The rapid advancement of financial technologies has transformed the investment landscape, particularly through the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, and predictive analytics. This study examines the impact of these technological factors on the investment decision-making of retail investors. A quantitative research design was employed, and primary data were collected from 141 retail investors participating in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and predictive analytics have a significant positive impact on investment decision-making, with predictive analytics demonstrating the strongest influence. Additionally, financial literacy was found to significantly moderate the relationship between technological factors and investment decision-making, highlighting the importance of investor capability in leveraging advanced tools. The study contributes to the literature by integrating perspectives from FinTech and behavioral finance and provides practical implications for financial institutions, policymakers, and investors in enhancing technology-driven investment decisions.
Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), particularly mutual funds, have emerged as a critical stabilizing force in Indian stock markets, often acting as a counter-cyclical shield against volatile Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflows. Driven by high Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) inflows, DIIs provide structural, long-term liquidity, absorbing selling pressure during foreign sell-offs to reduce market volatility.
This paper investigates how social media influencer marketing alters the buying behavior of Generation Z (born 1997–2012) within emerging economies. Grounded in Source Credibility Theory and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study analyzes how influencer traits like perceived authenticity, expertise, and trustworthiness translate into digital peer pressure and conversion. Emerging economies exhibit high mobile internet penetration paired with distinct socioeconomic dynamics, making them unique ecosystems for social commerce. By examining consumer trends across markets like India, Indonesia, and Nigeria, this paper shows that Gen Z rejects traditional top-down corporate advertisements. Instead, they rely on micro- and nano-influencers who operate as proxy peers. The findings reveal that trust acts as the primary link between content exposure and purchase execution, while regional challenges such as digital infrastructure variance and localized platform algorithms heavily shape marketing outcomes.
The increasing number and complexity of first information reports (firs) have made manual legal analysis time-consuming and error-prone. Although firs are essential to criminal investigations, their unstructured format and varied language often make legal interpretation difficult. This paper introduces jurismate, an ai-based system that helps automate the analysis of firs. Jurismate uses the gemini 1.5 language model to extract and structure important details from fir documents and applies a bart-based zero-shot classification method to determine whether an fir is lawful, unlawful, or unclear without requiring labeled data. To support legal research, the system uses semantic embeddings stored in pgvector to retrieve relevant laws and past cases based on similarity. Experimental results show that jurismate improves efficiency, ensures consistent analysis, and provides better support for legal decision-making.
The increasing popularity of bamboo, as an eco-friendly, visually attractive and adaptable alternative to construction materials is a key focus of this study. The study points out the structural as well as environmental advantages of bamboo in architecture and design. The research explores the potential of bamboos in achieving sustainable and aesthetically pleasing innovations that prioritize functionality and eco consciousness. This study employs a blend of techniques including an examination of published works with real life examples of contemporary buildings utilizing bamboo as a main construction material. The case study analysis illustrates how bamboo can flexibly fit into designs. It highlights the eco-friendly and aesthetic-appealing features of bamboo that enhance users’ interactions and make bamboo as an important alternative to other building materials. Bamboo’s adaptability and versatility offer great opportunities in architecture and design field. However, its acceptance remains limited due to the lack of standard treatment methods and building regulations. The study suggests the need, for the understanding and exploring creativity in bamboo building methods and the policies to encourage its use in construction practices.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science (DS) are revolutionizing agriculture by enabling precision farming, predictive analytics, and resource optimization to address food security amid climate challenges and population growth. This review paper explores recent trends (2023–2026) in smart and sustainable agriculture, focusing on AI applications in crop monitoring, yield prediction, pest detection, smart irrigation, and climate-resilient decision support. Key technologies—machine learning (e.g., CNNs, RNNs), computer vision, IoT integration, drones, and satellite imagery—are analyzed through a systematic literature review of 50+ recent papers, highlighting their impact on yield improvement (up to 20–30%), resource savings (e.g., 90% less herbicides), and sustainability metrics like reduced emissions and water use. Case studies demonstrate real-world deployments, such as AI-driven yield mapping and autonomous weeding. Challenges including data scarcity, high costs for smallholders, model interpretability, and ethical concerns are discussed, alongside future directions like multimodal AI, edge computing, and federated learning for equitable access. By synthesizing these advancements, this paper underscores AI's pivotal role in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) through data-driven, resilient farming systems.
