Europe, Middle East And Africa Research Articles

Celebrating the Data from 100,000 Real-World Users of the MiniMed™ 780G System in Europe, Middle East, and Africa Collected Over 3 Years: From Data to Clinical Evidence.

Introduction: The present report celebrates the benchmarking of 100,000 MiniMed™ 780G system users in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and summarizes the major insights into the usability and outcomes of this system. Methods: Carelink Personal data (August 2020-August 2023) of users living in EMEA were analyzed. Continuous glucose monitoring-based endpoints were aggregated for (1) the full cohort and (2) a 12-month longitudinal cohort. Subanalyses were done for users on optimal settings (those spending ≥95% of time with glucose target of 100 mg/dL, and ≥95% of time with active insulin time of 2 h), for self-reported age groups (≤15 and ≥56 years) and for various countries/regions. Results: Data from 101,629 users (34 countries) were analyzed. Mean time in range (TIR) was 72.3%, glucose management indicator (GMI) was 7%, time below 70 mg/dL (TBR70) was 2.0% and time below 54 mg/dL (TBR54) was 0.4%. In terms of international targets, 59.6% of users achieved a GMI <7%, 62.5% a TIR >70%, 88.4% a TBR70 < 4%, and 90.0% a TBR54 < 1%. Data improved impressively in optimal setting users (TIR = 78.8%, and users reaching TIR >70% = 86.3%) while safety remained (TBR70 = 2.2% and TBR54 = 0.4%). Data showed consistency across self-reported age groups and geographies. In the longitudinal cohort, TIR reached 75.5% in the first month and remained 73.3% or higher over the 12-month period. Conclusion: Over 100,000 users of the MiniMed™ 780G system have demonstrated consistency in achieving target control of glycemia.

The price of war: Effect of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global financial market

We investigate the effect of the ongoing war between Russia-Ukraine on the global financial market as financial market is sensitive to extreme events and related news. In addition, we are examining the magnitude of war effect on different country groups. Taking the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, we use the event study method to examine the price impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war 2022 on the global stock market. In addition, we examine the cross-sectional variation in abnormal returns using country-specific variables. Further, we conduct a robustness check to validate the main results for the cross-sectional variation. We find that stock indices show the negative AARs and CAARs after the announcement of the invasion. However, the magnitude of negative return varies for different regions. The developed countries experienced more negative price reactions than emerging countries. In addition, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) is the most affected area on a geographical division basis, whereas the American division does not show significant price reactions. Further, countries with higher GDP experienced less sell-off in their indices. We also find that the trade-to-GDP ratio negatively impacts the abnormal returns in the post-event window, indicating that countries with more percentage of the trade in their GDP have been affected to a greater extent.

Real-world evidence in achondroplasia: considerations for a standardized data set

BackgroundCollection of real-world evidence (RWE) is important in achondroplasia. Development of a prospective, shared, international resource that follows the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse of digital assets, and that captures long-term, high-quality data, would improve understanding of the natural history of achondroplasia, quality of life, and related outcomes.MethodsThe Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Achondroplasia Steering Committee comprises a multidisciplinary team of 17 clinical experts and 3 advocacy organization representatives. The committee undertook an exercise to identify essential data elements for a standardized prospective registry to study the natural history of achondroplasia and related outcomes.ResultsA range of RWE on achondroplasia is being collected at EMEA centres. Whereas commonalities exist, the data elements, methods used to collect and store them, and frequency of collection vary. The topics considered most important for collection were auxological measures, sleep studies, quality of life, and neurological manifestations. Data considered essential for a prospective registry were grouped into six categories: demographics; diagnosis and patient measurements; medical issues; investigations and surgical events; medications; and outcomes possibly associated with achondroplasia treatments.ConclusionsLong-term, high-quality data are needed for this rare, multifaceted condition. Establishing registries that collect predefined data elements across age spans will provide contemporaneous prospective and longitudinal information and will be useful to improve clinical decision-making and management. It should be feasible to collect a minimum dataset with the flexibility to include country-specific criteria and pool data across countries to examine clinical outcomes associated with achondroplasia and different therapeutic approaches.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on global real estate capital flows

