Evaluation of ICT Deployment in Mountainous Regions: Assessing Telephone Service Efficiency in The Aurès Mountains, Algeria

Background. Life expectancy is an important health status indicator based on average number of years a person at a given age may be expected to live given current mortality rates. Given this significance, it would be necessary to probe into the factors affecting the life expectancy. Ensuring that information and communication technology (ICT) services are properly used could contribute to development and achievement, as it represents an important issue for the countries moving toward knowledge-based and information-based societies. Therefore, this study explored the impact of the information and communication technology on life expectancy. Methods. This study covers annual data from 2008 to 2018 for a group of countries in the Middle East. Data were retrieved from the Annual Reports such as World Bank and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data sets. The effects of ICT on life expectancy are estimated with the Panel model. We also used the Hausman test to investigate fixed versus random effects. The data were analyzed by Stata 14 software. Results. The core findings of this study confirm the significant impact of ICT on life expectancy in the Middle East. The calculated Coefficient of the regression was 0.551 indicating how much life expectancy changes when ICT variable increases by one unit. Moreover, the rho (intraclass correlation) was found to be 0.975 showing that 97.5% of the variance is due to differences across panels. Conclusion. Considering the effect of ICT on life expectancy, policymakers of the Middle Eastern countries should integrate the use of ICT with the existing programs and systems. Technology is not an end in itself but merely the means to reinforce the existing system and to meet the locally determined goals. It can be used as a tool to attain broader health and development goals. Background Life expectancy is an important health status indicator based on average number of years a person at a given age may be expected to live given current mortality rates. Given this significance, it would be necessary to probe into the factors affecting the life expectancy. Ensuring that information and communication technology (ICT) services are properly used could contribute to development and achievement, as it represents an important issue for the countries moving toward knowledge-based and information-based societies. As ICT affects everyday lives, it also impacts the macroeconomic growth, which in turn further affects everyday lives by allowing improvements in infrastructures and a higher standard of living. ICTs inherently entail the economic development of countries, regions and cities, while also improving social inclusion, well-being and therefore quality of life. Therefore, this study explored the impact of the information and communication technology on life expectancy. Methods This study covers annual data from 2008 to 2018 for a group of countries of in the Middle East. Data were retrieved from the Annual Reports such as World Bank dataset and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data set. The effects of information and communication technology on life expectancy were estimated through the Panel model. First, stationary tests were performed with the Fisher’s generalized unit root test. In the Fisher test for panel data, the null hypothesis of a unit root was rejected at the 5% level of significance. The cross-section correlation test was performed with the Freeze test. The null hypothesis of no correlation was rejected at the 5% level of significance. We also used the Hausman test to investigate fixed versus random effects. The null hypothesis of no fixed effects was accepted so the random effects model was used. The Hausman test detects endogenous regressors in a regression model. Endogenous variables have values that are determined by other variables in the system. The data were analyzed by Stata 14 software. Results The core findings of this study confirm the significant impact of information and communication technology on life expectancy in the Middle East. The Coefficient of the regression was 0.551 indicating how much life expectancy changes when information technology variable increases by one unit. The coefficient of ICT shows that 1% increase in ICT variable causes 0.551 % incline in life expectancy and this result is significant at 5% level of significance. Regarding control variables, we found that all have expected statistically significant effects on life expectancy. The intra-cluster correlation coefficient (rho) is a measure of the relatedness, or similarity, of clustered data. Values of rho range from 0 to 1 in human studies, and as the rho increases, more individuals within the clusters resemble one another. The rho (intraclass correlation) was found to be 0.975 showing that 97.5% of the variance is due to differences across panels. This research recommends that human development programs need to focus on polices which foster digital inclusion. Conclusion Considering the effect of information and communication technology on life expectancy, policymakers of the Middle Eastern countries should integrate the use of information and communication technology with the existing programs and systems. The digital citizen is happier and values living in regions with technological capacity, investing in research & development, and committed to achieving sustainable growth. ICT use leads to improved assessments of the efficiency and management of the public administration by more technological users, underlining the importance of an understanding between users and public services in the virtual sphere. Technology is not an end in itself but merely an instrument to reinforce the existing system and to meet the locally determined goals. It can be used as a tool to attain broader health and development goals. The findings from this study provide key insights that explain how life expectancy may be enhanced through ICTs. Practical Implications of Research According to the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on life expectancy, policymakers should provide ICT infrastructures and adopt strategies integrating ICT policies with human life criteria such as education, health and work to improve life expectancy. Ethical Consideration The paper reflects the author’s own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner. Conflict of Interests This study was an independent research and the author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr Marzieh Ronaghi for her guidance and assistance throughout this research.

