Innovative Information And Communication Technology Research Articles

Innovative STEM lessons, CLIL and ICT in multicultural classes

This article aims to describe a number of scientific activities carried out efficiently and effectively in English, French, Spanish and Italian in High Schools. Cooperative and constructive methodologies in multicultural classes, the learner’s centrality, Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and laboratorial tasks are the core of these projects. Every student, regardless of their linguistic, conceptual and scientific background acquired and reorganized his/her knowledge learnt by doing in multilingual contexts. Working in pairs or small groups Italians and migrants were able to perform complex and demanding tasks and create valuable digital products. Integration and the acquisition of knowledge of STEM were promoted through the awareness of teenage and adult students’ language competences, their conceptual and linguistic repertoire, their learning style and their type of intelligence. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) proved to be a suitable approach to increase motivation, develop the key European competences and promote integration. A quadrilingual approach in teaching STEM was the first successful attempt to find a solution to some problems that usually arise in multicultural classes.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTS) for Youth Employment in Agribusiness in Ibadan

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) remain the viable solution to challenges faced in agriculture and agribusiness through innovations targeted to improve crop yield, value chain processes, and access to market information and creating employment opportunities in the process. In many developing countries especially Sub-Sahara Africa, minimal deployment of ICTs for agricultural production is seen and this has resulted to poor yield, low income for farmers and limited job opportunities. Although, majority of youths see agriculture and agribusiness as a sector not meant for them, this narrative could be changed if their skill and access to ICTs could be harnessed to contribute to the agricultural and agribusiness sector thereby providing real-time employment in the process. This study seeks to identify the levels of ICT skills of youth agripreneurs, investigate the ICT innovations currently being deployed and necessary to improve agribusiness, the extent of youth involvement and investigate dimensions to youth employment in agribusiness. Primary data were collected through an online survey and structured questionnaires. Young people currently involved in agribusiness were interviewed individually to gain insight on the current use of ICT and factors contributing to youth involvement were investigated. Data analysis was done using SPSS to draw inferences and develop policy briefs to provide insights into discoveries of the research and to encourage youth engagement in agribusiness and other rural economic activities. Findings suggest that ICT is currently being deployed for some agribusiness activities but on a very minimal scale. The main conclusion of the study is that in order to increase food security and provide job opportunities for young people, an increase in the uptake and deployment of ICT innovations for agribusiness needs to be encouraged.

Towards Sustainability: Smart Cities In The Egyptian Environment, How Much Smart To Be Smart?

Egypt, as a developing country, is facing many environmental, social, and economic issues in its cities. Those issues are the challenges for The Egyptian government to achieve sustainability and improve inhabitants' quality of life in the future cities vision of the nation. The fourth cyber-physical revolution and the growing exponentially innovations of information and communications technologies (ICT) were the catalyst for the Egyptian stakeholders to target the sustainable smart city concept for the new future Egyptian cities generation. The research aims to characterize the smart concept for the Egyptian environment by proposing an ICT architecture for the smart city model within the Egyptian cities and highlight the innovative ICT that it will affect the future performance of such smart cities. The research attempts also to identify the main Egyptian smart initiatives that would offer appropriate sustainable solutions and improve the quality of life of the Egyptian inhabitants. To achieve the research objectives the innovative ICT installation requirements were studied to propose a compatible ICT architecture for the future city structure and an interview for experts were statistically analyzed to determine the Smart city initiatives and smart component systems prioritization for the future generation Egyptian cities. The research concluded that there is no unique standards of the city smartness concept and a community requirements study must be considered before deciding the smart initiatives and the smart systems components to be installed. The research determines that nowadays mobility, infrastructure and governance are the main smart initiatives of smartness for the Egyptian cities. Water and energy smart components of infrastructure initiative and the solid waste smart component systems of the environmental initiative are the main requirements for the Egyptian cities. Other smart component system requirements depend on the city concerns and the quality of life state of economic district level of the city.

Design model for the cost calculation of product-service systems in single and small series production

Due to increasingly specific customer requirements, complex value-added processes and services characterize the single and small series production. A low degree of automation and insufficient knowledge management complicate the efficient accomplishment of projects, especially for the transparent calculation of new offers and change requests. The dissemination of product-service systems causes the additional challenge of calculating intangible services accurately. Innovative information and communication technologies (ICT) offer new potential for effective and efficient design of the calculation process. The availability of data along the entire product lifecycle, especially during the design phase, increases the transparency and allows the identification of interdependencies as well as prognosis possibilities. However, current calculation models only insufficiently consider the use of ICT. The solution presented in this paper considers the development of a design model for the holistic calculation of product-service systems in single and small series production that integrates and processes all cost-relevant data, both internally and externally. In order to filter important information, it includes the usage of suitable data analysis and enables a continuous learning process as well as sustainable knowledge management along the entire calculation process.

