In 2010, Gelsenkirchen began laying fiber optic cables. Since then, a number of smart projects have been launched in Gelsenkirchen, including sustainability, structural change, education and green city initiatives that have been taken up and integrated. In 2020, Gelsenkirchen has summarized the projects and fields of action under an integrated strategy of #networkedcity Gelsenkirchen. This article provides an overview about the development towards a smart city and the current focus areas for action. Gelsenkirchen is a german digital model municipality in the digital model region Emscher-Lippe. In the northern Ruhr region, the mining era finally ended in 2018.
To combat food scandals around the world, Walmart, the retail giant, is trying to ensure food security in its supply chain using blockchain technology. In 2016, the Food Safety Cooperation Center was established in Walmart Beijing and plans to invest $ 25 million by 2021 to improve global food security. Leveraging IBM's Hyperledger Fabric-based blockchain solution, Walmart has successfully implemented two pilot blockchain projects: pork from China and mango from America. With an on-farm approach, Walmart's blockchain solution reduces the time to trace the origin of the mango from 7 days to 2.2 seconds. This has enabled Walmart to promote more transparency across the food supply chain. IBM defines this as full end-to-end traceability. This research was conducted to provide opportunities to use blockchain solutions in the global food ecosystem to implement blockchain technology in the food supply chain, increase food security and reduce food waste.
In dieser Studie wird die Reaktion der liechtensteinischen Guterexporte auf Schwankungen der globalen Konjunktur im Vergleich zur Schweiz untersucht. Dabei werden nicht nur aggregierte Effekte auf den Gesamtexport evaluiert, sondern auch die Reaktion einzelner Sektoren und Guterkategorien. In Liechtenstein kann insgesamt eine hohere Sensitivitat der Guterexporte gegenuber globalen Konjunkturschwankungen beobachtet werden als in der Schweiz. Die starksten Effekte haben globale Konjunkturschwankungen dabei auf den Maschinenbausektor. Gleichzeitig kann festgestellt werden, dass vor allem der Export von Investitionsgutern betroffen ist.
Die Hauptexkursion verfolgte das ubergeordnete Ziel, neben physiologischen, okologischen, kulturellen und sozialen insbesondere raumwirtschaftliche Muster und Strukturen Ugandas und Ruandas (dabei insbesondere sowohl der Hauptstadtregionen bzw. der Hauptstadtagglomerationen rund um Kampala (Uganda) und Kigali (Ruanda) als auch der Peripherien abseits dieser Orte) auf zahlreichen Masstabsebenen aufzuzeigen, zu beschreiben, zu erklaren und im besten Falle bewerten zu konnen.
Disclaimer: The views appeared in the works are of the authors only. In no way it reflects the institutions in which they belong to.
Solar modules are increasingly deployed at the electricity customers’ premises. Once these customers become power generators (“prosumers”), there is a change in the customers’ behavior regarding the consumption of electricity. This paper analyses the behavioral patterns of these prosumers based on field studies that have been undertaken in different countries. As prosumers obtain a higher transparency than consumers, they try to shift their consumption into those hours, when there is higher solar irradiation. Taxation, grid fee structures and affiliate marketing impact on the behavioral patterns as well. This might lead to an increase of electricity consumption and thus reducing the electricity that can be fed in into the grid. Understanding this behavior is crucial for designing policies to increase the solar generation, as decentralized solar generation could play an important role in the future energy mix.
Dieser Forschungsbericht beschreibt Einstellungen, Praferenzen und Nutzungsverhalten der Bevolkerung bezuglich Social Media Seiten von Spitalern. Dazu werden die Ergebnisse einer quantitativen Erhebung (N=1'547) in der DACH-Region (Deutschland, Osterreich, Schweiz) prasentiert und erlautert.
Der vorliegende «Wachstumsmonitor 2020» bundelt 72 Indikatoren, welche die langfristige Wachstumsentwicklung der liechtensteinischen Volkswirtschaft aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln abbilden. Nachdem das Wirtschaftswachstum infolge der Finanzkrise 2008/09 in vielen Bereichen zuruckging, wies Liechtenstein in den vergangenen Jahren wieder eine durchaus positive Wachstumsentwicklung auf. Auch das Niveau verschiedener Wohlstandsgrossen ist in Liechtenstein bekanntlich sehr hoch und in vielen Bereichen an der weltweiten Spitze. Gleichwohl macht die Bewertung einiger Indikatoren ersichtlich, dass Liechtensteins Wirtschaftswachstum durchaus Herausforderungen gegenubersteht. Strukturelle Veranderungen scheinen zu einer Abflachung des Wirtschaftswachstums in den entwickelten Volkswirtschaften zu fuhren. Einerseits spiegeln sich diese Veranderungen, beispielsweise der demografische Wandel, auch in Liechtenstein wider. Anderseits betreffen die internationalen Wachstumsaussichten Liechtensteins Wirtschaft im Sinne der langfristigen externen Nachfrage und des monetaren Umfelds, das entsprechend den Deflationstendenzen in Verbindung mit fehlendem geldpolitischem Spielraum Risiken birgt. Neben den makrookonomischen Herausforderungen bestehen Risiken in Hinblick auf die Nachhaltigkeit des Wirtschaftswachstums. Das hohe Wohlstandsniveau in Liechtenstein geht gegenwartig mit erheblichen Kosten fur die Umwelt und die langfristige Tragfahigkeit einher.
