scholarly journals The Circular Economy, Resilience, and Digital Technology Deployment in the Mining and Mineral Industry

Author(s):  
Peter Jones ◽  
Martin George Wynn

The mining and mineral industry is not easily associated with sustainable development. The one is focused on the exploitation of the planet's limited natural resources, while the other attempts to promote development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. This article looks at the industry's approach to the core sustainability concepts of the circular economy and resilience and finds that leading companies in this industry have drawn on the concept of resilience in reporting on their sustainability strategies, but that there has been little interest in the concept of the circular economy. The article also assesses the current and potential impact of information and communication technologies in supporting sustainability objectives in the industry. It concludes that technology innovation will be a key enabler in supporting the mining and mineral development industry to more formally address the challenges of sustainable development, and support a transition to a more sustainable future.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2307
Author(s):  
Rosa Anaya-Aguilar ◽  
German Gemar ◽  
Carmen Anaya-Aguilar

Health tourism is booming all over the world, and thermal spa tourism in Spain is a type of tourism aimed at integrating with nature, achieving sustainable development. In general, its facilities are located in areas specially protected by environmental legislation. This tourism sector attracts an increasingly wide market segment that has become more demanding and better informed and that more frequently uses the Internet to gather information. Tourists’ shopping and consumption habits are increasingly influenced by new information and communication technologies (ICTs), making these a topic of interest among academics and professionals. Website development has been shown to be an area of innovation for spa facilities, but evidence has also been found that this sector has experienced difficulty in adopting ICTs. This research sought to analyse spa websites’ usability by conducting an exploratory investigation of different websites’ contents. The results reveal that the use of new web technologies by spas is underdeveloped, although these facilities have achieved good positions in Internet search engines due to the synergistic effect of the official tourism websites. That is why most of them tell their story, detail their nature and the protection of their spaces. In this way, spas turn their websites into communication channels that convey to tourists their commitment to the environment and sustainable development.


Author(s):  
Marco Ardolino ◽  
Nicola Saccani ◽  
Federico Adrodegari ◽  
Marco Perona

Businesses grounded upon multisided platforms (MSPs) are found in a growing number of industries, thanks to the recent developments in Internet and digital technologies. Digital MSPs enable multiple interactions among users of different sides through information and communication technologies. The understanding of the characteristics and constituents of MSPs is fragmented along different literature streams. Moreover, very few empirical studies have been carried out to date. In order to fill this gap, this paper presents a three-level framework that describes a digital MSP. The proposed framework is based on literature analysis and multiple case study. On the one hand, the framework can be used to describe MSP as it provides an operationalization of the concept through the identification of specific dimensions, variables and items; on the other hand, it can be used as an assessment tool by practitioners, as exemplified by the three empirical applications presented in this paper.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justina Namukombo

Zambia’s 2012 report on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO +20) identifies existing opportunities on the country’s transitioning to green economy. The RIO +20 conference of 2012 has resulted in new momentum in addressing problems of sustainable development. However, this article argues that there are practical challenges that require paying attention to, especially those involving women. The article addressed one key question: To what extent can women participate in the transitioning process to green economy in Zambia and what opportunities and challenges exists? The study used document analysis to answer the above question. National policy documents were reviewed to understand interventions on environmental management. Whilst going through the documents, the study used gender analysis frameworks (education, skills, roles in family and society, access to infrastructure) to bring out qualitative and quantitative information on women. Using suggested green economy interventions in the literature as benchmark, qualitative analysis was used to project possible participation of women in green economy activities and possible challenges to be faced. The study found that participation of women will be limited despite existing opportunities because of challenges of access to information and communication technology infrastructures, low educational levels and skills and financial constraints. As Zambia undergoes a transitioning process, these limitations should be addressed in planned green economy policies and interventions to maximise benefits.Keywords: Green economy; Gender; Policies; Strategies; ICT; Zambia


Author(s):  
Svetlana L. Lozhkina ◽  
Alexander A. Novikov ◽  
Elena A. Chepkasova ◽  
Elena V. Novikova

