Online counterterrorism will gain momentum

Subject Counterterrorism and censorship online. Significance Preventing and countering violent extremism (CVE) has become a major issue on the international agenda in the past year. It prompted the UN Secretary General to launch a Plan of Action on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in December 2015 and put increased pressure on US technology firms to cooperate with the government in this latest iteration of the 'War on Terror'. The importance placed on countering extremism and radicalisation online coupled with the Apple vs FBI encryption debate over the responsibilities of technology companies will increasingly affect the open internet and the right to digital privacy. Impacts Efforts to counter violent extremism by focusing on internet technology may have a detrimental impact on privacy and trust online. The debates over encryption backdoors have brought private companies, not NGOs or civil society, to the forefront of the privacy debate. Reorienting the CVE agenda away from online speech will be nearly impossible as NGO funding streams and CVE projects gain momentum.

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medha Pirthee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the trend and forecast the number of tourists from different regions of the world to Mauritius. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts two grey system models, the even model GM(1,1) and the non-homogeneous discrete grey model (NDGM), to forecast the total number of international tourism to Mauritius and its structure from different regions tourist arrivals to Mauritius for the next three years. Grey system theory models were used to account for uncertainties and the dynamism of the tourism sector environment. The two models were applied as a comparison to obtain more reliable forecasting figures. Findings The results demonstrate that both of the grey system models can be successfully applied with high accuracy for Mauritian tourism prediction, and also the number of tourist arrivals to Mauritius shows a continued augmentation for the upcoming years. Practical implications Forecasting is meaningful since the Government of Mauritius, private companies or any concerned authority can adopt the forecasting methods exposed in this paper for the development of the tourism sector through managerial and economic decision making. Originality/value Mauritius is a charming travel destination. Through this paper, it can be seen that future tourism travel to Mauritius has been successfully predicted based on previous data. Moreover, it seems that the grey system theory models have not been utilised yet as forecasting tools for the tourism sector of Mauritius as opposed to other countries such as China and Taiwan.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Siqi Han

PurposeThis paper outlines the rapid rise of China's fintech companies over the past decade with a focus on their globalization strategies as they enter their next phase of development.Design/methodology/approachThe author examines China's current and prospective influence on global financial digitization trends, and assesses both domestic and foreign opportunities and challenges confronted by China's fintech firms as they look to expand abroad.FindingsThe Chinese government is experimenting with a radically new fintech system and a regulatory regime in response to it. Chinese ambitions to expand fintech influence through private companies and the state-led “digital RMB” (e-CNY) will likely provoke a wave of “digital protectionism” among developed nations to protect internal digital payments.Originality/valueThis paper is an original economic history research on China's fintech industry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 8-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Ulrich

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the human resource (HR) focus on “talent” has dominated the profession for the past 15 to 20 years. Much of this work draws on the research from the excellent study and book called The War for Talent. In this paper, the author proposes that victory (from any war) does not come from talent alone, but from the organization. Organization is defined as capabilities, or what an organization is known for and good at, and culture, which is a key capability. When HR professionals deliver both talent and organization, they build sustainable success that leads to victory. Design/methodology/approach – This paper offers a perspective on shifting HR focus from an exclusive emphasis on talent to one on talent and organization. The author gives many examples of where great individual talent does not lead to long-term success (e.g. in most team sports, the leading scorer is on the winning team about 20 per cent of the time). Findings – Once one identifies organization as a source of long-term success, it is critical to operationalize organization into a series of conscious choices. The paper defines culture as a key capability (along with other possible capabilities of speed [agility, flexibility, responsiveness and change], innovation, collaboration, efficiency and so forth). The author identifies specific wars that HR professionals and line managers can diagnose that create the right organization. Originality/value – Many have talked about parts of organization (culture, climate, systems, process, etc.). The author offers an original way to define organization capabilities and culture.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 693-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Heilman ◽  
Dawn Bowers ◽  
Edward Valenstein ◽  
Robert T. Watson

