E-Government, Information and Communications Technology Support and Paperless Environment in Nigerian Public Universities: Issues and Challenges

The move toward a paperless environment has become the driving force behind sustainable development and e-government usage in many public sector institutions. It is equally at the heart of the government campaign to make service delivery in public institutions cost-effective, seamless, and efficient. The universities are supposed to be at the front-line of this campaign due to their operations which involve the heavy usage of papers at huge costs. Thus, making it important for university management to provide ICT support in order to promote paperless exchange of information and presentations. It is, however, understood recently, that there are issues which surround the low usage of ICT among university management and ultimately paperless environment. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to conceptually discuss the mode of university operations and how paperless environment can be attained. The paper highlights the cyclical order of document generation, document management and document sharing as the process in which a paperless environment can take place within both the academic and the administrative settings in the university. The paper further discusses the challenges hindering the attainment of paperless environment among which are infrastructural gap, inadequate ICT support and attitudinal challenge. It is recommended that for the smooth operation of a paperless environment, the government must bridge the infrastructure gap especially power as well as train and retrain staff on the path ICT usage

DeWitt Wallace Library Biennial Report 2011-2013

Summary of library activities for 2011-201

The Paperless Letter of Credit and Related Documents of Title

A normative analysis of paperless letters of credit that will categorize the various transactions and delineate the boundaries and relative standing of the competing sets of rules is now appropriate. The analysis will suggest when an official rule is needed and what its character should be

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Adjustments to Information Technology (IT) in Trade Facilitation: The South Korean Experience

This report examines how IT was incorporated into cargo clearance procedures in Korea, and what its implications are for traders, SMEs in particular. After a short introduction in Section I, Section II examines the definition of SMEs in Korea, and SMEs’ role in Korean trade. In Section III, we describe the history of the adoption of IT in Korean cargo clearance. The introduction of IT to cargo clearance procedures in Korea can be roughly divided into two stages. The first stage includes the implementation of: Preparation for Customs Clearance Automation (1980s-1992), EDI Customs Clearance Automation Six Year Plan (1992-1997), Establishment of Paperless Customs Clearance System (1997-2001); and the Plan for Establishment of Infrastructure for Information Technology and Knowledge Management (2001-2003). The main accomplishment of the first stage was a Value Added Network / Electronic Data Interchange (VAN/EDI) which linked KCS and traders in 1996. The system was subsequently expanded so that traders could access the system through the Internet.. The second stage begun in 2003, and has nearly reached completion in 2008. The goal of the second stage is to build an e-trade system where IT is used at every stage of trade, encompassing not only government-business (traders) transactions such as cargo clearance, but all trade-related transactions including business-business transactions as well. This second stage involves the establishment of an e-trade network and “uTradeHub,” which ties not only government with traders, but other trade-related organizations and private agencies such as shippers, insurers, banks and financial institutions. These projects were carried out with considerations for SMEs in mind. Section IV describes the results of the adoption of IT into cargo clearance. We find that IT has significantly lowered costs and sped up the cargo clearance process. Section V includes some case examples of individual firms which use the e-trade network for cargo clearance. Lastly, section VI tries to draw some lessons for other countries which seek to adopt IT into cargo clearance. These lessons include: 1) Adopting IT to cargo clearance must be a part of a comprehensive customs procedure reform. 2) Legal framework must accompany the adoption of IT and e-trade 3) Single network and single standard may be more useful than variety 4) Keep It Simple 5) The e-trade system and paperless trade system is meant to be used by the widest number of people. 6) Trust must be built between SMEs and government agencies. 7) Usefulness of e-trade will increase exponentially when more countries join.SME, Information Technology, Trade Facilitation, Korea

Trade Facilitation in Regional Trade Agreements: Recent Trends in Asia and the Pacific

The coverage of trade facilitation is found to have become very extensive, with the details of provisions in some agreements matching that in the draft WTO agreement on trade facilitation. Trade facilitation provisions and principles are increasingly seen to apply not only to Customs procedures but more generally, as reflected in the number of recent agreements featuring separate Trade Facilitation and/or Transparency chapters (or equivalent). Other trade facilitation measures that seem to be increasingly common include those on Automation/Use of ICT, Risk Management, Advance Ruling and Single Window. The ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and its detailed commitment to implement a Trade Facilitation Work Programme stands out as it provides a concrete and specific way forward to ensure that progress is made towards actual implementation of the many trade facilitation measures mentioned in it.trade facilitation, regional trade agreements, RTA, bilateral, free trade agreements, FTA, free trade areas, customs, WTO, Asia, Pacific, paperless, single window, ICT

Regional integration in South Asia : what role for trade facilitation ?

The trade performance of countries in South Asia over the past two decades has been poor relative to other regions. Exports from South Asia have doubled over the past 20 years to approximately USD 100 billion. In contrast, East Asia's exports grew ten times over the same period. The low level of intraregional trade has contributed to weak export performance in South Asia. The empirical analysis in this paper demonstrates gains to trade in the region from reform and capacity building in trade facilitation at the regional level. When considering intraregional trade, if countries in South Asia raise capacity halfway to East Asia's average, trade is estimated to rise by USD 2.6 billion. This is approximately 60 percent of the total intraregional trade in South Asia. Countries in the region also have a stake in the success of efforts to promote capacity building outside its borders. If South Asia and the rest of the world were to raise their levels of trade facilitation halfway to the East Asian average, the gains to the region would be estimated at USD 36 billion. Out of those gains, about 87 percent of the total would be generated from South Asia's own efforts (leaving the rest of the world unchanged). In summary, we find that the South Asian region's expansion of trade can be substantially advanced with programs of concrete action to address barriers to trade facilitation to advance regional goals.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Transport and Trade Logistics,Common Carriers Industry,Trade Policy,Free Trade

Exploring the effect of pre-service teachers’ digital competence on paperless behavior

Pre-service teachers must implement paperless behavior in line with institutional policies, technological developments, and environmentally friendly issues. Pre-service teacher candidates are expected to have digital competence in skills, abilities, and knowledge to successfully use computers, their related applications, and software in teaching and educational practice. It is predicted to affect their paperless behavior because digital activities reduce paper use. This study aimed to analyze the influence of prospective teachers’ digital competencies on their paperless behavior. The research is based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) using a quantitative approach and involved 372 pre-service teachers at the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES). Sampling was done by purposive sampling with specific criteria. The results of the study show that digital competence has an influence on paperless behavior by 43.1%. These findings add insight into the role of digital competence in an environmentally friendly learning process. This research suggests increasing students’ digital competence so that students’ paperless behavior rises in line with environmental issues

EXTENT OF UTILIZATION OF PAPERLESS TECHNOLOGY: BASIS FOR A PROPOSED INTERVENTION PROGRAM

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of utilization of paperless technology by the teachers in Bula District. The respondents of this study were the 204 teachers in the five different schools in Bula District namely: Bula Central Elementary School, Jose Divinagracia Elementary School, Dadiangas East Elementary School, Bula National School of Fisheries and Baluan National High School. A descriptive evaluative research design was utilized in this study. Based on the results of this study, it was revealed that the teachers have perceived that the utilization of paperless technology has been highly useful in grade management and test bank management; however, they found it moderately useful in user management. Nevertheless, the utilization of paperless technology by the teachers was highly recommended to utilized by the teachers. Finally, this study shows educators how paperless technology can reduce teacher workload, save money, and protect the environment while improving the teaching and learning process.  Article visualizations

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges