Sustainable Information And Communication Technology Research Articles

Effects of ICT and Energy Transition on Sustainable Fiscal Growth: Empirical Evidence from China

It is crucial for sustainable growth policies and strategies, which are currently being used internationally, to balance the various aspects of development, including the economic, environmental, and social ones. There is currently broad agreement that energy transition and Information and communication technologies (ICT) offer fresh momentum for long-term sustainable fiscal growth. The main goal of the current research is to study the effects of energy transition and ICT on sustainable fiscal growth in China over 1995-2020 period. To empirically estimate the above mentioned nexus, the recently introduced Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (QARDL) is applied. The study findings for long run indicate that energy transition impacts sustainable fiscal growth negatively over lower qauntiles and at extreme higher quantiles. However, the ICT is found to promote sustainable fiscal growth at all quantiles. The short run dynamics also indicate that current and previous values of ICT and energy transition have significant impact on sustainable fiscal growth. The Wald test of parameter constancy rejects the null hypothesis and shows that non linear and asymmetric impact is present between sustainable fiscal growth and ICT and energy transition in the short run and the long run. Test of Quantile Granger Causality reveals bidirectional causal association between study variables. The study recommends the Chinese government and policy makers to adopt efficient policies to promote ICT use among all the sectors of the economy that can help in achieving sustainable fiscal growth.

Unravelling Income Inequality in Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on income inequality in Indonesia. The analytical method used includes linear regression to evaluate the causal relationship between the dependent variable (Gini Ratio) and ICT indicators. Furthermore, the k-means clustering algorithm is used to group provinces based on ICT characteristics. The results of the regression analysis show that the ICT variables have a significant influence on the Gini Ratio, illustrating the close relationship between ICT and income inequality. In addition, clustering produces two regional groups: Cluster 1, with better access and use of ICT, and Cluster 2, with lower ICT characteristics but advantages in telecommunication infrastructure. This research shows the importance of inclusive and sustainable ICT development to reduce income inequality in Indonesia. Appropriate policies for increasing the accessibility and use of ICTs can have a positive impact on social and economic development throughout Indonesia.

Information and Communication Technology in Brazilian Public Schools: A Sustainable Legacy of the Pandemic?

The present study aimed to analyze the sustainability of the post-COVID-19 pandemic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) legacy. The survey was conducted using raw secondary data from three census studies, one carried out before the pandemic and two after the return to in-person classes. The descriptive survey focused on Brazilian public schools and used a comparative intersectional design. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the raw data. The poorest conditions in terms of the availability of technological resources were found in municipal public school systems. The amount of equipment available, bandwidth, and Internet data transmission rate in most public schools were far below desirable, despite advances in 2021 compared to 2019. Although there have been important improvements in ICT in Brazilian public schools, there was no evidence of inherited ICT resources as a legacy of the Government’s COVID-19 policies related to education. The study highlights the need for government to implement enduring public policies that guarantee the use of sustainable ICT resources to improve education, irrespective of global or national health challenges.

Assessing the Readiness of Government and Semi-Government Institutions in Qatar for Inclusive and Sustainable ICT Accessibility: Introducing the MARSAD Tool

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the lives of persons with disabilities globally through opportunities for improved social inclusion. Technology enables persons with disabilities to access information, media, education, employment, and ICT-related assistive technologies. Decision makers must clearly understand the current state of available ICT products and services, their compliance with international accessibility standards, and their usage within the country to propose effective inclusive policies and legislations. This paper presents an e-readiness assessment tool (called MARSAD) created and implemented from 2019 to 2021 to identify factors that influence the adoption of ICT accessibility for people with disabilities in Qatar. It aims to measure the national ICT accessibility adoption rate and develop key recommendations to improve digital access for persons with disabilities to access digital platforms of various Qatari government and semi-government institutions. The tool was administered to 14 institutions in the domains of education and culture. It was found that participating institutions had considerable gaps in their ICT infrastructure to offer an inclusive digital environment, which is in line with the principles of sustainability and SDG 11, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The participating institutions demonstrated a genuine willingness to invest in implementing the required changes based on the results acquired by conducting MARSAD. As a suggestion, the tool can be used as a foundation to conduct e-readiness assessment studies to offer accessible ICT products and services catering to the needs of persons with disabilities, women, children, and older persons.

