ABSTRACT
By early 2020, COVID-19 has caused a global pandemic which led to an enormous number of challenges worldwide in various sectors. The Philippine government has implemented multiple quarantine guidelines and travel restrictions to ensure the people's health and safety. However, the International Labour Organization projected an initial economic and labor market disruption affecting 11 million workers, or about 25% of the Philippine workforce, due to the pandemic. Therefore, the government, thru the concerned agencies continues to encourage employers to implement alternative work plans such as a work-from-home (WFH) operation in compliance with the established regulations in line with existing laws and policies. In line with the telecommuting concept, various research has already been performed, however, some were regarded inconclusive and require further study. Hence, in this study, a Web application was developed along with an embedded fuzzy model to evaluate the telecommuting capability assessment of employees. The proposed web application with embedded fuzzy model is capable of providing capability assessment using the four main input variables which are also relatively characterized for possible telecommuting cost assessment. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
This study discusses the development of the intellectual property (IP) marketplace model based on mobile location-aware computing. Referring to statistics released by the Directorate General of Intellectual Property, there has been a growth in the number of intellectual property rights (IPR) applications in recent years, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, after IPR protection, the commercialization of IPR is one of the pillars of the IP system. Nevertheless, research institutions such as LIPI/BRIN indicate that the potential for commercializing IPR is still low. Furthermore, the opportunity is that cellular networks have covered almost all parts of Indonesia, and there has been significant growth in smartphone users. The method utilized in this research is prototyping. This research results from an IP marketplace model based on mobile location-aware computing in Indonesia. Using the smartphone user's location, contextual IPR information from the user's location related to IPR will enter their smartphone. The experimental results indicate that the application can display a list of IPR information according to the smartphone user's location. Furthermore, the search feature can forage IPR listing information based on user queries. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
In Australia, rates of suicide and poor mental health among construction workers were high before the COVID-19 pandemic. "Lock downs”, "restrictions”, "social distancing” and legislative changes responding to the pandemic have likely exacerbated the working conditions that foster poor mental health. This study analyses the way in which workplace health and safety (WHS) is regulated in Australia against the backdrop of existing research relating to the development of Australia's WHS laws, and the state of mental health of those working in Australia's construction industry. This study was conducted using a doctrinal research methodology and utilising legal theory. This study assesses the capacity of the Australian WHS regulatory system to protect construction workers' mental health by examining and interpreting key provisions in Australia's WHS laws. It then uses a regulatory theory, responsive regulation, to explain the inconsistency between the capacity of those laws to safeguard mental health and the very poor state of mental health of Australia's construction workers. The conclusion reached is that there is scope to improve current WHS laws to better protect construction workers' mental health. A recommendation is made, that current WHS laws are changed to prescribe minimum standards of worker mental health, and mandate control measures to minimise and/or eliminate psychosocial risks. It is submitted that these changes in the law will contribute to a changed culture in Australia's construction sector, which is supportive of mentally healthy workplaces and workers. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
Blockchain as a technology if implemented judiciously will prove to be effective and efficient for both private as well public sector enterprises. The use cases in Blockchain provide ample demonstration of improvement in the processes. The paper intends to provide insight into the application of Blockchain in the Indian Judiciary System. Some of the benefits as envisaged by the Blockchain implementation are time-efficient, cost-effective, greater security, and transparency resulting enhancement of trust in the overall working of the legal system. India's global counterparts such as Estonia, China, the UK, Ghana, Ukraine, Canada, and Sweden have already integrated the Blockchain into their legal system. The judicial system in India is under tremendous pressure. According to the data from National Judicial Data Grid, 4.7 Crore cases are pending as on May 2022 at different levels of the judiciary, out of which 1.82 Lac cases have been pending for at least 30 years. For many years courts have been following the traditional working system, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, the courts have adopted the e-justice paradigm via online case hearings and video conferencing. Since, the system has already experienced the use of digital platforms, the experimentation if continued post-pandemic will yield a faster and better result. The technological advancements should complement the traditional working systems for the greater benefit of the entire system. The overall objective of the paper is to explore the application of Blockchain that will help improve the efficiency and transparency in operations in the Indian Judicial system. