ABSTRACT
Innovation contributes critically to business recovery following major crises. Traditionally, business innovation is characterized by a series of choices and actions over time. During COVID-19, however, businesses throughout the agri-food supply chain were forced to innovate rapidly due to sudden unforeseen policy changes. To understand innovation induced by COVID-19, we analyze 297 usable responses from a survey of agri-food supply chain businesses in two distinct study regions (California and the two-state region of Minnesota-Wisconsin). Results indicate that larger agri-food businesses managed by younger owner-operators were more likely to innovate and adapt during the COVID-19 crisis. © 2023, Food Distribution Research Society. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Innovation has never been as important as it is now to solve the problems caused by COVID-19 and the socioeconomic crisis. In this context, and within the framework of an economy based on knowledge and change, economic and social agents need open innovation to generate competitiveness and development. For their part, universities need to increase technological production as a source of innovation. In the literature there are models of innovation, but they do not present a method to move from basic to technological research. Aim of this work was to fill, in part, this gap. Under the qualitative approach, the Open Innovation model, the Technological Maturity Levels method and the Pedagogical Accompaniment model were selected to develop a post-COVID-19 route to intensify innovation. The article contributes to knowledge with a methodology that allows expanding the performance of researchers and raising the technological level of universities towards competitiveness. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents results of the exploratory phase of a study carried out in Peru between November 2021 and July 2022 with teachers who attend the modality called special education. The aim of the study was to know the aspects that these teachers accentuate as characteristic of their work as carried out under the conditions of distance-learning imposed by COVID-19. The study included a review of specialized literature on the subject, as well as the response given by 90 teachers to three open questions integrated into a digital questionnaire that was applied through Google Forms. The analysis of the information obtained allowed the authors to identify three units of meaning on which the responses were concentrated: training needs, the construction of new learnings, and the implementation of innovative practices. The findings are substantial to continue with inquiries about training processes, practical learning, and innovative solutions that allow special education teachers to have the necessary conceptual and procedural tools. Likewise, by recovering first-hand information that reveals problems that are currently faced by teachers, the study adds to the debate about how to respond to the students enrolled in this educational modality. © 2022, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is three-fold: first, to examine the relationship between government support and E-commerce adoption. Second, to investigate the nexus between government support and firm innovation. Third, to explore the relation of firm performance with E-commerce adoption and innovation. Using firm-level data from 31 countries during the time of COVID-19 pandemic, we find both E-commerce adoption and innovation are positively associated with government support. Further, we also find that such firms register significantly higher sales growth. The result remains consistent even after addressing the endogeneity issue. These results hold for the subsample of SMEs as well. © 2023 Economic Society of Australia, Queensland
ABSTRACT
Inequalities and exclusion from education were exposed and worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic;however, it forced us to recognize the need to make equality, equity, and social inclusion policies effective for all. Scientific and technological solutions to global threats depend on the formation of the maximum number of qualified human resources, which entirely relies on enabling everyone to acquire, update, and improve their knowledge, skills, and competencies through lifelong learning and higher education. To guarantee inclusive and quality education for all (UN Sustainable Development Goal 4) is hard to achieve at higher education or post-secondary levels. This research aims to provide an overview of the achievements and challenges that higher education institutions (HEI) face in fulfilling the requirements of students with disabilities (SWD). We analyzed a database of 104 s from reviews of SWD in HEI published in Scopus-indexed journals between 2018 and August 2022. After data preprocessing, the text mining analysis on the corpus was visualized in word clouds and graphs. From the results, we could identify that providing access to facilities and information still dominates the research on inclusive education, and visual disability is the most frequently analyzed. The graphs reveal published research on undergraduates with disorders like Autism Spectrum (ASD), learning disorders, and visual, hearing, physical, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities. The authors also evidenced the lack of information on the barriers and needs of SWD in HEI and potential future research to address them. Concerning the strategies to attend and care for SWD inside the classrooms, the graphs highlight Universal Design as a promising trend leading to inclusivity in higher education. The results and analyses in current research provide essential information to educational stakeholders and decision-makers inside institutions so that they can take action to embrace diversity. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The study assessed the mediating role of green organizational capabilities (green technology development, green operations, and green transactions), in the relationship between green value co-creation and organizational resilience among Chinese manufacturing firms, that is, firms' ability to build strong organizational resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focused on manufacturing firms operating within Shenzhen, a coastal city located within the Guangdong province in southeastern China. The sample comprised 234 firms. Data were analysed using a covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that green value co-creation had no direct effect on organizational resilience, rather, its effect was realized indirectly through green organizational capabilities. The study concludes that manufacturing companies can augment their organizational capabilities by leveraging the knowledge of their customers through green value co-creation to build strong organizational resilience. Theoretical and managerial implications have been provided.
