In this study, the relationship between the popularity of cryptocurrencies and their price, return and trading volumes are examined through time series analysis. The popularity variable is determined according the frequency of cryptocurrencies being searched on the internet. Stationarity of series is examined by Vogelsang and Perron (1998) structural breaks ADF unit root test. According to the test results, all series are found to be stationary at level values. VAR analyses and impulse-response functions are performed to reveal dynamic interaction between the series. According to impulse - response test results, returns of BITCOIN decreased against a decreasing shock in the number searches on the internet and its price and trading volume followed a fluctuating course. In order to see the causality relationship between variables the Granger causality test is conducted. Regression analyses are performed using ordinary least squares (OLS) method through three different equations. According to the result of the regression analysis, an increase in the number of internet searches for cryptocurrencies was found to positively affect prices, returns and trading volumes of all cryptocurrencies. The highest impact on prices and trading volume is observed in BITCOIN, while the highest effect on returns is observed in LITECOIN. According to the findings, popularity can be considered an important determinant for price, returns and trading volumes of cryptocurrencies.
This study aims to explore cryptocurrency investment experiences from an emerging market context. This study investigates the lived experiences of cryptocurrency investors, the potential risks and benefits of the cryptocurrency investment, and the potential prospects from cryptocurrency investors' perspectives. The current study intends to adopt a qualitative research approach to address the phenomenon of the study. The qualitative study employs interviews as a data collection tool that allows researchers to seek people's stories from their lived experiences. In this regard, the interpretivism paradigm is employed as it indicates that people determine the reality around events rather than other factors. Moreover, the purposive sampling technique is adopted to discover and recruit the current study respondents, which were in alignment with the proposed research questions. The interviews were terminated at the point of saturation, where a total of twelve cryptocurrency investors participated in the survey.
With the advent of IoT, gadgets are now becoming more smart and independent. Truth is that the transformation towards the innovation is in progress yet there are still flaws, mainly in security areas like dependence on the data. Keeping in mind the advancement of IoT in the future, trusting in this vast approaching data source is of great importance. Blockchain is reached up to the position where it became the key innovation that will change the way we share data. Providing trust in conveyed situations, without using any advanced technical team is a development, which could change the way of working of numerous enterprises, the IoT amongst them. We can say with confidence that the concept of Blockchain, which is the technology behind crypto currency [3] Bitcoin [1], introduced a new era in the world of Internet and online services. In this paper, we will talk about develop a secure E-voting system using Blockchain technology where nobody can manipulate the votes and every user can vote only once. This is possible using the advantage of Ethereum smart contracts [2]. Smart contracts make it a powerful tool for the digitization of services in the Ethereum platform. Blockchain with smart contracts develops a safe, cheap, secure and transparent E-voting system. Ethereum and its network are suitable for it. Due to its consistency, large scale use and provision of smart contract logic. E-voting is an application that is possible using Blockchain technology with infused smart contracts. It needs to be digitalized over the Internet & that's what we will be working upon.
Malmö aims to become Sweden’s most climate-smart city and Hyllie, its newest city district, is to lead the way. This ambition is front and centre in the 2011 Climate Contract that envisioned Hyllie as a climate-neutral city district. Malmö signed the Climate Contract with Eon, a multinational energy company. But five years after signing the Climate Contract, Malmö and Eon gave up their goal of a making Hyllie climate-neutral by 2020. The Climate Contract resembles other smart city initiatives that many researchers have criticised for promoting technology-centric, corporation-controlled visions of cities. Assemblage urbanism and the sociology of expectations help to analyse the techno-political dynamics between organisations, visions and urban infrastructure. The realisation of a vision is a techno-political process that requires the coordination of multiple groups around multiple promises. At first, it was the Climate Contract that helped Eon and the city administration to coordinate their activities. Subsequently, Eon made a promise to build wind turbines, and that promise then took precedence in the coordination of their activities. But controversies arose with two publics that emerged in opposition to Eon’s promise: neighbours to the site of the proposed wind turbine and the city’s Property Department. Unable to resolve these controversies, Eon and Malmö acknowledged that they lacked the resources need to make Hyllie climate-neutral. They adapted their original promise to the current state of socio-material assemblages, and Hyllie was demoted from a role model for the climate-smart city to a source of lessons learned.
