Addressing the Key Pitfalls Hindering Technology Transfer Success

The key challenges that are commonly faced by companies undertaking a tech transfer include: * Client expectations and initial project scope definition: the initial assumptions of the drug developer or marketing authorization holder (MHA) based on their initial information relating to the product can be a significant challenge. Typical examples include product stability issues (typically on legacy products) being evidenced due to a change to more compliant analytical methods;change to product brought about by compliance-related requirements on legacy products, such as nitrosamines, and elemental impurities guidelines, etc.;and regulatory requirements being misjudged at the onset of the project, among other factors. * Product knowledge management: particularly when undertaking tech transfers of legacy products or products in the initial discovery phase, there may be a lack of technical knowledge on the product itself to make a comprehensive and robust tech transfer process. All this may contribute to slowing down the transfer of knowledge, with implications for tech transfer timelines. * Standardization at receiving site: another challenge typically faced by receiving sites of CDMOs is a lack of standardization of their internal processes and or documentation brought about by multiple tech transfers with varying types of clients with multiple requirements. The originating site-particularly if it belongs to a small start-up-may not have team members with specialist experience in handling a transfer, so may need additional support in collating the required information to hand over to the receiving site.

Automating Biopharma Manufacturing

"With the advance of data science enabling factors such as easy access to scalable memory and computing resources;our growing competence in collecting, storing, and contextualizing data;advances in robotics;[and] the quickly evolving method landscape driven by the open-source community, the benefits of automation and simulation are becoming accessible in the notoriously complicated realm of biopharma manufacturing," says Marcel von der Haar, head of product strategy data analytics at Sartorius. "Plug-and-play" capabilities of automation systems, which enable flexible manufacturing and faster technology transfer, are more important than ever, he says. Walvax Biotech's new COVID-19 mRNA vaccine plant in China is another example of an intelligent and digital plant;it uses Honeywell's batch process control, building and energy management solution systems, and digital twins to monitor assets (5). "Automation brings in the data for machine learning to model the dynamic processes of cell growth and map it against the multiple dimensions provided by advanced sensors," explains Brandl.

Digitalization Moves Forward in Pharma Equipment and Processes

Digital technologies that could meet these new challenges and aid manufacturing scale-up and speed to market, such as automated digital data collection and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) remote collaboration tools, were already available and had been adopted by some, but the new demand spurred greater adoption. "There is a cultural aspect to digitalization because it's a significant investment that results in changes to the operational structure of a facility;it is beneficial when the digitalization comes from the top," explains Yvonne Duckworth, automation engineer and Industry 4.0 subject matter expert at the CRB Group, a life sciences engineering and construction company. Machine sensors and process analytical technology (PAT) instruments can communicate directly with data collection systems using the NoT. Efficient development and tech transfer for mRNA vaccine manufacturing The data analysis and clear communication allowed by digital tools has demonstrated its benefits for process development and technical transfer, making time to market faster.

Comparison Analysis of Prediction the Number of Covid-19 Cases Using Support Vector Regression and Long Short-Time Memory

Covid-19 emerged as a pandemic outbreak that spread almost worldwide at the end of December 2019. While this research was carried out, the Covid-19 pandemic was still ongoing. Many countries have made various attempts to overcome Covid-19. In Indonesia, the government and stakeholders, including researchers, have made many activities to reduce the number of positive patients. One of many activities that the government made is the vaccination program. The vaccination program is believed to be the most effective in reducing the number of positive cases of Covid-19. But nobody knows when the Covid-19 pandemic will end. Stakeholder has to know how the trend of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia to make a better decision for facing Covid-19 cases. This study aims to predict the number of positive Covid-19 cases in Indonesia by conducting a comparative analysis performance of Support Vector Regression (SVR) method and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method in machine learning to the prediction of the number of Covid-19 cases. This study was conducted using the dataset Covid-19 in Indonesia from Control Team from 13 January 2021 until 08 November 2021 and with 300 records. The evaluation has been conducted to know the performance of the model prediction number of Covid-19 with Support Vector Regression method and Long Short-Term Memory method based on values of R-Square (R2), the value of Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Mean Square Error (MSE). The research found that the method Support Vector Regression has better performance than Long Short-Term Memory method for making a prediction of the number Covid-19 using Machine Learning model based on the value of accuracy and error rate based with the value of R-Squared, MAE, and MSE are consecutively 0.902, 0.163, and 0.072. © 2022 IEEE.

