التكيف مع التعليم وظروف العمل في مملكة البحرين في ظل جائحة كورونا (COVID-19)

This study discusses the situations of education, labor and the use of technology in the Kingdom of Bahrain during the Corona pandemic and the precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain during this serious pandemic. The study started with a simple introduction of the Corona virus to show the historical background of this virus. The researchers collected the necessary data and statistics related to the subject of the research from trusted resources and they relied the results of the questionnaire to reach the best conclusions, as the questionnaire included some important questions related to the topic of research. The aim of this study is to come up with a complete vision about the Corona crisis that has gripped the whole world in a terrified way, and the study includes the precautionary measures and internal decisions taken by the government in the Kingdom of Bahrain related to the distance learning in various governmental and private educational institutions, as well as the status of labor in different Sectors. Research also focused on the impact of the use of technology in reducing the impact of the pandemic, and it was found that the results were identical or close to the researchers' expectation. This study showed the prompt interaction shown by the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain during the event, which tends to a positive impact on adaptation to continue education and labor stability in different sectors. It also showed that Bahrain possesses excellent technological infrastructure that helped to confront the crisis successfully.

Trends in Emission Inventory of Marine Traffic for Port of Haifa

Located in the Middle East, Haifa Port serves both local and international trade interests (from Asia, Europe, America, Africa, etc.). Due to its strategic location, the port is part of the Belt and Road initiative. This research investigates Haifa Port’s emissions contribution to the existing daily emission inventory level in the area. This research is based on a developed full bottom-up model framework that looks at the single vessel daily voyage through its port call stages. The main data sources for vessel movements used in this research are the Israel Navy’s movements log and the Israel Administration of Shipping and Ports’ (ASP) operational vessel movements and cargo log. The Fuel Consumption (FC) data and Sulfur Content (SC) levels are based on official Israel ASP survey data. The observation years in this research are 2010–2018, with a focus on the Ocean-Going Vessel (OGV) type only. The results show that the vessel fleet calling at Israel ports mainly comprises vessels that have a lower engine tier grade (i.e., Tier 0 and 1), which is considered a heavy contributor to nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution. The study recommends an additional cost charged (selective tariff) to reflect the external social cost linked to the single vessel air pollution combined with supportive technological infrastructure and economic incentive tools (e.g., electric subsidy) to attract or influence vessel owners to assign vessels equipped with new engine tier grades for calls at Israeli ports.

Telework in a Land of Overwork: It’s Not That Simple or Is It?

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted labor markets around the world. Workers and corporations scrambled to adjust their workstyles to a new normal, by avoiding the commute and working remotely from their homes or elsewhere. Japan is a country that stood out for its inability to adjust to the remote work environment. Comparative statistics show that Japan reported the lowest number of people engaged in remote work among the OECD countries, as well as the lowest percentage of corporations that offered remote work policies. In this article, I investigate why telework in Japan is difficult. The lack of telework in Japan may seem paradoxical, given the country’s reputation for being technologically advanced. I argue that it is not the technological infrastructure that is lacking in the Japanese workplace, but distinct features of work embedded in Japanese culture and its collectivist roots that prevent the effective implementation of telework. I rely on recently published data from various sources, and apply key sociological theories such as implicit contracts, gift exchange, dramaturgy, and impression management to substantiate my main arguments. The paper concludes by drawing on implications for the future of work in Japan.

Environmental measures to reduce air pollution on the territory of a specialized facility

A detailed narrowly focused survey was carried out on one of the three zones of the technological infrastructure of a specialized facility - a hangar for aircraft (LA). A general list of pollutants (SV) released into the atmosphere at the 2nd site - the hangar of a special facility was established. Generators – installations and constructs of polluting components on a specific area of stationary and mobile type, which operate at a special facility, are fixed in the selected sectors. In accordance with the nature of the released components and the nature of the emission source (stationary or mobile type), the 2nd site is divided into 4 sectors. The measurement by sectors was implemented and the concentration of emissions was calculated according to the recommended regulatory acts of the Russian Federation. Indications of the concentration of a number of substances above the regulated MPC for 2 sectors of the 2nd site for the energy and test site of the special facility have been established. In connection with the recorded results, techniques and procedures of organizational and technical regulations that contribute to minimizing the accumulation of pollutants (gases) of functioning aircraft engines are analyzed and recommended. A method of attenuation of near-Earth smoke at an interval of up to two meters from the surface where aircraft engines operate is proposed based on the analysis of environmental measures at specialized facilities. The method is based on a variation in the orientation of the outflow of gas flows from functioning aircraft engines during launch, taxiing, takeoff, landing, and passage of an aircraft (VS) along the airfield track.

