State-owned enterprise governance in the Pacific: The application of local values and practices in Samoa and Tonga

<p><b>This research examined how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in two Pacific countries approach their governance roles in a context where concepts of good corporate governance are changing internationally. The research considered whether corporate governance practice can be enhanced by the application of local cultural values and principles, and whether there are lessons learned from these two countries that could be shared more broadly.</b></p> <p>The study explored insights from current and former SOE board chairs, directors, CEOs, senior public officials from the Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga) and the Independent State of Samoa (Samoa), and subject matter experts, who discussed their experiences and insights about approaches to corporate governance. The research also examined the literature on the rationale for the concept of ‘good governance’ which emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, and corporate governance principles that support SOE models, to provide context for participant responses.</p> <p>Twenty-six interviews were undertaken in Tonga and Samoa between July and September 2019. Twelve participants were interviewed about Tonga’s SOEs, 12 participants were interviewed about Samoa’s SOEs, and two participants were interviewed about both countries’ approaches to SOE governance.</p> <p>The research finds that the principles of good corporate governance are dynamic and responsive, and can be modified to fit local situations. Despite the challenges implementing corporate governance principles, SOE directors and officials from Tonga and Samoa are asking how these tools can be applied in their country and are actively adapting and innovating the corporate governance model to improve local application. There are important assertive signs of ambiculturalism reshaping the good governance narrative with a Pacific flavour.</p>

State-owned enterprise governance in the Pacific: The application of local values and practices in Samoa and Tonga

<p><b>This research examined how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in two Pacific countries approach their governance roles in a context where concepts of good corporate governance are changing internationally. The research considered whether corporate governance practice can be enhanced by the application of local cultural values and principles, and whether there are lessons learned from these two countries that could be shared more broadly.</b></p> <p>The study explored insights from current and former SOE board chairs, directors, CEOs, senior public officials from the Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga) and the Independent State of Samoa (Samoa), and subject matter experts, who discussed their experiences and insights about approaches to corporate governance. The research also examined the literature on the rationale for the concept of ‘good governance’ which emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, and corporate governance principles that support SOE models, to provide context for participant responses.</p> <p>Twenty-six interviews were undertaken in Tonga and Samoa between July and September 2019. Twelve participants were interviewed about Tonga’s SOEs, 12 participants were interviewed about Samoa’s SOEs, and two participants were interviewed about both countries’ approaches to SOE governance.</p> <p>The research finds that the principles of good corporate governance are dynamic and responsive, and can be modified to fit local situations. Despite the challenges implementing corporate governance principles, SOE directors and officials from Tonga and Samoa are asking how these tools can be applied in their country and are actively adapting and innovating the corporate governance model to improve local application. There are important assertive signs of ambiculturalism reshaping the good governance narrative with a Pacific flavour.</p>

Transparency in port governance: setting a research agenda

This study examines the concept of transparency as practiced (or not) in ports. It explores the availability of information to the general public and port stakeholders through the ports’ most public face—its website, studying public ports in North America, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. This exploratory research centred on identifying the parameters that would be useful for the general public to have sufficient information to monitor, review and in many cases, participate in the decision-making processes carried out by the port authority, irrespective of whether or not laws mandate such disclosure. Fifty-one items were identified for the examination of each port’s website, focusing primarily on four major categories: decision-making governance, port communications and accessibility, transparency in reporting and in port operational activities. Using nine items as proxies for the 51, the research reveals uneven levels of port transparency both regionally and by governance model. The study reveals a need for increasing and differentiating the existing levels and standards of transparency in the governance of the port industry, and for greater consistency between ports within and across regions. The study concludes with a research agenda for future research.

Enhancing the Security and Performance of Cloud for E-Governance Infrastructure

E-Governance is getting momentous in India. Over the years, e-Governance has played a major part in every sphere of the economy. In this paper, we have proposed E-MODI (E-governance model for open distributed infrastructure) a centralized e-Governance system for government of India, the implementation of this system is technically based on open distributed infrastructure which comprises of various government bodies in one single centralized unit. Our proposed model identifies three different patterns of cloud computing which are DGC, SGC and CGC. In addition, readiness assessment of the services needs to migrate into cloud. In this paper, we propose energy efficient VM allocation algorithm to achieve higher energy efficiency in large scale cloud data centers when system on optimum mode. Our objectives have been explained in details and experiments were designed to demonstrate the robustness of the multi-layered security which is an integration of High secure lightweight block cipher CSL along with Ultra powerful BLAKE3 hashing function in order to maintain information security triad.

When Bentham Meets Big Data in Times of COVID-19

2020 has been marked by a ‘once in a century crisis' that influenced the dynamics of the globe deeply. Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic, most daily practices had to be transferred to online platforms as humanity was supposed to adopt social and physical distancing to avoid the risk of infection. Even technologically illiterate people were abruptly charged with online tasks as part of their jobs or responsibilities. It suddenly turned out to be high time to go online and have a digital identity to keep pace with the new normal life. Thus, internet has taken its place among the basic needs more specifically than before. This chapter is about the technology-driven supervisory social credit system which is said to have contributed to Chinese state to manage the COVID-19 crisis in a short time. Exploring the foundations, motives, and highlights of the system, this chapter proposes a framework for a potential digital governance model coined as the Cyber Leviathan and bears importance in terms of crisis management.