Open access
Smart Cities and Technologies
Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
Zoltán Bán, Jan Lánský, Stanislava Mildeová, Petr Tesar
Cryptocurrencies have become a major phenomenon in recent years. For IT, a breakthrough is both the cryptocurrency itself as a commodity and the technology that cryptocurrency development has brought. The article focuses on the bitcoin cryptocurrency as the most important cryptocurrency. A relatively unexplored topic is what goods or services are purchased for bitcoins. To track what bitcoins are spent on, it is necessary to look for places that are dedicated to trading cryptocurrencies. The bitcointalk.org forum was chosen as a source for our data mining. The aim of the article is to find an answer to the research question: What are bitcoins on the discussion forum bitcointalk.org planned to be spent on? As part of the research, an application was developed using a PHP script to gather information from the discussion forum (bitcointalk.org). There is some evidence which suggests what types of products or services people spend cryptocurrencies on. This research has proven that cryptocurrencies are used to buy and sell goods or services in the electronics and computer world segments. Today, these segments are widespread, which may speed up the integration of cryptocurrencies into everyday life. This applies, of course, only if the risks associated with cryptocurrencies do not increase.
Bu çalışma, Bitcoin’in fiyat davranışını otoregresif birim kökü olan iki rejimli bir TAR modeli kullanarak araştırmaktadır. Çalışmada, durağan dışılığı ve doğrusal olmamayı eş zamanlı olarak sınayan Caner ve Hansen (2001) tarafından geliştirilen yöntem kullanılmıştır. Bu amaçla, 16.07.2010 – 27.11.2018 dönemi için (3.056 adet günlük gözlem) Bitcoin kapanış fiyatlarına ait veri seti oluşturularak Bitcoin fiyatlarının etkin olup olmadığı incelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, Bitcoin fiyatlarının tüm dönem dikkate alındığında zayıf formda etkin piyasalar hipotezini desteklemektedir. Ancak rejimler arası geçiş dikkate alındığında Bitcoin fiyat serisinde iki rejim olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Birinci rejimde zayıf forma etkin piyasalar hipotezinin geçerli olduğu, ancak ikinci rejimde geçerli olmadığı tespit edilmiştir.
The aim of this study is to examine cryptocurrencies that use blockchain technology, reveal the current situation and discuss the future. In the study, cryptocurrencies are examined in detail with their definition, history, legal status, factors affecting their value, features and functions, advantages and disadvantages, and usage areas. As a result of the discussions in the study, five main conclusions were reached. (1) Cryptocurrencies cannot be defined as money, since they cannot fully fulfil the features and functions of money with their current status. (2) Although the values of cryptocurrencies are shaped depending on the supply and demand conditions, they are significantly affected by factors such as security, legal status, volume, and speculative and manipulative initiatives. (3) Cryptocurrencies do not yet have a widespread legal status worldwide. (4) Among the many advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrencies, the most prominent advantage is security, and the most striking disadvantage is volatility. (5) Cryptocurrencies, with what they have demonstrated to date and promise for the future, will have the ability to be used wherever money is used, and even more.