Examining the impacts of technological advancement on cereal production in ASEAN countries: Does information and communication technology matter?

In this study, we examine the effects of technological development (via fertilizer and pesticide consumption) and information and communication technology (ICT) on cereal production in four ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand) from 1991 to 2018. For empirical investigation, this study used advanced econometric methodologies. The estimated results demonstrate the long-run co-integration relationship between the variables. Pooled mean group (PMG)-based empirical results show that technological development (via fertilizer consumption and pesticide use) significantly increases cereal production in the long-run after confirming the long-run association among the variables of interest. Similarly, ICT also significantly enhances cereal production in the long-run. It has been thoroughly demonstrated that technological development and ICT play an important role in increasing cereal production and ensuring food security in the selected ASEAN countries. Furthermore, the findings of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) causality test show unidirectional causality from fertilizer consumption and pesticide use to cereal production, as well as bidirectional causality between ICT and cereal production. In this regard, it is critical for local farmers to produce high added value through technological development while also serving as a regional base and supply center in agriculture. To ensure that technological innovations enhance productivity, ICT-based agriculture, and the adoption of technology in the production of agricultural products, governments should promote locally sustainable ICTs, such as mobile phones and Internet-based digital tools and services.

Revamping Nigeria’s economy through sustainable data governance

Big data technologies have intensified the need for Sustainable Data Governance (SDG). Significant empirical evidence from literature revealed that of the 2.7 zettabytes of data now in the digital universe, only 67% of organizations deployed data governance or data intelligence solutions, 76% of company executives consider information "mission-critical" or most important asset, while 46% including Nigeria had no formal governance strategy in place. Globally, significant relationships exist between SDG and Sustainable Information and Communication Technology (SICT). Data governance (DG) that is driven by SICT is agile, holistic, security-embedded, accurate, high-quality, sustainable, and on a real-time enterprise data pipeline, required in revamping any nation’s economy. Despite these global impacts of SDG in revamping the national economy, numerous investigations have shown that DG in Nigeria has remained relatively non-existent or unattended to because its approach is driven by IT that adopted rigid and fragmented processes that were carried out on a system by system basis, lacked a single version of the truth or one single reference for critical master data across geographies, business structure, and wider support of the organization. Poor sustainability of ICT in Nigeria also posed barriers that impede progress related to DG due to corrupt policies and practices, ignorance, and illiteracy that plagued SICT innovations in Nigeria. The authors adopted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as the conceptual framework for this study. UTAUT model claimed that users’ acceptance behavior towards technology is determined by users’ perceived benefits of using technology and the factors that drive users’ decision to use it. A narrative review methodology was adopted in this study to review significant information based on the study conceptual framework, and existing systems that enhance SDG in revamping Nigeria’s economy. Articles reviewed include peer-reviewed articles and other documentaries within the last 5 years, extracted from electronic databases, using keywords such as “ICT and SDG”, “SDG and national economic development”, “Trends for SDG”, etc. Results from this study revealed that better decision-making, analytics, and regulatory compliance to policies, laws, and guidelines on the adoption of ICT, coupled with good formulation and communication of same, are the major drivers of sustainable DG for revamping the national economy. The result of this study may increase understanding, minimize corrupt practices and encourage trust and regulatory compliance of ICT innovations, adoption, and sustainability that can positively impact SDG for revamping Nigeria’s economy.

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.

Sustainable and Reliable Information and Communication Technology for Resilient Smart Cities

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is at the heart of the smart city approach, which constitutes the next level of cities’ and communities’ development across the globe. Thereby, ICT serves as the gluing component enabling different domains to interact with each other and facilitating the management and processing of vast amounts of data and information towards intelligently steering the cities’ infrastructure and processes, engaging the citizens and facilitating new services and applications in various aspects of urban life—e.g., supply chains, mobility, transportation, energy, citizens’ participation, public safety, interactions between citizens and the public administration, water management, parking and many other cases and domains. Hence, given the fundamental role of ICT in cities in the near future, it is of paramount importance to lay the ground for a sustainable and reliable ICT infrastructure, which can enable a city/community to respond in a resilient way to upcoming challenges, whilst increasing the quality of life for its citizens. A structured way of providing and maintaining an open and resilient ICT backbone for a city/community is constituted by the concept of an Open Urban Platform. Therefore, the current article presents the activities and developments necessary to achieve a resilient, standardized smart city, based on Open Urban Platforms (OUP) and the way these serve as a blueprint for each city/community towards the establishment of a sustainable and resilient ICT backbone.