One of most important issue of information and communication development all over the world is serving information and communication technologies to rural and out of the way areas. Therefore, any solution that could reduce information accessibility distance between city and rural areas is considered valuable and in consistent with information society development. Thus, communication and information technology ministry contemplate special plans for rural information technology development. In Iran, It had been planned to provide minimum necessitous access to communication and information technologies for 10000 villages till the mid of 2005. For this purpose, required funding had been assessed and its administrative and managerial structure has been designed. In addition, it was expected that till the end of forth Development Plan, 20000 villages should be benefit from communication and information technology services. Nowadays, the issue is not using or not using these technologies, but the issue is how to use them and their implementation in different social and economic areas so that maximum profit obtains from these technologies. Nowadays domination on digital gap is one of most important issues of developing countries including Iran. Rural areas are exposed to digital gap more than other areas. These areas deprived from most of the development indicators (such as education, welfare and communicational facilities and occupation) and this deprivation maybe get severe with the emergence of newer information technologies in comparison with urban areas. This maybe led to peasants' migration to urban areas for acquiring better social and economic positions and thereby survival of villages faces with more challenges than before. In addition to the mentioned threat, information and communication technologies provide a unique opportunity for bridging the existing gap between undeveloped and developed areas. If villagers could catch this opportunity and use the information and communication capabilities and potencies, not only their survival are not faced with mentioned threats but also villages become dynamic and productive areas that warrant food security of society. Therefore, in present study the role of deploying ICT services centers in Iran investigated. Operational definition of words 1-2-1- Information and communication technology (Curtain R., 2002) Information and communication technology is defined as a series of methods and technologies that are used for facilitating and implementation of production, collecting, organizing, storing, retrieving and broadcasting process of information, providing that two

eographical Information Systems are used in solving many regional development related problems, around the world. Starting from some national programs to famous international ones, such as INSPIRE program, each such initiative uses geospatial data as well in the process of building regional development strategies. This paper presents the main technical components of a geographical information system, meaning the spatial database, the web mapping server and the APIs used to embed the maps into web applications. The development steps for a pre-alpha version of a web GIS application dedicated to the regional development in Romania are also shown. The software tools which were integrated in order to develop the online application were Oracle Spatial, where geospatial data was stored, GeoServer, an open source web mapping server used to generate the map out of the data from Oracle Spatial’s tables and ASP.NET as a web framework for building the website.

This paper aims to identify innovation capacity factors affecting the development of regional by using the main index of legal and regulatory framework, research and development, communications and information technology, environment and institutional and human capital, education and social coverage. The research method is Qualitative and by focal group. Therefore, by choosing 6 from academic experts, the group was formed. To clarify the principles and basic format, explanations about of the meeting and a detailed description of the research model presented. Then to get more accurate and clearer data, and 5 core indicators parted to theirs sub indicators and the group members discussed them. The results showed that all five the main index of the "institutional environment", "R&D"1, "Using information and communication technology", "Legal and regulatory framework" and "human capital, education and social coverage" are impact on the development of region. The “country politic assessment " and "efficient and proper administration" which are two sub indicators of institutional environment and tow sub indicators of human capital, education and social coverage which are education and social coverage have impact on regional development .Also doing business and infrastructure of R&D which are sub indicators of legal and regulatory framework and R&D have impact on regional development. In the sub indicators of communications and information technology, “internet, computer and TV” and “government using of ICT “and quality of infrastructures have impact on regional development.