The regional autonomy system provides an opportunity for regions in the territory of Indonesia to utilize their sources of income independently so that the implementation of development in the regions does not only rely on finance from the central government. In this study, we are of the opinion that regions that are able to optimize their local own revenue will have an impact on increasing local financial independence. Local financial independence is the ability of a region to finance development in its area. Our other opinion assumes that the relationship between localown revenue and the local financial independence can be strengthened by the implementation of decentralization. With good decentralization, local governments are more transparent in providing all information to the public, can increase accountability because public services are getting closer, local governments can take strategic decisions, improve fiscal management, improve economic growth and market security. The new contribution of this study is related to the literature of the merging of the relationship between local own revenue, decentralization, and local financial independence that was built through Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) evidence in one of the regions in Indonesia, namely Ciamis. The results of the study show that regional local own revenues influence local financial independence. Meanwhile, decentralization which is proxied using local government expenditures is able to strengthen the relationship of local own revenues to local financial independence. So it can be concluded that the effective implementation of decentralization is able to encourage an increase in regional income that comes from its own sources to realize financial independence in the region. Keywords—Decentralization, Local Financial Independent, Local Own Revenue. Abstrak Sistem otonomi daerah memberikan kesempatan kepada daerah-daerah di wilayah Indonesia untuk memanfaatkan sumber-sumber pendapatannya secara mandiri agar pelaksanaan pembangunan di daerah tidak hanya mengandalkan keuangan yang berasal dari pemerintah pusat. Dalam studi ini, kami berpendapat bahwa daerah yang mampu mengoptimalkan pendapatan asli daerahnya akan berdampak terhadap meningkatnya kemandirian keuangan daerah. Kemandirian keuangan daerah adalah kemampuan suatu daerah dalam membiayai pembangunan di daerahnya. Pendapat kami lainnya menganggap bahwa hubungan pendapatan asli daerah dengan kemandirian keuangan daerah dapat diperkuat oleh pelaksanaan desentralisasi yang baik. Dengan desentralisasi yang baik maka pemerintah daerah lebih transparan dalam memberikan semua informasi kepada publik, dapat meningkatkan akuntabilitas karena pelayanan publik menjadi lebih dekat, pemerintah daerah dapat mengambil keputusan yang strategis, meningkatkan manajemen fiscal, meningkatkan pertumbuhan ekonomi dan keamanan pasar. Kontribusi baru dari studi ini adalah menyangkut literature penggabungan hubungan antara pendapatan asli daerah, desentralisasi, dan kemandirian keuangan daerah yang dibangun melalui Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) bukti pada salah satu daerah di Indonesia, yaitu Ciamis. Hasil studi menunjukan bahwa pendapatan asli daerah berpengaruh terhadap kemandirian keuangan daerah. Sementara itu desentralisasi yang diproksi menggunakan pengeluaran pemerintah daerah mampu memperkuat hubungan pendapatanasli daerah terhadap kemandirian keuangan daerah. Jadi dapat disimpulkan bahwa pelaksaksanaan desentralisasi yang efektif mampu mendorong peningkatan pendapatan daerah yang berasal dari sumber-sumbernya sendiri untuk mewujudkan kemandirian keuangan di daerah. Kata kunci—Desentralisasi, Kemandirian Keuangan Daerah, Pendapatan Asli Daerah.
The aim of this study is to develop forecasting cryptocurrency price movement using moving average. The cryptocurreny that selected in this study is Bitcoin Cash. The observation periods involved in this
Çalışmada Türkiye’deki seçili bir takım finansal değişkenlerle (USD, EURO, POUND, SDR, BİST 100, Cumhuriyet Altını, M1 ve M2 para arzları) sanal para birimi Bitcoin (BTC) arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Bu kapsamda 2013-2019 dönemine ait aylık veriler kullanılmıştır. Analizler sonucunda değişkenlerin birinci farklarının durağan olduğu tespit edilmiş, diğer taraftan Bitcoin ile diğer finansal değişkenler arasında uzun dönemli bir eşbütünleşmenin varlığı belirlenmiştir. Değişkenler arasında nedenselliğin araştırıldığı Granger Nedensellik testi ile de Bitcoin’in bağımlı değişken olduğu denklemde SDR ve USD ‘den BTC’ye doğru %5 anlamlılık düzeyinde; Euro ve BIST 100 değişkeninden BTC’ye doğru ise %10 anlamlılık seviyesinde bir nedenselliğin varlığı tespit edilmiştir.