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the potential impacts of effective communication strategies on handling with citizen complaints. Governments from all over the world recently learnt a number of important lessons as a result of poor public relations during the COVID-19 outbreak. Public confusion and misunderstanding may result from poor government communication, not just during the global coronavirus pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the benefits of the recently launched eOtinish services for citizen complaints, as well as their implementation process, benefits, and obstacles. This quick analysis of Kazakhstan's evolving eOtinish program review is meant to serve as a conceptual starting point for future studies on effective e-government adoption. This article provides government with recommendations for establishing effective citizen complaint strategies through effective communication channels for use with the public. By using the eOtinish as a case study we propose to understand technological change in the public sector, in particular, how technology influences administrative capacity, through a new concept of technological capacity. The results of this study suggest in order to seek new solution in managing people complaint government reach to conclusion that implementation of technological changes fundamentally alter how public organizations function and how services are delivered. © 2022,Innovation Journal. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Globalization, technological innovations, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have promoted disruptive changes in buying and selling negotiation models through e-communication. As a result, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been forced to adapt to online channels. Considering market relevance, this article describes the survey results with 11 SMEs regarding their adherence to digital media. Moreover, a case study of a selected company demonstrated barriers and propulsions to digital adequacy. The aim was to promote SMEs' competitiveness through technology transfer, focusing on e-communication and strategic digital planning. The results show that the insertion of technology through digital media depends on the knowledge of the tools used in this medium. Therefore, despite being ready to use, SMEs have not yet fully leveraged digital media. Organizational barriers, such as lack of time for those responsible, lack of training and knowledge, and strategic planning, were observed. However, environmental factors such as competitive pressure and innovation-related policies are positive for insertion. Thus, there is room for companies to invest in digital strategic planning focused on improving sales, customer relations, and competitiveness. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Educational Technology (EdTech) lacks a foundational, formal, scientific, epistemic theory. Therefore, it lacks native constructs/variables and an epistemological object of study for scientifically deploying its work. This study determines the existence (ontology) of the theorized constructs Instructional Usability (UsI) and Learner-User eXperience (LUX) and defines their characterization (epistemology). Both constructs were modeled and instrumented. Furthermore, a Tech-Instructionality Model (TIM) was theorized and developed in this paper, both analytically and empirically. The model integrates UsI and LUX as two pairs of constructs linked with two EdTech epistemological objects of study, the instructional interface and the instructional interaction in two assessment modalities, testing mode (user-learner view) and inspection mode (expert/designer view). Two instruments were developed and validated in this study for testing mode, the Instructional Usability Scale (SUsI) and the Learner-User eXperience Questionnaire (QLUX). Both instruments were tested in a non-immersive virtual reality educational milieu during the academic lockdown of the Covid19 pandemic. The results show that both SUsI and QLUX consistently measured UsI and LUX, thus, providing a valid assessment for tech-instructionality and a foundation for constructing a scientific theory of EdTech. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Virtual, augmented, and immersive reality opens a world of possibilities in education by allowing students to recreate authentic situations, such as operating machinery, assembling a product, or training tool handling, to mention a few. In the TEC21 educational model, the core is the challenge: A project with a real-world challenge assigned by the training partner results in students offering solution proposals.The trigger that accelerated the development of virtual, augmented, and immersive reality activities in distance learning was COVID-19 confinement. During this, these technologies recreated the laboratory and its facilities' learning through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences.Using these technologies in the classroom allows students to achieve a great learning experience and develop skills for postgraduate studies and professional futures.Furthermore, now that we have returned to our physical facilities and laboratories, we can accelerate the learning obtained at the training partners' facilities, recreating processes and machinery through these immersive technologies and a hybrid experience for our students.The present research shows the activity learning design process and the statistical treatment of the data to provide continuous feedback during the activity;we examine the three transcendental variables in the educational process: The learning (academic rigor), the development of competencies, and the involvement or immersion of the students in the classroom. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Population growth and more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic, have increased the number of severely food insecure people in sub-Saharan Africa. Food security is one of the most prominent tasks facing the global environment especially in Asia and Africa. With the increase in the population, drought, floods, disease outbreaks, poor farm network systems, water poverty, weak political and economic institutions, selfish leadership and economic challenges in Africa, the food security crisis appears to be an important issue that will require strategic and urgent attention. There is no doubt that traditional ways of farming are not sustainable in Africa because the land available for agriculture reduces as the population increases over time. Investment in new technologies is one of the strategies to improve farm yields and livestock outputs, and reduces the risk and negative effects of weather. The role of agripreneurship, in this context, towards ensuring food security cannot be underestimated. This study is quantitative research which analyses the historical and current time series data in order to predict the future event using inferential statistics. This study investigates the relationship between food security (FST), agricultural research and technology innovation (RTI) and economic growth (GDP) in Nigeria between 1980 and 2018. The study utilizes cointegration and causality tests to determine the long run relationship among the variables and their causal directions so as to know which variable caused the others. Understanding this relationship among the variables and causal direction are vital to making appropriate suggestions for policy makers. The results of the Johansen cointegration test reveals an existence of a long run relationship between the three series (FST, RTI, GDP). The results of vector error correction model indicate a short run causality from GDP to FST and RTI, respectively. Furthermore, the results of long run causality show two-way causality between FST and RTI, one-way causality from GDP to FST and RTI without feedback. This implies that when the economic activities improve in Nigeria in the short run, this engenders agricultural technology innovation deployment in the country which