Augmenting Face-to-Face Learning with Information and Communication Technology at a Resource-Constrained Peri-Urban University Campus in Namibia

The augmentation of easily accessible and affordable information and communication technology (ICT) for instructional purposes was the key objective which made the study reported on relevant to most financially constrained higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of augmenting the entrenched face-to-face instructional modes at a resource-constrained peri-urban satellite campus of the University of Namibia with some of the latest but affordable mobile technology applications. The study made use of a survey, face-to-face interviews, and a focus group discussion which dealt with the broad themes such as skills and competences, attitudes, motivation, and access to the internet. The findings revealed very pertinent contextual themes such as psycho-sociocultural dimensions associated with the usage of social media. Moreover, the motivation level among lecturers was found to be significantly low, and this was largely attributed to resource constraints. The research recommends some pragmatic solutions to augment the traditional modes of delivery with simple but creative ICT innovations.

STRATEGIZING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ICT-RELATED INNOVATIONS ADOPTION: MODERATING INFLUENCE OF GENDER, AGE AND EXPERIENCE

The rapid advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has brought huge entrepreneur benefits and challenges. A key challenge that has been less researched is the demand for skilled manpower in relation to the issue of the role employees’ age and gender play in driving SMEs’ ICT-related innovations adoption. This paper attempted to determine the moderating role of three important workers’ demographic characteristics (age, gender and experience) on the use of innovations related to ICT by SMEs. Adopting the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) perspective, a questionnaire was designed and administered to 400 employees selected from 43 SMEs in the Malaysian state of Selangor. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions all have significant impacts on ICT-related technology innovations adoption (ICTRIA) while the moderator analysis confirmed that the two gender categories, different age groups and different experience levels have specific moderating influence on the relationship paths between the four predictors and technology innovations use. Novel findings show that performance expectancy and social influence are more salient for older female and younger female workers to run jobs related to ICT innovations use in the firm respectively.

Technology engagement for academics in third level: Utilising the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge framework (TPACK)

Research into the use of innovative information and communicationstechnology (ICT) for academic purposes is growing quickly. Much of thecurrent research explores the opportunities presented by ICT and socialmedia as innovative tools for teaching and enhancing student learning(O’Brien & Glowatz, 2013; Duncan & Barczyk, 2013). This paper suggeststhat the role of the academic in navigating the use of ICT in their teachingin HE has been overlooked in discussions. Koehler and Mishra (2009)propose the technological, pedagogic and content knowledge (TPACK)framework to explore the relationship of technology in teaching. O’Brienand Glowatz (2013) investigate the suitability of the TPACK frameworkin the context of academic engagement in order to investigate itsrelevance for academics teaching in HE. This paper suggests elementsof the teaching dynamic are overlooked and evaluates the use of theTPACK framework in the exploration of technology in higher educationby academics. Specifically, the authors address the key question ‘Howdo academics currently make use of technology to teach at highereducation?’.

Exploring challenges to ICT utilisation in construction site management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and occurrence, and peculiarities and dynamics, if any, of perceived challenges to the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in construction site management; using South Africa as context for empirical study.Design/methodology/approachLiterature on the constraints to technology transfer and ICT adoption in construction is used as basis for the study. A national survey of registered persons in South Africa was used to collect qualitative data. A robust multi-stepped analytical approach was used to derive results.FindingsFindings suggest appreciable similarity between literature and primary data, in types of individual challenges and their categories. Lack of technology and management support, and knowledge and information related issues, are relatively more prevalent in site management. There is a fair level of commonality in perception of technical barriers among the various categories of respondents who are active in site management. However, project managers seem to be more sensitive to some inhibiting factors, more than other respondent groups.Research limitations/implicationsInherent limitations of survey strategy were experienced, but highly qualitative data were collected at a national level. The study highlights the range of barriers to ICT in site management, and compounding effects of technology-, knowledge- and management-related constraints.Practical implicationsThe possibility of knowledge-based factors remotely manifesting in other categories was highlighted. There is need to consider all challenges in planning for ICT in projects, and prioritise technology-, knowledge- and management-related challenges. A classification for exploring challenges to ICT in the site management process is also proposed.Social implicationsAppreciable paucity remains in research focused on ICT in the site management process, as opposed to the popular operations/application focus of IT/ICT studies. Furthermore, there is still scarcity of ICT research in Africa, with regard to the built environment and specifically site management.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research in ICT innovation adoption in the construction industry, by developing a better understanding of the dynamics of perceived challenges to ICT adoption in the site management process; according to types and classifications of challenges, and roles and age groups of stakeholders. The study further sets a baseline for future studies in this area by proposing a frame of categorisation that is focused on site management.

