Search results for: smart government
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5130

Search results for: smart government

4050 Communities as a Source of Evidence: A Case of Advocating for Improved Human Resources for Health in Uganda

Authors: Asinguza P. Allan

Abstract:

The Advocacy for Better Health aims to equip citizens with enabling environment and systems to effectively advocate for strong action plans to improve health services. This is because the 2020 Government target for Uganda to transform into a middle income country will be achieved if investment is made in keeping the population healthy and productive. Citizen participation as an important foundation for change has been emphasized to gather data through participatory rural appraisal and inform evidence-based advocacy for recruitment and motivation of human resources. Citizens conduct problem ranking during advocacy forums on staffing levels and health worker absenteeism. Citizens prioritised inadequate number of midwives and absenteeism. On triangulation, health worker to population ratio in Uganda remains at 0.25/1,000 which is far below the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold of 2.3/1,000. Working with IntraHealth, the project advocated for recruitment of critical skilled staff (doctors and midwives) and scale up health workers motivation strategy to reduce Uganda’s Neonatal Mortality Rate of 22/1,000 and Maternal Mortality Ratio of 320/100,000. Government has committed to increase staffing to 80% by 2018 (10 districts have passed ordinances and revived use of duty rosters to address health worker absenteeism. On the other hand, the better health advocacy debate has been elevated with need to increase health sector budget allocations from 8% to 10%. The project has learnt that building a body of evidence from citizens enhances the advocacy agenda. Communities will further monitor government commitments to reduce Neonatal Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio. The project has learnt that interface meeting between duty bearers and the community allows for immediate feedback and the process is a strong instrument for empowerment. It facilitates monitoring and performance evaluation of services, projects and government administrative units (like district assemblies) by the community members themselves. This, in turn, makes the human resources in health to be accountable, transparent and responsive to communities where they work. This, in turn, promotes human resource performance.

Keywords: advocacy, empowerment, evidence, human resources

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4049 The Quest for Institutional Independence to Advance Police Pluralism in Ethiopia

Authors: Demelash Kassaye Debalkie

Abstract:

The primary objective of this study is to report the tributes that are significantly impeding the Ethiopian police's ability to provide quality services to the people. Policing in Ethiopia started in the medieval period. However, modern policing was introduced instead of vigilantism in the early 1940s. The progress counted since the date police became modernized is, however, under contention when viewed from the standpoint of officers’ development and technologies in the 21st century. The police in Ethiopia are suffering a lot to be set free from any form of political interference by the government and to be loyal to impartiality, equity, and justice in enforcing the law. Moreover, the institutional competence of the police in Ethiopia is currently losing its power derived from the constitution as a legitimate enforcement agency due to the country’s political landscape encouraging ethnic-based politics. According to studies, the impact of ethnic politics has been a significant challenge for police in controlling conflicts between two ethnic groups. The study used qualitative techniques and data was gathered from key informants selected purposely. The findings indicate that governments in the past decades were skeptical about establishing a constitutional police force in the country. This has certainly been one of the challenges of pluralizing the police: building police-community relations based on trust. The study conducted to uncover the obstructions has finally reported that the government’s commitment to form a non-partisan, functionally decentralized, and operationally demilitarized police force is too minimal and appalling. They mainly intend to formulate the missions of the police in accordance with their interests and political will to remain in power. It, therefore, reminds the policymakers, law enforcement officials, and the government in power to revise its policies and working procedures already operational to strengthen the police in Ethiopia based on public participation and engagement.

Keywords: community, constitution, Ethiopia, law enforcement

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4048 Adaptive Design of Large Prefabricated Concrete Panels Collective Housing

Authors: Daniel M. Muntean, Viorel Ungureanu

Abstract:

More than half of the urban population in Romania lives today in residential buildings made out of large prefabricated reinforced concrete panels. Since their initial design was made in the 1960’s, these housing units are now being technically and morally outdated, consuming large amounts of energy for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, while failing to meet the needs of the contemporary life-style. Due to their widespread use, the design of a system that improves their energy efficiency would have a real impact, not only on the energy consumption of the residential sector, but also on the quality of life that it offers. Furthermore, with the transition of today’s existing power grid to a “smart grid”, buildings could become an active element for future electricity networks by contributing in micro-generation and energy storage. One of the most addressed issues today is to find locally adapted strategies that can be applied considering the 20-20-20 EU policy criteria and to offer sustainable and innovative solutions for the cost-optimal energy performance of buildings adapted on the existing local market. This paper presents a possible adaptive design scenario towards sustainable retrofitting of these housing units. The apartments are transformed in order to meet the current living requirements and additional extensions are placed on top of the building, replacing the unused roof space, acting not only as housing units, but as active solar energy collection systems. An adaptive building envelope is ensured in order to achieve overall air-tightness and an elevator system is introduced to facilitate access to the upper levels.

Keywords: adaptive building, energy efficiency, retrofitting, residential buildings, smart grid

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4047 Opportunities and Optimization of the Our Eyes Initiative as the Strategy for Counter-Terrorism in ASEAN

Authors: Chastiti Mediafira Wulolo, Tri Legionosuko, Suhirwan, Yusuf

Abstract:

Terrorism and radicalization have become a common threat to every nation in this world. As a part of the asymmetric warfare threat, terrorism and radicalization need a complex strategy as the problem solver. One such way is by collaborating with the international community. The Our Eyes Initiative (OEI), for example, is a cooperation pact in the field of intelligence information exchanges related to terrorism and radicalization initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Defence. The pact has been signed by Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, and Singapore. This cooperation mostly engages military acts as a central role, but it still requires the involvement of various parties such as the police, intelligence agencies and other government institutions. This paper will use a qualitative content analysis method to address the opportunity and enhance the optimization of OEI. As the result, it will explain how OEI takes the opportunities as the strategy for counter-terrorism by building it up as the regional cooperation, building the legitimacy of government and creating the legal framework of the information sharing system.

