ICT for Development

"Red Estatal eJalisco: The Network is Ours" by IJALTI, gathering in its pages the rationale, origins and motivation to perform this first strategy mainly emanating from the citizens of Jalisco, to enhance the development and inclusion of society in the digital age (IJALTI, 2013).

This paper explores the meanings of women’s empowerment and gender equality
in the information society, looking at the opportunity for progressive change and
critically unpacking the Information and Communication Technology for Development
(ICTD) discourse on gender and development. It also seeks to articulate
a rights-based framework to policy and action that takes on the specific
question of what models of access and connectivity will work for the marginalised
peoples and countries, in a manner that promotes gender justice. The paper was
written for the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development
(UN-GAID) Annual Meeting and Global Forum 2008.

This chapter explores the use of music and digital media in the Chanjo campaign against corruption in Tanzania, focusing on mediations of agency. Building on Latour (2005), I use the concept mediated agency to refer to a process in which different cultural forms (mediators) bring about social transformation (agency). In so doing I recognize the ‘agency of art,’ especially its embeddedness in networks of social relations and its ‘practical mediatory role’ in processes of social change (Gell 1998). Similarly, I appreciate media and other mediators in the broader sense of ‘social mediation,’ with an emphasis on social interaction and exchange (Boyer 2012). Thus, while understanding agency in the sense of transformative action or practice, I build on anthropological theories of mediation, focusing on social processes of intervention and interaction that include but go beyond different forms of media. In this chapter, I will argue that the Chanjo campaign creates a platform that mediates the agency of participants, empowering them to speak up against corruption. The music itself is of course an important form of mediation, but so is the method of delivery, not least the interaction with the audience, as well as the mobility of the campaign. These layers of mediation intersect in different ways, which enforces the process of social and cultural transformation. Through digital mediations and remediations (Bolter and Grusin 1999), especially through social and mobile media, the campaign expands in time and space, thus extending agency beyond the tour itself.

With growing global political weight and one of the biggest digital markets in the world, India, a leading developing country in the G77, is poised to play a critical role in the WSIS+10 Review. In line with its earlier positions on related issues, the priorities outlined by the Indian government for the Review so far prominently feature development and cybersecurity concerns. However, following a new-found alignment on internet-related policy issues across Ministries, earlier priorities regarding enhanced cooperation will now be balanced by active support for multistakeholder approaches to internet governance. For civil society advocates, the Indian government's recent embrace of multistakeholderism is of particular importance, as it provides a new opening for enhanced civil society engagement with the Ministry of External Affairs: the WSIS+10 Review can provide a first opportunity for the Ministry to prove that it is serious about this commitment. The practical impact of this shift in India's policy on the positions of the G77 and the negotiations more broadly may, however, remain limited.

Although the history of Communication for Development (C4D) can be traced back to communication studies’ formal establishment in the first half of the twentieth century, the swift expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the past two decades has re-shaped C4D into a trendy field with growing theoretical and policy attention. Authored by Emile G. McAnany, Saving the World: A Brief History of Communication for Development and Social Change presents a chronological and theoretical summary of communication’s complex role in development and social change as well as the shifts of paradigms within C4D since the end of World War II. According to McAnany, the purpose of this book is three-fold: to explore how theories and practices have evolved along with the development of communication technologies, to evaluate the current status of C4D in the long-term struggle for development and social change, and to better understand the criteria for assessing the influence of C4D-related endeavours.  In this regard, Saving the World is both an intellectual history of communication’s intersections with projects aiming for fostering prosperity, as well as a call for continuing research and policy attention to communication’s great potential in future policy considerations.

Basic studies (CBS) Kuwait, faculty members' usefulness of a web 2.0 tools activity course and how it affected their attitude towards Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use. The faculty members who had applied to the ICT training course were taught and then surveyed after its completion. The results conveyed a positive overall attitude towards the course; the faculty found the course helpful in work/non-work related tasks, gained adequate ICT skills, understood the course clearly, thought it was interesting, would recommend it to colleagues and they were interested to take another related course in Kuwait/abroad. Departments and colleges of different disciplines can make use of this research to assess their faculty members' ICT skills to find out the benefits gained and to help them in professionally developing their faculty ICT skills regularly.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created new economic and social opportunities all over the world. Their use, however, continues to be governed by existing power relations whereby women frequently experience relative disadvantage. Amid this inequality are individuals and organisations that are working to use ICTs to further gender equality. These are the issues addressed by the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and ICTs. The first section of this article consists of extracts from the Overview Report in the Pack. It describes ways in which women have been able to use ICTs to support new forms of information exchange, organisation, and empowerment. The second section, taken from the textbox ‘Telecentres: Some Myths’, describes three assertions which frequently lead to problems in all forms of investment in development-related information exchanges with poor or less powerful groups, not only those relating to telecentres and women.

