Circular Economy for Plastics and Digitally Enabled Community Towards ASEAN Halal Hub in Asia

This chapter highlights the significant economic opportunities from the implementation of the circular economy paradigm for plastics as a requirement for halal industry in the ASEAN region. If this can be realized, the ASEAN halal industry will have a comparative advantage that will all at once leads radically in reducing plastic pollution in halal market. ASEAN has opportunities for influencing the value to halal market in Asia. All the more, Asia also has opportunities for influencing the value to halal market around the world. With support from the digitally enabled community, this circular economy best practice may spread and influence another region or another industry in Asia. This not only opens up opportunities of ASEAN for leading a halal hub in Asia, but it can also be encouraging the collaboration between community groups, businesses, industry, local and national governments, international donors, and world-class experts seeking meaningful actions to defeat plastic pollution.

Bees in the Medieval Maghreb: Wax, Honey and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Western Mediterranean

Believed to originate in Paradise and set apart in their chastity, bees were potent religious symbols in medieval Christianity and Islam. This article explores how these beliefs drove an extensive trade in wax and honey, and examines the role of Jews, conversos, Christians, and Muslims in this trade. Further, it considers the environmental context and the extent to which religious prohibitions against trade between Christians and Muslims may have provided economic opportunities for Jewish merchants, while examining the economic and cultural relationships between members of the three Abrahamic religions.

Perceptions and explanations of status in the United Arab Emirates: The role of ascribed and achieved characteristics

Ascribed and achieved characteristics influence individuals’ positions in a social hierarchy. I explore how status characteristics and status ideologies influence expectations about economic opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy, highly diverse, and internationally stratified society where beliefs in meritocracy are nationally supported. In Studies 1 and 2, participants reported the extent to which they perceived various characteristics to influence an individual’s salary. Participants whose nationality placed them higher in the economic hierarchy expected achieved markers of status to play a larger role than ascribed markers in determining pay. Across groups, the more participants believed in meritocracy, the more they expected achieved markers to play a role. In Study 3, participants predicted the economic success of individuals who varied in ascribed and achieved characteristics. Across participant groups, both ascribed and achieved characteristics were expected to influence an individual’s economic success. Taken together, results suggested that both ascribed and achieved characteristics are expected to influence an individual’s position in the socioeconomic hierarchy, but only differences rooted in achieved characteristics are legitimized. Group differences and implications for system stability are discussed.

Is There Opportunity Without Stakeholders? A Stakeholder Theory Critique and Development of Opportunity-Actualization

How can stakeholder theory contribute to opportunity theory? We suggest that stakeholder theory affords appropriate theoretical lenses for grounding the opportunity-actualization perspective more firmly within the real-world constraints of business venturing. Actualization departs from a strong focus on entrepreneurial agency to conceptualize how pre-existing environmental conditions determine what entrepreneurial action can achieve. We explain that stakeholder theory can strengthen the outward-looking orientation of actualization by (1) bringing the entirety of stakeholders centre-stage, beyond a narrow focus on market stakeholders, and (2) stressing the importance of noneconomic considerations for the actualization of economic opportunities. Our theorization culminates in the concept of ‘strategic opportunity thinking’ (SOT). We conceptualize SOT as a way of protecting entrepreneurs from the blind-to-stakeholders mindset that either sleepwalks them into the territory of non-opportunity or prevents them from the actualization of real yet difficult-to-actualize opportunities in the absence of stakeholder-centric thinking.

An Overview of Machine Learning and 5G for People with Disabilities

Currently, over a billion people, including children (or about 15% of the world’s population), are estimated to be living with disability, and this figure is going to increase to beyond two billion by 2050. People with disabilities generally experience poorer levels of health, fewer achievements in education, fewer economic opportunities, and higher rates of poverty. Artificial intelligence and 5G can make major contributions towards the assistance of people with disabilities, so they can achieve a good quality of life. In this paper, an overview of machine learning and 5G for people with disabilities is provided. For this purpose, the proposed 5G network slicing architecture for disabled people is introduced. Different application scenarios and their main benefits are considered to illustrate the interaction of machine learning and 5G. Critical challenges have been identified and addressed.

Japan's Challenges on Muslim Friendly Tourism to Attract Muslim Tourists 2013-2019