Keywords: our eyes initiative, terrorism, counter-terrorism, ASEAN, cooperation, strategy

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4046 Challenges and Proposals for Public Policies Aimed At Increasing Energy Efficiency in Low-Income Communities in Brazil: A Multi-Criteria Approach

Authors: Anna Carolina De Paula Sermarini, Rodrigo Flora Calili

Abstract:

Energy Efficiency (EE) needs investments, new technologies, greater awareness and management on the side of citizens and organizations, and more planning. However, this issue is usually remembered and discussed only in moments of energy crises, and opportunities are missed to take better advantage of the potential of EE in the various sectors of the economy. In addition, there is little concern about the subject among the less favored classes, especially in low-income communities. Accordingly, this article presents suggestions for public policies that aim to increase EE for low-income housing and communities based on international and national experiences. After reviewing the literature, eight policies were listed, and to evaluate them; a multicriteria decision model was developed using the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods, combined with fuzzy logic. Nine experts analyzed the policies according to 9 criteria: economic impact, social impact, environmental impact, previous experience, the difficulty of implementation, possibility/ease of monitoring and evaluating the policies, expected impact, political risks, and public governance and sustainability of the sector. The results found in order of preference are (i) Incentive program for equipment replacement; (ii) Community awareness program; (iii) EE Program with a greater focus on low income; (iv) Staggered and compulsory certification of social interest buildings; (v) Programs for the expansion of smart metering, energy monitoring and digitalization; (vi) Financing program for construction and retrofitting of houses with the emphasis on EE; (vii) Income tax deduction for investment in EE projects in low-income households made by companies; (viii) White certificates of energy for low-income. First, the policy of equipment substitution has been employed in Brazil and the world and has proven effective in promoting EE. For implementation, efforts are needed from the federal and state governments, which can encourage companies to reduce prices, and provide some type of aid for the purchase of such equipment. In second place is the community awareness program, promoting socio-educational actions on EE concepts and with energy conservation tips. This policy is simple to implement and has already been used by many distribution utilities in Brazil. It can be carried out through bids defined by the government in specific areas, being executed by third sector companies with public and private resources. Third on the list is the proposal to continue the Energy Efficiency Program (which obliges electric energy companies to allocate resources for research in the area) by suggesting the return of the mandatory investment of 60% of the resources in projects for low income. It is also relatively simple to implement, requiring efforts by the federal government to make it mandatory, and on the part of the distributors, compliance is needed. The success of the suggestions depends on changes in the established rules and efforts from the interested parties. For future work, we suggest the development of pilot projects in low-income communities in Brazil and the application of other multicriteria decision support methods to compare the results obtained in this study.

Keywords: energy efficiency, low-income community, public policy, multicriteria decision making

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4045 Optimising Apparel Digital Production in Industrial Clusters

Authors: Minji Seo

Abstract:

Fashion stakeholders are becoming increasingly aware of technological innovation in manufacturing. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused transformations in working patterns, such as working remotely rather thancommuting. To enable smooth remote working, 3D fashion design software is being adoptedas the latest trend in design and production. The majority of fashion designers, however, are still resistantto this change. Previous studies on 3D fashion design software solely highlighted the beneficial and detrimental factors of adopting design innovations. They lacked research on the relationship between resistance factors and the adoption of innovation. These studies also fell short of exploringthe perspectives of users of these innovations. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of employing 3D fashion design software as wellas to explore the challenges faced by designers.It also toucheson the governmental support for digital manufacturing in Seoul, South Korea, and London, the United Kingdom. By conceptualising local support, this study aims to provide a new path for industrial clusters to optimise digital apparel manufacturing. The study uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Initially, it reflects a survey of 350 samples, fashion designers, on innovation resistance factors of 3D fashion design software and the effectiveness of local support. In-depth interviews with 30 participants provide a better understanding of designers’ aspects of the benefits and obstacles of employing 3D fashion design software. The key findings of this research are the main barriers to employing 3D fashion design software in fashion production. The cultural characteristics and interviews resultsare used to interpret the survey results. The findings of quantitative data examine the main resistance factors to adopting design innovations. The dominant obstacles are: the cost of software and its complexity; lack of customers’ interest in innovation; lack of qualified personnel, and lack of knowledge. The main difference between Seoul and London is the attitudes towards government support. Compared to the UK’s fashion designers, South Korean designers emphasise that government support is highly relevant to employing 3D fashion design software. The top-down and bottom-up policy implementation approach distinguishes the perception of government support. Compared to top-down policy approaches in South Korea, British fashion designers based on employing bottom-up approaches are reluctant to receive government support. The findings of this research will contribute to generating solutions for local government and the optimisation of use of 3D fashion design software in fashion industrial clusters.

Keywords: digital apparel production, industrial clusters, innovation resistance, 3D fashion design software, manufacturing, innovation, technology, digital manufacturing, innovative fashion design process

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4044 The Study on the Platform Strategy of Taipei City Urban Regeneration Station

Authors: Chao Jen-Chih, Kuo-Wei Hsu

Abstract:

Many venues and spaces in cities gradually become old and decayed as time goes by and develops. Urban regeneration is the critical strategy to promote local development, but the method of spatial reconstruction which is emphasized in the issue of urban regeneration is questioned for bringing cultural, social and economic impacts on old city areas. The idea of “Urban Regeneration Station (URS)” is proposed for Taipei City Government to introduce the entry and disturbance of communities and related groups with the concept of creative city. This study explored how an URS promotes local development again through the strength of communities and the energy of local residence community, and it established the Platform Strategy for URS. The research results are as follows: URS through the promotion of government agencies, experts, scholars and the third sector, to the selection of different types of units stationed in business, through exhibitions, seminars, and other activities to explore local development issues, vetting each stationed execution efficiency units, and different units stationed by URS establish URS overall network platform strategy.