La incorporación  de  las Tecnologías  de  la  Información  y Comunicación  (TIC)  en  las  Instituciones  de  Educación Superior    (IES)    ha    significado    una    transformación importante.  Sin  embargo,  la  sola  inserción  de  tecnología no ha generado un cambio significativo enlo que se refiere a la práctica docente, pues no se trata de migrar actividades y procesos tradicionales presenciales a espacios y medios digitales. Esta incorporación ha requerido una capacitación formal para que los docentes hagan uso de tecnología en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. No obstante,  pareciera que  no  se  ha  hecho  de  manera  diferenciada  ni  en  un contexto pedagógico, ya que únicamente se han enfocado en aspectos técnicos. Se utilizó el método metasíntesis para identificar las  estrategias  de  formación  docente  en  el  uso de TIC que se han realizado. Los resultados obtenidos y a partir de los diagnósticos, han permitido identificar cuándo se  detectó  que  la  formación  docente  en  el  uso  de  TIC debiera  darse  dentro  de  una  dimensión  pedagógica.  Los resultados permiten observar que la formación recibida por los docentes hasta ahora, no ha sido suficiente para lograr que puedan incorporar las TIC en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje  desde  un  enfoque  pedagógico.  Por  lo  tanto, sigue siendo una tarea pendiente para las IES. Se destaca la necesidad de nuevas estrategias y cursos que fortalezcan las  habilidades  digitales  de  los  profesores  y  que  les proporcionen  las  herramientas que  permitanseleccionar, aplicar y evaluar el uso de TIC en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.

Asthma is a critical disease that causes airway inflammation and recurrent episodes and has caused many patients to require high doses of inhaled corticosteroids. Informatics is helping patients and physicians to monitor the use of medications and also protect against misuse and insistent exacerbations. Informatics has also been used in discovering reactions to certain medications which help to improve asthmatic treatment prescriptions.

В статье на основе анализа применяемых различными международными организациями методологий оценивания свободы информации, принятия во внимание отсутствия в них важных показателей, отражающих степень вмешательства государства в процесс предоставления информационных услуг, а также ссылаясь на философию оценивания степени государственного вмешательства в экономику профессора Н. Музаффарли, разработана методология оценивания степени либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг. Таким образом, создан Индекс либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг, позволяющий оценить степень вмешательства государства в процесс их предоставления. Индекс состоит из четырех субиндексов - Субиндекса свободы средств массовой информации, свободы электронных услуг, свободы рекламы и свободы почтовых услуг. Проведено оценивание степени либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг в 32 странах мира. В результате проведенного исследования установлено, что самой либеральной страной по интегральному индексу является Турция, самой дирижистской страной является Дания. Азербайджан входит в группу стран с умеренно либеральной сферой информационных услуг. В странах с более либеральной сферой информационных услуг средний уровень ВВП на душу населения ниже, чем в странах, где государство более активно вмешивается в сферу. Ключевые слова: индекс либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг, сфера информационных услуг, государственное вмешательство, либеральность, дирижизм, информация In the article on the base of analysis of methodologies applied by various international organizations for the assessment of information freedom, on the base of taking into consideration the lack of important indicators in them reflecting the degree of government intervention in the provision of information services, and also referring to the philosophy of assessing the degree of government intervention in the economy of professor N. Muzaffarli, the methodology of the assessment of the degree of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services is worked. So, the Index of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services, making it possible to assess the degree of government intervention in the process of their provision is created. The Index consists of four sub-indices-Sub-index of freedom of media, freedom of e-services, freedom of advertisement and freedom of postal services. The degree of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services in 32 countries is assessed. In the result of the research made it was defined that the most liberal country on the integral index is Turkey, the most dirigist country-is Denmark. Azerbaijan is in the group of countries with moderate-liberal information services sector. In countries with more liberal information services sector average GDP per capita is lower than in countries, where government intervenes into the sector more active.

The emphasis on use of digital technologies to bridge the
“rural-urban gap” in the union budget is limited to high talk and
minimal allocations. The need for a more comprehensive and
peoples’ participation-oriented rural action plan should have
been the focus while setting sectoral allocations, but that is
not to be in this mid-year budget.

