The effect of information communication technologies utilization on profitability was examined among 120 catfish farmers drawn through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were elicited with the aid ...of a structured questionnaire, analysed using percentages, budgetary technique and multiple regression model. Agricultural media information sources utilized by the farmers include mobile phone (79.2%), television (76.7%) and radio (68.3%). The result revealed that ₦592,448.90 was expended as cost per annum on fish production with ₦970,700.54 as revenue and a gross margin of ₦438,880.28 among ICT users while for non-ICT users ₦652,067.47, ₦1,026,428.66 and ₦427,337.41 were obtained as total cost, revenue and gross margin respectively. A value of 0.64 realized on the investment among ICT users implies that for every ₦1 invested in catfish farming, ₦1.64 is gotten as returns, leaving a profit of ₦0.64 while a profit of ₦0.57 is realized among non-ICT users. The factors that determine the profitability of catfish farming include household size (10%), input cost (1%) and television usage (5%) as agricultural media information source. Catfish farmers who utilized ICT have a higher profit level than non-users. Efforts and policies that will promote the farmers’ timely availability and accessibility of agricultural information, particularly through television is recommended
The current era of industrial development and innovation is revolutionized using the internet, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, the appraisal of global economic progress shows ...increasing trends, there are environmental degradation issues associated with this improvement. The role of renewable energy, urbanization and foreign direct investment received a lot of attention in the literature on environmental issues, however, the simultaneity with information communication technology is missing. Therefore, the present study used data from 10 emerging countries during 1996–2015 and applied the novel Method of Moments Quantile Regression to analyze the nexus among the variables. Further, we applied the second-generation unit root test, and Driscoll Kraay standard errors to reach robust results. The findings revealed an inverted U-shape relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation; thus, the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve is revealed. Moreover, foreign direct investment is significant and positive at 0.05th-0.50th quantiles, however, it becomes insignificant at higher quantile levels. Urbanization enhances while renewable energy mitigates carbon dioxide emissions at all quantile levels. Information communication technology proxied by internet usage reduces environmental degradation significantly at 0.25th-0.95th quantile levels. Results of the study suggest insights for the policymakers to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions through encouraging renewable energy and internet use.
The adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) applications for the development of innovative, sustainable, and smart cities has become a new model for municipal cooperation between ...government and corporations. Smart cities contribute to social stability and economic prosperity by encouraging and enabling corporations to invest their resources and expertise in the cities, and by providing more prosperity and contentment for their citizens. Smart city services provide citizens with an improved living environment and increase their overall quality of life. Since the citizens are the users of the services, it is vitally important that their ideas and perspectives are taken into account during the planning and management of such services. This study surveyed citizens in Taiwanese cities that had all participated in the Intelligent Community Forum smart city campaigns at least once. The findings reveal that citizens are willing to accept and use ICT-based smart city services if the services are designed with innovative concepts that secure their privacy and offer a high quality of services. The more they use the services, the higher the quality of life achieved. The only factor that does not influence citizens' acceptance and usage of ICT-based smart city services is their city engagement. The study contributes to the academic literature and also provides practical pointers for cities and technology suppliers embarking on smart city initiatives.
•ICT-based smart city services increase citizens overall quality of life.•The more usage of the ICT-based smart city services, the higher the quality of life achieved.•Citizens' accepting and using ICT-based smart city services can be influenced by their social groups.•ICT-based smart city service should focus on service quality, innovation concepts, and the protection of users' privacy.
The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of information communication technology adoption on the innovativeness of medium and large-size manufacturing industries in ...Adama City, Ethiopia. The study employed a qualitative multiple-case study approach, interviewing top managers from five purposefully selected companies. Semi-structured interviews were used for in-depth discussions, and the data was analyzed using a cross-case analysis technique to identify common themes across all companies. The research findings revealed that information communication technology adoption supports the manufacturing industries by increasing production speed, enabling product promotion, performing online orders, and improving communication and organizational work structure. However, adoption is hindered by internal issues like unskilled workers, uncommitted managers, reluctant investors, financial limitations, and external challenges such as supply shortages, expensive equipment, poor education and policy systems, political instability, and lack of international payment options like PayPal and credit card bank services. Despite supporting innovation, information and communication technology used in manufacturing remains limited due to internal and external factors. The study recommends increased awareness training and government action on infrastructure, policy, and education to improve information and communication technology adoption.