Keywords: urban regeneration, platform strategy, creative city, Taipei city

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4043 Developing Alternatives: Citizens Perspectives on Causes and Ramification of Political Conflict in Ivory Coast from 2002 - 2009

Authors: Suaka Yaro

Abstract:

This article provides an alternative examination of the causes and the ramifications of the Ivorian political conflict from 2002 to 2009. The researcher employed a constructivist epistemology and qualitative study based upon fieldwork in different African cities interviewing Ivorians outside and within Ivory Coast. A purposive sampling of fourteen participants was selected. A purposive sampling was used to select fourteen respondents. The respondents were selected based on their involvement in Ivorian conflict. Their experiences on the causes and effects of the conflict were tapped for analysis. Qualitative methodology was used for the study. The data collection instruments were semi-structured interview questions, open-ended semi-structured questionnaire, and documentary analysis. The perceptions of these participants on the causes, effects and the possible solution to the endemic conflict in their homeland hold key perspectives that have hitherto been ignored in the whole debate about the Ivorian political conflict and its legacies. Finally, from the synthesized findings of the investigation, the researcher concluded that the analysed data revealed that the causes of the conflict were competition for scarce resources, bad governance, media incitement, xenophobia, incessant political power struggle and the proliferation of small firearms entering the country. The effects experienced during the conflict were the human rights violation, destruction of property including UN premises and displaced people both internally and externally. Some recommendations made include: Efforts should be made by the government to strengthen good relationship among different ethnic groups and help them adapt to new challenges that confront democratic developments in the country. The government should organise the South African style of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to revisit the horrors of the past in order to heal wounds and prevent future occurrence of the conflict. Employment opportunities and other income generating ventures for Ivorian should be created by the government by attracting local and foreign investors. The numerous rebels should be given special skills training in other for them to be able to live among the communities in Ivory Coast. Government of national unity should be encouraged in situation like this.

Keywords: displaced, federalism, pluralism, identity politics, grievance, eligibility, greed

Procedia PDF Downloads 212
4042 Applications for Tracking Close Contact with COVID-19 Patients in Malaysia

Authors: Bih Ni Lee

Abstract:

This paper discusses the unending coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The activity of detecting, testing those with symptoms, and isolating their contacts is the most effective method of stopping the chain of coronavirus infection. The number of cases of coronavirus continues to increase with some reporting a cure, but not a few die. Efforts to treat and prevent continue to fight COVID-19 with flu-like symptoms. The importance of the study is to identify smartphone applications that can track the movement of individuals in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, especially in Malaysia. This research method used a literature review, which included new insights into the quality of action and scientific papers. It synthesized information gleaned from a variety of sources. The findings of the study are that the Government of Malaysia has launched three main applications to track the movement of individuals, namely Gerak Malaysia, MyTrace, MySejahtera. Similarly, every state in Malaysia has its own state government application to track individual movements. Overall, Malaysia is one of the countries in the world that has successfully curbed the spread of COVID-19; Covid-19 cases in Malaysia are under control.

Keywords: COVID-19 app, national security council, Gerak Malaysia, MyTrace, MySejahtera

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4041 Analysing Social Media Coverage of Political Speeches in Relation to Discourse and Context

Authors: Yaser Mohammed Altameemi

Abstract:

This research looks at the representation of the social media for the Saudi Government decrees regarding the developmental projects of the Saudi 2030 vision. The paper analyses a television interview with the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman who talks about the progress of the Saudi vision of 2030, and how the government had acted as response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview was on 28/4/2021. The paper analyses the tweets on Twitter that cover the interview for the purpose of investigating the development of concepts and meanings regarding the Saudi peoples’ orientations towards the Saudi projects. The data include all related tweets from the day of the interview and the following seven days after the interview. The finding of the collocation analysis suggests that nationalism notion is explicitly expressed by users in Twitter. The main finding of this paper suggests the importance of further analyses for the concordance lines. However, the collocation network suggests that there is a clear highlight for nationalism.

Keywords: social media, twitter, political interview, prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi vision 2030

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4040 Process for Analyzing Information Security Risks Associated with the Incorporation of Online Dispute Resolution Systems in the Context of Conciliation in Colombia

Authors: Jefferson Camacho Mejia, Jenny Paola Forero Pachon, Luis Carlos Gomez Florez

Abstract:

The innumerable possibilities offered by the use of Information Technology (IT) in the development of different socio-economic activities has made a change in the social paradigm and the emergence of the so-called information and knowledge society. The Colombian government, aware of this reality, has been promoting the use of IT as part of the E-government strategy adopted in the country. However, it is well known that the use of IT implies the existence of certain threats that put the security of information in the digital environment at risk. One of the priorities of the Colombian government is to improve access to alternative justice through IT, in particular, access to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): conciliation, arbitration and friendly composition; by means of which it is sought that the citizens directly resolve their differences. To this end, a trend has been identified in the use of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) systems, which extend the benefits of ADR to the digital environment through the use of IT. This article presents a process for the analysis of information security risks associated with the incorporation of ODR systems in the context of conciliation in Colombia, based on four fundamental stages identified in the literature: (I) Identification of assets, (II) Identification of threats and vulnerabilities (III) Estimation of the impact and 4) Estimation of risk levels. The methodological design adopted for this research was the grounded theory, since it involves interactions that are applied to a specific context and from the perspective of diverse participants. As a result of this investigation, the activities to be followed are defined to carry out an analysis of information security risks, in the context of the conciliation in Colombia supported by ODR systems, thus contributing to the estimation of the risks to make possible its subsequent treatment.