The unprecedented technological revolution seen in the field of communication and space technology stretches over a very small span of Asian history and the collective memory of ancient civilizations of India and China. The techno-political events in the modem political paradigms, of parliamentary democracy in India and communism in China, are just about half century old. In such a situation, any expectation that information and communication technology would alter or influence recently adopted political systems and worldview needs an in-depth analysis of the social structure and capabilities of information and communication technology. The author had earlier proposed three forms of challenges that information and communication technology can bring to bear on the political paradigms. These were ‘technopositivism’, ‘techno-neutralism’and ‘techno-negativism’. The ‘techno-positivism’… view refers to the opinion of those who believe that satellite-based broadcasting helps political and emotional integration, thereby strengthening democracy. The ‘techno-negativism’ endorses the views of those who think that satellite-based broadcasting in plural civilizations having multiple languages and a ‘world view’, imposes the views of a politically dominant minority over the majority. The third form represents views of those who believe that technology by itself does not create any condition for weakening the democracy; rather the aims and goals of the communicators are directly responsible for strengthening or weakening the democracy. (Agrawal 1993:222, also see Hamelink, 1986). The situation has not substantially changed in the last decade. A large number of scholars have cast futuristic views on the basis of experiential knowledge about the repercussions on individual freedom of speech and expression, and human insights as a result of the all pervasive technological penetration in human society. The fundamental assumption being that information and communication technology willy-nilly will influence the existing political paradigms since information and communication is an essential ingredient in maintenance and perpetuation of clearly held values like democracy. The author has attempted in this paper is to have a synoptic view as to how professionals of communication and information technology have postulated its influence on democracy and the likely challenges it can pose to human freedom, freedom of expression and human rights. This will be followed by a likely scenario and the challenges that it can pose to the world’s largest democracy of a billion people.

The subject of the study is the peculiarities of teaching information and communication technologies in educational institutions of higher education.The object of the study is the implementation of professionally oriented disciplines related to countering crimes committed using information and communication technologies in educational institutions of higher education of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The authors consider in detail the introduction of information and communication technologies into the educational process, their effectiveness in solving applied tasks to improve the educational process, increase the activity of students through their involvement in various activities and stimulating educational activity. The authors pay special attention to the use of information and communication technologies in the pedagogical process of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The authors reveal the problems of implementing professionally oriented disciplines related to countering crimes committed using information and communication technologies. In the course of the research, the dialectical method of scientific cognition was used, as well as a set of general scientific and special methods for studying the theoretical foundations of pedagogy, creative understanding of the problems of using information and communication technologies in the educational process. The introduction of scientific conclusions and recommendations into the practice of teaching professionally oriented disciplines are made. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the ways proposed by the authors to solve the problems of implementing professionally oriented disciplines. The main didactic questions "Who should be trained?", "What should be taught?", "How should training be conducted?" are considered and "Who will provide training?" professionally-oriented training related to countering crimes committed using information and communication technologies. A special contribution of the authors to the study of the topic is their proposed methodology for teaching students and cadets of universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to counter crimes committed using information and communication technologies. The authors note that the training should be carried out using an interdisciplinary approach, including elements of jurisprudence, information technology, psychology, sociology and other relevant fields of knowledge. The novelty of the research lies in the disclosure of the basic didactic principles of the implementation of professionally oriented training related to countering crimes committed using information and communication technologies.

Information professionals in a globalized world: Digital inclusion initiatives in Brazil: Improving education and information seeking behavior through government‐academic partnerships

The article substantiates the need to revise the approach to developing a strategy for the socio-economic development of the regions of the Far North in order to ensure their sustainable development in the current conditions of digital transformation of the economy. The implementation of the Industry 4.0 concept requires the use of updated, adjusted methods and tools for building modern programs for the strategic development of both enterprises, industries, complexes, and regions. The adjustment of strateg management systems should take place, first of all, on the parameters of digitalization, since the timely introduction of information and communication technologies into management processes is not just a modern trend, but a necessary condition for creating and maintaining competitive advantages. Therefore, the development of a modified system of strategic management of the regions, of course, should include the conditions, opportunities and results of the application of actual and relevant information and communication technologies, as well as take into account possible risks and barriers to their implementation. Despite the different geopolitical significance of the regions, diffrent socio-economic indicators of development, climatic and sectoral features, the approach to developing the concept of socio-economic development of territories can be interpreted as universal at the conceptual level of building a common strategic map. As a tool for developing a strategy for sustainable development of the regions, a balanced scorecard was chosen, the main advantage of which is a balanced combination of both financial and non-financial indicators of the socio-economic activities of the regions. Thus, the result of the study was the development of a modified general strategic map of the balanced scorecard of the regions, the main difference of which from the existing ones lies in the possibility of taking into account the impact of the indicators of the digital transformation of the main socio-economic phenomena and processes at the regional level. The modification of the balanced scorecard consists in the formulation of a new component “digital transformation and digital security”.

