international quality certification and ICT capabilities, mediated by innovation, has a significant effect to export performance. The study's findings can help managers and policymakers in developing economies, particularly in ASEAN, improve their firms' export performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces and sets the context for a special issue on 'New European Youth Mobilities: Motivations, Experiences and Future Prospects,' which derives from the European Union-funded H2020 'YMOBILITY' project on current youth migrations and transitions across the European Union. It first introduces the YMOBILITY programme and its multimethod, comparative research effort. This is followed by a brief review of secondary data on the changing profile of youth migration and mobility in Europe. Then, we explore definitions of key terms central to the project, such as 'youth,' 'youth transition,' 'mobility,' 'skill,' and the notion of the 'learning migrant'. The final part of the paper introduces the 6 articles that make up the special issue, highlighting their most significant findings and outlining their value as an integrated set that offers new insights into the role of mobile young people as students and workers within European societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covering the bulk of economic activity in ten developed countries over 1982–2005, this paper is the first to study the distinct effects of Information Technologies (IT) and Communication Technologies (CT) on labor, and in particular, the relative demand for different education groups of workers. Consistent with evidence on automation‐induced job and skill polarization, IT capital intensity decreased the demand for the middle‐educated relative to the highly and low‐educated. Instead, CT capital intensity increased the demand for the highly educated relative to the low‐educated, suggesting that CT facilitate the leverage of knowledge by the former group in production teams or the identification of new investment opportunities for their companies. Additional evidence, especially on the effects of CT, yields a richer set of insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) remains a persistent problem within developing economies where they face several technical and skills‐related challenges. Although cloud services can mitigate some of these challenges, many SMEs fail to adopt cloud services. Therefore, the main objective of this paper was to develop key recommendations (based on a high‐level cloud services adoption framework) which South African SMEs could use to guide them in their adoption of cloud services. To develop our recommendations, we conducted 13 semi‐structured interviews with nine South African SMEs within the Eastern Cape province. These were thematically analyzed and the findings used to create a high‐level cloud services adoption framework. Our findings indicate that technical expertise (i.e., knowledge) amongst SMEs plays a vital role in the cloud adoption process. Those SMEs who do realize the importance of such technical expertise often use intermediaries to achieve successful adoption of cloud services. We also found evidence to suggest that SMEs generally do not carry out comprehensive cloud adoption preparatory activities, consequently failing in their adoption of cloud services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DFT adjusts data pre-processing and training process, optimizes the constructing a disagreement encoding network, and expands on the recognition disagreement of pseudo-labelled samples-based training sets. Internet of things (IoT) and big data (BD) also play a critical role in the smart city infrastructures, changing the way we analyse patterns and trends in human behaviour. A smart city implies the realization of sustainable city growth enabled by technology-based intelligent solutions to give a good quality of life to its citizens. [Extracted from the article]

With the emergence of new information and communication technology, mobile‐based ridesharing services have received more attention and have improved. They offer timely and convenient service and exert an enormous influence on pollution and congestion by allowing passengers to share overlapping routes. However, ridesharing services have also been discussed and called into question by people with respect to their attractiveness, their comfort, and passenger safety. This paper proposes a ridesharing algorithm with a perceived mechanism by introducing multiple dimensions of perceived value to overall assess passengers' perceptions. The approach involved can continuously track the psychological changes in passengers during travel, capture the dynamic and comprehensive perceptions of passengers, and make real‐time adjustments on this basis. Furthermore, the proposed partition‐based parallel strategy can ensure high‐quality services and further enhance computational efficiency. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted based on the urban transportation network and the actual trip data from Manhattan to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The results show that it is important to effectively capture the passengers' perception of ridesharing services and apply them to optimization mechanisms, which will contribute to improving the perception of ride experiences and attracting potential passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motive of this research paper is to investigate the teachers' adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in Pakistan and the application of extended UTAUT model in a new context. A number of factors can cause changes in intention towards the usage of ICT including social, behavioral, and psychological factors, but this study, using the UTAUT model, is limited to examining the behavioral determinants of teachers' acceptance of ICT. To achieve the objective, a quantitative approach was adopted where questionnaire‐based data were obtained for analysis. The analyses were conducted on 341 valid responses that were collected from the teachers of high secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Getting the data analyzed through SPSS and AMOS, our results show that performance expectancy, efforts expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and information technology capabilities play a significant role in shaping teachers' adoption of ICT. Moreover, behavioral intentions mediate the relationship between the predictors and ICT usage. Based on the findings of this paper, administrators and government are recommended to spend additional efforts and money by launching programs for their teachers to increase the usage of ICT in their teaching and schools. The study provides numerous insights for teachers, school administrators, and government ICT‐based smart teaching and learning institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft with no pilot. The autonomous flight technology of a UAV is combined with emerging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications and services to monitor diverse kinds of environments. UAVs are suitable for surveillance of targets because of their onboard cameras. It is possible to autonomously capture images of surveillance targets based on predefined paths. However, UAVs must generate a flight path for autonomous flight considering the surveillance targets. This paper proposes a UAV control process for surveillance taking into account various aspects of their operation. In particular, because flights of autonomous UAVs are based on analyzed past flight records, this paper first described surveillance using UAVs and then introduced the sequential processes for the generation of optimal UAV flight paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains cross-market variations in the degree of return predictability using the extreme bounds analysis (EBA). The EBA addresses model uncertainty in identifying robust determinant(s) of cross-sectional return predictability. Additionally, the paper develops two profitable trading strategies based on return predictability evidence. The result reveals that among the 13 determinants of the cross-sectional variation of return predictability, only value of stock traded (a measure of liquidity) is found to have robust explanatory power by Leamer's (1985) EBA. However, Sala-i-Martin's (1997) EBA reports that value of stock traded, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, level of information and communication technology (ICT) development, governance quality, and corruption perception are robust determinants. We further find that a strategy of buying (selling) aggregate market portfolios of the countries with the highest positive (negative) return predictability statistic in the past 24 months generates statistically significant positive returns in the subsequent 3 to 12 months. In the individual country level, a trading rule of buying (selling) the respective country's aggregate market portfolio, when the return predictability statistic turns out positive (negative), outperforms the conventional buy-and-hold strategy for many countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature mainly focuses on the impact of information communication technologies on carbon emissions, but little attention has been paid to the role of the digital economy in transporting carbon emissions. This paper calculates the index of the digital economy through the entropy weight Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method and constructs the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2017. By extending the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology model, this study explores the potential linear and non‐linear relationship between digital economy and carbon emissions in the transport sector. Empirical results show that the digital economy has the alleviating effect on carbon emissions in the transportation sector, and a change in the digital economy of one unit standard deviation resulted in a 6.14% reduction in carbon emissions. In terms of sub‐regions, the digital economy has a significant negative impact on transport carbon emissions in the eastern and central regions, while it is insignificant in the western regions. This paper further investigates the threshold effect of urbanization on the relationship between the digital economy and transportation‐related carbon emissions. The digital economy accelerates the transport sector's carbon emissions in the low urbanization stage, while it reduces the carbon emissions in the high urbanization stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the publication of research papers from the Asia-Pacific region concerning developments in distance education. It states that a survey of 695 papers published between 2000 and 2008 in five education journals found that 80 percent of the papers originated from the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Australia and China, and that only a third of contributions to the "British Journal of Educational Technology" came from the Asia-Pacific region. It comments on the expansion of distance education in the Asia-Pacific and integration of information and communications technology in open and conventional schooling. It talks about reasons for rejected papers including questionable research methodologies and data analysis and a lack of coherence, persuasiveness and logic in arguments.