At first let’s define FinTech. As per Wiki Fintech is a portmanteau of financial technology that describes an emerging financial services sector in the 21st century. Originally, the term applied to technology applied to the back-end of established consumer and trade financial institutions. Hence FinTech could be the enabler of Mobile Financial Service, Digital Payment Service, iOT, Disruptive Technology and many more.
Now let’s discuss how FinTech is helping building ICT capacity and also highlight the present Digitalization condition and how much and where improvement required to have better digital economy.

The integration of It to communicate with the tourist, such as social networks, it does not only to know better the need f the customer, but also to better positioning in the search engines, the web of the tourist destination and strengthening its brand. Thus, it seems obvious there must be a coordination between local tourist organizations and the destination management organizartion, when managing the communication strategies in the Internet.

La incorporación de herramientas de comunicación con los turistas, como las redes sociales online, no sólo sirven para conocer mejor la opinión del turista sobre los servicios del destino, si no que también sirven para posicionar mejor los sitios web y la marca del destino en la red y en los motores de búsqueda. La coordinación entre público y privado, parece, pues necesaria a la hora de gestionar sus estrategias de comunicación en la red.

It is widely accepted that the key drivers of economic growth are largely dependent on the level of technology, innovation and knowledge.2 In this regard, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) are at the core of innovation activities, technology diffusion and knowledge diffusion within societies. Therefore ICT, if utilised effectively can become a very valuable device in promoting sustainable growth in societies3 The African continent's economic growth is becoming increasingly broad based. Excluding South Africa, on average in 2012, Africa's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate reached 4, 7%.4 In Africa in 2012, twenty-five countries' GDP growth rate was above 7% and fourteen countries grew at a rate between 3% and 5%5. This growth rate is attributed to an increase in the value of commodities, increased remittances, and policy reforms which have stimulated foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite the GDP growth rate increase, African economies remain fragile as economic diversification remains low. This paper explores the interrelationship between the ICT and socio economic growth in Africa. This relationship is explored through an in depth analysis of the international experience of the ICT; the necessity of new economic and development instruments; the positive impact of the ICT on the socio economic development in Africa, and the actual limits of the ICT in Africa.

The Internet Society conducted the Internet Society's 2020 training program. I joined the Building Community Networks training: In this course I learned how to build wireless community networks. The covered topics included wireless network standards, radio physics, practical network planning, IP network administration, radio device configuration, securing wireless networks, and more. This course was recommended for professionals with basic technical background. As a participant with limited background in Community Networks; I was just interested in being an Advocate of community networks' initiatives. I have written an article; it explains the gap of digital divide by looking at the community of people with disabilities in Tanzania. I pleased to share with you attached herewith, for comments and constructive critique.

This study examines the joint effects of ICT diffusion (composed of access, usage and skills), and foreign direct investment (FDI) on inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study draws on data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, and the Global Consumption and Income Project for the period 1980–2019 for the analysis. The study provides evidence robust to several specifications from ordinary least squares and dynamic system GMM estimation techniques to show that: (1) FDI and ICT diffusion and corresponding components (ICT access, usage, skills) induce inclusive growth in SSA; (2) compared to its direct effect, FDI is remarkable in fostering shared growth in SSA in the presence of greater ICT diffusion, and (3) compared to ICT access and usage, ICT skills are more effective in driving inclusive growth in SSA. Overall FDI modulates ICT dynamics to engender positive synergy effects on inclusive growth. Policy recommendations are provided in line with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and the projected rise in FDI in SSA from 2022.

ICT has become an imperative component in enhancing industrialization and socio-economic growth in developed and
developing countries. It is thus irresistible for any nation that wishes and plans to expand its growth. In the Vision 2030,
the country seeks to provide ICT services that are quality and affordable to many. Any ICT component will include some
software (program) and hardware. However, programming remains a hurdle to many ICT professionals, teachers and the
students thereof and thus country imports most of its software. This poses a danger of slowing down possible innovations
and developments that would otherwise be realized if the programming skill is mastered. This paper evaluates
programming from the students’ perspective on its relevance, understandability and usage of emerging trends to learn it.
During the study, a sampled population of students of IT and computer science students was evaluated using
questionnaires. It was evident that most students desired better ways other than the chalk-board method or using
PowerPoint slides. It however emerged that most students were unaware of existing tools that can aid learn programming.
The paper culminates by a brief discussion of the emerging trend of using program visualization tools to teach/learn
programming.

