Search results for: innovation challenges

Authors: Muhammad Alhaji Maidugu

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The role played by Arabic and Islamic Studies in the history of Nigeria - particularly Northern part of the country - cannot be overemphasized. Before the British colonialism, Arabic language was the official language in some of the great empires in Nigeria such as the Kanem Borno Empire. Islam, on the other hand, is the state religion. Both the rulers and the ruled were deeply involved in the pursuit of Arabic and Islamic knowledge traveling as far as Egypt, Saudia Arabia for scholarship. Their homes are like a modern library where Islamic books are kept and used to teach the community the different fields of Arabic and Islamic Studies. Scholars of Arabic and Islamic Studies were highly regarded and well respected in the society as they were the decision makers, diplomats and advisers to the authorities. Unfortunately, the colonizers used their influence and force to replace this language with a foreign language. In fact, they tried to exterminate it. Arabic became less important in the country. Arabic and Islamic Students became less significant and anybody studying Arabic or Islamic Studies is looked down at with disdain, and the course is considered unprofessional. This paper aims at casting a glance in the position of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Yobe State, Nigeria and social, political, economical and moral challenges faced by the students at institutions of learning.

Keywords: challenges, students of Arabic and Islamic studies, tertiary, institutions, Yobe

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Authors: Nunziata Ivana Guarneri, Arcangelo Bruna, Giuseppe Spampinato, Antonio Buemi

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In the last decade, automotive companies have invested a lot in terms of innovation about many aspects regarding the automatic driver assistance systems. One innovation regards the usage of a smart camera placed on the car’s side mirror for monitoring the back and lateral road situation. A common road scenario is the overtaking of the preceding car and, in this case, a brief distraction or a loss of concentration can lead the driver to undertake this action, even if there is an already overtaking vehicle, leading to serious accidents. A valid support for a secure drive can be a smart camera system, which is able to automatically analyze the road scenario and consequentially to warn the driver when another vehicle is overtaking. This paper describes a method for monitoring the side view of a vehicle by using camera optical flow motion vectors. The proposed solution detects the presence of incoming vehicles, assesses their distance from the host car, and warns the driver through different levels of alert according to the estimated distance. Due to the low complexity and computational cost, the proposed system ensures real time performances.

Keywords: camera calibration, ego-motion, Kalman filters, object tracking, real time systems

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Authors: Babak Mohajeri, Sen Bao, Timo Nyberg

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Customer experience is increasingly the differentiator between successful companies and those who struggle. Currently, customer experiences become more dynamic; and they advance with each interaction between the company and a customer. Every customer conversation and any effort to evolve these conversations would be beneficial and should ultimately result in a positive customer experience. The aim of this paper is to analyze the evolving customer experience management landscape and the relevant challenges and opportunities. A case study on the “paper machine” companies is chosen. Hence, this paper analyzes the challenges and opportunities in customer experience management of paper machine companies for the case of “road to steel”. Road to steel shows the journey of steel from raw material to end product (i.e. paper machine in this paper). ALPHA (Steel company) and BETA (paper machine company), are chosen and their efforts to evolve the customer experiences are investigated. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with experts in those companies to identify the challenges and opportunities of the evolving customer experience management from their point of view. The findings of this paper contribute to the theory and business practices in the realm of the evolving customer experience management landscape.

Keywords: Customer Experience Management, Paper Machine , Value Chain Management, Risk Analysis

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Authors: Daban Mohammed Haji

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This paper explores the application of constructive alignment in digital education at the University of Sulaimani, focusing specifically on the Language and Culture Center, Translation Department, and English Department. Constructive alignment, an outcome-based pedagogical framework developed by John Biggs, ensures that learning activities and assessments are directly aligned with the intended learning outcomes (ILOs). The study's findings reveal a significant gap in awareness and understanding of this pedagogical concept among lecturers. Many instructors are unfamiliar with constructive alignment, and those who have some knowledge of it face considerable challenges. These challenges include aligning learning activities and assessments with the ILOs and fostering higher-order cognitive skills as outlined in the SOLO taxonomy and revised Bloom’s taxonomy. To address this issue, the existing pedagogy center at the University of Sulaimani could play a pivotal role. This center has the potential to foster faculty development and promote the adoption of constructive alignment in online teaching. By leveraging the center's expertise and resources, a tailored program can be designed to enhance faculty understanding and application of this pedagogical framework.

Keywords: constructive alignment, student-centerdness, pedagogy, bologna process

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Authors: Bhaskar Chakravorti, Christopher Tunnard, Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi

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This report introduces the Digital Evolution Index (DEI) as a way to gauge the transformation of economies in the advanced and developing world from traditional brick-and-mortar to digitally enabled. The DEI measures the digital trajectories of 50 countries to provide actionable, data-informed insights for businesses, investors and policymakers. Created by The Fletcher School, in collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide and DataCash, the DEI analyzes the key underlying drivers and barriers that govern a country’s evolution into a digital economy: Demand, Supply, Institutional Environment and Innovation. A longitudinal analysis of these four drivers during the years 2008 to 2013 reveals both the current state of a country’s digital economy, as well as changes over time. Combining these two measures allows us to assign each country to one of four Trajectory Zones: • Stand Out countries have shown high levels of digital development in the past and continue to remain on an upward trajectory. • Stall Out countries have achieved a high level of evolution in the past but are losing momentum and risk falling behind. • Break Out countries have the potential to develop strong digital economies. Though their overall score is still low, they are moving upward and are poised to become Stand Out countries in the future. • Watch Out countries face significant opportunities and challenges, with low scores on both current level and upward motion of their DEI. Some may be able to overcome limitations with clever innovations and stopgap measures, while others seem to be stuck.