There have been expectations across the developing world that information and communications technologies (ICTs) will deliver benefits to marginalised people. Despite many programmes related to the promotion of Internet uptake and usage amongst poorer communities, evidence regarding such benefit is lacking, and there is little agreement in respect of frameworks and metrics to evaluate the benefits thereof. This paper reports on a case study that investigated the nature of a public access information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) programme and presents a framework for assessing the associated benefits in the South African context. The capability approach is used as a lens to assess the process of providing opportunities to ordinary citizens through ICT access and use. By operationalising agency and conversion factors, the study identified inhibitors and enhancers of opportunities and choices in realising benefits. Through the application of a critical realism paradigm and a mixed method analytical approach, perceptions of a changed life, aspirations for a better life, and "hope" emerged as key intangible benefits. The paper presents an ICT benefits framework, which serves as an important contribution to the ICT4D evaluation field. A novel outcome of the study is that it provides evidence of constructs that to date have been considered as intangible benefits in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the geographical distribution of independent and do‐it‐yourself information and communication technology maintenance and repair (INDIY ICT M&R) activity around the world. It examines a large set of Google Analytics data pertaining to users of free, open‐source online repair manuals provided by iFixit, a US‐based organisation that develops the free manuals, sells tools and components, and also engages in technical education and policy advocacy. The paper draws on three years of available user data (2016–2018). Over this time period the total user base of iFixit's manuals grew from over 1.3 million users to more than 4.1 million users across the planet. However, counter to what might be expected, the global distribution of iFixit users does not systematically co‐vary with internet access rates or with the population size of locations. The results reported here, while partial, are valuable in that they demonstrate both a globally distributed phenomenon and high‐resolution location patterns of INDIY ICT M&R activity. Mapping the extent and spatial patterning of such activity is a jumping off point for the kinds of qualitative analyses needed to elucidate the how's, the why's, and the meanings of the observed uneven distribution patterns. More broadly, the results suggest fruitful directions for deeper analyses and research into both pragmatic questions about ICT maintenance and repair (such as their social, economic, and environmental significance), as well as more speculative questions about how and why the fates of ICT within and between production, use, and discard stand in for dreams of technological futurity and nightmares of social and environmental breakdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threat to enterprise information security is growing through advancing in information and communications technology; in order to enhance the efficiency of information security sharing platform, it is necessary to analyze the process about information security sharing between enterprises that take part in the sharing platform. In this paper, the evolutionary game theory (EGT) is applied to form a better understanding of information security investment based on information sharing platform. The evolution of information sharing and its influencing factors in information security sharing platforms are analyzed. The paper provides some suggestions for promoting the efficiency of platform information sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given the growing reliance on digital devices, an increasing number of studies have examined the effects of text medium on reading outcomes in development; however, the results have been mixed. The goal of this systematic review is to look at how print and digital formats affect reading comprehension, engagement and other reading outcomes (e.g. vocabulary, reading speed) in children and adolescents aged 1–17 years old while also considering the influence of several participant, task and study characteristics. Methods: A comprehensive search strategy involving seven electronic databases yielded 88 eligible articles comparing digital and print formats on reading outcomes published between 2000 and 2023 (3 reviewer inter‐rater reliability: k =.54–.78). Three major characteristics were coded: participant‐level (grade/age, diverse populations, testing language); task‐level (text‐genre, shared reading, digital comparability); study‐level (publication recency, study quality) characteristics. Contingency tables were created for all studies, then for each reading outcome and for participant, task, and study characteristics separately to classify the percentage of studies that demonstrated outcomes favouring print, digital, no difference or reliance on specific reading measures or other factors. Results: Except in the case of engagement as an outcome, the most common finding was no difference between digital and print. When participant, task and study characteristics were examined separately for the various reading outcomes, the results varied. More studies examining reading comprehension (particularly of informational text and in older children) found 'print is better', whereas 'digital is better' was more common in studies examining engagement, other outcomes such as vocabulary and diverse learners. Conclusions: This review highlights the importance of examining multiple interacting factors when studying the impact of print versus digital mediums on reading outcomes in children and adolescents. Highlights: What is already known about this topicReading on digital devices is becoming increasingly common.Reading comprehension in adult typical populations tends to be poorer when reading on digital versus printed mediums. This is known as the 'screen inferiority effect'.Yet, digital platforms are often used to enhance learning and reading outcomes for children with learning differences and for multilingual learners. What this paper addsAcross a range of children's reading outcomes, ages, languages and text characteristics, most studies find no difference between print and digital mediums.Weak evidence for the screen inferiority effect found for reading comprehension in typical populations, older children and while reading informational text.Larger benefit of digital found for engagement and other reading outcomes (e.g. vocabulary), particularly in younger children, those with learning