Commercial Stakeholders Research Articles

Cross-border E-commerce Trade between China and Africa: Review of the Literature

This article explores the opportunities, challenges, as well as the activities of the Chinese governmental and commercial stakeholders to promote cross-border e-commerce trade between China and Africa, based on the classification and correlation analysis of the literature from 2011 to 2019. The results show that the biggest driver for the development of China-Africa cross-border e-commerce trade is the gap between the rapid growth of the African population, especially the middle class, and the limited local capability to satisfy their demand. The rapid development of the internet and mobile internet is another driving factor. The biggest challenge is the last mile delivery of logistics, and online payment issues in Africa. At the macro-level the Chinese government has promoted measures such as infrastructure investment, e-commerce test zones and the establishment of pilot projects. At the firm level, Chinese companies have focused on solving practical micro-level local operational problems such as logistics, online payment, and talent training. The results also show that the referred literature is still in its infancy, mostly theoretical and less practical, and requires more in-depth domain specific analysis in the future.

To pray in four directions: Understanding Vietnamese farmers' shrimp health management practices

In northen Vietnam, shrimp farming has in several provinces changed from extensive to intensive production. This change has brought a number of socio-cultural, economic and environmental challenges, including disease outbreaks and an increase in the application of antimicrobials and chemical compounds to prevent and treat diseases. This qualitative study sought to explore shrimp farmers' practices and experiences and the contextual influencers that impact on shrimp farmers' management of ponds in Nghe An and Quang Ninh provinces in Northern Vietnam. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 15 farm owners in each province, and with selected aquaculture technicians employed by the Vietnamese government. Participant observation was carried out during farm visits to gain insight into management practices and preventive and curative treatment. The results showed that farmers were uncertain about how to respond to disease and relied on trial-and-error experiments with antimicrobial products, as well as Chinese products without the auxiliary labels in Vietnamese. Low levels of trust towards government guidance, lead many farmers to be guided by the private and commercial stakeholders with which farmers had more regular contact. Even in this relation, a degree of mistrust was found. The farmers' summed-up their situation as “praying in four directions” [có bệnh thì vái tứ phương] or “playing a game with the Gods” [đánh bạc với trời]. Intensive shrimp farming may be highly profitable, but also a precarious enterprise. We discuss our empirical findings against three analytical concepts. Firstly chronic liminality, defined as an enduring uncertain livelihood situation. Secondly, cultural capital representing farmers' engagement with “know-how” of modern technology of intensive shrimp farming, and globalization. Finally the concept of agency, is applied to discuss farmers diverse actions aimed at gaining control over diseases. Applying these concepts as a lense to our data, brings into focus the fundamental experience of uncertainty and ambivalence. Our findings call for multipronged interventions going beyond a narrow focus on training of farmers and instead address the fundamental livelihood insecurity. There is also a need for increased control and enforcement of current legistation on use of antimicrobials in Vietnamese shrimp culture. Finally, there is an urgent need for government institutions and private companies to provide reliable, fast and reasonably priced diagnostic services to guide a prudent use of antimicrobials to control bacterial-associated diseases.

Global Competition for Leadership Positions in Standards Development Organizations

Increasing participation of Chinese companies in many global Standard Development Organizations (SDO) has fueled global competition for influence over the development of critical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) standards. SDOs face increasing expectations to increase the representation of Chinese and other non-Western nationals in their leadership. Many Western governments and stakeholders, however, view the rapidly rising influence of Chinese firms, and especially Huawei, as a source of growing concerns. These tensions highlight the importance of the impartiality of global SDOs' leadership for the trustworthiness of ICT standards. Our empirical analysis reveals that while attendees have become increasingly diverse, traditional incumbent stakeholder categories and Western nationals occupy an outsized proportion of SDO leadership positions. Affiliates of Huawei and other leading competitors for leadership in ICT standardization are also more likely to be appointed to leadership positions. Huawei furthermore rapidly catches up with its Western competitors, in part through recruiting large numbers of experienced SDO participants. Individuals are appointed to leadership positions because of their experience and individual qualifications, not because of their affiliation. While the importance of individual experience and social ties within an SDO community may act as a check on commercial stakeholders' influence within SDOs, preventing individual companies or groups of aligned interests to acquire outsized influence over SDOs requires explicit provisions for the balancing of different interests.

