Education, mobility and rural business development

Purpose – In a period of rural economic change, knowledge and skills transfers and the generation of new economic opportunities are seen as essential for promoting rural development. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of the impact of educated in-migrants establishing new business activity in rural areas. Design/methodology/approach – The research employs qualitative interviews with rural business owners informed by an earlier postal survey of rural microbusinesses in the North East of England. The interview data are used to explore the implications of owners’ past education and work experience for the development of their businesses. The attitudes and networking behaviour of business owners are also explored in order to assess the extent to which social capital facilitates the exchange of valuable knowledge and opportunities between rural businesses. Findings – Data indicate that rural in-migrants, defined as having moved at least 30 miles as adults, arrive with significantly higher education qualifications than their local business-owning counterparts. It also indicates that those with higher levels of education are most likely to engage with networking groups and business advice providers. This leads to the conclusion that as well as bringing higher levels of human capital, the integration of in-migrants into local economies is indirectly increasing the potential levels of human and social capital across the rural economy. Originality/value – The research highlights important data concerning the levels of education among in-migrants and local business owners. It continues by developing theoretical explanations about the way that a business owner’s background can influence their business activity. This raises awareness of the diversity of skills and networks among rural business owners that are enhancing the stocks of human and social capital in the rural economy

Widening Cross-border Participation: Building ODL Communities Through Internationalisation at Open University Malaysia

With the new challenges of a global knowledge-based economy, it is essential to strengthen a nation’s workforce. A knowledgeable, productive and competent workforce is a pre-requisite for the elevation of the country’s human resources in order to meet the challenges of information and communication technology and knowledge explosions. Continuous upgrading through education and training guarantees the successful development of the workforce and the nation’s knowledge-based economy in a global environment. Flexibility and accessibility of technology-based learning simplifies cross-border education among countries. Learning has now become mobile and more accessible, at a reasonable cost. This paper reports how Open University Malaysia (OUM) employs open and distance learning (ODL) as an approach to provide and expand education, capacity building and human resource development opportunities through cross-border education. This paper has resulted in additional insight relating to the effectiveness of the ODL techniques used. It analyses OUM’s networking strategies and collaborative efforts from an international perspective. (Authors' abstract

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РИНКУ ОСВІТНІХ ПОСЛУГ І ПРОБЛЕМА ВЗАЄМОДІЇ ВНЗ З РОБОТОДАВЦЯМИ

The purpose of the article is to analyze the current processes that are taking place in the field of training for the national economy of Ukraine, and to develop ways to improve the effectiveness of interaction and interconnection of labor markets and educational services. The problem of social partnerships between higher education institutions and the real economy is investigated. This paper analyzes the foreign experience of networking universities with employers, and highlights the successes and challenges of this process. The content of the mechanism of interaction between customers and consumers in the educational services market is considered. It also offers suggestions on how to make the education market more up-to-date and adapted to the development of everything new in the Ukrainian labor market. The necessity of regulating the interaction of educational services and labor markets is substantiated. It is proved that only the interaction of professional educational institutions, employers and the state can ensure the effective functioning of the market of educational services, which provides the balance of demand and supply of qualified personnel necessary for the successful economic development of the country.The purpose of the article is to analyze the current processes that are taking place in the field of training for the national economy of Ukraine, and to develop ways to improve the effectiveness of interaction and interconnection of labor markets and educational services. The problem of social partnerships between higher education institutions and the real economy is investigated. This paper analyzes the foreign experience of networking universities with employers, and highlights the successes and challenges of this process. The content of the mechanism of interaction between customers and consumers in the educational services market is considered. It also offers suggestions on how to make the education market more up-to-date and adapted to the development of everything new in the Ukrainian labor market. The necessity of regulating the interaction of educational services and labor markets is substantiated. It is proved that only the interaction of professional educational institutions, employers and the state can ensure the effective functioning of the market of educational services, which provides the balance of demand and supply of qualified personnel necessary for the successful economic development of the country

Virtual University As a Horizon of Higher Education Modernization

The research aim is to analyze the ontological foundations of virtual education in an information society. Among the methods of research used are analysis, synthesis, abstraction, comparison, interpretation, systematization, classification, conceptualization, structural, functional and prognostic methods. The Virtual University is considered as a networking institution that creates unique opportunities for both spontaneous and purposeful manipulation of human development. It is argued that a virtual university must be built with new values in mind: openness, accessibility, democracy, non-discrimination for people with disabilities and other needs of the individual and society. It is argued that the formation of a new picture of the world, which assumes the responsibility of mankind to himself \herself and to nature, the increase of the value of human life, freedom of choice, is also the reason for the formation of new axiological markers that define the virtual university as an information society phenomenon. The research has fixed that the presence of a virtual knowledge environment, in which the learning process unfolds, gives rise to the need to develop a virtual culture, which is a special form of communication between the education subjects in the process of knowledge production and consumption. Virtual communication is defined as a subspecies of semantic communication, which involves the exchange of both information and knowledge. An information society based on the world information economy (knowledge economy) stimulates the development of a planetary information infrastructure that defines the educational trends of the 21st century. In the information society, economic activity is ensured by the information and communication environment, an integral part of which is education. Along with the virtual economy, the virtual financial system, etc., there are virtual educational phenomena, including a virtual university. Keywords: virtual university, educational space, global informatics, post-material values, innovatio

16 years of EESD. A review of the evolution of the EESD conference and its future challenges