Sustainable Development through Gender Equality – A Case of Higher Education of Data Scientists

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Serbia is fast growing and in constant high demand for qualified workforce. In order to continuously fulfil the demand, the National strategy for gender equality defined as one of the actions, requalification of the unemployed women for different ICT profiles. Investing in education is the policy of creating human capital that influences the overall development of the society. Women empowerment through education is recognized as one of the prerequisite for sustainable ICT workforce generation. Data science represents particularly important field of ICT which is still in its development phase in Serbia. All industries with transaction-based processes and industries that use connected or mobile devices or similar, which generate high volumes of data on a daily bases can benefit from application of data science in terms of increased profits and ROI. While developing data science in Serbia and during the peak of productivity in the overall ICT sector, it is important to acknowledge the lack of women in technology, why that is detrimental to progression, and to take intentional actions to overcome this issue. This paper addresses these issues and points to the large gender gap in ICT higher education which consequently shapes the ICT labor market and the workplace. In the paper we give an overview of the state of the art and perspective actions in the domain of higher education of female data scientists in Serbia, and highlight the opportunities for further improvements.

ICT and administrative effectiveness of University in Nigeria: A connect between leadership and knowledge

The increasing demand for University education and continuous creation of new faculties to meet admission demand without corresponding increase in infrastructural and human resources to manage University affair bring complexity to the system. In addition, various dimensions of academic corruption are common in tertiary institutions especially in developing countries where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not sufficiently and effectively deployed to check mate behavioral excesses of staff and students. This paper therefore presented how ICT connects University leadership and academics (knowledge) for administrative effectiveness of Nigerian University based on secondary data material collected online from related articles, educational forum and data directly gathered from education administrators in Tertiary institution and students’ experiences about education administration. It presents various Education ICT tools used in Information administration and learning. Some common corrupt practises that undermine University administration are highlighted and the combat strategy using a simple Digital Nervous System (DNS) was proposed to showcase a simple but innovative ICT- enabled interaction among the management, the students and the staff for the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of administration in Nigerian Tertiary Education. This work will serve as an excellent guide to stakeholders, and University administrators towards improved administrative performance. It will foster the foundation for establishing a viable and sustainable ICT inspired learning.Key Words: Administration, Corruption, Digital Nervous System (DNS), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), University

Towards energy efficiency and green network infrastructure deployment in Nepal using software defined IPv6 network paradigm

AbstractThe use of information and communication technology (ICT) has resulted in significant impacts on social welfare, economic growth, transparency, and good governance in developing countries like Nepal. Due to the diverse geographic and economic situations, ICT network and service expansions throughout Nepal have been becoming quite challenging. Private network operators mostly have confined their services to urban areas. Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) collects 2% royalty form Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecom Operators as Rural Telecommunications Disbursement Fund (RTDF) to enhance ICT services to rural Nepal. Broadband expansion projects initiated by utilizing RTDF to expand ICT infrastructure throughout Nepal are expected to have considerable societal and economical transformations in the rural communities of Nepal. This paper not only presents the current ICT deployment scenario of Nepal but also studies design, analysis, and evaluation of green networking that leverages both software defined networking (SDN), and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)—aka Software Defined IPv6 (SoDIP6)—for energy efficient networking, robust services, and sustainable ICT ecosystem for developing nations like Nepal. We evaluate the SoDIP6 network by considering a typical ISP with end access networks and present benefits and recommendations. Experimental results show that the proposed SoDIP6 network help significantly reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint leading to overall economic benefits to service providers and the society. Furthermore, energy‐saving practices through SoDIP6 networks and some policy directions to the government to focus on green networking considering sensitivity of climate change and global warming impact in the mountainous and developing countries like Nepal are presented.

Sustainable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Sustainable Data Governance in Nigeria: A Narrative Review.