PurposeCOVID-19 has had a significant global impact at many levels, including an impact on global real estate capital flows. This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on global real estate capital flows over 2019–2022 to clearly articulate the extent of this impact on global real estate capital flows across regions, countries, major cities, real estate sub-sectors and by major real estate investors. Drivers of these global real estate capital flow changes are also identified. The strategic real estate investment implications of this impact are highlighted, as well as the implications going forward concerning the global real estate strategies for the real estate portfolios held by institutional investors.Design/methodology/approachTo assess the impact of COVID-19, the Real Capital Analytics (RCA) database of global real estate transactions over 2019–2022 is used to drill-out critical details on commercial real estate transactions to explore specific trends in global real estate capital flows in this period of the COVID-19 crisis. This includes real estate capital flows to specific regions, countries, cities, real estate sub-sectors as well as the role of major real estate investors.FindingsThe impact of COVID-19 is clearly shown with the major decline in global real estate capital flows in 2020, with a strong recovery in 2021. Reduced levels of real estate capital flows in 2022 reflect different risk dynamics, where 2022 has seen investors move on from the COVID-19 environment. In 2022, the risk of COVID-19 for real estate has been replaced by global real estate risk factors such as inflation concerns, geopolitical tensions, economic growth concerns, increased cost of debt issues and supply chain issues. This sees COVID-19 now rated as only the 6th most important risk factor in real estate investment decision-making for real estate investors in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia–Pacific.Practical implicationsThis research has clearly shown the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on global real estate capital flows, as well as identifying the drivers of these real estate capital flow changes. It highlights that real estate investors have moved on and are now prioritising new risk factors ahead of COVID-19 risk. These critical risk factors reflect more recent financial, economic and geopolitical issues, which are key issues in real estate investment decision-making going forward. Investors need to structure these new risk factors into their real estate investment decision-making for the ongoing management of their domestic and international real estate portfolios.Originality/valueThis paper is the first published empirical research analysis of global real estate capital flows during the COVID-19 crisis. This research provides major insights on real estate investment decision-making during this crisis and the strategic changes seen in acquiring real estate portfolios in response to this major global crisis. The change in real estate risk priorities in 2022 as real estate investors move on from the COVID-19 environment is also identified and is clearly reflected in the 2022 global real estate capital flows.

#3356 COVID-19 PANDEMIC EFFECT ON HOSPITALIZATION OF HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

Abstract Background and Aims During the COVID-19 pandemic many facets of our lives were affected, including the healthcare systems worldwide. We aimed to assess the hospitalization rates of hemodialysis (HD) patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection (COVID-19+) versus other patients (i.e., patients with no documented COVID-19 infection in the European Clinical Database (EuCliD®)) in 2020 and their relation to HD patients from the pre-pandemic era in 2019. Method We included 63,216 HD patients treated in 2019-2020 in NephroCare centers from 23 countries from EuCliD® in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Monthly hospitalization rates (hospital admission per 10,000 patients) were estimated separately for COVID-19+ and other HD patients in 2020, and HD patients treated in 2019, with COVID-19+ status as a time-varying variable. The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths were extracted from data released by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (ECJRC)[1]. The correlation between the monthly hospitalization rates and numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in general population (GP) were evaluated. Results Characteristics of the approximately 42,000-43,000 monthly treated HD patients were comparable between 2019 and 2020 (Table 1). The hospitalization rates were much higher for COVID-19+ HD patients throughout 2020 compared to other HD patients in 2020 and HD patients in 2019. The hospitalization rates were highest in the spring of 2020 for COVID-19+ HD patients. However, in 2020 other HD patients’ hospitalization rates were lower than the 2019 HD patients’ hospitalization rates. Interestingly the hospitalization rates of other HD patients in 2020 dipped even more below hospitalizations for HD patients in 2019 following the GP pandemic waves (Figure 1). Hospital admission for both COVID-19+ and other HD patients were inversely correlation with the pandemic conditions in GP (Figure 2; spearman correlation coefficients [ρ] with COVID-19 cases/deaths in GP, -0.77/-0.22 and -0.29/-0.64, respectively, for COVID-19+ and other HD patients). Conclusion Our study indicated the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on hospitalization rates of both HD patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis and those patients without a documented COVID-19 infection. Potential reasons of decreased hospitalization rates in patients without a documented COVID-19 diagnosis could be healthcare resource constraints or regarding patient concerns about exposure to COVID-19 in hospital settings [2].

