Search Results (270)

Road infrastructure underpins Nigeria’s economic competitiveness, yet Public–Private Partnership (PPP) performance is constrained not by inadequate legislation but by persistent weaknesses in enforcement and governance. Transparency deficits across procurement, design management, certification, and toll-revenue reporting have produced chronic delays, cost overruns, and declining public trust. This study offers the first empirical investigation of blockchain–Building Information Modelling (BIM) integration as a transparency-enhancing mechanism within Nigeria’s PPP road sector, focusing on Lagos State. Using a qualitative design, ten semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the PPP lifecycle were thematically analysed to diagnose systemic governance weaknesses and assess the contextual feasibility of digital innovations. Findings reveal entrenched opacity rooted in weak enforcement, discretionary decision-making, and informal communication practices—including biased bidder evaluations, undocumented design alterations, manipulated certifications, and toll-revenue inconsistencies. While respondents recognised BIM’s potential to centralise project information and blockchain’s capacity for immutable records and smart-contract automation, they consistently emphasised that technological benefits cannot be realised absent credible institutional foundations. The study advances an original theoretical contribution: the Codify–Condition–Capacitate framework, which explains the institutional preconditions under which digital governance tools can improve transparency. This framework argues that effectiveness depends on: codifying digital standards and legal recognition; conditioning enforcement mechanisms to reduce discretionary authority; and capacitating institutions through targeted training and phased pilots. The research generates significant practical implications for policymakers in Nigeria and comparable developing contexts seeking institution-aligned digital transformation. Methodological rigour was ensured through purposive sampling, thematic saturation assessment, and documented analytical trails. Full article

A sharing framework based on Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) and Proxy Re-encryption (PRE) technologies offers a promising solution for sharing Student Electronic Academic Records (SEARs). As core credentials in the education sector, student records are characterized by strong identity binding, the need for long-term retention, frequent cross-institutional verification, and sensitive information. Compared with electronic health records and government archives, they face more complex security, privacy protection, and storage scalability challenges during sharing. These records not only contain sensitive data such as personal identity and academic performance but also serve as crucial evidence in key scenarios such as further education, employment, and professional title evaluation. Leakage or tampering could have irreversible impacts on a student’s career development. Furthermore, traditional blockchain technology faces storage capacity limitations when storing massive academic records, and existing general electronic record sharing solutions struggle to meet the high-frequency verification demands of educational authorities, universities, and employers for academic data. This study proposes a dedicated sharing framework for students’ electronic academic records, leveraging PRE technology and the distributed ledger characteristics of blockchain to ensure transparency and immutability during sharing. By integrating the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) with Ethereum Smart Contract (SC), it addresses blockchain storage bottlenecks, enabling secure storage and efficient sharing of academic records. Relying on optimized ZKP technology, it supports verifying the authenticity and integrity of records without revealing sensitive content. Furthermore, the introduction of gate circuit merging, constant folding techniques, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware acceleration, and the efficient Bulletproofs algorithm alleviates the high computational complexity of ZKP, significantly reducing proof generation time. The experimental results demonstrate that the framework, while ensuring strong privacy protection, can meet the cross-scenario sharing needs of student records and significantly improve sharing efficiency and security. Therefore, this method exhibits superior security and performance in privacy-preserving scenarios. This framework can be applied to scenarios such as cross-institutional academic certification, employer background checks, and long-term management of academic records by educational authorities, providing secure and efficient technical support for the sharing of electronic academic credentials in the digital education ecosystem. Full article

The aim of this research is to elaborate on the activities of non-formal experiential learning in agritourism developed by an organic family farm in Thessaloniki, Greece. Based on a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews with the owners of the farm and a Business Model Canvas (BMC) approach to this case study, the results indicate that workshops, seminars on nutrition, environmental conservation activities, plant identification, hands-on activities for children and cooking lessons with chefs are some of the non-formal learning tools. The aforementioned activities, on the one hand, raise gate sales for the family and, on the other hand, promote knowledge and awareness towards the contemporary environmental challenges that the rural areas and our food chain are facing. Future development strategies were also identified through the BMC, such as the adoption of digital educational tools, and ‘Do It Yourself’ kits for growing microgreens at home, while the need for official certification and support of multifunctional farms by the Ministry of Rural Development was also highlighted. Full article