Accurate information on the state of water resources in the Lake Victoria watershed is crucial for planning and sustainable development in the East African region. This region largely depends on its natural resource-base for economic development, and therefore comprehensive information on its resources dynamics is key in implementing poverty alleviation strategies, improving human condition and preserving the biological systems upon which the region‘s population depends. This chapter focuses on key issues, which have emerged as a result of population growth and development in the region. The research on which this chapter is based aims to address the concerns on land use and settlement trends in the study sites, vulnerability of the communities to water stress and sustainability of the livelihood systems in the watersheds of Nzoia River Basin (Kenya), Nakivubo Wetland (Uganda) and Simiyu River Basin (Tanzania). These communities engage in unique land use practices that have intensified environmental degradation in recent times. The research adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in bringing to the fore the various processes affecting watershed resources use and management in the selected wetlands of the Lake Victoria Drainage Basin (LVDB). The data presented covers trends in vegetation cover loss, pesticide pollution and general water quality parameters. Geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques were employed to unveil land use patterns that have resulted in the degradation of the watershed. Wetland degradation levels have been characterized using secondary data generated by analytical techniques. New emerging challenges of environmental degradation caused by industrial, domestic and agricultural activities are presented and discussed. The potential of the new science of hydroinformatics in integrated watershed management through mathematical modeling, geographic information systems analysis and water supply management is highlighted.

Accurate information on the state of water resources in the Lake Victoria watershed is crucial for planning and sustainable development in the East African region. This region largely depends on its natural resource-base for economic development, and therefore comprehensive information on its resources dynamics is key in implementing poverty alleviation strategies, improving human condition and preserving the biological systems upon which the region‘s population depends. This chapter focuses on key issues, which have emerged as a result of population growth and development in the region. The research on which this chapter is based aims to address the concerns on land use and settlement trends in the study sites, vulnerability of the communities to water stress and sustainability of the livelihood systems in the watersheds of Nzoia River Basin (Kenya), Nakivubo Wetland (Uganda) and Simiyu River Basin (Tanzania). These communities engage in unique land use practices that have intensified environmental degradation in recent times. The research adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in bringing to the fore the various processes affecting watershed resources use and management in the selected wetlands of the Lake Victoria Drainage Basin (LVDB). The data presented covers trends in vegetation cover loss, pesticide pollution and general water quality parameters. Geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques were employed to unveil land use patterns that have resulted in the degradation of the watershed. Wetland degradation levels have been characterized using secondary data generated by analytical techniques. New emerging challenges of environmental degradation caused by industrial, domestic and agricultural activities are presented and discussed. The potential of the new science of hydroinformatics in integrated watershed management through mathematical modeling, geographic information systems analysis and water supply management is highlighted.

The paper considers the problems consider the problems of enterprises digitalization. Based on the research of the scientific literature, it is established that enterprises in the modern world need the active introduction of information and digital technologies to ensure the competitiveness of production and active development in the future. The analysis and assessment of the use and development of communication and information technologies by domestic enterprises is carried out. According to its results, it is established that the main areas of information and communication technologies implementation in domestic enterprises are cloud computing services, sources of "big data" for the analysis of "big data", 3D printing, external links to the Internet, own websites and electronic trade via the Internet, etc. It is determined that due to the rather intensive growth of the number of enterprises in the information and communication industry, the use of their developments in production is rather insignificant. Only 5% of enterprises during the study period used all the above information technologies in their activities. Based on the analysis, the problem areas of the process of implementation and development of communication and information technologies at domestic enterprises are identified and recommendations for improving the efficiency of information and communication technologies are provided. The MatLab Statistic Toolbox built into MatLab is used to determine the trends of the impact of digital innovations and the number of information and communication enterprises on GDP.