Keywords: e-commerce, digital evolution, digital commerce ecosystems, e-consumer

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Authors: Robyn Moloney, HuiLing Xu

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Many countries wish to produce Asia-literate citizens, through language education. International contexts of Chinese language education are seeking pedagogical innovation to meet local contextual factors frequently holding back learner success. In multicultural Australia, innovative pedagogy is urgently needed to support motivation in sustained study, with greater strategic integration of technology. This research took a qualitative approach to identify need and solutions. The paper analyses strategies that three secondary school teachers are adopting to meet specific challenges in the Australian context. The data include teacher interviews, classroom observations and student interviews. We highlight the use of task-based learning and differentiated teaching for multilevel classes, and the role which digital technologies play in facilitating both areas. The strategy examples are analysed in reference both to a research-based framework for describing quality teaching, and to current understandings of motivation in language learning. The analysis of data identifies learning featuring deep knowledge, higher-order thinking, engagement, social support, utilisation of background knowledge, and connectedness, all of which work towards the learners having a sense of autonomy and an imagination of becoming an adult Chinese language user.

Keywords: Chinese pedagogy, digital technologies, motivation, secondary school

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Authors: Mridula Korde

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The terahertz band is the main pillar of 6G wireless communication system. It is difficult to meet the high data rate of 1Tbps by millimeter frequency support systems. The terahertz band suffers huge propagation loss limiting wireless distance. Terahertz band imposes ultra massive multiple input multiple output antenna (UM-MIMO) systems which produce high array gain with narrow beamforming. The conventional methods for MIMO beamforming are Analog and Digital beamforming. The fully digital beamforming methods utilize dedicated structure of DAC/ADC and RF chains. These structures increase hardware complexity and are power hungry. The analog beamforming structures utilize ADC/DAC with phase shifters with less hardware complexity but support less data rates. As a result, a hybrid beamforming method can be adapted for UM-MIMO systems. This paper will investigate challenges in hybrid beamforming architecture which will address the low spatial degrees of freedom (SDoF) limitation in Terahertz (THz) Communication. The flexible hardware connections are proposed, in order to switch the system in an adaptive manner so as to minimize the power requirements.

Keywords: 6G, terahertz communication, beamforming, challenges

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Authors: Tahira Iram, Ahmad Raza Bilal

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In 2016, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) initiated Saudi Vision 2030, an ambitious plan to lessen the country's dependency on fossil fuels and increase economic diversification. The Vision 2030 framework strives to establish a thriving economy, a vibrant society, and an ambitious nation. This study aims to investigate the role of green service innovation (SI) and green work engagement (WE) in mediating the nexus between green HRM and green creativity (GC) under the conditional role of spiritual leadership (SL). A survey was done of 300 female intrepreneurs working in the organization within Saudi Arabia. This study has collected data via a stratified random sampling technique. The framework was tested using PLS-SEM software. The findings reveal that WE fully intervenes in the nexus between green HRM and GC. Moreover, SL positively moderates the nexus between green HRM and SI. Thus based on findings, it is recommended that female intrapreneurs prioritize environmentally responsible operations to gain and sustain a competitive edge over rivals in the Saudi competitive market.

Keywords: green HRM, spiritual leadership, Vision 2030, women intrapreneurs, green service innovation behavior, green creativity

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Authors: Wen Zhang

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The smartphone plays a significant role in media convergence, and smartphone photography is reconstructing the way we communicate and think. This article aims to explore the smartphone photography practices of urban Chinese smartphone users and images produced by smartphones from a techno-cultural perspective. The analysis consists of two types of data: One is a semi-structured interview of 21 participants, and the other consists of the images created by the participants. The findings are organised in two parts. The first part summarises the current tendencies of capturing, editing, sharing and archiving digital images via smartphones. The second part shows that food and selfie/anti-selfie are the preferred subjects of smartphone photographic images from a technical and multi-purpose perspective and demonstrates that screenshots and image texts are new genres of non-photographic images that are frequently made by smartphones, which contributes to improving operational efficiency, disseminating information and sharing knowledge. The analyses illustrate the positive impacts between smartphones and photography enthusiasm and practices based on the diffusion of innovation theory, which also makes us rethink the value of photographs and the practice of ‘photographic seeing’ from the screen itself.