Recent developments in big data have heightened the need for Sustainable Data Governance (SDG). SDG is significant in realizing sustainable economic development in Nigeria. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have made landmark innovational trends in empowering data governance globally. Despite these global impacts of ICT on data governance, numerous investigations have shown that poor sustainability of ICT in Nigeria poses barriers that impede progress related to data governance. SDG which is the pivot for economic growth has remained relatively nonexistence or unattended to due to corrupt policies and practices, ignorance, and illiteracy that plagued sustainable ICT innovations in Nigeria. For this study, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was adopted as the conceptual framework. UTAUT model claims that the benefits of using technology and the factors that drive users’ decision to use it, is what determines users’ acceptance behavior. In this study, the authors explored a narrative review, analysis, and synthesis of prior research that focused on the theoretical underpinnings of vast works of literature that revealed significant information on the impact of sustainable ICT on Sustainable Data Governance in Nigeria. The authors also extracted peer-reviewed articles within the last five years from electronic databases, using some keywords such as “ICT and SDG”, “ICT and national economic development”, “Trends for ICT”, etc. The result of this study revealed that strict adherence to policies, laws, and guidelines on the adoption of ICT coupled with good formulation and communication of same, are the major impact of sustainable ICT that can leverage SDG in Nigeria. The result from this study may increase understanding, minimize corrupt practices and encourage trust in ICT innovations, ICT adoption, its acceptance and sustainability that can positively impact SDG and national economic development in Nigerian. Keywords: ICT, Sustainable Data Governance, adoption, sustainability, Trends, Trust, corruption. DOI : 10.7176/JIEA/9-5-02 Publication date : August 31 st 2019

Towards sustainable ICT

While information and communication technologies (ICT) can play a crucial role in tackling issues related to sustainability, and reducing resource consumption in every sector, they also consume huge amounts of energy, andthis, combined with the predicted rapid growth of demand for communication services, is expected to make the whole sector more and more energy-hungry in the coming years. The sustainability of ICT itself is also becoming an urgent challenge. Actions can be taken in several directions: i) introducing a massive and pervasive use of renewable energy sources, a step that requires the design of communication services to be revised; ii) enforcing rules and policies that induce the provisioning of sustainable services and promote the adoption of proper attitudes; and iii) involving the users who will become conscious consumers and participate in crowdsourcing projects tomonitor consumption and foster energy-aware behaviours.

CrowdSenSim: a Simulation Platform for Mobile Crowdsensing in Realistic Urban Environments

Smart cities take advantage of recent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) developments to provide added value to existing public services and improve quality of life for the citizens. The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm makes the Internet more pervasive where objects equipped with computing, storage, and sensing capabilities are interconnected with communication technologies. Because of the widespread diffusion of IoT devices, applying the IoT paradigm to smart cities is an excellent solution to build sustainable ICT platforms. Having citizens involved in the process through mobile crowdsensing (MCS) techniques augments capabilities of these ICT platforms without additional costs. For proper operation, MCS systems require the contribution from a large number of participants. Simulations are therefore a candidate tool to assess the performance of MCS systems. In this paper, we illustrate the design of CrowdSenSim, a simulator for mobile crowdsensing. CrowdSenSim is designed specifically for realistic urban environments and smart cities services. We demonstrate the effectiveness of CrowdSenSim for the most popular MCS sensing paradigms (participatory and opportunistic), and we present its applicability using a smart public street lighting scenario.

Session details: Special Issue on the 2016 Greenmetrics Workshop

Session details: Special Issue on the 2016 Greenmetrics Workshop

ICT and renewable energy: a way forward to the next generation telecom base stations

The tremendous growth in technology is also causing global warming due to harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is one of the fastest growing, having the greatest impact on almost every other technology. Energy efficiency and reduction in global warming is now a desire and realization by all key players associated with this technology. Not only there is scope for energy efficiency in ICTs itself but it can also help other sectors in becoming smart i.e., energy efficient. Smart buildings, smart motors, smart logistics and smart grids are being realized with the incorporation of information and communication technologies. The ICT industry is equally aware of the potential benefits of renewable energy sources (RES) in making the future systems greener and sustainable. This is quite evident from the research that is going on towards sustainable ICT solutions, as reviewed in this paper. Not only renewable energy is applicable to large scale applications like telecom base stations (BS), it is also applicable to small and medium scale systems and devices like computer peripherals and electric vehicles. In order to explore the evident potential of RES, all aspects of renewable energy are being addressed by the researchers. These aspects can broadly be categorized as generation, distribution, management and most significantly application of renewable energy. This paper takes a broader look at both aspects in which ICTs are making our world eco-sustainable i.e., making other technologies smarter and incorporating renewable energy sources wherever possible.