A super tropical cyclone named struck the Bangladesh coast on 22 May 2020, which caused widespread damage to rice and non-rice crops across 26 Districts. This study aims to (i) delineate the impact of Amphan on farming and livelihoods of coastal households; (ii) identify the farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to the cyclone; and (iii) delineate farmers’ suggestions for increasing crops production and adaptive capacity. Fourteen villages of seven Upazilas of four most Amphan affected districts such as Satkhira, Khulna, Bagherhat and Patuakhali were selected for the study. Both the qualitative and quantitative data were collected through online interviews from 84 knowledgeable farmers and 25 expert personnel of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The results show that most boro rice in the coastal area escaped from the adverse consequences of Amphan as over 95% of total the crop of the region was harvested before struck the cyclone. Besides, The Aus area decreased in the range between 38-60% of the target area due mainly to (i) damage seedling in the nursery and (ii) stagnant water in the fields. Besides, the yield of the rice crop might lower in the range between 7-15% compared to last year Aus yield because of (i) delay transplanting due to cyclone and (ii) inadequate fertilizer application and weeding due to lack of money. Besides, T. Aman yield may decrease in the range between 10 – 18% as compared to the normal season because of (i) delay transplanting due to delay managing cash for hired in power tractor and labour, (ii) apply less fertilizers due to decrease income, and (iii) increase area of local cultivars as it needs less fertilizers. The major coping strategies of the households to smoothen consumption included (i) used food stocked at home, (ii) received reliefs in kinds, (iii) sold livestock and trees, (iv) caught wild fish from water-bodies, (v) temporary migrated for off/nonfarm works. Most households had access to foods because of the government’s relief programs. The farming adaptation strategies included (i) raised Aus seedling of local and modern cultivars (ii) planted vegetables in the home-yard and dike of gher, and (iii) stocked shrimp and prawn post-larvae in the gher. Famers ability to invest in the farm decreased substantially due to (i) loss of farm income (BDT 50,000-130,000 per household) because of damage of crops and gone out shrimp and fish from ghers, and (ii) decreased off/non-farm incomes (BDT 18,000-26,000 per household) due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The government helped farmers by reducing T. Aman rice seed prices (BDT 10/kg). Due to lack of resources, DAE provided limited material supports to Amphan affected farmers in the Aman rice. Farmers and experts suggested following interventions to minimize the impact of Amphan cyclone to farmers: (i) ensuring easy access to bank credit at a low-interest rate, (ii) providing inputs and cash supports to small and marginal farmers (iii) reduced fertilizer price by 50% for Amphan affected areas to ensure a better harvest of T. Aman. Furthermore, farmers suggested for (i) re-excavation of the canals for better access to fresh-water for irrigation, (ii) raising 2-3 feet elevation of the Embankments, (iii) placing the RCC block on the Embankment for protecting the breakage by the tidal surge, (iv) repairing the old sluice gates and set some new sluice gates for protecting salinity intrusion and drainage out stagnant water, and (v) ensuring access to market and fair price of rice and non-rice crops, shrimp and fish for sustainable farm production.
Disclaimer: The views appeared in the works are of the authors only. In no way it reflects the institutions in which they belong to.
Die vorliegende quantitative Studie widmet sich dem Thema Open-Science-Praktiken bei Wirtschaftsforschenden an deutschen Hochschulen. Befragt wurden insgesamt 300 Wissenschaftler*innen aus den Fachern Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Volkswirtschaftslehre, Wirtschaftsinformatik, Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen und anderen wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fachern an Universitaten, an staatlichen Fachhochschulen bzw. Hochschulen fur Angewandte Wissenschaften, an Privaten (Fach-)Hochschulen und sonstigen Hochschulen wie Fernhochschulen oder Dualen Hochschulen. Erfasst wurden Informationen zu Bekanntheit, Einstellung, Anwendung, Barrieren, Anreizen sowie zum Unterstutzungsbedarf. In den Wirtschaftswissenschaften gibt es eine breite Zustimmung zu den Prinzipien von Open Science. Die Umsetzung von Open Science ist in der Breite jedoch noch ausbaufahig und es gibt einen hohen Unterstutzungsbedarf hinsichtlich der Open-Science-Praktiken.
