Achievements and Future Trends of E-Government Service – Implications from the SARS Outbreak

Rapid advances in technology and the advent of the Internet have redefined public expectation of the government and its services. With the great support from Hong Kong and Singapore government, e-government system has achieved temporary success by offering some everyday services through virtual Internet. During last year’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, e-governments in Hong Kong and Singapore ensured the proper running of government services despite of massive physical restrictions caused by SARS outbreak. E-government started to show its value through continuous development in the past decade. The idea of “virtual government” implementation had been proved in some extent. In the meantime, SARS outbreak introduced new challenges to e-government in dealing with abrupt events. The paper will present the new trends and dynamics in e-government development enlightened by feedbacks from fighting with SARS outbreak. The paper will also provide assessment for those functional specifications raised under the SARS outbreak

Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative Asia: Final Evaluation

The DSN Initiative was launched in 2007 under the new strategy of the Rockefeller Foundation. The initiative intends:[1] To improve human resources for disease surveillance in developing countries, thus bolstering national capacity to monitor, report, and respond to outbreaks;[2] To support regional networks to promote collaboration in disease surveillance and response across countries; and[3] To build bridges between regional and global monitoring effortsThe purpose of the DSN evaluation in the Mekong region was twofold:[1]To inform the work and strategy of the Foundation, its grantees, and the broader field of disease surveillance, based on the experience of DSN investments in the Mekong region. More specifically, the evaluation will inform future directions and strategies for current areas of DSN Initiative work, particularly in Asia, and will highlight potential new areas of work and strategy; and[2] To provide accountability to the Rockefeller Foundation's board, staff, and stakeholders for the DSN funds spent in the Mekong region

The impact of Sars in Hong Kong: implications for the hotel industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

Throughout the years, crises of different nature affected the hotel industry. Disease outbreaks are an example of these type of events that have a potential devastating impact due their complexity.In 2003, the SARS outbreak affected several locations in the world and had tremendous consequences for the tourism and hotel industry, especially as hotels did not have adequate strategies in place to mitigate the impact.With the surge of the coronavirus pandemic, whose impact is noticeably more serious than that of SARS, the hotel industry is suffering even more. Past studies focused on different health crises situations and their impact in the hotel industry, but none has targeted pandemics. It is thus fundamental that hotels learn from previous situations and understand which is sues to address when designing crises management strategies.This study aims to answer the following research questions: First, in order to manage the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in the hotel industry, what can hoteliers learn from the impact of SARS and strategies used to overcome it by hotels in Hong Kong?; second,what can these past lessons teach hoteliers in order to be better prepared for future similar situations?.To answer these questions, this study was built on the impact of the SARS outbreak in the hotel industry in Hong Kong by examining the relationship between key performance indicators,together with an analysis of different studies covering the consequences and strategies used by hotels in this area. Our results uncover a considerable impact in the hotel industry.The main strategies used to overcome the consequences of this crisis focused on staff management,guaranteeing health safety,ensuring the standards of service,securing hotels’ image and reputation, ensuring efficient external communication,exploiting lower occupancy levels,increasing demand,and managing the decrease in revenue through cost control measures and potential new revenue streams. It is recommended that hotels address these points but build on the impact of coronavirus in order to be prepared for a future similar situation

A literature review of trust and reputation management in communicable disease public health