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic forced civil society and business to face a new reality where much greater reliance needed to be placed on networked devices and internet distributed communications, including the provision of services ranging from medical advice to food, entertainment and even the facility to interact with family. The ability to meet in-person with family, friends, colleagues, business associates or customers was severely restricted leaving internationalisation as a utopian dream as borders were closed, students were denied access to a physical classrooms and businesses had to rapidly "pivot” or fail. These alternatives to real life have seemed less appealing to many, with every aspect of life "going online”, whether virtualectures, exams, meetings, mediations, court appearances, job interviews, shopping for a piece of cheese or starting a new trade relationship. Much innovation over the last two years has been around deploying online business models. There has also been a wider use of artificial intelligence to support "efficient” operations partly stimulated by the falling staffing levels due to the pandemic directly through sickness or forced isolations, or indirectly by a growing sense of the futility of working for a business, known as the Great Resignation ("Over the 12 months ending in January 2022, hires totalled 76.4 million and separations totalled 70.0 million…” indicating a huge refocusing on jobs in the USA) This paper looks at the challenge for legal systems to pivot around the growing trends in deployments of online innovation. Some businesses are now widely deploying software-based analysis systems, such as Airbnb, which is using them to "verify the identity and trustworthiness of a user of an online system” and flag potential guests who may be problematic. Although Airbnb is a multibillion-dollar business, it is a good example of how through using publicly available data, user supplied information, and smart software (artificial intelligence) a business can make predictions on the behaviour of its potential customers. Other AI resources have been creating new gaming scenarios, reporting on the news, and even creating new artworks and music. These kinds of use of AI in the marketplace have challenged the legal frameworks that support individual privacy and also ideas around human creativity. © 2022, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of changes in building HVAC system operation guidelines, aiming to reduce COVID-19 propagation, on building energy performance. Given the recentness and emergency nature of these responses, there is a gap in the literature addressing the energy performance impact of these new recommendations. Practical measures recommended by ASHRAE and REHVA are implemented in a computer simulation model of an existing building, created using the eQUEST program. Results show the increase of building EUI and operating cost mostly in the range of 20% to 60%. This increase is mainly due to additional: (a) space heating and cooling thermal loads, and (b) ventilation fans and pumps electricity consumption;caused by longer operation hours, increased ventilation rates and the implementation of humidity control. This research showcases the application of modelling tools in the support of public guidelines development, and it serves as an encouragement to consultants and researchers to explore methods for mitigating the impact and increasing feasibility of public health regulations. © International Building Performance Simulation Association, 2022
ABSTRACT
The article analyzes the measures of state support for agriculture in the Russian Federation. State support of agrarian sector is a basic component of state-legal regulation of the sphere of agriculture and represents a totality of various forms and instruments of influence on social and economic life of society for the purpose of dynamic development of agrarian sphere. State support measures for agriculture are important in the in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the goals and objectives formulated in the adopted and adopted by the supreme body of the executive power state programs for agricultural development often have problems with their financial support. Analysis of existing state support measures for agriculture has shown that some of them need improvement. Most of them are aimed mainly at large agricultural producers, leaving out small forms of farming. In the article, emphasis is placed on the need to improve the mechanism providing state support to the subjects of the agricultural industry through digital services throughout Russia. Subsidies, grants, soft loans and other support measures can be obtained electronically, which will make the process more transparent. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
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.