differences and when digital platform is enhanced (e.g. with animations). Implication for theory, policy or practiceEducators should know that older children's reading comprehension of informational text is often higher with print.Young children's engagement tends to be higher with enhanced digital media, and digital text may help even the playing field for diverse populations of children (e.g. with learning differences and multilingual learners).With a growing reliance on digital media, it is critical to further explore conditions under which digital media can support reading and engagement across different reader groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of artificial intelligence and information communication technology has significantly propelled advancements in autonomous driving. The advent of autonomous driving has a profound impact on societal development and transportation methods. However, as intelligent systems, autonomous driving systems (ADSs) often make wrong judgements in specific scenarios, resulting in accidents. There is an urgent need for comprehensive testing and validation of ADSs. Metamorphic testing (MT) techniques have demonstrated effectiveness in testing ADSs. Nevertheless, existing testing methods primarily encompass relatively simple metamorphic relations (MRs) that only verify ADSs from a single perspective. To ensure the safety of ADSs, it is essential to consider the various elements of driving scenarios during the testing process. Therefore, this paper proposes MetaSem, a novel metamorphic testing method based on semantic information of autonomous driving scenes. Based on semantic information of the autonomous driving scenes and traffic regulations, we design 11 MRs targeting different scenario elements. Three transformation modules are developed to execute addition, deletion and replacement operations on various scene elements within the images. Finally, corresponding evaluation metrics are defined based on MRs. MetaSem automatically discovers inconsistent behaviours according to the evaluation metrics. Our empirical study on three advanced and popular autonomous driving models demonstrates that MetaSem not only efficiently generates visually natural and realistic scene images but also detects 11,787 inconsistent behaviours on three driving models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English is the most popular foreign language in present‐day Italy. Most Italians believe that it is useful in the job market and a symbol of modernity, professionalism and technological advancement. Italy has been in contact with English‐speaking countries for centuries, but only after the end of World War II have the English language and Anglo‐American culture influenced Italian society in a visible way. English has transferred many loanwords into Italian, especially in the specialized terminologies of ICT, economy and finance. English buzzwords, slogans or pseudo‐English neologisms are ubiquitous in the Italian linguistic landscape. Starting from a picture of the current situation, this paper tries to outline the status of English today, considering the growing pressures of internationalization in business, education and media communication. Favourable attitudes are widespread in the younger generations, while more conservative views on the hegemony of English in Italy are held by some linguists, institutions and nationalist opinion‐makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital age, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has enabled learning to happen everywhere, leading to a shift of schooling to the home field and strengthening parents' educational responsibilities. Meanwhile, it may also cause the digital divide and digital reproduction, thereby exacerbating educational inequality. Against this backdrop, this study focused on parental digital involvement in online learning and introduced an emerging concept, digital capital, to understand the differences in parental involvement across socio‐economic backgrounds at the three levels of the digital divide. Drawing from the analysis of 90 Chinese parents' self‐narrated data, this paper identified four types of parental digital involvement according to parents' digital competence and ICT acceptance, and the conversion processes of different forms of capital underlying parental digital involvement were also clarified. The findings from this study expanded the theoretical understanding of inherited cultural capital and social reproduction in online learning in the context of educational digitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the slowdown in labour productivity growth in the UK and other advanced economies by decomposing its growth into contributions from different sectors of the economy, looking at both within‐industry productivity growth and labour reallocation between sectors. We find that the within‐industry contribution is the main source of the slowdown. Comparing trends pre‐ and post‐2008, the aggregate productivity slowdown can be attributed largely to the manufacturing sector and the information and communication (ICT) sector. Disaggregating further, the UK productivity growth slowdown can be attributed mainly to transport equipment and pharmaceuticals within manufacturing, and computer software and telecommunications within ICT. Strikingly, these are advanced, high value‐added sectors considered to be strengths of the UK economy. Looking across other advanced economies, our results confirm that manufacturing and ICT sectors are the main drivers of the slowdown, to differing degrees. Part of the explanation for the slowdown in in these sectors may relate to the underlying question of how to construct deflators for a modern economy when technological and structural changes are leading to large relative price shifts. The structure and supply chains of the key slowdown sectors also merit further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the direct and combined impacts of trade facilitation and information and communication technology (ICT) on bilateral flows of 25 