Keywords: digital photography, image-text, media convergence, photographic- seeing, selfie/anti-selfie, smartphone, technological innovation

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Authors: Mohammed Alghamdi, Ghanem Al-Ghamdi

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The Governorate of Al-Baha is known for a history of farming that focused on plant products such as Date Palm, olives, figs, pomegranate and cereals as well as raising cattle, sheep, goats and to some extent camels for many decades. However, farmers have been facing with very significant natural and artificial challenges lately. The goal of this study was to determine the most significant challenges facing farmers in the Governorate of Al-Baha. Sixty farms were surveyed during the year of 2013. Farm survey focused on the farm management, farm financial status and governmental support. Our results showed that most farms were dedicated to farming with limited number of farms used parts of its premises for recreation. About 90% of farms were engaged in exclusively farming business. The financial status was good in most of the farms (80%), stable in 16% and hardly standing in less than 5%. Nearly 60% of the farms marketed 1-3 products and 23% marketed up to 6 products, 14% of the farms marketed up to 9 products and 4% marketed more than 9 products. Less than 14% had a chance to market their products over seven times per year while about 11% market their products and 32% of farms market 3-4 per year and 43% of farms market 1-2 per year. Our data showed that most farmers are in good financial status producing healthy food.

Keywords: farming system, Al-Baha, healthy food, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Pratap Sriram Sundar, Chandan Chowdhury, Sagar Kamarthi

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Nature has perfected her designs over 3.5 billion years of evolution. Research fields such as biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, bio-inspired computing, and nature-inspired designs have explored nature-made artifacts and systems to understand nature’s mechanisms and intelligence. Learning from nature, the researchers have generated sustainable designs and innovation in a variety of fields such as energy, architecture, agriculture, transportation, communication, and medicine. Axiomatic design offers a method to judge if a design is good. This paper analyzes design aspects of one of the nature’s amazing object: chicken egg. The functional requirements (FRs) of components of the object are tabulated and mapped on to nature-chosen design parameters (DPs). The ‘independence axiom’ of the axiomatic design methodology is applied to analyze couplings and to evaluate if eggs’ design is good (i.e., uncoupled design) or bad (i.e., coupled design). The analysis revealed that eggs design is a good design, i.e., uncoupled design. This approach can be applied to any nature’s artifacts to judge whether their design is a good or a bad. This methodology is valuable for biomimicry studies. This approach can also be a very useful teaching design consideration of biology and bio-inspired innovation.

Keywords: uncoupled design, axiomatic design, nature design, design evaluation

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Authors: Nkechi V. Osuji

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The use of blockchain to address the issue of climate change is increasingly a discourse among countries, industries, and stakeholders. For a long time, the European Union (EU) has been combating the issue of climate action in industries through sustainability programs. One of such programs is the EU monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) program of the EU ETS. However, the system has some key challenges and areas for improvement, which makes it inefficient. The main objective of the research is to look at how blockchain can be used to improve the inefficiency of the EU ETS program for the Danish energy industry with a focus on its monitoring and reporting framework. Applying empirical data from 13 semi-structured expert interviews, three case studies, and literature reviews, three outcomes are presented in the study. The first is on the current conditions and challenges of monitoring and reporting CO₂ emission trading. The second is putting into consideration if blockchain is the right fit to solve these challenges and how. The third stage looks at the factors that might affect the implementation of such a system and provides recommendations to mitigate these challenges. The first stage of the findings reveals that the monitoring and reporting of CO₂ emissions is a mandatory requirement by law for all energy operators under the EU ETS program. However, most energy operators are non-compliant with the program in reality, which creates a gap and causes challenges in the monitoring and reporting of CO₂ emission trading. Other challenges the study found out are the lack of transparency, lack of standardization in CO₂ accounting, and the issue of double-counting in the current system. The second stage of the research was guided by three case studies and requirement engineering (RE) to explore these identified challenges and if blockchain is the right fit to address them. This stage of the research addressed the main research question: how can blockchain be used for monitoring and reporting CO₂ emission trading in the energy industry. Through analysis of the study data, the researcher developed a conceptual private permissioned Hyperledger blockchain and elucidated on how it can address the identified challenges. Particularly, the smart contract of blockchain was highlighted as a key feature. This is because of its ability to automate, be immutable, and digitally enforce negotiations without a middleman. These characteristics are unique in solving the issue of compliance, transparency, standardization, and double counting identified. The third stage of the research presents technological constraints and a high level of stakeholder collaboration as major factors that might affect the implementation of the proposed system. The proposed conceptual model requires high-level integration with other technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning. Therefore, the study encourages future research in these areas. This is because blockchain is continually evolving its technology capabilities. As such, it remains a topic of interest in research and development for addressing climate change. Such a study is a good contribution to creating sustainable practices to solve the global climate issue.