ABSTRACT
The need for mobile-based solutions for healthcare after COVID pandemic is more obvious than ever as mobile itself is an integral part of everyday life. m-Health is not an unfamiliar phenomenon, but despite the progress that has been made in this area, it is still difficult for m-health platforms to enter and stabilize in the market, especially in developing countries. So, in this study, we tried to prioritize the factors affecting the commercialization of m-Health and platforms. By reviewing related researches to the field of mobile health commercialization, 30 main effective indicators in mobile health commercialization were identified. After surveying experts and conducting exploratory factor analysis, these 30 indicators have been prioritized in 6 dimensions of efficiency and effectiveness, market, organizational and legal, technology and infrastructure, property and project management, and macro contexts. According to experts, the most important indicator is the timeliness of technology, and least important factor is the index of technology convergence with the laws and regulations in the field of health and treatment of the country. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employees are required to respond to changes and conform to stringent safety laws and regulations. This study aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organizational commitment among employees in the semiconductor industry. A total of 272 employees working in the semiconductor industry answered a self-administered questionnaire that considered 51 questions, distributed online. Utilizing Structural equation modeling (SEM), the results showed that the COVID-19 was found to have a significant direct effect on employees' perceived job outcomes (PO) and a negative direct effect on job demands (JD). Moreover, PO had a positive effect on job motivation (JM) and job satisfaction (JS). Subsequently, JM presented a significant positive direct effect on JS, while JD showed a negative effect on JS. Lastly, JS showed a significant positive direct effect on organizational commitment (OC). Intriguingly, an indirect effect of PO on JS was seen. This study is one of the first studies that analyzed the organization commitment among semiconductor workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper could be utilized as a foundation to enhance organizational commitment, particularly in the semiconductor industry worldwide. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The incompleteness of patient health data is a threat to the management of COVID-19 in Africa and globally. This has become particularly clear with the recent emergence of new variants of concern. The Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN)-Africa has studied the curation of patient health data in selected African countries and identified that health information flows often do not involve the use of health data at the point of care, which renders data production largely meaningless to those producing it. This modus operandi leads to disfranchisement over the control of health data, which is extracted to be processed elsewhere. In response to this problem, VODAN-Africa studied whether or not a design that makes local ownership and repositing of data central to the data curation process, would have a greater chance of being adopted. The design team based their work on the legal requirements of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);the FAIR Guidelines on curating data as Findable, Accessible (under well-defined conditions), Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR);and national regulations applying in the context where the data is produced. The study concluded that the visiting of data curated as machine actionable and reposited in the locale where the data is produced and renders services has great potential for access to a wider variety of data. A condition of such innovation is that the innovation team is intradisciplinary, involving stakeholders and experts from all of the places where the innovation is designed, and employs a methodology of co-creation and capacity-building. © 2022 Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus has activated the main constitutional mechanisms set in place to face exceptional circumstances in all countries that can be considered consolidated democracies. Constitutional systems make it possible for constituent powers to limit fundamental rights that are the cornerstone for the full exercise of citizenship in a democracy. Thus, for example, lockdowns and limitations on gatherings, de iure and de facto, limit or eliminate the right to assembly. Exception—constitutional instruments, that also allow for the transfer of parliamentary functions to the Executive power, are mostly designed, and many times thought to be exclusively used in extreme circumstances: wars or natural disasters that have an immediate impact on millions of people (causing death, the loss of the home or massive displacement, etc.). In these cases, it is assumed that parliaments and citizens must enter survival mode, and because of that, there is no reason to think that any type of citizen participation is possible. However, despite the gravity of COVID-19, the situation does not conform to the pattern I have just described. Most citizens, surely those that tend to participate in the ordinary democratic process, have been able to adapt their lives to the confines of their own homes thanks to civic responsibility and technology: work, education, socialization, shopping, etc. If this is so, why has the decision-making process not been able to adapt to the COVID pandemic? Furthermore, if citizen input is essential to control the situation and social distancing is a must, why is technology not the cornerstone of citizen's data recollection? This work analyzes the existing constitutional framework and the main governmental measures (norms and actions) adopted, in order to detect in which stages (out of the five basic policy and law-making stages) citizen participation could have been integrated, and how CrowdLaw might have helped to make participation more effective, and if CrowdLaw can help palliate the constitutional impact resulting from a pandemic, particularly in regard to the exercise of citizen participation, and in improving the quality and effectiveness of any measure that has been adopted. I argue that constitutional norms are compatible with CrowdLaw because they do not rule out the activation of CrowdLaw procedures neither in normal nor in exceptional circumstances. © 2022 Association for Computing Machinery.