Factors of Development and Success of Digital Platforms

Digitalization of the economy is one of the factors and manifestations of globalization processes. However, the possibilities which give use of digital platforms in the long term enable the formation of a national information space that is safe from external threats. This study summarizes the current approaches to the classification of digital platforms, their description and functionality, and their importance for the economy. The study focused on modern approaches to the typology of digital platforms and the specifics of their integration into public administration and business structures. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Information and Educational Environments

The paper aims to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the information and educational environment of the university. The research relevance is due to the urgent nature of the transition of universities to the use of information and educational environments. This must be done in full for implementing educational programs, as well as intermediate and final certification, in a remote form. In the paper, we have analyzed changes in the regulatory legal acts of universities from the top ten ranking of digital activities in the Russian Federation in connection with the measures taken to counter the coronavirus infection. More than that, we have surveyed teachers and students of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University (Moscow, Russia) to identify the difficulties teachers and students faced when switching to a distance-learning format. The study has made it possible to conclude about the positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing the information and educational environment of the leading universities of the Russian Federation. At the same time, we have identified problems manifesting themselves in a sharp and unprepared transition to a complete distance learning format using the information and educational environment of the university. Among these difficulties, we should note the lack of digital literacy of teachers, the digital divide, and problems with software and hardware. When eliminating the identified shortcomings, many students and teachers admit learning certain disciplines and courses in a distance form in the future using the information and educational environment of the university. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Speculation and clarification announcements on stock price fluctuations: Why are rumours plausible and hard to clarify?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, stock markets were fragile and sensitive to downside news regardless of whether the news was true. In China, stock rumours are increasingly rampant, affecting the sound development of the capital market. By manually gathering a sample of rumours about Chinese A-share firms, this paper studies the effects of stock market rumours and the corresponding rumour clarifications on stock returns. The study suggests that rumours rely on the information environment to persuade the market through the media effect. In terms of information disclosure, for firms that previously disclosed "negative news”, stock prices would experience abnormal drops when negative rumours appear. In terms of the media effect, rumours released by leading media cause even more significant abnormal fluctuations in stock prices. Further study shows that positive rumours significantly cause an abnormal rise in state-owned enterprises' stock prices, while negative rumours significantly cause an abnormal decline in small and medium enterprise board (SME) and growth enterprise market board (GEM) stock prices. From the perspective of the effect of clarification announcements in restraining stock price fluctuations, clear and timely clarifications are recommended. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

ESG performance and loan contracting in an emerging market

In this paper, we find that better environmental, social and governmental (ESG) performance is associated with a greater magnitude of bank loans and a lower ratio of guaranteed loans in China. The relation is mainly driven by social and governmental factors while the environmental factor plays an insignificant role. Our main findings are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests, including alternative measures of ESG performance and bank-loan contracting, as well as different approaches to address potential endogeneity. Additional analysis indicates that reduced risk and increased information environment might be channels by which ESG performance affects bank-loan contracting while state ownership and the COVID-19 outbreak moderate that impact. Overall, this paper reveals that in emerging markets, the sub-dimensional ESG factors have heterogeneous impacts on loan contracting that are quite different from those found in developed markets.

Speculation and clarification announcements on stock price fluctuations: Why are rumours plausible and hard to clarify?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, stock markets were fragile and sensitive to downside news regardless of whether the news was true. In China, stock rumours are increasingly rampant, affecting the sound development of the capital market. By manually gathering a sample of rumours about Chinese A-share firms, this paper studies the effects of stock market rumours and the corresponding rumour clarifications on stock returns. The study suggests that rumours rely on the information environment to persuade the market through the media effect. In terms of information disclosure, for firms that previously disclosed "negative news”, stock prices would experience abnormal drops when negative rumours appear. In terms of the media effect, rumours released by leading media cause even more significant abnormal fluctuations in stock prices. Further study shows that positive rumours significantly cause an abnormal rise in state-owned enterprises' stock prices, while negative rumours significantly cause an abnormal decline in small and medium enterprise board (SME) and growth enterprise market board (GEM) stock prices. From the perspective of the effect of clarification announcements in restraining stock price fluctuations, clear and timely clarifications are recommended.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict and foreign stocks on the US market