“Information and communication technologies for development”(ICT4D) is the name given to a range of activity which considers how electronic technologies can be used towards socio-economic development of developing communities worldwide. Typical technologies considered in ICT4D include PCs, the Internet, and mobile phones, and the domains of application are as broad as global development itself: public health, education, agriculture, microfinance, sanitation, political activism, and so on.

The main aim of this work is to propose a novel Computer-aided detection (CAD) system based on a Contextual clustering combined with region growing for assisting radiologists in early identification of lung cancer from computed tomography(CT) scans. Instead of using conventional thresholding approach, this proposed work uses Contextual Clustering which yields a more accurate segmentation of the lungs from the chest volume. Following segmentation GLCM features are extracted which are then classified using three different classifiers namely Random forest, SVM and k-NN.

This pilot study is an effort to get an overall picture of the software and information services firms in various areas such as general information, business understanding, expenditure statistics, profitability, understandings about their competitor countries, human resource information and so on. Bangladesh. It is based on randomly selected 100 software and information services firms in and around Dhaka city out of total 1081 software and information services firms in Bangladesh. Further the study employs descriptive study methods and categorizes the firms into two Cobb-Douglas models, one is firms who are selling their products only in local market and the another is firms who are selling their products both at home and abroad, applies the Cobb-Douglas Production function to measure the input-output relationship and the returns to scale which reveals that for both the two model, operational cost has a more impact on the revenue earning than capital investment.  Again, the finding out the productivity of operational cost and capital investment reveal the same fact. The study urges that necessary initiatives should be taken from the three perspectives- one is from the firms itself, another is from the Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services, and thirdly, from the Government of Bangladesh, in order to change the total scenario of this sector and thereby helping this sector to make contribution towards more export earnings, more employment generation, realizing the country’s dream of promoting from the least-developed to middle income one by 2021.

Abstract In this article, I developed the theoretical concept of cyber state capacity (CSC). Advancing Gobel's (2013) theoretical model of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and authoritarian consolidation, I introduced the theoretical propositions of CSC, which help explain how governments use information and communication technological systems to maintain stability, development, and stay in power. Well established, durable regimes have implemented ICT infrastructures that rival advanced democracies, yet the wave of liberalization that was expected to occur has not. After lying out the theoretical concepts, I conducted a qualitative case illustration to analyze the state enhancing or weakening ICT environments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the years leading up to, and at the time of, the Arab Spring. Developed ICT systems can bolster government power through sophisticated surveillance and propaganda operations, as well as providing economic and entertainment benefits that may contribute to placating individuals' motivations for increased political concessions.

Living Labs are spaces for innovative and participative research, development and activities that use multidisciplinary approaches and promote the co-creation paradigm. Our specific interest lies in exploring the value of the Living Lab concept for creating environments that enable equal opportunities for people living in rural and urban areas, and for making rural areas attractive places to live. Moreover, through the existing practices and research results available, Living Labs are seen as one of the important building blocks of smart rural development and an important step towards establishing a Smart Village environment. Living Labs are a valuable player in enhancing circular economy, digital transformation, local self-sufficiency and other elements of sustainable living. The main aim of this paper is therefore to put Living Labs in the context of rural areas and evaluate their possible contributions for sustainable rural development. This paper argues that the element of community and social change should be considered as a key element in enabling sustainable living.

This study examines the effect of information and communication technologies (ICT) on public sector management in Africa for the period 1995–2015 using panel GMM model and Toda-Yamamoto causality tests. The empirical evidence shows that ICT has a positive and statistically significant effect on public sector management, meaning that an increase in ICT is associated with improved public sector management. There is also a bi-directional causality between ICT and public sector management, suggesting that ICT spurs public sector management which, in turn, spurs ICT even further. The public sector, civil society and international actors therefore have the responsibility to collaborate at developing policies and applications that will maximize the potentials of digital government to every level of public sector in Africa.