Cognitive Constructive – Chronometric Techniques as a Tool for the E-Assessment of Learning

The 21st century brought new demands to formal education. For instance, the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) has revolutionized the conception and the realization of teaching (e.g., online education). Concurrently, in the field of evaluation of learning, advances have been characterized only by the digital encapsulation (digital domestication) of summative and formative assessment instruments, rather than by the generation of native approaches of the digital age. This clearly imposes a current demand to innovate methods and instruments of assessment that are better aligned with the new educational reality, framed by the era of innovative ICT. In particular, e-assessment will benefit by considering current cognitive science and computer science advances in ways that were not possible before. This is the case with the cognitive constructive chronometrical assessment of learning described in this paper. This approach favors innovating formative evaluation, but can be considered as complementary to several endeavors of old masters of educative evaluation. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.2.10

The role of ICT in creating intelligent, energy efficient buildings

We need to radically change the way we think with respect to how we can substantially reduce our carbon emmissions. Starting with ensuring we can create energy efficient, but still comfortable ‘Smart Buildings’. These Smart Buildings need to be the foundation of making Smart Cities. This will involve clustering Smart Buildings into practical groups of buildings to take advantage of larger scale opportunities such as district heating and cooling or microgrids. Smart Buildings will require different solutions, for example a residential solution may be different from a large hospital compared to a university campus.Innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is the key enabler to achieve and maintain the effectiveness of all existing and novel approaches to energy efficient buildings throughout the life cycle of a Smart Building. Without substantial advances in ICT our buildings will continue to be inefficient and perform poorly.Today most ICT related technology is called ‘Smart’. Unfortunately, most of the current technology in most of our current buildings is not Smart in terms of what is required to achieve energy efficient buildings. Consequently, innovative ICT is necessary to deliver the significant breakthroughs required for better control and operation of buildings. Without this capability all other innovative technology under development will be rendered ineffective. ICT is the key to Smart Buildings which can be aggregated into neighbourhoods, campuses, districts, cities and countries to provide a truly sustainable built environment.

Cyber extension for better nutritional security: Some developments and perspectives

India registered remarkable economic growth during the first decade of this millennium. Ironically, during this period, a vast section of population remained undernourished. The annual economic losses associated with malnutrition have been estimated at 3 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). Experience shown that increasing food production alone cannot address the issue of malnutrition, unless there is a nutrition focus and the poorest have access to a source of diversified and nutritious foods. Knowledge and information are important factors to ensure food and nutrition security. The problem of malnutrition can be better addressed through a innovative ICT led extension systems. Rapid advances in data acquisition and management, modeling, computation power, and information technology provide the opportunity to harness this knowledge in new and powerful ways to achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems. Examples of this technology include mobile phones, social media, tablets, internet, email, global positioning systems (GPS) etc. In this paper we employ the use cases and our collective experiences with agricultural systems and Information and communication technology (ICT) to describe about data and knowledge products need to improve food security and better nutrition.

Multi-level automation of farm management information systems

As innovative information and communication technology (ICT) tools were gradually introduced over the past decades into the agricultural sector, the use of farm management information systems (FMIS) was widely expanded and nowadays are regarded as important tools for managing the agricultural business. Nevertheless, the necessary workload for collecting, aggregating and importing data related to farming activities into a FMIS, is a task which is often time-consuming and farmers are reluctant to perform. The current paper describes the implementation of three automation levels, which enhance a FMIS by providing solutions related to the collection of fragmented-missing data and time-consuming data entry. The three levels involve: (i) the development of a modular FMIS based on future internet technologies, (ii) the use of standard values for assessing the cost of performed agricultural tasks and (iii) automating the process of importing task-related data into a FMIS using tractor’s CAN-Bus ISO 11783 and SAE J1939 communication information. To assess the financial analysis of the developed FMIS, related data were collected, recorded and analysed for an entire growing season, from two distinct crops, i.e. winter wheat and maize. Furthermore, to assess the automated task formulation in the FMIS, machine data were acquired while ploughing with a mouldboard plough. The application proved capable of performing a profitability analysis based on the recorded cost transactions but also based on the information given by the user related to the performed tasks. With the automatically created task, the FMIS gave the possibility to the user to present and process the necessary information with minimum effort.