•A distinctive dichotomous pattern of ICT use among older adults emerged.•Older adults’ main ICT activities involved family/social communication and accessing information.•Age, education, attitudes, ...and socio-personal characteristics were associated with ICT use.•Older adults 65–70 with higher education and/or living with a spouse were more likely to use ICT.•Older adults, who adopt ICT, valued their ICT activities as important in their lives.
This study is part of a research project that examines patterns of information communication technology (ICT) use, social participation, and health of older adults (age 65+) residing in the New England region. Specifically, we surveyed the breadth of ICT use, technology experiences, and socio-personal characteristics of 198 older adults and analyzed the dispositional correlates of ICT adoption. Results showed that majority of participants used ICT to maintain family and social connections and to access information on health and routine activities. Those aged 65–70 with higher education and/or living with a spouse/partner were more likely to use ICT. Key relationships between ICT use and perspectives on technology were found. Higher ICT use was associated with self-perceived socio-personal characteristics such as being “satisfied with activities”, “persevering”, “physically and emotionally independent” and having a “positive outlook”. Whereas, the majority of non-users reported that their activities did not change across time and that they felt “intimidated” and “anxious” with technology. The performance of ICT-based activities and/or the desire to perform them were significantly associated with the perceived importance of the activities. The older population’s age, education, attitudes, and personalities influence how they approach ICT. We propose a community-centered socio-ecological model to factor in these dispositional characteristics in future ICT training programs.
Prior research has shown that work-related ICT-use outside work hours is generally related with more work-to-home conflict, but that this effect can be mitigated or even reversed when people have an ...integration preference. In this study, we posit that the moderating role of integration preference in itself depends on the work environment because the context can alter people's sense of control and autonomy and may therefore affect the influence of a preference-behavior alignment. To test this, we examine three-way interactions between two types of work-related ICT-use outside work hours (i.e., smartphone use and PC/laptop use), integration preference and two characteristics of the work environment (i.e., organizational integration norms and work demands) on time- and strain-based work-to-home conflict. Analyses are performed on a survey sample of 467 working parents in Belgium. Findings indicate that only work-related PC/laptop use – and not smartphone use – outside work hours is positively related to work-to-home conflict. This effect is buffered for people who have a preference to integrate work and personal life, but only when their work environment is characterized by low organizational integration norms and/or low work demands. This indicates that for employees with integration preferences, work-related ICT-use outside work hours may not complicate – and could even facilitate – finding work-home compatibility; yet, this effect depends on organizational factors as well. The results of this study may help organizations to better understand the impact of expectations regarding staying connected to work while being at home.
•We argue to study the effect of work-related ICT-use outside work hours ‘in situ’.•We focus on the role of integration preferences, integration norms and work demands.•Work-related PC/laptop use outside work hours relates with work-to-home conflict.•The effect depends on the interaction between individual and organizational factors.•No effects of work-related smartphone use outside work hours are found.
Background
There is an inadequate number of radiologists in Ghana whose distribution are skewed in favour of urban areas, creating a huge service gap with the few radiologists overburdened with work. ...The only way to bridge this service gap while increasing numbers of radiologists by training is from the application of information communication technology (ICT), hence this study.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional questionnaire administered study conducted between 16th - 18th May 2019 during the annual general meeting of the Ghana Association of Radiologists involving 46 consented radiologists. The questionnaire investigated the available ICT tools, imaging modalities, the degree of usage and impacts of ICT on radiologists work output.
Results
The most available modalities were digital. 13.0% had teleradiology available, but 32.6% were familiar with it. All radiologists indicated improvement in work output with ICT. The time taken to report a case reduced from 1-2 hours to 10-30 minutes with ICT. Majority did not communicate professional issues via e-mails. 95.7%, 13.0% and 10.9% of radiologists used WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter respectively to communicate radiological information. Online research provided significant information for their radiological reporting.