facilitates food security in the long run, while food security also facilitates agricultural technology innovation. The two-way causality between RTI and FST established in this study implies that increase in agricultural research investment would improve food security and vice versa. Thus, government and other private players such as agripreneurs in agricultural sector should intensify their spending in agricultural research on the one hand, and government should also provide appropriate incentives to motivate private stakeholders for agricultural R&D investment on the other hand. © 2023, African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes in the pattern of interactions between people and has also had an impact on market traders in Indonesia. The purpose of this research is to increase the competitiveness of MSMEs through entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and technology orientation toward product innovation and their impact on MSMEs' business performance. This study uses the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and convenience sampling was used to select 160 MSMEs for the study sample. Based on the path coefficients that lead to business performance, technology orientation has a value of 16.1, followed by product innovation with a value of 10.6, market orientation with a value of 0.009, and entrepreneurship orientation with a value of 0.004, which have a positive effect on business performance. But if you look at what influences product innovation, the first is technology orientation at 0.357, followed by market orientation at 0.325, and entrepreneurial orientation at 0.245. This means that technology orientation is vital in improving business performance and product innovation. © 2023 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
This conceptual paper examines voluntary versus mandatory cloud-based training, generating recommendations to harmonise the complementarity of face-to-face and online media in future careers. Technological change was already accelerating when the COVID-19 pandemic response turbocharged transformations of knowledge dissemination in training, thus impacting learning and competency development for the future. The methodology applies comprehensive, structured literature review following PRISMA guidelines with development of a novel conceptual framework illuminating facets of knowledge dissemination. Exploring the context of workplace training and the future of careers with aid of NVivo it was found that altered social cues in cloud training are generating changes in learner attention span, engagement, and peer-to-peer interaction, potentially increasing contract cheating. It is hence recommended that stakeholders demarcate theoretical and practical learning outcomes to develop hybrid cloud media and face-to-face knowledge dissemination to accentuate professional accreditation requirements, engagement and etiquette in virtual spaces, and improve understanding of work-home balance.
ABSTRACT
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the algorithms designed to make decisions, often using big real-time data to perform activities that at times go beyond human capabilities. Given the increasing gap in agricultural demand and supply worldwide, further widened by the COVID-19 pandemic (The pandemic has derailed the progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) further off the track. The SDG financing gap per annum widened from USD 2.5 trillion to around USD 4.2 trillion), it necessitates innovative and cost-effective approaches to agriculture. AI has begun producing innovative technological solutions and data-driven insights to farming which gives confidence that it can be used to mitigate challenges around sustainable agricultural practices and facilitate getting SDGs back on track. In agriculture, AI has demonstrated immense potential in achieving enhanced productivity and improving the existing supply chains, delivery systems and market value/better pricing in both developed and developing countries for better utilisation of the produce. Several innovative uses of AI in agriculture have emerged worldwide, promising to advance farm productivity while improving sustainability and livelihoods at the same time. However, many of these experiments/pilots exist in silos. Due to this fragmented approach, a comprehensive understanding of how successful the use of AI has been in agriculture and what shortcomings or challenges were faced in some of these technological implementations has not been well evaluated. This chapter, therefore, assesses the pressing reasons to use innovative and cost-effective digital interventions like AI for SDGs in the agriculture sector. The paper then identifies the challenges in designing a successful AI programme and explores the potential of multi-stakeholder partnerships in this context. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Undergraduate students enrolled in Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Urban Planning (CAU) must develop competencies in Geomatics and Topography (G&T) as part of their learning process. During this time, theoretical concepts are traditionally taught with field practice using specialized tools such as a theodolite, laser level, and total station. Due to the environmental restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional field practice (TFP) was suspended, preventing access to equipment and study areas. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Reality (VR), have been explored in the last decade for educational purposes. This paper studies the benefits of using these tools for developing G&T skills. This research aimed to assess students' learning outcomes using a traditional G&T teaching method and a new methodology based on Virtual Field Practice (VFP) for CAU students. The methodology provides a virtual study area for the CAU student by integrating point clouds derived from photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning. It also assesses their learning results and compares them against a control group using a validated instrument. Findings suggest continuing with fieldwork for a greater understanding and correct application of G&T concepts by students, and using virtual models as an efficient way to complement the acquisition of spatial information in the teaching-learning process. Until the publication of this article, we found no evidence in the literature at the undergraduate level of applying exercises like those proposed. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The unpredictable impacts of sudden shocks such as the current COVID-19 pandemic or the current energy crisis accelerated by the Russia-Ukraine war have led to a renewed interest in regional economic resilience. Much of the literature focuses attention on how regional economies and industries could bounce back, that is, how they could return to their pre-shock conditions. Other scholars have proposed to construe resilience as bouncing forward to capture the mechanisms and processes that underpin positive adaptation and structural change in response to an acute crisis. In this article, we argue that both conceptualisations do not consider shocks and crises as a window of opportunity for regional economies to transform into a radically different and more desirable trajectory. We bring a new perspective into play, that is, transformative resilience which places shifts towards more sustainable pathways centre stage. This understanding of regional economic resilience acknowledges that a crisis may bring about permanent structural change and considers to what extent these transformations are to the benefit of society and the environment. This article seeks to identify in a conceptual way what factors and dynamics are vital for enhancing the transformative resilience of regions. To this end, we draw on recent insights from the debate on challenge-oriented regional innovation systems and elaborate on the role of pre-shock conditions and various core processes in building up regional transformative resilience.