Keywords: blockchain, carbon emission trading, European Union emission trading system, monitoring and reporting

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Authors: Wilhelmus Hary Susilo

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The marketplace would have at least some resources that are unique (e.g., well communication, knowledgeable employees, consumer value, effective transaction, efficient production processes and institutional branding). The institutions should have an advantage in resources and then could lead to positions of competitive advantage. These major challenges focus on increasing unique consumer value on reliable purchases that influence of loyalty and pursuit of a sustainable competitive advantage from the Institutions in Jakarta. Furthermore, a research was conducted with a quantitative method and a confirmatory strategic research design. The research resulted in entire confirmatory factors analysis (1st CFA and 2nd CFA) among variables pertains to; χ2//Df (9.30, 4.38, 6.95, 2.76, 2.97, 2.91, 2.32 and 6.90), GFI (0.72, 0.82, 0.82, 0.81, 0.78, 0.84, 0.89 and 0.70) and CFI (0.90, 0.95, 0.93, 0.92, 0.95, 0.91, 0.96 and 0.89), which indicates a good model. Furthermore, the hybrid model is well fit with, χ2//Df=1.84, P value = 0.00, RMSEA = 0.076, GFI = 0.76, NNFI= 0.95, PNFI= 0.82, IFI= 0.96, RFI= 0.91, AGFI= 0.71 and CFI= 0.96. The result was significant hypothesis, i.e. variables of communitization marketing 3.0 and price perception influenced to unique value of consumer with tvalue =4.46 and 5.89. Furthermore, the consumers value influenced the purchasing with t value = 5.94. Additionally, the loyalty, the ‘communitization’, and the character building marketing 3.0 are affecting the pursuit of a sustainable competitive advantage from institutions with t value = 7.57, -2.12, and 2.04. Finally, the test between the most superior variable dimensions is significantly correlated between INOV and WDES, RESPON and ATT covariance matrix value= 0.72 and 0.71. Thus, ‘communitization’ and character building marketing 3.0 with dimensions of responsibility and technologies would increase a competitive advantage with the dimensions of the innovation and the job design from the institutions.

Keywords: consumer loyalty, marketing 3.0, unique consumer value, purchase, sustainable competitive advantage

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah, Jianing Mi, Feng Cheng

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This research paper seeks to investigate the factors determining the continuance usage of online mobile payment applications among WECHAT users in China. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory would both be applied as the theoretical foundation for this study. A developed instrument would be administered to the targeted sample of 1000 WECHAT Users in the City of Harbin, China, through an online questionnaire administration platform. Factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived service quality, social influence, trust in the internet, internet self-efficacy, relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity would be explored to determine its significant impact on the continuance intention to use mobile payment apps. This study is at the development and implementation stage. The successful completion of this research article would not only provide an insightful understanding of the factors influencing the decision of WECHAT users in China to use mobile payment applications but also enrich the e-commerce adoption literature.

Keywords: diffusion of innovation (DOI), e-commerce, mobile payment, technology acceptance model (TAM), WECHAT

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Authors: Arash Sepehri Bonab

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Techniques to switch cells between development and differentiation, which tend to be commonly exclusive, are utilized in arrange to supply an expansive cell mass that can perform particular separated capacities required for the tissue to develop. Approaches to tissue engineering center on the have to give signals to cell populaces to advance cell multiplication and separation. Current tissue regenerative procedures depend primarily on tissue repair by transplantation of synthetic/natural inserts. In any case, restrictions on the existing procedures have expanded the request for tissue designing approaches. Tissue engineering innovation and stem cell investigation based on tissue building have made awesome advances in overcoming the issues of tissue and organ damage, useful loss, and surgical complications. Bone tissue has the capability to recover itself; in any case, surrenders of a basic estimate anticipate the bone from recovering and require extra support. The advancement of bone tissue building has been utilized to form useful options to recover the bone. This paper primarily portrays current advances in tissue engineering in different fields of bone and talks about the long-term trend of tissue designing innovation in the treatment of complex diseases.

Keywords: tissue engineering, bone, technologies, treatment

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Authors: Petra Gruber, Ariana Rupp, Peter Niewiarowski

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This paper presents a concept for a biomimetic fablab as a physical space for education, research and development of innovation inspired by nature. Biomimetics as a discipline finds increasing recognition in academia and has started to be institutionalized at universities in programs and centers. The Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center was founded in 2012 at the University of Akron as an interdisciplinary venture for the advancement of innovation inspired by nature and is part of a larger community fostering the approach of bioimimicry in the Great Lakes region of the US. With 30 faculty members the center has representatives from Colleges of Arts and Sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, geoscience, and philosophy) Engineering (e.g., mechanical, civil, and biomedical), Polymer Science, and Myers School of Arts. A platform for training PhDs in Biomimicry (17 students currently enrolled) is co-funded by educational institutions and industry partners. Research at the center touches on many areas but is also currently biased towards materials and structures, with highlights being materials based on principles found in spider silk and gecko attachment mechanisms. As biomimetics is also a novel scientific discipline, there is little standardisation in programming and the equipment of research facilities. As a field targeting innovation, design and prototyping processes are fundamental parts of the developments. For experimental design and prototyping, MIT's maker space concept seems to fit well to the requirements, but facilities need to be more specialised in terms of accessing biological systems and knowledge, specific research, production or conservation requirements. For the education and research facility BRIC we conceptualize the concept of a biomimicry fablab, that ties into the existing maker space concept and creates the setting for interdisciplinary research and development carried out in the program. The concept takes on the process of biomimetics as a guideline to define core activities that shall be enhanced by the allocation of specific spaces and tools. The limitations of such a facility and the intersections to further specialised labs housed in the classical departments are of special interest. As a preliminary proof of concept two biomimetic design courses carried out in 2016 are investigated in terms of needed tools and infrastructure. The spring course was a problem based biomimetic design challenge in collaboration with an innovation company interested in product design for assisted living and medical devices. The fall course was a solution based biomimetic design course focusing on order and hierarchy in nature with the goal of finding meaningful translations into art and technology. The paper describes the background of the BRIC center, identifies and discusses the process of biomimetics, evaluates the classical maker space concept and explores how these elements can shape the proposed research facility of a biomimetic fablab by examining two examples of design courses held in 2016.