sub‐Saharan countries. For that purpose, we select time to export and import as specific trade facilitation indicators and broadband use to study ICT impacts. Our sample covers a total of 93 countries over the period 2004–2018. By preprocessing data analysis, we impute time costs missing values, an essential shortcoming of the available databases, to study trade facilitation over time. Lastly, we employ a gravity model and implement a Bonus Vetus Estimation. Our results show that broadband use exerts a positive and significant effect on trade, especially relevant for intra‐African trade flows. Furthermore, the combined effects indicate that broadband also modulates the negative impacts of time to export and time to import in the case of intra‐SSA countries' trade. The more significant result is found for time to export. Our results also confirm that time costs are not only particularly harmful to intra‐African trade but also negatively impact trade flows from SSA countries to the rest of the world. These outcomes show the importance of coordinating trade facilitation and digital transformation policies, particularly those devoted to digitally transforming African customs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how developing and the least developed countries (LDCs) can foster export diversification by considering trade facilitation as an effective policy option. Unlike previous studies, this paper constructs composite indicators—namely, hard and soft factors of trade facilitation—to better clarify which trade facilitation aspect is a matter of priority. Also, it uses the number of products and markets based on Harmonized System (HS) six‐digit level as export diversification measures. Finally, it investigates the differentiated impacts of hard and soft factors on export diversification in the LDCs. For the period 2007–17 and 92 countries, the results reveal that border efficiency promotes variety in products and markets, and the availability and quality of infrastructure enhances variety in markets for the whole sample of countries. Moreover, strengthening the availability and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) plays a significant role in the LDCs' export diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information communication technology (ICT) contributes to global social, political, and sustainable economic growth. In particular, ICT, foreign direct investment (FDI), and trade in green economic growth are imperative factor that contributes to the country's development. In this regard, this paper explores the relationship between ICT, FDI, and trade in green economic growth for a group of 53 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economies between 1990 and 2020. For empirical estimation, this study employs the generalized method of moment. Significantly, the results reveal that using ICT stimulates green economic growth in BRI countries by supporting the endogenous economic growth theory. The study shows claims that the interaction term of ICT with trade and ICT with FDI expedites the economic growth rate. Also, it reveals a positive and significant relationship between trade (exports and imports) and economic growth in BRI economies. It shows the positive and significant influence of ICT on FDI and its impact on economic growth in the long run. Further, it supports the positive effect of ICT on FDI inflows in the BRI economies. It concludes that more advancement in ICT can stimulate trade. Therefore, the BRI economies should further improve ICT as a profound tool that accelerates FDI inflows and stimulate trade for green economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is gradually changing its pursuit of rapid economic growth into a pursuit of economic development quality. In this context, whether "cyberpower" and "digital China" strategies are truly conducive to China's sustainable development still needs to be further tested. This paper constructs China's provincial information and communication technology (ICT) comprehensive development level index from the four dimensions of penetration, coverage, information resources, and business and then innovatively undertakes a theoretical framework integrating ICT, environmental regulations, and green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) for the analysis. Using panel data from China's 30 provincial administrative regions from 2006 to 2017, this study explores the direct impact, moderating effect, nonlinear relationship, and regional differences of ICT development on GTFEE. It is indicated that ICT development plays a positive role in promoting GTFEE and that this role is moderated by environmental regulations. The regression results of the dynamic threshold model indicate that diverse environmental regulation intensities lead to different influences of ICT development on GTFEE. Moreover, the impact of ICT development on GTFEE is heterogeneous among different regions. Specifically, the western region may gain more benefits from ICT development by virtue of the late‐mover advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and farm productivity remains unresolved and often debated with limited evidence. While ICT is generally accepted by many to be a positive driver of productivity, others question it. Realistically, truth is likely somewhere in between. Certain ICT investments are likely to facilitate productivity improvement, whereas others may offer some other benefits such as improved safety or reduced emissions. It is also undeniable that some ICT investments may fail or offer little more than a temporary novelty. Using a sample of Australian farm‐level data, analysis in this paper finds a positive relationship between ICT investment and productivity. Specifically, the use of precision agriculture and machinery infused with ICT (such as GPS autosteering tractors) is found to be statistically significant. Moreover, digital internet access or access to the National Broadband Network (NBN) is found to be beneficial—and conversely, farms that reported mobile and internet connectivity