Study on population distribution characteristics and regulations have realistic meanings for harmonizing human-land relationship, managing scientifically population, resources and environments. Improvements in remote sensing (RS) technologies and the use of geographic information system (GIS) are increasingly allowing us to probe into population distribution at multiple scales. This paper researches population distribution characteristics and regulations in hill and mountainous region based on village scale using GIS and RS, to take Tianshui district as an example. It is found that population distribution is provided with obvious dispersion and diversity specialty in hill and mountainous region there agriculture production is dominant. In 7915 spots being composed of towns, villages and settlements, less spots with 1.0-10 hm2 acreage account for 84.7%, this indicates dispersive and small scale villages are still primary form of population distribution. The relationships among population density and land-use proportion of villages, spot number on unit acreage and spot size are analyzed by non- linearity function, some characteristics and pattern in population distribution may be revealed well. Population distribution of Tianshui represents obviously three categories: river valley area with high density, hilly area with medium density and mountainous area with low density. Labour radii and distance among villages existed huge difference in three categories.

Information and Communication Technologies in Russia: Problems and Perspectives

Given the importance of knowledge management at university, most scholars believe that the key to the success of knowledge management is the capacities information and communication technology provides in this field. Thus, the present article aims to identify effective factors of information and communication technology on knowledge management in higher education. Research methodology: this is a qualitative study conducted by content analysis and semi-structured interviews with academics from state universities in Tehran as well as objective sampling in the year 2016. Using an analysis of data resulting from semi-structured interviews and a review of research, background effective factors of optimal use of communication and information technology were identified. Then, they were classified into main and additional categories. Results from encoding and categorical content analysis suggest that hardware and software infrastructures, access to academic databases and electronic networks, access to new knowledge research, retrieval, storage, exchange and processing technologies, and mastery over related software are regarded as effective factors of information and communication technology on knowledge management in the higher education system. Each category covers several subsets. Conclusion: in order to apply the findings of the present research in practice, it is suggested that the establishment of knowledge management system approach be valued in academic environments.

Methods. The scientific results presented in this article were obtained through the use of such research methods as the method of analysis when identifying factors restraining the development of the Ukrainian market of information and communication technologies, the method of comparisons – when clarifying the differences in the influence of the IT sector on the pre-war the economy of Ukraine and its functioning in a state of war; general and specific – when establishing the specifics of the development of the market of information and communication technologies in wartime conditions. Results. The state of the market of information and communication technologies during the war period was studied within the framework of macroeconomic indicators from the point of view of meaningful content and market interaction. The dynamics of the domestic market of information technologies before the war were analyzed and the impact of the IT sector on the economy of Ukraine during the war was considered. It was found that the level of technological development determines not only the economic potential of the country, but also the role and place of this country in the global society, the scope and prospects of its economic and political integration with the whole world. Based on the results of the study, the internal obstacles faced by the Ukrainian information technology sector during the war period were assessed. The implementation of best practices, in particular in the areas of development, implementation and use of information technologies, products and services, is proposed, subject to proper scientific, technical and legal support for the reform of the information technology sector. It was established that the Ukrainian market of information and communication technologies is in a phase of slow development in the conditions of war. The problems of today, which restrain the development of the market of information and communication technologies, are given. Recommendations are provided for further activation of the market of information and communication technologies, taking into account the fact that the activity is conducted in conditions of war. Novelty. The article identifies the specifics of the impact of the information and communication technology sector on the national economy in the pre-war period and during the war. The main trends in the development of information and communication technologies in Ukraine and investment opportunities in this sector are analyzed. The importance of the sector of information and communication technologies for achieving progressive changes in the national economy in the post-war period is determined. Practical value. The practical role of information and communication technologies as a factor in GDP growth is substantiated. The dynamics of the development of the ICT market of Ukraine were analyzed, there was made a comparison of the development in the pre-war period and during the war. The main trends in the development of the country's IT sphere during the war period have been identified. Prospective directions for further implementation at the national level in the post-war period are presented.