The Australian public and broader society have little awareness of the seminal relationship between water supply and data usage/storage. Most data centers (DCs) consume large volumes of water to operate servers that supply digital society’s instantaneous 24/7 information communication systems. DC water consumption is a global issue that lacks transparency, sustainable management, and effective governance. This article analyzes current Australian legislation, policies, and industry sustainability plans to examine whether and in what ways the absence of clear water governance requirements for DC may contribute to state and national water insecurity. It shows how academic and applied discourses conceptualize, research, and respond to DC sustainability as an energy issue. This conceptualization masks the relevance of DC water usage/security. The results show that Australian legislation, policy, planning, and management lack sufficient transparency and state governance regarding the industry’s water use and accountability. Global and national DC certifications are discussed, and policy solutions are recommended to mitigate future DC pressure on water supply and related consequences. Our conclusions advocate the necessity of improving public awareness, industry accountability, and government management strategies (policy and legislation) for sustainable water practices in Australia, as artificial intelligence increases DC quantity and size, exacerbating supply and consumption in local environments that legislate against nuclear energy alternatives. Full article

The textile sector provides essential goods, yet it remains environmentally and socially intensive, driven by high water use, pesticide dependent monocropping, chemical pollution during processing, and growing waste streams. This review examines credible pathways to sustainability by integrating emerging plant-based fibres from hemp, abaca, stinging nettle, and pineapple leaf fibre. These underutilised crops combine favourable agronomic profiles with competitive mechanical performance and are gaining momentum as the demand for demonstrably sustainable textiles increases. However, conventional fibre identification methods, including microscopy and spectroscopy, often lose reliability after wet processing and in blended fabrics, creating opportunities for mislabelling, greenwashing, and weak certification. We synthesise how advanced molecular approaches, including DNA fingerprinting, species-specific assays, and metagenomic tools, can support the authentication of fibre identity and provenance and enable linkage to Digital Product Passports. We also critically assess environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and social assessment frameworks, including S-LCA and SO-LCA, as complementary methodologies to quantify climate burden, water use, labour conditions, and supply chain risks. We argue that aligning fibre innovation with molecular traceability and harmonised life cycle evidence is essential to replace generic sustainability claims with verifiable metrics, strengthen policy and certification, and accelerate transparent, circular, and socially responsible textile value chains. Key research priorities include validated marker panels and reference libraries for non-cotton fibres, expanded region-specific LCA inventories and end-of-life scenarios, scalable fibre-to-fibre recycling routes, and practical operationalisation of SO-LCA across diverse enterprises. Full article

Wearable technologies are increasingly integrated into digital health systems to support continuous remote monitoring in oncology; however, the lack of standardized and reproducible criteria for device selection limits their scalable and regulation-compliant adoption in clinically oriented infrastructures. This study proposes a preclinical benchmarking framework for the systematic evaluation of commercially available wearable devices for oncology applications. Devices were assessed across six predefined dimensions: biometric data acquisition, application programming interface-based interoperability, regulatory compliance, battery autonomy, cost, and absence of mandatory subscription fees. From an initial pool of 23 devices, a stepwise screening process identified 6 eligible wearables, which were compared using a semi-quantitative weighted scoring system. The benchmarking analysis identified the Withings ScanWatch 2 as the highest-ranked device, achieving a score of 37/40 and representing the only solution combining medical-grade certification for selected functions, extended battery life (up to 30 days), declared General Data Protection Regulation-compliant data governance, and fully accessible application programming interfaces. The remaining devices scored between 17 and 23 due to limitations in certification, battery autonomy, or data accessibility. This work introduces a reproducible preclinical benchmarking methodology that supports transparent wearable device selection in oncology and provides a foundation for future scalable digital health integration under appropriate regulatory and interoperability governance. Full article

