scholarly journals Drone Applications Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic—Towards Good Practices

Drones ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Ágoston Restás

Of the recent epidemics, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly severe, not only putting our health at risk, but also negatively affecting our daily lives. As there are no developed algorithms for the use of drones in epidemiological situations, it is ideal to analyze the experience gained on drones so far and outline the effective methods for future good practice. The author relies on a method of analyzing widely available open information, such as images and videos available on the Internet, reports from drone users, announcements by drone manufacturers and the contents of newspaper articles. Furthermore, the author has relied on the results of the relevant literature, as well as previous experience as a drone user and fire commander. The study reveals numerous possibilities associated with drone usage in epidemic related situations, but previous applications are based on previous experience gained during a non-epidemic situation, without developed algorithms. Applications can be divided into different types of groups: drones can collect data for management and provide information to the public, perform general or special logistical tasks to support health care and disinfect to reduce the risk of spreading the epidemic.

Author(s):  
Joia S. Mukherjee

This chapter outlines the historical roots of health inequities. It focuses on the African continent, where life expectancy is the shortest and health systems are weakest. The chapter describes the impoverishment of countries by colonial powers, the development of the global human rights framework in the post-World War II era, the impact of the Cold War on African liberation struggles, and the challenges faced by newly liberated African governments to deliver health care through the public sector. The influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s neoliberal economic policies is also discussed. The chapter highlights the shift from the aspiration of “health for all” voiced at the Alma Ata Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978, to the more narrowly defined “selective primary health care.” Finally, the chapter explains the challenges inherent in financing health in impoverished countries and how user fees became standard practice.


Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Ewa Stawicka ◽  
Joanna Paliszkiewicz

The main purpose of this article is to analyze the dissemination of social reports among entrepreneurs in order to determine the number of reporting organizations and examples in which Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) areas enterprises report. We analyze the dissemination of social reports among entrepreneurs in Poland and determine the number of reporting organizations and examples in which CSR companies report. This work is a guide for entrepreneurs in Poland to build strategies and activities for transparency and communicating good practice. One of the research goals was to identify and evaluate communication activities with stakeholders in terms of responsible activities, social and environmental. The data analysis comes from a detailed literature review and the Responsible Business Forum (FOB) Reports database for 2008–2019 in Poland. The results of the survey show that many entrepreneurs in Poland, representing small, medium-sized (SME), and even large enterprises underestimate the importance of socially responsible activities. Entrepreneurs communicate with stakeholders to a limited extent and are not informed about good practices. The vast majority of the surveyed enterprises, especially large ones, prepare social reports, which result from obligation: requirements of Directive 2014/95/EU. The SME sector shows a lack of knowledge and uses individual marketing communication tools to a limited extent, limiting itself to advertising activities (very few companies prepare social reports). The article is a practical tip for enterprises showing the impact of business on changes towards sustainable development. Originality/value lies in the fact that the article presents selected research results on various aspects related to social reporting and communicating social and environmental activities to stakeholders.


2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Levin ◽  
Eric N. Gebbie ◽  
Kristine Qureshi

The federal pandemic influenza plan predicts that 30% of the population could be infected. The impact of this pandemic would quickly overwhelm the public health and health-care delivery systems in the U.S. and throughout the world. Surge capacity for staffing, availability of drugs and supplies, and alternate means to provide care must be included in detailed plans that are tested and drilled ahead of time. Accurate information on the disease must be made available to health-care staff and the public to reduce fear. Spokespersons must provide clear, consistent messages about the disease, including actions to be taken to contain its spread and treat the afflicted. Home care will be especially important, as hospitals will be quickly overwhelmed. Staff must be prepared ahead of time to assure their ability and willingness to report to work, and public health must plan ahead to adequately confront ethical issues that will arise concerning the availability of treatment resources. The entire community must work together to meet the challenges posed by an epidemic. Identification and resolution of these challenges and issues are essential to achieve adequate public health preparedness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Pedro Lourenço

Data portals are being created as part of open government strategies to increase transparency. But although the potential of the internet to increase transparency (as data disclosure) has been widely considered in the literature, there is no reported evidence of any of the released data actually being used by their ultimate recipients (citizens) for public accountability purposes. This descriptive research effort aims to find evidence of the impact of open government portals, asserting whether data is indeed being used and for what purposes. One contract portal was selected and Google Search was used to find portal references on the internet. A qualitative content analysis approach was adopted, whereby references were examined with respect to its main purpose and data usage. Evidence was found of contract data being used, among others, to identify possible situations of corruption, nepotism and misusage of public resources, support argumentation on public policy debates and, in general, to hold public officials accountable in the public sphere through ‘blame and shame' sanctions.


