Crowdfunding for Infrastructure Project Financing

Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in national development. However, financing infrastructure projects becomes a major hurdle as it is often considered unbankable, high risk, and requires a long payback period. The use of crowdfunding as an alternative source for infrastructure project financing is flourishing, especially in European and American countries. In contrast, the utilization of crowdfunding for such purposes in Asian countries is very limited. Hence, this study reviews four crowdfunding platforms in Europe and America that have successfully raised capital for infrastructure projects which are Oneplanetcrowd, Convergence Finance, Citizenergy, and Infrashares. Learning from best practices of those platforms, policies, and regulations, the study proposes four crowdfunding business models to be implemented in Asian countries including (1) blended finance, (2) cross-border citizen funding, (3) commercial infrastructure financing, and (4) within country crowdfunding.

Connecting Europe Facility in the system of joint financing of the EU critical infrastructure

The study shows components of financial support for the formation and development of critical infrastructure entities in the European Union. The sustainable functioning of critical infrastructure is aimed at the observance of common Union interests, given the existence of differences in the economic policy in different EU Member States. It was found that the development of Trans-European infrastructure programs is carried out within the framework of the EU Cohesion Policy. The Connecting Europe Facility is a key special tool for funding critical infrastructure in the EU transport, energy and digital services sectors. The Fund is mainly used to finance entities aimed at achieving the goals of the European Green Deal. Recommendations for Ukraine to take into account the experience of financial support regulation for the development of the EU critical infrastructure are substantiated. Based on the experience of the EU, the criteria for determining the priority of the project for financing critical infrastructure are highlighted. Based on the analysis of the formation and use of the Connecting Europe Facility as the main common instrument for financing the EU critical infrastructure, a conclusion was made on the feasibility of establishing a critical infrastructure development fund of Ukraine to support financing of key projects in transport, digital and energy infrastructure. Special rules for determining the eligible costs incurred for financing infrastructure projects at the expense of the critical infrastructure development fund of Ukraine are disclosed.

Financial support of critical infrastructure

An analysis of the experience of financial support for the formation and development of critical infrastructure in foreign countries has been carried out. It is noted that the critical infrastructure provides the necessary services in various fields to maintain their smooth state. It is determined that its financing is carried out by attracting resources from various sources, which include public, private and mixed (public-private) projects, as well as funds of financial intermediaries. Mechanisms for financing critical infrastructure used in foreign countries are revealed. Considerable attention is paid to the issues of regulation operations of financial support for the functional capacity of critical infrastructure. Issues of financial risks of critical services and the factors that affect them are covered. It is noted that to limit them, portfolio approaches have been introduced to place the mobilized resource in infrastructure projects, as well as measures of state and non-state support are applied (guarantees, insurance programs, granting preferences, etc.). Particular attention is paid to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the application of financial support for critical infrastructure upgrades and provision of critical services. It is noted that such changes require a significant increase in costs for increasing investment activities in infrastructure, support for private investment, improving the attraction of funds of specialized financial companies to invest in infrastructure projects. The mechanisms implemented in order to solve such problems are identified. Recommendations are given to take into account the experience of foreign countries in the application of measures to finance critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Keywords: critical infrastructure, critical services, infrastructure financing, infrastructure financing risks, public-private partnership, debt instruments, guarantees and benefits for infrastructure financing.

Tinjauan pustaka sistematis manajemen pendidikan: Kerangka konseptual dalam meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan era 4.0

Tujuan penulisan artikel ini adalah untuk mengetahui program apa saja yang dapat mewujudkan sumber daya manusia (SDM) unggul era 4.0 dan untuk membuat kerangka konseptual baru dalam manajemen pendidikan yang dapat meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan era 4.0. Artikel ini ditulis dengan menggunakan metode literature review dengan pendekatan mapping review. Proses literature review ini dilakukan dengan cara mencari artikel yang relevan, mengevaluasi dengan cara ekstraksi, menganalisis, dan selanjutnya mensintesis. Database yang digunakan dalam pencarian referensi menggunakan JSTOR dan Springer Link. Hasil dari literature review ini adalah bahwa program-program pendidikan yang menunjang adanya revolusi industri 4.0 berkaitan dengan digital transformation pada aspek-aspek manajemen pendidikan. Kerangka konseptual yang dibuat berkaitan dengan aspek manajemen yang meliputi SDM, Kurikulum, Pembelajaran, Pembiayaan, Sarana Prasarana, Humas, dan Kompetensi Lulusan.AbstractThe purpose of this article writing is to find out what programs can realize superior human resources (HR) of 4.0 era and to create a new conceptual framework in education management that can improve the quality of education in the 4.0 era. This article was written using the literature review method with a mapping review approach. The literature review process was carried out by finding relevant articles, evaluating them by extracting, analyzing, and then synthesizing. The database used in searching references was JSTOR and Springer Link. The results of this review literature are that educational programs that support the 4.0 industrial revolution are related to digital transformation in aspects of educational management. The conceptual framework created is related to management aspects which include HR, Curriculum, Learning, Financing, Infrastructure Facilities, Public Relations, and Graduates' Competencies.

Classification of University Departments of Industrial Engineering in Colombia: A DEA Application without Explicit Inputs

The article describes the use and applicability of Data Envelopment Analysis without Explicit Input (DEA-WEI) to evaluate the performance in SaberPRO tests of 82 industrial engineering programs in Colombia during 2016-2018. The results obtained can be used as an instrument to strengthen the quality assurance processes in higher education. As a result of applying the DEA-WEI model, the universities could be classified into five homogeneous groups, each with different characteristics. This grouping can be used as a strategic tool for the higher education institutions since it was possible to identify the other institutions' reference universities. In the current environment, evaluating a university's academic program's performance and its comparison with other universities is an essential issue for students, state control agencies, and universities to improve their indicators for accreditation processes. This classification can serve as a comparative measure of the educational quality offered by each university. In some countries, these classification results serve as a reference for allocating resources by the State for financing infrastructure and research projects. In Colombia, one of the indicators of quality in higher education is the standardized tests called SaberPRO, taken by all students in the last year of any academic program.

MACROECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Public-private partnership (PPP) has been getting momentum in market economies since the 1990s. Originally, it was created as a way of financing infrastructure projects, but its application since then has covered areas such as education, healthcare, high technology and many others. As the bulk of research in the domain of PPP is on the microeconomic impact and the analysis of the success of concrete PPP projects, the aim of this paper is to integrate these findings into a broader framework depicting macroeconomic aspects of public-private partnership. The existing literature, although not as extensive, points to several aspects that may affect economic development on the local, regional, and national levels, with greater adoption of PPP projects and their implementation. The paper introduces explanations for the elements of risk sharing between public and private partners, economic benefits, and costs in PPP, as well as the specific PPP channels of influence on the national economy and the PPP system dynamic model. One of the objectives is the analysis of the existing concept for estimating macroeconomic impacts of PPP, which could be used for evaluating its potential contribution to the growth and development of the national economy.