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to examine the role of social media in filtering the spread of COVID-19 information. Covid-19 information is crowdsourcing Information. Anxiety caused by social media information must be addressed through explicit government regulations on handling COVID-19. As a result, governments must understand the emotions and sentiments conveyed on social media. Based on this point of view, this study examines the role of the government in responding to health information from social media through the ministry of health. This study uses a qualitative exploration method with the NvivoPlus12 tool in processing Ministry of Health data in providing health education, covid-19 information, and policy responses to COVID-19. This analysis shows that the ministry of health functions based on the type of information presented through official accounts, first, as a means of socialization. Second, providing real-time information as a medium for public information. Third, the Ministry of Health cooperates with other ministries to encourage policies, especially the handling of COVID-19. This finding is in line with the United Nations 2020 research that virtual services can be realized by using social media to build services and convey Information;In addition, this function makes it easier to know the community's response so that policies and management of COVID-19 run smoothly. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
For an upstream oil and gas company, avoiding an offshore COVID-19 outbreak while executing four different offshore projects poses a huge challenge, particularly in a country experiencing a daily COVID-19 test positivity rate over 20%. Even minor mismanagement of the quarantine process can lead to an offshore COVID-19 outbreak, with the risk of shutting down campaigns and severely impacting business objectives. The challenge is therefore to avoid an offshore COVID-19 outbreak, ensuring well-being of personnel during the quarantine period and managing quarantine related costs, including COVID-19 test costs. To ensure effective quarantine management, a new approach was created that applied a combination of medical assessments, Health & Safety (H&S) and security measures. Quarantine management was led by a special task force responsible for ensuring the readiness of transportations, rooms, PCR tests, as well as overall compliance to quarantine rules. In compliance with government regulations and WHO recommendations, another complimentary approach was applied that sequestered personnel who tested positive in an isolation room. Effective quarantine management was established with the assistance of the company Business Continuity Management Team (BCMT). The company was able to complete four different major offshore projects with no offshore COVID-19 outbreaks. During these operations, over 1,000 personnel were quarantined and tested with a 5.37% positivity rate at the pre-work quarantine site. Confirmed cases were managed in full compliance with government regulations. The result of this effective quarantine management system, has allowed the company to achieve scorecard performance goals while delivering all four of the major offshore work-scopes, as per the original business plan. This paper discusses quarantine management as part of business continuity management covering medical assessment, H&S and security measures amidst a national COVID-19 pandemic. These programs were applied in an adaptive method-based risk assessment, which based on evidence base approaches, during frequently changing government regulations. Copyright © 2022, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
ABSTRACT
There has been rapid progress in local government websites, especially in terms of services provision and resident engagement. The assessment of local government websites can help to ameliorate effectiveness of municipality services and be used as a mechanism to understand the critical needs of residents. To this end, our research is focused on assessing features of local e-Government development in some of the largest cities worldwide based on their responses to a questionnaire. The findings are discussed suggesting possible ways to improve the level of local e-Government development. An examination of responses for 42 cities reveals that e-Government is prominently practiced. The results indicate that local governments organise their web presence and service provision applying a variety of e-Government strategies based on their needs and priorities. They mainly align with the national legislation covering e-Government regulations. Online services provision, usage and citizens' satisfaction need more systematisation. Social media platforms are tools with an increasing application perspective, especially in residents' engagement in decision-making. COVID-19 initiatives provided a pathway on how to apply technologies, in a relatively short time period, facing critical situations. Emerging technologies provide tools that can be used to solve critical urban problems. Finally, the present study contributes towards an ongoing discussion for the development of a common worldwide assessment scheme that would measure the level and sophistication of local government digital development. © 2022 ACM.