Impact of COVID-19 on the Nature of Academic Work in Colleges of Education in Ghana

This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the nature of academic work in Colleges of Education in Ghana. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. A sample of 346 students was selected for the study. The participants chosen from the Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Peki College of Education and the St. Theresah College of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana through purposive, convenience and snowball sampling procedures. Data were gathered using an online questionnaire. Data were received from 270 students resulting in a 78% return rate. The data were analysed using frequencies and percentages as well as means and standard deviations. The results showed that tutors in Colleges of Education mostly taught during the COVID-19 period by sending audio recordings, texts or slide presentations to students. This was however not done in real time. Also, the tutors gave assignments and quizzes and gave feedback on the performance of the students. Finally, it was found that most students’ services were not provided satisfactorily when school came to an abrupt end because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Specifically, student counselling services, student affairs services, organisation of tutorials/seminars and practical classes as well as technical support or IT services and supervisions and mentorships were not satisfactorily provided. It was therefore recommended that authorities in Colleges of Education should liaise with officers in charge of specific services like counselling, student affairs and technical or IT support so that they can effectively and satisfactorily assist students even when they are not on campus.

How does cloud computing help businesses to manage big data issues

PurposeBig data has posed problems for businesses, the Information Technology (IT) sector and the science community. The problems posed by big data can be effectively addressed using cloud computing and associated distributed computing technology. Cloud computing and big data are two significant past-year problems that allow high-efficiency and competitive computing tools to be delivered as IT services. The paper aims to examine the role of the cloud as a tool for managing big data in various aspects to help businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper delivers solutions in the cloud for storing, compressing, analyzing and processing big data. Hence, articles were divided into four categories: articles on big data storage, articles on big data processing, articles on analyzing and finally, articles on data compression in cloud computing. This article is based on a systematic literature review. Also, it is based on a review of 19 published papers on big data.FindingsFrom the results, it can be inferred that cloud computing technology has features that can be useful for big data management. Challenging issues are raised in each section. For example, in storing big data, privacy and security issues are challenging.Research limitations/implicationsThere were limitations to this systematic review. The first limitation is that only English articles were reviewed. Also, articles that matched the keywords were used. Finally, in this review, authoritative articles were reviewed, and slides and tutorials were avoided.Practical implicationsThe research presents new insight into the business value of cloud computing in interfirm collaborations.Originality/valuePrevious research has often examined other aspects of big data in the cloud. This article takes a new approach to the subject. It allows big data researchers to comprehend the various aspects of big data management in the cloud. In addition, setting an agenda for future research saves time and effort for readers searching for topics within big data.

A Survey on Comparison of Performance Analysis on a Cloud-Based Big Data Framework

Cloud computing is offering various IT services to many users in the work on the basis of pay-as-you-use model. As the data is increasing day by day, there is a huge requirement for cloud applications that manage such a huge amount of data. Basically, a best solution for analyzing such amounts of data and handles a large dataset. Various companies are providing such framesets for particular applications. A cloud framework is the accruement of different components which is similar to the development tools, various middleware for particular applications and various other database management services that are needed for cloud computing deployment, development and managing the various applications of the cloud. This results in an effective model for scaling such a huge amount of data in dynamically allocated recourses along with solving their complex problems. This article is about the survey on the performance of the big data framework based on a cloud from various endeavors which assists ventures to pick a suitable framework for their work and get a desired outcome.

Digital Business Strategies

This chapter discusses digital strategies that can be used in business contexts. The chapter begins by discussing different enterprise configurations that can be used with computerization. The chapter then provides an overview of enterprise IT services. Next, key indicators of sustainable performance for IT services are analyzed using the balanced score card perspective. The chapter then puts forth a four-part IT management planning model. Next, a strategic model is put forth for integrating business systems, applications, and infrastructure. The chapter then discusses how to align digital and business strategies, and it analyzes the structure of the digital aims and strategies of business. The chapter concludes by applying these concepts to examples.

FIRST STEPS BEFORE THE JUMP: UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIANS SURVEY ABOUT OER

Objective. The authors study: 1) the level of awareness of librarians of Ukrainian universities about Open Educational Resources (OER); 2) the ability of librarians to provide support services for the development, creation and use of OER in teaching, learning, research. Methods. The study was conducted by methods of analysis of professional literature, online survey (questionnaires) and analysis of the results. The questionnaires “Library of Higher Education Institution in Support of Distance Learning: Open Educational Resources” was distributed from 20.04. until 20.05.2021 among 137 directors of libraries of higher education institutions of Ukraine. Responses came from 77 libraries. The questionnaire consisted of 9 open-ended and closed-ended questions to allow researchers to get a holistic picture of the research process. Results. The analysis of 77 questionnaires showed that the vast majority of free HEI libraries in Ukraine have extensive experience in working with electronic educational resources. Ranking by resource type prove that 95.89% of library collections are the own generation resources (HEI authors): databases, incl. repositories. The concept of "Open Educational Resources" (OERs) is familiar and understandable to 84.42% of respondents. At the same time, 75.32% are already involved in supporting the OER. Librarians may catalog them (21.92%) or not catalog (32.88%). Among the OER types supported by librarians, educational materials (77.05%) and textbooks (55.74%) predominate. The closest partnership of librarians in OER support (except for teachers) is with the specialists of IT services (66.13%). Conclusions. Despite the still spontaneous, chaotic and little-studied nature of the library movement towards OER, librarians are well aware of this issue. At the same time, 96.1% of respondents want to improve their competencies in the direction of supporting open educational resources. This is very important, because it is the understanding and acceptance of OER that is crucial for a long-term vision of this movement. That is why specific aspects, such as organizational, economic, personnel and motivational, need urgent further study.

