Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities

Until now, a lack of global data at the city level has prevented companies and policymakers from tracking the evolving role of cities in the global economy and positioning their business and policy activities accordingly. To help close this "white space" in our understanding of the global economy, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey & Company's business and economics research arm, has built on its extensive body of research on the urbanization of China, India, and Latin America to develop the MGI Cityscope, a database of more than 2,000 metropolitan areas around the world that we believe is the largest of its kind. By analyzing demographic, income, and household trends in these cities, the database offers actionable insights on the choices facing companies looking for new markets and policy makers seeking to improve their urban management and the alignment of their diplomatic efforts with their countries' trade interests

Does the internet deserve everybody?

There has been a long standing tradition amongst developed nations of influencing, both directly and indirectly, the activities of developing economies. Behind this is one of a range of aims: building/improving living standards, bettering the social status of recipient communities, etc. In some cases, this has resulted in prosperous relations, yet often this has been seen as the exploitation of a power position or a veneer for other activities (e.g. to tap into new emerging markets). In this paper, we explore whether initiatives to improve Internet connectivity in developing regions are always ethical. We draw a list of issues that would aid in formulating Internet initiatives that are ethical, effective, and sustainable

Using big data to make better decisions in the digital economy

The question this special issue would like to address is how to harvest big data to help decision-makers to deliver better fact-based decisions aimed at improving performance or to create better strategy? This special issue focuses on the big data applications in supporting operations decisions, including advanced research on decision models and tools for the digital economy. Responds to this special issue was great and we have included many high-quality papers. We are pleased to present 13 of the best papers. The techniques presented include data mining, simulation and expert system with applications span across online reviews, food retail chain to e-health

Big Data Drive Tourism Enterprises Integration Innovation

Big data affects the integration of innovative products and services of tourist enterprises. Tourist enterprises are in urgent need of integration innovation as it becomes the source of competitive advantage. In the era of big data, integration innovation in tourist enterprise can impacted from several factors: large data mining analysis, strategy of tourist development, integration of innovative resources and capabilities, etc. Tourism enterprises should leverage big data to build a large tourist data analysis system, by focusing on integration of large data and valuation and exploring internal and external models tourist enterprises

Curriculum implementation of career path-ways in secondary schools in Lusaka district: a case of the 2013 competency based curriculum framework.

Thesis of Master of Education in Curriculum StudiesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which public secondary schools effectively implemented the 2013 curriculum framework in line with the provisions and guidelines of the curriculum framework career pathways in Lusaka district, Zambia. Although the Ministry of Education indicated that the Zambia Education Curriculum Framework (ZECF) of 2023 was a product of an evaluation of the ZECF 2013 implementation process, there was seemingly no independent research or evaluation that provided the details on the extent to which public secondary schools adhered to the specific career pathways as outlined in the ZECF of 2023. This is a qualitative study which employed a case study research design where data was collected from a sample of 129 participants that included 48 learners, 48 Subject Teachers, 6 Guidance and Counselling Teachers, 12 Head of Departments, 8 Senior Education Standard Officers and 1 Assistant Director who were all purposively sampled. Besides, semi structured interviews and focused group discussions guides were used to collect data from the participants. Data was equally collected through document analysis of the school curriculum in every school sampled. Data was analysed thematically. The findings of the study revealed that in Lusaka district, out of the 6 (six) sampled schools only 1 (one) school fully adhered to the curriculum guidelines and provision. In addition, it was also established that most of the schools that were sampled faced inherent difficulties during the implementation of the curriculum especially the combined schools. Therefore, it concluded that the general level of adherence in the implementation of the ZECF 2013 was approximately around 66.7%. Besides, in curriculum theory and practice, there is a symbiotic relationship between a fully-fledged school and effective implementation of ZECF 2013. The Ministry of Education should upscale budget allocation to secondary schools, in order to enhance effective implementation of various curriculum career pathways

Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age

China-Africa relations : past, present and future win-win

Abstract: Africa must know the value of the resources it is exchanging for infrastructure and ensure a fair exchange

Strategies used by the female principals to manage learner discipline in selected primary schools in the Buffalo City Education District

School safety is regarded as one of the key drivers of quality teaching and learning. There is however evidence that schools worldwide experience violence and learner disruptive behaviours. The South African education system is amongst other areas, focusing on gender equity in leadership and management positions. Hence this paper explored the strategies used by female principals to manage learner discipline in selected primary schools in the Buffalo City Education District. The Complexity Leadership Theory underpinned the study in conjunction with the Intersectionality theory. Complexity Leadership Theory emphasises the identification and exploration of strategies and behaviour that nurture creativity, learning, and adaptability in the organisation. Data were collected from fourteen participants ranging from female principals, HOD and Vice Principals. Interpretive qualitative and descriptive case study design was used. Data were collected through the use of one-on-one semi-structured interviews, and document review was the second research instrument used in this study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data and all ethical issues were observed. The participation of participants was voluntary, and anonymity was guaranteed. Some of the major findings were the participants’ use of their gender (female) as a resource in administering discipline, and their awareness and consciousness of the vulnerability of the school context. Parental involvement, community involvement and closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera systems aided the participants in maintaining learner discipline. Rewarding learners for good behaviour or good work habits (behaviourism) was discouraged due to its inability to intrinsically motivate learners to behave and accomplish goals. Instead, it was reported to be a form of a bribery system which teaches learners to work hard to receive something. The findings suggested that tertiary institutions introduce mandatory counselling courses to equip prospective teachers with necessary skills to effectively deal with issues of learner discipline in schools.Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, 202

The model and the planning method of volume and variety assessment of innovative products in an industrial enterprise

In the long term, the innovative development strategy efficiency is considered as the most crucial condition for assurance of economic system competitiveness in market conditions. It determines the problem relevance of such justification strategies with regard to specific systems features and conditions of their operation. The problem solution for industrial enterprises can be based on mathematical models of supporting the decision-making on the elements of the innovative manufacturing program. An optimization model and the planning method of innovative products volume and variety are suggested. The feature of the suggested model lies in the nonlinear nature of the objective function. It allows taking into consideration the law of diminishing marginal utility. The suggested method of optimization takes into account the system features and enables the effective implementation of manufacturing capabilities in modern conditions of production organization and sales in terms of market saturation

Application of GIS techniques in flood extent mapping and management on Matebele flood plain in Shangombo district, Zambia.

Thesis of Master of Science Degree in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observations.Floods are among the world’s most devastating hazards, and their effects negatively affect ecological and socioeconomic systems. Ecologically, they affect the distribution of provisional and regulatory services. Socio-economically, loss of lives, property, and financial costs. Application of GIS and Remote Sensing techniques in flood mapping is increasingly becoming significant to establish extents and effects of floods. This study focused on establishing the spatial extents and trends in the flooding events on Matebele Plain in Shangombo District of Zambia from 2008 to 2018 using GIS techniques. Using stratified and simple random sampling, a descriptive research design was adopted to collect data through interviews with 173 respondents. Primary data was sourced using questionnaire on 160 respondents and interview guides on 13 key informants. Sentinel 1A provided Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images in the C-band or C-SAR. Interview data were analysed thematically with simple statistics, while Satellite images were processed and analysed using ArcGIS 10.3 software and Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP). Results indicated that the maximum aerial coverage of floods was recorded in 2018, covering an area of 16,441 km2, representing 78% of the total area. A hypothetical analysis of the trends in time series using the Regression statistical analysis gave (p-0.001), with r2 of 70% indicating significant geospatial variations in the aerial coverage of floods from 2008 to 2018. A thematic analysis of the responses on the effects of floods on various land use activities gave a positive response rate of 97%. The general conclusion was that Matabele Plain experiences flooding with geospatial variations in extents. Further research to consider the impacts of floods on specific land uses is highly recommended