It is observed that the biggest problem or complication that the cyber world is facing at present is not of its being a universal domain but being a domain which is still highly unregulated. For a domain which is clearly three decades old, the existing regulations are clearly not sufficient. Cyber space is replete with conflicts, and threatened by a variety of threats caused by different players like unethical hackers/crackers, terrorists and non-state actors, and also by the use of covert cyber capabilities by nation states. However, the global cyber community is more focussed on enhancing and upgrading the technology in use, rather than taking coherent measures to stabilise and secure the domain, in spite of awareness about the growing threat perceptions. This is evident from the fact that new advances and further upgradation in technology are taking place daily and, as a result, new threats are emerging, while safety and security related developments are put on the back burner, and are not so often in the news. Hence, there is an urgent need to rectify this scenario and a pragmatic solution has to be found to regulate cyber space to the extent possible.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution has not only opened up new opportunities for economic growth and social development but has also posed problems and challenges. It can shape and enhance a wide range of developmental applications in agriculture, industry and social sectors and is influencing all sections of the society. ICT provides unique opportunities for human development. At the same time, ICT has been widening the gaps between and within countries, regions, gender while increasing disparities divide between the rural-urban, rich-poor, elite neglected and also within the different categories of women in various spheres of activity. It is necessary to build up women capacities to involve them in productive activities, institutional building, family and social transformation, decision-making process, political representation, trade and commerce, entrepreneurial development and social leadership. There is a need to enhance opportunities to women to enable them to own, manage and control industries and service enterprises including IT-based units. There is also need to provide more opportunities in e-related sectors to them in higher managerial, technical positions in government and non-government agencies, research, educational institutions in private and public sectors, without confining their role to only call centres, telecentres, data-entry level and lower levels in the organizations. ICT has to address all these problems of women as a whole and has to be used to facilitate to build women empowered society.

The purpose of this inquiry is to compare one of the IE curriculums, International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) (IBO, 2009), and a national curriculum, School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA, 2014), to determine if some or all of a national curriculum and the IB PYP is similar.

ICTs are frequently looked to as a missing link between traditional bureaucracy and the modernization of public administration and service delivery. Through the empirical research in the Thai public sector, we find that there is a fundamental gap between the design and normative goal of ICTs and their real world implementation. The structures of power are frequently retained or even reinforced by those who hold budgetary administrative, and authoritative roles and consequently get to make decisions about the development and use of ICTs to facilitate their administrative and managerial goals. While on a discursive level ICTs in Thailand have been projected to counter traditional practices and streamline governance as part of a broader administrative reform since the 2000s, we find that the practice is far different. Situating our work in the theoretical traditions of organization studies and computer supported collaborative work, we discuss how the Thai computerization projects add a valuable case to the vast literature on technology adoption. We also use the case to illustrate the value of this literature in growing work on governance and technology adoption within ICTD circles.

This paper presents part of the University UTE of Quito’s post-earthquake reconstruction project “Arquitectura en movimiento en San Josè de Chamanga”, on using UAVs and specifically the drone Mavic Pro 2, as an innovative tool to terrestrial surveying for post-disaster areas. It describes how the provision of a real-time and high-resolution imagery of the remote areas of San José de Chamanga might assist in defining its urban form, map places that today are not accessible and document the local built heritage. Following this logic, the study argues that the mapped data could become a pivotal tool to the creation of an urban/ architectural construction manual that has a dual role: on the one hand, it could provide locals with guides and standards during self-construction, assisted self-construction, and construction with technical assistance. On the other hand, it reveals architectural and urban elements of the researched area.

Celem niniejszej ekspertyzy jest dokonanie przeglądu strategii i działań mających na celu rozwój kompetencji cyfrowych w tych państwach, które osiągnęły znaczący postęp w tej dziedzinie. Elementem ekspertyzy jest rekomendacja działań, które należy podjąć w Polsce w zakresie rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych.

Nasz raport obejmuje:
• podsumowanie kierunków przyjmowanych przez wszystkie państwa członkowskie UE (z wyjątkiem Polski) w swoich działaniach strategicznych w obszarze kompetencji cyfrowych;
• podsumowanie skutecznych działań dla rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych w państwach, w których nastąpił w ostatnich latach znaczny wzrost wskaźników mierzących poziom rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych: Belgii, Czechach, Estonii, Finlandii, Holandii i Wielkiej Brytanii;
• Rekomendacje działań, które należy podjąć w Polsce, sformułowane w oparciu o przeprowadzone analizy i doświadczenia państw będących ich przedmiotem.