Since the first Engineering Education in Sustainable Development (EESD) conference in 2002 in Delft, EESD has provided a platform for the exchange of concepts, policies, and strategies to enhance a sustainable education in engineering that train future engineering professionals with the appropriate competences to deal with sustainability challenges. During these 16 years (8 EESD conferences), engineering education has evolved and so has the EESD conference. This article aims to analyze the evolution of the EESD conferences and the future challenges of EESD through the characterization of all the papers (600) published and semi structured interviews to the coordinators of previous conferences. Authors from The Netherlands, Catalonia and Sweden were responsible for publishing the largest number of articles (46%) and they have played key roles in the collaboration networks among the ten countries, whose authors published the majority of JCLP’s articles. At the institutional level, the Universities TUDelft and UPC-Barcelona Tech were the universities with the largest number of articles (27%) and were central to the EESD’s collaborative networking processes. By investigating the co-occurrences of keywords, some topic clusters were identified. The categories that have most declined relevance during the EESD conferences are: Environmental Design, LCA and Management and policy; while Transdisciplinarity, Circular Economy, Ethics and philosophy have increased their relevance. The interviews to EESD conference organizers analysis shows that most argue that transdisciplinarity is crucial to improve EESD, that real EESD is not happening at the pace it should at universities; moreover, new topics and networking activities for conference organization are highlighted.Postprint (published version

Addressing the cyber safety challenge: from risk to resilience

Addressing the cyber safety challenge: from risk to resilience describes the cyber safety issues emerging from a range of technology trends, how different populations are using technologies and the risks they face, and how we can effectively respond to each group’s unique cyber safety needs. Written by the University of Western Sydney for Telstra Corporation Ltd, the report advocates for continuing to move cyber safety from a ‘risk and protection’ framework to one that focuses on building digital resilience, as well as fostering trust and confidence in the online environment. To do this we need to: Address the needs of populations often neglected by current policies and programs – including adults, seniors, parents, and small to medium enterprises Continue to build the digital literacy skills of all populations, because digital literacy strongly influences users’ ability to engage safely online – this is best achieved by a hands-on learning approach Keep risk in perspective – the risks and benefits of digital participation go hand in hand Broaden the focus from awareness-raising to long-term behaviour change. As digital technologies become further integrated into the everyday lives of Australians, users are potentially exposed to greater risks. However, the risks and benefits of digital participation go hand in hand. The challenge, therefore, is to support users to minimise the risks without limiting their digital participation and their capacity to derive the full benefits of connectivity. If Australians are to benefit as either consumers or providers of online services and products in the e-commerce environment, consumer safety and trust need to be improved. Cyber safety needs to be considered against a transforming backdrop of technology trends, products and practices. While the rise of social media has tended to dominate recent debate and developments in cyber safety, particularly in relation to young people, a range of other trends is also shaping how users engage online, the risks they potentially face in the new media landscape, and the strategies used to address them. These trends include the rise of user generated content and content sharing platforms; the uptake of mobile technologies and, in particular, the adoption of smartphones; cloud computing; platform integration and single sign-on mechanisms; and the rise of GPS and location based services

Higher education stimulating creative enterprise

This report summarises the research undertaken by the Business & Community School at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA), analysing ways that higher ediucation (HEIs) can support, and indeed stimulate, the creative economy. The research, in collaboration with the Arts University College Bournemouth (AUCB) and the University of Winchester, serves as a mere snapshot of the numerous ways that Universities engage with the diverse industries under the 'creative' nomenclature and of the very real and poistive ways that the higher education sector contributes to the growth of the creative economy in thhe UK

The Impact of Entrepreneurs\u27 Characteristics on the Performance of Venture Businesses

In South Korea, venture businesses play a key role in commercializing new technology and revitalizing the economy. The Korean government implements various policies and supporting programs directly. Evaluating the possibility of future growth and selecting good venture business is very important for the effectiveness and efficiency of government programs supporting venture businesses. There have been many studies aimed at finding the factors affecting the success of venture businesses, and entrepreneurs‟ characteristics are known as the major factor. In this study, the impact of entrepreneurs‟ characteristics on the performance of venture businesses is analyzed by using the survey data of 2,049 Korean venture businesses. Human capital and demographics, skill, and motivation of entrepreneurs are used as independent variables to measure the general and financial performance of venture businesses. The results of regression analysis show that education of entrepreneurs positively affects the size, innovativeness, and net sales of venture businesses. In contrast, entrepreneur‟s skills, such as entrepreneurial experience and working experience show a negative impact in general. Networking activity, however, shows a positive impact on the size and innovativeness of venture businesses. R&D activity shows positive impact only on the innovativeness, but significantly negative impact on the size and net sales of venture businesses, and external funding has a positive impact on all of indicators of the performance of venture businesses. These results suggest that we need to consider the several factors, such as education, networking, and external funding in the evaluation process, and promote networking and cooperation with others in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of programs

Hackathons: Why Co-Location?

This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant Number AH/J005142/1].In this position paper we outline and discuss co-location as a significant catalyst to knowledge exchange between participants for innovation at hackathon events. We draw on surveys and empirical evidence from participation in such events to conclude that the main incentives for participants are peer-to-peer learning and meaningful networking. We then consider why co-location provides an appropriate framework for these processes to occur, and emphasize the needs for future research in this area

A learning experience in the fields of economics and business: creation of student-managed inter-university virtual networks

With this article we shall describe the learning experience carried out by our students in the fields of Economics and Business at the Universities of Huelva and University of Seville within an active- and cooperative-learning framework involving creation of virtual networks between our students and others who were attending diverse universities in Spain and abroad, thus allowing us to strengthen interactions and information exchanges among students, also allowing them to apprehend on their own the characteristics of economic and business and entrepreneuring realities in which they are immersed and, very specially, the use of virtual communities in the Internet