Abstract OT2-05-01: FLEX: 30K Full Transcriptome, Real-World Evidence Database for Early-Stage Breast Cancer, and Investigator-Initiated Protocols

Abstract FLEX: 30K Full Transcriptome, Real-World Evidence Database for Early-Stage Breast Cancer, and Investigator-Initiated Protocols BACKGROUND: Genomic signatures, such as the 70-gene MammaPrint, provide additional prognostic information for early-stage breast cancer (EBC), such as tumor metastatic potential, and expand the available information clinicians and patients require for shared treatment decision making beyond the standard clinicopathologic factors. EBC tumors are further stratified into clinically actionable subtypes by molecular assays such as the 80-gene molecular profiling assay BluePrint, improving pathological complete response rates (pCR) and outcomes as evidenced by a number of recent trials. The ongoing FLEX Study (NCT03053193) is designed to expand the genomic information available for EBC cases, and to increase the speed of data generation for rare and underserved research areas. To date, FLEX is the largest international multicenter real-world evidence (RWE) EBC registry, with more than 10,000 patients enrolled in fewer than five years since opening. FLEX pairs full genome data with more than 800 clinical data points collected over 10 years of follow up to provide the most comprehensive big data database available for early-stage breast cancer. The FLEX enrollment has a goal of a minimum of 30,000 patients within 10 years. METHODS: The FLEX study is a multicenter, prospective, observational trial for patients ≥18 years old with histologically proven stage I-III invasive breast cancer that is node negative or positive (up to three nodes) who receive MammaPrint, with or without BluePrint as standard of care management. Patients consent to the collection of clinically annotated full transcriptome data. Additionally, this study protocol allows physicians to investigate targeted populations or clinical trial investigator-initiated studies (IIS) upon approval by a peer-driven Scientific Review Committee. As patients enrolled in the FLEX study meet all eligibility criteria for inclusion no additional consent is required. The FLEX enrollment has already surpassed 1/3 of set target goal. As of April 2022, the trial has surpassed 10,000 patients enrolled at nearly 100 trial sites across the US and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). To date, there have been 36 publications in international scientific congresses with 39 FLEX IIS and in progress. With over 250 active and collaborating physicians leveraging the shared infrastructure, the IIS have enabled the ability to address disparities in treatment to underrepresented populations, rare subtypes, age, and patient centered specific topics. Current and future questions investigated via this platform will continue to strive to improve outcomes for early-stage breast cancer patients. Citation Format: Alejandra Perez, Hannah Linden, Nathalie Johnson, Sami Diab, Chirag Jani, Chelsea D. Gawryletz, Richard Fine, Laura Lawson, Megan Baker, Victoria Poillucci, Lisa E. Blumencranz, William Audeh. FLEX: 30K Full Transcriptome, Real-World Evidence Database for Early-Stage Breast Cancer, and Investigator-Initiated Protocols [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-05-01.

Assurance of Learning (AoL) and AACSB’s 2020 Business Accreditation Standards: a conversation with Marine Condette

Purpose This paper aims to discuss Assurance of Learning (AoL) and 2020 Standards from Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International with Marine Condette from AACSB. Design/methodology/approach Structured interview. Findings Changes following the 2020 Standards. Originality/value This paper is an interview with Marine Condette from the AACSB Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) office on AoL discussing as well the changes with the 2020 AACSB Standards.

Benchmarking medical laboratory performance: survey validation and results for Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Medical laboratory performance is a relative concept, as are quality and safety in medicine. Therefore, repetitive benchmarking appears to be essential for sustainable improvement in health care. The general idea in this approach is to establish a reference level, upon which improvement may be strived for and quantified. While the laboratory community traditionally is highly aware of the need for laboratory performance and public scrutiny is more intense than ever due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, few initiatives span the globe. The aim of this study was to establish a good practice approach towards benchmarking on a high abstraction level for three key dimensions of medical laboratory performance, generate a tentative snapshot of the current state of the art in the region of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and thus set the stage for global follow-up studies. The questionnaire used and previously published in this initiative consisted of 50 items, roughly half relating to laboratory operations in general with the otherhalf addressing more specific topics. An international sample of laboratories from EMEA was approached to elicithigh fidelity responses with the help of trained professionals. Individual item results were analyzed using standard descriptive statistics. Dimensional reduction of specific items was performed using exploratory factor analysis and assessed with confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in individual laboratory scores for the three subscales of "Operational performance", "Integrated clinical care performance", and "Financial sustainability". Altogether, 773 laboratories participated in the survey, of which 484 were government hospital laboratories, 129 private hospital laboratories, 146 commercial laboratories, and 14 were other types of laboratories (e.g. research laboratories). Respondents indicated the need fordigitalization (e.g. use of IT for order management, auto-validation), automation (e.g. pre-analytics, automated sample transportation), and establishment of formal quality management systems (e.g. ISO 15189, ISO 9001) as well as sustainably embedding them in the fabric of laboratory operations. Considerable room for growth also exists for services provided to physicians, such as "Diagnostic pathways guidance", "Proactive consultation on complex cases", and "Real time decision support" which were provided by less than two thirds of laboratories. Concordantly, the most important kind of turn-around time (TAT) for clinicians, sample-to-result TAT, was monitored by only 40% of respondents. Altogether, the need for stronger integration of laboratories into the clinical care process became apparent and should be a main trajectory of future laboratory management. Factor analysis confirmed the theoretical constructs of the questionnaire design phase, resulting in a reasonably valid tool for further benchmarking activities on the three aimed-for key dimensions.