This paper examines the forecasting and modelling of consumer demand for organic agricultural products in the context of sustainable development and digital marketing. The study is based on an online survey of 423 consumers in Ukraine and Slovakia and applies factor analysis, regression modelling, and scenario forecasting. The results indicate that demand formation is driven by a combination of economic, social, and behavioural factors, with income level, price sensitivity, trust in certification, and awareness of organic benefits playing a central role. The findings further confirm that digital marketing tools significantly influence purchasing decisions by enhancing information transparency and strengthening consumer trust. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to the literature by integrating economic determinants of demand with digital marketing and sustainability-related factors within a unified analytical framework. From a managerial perspective, the results provide practical guidance for organic producers and marketers regarding the communication of environmental value and the effective use of digital channels to stimulate demand and build long-term consumer loyalty. The novelty of the study lies in the combined application of demand modelling and digital marketing analysis within a comparative cross-country context, offering an integrated approach to forecasting organic product demand and supporting the development of sustainable marketing strategies. Full article

Rapid urbanization, rising energy consumption, and the environmental pressures of the 21st century have led the construction sector to focus on sustainable design solutions to protect the natural environment and combat climate change. Technological advances are leading to an increasing number of ultratall buildings. However, due to the complex issues involved, these structures currently serve primarily as symbols and serve as testing grounds for technological innovation. Therefore, there is a clear need to analyze the issues involved in designing high-rise buildings sustainably in the context of contemporary environmental challenges. Global multi-criteria certifications exist to establish parameters verifying a building’s impact on its surroundings. This study systematically assessed the sustainable strategies of the world’s twenty tallest buildings using a four-category model: A—passive design, B—active mechanical systems, C—renewable energy integration, and D—materials, water, and circularity strategies. The quantitative assessment (0–60) was supplemented with qualitative analysis and correlational research, including LEED certification. A novel element of the study is a multi-criteria comparative analysis, culminating in an assessment of the degree of implementation of sustainable development strategies in the world’s tallest buildings and linking the results to LEED certification levels. The results identify categories requiring further improvement. The results indicate that Merdeka 118 (46.7%), followed One World Trade Center (43.3%) and Shanghai Tower (41.7%) received the highest scores. Category B dominated all buildings, categories A and D demonstrated moderate implementation, and category C demonstrated the lowest performance due to economic and technical constraints at extreme heights. LEED Platinum-certified buildings demonstrated significantly higher levels of technology integration than Gold or non-certified buildings. The study results emphasize the need for integrating passive design strategies early in the design process, improving renewable energy solutions, and long-term operational monitoring supported by digital tools (such as IoT and digital twins). Full article

BIM Adoption in firms and projects requires considerable changes in design and construction processes. There has been ongoing research on exploring the drivers and barriers to BIM adoption. BIM Tools can be defined as all software tools and applications that can input information into/acquire information from semantically rich digital 3D building models, also known as Building Information Models (BIM). The aim of this study was to identify the impact of demographic, social, education-related, previous training-related, and profession-related factors on the perception of the ease of use and usefulness of BIM Tools for students and early career professionals. The main question of the research was defined as follows: “What factors influence the perception of the ease of use and usefulness of BIM tools for students and early career professionals?” The study involved a questionnaire survey with 227 participants to measure the impact of eleven different factors on the perception of the ease of use and usefulness of these tools. The findings suggest that both the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of BIM Tools are mostly stable and not substantially affected by most of the external factors. Among the factors that can influence the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, Participation in a BIM Certification Training Program appeared to be the factor with the strongest influence, as it had a significant influence on both dimensions. Factors with weaker influence included Age Group, Gender, Being a Student or Not, Computing Habits, and Gaming Habits. The other five factors investigated appeared to have no influence on either dimension. Full article

Although emerging technologies are increasingly adopted in teaching and learning, their potential to enhance educational administration remains underexplored. In particular, few studies examine how conversational agents, virtual reality (VR), and robotic process automation (RPA) can jointly streamline administrative workflows in multilingual and multicultural university environments. This study addresses this gap by presenting an integrated solution deployed on the website of an engineering faculty where programs are delivered in foreign languages. The proposed system combines a multilingual chatbot, a VR-based administrative guide and virtual tour, and RPA modules supporting certificate generation, password resets, and exam scheduling. Through an A/B usability test, usage analytics, and qualitative feedback, we evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies in improving access to information, reducing response time, and lowering administrative workload. Results show that this triad significantly enhances efficiency and student experience, particularly for international students requiring continuous support. The paper contributes a replicable model for leveraging emerging technologies in educational administration and offers insights for institutions seeking scalable and student-centered digital transformation. Full article