Tourism is now day is part of the modern lifestyle. Infrastructure, technology, and information make it easier for individuals and groups to go abroad. It cannot be denied that individual or group in their travel carries an identity and need. In Islam, Islam has a role in tourism, because Islam for Muslims is a lifestyle. Tourism in Islam is also known as halal tourism which is a new phenomenon and a new business opportunity in the world of tourism which targets Muslim tourists as a market. Japan is a non-Muslim country and is not based on Islamic values, of course it will be a challenge and something new for Japan in understanding halal tourism. Japan is well known for its services, products and facilities, which is a non-Muslim country, do Japan preparing for halal tourism well, considering that Japan wants to introduce itself as the world's best tourist destination and as the host for the 2021 Olympics. using qualitative methods, observation and literature study. The final results of this study are expected to provide awareness of the importance of tourist destinations that are friendly to Muslims, as well as provide new economic opportunities and opportunities in the tourism sector.AbstrakPariwisata sekarang hari adalah bagian dari gaya hidup modern. Dukungan infrastruktur, teknologi, informasi semakin memudahkan mobilitas individu maupun kelompok. Tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa individu atau kelompok ini dalam perjalanannya membawa suatu identitas dan juga kebutuhan. Dalam agama Islam, Islam memiliki peranan dalam wisata, karena agama Islam bagi umat Muslim adalah sebuah gaya hidup. Pariwisata dalam Islam dikenal juga sebagai pariwisata halal yang merupakan fenomena baru dan peluang bisnis baru dalam dunia pariwisata yang menargetkan wisatawan muslim sebagai pasar. Jepang adalah negara Non-Muslim dan tidak berlandaskan nilai-nilai Islam, tentunya akan menjadi tantangan dan hal yang baru bagi Jepang dalam memahami pariwisata halal. Jepang dikenal baik dalam pelayanan, produk dan fasilitas, tentunya memunculkan pertanyaan apakah Jepang yang merupakan negara Non-Muslim ini mempersiapkan dengan baik pariwisata halal, mengingat Jepang ingin mengenalkan dirinya sebagai destinasi wisata terbaik dunia serta sebagai tuan rumah untuk Olimpiade 2021. Dalam penulisan ini penulis menggunakan metode kualitatif, observasi dan studi pustaka. Hasil akhir dari penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan kesadaran akan pentingnya destinasi wisata yang ramah bagi umat Islam, serta memberikan peluang dan peluang ekonomi baru di bidang pariwisata.

Governance and Vulnerability in Small Island States

<p>In general, communities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are socioeconomically and environmentally vulnerable due to their geographical and ecological conditions. Small archipelagic states are even more vulnerable in terms of natural and human-induced disasters because of their fragmentation, isolation and smallness. Good governance is a vital precondition to reduce the vulnerability of these states. This study examines these two correlated phenomena, governance and vulnerability, their inter-related implications and complications, and the role of governance in reducing vulnerability of SIDS and their island communities. It also proposes some practical remedies for the challenges of these communities. Qualitative research using multiple methods, secondary data collection, informal semi-structured interviews, open-ended discussions, informal conversational interviews and direct observations, was carried out through case studies of two archipelagos, the republics of Maldives and Vanuatu. In addition, the New Zealand local government model with a focus on Bay of Plenty Region was also studied in order to seek policy models and best practices from a developed state. The field inquiry revealed that an effective local governance system is vitally important to address socio-economic and environmental vulnerability of these archipelagic communities. Neither a rigid centralised system, like the Maldives, nor a decentralised system, as in the case of Vanuatu, was found to be appropriate and effective unless certain functions are delegated and local authorities are made selfreliant, financially and functionally self-sufficient and aware of their responsibilities through education, while community members are empowered by providing more socio-economic opportunities. Based on the research findings, the thesis highlights four key causes of increasing vulnerability in these communities: absence of a reliable outreach mechanism for emergency management, lack of a strong local governance system, scarcity of socioeconomic resources and opportunities, and inadequate socio-economic infrastructures. The thesis suggests possible ways forward by proposing a four tier cluster approach with a decentralised emergency management system and local governance model. The transient vulnerability (natural or weather related disasters) of these archipelagic communities cannot be addressed unless their chronic vulnerability, lack of socio-economic opportunities, is addressed through sound local governance.</p>

Governance and Vulnerability in Small Island States

<p>In general, communities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are socioeconomically and environmentally vulnerable due to their geographical and ecological conditions. Small archipelagic states are even more vulnerable in terms of natural and human-induced disasters because of their fragmentation, isolation and smallness. Good governance is a vital precondition to reduce the vulnerability of these states. This study examines these two correlated phenomena, governance and vulnerability, their inter-related implications and complications, and the role of governance in reducing vulnerability of SIDS and their island communities. It also proposes some practical remedies for the challenges of these communities. Qualitative research using multiple methods, secondary data collection, informal semi-structured interviews, open-ended discussions, informal conversational interviews and direct observations, was carried out through case studies of two archipelagos, the republics of Maldives and Vanuatu. In addition, the New Zealand local government model with a focus on Bay of Plenty Region was also studied in order to seek policy models and best practices from a developed state. The field inquiry revealed that an effective local governance system is vitally important to address socio-economic and environmental vulnerability of these archipelagic communities. Neither a rigid centralised system, like the Maldives, nor a decentralised system, as in the case of Vanuatu, was found to be appropriate and effective unless certain functions are delegated and local authorities are made selfreliant, financially and functionally self-sufficient and aware of their responsibilities through education, while community members are empowered by providing more socio-economic opportunities. Based on the research findings, the thesis highlights four key causes of increasing vulnerability in these communities: absence of a reliable outreach mechanism for emergency management, lack of a strong local governance system, scarcity of socioeconomic resources and opportunities, and inadequate socio-economic infrastructures. The thesis suggests possible ways forward by proposing a four tier cluster approach with a decentralised emergency management system and local governance model. The transient vulnerability (natural or weather related disasters) of these archipelagic communities cannot be addressed unless their chronic vulnerability, lack of socio-economic opportunities, is addressed through sound local governance.</p>