Innovative Information And Communication Technology Research Articles

Awareness and Adoption of Information and Communication Technology Innovations among Secondary School Students in Anambra State, Nigeria

Despite the effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve the standard of instructional delivery process in secondary schools via the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovations, the attainment of the ICT objectives in secondary schools still remains far-fetched. The study investigated awareness, acceptance and adoption of ICT innovations among secondary school students. Three research questions guided the study and survey research design was adopted. The population of the study consisted of all 7012 students in the 18 public secondary schools in the study area. The sample for the study comprised 360 students obtained through multi-stage sampling procedure. “Awareness of ICT Innovations among Secondary School Students” (Awareness), “Acceptance of ICT Innovations by Secondary School Students” (Acceptance) and “Adoption of ICT Innovations by Secondary School Students” (Adoption) were constructed by the researchers and used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts. The findings revealed that secondary school students in Aguata Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State are aware of ICT innovations, and have accepted them for learning. It was further revealed that the said students have adopted ICT innovations for learning to a low extent. In line with the results of the study, it was suggested that State government have to ensure that ICT innovations are made accessible to students to adopt for learning and research purposes.

Educational Challenges for Computational Thinking in K–12 Education: A Systematic Literature Review of “Scratch” as an Innovative Programming Tool

The use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) has emerged as an educational response amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, providing students the technological tools that enable them to acquire or strengthen the necessary digital skills to develop computational knowledge. The purpose of this study was to analyze Scratch, a programming language used to foster the teaching of computational thinking, particularly in K–12 education. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, identifying 30 articles on the topic of Scratch and computational thinking in the database ProQuest Central from January 2010 to May 2020. These articles were analyzed to identify the use of Scratch worldwide and the educational impact it has on computational thinking, specifically in K–12 education. The results highlight the following: (1) countries which incorporated Scratch into their teachers’ study plans (curricula); (2) the transformation of learning environments that Scratch promotes; and (3) the importance of incorporating tools like Scratch in the current curricula and, more importantly, developing the framework for innovative ICTs capable of transforming education.

Sustainable ICT: An essential enabler of sustainable research and innovations in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria

Globally, sustainable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovations are significant in realizing sustainable research and innovations in tertiary institutions. Despite this laudable global impact of ICT on research and innovations, poor ICT policies and practices, coupled with bad economy that plagued sustainable ICT innovations in Nigeria have hindered sustainable research and innovations in tertiary institutions. This study adopted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as the study conceptual framework. UTAUT model postulates that users’ acceptance behaviour toward a technology is determined by users’ decision to use a technology, and the perceived benefits thereof. The authors explored a narrative review, analysis, and synthesis of vast works of literature that revealed significant information on impact of sustainable ICT on sustainable research and innovations in Nigeria. The authors also extracted peer-reviewed articles within the last five years from electronic databases using some keywords such as “ICT impact on research innovations”, “ICT adoption in tertiary institutions”, “ICT usability Trends ”, and so on. The results from this study revealed that strict adherence to ICT policies, laws, guidelines, and sustainability, coupled with good formulation and communication of same, are the major impact of sustainable ICT that can leverage research and innovations in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Results from this study may increase understanding, minimize corrupt practices and encourage value for ICTs that can positively impact research and innovations in tertiary institutions for economic development in Nigerian.

E-Learning Initiatives at CTEVT: An Attempt at Innovation and Paradigm Shift in TVET Pedagogy

Information and communication technology (ICT) has brought innovative approaches to teaching and learning introducing pedagogical innovation that leads to paradigm shift in education. However, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in Nepal has little exposure to ICT integrated pedagogical practices. In this context, this paper presents lessons from e-learning initiatives at CTEVT based on a study on e-learning pilot projects from three leading technical schools. It uses both qualitative and quantitative data received from 152 survey responses, two focused group discussions and 10 individual interviews. The study reports that e-learning is promising for TVET sector as an innovative ICT integrated alternative pedagogy. However, instructors and schools want additional support for training and ICT infrastructures to design, develop and implement courses for e-learning locally. The study also draws implications to scale up the initiations and interventions of e-learning at institutional level that are meaningful for expansion of similar pilot projects, ICT integration across TVET programs offered by CTEVT, pedagogical innovation, workplace learning opportunity for students, increase access and quality in TVET programs and institutional reform.

