ABSTRACT
Online dispute resolution (ODR) services are e-justice service conduits that utilize, implicitly or explicitly, electronic negotiation systems. They are a key mechanism that may provide a viable solution to the flood of e-disputes, and even for face-to-face disputes that can be resolved without being colocated (for instance, the social distance restriction of the COVID-19 epidemic forced court sessions to be conducted online). Justice is important in negotiation processes and in society. It is therefore suggested that ODR services are a viable means to serve justice on the web. We describe the state of e-justice and introduce the need for online dispute resolution services. We then present the concept of ODR, its different forms, and its association with negotiation support systems. To this end, we portray a classification of ODR services, give examples of different types of services, and specifically discuss one of the promising types, namely principle-based dispute resolution services. We conclude with an overview of the challenges associated with the introduction of ODR services, and specifically with their adoption by users, an issue that is also echoed in several other negotiation support studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 global pandemic that began in March 2020 was not fully mitigated through governmental Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) and continued to infect people and take lives through 2021. Since many countries were affected by the second, third, and fourth waves of Covid-19, governments extended and strengthened NPIs, but these actions led to citizen protests and fatigue. In this study, we investigate the effect of a lockdown policy on Covid-19 third wave implemented by the province of Ontario, Canada, on April 3rd 2021, followed by a stay-at-home order on April 7th 2021 while free Covid-19 testing and vaccination were in progress. Herein, the effect of both NPIs and vaccination are considered simultaneously. We used the prevalence of Covid-19 cases, tests, and administered vaccines data reported publicly by the Government of Ontario on their website. Because mobility changes can reflect the behaviors and adherence of residents with a stay-at-home order, Covid-19 community mobility data for Ontario provided by Google was also considered. A statistical method called interrupted time series was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that, although vaccinations helped to control the Covid-19 infection rate during this time, the stay-at-home order caused a rate reduction by decreasing the trend of the Covid-19 prevalence by 13 (±0.8962) persons per million daily and the level by 33 (±7.6854) persons per million. Furthermore, the stay-at-home order resulted in approximately a 37% reduction in Covid-19 prevalence one week after the intervention's effective date. Therefore, Ontario's strict lockdown policy, including several NPIs, mitigated the Covid-19 surge during the third wave. The results show that even when vaccination is in progress, strict NPIs such as lockdown is required to control Covid-19 waves, and early re-openings should be avoided. These results may also be useful for other countries that have implemented delayed vaccination schedules.