Digital transformation has become a critical imperative for enterprises across the globe, fundamentally altering how businesses operate and compete. This research undertakes an analytical study within the Syrian context to develop a strategic roadmap for accelerating digital transformation through the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and data-driven solutions. The Syrian context presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities, characterized by infrastructural limitations, economic constraints, and specific market dynamics. This study aims to provide practical guidance for businesses navigating these complexities, enabling them to leverage digital technologies effectively and achieve sustainable growth. The research begins by examining the current state of digital transformation in Syria, identifying key drivers, challenges, and opportunities specific to the region. It examines the potential of AI to automate processes, enhance decision-making, and deliver personalised customer experiences. Cloud computing is explored as a means to improve scalability, reduce costs, and enable access to advanced digital tools. Data-driven solutions are analyzed for their ability to provide valuable insights, optimize operations, and drive innovation. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Qualitative data is gathered through in-depth interviews with business leaders, technology experts, and policymakers to understand their perspectives on digital transformation. Quantitative data is collected through surveys and statistical analysis to measure the adoption rate of digital technologies, assess their impact on business performance, and identify the main barriers to digital transformation. The findings of this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the strategic considerations for digital transformation in emerging markets, providing a valuable resource for enterprises, policymakers, and researchers.
This study investigates the impact of personal loans on the livelihoods of civil servants in Munali Constituency, Lusaka, Zambia, within the broader context of increasing reliance on payroll-based lending in developing economies. Despite improved access to credit, concerns regarding over-indebtedness, reduced disposable income, and declining financial well-being persist. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 220 civil servants across key public service sectors and analysed using descriptive statistics, regression modelling, and the Relative Importance Index (RII). The findings demonstrate that personal loans significantly influence livelihoods in both positive and negative ways. While loans facilitate access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and housing, they simultaneously contribute to financial strain through high repayment obligations and multiple borrowing cycles. Regression results reveal that loan size and loan multiplicity negatively affect livelihood outcomes, whereas financial literacy and flexible repayment structures improve financial well-being. The study contributes to the financial capability and development finance literature by providing empirical evidence from a Zambian context, where such studies remain limited. The study recommends targeted financial literacy interventions, regulatory reforms in payroll lending, and the redesign of loan products to align with borrower repayment capacity. These findings have important implications for policymakers, financial institutions, and public sector employers seeking to promote sustainable financial inclusion.
Background: Despite substantial infrastructure investment in Oman, rigorous patient-centred comparative evidence on healthcare service quality across public and private sectors at the governorate level remains limited. Objective: To evaluate and compare perceived healthcare service quality in public and private healthcare facilities in South Al Batinah Governorate, Oman, using the SERVQUAL framework (N = 200). Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey of 200 adult patients (100 per sector) was conducted. Gap scores (Perception − Expectation) were computed across the five SERVQUAL dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. One-sample t-tests assessed whether gap scores differed from zero within each sector. Welch’s independent-samples t-tests and two-way ANOVA examined sectoral and dimensional effects. Results: Public hospital patients reported significant negative gap scores across all five dimensions: Tangibles (M = −0.258, p = .008), Reliability (M = −0.367, p < .001), Responsiveness (M = −0.635, p < .001), Assurance (M = −0.220, p = .027) and Empathy (M = −0.255, p = .024). Private hospital patients showed significant negative gaps only in Tangibles (M = −0.287, p < .001); gaps in Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy were non-significant, indicating expectations are broadly met in service-delivery processes. Welch’s t-tests confirmed significant public–private differences in Reliability (t(197.4) = −2.790, p = .006, d = 0.395) and Responsiveness (t(194.8) = −3.593, p < .001, d = 0.508). Two-way ANOVA confirmed a significant main effect for sector (F(1, 990) = 19.123, p < .001, η² = .019) and dimension (F(4, 990) = 2.462, p = .044, η² = .010). Conclusion: Private facilities substantially outperform public facilities in Reliability and Responsiveness — the two dimensions most strongly linked to patient satisfaction. The service quality gap is a process gap, not a facilities gap. Public providers in South Al Batinah must urgently prioritise process-level reforms aligned with Oman Vision 2040.