Keywords: alternative dispute resolution, conciliation, information security, online dispute resolution systems, process, risk analysis

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4039 Nano Sol Based Solar Responsive Smart Window for Aircraft

Authors: K. A. D. D. Kuruppu, R. M. De Silva, K. M. N. De Silva

Abstract:

This research work was based on developing a solar responsive aircraft window panel which can be used as a self-cleaning surface and also a surface which degrade Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) available in the aircraft cabin areas. Further, this surface has the potential of harvesting energy from Solar. The transparent inorganic nano sol solution was prepared. The obtained sol solution was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Particle size analyzer and FT-IR. The existing nano material which shows the similar characteristics was also used to compare the efficiencies with the newly prepared nano sol. Nano sol solution was coated on cleaned four aircraft window pieces separately using a spin coater machine. The existing nano material was dissolved and prepared a solution having the similar concentration as nano sol solution. Pre-cleaned four aircraft window pieces were coated with this solution and the rest cleaned four aircraft window pieces were considered as control samples. The control samples were uncoated from anything. All the window pieces were allowed to dry at room temperature. All the twelve aircraft window pieces were uniform in all the factors other than the type of coating. The surface morphologies of the samples were analyzed using SEM. The photocatalytic degradation of VOC was determined after incorporating gas of Toluene to each sample followed by the analysis done by UV-VIS spectroscopy. The self- cleaning capabilities were analyzed after adding of several types of stains on the window pieces. The self-cleaning property of each sample was analyzed using UV-VIS spectroscopy. The highest photocatalytic degradation of Volatile Organic compound and the highest photocatalytic degradation of stains were obtained for the samples which were coated by the nano sol solution. Therefore, the experimental results clearly show that there is a potential of using this nano sol in aircraft window pieces which favors the self-cleaning property as well as efficient photocatalytic degradation of VOC gases. This will ensure safer environment inside aircraft cabins.

Keywords: aircraft, nano, smart windows, solar

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4038 Testing of Complicated Bus Bar Protection Using Smart Testing Methodology

Authors: K. N. Dinesh Babu

Abstract:

In this paper, the protection of a complicated bus arrangement with a dual bus coupler and bus sectionalizer using low impedance differential protection applicable for very high voltages like 220kV and 400kV is discussed. In many power generation stations, several operational procedures are implemented to utilize the transfer bus as the main bus and to facilitate the maintenance of circuit breakers and current transformers (in each section) without shutting down the bay(s). Owing to this fact, the complications in operational philosophy have thrown challenges for the bus bar protection implementation. Many bus topologies allow any one of the main buses available in the station to be used as an auxiliary bus. In such a system, pre-defined precautions and procedures are made as guidelines, which are followed before assigning any bus as an auxiliary bus. The procedure involves shifting of links, changing rotary switches, insertion of test block, and so on, thereby causing unreliable operation. This kind of unreliable operation or inadvertent procedural lapse may result in the isolation of the bus bar from the grid due to the unpredictable operation of the bus bar protection relay, which is a commonly occurring phenomenon due to manual mistakes. With the sophisticated configuration and implementation of logic in modern intelligent electronic devices, the operator is free to select the transfer arrangement without sacrificing the protection required by a bus differential system for a reliable operation, and labor-intensive processes are completely eliminated. This paper deals with the procedure to test the security logic for such special scenarios using Megger make SMRT, bus bar protection relay to assure system stability and get rid of all the specific operational precautions/procedure.

Keywords: bus bar protection, by-pass isolator, blind spot, breaker failure, intelligent electronic device, end fault, bus unification, directional principle, zones of protection, breaker re-trip, under voltage security, smart megger relay tester

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4037 Free Secondary Education in Tanzania: Prospects, Challenges, and Proposals

Authors: Yazidu Saidi Mbalamula

Abstract:

Free Basic Education (FBE) policy implementation in Secondary Schools has been one of thrilled undertaking both to the government and household in Tanzania. On the one hand, the government has achieved citizenry acceptance to responsibility and accountability, and on the other hand, the household has been relieved from social costs that were unbearable and deprived many Tanzanians access to basic education and secondary education in particular. Specifically, this study presents a descriptive survey conducted in two districts of Kagera region located at the northern part of Tanzania. Three objectives were pursued to identify achievements realized and challenges in the FBE implementation, and also stakeholders’ proposals were explored on how to improve FBE implementation. A sample of 91 respondents, including school managers, teachers, students, and parents, were involved in the study. Both questionnaires and interviews were used whereby the quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results show that implementation of free education policy in secondary schools had far positive impact on the improvement of school management, school attendance, reduced school drop-out, reduced parents-school managers conflicts, and increased enrollment rates. Notwithstanding that, the political machinery remains instrumental to instigate policy reforms in education sector. Nevertheless, the alienating interests of politibureau, often top-down and blanketed by superficial government redness, can hardly be feasible to wield such huge programme given staggering stakeholders’ awareness of the actual requirements and unlatching resources to back up policy implementation. The study recommends that further studies on stakeholders’ conceptions on the FBE and equity of financing of basic education in Tanzania.

Keywords: capitation grant, CCM, free basic education, kagera, education policy

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4036 The Effects of Subsidised Irrigation Service Fees on Irrigation Performance in Vietnam

Authors: Trang Pham

Abstract:

Approximately 70% of the Vietnamese population lives in rural areas where the main livelihood is farming. For many years, the Vietnamese Government has been working towards improving farmers’ quality of life. In 2008, the Government issued the decree 115/2008/ND-CP to subsidize farmers’ water fees. The subsidy covers operation and management costs of major water infrastructure. Water users have only to pay for the operation and management of minor or tertiary canal systems. But the “subsidized water fee” has become contentious; there are two opposing schools of thought. One view is that the subsidy lessens the burden on farmers in terms of reducing their production costs, at the same time generating a sufficient budget for Irrigation Management Companies (IMCs) and Water User Association (WUAs). The alternate point of view is that the subsidy negatively effects irrigation performance, especially in tertiary canals. The aim of this study was to gain clear awareness of the perceptions of farmers, WUA members, and IMC staffs in regard to irrigation performance and management since the introduction of subsidies and local water fees. In order to find out how the government intervention has affected local farming communities, a series of questionnaires and interviews were administered in 2013. Four case studies were chosen which represent four different agricultural areas and four different irrigation systems in Vietnam. Interviews were conducted with IMC staffs and WUA members and questionnaires were used to gather information from farmers. The study compares the difference in operation and management costs across the four case studies both before and after the implementation of the decree. The results disclose factors behind the subsidized water fee that either allow or hinder improved irrigation performance and better irrigation management.