problems tended to achieve lower productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We explore how information communication technologies (ICTs) enable doing kin work through communication and its impact on the well‐being of Ghanaians at home and abroad. Background: Using ICTs has become a significant and rapid way to keep in touch with family relations as they are "scattered" across different geographic spaces within a country and globally. In this digital age, families can choose from a wide range of options that allows the combination of textual, verbal, and visual interactions. Method: This paper is based on observations, in‐depth interviews, and life stories collected over a cumulative fieldwork period of 28 months. A total of 40 Ghanaians living in the Netherlands and 30 living in Ghana were recruited from 2017 to 2019 for this study. Results: Through smartphones or messenger apps, people share their life and provide care and support including financial, emotional, moral, personal, and communal attachment. Conclusion: Doing family online involves a complex, open, and hidden system of support, care, anxiety, and empathy. Doing family online is an example of a social matrix in which new patterns of social relationships, intimacies, care, and intergenerational solidarities emerge and develop. Implications: We propose that doing family online will remain an integral means of connecting with family members and other relations. It is therefore important that ICT is made affordable, reliable, and secure as a way to improve its use. This means that more innovation, development, and research would be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart freeway is the newest form of next generation of freeway system which aims to achieve more sustainable objectives utilizing advanced information and communication technologies. Taking the advantages of digital twin on near‐real‐time interaction between the physical and cyber systems, the framework, operation, and enabled technologies of digital twin smart freeway (DTSF) are developed in this paper. A three‐layer conceptual framework is first discussed for understanding the fundamental structure, core components, and operation procedure of a DTSF system in the context of smart transportation. The key technologies of a DTSF system are also investigated, such as simulation modelling, big data analysis, intelligent prediction, and integrated freeway control. Moreover, a well‐designed case study based on Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) is provided to verify the efficiency of the proposed freeway control strategy by integrating perimeter control of upstream urban network and traffic regulation of freeway segments. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to investigate integrated freeway control under the framework of digital twin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper investigates information and communication technology (ICT)‐based and face‐to‐face interactions for knowledge sharing during the activities characterizing the innovation process rather than strategic or operative ones. It also discussed the benefits of working remotely in companies or in a network of companies, also due to the pandemic situation such as the one we are experiencing today. The research design is based on the exploitation of a case study in the aerospace sector. Qualitative data are collected with interviews, and a content analysis is applied for extracting data useful for exploring different kind of relationships. Three significant results are described about the role of face‐to‐face interactions in knowledge sharing; the interaction through ICT tools for communication; and the different types of support provided by ICT tools. The paper extends the state of the art with new evidence in the field of knowledge sharing and conversion for sustaining the innovation process. The findings are original since new insights for the analysis of relationships are provided. Furthermore, the research methodology is described in detail and can introduce managers and scientists in content analysis applications also for industrial exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, researchers and development practitioners have been experimenting with models, frameworks and devises to meet the needs of diverse users of information communication technologies. Turning to an ICT‐based community development known as the Telecentre Programme amongst Orang Asli, an indigenous people groups in Peninsular Malaysia, this paper describes why a remote virtual management devise was invented to encounter challenges related to rugged terrain constraints, which would have directly impacted the planning and the execution of programmes designed at the telecentres. This paper argues as a technological solution, the virtual remote management system has powered an ecosystem, which shored up the digital inclusion of the indigenous communities and in the process enabled the enhancement of local informational capabilities. To this end, it reduced their technological dependency on outsiders leading to the usability and sustainability of the telecentre for local capacity building and socioeconomic benefits for the disadvantage communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International trade in services has increased significantly in recent decades, mainly due to innovations in information and communication technology. This development has also increased the importance of service offshoring, as companies spread their production processes across several countries. This paper examines the intensity of offshoring of specific tasks of occupations, which in turn leads to higher imports, and explores the impact of such substitution on wages in the home economy. We use micro‐level data from the Occupational Information Network and the Socio‐Economic Panel in Germany and draw on the OECD's Input–Output Database. In total, we used data from about 62,000 person‐years in 45 industries in Germany during 2014–2018. A particular focus of our study is on the interaction