Can Community Resilience to Disaster Be Taught?

The field of resilience is multifaceted and diverse. The foundations of resilience research are embedded in psychology; however, in recent years, the concept has been adopted in many other areas. Moreover, resilience has become more prevalent in disaster response literature but is somewhat confusing in the different ways it is defined and applied. This paper attempts to clarify resilience and interest in developing dialogue about better ways to assist those who deal with tragedy and disaster. If we as a society want to survive, recover, and thrive in the aftermath of disaster and/or traumatic events, we need to start with assisting individuals and organizations in understanding resilience. We need to assist them in tapping into past experiences while enhancing their traits and characteristics for better future resilience. Hence, this paper seeks to address how community resiliency to disasters be taught.

Crop Insurance Prediction Using R for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in TamilNadu

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for farmers in many underdeveloped regions, so due to climate change or other risks, crop insurance is thought to be essential, but the research question answered in the current study pertains to insurance program performance. The government-administered crop insurance program was analysed using a mixed methods design. A multiple case study was conducted in the TamilNadu region (India) to analyse the program, identify the causal factors, and collect relevant claim secondary data. Then the R statistical program was applied to analyse crop performance by developing a linear model of crop actual yields versus threshold yields (rabi, paddy, and kharif) using claim payments as the dependent variable. R statistical regression model programming was explained in detail. Recommendations were provided to economic decision makers on how to enhance agricultural insurance and rural development.

Developing and Testing a Smartphone Dependency Scale Assessing Addiction Risk

A 2019 Pew study of emerging economies revealed citizen concerns over smartphone use as risky behavior and their ill effects, such as addiction and overdependency, among many factors. In response, the authors developed a smartphone dependency scale (SDS) of factors that contribute to smartphone addiction, particularly for emerging economies like the Philippines. The instrument was developed from previously validated constructs. They propose that social influence, convenience, affective (anxiety), physiological (maladjustment), and cognitive (mindfulness) factors separately drive smartphone dependency. To test the SDS, the authors surveyed 901 Philippine participants. The scales showed excellent internal consistency and reliability and adequate concurrent and criterion-related validities. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that SDS factors had good data fit. This instrument is a first step in (1) exploring why individuals become dependent (addicted) on mobile devices and (2) stimulating further research concerning smartphone dependency for emerging market settings.

Delivering Brown-Field Projects in the Petrochemical Industry

This article discusses the challenges faced in petrochemical industry during planning and execution of brown-field projects. Although the list of the challenges is not exhaustive, it covers the frequently encountered challenges. Along with the challenges, their solutions have been recommended based upon personal experience. This article can serve as practical guide for those responsible for management of brown-field projects in petrochemical, fertilizer, oil and gas, or other similar industries.

Avoiding Risk of Disputes by Re-Engineering Telecommunication Services With Blockchain Technologies

Blockchain is a technology used to immutably and transparently store information that has gained wide popularity due to the use with cryptocurrency, but it is suitable for many other business scenarios. In this paper, the authors deal with carriers providing voice services by exchanging calls with each other. These companies need to transparently store call detail records (CDR) in order to avoid billing discrepancies which can lead to disputes and risk of interruption of services with heavy consequences from the legal point of view. In this paper, the authors present a solution to this problem by using hyperledger fabric to develop smart contracts, which are invoked to store information about each CDR generated. The proposed solution initially stores CDRs before inputting these to the blockchain network. The paper presents experiments with thorough testing on the blockchain network and also some performance improvements. Results show the effectiveness of avoiding disputes by guaranteeing that CDRs are exchanged effectively and immutably without room for ambiguities or misinterpretation.

From the Risk Society to Thana Capitalism

The current paper focused on the spectatularization of disasters as the main commodity thana capitalism exchanges. The discussion around the crimes against mankind perpetrated by Nazis in the clandestine concentration camps opened the doors towards new insights respecting the roots of thana capitalism. Nazis violated human rights secreting their crimes in a moment of the world where millions certainly died. Today´s philosophers are shocked to see how Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was the sanctuary of the horrors of the Second World War, sets the pace to a new allegory, intended to entertain thousands of tourists, many of them unfamiliar with these events. As a highly-demanded tourist destination, Auschwitz evinces the change of new postmodern ethics that commoditizes the other´s loss as a criterion of entertainment. The example of terrorism shows one of the paradoxes of thana capitalism simply because media covers and disseminates the cruelties of attacks to gain further subscribers and investors while terrorism finds a fertile ground to penetrate the homes of a wider audience.

Risks in Adoption and Implementation of Big Data Analytics

The research investigates the risks in adopting and implementing big data analytics in Indian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The researchers outlined a survey questionnaire for accumulating reactions from managers working in 50 Indian micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises on behalf of five vital commercial sectors. The application and use of big data analytics offer several significant problems for small companies as an investment in hardware and software resources are substantial. This study's findings provided experimental evidence on five critical challenges that Indian MSMEs face while adopting and implementing big data analytics: lack of human resources, data privacy and security, shortage of technological resources, deficiency of awareness, and financial implications. This study's findings emphasize the challenges that MSMEs face while leveraging big data analytics benefits. The research outcome will promote MSMEs' organizational leadership in planning and developing short-term and long-term information systems strategies.

Access Management as a Security Critical Factor

The security of information and information systems is now an important and timely issue insofar as it conditions the normal development of economic activities and may even compromise the sustainability of the economic organizations themselves. The news about the violation of information privacy or the breach of security in the information systems environment has alerted management to the need to evaluate the existing security policies and procedures, namely at information systems and information technology. In this context, the present research work presents a study on the criticality of information systems access management in a large Portuguese telecommunications company, through the analysis of organizational access management practices and procedures. In this study, different methodologies were adopted to analyze the current situation, assess the organizational methodologies and politics, and optimize the management of different types of users.

Managing the Economic Impact of Political Risk

Political risk is the risk related to the outcome of political decisions. Such risk comes in many forms and is likely to be important for many firms and individuals. Still, political risk is relatively little analyzed, possibly because it is difficult to quantify and model. In this paper, different types of political risk are discussed, and a model is outlined for how such risk could be measured, analyzed, and coped with from a practical perspective. Finally, the paper provides a brief discussion of whether and how governments should try to reduce this political risk.

Freedom of Speech, Privacy, and Ethical and Social Responsibility in Democracy in the Digital Age

The article addresses human rights, in particular freedom of expression and the right to privacy, including on the internet, proposing to emphasize the issue of their dialectics in the context of contemporary digital society that, in the face of the digitization of modern life, faces many challenges. It becomes necessary in this way to understand, through a theoretical review, the history of fundamental human rights, a psychosocial analysis of the concepts of freedom and privacy, the normative framework in which they fall, the internet as a platform for exercising rights and freedoms, the problems associated with it, digital data and people's movements, citizen surveillance, social engineering of power, online social networks and e-commerce, and spaces of trust and conflict.