Decision region analysis to deconstruct the subgroup influence on AI/ML predictions

Assessing the generalizability of deep learning algorithms based on the size and diversity of the training data is not trivial. This study uses the mapping of samples in the image data space to the decision regions in the prediction space to understand how different subgroups in the data impact the neural network learning process and affect model generalizability. Using vicinal distribution-based linear interpolation, a plane of the decision region space spanned by the random 'triplet' of three images can be constructed. Analyzing these decision regions for many random triplets can provide insight into the relationships between distinct subgroups. In this study, a contrastive self-supervised approach is used to develop a 'base' classification model trained on a large chest x-ray (CXR) dataset. The base model is fine-tuned on COVID-19 CXR data to predict image acquisition technology (computed radiography (CR) or digital radiography (DX) and patient sex (male (M) or female (F)). Decision region analysis shows that the model's image acquisition technology decision space is dominated by CR, regardless of the acquisition technology for the base images. Similarly, the Female class dominates the decision space. This study shows that decision region analysis has the potential to provide insights into subgroup diversity, sources of imbalances in the data, and model generalizability. © 2023 SPIE.

Technology transfer in e-communication for small and medium enterprises as promoters of innovation and competitiveness

Globalization, technological innovations, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have promoted disruptive changes in buying and selling negotiation models through e-communication. As a result, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been forced to adapt to online channels. Considering market relevance, this article describes the survey results with 11 SMEs regarding their adherence to digital media. Moreover, a case study of a selected company demonstrated barriers and propulsions to digital adequacy. The aim was to promote SMEs' competitiveness through technology transfer, focusing on e-communication and strategic digital planning. The results show that the insertion of technology through digital media depends on the knowledge of the tools used in this medium. Therefore, despite being ready to use, SMEs have not yet fully leveraged digital media. Organizational barriers, such as lack of time for those responsible, lack of training and knowledge, and strategic planning, were observed. However, environmental factors such as competitive pressure and innovation-related policies are positive for insertion. Thus, there is room for companies to invest in digital strategic planning focused on improving sales, customer relations, and competitiveness. © 2022 IEEE.

Tweets and PCR Test-based Analysis and Prediction of Social Response to a Future Pandemic. A Case Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected our society badly. It has been a subject of discussion since 2019 due to the increased prevalence of social media and its extensive use, and it has been a source of tension, fear, and disappointment for people all over the world. In this research, we took data from COVID-19 tweets from 10 different regions from July 25, 2020, to August 29, 2020. Using the well-known word embedding technique count-vectorizer, we experimented with different machine learning classifiers on data to train deep neural networks to improve the accuracy of predicted opinions with a low elapsed time. In addition, we collected PCR results from these regions for the same time interval. We compared the opinions in the form of positive or negative responses with the results of the PCR tests per million people. With the help of the results, We figured out a real-time international measure to detect these regions' behaviors for any future pandemic. If we know how a region thinks about an upcoming pandemic, then we can predict the region's real-time behavior for the particular pandemic. This would happen if we had past case studies to compare, like in our proposed research. Copyrights © 2023 The Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers.

OXFORD VACCINE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY TO BRAZIL: POSSIBLE BENEFITS AMONG THE ADVERSITIES DUE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objective: to understand the concatenation of acts related to technological innovation in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and its possible positive consequences for Brazil. Thus, the scenario resulting from the spread of the new coronavirus and vaccine development processes for its eradication will be analyzed, as well as the role of regulatory agencies, comparing pre-and post-pandemic procedures. Next, considerations will be brought about the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, the result of a partnership between the University of Oxford and the biopharmaceutical AstraZeneca, from the United Kingdom, with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, from Brazil, and the international technology transfer agreement signed between the institutions. Methodology: national and international data will be examined, as well as Brazilian regulations, collected from official electronic pages of health agencies and institutions responsible for developing the vaccine, in addition to using legal dogmatics, specifically doctrine, with a deductive approach. Results: it is observed that the acts practiced by the Brazilian parties appropriately considered the consequences of the decisions taken and advanced towards fulfilling their intrinsic value and achieving positive results for the country and its people, such as obtaining new technologies, future autonomy in production of vaccines and the resulting economic, social and public health gains from such achievements. Contributions: it should be noted that the work is original and contributes to mastering the transformations experienced worldwide, since, in the global search for a solution that can eradicate the disease, there has been a significant acceleration in national and international movements and cooperation, which are being of greater importance to contribute to the advancement of studies in order to stop the pandemic, also promoting human dignity and enabling social and economic development. © 2023, Centro Universitario Curitiba - UNICURITIBA. All rights reserved.

