Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship最新文献

The fight against climate change is one of the significant challenges of the 21st century. The European Union's environmental policy has evolved as the perception of the problem has become more evident. This paper examines the environmental commitments made by the European Union on the global scene to verify its involvement and responsibility in environmental policy. A comprehensive analysis of the European Union's environmental policies compared to other countries has been carried out using a comparative methodological framework of these commitments. The results confirm the European Union's leadership in promoting and implementing policies to combat climate change and environmental sustainability, which therefore opens windows of opportunity for technological development and entrepreneurship. Future lines of research are proposed following the conclusions, considering the current economic and environmental situation in an environment of energy crisis and inflation.

Digitalization is a global megatrend that changes companies’ internal and external value-creation activities. The introduction of digital technologies requires organizations to adapt their internal operations and external product and service offerings to remain competitive. Leaders must possess specific skills and characteristics to guide their organization successfully through digitalization. We conducted a literature review to research which leadership skills are required for successful digitalization regarding companies’ internal and external dimensions. We employed an inductive analysis that identified 92 articles from 2011 to 2021, which allowed us to structure the results into nine main themes. We revealed that leaders for successful digitalization must be visionary and customer-centered while embracing change. Supporting properties for successful leadership in digitalization are flat hierarchies, empowering employees, possessing digital savviness, and engaging in partnerships and ecosystems. In conclusion, digitalization requires true leadership, not mere management, to embrace risk-taking and promote teamwork and collaboration. This includes continuous awareness of diversity and cultural differences, which must be actively managed.

Pests are a major threat to tomato producers globally, owing to the substantial yield losses, low-quality produce, and low profitability that they cause. Integrated pest management (IPM) has been promoted as a sustainable, effective, safe, and environmentally friendly approach to manage pests. However, many tomato farmers in low- and medium-income countries still rely exclusively on synthetic pesticides. Moreover, many farmers rarely observe pre-harvest intervals (PHI) after applying pesticides, owing to lack of accurate and timely information on IPM and safe use of pesticides. Information and communication technologies (ICT) could bridge the information gaps on pests and their management and have been deployed in disseminating varied information to farmers worldwide. However, the effect of ICT on pest management practices has not been adequately evaluated. This study applies the propensity score matching (PSM) method to assess the impact of ICT-based pest information services (IBPIS) on the adoption of IPM and observance of PHI, using data collected from 170 Kenyan tomato farmers in 2021. The results show that 48.2% of the farmers adopted at least one IBPIS. Adoption of IPM was at 51.2% of the sample and significantly higher among adopters of IBPIS (64.6%) than non-adopters (38.6%). About 49% of the farmers observed PHI. Further, adopting IBPIS increased the number of pest control methods used by farmers by 22.8%, the proportion of farmers adopting IPM by 21.2%, and the observance of PHI by 61.7%. The study recommends that farmer advisory services incorporate multiple ICT tools to deliver pest information to farmers.

A review of the impact of mobile phone and base station radiation on human health and the environment has been presented here. Cell phone is an important invention in human history that has revolutionized people's lifestyles. As mobile phones have become an integral part of human daily routine, the quality of life around the world has improved significantly. However, concerns about the exposure of people, flora and fauna to radio frequencies are not new. The satisfaction and convenience derived from the use of cellular phones is threatened by claims that the radiation emitted by the devices has unfavarable impacts on human health. The effects of radiation may be classified into non-thermal and thermal. Thermal effects are similar to those of cooking in a microwave oven. The non-thermal effects are not properly defined, but it is been learnt that the these effects are three to four times more hazardous than the thermal, which remains controversial. A brief picture of the Indian scenario of cell phone industry and the number of mobile towers in India was discussed. The effects of radiation emitted from cell phones and base stations on wildlife, humans and the environment were summarized with suitable examples and studies conducted by various voluntary organizations.

The study investigated the suitability of Limestone Dust (LSD) and Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) as stabilizer for the improvement of the geotechnical properties of Calabar subgrade soil. Limestone Dust (LSD) and Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) wastes were employed as stand-alone stabilizers and in combination, to improve the geotechnical properties of Calabar subgrade soil. The soil was classified as clay with low plasticity using the USC-system and, A-6 under the AASHTO classification. The un-stabilized soil had a maximum dry density of 1.74 kg/m³ at an optimum moisture content of 24.5%, with a 48-hours soaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of 6.92%, and, an unconfined compressive strength of 103.66 KN/m³. Stabilizers were added at 0% – 50% by weight of soil. Results showed a reduction in the swelling potential of the soil, improvements in compaction characteristics by a range of 4.3–9,8%, an increase in CBR by 50% -78.5%, unconfined compressive strength by 23.8%-38.1%, as well as improvements in shear strength, and secant modulus. It was observed that LSD as a stand-alone stabilizer and in combination with SCBA, showed better improvement compared to SCBA as a stand-alone stabilizer. It was concluded that a combination of limestone dust and sugarcane bagasse ash can be used for soil stabilization, contributing to the useful conversion of wastes and supporting the global advocacy for sustainable development in term of economic resource utilization