between service offshoring and the tradability as well as skill levels of workers. Our main findings suggest that service offshoring itself exerts downward pressure on workers' wages. This effect is amplified by the degree of tradability of the occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comprehension of the textbook and augmented Solow growth model has been studied to picture the consequences of workforce growth and capital. In the age of digitalization, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is also the first necessity identified factors affecting labor productivity. This paper revisits the augmented Solow growth equation by integrating ICT as an explanator that improves labor productivity in Southeast Asian emerging economies. We used a Two‐Way Random‐Effects Model to regress the impact of workforce growth rate, physical capital, and human capital on labor productivity. The results show that using human capital is essential to improve output in emerging market countries rather than only using physical capital. According to our adjusted ICT factors, our analysis reveals that using the Internet and mobile cellular significantly boosts labor productivity. Moreover, the analysis of total factor productivity shows that most Southeast Asian economies highly depend on implementing ICT, especially the contribution of Internet usage and mobile cellular. Therefore, this study contributes to further studies and policy recommendations in improving the introduction of Internet usage and installation, especially for the emerging Southeast Asian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible capital is an important growth driver in the modern knowledge‐based and innovation‐driven economy. While there seems to be sufficient support for the role of intangible capital from developed economies, evidence from fast‐growing developing countries is much more limited. This paper explores the heterogeneous pattern and potential determinants of firm‐level intangible capital investment in Vietnam. We found that firm size, human capital, and information and communication technology increase the likelihood to invest in intangible capital. Additionally, an inverted‐U shaped relation is identified between market competition and intangible capital investment: Moderate levels of market competition induce firms in Vietnam to invest more in innovative activities, but the effect of stronger competition diminishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has generated a rich literature. In this paper, we examine the effect of ICT use on alcohol consumption in a sample of 120 developing countries. To do so, we specify and estimate a panel data model first by pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) and second by feasible generalised least squares (F‐GLS) over the period 2000–2020. The robustness of the results is tested by using the system generalised method of moments (S‐GMM), taking into account regional specificities and cultural variables. The main result reveals that ICT use significantly reduces alcohol consumption. However, the effects of ICTs are mediated by economic, political and institutional governance. We suggest qualitative improvements in technological infrastructure for continued mitigation of alcohol consumption in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early commercial applications of artificial intelligence technologies (AITs) were narrow but extremely profitable. Comparable uses of those technologies throughout the economy would lead to a growth boom. Firms which emulated the early applications successfully would make tremendous strategic gains. This is a situation familiar from earlier rounds of information and communication technology. However, for AITs to become a general‐purpose technology across many commercial applications sectors will require some new innovations. This paper examines the innovation paths that could lead to that desirable outcome, the ones that have stalled, the ones in the process now, and the ones that might occur in the future. Strikingly, early AIT use, both commercial and with technical customers, occurred where Digital Transformation was not required for it to succeed. The innovation paths all require Digital Transformation as key steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic in 2019, a once‐in‐a‐lifetime event that tested the limits of humanity. The number 2019 is a memorable year that the entire humanity will hardly forget as the world had fitted against this virus. The pandemic has so far changed the habits of people all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined a list of barrier measures that have been implemented and are still effective in several countries. Among these measures, social distancing remains the most important. It requires people to avoid physical contact and not to exchange possessions. However, during road checks in Cameroon, police officers usually check passengers by asking them to show their national identity card. After receiving the ID card, a police officer checks the information on the card and returns it to the holder at the end of the check. This process goes beyond the new regulation and contributes to the spread of the Covid'19 virus. This paper considers this issue as an engineering problem and proposes a new approach based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to carry out the road traffic control activities. An automatic control system is proposed. It has two main functionalities namely the positioning subsystem and the Data collection subsystem. The positioning subsystem allows the road traffic controller in defining the right position where he/she should stand to collect information from passengers while the data collection subsystem collects data from the ID card presented by each passenger in the car. This approach was tested at police checkpoints on the Douala‐Yaoundé road in Cameroon and the results showed a reduction in COVID‐19 cases related to document handling between police and passengers/drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]