The International Scientific Research Organization for Science, Engineering and Technology (ISROSET) is a Non-Profit Organization; The ISROSET is dedicated to improvement in academic sectors of Science (Chemistry, Bio-chemistry, Zoology, Botany, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Science, Bioscience, Bioinformatics, Biometrics, Biostatistics, Microbiology, Environmental Management, Medical Science, Forensic Science, Home Science, Library Science, Material Science Military Science, Physical Science, Physical Education Science, Educational Science, Fisheries, seed technology, Agriculture, Forestry Science, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Geology/Earth Science), Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, Commerce, Management, Economics Sociology and Social Science.
A. Sheikh, V. Kamuni, Ahtisham Urooj, Sushama Wagh · 6 authors
To mitigate the problems of demand-supply mismatch in the future grid the solution of renewable energy source (RES) integration results in a bidirectional flow of information and transactions, which are prone to different kinds of cyber attacks, especially in energy trading where the security of financial transactions is of most concern. Electric vehicle (EV) having the advantage of mobility can play a significant role in maintaining demand-supply balance at any location unlike their peers (conventional compensator). For deciding entire system security, securing EVs charging-discharging transactions at all charging stations or connecting points is most important. The system can be made more secure against cyber-attacks with the introduction of the blockchain framework. Hence, in view of secured transactions, the paper focuses on the energy trading process between EVs and distribution network (DN) in a Byzantine based blockchain consensus framework. During peak load period DN initiates the energy trading process by demanding additional power from the EVs. This process of energy trading results in energy and information exchange which needs to be secured through blockchain from vulnerable attacks and threats. Possible scenarios of various cyber-attacks on different nodes of the system are visualized in the form of false data. To highlight the application of blockchain, the Byzantine general problem framework is used which states that for successful attack 33% of information is to be manipulated, in other words, decreasing the probability of attack confirms the system security. Numerical results based on various operating scenarios for the standard IEEE 33 bus system are in agreement with the Byzantine consensus problem indicating improvement in system security.
Smart contract-based development of decentralized applications is increasing with the development of blockchain technology. Although blockchainbased smart contracts are expected to revolutionize the digital economy, several security issues need to be addressed before this technology can be used reliably. The recent discovery of security weaknesses in Ethereum smart contracts questions the reliability of smart contracts. Therefore, there is a need to create and diagnose security weaknesses in Ethereum smart contracts to mitigate security risks. In this study, we assessed the potential security weaknesses of running smart contracts on Ethereum.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the prerequisites, advantages, problems and prospects for the development of the processes of financial decentralization in Ukraine. Initially, the article reveals the features of the federal and unitary arrangements of states. As research has shown, the principles of fiscal federalism have been increasingly used by unitary states. The legislative and normative legal acts regulating the implementation of the decentralization policy in Ukraine are justified and given. Characteristics of the formation of new structures, such as: united territorial societies and their sources of financing are characterized. Changes in incomes in local budgets as a result of decentralization are analyzed, and their significant growth is observed. The mechanism of horizontal leveling of the tax ability of territories has been developed, which helps to remove imbalances and unevenness, most of the budgets of Ukraine are recipients of budgetary funds, since they receive a basic subsidy. The influence of the development of information technologies on entrepreneurial activity in small towns and villages is determined. Information technology is a tool of points of growth of territories. Decentralization will not gradually increase due to urbanization processes, but will be accompanied by new development mechanisms, where the labor force and the means of production will unite and help create a qualitatively new environment.
