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Operational research and business intelligence as drivers for digital transformation
No full textDigital transformation has become a crucial phenomenon, impacting society and industries through the implementation of digital technologies. It involves organizations adapting to gain a competitive edge, sense disruptions, and reorganize their business models. Challenges include the need for new strategies and skills, while opportunities arise from increased organizational performance and value creation through data utilization and innovative solutions. Overcoming inertia and resistance are critical in achieving successful digital transformation. Operational research plays a significant role in understanding and addressing these challenges and opportunities in the digital age. This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘Operational Research and Business Intelligence as Drivers for Digital Transformation’ and briefly discuss its relevance and the works it includes.2334
Validation of the Greek version of the contact lens dry eye questionnaire-8 (CLDEQ-8)
No full textPurpose: Contact lens discomfort (CLD) has been cited as one of the prime reasons for discontinuing contact lens wear. The CLDEQ-8 was created in 2008 to reflect status of and change in overall opinion of soft contact lenses. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity and reliability of a Greek version of the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire-8 (CLDEQ-8), using Rasch statistical analysis. Methods: This an observational prospective study of 150 consecutive patients who received soft contact lenses and were followed through with a single follow-up appointment up to a year following their initial one. The patients filled in the Greek versions of the CLDEQ-8, the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and a self-report item on their experience of contact lens use. The CLDEQ-8 was analyzed with Rasch analytic methodology. Results: The original scoring system of the CLDEQ-8 had to be altered regarding the response categories collapsing in fewer options in items b, 2b, 3b and item 5 of the original scale. The revised scoring system proved more psychometrically valid and the CLDEQ-8 had good measurement precision, category threshold order, targeting and differential item functioning for gender. Two alternative result indexes are proposed, a symptom intensity index and a symptom frequency index to address dimensionality issues that are evident with the items relating to symptom intensity versus the rest. Results from the CLDEQ-8 correlated with the OSDI total score and the self-reported experience of contact lens use. Conclusions: The Greek version of the CLDEQ-8 is a psychometrically valid and reliable assessment tool for contact lens discomfort in Greek-speaking populations.46510189
Towards an ‘Interfaith Nationalism’? Christians and Their Relations to Muslims in the History Textbooks of the Syrian Arab Republic
No full textThis study examines how Christian–Muslim relations are presented in Syrian history textbooks and deployed by the embattled regime of Bashar al-Asad in its quest for legitimacy both at home and abroad since the eruption of the war that displaced half the country’s population. To that end, Critical Discourse Analysis is applied to selected texts from the school curricula stressing the harmonious coexistence between the country’s only two officially recognized faiths (Islam and Christianity), in addition to the Syrian Christians’ commitment to national unity from time immemorial, as nationalist discourses retrospectively assert. The historical narratives in question are juxtaposed with the ideological inconsistencies of the Arab nationalist Ba’th party that has ruled Syria since 1963 vis-à-vis religious sects and minorities, while being discussed against the backdrop of the recent geopolitical developments.1411135
Drivers and Outcomes of Digital Transformation: The Case of Public Sector Services
No full textGovernments are altering how they operate to enhance the provision of public services, be more successful and efficient in their plans, and accomplish goals such as greater transparency, interoperability, and citizen pleasure. There are, however, limited studies about how public sector managers are currently identifying digital transformation in their own day-to-day practices, how they are implementing digital transformation projects, and what their expected results are, aside from the reports provided by consulting firms. The aim of this article is to present a case study in order to gain an understanding of the current expectations that public managers have regarding the implementation of digital transformation projects, as well as the outcomes that they anticipate these projects will produce. A qualitative analysis was conducted based on experts who were involved in digital transformation projects with a thorough understanding of government decisions and in-depth knowledge of execution procedures. Based on the results derived from interviews, this paper aims to support managers in examining the barriers of digital transformation in the public sector in order to improve this process.1414
Demonstrating Multiple Prolog Programming Techniques Through a Single Operation
No full textWithout doubt Prolog, as the most prominent member of the logic programming (LP) approach, presents significant differences from the mainstream programming paradigms. However, demonstrating its flexibility to larger audiences can indeed be a challenging task, since the declarative style of LP lies outside the mainstream programming languages most are familiar with. In this paper, we demonstrate how alternative implementations of a single list operation can prove to be a rather helpful tool for demonstrating a plethora of Prolog programming aspects and techniques, and some issues associated with these, such as efficiency, readability and writability of code.13900 LNAI7181Prolog: The Next 50 Year
Adaptive Support With Working Examples in Serious Games About Programming
No full textSerious games are a growing field in academic research and they are considered an effective tool for education. Game-based learning invokes motivation and engagement in students resulting in effective instructional outcomes. An essential aspect of a serious game is the method of support for presenting the teaching material and providing feedback. A support design that evaluates students’ progress and adapts accordingly, has the potential of producing better learning results. This paper presents an adaptive model based on fuzzy logic that adjusts the support acquisition according to student knowledge level. A serious game for teaching the concepts of sequence and iteration in programming to novice students was built to assess the model. It employs working examples as a support method since previous research indicated that it produced less cognitive load during problem-solving. An empirical study with 102 students has been conducted to evaluate the learning efficiency of the model. The analysis indicates positive results and a potential solution for balancing the amount of assistance in serious games.61476678