Conclusion
The topmost four imaging modalities readily available were Digital Ultrasound, Digital Radiography, Computed Tomography scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The availability of and familiarity with teleradiology was low in radiological practices. The reporting time per case and work output of radiologists were improved with ICT. The two most common social media platforms used by radiologists were WhatsApp and Facebook.
•Approximately 95% Industrial units in India are under SMEs category.•Analysed ICT based key factors using Grey-DEMATEL.•This work assist SMEs in reducing food losses and achieving sustainable ...growth.•‘Government initiatives and policies’, and ‘Public-private partnership’, are influential drivers.
Indian food sector is facing severe problem of wastage of about 30% of farm products due to inefficiency in operations of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs in Indian food sector are facing different challenges, such as financial issues, lack of technical skills and investment in the business etc. In this sense, several key factors can help food SMEs in reducing wastage of farm products and lowering energy consumption for sustainable growth. Thus, this paper tries to identify and analyse key factors for Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications for a sustainable growth of SMEs in Indian food sector. Grey based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory technique was applied for analysis of factors. From findings, ‘Government initiatives and policies’, ‘Public-private partnership’, and ‘Encouragement to ICT service provider’ are topmost influential cause group factors. While, ‘ICT integrated effective food supply chain’, ‘Coordination between different departments’, and ‘Collaboration and strategic alliances across supply chain’ are highest influenced factors. Results suggests that ‘Government policies and initiatives’ are at the core of the efforts to upgrade food supply chain. As, Indian government is the largest customer of SMEs and controls various policy-making aspects in food sector. Therefore, government has to take steps to encourage private and foreign investments as well as promote IT service providers and business environment related economic policies to improve competitiveness of Indian food sector. This work would help managers to develop efficient ICT applications for an effective sustainable growth of SMEs in their respective food supply chains.
This study investigates the relationship between digital financial inclusion, external financing, and the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in China. The choice of corporate financing ...methods is an important part of organizational behavioral psychology, and different financing models will have a certain effect on organizational performance, especially in the digital economy environment. Therefore, based on resource dependence theory and financing constraint theory, the present study utilizes the panel data collected from the China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) database from 2011 to 2020 of 112 companies in the Yangtze River Delta region and the "The Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China (PKU-DFIIC)" released by the Peking University Digital Finance Research Center and Ant Financial Group. The results show that the Digital Financial Inclusion Index (DFIIC) has a significant positive correlation with the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises. The higher the level of debt financing, the stronger the role of digital financial inclusion in promoting innovation performance. Investigating the DFIIC in terms of coverage breadth and usage depth, we find that usage depth does not significantly encourage innovation performance. The effect of the interaction between coverage breadth and external financing is consistent with the results for the DFIIC. The study suggests that equity financing promotes the usage depth of the DFIIC in state-owned enterprises. In contrast, debt financing promotes the coverage breadth of non-state-owned enterprises. Finally, we propose relevant policy recommendations based on the research results. It includes in-depth popularization of inclusive finance in the daily operations of enterprises at the technical level, refinement of external financing policy incentives for enterprises based on the characteristics of ownership, and strengthening the research of technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing. The paper presents a range of theoretical and practical implications for practitioners and academics relevant to high-tech enterprises.
In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has made great progress. The interconnection between IoT and the Internet enables real-time information processing and transaction implementation through ...heterogeneous intelligent devices. But the security, the privacy, and the reliability of IoT are key challenges that limit its development. The features of the blockchain, such as decentralization, consensus mechanism, data encryption, and smart contracts, are suitable for building distributed IoT systems to prevent potential attacks and to reduce transaction costs. As a decentralized and transparent database platform, blockchain has the potential to raise the performance of IoT security to a higher level. This article systematically analyzes state of the art of IoT security based on the blockchain, paying special attention to the security features, issues, technologies, approaches, and related scenarios in blockchain-embedded IoT. The integration and interoperation of blockchain and IoT is an important and foreseeable development in the computational communication system.
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