The DMCA, Database Protection, and Right to Repair: The Long Tail of Public Interest Activism in the First Digital Copyright Decade

Abstract: The Digital Future Coalition (1996-2002) was an unprecedented public interest coalition on Internet and copyright policy with much farther-ranging effects than has been recognized previously. Uniting commercial and noncommercial stakeholders to push back against intellectual property maximalism on the nascent Internet, it altered both treaty and legislative language, entered a trope—“balance”—into national discourse on copyright policy, blocked U.S. copyright protection for databases, enhanced popular engagement with fair use, and set the stage for the “Right to Repair” movement. This historical research was accomplished primarily by interviewing representatives of the Digital Future Coalition (DFC) and opposing groups, as well as one ex-official, and by consulting a hitherto untapped, private archive of documents relevant to the prehistory and 1996-2002 history of the DFC.

NON-HUMAN HUMANITARIANISM: WHEN AI FOR GOOD TURNS OUT TO BE BAD

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as predictive analytics, forecasting and chatbots are increasingly proposed as solutions to the complex challenges of humanitarian emergencies. This is part of the broad trend of ‘AI for social good’ as well as the wider developments in ‘digital humanitarianism’. The paper develops an interdisciplinary framework that brings together colonial and decolonial theory, the critical inquiry of humanitarianism and development, critical algorithm studies as well as a sociotechnical understanding of AI. Drawing on a review of current humanitarian AI applications as well as interviews with stakeholders, our analysis suggests that several initiatives fail their own objectives. However, this should not mean that these innovations do not have powerful consequences. Automation reproduces human biases whilst removing human judgement from situations, potentially further marginalizing disadvantaged populations. We observe a transformation of humanitarian work as technology separates officers from the consequences of their actions. At the same time, AI initiatives are cloaked in a discourse of inherent progress and an aura of ‘magic’. Rather than democratizing the relationships between humanitarian providers and suffering subjects, digital technology reaffirms the power asymmetries associated with traditional humanitarianism. The non-human aspects of AI humanitarianism reveal, rework and amplify existing deficiencies of humanitarianism. The hype generated by humanitarian innovation appears to have more direct benefits for commercial stakeholders, rather than affected populations. Ultimately, by turning complex political problems like displacement and hunger into problems with technical solutions, AI depoliticizes humanitarian emergencies.

Cross-border E-commerce Trade between China and Africa: Review of the Literature

This article explores the opportunities, challenges, as well as the activities of the Chinese governmental and commercial stakeholders to promote cross-border e-commerce trade between China and Africa, based on the classification and correlation analysis of the literature from 2011 to 2019. The results show that the biggest driver for the development of China-Africa cross-border e-commerce trade is the gap between the rapid growth of the African population, especially the middle class, and the limited local capability to satisfy their demand. The rapid development of the internet and mobile internet is another driving factor. The biggest challenge is the last mile delivery of logistics, and online payment issues in Africa. At the macro-level the Chinese government has promoted measures such as infrastructure investment, e-commerce test zones and the establishment of pilot projects. At the firm level, Chinese companies have focused on solving practical micro-level local operational problems such as logistics, online payment, and talent training. The results also show that the referred literature is still in its infancy, mostly theoretical and less practical, and requires more in-depth domain specific analysis in the future.

Design and Implementation of a Multilevel Intervention to Reduce Hepatitis C Transmission Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Amsterdam: Co-Creation and Usability Study.

BackgroundIn the Netherlands, transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) occurs primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM). Early HCV testing of at-risk MSM and immediate initiation of treatment will prevent onward transmission, but this may not be sufficient to eliminate HCV in a population with ongoing risk behaviors. Therefore, targeted socioculturally acceptable preventive measures, including behavioral interventions, are urgently needed. Currently, little contextually appropriate information about HCV or risk reduction interventions is available.ObjectiveThe objective of this project was to develop an intervention to reduce HCV transmission among MSM in Amsterdam through a co-creation process, with the input of men from the targeted community directly impacting intervention content, design, and implementation.MethodsWe developed a multilevel intervention targeting 6 levels: individual, community, professional, context, patient, and network. The intervention was developed in close cooperation between health professionals, gay community members, commercial stakeholders, and stakeholders from within the gay community. The co-creation process had 4 phases: a needs assessment, stakeholder engagement, co-creation, and implementation. The co-creation phase continued until consensus was reached between the researchers and community members on the intervention content and design. The final intervention, NoMoreC, was completed within 2 years, and implementation started in February 2018.ResultsNoMoreC includes web-based and face-to-face components as well as an anonymous HCV testing service. The NoMoreC website provides information about hepatitis C, HCV transmission routes, risk reduction strategies, testing and treatment options, and partner notification. The face-to-face component comprises a risk reduction toolbox, training for health professionals, and providing tailored advice to sex on premises venues. NoMoreC is promoted by an active voluntary campaign team.ConclusionsInvolving the community and stakeholders in the creation of NoMoreC has been the main strength of this project. It has resulted in an intervention with various components that resonates with the gay community at risk of HCV infection. The uptake and acceptability of the described intervention will be evaluated in the future. The description of the co-creation process and implementation of the project may serve as a rich and useful source for others who want to develop culturally and context appropriate HCV interventions.

Detection and identification of significant events in historical aircraft trajectory data

A large amount of data is produced every day by stakeholders of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system, in particular airline operators, airports, and air navigation service providers (ANSP). Most data is kept private for many reasons, including commercial and security concerns. More than data, shared information is precious, as it leverages intelligent decision-making support tools designed to smoothen daily operations.We present a framework to detect, identify and characterise anomalies in past aircraft trajectory data. It is based on an open source of ADS-B based aircraft trajectories, and extracted information can benefit a wide range of stakeholders: Air Traffic Control (ATC) training centres could play more realistic simulations; ANSP may improve capacity indicators; academics improve safety models and risk estimations; and commercial stakeholders, like airlines and airports, may use such information to improve short-term predictions and optimise their operations.The technique is based on autoencoding artificial neural networks applied on flows of trajectories, which provide a useful reading grid associating cluster analysis with quantified level of abnormality. In particular, we find that the highest anomaly scores correspond to poor weather conditions, whereas anomalies with a lower score relate to ATC tactical actions.

Effect of ship loading on marine diesel engine fuel consumption for bulk carriers based on the fuzzy clustering method

The loading of the ship is investigated under fully loaded and ballast conditions. Each case is categorized numerically under 1 and 0 for fully loaded and ballast conditions, respectively. The multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method is applied to advance and support the decision-making system for ship operations and ship owners. The parameters analysed in this research include wind speed, wave height, ship speed, distance travelled, and shaft speed. The fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (Fuzzy-AHP) method has been used to prioritise the weight of criteria decision making. They will provide a fundamental criterion to support the commercial stakeholders, loading & navigation of the vessels. The novelty methodology indicates that machine learning could be used in decision making for optimal loading of the ship. The optimal loading of the ship and fuel oil consumption of the main diesel engine has been achieved from this research by the proposed methodology. The results of this research are useful for shipping transportation companies and especially as a tool for the Master and the Chief Engineer of ships and researchers in the field of ship energy efficiency management.

Seasonal movements and site utilisation by Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in tropical savannas and floodplains of northern Australia

Abstract ContextThe Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an introduced herbivore of the savannas and floodplains of northern Australia. Despite the significant environmental damage caused by water buffalo, important cultural and commercial stakeholders request this species is managed rather than eradicated. However, gaps in knowledge of buffalo ecology limit effective policy and planning. AimsTo better understand how buffalo, at current population densities, respond to seasonally changing resources in the two key habitat types that they occupy in northern Australian – upland eucalypt savanna and seasonally inundated floodplain. MethodsSatellite telemetry was used to record the location of a single female buffalo from each of 11 independent clans every hour over a 12-month period. Generalised linear mixed modelling was used to assess the extent to which buffalo movements, activity-space and site revisitation correlated with forage quality (inferred from the normalised difference vegetation index – NDVI) and localised buffalo density. Key resultsAs the dry season progressed, forage quantity and quality within the activity-space of buffalo clans decreased. In response, buffalo inhabiting floodplain exhibited increased rates of movement and enlarged the size of their activity-space. This resulted in low repeated visitation of foraging areas in the late dry season and NDVI remained relatively high within these areas. In comparison, buffalo in upland savanna maintained similar rates of activity and occupied the same activity-space size throughout the year. This resulted in frequent revisitation of the same areas in the late dry season and NDVI reached as low as zero in these foraging areas. Clan size and localised buffalo density had no significant effect on measured movement parameters. ConclusionsBuffalo exhibited a behavioural strategy in upland savanna that resulted in acute removal of green herbaceous vegetation within a few kilometres of the clan’s permanent water source. Buffalo inhabiting the floodplain used multiple wallows that reduced grazing impacts, but likely resulted in hoof-derived impacts over a broad area. ImplicationsCurrent buffalo densities in Kakadu National Park appear to be well below carrying capacity but localised environmental degradation around permanent water sources remains severe in upland savanna.