POSA295 Achieving Value-Based Reimbursement: The Case of Decision Support Tools in Anemia Management for Therapy Personalization of Dialysis Patients

Anemia is a common complication in dialysis patients and is associated with impaired quality of life and increased mortality. Erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESA) are commonly used to treat anemia. Given the high costs of ESA, several countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have introduced policies to improve medication usage and anemia treatment. It has been suggested that decision support tools could improve anemia management by unlocking therapy personalization. The aim of the study was to map value-based reimbursement of anemia management across EMEA and analyze economic aspects of decision support tool utilization in dialysis centers within a large dialysis provider network across.

Impact of socioeconomic conditions on happiness: Evidence from emerging market economies

The objective of the present study is to examine the impact of socioeconomic conditions on happiness in 21 Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) with the help of three sub‐samples comprising America, Asia, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) countries from 2006 to 2019. For this objective, panel corrected standard error model is used to resolve the problem of cross‐sectional dependence, group‐wise heteroscedasticity, and panel autocorrelation. The results of the study reveal that economic growth plays a positive role in determining the happiness of EMEs of America and EMEA sample countries. At the same time, globalisation and inflation affect the happiness of people in American sample countries in a negative way. In the sample of Asian countries, social support has a substantial impact on happiness. Corruption in the government and business sectors reduces the happiness of selected countries of both Asia and America. This article contributes to the existing literature by first time considering EMEs which have undergone liberalisation reforms and experienced transformation in their socioeconomic conditions. In conclusion, the study suggests that GDP per capita and social support positively stimulates happiness while the perception of corruption negatively impacts happiness in selected EMEs. These implications can help in building a line of actions for strengthening anti‐corruption institutions and promoting social integrations among these EMEs.

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The non-linear relationship between financial access and domestic savings: the case of emerging markets

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of financial access on the accumulation of domestic savings in emerging markets (EMs) covering countries from Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia as classified by the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index. We use the System Generalized Method of Moments panel estimation methodology on annual data spanning the period 1980-2018. Principal component analysis allows us to create a financial access index as a linear combination of two variables measured per 100,000 adults: number of bank branches per and number of ATMs.The results of the paper reveal a statistically significant nonlinear relationship between the improvement in financial access measures and the accumulation of domestic savings with a definite threshold level. More specifically, our results for the full sample indicate that improvement in financial access may initially increase the savings rateleading to an increase in savings. Nevertheless, once the financial access index reaches its threshold level further improvement in financial access tends decrease households’ precautionary savings and to give rise to a decline in savings. Thus, the duality of the pattern highlights the non-linearity of financial access and domestic savings.

Global hospital and operative costs associated with various ventral cavity procedures: a comprehensive literature review and analysis across regions

