ABSTRACT
Blockchain technology is one of the fourth industrial revolution technologies that ensure traceability and transparency in recording electronic transactions. Though this technology has been applied in different domains such as finance, logistics and many more, its use in electoral system is yet to be fully realized. An electoral system hinges on fairness and transparency of voting processes. The traditional voting method involves the use of paper and ink system, manual vote counting and irregularities such as multiple voting, over-voting and delay in declaring election results. This results in a lack of trust and transparency in the voting processes. COVID-19 outbreak increased the pace of digitization in most fields, economic sectors and institutions. In this paper, we review the use of blockchain technology because it is a foundational technology that can ensure fairness in voting during general elections across the globe. We look at the case of Ghana’s electoral irregularities during the 2020 general elections. Ghana was chosen because it served as benchmark for most developing nations. Recent data were collected from an online data repository using keywords including blockchain technology, COVID-19 pandemic and conventional voting methods. The findings of the review suggest that during the year 2020 which witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, no country in Africa adopted or implemented the blockchain technology in voting despite its ability to facilitate remote voting and curb the spread of the Coronavirus. This could be attributed to the fact that the COVID-19 outbreak took most nations by surprise and countries which have scheduled elections in 2020 did not budget for its use. The paper also provides shortcomings of the conventional voting methods and the capabilities of blockchain technology to address those shortcomings. These findings are imperative to form the electoral process of nations because of the underlying benefits of blockchain: ensuring transparency, auditability, traceability in processes, immutability and fairness. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
Research on Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) for indoor environments establishes Bluetooth Low Energy as a promising technological low-cost solution for various environments. However, in indoor environments, there are numerous obstacles such as furniture, walls, partitions, etc. that will cause obstructions to Bluetooth signals. This research established the effect of Perspex on Bluetooth transmission in an indoor environment. This research extends on our previous research which evaluated RTLS technologies, RTLS constraints, and an energy efficient design model for sensor detection in indoor environments. Perspex was chosen for this research as it is used as a common shield used to minimize COVID transmission in an office environment. In general, the 3 mm and 5 mm Perspex did not have a significant impact on Bluetooth transmission. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Malaria continues to burden the Zimbabwe health system, especially rural healthcare services delivery. The rural population living in high malarial areas experience several challenges in accessing malaria information and carrying out vector control and management activities. This problem is exacerbated by the outbreak of COVID-19 which led to restricted movement of people and healthcare professionals, cancellation of vector control activities and disruption in the movement of medical equipment including insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying and community malaria awareness campaigns. However, increasing network coverage and subsequent use of mobile phones apps in resource constrained areas can address challenges in accessing malaria information for distant populace during COVID-19 and beyond.
ABSTRACT
Malaria continues decimating population in Zimbabwe health system especially in high malarial rural areas. The transmission of malaria is seasonal and strongly influenced by the multiple risk factors such as malaria control interventions, land use, socio-economic determinants and environmental factors in Buhera rural district. Environmental risk factors such as rainfall, normalized difference vegetation index, day land surface temperature, enhanced vegetation index and night land surface temperature are risk factors for malaria as they influence the development of parasite vector and the relationship between the vector and host as well as malaria trends. In Buhera rural district, malaria incidences vary with environmental variables and influence endemicity levels and tend to cluster into high malaria perennial (perennial hotspots), low malaria perennial, high malaria sporadic(seasonal hotspots), low malaria sporadic hence perennial and seasonal hotspots become sources of continued malaria infection. Therefore, the study aimed at the modelling of malaria cases and environmental risk factors at micro-level strengthen malaria interventions and effective allocation of resources.