Skills Gap in the Information Technology Sector in Kosovo

The main focus of this research project is to identify the extent to which companies in the IT sector in Kosovo are being affected by the skill gaps and the ways through which they are trying to bridge these skill gaps. While the IT industry in Kosovo shows great growth potential, the skill gap appears to be a prevailing problem that hinders this sector’s development. The study analyzes the implications of the skill gap for the growth of private companies and the sector in general; as well as the ways used by the sector to narrow the skill gap. To analyze both the demand and supply side of the gap, primary quantitative and qualitative data collected during the end of the year 2021 and the beginning of the year 2022 are collected from the IT companies, employees, education institutions, and training sectors. Analyzing data through different aspects allows for the study to reach conclusions and give recommendations that should serve all members of the IT industry, starting from enterprises as the main focus of this study, to education organizations, and finally, individuals working on or seeking to join this sector. From a broader perspective, this study contributes to the existing literature on the skill gap in different sectors in Kosovo and specifically in the IT sector

PM2.5/PM10 Ratios in Eight Economic Regions and Their Relationship with Meteorology in China

China is suffering severe ambient air pollution in recent decades and particulate matter (PM) has become the major pollutant, especially for PM2.5 and PM10, which have highly raised scholars and policy-makers’ attention in last few years. The existing research has focused on the characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10, respectively, or analyzed the correlation between the two pollutants, while the ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 has been taken less consideration. In this study, daily mean PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations in 31 provincial capitals from 2014 to 2016 were used to present the temporal variations and spatial distribution of PM2.5/PM10 ratios among eight economic regions. And then, statistical method and correlation analysis were adopted to investigate the relationship between the ratios and AQI, the rate of change on the ratios, and the impact of meteorological parameters on the ratios. The results indicated that PM2.5/PM10 ratios showed an increasing trend from northwest to southeast due to different economic development and industrial types. The highest values were observed in winter among all regions, and the ratios on weekends were higher than that of on weekdays in most of the regions. Besides, domestic heating in northern China had a significant contribution to the ratios. Moreover, ratios had less changes, and the rate of change was stable in summer. As for air quality, the higher the ratio, the larger the possibility of high AQI so that the air pollution will be more severe. In terms of meteorological factors, the results demonstrated that relative humidity, precipitation, and pressure were the most important factors and had significantly positive impacts, while sunshine duration, temperature, and wind speed had negative effects on the ratios. The findings could identify the pollution sources among PM10 and be helpful for making regulation locally to reduce emission which considers anthropogenic sources and meteorological diffusion simultaneously