Keywords: water fee, irrigation performance, local farming, tertiary canal systems

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4035 Hybrid Renewable Power Systems

Authors: Salman Al-Alyani

Abstract:

In line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the Saudi Green initiative was announced aimed at reducing carbon emissions by more than 4% of the global contribution. The initiative included plans to generate 50% of its energy from renewables by 2030. The geographical location of Saudi Arabia makes it among the best countries in terms of solar irradiation and has good wind resources in many areas across the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia is a wide country and has many remote locations where it is not economically feasible to connect those loads to the national grid. With the improvement of battery innovation and reduction in cost, different renewable technologies (primarily wind and solar) can be integrated to meet the need for energy in a more effective and cost-effective way. Saudi Arabia is famous for high solar irradiations in which solar power generation can extend up to six (6) hours per day (25% capacity factor) in some locations. However, the net present value (NPV) falls down to negative in some locations due to distance and high installation costs. Wind generation in Saudi Arabia is a promising technology. Hybrid renewable generation will increase the net present value and lower the payback time due to additional energy generated by wind. The infrastructure of the power system can be capitalized to contain solar generation and wind generation feeding the inverter, controller, and load. Storage systems can be added to support the hours that have an absence of wind or solar energy. Also, the smart controller that can help integrate various renewable technologies primarily wind and solar, to meet demand considering load characteristics. It could be scalable for grid or off-grid applications. The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of introducing a hybrid renewable system in remote locations and the concept for the development of a smart controller.

Keywords: battery storage systems, hybrid power generation, solar energy, wind energy

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4034 Wearable Heart Rate Sensor Based on Wireless System for Heart Health Monitoring

Authors: Murtadha Kareem, Oliver Faust

Abstract:

Wearable biosensor systems can be designed and developed for health monitoring. There is much interest in both scientific and industrial communities established since 2007. Fundamentally, the cost of healthcare has increased dramatically and the world population is aging. That creates the need to harvest technological improvements with small bio-sensing devices, wireless-communication, microelectronics and smart textiles, that leads to non-stop developments of wearable sensor based systems. There has been a significant demand to monitor patient's health status while the patient leaves the hospital in his/her personal environment. To address this need, there are numerous system prototypes which has been launched in the medical market recently, the aim of that is to provide real time information feedback about patient's health status, either to the patient himself/herself or direct to the supervising medical centre station, while being capable to give a notification for the patient in case of possible imminent health threatening conditions. Furthermore, wearable health monitoring systems comprise new techniques to address the problem of managing and monitoring chronic heart diseases for elderly people. Wearable sensor systems for health monitoring include various types of miniature sensors, either wearable or implantable. To be specific, our proposed system able to measure essential physiological parameter, such as heart rate signal which could be transmitted through Bluetooth to the cloud server in order to store, process, analysis and visualise the data acquisition. The acquired measurements are connected through internet of things to a central node, for instance an android smart phone or tablet used for visualising the collected information on application or transmit it to a medical centre.

Keywords: Wearable sensor, Heart rate, Internet of things, Chronic heart disease

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4033 Indonesian Food Safety Policy for Local Commodity against ASEAN Economic Community: An Uneven Battle in the Global War

Authors: Wahyu Riawanti

Abstract:

Food safety is the one of a prominent issue for globalization era. The more concern is paid in international food and agriculture trade; the more consumers will consider raising the standard of food safety. For this reason, the role of the issue is not only in term of added value but since then also the main requirement in import export activity, including agriculture products. Unfortunately, Indonesia and other developing countries found it difficult to fulfill some of the technical issues and end it up with the lower export activity. In this case, the technical requirements of food safety become an obstacle rather than challenging. Furthermore for local farmers’ activity, food safety is more or less a threat. The study is aimed to reveal on how Indonesian government had dealt with the certification regulation to face problem on competitiveness of Indonesian products. Local government has conducted the regulation of food certification. The study used the case of Salak Pondoh fruit (Salacca zalacca) certification process on Sleman District- Yogyakarta. Triangulation method was used to analyze the effectiveness of the certification program. The quantitative data series taken from 7 farmer groups during the certification processes were used for the research main data. The supporting qualitative data was obtained from in-depth interview with the members of farmers group. The pre-research result has shown that the impact varied from different groups. Conclusively the certification regulation has partly failed to make a significant change in local farmers’ competitiveness. Even the profit was increased, the highly amount budget of the program did not significantly increase the economic incentives for local farmers.

Keywords: economic incentive, food security, government regulation, international trade, local commodity, Salacca zalacca

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4032 A Strategy of Green Sukuk to Promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Indonesia

Authors: Amrial, Yuri Oktaviani, Ziyan Muhammad Farhan

Abstract:

On the phase of shifting paradigm into sustainability, Indonesia is involved in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) project. That act is revealed by creating Medium and Long Term Roadmap for Sustainable Finance in Indonesia which collaborated design by Indonesia Financial Service Board (OJK) and Ministry of Environment and Forestry. One of alternative for that infrastructure financing is sharia-based financing, Green Sukuk (Sukuk specified on sustainable infrastructure project). Green Sukuk for infrastructure financing in Indonesia can be issued by the government in the form of Sukuk Project Financing. Moreover, banks in Indonesia can also participate for the issuance of Green Sukuk. So that the banks can create a financing for people who are concerned about environmental issues. By using qualitative methods and literature review, this paper aims to discuss potential, strategy and planning of Green Sukuk for financing sustainable infrastructure in the purpose of SDGs. This paper will benefit for government to give scientific discussion on the strategy of Green Sukuk in promoting sustainable goals infrastructure project in Indonesia.

