ЦИФРОВАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА И РАЗВИТИЕ СЕЛЬСКИХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ СЕРБИИ)

<p>Entrepreneurship has gained importance in the field of research due to its ability to dynamize the economy. Knowing how technological expertise and access to financing influence business performance will enable micro-entrepreneurs to make decisions about technological training strategies within their company. Therefore, the aim of this investigation is to analyse and identify the influence between the Technological Training of Human Resources and awareness on the use of ICTs in business management on an ICT development level and access to finance, by micro-entrepreneurs of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. The methodology is quantitative and transversal, with data collection taking place between 2016-2017 and the informants being the owners or partners of micro businesses located in the municipality of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Obtaining from a population of 24100 economic units according to the National Statistical Directory of Economic Units of INEGI, establishing a sample of 379 companies with a confidence level of 95% and 5% sample error, via simple random sampling. The share corresponds to 21.11% of the total sample, and it is a representative sample as entrepreneurs have low participation due to the insecurity in the region. A model based on quantitative indicators which have an influence on business performance of Mexican micro-entrepreneurs is proposed. Nine indicators are taken into consideration; three from the Business Performance variable: 1) Customer Retention, 2) Asset yield, 3) Return on equity, and five from the Technological Expertise of Micro-Enterprises: 4) Technological Preparation of Human Resources, 5) ICT access, 6) awareness of the use of ICTs, 7) Use of ICT in the administration of the company, 8) Level of ICT development, and one from access to financing 9) Financing for technological preparation of the company. Concluding that while micro-entrepreneurs are aware of the importance of ICTs in their businesses, Celaya's micro-enterprises have a low level of technological expertise.</p>

The aim of the study. The aim of the study is a statistical analysis of the accessibility and the use of information and communication technologies for the population and households based on the developed integrated indices in the regional aspect.Fundamental international documents refer to the increasing role of information in all spheres of society, and indicate that the number of the poorest households with, for example, a mobile phone is higher than that with the access to clean drinking water.Thus, it can be noted that the level of accessibility and use of information and communication technologies is a priority for the development of both individual countries and the world community as a whole.Materials and methods. Methods of grouping and multidimensional classification, analysis of variation, normalizing, construction of multidimensional averages and correlation analysis, as well as tabular and graphical methods of visual representation of the results of the study were used as statistical tools for the study. Microsoft Excel was used to process the primary information.Results. Comparison of currently used indicators has revealed the need to develop and build integrated indices in four main areas of ICT research: infrastructure (physical and information), ICT accessibility (physical and price affordability), the use of ICT (by the population and households, enterprises and organizations, in the public sector), knowledge and skills (education, digital skills). In this study, the analysis was carried out according to the characteristics of the accessibility and the use of ICT for the population and households. The results of the study at the federal district level led to the conclusion that, despite the existence of a unified policy in the field of ICT development and information society at the federal level, there are significant differences in the management of this process and the level of implementation of system development measures for ICT in individual federal districts and regions. The main result of the study is the classification of regions by levels of accessibility and use of ICT. The analysis revealed a significant direct relationship between the components of ICT accessibility and its use. The ratings based on the calculated multidimensional averages allowed us to reveal the leader and lagging regions of the Russian Federation in terms of the development of ICT and information society.Conclusion. According to the results of the statistical research positions of regions of the Russian Federation on the accessibility levels and the use of information and communication technologies were determined, as well as a direct relationship between the indices of accessibility and the use of ICT was revealed as a whole in the Russian Federation, and in individual federal districts.

This paper reports on the indoor and outdoor air quality in informal urban and rural settlements in Kenya. The study is motivated by the need to improve consciousness and to understand the harmful health effects of air quality to vulnerable people, especially in poor communities. Ng’ando urban informal settlement and Leshau Pondo rural village in Kenya are selected as representative poor neighborhoods where unclean energy sources are used indoor for cooking, lighting and heating. Filter based sampling for gravimetrical, elemental composition and black carbon (BC) analysis of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) is performed. findings from Ng’ando and Leshau Pondo showed levels exceeding the limit suggested by the world health organization (WHO), with rare exceptions. Significantly higher levels of PM2.5 and black carbon are observed in indoors than outdoor samples, with a differences in the orders of magnitudes and up to 1000 µg/m3 for PM2.5 in rural settlements. The elemental composition reveals the presence of potentially toxic elements, in addition to characterization, emission sources were also identified. Levels of Pb exceeding the WHO limit are found in the majority of samples collected in the urban locations near major roads with heavy traffic. Our results demonstrate that most of the households live in deplorable air quality conditions for more than 12 h a day and women and children are more affected. Air quality condition is much worse in rural settlements where wood and kerosene are the only available fuels for their energy needs.

