Managing IT Projects in Public Companies: A Case Study

As part of its public sector modernization effort, a North African government has put a lot of effort and allocated significant budgets since 1997 to modernize one of its main public sector companies. Consequently, this company, that mainly offers postal services, initiated many IT-based projects to computerize all paper-based ongoing services offered through its branches and to present new products to customers. This company was aiming to improve service quality and to diversify the range of its services. However, some of these IT-based projects inevitably faced problems. Some projects were either not completed successfully, cancelled, over-budget or taking more time than scheduled. As a result, many employees and customers of this company were dissatisfied and complained about bad planning, slowness and significant disruptions in these projects, an event that affected adversely the quality of service. This study aims at determining the causes of these project disruptions, failures or delays. To achieve this aim, 30 experienced project developers and engineers working in that company’s IT department volunteered to respond to a detailed questionnaire specifically developed for this purpose. The questionnaire included questions about project vision clarity, time/cost management, project quality assurance, risk management and human resources management. Results show that the main reasons for disruptions, failure or delays in IT projects are lack of business plan and poor documentation during and after finishing projects, lack of clear quality assurance criteria, standards and reviews, and poor project risk management practices. Ramifications of such results in terms of improving IT project management practices in the public service sector are finally presented

A Novel Multicriteria Decision Making Model for Techno-Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is crucial for the survival of technology enterprises. Although the literature on techno-entrepreneurship is rich, it lacks a comprehensive and clearly structured techno-entrepreneurship management process to be followed by enterprises. It is also clear from the literature that the causal relationship between innovation, technology and entrepreneurship is complex and choosing among entrepreneurial alternatives is a multicriteria decision making problem with multiple, often conflicting, constraints. This study introduces the Integrated Techno-Entrepreneurship model that aims to help enterprises in pursuing business initiatives. The 4-stage model shows all relevant transformations of inputs from the idea generation stage until final viable product or service. Model content and face validation were done by seeking academic and industry entrepreneurship experts’ opinion respectively. Validation results showed high item-total correlations for all model concepts and a high Cronbach’s alpha value. It is concluded that the model is promising and potentially implementable in real life

A rapid method for assessing the RNA-binding potential of a protein

In recent years, evidence has emerged for the existence of many diverse types of RNA, which play roles in a wide range of biological processes in all kingdoms of life. These molecules generally do not, however, act in isolation, and identifying which proteins partner with RNA is a major challenge. Many methods, in vivo and in vitro, have been used to address this question, including combinatorial or high-throughput approaches, such as systematic evolution of ligands, cross-linking and immunoprecipitation and RNA immunoprecipitation combined with deep sequencing. However, most of these methods are not trivial to pursue and often require substantial optimization before results can be achieved. Here, we demonstrate a simple technique that allows one to screen proteins for RNA-binding properties in a gel-shift experiment and can be easily implemented in any laboratory. This assay should be a useful first-pass tool for assessing whether a protein has RNA- or DNA-binding properties, prior to committing resources to more complex procedure

Road users’ opinion about pedestrian safety in the emirate of Sharjah, UAE- survey results

This paper is to investigate the pedestrian safety in Sharjah (UAE), and suggest recommendations to improve safety in the emirate. A survey data was collected from 570 participants in December, 2016, and included the following informations: measure the awareness of drivers and pedestrians, determine the behavior of road users, take general views from the road users, and measure the level of users` satisfaction. The results showed that characteristics of road users including (gender, age group, nationality, social status, education level and the income) can affect their behavior at different levels and that may lead to pedestrian accidents. Also, most participants noticed that there are differences in the behavior of drivers and pedestrians based on their nationalities, and they indicated that pedestrian mistakes are main cause of this type of accidents. Moreover, the data showed that most drivers confirmed that they give more attention to pedestrians in mixed land used than other areas and they mentioned that “traffic signal + marked lines” is the clearest place for them to be attentive to pedestrians crossing the road. Overall, based on the results of this paper, there is an urgent need to re-evaluate the pedestrian facilities in the Emirate such as (Design, locations, and their availability) as well as focusing more on the education and the law enforcement