Use of artificial intelligence to assess mineral substance criticality in the French market: the example of cobalt

The French public and commercial stakeholders need prospective tools to follow how mineral substances criticality change in the French market. After arguing that such tools should necessarily tackle criticality at a complex level, in particular on multiple scales (e.g., France and the EU), we present the first thematic and methodological discussions of our results from the ongoing design of a methodologically based simulation model on two subfields of artificial intelligence: agent-based computational economics (ACE) and machine learning (ML). In applying this to cobalt, our model aims to assess a supply shortage in France for prospective purposes. More precisely, we model a first individual agent (which is already complex by itself) acting at a country level: France. This model is not yet an ACE model per se since only one agent is designed. Nonetheless, we include ACE in the discussions since the work is a premise of such an end. The discussions also include how well the field accepts the methodology. At a thematic level, our preliminary prospective conclusion is a French cobalt supply shortage, should the case arise, would not be due to the variation of price from the UK, the transit leader of cobalt export to France. At a methodological level, we think the idea of methodologically coupling ML and ACE is necessary. ML is well-known in this field, but mainly for the study of mineral prospectivity in mining. Conversely, ACE covers the value chain but is not yet well known in the field and as such is still not trusted.

Measuring the vulnerability of tourist destinations to the availability of air transport, using multi-criteria composite indexes

Abstract Tourist destinations are vulnerable to the decisions of commercial stakeholders that may have different organisational priorities to theirs. A high level of tourism concentration, and dependence on certain airports and airlines, can increase the strategic risks and threaten the competitiveness of destinations. This paper develops a novel methodology to measure the vulnerability of tourist destinations to the availability of air transport through the use of composite indexes. The applicability of the methodology is demonstrated in Catalonia (Spain) from 2007 to 2017. The result is a rigorous control of easy interpretation that allows multiple analyses and flexible application to different circumstances. The system provides politicians and technical staff with the tools they need to have a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the vulnerability of their destination. It also provides robust data that can be used to analyse current policies, negotiate contractual conditions and prepare contingency plans for those instances where the collective needs at a destination differ from those of individual commercial stakeholders.

Donald A. B. Lindberg (1933-2019).

Visionary medical informaticist who laid the groundwork for PubMed

Borders and border people in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier

ABSTRACTIn southern Africa, transfrontier conservation areas (hereafter TFCAs) are founded on the principle of reshaping borders for conservation-related objectives. Proponents of TFCAs perceive borders as a legacy of colonialism and as fragmenting habitats. It could be argued that this reasoning renders borders irrational and irrelevant. The aim of this study is to investigate how redesigning of border landscapes to establish TFCAs affects border people. The paper argues that while such newly-created transnational spaces prioritise biodiversity conservation and privilege/promote commercial stakeholders and enterprises, they overlook and indeed impose costs on border people. Thus, the creation of TFCAs is not for locals as claimed by its proponents, but is rather a landscape devoted to nature conservation and commercial enterprises. To advance this argument, the study uses the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA) on the Botswana-South Africa–Zimbabwe borderlands as the case study.

Micro-platformization for digital activism on social media

ABSTRACT Social media emerged with a broad understanding that egalitarian practices would become the standard approach to publishing and distributing content. In recent times we have seen this flat hierarchical approach fade as commercial stakeholders, platform providers and content publishers continue to design and practice exclusionary processes to ensure their work is visible. This current practice limits the capacity for all voices to be heard, prompting the question how can digital activism remain visible in a media-saturated social media environment? This paper draws on a content analysis of the most popular YouTube users in Australia to illustrate the absence of digital activism within its visual culture. It maps the process of fragmented platformization, called here micro-platformization, to highlight the content production and publishing strategies digital activists should adopt. While successful commercial YouTube practitioners adhere closely to the principles of social media logics (Van Dijck, J., & Poell, T. (2014). Understanding Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 1(1), 2–14), this paper argues that stakeholders engaging in the practice of digital activism need to adopt similar strategies to their commercial counterparts. By including strategies that reflect the successful practices of social media logics, digital activism can not only become visible across social media spaces, but also engage public discourse on civic matters and public affairs.

