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Digital, Volume 6, Issue 1 (March 2026) – 10 articles

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2 pages, 147 KB  
Correction
Correction: Basdekidou, V.; Papapanagos, H. The Use of DEA for ESG Activities and DEI Initiatives Considered as “Pillar of Sustainability” for Economic Growth Assessment in Western Balkans. Digital 2024, 4, 572–598
by Vasiliki Basdekidou and Harry Papapanagos
Digital 2026, 6(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010009 - 28 Jan 2026
Viewed by 68
Abstract
The authors would like to make the following corrections to the published paper [...] Full article
16 pages, 519 KB  
Article
An Efficient and Automated Smart Healthcare System Using Genetic Algorithm and Two-Level Filtering Scheme
by Geetanjali Rathee, Hemraj Saini, Chaker Abdelaziz Kerrache, Ramzi Djemai and Mohamed Chahine Ghanem
Digital 2026, 6(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010010 - 28 Jan 2026
Viewed by 101
Abstract
This paper proposes an efficient and automated smart healthcare communication framework that integrates a two-level filtering scheme with a multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (GA) to enhance the reliability, timeliness, and energy efficiency of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) systems. In the first stage, physiological [...] Read more.
This paper proposes an efficient and automated smart healthcare communication framework that integrates a two-level filtering scheme with a multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (GA) to enhance the reliability, timeliness, and energy efficiency of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) systems. In the first stage, physiological signals collected from heterogeneous sensors (e.g., blood pressure, glucose level, ECG, patient movement, and ambient temperature) were pre-processed using an adaptive least-mean-square (LMS) filter to suppress noise and motion artifacts, thereby improving signal quality prior to analysis. In the second stage, a GA-based optimization engine selects optimal routing paths and transmission parameters by jointly considering end-to-end delay, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), energy consumption, and packet loss ratio (PLR). The two-level filtering strategy, i.e., LMS, ensures that only denoised and high-priority records are forwarded for more processing, enabling timely delivery for supporting the downstream clinical network by optimizing the communication. The proposed mechanism is evaluated via extensive simulations involving 30–100 devices and multiple generations and is benchmarked against two existing smart healthcare schemes. The results demonstrate that the integrated GA and filtering approach significantly reduces end-to-end delay by 10%, as well as communication latency and energy consumption, while improving the packet delivery ratio by approximately 15%, as well as throughput, SNR, and overall Quality of Service (QoS) by up to 98%. These findings indicate that the proposed framework provides a scalable and intelligent communication backbone for early disease detection, continuous monitoring, and timely intervention in smart healthcare environments. Full article
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35 pages, 1051 KB  
Article
Beyond BLEU: GPT–5, Human Judgment, and Classroom Validation for Multidimensional Machine Translation Evaluation
by Shalawati Shalawati, Arbi Haza Nasution, Winda Monika, Tatum Derin, Aytug Onan and Yohei Murakami
Digital 2026, 6(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010008 - 22 Jan 2026
Viewed by 172
Abstract
This paper investigates the use of large language models (LLMs) as evaluators in multidimensional machine translation (MT) assessment, focusing on the English–Indonesian language pair. Building on established evaluation frameworks, we adopt an MQM-aligned rubric that assesses translation quality along morphosyntactic, semantic, and pragmatic [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the use of large language models (LLMs) as evaluators in multidimensional machine translation (MT) assessment, focusing on the English–Indonesian language pair. Building on established evaluation frameworks, we adopt an MQM-aligned rubric that assesses translation quality along morphosyntactic, semantic, and pragmatic dimensions. Three LLM-based translation systems (Qwen 3 (0.6B), LLaMA 3.2 (3B), and Gemma 3 (1B)) are evaluated using both expert human judgments and an LLM-based evaluator (GPT–5), allowing for a detailed comparison of alignment, bias, and consistency between human and AI-based assessments. In addition, a classroom calibration study is conducted to examine how rubric-guided evaluation supports alignment among novice evaluators. The results indicate that GPT–5 exhibits strong agreement with human evaluators in terms of relative quality ranking, while systematic differences in absolute scoring highlight calibration challenges. Overall, this study provides insights into the role of LLMs as reference-free evaluators for MT and illustrates how multidimensional rubrics can support both research-oriented evaluation and pedagogical applications in a mid-resource language setting. Full article
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25 pages, 3590 KB  
Article
Unlocking Innovation in Tourism: A Bibliometric Analysis of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Trends, Hotspots, and Future Pathways
by Roberto A. Pava-Díaz, Juan M. Sánchez-Céspedes and Oscar Danilo Montoya
Digital 2026, 6(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010007 - 19 Jan 2026
Viewed by 219
Abstract
This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the indexed academic literature on the application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in the tourism industry. Using the bibliometrix library within the RStudio environment, key bibliometric indicators were examined in order to characterize [...] Read more.