Keywords: biomimetics, biomimicry, design, biomimetic fablab

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Authors: Vicky Khasandi-Telewa, Sinfree Makoni

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This paper examines the lived experiences of Kenyans caught between the two main varieties of English and the communication challenges they often face. The paper aims to provide evidence for the challenges that Kenyan speakers of English have experienced as a result of the confluence between British English (BrE) and American English (AmE). The study is explorative thus, qualitative and a descriptive research design was used. The objectives were to describe the communication challenges Kenyans encounter due to the differences in grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and pragmatics between AmE and BrE and, to illuminate these variations to enable the Kenyan English learner to communicate appropriately. The purposive sample consisted of sixty five subjects, all who were from a top girls national high school in Kenya, therefore, many are in high-end positions nationally and internationally and well-travelled; in fact, seven are based in the USA, two in the United Kingdom and one lives in Australia. Using interviews, they were asked about their experiences with the different varieties of English, and their responses recorded. Autoethnography, a qualitative research method that involves introspection and cultural analysis, was also used. Thematic content analysis was used to extract the themes and group them for data analysis. The theoretical framework used is World Englishes by Kachru. The results indicate that there is indeed some communication breakdown due to linguistic varieties, but the differences are largely understood by speakers of the different varieties. Attitude plays a major role in communication challenges between the different Englishes, especially among teachers. The study urges acceptance of different varieties of English so long as communication takes place. This has implications for teaching English to Kenyan and speakers of other languages to whom English is taught as a Second Language or Foreign language.

Keywords: American english, british english, kenyan english, englishes, teaching of english to speakers of other languages (TeSOL)

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Authors: Elmahdi Khalil, Saad Enniari, Mostapha Zbakh

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Cloud computing promises to increase innovation and the velocity with witch applications are deployed, all while helping any enterprise meet most IT service needs at a lower total cost of ownership and higher return investment. As the march of cloud continues, it brings both new opportunities and new security challenges. To take advantages of those opportunities while minimizing risks, we think that Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) integrated in the cloud is one of the best existing solutions nowadays in the field. The concept of intrusion detection was known since past and was first proposed by a well-known researcher named Anderson in 1980's. Since that time IDS's are evolving. Although, several efforts has been made in the area of Intrusion Detection systems for cloud computing environment, many attacks still prevail. Therefore, the work presented in this paper proposes a multi criteria analysis and a comparative study between several IDS architectures designated to work in a cloud computing environments. To achieve this objective, in the first place we will search in the state of the art of several consistent IDS architectures designed to work in a cloud environment. Whereas, in a second step we will establish the criteria that will be useful for the evaluation of architectures. Later, using the approach of multi criteria decision analysis Mac Beth (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique we will evaluate the criteria and assign to each one the appropriate weight according to their importance in the field of IDS architectures in cloud computing. The last step is to evaluate architectures against the criteria and collecting results of the model constructed in the previous steps.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud security, intrusion detection/prevention system, multi-criteria decision analysis

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Authors: Lailial Muhtifah, Sirtul Marhamah

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This article forwards the conceptual framework of continuous academic lecturer model in Islamic higher education (IHE). It is intended to make a contribution to the broader issue of how the concept of excellence can promote adherence to standards in higher education and drive quality enhancement. This model reveals a process and steps to increase performance and achievement of excellence regular lecturer gradually. Studies in this model are very significant to realize excellence academic culture in IHE. Several steps were identified from previous studies through literature study and empirical findings. A qualitative study was conducted at institute. Administrators and lecturers were interviewed, and lecturers learning communities observed to explore institute culture policies, and procedures. The original in this study presents and called Continuous Academic Lecturer Model (CALM) with its components, namely Standard, Quality, and Excellent as the basis for this framework (SQE). Innovation Excellence Framework requires Leaders to Support (LS) lecturers to achieve a excellence culture. So, the model named CALM-SQE+LS. Several components of performance and achievement of CALM-SQE+LS Model should be disseminated and cultivated to all lecturers in university excellence in terms of innovation. The purpose of this article is to define the concept of “CALM-SQE+LS”. Originally, there were three components in the Continuous Academic Lecturer Model i.e. standard, quality, and excellence plus leader support. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline of CALM with its components (SQE+LS) in institutional culture and professional leader literature. The findings of this study learn how continuous academic lecturer is part of a group's culture, how it benefits in university. This article blends the available criteria into several sub-component to give new insights towards empowering lecturer the innovation excellence at the IHE. The proposed conceptual framework is also presented.

Keywords: continuous academic lecturer model, excellence, quality, standard

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Authors: A. Lefebre, M. Willekens, K. Debackere

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Since the 1990s, patent applications have been booming, especially in the field of telecommunications. However, this increase in patent filings has been associated with an (alleged) decrease in patent quality. The plethora of low-quality patents devalues the high-quality ones, thus weakening the incentives for inventors to patent inventions. Despite the rich literature on strategic patenting, previous research has neglected to emphasize the importance of patent portfolio management and its impact on patent quality. In this paper, we compare related patent portfolios vs. nonrelated patents and investigate whether the patent quality and innovativeness differ between the two types. In the analyses, patent quality is proxied by five individual proxies (number of inventors, claims, renewal years, designated states, and grant lag), and these proxies are then aggregated into a quality index. Innovativeness is proxied by two measures: the originality and radicalness index. Results suggest that related patent portfolios have, on average, a lower patent quality compared to nonrelated patents, thus suggesting that firms use them for strategic purposes rather than for the extended protection they could offer. Even upon testing the individual proxies as a dependent variable, we find evidence that related patent portfolios are of lower quality compared to nonrelated patents, although not all results show significant coefficients. Furthermore, these proxies provide evidence of the importance of adding fixed effects to the model. Since prior research has found that these proxies are inherently flawed and never fully capture the concept of patent quality, we have chosen to run the analyses with individual proxies as supplementary analyses; however, we stick with the comprehensive index as our main model. This ensures that the results are not dependent upon one certain proxy but allows for multiple views of the concept. The presence of divisional applications might be linked to the level of innovativeness of the underlying invention. It could be the case that the parent application is so important that firms are going through the administrative burden of filing for divisional applications to ensure the protection of the invention and the preemption of competition. However, it could also be the case that the preempting is a result of divisional applications being used strategically as a backup plan and prolonging strategy, thus negatively impacting the innovation in the portfolio. Upon testing the level of novelty and innovation in the related patent portfolios by means of the originality and radicalness index, we find evidence for a significant negative association with related patent portfolios. The minimum innovation that has been brought on by the patents in the related patent portfolio is lower compared to the minimum innovation that can be found in nonrelated portfolios, providing evidence for the second argument.

Keywords: patent portfolio management, patent quality, related patent portfolios, strategic patenting

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Authors: Carl-Philipp Valentin Beichert, Marcel Seger

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Digital transformation and climate change require small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to rethink their way of doing business. Inter-firm collaboration is recognized as helpful means of promoting innovation and competitiveness. In this context, collaborations with start-ups offer valuable opportunities through their innovative products, services, and business models. SMEs, and in particular German craft enterprises, play an important role in the country’s society and economy. Companies in this heterogeneous economic sector have unique characteristics and are limited in their ability to innovate due to their small size and lack of resources. Collaborating with start-ups could help to overcome these shortcomings. To investigate how collaborations emerge and what factors are decisive to successfully drive collaboration, we apply an explorative, qualitative research design. A sample of ten case studies was selected, with the collaboration between a start-up and a craft enterprise forming the unit of analysis. Semi-structured interviews with 20 company representatives allow for a two-sided perspective on the respective collaboration. The interview data is enriched by publicly available data and three expert interviews. As a result, objectives, initiation practices, applied collaboration types, barriers, as well as key success factors could be identified. The results indicate a three-phase collaboration process comprising an initiation, concept, and partner phase (ICP). The ICP framework proposed accordingly highlights the success factors (personal fit, communication, expertise, structure, network) for craft enterprises and start-ups for each collaboration phase. The role of a mediator in the start-up company, with strong expertise in the respective craft sector, is considered an important lever for overcoming barriers such as cultural and communication differences. The ICP framework thus provides promising directions for further research and can help practitioners establish successful collaborations.

Keywords: open innovation, SME, craft businesses, startup collaboration, qualitative research

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Authors: Sangeeta Rai

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International education is Australia’s third largest export with significant revenue flowing to the economy in all state and territory jurisdictions. International students make significant economic, social and cultural contributions to all communities in which they are studying and often working. Among these international students are those from Nepal, who continue to seek Australian higher education in increasing numbers. This paper reports on findings from a literature review that highlights the gap in knowledge of the pedagogical issues that may need addressing in teaching Nepalese students in the higher education sector in Australia. Nepalese students bring to their studies a rich culture shaped by their country’s turbulent political and poor economic conditions. These factors may further contribute to their endeavors to seek education abroad to better themselves and their situation. This cohort of students faces various challenges undertaking their studies in Australia that may be due to factors including language, learning styles and engagement with peers. Hence, this paper highlights the importance of these students on Australian shores and forms the basis for further study on the issues and challenges that they face and those that need to be addressed by Australian educators.