PurposeThe authors investigate how market quality diverges between foreign firms and domestic firms on the US stock market in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Design/methodology/approachWith an event study approach, the authors compare foreign firms with domestic firms in their market responses over the three-day window around the outbreak of the war. Further, with Difference-in-Difference (DID) analyses, the authors study the change in foreign firms' market quality upon this outbreak in comparison with their domestic counterparts. Finally, the authors compare the foreign firms across firm specific characteristics and home country characteristics.FindingsThe authors find that foreign stocks listed in the US experience more severe market quality deterioration compared to the stocks' domestic counterparts. This effect is especially strong for companies from countries considered friendlier towards Russia and companies that are not cross-listed. The authors' findings are consistent with the information asymmetry hypothesis concerning market quality. Moreover, US market investors have more concerns over political risks with non-US-aligned political standings during war times.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' findings are consistent with the information asymmetry hypothesis concerning market quality. Moreover, US market investors have more concerns over political risks over non-US-aligned political standings during war time.Practical implicationsSince both countries in the conflict are in Europe, the US stock market, to a certain degree, becomes a safe haven for capital from Europe and other countries. In the meantime, American Depository Receipts (ADRs) have been important for US investors to create a globally diversified portfolio, and the knowledge regarding ADRs' vulnerability to international geopolitical events is valuable. The author' results are informative for stock market investors to understand the market dynamics for international and domestic companies during this extremely uncertain time.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examines the market quality divergence between foreign firms and domestic firms on the US stock market in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The authors provide novel evidence on the change in ADRs' market quality associated with significant political uncertainty. The authors show that ADRs' market quality is more vulnerable to international geopolitical risks relative to otherwise comparable domestic firms.

Working online or offline during COVID-19: Which has more impacts on stock price?

Remote work has become increasingly popular and important after the spread of COVID-19, but its impact on the financial market is in dispute. Using a unique dataset of analyst visits in China and multiple regression, we examine the impact of remote work on the financial market by comparing the market reaction to analysts' online and offline visits. Results show that online visits have a significantly greater impact on stock prices than offline visits, as discussion depth, information sharing, and information dissemination are enhanced. Additionally, online visits can predict the changes in funds' holdings and firms' future performance. Overall, our findings suggest that remote work improves the information environment of the financial market during COVID-19.

Community-oriented Motivational Interviewing (MI): A novel framework extending MI to address COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in online social media platforms.

Researchers have linked circulating misinformation in online platforms to low COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Two disparate literatures provide relevant initial guidance to address the problem. Motivational Interviewing (MI) effectively reduces vaccine hesitancy in clinical environments; meanwhile, social scientists note inoculation, rebuttal, and appeals to accuracy are persuasive in digital contexts. A tension is inherent in these approaches. MI in digital forums may induce an 'illusory truth effect,' wherein falsehoods appear more accurate through repetition. Yet, rebutting misinformation directly may elicit backfire or reactance effects, motivating some to amplify their presentation of misinformation. Building on Identity Process Theory, we propose a theoretical framework for conducting MI-based infodemiology interventions among digital communities that conceptualizes the community in toto (rather than one specific person) as the unit of focus. Case examples from interventions on public Facebook posts illustrate three processes unique to such interventions: 1) Navigating tension between addressing commenters and "bystanders"; 2) Activating pro-vaccine bystanders; and 3) Reframing uncertainty or information individuals might find concerning or threatening according to implied collective values. This paper suggests community-oriented MI can maximize persuasive effects on bystanders while minimizing potential reactance from those with committed beliefs, thereby guiding community-oriented public health messaging interventions enacted in digital environments.

"How do you shelter in place on the road?": Building Information Resilience through Communal Support for Van Dwellers in the Onset of Covid-19.

During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, new health information was being disseminated at unprecedented rates which included ever-changing mandates and regulations, resulting in information overload for many. Shelter in place orders are the pandemic-related information that will be discussed. As these dynamic orders were announced and enforced, mobile populations-people who live in their vans or "van dwellers"-abandoned life on the road and rushed to loved ones to abide by social distancing directives. Others had nowhere to turn. This pilot study of van dweller's information practices focuses on the early weeks of the pandemic and how this population adapted to an overwhelming information environment. Using the information resilience conceptual framework, I describe how van dwellers adapted when a myriad of information and misinformation was circulating. The van dweller community, and their supporters, banded together to provide resources and safe spaces in a time of crisis.

Design and evaluation of a dedicated information environment with both portability and confidentiality

COVID-19 has led to a rapid increase in the use of video conferencing and video calls over the Internet. In this paper, we propose a low-cost, portable, and highly confidential occupied information environment. The authors developed a secure input/output device in the NICT's 'SecHack365' program for fostering young security innovators. By improving the device and integrating it with traditional Japanese culture, we quanti-tatively evaluated that the device can achieve sufficient up-time, lightweight that does not burden the body, and has a price that does not strict on the wallet. © 2022 IEEE.