Set in the vocational education and training sector in England, this article draws attention to how top-down, centre–periphery approaches to curriculum design and development in vocational education fail for at least three reasons. First, they misconstrue the nature of knowledge. Second, they lead to perfunctory and fragmented approaches to curriculum design, coupled with mechanistic measures of quality and achievement, which often require little more than “one-off” and superficially assessed demonstrations of performance. Finally, they underplay the role and importance of the teacher as researcher and artist in putting the cultural resources of society to work in creative curriculum design and pedagogy. Teacher artistry is pivotal in animating and heightening the vitality of vocational curricula. It is through this artistry that teachers make theories, ideas and concepts in vocational subjects and disciplines accessible and meaningful to all learners in coherent ways in the contexts of their learning and their lives. The consequences of the epistemic faux pas underpinning centre-to-periphery models of curriculum design and development are highlighted in this article in vocational tutors’ accounts of experiences of problems and issues in curriculum design, development and assessment encountered in their practice. Participants in the research teach in a variety of vocational education settings, including Apprenticeships and Higher-Level Technical Education; English Language at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level; Health and Social Care; Information and Communications Technology; Construction (Plumbing); Digital Production, Design and Development and High-Tech Precision Engineering. Data are analysed and reported through systematic, thematic analysis This article draws upon qualitative data derived from a study funded by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) in England over a two-year period from 2021 to 2023. The research population consists of a group of eight practitioner–researchers working in three colleges of Further Education (FE) and one Industry Training Centre (ITC) in England. All of the teachers of vocational education reported here volunteered to participate in the study. Research methods include semi-structured interviews, analysis of critical incidents and case studies produced by practitioner–researchers from across the FE and Skills sector in England. Full article

The global transition towards a clean energy system underscores the critical role of Green Electricity Certificates (GECs), yet their effectiveness is often hampered by an inability to credibly trace environmental attributes from generation to consumption. This study provides a systematic review of technological pathways and policy implications for enhancing GEC markets through real-time electricity-carbon traceability, using China’s large-scale and rapidly evolving market as a central case. Through comparative international analysis and examination of China’s market data (2023–2025), we identified a severe oversupply of certificates and a reliance on policy-driven demand as core structural dilemmas. The aim of this study was to clarify how real-time traceability can fundamentally enhance the credibility, temporal precision, and policy applicability of GEC mechanisms, particularly under China’s rapid institutional reforms. The findings indicate that a fundamental transition towards hourly granularity in certificate issuance and matching is critical to enhance credibility, prevent double-counting, and enable high-value applications like 24/7 clean energy matching. Furthermore, deep integration between the GEC market and the carbon emission trading (CET) scheme is necessary to expand value propositions. We conclude that the synergistic integration of market design (mandatory quotas), cross-market coupling (GEC-carbon market linkage), and robust digital traceability represents the most effective pathway to transform GECs into a credible instrument for driving additional renewable energy consumption and supporting global carbon mitigation goals. Full article