[ES] Este objeto del estudio son las condiciones socioeconómicas para el uso de las TIC en Perú que son analizadas con el objetivo de explorar el potencial uso de los e-observatorios democráticos en este país. Para ello se ha seguido el método cualitativo exploratorio basado en el análisis de información secundaria proporcionada por diversas instituciones, así como de la observación del contenido de algunos observatorios web existentes en la actualidad, entre septiembre de 2010 y mayo de 2011. Los resultados indican que, si bien en la actualidad en acceso a las TIC en Perú es limitado, parece que existen las condiciones necesarias para que en un futuro estas plataformas puedan proporcionar información pública de diversas temáticas a un mayor número de ciudadanos siempre que se potencien medidas de impulso de las TIC, especialmente en las zonas rurales.

This study develops and validates a three-level model of digital learning conditions that reflects the progression from ICT accessibility (“access”) to pedagogical use (“use”) and their influence on student learning outcomes (“impact”). Drawing on secondary analysis of the PISA 2022 ICT Familiarity Questionnaire and applying complex-sample regression together with the logic of structural equation modelling (SEM), the study examines how ICT resources, usage practices, and digital feedback (ICTFEED) interact and how they are associated with Lithuanian fifteen-year-olds’ achievement in mathematics, reading, and science. The three-level model includes: (1) ICT infrastructure—access to technology at home and at school and students’ perceived quality of technological resources; (2) ICT learning practices—use of digital tools in subject lessons, inquiry-based activities, and school-related work outside the classroom; and (3) digital feedback and its relationship with academic achievement. Results show that neither home nor school ICT availability predicts students’ experience of receiving digital feedback. The only significant infrastructure-level predictor is the perceived quality of school ICT resources (ICTQUAL). Digital feedback is most strongly predicted by ICT use in inquiry-based learning and by ICT-supported schoolwork outside the classroom, whereas ICT use in subject lessons has only a minimal effect. Across all domains, digital feedback is negatively associated with student achievement, even when ICT access, resource quality, learning-use variables, and digital leisure are controlled for. This pattern suggests that ICTFEED functions primarily as a compensatory mechanism, being more frequently used with lower-achieving students rather than serving as a direct enhancer of academic performance. The proposed three-level model offers a structured framework for interpreting students’ digital learning experiences and highlights the key components of school ICT ecosystems that shape digital assessment practices and learning outcomes.

Digital economy is one the most crucial phenomena of the 21st century affecting social and economic development indicators such as income levels and equality. This study aims to investigate how digital economy impacts urban-rural income levels and equality in China. This study employs a fixed effects model to estimate this relationship from 2011 to 2020 in the whole urban and rural areas as well as in the western, central, and eastern regions of China. The results show a positive relationship between the digital economy and living standards in urban and rural regions. In addition, the results reveal that the digital economy narrows the rural-urban gap since this effect is more considerable in rural areas than the urban ones. More specifically, the findings indicate that the digital economy improves equality among various rural areas, due to its higher impact on the western rural area which is the least-developed region in China. Therefore, digitalization improves both social and economic development indicators like living standards and equality. The findings of this research suggest policymakers develop digital structures, especially in rural and less-developed areas particularly the western region, to not only improve equality in these specific areas but also increase economic activities throughout the region.

