42 research outputs found
Roads of Tomorrow: Augmented Reality for Enhanced Road Maintenance
No full textThe rapid deterioration of roads creates major obstacles that affect public security, urban movement capacity, and economic durability. Standardized road maintenance operations depend heavily on human inspections that prove time-consuming while being labour-intensive and subject to human mistakes. Implementing Augmented Reality (AR) with Point Cloud Data represents a smart approach that improves delivery efficiency in road maintenance procedures for modern cities. AR enables real-time visual content and interactive displays through this research, yet Point Cloud Data delivers detailed, precise road inspections through high-definition three-dimensional mapping. These technologies are evaluated for their usability, effectiveness, and adoption barriers in research that advance digital transformation knowledge for infrastructure management. Qualitative and quantitative research methods collected data to provide complete feedback about the proposed technologies. A structured questionnaire (with close- and open-ended questions) was first administered to road maintenance professionals to gather information about their present procedures and difficulties and understand their perspectives regarding AR and Point Cloud Data systems. The study conducted pilot tests and field demonstrations, bringing Point Cloud Data and AR-based solutions together to validate the technology in real-world conditions. Quantitative data analysis involved applying descriptive statistics and correlation methods with open-ended answers evaluated through thematic pattern identification. Tests against traditional workflows were carried out to determine how AR technologies performed better than conventional methods in maintenance operations. The evaluation results show robust endorsement for AR and Point Cloud Data systems in road infrastructure maintenance. These technologies enhance how defects appear to operators, provide clear step-by-step instructions, and make maintenance procedures more efficient. Real-time system overlays in AR applications received high praise because they improved situational awareness while diminishing inspection outcomes and manual documentation requirements. Point Cloud Data delivered accurate road condition mapping as its main benefit, which helped predictive maintenance teams and extended further into asset management practices. Multiple barriers emerged during the assessment process because existing infrastructure management tools proved difficult to merge with this new technology while training requirements proved extensive and the total expenditure proved high. The research reveals that Point Cloud Data and AR show strong implementation potential but need systematic strategic deployment. This research validates that AR and Point Cloud Data systems possess transformative capabilities for road maintenance by improving the precision of work, operational speed, and managerial choices for maintenance staff. The barriers to large-scale deployment include technical connection problems, computing requirements, and budgetary restrictions. The implementation speed and safety from AR-based solutions require more research on machine learning algorithms, data processing optimization, and total cost assessment for extended maintenance periods. Additional research should work to expand the scale and standardize information systems for AR and Point Cloud Data implementation within various road infrastructure management ecosystems
EMPLOYEES SUPPORT AS A DETERMINANT OF MERGER SUCCESS: EXPLORING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND ITS INTERVENTIONS DURING POST-MERGER INTEGRATION
No full textMergers is an extreme form of organizational change, which usually has an adverse impact on the merging organizations employees’ wellbeing. In literature it was argued that organizational integration after merger, which is referred to as Post-Merger Integration (PMI) is usually resisted by employees, which is considered as a major contributor to the high failure rates of mergers. It was further argued that employees’ resistance toward integration is attributed to stress, uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of clarity on the changes that merger and integration initiate. Therefore, PMI activities were assumed to psychologically traumatize employees and jeopardize their sense of belonging, attachment, commitment and identification to the new organization, which affects the performance of the new organization by driving negative employees’ workplace attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the new organization should demonstrate it supportiveness and appreciation toward the employee’s to promote constructive behaviors and attitudes, by demonstrating the organizational support toward the employees which is investigated in this study under the notion of perceived organizational support, employees’ involvement in decision making.
This study will build into the body of knowledge by answering the following research questions: What is the role of positive employees’ perception of change during post-merger integration in determining merger success? What is the role of corporate interventions in supporting constructive employees’ behavior during post-merger integration? What are the underpinning mechanisms that explain how organizational context and mindful interventions enhance the employees support for merger which in turn ensure the merger success? In the attempt to answer the latter research questions this study hypothesizes that employees perceived organizational support and involvement in decision making during post-merger integration contribute positively to the overall merger success by creating stronger identification and organizational trust to encourage favorable attitudes and behaviors in the workplace which support the new organization in reaching the intended objectives of merger.
The hypothesized model was statistically a good fit for the collected data from the merger of the two biggest offshore oil companies in the emirate of Abu Dhabi during post-merger integration phase. Therefore, this research provided evident that the success of merger during integration is largely impacted by human management factors, rather than market and financial factors alone, as largely conceptualized in literature.
