Vocational education and training : a review of World Bank investment

In the past ten years the most striking achievement of vocational education and training (VET) has been the development of national training systems from nonformal training centres and post secondary technical education institutions. This has happened largely in middle income countries. Investments in low income countries, especially those in Sub Saharan Africa, have been less successful. In addition implementation weakness and stagnating economies have made it difficult to set up any type of training. Investment in national training programs has just begun in these poorer countries, and success is uncertain because of continuing economic constraints. These patterns suggest that the level of economic development and the consequent size and dynamism of industrial employment have a powerful influence on the outcome of investments in vocational education and training. In small low income countries, recent Bank experience suggests that resources be concentrated in nonformal training centres, training quality, development of management capacity in training institutions, and aggressive marketing of training opportunities and services.Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Curriculum&Instruction,ICT Policy and Strategies

Technology-based Practical Blockchain System Audit Maturity Model

Information system auditing can reveal the quality of such systems, and standard audit items are crucial elements of system and audit quality. Blockchain technology is currently being applied to various areas including the financial, manufacturing, healthcare, distribution, and public sectors, and an increasing number of systems that apply such technologies are also being developed.The current audit model is insufficient for application in the field, and the auditing of systems applying new technologies, such as blockchain, has not been given sufficient attention. Furthermore, it is difficult to evaluate the relative levels of audited systems using audit results. Existing studies have only examined the auditing of systems that apply blockchain. Although the Korea Association of Information Systems Audit has suggested a checklist for systems applying blockchain, it has yet to be adopted. To address this problem, 50 existing audit result reports and technical data were collected, from which sixteen factors of four audit quality properties consisting of blockchain system, technology compliance, software quality, and document were derived. Furthermore, an audit maturity model was presented after evaluating the priorities of the 16 derived factors. The results of the evaluation of the priorities of audit items indicated that auditors give a higher importance to technology-based than document-based audits of information systems. This study contributes to the literature by deriving field-oriented audit items including blockchain technology, thus enabling practical audits to be conducted in a short time. Further, this study enables the maturity of systems to be compared based on audit results by presenting audit maturity

Korea and the global software industry

노트 : Final Report to the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agenc

한국 산양삼 산업 정책 변화 분석

학위논문 (석사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 국제농업기술대학원 국제농업기술학과, 2021. 2. 박미선.Global interest in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is increasing considering its contribution to improving and diversifying forest livelihoods. In the Republic of Korea (ROK), wild simulated ginseng (WSG), an NTFP, has received attention in terms of promoting the livelihood of mountain villages and providing healthy food. The government's policy for supporting the production of WSG has for decades been established and implemented according to the National Forest Plan. This paper aims to scrutinise the changes in policies for improving the cultivation and trade of WSG in the ROK. Using a policy arrangement approach, four dimensions are analysed: 1) discourses on WSG, 2)rules for cultivating WSG, 3) participation and cooperation of actors, and 4) actors' resources or power. Chronological changes in the discourse and regulations related to NTFPs and WSG, the relationships between multiple actors, the resources and power for designing and implementing policies on WSG quality management are indicated. The results show that the policy for the WSG industry in the ROK has been established and implemented through the close interconnection of four dimensions. Policies are led by the government with a command-control approach in the quality management system, with a focus on regulation reinforcement and insufficient resources to conduct the policy. This study provides a comprehensive view of the dynamic procedure of policy implementation with practical example cases of the WSG industry in the ROK. It provides evidence of the dominant power of government in the development of the WSG industry.비목재임산물은 임가 소득 증대와 소득 수단 다양화에 기여한다. 비목재임산물인 산양삼은 고소득 작물이면서 건강한 먹거리로서 한국사회에서 주목받고 있다. 정부는 산양삼 산업 지원 정책을 수립하여 시행하고 있다. 본 연구는 국내 산양삼 산업 정책 변화를 분석하였다. 정책분석방법인 Policy Arrangement 기법을 활용하여 정책의 네 가지 차원을 분석하였다; 1)산양삼 관련 정책 담론, 2)산양삼 생산 및 판매에 관한 규칙, 3)이해관계자의 참여와 협력, 4)이해관계자가 보유한 자원이나 권력. 본 연구에서는 비목재임산물 및 산양삼 관련 담론과 규칙의 변화, 이해관계자 간 협력 및 갈등 관계, 산양삼 품질관리 규정 시행 과정에서의 자원 분포와 권력 관계를 증명하였다. 산양삼 산업 정책의 네 가지 차원을 분석한 결과, 임가 소득 증대를 강조하는 산양삼 정책 담론에 따라 산양삼 품질관리에 관한 새로운 규정이 수립되고, 규정에 따라 제한적인 재배활동과 지역 발전을 위한 투자 활동을 확인하였다. 산양삼 품질관리 제도는 정부 주도의 규제정책 중심으로 실행되면서 산양삼 생산 및 판매 활동에 대한 경제적 인센티브나 컨설팅과 같은 지원 정책은 활발히 추진되지 않았다. 따라서 본 연구는 담론, 규칙, 이해관계자, 자원 및 권력의 상호 작용 분석을 통해 정부 주도 규제 중심 산양삼 산업 정책의 변화를 증명함으로써 산양삼 산업 정책 형성과 실행의 역동적인 절차에 대한 종합적인 이해를 돕는다. 이는 비목재임산물 산업화 정책 형성에 기여할 수 있을 것이다.Abstract i Contents ⅲ List of Tables ⅳ List of Figures ⅴ List of Abbreviations ⅵ 1. Introduction 1 2. Literature Review 4 3. Quality Management 8 4. Wild Simulated Ginseng in the Republic of Korea 12 4.1. Status of Wild Simulated Ginseng 12 4.2. Korean Research related to Wild Simulated Ginseng 18 5. Research Design 19 6. Results 24 6.1. Discourses 24 6.2. Rules of the Game 31 6.3. Actors 40 6.4. Resources 46 7. Discussion 54 8. Conclusion 62 References 65 Abstract in Korean 86Maste