Eco-innovation practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine eco-innovation practices within project networks. Eco-innovation practices involve systematic series of actions that integrate resources to create value. Design/methodology/approach – Using case research, the authors conducted an intensive study of innovation practices within project networks, using multiple sources of evidence to provide information to scholars and practitioners (Halinen and Tornroos, 2005). Analyzing practices facilitated an empirical investigation of how contextual elements shaped the social construction of eco-innovation. Findings – An empirical analysis of eight project networks identifies three eco-innovation practices: cleaning up the landscape, connecting life and work, and boosting the efficiency of inbound and outbound processes. A methodological framework based on this practice approach is used to discuss the main elements of the practices in question, including actors, actions, resources, and value. Practical implications – The practice-based approach (PBA) may help companies to make information and communication technology (ICT) more sustainable. By developing forms of eco-innovation that support project networks, companies can focus on holistic corporate performance, efficiency, and business value. Eco-innovation thus becomes a collective achievement that allows practitioners to appraise and critique the performance of their environmental practices, and that thereby allows them to constantly refine those practices. Social implications – The development and use of Green ICT solutions enable actors’ sense-making and sense-giving within ongoing social practices wherein macro-level phenomena, such as sustainability and environmental issues, are created and recreated through the micro-level actions of project network actors. Originality/value – This research extends beyond the more traditional issues of ecologically sound company operations and sustainable ICT use to address sustainable ways of doing business.

A framework for Information and Communication Technology integration in schools through teacher professional development

The demands of the twenty-first century require effective and sustainable use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education. Various ICT strategies and initiatives across South Africa have not resulted in system-wide, sustainable ICT integration in schools. Although the roles of principals are acknowledged in educational management, the question remains how principals influence teachers' effective and sustainable integration of ICT through teacher professional development (TPD). A matrix of theoretical criteria selected seven participants across diverse contexts. In-depth interviews produced an integrated dataset that revealed principals' patterns of influence, their perceptions and experiences, their leadership and management styles, their attitudes towards ICT integration, their knowledge on related ICT and related TPD issues, as well as their strategic thinking on ICT integration. The proposed theoretical framework illustrates the interrelatedness of aspects that influence principals' leadership through open distance learning.

Performance Analysis of Off-grid Solar Photovoltaic Electrification Systems for Sustainable ICTs Development: Field Study in 4 Regions of Thailand

This study deals with the performance analysis of off-grid solar photovoltaic electrification system for sustainable rural Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) development located in 4 regions of Thailand. The local solar irradiation, module working temperature, mean sea level and ambient temperature are included to investigate the production of photovoltaic output power of the system different weather conditions over the year. The results can be used to provide manufacturers and researchers to develop their products and enhance the knowledge on the design of off-grid solar photovoltaic electrification system under the actual field conditions, respectively.

Evolutionary development: a model for the design, implementation, and evaluation of ICT for education programmes

AbstractThe impact of information and communication technology (ICT) in primary and secondary education is still an open question. Following review of the available literature, we classify the causes of the lack of impact on students' attainment in four dimensions: (1) the design and implementation of ICT in educational settings; (2) the evaluation of its impact; (3) the scaling up of these kinds of innovations; and (4) the cost‐effectiveness of technology‐enhanced learning environments. Based on this evidence, we proposed the evolutionary development model (EDM), which aims to produce a cost‐effective and sustainable ICT for education (ICT4E) programme in three steps: efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency. In each step, one component of the programme is built and validated in real educational settings. Therefore, the resultant ICT4E programme is ready to be replicated across the school system. We also show how the EDM guided the development of a programme based on mobile computer supported collaborative learning, known as Eduinnova. Finally, we discuss how EDM can serve as an analysis tool for researchers and policy makers.