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemics have become a global phenomenon that has the force to change millions of people's lives globally. The Government of The Republic of Indonesia through its Ministry of Communication and Informatics is trying to accelerate national recovery by releasing contact tracing applications to the public. The national recovery is the joint force between the government and the public, but the public is reluctant to accept the app in the first place. The goal of this study is to analyze the factors that influence public acceptance of contact tracing applications, named PeduliLindungi. This study was developed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) that mapped into the theory of Health Belief Model (HBM), and privacy calculus as the issue emerges regarding the contact tracing applications because it consumes the users' sensitive data. The study was conducted with the quantitative method with 519 respondents across Indonesia that have been using PeduliLindungi. The results show that perceived susceptibility, perceived threat, perceived benefits, perceived ease of use, facilitating condition, system quality, and government regulations significantly influence the intentions and actual usage of applications. This study contributes to UTAUT, HBM, and privacy calculus theories, where the factors that influence the intention to the usage of the application were tested. Therefore, on the practical side, this research assists prioritization by the stakeholders to strategize disease handling with the assistance of technology as the public central information. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, the use of online media and teaching tools has soared, leading to rampant cheating and plagiarism. To provide a better online environment, A copyright-aware Blockchain-enabled Knowledge Sharing platform named as BeSharing, enables students to share part of their assignments or ideas without the worry of being plagiarized. Thanks to blockchain technology which ensures the safety of encrypted shared files and the immutability of the shared records, the intellectual property rights of students can be protected whenever plagiarism issues occur. At present, we have released the platform with the realization of relevant functions and finished the alpha test. We believe this platform has great potential to foster collaboration among students while protecting their ideas. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The article concerns the experiences of academic teachers related to hybrid education at the end of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. The aim of the study was to understand the lecturers' perspective on hybrid education implemented in the first semester of the 2021/2022 academic year at The Maria Grzegorzewska University and an attempt to compare it with traditional education and distance education. The subject of the research was, among others, readiness to implement hybrid teaching, university support for lecturers in the field of hybrid teaching and the diversity of experiences of academic teachers. The research used the method of diagnostic survey. The obtained results indicate that the lecturers declare their readiness to conduct hybrid teaching, especially in the case of their own or students' illness, or random factors that make it impossible to conduct full-time classes or top-down legal regulations. They appreciate the organizational support of their immediate supervisor and the opportunity to make up for classes that have not taken place in a hybrid form. The lecturers highly assess the level of their own involvement in the preparation and conduct of classes, as well as the quality of their didactic work. They see the possibility of using a hybrid approach not only in teaching but also in their self-improvement, work organization and maintaining health. At the same time, they indicate the shortcomings and difficulties related to didactics, social, technical, and organizational aspects, as well as systemic deficiencies. Based on the results, recommendations related to the use of hybrid education in post-pandemic academic education were developed. © The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed up the green finance for renewable energy development. Private investment has been recognized as a dominant driver of the renewable energy industry, an essential and critical step in averting greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, despite the increasing pace, private investment in green finance for renewable development is still restricted to several developed nations, where it is crucial. Prior studies have offered some understanding of the complexities and challenges that investment confronts in this industry, which remains underexplored in the case of China. This study employs the ARDL-PMG model used to examine the public listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen during China's 2010–2020 period. This research adds to the body of knowledge by rigorously examining the variables on FDI in renewable energy production in China and how these effects differ depending on the source of investment. Some of these factors include the adoption of national renewable energy legislation, the supply of foreign public money, and the broader economic environment. The findings indicate that worldwide financial assistance, legislative support policies, feed-in tariffs, and economic stability are potent drivers of green finance for developing renewable energy investment in China. Further, this research explains that the impacts of private sector investment and entrepreneurial contextual factors on expenditure vary depending on the source of finance, emphasizing the importance of dissecting investment spreads to fully comprehend private investment decisions in green finance for renewable development. © 2022
ABSTRACT
Dialogue systems are a class of increasingly popular AI-based solutions to support timely and interactive communication with users in many domains. Due to the apparent possibility of users disclosing their sensitive data when interacting with such systems, ensuring that the systems follow the relevant laws, regulations, and ethical principles should be of primary concern. In this context, we discuss the main open points regarding these aspects and propose an approach grounded on a computational argumentation framework. Our approach ensures that user data are managed according to data minimization, purpose limitation, and integrity. Moreover, it is endowed with the capability of providing motivations for the system responses to offer transparency and explainability. We illustrate the architecture using as a case study a COVID-19 vaccine information system, discuss its theoretical properties, and evaluate it empirically. © 2022 The Author(s)