Zimbabwe is blessed with tourist attractions that draw visitors from all over the world. However, there are no quantitative models available for tourism stakeholders to utilize in decision-making and planning. The country is experiencing foreign currency shortages, which may be alleviated if the tourism industry, which has the power to generate foreign currency, adopted quantitative forecasting techniques that can provide reliable estimates. For planning reasons, resource mobilization, and allocation, accurate tourist projections are critical to the government and other tourism stakeholders. The goal of this research is to model international tourist arrivals in Zimbabwe and develop a quantitative statistical model that can be used to forecast future international tourist visitors. The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) provided monthly foreign tourist arrivals data for the period January 2000 to December 2018. After the data revealed non-stationarity and seasonality, a time series technique in the form of the Box-Jenkins approach is applied to the data. The autocorrelation function (ACF), partial autocorrelation function (PACF), and root mean square error (RMSE) revealed that a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model suited well to the data. The model predicted a gradual and seasonal increase in international tourist arrivals. The results of this model could be used by those in charge of tourism marketing to develop effective and efficient marketing strategies so that the country can receive a significant increase in international tourists, which will bring in much-needed foreign currency. It is important for tourism stakeholders and service providers to guarantee the availability of enough transport and accommodation facilities, especially during peak seasons.

Internet has become a new way of communication leading the transformation of the use of conventional communication though digital platforms, bringing a new paradigm in human interaction (Saputra et al., 2020) but having Internet access does not mean that citizens are using Internet effectively and successfully, at least for participating in public decision-making. The disruption of information and technology development without creating a media and information literacy as part of the digital education, create a phenomenon that is worrying for the sustainability of society. In critical areas for society such as entrepreneurship, this phenomenon is critical and highly determining. This paper analyses the Media and Information literacy applied to citizen participation theoretical framework through a quantitative Bibliometric Overview of the most important studies in the field. The main objective is to present a general overview of the selected research areas, determining which of both areas is more explored from the point of view of how these literacies are used to reach citizen participation in public decisions, with a clear link to business decisions linked to entrepreneurship.

In this study, the thermal, energy, economic, and environmental perspectives of a smart Cannabis plantation are investigated. A commercial R-32 air conditioning at a cooling capacity of 12,300 BTU/h is implemented for the 5-lighting sets. One 300 W_e-violet-light-emitting diode (LED) and two 100 W_e-daylight-LEDs are designed for one lighting set at a photosynthetic photon flux density of 100 µmol/m²⋅s. A smart watering system is designed to automatically control a watering period of 62 h, an operating time of 40 min, and a watering rate of 41.5 L/time. The smart Cannabis plantation can produce a fresh inflorescence of 250 g and a dried inflorescence of 46.3 g_dy, respectively. A power consumption of 126.9 kWh/plant is mainly driven the environmental impacts of a climate change of 6.22E+02 kg CO₂ eq/kg_dy. The economic result of a levelized cost is approximately 262.85 USD/kg_dy.

This paper examines the convergence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in OECD countries. Specifically, we are interested in examining to what extent the per capita emissions of different countries tend to draw closer over time. This issue is important since this question is associated with fairness regarding the distribution of per capita emissions. In this context, we examine the stochastic convergence of per capita carbon dioxide emissions for 30 OECD countries from 1960 to 2018. We adopt a newly developed test by Payne et al. (2022), which allows for two structural breaks and cross-correlations in a factor structure. Our results accounting for breaks and factors jointly show that per capita CO₂ emissions do not converge, implying that the differences in CO₂ emissions exist and are persistent.

Changing customer demand, globalization, pandemics, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war have introduced a lot of complexities, uncertainties, risks, and challenges in various global businesses, especially in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of emerging markets. This sector plays a significant role in fostering economic growth, generating employment, and reducing poverty. In such a situation, proper identification of supply chain risk (SCR) factors is pivotal for this sector to achieve a resilient and sustainable SC, specifically since a sustainable and resilient supply chain can withstand the impacts of various uncertain situations. However, no studies have yet explored these risk factors from an emerging economy perspective. This study fills this research gap by identifying the SCR factors and analyzing their interactions using an integrated approach, including Pareto analysis, fuzzy theory, total interpretive structural modeling (TISM), and a Matriced' Impacts Cruoses Multiplication Applique a un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. The findings from the fuzzy TISM imply that the “lack of enthusiasm in top management regarding sustainable practices” is the most significant factor. Besides that, lack of skilled and educated workers, lack of knowledge about modern technologies, labor strikes, and political instabilities are also some crucial risks that may hinder the sustainable development and smooth operation of SMEs. Fuzzy MICMAC analysis confirms that all identified risk factors are interrelated. The study insights can guide managers to successfully identify the risk factors for achieving long-term sustainability and operational resilience and can enhance policymakers’ ability to formulate proactive and efficient mitigation strategies.