Objectives: The aim of this literature review was to provide a comprehensive report on hospital costs, and cost components, for a range of ventral cavity surgical procedures across three regions of focus: (1) Americas, (2) Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and (3) Asia-Pacific.Methods: A structured search was performed and utilized a combination of controlled vocabulary (e.g., “Hepatectomy”, “Colectomy”, “Costs and Cost Analysis”) and keywords (e.g. “liver resection”, “bowel removal”, “economics”). Studies were considered eligible for inclusion if they reported hospital-related costs associated with the procedures of interest. Cost outcomes included operating room (OR) time costs, total OR costs, ward stay costs, total admission costs, OR cost per minute and ward cost per day. All costs were converted to 2018 USD.Results: Total admission costs were observed to be highest in the Americas, with an average cost of $15,791. The average OR time cost per minute was found to vary by region: $24.83 (Americas), $14.29 (Asia-Pacific), and $13.90 (EMEA). A cost-breakdown demonstrated that OR costs typically comprised close to 50%, or more, of hospital admission costs. This review also demonstrates that decreasing OR time by 30 min provides cost savings approximately equivalent to a 1-day reduction in ward time.Conclusion: This literature review provided a comprehensive assessment of hospital costs across various surgical procedures, approaches, and geographical regions. Our findings indicate that novel processes and healthcare technologies that aim to reduce resources such as operating time and hospital stay, can potentially provide resource savings for hospital payers.

The impact of women leaders on environmental performance: Evidence on gender diversity in banks

AbstractThis study analyses the impact of women leaders on environmental performance in a sample of 96 listed banks in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region from 2011 to 2016. Gender diversity in leadership positions is explored through women in the board of directors, chief executive officer gender, and the interaction between these two aspects. This study sheds light on inconsistent results in prior literature by testing three theoretical perspectives: gender difference, critical mass, and homophily. The main results suggest that there is nonlinear relationship between women directors and the environmental performance of banks and that female chief executive officers play a strategic role in shaping this relationship, by confirming the homophily perspective for the banking sector. Therefore, leader gender diversity is an important driver of environmental sustainability in banks, which are increasingly involved in environmental issues either directly, as companies, or indirectly, through their lending activity.

The ketogenic diet is effective for refractory epilepsy associated with acquired structural epileptic encephalopathy.

Ketogenic diet therapies have proven efficacy for refractory epilepsy. There are many reports of their use in the genetic developmental and epileptic encephalopathies; however, little attention has been paid as to whether the diet is also effective in individuals with an acquired structural aetiology. We observed remarkable efficacy of the diet in two patients with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. We then analysed our cases with refractory structural epilepsies of acquired origin to characterize their response to the ketogenic diet. The classical ketogenic diet was implemented with dietary ratios of 3:1 to 4.4:1. Seizure frequency at 1month, 3months, 6months, 1year, and 2years was ascertained. A responder was defined as greater than 50% seizure reduction compared to baseline. Seven of the nine patients were responders at 3months. Somewhat surprisingly we found that the ketogenic diet was effective in patients with a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy due to an acquired structural aetiology. This cohort may not be routinely considered for the ketogenic diet because of their structural and acquired, rather than genetic, basis. The ketogenic diet should be considered early in the management of patients with acquired structural encephalopathies as it can improve seizure control with the potential to improve developmental outcome. The ketogenic diet was effective in children with epilepsy associated with an acquired structural aetiology.

Use of product and ingredient tools to assess the environmental profile of automatic dishwashing detergents

Sustainable use of resources is gaining more attention as demonstrated into recent policy goals by the United Nations and the European Union and becomes an integral part of many corporate sustainability visions. The case study shows the more efficient use of materials in P&G automatic dishwashing detergents (ADD) placed on the market in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by replacing sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) with methyl glycine diacetic acid (MGDA). The use of phosphates in ADD in the European Union will be restricted as of 2017. This study is innovative as it combines several tools in a complementary way to enable data based decision making. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) consistent with ISO 14040/44 standards compares environmental impacts for two ADD unit dose products (i.e. with and without STPP). Different assessment tools were used to evaluate the freshwater aquatic toxicity profile: the Critical Dilution Volume (CDV), USEtox, environmental risk assessment and the Environmental Safety Check (ESC).For the relevant LCA indicators, a significant reduction (i.e. > 10%) is observed on ADD products without phosphate versus the phosphate containing product. CDV and USEtox scores on the down the drain emissions from the new product are reduced by 30% and 22% respectively as compared to the phosphate containing formula. Overall, no major trade-offs are observed with the replacement of STPP by MGDA. Benefits are due to a 20% reduction of the mass of ingredients per dose with the new product and the replacement of STPP by MGDA. The ESC evaluation and environmental risk assessment for MGDA show that a low environmental risk is expected per its favorable environmental fate and ecotoxicological profiles. Based on the proven safety profile of MGDA, the reductions in LCA indicators and absence of trade-offs, it can be concluded that the new product has an improved environmental profile.