Eliminating the gap between the use of assistive technologies and the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in leisure activities.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and Assistive Technologies (AT) can support people with Down Syndrome (PDS) and Intellectual Disabilities (PID) in increasing their self-confidence and independence, enhancing skills, and competences, participating in leisure activities. For families of PDS/PID, professionals, non-formal caregivers and volunteers, the challenge is to appreciate the benefits of ICT Tools in promoting inclusion. The aim of this study is to present the interdisciplinary and multidimensional scope of the DS Leisure project aiming at promoting the inclusion of PDS/PID through innovative ICT tools and their participation in inclusive leisure activities. Particularly, 24 individuals were asked to assess the global satisfaction and performance of PDS/PID, as well as the exploitation of ICT tools. Findings suggested that PDS/PID specific social, decision-making, and communication skills were significantly improved after their participation in the Experiential Activity and the e-Training platform was positively rated and considered a constructive learning experience.

Green ICT 혁신에 있어 핵심 ICT 파악 방법: 특허 기반 접근법

Purpose This study suggests a patent-based approach to identify core information and communication technologies(ICTs) in green ICT innovation. Methods First, patent co-classification analysis is applied to the collected green ICT patents for constructing co-classification matrix. Second, patent-based cross-impact analysis is used to the collected green ICT patents for composing cross-impact matrix. Finally, the analytical network process is employed to the constructed matrices for determining the priority values of ICTs, considering direct and indirect relationship among technologies. Results High speed computing, other related technique, and digital communication technique are identified to be core ICTs in green ICT innovation. Conclusion The suggested approach can be utilized for both technology planning and policy making for green ICT innovation.

Building resilient food system amidst COVID-19: Responses and lessons from China

CONTEXTThe COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread over the world and has heightened concerns over global food security risks. As the first country hit by COVID-19, China has adopted a series of stringent mitigation policies to contain the spread of virus. This has led to food system disruptions due to restrictions on labor and interruption of transport, processing, retailing, and input distribution. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this contribution is to report evidence for initial impacts and resilience of China's food system amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to discuss government's responses as well as long-term efforts that promoted resilience. METHODSWe reviewed a range of publications, government released reports and official information, blogs, and media articles, and whenever possible, we complemented this qualitative information with quantitative data from China's National Bureau of Statistics and finally empirical data obtained from a simulation study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe identified China's earlier responses in each key food system activities including ensuring effective logistics of agricultural products and inputs, supporting production and processing, matching supply with demand, and mitigating consumer's income loss. In particular, innovative information and communications technology (ICT) applications along the food system had been highlighted. Coupled with China's long-term efforts in investing in agriculture, building emergency response systems, and adopting governor's responsibility mechanisms, there has been little panic in the food system with largely sufficient supplies and stable prices. In the second quarter of 2020, after registered negative growth in the first quarter, primary agriculture grew by 3.4% and the negative growth of livestock production was narrowed significantly by 8.7 percentage points. Food prices rose by a modest 0.6% and returned to normal after a surge in February 2020. SIGNIFICANCEWe expect that China's experiences on building resilient food systems could improve understanding of the challenges posed by COVID-19 from a retrospective perspective and provide lessons to other countries that are experiencing disruptions in the food systems worldwide. The lessons are also important for strengthening the resilience of food systems over longer time horizons.

Advertising Information and Communication Technologies Over Time: An Analysis of Text and Visual Complexity

In this paper we study how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been advertised over time. More specifically, our research objective is to explore and reveal how ICT advertisements have changed over the last 121 years, adapting ad technologies and content to diffuse innovations from niche into mainstream markets. We do so by using machine learning approaches to identify relevant ICT advertisements in a data set of historical print ads ranging until 2014. We find that first, the diffusion of different ICTs in advertising differs. For example, while the fax was heavily advertised during a short period of time, the typewriter or TV were advertised for a prolonged time. Second, we show that ICTs tend to be characterized by relatively complex advertisements, with content-rich images and more words. This is especially true in the beginning of the product lifecycle of new innovative ICTs but less so towards the end.