This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the indexed academic literature on the application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in the tourism industry. Using the bibliometrix library within the RStudio environment, key bibliometric indicators were examined in order to characterize the evolution, structure, and thematic focus of this emerging field of research. The systematic literature review, which adhered to PRISMA guidelines, involved retrieving publications from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. A curated dataset of 100 relevant documents was identified and analyzed in terms of annual scientific production, leading journals, influential authors, and highly cited publications. The results indicate that blockchain technology dominates the literature, with a strong emphasis on its potential to enhance trust, transparency, and efficiency in tourism-related processes. In particular, identity management, secure transactions, and disintermediation emerge as central research themes, reflecting blockchain’s capacity to support decentralized, immutable, and privacy-preserving interactions between tourists and service providers. Overall, the findings reveal a rapidly growing and increasingly structured body of knowledge, highlighting emerging research directions and technological challenges for future studies on DLT applications in tourism. Full article
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24 pages, 1926 KB  
Systematic Review
Applications of Generative AI in Architectural Design Education: A Systematic Review and Future Insights
by Rawan Alamasi and Omar S. Asfour
Digital 2026, 6(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010006 - 19 Jan 2026
Viewed by 433
Abstract
This study reviews the current applications of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in architectural design education using the PRISMA framework. It compares these applications across the different design stages, namely the pre-design, concept generation, design development, and design production, to identify the current state [...] Read more.
This study reviews the current applications of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in architectural design education using the PRISMA framework. It compares these applications across the different design stages, namely the pre-design, concept generation, design development, and design production, to identify the current state of evidence and conceptual discussions reported in the literature. The study also discusses the associated opportunities and challenges in this regard. The findings indicate that there is a growing interest in integrating GenAI into architectural design education, especially in the early design stages. However, one of the most significant gaps in this regard lies in the lack of empirical evidence on the long-term impacts of GenAI on students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Future research is needed to explore the integration of GenAI throughout the entire design process, including design development and refinement. There is also a need to incorporate the relevant ethical guidelines for AI-generated content into academic quality assurance systems and to strengthen institutional preparedness through targeted training and policy development. Full article
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23 pages, 1750 KB  
Article
LLM-Generated Samples for Android Malware Detection
by Nik Rollinson and Nikolaos Polatidis
Digital 2026, 6(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010005 - 18 Jan 2026
Viewed by 296
Abstract
Android malware continues to evolve through obfuscation and polymorphism, posing challenges for both signature-based defenses and machine learning models trained on limited and imbalanced datasets. Synthetic data has been proposed as a remedy for scarcity, yet the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) [...] Read more.
Android malware continues to evolve through obfuscation and polymorphism, posing challenges for both signature-based defenses and machine learning models trained on limited and imbalanced datasets. Synthetic data has been proposed as a remedy for scarcity, yet the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in generating effective malware data for detection tasks remains underexplored. In this study, we fine-tune GPT-4.1-mini to produce structured records for three malware families: BankBot, Locker/SLocker, and Airpush/StopSMS, using the KronoDroid dataset. After addressing generation inconsistencies with prompt engineering and post-processing, we evaluate multiple classifiers under three settings: training with real data only, real-plus-synthetic data, and synthetic data alone. Results show that real-only training achieves near-perfect detection, while augmentation with synthetic data preserves high performance with only minor degradations. In contrast, synthetic-only training produces mixed outcomes, with effectiveness varying across malware families and fine-tuning strategies. These findings suggest that LLM-generated tabular malware feature records can enhance scarce datasets without compromising detection accuracy, but remain insufficient as a standalone training source. Full article
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57 pages, 733 KB  
Review
Universal Digital Identity Stakeholder Alignment: Toward Context-Layered RAG Architectures for Ecosystem-Aware AI
by Matthew Comb and Andrew Martin
Digital 2026, 6(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010004 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 204
Abstract
A universal approach to managing a person’s digital identity may be the single most important advancement to the Internet since its inception, promising the seamless flow of information, averting cybercrime, eliminating login credentials, and restoring privacy and trust through greater control of one’s [...] Read more.