Purpose: This paper examines the economics of cashew nut processing in Ondo state using JOF Ideal Family Farms Limited, Owo as a case study. It specifically examined the socio-economic characteristics of the workers of the company, the by-products derived from cashew nuts processing and the costs and returns associated with cashew nut processing and the major constraints associated with the processing of cashew nuts in the company. Research design, data and methodology: Purposive sampling was used to select JOF Ideal Family Farms Limited, Owo as the case study being the only cashew nut processing company in the state. Descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, median, frequency distribution, the use of tables etc. were employed to know the socio-economic characteristics of workers of the company, the byproducts derived from processed cashew nuts and the problems associated with cashew nut processing. The cost and returns of the cashew nut processing were determined using the Gross margin analysis. Results: Findings revealed that 16.7% of the workers were within ages 21 and 30 years while 83.3% of them were between 31 and 40 years. 11.1% of the workers are skilled while 88.9% of them are unskilled. The Gross margin analysis showed that the company cashew nut processing is profitable with Margin of ₦ 29,192,000 and ₦ 60,870,000 in year 2011 and 2012 respectively. Conclusion: Based on findings from the study, Cashew nut processing is profitable in the study area. In spite of the fact that cashew nut processing has numerous potentials to create employment, especially for women, its level of production is still low. To mention few, the study recommended that more farmers especially the youths should engage in cashew farming, this will increase the availability of cashew nuts for the processing industries. Government should provide adequate mechanization and incentive to reduce drudgery of cashew nut processing in the state.
Einige Stadte im Ruhrgebiet haben die vielfaltigen Herausforderungen im Umwelt-, Klima-, Mobilitats-, Wirtschafts- und Bildungsbereich mit ganzheitlichen Strategien, die z.T. an den Nachhaltigkeitszielen der UN orientiert sind angegangen. Es werden einige ausgewahlte Stadte in ihren Zielsetzungen, organisatorischen Strukturen und Handlungsfeldern betrachtet und erfolgreiche Faktoren herausgestellt.
This research report describes the use of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, XING, YouTube) by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland. For this purpose, rates of own profiles in platforms (social media adoption) and generated reach (follower numbers) were systematically collected and evaluated for a representative sample of SMEs (N=976) in Switzerland.
FinTech offers a new way to mobilize resources for all kinds of uses – including for funding sustainable development. Roughly 3%-13% of funding required for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)– or around $50 billion to $125 billion -- could come from a ‘FinTech Dividend.’ Such a dividend derives from the use of FinTech platforms to increase savings and investment (overall), channel resources into publicly funded as well as privately-funded SDG-related activities and policies, and encourage the use of internet platforms, which deliver novel goods and services that relate to the seventeen SDGs. Less than half of UN members have FinTech laws and policies – making FinTech a ripe area for right-regulating. Unfortunately, in areas like institutional reform – no amount of money can guarantee achieving the SDGs, without wider legal and administrative reforms. And no clear data about the exact policies needed to help grow an economy (or pay for SDG spending) serve as any guide. With total investment in FinTech stuck at around $150 billion to $200 billion – the hoped for deluge of FinTech dollars on SDG activities may remain a trickle for years to come.
Disclaimer: The views appeared in the works are of the authors only. In no way it reflects the institutions in which they belong to.