Keywords: Nepalese students in Australia, challenges and coping mechanisms of Nepalese students, international students in Australia, socio-cultural background of Nepalese students

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Authors: Andrei Pomana, Graham Brewer

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Autism is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects verbal and non-verbal communication, behaviour and sensory processing. As a result, people on the autism spectrum have a difficult time when confronted with environments that have high levels of sensory stimulation. This is often compounded by the inability to properly communicate their wants and needs to caregivers. The capacity for people with autism to integrate depends on their ability to at least tolerate highly stimulating public environments for short periods of time. The overall challenges that people on the spectrum and their caregivers face need to be established in order to properly create and assess methods to mitigate the effects of high stimulus public spaces. The paper aims to identify the challenges that people on the autism spectrum and their caregivers face in typical public environments. Nine experienced autism therapists have participated in a semi-structured interview regarding the challenges that people with autism and their caregivers face in public environments. The qualitative data shows that the unpredictability of events and the high sensory stimulation present in public environments, especially auditory, are the two biggest contributors to the difficulties that people on the spectrum face. If the stimuli are not removed in a short period of time, uncontrollable behaviours or 'meltdowns' can occur, which leave the person incapacitated and unable to respond to any outside input. Possible solutions to increase integration in public spaces for people with autism revolve around removing unwanted sensory stimulus, creating personalized barriers for certain stimuli, equipping people with autism with better tools to communicate their needs or to orient themselves to a safe location and providing a predictable pattern of events that would prepare individuals for tasks ahead of time.

Keywords: autism, built environment, meltdown, public environment, sensory processing disorders

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Authors: Kirubasankar, Sanjeevkumar, Aravindh Nagappan

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This paper addresses a system for monitoring patients using biomedical sensors and displaying it in a remote place. The main challenges in present health monitoring devices are lack of remote monitoring and logging for future evaluation. Typical instruments used for health parameter measurement provide basic information regarding health status. This paper identifies a set of design principles to address these challenges. This system includes continuous measurement of health parameters such as Heart rate, electrocardiogram, SpO2 level and Body temperature. The accumulated sensor data is relayed to a processing device using a transceiver and viewed by the implementation of cloud services.

Keywords: bio-medical sensors, monitoring, logging, cloud service

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Authors: Amit Zriker, Anat Freund

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The aim of the study was to conduct a thorough examination into the multiple complexities of bringing a foreign caregiver into the home to care for older adults in the Haredi society, by relating to the perspectives of the older adult and his family members. Research questions were: What is the meaning of bringing a foreign caregiver into the home in Haredi society, from the point of view of the older adult’s family members, and what are the implications of these meanings in the context of developing social policies and interventions? The current study was a qualitative-phenomenological study, which relates to “the lived experience” of those involved in the studied phenomenon. In the framework of the study, the participants included 15 adult Haredi sons and daughters of elderly impaired parents who receive homecare from a foreign caregiver. Data collection was carried out using in-depth, semi-structured interviews; the interview guidelines are comprised of the following content worlds: the meanings of aging in Haredi families; the decision-making process in relation to providing home care assistance for elderly impaired parents; making decisions regarding bringing a foreign caregiver into the home to care for an elderly parent; the daily routine after bringing in a foreign caregiver; bringing in a foreign caregiver vs. the society and vs. the Haredi establishment; and more. The issue of bringing a foreign caregiver into the home in the context of a faith-based society has received only scant and partial research attention to date. Nevertheless, in light of the growing elderly population in the Haredi society in Israel, and in closed, faith-based societies, in general; there is a growing need to bring foreign caregivers into the home as a possible solution to the “aging-in-place” problem in these societies. The separatist nature, and the collectivist and faith-based lifestyle of the Haredi society present unique challenges and needs in the process of employing a foreign caregiver. Moreover, the foreign caregiver also brings his/her own cultural world to the encounter, meaning, this process involves the elderly impaired individual, his/her family members, as well as the foreign caregiver. Therefore, it is important to understand their attitudes, perceptions and interactions, in order to create a good fit among all involved parties. The innovation and uniqueness of the current study is in its in-depth exploration of a phenomenon through an emotional-cultural lens. The study findings also contribute to the creation of social policy in the field of nursing, which will be adapted and culturally sensitive to Haredi society, and other faith-based societies.

Keywords: culturally-sensitive intervention, faith-based society, foreign caregiver, Haredi society

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Authors: Samuel Oye Bandele

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A policy is a system of principles to guide activities and strategic decisions of an organisation in order to achieve stated objectives and meeting expected outcomes. A Computer Based Test (CBT) policy is therefore a statement of intent to drive the CBT programmes, and should be implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are hence generally adopted by an organization or a nation. The concern here, in this paper, is the consideration and analysis of issues that are significant to evolving the acceptable policy that will drive the new CBT innovation in Nigeria. Public examinations and internal examinations in higher educational institutions in Nigeria are gradually making a radical shift from Paper Based or Paper-Pencil to Computer-Based Testing. The need to make an objective and empirical analysis of Policy issues relating to CBT became expedient. The following are some of the issues on CBT evolution in Nigeria that were identified as requiring policy backing. Prominent among them are requirements for establishing CBT centres, purpose of CBT, types and acquisition of CBT equipment, qualifications of staff: professional, technical and regular, security plans and curbing of cheating during examinations, among others. The descriptive research design was employed based on a population consisting of Principal Officers (Policymakers), Staff (Teaching and non-Teaching-Policy implementors), and CBT staff ( Technical and Professional- Policy supports) and candidates (internal and external). A fifty-item researcher-constructed questionnaire on policy issues was employed to collect data from 600 subjects drawn from higher institutions in South West Nigeria, using the purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data collected were analysed using descriptive (frequency counts, means and standard deviation) and inferential (t-test, ANOVA, regression and Factor analysis) techniques. Findings from this study showed, among others, that the factor loadings had significantly weights on the organizational and National policy issues on CBT innovation in Nigeria.