Keywords: green sukuk, infrastructure, SDGs, sustainable

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4031 The Importance of Municipal Agenda for Gender Policies in Brazilian Federalism

Authors: Eliane Cristina De Carvalho Mendoza Meza

Abstract:

The Brazilian Federal Constitution from 1988 innovated with decentralized management, sharing the decision process among the federal government, states, and municipality (federalism). This innovation gave the opportunity to the civil society participates in the public policy agenda, including the municipal one; the state recognized that new actors were needed now it has been one more actor and not the only one. It was in this context that the woman’s Policy Secretaries were created in the three levels of government: federal, state and municipal. It intend to reduce the historical and social differences between men and women, especially in the poorest municipalities, working in a network basis with other secretaries, governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations to promote actions that can result in benefits and empowerment for women. In addition, they promote actions to protect them from domestic violence and to help them to learn how generate income. It was not a calm process, women have been fighting for their rights since the 1970s and despite the gender equality was recognized in the Federal Constitution of 1988, just in 2013 it was possible to see a real growth in the creation of municipal Women’s Policy Secretary. In 2009, just 6.5% of the cities in Brazil had implemented the Secretary; in 2013, it was 11%. The municipality realized that the gender issue was in reality a public problem, so the municipal agenda incorporated it and transformed in public policy, creating the municipal Women’s Policy Secretary. The introduction of a gender policy in Brazilian municipalities shows us that the female citizens are treated as political subjects and it is the first step to try to compensate inequality between men and women in the local level. It becomes more important when the Brazilian federalism is analyzed. In Brazil, the federal government controls the municipalities’ budgets to implement federal public policies and others federal interests, so having a public policy of gender approved by the actors in the local government with so little freedom to manage is something very important. It is necessary mark some points: taking a gender policy to the poorest cities is a form to protect all citizens with no distinction, men and women, as recommended in the Federal Constitution; not all problems in a city center in the municipal agenda, this only happens when a problem is perceived as an issue, it means the women situation was perceived as important, so that it became a public policy; at least, the gender public policy intend to emancipate and contemplate the empowerment of women.

Keywords: federalism, gender, municipal agenda, social participation

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4030 The Implementation of Science Park Policy and Their Impacts on Regional Economic Development in Emerging Economy Country: Case of Thailand

Authors: Muttamas Wongwanich, John R. Bryson, Catherine E. Harris

Abstract:

Science parks are an essential component of localized innovation ecosystems. Science Parks have played a critical role in enhancing local innovation ecosystems in developed market economies. Attempts have been made to replicate best practice in other national contexts. To our best knowledge, the study about the development of Science Parks has not been undertaken on the economic impact on the developing countries. Further research is required to understand the adoption of Science Park policies in developing and emerging economies. This study explores the implementation of Science Park policy and its impacts on economic growth and development in Thailand, focusing on the relationship between universities and businesses. The Thailand context is essential. Thailand’s economy is dominated by agriculture and tourism. The Science Park policy is trying to develop an agriculturally orientated innovative ecosystem. Thailand established four Science Parks based on a policy that highlighted the importance of cooperation between government, HEIs, and businesses. These Science Parks are intended to increase small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) innovativeness, employment, and regional economic growth by promoting collaboration and knowledge transfer between HEIs and the private sector. This study explores one regional Science Park in Thailand with an emphasis on understanding the implementation and operation of a triple helix innovation policy. The analysis explores the establishment of the Science Park and its impacts on firms and the regional economy through interviews with Science Parks directors, firms, academics, universities, and government officials. The analysis will inform Science Park policy development in Thailand to support the national objective to develop an innovation ecosystem based on the integration of technology with innovation policy, supporting technology-based SMEs in the creation of local jobs. The finding shows that the implementation of the Science Park policy in Thailand requires support and promotion from the government. The regional development plan must be related to the regional industry development strategy, considering the strengths and weaknesses of local entrepreneurs. The long time in granting a patent is the major obstacle in achieving the government’s aim in encouraging local economic activity. The regional Science Parks in Thailand are at the early stage of the operation plan. Thus, the impact on the regional economy cannot be measured and need further investigation in a more extended period. However, local businesses realize the vital of research and development (R&D). There have been more requests for funding support in doing R&D. Furthermore, there is the creation of linkages between businesses, HEIs, and government authorities as expected.

Keywords: developing country, emerging economy, regional development, science park, Thailand, triple helix

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4029 Urban Refugees and Education in Developing Countries

Authors: Sheraz Akhtar

Abstract:

In recent years, a massive influx of refugees into developing countries has placed significant constraints on the host government’s capacities to provide social services, including education, to all. As a result, the refugee communities often find themselves deprived of their rights to education in these host countries, particularly for those who to live outside camps in urban locations. While previous research has examined the educational experiences of refugees who have resettled in developed nations, there remains a dearth of research on the educational experiences of urban refugees in developing nations. This study examines this issue through a case study of Pakistani Christian refugees living in urban settings in Thailand. Using a combination of observations within community learning centres set up by international non-government organisations (INGOs) working with these communities, and interviews with young Pakistani Christian refugees and their families, the research aims to give greater voice to the Pakistani Christian refugee community living in Thailand, and better understand their educational aspirations.