Modern cryptographic systems increasingly depend on certified hardware modules to guarantee trustworthy key management, tamper resistance, and secure execution across Internet of Things (IoT), embedded, and cloud infrastructures. Although numerous FIPS 140-certified platforms exist, prior studies typically evaluate these solutions in isolation, offering limited insight into their cross-domain suitability and practical deployment trade-offs. This work addresses this gap by proposing a unified, multi-criteria evaluation framework aligned with the FIPS 140 standard family (including both FIPS 140-2 and FIPS 140-3), replacing the earlier formulation that assumed an exclusive FIPS 140-3 evaluation model. The framework systematically compares secure elements (SEs), Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs), embedded Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) with dedicated security coprocessors, enterprise-grade Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), and cloud-based trusted execution environments. It integrates certification analysis, performance normalization, physical-security assessment, integration complexity, and total cost of ownership. Validation is performed using verified CMVP certification records and harmonized performance benchmarks derived from publicly available FIPS datasets. The results reveal pronounced architectural trade-offs: lightweight SEs offer cost-efficient protection for large-scale IoT deployments, while enterprise HSMs and cloud enclaves provide high throughput and Level 3 assurance at the expense of increased operational and integration complexity. Quantitative comparison further shows that secure elements reduce active power consumption by approximately 80–85% compared to TPM 2.0 modules (<20 mW vs. 100–150 mW) but typically require 2–3× higher firmware-integration effort due to middleware dependencies. Likewise, SE050-based architectures deliver roughly 5× higher cryptographic throughput than TPMs (∼500 ops/s vs. ∼100 ops/s), whereas enterprise HSMs outperform all embedded platforms by two orders of magnitude (>10 000 ops/s). Because the evaluated platforms span both FIPS 140-2 and FIPS 140-3 certifications, the comparative analysis interprets their security guarantees in terms of requirements shared across the FIPS 140 standard family, rather than attributing all properties to FIPS 140-3 alone. No single architecture emerges as universally optimal; rather, platform suitability depends on the desired balance between assurance level, scalability, performance, and deployment constraints. The findings offer actionable guidance for engineers and system architects selecting FIPS-validated hardware for secure and compliant digital infrastructures. Full article

Background: Digitalisation is transforming medical education, but its integration into ultrasound training remains limited. This study evaluates the needs of students and physicians regarding digitally supported ultrasound education. Materials and Methods: A multi-year cross-sectional study (2017–2022) employed two standardised questionnaires. The first assessed the perceived relevance of ultrasound in medical education, the desirability of compulsory teaching, and the integration of digital media and case-based learning. The second explored user-centred requirements for e-learning formats, including functionality, multimedia design, usability, interactivity, and financing, as well as current use of digital devices and reference materials. Data were collected using dichotomous and 7-point Likert scales (1 = high need/strong agreement, 7 = low need/weak agreement). Results: A total of 3479 responses were analysed (2821 students; 658 physicians). Both groups showed strong support for integrating ultrasound into curricula (1.3 ± 0.7) and mandatory education (1.4 ± 0.9), with students expressing significantly greater support (p < 0.001). There was broad agreement on the integration and development of digital media (1.7 ± 1.0), as well as the use of case studies (1.4 ± 0.8), with no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05). Case-based learning as a stand-alone format was less favoured (3.4 ± 1.9). In the user-centred needs analysis, both groups rated features like search functions (1.4 ± 0.8), usability (1.5 ± 0.9), and learning objective checks (2.7 ± 1.6) as important. High-quality media (1.5 ± 0.9) and pathology explanations (1.6 ± 1.1) were also highly valued. Students primarily relied on digital platforms, while physicians used a more varied mix of digital platforms, guidelines, and textbooks. Conclusions: The study highlights the need for more extensive, digitally supported ultrasound training, with a focus on functionality and usability. Standardisation through structured certification processes should be considered for future implementation. Full article

Symmetric cryptographic schemes such as RSA and ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm), used for digital signatures in protocols like TLS, DTLS, and secure messaging, are computationally intensive. This makes them unsuitable for constrained environments, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). This study introduces a blockchain-based framework that utilizes the Ethereum network to store and verify public keys associated with digital certificates. By replacing signature decryption with blockchain-based public key verification, the solution significantly reduces cryptographic overhead and latency in V2V messages. It supports various certificate formats, including Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)/Certificate Authority (CA) certificates such as X.509 and L-ECQV, as well as self-signed certificates. Applications include secure communication protocols like Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS)/Transport Layer Security (TLS), V2V mutual authentication in V2X messaging, and lightweight certificate management within IoT ecosystems. Empirical results show that the DTLS handshake with this scheme is reduced from 12 s to less than 6 s. Additionally, it enables vehicles and IoT devices to perform one-time signature verification with minimal latency in V2V messaging, demonstrating significant performance improvements for high-density deployments involving mutual authentication between IoT devices and V2V communication. Full article