Increasing Returns and the Diffusion of Linux in China

China's unique combination of institutions, industries, and markets has fostered the generation and use of Linux-related innovations. Analyzing increasing returns provides key insight into this proliferation

Disrupting disempowerment: feminism, co-optation, and the privatised governance of gender and development

Longstanding debates about the relationship between neoliberalism and feminism have been given new vigour by the somewhat surprising emergence of an 'unabashed feminism' espoused by elite women in political, economic, and cultural institutions of the global North. Women and girls are now highly visible subjects of global development governance, but also 'poster girls' for a variety of neoliberal reforms: Has feminism been coopted by neoliberalism? Reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of feminist accounts of neoliberal co-optation, this article suggests a path beyond the co-optation debate: Why does neoliberalism evince concern for gender inequality as a form of inequality if it is broadly concerned with individual subjects? Empirically, the article applies this conceptual debate to Bottom of the Pyramid development initiatives, focused on the Girl Effect Accelerator. It argues that neoliberalism appropriates dimensions of feminism insofar as it represents gender inequality as a site of accumulation and mechanism for legitimising the increased power accorded to the private sector in development governance

COVID-19 and Islamic Banking Services: Digitalisation as a Post-Crisis Solution (Case of Morocco)

Movement restrictions and the resulting social distancing, as measures to flatten the curve of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), highlighted 'electronic business models' (e-BM) as well as the importance of digital transformation of banking services. This article aims to empirically explore the new business opportunities offered by the digitalization of Islamic banking services as a solution to revitalize post-COVID-19 activity and overcome the difficulties of the period. The article presents the results of an opinion survey conducted among Moroccan citizens to collect and analyze their perceptions and expectations about the digital transformation of participatory banking services. This is the first exploratory study in Morocco focused on customer’s expectations regarding the digitalization of participatory banking services. The results of the survey highlighted a significant interest from customers and prospects for digital transformation of the services offered by the actors of this new banking industry, in particular through mobile banking application. However, there is still a part that prefers traditional on-site banking services .Furthermore, digital transformation also presents some risks such as cyber security and issues of non-compliance with banking regulations relating to opening a bank account remotely. To manage these risks and reshape their BM, it is recommended that participatory banking institutions set up an integrated digital strategy, improve their internal processes and equip themselves with a robust, interactive and locked information system

Chapter 5 The future of inclusive innovation

"Innovation offers potential: to cure diseases, to better connect people, and to make the way we live and work more efficient and enjoyable. At the same time, innovation can fuel inequality, decimate livelihoods, and harm mental health. This book contends that inclusive innovation – innovation motivated by environmental and social aims – is able to uplift the benefits of innovation while reducing its harms. The book provides accessible engagement with inclusive innovation happening at the grassroots level through to policy arenas, with a focus on the South-East Asian region. Focusing on fundamental questions underpinning innovation, in terms of how, what and where, it argues that inclusive innovation has social processes and low-tech solutions as essential means of driving innovation, and that environmental concerns must be considered alongside societal aims. The book's understanding of inclusive innovation posits that marginalized or underrepresented innovators are empowered to include themselves by solving a problem that they are experiencing. The first in-depth exploration of efforts underway to assuage inequality from policy, private sector, and grassroots perspectives, this book will interest researchers in the areas of innovation studies, political economy, and development studies.

mFish Alpha Pilot: Building a Roadmap for Effective Mobile Technology to Sustain Fisheries and Improve Fisher Livelihoods.

In June 2014 at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, DC, United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced the ambitious goal of ending overfishing by 2020. To support that goal, the Secretary's Office of Global Partnerships launched mFish, a public-private partnership to harness the power of mobile technology to improve fisher livelihoods and increase the sustainability of fisheries around the world. The US Department of State provided a grant to 50in10 to create a pilot of mFish that would allow for the identification of behaviors and incentives that might drive more fishers to adopt novel technology. In May 2015 50in10 and Future of Fish designed a pilot to evaluate how to improve adoption of a new mobile technology platform aimed at improving fisheries data capture and fisher livelihoods. Full report

ChatGPT: Vision and Challenges

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have changed the nature of scientific inquiry in recent years. Of these, the development of virtual assistants has accelerated greatly in the past few years, with ChatGPT becoming a prominent AI language model. In this study, we examine the foundations, vision, research challenges of ChatGPT. This article investigates into the background and development of the technology behind it, as well as its popular applications. Moreover, we discuss the advantages of bringing everything together through ChatGPT and Internet of Things (IoT). Further, we speculate on the future of ChatGPT by considering various possibilities for study and development, such as energy-efficiency, cybersecurity, enhancing its applicability to additional technologies (Robotics and Computer Vision), strengthening human-AI communications, and bridging the technological gap. Finally, we discuss the important ethics and current trends of ChatGPT

ОЦЕНКА И АНАЛИЗ НА ПАЗАРНИЯ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ЗА ДИГИТАЛНИ ФИНАНСОВИ УСЛУГИ В СУБСАХАРНА АФРИКА

Африка е континентът, в който концентрацията на беднитете е най-високата в света. Това поражда дисбаланс между континентите и различните държави, водейки до висока миграция и големи диспропорции в икономическата активност на хората. Един от основните проблеми в развиващите се страни е достъпът до финансови услуги. Тази особеност поражда възможност за Fintech компаниите да навлязат на Африканския пазар с иновативните си услуги и алтернативен модел, основани на анализ на кредитния риск на база алтернативни данни. Тропическа Африка е регион с огромен пазарен потенциал за дигитални финансови услуги, който очаква да бъде разработен. Тропическа Африка с най-високия отосителен дял на младите и бързо нарастващата урбанизация, с един от най-ниските БВП на глава от населението, е твърде рисковано място за стандартно банкиране, но е отлична възможност за Fintechs стартъпи да оптимизират финансовия бизнес чрез съкращаване разходите за придобиване и времето за пускане на пазара, предоставяйки масови дигитални финансови услуги, базирани на оценка на кредитния риск на база поведенчески данни за клиентите. В настоящата статия разглеждаме сегмента на индивидите без достъп до формално банкиране в Тропическа Африка, основните причини и пречки за постигане на по-висок дял на финансово включване и разглежда предимствата на Fintech подхода - като средство за реализиране на устойчив бизнес в региона