Systematic Mapping Study of Information Technology for Development in Agriculture (The Case of Developing Countries)

AbstractWith its rapid proliferation in the developing world, information and communication technology (ICT) has been accepted as an opportunity to assist disadvantaged people. Many projects have piloted ICT supporting rural communities in developing countries. Such rural communities are socially complex and infrastructurally weak environments that demand clear understanding of the social, economical, cultural and political preconditions when implementing ICT innovations. To provide a comprehensive overview of what kinds of ICT intervention and research contributions have been achieved, a systematic mapping study (SMS) was carried out. This work presents the state‐of‐the‐art based on related journal and conference papers published between 2006–2014. The review indicates that ICT supporting farmers has gained attention over the past few years with a growing number of contributions. However, the field is still in a consolidating phase. Theoretical concepts are sparse, so it is difficult to generalize and transfer the findings. Specifically, there is limited research in IT design and development process; user‐interface design for illiterate people; and user and community involvement in the design process.

ADOPTION OF ICT INNOVATIONS BY SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS WITHIN CHEMISTRY EDUCATION

This research is focused on secondary school chemistry teachers’ (N=276) and chemistry pre-service teachers’ (N=159) attitudes towards the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. A questionnaire constructed upon Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation was used. Based on the answers, the respondents were grouped according to their innovativeness – into types of innovation adopters. Analysis of the participants’ responses to the statements in the questionnaire suggests that neither gender nor their teaching experience influence their innovativeness. The respondents mostly tend to hold a pragmatic view, accept the role of ICT in education. However, they need proof to decide whether to adopt it in their teaching practice. As the respondents could leave their contact information, it is possible to further focus on particular groups of innovation adopters, to observe their lessons, analyse their approach and mainly influence and support those groups, which maintain a “role model” position and trigger diffusion of innovations. Keywords: chemistry education, ICT, diffusion of innovations, teachers’ attitudes, pre-service teachers’ attitudes.

Revisiting Cyber-Diplomacy: Canada–China Relations Online

This paper situates Canada–China relations in the context of recent internet developments and debates about information and communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure. I argue that protest events in Hong Kong surrounding the #occupycentral movement help us understand the tension between internet access, technological innovation and state centric forms of internet governance. By foregrounding the tension between the horizontal exchange of ideas and national surveillance and control, it is possible to identify important similarities between Canadian and Chinese state and the experience of internet users. In the wake of the Hong Kong occupy protests, it is possible to see how the internet promotes the practices of ‘Other Diplomacies’, functional relationships between citizen, market and foreign actors that present challenges for national regulation and traditional diplomatic mechanisms. The paper proposes a revival of the concept of Cyber-Diplomacy to better explain the challenges of state-to-state relations in an era of ICT innovation.

Leading the Implementation of ICT Innovations

AbstractThis article analyzes the associations between leadership, the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) innovations, and performance. After reviewing theories and empirical evidence from the literature on leading change, ICT innovations, and performance, the authors elaborate hypotheses and test them in an analysis of the implementation of an ICT innovation in a Danish multisite hospital. In a quasi‐experimental research design using panel data, survey responses from more than 2,000 employees before and after the implementation were generated, in addition to qualitative interviews with change agents. Findings indicate how differences in leadership during the ICT implementation process have an important impact on performance after the implementation. Mobilization of initial support, directive leadership through information and technical assistance, participative leadership through employee involvement, and locally adapted implementation processes are important leadership factors associated with performance. The article concludes by discussing broader perspectives of the study and implications for practice, theory, and future research.