Objective - The digital economy is believed to be one of Malaysia's largest sectors as online businesses are expected to exhibit an increase of 10% in the near future. This factor eventually prompted subsequent studies on online business models. This study aims to discover the types of online business capabilities that could enhance the firm competitiveness of online business in the Malaysian fashion industry. Methodology/Technique - A questionnaire was developed and distributed by hand to a number of Malaysian online business owners in the fashion industry. The data was analysed using SPSS version 26 and SmartPLS 3.0. Finding - The findings indicated that digital marketing capability and CRM capability were significantly correlated to firm competitiveness, which in turn, also showed a significant and positive relationship with online business performance. Nevertheless, IT capability was an insignificant factor of firm competitiveness. Novelty - This study concluded the importance of CRM capability and digital marketing capability for online business owners to enhance firm competitiveness. The results also implied the importance of firm competitiveness for online businesses to perform in Malaysian fashion industry. Type of Paper - Empirical. Keywords: Online Business Performance, Online Business Capabilities, Digital Marketing Capability, CRM Capability, IT Capability, Firm Competitiveness, Fashion Industry JEL Classification: L20, L25 URI: http://gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/GJBSSR/vol9.2_2.html DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/gjbssr.2021.9.2(2) Pages 114 – 127

During the past two decades Croatia has faced numerous challenges: gaining independence, war conflicts, political and economic transition and the process of European Union (EU) accession. Despite rich and diversified landscapes and cultural heritage, it is still faced with problems limiting the economic development. So the purpose of this chapter is to point out the pragmatic reasons of Croatian delay in the process of adjustment to European business and agricultural policy standards.Based on statistic and literature analysis, the study determines specific characteristics of Croatian regions, rural areas, rural population and agriculture. Agriculture after independence shows increase in utilized area, but the production is still below pre-war level and results with unsteady and modest value. Harmonization with Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) standards is slow; big steps have been made in establishing new institutions in agriculture and preparing adequate legislative framework, so there are no significant formal differences between Croatian and European agricultural policy. However, European agricultural policy models cause problems. There is a daily debate about a low degree of self-sufficiency of the domestic production, low competitiveness and uncontrolled import of farm products. Farmers still often expect for the government to organize the production and guarantee the purchase prices as were in former, socialistic system.Due to these reasons, a fear was expressed by farmers that they could not be able to meet the strict criteria for the European financing. Despite this, a large part of farmers see the possibilities for their existence in rural areas, mostly through development of non-agricultural activities.

This paper presents the results of the analysis of the data from a national survey of the Chilean educational ICT infrastructure and its use in schools implemented by the Centre for Technology and Education of the Chilean Ministry of Education in 2004. Results show that the context of ICT use in Chilean schools can be characterized as relatively good, insofar as there are no first-order barriers for implementing ICT pedagogy. In this context, students' ICT use can be categorized based on four factors: communication, productivity, recreation, and communication with teachers. On the other hand, teachers' ICT use can be categorized using three factors: communication, teaching, and technical. Based on these factors and considering the availability and use of ICT in schools, the question remains how to make this time most effective for improving students' learning. Additionally, results show that students, on their own, spend a considerable amount of time developing activities described as communication. The question that arises from this finding is how to take advantage of these activities in order to meet teaching and learning aims. Regarding teachers, results open possibilities for redesigning professional development courses by taking advantage of what they already do with ICT.

A study was conducted to find out the level of access and usage of ICTs among farmers of Meghalaya state of India. A total of 120 farmers were randomly selected for the study during November 2013 to May 2014. The results showed that majority of the farmers owned mobile phones as well as television and radio. The most frequently used ICT was mobile phone. Mobile phones were widely used by the farmers for social communication, contacting middle men for the marketing of produce and contacting experts on real time basis for getting agricultural advisories. Farmers also reported that mobile phones proved to be useful during health emergencies. Information services on availability of inputs, quality of inputs, and pest and disease management of crops were also used by the farmers through ICTs. Major problems in the use of ICTs by the farmers were lack of confidence in operating ICTs, erratic power supply, low network connectivity and lack of awareness of the benefits of ICTs.

Digital transformation has become a major driver of global socio-economic change while simultaneously generating new forms of social inequality within the digital economy. These inequalities extend beyond unequal access to digital technologies and encompass disparities in digital skills, usage, and the capacity of individuals and social groups to benefit from digital economic opportunities. This article aims to analyze social inequality in the digital economy through a multidimensional approach focusing on access, usage, digital skills, and social inclusion. The study employs a systematic literature review of reputable international academic journals addressing digital inequality and social inclusion. The findings indicate that digital inequality is closely intertwined with socioeconomic factors such as income, education, gender, and geographical location, thereby reinforcing social exclusion among marginalized groups. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that policies centered solely on infrastructure provision are insufficient to address structural digital inequalities. This study concludes that reducing social inequality in the digital economy requires holistic, context-sensitive, and justice-oriented policy interventions to foster sustainable digital inclusion.