Keywords: Education, Developing Countries , INGOs, Urban Refugees

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4028 Changes in Attitudes of State Towards Orthodox Church: Greek Case after Eurozone Crisis in Alexis Tsipras Era

Authors: Zeynep Selin Balci, Altug Gunal

Abstract:

Religion has always an effect on the policies of states. In the case of religion having a central role in defining identity, especially when becoming an independent state, the bond between religious authority and state cannot easily be broken. As independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire was acquired at the same time with the creation of its own church under the name of the Church of Greece by declaring its independence from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, the new church became an important part of Greek national identity. As the Church has the ability to influence Greeks, its rituals, public appearances, and practices are used to provide support to the state. Although there sometimes have been controversies between church and state, it has always been a fact that church is an integral part of the state, which is proved by that paying the salaries of priest by state payroll and them being naturally civil servants. European Union membership, on the other hand, has a changing impact on this relationship. This impact started to be more visible in 2000 when then government decided to exclude the religion section from identity cards. Church’s reaction was to gather people around recalling their religious identity and followed by redefining the content of nationality, which aspired nationalist fronts. After 2015 when leftist coalition Syriza and its self-described atheist leader came to power, the situation for nationalists and Church became more tangling in addition to the economic crisis started in 2010 and evolved into the Eurozone crisis by affecting not only Greece but also other members. Although the church did not have direct confrontations with the government, the fact that Tsipras refused to take the oath on Bible created tensions because it was not acceptable for a state whose Constitution starts ‘in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity’. Moreover, austerity measures to overcome the economic crisis, which affected the everyday life of citizens in terms of both prices and salaries, did not harm the church’s economic situation much. Considering church being the second biggest landowner after state and paying no taxes, the fact that church was exempt from austerity measures showed to the government the necessity to find a way to make church contribute to solution for the crisis. In 2018, when the government agreed with the head of the church on cutting off the priests from government payroll automatically meaning to end priests’ civil servant status, it created tensions both for church and in society. As a result of the elections held in July 2019, Tsipras could not have the chance to apply the decision as he left the office. In light of these, this study aims to analyze the position of the church in the economic crisis and its effects on Tsipras term. In order to sufficiently understand this, it is to look at the historical changing points of Church’s influence in Greek’s eyes.

Keywords: Eurozone crisis, Greece, Orthodox Church, Tsipras

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4027 Carbon based Smart Materials: Functional Carbon for Lightweight Automotive Component 3D Printing

Authors: Mohammad M. Garmabia, Peyman Shahia, Jimi Tjonga, Mohini Saina

Abstract:

Flame retardant composite filaments with functional carbon in the composition were fabricated, and printed parts showed enhancedcrash resistance pproperties and imporved EMI shielding. The negligible mass difference after prolonged immersion in automobile chemicals revealed the outstanding performance of parts for under-the-hood high-temperature applications.

Keywords: FDM, crash worthy, EMI Shield, lightweight, automotive parts

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4026 QR Technology to Automate Health Condition Detection in Payment System: A Case Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Schools

Authors: Amjad Alsulami, Farah Albishri, Kholod Alzubidi, Lama Almehemadi, Salma Elhag

Abstract:

Food allergy is a common and rising problem among children. Many students have their first allergic reaction at school, one of these is anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. This study discovered that several schools' processes lacked safety regulations and information on how to handle allergy issues and chronic diseases like diabetes where students were not supervised or monitored during the cafeteria purchasing process. There is no obvious prevention or effort in academic institutions when purchasing food containing allergens or negatively impacting the health status of students who suffer from chronic diseases. Students must always be stable to reflect positively on their educational development process. To address this issue, this paper uses a business reengineering process to propose the automation of the whole food-purchasing process, which will aid in detecting and avoiding allergic occurrences and preventing any side effects from eating foods that are conflicting with students' health. This may be achieved by designing a smart card with an embedded QR code that reveals which foods cause an allergic reaction in a student. A survey was distributed to determine and examine how the cafeteria will handle allergic children and whether any management or policy is applied in the school. Also, the survey findings indicate that the integration of QR technology into the food purchasing process would improve health condition detection. The suggested system would be beneficial to all parties, the family agreed, as they would ensure that their children didn't eat foods that were bad for their health. Moreover, by analyzing and simulating the as-is process and the suggested process the results demonstrate that there is an improvement in quality and time.

Keywords: QR code, smart card, food allergies, business process reengineering, health condition detection

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4025 Road Accident Blackspot Analysis: Development of Decision Criteria for Accident Blackspot Safety Strategies

Authors: Tania Viju, Bimal P., Naseer M. A.

Abstract:

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework for the decision support system (DSS), that helps the decision-makers to dynamically choose appropriate safety measures for each identified accident blackspot. An accident blackspot is a segment of road where the frequency of accident occurrence is disproportionately greater than other sections on roadways. According to a report by the World Bank, India accounts for the highest, that is, eleven percent of the global death in road accidents with just one percent of the world’s vehicles. Hence in 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India gave prime importance to the rectification of accident blackspots. To enhance road traffic safety and reduce the traffic accident rate, effectively identifying and rectifying accident blackspots is of great importance. This study helps to understand and evaluate the existing methods in accident blackspot identification and prediction that are used around the world and their application in Indian roadways. The decision support system, with the help of IoT, ICT and smart systems, acts as a management and planning tool for the government for employing efficient and cost-effective rectification strategies. In order to develop a decision criterion, several factors in terms of quantitative as well as qualitative data that influence the safety conditions of the road are analyzed. Factors include past accident severity data, occurrence time, light, weather and road conditions, visibility, driver conditions, junction type, land use, road markings and signs, road geometry, etc. The framework conceptualizes decision-making by classifying blackspot stretches based on factors like accident occurrence time, different climatic and road conditions and suggesting mitigation measures based on these identified factors. The decision support system will help the public administration dynamically manage and plan the necessary safety interventions required to enhance the safety of the road network.