University-led innovation ecosystems have emerged as critical drivers of economic development, technological advancement, and entrepreneurial capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, the governance models, institutional frameworks, and technology transfer mechanisms that enable these ecosystems remain underexplored and inadequately documented. This comprehensive literature review synthesizes evidence from 60 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2026 to examine governance frameworks, technology transfer mechanisms, university-industry linkages, and innovation infrastructure across SSA universities. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, this systematic review identified 574 records from seven database searches across SciSpace, Google Scholar and PubMed. After removing 110 duplicates, 464 unique records underwent abstract screening using seven criteria with a threshold score of ≥4.0, resulting in 61 papers being assessed in full-text. Full-text screening with a threshold of ≥4.5 yielded 56 papers for qualitative synthesis, representing diverse geographic contexts, including South Africa (n=16), Nigeria (n=10), Kenya (n=7), Rwanda (n=3), Ghana (n=4), and other SSA countries. Key findings reveal that successful university-led innovation ecosystems in SSA are characterised by multi-stakeholder collaboration frameworks (particularly the Triple Helix model), formalised technology transfer structures including Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), dedicated innovation infrastructure such as science parks and incubators, and adaptive governance mechanisms responsive to local contexts. However, persistent challenges include limited funding, weak intellectual property frameworks, inadequate policy support, insufficient industry engagement, and capacity constraints. Emerging opportunities include digital platforms, regional collaboration networks, and progressive policy reforms. This review identifies four dominant governance models: (1) Triple Helix framework emphasising university-industry-government collaboration; (2) Entrepreneurial university models with embedded commercialisation functions; (3) Technology Transfer Office-centred approaches; and (4) Hybrid governance structures combining multiple stakeholder engagement mechanisms. These findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, university administrators, and development practitioners seeking to strengthen innovation ecosystems in resource-constrained environments.
As we know that mobile payment services has gained a significant importance in this world. Whether it is tier one city or any town or village, mobile payment services is proving out to be a useful solution for everyone, be it a businessman or a consumer, mobile payment services (MPS) is standing out to be a convenient option for both. It is not just making our life easy but has been equally contributing towards financial inclusion on a large scale. And mobile payment services has gained importance post COVID 19 significantly, so this research article has chosen the time period of post the pandemic. Hence, this study has conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to study the determinants of intention to use mobile payment services (MPS), where the construct “intention to use” has been broken into three parts: intention to use MPS, continuance intention to use MPS and adoption intention of MPS. Using PRISMA technique and choosing a timeframe of year 2020 to 2026, systematic review has been done. It has identified the research gap by finding out the key factors behind the usage of the mobile payment system. Significant determinants of usage intention of mobile payment services have been discussed in this paper. Future researchers may conduct location specific studies. Findings of the study can help the providers of mobile payment services to develop their applications constructively.
The primary purpose is to trace the progression of scholarly research on cryptocurrency taxation, uncovering prevailing patterns, influential contributors, yearly scientific output and citations, most relevant sources, thematic analysis and cooccurrence networks from 2010 to 2025. Leveraging a systematic search on Scopus, our final dataset comprises 115 unique documents, with the majority of publications being highly recent (average age of 2.95 years) and exhibiting a robust annual growth rate of 18.65%. The analysis reveals that the field is highly collaborative (average of 2.7 co-authors per paper) and gaining significant scholarly attention, as evidenced by a promising average of 9.548 citations per document. The thematic structure of the literature, mapped through keyword co-occurrence and strategic diagrams, identifies "cryptocurrency," "blockchain," and "bitcoin" as the core, most central themes. The research is highly multidisciplinary, with a strong focus on regulatory, legal, and financial challenges surrounding taxation, anti-money laundering, and the classification of digital assets. While a dominant research source exists, the high dispersion of publications across 85 distinct sources suggests a fragmented but rapidly maturing field.