✓ In the past two to three decades, clinicians and neuroscientists have been studying the functions of the right hemisphere. Neither hemisphere seems to be dominant in the absolute sense. Each appears to be specialized and is dominant for different functions. However, most functions require the cooperation of both hemispheres. When one is damaged, the other can often compensate for the damaged one. Lesions of the left hemisphere are associated with language (speech, reading, and writing) and praxic disorders, and lesions of the right hemisphere can result in visuospatial, attentional, and emotional disorders. The authors review some of the major behavioral disorders associated with right hemisphere dysfunction and concentrate on three major types of disorders — visuospatial, attentional, and emotional. Although not all the behavioral defects associated with right hemisphere damage can be subgrouped under these three types, they are the ones most often associated with right hemisphere lesions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ai Yue ◽  
Bin Tang ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
Jingjing Tang ◽  
Guanminjia Shang ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the policy and trends in rural education in China over the past 40 years; and also discuss a number of challenges that are faced by China’s rural school system. Design/methodology/approach The authors use secondary data on policies and trends over the past 40 years for preschool, primary/junior high school, and high school. Findings The trends over the past 40 years in all areas of rural schooling have been continually upward and strong. While only a low share of rural children attended preschool in the 1980s, by 2014 more than 90 percent of rural children were attending. The biggest achievement in compulsory education is that the rise in the number of primary students that finish grade 6 and matriculate to junior high school. There also was a steep rise of those going to and completing high school. While the successes in upscaling rural education are absolutely unprecedented, there are still challenges. Research limitations/implications This is descriptive analysis and there is not causal link established between policies and rural schooling outcomes. Practical implications The authors illustrate one of the most rapid rises of rural education in history and match the achievements up with the policy efforts of the government. The authors also explore policy priorities that will be needed in the coming years to raise the quality of schooling. Originality/value This is the first paper that documents both the policies and the empirical trends of the success that China has created in building rural education from preschool to high school during the first 40 years of reform (1978-2018). The paper also documents – drawing on the literature and the own research – the achievements and challenges that China still face in the coming years, including issues of gender, urbanization, early childhood education and health and nutrition of students.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janpriy Sharma ◽  
Mohit Tyagi ◽  
Arvind Bhardwaj

PurposeOutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has created the catastrophic situation, it has crippled all the economic activities and seized off the operations of food supply chain (FSC). Disrupted FSC escalated the societal concerns related to food safety and security. The purpose of this study is to consolidate various issues, exploring the perspectives associated with the agricultural practices, food industries and society concerns related with the FSC performance system dynamics amid of COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachTo structure this work, a detailed research literature insight focussing on the key findings associated with the past disease outbreaks like influenza, avian flu, Ebola, bird flu, SARS, foot and mouth disease and ongoing phase of COVID-19, encompassing the perspective related with various agricultural and concerned supply chain practices is clustered. Furthermore, issues having relevancy with the notion of this work, sourced from platforms of print and electronic media have been incorporated to ground the reality associated with the impacts, for better visualisation of the perspectives.FindingsThis study outlays the key findings which are relevant with the past pandemic outbreaks from the core of the research literature. It details the impact of the current COVID-19 scenario on the various FSC operations, focussing on dimensions allied with the industry, economic and society concerns. For the same, to mitigate the effects, relief measures focussing on the short- and long-term perspectives have been incorporated. Steps ramped up by the Government of India (GOI) to safeguard masses from the threat of food security, accelerate pace of the FSC operations and upscale operating capacities of the industries and agriculture practices have incorporated.Research limitations/implicationsPresented work is persuaded amid of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions hence it outlays the theoretical perspectives only. But, these perspectives portray the ongoing scenario's impacts, extending its implication to the people coming from the industry and academia background. This study can felicitate the government bodies to make them familiar with the various impacts which indented the FSCs, food industries and added woes to the society concerns.Originality/valueIndia is the second largest populated nation of the world, and outspread of the COVID-19 has capsized the FSCs and raised the various instances, making population vulnerable to the threats of food insecurity. This study encompasses effect of the FSC disruption by incorporating its effect on the food industries practices, societal issues and extending possible relief measures to restructure the FSC dynamics. As of now, study focussing on the Indian FSC concerns, detailing of impacts due to pandemic outbreak, relief measures to sail out of the hard times are not available.


