The labor market in Romania to the year 2020

The paper presents the current situation of the Romanian labor market and trends for 2020 and the evolution of employment on regions and activity fields in 2010 in comparison to 2009. The most important areas where labour demand will increase are: sales, outsourcing, engineering, IT, finance, banking, environment protection, insurance, medicine and pharmacy, accounting. Other areas that will absorb more employees in the following five years are: hospitality industry, trade, constructions, energy field, marketing and public relations. The educational and training system will need to be reformed in order to train qualified staff for these fields

MANTRA: Improving Knowledge of Maternal Health, Neonatal Health, and Geohazards in Women in Rural Nepal Using a Mobile Serious Game

Serious games, conveying educational knowledge rather than merely entertainment, are a rapidly expanding research domain for cutting-edge educational technology. Digital interventions like serious games are great opportunities to overcome challenges in low-and-middle-income countries that limit access to health information, such as social barriers like low-literacy and gender. MANTRA: Increasing maternal and child health resilience before, during and after disasters using mobile technology in Nepal takes on these challenges with a novel digital health intervention; a serious mobile game aimed at vulnerable low-literacy female audiences in rural Nepal. The serious game teaches 28 learning objectives of danger signs in geohazards, maternal, and neonatal health to improve knowledge and self-assessment of common conditions and risks to inform healthcare-seeking behavior. Evaluations consisted of recruiting 35 end users to participate in a pre-test assessment, playing the game, post-test assessment, and focus groups to elicit qualitative feedback. Assessments analyzed knowledge gain in two ways; by learning objective with McNemar tests for each learning objective, and by participant scores with paired t-tests of overall scores and by module. Results of assessments of knowledge gain by learning objective (McNemar tests) indicate participants had sufficient prior knowledge to correctly interpret and respond to 26% of pictograms (coded AA), which is a desirable result although without the possibility of improvement through the intervention. The geohazard module had greatest impact as 16% of responses showed knowledge gain (coded BA). The two most successful learning objectives showing statistically significant positive change were evidence of rockfalls and small cracks in the ground (p = < 0.05). Assessment of knowledge gain by participant scores (paired t-tests) showed the 35 participants averaged a 7.7 point improvement (p < 0.001) in the assessment (28 learning objectives). Average change in knowledge of subdivided module scores (each module normalized to 100 points for comparison) was greatest in the geohazard module (9.5 points, p < 0.001), then maternal health (7.4 points, p = 0.0067), and neonatal health (6.0 points, p = 0.013). This evaluation demonstrated that carefully designed digital health interventions with pictograms co-authored by experts and users can teach complex health and geohazard situations. Significant knowledge gain was demonstrated for several learning objectives while those with non-significant or negative change will be re-designed to effectively convey information

Engaging pictograms! A methodology for graphic design in enhancing player engagement as applied to the design of a serious game for nepalese women with low literacy

In the graphic design of serious games, player engagement is an important consideration. We propose a new approach towards aiding the graphic designer to consider the major factors relevant to player engagement. This article describes a method for creating effective graphical content for serious games that takes into account the impact of complex pictograms on player engagement and on the learning process. We show how we applied our method to the design of a serious game for mobile phones aimed at Nepalese women in rural areas with low literacy skills. Initial results from case study suggest that our method helps designers to improve the design and the logic behind their use of imagery to the extent where the need to use text in the game’s user interface was removed

Romania’s Competitive Advantages on the Global Outsourcing Market

The paper applies a conceptual approach combined with analyses of statistics and secondary material and presents advantages and risks of outsourcing, the most important competitive advantages of Asian countries and Romania’s position on the global outsourcing market. The conclusions of the research highlight the strategies that should be used in Romania for sustaining and improving the competitive advantages. Strategies proposed are linked to higher investments in education, infrastructure, a better use of tax incentives and a national strategy for attracting investors

An analysis of the cultural tourism development in Romania

The article aims to identify the premises and records of the cultural tourism development in Romania. The steady international efforts for supporting cultural tourism are perceived at national and local level. The article highlights the steps taken for the recognition of the Romanian cultural tourism by the specialized public institutions and by private companies. Also, a global assessment is achieved of the offers for practising and developing cultural tourism in our country

The Assessment of Hotel Services in Poiana Brasov Resort

The choice of a holiday destination is determined by the features of the existing accommodation offer. The quality of hotel services provided influence the attracted customer segment, the satisfaction degree of consumption, the loyalty degree for the accommodation unit and destination, and also the economic-financial performance of the company. This article analyzes the opinions of tourists staying in Poiana Braşov resort regarding their consumption experience in one of the most representative hotels of the resort. The results obtained show customers’ expectations, satisfaction degree after consumption and future ways for adapting and improving hotel services

MANTRA: development and localization of a mobile educational health game targeting low literacy players in low and middle income countries

BACKGROUND: Mobile technology is increasingly important for delivering public health interventions to remote populations. This research study developed, piloted, and assessed a serious game for mobile devices that teaches geohazard, maternal, and neonatal health messages. This unique mHealth intervention aimed at low-literacy audiences in low resource settings is part of the Maternal and Neonatal Technologies in Rural Areas (MANTRA) project: Increasing maternal and child health resilience before, during, and after disasters using mobile technology in Nepal. METHODS: The serious game was developed through a co-creation process between London and Kathmandu based researchers by email and video-calling, and face-to-face with local stakeholders in Nepal. The process identified core needs, developed appropriate pictograms and mechanics, and tailored the pilot serious game to the local cultural context. Evaluations and feedback from end users took place in rural villages and suburban Kathmandu in Province Three. Field evaluation sessions used mixed methods. Researchers observed game play and held focus group discussions to elicit qualitative feedback and understand engagement, motivation, and usability, and conducted a paired pre- and post-game knowledge assessment. RESULTS: The MANTRA serious game is contextualized to rural Nepal. The game teaches 28 learning objectives in three modules: maternal health, neonatal health, and geohazards, through picture matching with immediate audio and visual feedback. User feedback from focus groups demonstrated high engagement, motivation, and usability of the game. CONCLUSIONS: This MANTRA study is a unique mHealth intervention of a serious game to teach core health and geohazards messages to low-literacy audiences in rural Nepal. Although the mobile game is tailored for this specific context, the developmental process and insights could be transferable to the development of other games-based interventions and contextualized for any part of the world. Successfully targeting this low-literacy and illiterate audience makes the MANTRA development process the first of its kind and a novel research endeavor with potential for widespread impact and adoption following further game development. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This project was approved by the University College London Ethics Committee in London, United Kingdom [10547/001], and the Nepal Health Research Council in Kathmandu, Nepal [Reg. No. 105/2017]. All participants provided informed written consent