Utilization of Developed and Transferred Technologies of TVET by the Society in Addis Ababa for Combating COVID-19

Purpose -- In this research work, emphasis is made on collecting society response and acceptance levels of technologies developed and transferred by TVET Institutions. Critical information on the technical and performance parameters of transferred technologies was received from many respondents who were closely associated with society. Design/methodology/approach -- The methodology included questionnaires based on 5-point Likert scale questionnaire with an objective to ascertain the acceptance levels of technologies developed and transferred by TVET Institutions. The questionnaire contained queries addressing variety of issues, like type of technologies developed and developing, manpower participating in technology development, problems associated with technology development and transfer. The methodology followed was based on the analysis of the response received on technical questionnaire that was designed and responses received from the people located in Addis Ababa city Practical Implications: COVID-19 has been rising and mutating in many countries since it was discovered by the end of 2019. Many countries, including Ethiopia has seen the spike and fall of COVID-19 regularly. This non-linear behavior of COVID-19 infection rate curves around the world has prompted many educational institutions like TVET (Technical Vocational and Education Training) institutions located in Addis Ababa to develop and transfer technologies like hand washing machines, face masks, sanitizers and other anti-covid technologies. These equipment's posse's characteristic simple operational and quality properties like usability, functionality, efficiency, etc. This research will help to gather the technical information pertaining to design, quality and performance of Hand washing equipment's, face masks, Hand sanitizers and other equipment's from the society. Findings - Divergent and constructive opinions were received from the society to improve and meet the ever-rising demand for anti-COVID-19 technologies. The user response on developed and transferred technology prove the usefulness to combat COVID-19 spread but also finds many applications with in the life of the public. Cronbach alpha reliability test value of 0.73 was obtained after analysis of the response data. The results prove the excellence and consistency of the responses received on the development and transferred technologies. Overall, the research findings help to build and transfer most robust, quality and cost-effective technologies that is a need of the hour to fight against COVID-19 transmission. Originality/value -- COVID-19 has posed many challenges to public and has resulted in many deaths in Addis Ababa and entire Ethiopia. This work is unique and would make valuable contribution and gather information from the society on the design and technical aspects of developed and transferred technologies by TVET Institutions used for combating COVID-19. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results is the property of ResearchTrentz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

TVET Technology Development and Transfer Effort for Combating COVID-19 in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Purpose --The main purpose of this research work is to evaluate the efforts of TVET efforts' in developing and transferring useful technologies in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. TVET Institutions are engaged in developing and transferring technologies like hand washing devices, sanitizer sprayers, ventilators, beds, disinfection devices, sanitizers, antiviral finish fabrics, masks and hand-free devices that is used to prevent contamination of the human body while working with materials of different kinds. These equipment's posse's characteristic simple operational and quality properties like usability, functionality, efficiency, etc. The evaluation of these developed and transferred technologies help to prevent transmission of COVID-19 at community level. Design/methodology/approach -- The methodology used in this research was descriptive and purposive sampling type. The sample pool consisted of 5 TVET institutions. 40 respondents participated in this questionnaire study. The response was recorded through interview questionnaires based on the 5-point Likert Scale. Data analysis and Cronbach's alpha reliability tests were computed using SPSS and Minitab software. Practical Implications: The coronavirus is the deadly pandemic and highly contagious disease the human mankind has witnessed since 1918 flue pandemic. However, the coronavirus spread in Ethiopia at the community level has prompted many TVET (Technical Vocational and Education Training) institutions and universities to ramp up their efforts to develop and transfer technologies. Hence TVET organizations need therefore to develop and transfer technologies that are useful to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This research will help to gather the technical information pertaining to design, quality and performance of Hand washing equipment's, face masks, Hand sanitizers and other equipment's. Findings - The results prove TVET Institutions' efforts were successful in developing and transferring the technologies required to combating COVID-19. Cronbach's alpha (reliability test) value is 0.77 for the TVET colleges, indicating the data is excellent, unique and consistent. The position of the TVET institution is excellent as regards to the efforts put in developing and transferring technologies used for combating COVID-19 in and around Addis Ababa. The responses received were unique in nature. Originality/value -- COVID-19 has posed many challenges to public and has resulted in many deaths in Addis Ababa and entire Ethiopia. This work is unique and would make valuable contribution and gather information on the design and technical aspects of developed and transferred technologies by TVET Institutions used for combating COVID-19. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results is the property of ResearchTrentz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Bayh-Dole at 40: Accomplishments, Challenges, and Possible Reforms.