INNOVATIVE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR ERGOTHERAPISTS APPLIED DURING ENGLISH LEARNING IN UKRAINE

According to Ukrainian higher educational policy, there is an urgent need to combine general competencies. Thus, the article aims at highlighting the use of innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) for ergotherapists when learning English in Ukrainian higher educational establishments as types of such competencies. To achieve the objective of research the authors have applied theoretical and empirical methods. Besides, the authors are convinced that content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is appropriate to apply with innovative information and communication technologies when teaching a foreign language. Moreover, the research describes how to use Lumowell, a YouTube channel, Quizlet, and Zoom, free online educational platforms.

Towards Sustainable Base of Pyramid Market: Role of ICTs in Shared Innovation

The purpose of this paper is to make a systematic review of the literature on role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in sustainability of the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) markets by studying the impact of ICT on innovation development at BOP. BOP markets are those segments of the global markets that have an income of about two to four dollars or less and are untapped fortunes for the business (Prahalad, 2002). BOP is fraught with dearth of infrastructure and resources which makes it hard for business firms to work out viable and sustainable strategies as the separations between the producers and end users are much wider in these markets compared with developed markets. Use of ICT helps reduce these separations by developing shared innovations with the people at BOP. Systematic literature review approach has been adopted to analyze the peer-reviewed journals for the period 2000 to 2019 using Google Scholar and Science Direct. BOP, ICT and Shared Innovations were the key words used in this search. Our findings suggest that ICT has significant role in development of shared innovations at the BOP markets as it bridges the physical market separation with its internet and web-based networks. This research has implications for busines managers, as it will guide them in making viable and sustainable strategies to run their businesses in these huge un-tapped markets.

Smart Water Management System At Home

It is essential for water providers and the urban water supply industries have to understand how water is used in residential settings. The project Artificial Intelligence Based Smart Water Management System discusses the innovative Information and Communications Technology (ICT) approaches to practice the tapped water-saving habit in house. At the domestic level, this is attained by the expansion of a decision provision method to provide good awareness among the family members about their daily water consumption in a significant way and do assessment and promote water consumption reduction. The proposed AI system will control and monitor the flow of water from overhead tank to various utility areas like Kitchen, Bathroom, and Dress Wash and also for Garden in House. The water distribution is controlled by Smart Water Distributor which distributes the water at different locations of the house based on its need. Using Deep Belief Network technique of AI, the threshold level of each location is compared with the current flow level of the sensor. These flow control sensors will update the flow periodically to the intelligent monitor system. The intelligent monitor system will analyze the sensor data with the current water limit of each distribution as well as the data from the water level sensor of the underground tank. Similarly, the high-rate pressure sensor will periodically update the pressure over the pipe. Based on the variation ratio of water availability Vs Demand ratio and reduction in pressure level, the Intelligent Monitoring system will alarm the house holders about the shortage and leakage of water. By the way the proposed system will regulate the usage of water and avoids the wastage of water through leakage. This will also help the society and the government bodies to resolve the problem of water demand.

The role of ICT productivity in Korea-Japan multifactor CES productions and trades

ABSTRACT In this paper, we examine the economic impact of information and communication technology (ICT) innovation, within a general equilibrium framework of empirically estimated constant-elasticity-of-substitution (CES) production frontiers. Such innovation generates not only productivity growth and price changes, but it also triggers changes in the economic structure of production and trade patterns. This process ostensibly increases the social welfare. To study the impact of ICT innovation, we construct a bilateral general-equilibrium model that spans 350 commodities and sectors of trade between Japan and the Republic of Korea. We estimate all CES parameters from published statistics, including linked input–output tables and Comtrade databases. A small exogenous productivity shock in the ICT is examined in terms of potential price reductions of all commodities in both countries.