Executive Summary: A literature review of trust and reputation management by and for public health organisations involved in communicable disease control was conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing. The Institute is a joint research initiative of the University of Stirling and the Open University in the UK. The review examined the international English-language literature published during the period 2005-2010, drawn from a range of communication sub-disciplines. A glossary of the sub-disciplines is provided in the appendix. The evidence base was found to be in an emergent phase and is therefore somewhat limited, although largely consistent. Elements of good practice identified included the need for long-term and proactive planning of trust and reputation management; strong media relations skills; proactive relationship building with key stakeholders; integration with technical disease prevention and control functions; and enhanced commitment to transparency and two-way dialogues. A focus on crisis communication, mass (undifferentiated) communication and communication to support technical functions was apparent in the literature. A limited understanding of the role and nature of risk communication; the benefits of adopting a strategic, rather than reactive approach to trust and reputation management and the potential benefits of full integration with immediate and long-term public health goals was also apparent. Recommendations for future research and development of good practice are evaluations specifically focused on the impact of public health activities on trust and reputation; adopting a strategic approach to trust and reputation planning which coordinates the full range of communication functions and objectives; plus organisational capacity building in communication functions such as risk communication, environmental scanning and mass media relations

세계보건기구(WHO)의 팬데믹 정책 어젠다 설정 및 의사결정 비교분석: 천연두, 사스, 코로나19

학위논문(석사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 국제대학원 국제학과(국제협력전공), 2023. 2. Sheen Seong-ho.This thesis is a qualitative comparative case study analysing the policy agenda-setting and decision-making processes of the World Health Organisation (hereafter WHO) across the smallpox, SARS, and COVID-19 health crisis. To understand the influences endogenous and exogenous factors have on WHO policies and choices, the research used The Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice and The Multiple Streams Framework. These findings were coupled with reform initiatives to determine what factors contributed to or hindered the performance of the WHO-led programmes. Findings from the three case studies show that Member States' refusal to comply with legally binding WHO regulations was the recurring exogenous problem that resulted in the failure of numerous WHO programmes. This is a recurring pattern across health crises since Member States are not directly penalised for non-compliance. The reason for non-compliance was divergent WHO and Member State interests, and the decision to forego collective security to pursue national interests was motivated by socioeconomic and political factors. Successful disease eradication was achieved when national interests converged and were supported by reformed programme policies.본 논문은 천연두, 사스, COVID-19 보건 위기에 걸친 세계보건기구(이하 WHO)의 정책 의제 설정 및 의사 결정 과정을 분석하는 질적 비교 사례 연구입니다. 이 연구는 내생적 요인과 외생적 요인이 WHO의 정책과 선택에 미치는 영향을 이해하기 위해 The Garbage Can Model of Organization Choice와 The Multiple Streams Framework를 사용했습니다. 이러한 발견은 WHO가 주도하는 프로그램의 성과에 기여하거나 저해하는 요인을 결정하기 위해 개혁 이니셔티브와 결합되었습니다. 세 가지 사례 연구의 결과는 회원국들이 법적 구속력이 있는 WHO 규정을 준수하지 않는 것이 수많은 WHO 프로그램의 실패를 초래한 반복적인 외생적 문제였음을 보여줍니다. 이것은 회원국들이 규정을 준수하지 않은 것에 대해 직접적인 처벌을 받지 않기 때문에 건강 위기 전반에 걸쳐 반복되는 패턴입니다. 미준수의 이유는 WHO와 회원국의 이해관계가 달랐고, 국익을 추구하기 위해 집단 안보를 포기하기로 한 결정은 사회경제적, 정치적 요인에 의해 동기 부여되었습니다. 성공적인 질병 퇴치는 국익이 수렴되고 개혁된 프로그램 정책에 의해 지원될 때 달성되었습니다.Abstract 1 Acronyms and Abbreviations 2 Chapter 1: Introduction 5 Genesis and organisational structure of WHO 8 Governance Structure and Modus Operandi of WHO 15 WHOs Process of Policy Agenda-Setting 18 WHOs Process of Decision-Making 21 Factors Affecting Policy Agenda-Setting and Decision-Making 25 Chapter 2: Literature Review 30 Applicable Theoretical Frameworks 32 Garbage Can Model of Organisation Choice 32 The Multiple Streams Framework 35 Inherent Limitations 39 Methodology 41 Chapter 3: Case (1) Smallpox 45 Problem stream 45 Policy stream 50 Politics stream 57 Successes and failures of smallpox 58 Chapter 4: Case (2) SARS 61 Problem stream 61 Policy stream 69 Politics stream 78 Successes and failures of SARS 81 Chapter 5: Case (3) COVID-19 84 Problem stream 84 Policy stream 94 Politics stream 98 Successes and failures of COVID-19 100 Chapter 6: Conclusion 103 Bibliography 107 국문 초록 120 Acknowledgements 121석

PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH IN POST-COVID-19 ERA

Transmission of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has now rapidly spread around the world, which has alarming implications for individuals and communities, in particular for public mental health. Significant progress has been made in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, but the psychological crisis caused by the epidemic is still not over and may continue to exist. The public mental health in the post-COVID-19 era should not be ignored. This article provides early warning for the public\u27s mental health in the post-COVID-19 era by listing the characteristics and duration of the public mental health crisis following the SARS outbreak. In addition, based on the current situation, specific methods and measures are proposed in order to provide effective reference for the prevention and control of psychological crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic

Effects of COVID-19 on China and the World Economy: Birth Pains of the Post-Digital Ecosystem

Especially with the emergence of the digital economy in the last two decades, unprecedented changes in technology have come to the fore. Technology-induced unemployment has spread all over the world because developments in digitalization and automation reduced the need for human in all business lines. Digital economy has also shown its effects as changes in the lifestyles. Therefore, it called new ecosocial system. However, beyond the new ecosocial system, humanity awaits a new system as post-digital ecosystem. Most probably this transition would occur in an agonizing way. In the post-digital ecosystem, production methods are changing radically, and thus, due to the recent advancements in artificial intelligence technology, machines increasingly take over the jobs of humans. The steady upward trend in unemployment has made economic inequality a chronic problem in the society. The pandemic has the role of a catalyst that accelerates the emergence of the destructive effects of digital economy and augments these effects. After the pandemic, the post-digital ecosystem will rise from the ruins of the collapsing capitalist system. The purpose of this article is to attract attention to the future economic problems within the context of the pandemic

Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health in the Age of Bioterrorism, 2004

Examines ten key indicators to evaluate state preparedness to respond to bioterrorist attacks and other public health emergencies. Evaluates the federal government's role and performance, and offers recommendations for improving readiness

Tracing the Pace of COVID-19 research : topic modeling and evolution

COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly around the world. With the growing attention on the deadly pandemic, discussions and research on COVID-19 are rapidly increasing to exchange latest findings with the hope to accelerate the pace of finding a cure. As a branch of information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) has greatly expedited the development of human society. In this paper, we investigate and visualize the on-going advancements of early scientific research on COVID-19 from the perspective of AI. By adopting the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model, this paper allocates the research articles into 50 key research topics pertinent to COVID-19 according to their abstracts. We present an overview of early studies of the COVID-19 crisis at different scales including referencing/citation behavior, topic variation and their inner interactions. We also identify innovative papers that are regarded as the cornerstones in the development of COVID-19 research. The results unveil the focus of scientific research, thereby giving deep insights into how the academic society contributes to combating the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Jing Ren and Feng Xia" is provided in this record*

Viral Economies

The article examines the Covid-19 pandemic by investigating the ways in which viruses are mapped out through the biosciences and recognized as threats in informational systems. Two examples are analyzed that, although seemingly unrelated, intersect the assemblages of biological and communicational networks. The first one concerns the speed at which a third of the world's population was quarantined. The second one involves the readiness of the material-technical infrastructure to support, and the political planning to transfer, a multitude of social and labour activities onto digital platforms. The adjective ‘viral’ highlights the metonymic ways in which digital media locate the different economies of gene formation, circulation and communication of subjects, transport of goods and political decision-making, and adapt them in favour of the technologic of the network. And what is suggested is to view the advent of Covid-19 within the cultural logic of new media in order to understand the horizon of an oncoming modernity