Dental Update ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
Lakshman Samaranayake ◽  
Sukumaran Anil

COVID-19 Vaccines are currently the talk of the world. The internet is full of memes on COVID-19 vaccines - myths more than truths. In this commentary we further review some of the issues related to the success and failure of COVID-19 vaccines, and the theoretical and practical elements on vaccinations and immunity that the dental health care providers have to be knowledgeable, so as to offer advice and guidance to their team, the patients, as well as the public.


2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Śledziewska ◽  
Renata Włoch

In this article we focus on identifying the specificity of digital transformation within the public sector. The aim of the article is to present the main mechanisms resulting from the introduction of digital innovations that have changed the functioning of the public sector. Starting from a discussion on the technological requirements of digital transformation, we briefly characterise the use of computers and the Internet in public administration, resulting in the development of e-services and administration. The main part of the article is devoted to discussing the specificity of the implementation of the new digital technologies in public administration, focusing mainly on artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Our thesis is that the impact of innovative digital technologies on the operation standards and structure of public administration should be analysed through the prism of interrelated mechanisms of datafication and platformisation, characteristic for the digital economy. The adopted methodology, which is based on an analysis of the subject literature and an analysis of new technology implementations in public administration in EU countries, indicates the pilot, random and non-transformational nature of these implementations, partly due to the lack of well-established methodologies to study and assess the maturity of digital transformation within the public sector.


Author(s):  
María Verónica Alderete

The purpose of this paper is to determine how much is the “bonus” or “prize” to the sales per worker of Internet-using firms compared to not Internet-using firms. The authors employ some matching techniques based on an Argentinean database. The authors first present a binary logit model, in which the dependent variable is a dichotomous variable equal to 1 if the firm adopted Internet and 0 otherwise, to evaluate the factors that influence a firm’s probability of adopting Internet. A propensity score matching (PSM) model is then used to assess the impact of using Internet on the sales per worker. The authors find statically significant differences in the sales average between firms that are similar in many dimensions such as location, size, and sales market except for the Internet adoption decision. By probing that Internet access improves SME’s sales, the chapter is validating the Public Sector ICT modernization programs for SME. The contribution of this paper consists of using a well known technique as PSM to analyze a recent field of research which is the contribution of Internet adoption to the firm’s sales per worker.


Utafiti ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-110
Author(s):  
Kiagho Kilonzo

Abstract The twentieth century saw a huge increase worldwide in the presence of the arts in organisations and institutions involved in healthcare activities, including public health care research conducting in various countries. This article shows the impact of using art to engage literate and non-literate people in the pro-active translation of research outcomes into their own cultural practices and their personal decisions affecting their health status. The study demonstrates that art can be of use changing social behaviour and therefore to improve public health records in statistically significant ways. This work also demonstrates that the term ‘art’ refers to more than a means of entertainment and passive appreciation of aesthetics; the effectiveness of art is tangible and its impact is measurable as a mode of education, and as providing a deeply needed instructive incentive for hygienic and sanitation transformation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh S. Raisinghani ◽  
Randy Weiss

The Internet is now one of the most popular media outlets for campaigning and elections, and may soon be used for electronic voting. The scope of this paper is to examine the impact of the Internet on American politics relative to campaigns and elections by conducting the relevant literature review and synthesis. It will attempt to follow the progression of the Internet’s role in politics, and identify both positive and negative impacts. It will assess what the Internet has changed, and conversely, what it has not changed and study the impact of the Internet in terms of candidates, strategists, media, citizens, and activists.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document