ICT infrastructure, innovation development and economic growth: a comparative evidence between two decades in OECD countries

PurposeThe objective of this study is to examine the causal relationship between economic growth, information and communication technology (ICT) penetration and innovation development in OECD countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study incorporates data for 24 OECD countries from 2000 to 2018, which is divided into the earliest (2000–2009) and the latest (2010–2018) periods. The econometric methodologies of this study employ panel cointegration, estimation procedures and vector error-correction modelling to investigate the potential interconnections between ICT, innovation development and economic growth.FindingsThe results from the latest period illustrate that OECD countries have achieved positive and significant economic development from high ICT penetration, while results from the earliest period show that OECD countries were just beginning to enjoy the benefits of ICT penetration. Moreover, findings show that innovation development is highly significant in the latest period when promoting economic growth.Practical implicationsThe policy implications suggest that promoting ICT infrastructure establishment and expanding the innovation development may drive the process of economic development in OECD countries.Originality/valueThis study employs mobile and Internet penetration as the development of telecommunication which is in line with the enlargement of innovation to foster economic growth in OECD countries. Comparing the evidence from two decades provides significant value for policymakers and decision-makers regarding the advantages of technology expansion and innovation development to promote economic growth in recent conditions.

Consumption behavior of eco-friendly products and applications of ICT innovation

The purchase of eco-friendly products is encouraged by the governments due to its contributions to the sustainable development of the environment. It is therefore important to examine factors influencing the purchase of eco-friendly products. Based on the attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory, this paper constructs a conceptual model, which explores how a consumer’s perceived effectiveness affects individuals’ purchase of eco-friendly products. In details, this paper attempts to examine the mediating role of consumption attitude of eco-friendly products, as well as the moderating effect of applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) innovation. Moreover, by building a Hidden Markov Model (HMM), this paper further tests the conceptual model. More importantly, based on the HMM, the consumption probabilities of eco-friendly products of different perceived effectiveness under different applications of ICT innovation are computed. Furthermore, based on a dynamic time series, the consumption transition probability of eco-friendly products is further calculated. In addition, this paper explains and calculates the concepts continuity, dependence and inertia in consumption of eco-friendly products. Based on it, the algorithm is used to forecast the consumption behavior of the real environment to verify the reliability of the HMM and the accuracy of probability calculation. This paper contributes the extension of the existing studies and the provision of management implications and guidance for the consumption practice of eco-friendly products.

ICT adoption, innovation and financial development in a digital world: empirical analysis from Africa

As a response to a digital era that is seen as a core element of global digitalisation, financial development in many countries including those in the African continent experienced varying patterns. These have made some countries to be categorised as relatively high and others relatively low in terms of their scale on digital economy. Thus, this study empirically investigates the interaction of information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and innovation, and the role of this digitalisation interaction on financial development in Africa, and across the sub-regions. It utilises the Bayesian Vector Auto-Regressive (BVAR) modelling to simulate the impulse response function and variance decomposition across Africa. The study finds that ICT-innovation interaction shock positively drives financial development across all of 6 datasets. This implies that for multinational corporations (MNCs) and other economic agents, ICT – innovation interaction should be strongly applied across all sectors to drive financial development since all sectors require finances to improve performance. Thus, contributes to the empirical testing of the theoretical reflections of digitalisation and digital economy interaction in African countries.

The importance and differences of analytical procedures' application for auditing blockchain technology between external and internal auditors in Croatia

Nowadays audit profession is faced with an excessive evolution of the information and communication technology (ICT). The effects of ICT on auditing are dual. On the one hand, auditing is faced with the digitalization of companies’ business operations, and on the other, auditors must be able to adapt their methodologies to these changes in order to be able to audit implemented ICT in the companies’ business operations. One of the latest ICT innovations includes the application of blockchain technology (BCT) in different business operations of a company, which represents the object of auditing. In order to audit BCT, auditors must apply appropriate audit procedures, whereas analytical procedures (APs) represent the most useful one. The subjects of this paper are external and internal auditors, and their application of APs for auditing implemented BCT in the companies’ business operations, in Croatia. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the differences in the APs’ application and its usefulness for auditing BCT, as an emerging ICT, between external and internal auditors. To investigate the main objective of the paper, desk research and survey research were conducted. Overall results indicated that external and internal auditors in Croatia are aware that auditing BCT requires the application of advanced APs, for what they need to possess excellent knowledge about APs and BCT. Obtained results showed that auditors in Croatia possess below-average knowledge about APs and BCT. Therefore, the necessity for specialized education of external and internal auditors is inevitable. Regarding the investigation of differences in the readiness to audit BCT between external and internal auditors in Croatia, the results confirmed that external auditors are more ready to audit BCT than internal auditors. Finally, research results confirmed that the application of advanced APs in audit engagements will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of companies’ business operations supported by the BCT.