A universal approach to managing a person’s digital identity may be the single most important advancement to the Internet since its inception, promising the seamless flow of information, averting cybercrime, eliminating login credentials, and restoring privacy and trust through greater control of one’s identity online. However, this advancement brings significant risks, especially regarding personal privacy. It demands the meticulous development of digital identity infrastructure that balances robust data security measures with ethical handling of sensitive information, thereby safeguarding against misuse and unauthorised access. Currently, a consolidated vision for digital identity implementation remains unresolved, and aligning the different stakeholders’ motives and expectations is a challenging task. This article reviews and analyses the perspectives and expectations of four key stakeholder groups—government, business, academia, and consumers—regarding a digital identity ecosystem, aiming to increase trust in an eventual design framework. Using an online survey stratified across government, business, academia, and consumers, we identify areas of alignment and divergence regarding privacy, trust, usability, and governance expectations. We then encode these stakeholder expectations into a layered conceptual structure and illustrate its use as metadata for context-layered retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) in digital identity scenarios. Full article
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16 pages, 2733 KB  
Article
APOLLO: Autonomous Predictive On-Chain Learning Orchestrator for AI-Driven Blockchain Governance
by Istiaque Ahmed, Zubaer Mahmood Zubraj, Md Sadek Ferdous, Tadashi Nakano and Thi Hong Tran
Digital 2026, 6(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010003 - 29 Dec 2025
Viewed by 649
Abstract
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) suffer from critical governance challenges, such as low voter participation, large token holders’ dominance, and inefficient proposal analysis by manual processes. We propose APOLLO (Autonomous Predictive On-Chain Learning Orchestrator), an AI-powered approach that automates the governance lifecycle in order [...] Read more.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) suffer from critical governance challenges, such as low voter participation, large token holders’ dominance, and inefficient proposal analysis by manual processes. We propose APOLLO (Autonomous Predictive On-Chain Learning Orchestrator), an AI-powered approach that automates the governance lifecycle in order to address these problems. The gemma-3-4b Large Language Model (LLM) in conjunction with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) powers APOLLO’s multi-agent system, which enhances contextual comprehension of proposals. The system enhances governance by merging real-time on-chain and off-chain data, ensuring adaptive decision-making. Automated proposal writing, logistic regression-based approval probability prediction, and real-time vote outcome analysis with contextual feature-based confidence scores are some of the major advancements. LLM is used to draft proposals and a feedback loop to enrich its knowledge base, reducing whale dominance and voter apathy with a transparent, bias-resistant system. This work demonstrates the revolutionary potential of AI in promoting decentralized governance, paving the way for more effective, inclusive, and dynamic DAO systems. Full article
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45 pages, 12265 KB  
Article
Cross-Modal Extended Reality Learning in Preschool Education: Design and Evaluation from Teacher and Student Perspectives
by Klimentini Liatou and Athanasios Tsipis
Digital 2026, 6(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010002 - 26 Dec 2025
Viewed by 574
Abstract
Cross-modal and immersive technologies offer new opportunities for experiential learning in early childhood, yet few studies examine integrated systems that combine multimedia, mini-games, 3D exploration, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) within a unified environment. This article presents the design and implementation [...] Read more.
Cross-modal and immersive technologies offer new opportunities for experiential learning in early childhood, yet few studies examine integrated systems that combine multimedia, mini-games, 3D exploration, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) within a unified environment. This article presents the design and implementation of the Solar System Experience (SSE), a cross-modal extended reality (XR) learning suite developed for preschool education and deployable on low-cost hardware. A dual-perspective evaluation captured both preschool teachers’ adoption intentions and preschool learners’ experiential responses. Fifty-four teachers completed an adapted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) questionnaire, while seventy-two students participated in structured sessions with all SSE components and responded to a 32-item experiential questionnaire. Results show that teachers held positive perceptions of cross-modal XR learning, with Subjective Norm emerging as the strongest predictor of Behavioral Intention. Students reported uniformly high engagement, with AR and the interactive eBook receiving the highest ratings and VR perceived as highly engaging yet accompanied by usability challenges. The findings demonstrate how cross-modal design can support experiential learning in preschool contexts and highlight technological, organizational, and pedagogical factors influencing educator adoption and children’s in situ experience. Implications for designing accessible XR systems for early childhood and directions for future research are discussed. Full article
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20 pages, 412 KB  
Article
Ethical Consumer Attitudes and Trust in Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Marketplace: An Empirical Analysis of Behavioral and Value-Driven Determinants
by Markou Vasiliki, Panagiotis Serdaris, Ioannis Antoniadis and Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos
Digital 2026, 6(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/digital6010001 - 19 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1058
Abstract
The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing has reshaped how consumers interact with digital content and evaluate ethical aspects of firms. The present study examines how familiarity with and trust in AI shape consumers’ acceptance of AI-based advertising and, in turn, [...] Read more.
The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing has reshaped how consumers interact with digital content and evaluate ethical aspects of firms. The present study examines how familiarity with and trust in AI shape consumers’ acceptance of AI-based advertising and, in turn, their ethical purchasing behavior. Data were collected from 505 Greek consumers through an online survey and analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression models. Reliability and validity tests confirmed the robustness of the measurement instruments. The results show that familiarity with AI technologies significantly enhances trust and ethical confidence toward AI systems. In turn, trust in AI strongly predicts the consumers’ acceptance of AI-driven advertising, while acceptance positively affects ethical consumption intentions. The findings also confirm a mediating relationship, indicating that acceptance of AI-based advertising transmits the effect of AI rust to ethical consumption. By integrating ethical and technological dimensions within a single behavioral model, the study provides a more comprehensive view of how consumers form attitudes toward AI-enabled marketing. Overall, the findings highlight that transparent and responsible AI practices can strengthen brand credibility, foster ethical engagement, and support more sustainable consumer choices. Full article
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