Usability evaluation of a mobile health application by older adults in Thailand

As the world’s population is aging, research on older adults and their use of IT is becoming more important. Usability issues were found one of the main problems hindering older adults from using IT, including mobile health application. This study aims to understand older adults’ behavior and to identify barriers and enablers for using a mobile health application, called Raksa. Two theories, namely Usability and Accessibility were adopted as a conceptual framework. A think-aloud protocol, a system usability scale (SUS), and in-depth interviews were utilized. ISO 9241-11 guide was used for identifying usability performance level of Raksa application based on think-aloud approach. Task incompletion rate, error rate and time on task were calculated to assess effectiveness and efficiency. Interviews were conducted for validating reason of use and comment on the application design, using Nielsen’s 5 quality components namely, Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Error and Satisfaction. The results showed that the task to find a medical specialist for a consultation was deemed the most difficult by the participants as it has the lowest task completed rates and the longest times on task. The task to create account and register had the most errors. The average satisfaction (SUS score) was 31.50, indicating poor system usability. Demographic data showed males were more successful in task completion. Educational level were related to task performance, and older adults with more experienced in information technology or social media achieved higher performance rate. This research identified usability problems and barriers that may affect usability in older adults, including visual design, poor interaction and navigation, user interface difficulty to understanding. Recommendations for design modifications were offered

Importance of Political Elements to Attract FDI for ASEAN and Korean Economy

This paper aims to analyze the importance of good governance for FDI inflows using panel data across the ASEAN+3 （Korea, China, Japan） countries recorded between 1996–2018. The Worldwide Governance Indicators （WGI） are used to investigate the impact of good governance on FDI inflows. Empirical findings reveal that Political Stability, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption, and Voice and Accountability have a statistically significant impact on the inflow of FDI in the ASEAN+3 Countries. Moreover, GDP growth and Labor productivity continue to exert their positive influence. However, Regulatory Quality and Government Effectiveness, though equally important, are insignificant to attract FDI inflows. The key finding is that good governance has a significant impact on inward FDI in the ASEAN+3 countriesdepartmental bulletin pape

Technology-Enabled Innovations to Combat Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study between Thailand and Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disrupting people’s lives for the past two years. Countries worldwide tried to control the number of infections with new and enhanced information technology with varying results. This case study compares the information technologies used to control and combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand and Taiwan. This study aims to identify the contributing factors that make information technology become more effective in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. This data was gathered retrospectively from December 2019 to August 2021 from 46 subjects in both countries. The results have shown that the category of technology released was inconsistent with entering the stage of transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, policy factors such as the rigor of policy, credibility of government or related agencies, including social factors such as the public engagement, communication technology, and the diffusion of innovation, play a key role in enabling the technology to be more efficient for the control of COVID-19 pandemic

Health-related misinformation sharing on social media in Thailand: A case study during the Covid-19 pandemic

Misinformation affects people because it can convince them to believe in how to respond to uncertain situations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of misinformation or fake news were distributed on social media, in Thailand. This research aimed to study attributes and causes of Health-Related Misinformation Sharing in Thailand on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dataset used in this study was collected from the Anti-Fake News Center, the Thai government factchecking website certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). In-depth interviews based on qualitative research technique were also conducted to identify the causes of the transmission of false health news on Thai social media by applying the rumors transmission concept during times of crisis and the theory of Uses and Gratifications. The findings showed five main themes of fake news: conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, fake advertisements, inaccurate information, and misleading information. These elements may establish a conceptual framework for finding the root cause of misinformation spreads during crises. Factors that affect how psychological information was presented and shared are anxiety, insecurity, and uncertainty during the crisis. However, belief is not the only justification for sharing this information because some social media users have shared unverified and no evidence information for personal purposes. The Uses and Gratifications theories are found relevant. This study is intended to broaden the reach of disseminating misleading information as much as possible to lessen the effect of detrimental health fake news on Internet news consumers

Do financial crises discipline future credit growth?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test whether financial crises themselves provide some degree of ex post discipline. In other words, is there learning from the mistakes associated with crises? The authors test this hypothesis on credit growth, a frequent contributor to banking crises. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses statistical tests (comparison of means) on a sample of 72 banking crises, the onset of which occurred between 1980 and 2008. Tests for significance of the difference are conducted using Kolmogorov–Smirnov equality in distribution tests. Findings: The results show that real credit growth fell substantially (relative to average) by about 8 per cent points from pre- to post-crisis periods, and that average banking regulation and supervision strengthens after a crisis. Originality/value: This paper provides empirical support for the proposition that while financial markets may fail to give sufficient warning signals before a financial crisis, they may discipline governments to undertake reforms in the aftermath of a crisis