Co-branding has emerged as an effective marketing strategy in the rapidly growing e commerce environment. It involves the collaboration of two or more brands to create greater value for customers and improve market performance. This study focuses on analyzing the impact of co-branding strategies on consumer perception and business performance in online selling platforms. The main objective of the study is to understand how co-branding influences consumer trust, brand awareness, purchase intention, and overall perception towards products and services offered through online marketplaces. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to consumers who frequently use online selling platforms. The collected data was analyzed using statistical tools such as simple percentage analysis, Likert scale technique, and chi-square test to identify the relationship between different variables. The findings of the study indicate that co-branding strategies have a positive impact on consumer perception by improving brand credibility, increasing awareness, and encouraging consumers to make purchasing decisions. In addition, effective co-branding partnerships help businesses strengthen their brand image, attract more customers, and improve overall business performance in the competitive online market. The study concludes that successful co-branding strategies can significantly influence consumer perception and contribute to better business outcomes when implemented with proper brand compatibility, marketing strategies, and customer-oriented services.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in assistive technologies, significantly enhancing accessibility, autonomy, and quality of life for individuals with disabilities. AI-powered systems such as wearable navigation devices, speech recognition tools, smart prosthetics, and intelligent monitoring systems offer substantial benefits for visually impaired and differently-abled users. However, these advancements also introduce ethical concerns including privacy risks, algorithmic bias, transparency limitations, and accountability challenges. Practical barriers such as affordability, infrastructure limitations, and accessibility disparities further affect widespread implementation, particularly in developing nations like India. This conceptual paper critically examines the ethical and practical implications of AI in assistive technologies and emphasizes the importance of inclusive design, equitable deployment, and transparent governance frameworks. The study contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable and socially responsible AI integration.
The rapid increase in cyber threats against removable storage devices and network infrastructures has highlighted the limitations of traditional security solutions, including rule-based firewalls and signature-based antivirus software. Today, cyber attacks often use usb devices as vectors for malicious attacks and network-based attacks, including port scanning and flooding attacks. To address these issues, this paper proposes a new intrusion detection and prevention framework called sentinelguard, which is based on a hybrid approach combining endpoint security and network security under a software-defined model. The proposed system integrates machine learning-based usb malware detection and real-time network intrusion detection to detect and mitigate security threats. The detection of malicious files in the usb device is done using the gaussian naïve bayes classifier, trained using the clamp dataset, which can detect malicious executable files in the usb device. For real-time intrusion detection, the system can inspect tcp packets using the scapy library and analyze the source ip, destination port, and tcp flags to detect malicious activities such as port scanning and syn flood attacks. Once the malicious activities are detected, the system can enforce prevention policies by blocking the attacker’s ip addresses using firewall commands in the operating system. All the malicious activities detected by the system are stored in a mysql database, and the real-time visualization is done using a web-based interface built using the flask framework. The experimental validation proves that the proposed sentinelguard is able to detect and prevent both usb-based and network-based attacks while providing central monitoring and automated response mechanisms. The proposed framework provides a scalable and lightweight cybersecurity solution that can be used in research and enterprise networks.
This study examines the critical role of financial inclusion in enhancing the economic empowerment of individuals with physical disabilities, a group often marginalized due to systemic barriers within financial ecosystems. While financial inclusion is widely recognized for advancing access to services and fostering socio-economic agency, the specific challenges faced by physically disabled individuals, such as mobility limitations, social stigma, inadequate policy support and inaccessible infrastructure remain underexplored in empirical research. Drawing on a survey of 519 respondents, the study reveals that access to financial services, institutional mechanisms and technology support are essential drivers of financial inclusion, while financial literacy alone does not significantly impact inclusion without corresponding infrastructural support. Structural model findings further confirm that financial inclusion positively influences economic empowerment and physical disability features of the person itself moderates the relationship between financial inclusion and economic empowerment, suggesting its potential as a transformative tool for reducing socio-economic disparities. The study advocates for comprehensive, inclusive policy interventions that integrate accessible service delivery, digital infrastructure and institutional reform alongside financial education to promote financial equity. The research findings enhance the discussion about inclusive development by demonstrating how specific financial approaches can reduce institutional barriers to enable physical disability empowerment.