Survey on Security Threats in Agricultural IoT and Smart Farming.

The agriculture sector has held a major role in human societies across the planet throughout history. The rapid evolution in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) strongly affects the structure and the procedures of modern agriculture. Despite the advantages gained from this evolution, there are several existing as well as emerging security threats that can severely impact the agricultural domain. The present paper provides an overview of the main existing and potential threats for agriculture. Initially, the paper presents an overview of the evolution of ICT solutions and how these may be utilized and affect the agriculture sector. It then conducts an extensive literature review on the use of ICT in agriculture, as well as on the associated emerging threats and vulnerabilities. The authors highlight the main ICT innovations, techniques, benefits, threats and mitigation measures by studying the literature on them and by providing a concise discussion on the possible impacts these could have on the agri-sector.

ICT, Collaboration, and Science-Based Innovation: Evidence from Bitnet

Does access to information and communication technologies (ICT) increase innovation? We examine this question by exploiting the staggered adoption of BITNET across U.S. universities in the 1980s. BITNET, an early version of the Internet, enabled e-mail-based knowledge exchange and collaboration among academics. After the adoption of BITNET, university-connected inventors increase patenting substantially. The effects are driven by collaborative patents by new inventor teams. The patents induced by ICT are exclusively science-related and stem from fields where knowledge can be codified easily. In contrast, we neither find an effect on patents not building on science nor on inventors unconnected to universities.

Endogenous inclusive development of e‐commerce in rural China: A case study

AbstractThis paper advances understanding of the process and mechanism of endogenous inclusive development of information and communications technology (ICT) solutions. We present a case of a bottom of the pyramid (BoP) community in a rural area in China, which has achieved sustainable furniture e‐commerce development independently. The case study demonstrates that e‐commerce development in a disadvantaged area can start from a seed business model targeting a niche market with simple products, which will incur low costs and low skill requirements for entrepreneurs, and is thus able to scale up within local BoP community. In the second stage, BoP entrepreneurs must engage in intensive learning from the seed entrepreneur and other early movers to gain the required capabilities for operating the seed business model. In the last stage, BoP entrepreneurs need to focus on business model innovation and scoping, and form a local value chain and ecosystem for e‐commerce development. Throughout the e‐commerce development process, a seed entrepreneur plays specific critical roles at each stage. Practical implications for the BoP community to take advantage of ICT innovation to achieve sustainable development are given.

Determining Factors in the Use of Digital Marketing and Its Effect on Marketing Performance in the Creative Industries in Tasikmalaya

The economic development of creative industries is an important aspect as a potentially good force for the national economy for the future. However, the creative industry in Tasikmalaya lacks product innovation, still maintaining the authenticity of its products by 67%, products that are easily replicated by 83%. Utilization of digital marketing concepts provides hope for MSMEs to develop into economic power centers. This research aims to analyze the determining factors of digital marketing usage and its influence on digital marketing in the creative industries in Tasikmalaya. This research is categorized as explanatory research which is a study that aims to explain the causal relationship between variables through hypothesis testing. The Inference Statitic method used in the analysis of this research data is the path of analysis. The results showed knowledge of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) adoption had a significant effect on digital marketing. Innovation has a significant impact on digital marketing. Digital marketing is influenced by the knowledge of ICT adoption and Innovation. Knowledge of ICT adoption and innovation affects digital marketing through digital marketing.