Evaluating the influence of information and communications technology on food security

Background: This study integrates the diffusion of innovation, technology acceptance model and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory to assess the role that information and communications technology (ICT) plays in ensuring food security. A survey of smallholder farmers from the iLembe district municipality of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa was conducted, and the data were used to test the proposed model.Objectives: The study evaluates the influence of ICTs in improving food security in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A theoretical framework was developed as the lens through which diffusion and adoption of ICTs can be understood. The theorised model was developed using constructs from the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM) and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory.Method: Survey data from 517 smallholder farmers from the district municipality of iLembe were collected using a questionnaire. A quantitative approach was followed, and the developed theorised model was analysed using structural equation modelling techniques.Results: This study proposes that ICT influence on food security is associated with culture, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The study further finds that perceived ease of use of ICTs has the most significant effect with regard to ICT adoption and diffusion amongst smallholder farmers in iLembe district municipality. There are, however, no associations found with perceived attributes of innovation and the nature of social systems. The study consisted of a largely homogeneous social system; therefore, the researcher could not make any comparisons.Conclusion: The proposed framework for evaluating the influence of ICTs on food security put forward in this study highlights a number of issues. Firstly, there is need for further study to be conducted to understand adoption of ICTs specifically for food security. This would help in creating more accurate adoption strategies. Secondly, the study informs ICT innovation developers on the need to prioritise ease of use of ICT-based interventions when developing innovations that focus on smallholder farmers. The study also contributes to policy guidelines and suggests clear guidelines be developed to address cultural aspects such as gender imbalances.

Direct and Complementary Effects of Investment in Knowledge-Based Economy on Innovation Performance in Tunisian Firms

This paper investigates two sets of hypotheses related to the relationship between the investment in the knowledge-based economy (KBE) and innovation performance in a developing country. The first set supposes that investment in information and communication technologies (ICT), organizational innovations, and human capital, the main three pillars of KBE, has a direct effect on innovation performance of Tunisian firms. The second set tests the hypothesis of complementary effect of these pillars such that their combination constitutes a significant production system affecting the innovation performance. Using recent firm-level data, we find evidence of direct effect of investment in the KBE on firm’s innovation performance. The second set of hypotheses is partly supported. We find evidence of complementarity between ICT and human capital as well as between ICT and organizational innovations, but we do not find evidence of complementarity between human capital and organizational innovations. Moreover, we find that full complementarity between ICT, organizational innovations, and human capital does not apply to Tunisian firms.

Digital innovation in the port sector

Digital innovation changes industry as a whole, and gradually also the port sector. The present article examines in detail 32 information and communications technology (ICT) innovation cases collected between autumn 2013 and spring 2015. Leading actors along the maritime supply chain were asked to indicate the importance and to assess the degree of the success achieved in each ICT innovation initiative, to identify the driving forces behind the adoption of innovation and to denote the associated costs and benefits. This input allows identifying the barriers of digital innovation from initiation through to implementation, as well as assessing the impact of facilitators of ICT innovation. To do this, the present research combines four quantitative instruments. The added value of this combined approach is a deeper understanding of the digital innovation process within the port sector. The research firstly indicates that alignment exists between company strategies and success degrees in the port sector, in contrast to non-ICT initiatives. The ICT innovation initiatives are also profit driven. Secondly, the port sector should be more open to disclose cost and benefit information and should conduct more such analyses. Next, there are conditions that improve the degree of success. Overall, terminal alignment with the right ICT infrastructure proves key. However, too many divergent interests among the stakeholders entail that digital innovation challenges the ability to cooperate. An important finding is regulation was not identified as a barrier nor as a facilitator.

Impact of ICT-based innovations on organizational performance

PurposeResearch has shown that information and communication technologies (ICT) are crucial for economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that would depict and examine the nature of the relationship between ICT use and organizational performance in the Lebanese market, taking into consideration the impact that innovation and corporate entrepreneurship may have on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the proposed model a survey targeting employees, and managers who adopted ICT applications in SMEs located in Lebanon was conducted.FindingsThe results indicate that ICT and innovation are strategic resources. However, their contribution to sustainable competitive advantage vitally depends on the implicitness and entrepreneurial behaviors of those involved. It is through this capability that ICT and ICT-based innovations could make a difference in organization’s performance – both present and future.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the respondents were selected using the convenience sampling technique. Second, the data were collected through self-report questionnaires. Finally, the use of perceptual data related to performance may have a bias effect on the study results.Practical/implicationsAt the practical level, the study results have repercussions for managers, technology suppliers, and innovation adopters and managers, as this may contribute to better understanding of the factors that could influence the adoption, management, and use of ICT resources for enhancing the competitiveness level of the firm.Originality/valueThe results of this study have implications for ICT adoption in Lebanese SMEs. More importantly, they suggest a framework which depicts the relationship between ICT and the organization’s innovation level on one hand, and a company’s performance on the other, taking entrepreneurship as a mediator in this relationship.