Results from this study will be of a significant importance to companies embarking on major organizational changes and merger in particular in the Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East region in general. Similar studies to the context of this research are scarce in literature and to the best of the researcher knowledge this is the first study which have looked at the success of merger during post-merger integration from human management perspective in the oil and gas industry in the Arab World
The transition of students with SEND from rehabilitation centers to mainstream schools in the UAE
No full textStudents with disabilities have had the opportunity to attend mainstream schools in recent years as a result of right-based policies and obligations. This has ensured equal access to education by meeting all of their needs and providing support to overcome their inherited barriers. However, due to a variety of complicating factors, some students are still left behind in special classrooms, such as rehabilitation centers (Abdat, 2020). Such centers were initially established to provide care and education to students with disabilities in order to prepare them to be socially and educationally integrated with their non-disabled peers. Many people have an impact on the transition from rehabilitation centers to mainstream schools, including educators, students, and parents. As a result, the purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the transition of students with disabilities from rehabilitation centers to mainstream schools in the UAE. It covered three major topics: teaching practices in a rehabilitation center for transitioning students, challenges teachers face when transmitting to their students, and parents’ perceptions of inclusion and transition. The study was conducted using the qualitative method to provide descriptive data involving the feelings and thoughts of the participants. The data were collected using several approaches. Semi-structured interviews (10 parents), two focus groups (15 teachers), and four non-participant observations were used to collect data (4 teachers). Thematic analysis of parent interviews revealed the following issues: 1) difficulties with school enrollment, 2) a service gap, 3) anticipated threats, 4) the complexity of disabilities, 5) fears about the future. Furthermore, teachers revealed their difficulties in achieving a successful transition, which included 1) a curriculum hiatus, 2) inadequate compensation, 3) group collaboration, 4) the complexity of disabilities. Observations also revealed teaching methods used to prepare students for their transition. Finally, the study provides recommendations on the status of transition from rehabilitation centers to mainstream schools for students with disabilities
Determinants of cyberattack prevention and the role of cybersecurity leadership in UAE banking sector
No full textToday's organized criminal groups focus on easy ways to make money, ways that target rich organizations because a large amount of money flows daily and contains sensitive information. Cyberattack prevention factors have a significant impact on the perception of social and moral values in the business context. Moreover, cyberattacks have become a crucial matter among world's developed countries as well as developing countries like UAE. Therefore, there is a need to study the role of skilled leaders in financial organizations in the UAE in preventing cyberattacks and investigate other human factors related to the individual in financial organizations in UAE in preventing cyberattacks. A general perception of the research is to propose a research framework for cyberattack prevention in the UAE by employing the Protection Motivation Theory and adding new variables focusing on the role of an organization's cybersecurity leadership, frequent training, and the role of government frequent alerting. A proposed framework and 22 hypotheses were constructed to guide this study. This research employed a quantitative research method. The data were collected from 310 financial executive officers from a commercial bank in the Central Bank, an industrial bank in the Emirates Industrial Bank, a merchant bank in the Ajman Bank, and an Islamic bank in the ADIB bank of the UAE that use digital technology to enhance their daily banking operation through survey questionnaires. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) as a statistical methods and techniques approach. The results indicated a significant association between all investigated independent variables and cybersecurity leadership, and cybersecurity leadership mediates the relationship between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention. No significant association was shown between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention, except (H4&H7) that show a significant association. Although UAE government regularly applies and invests in many technical measures to prevent cyberattack in both individual and organizational levels, many U AE financial firms have been identified as high-level targets in cyberattacks in this digital transformation era. The coefficient in cybersecurity leadership might be viewed as a prevention element for cyberattacks based on the findings. With greater cybersecurity leadership success, the implementation of cyberattack prevention increases. This study emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity leadership in a cyberspace environment that protects against cyberattacks and promotes cybersecurity awareness within a financial organizations and society in U AE. The research framework contributes to the development of cyberattack prevention by encouraging cybersecurity leadership in setting cybersecurity strategy, positioning cybersecurity functions, and implementing cybersecurity activities through protection motivation theory that emphasizes (1) threat appraisal that guarantees security guidelines are reasonable and seen for the organizational climate and (2) coping appraisal that guarantees threat data is joined by useful data in deferring it, which is appropriate for this research setting in a banking climate, (3) leadership's important role in leveraging and fostering cyberattack prevention in UAE financial sector
Automated facial expression recognition app development on smart phones using cloud computing
No full textSpace Station Asgardia 2117: From Theoretical Science to a New Nation in Outer Space
No full textSpace Station Asgardia 2117: From Theoretical Science to a New Nation in Outer Spac