The modern stage of civilizational processes puts forward "sustainable development" as the fundamental goal, considering this the most important vector of promising transformations of human society. This stage of globalization development reveals the need to make the above processes not spontaneous, but controlled, which can be implemented, inter alia, through a qualitative transformation of tools and technologies used to monitor and predict the development of individual territories. The article presents a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of the investment attractiveness of a region using methods of integrated statistical assessment, including methods of descriptive analysis, and using the method of factor analysis. This method allows monitoring the level of development of information and communication technologies in the region as a whole, as well as in the context of individual types of economic activity in order to determine the main points of bifurcation for the concentration of financial resources in the development of ICT and increase the investment potential of the region as a whole.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daielly Melina Nassif Mantovani Ribeiro ◽  
Flavio Hourneaux Junior ◽  
Cristiana Lara Lara Cunha ◽  
Patricia Taeko Taeko Kaetsu ◽  
Patricia Fernanda Dionizio-Leite ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the effective assessment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to smart and sustainable city initiatives. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a systematic review of the literature within the Web of Science and Scopus databases, comprising the studies about ICTs related to smart and sustainable city initiatives and sustainable assessment. Findings The main results point out that there are several different ways of assessing SDGs performance related to ICTs use in smart and sustainable city initiatives. However, the effectiveness of these assessments can be questioned. The intensive use of technology understood as the core of smart and sustainable cities does not imply an improvement in sustainability unless these technologies are strategically addressed to underpin those objectives. Moreover, not all SDGs have considered the use of ICTs in their targets. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study is limited to “how” the information is used and managed, rather than analysing the sustainable performance itself. As a limitation, the findings and conclusions do not consider other sources of studies, such as grey literature. Practical implications This study suggests some requirements for providing better and more reliable sustainable assessment, making smart and sustainable city initiatives more correlated with the SDGs. Social implications By acknowledging the difficulties associated with SDGs assessment, concerning the municipal level, the study offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of public policies and public management. Besides, the findings shed some light on if and how the use of ICTs can effectively enhance sustainable development issues. Originality/value This study offers valuable contributions to the literature by providing a collection of insights regarding how the ICTs may genuinely lead to a sound assessment of sustainable development, especially regarding the SDGs.


Author(s):  
Ugo Pagallo

The chapter examines how the information revolution impacts the field of data protection in a twofold way. On the one hand, the scale and amount of cross-border interaction taking place in cyberspace illustrate how the information revolution affects basic tenets of current legal frameworks, such as the idea of the law as a set of rules enforced through the menace of physical sanctions and matters of jurisdiction on the Internet. On the other hand, many impasses of today's legal systems on data protection, liability, and jurisdiction can properly be tackled by embedding normative constraints into information and communication technologies, as shown by the principle of privacy by design in such cases as information systems in hospitals, video surveillance networks in public transports, or smart cards for biometric identifiers. Normative safeguards and constitutional constraints can indeed be embedded in places and spaces, products and processes, so as to strengthen the rights of the individuals and widen the range of their choices. Although it is unlikely that “privacy by design” can offer the one-size-fits-all solution to the problems emerging in the field, it is plausible that the principle will be the key to understanding how today's data protection issues are being handled.


2022 ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
Gianluca Attademo ◽  
Alessia Maccaro

The formulation of Charts for research ethics and Codes of conduct has been growing in the last few decades, on the one hand due to a renewed awareness of the ethical dimensions of research governance and the relationship between regulators and researchers, and on the other hand for the expansion of possibilities achieved by innovation in information and communication technologies. The voluntary involvement of research participants, risk management and prevention, data protection, community engagement, reflexivity of researchers are some of the centres of gravity of a debate that involves researchers, institutions, and citizens.


Author(s):  
Petros Nhlavu Dlamini

This chapter explores the role played by Information and Communication Technology tools in the management of indigenous Knowledge in general. Of importance to note, therefore, is the fact that the emergence of Information and Communication Technology tools has opened new avenues in Indigenous Knowledge Management (IKM) which have the potential of playing important roles in the society by making the valuable knowledge available to everyone who recognizes and uses it. Given the nature of indigenous knowledge which is commonly exchanged through personal communication and demonstration exemplified as deriving from the master to the apprentice, from the parents to the children, from the one neighbour to the other and so on. Information and Communication Technology tools appear to be providing as a solution in forestalling the possible extinction of IK.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-52
Author(s):  
Dinesh Kumar J. ◽  
Arulchelvan Sriram

The influence of ICT in family functioning is a thrust area to study in which the adoption and changes in family activities are growing every day on par with ICT development. Among the models dealing with the subject, Hertlein's multitheoretical model is the one which contains the combination of factors from three different ICT and family-based theories. There is no measurement items found for this model. So, this research developed the measurement items for all the factors in model. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was done to validate the model. This research also understood the importance of family communication through literature and added that as a sub-factor in the process changes factor and fit well with the existing model. This proves that family communication is one of the major contributor of family process.


Author(s):  
Erica Norstedt ◽  
Annika Andersson ◽  
Evylyn Pettersson ◽  
Simon Klintestrand

There is worldwide consensus on how important women are for development where gender equality is seen as a prerequisite for sustainable development. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen as one of the most promising tools for the empowerment of women in developing countries. Men and women therefore need to have equal opportunities to access and use ICTs. Here, the authors, however, find a huge gender gap, and the reasons for this gap are still not fully understood or investigated. The purpose of this study is therefore to further investigate the reasons for this gap in ICT use. Based on a review of existing literature, as well as interviews with men and women from developing countries, the main finding is that the impeding factor underlying all barriers described in the literature relates to social norms. Based on this insight, the authors end the paper by discussing implications for research and practice.


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