U.S. Monetary Expectations and Emerging Market Debt Flows

This paper examines the effects that changes to U.S. monetary expectations have on debt flows to emerging markets since the Global Financial Crisis. First, daily interest rate expectations measured by federal fund futures and a shadow rate model are used to categorize Federal Reserve announcements as easing (unexpected), tightening (unexpected), easing (expected), and tightening (expected). Second, the announcements categorized by the shadow rate model are used for an event study on daily emerging market debt flows by currency (all currencies, hard currency, local currency, mixed currency), investor (all investors, active investors, passive investors), and region (Asia excluding Japan, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America, and Global Emerging Markets (Global EM)). The results show that tightening (unexpected) announcements cause emerging market debt outflows, hard currency debt flows respond more to announcements than local currency debt flows, and that passive investors respond more than active investors. Debt flows to Latin America respond more to announcements than debt flows to Asia ex-Japan, EMEA, and Global EM.

A Systemic Approach to Re-inforce Development and Operations Functions in Delivering an Organizational Program

Abstract Business environment is dynamic and volatile. Changes are due to strategic factors like growth, regulations, mergers & acquisitions, diversification, geo-politics and business innovations etc. Sometimes change or innovation could be technology led also. For any business change or innovation to be deployed in practice, it must be developed (built) and operationalized and run as business as usual (BAU). This paper presents a systemic design based on Systems engineering and cybernetics principles. A systemic approach was adopted to re-inforce and establish connect between development and operations functions in delivering an organizational program of customer contact transformation. This paper also leverages experience of deploying the same to overcome the challenges of lack of collaboration between Development and Operations silos in delivering changes in programs. This systemic model described here was implemented successfully for enhancing synergy of Development and Operations functions of a customer contact program of a major telecommunications services provider in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region operating in more than ten markets. Key stakeholders from DevOps were involved during the surveys conducted and assessment done. The approach involved discovery, diagnosis and design iterations in onsite and offshore model. It also presents a case, which deployed this approach, provides conclusion and future direction. Results of application of above approach to address the problem are also illustrated. The approach helped in reinforcing collaboration between the DevOps resulting in enhanced synergy, productivity and reduced time to market of telecom products and services considerably.

Employment generation through ICT: A case study of delta state of Nigeria ICT parks project

Statistically, Nigeria has a youth population of about 67 million, aged between 15 and 35 years. 42.2% of these young people are not gainfully employed while only 20% have more than the secondary school certificate. In order to bridge this gap, the Delta State Government developed the Delta ICT parks, a growing 21st century business, service and technology facility equipped to train, educate and encourage an entrepreneurial culture with sound human resource, that would drive development of an ICT knowledge based economy. This initiative, borne out of the Delta beyond oil is already in steady progress, enjoying the partnership of System Application Product (SAP) under the platform of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that portends a global IT based future. The objective of this paper is to access the level of implementation and publicity, skill acquisition and degree of the impact of the initiative on employment generation in Delta State. The study, which adopted a survey design, applied three research questions and used oral interview and a Millennium Park Entrepreneurial Assessment Questionnaire (MPEAQ). The content validity was validated by experts from Entrepreneurial Skills Development and Human Resources Management of Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku (DESPOG) with a test, re-test reliability coefficient of 0.82. A Sample of 350 was drawn using stratified random sampling technique from an undeterminable growing population comprising of secondary, tertiary education students, trainees and graduates of the programme. The simple percentage was used for data analysis. The findings revealed the need for the establishment of ICT parks with adequate awareness campaign. Also, that ICT skill acquisition is a panacea for employment generation in most societies. Recommendations were made based on findings on this model of employment generation through ICT in Delta State of Nigeria.

Do Retailers Benefit from Deploying Customer Analytics?

Prior research has documented a general positive relationship between the deployment of customer analytics and firm performance. In this research we focus on the retailing industry, an industry characterized by tight margins that lead to careful scrutiny of all business investments. Using survey data from 418 top managers based in the Americas, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia, we show that of the eight industries in the study, firms in the retail industry have the most to gain from deploying customer analytics. However, we also find that not only do many retailers not perceive this potential gain, they do not invest in customer analytics at an economically appropriate level. Thus we identify a gap between perception and reality concerning the potential for customer analytics in the retail industry that has both theoretical and practical implications.