Ekspertyza została zrealizowana w oparciu o badania typu desk research połączone z indywidualnymi wywiadami z przedstawicielami sześciu wybranych państw. Na potrzeby analizy wyróżniliśmy cztery kluczowe obszary strategii rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych:
• Edukacja szkolna
• Edukacja dorosłych – rynek pracy oraz uczenie się przez całe życie
• Talent cyfrowy – specjaliści IT i zaawansowane kompetencje
• E-integracja

W raporcie przedstawiamy kontekst realizacji strategii, obejmujący m.in. wyzwania związane z ewaluacją działań i strategii, zmieniający się kontekst - w szczególności na skutek zmiany technologicznej oraz ogólne trendy dotyczące formułowanych strategii. Przedstawiamy też
ramy określone na poziomie europejskim przez Unię Europejską.
Naszą główną rekomendacją jest wypracowanie systemowego podejścia do rozwoju kompetencji cyfrowych, które to jest kluczowym czynnikiem zapewniającym wzrost kompetencji w analizowanych państwach. Przedstawiamy również bardziej szczegółowe rekomendacje dla każdego z czterech obszarów kluczowych.

Hubbard (2007) noted that contemporary language teachers not only need to have competent theoretical knowledge and social power, but they must also be responsible for the maintenance and growth of their technological proficiency. In this article, I report on my summer holiday professional development experience becoming a certified Google Educator. Soon after I started this journey, I discovered that a Google Educator’s training
does not simply amount to a lesson on search strategies or using Gmail; Google offers a range of powerful, free educational tools or apps that teachers can take advantage of in their language classrooms. Google Forms (see Milliner & Flowers, 2015), Google
Sheets, Google Docs (see Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Suwantarathip & Wichadee, 2014), Google Sites, Google Maps (see McMillan, 2013), YouTube, Google Draw, and Google Hangouts are all examples of the great tools available (see Figure 1). As I began training on how to effectively use each one of these tools, I quickly realized that I needed to become more than competent at using each one should I want to pass the Google Educators’ test and become an accredited Google Educator.

Ponencia: “Sociedad de la Información...¿Cuánto falta para llegar? El caso de los Centros Tecnológicos Comunitarios en la ciudad de Río Cuarto”, en III Congreso Panamericano de Comunicación, UBA, Buenos Aires, 12-16 julio 2005, pp. 109-111, ISBN 950-29-0863-5.

The emergence of e-Marketing innovation as a new communication tool is increasing globally and it provides exceptional opportunities for firms to enjoy improved sales, performance and competitiveness in the market place. The Nigerian manufacturing sector has in recent times placed much importance on innovative marketing for stimulating firm's efficiency and accomplishing a sustainable development, but firms' decisions to adopt and deploy e-Marketing innovation are conceptually based on organizational, technological, environmental and behavioural factors which could either influence or impede its adoption. This study measured the relationships between e-Marketing innovation and key factors influencing its adoption among the Nigerian manufacturing firms, while major interactions among these factors were also examined using appropriate statistical methods. Furthermore, the study ascertained the level disparity among factors determining e-Marketing adoption. It was found that firms‟ decisions to adopt e-Marketing innovation were primarily driven by the availability of financial resources, external pressure, cost of technology and market acceptability of e-Marketing services. They were discovered to be more significant and dominant factors for eMarketing adoption. The study recommends that e-Marketing adoption by firms should embrace sustainable strategies such as strategic planning, need assessment/analysis, substantial financial resources and focus driven investment decisions.

The main aim of this work is to propose a novel Computer-aided detection (CAD) system based on a Contextual clustering combined with region growing for assisting radiologists in early identification of lung cancer from computed tomography(CT) scans. Instead of using conventional thresholding approach, this proposed work uses Contextual Clustering which yields a more accurate segmentation of the lungs from the chest volume. Following segmentation GLCM features are extracted which are then classified using three different classifiers namely Random forest, SVM and k-NN.

In recent years, the world has seen the emergence of a number of urban projects which, under the banner of experimentation, have promoted alternative models of city-making capable, in theory, of creating sustainable built environments. Among these supposedly experimental models, the smart city and the eco-city stand out in terms of geographical diffusion, and are hailed by their advocates as the mark of an innovative urbanism based on a scientific approach to urban development. Through the analysis of Hong Kong and Masdar City, examples of a smart-city agenda and an eco-city project respectively, this paper questions the sustainability of so-called smart cities and eco-cities, by investigating the extent to which they are developed in a controlled and systematic manner as their developers claim. More specifically, the paper counterclaims mainstream understandings of smart and ecological urbanism, arguing that what are promoted as cohesive settlements shaped by a homogeneous vision of the sustainable city, are actually fragmented cities made of disconnected and often incongruous pieces of urban fabric. Theoretically, these claims are discussed through the concept of Frankenstein urbanism which draws upon Mary Shelley's novel as a metaphor for unsuccessful experiments generated by the forced union of different, incompatible elements.