The Cultural and Institutional Barrier of Knowledge Exchanges in the Development of Open Source Software

Open source software (OSS) gives developing countries inexpensive or free alternatives to proprietary software. It gives them the opportunity to develop software and software industry without starting from scratch. This chapter discusses the diffusion and development of OSS in Indonesia especially after the government took “Indonesia, Go Open Source” (IGOS) initiative. This initiative united government organizations, communities, R&D institutions, and universities. While the government's concern was to tackle piracy by replacing illegal software with OSS, the others sought to develop their own OSS. However, the openness of their software is only in terms of that they were developed using OSS development tools, while their mode of development remained closed, which was caused by cultural barrier and institutional incompatibility between government's regime of project administration and the governance of OSS development.

Cooperative Development: Sustainability Agricultural Planning Viewed Through Cooperative Equilibrium Management Theory in Togo, Africa

Cooperative economics looks at market failures as areas for development. The cooperative development process, however, requires member engagement or cohesion in the process according to the Cooperative Management Equilibrium Theory. This cohesion requires an awareness and understanding by the cooperative members of the market failure to develop the capacity to address the failure. This article looks at the effects of government agricultural programs on economic, environmental and social sustainability. The questions we ask is how does a focus on economic development push against social and environmental sustainability within the agricultural sector in Togo? Does member cohesion within a cooperative represent a form of Polanyian double movement through social and environmental cohesion? The current development models utilize what Sen refers to as an austere mode of development which forgoes social or environmental considering them luxuries. Does the focus of economic development build capacity only for economic performance within the Togo agricultural sector at the expense of social and environmental sustainability? Utilizing Deep Participatory Indicator Approach (DPIB) approach this paper examines the economic, environmental and social indicators within two prefectures in the Plateaux Region of Togo. Indicators were separated to show the differences between individual or cooperative producers. As cooperatives it was anticipated that a greater emphasis on social and environmental sustainability would be created through cohesive social action. This study found that the emphasis on economic development included in government programs built development capacity within cooperatives emphasizing their cooperative market cohesion.

An Evaluation of Mono-product Economies & examining the sine qua non for diversification - In West Asian Region

The discovery of oil in West Asia has contributed to its integration into the international capitalist system. The mono-commodity, oil, has brought tremendous wealth to West Asia. But a rising population and an ever growing demonstration effect, has caused imports to grow exorbitantly, with oil prices expected to fall, depicted explicitly by recent oil price drop, also over time as interest in climate change increases after RIO-20, and more options of renewable energy sources coming on line like Gas, Solar Energy, wind power and nuclear energy etc. the rentier mode of development followed by west Asian economies is clearly unsustainable. Further the oil producing nations are so over-specialized that they do not possess the necessary flexibility to shift their resources from one sector to another, or to develop substitution if and when the need arises. Moreover, the ability of oil producing countries to respond to deliberate or accidental economic measures taken abroad is limited. This paper theoretically analyses the standing of the West Asian mono product economies, their specific traits, benefits and disbenefit of current condition and looks into the case for diversification of West Asian Region. As diversification is a sine qua non in long Run for the sustainability of the West Asian economies.

Effort Estimation in Agile Software Development: A Systematic Mapping Study

Context: Estimating effort has always been considered an important element at the start of each software development project. The challenge of estimating the effort of software development lies in its precision. With the emergence of agile methodologies, methods for effort estimation (EE) had to adapt to this new development path. In this article, we are conducting a systematic mapping study on effort estimation in the context of agile software development. Objective: we want to identify the estimation approaches and techniques used in the context of agile development to better understand the specifics and trends relating to this mode of development. Method: we conducted a systematic mapping study by adopting the guideline explained in[1] [2]. A systematic review of the literature [3] has already been carried out for publications between 2001 and 2013. This work is an extension of this previous study. We queried 5 electronic databases. Conclusion: We retrieved 11350 paper from five electronic databases. A total of 108 papers is selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Based on the results, there is a general increase over the years of studies concerning effort estimation in agile software development.

Antibiofouling Activity of Graphene Materials and Graphene-Based Antimicrobial Coatings

Microbial adhesion and biofilm formation is a common, nondesirable phenomenon at any living or nonliving material surface in contact with microbial species. Despite the enormous efforts made so far, the protection of material surfaces against microbial adhesion and biofilm formation remains a significant challenge. Deposition of antimicrobial coatings is one approach to mitigate the problem. Examples of such are those based on heparin, cationic polymers, antimicrobial peptides, drug-delivering systems, and other coatings, each one with its advantages and shortcomings. The increasing microbial resistance to the conventional antimicrobial treatments leads to an increasing necessity for new antimicrobial agents, among which is a variety of carbon nanomaterials. The current review paper presents the last 5 years’ progress in the development of graphene antimicrobial materials and graphene-based antimicrobial coatings that are among the most studied. Brief information about the significance of the biofouling, as well as the general mode of development and composition of microbial biofilms, are included. Preparation, antibacterial activity, and bactericidal mechanisms of new graphene materials, deposition techniques, characterization, and parameters influencing the biological activity of graphene-based coatings are focused upon. It is expected that this review will raise some ideas for perfecting the composition, structure, antimicrobial activity, and deposition techniques of graphene materials and coatings in order to provide better antimicrobial protection of medical devices.

Does the Opening of High-Speed Railway Lines Reduce the Carbon Intensity of China’s Resource-Based Cities?

The carbon intensity of China’s resource-based cities (RBCs) is much higher than the national average due to their relatively intensive mode of development. Low carbon transformation of RBCs is an important way to achieve the goal of reaching the carbon emissions peak in 2030. Based on the panel data from 116 RBCs in China from 2003 to 2018, this study takes the opening of high-speed railway (HSR) lines as a quasi-experiment, using a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to empirically evaluate the impact of an HSR line on reducing the carbon intensity of RBCs. The results show that the opening of an HSR line can reduce the carbon intensity of RBCs, and this was still true after considering the possibility of problems with endogenous selection bias and after applying the relevant robustness tests. The opening of an HSR line is found to have a significant reducing effect on the carbon intensity of different types of RBC, and the decline in the carbon intensity of coal-based cities is found to be the greatest. Promoting migration of RBCs with HSR lines is found to be an effective intermediary way of reducing their carbon intensity.

Austerity Programs in Argentina and the Structural Continuity of Extractivism: A Feminist Perspective

The government that took office in Argentina in December 2015 shaped a mode of development oriented toward finance and extractivism, trade and capital liberalization, and austerity policies. One of the main goals was to reduce the fiscal deficit and to lower domestic production costs in order to increase international competitiveness. Many measures implemented, such as the pension reform of 2017, budget cuts in gender-sensitive areas, and the change in the nature of social policies, had a differential impact on women and LGBT people when compared to men. However, beyond the measures taken by a particular government, the characteristics of extractivism and land concentration are structural dimensions with profound biases in their impacts in terms of gender.

The Cultural and Institutional Barrier of Knowledge Exchanges in the Development of Open Source Software

Open source software (OSS) gives developing countries inexpensive or free alternatives to proprietary software. It gives them the opportunity to develop software and software industry without starting from scratch. This chapter discusses the diffusion and development of OSS in Indonesia especially after the government took “Indonesia, Go Open Source” (IGOS) initiative. This initiative united government organizations, communities, R&D institutions, and universities. While the government's concern was to tackle piracy by replacing illegal software with OSS, the others sought to develop their own OSS. However, the openness of their software is only in terms of that they were developed using OSS development tools, while their mode of development remained closed, which was caused by cultural barrier and institutional incompatibility between government's regime of project administration and the governance of OSS development.