Outer space SARPs: A mechanism for implementation of space safety standards

The global space sector is undergoing a profound transformation and some trends currently observed (e.g. increased traffic, new actors, emerging concepts) are raising new safety and security concerns for space infrastructures. This situation has been widely acknowledged by governmental and commercial stakeholders, including European ones. Space surveillance and tracking (SST) capabilities are one of the tools to address these growing space security concerns.This paper proposes a thorough contextual analysis of the current state of play of the space surveillance and tracking domain in Europe. The analysis covers European and national frameworks as well as private initiatives and concludes with the identification of some key elements to take into consideration for the future of European SST capabilities.

European SST landscape: Current status and challenges on the way ahead

The global space sector is undergoing a profound transformation and some trends currently observed (e.g. increased traffic, new actors, emerging concepts) are raising new safety and security concerns for space infrastructures. This situation has been widely acknowledged by governmental and commercial stakeholders, including European ones. Space surveillance and tracking (SST) capabilities are one of the tools to address these growing space security concerns.This paper proposes a thorough contextual analysis of the current state of play of the space surveillance and tracking domain in Europe. The analysis covers European and national frameworks as well as private initiatives and concludes with the identification of some key elements to take into consideration for the future of European SST capabilities.

Hero shots: involved fathers conquering new discursive territory in consumer culture

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we explore how visual expressions of culture offer new discursive territory within which consumer cultural ideals can be negotiated on a global scale. Through a critical visual analysis of the revelatory case Swedish Dads, we find hero shots depicting involved fathers where children’s needs and the hermetic confines of the home take center stage, as opposed to the traditional fatherhood ideals portrayed in western contemporary advertising, media, and popular culture. We demonstrate how the Swedish state’s gender ideology was encoded into a communicative event in the form of hero shots and subsequently dispersed by visual consumers as well as political and commercial stakeholders pushing this particular agenda and/or capitalizing on its tendencies. This in such a way that the event conquered new discursive territory fostering new types of consumer cultural negotiations on fatherhood ideals also in other cultural settings.

Commercial Security’s’ Effect on Security of Kenyans in Private Venues

The strategic interplay between the Commercial security industry and security is complex. The realists view the provision of security as a fundamental obligation of the state. But to the liberalists, the pursuance of security can be achieved with the involvement of other actors offering the same. The question of whether the growing recognition of commercial security industry has marked an important shift in the norm of the state monopoly on violence in Africa needs answers. Despite this development, few studies have evaluated the effect of commercial security on security in Private Venues. Using Situational crime prevention theory, this study sort to demonstrate the effect of commercial security on security of Kenyans in Private Venues. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design, and was carried out in Nairobi with the target population of the adult residents in Nairobi. Customers and management of the commercial security industry were purposively sampled, whereas the general public and the security guards were systematically sampled. Questionnaire, interviews and structured observation were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. While quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics like percentages, average and mean, and pie charts. There is an accepted positive effect on security of Kenyans in private functions and venues where commercial security present. But efficiency would be achieved if, the commercial security personnel provide indiscriminate security responses where there is a breach. Grey area needing legal backing were identified as: arming of the commercial security personnel, proper uniforms and kitting, and training and skills. It is expected that the findings of this study will be of great significance to the commercial security industry stakeholders in their quest to provide security to their customers. The findings will also be used to inform policy and practice that can beneficial to national security in Kenya. It is also hoped to stimulate the academic community and the government of Kenya towards more research in the field, and for the formulation of policies that will improve the general security of the citizens.

The Perspectives of Commercial Property Stakeholders in Post-Disaster Rebuild

This paper seeks to expand our theoretical knowledge on what happens in post-disaster rebuild from the perspective of commercial property stakeholders (investors and developers; agents and professionals). By exploring how they have fared in a post-disaster rebuild environment, this paper has provided a nuanced understanding of the complex challenges they face after a major disaster. This paper adopts an interpretive approach to understanding what it takes to rebuild in a post-disaster environment through the lens and experiences of property stakeholders. After a series of catastrophic earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand, there was consequential damage to most of the commercial buildings in the central business district (CBD). Seven (7) years on, the CBD is still being rebuilt after so much demolition and clearing of debris for an extended period when the city was cordoned off just after the earthquakes. For this study, qualitative data was gathered via semi-structured interviews from twenty (20) purposively identified “Informed Property Stakeholders” involved in post-disaster rebuilding. The interview findings were subjected to an interpretative and thematic analysis used to provide a veracious way of characterising the viewpoints of those interviewed. Overall, this paper has highlighted the perspectives of those interviewed and the findings conveyed that post-disaster rebuilding was an unprecedented and unusual challenge for many property stakeholders.