Significance After accentuated rule-of-law erosion during 2017-19, the new government encouraged hopes that such violations would become a thing of the past. However, last month, the government sacked the ombudsman, while the Constitutional Court declared void a judgement of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) defending judicial independence. Impacts Recent developments erode hopes that last month’s positive CVM report will lead to Romania’s Schengen zone accession later this year. Failure to replace the ombudsman will not affect the coalition parties electorally, given the politicisation of rule-of-law issues. Subnational courts will be left confused whether to apply the Constitutional Court or the CJEU ruling to legal disciplinary cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 793-804
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ahmad Naheem

Purpose The recent diplomatic split between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Qatar with accusations of terrorist financing (TF). This paper aims to study Qatar’s domestic legislations, which specifically targets money laundering and TF activities. The country has stringently worked in compliance with international standards on combating financing of terrorism (CFT) and anti-money laundering (AML) practices by imparting autonomous power to regulatory bodies, such as the Qatar Central Bank and other agencies. Design/methodology/approach This paper studies independent legislations passed under the Emir’s decree over the past decade advancing Qatar’s AML ranking, with significant effort in CFT regulations. The paper also analyses the advancement in AML/CFT regulation and their validity with respect to international standards set by various governmental, intergovernmental and non-profit agencies. Findings The analysis finds Qatar in compliance with strong AML/CFT regulations. Further, it finds the government to have provided transparent oversight to international organizations that attest to the findings of the legislative efforts. This paper disproves claims and accusations that have possibly been presented to the GCC and subsequently led members to abruptly end diplomatic relations with Qatar over allegations of TF activities, amongst others. Originality/value The paper offers insight into Qatar’s legislative and regulatory advancement with respect to the AML/CTF in the past decade. The paper also discusses Qatar’s legislative advancement in relation to the evolutions of the country’s financial system, adopting a more robust mechanism to combat financing of terrorism and ML.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-447
Author(s):  
Rames Sivadasan ◽  
Farzana Quoquab ◽  
Jihad Mohammad ◽  
Rohaida Basiruddin

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers’ buying intentions (BIs) towards sustainable properties with green living concept (GLC). It also aims to examine the dynamic relationships between environmental advertisements (EAd), green brand positioning (GBP), attitude towards environmental responsibility (ER) and consumers’ sustainable properties BI in the Malaysian context. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via online questionnaire survey, which yielded 143 completed usable responses. Structural equation modelling–partial least squares (Smart PLS, version 3) was used to analyse the data. Findings The findings of this study revealed that EAd and GBP significantly affect consumers’ attitude towards ER, which in turn affects consumers’ BI of the sustainable properties with GLC. Practical implications This study suggests that without inculcating a positive attitude towards the environment among consumers, it becomes a daunting task to drive consumers to purchase sustainable properties in Malaysia. Thus, the marketers should focus on green promotional activities to attract more customers to buy sustainable properties with GLCs. Moreover, it is suggested to target the right market segment to secure more sales. Social implications The findings of this study will enable the government and the social marketers to understand the drivers of buying sustainable properties with GLC, which in turn will contribute to the higher environmental welfare. Originality/value This study is among the pioneers to examine consumers’ sustainable property purchase intention. It provides significant insights for the social marketers and policymakers to understand how to motivate consumers to purchase sustainable properties with GLCs. Moreover, this study has investigated few comparatively new links such as the direct effect of EAd and GBP on attitude towards environmental responsibility and the mediating effect of attitude towards environmental responsibility between environmental stimuli and consumer’s sustainable properties BI.


Subject Pre-election politics in Ecuador. Significance Deteriorating economic conditions, declining public spending and falling support for the government have provided opposition forces with a favourable climate to make gains in advance of next year's general elections. However, with little over eight months before voters are scheduled to go to the polls, the opposition is fragmented and the main challengers are uncertain. The political landscape is further complicated by uncertainty over who will stand for the ruling party. While President Rafael Correa has repeatedly stated that he will not compete, he may yet seek election for a fourth successive term. Impacts Constitutional reform, media freedom, security and tax reductions will be the focus of electoral campaigns from the right and centre. Preventing large-scale mining, environmentalism, creating a plurinational state and wealth redistribution will be central to the left. The full list of parties and candidates authorised to compete in the elections will not be known until the year-end.


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