The agriculture and food production sectors are of great importance for the economy of every country, especially for the member states of the European Union (EU). The European Union started implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1962. In order to solve the problems and adapt the agricultural policy to the needs of each member country, in the course of years, there have been numerous Common Agricultural Policy reforms. The new EU's agricultural policy emphasizes the multi functionality of agriculture and integrates the environmental component in the form of the environmental management that encourages the sustainable "green agriculture" and the implementation of environmental measures. On the other hand, the process of integration to the EU require from potential member states to pursue the necessary political, institutional, legal, administrative, social and economic reforms required to comply with EU values, progressively aligning with EU rules, standards, policies and practices. For the Republic of Serbia, this issue is extremely important as it should gradually harmonize its agricultural and rural policy with the CAP, in the viewpoint of a potential EU member state. IPARD, pre-accession EU assistance for rural development, focuses specifically on rural areas and agro food sectors of countries in the process of joining the European Union (EU). The new IPARD III programmes for the 2021-27 period further promotes a gradual alignment with the rules of the EU’s common agricultural policy. However, the adoption and implementation of the Republic of Serbia acquis with the EU in the field of agricultural and rural policy will require significant financial and technical investments in the future.

Rural settlement is a living space of various people in rural area and it is the carrier of rural population spatial distribution. Taking Pengshui County of Wuling Mountainous Area in China as an empirical research object, the spatial pattern of rural settlement in Pengshui County was studied by using GIS spatial analysis method, including spatial clustering features, topographic spatial differentiation features, along the river system and along the road spatial differentiation characteristics. The results show that firstly, the distribution of rural settlements in Pengshui County is relatively scattered, and it is still in the early stage of aggregation. And secondly, for 92.81% of the rural settlements, the distance between rural settlements is < 100 m in Pengshui County, showing that rural settlements in the local space are relatively concentrated. Thirdly, the distribution of rural settlements in Pengshui County is largely affected by topography. There are significant differences in the number and area of the settlement patches on different elevation and slope. The patch plots are normal distribution with elevation and slope, showing a obvious spatial agglomeration. Fourthly, in Pengshui County, rural settlements have a obvious trend to distribute along the road and river. With the increase of distance from the water system and water, the number of settlements decreased rapidly, showing an exponentially decreases. And comparing with settlement along road, settlement along river has a faster descending speed.

ObjectivesThe study assesses households’ catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) by income group, urban versus rural area, and influencing factors in the Northern midlands and mountainous areas of Vietnam.Design/settingA cross-sectional study with...

With the rapid development of urbanization, the overall consumption level of rural residents has been improved accordingly in China, and the consumption structure has gradually become perfect. However, in the process of urbanization, it is necessary to handle some practical problems in order to realize the sustainable development of consumption in rural areas. Under the concept of sustainable consumption, urbanization has become a new engine that drives rural residents’ consumption in China. The digital economy has injected new vitality to expand domestic demand as well. Therefore, whether consumption upgrading in rural areas is affected by urbanization and the digital economy is a topic worth studying. To discuss the relationship between urbanization, the digital economy and consumption levels in rural areas, this paper uses an intermediary effect model to test how urbanization promotes the consumption upgrading in rural regions with the digital economy as the intermediary variable and explores the threshold characteristics of urbanization. The results are as follows: urbanization significantly promotes the rural residents’ consumption upgrading, and there is regional heterogeneity. It improves the consumption optimization in the eastern and central regions, but not in the western region. The digital economy intermediates the relationship between urbanization and consumption optimization. Moreover, urbanization has a double threshold, and with the increase of the threshold value, the marginal effect of urbanization on rural residents’ consumption upgrading also increases gradually. China should seize the opportunities of the development of urbanization and the digital economy, constantly raise farmer income, and narrow the income gap between urban and rural area, so as to promote the sustainable development of consumption in rural areas.