Over forty years have passed since the enactment of the Patent and Trademark Amendment (Bayh-Dole) Act, which authorized institutions to patent inventions arising from federally-funded research. Although some experts have heralded the Bayh-Dole Act as ushering in a new era of technological advances, others have been less sanguine about its impact. In recent years, the rising price of prescription drugs and the patenting of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines developed with substantial federal government support have rekindled the debate whether companies should receive more restricted rights to such products. In this article, we trace the history leading to the enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act and critically assess its strength and weaknesses as well as unresolved questions concerning its scope. Based on this analysis, we propose reforms to better align the Bayh-Dole Act with public values and health outcomes, including clarifying the scope of government use rights, making it easier to invoke march-in rights for failure to meet health and safety needs, increasing transparency in how patents are licensed, and testing different approaches to foster the development and application of inventions.

Bolstering Economic Growth in the Arab Region Through Commercialization of Research Outcomes

Despite the prevailing socio-political and diverse economic situation Arab countries have sustained over three long decades, the Arab region is currently experiencing pronounced economic growth largely attributed to the huge reservoirs of natural resources disbursed across the region. In contrast, many countries around the world, that would exhibit close resemblances to the economic dynamics of the Arab region, have had immense developments, crossing economic boundaries, and attaining competitive edges industrially and economically at the world stage. In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, Arab countries are left with little option but to delve into their own higher education research and development strategies to slowly unpack and replicate viable forms of technology into their local economies. In this chapter, we address current barriers, challenges and difficulties that have impacted severely the current adverse situations while exploring solutions and potential opportunities that are direly needed to transform the rather primitive, less competitive and outdated industrial paradigms into industrial pursuits that would leverage core industries to catalyze real economic growth. In so doing, we address industrial venues harnessing ongoing endeavors around the academic sector in ways that would veer academic outcomes in a direction that would invigorate serious world-class industrial formations. Along the way, we shall be addressing notions like innovation and entrepreneurship, intellectual property (IP) management, and start-up evolutions leading ultimately to spinoffs and thereon to small and medium enterprises (SMEs);the primary levers for job creation and real economic growth under any productively functional economy. Meanwhile, we explore the various contributions, if any, which have taken place in the Arab region as a result of ongoing endeavors of researchers to bolster economic growth and incentivize viable paths towards contriving real industrial models. This is considering a multitude of research pursuits around Arab universities and within indigenous research centers, a great many of which were receiving funding through local funding agencies or via international sponsors to carry the research wheel forward. Based on that, we draw conclusions, offer recommendations, and suggest policies that are commensurate with the United Nations 2030 Strategic Development Goals, which have become the benchmarks against which various world economies would fare. We also assess the impact of research endeavors, which have taken place in the Arab region, and whether they have, in fact, contributed to the evolution of livable industrial pursuits for the Arab world. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

A review on risk assessment of formulation development and technology transfer of COVID-19 vaccines / Una revisión sobre la evaluación de riesgos del desarrollo de formulaciones y la transferencia de tecnología de las vacunas COVID-19

Background: COVID-19 pandemic situation made the pharmaceutical companies develop the vaccine with different formulations in a short period. Objectives: The main objective of the review is to focus on different types of vaccine formulations available globally and the importance of technology transfer in vaccine development associated with potential risks. Results: Research on vaccine development led to various types of vaccines, such as Inactivated vaccines, Live Attenuated vaccines, Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccines, viral vector vaccines, and Protein Subunit Vaccines for COVID-19. But the process of vaccine development and technology transfer is lined with various risks and challenges. Through risk assessment, we found some major potential risks involved in product development; this leads to a smoother and more efficient method to develop safe vaccines available for public health. Conclusions: This review will explain the significance of technology collaboration for the faster development of various formulations of vaccines globally

Antecedentes: La situación de pandemia de COVID-19 hizo que las empresas farmacéuticas desarrollaran la vacuna con diferentes formulaciones en un corto período. Objetivos: El objetivo principal de la revisión es centrarse en los diferentes tipos de formulaciones de vacunas disponibles a nivel mundial y la importancia de la transferencia de tecnología en el desarrollo de vacunas asociado con los riesgos potenciales. Resultados: La investigación sobre el desarrollo de vacunas condujo al desarrollo de varios tipos de vacunas, como vacunas inactivadas, vacunas vivas atenuadas, vacunas de ácido ribonucleico (ARN) y ácido desoxirribonucleico (ADN), vacunas de vectores virales y vacunas de subunidades de proteínas para COVID-19. Pero el proceso de desarrollo de vacunas y transferencia de tecnología está lleno de varios riesgos y desafíos. A través de la evaluación de riesgos, encontramos algunos riesgos potenciales importantes involucrados en el desarrollo de productos, lo que conduce a un método más fluido y eficiente para desarrollar vacunas seguras disponibles para la salud pública. Conclusiones: Esta revisión dará una idea de la importancia de la colaboración tecnológica para el desarrollo más rápido de varias formulaciones de vacunas a nivel mundial