During countrywide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic wage workers from different parts of the country were encouraged to move to haor areas for harvesting Boro paddy amid risk of community transmission of the virus in late April to early May 2020. This study attempted to delineate the socioeconomic and health risk management status of migrant harvest labour and to assess the yield and prices of Boro paddy in three haor districts of Kishoreganj, Netrakona and Sunamganj. A quick and clean questionnaire survey was conducted using mobile phones to collect first hand data from 90 labour leaders and 90 Boro farmers during 4th week of April – 1st week of May 2020. Both tabular and inferential analyses were carried out in the study. Ministry of Agriculture very promptly mobilized the local administration, law enforcement agencies and health department with support from the Dept. of Agricultural Extension to make special arrangements for speedy movement of migrant labour to haor areas for harvesting Boro paddy. Trucks, engine boats and pickup vans were common transports for migrant labour. The wage workers migrated mainly from Pabna, Tangail, Sirajganj, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Manikganj and non-haor areas of Sunamganj. Most wage workers were 30 – 40 years old. The availability of migrant harvest labour was 20% higher in Sunamganj and 2% higher in Kishoreganj in the current year, compared to last year. However, their availability in Netrakona was 6% lower this year than the last year. Overall, the participation of migrant labour in harvesting Boro paddy in the last year (2019) was 74% – 80%, but it decreased to 60%– 69% this year (2020). This was due to the higher participation in harvesting of Boro paddy by local workers many of whom were actually returnees from cities due to Corona shutdown. The contributions of combine harvesters and reapers were 6%, 7% and 9% in Sunamganj, Kishoreganj and Netrakona, respectively. The cost of harvesting Boro rice by combine harvesters and reapers including the cost of carrying by labour and threshing by power thrashers was 31% – 39% lower than the cost of manual harvesting, carrying and threshing. The health risk management practices of migrant labourers included maintaining social distance from (i) dwellers of in-migration village and from each other while harvesting rice in the fields. Besides, the labourers wore masks while travelling by vehicles, walking out to fields for harvesting rice and going to market places for buying essentials. However, they could not comply social distancing properly in their places of accommodation. Besides, they could not wear masks always while harvesting rice because of hot humid weather and they could not wash hands frequently because of the unavailability of water in the fields. The average yields of wet paddy were 54 – 60 mounds/acre for BRRI dhan28, 64 – 67 mounds/acre for BRRI dhan29, and 70 – 72 mounds/acre for hybrids. These yields were 69% – 82%, 20% – 33% and 20% – 30% higher in 2020 than in 2019, respectively, due to very favourable weather conditions. Similarly, the average market price of wet Boro paddy was BDT 706 – 783/mound in April 2020, which was 20%-30% higher than in April 2019. However, the current price of Boro paddy was 20% – 30% lower than the farmers’ expected price this year. Thus, the procurement of Boro paddy at the declared minimum price of BDT 26/kg needs to be implemented at full scale during the harvesting period so that farmers’ incentives to produce rice is sustained. In future, more harvesting machines will be required in haor areas for timely harvesting of Boro paddy.
The aim of this workshop was to ask potential end-users of the citizens’ information pack on legal and ethical issues around ICTs (i.e. citizens and citizens’ groups) the following questions: What is your knowledge of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and what actions have you taken in response to these regulations? What challenges are you experiencing in ensuring the protection and security of your project data, and compliance with the GDPR, within existing data management processes/systems? What information/tools/resources do you need to overcome these challenges? What are the best formats/channels for receiving, sharing and acting upon this information? What is the most appropriate structure/format(s) for the citizens’ information pack?
A review of online news items shows that the emergence of the COVID – 19 pandemic has driven firms to rethink strategies by re-fitting their operations to ensure survival and business sustainability whilst they support the global need to contain the pandemic. Firm resources are thus moved from current industry operations to ensure that they produce products required in a Covid-19 world and in similar worlds in the future. This article argues ‘opportunistic product’ although now part of the organisation's product mix is distinct and novel from existing products in the firm’s portfolio and must be given academic discourse in its marketing and management during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. These goods or services developed on the back of a special phenomenon especially in an emergency or disaster such as Covid-19 to solve immediate needs of society, require firms to shift operational resources; financial, human and operational from their normal production lines into new industries. The product development process is fast-track, the product characteristics are unique and the motives differ from the normal firm products, Therefore, managers must know the strategic motives behind developing such products, learn how to manage, and sustain such products into the future. This paper provides an initial discussion aimed at attracting contributions across academia and industry to understand the motives of the producers, the characteristics, the management, and the behavioural aspects of these emerging products and industry practice in order since they are distinct to inform future directions for opportunistic products as a novel concept.
The purpose of the research was the exploration of macroeconomic determinants of economic growth in Sierra Leone for the period, 1980- 2018, and whether there exist an association between the determinants and economic growth is long-term and short-term. The research methodology was quantitative and it was limited to eight mostly macro-fiscal variables and the empirical model employed was the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. The findings revealed foreign direct investment was positive in both the short and long run but only statistically significant at the 10% level in the short-run dynamic model. Gross capital formation and population growth were also positive and statistically significant in determining RGDP growth in both the static long-run and dynamic short-run models. Openness to trade has a negative and significant impact on RGDP growth in the short run but insignificant in the long run. On the other hand, real exchange fluctuations, domestic credit rate, private remittances are negative and statistically significant towards RGDP growth. The dummy variable war is significant in both long and short-run but exerted no negative impact on RGDP. The other dummy variable Ebola had the expected negative sign both in the long run and short-run but it is also statistically insignificant. Also, applying the Bounds test Cointegration model, the findings revealed a statistically significant long-run association between economic growth and the specified determinants (F-statistics value= 15.18749, and an upper bound value or I(1) value = 2.08). Furthermore, the error correction model applied to determine the short-run deviation from the long-run had the expected sign, and was statistically insignificant (ECM = -0.131559), indicating convergence towards equilibrium occurred at the rate of 13% in the period under review. However, the research was limited to predominantly macro-fiscal variables, future research must also look at the impact of monetary variables.