Keywords: decision support system, dynamic management, road accident blackspots, road safety

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4024 Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and Economic Growth Uncertainty in Nigeria

Authors: Ephraim Ugwu, Christopher Ehinomen

Abstract:

Despite efforts by the Nigerian government to harmonize the macroeconomic policy implementations by establishing various committees to resolve disputes between the fiscal and monetary authorities, it is still evident that the federal government had continued its expansionary policy by increasing spending, thus creating huge budget deficit. This study evaluates the effect of macroeconomic policy coordination on economic growth uncertainty in Nigeria from 1980 to 2020. Employing the Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing procedures, the empirical results shows that the error correction term, ECM(-1), indicates a negative sign and is significant statistically with the t-statistic value of (-5.612882 ). Therefore, the gap between long run equilibrium value and the actual value of the dependent variable is corrected with speed of adjustment equal to 77% yearly. The long run coefficient results showed that the estimated coefficients of the intercept term indicates that other things remains the same (ceteris paribus), the economics growth uncertainty will continue reduce by 7.32%. The coefficient of the fiscal policy variable, PUBEXP, indicates a positive sign and significant statistically. This implies that as the government expenditure increases by 1%, economic growth uncertainty will increase by 1.67%. The coefficient of monetary policy variable MS also indicates a positive sign and insignificant statistically. The coefficients of merchandise trade variable, TRADE and exchange rate EXR show negative signs and significant statistically. This indicate that as the country’s merchandise trade and the rate of exchange increases by 1%, the economic growth uncertainty reduces by 0.38% and 0.06%, respectively. This study, therefore, advocate for proper coordination of monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies in order to actualize the goal of achieving a stable economic growth.

Keywords: macroeconomic, policy coordination, growth uncertainty, ARDL, Nigeria

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4023 Meaningfulness of Right to Life in Holy Quran

Authors: Masoud Raei, Mohammadmahdi Sadeghi

Abstract:

The right to life as the most essential right in human rights issues and in the first group has devoted a special place to itself. Attention to this right and its domain and its reflection in civil rights is one of the most important axis of the rights to life issues. Issues discussed concerning this matter in public law with regard to its status in human rights are the determination of government’s duty toward identification; application and guarantee of this right. The constitutions of countries have chosen different approaches towards the identification of this right and also its limits and boundaries, determining the territory of governments for citizens. The reason for such a difference is the question arising in this regard. It is claimed that without the determination of meaningfulness of the right to life, it is not possible to provide a clear response to this question. The goal of this paper is to justify its theoretical framework from the view of meaningfulness of right to life relying on Quranic verses with a conceptual approach towards the right to life so that the relationship between government and citizens with regard to right to life is determined. Through a comparative study, it is possible to attain significant differences between the teachings of the Holy Quran and human rights documents. The method of this paper is a descriptive-analytic approach relying on interpretation books on Holy Quran.

Keywords: meaningfulness, objectivism, separatism, right to life

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4022 The Effect of Health Subsidies on Poverty Level in Indonesia

Authors: Ikhsan Fahmi, Hasti Amanda Ilmi Putri

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused large scale social restrictions which have an impact on aspects of the nation’s life, such as the level of poverty. One of the causes of poverty is the lack level of public health. The calculation of poverty is seen as an inability from an economic side of basic food and nonfood needs, which is measured from the expenditure side, one of which is health expenditure. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of health subsidies on society on the level of poverty in 2020 in Indonesia. The main source used is the National Socio-Economic Survey of Consumption Expenditure and Cor, March 2020. From the result of the analysis, it was found that the percentage of poor people increased from the previous 9.78 percent to 9,92 percent, or there were 391,000 people who were previously not poor people who became poor when the health subsidies were revoked. There is a pattern of distribution of provinces in Indonesia between the average cost of health subsidies per capita per month if the government does not provide health subsidies and the increase in the percentage of poor people. This indicates that government intervention related to health subsidised is important in terms of poverty alleviation in Indonesia.

Keywords: poverty, health, subsidy, expenditure

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4021 Opportunities and Challenges: Tracing the Evolution of India's First State-led Curriculum-based Media Literacy Intervention

Authors: Ayush Aditya

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In today's digitised world, the extent of an individual’s social involvement is largely determined by their interaction over the internet. The Internet has emerged as a primary source of information consumption and a reliable medium for receiving updates on everyday activities. Owing to this change in the information consumption pattern, the internet has also emerged as a hotbed of misinformation. Experts are of the view that media literacy has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for addressing the issue of misinformation. This paper aims to study the evolution of the Kerala government's media literacy policy, its implementation strategy, challenges and opportunities. The objective of this paper is to create a conceptual framework containing details of the implementation strategy based on the Kerala model. Extensive secondary research of literature, newspaper articles, and other online sources was carried out to locate the timeline of this policy. This was followed by semi-structured interview discussions with government officials from Kerala to trace the origin and evolution of this policy. Preliminary findings based on the collected data suggest that this policy is a case of policy by chance, as the officer who headed this policy during the state level implementation was the one who has already piloted a media literacy program in a district called Kannur as the district collector. Through this paper, an attempt is made to trace the history of the media literacy policy starting from the Kannur intervention in 2018, which was started to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy around measles rubella(MR) vaccination. If not for the vaccine hesitancy, this program would not have been rolled out in Kannur. Interviews with government officials suggest that when authorities decided to take up this initiative in 2020, a huge amount of misinformation emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic was the trigger. There was misinformation regarding government orders, healthcare facilities, vaccination, and lockdown regulations, which affected everyone, unlike the case of Kannur, where it was only a certain age group of kids. As a solution to this problem, the state government decided to create a media literacy curriculum to be taught in all government schools of the state starting from standard 8 till graduation. This was a tricky task, as a new course had to be immediately introduced in the school curriculum amid all the disruptions in the education system caused by the pandemic. It was revealed during the interview that in the case of the state-wide implementation, every step involved multiple checks and balances, unlike the earlier program where stakeholders were roped-in as and when the need emerged. On the pedagogy, while the training during the pilot could be managed through PowerPoint presentation, designing a state-wide curriculum involved multiple iterations and expert approvals. The reason for this is COVID-19 related misinformation has lost its significance. In the next phase of the research, an attempt will be made to compare other aspects of the pilot implementation with the state-wide implementation.

Keywords: media literacy, digital media literacy, curriculum based media literacy intervention, misinformation

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