Delineating the role of mood maintenance in augmenting reality (AR) service experiences: An application in tourism
No full textConsumers in a good mood seek positive experiences to maintain a good mood. In contactless digital service journeys, such as augmented reality (AR) mirror, maintaining consumers' positive mood throughout the purchase decision process is a highly desired outcome. Despite its importance, our understanding of the phenomenon in AR service experiences is limited. To close the void in the literature, we draw from mood maintenance theory to develop a research model including the antecedents and consequences of mood maintenance in an AR service context (tourism). Using a scenario-based survey, we collected data from 320 consumers via a quasi-experiment to validate the research model using AMOS 20. The study results reveal the pivotal role of AR body representation and AR selfie-sharing activities of mood maintenance in inducing consumer virtual purchase behavior and future purchase intentions (e.g., visit intentions to a tourism destination). The findings of our study unlock the psychological mechanisms of mood maintenance in an AR-mediated service context, enriching the extant literature on the topic. Furthermore, our findings can benefit managers in designing contactless service journeys using AR mirror applications to maintain a positive mood and influence consumers' current and future behavioral intentions.18912238
Developing a Sustainable Online Platform for Language Learning across Europe
No full textIn this paper, we present a sustainable approach for addressing the language skills gap among EU citizens, which significantly hinders their mobility across the EU and their participation in education, in training, as well as in youth programmes. Our approach is based on the sustainable design of the OpenLang Network platform, which provides an open and collaborative online learning environment for language learners and teachers across Europe, and addresses the limitations of existing computer-assisted language learning approaches. The OpenLang Network platform is bringing together educators and Erasmus+ mobility participants to improve their language skills and cultural knowledge. To this end, the OpenLang Network platform offers a collection of multilingual Open Educational Resources and language learning services. The paper presents the results from the user evaluation of the platform, which has been conducted with members of its community of language teachers and learners. A mixed methods approach has been adopted in order to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative data from users about the sustainable design of the OpenLang Network platform, as well as to measure the user satisfaction levels of the platform’s language learning services. According to the user evaluation results, the platform offers a sustainable online environment and a positive user experience for language learning. The user evaluation has also helped us identify a set of best practices and challenges associated with the long-term sustainability of an online language learning community.127140Recent Advances in Computer-Assisted Learnin
Ethics challenges in public service co-creation
No full textThe public sector is facing significant challenges regarding public services provision, includingdeclination of users’ trust and limited resources. One way of addressing such issues is byimplementing co-creation, which, although extensively discussed in the literature, is morelimited in public sector organisations and empirical research. The H2020 project (anonymous)addresses these issues by studying the implementation of co-creation pilots in 4 Europeancountries. The project funder requires the conduct of research to follow ethical researchguidelines, thus raising the issue of ethics challenges in public service creation, particularlywhen using digital tools. This ongoing research represents a first theoretical evaluation aboutethics in co-creation. All in all, this paper contributes to the existing literature as it is aninterdisciplinary conceptual approach in the ethical perceptions of co-creation, being presentedby scientists with diverse backgrounds, including information systems, public administration,and philosophy.3449Proceedings EGOV-CeDEM-ePart Conference, September 5-7, 2023, Budapest, Hungar
High short interest stocks performance during the Covid-19 crisis: an informational efficacy measure based on permutation-entropy approach
No full textPurposeThe author examine the performance of a number of high short interest stocks along with the prices of the GameStop stock and three major stock exchange indices, particularly for the period after the eruption of the Covid-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachWith the employment of the complexity–entropy causality plane approach, the author categorize the stock prices in terms of the level of informational efficiency.FindingsThe author reported that the efficiency level for the index of the high short interest stocks falls considerably, not only at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis but during the health crisis period at hand. This is translated into proof of less uncertainty in predicting the stock prices of these specific stocks. On the other hand, the GameStop prices exhibit the same behavior as those with the high short interest firms, but change considerably in the middle of the crisis. The reversal of the behavior, by obtaining higher informational efficiency levels, is attributed to the short squeeze frenzy that increased the price of the stock many times over. Among the stock market indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 decreased their efficiency levels marginally, after the surge of the crisis, while the Russell 2000 index kept the level intact. The high and stable degree of randomness could be attributed to the measures taken concurrently by the Federal Reserve and the government immediately after the outbreak of the crisis.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that examine the impact of short selling behavior on the efficiency level of certain stocks' prices, particularly during the health public crisis. It provides an alternative approach to measuring quantitatively the degree of inefficiency and randomness.5071570158