Child maltreatment and neglect in the United Arab Emirates and relationship with low self-esteem and symptoms of depression

Objectives: To our knowledge, this study is the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to investigate the prevalence of child maltreatment in relation to depressive symptoms and self-esteem.Study design: Exposure to physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect was evaluated in 518 adolescents (86% response rate) randomly selected from schools in Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure self-esteem and depressive symptoms by using multivariate logistic regression analyses.Results: The mean age of study participants was 14.3 years. Emotional abuse was the most frequent form of maltreatment (33.9%), physical abuse (12.6%) and neglect (12.1%) followed. Male sex was a positive predictor of physical abuse (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.18-3.77), whilst higher maternal level of education was protective (OR = 0.40; 95% CI 0.19-0.86). Daily screen time (OR = 2.77; 95% CI 1.17-6.56) and tobacco smoking (OR = 1.86; 95% CI 1.09-3.18) positively predicted emotional abuse. Emotionally maltreated and neglected participants were less likely to report high level of self-esteem and more likely to report symptoms of depression.Conclusions: Child maltreatment in the UAE is of a similar magnitude to what reported in other countries around the world and significantly associated with low self-esteem and depressive symptoms

Optical studies of as-deposited and annealed Cu₇GeS₅I thin films

Cu₇GeS₅I thin films were obtained by non-reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering onto silicate glass substrates. Optical transmission spectra of as-deposited and annealed Cu₇GeS₅I thin films were measured in the temperature interval 77–300 K. The temperature behaviour of Urbach absorption edge and dispersion of refractive index for as-deposited and annealed Cu₇GeS₅I thin films was analyzed. Influence of annealing on the optical parameters and disordering processes in Cu₇GeS₅I thin films was studied

Structural, electrical and optical investigations of Cu₆PS₅Br-based thin film deposited by HiTUS technique

Cu₆.₃₅P₁.₇₇S₄.₇₂Br₀.₁₅ thin film was obtained using the high target utilization sputtering onto c-cut sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction studies show the film to be amorphous with some crystalline inclusions. SEM investigations indicate formation of periodical “forest-like” quasi-two-dimensional pillared structure. Electrical conductivity of Cu₆.₃₅P₁.₇₇S₄.₇₂Br₀.₁₅ thin film was measured in the temperature interval 4.5…300 K, three regions with different activation energy were revealed. Optical constants were obtained using the technique of spectroscopic ellipsometry and used for calculation of optical absorption spectrum. Optical absorption edge has an exponential form, the Urbach energy shows the significant disordering in Cu₆.₃₅P₁.₇₇S₄.₇₂Br₀.₁₅ thin film

Pattern of seat belt use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Trinidad and Tobago, the law on the mandatory use of seat belts was passed in 1995, but this law is hardly enforced. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and predictors of seat belt use by motor vehicle drivers in the country.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A cross-sectional study of 959 motor vehicle drivers using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis included Pearson Chi square test and multinomial logistic regression analysis in order to determine the possible predictors of seat belt use by the drivers in Trinidad and Tobago. A majority of the drivers sometimes (51.8%) or always (31.6%) use a seat belt. About 16.7%, 29% and 54.2% of the drivers perceived that the other drivers use their seat belts more frequently, with the same frequency and less frequently respectively compared to themselves. The main reason for not using seat belt by the drivers was given as frequent stops (40.7%) and the main motivation to use seat belt by the drivers was given as stiffer penalties for non-compliance with the seat belt law (44.5%). The predictors of seat belt use were male driver, no formal or lower level of education, driving for less than 10 years, and the perception that the other drivers use seat belts with the same or higher frequency compared to the respondents.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Only a small proportion of the drivers in Trinidad and Tobago always use a seat belt when driving. There is the need to enforce the seat belt legislation in the country.</p