Analysis of the Use of Robots for the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article examines 152 reports the use of robots explicitly due to the COVID-19 pandemic reported in the science, trade, and press from 24 Jan 2021 to 23 Jan 2022 (Year 2) and compares with the previously published uses from 24 Jan 2020 to 23 Jan 2021 (Year 1). Of these 152 reports, 80 were new unique instances documented in 25 countries, bringing the total to 420 instances in 52 countries since 2020. The instances did not add new work domains or use cases, though they changed the relative ranking of three use cases. The most notable trend in Year was the shift from a) government or institutional use of robots to protect healthcare workers and the Public to b) personal and business use to enable the continuity of work and education. In Year 1, Public Safety, Clinical Care, and Continuity of Work and Education were the three highest work domains but in Year 2, Continuity of Work and Education had the highest number of instances. © 2022 IEEE.

Teacher Digital Literacy and Its Influence on Learning Sessions at the Initial Level in Schools in the Context of Covid-19

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of teachers' digital literacy on the development of learning sessions at the early education level in a public school in northern Lima (Peru) in the context of Covid-19. Using a qualitative case study approach, a semi-structured interview was applied to teachers with experience in teaching early childhood education. The results show that digital literacy influences the development and methodology of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning sessions, since it is known that infants are in the digital era where many of them know how to use a variety of tools and applications. Finally, digital resources are crucial in the performance of teachers and in the cognitive process of children. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

VYBRANÉ ASPEKTY TECHNOLOGICKÉHO TRANSFERU PŘI ŘEŠENÍ SITUACE COVID-19

Během vypuknuvší pandemie onemocnění Covid-19 se jasně ukázala klíčová role vědy a akademického výzkumu pro budoucnost naší společnosti. Vědeckovýzkumné kapacity se semkly a v rekordním čase vytvořily širokou plejádu nových technologií, které umožnily situaci dostat pod kontrolu. Jelikož bylo nutné tato řešení zároveň co nejrychleji zavést do praxe, prokázala se více než kdy dříve důležitost technologického transferu. Článek formou případové studie univerzitní spin-off společnosti GeneSpector s.r.o. zaměřené na vývoj a distribuci PCR testovacích kitů. Diskutuje aspekty i úskalí, se kterými se musí kanceláře technologického transferu potýkat. Zřetel je kladen především na komunikaci s vědci i zástupci soukromné sféry, ochranu duševního vlastnictví, konkurenceschopnost zaváděné technologie, administrativu a smluvní ošetření celého procesu i rozdělení následných výnosů. Klíčová slova: Technologický transfer, duševní vlastnictví, akademické technologie, spin-off společnosti, případová studie, Covid-19Alternate :During the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the key role of science and academic research for the future of our society became clear. Research capacities have come together and in a record time, have created a wide range of new technologies that have brought the situation under control. As it was necessary to put these solutions into practice as soon as possible, the importance of technology transfer proved itself more than ever. This article, in the form of a case study of the university spin-off company GeneSpector s.r.o. focused on the development and distribution of PCR testing kits, discusses aspects and difficulties that technology transfer offices have to deal with. The focus is mainly on communication with scientists and representatives of the private sector, protection of intellectual property, competitiveness of the technology in question, and administrative and contractual assurance of the entire process including the distribution of subsequent revenues. Keywords: Technology transfer, intellectual property, academic technologies, spin-off companies, case study, Covid-19

Multi-National Cyber Security Exercise, Case Flagship 2

Cyber security is not merely about securing devices and focusing on software and hardware. Staff members with skills and know-how are among the most valuable assets in the context of cyber security. Globally, there is a lack of competent cyber security experts available and cyber security skills should be educated more widely. One of the most effective practices for training cyber security experts is a cyber security exercise. During a cyber security exercise, the learning audience train their skills with a realistic scenario depicting a hectic and stressful cyber incident or cyber attack. In order to successfully implement a cyber security exercise, there must be sufficient technical infrastructure mimicking required systems and networks. The infrastructure should allow the use of realistic threat actors with realistic attack vectors and real malware without compromising any production environments. Facilities offering such infrastructure are widely known as the cyber ranges. There are two special requirements raised by modern cyber range exercises: (i) cyber range collaboration, including capabilities for sharing and pooling cyber range services, and (ii) on-line cyber security exercises without restrictions of being on-site on the exercise premises. The requirement of implementing on-line exercises has increased especially after the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we introduce Flagship 2, a multinational state-of-the-art on-line cyber security exercise based on cyber range federation. We analyse the technical implementation of the cyber range federation and the learning outcomes of the exercise event based on a participant survey and relevant theories. The analysed results are explained with identified future research topics. © 2022 ACM.

Impact of Remote Audit, Computer Literacy, and Audit Software Skill to Audit Quality during Pandemic of Covid-19

In order to face industrial revolution 4.0 auditors must start developing their skills. In the past, auditors have used remote audit only to reach remote places. However, currently Covid-19 comes and encourages even more the use of technology and provides an opportunity to rethink the way audits are conducted. In this study, researchers wanted to know how remote audit, computer literacy and audit software skill has affected audit quality. This research is quantitative in nature, by processing data using primary data obtained from distributing questionnaires to auditors who work at public accounting firms in Jabodetabek. Statistical analysis used multiple linear regression, previously carried out a feasibility test through validity, reliability and classical assumption tests. The results showed that the variables of remote audit, computer literacy and audit software skill had a significant effect on the audit quality. © 2022 ACM.

Empowering the Magersaren community: technology dissemination for ground coffee added value improvement

This paper is aimed to share the community service experiences held at Boro Sumbersari hamlet which is located at 98A UB forest plot. Boro Sumbersari hamlet is inhabited by Magersaren community. The Magersaren community are farmers and forest workers who depend on forest for their livelihoods. Magersaren has been practicing agroforestry for a long time. They grow Robusta and Arabica coffee among other forest plants. Currently coffee is a favorite beverage, the number of its consumers continues to increase. Many people are interested in the ground coffee beans made by Magersaren traditionally, but it has not been widely marketed. The purpose of this community service program is to generate an alternative source of Magersaren household income, through the added value improvement of local flavored ground coffee beans they have. The added value of magersaren's ground coffee beans can be increased through product development technologies such as attractive packaging techniques and the creation of new variants ground coffe beans by adding brown sugar and powdered ginger. The execution of community service activities that have been carried out consists of: (1)program socialization;(2)focus group discussion;(3)production, packaging and management training;(4)small-business starting up;(5)program evaluation. These community service activities are held during the social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This condition becomes an obstacle to the effectiveness of program implementation. The start-up small business needs to be continuously supported in order to survive through a critical period of business development, especially under economic pressure during the pandemic.

Investigating Technology Transfer Gaps Through Farmers Field School

Technology transfer is one of the core elements in a rapidly changing agricultural sector. However, the booming of agricultural innovation is not followed by the generation of methodological tools able to diffuse innovation in farmers and other stakeholders. For the last decades, Farmers Field School (FFS) approach is offering technology transfer and co-generation, infused by agricultural extension. Traditional FFS form is a learning by doing method and farmers are learning from other experienced farmers. Even though FFS has various forms which are trying to cover gaps between science and practice, there are still different methodological challenges in each FFS form. In this research, we propose a Hybrid FFS strategy, assembled by the strengths of various FFS forms and trying to close these gaps. We review and implement a meta-analysis of FFS forms, investigating these gaps. Afterwards, a comprehensive, holistic and dynamic conceptual and methodological model, derived from meta-analysis is proposed to cover the technology transfer methodological gaps. Our Hybrid FFS strategy highlight strategic questions which offer the appropriate background for establishing a strong educational strategy and overcome possible challenges. "Learning by doing” is supported from farmers to farmers as well as from experts to experts. Various stakeholders from value chain are promoted to use and be familiarized with new technologies, practical tools and the internet, as well as develop their managerial skills in value chain products. Modules cover the gaps of recent FFS approaches, by incorporating issues of sustainability and certification of value chain products, with business and entrepreneurship. Flexibility of a hybrid (virtual and physical) environment resolve complex situations (i.e. COVID-19). This methodology can be useful to policy makers managers or agricultural extension researchers, in order to construct, implement and evaluate an FFS agricultural program. Hybrid FFS strategy describes how agricultural education approaches of the past can create educational environments of the future and lead learning accelerators in agricultural sector. © 2022, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. All rights reserved.