Keywords: computer-based testing, examination, innovation, paper-based testing, paper pencil based testing, policy issues

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Authors: Bin Li

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In the era of the digital economy, digital transformation has gradually become a strategic choice for enterprise development, but there is a relative lack of systematic research from the perspective of enterprise growth. Based on the sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021, this paper constructs A digital transformation index system and an enterprise growth composite index to empirically test the impact of enterprise digital transformation on enterprise growth and its mechanism. The results show that digital transformation can significantly promote corporate growth. The mechanism analysis finds that reducing operating costs, optimizing human capital structure, promoting R&D output and improving digital innovation capability play an important intermediary role in the process of digital transformation promoting corporate growth. At the same time, the level of external digital infrastructure and the strength of organizational resilience play a positive moderating role in the process of corporate digital transformation promoting corporate growth. In addition, while further analyzing the heterogeneity of enterprises, this paper further deepens the analysis of the driving factors and digital technology support of digital transformation, as well as the three dimensions of enterprise growth, thus deepening the research depth of enterprise digital transformation.

Keywords: digital transformation, enterprise growth, digital technology, digital infrastructure, organization resilience, digital innovation

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Authors: Mijoh A. Gbededo, Kapila Liyanage, Sabuj Mallik

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The emerging approaches to sustainable manufacturing are considered to be solution-oriented with the aim of addressing the environmental, economic and social issues holistically. However, the analysis of the interdependencies amongst the three sustainability dimensions has not been fully captured in the literature. In a recent review of approaches to sustainable manufacturing, two categories of techniques are identified: 1) Sustainable Product Development (SPD), and 2) Sustainability Performance Assessment (SPA) techniques. The challenges of the approaches are not only related to the arguments and misconceptions of the relationships between the techniques and sustainable development but also to the inability to capture and integrate the three sustainability dimensions. This requires a clear definition of some of the approaches and a road-map to the development of a holistic approach that supports sustainability decision-making. In this context, eco-innovation, social impact assessment, and life cycle sustainability analysis play an important role. This paper deployed an integrative approach that enabled amalgamation of sustainable manufacturing approaches and the theories of reciprocity and motivation into a holistic simulation-based impact analysis framework. The findings in this research have the potential to guide sustainability analysts to capture the aspects of the three sustainability dimensions into an analytical model. Additionally, the research findings presented can aid the construction of a holistic simulation model of a sustainable manufacturing and support effective decision-making.

Keywords: life cycle sustainability analysis, sustainable manufacturing, sustainability performance assessment, sustainable product development

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Authors: Jonathan Magala

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Context: Adolescents in Uganda face significant challenges related to sexual health due to inadequate sexual information. This lack of information puts young people at risk of early pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and poverty. Therefore, it is essential to understand the sources, content, and challenges of acquiring sexual information among secondary school-going adolescents in Uganda. Research Aim: The aim of this study was to establish the sources, content, and challenges of acquiring sexual information among secondary school-going adolescents in Luwero Town Council, Uganda. Methodology: This study used a cross-sectional approach with both qualitative and quantitative methods. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were conducted with 384 school-going adolescents aged between 13-19 years in Luwero Town Council, Uganda. Findings: The results of the study revealed that adolescents receive sexual information from various sources, with schools being the most common source, followed by parents and religious institutions being the least utilized. Adolescents received information on various topics related to sexuality, including puberty and sexual changes, pregnancy and reproduction, STD information, abstinence, and family planning. However, the content of sexual information was inadequate in addressing the challenges facing adolescents, and there were generation gaps, lack of role models, peer influence, and government policies. The male character from all the sources was the least in offering sexual information to adolescents. Theoretical Importance: The study's findings highlight the need for policy implementation to strengthen sexual education in school curriculum, as the sources of sexual information and the content are inadequate. The various topics should be addressed in schools to provide comprehensive education on sexual health for adolescents. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: Data collection involved questionnaires and in-depth interviews with school-going adolescents. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Questions Addressed: The study aimed to answer questions about the sources of sexual information among school-going adolescents, the content of sexual information provided, the challenges faced in accessing the information, and the importance of sex education policy implementation. Conclusion: The study concludes that schools are a popular source of sexual information among school-going adolescents in Uganda. However, the content of the information provided is inadequate in addressing the challenges that adolescents face regarding their sexual health. Therefore, policy implementation is essential in strengthening sexual education in the school curriculum and addressing various topics related to sexual health.

Keywords: adolescents, sexual information, schools, reproductive health

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Authors: Salisu Abdu Bagga

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This paper attempts to discuss contemporary issues in teacher education and address challenges therein within the context of the Nigeria society. Teacher education is an educational programme aimed at producing the right crop of people (teachers) who will teach at various levels of schooling i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary. The programme targets to inculcate desirable knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and competencies in teachers with the prime motive of keeping them fully abreast with contemporary challenges such as overcrowded classrooms, inadequate instructional materials, ineffective teaching methodology in the teaching industry in Nigeria. Nigeria needs competent, skilful, knowledgeable and innovative classroom teachers for better teaching and learning.

Keywords: teacher education, contemporary issues, competencies, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 447