Cognitive Security and Resilience: A Social Ecological Model of Disinformation and other Harms with Applications to COVID-19 Vaccine Information Behaviors

Access to and discovery of credible information is the product of numerous, interacting factors including individual characteristics and behaviors as well as features of the information environment, social, cultural, and institutional norms, policies and regulations, and more. To date, most research on information disorder has focused either on the individual or on the information environment (or on the technology that allows an individual to access the information environment), but there is a lack of systematic, theory-driven research on the dynamic relationship between the individual and their environment. In this study, we propose a novel application of Brofenbrenner's social ecological model to the study of cognitive security and resilience in the context of information disorder. First, we describe the refitting of the model from public health and human development to cognitive security. Using extant literature in the field, we identify the key factors at each level of influence - including individual-level factors such as attitudes/beliefs, knowledge/experience, and demographic characteristics, as well as higher-level factors at the interpersonal-, organizational/institutional-, community-, and policy/culture-levels - that shape susceptibility and resilience to information disorder. We also consider the dynamic interactions between individuals, groups, societies, and characteristics of the technological environment, including how algorithms and artificial intelligence interact with individual behaviors, policies, and organizational decision-making to shape access to and discoverability of credible information. Finally, we describe an application of the model to a use case involving COVID-19-related information behaviors. To our knowledge, this is the first time Brofenbrenner's social ecological model has been applied in full as a conceptual foundation for the study of cognitive security and resilience. Our findings provide important new insight into the social, cultural, and structural factors that shape information behaviors and access to credible information, as well as the impact of information disorder. The results can be used to identify vulnerabilities and targets for future information-related initiatives and interventions (such as fact-checking and journalism initiatives) and to inform evaluations of such initiatives, as well as to better understand variation in susceptibility and resilience to information disorder. Further, this study lays an important conceptual foundation for future research to expand on this use case and refine the application of the social ecological model to the information domain. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors.

Digital-first approaches and the library brand in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the move toward an Education 4.0 vision where learning, teaching, and research are primarily delivered online, fully exploiting the potential of the latest digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. In this chapter, it is argued that while the library provides core essential services that support this movement, the library brand is not visible and therefore may not be seen as relevant today to end users. By looking back at some of the core affordances of information technologies and changing social and economic structures through the ages up to the present time, it is demonstrated that the library function is now more important than ever. Many of the structures we have in place are still largely those created to support the printing press. The library is uniquely positioned to provide many of the supporting structures that are critical to the success of more hybrid models of teaching, learning, and research online. © 2021 David Baker and Lucy Ellis Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Adaptive Learning Environment Design in the System of Future Maritime Specialits' Training

In an environment of education reformation aimed at transition of higher education to competence based and individual approaches, we face the need to construct individual learning path for every future maritime professional. In this respect technology of adaptive learning based on modern ICT becomes of high importance. At the same time COVID-19 pandemic has changed system of education at all its levels, but the issue of quality and efficiency is still to be considered and studied by scientists and practitioners. Under these conditions the issue of adaptive information environment creation becomes relevant for training modern and competitive specialists. This environment should be based on implementation of adaptive technologies for education and training of maritime students, therefore, article provides investigation of pedagogical problem of future navigators' professional culture building in training system of adaptive information environment of maritime educational establishment. Feasibility of adaptive learning technologies implementation is grounded as a tool for future navigators' professional culture building in the process of their fundamental education and training. Example of higher mathematics adaptive learning implementation for future navigators at Kherson State Maritime Academy is considered. Higher mathematics adaptive learning was introduced through: adaptive feeding of educational content of the course;problems solving support based on examples and pre-created typical algorythms;adaptive testing;analysis of test tasks answers;system teacher support;constant support conditions for individual tasks completion;adaptive course navigation, etc. As the result of experiment there was found out that higher mathematics adaptive learning for future navigators presupposes: individual learning path designing;possibility to timely provide advising and objective control as well as evaluation;enhancement of learning activity and motivation of through improved degree of autonomy;promotion of students' research skills development;creation of cooperation, partnership and maritime brotherhood atmosphere. © 2022 CEUR-WS. All rights reserved.

Screening for Information Environments: A Role for Health Systems to Address the Misinformation Crisis.

