ICTs and the Localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are universally seen to be global in their nature and reach, but there is a growing acceptance that they have an important local dimension. At the same time, there is an increasing recognition of the need for appropriate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to support and monitor the SDGs. This article adopts a qualitative inductive research approach in examining a range of public authority and academic source material, and framework analysis is used to record, categorise and critique this material. The findings provide an overview of the role of the SDGs at the local level and an assessment of how the localisation of the SDGs is being addressed in some urban areas within Western Europe. The findings also indicate how ICTs are being deployed to support the localisation process in Western Europe and the wider world. This is followed by a discussion of some emergent issues related to the localisation of the SDGs, including the increasingly important role of ICTs.

Drawing on Internal Strengths and Creating Spaces for Growth: How Black Science Majors Navigate the Racial Climate at a Predominantly White Institution to Succeed

A participatory action research approach was used to identify the community cultural wealth Black science majors use to navigate the racial climate at a predominantly white institution (PWI). Black science students use their internal strengths to succeed in their majors, and they create spaces where they share support and resources to thrive at a PWI.

Rural Tourism and Inclusive Development in Port St. Johns - South Africa

The purpose of this study was to explore ways of achieving an inclusive approach to tourism development in rural communities. Although tourism has generally been recommended as a means of orchestrating development in rural communities, achieving this laudable goal has often been illusive due to the fragmented approach adopted by tourism stakeholders. An exploratory quantitative research approach was adopted by using a structured survey instrument to generate 307 valid responses from community members in Port St. John in the Eastern Cape Province (ECP) of South Africa. Results obtained reveal similarities and some differences based on demographic characteristics with regards to the benefits of rural tourism to the community. Importantly, the study illuminates the fragmented way in which residents perceive tourism benefits, both from a gender perspective and personal benefit versus community dichotomy. The paper discusses policy as well as practical local economic development implications.

From crowd to cloud: simplified automatic reconstruction of digital building assets for facility management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of an end-to-end simplified and automated reconstruction pipeline for digital building assets using the design science research approach. Current methods to create digital assets by capturing the state of existing buildings can provide high accuracy but are time-consuming, expensive and difficult. Design/methodology/approach Using design science research, this research identifies the need for a crowdsourced and cloud-based approach to reconstruct digital building assets. The research then develops and tests a fully functional smartphone application prototype. The proposed end-to-end smartphone workflow begins with data capture and ends with user applications. Findings The resulting implementation can achieve a realistic three-dimensional (3D) model characterized by different typologies, minimal trade-off in accuracy and low processing costs. By crowdsourcing the images, the proposed approach can reduce costs for asset reconstruction by an estimated 93% compared to manual modeling and 80% compared to locally processed reconstruction algorithms. Practical implications The resulting implementation achieves “good enough” reconstruction of as-is 3D models with minimal tradeoffs in accuracy compared to automated approaches and 15× cost savings compared to a manual approach. Potential facility management use cases include the issue and information tracking, 3D mark-up and multi-model configurators. Originality/value Through user engagement, development, testing and validation, this work demonstrates the feasibility and impact of a novel crowdsourced and cloud-based approach for the reconstruction of digital building assets.

Prediction of Rate of Penetration for wells at Nam Con Son basin using Artificial Neural Networks models

The rate of penetration (ROP) is an important parameter that affects the success of a drilling operation. In this paper, the research approach is based on different artificial neural network (ANN) models to predict ROP for oil and gas wells in Nam Con Son basin. The first is the process of collecting and evaluating drilling parameters as input data of the model. Next is to find the network model capable of predicting ROP most accurately. After that, the study will evaluate the number of input parameters of the network model. The ROP prediction results obtained from different ANN models are also compared with traditional models such as the Bingham model, Bourgoyne & Young model. These results have shown the competitiveness of the ANN model and its high applicability to actual drilling operations.

Pengaruh Disiplin, Budaya Organisasi dan Motivasi Kerja terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Perum Bulog Kantor Wilayah Jawa Timur

Quality human resources are a determining factor in improving the performance of a business organization. The performance of a business organization is largely determined by the performance of its employees, and this is the main reason for this research. This study aims to determine the effect of discipline, organizational culture and work motivation on employee performance. This research approach is a descriptive research with a quantitative approach. The data used in this study are primary data obtained directly from respondents through questionnaires in the field and secondary data obtained in finished form, has been collected and processed by other parties. The number of samples taken in this study were 74 respondents. The data analysis technique used in this research is multiple linear regression. The results of the analysis show that the variables of discipline, organizational culture and work motivation have a significant effect on employee performance both simultaneously and partially. The results of this study indicate that the variables of discipline, organizational culture and work motivation are the determining variables in an effort to improve employee performance Keywords : Discipline, Organizational Culture, Work Motivation, Employee Performance.