The INTERREG Italy-Croatia Joint_SECAP Project: A Collaborative Approach for Adaptation Planning

With regard to the scientific debate which highlights the potential of joint climate planning, there are few concrete experiences in Europe where this approach has been applied. This contribution focuses on critical methodological and application aspects of the processes underlying the development of Joint Plans for Sustainable Energy and Climate in the supra-municipal area as emerged from the direct participation of the authors in the Joint_SECAP project funded by the Interreg Italia-Croatia programme. This paper presents a comparative analysis of nine case studies in Italy and Croatia with a focus on fundamental aspects of the planning process: the governance model, shared knowledge framework, risk and vulnerability assessment, and participatory process. The analysis and comparison of the Joint_SECAP experiences confirm that joint climate planning, developed in the framework of the European Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative, is effective for creating synergy between local authorities and for defining and implementing strategies and actions for adaptation to the territorial scale. Finally, the research indicates some recommendations to overcome the barriers that impede the spread and effectiveness of this approach to climate planning. In particular, it highlights the need to enhance collaboration between local authorities, regions, and CoM coordinators.

On the Protection of Personal Data Information in Big Data Investigation Activities

In the context of the vigorous development of big data and network communication technologies, the universality of personal data information processing, the openness of concept definitions, and the potential risks in practice have led to theoretical and practical changes in the definition of personal data information. With the widespread use of big data technology in criminal investigations, the theoretical and practical activities of big data investigation have gradually formed. Big data investigation activities are often accompanied by infringements on citizens' personal data and other legitimate rights and interests. At present, the traditional model of personal data information protection cannot restrict the code of conduct in big data investigation activities. For this reason, it is necessary to introduce a comprehensive governance model, which mainly includes relative control of individuals, balance of multiple interests and dynamic risk adjustment. Etc., and focus on the transformation of the legal protection model of personal information.

Optimization of Networked Governance Models Using Complex System Governance Concepts in Sports Services

In order to increase the participation rate of community residents in sports services, on the governance concept of a complex system, the networked governance model under sports services has been studied. Firstly, by introducing the background of networked governance, the supply of sports services is selected as the research object. The selected sports service providers are the government, universities, enterprises, associations, and residents. Secondly, the structural model of sports service supply has been constructed. Combining the direct effects model and the intermediary relationship model, the questionnaire is designed. The current situation of sports service supply in the study area is analyzed. Finally, on this basis, the networked governance model strategy has been optimized. The results show that because the age distribution of the subjects is relatively young, the residents in the study area have a higher degree of understanding of sports services. In the direct relationship model and the mediating effect model, the 6 fitting indicators are consistent with the standard values, and no abnormal data appeared. The government, universities, and associations have a significant influence on the supply of sports services. The impact of enterprises and residents on the supply of sports services is not significant. The community environment plays an intermediary role in the supply of residents and sports services, and the supply of enterprises and sports services. Network governance should pay more attention to the participation of multiple subjects, change the leading role of the government, break down the communication barriers between supply subjects, establish an information security mechanism, and build an information sharing system. The research results provide a reference direction for the development of network management in sports services.

Internationalization of Tourism Destinations: Networking systems management

This paper aims to fill a gap in the existing research about the internationalization of tourism destinations through a systematic review of the literature focusing on publications presented between 2007 and 2017. The research followed the assumptions of the non-probabilistic snowball sampling technique. In addition, the computer programs VosViewer, for bibliometric analysis, and NVivo 10, for content analysis were used. Tourism destinations’ internationalization is a combination of: (i) integration of organizational interest with stakeholders’ interests; (ii) understanding that what moves these elements are endogenous and exogenous business opportunities; (iii) integrating external opportunities in the destination by aligning them with its territorial identity; (iv) achieving coherence between the previous three components through the implementation of a governance model; (v) a governance model that facilitates the destination’s organization by conciliating interests, resources and opportunities; (vi) and the DMOs that coordinate the dynamics generated between the elements of this system, making it possible to organize the supply following its territorial identity. The internationalization process of tourism destinations highlights factors different from the internationalization of companies. In the first scenario, politics, planning, and territory internationalization strategies should target different kinds of reflections according to the level of intervention (local, regional, national or international). In the second, it is essential that supply is aware of investment opportunities abroad, financial packages to support businesses, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The current period exposed the fragility of the tourism sector and how external threats can influence it. Thinking about the internationalization of tourism destinations shows how important it is to organize the tourism offer in accordance with the challenges the sector faces, at the same time as explaining the role of DMOs. Until now, this theme has been mainly studied from the perspective of demand, creating a gap in the existing knowledge about the organizational systems.