Misinformation about health topics is a public health issue. We are bombarded with information from many sources, across many digital means of communication, affecting the ways in which we are born, grow, work, live, and age. This makes information environments a social determinant of health (SDoH), but one not currently adequately addressed by clinical or public health practitioners. Since health systems are already screening for social determinants of health, existing mechanisms can additionally screen for unhealthy information environments. Then, for those patients who screen positive, we can apply best practices learned from initiatives addressing vaccine hesitancy: providing a non-judgmental environment in which to discuss health beliefs, using motivational interviewing techniques to gage patient perspectives and readiness for change, and taking a harm-reduction approach in recognizing that behavior change evolves over time. Displacing misinformation is a process, not an event. As such, we need to address the underlying psychological and sociological reasons that people maintain unscientific beliefs as we would hope to do with any other SDoH. Furthermore, as information environments are the product of both individual choices and structural factors, clinicians should approach patients immersed in unhealthy information environments without blame or ostracism, much as we would approach any patient adversely impacted by social determinants of health.

Information Literacy, Transition, and Risk in the COVID-19-Environment

This paper examines how people transitioned into newly created pandemic information environments and the ways in which information literacy practices came into view as the SARS-CoV-2 virus took hold in the UK. Employing a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were carried out from May 2020-February 2021 with 32 participants, including people who were engaged in new employment, voluntary or caring roles as well as people who had been diagnosed with COVID. Findings demonstrate that transition into new pandemic environments was shaped by an unfolding phase, an intensification phase, and a stable phase, and information literacy emerged as a form of safeguarding as participants mitigated health, financial and wellbeing risks. This paper develops research into the role that information practices play during crisis as well as extending understanding related to the concept of empowerment, which forms a key idea within information literacy discourse. Findings will be useful for librarians and information professionals as well as public health researchers designing health promotion strategies. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

USING DISTRIBUTED CLOUDS for SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING

Nowadays, cloud resources are the most flexible tool to provide access to infrastructures for establishing services and applications. However, it is also a valuable resource for scientific computing. At the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the computing cloud was integrated with the DIRAC system. It allowed for the submission of scientific computing jobs directly to the cloud. Thanks to the experience, the cloud resources of several organizations from the JINR Member States were integrated in the same way. It increased the total amount of cloud resources accessible in a uniform way through DIRAC, in the scope of the so-called Distributed Information and Computing Environment (DICE). Folding@Home tasks related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus were submitted to all available cloud resources. In addition to useful scientific results, such experience was also helpful in obtaining information about the performance, limitations, strengths, and weaknesses of the combined system. Based on the gained experience, the DICE infrastructure was tuned to successfully perform real user jobs related to Monte-Carlo simulation for the Baikal-GVD experiment. Copyright © 2021 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for the food information environment in Brazil.

The food information environment includes food advertising disseminated in various media. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of schools, universities, non-essential commerce, public leisure areas, bars, restaurants, among others, the food information environment has changed in Brazil. People spent more time at home which led to greater exposure to television and internet advertising content. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the food production sector has invested in new ways to advertise their products that include advertising messages of support, empathy and solidarity, as well as social responsibility campaigns looking for self-promotion such as food donation and financial aids. Sponsoring online events promoted by Brazilian musicians on social media was also enhanced during the pandemic and allowed food companies to become part of the consumer's leisure and entertainment moments. The advertising strategies adopted by the food industry during the COVID-19 pandemic are used to generate market demands, influence the consumer purchase decision and increase their loyalty to the supplier brands. Consequently, individuals may have been more vulnerable to excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods during this health crisis. This commentary aims to describe the changes in the food information environment during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and propose a pathway to promote a healthier food information environment after this health crisis. Perspectives for promoting a healthier food information environment after the pandemic are also discussed, focusing on regulating food advertising with a shared responsibility between government, the food industry, the academy and civil society.

What we can learn from information flows about COVID-19: Implications for research and practice.

COVID-19 has become a global pandemic affecting billions of people. Its impact on societies worldwide will be felt for years to come. The purpose of this research is to examine information flows about COVID-19 to understand the information-specific underpinnings that are shaping understandings of this crisis. As a starting point, this research analyzes information about COVID-19 from a selection of information sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China (NHCPRC), and three news outlets with vast global coverage. The analysis reveals some distinctive information underpinnings about COVID-19, including (a) flows of information becoming regular and larger around certain dates, (b) preponderance of information imperfections such as incomplete information, misinformation, and disinformation, and (c) absence of information about some key turning points. The implications of these information imperfections in that they create information failures and, hence, ineffective approaches to dealing with this crisis warrant further investigation.