ABSTRACT
Human security concept has evolved over the last 20 years and covers the broader aspects of development, environment, and disaster risk reduction perspectives. In general, human security concerns itself with safeguarding and expanding people's vital freedom, with the ambition "freedom from want,” "freedom from fear,” and "freedom to live with dignity.” COVID-19, the global pandemic, has affected the lives and livelihoods of people globally, including the human security issues from losing livelihoods to losing choices for education, access to health, and safe water. Different technologies (both existing and emerging) are being used globally to address these issues, albeit differentially, creating a significant digital/technology divide. The divide would have a much larger impact on human security in the near future. On the contrary, social innovation plays an important positive role to address the challenges of human security. With this context, the chapter provides some historical perspective on the evolution of the concept of human security, its relation to different development, environment, and disaster-related frameworks, and role of technology in achieving human security. The chapter provides an overview of the book with a short introduction of each chapter and provides a few ways forward at the end. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.
ABSTRACT
This book highlights how the human security aspect has been affected by the global pandemic, based on the specific case study, field data, and evidence. COVID-19 has exemplified that the pandemic is global, but its responses are local. The responses depend on national governance and policy framework, use of technology and innovation, and people's perceptions and behavior, among many others. There are many differences in how the pandemic has affected the rich and the poor, urban and rural sectors, development and fiscal sectors, and developed and developing nations and communities. Echoing human security principles, the 2030 Agenda emphasized a "world free of poverty, hunger, disease and want… free of fear and violence… with equitable and universal access to quality education, health care, and social protection….to safe drinking water and sanitation… where food is sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious… where habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable…and where there is universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy.” These basic human security [PA1] principles and development agenda are highly affected by the global pandemic worldwide, irrespective of its development and economic status. Thus, the book highlights the nexus between human security and development issues. It has two major pillars, one is the development and the other is technology issues. These two inter-dependent topics are discussed in the perspective of the global pandemic, making this the most important feature of this book. While the world is still in the middle of a pandemic, and possibly other natural and biological hazards may affect peoples' lives and livelihoods in the future, this book provides some key learning, which can be used to cope with future uncertainties, including climate risks. Thus, the book is timely and relevant to wider readers. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.
ABSTRACT
This research aims to identify online challenge-based learning (CBL) that builds on the problem-based learning practice to support professors working in two Mexican institutions with solutions to six social challenges defined by the institutions. Thirty-five professors from Tecnologico de Monterrey participated in developing the solutions related to given challenges by taking a social approach. For this activity, an online training session of one week was organized by the Faculty Development and Educational Innovation Center (CEDDIE) of Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City, Mexico. The data was collected through an online survey based on quantitative and qualitative questionnaires. We received fifteen complete responses out of thirty-five. Analyzing the results of this study affirmed that online CBL activities served professors to promote social interactions, develop pedagogical competencies, and share knowledge based on their learning experience through active collaboration with peers in the same institutions but from different disciplines and campuses to identify and solve existing societal issues. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the implementation of a hybrid platform for experimental activities in engineering courses. The proposed platform can be used as a remote or face-to-face laboratory;it may also be ideal for the new normal after the Covid 19 pandemic. The proposal has the purpose to help engineering teachers to build this hybrid laboratory without specialized knowledge, requiring little time for its implementation and practically no economic investment. To validate the proposal, the process to build the course of a hybrid laboratory for Control System course is described in this paper, which is expected to have experimental activities within the university and from home. After the implementation, the full functionality of the laboratory will be carried out both in its remote and face-to-face format. © 2023 IEEE.