The formation of economic and marketing prospects for the development of the market of information services

This paper investigates the current state and prospects of the development of the European IT services market. A detailed analysis of the economic indicators of the IT market in European countries has been conducted. Marketing characteristics of the external market of IT services were considered, in whose formation a leading role belongs to export deliveries. It has been determined that the capacity of the international segment of the IT services market in most European countries increases by an average of 20 % annually, and the share of IT technologies exports in the overall export structure exceeds 8 %. The forecast of changes in the internal market of IT technologies in the post-Soviet countries was analyzed. Based on the results, it was concluded that in the future the capacity of the domestic IT services market could increase and, in 2024, in particular in Ukraine, would exceed the volume of USD 2 billion. The results of studying the level of prices for IT services in the post-Soviet countries suggest that they mainly correspond to the prices for similar services in different groups of European countries (with different material capabilities). That means that for IT service consumers in countries with a low standard of living, price characteristics are not an obstacle to obtaining the highest quality services from domestic or foreign suppliers. The role and importance of personnel support of the information industry, which is key in the formation and development of the IT services market, have been determined. It has been proven that specialists who attained IT education mostly work according to the skills and competencies obtained, which distinguishes them favorably from specialists in other fields. Despite the tendencies of a certain outflow of specialists outside the countries with a low living level, the number of IT specialists is growing progressively in their economies. In many ways, these trends are facilitated by an increase in the number of graduates from specialized educational institutions.

Risk Analysis in the Preparation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in it Services: a Case Study of Universitas Indonesia

Based on the Horizons Scan Report 2021 by BSI, the top 6 threats to organizations today are pandemics, health incidents, safety incidents, IT and telecommunications outages, cyberattacks, and extreme weather. Universitas Indonesia (UI), as a modern, comprehensive, and open campus, strives to become a leading research university globally. As the IT service manager at UI, the Directorate of Information Systems and Technology (DSTI) has the task of strengthening service management by implementing risk management and security management in line with relevant laws and policies. The main problem for DSTI as an IT service at UI is that there are no documents related to risk management and information security management, resulting in IT services’ failure. This year, there have been four data center failures due to power and UPS problems. DSTI wants to improve IT services at UI by implementing risk management and Business Continuity Management System (BCMS). This study aims to conduct a risk analysis to design a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for IT services at the University of Indonesia. The research was conducted using mix method. The OCTAVE qualitative method was carried out in finding a list of risks on critical assets in IT services at UI. A quantitative approach is needed to rank the risk list using a questionnaire and FMEA calculations to get a risk priority number. This study separates the risk of general assets and information system assets. For critical assets, it is generally found that two are at a very high level, one is high, eight risks are at a low level, and 12 are at a very high level, for information system assets found 12 assets with very high risk, three medium and one low.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECT SOFTWARE COMPANY IN INDIA –AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

Information Technology in India is an industry consisting of two major components: IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO).[1] The sector has increased its contribution to India's GDP from 1.2% in 1998 to 7.7% in 2017. India's IT Services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the creation of Tata Consultancy Services[7] who in 1977 partnered with Burroughs which began India's export of IT services. Objectives of the study, 1. To analyze the financial performance of selected software companies in terms of liquidity and solvency, positions and to assess the working capital position of selected software companies in India. Methodology of the study, Secondary data is used for the study which is obtained from concerned companies‟ website, NSE website and also from other relevant sites. Ten companies were selected as sample size, on the basis of convenient sampling technique. To analyze the performance of the selected companies, various techniques have been applied, like ratio analysis, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and CAGR Suggestions of the study, The burden of interest has produced a deteriorating effect and reduced the percentage of net profit. It is suggested that a study of productivity and financial efficiency of the software industry of Indian companies. The few companies, which did not follow a definite policy of financing fixed assets, should follow such policy.

Call Blocking Probabilities under a Probabilistic Bandwidth Reservation Policy in Mobile Hotspots

In this paper we study a mobility-aware call admission control algorithm in a mobile hotspot. To this end, a vehicle is considered which has an access point with a fixed capacity. The vehicle alternates between stop and moving phases. When the vehicle is in the stop phase, it services new and handover calls by prioritizing them via a probabilistic bandwidth reservation (BR) policy. Based on this policy, new handover calls may enter the reservation space with a predefined probability. When the vehicle is in the moving phase, it services new calls only. In that phase, two different policies are considered: (a) the classical complete sharing (CS) policy, where new calls are accepted in the system whenever there exists available bandwidth, and (b) the probabilistic BR policy. Depending on the selected policy in the moving phase, we propose the probabilistic BR loss model (if the CS policy is selected) and the generalized probabilistic BR loss model (if the probabilistic BR policy is selected). In both stop and moving phases, where the call arrival process is Poisson, calls require a single bandwidth unit in order to be accepted in the system, while the service time is exponentially distributed. To analytically determine call blocking probabilities and the system’s utilization, we propose efficient iterative algorithms based on two-dimensional Markov chains. The accuracy of the proposed algorithms is verified via simulation.