Professionalization of Social Work in Malaysia Through Legislation: A Literature Discussion on Concepts, Issues and Challenges

Social work as a profession may have been well established in many countries; nevertheless internationally its professional status and professionalization process differs from country to country. Social work in Malaysia has come to a new chapter when the government endorsed a proposal to enact a Social Workers Bill as part of its commitment to enhance the quality of social workers and social work practice in the country. One significant aspect of the draft bill is the registration and licensing of social workers. Drawing examples from a few countries that have registration requirement, this paper attempts to highlight some issues and challenges that may arise when the registration and licensing begin after the bill has been enacted. The legislation can provide a legal framework to put in place proper structures for social work education and development. It however requires all stakeholders to work closely to ensure that eventually the vulnerable populations that the profession is serving can also benefit from the professionalization process

Proceedings of the 1st international workshop on software process education, training and professionalism (SPETP 2015)

These Proceedings contain the papers accepted for publication and presentation at the first 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism (SPETP 2015) held in conjunction with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2015), Gothenburg, Sweden, during June 15-17, 2015. During the 14th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2014) held in Vilnius, Lithuania, at a post conference dinner, a group of key individuals from education and industry started to discuss the challenges faced for software process education, training and professionalism, especially with the background of the new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. Further discussions held post conference with key players in the relevant professional and personal certification fields led to a consensus that it is time for the industry to rise to the new challenges and set out in a manifesto a common vision for educators and trainers together with a set of recommendations to address the challenges faced. It was therefore agreed co-located the 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination. This workshop focused on the new challenges for and best practices in software process education, training and professionalism. The foundation for learning of software process should be part of a university or college education however software process is often treated as ‘add one’ module to the core curriculum. In a professional context, whilst there have been a number of initiatives focused on the certification related to the software process professional these have had little success for numerous reasons. Cooperation in education between industry, academia and professional bodies is paramount, together with the recognition of how the education world is changing and how education is resourced, delivered (with online and open learning) and taken up. Over the next 10 years on-line learning is projected to grow fifteen fold, accounting for 30% of all education provision, according to the recent report to the European Commission on New modes of learning and teaching in higher education. It is a great pleasure to see the varied contributions to this 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism and we hope that our joint dedication, passion and innovation will lead to success for the profession through the publication of the manifesto as a key outcome from the workshop. On behalf of the SPETP 2015 conference Organizing Committee, we would like to thank all participants. Firstly all the authors, whose quality work is the essence of the conference, and the members of the Program Committee, who helped us with their expertise and diligence in reviewing all of the submissions. As we all know, organizing a conference requires the effort of many individuals. We wish to thank also all the members of our Organizing Committee, whose work and commitment were invaluable

The electronics industry in central and eastern Europe: an emerging production location in the alignment of networks perspective

This paper analyses the emergence of central Europe as a new location for the production of electronics. The main factors that drive integration in the region into global production networks are also analysed, as well as prospects for upgrading the industry by using network alignment perspectives. Foreign investment is the primary vehicle of integration of CEE electronics firms into global production networks, and Hungary has moved furthest along this path, positioning itself as a major low-cost supply base in the region. Czech and Polish electronics industries are connected, in smaller, but increasing, degrees to international electronics production networks. Networks that are being built in CEE in electronics are usually confined to subsidiaries with still limited local subcontracting; they are export-oriented and are expanding. Local subsidiaries have mastered production capabilities and several subsidiaries in Hungary are European mandate suppliers in their respective lines of business. EU demand is the main pull factor, which gives cohesion to the actions of MNCs as well as to the action of local and national governments in CEE. The layer of local firms is still very weak with very limited capabilities in core technologies. This is the key weakness which prevents further alignment of networks in CEE electronics. Local governments play an important role in working jointly with foreign investors in establishing industrial parks and new capacities