Traditional Wide Area Network (WAN) architectures, largely dependent on static routing and MPLS links, are increasingly unable to meet the performance and flexibility demands of modern cloud-based and real-time applications. These limitations often result in inefficient bandwidth utilization, poor application performance, and limited adaptability to changing network conditions. Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) addresses these challenges by enabling centralized control and dynamic traffic management. This paper presents the implementation of an SD-WAN architecture with intelligent traffic steering and load balancing based on Service Level Agreement (SLA) metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. The proposed system is developed in a simulated environment using a FortiGate device with multiple WAN links. Real-time monitoring of link performance allows dynamic path selection to ensure optimal traffic flow. The results demonstrate improved bandwidth utilization, reduced latency, and seamless failover during link failures. The study highlights the effectiveness of SLA-driven decision-making in enhancing network performance and reliability, establishing SD-WAN as a practical and efficient solution for modern enterprise networking.
Driven by the dual demands of advancing the national cyber power strategy and cultivating new engineering cyber security talents, practical teaching of cyber security in universities must break the bottlenecks of traditional models and align with industry’s practical talent needs. Regarding the problems of virtual scenarios, monotonous training and one-sided evaluation in the current Comprehensive Practice for Cyber Security, this paper integrates the campus intranet attack-defense competition into professional practical teaching. It takes the university’s real systems and intranet environment as the practical arena, and constructs an integrated competition-teaching fusion model featuring pre-competition training, in-competition practice, post-competition review. Based on teaching implementation and questionnaire-based empirical analysis, this paper evaluates students’ satisfaction with professional skill enhancement, learning interest and initiative, competition arrangement and assessment methods, and verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the promoting teaching through competition model. The results show that the campus intranet attack-defense competition effectively remedies the shortcomings of traditional practical teaching, narrows the gap between talent training and job requirements, and provides a reference for the reform of cyber security practical teaching in universities.
Sustainability accounting has emerged as an important strategic approach for organizations seeking to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns into business operations and reporting systems. In the modern business environment, ethical business practices are increasingly linked with corporate sustainability, transparency, and long-term organizational success. This paper examines the relationship between sustainability accounting and ethical business practices through a secondary-data-based review of recent literature. The study explores how sustainability accounting contributes to environmental accountability, ethical governance, stakeholder trust, and organizational value creation. The paper further analyzes the role of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and environmental accounting systems in enhancing sustainable and ethical corporate practices. Findings indicate that sustainability accounting strengthens ethical decision-making, improves corporate reputation, enhances transparency, and supports sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, organizations continue to face challenges such as greenwashing, lack of standardized reporting frameworks, limited digital literacy, and implementation barriers in developing economies. The study concludes that sustainability accounting is not merely a financial reporting mechanism but a strategic tool for promoting ethical and responsible business practices in the digital era.
The separation of passive and active telecommunications infrastructure has emerged as a key policy strategy for improving network efficiency and expanding digital access in developing economies. In Zambia, the transfer of passive infrastructure from Zamtel to Infratel provides an opportunity to assess how such reforms relate to measurable network outcomes. Post-transfer changes in network performance are examined using a convergent mixed-methods design integrating customer survey data (n = 400), staff interviews (n = 10), and ZICTA performance reports (2020–2023), contextualized with pre-transfer benchmarks. The analysis distinguishes between objective technical indicators and user perception metrics. The results indicate improvements in network availability and reductions in service interruptions, alongside statistically significant associations between KPI measurement, network reliability, and overall performance (R² = 0.709). These relationships are interpreted as post-transfer associations rather than causal effects, given concurrent sector developments such as 4G expansion and regulatory interventions. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of structured implementation, regulatory coordination, and continuous performance monitoring in infrastructure restructuring, and offer evidence-based insights for telecommunications policy and infrastructure governance in developing markets.