A Multi-Criteria Assessment of Manufacturing Cell Performance Using the AHP Method

Research of manufacturing cell design problems is still pertinent today, because new manufacturing strategies, such as mass customization, call for further improvement of the fundamental performance of cellular manufacturing systems. The main scope of this article is to find the optimal cell design(s) from alternative design(s) by multi-criteria evaluation. For this purpose, alternative design solutions are mutually compared by using the selected performance criteria, namely operational complexity, production line balancing rate, and makespan. Then, multi-criteria decision analysis based on the analytic hierarchy process method is used to show that two more-cell solutions better satisfy the determined criteria of manufacturing cell design performance than three less-cell solutions. The novelty of this research approach refers to the use of the modification of Saaty’s scale for the comparison of alternatives in pairs based on the objective assessment of the designs. Its benefit lies in the exactly enumerated values of the selected criteria, according to which the points from the mentioned scale are assigned to the alternatives.

Can trust moderate the relationship between supplier–buyer relationship and supply chain sustainability?

Purpose This study aims to assess the effect of supplier–buyer association on supply chain sustainability using the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana as a case study. Design/methodology/approach The study used a quantitative research approach. The study design was a cross-sectional survey design. The unit of analysis for the study was top-level managers of pharmaceutical companies in Ghana. By the use of the purposive and convenience sampling techniques, 90 respondents from pharmaceutical firms in Ghana were included. The study used descriptive statistics, t-test and regression tools in the data analysis. Findings It was discovered that trust mediates positively the relationship between supplier–buyer relationship and supply chain sustainability. Moreover, the study found that supplier–buyer relationship (SBR) has a significant and positive impact on supply chain sustainability. Practical implications The study concluded that SBR is the foundation upon which effective supply chain and supply chain sustainability are established. Originality/value This paper provides researchers with a contemporary perspective toward understanding the relationship between SBR and supply chain sustainability and the mediating role of trust.

THE RIGHT OF AN ACCUSED TO DEFENCE UNDER THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA

Background and Purpose: Under the criminal justice system, the burden lies on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused. It is worth noting that a criminal trial is not one-sided; it also allows the accused to raise his defence to prove his innocence. The research aims to analyse the right of the accused to raise a defence and when the defence should be raised in a criminal trial process in Malaysia. Methodology: This research adopts a legal research approach involving a detailed analysis of the relevant legal provisions, case law and scholarly writing related to this area. Findings: The research found that the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) (Act 593) is silent as to when the defence should be raised. That being said, with reference to the Supreme Court’s case of Lin Lian Chen v. Public Prosecutor [1992] 1 CLJ 285 (Rep), the accused should introduce his defence at the earliest stage as possible. Failing this may give rise to the presumption that the defence raised was a mere invention. Although the principle has been regarded as a law in raising defence, there are still cases where the accused did not present the defence at an earlier stage. Contributions: This research contributes to the corpus of legal knowledge of criminal defence, particularly on raising criminal defence in a criminal trial with the aim of providing better protection for the accused in the criminal justice system. Keywords: Criminal justice system, criminally liable, defence, right of the accused, & criminal trial. Cite as: Mohammed Na’aim, M. S., Rajamanickam, R., & Nordin, R. (2022). The right of an accused to defence under the criminal justice system in Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 43-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp43-58

Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Digital Health Tools Faced by South Asian Canadians in Surrey, British Columbia: Community-Based Participatory Action Exploration Using Photovoice

Background South Asian community members in Canada experience a higher burden of chronic disease than the general population. Digital health innovations provide a significant opportunity to address various health care challenges such as supporting patients in their disease self-management. However, South Asian community members are less likely to use digital tools for their health and face significant barriers in accessing them because of language or cultural factors. Objective The aim of this study is to understand the barriers to and facilitators of digital health tool uptake experienced by South Asian community members residing in Canada. Methods This study used a qualitative community-based participatory action research approach. Residents from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, who spoke 1 of 4 South Asian languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, or Tamil) were invited to participate in focus group discussions. A subsample of the participants were invited to use photovoice methods in greater depth to explore the research topics. Results A total of 197 participants consented to the focus group discussions, with 12 (6.1%) participating in the photovoice phase. The findings revealed several key obstacles (older age, lack of education, and poor digital health literacy) and facilitators (social support from family or community members and positive attitudes toward technology) to using digital health tools. Conclusions The results support the value of using a community-based participatory action research approach and photovoice methods to engage the South Asian community in Canada to better understand digital health competencies and needs. There were several important implications for policy makers and future research, such as continued engagement of community leaders by health care providers and administrators to learn about attitudes and preferences.