Speak, memory: the postphenomenological analysis of memory-making in the age of algorithmically powered social networks

This paper explores the productive role that social network platforms such as Facebook, play in the practice of memory-making. While such platforms facilitate interaction across distance and time, they also solidify human self-expression and memory-making by systematically confronting the users with their digital past. By relying on the framework of postphenomenology, the analysis will scrutinize the mediating role of the Memories feature of Facebook, powered by recurring algorithmic scheduling and devoid of meaningful context. More specifically, it will show how this technological infrastructure mediates the concepts of memory, control and space, evoking a specific interpretation of the values of time, remembering and forgetting. As such, apart from preserving memories, Facebook appears as their co-producer, guiding the users in determining the criteria for remembering and forgetting. The paper finishes with suggestions on how to critically appropriate the memory-making features of social network platforms that would both enable their informed use and account for their mediating role in co-shaping good memories.

Exploring the social activity of open research data on ResearchGate: implications for the data literacy of researchers

Purpose Although current research has investigated how open research data (ORD) are published, researchers' behaviour of ORD sharing on academic social networks (ASNs) remains insufficiently explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the connections between ORDs publication and social activity to uncover data literacy gaps.Design/methodology/approach This work investigates whether the ORDs publication leads to social activity around the ORDs and their linked published articles to uncover data literacy needs. The social activity was characterised as reads and citations, over the basis of a non-invasive approach supporting this preliminary study. The eventual associations between the social activity and the researchers' profile (scientific domain, gender, region, professional position, reputation) and the quality of the ORD published were investigated to complete this picture. A random sample of ORD items extracted from ResearchGate (752 ORDs) was analysed using quantitative techniques, including descriptive statistics, logistic regression and K-means cluster analysis.Findings The results highlight three main phenomena: (1) Globally, there is still an underdeveloped social activity around self-archived ORDs in ResearchGate, in terms of reads and citations, regardless of the published ORDs quality; (2) disentangling the moderating effects over social activity around ORD spots traditional dynamics within the “innovative” practice of engaging with data practices; (3) a somewhat similar situation of ResearchGate as ASN to other data platforms and repositories, in terms of social activity around ORD, was detected.Research limitations/implications Although the data were collected within a narrow period, the random data collection ensures a representative picture of researchers' practices.Practical implications As per the implications, the study sheds light on data literacy requirements to promote social activity around ORD in the context of open science as a desirable frontier of practice.Originality/value Researchers data literacy across digital systems is still little understood. Although there are many policies and technological infrastructure providing support, the researchers do not make an in-depth use of them.Peer reviewThe peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2021-0255.

The Role of Green Sukuk for Sustainable Energy Production

Renewable energy sources are clean energy sources that meet the energy needs in a sustainable way. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in renewable energy sources. However, there are some difficulties in renewable energy investments. It has problems such as high initial installation cost, underdeveloped technological infrastructure, and insufficient financial support. Several financial products are being developed in order to overcome the mentioned difficulties. In this context, the purpose of this study is to explain the role of green sukuk in the financing of renewable energy investments. Depending on this purpose, the study has been examined with a literature review. The production of renewable energy sources can be encouraged with green sukuk. However, green sukuk is an advantage for Islamic companies that want to realize environmental projects. On the other hand, it offers the opportunity to the environmentally friendly Islamic investors to evaluate their savings.

Exploring the Relation Between the Digital Divide and Government's Effort to Develop E-Participation

According to the digital divide theory, the provision of opportunities to broaden participation in political processes pose a challenge for governments worldwide. In this research, the authors analyze the relationship between the evolution governments' effort to develop citizen e-participation in public policy—measured through the UN's e-participation index—and that of national contexts variables identified by the digital divide theory at country level, using panel data for 178 countries over the period 2008-2016. The results confirm the strong and positive connection between EPI and economic development and technological infrastructure of the countries, ageing population associated to higher life standards, as well as a negative impact of rurality, gender, and political freedom and democracy result not influential, as well as education. Some practical implications derive from the findings, contributing to explain performance differences across different national settings and identifying current inequalities that still require public action to bridge the divide.

People and the Digital Enterprise

The transformation of a conventional enterprise from a people-centric model to a technology-centric one has important implications for its human workforce. In this chapter, the authors look at three representative people-related focus areas for the digital enterprise, enhancing workplace wellbeing, enabling continuous learning and compliance to information security. They discuss each of these problems and then look at the technological infrastructure a digital enterprise would require to manage these areas.

Challenges of Distance Learning Adoption by Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This research examines the challenges encountered by Tunisian higher education students during the sudden shift to distance learning amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. A qualitative research is conducted to collect and analyze data. The findings highlight that a majority of the interviewed students have reservations about distance learning. Lack of internet facilities, inaccessibility of technological infrastructure, costs, lack of interaction with instructors, of motivation, as well as of understanding were among the major reported challenges. Moreover, results have shown that shifting to distance learning under the COVID-19 pandemic is perceived to be incongruent with the values of equity, equality of chances, and gratuity of education. These values are defended by all stakeholders in the education process. Due to above-mentioned challenges and solidarity values between students, distance learning was negatively perceived. These findings improve understanding regarding the challenges of distance learning particularly under crisis.