Recently, application scenario of crowdsourcing IoT has covered to e-healthcare service, smart home, smart city, internet of vehicles due to the proliferation of smart devices such as smart mobile devices, smart wearable device, smart medical devices and smart furniture, etc. Patient's data collected by the smart devices send to the various remote medical servers. A group of medical professionals remote access patient data stored at the medical server database. Smart home users want to remote real-time access information of smart devices at home. All these operations need via wireless remote communication, which is suffering from various kinds of threat and attacks. Hence, there are a large number of multi-factor remote authentication and key agreement schemes designed for the application of crowdsourcing IoT. However, in most existing related multi-factor schemes, all factors for identity authentication only act as a parameter for encrypting the local secret key. In this paper, we propose a new secure remote multi-factor authentication scheme that includes three factors: 1) user identity; 2) password; and 3) user biometrics, which are authenticated by the remote server, act as a part of the secret key and participate in the key agreement process. We choose the chaotic map since it has a smaller key size and lower computational overhead, and then achieve remote multi-factor authentication and key agreement by artfully employ it to zero-knowledge technology and the fuzzy extractor technology. Our scheme is more secure and robust since the user revealing nothing sensitive information, and the adversary cannot impersonate any user even if he gets the server's master key. We have done security proof for our proposed scheme using the Random-Or-Real(ROR) model, Burrows-Abadi-Needham (BAN) logic, and ProVerif 2.00 to show that the presented scheme is secure. Also, we give an additional security analysis for other various attacks. Finally, according to the test and simulation result, the proposed scheme is very suitable for the power-constrained smart devices, and in the next generation 5G communication environment, its applicability and usability will be greatly enhanced.
The purpose of the article is to determine the importance of blockchain technology in food supply chain management. A practical reference to the adopted research aim was to indicate the usefulness of blockchain technology to build trust between food chain stakeholders. Research shows that the properties of blockchain technology can enable it to solve many problems and shortcomings of the current food production system. Its added value is primarily a significant increase in transparency of operations among all stakeholders using big data in all parts of the food chain.
Gildércia Silva Guedes de Araújo, Katyusco de Farias Santos
Este artigo trata de busca de anterioridade e análise quantitativa sobre a evolução do tema smart contracts, usando o depósito de patentes como principal indicador tecnológico. Para o levantamento dos dados utilizaram-se as plataformas Questel Orbit®, Lens e Patent Inspiration, aplicando como entrada as palavras-chaves “smart contract” ou “smart contracts” para as buscas nos títulos e nas reivindicações. Foram realizadas análises Macro e Meso, com o objetivo de identificar os indicadores quantitativos das patentes relacionadas aos smart contracts. As investigações foram realizadas até abril de 2019 e trouxeram o quantitativo de 968 invenções de patente pelo Questel Orbit®, um resultado de 1.935 depósitos de patentes pelo Lens e 660 depósitos pelo Patent Inspiration. Em todas as plataformas, houve uma predominância de depósitos realizados pelo setor privado (Empresas) e a área de maior relevância, quanto ao domínio tecnológico dos smarts contracts é o modelo de gestão, representando 49% das patentes verificadas.
This paper provides a comparative analysis of the new blockchain-based start-up and small companies funding methods, namely, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and security token offerings (STOs) against the backdrop of traditional fundraising methods like venture capital and private equity building on the experience of Switzerland. In particular, the comparative analysis is based on a theoretical overview of the nature of these blockchain applications, the relevant legislative framework as well as recent market developments with a focus on Switzerland. The paper concludes that both ICOs and STOs are characterized by lower entry barriers for investors and higher cost efficiency as compared to traditional start-up fundraising methods. However, STOs provide more security to investors than ICOs due to their wider regulation.
The organ donation system in the United States is centralized and difficult to audit by the general public. This centralized approach may lead to data integrity issues in the future. The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) was built and maintained by a non-governmental organization called the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under its proprietary UNet(SM) umbrella platform. This platform is made up of proprietary closed source software and does not provide the general public easy access to the organ transplant data for auditing. This study investigates the feasibility, challenges, and advantages of a blockchain-based OPTN. A prototype of a blockchain-based OPTN was created using the Hyperledger Fabric framework. The policies and guidelines issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services for UNOS and the OPTN were used as the basis of this prototype. Four factors were identified to have a direct effect on the performance of this system, viz. max batch time out, max block size, endorsement policy, and transaction rate. Additionally, two variants of the blockchain chaincode were also developed. The first variant performed the organ-candidate matching inside the blockchain (Scheme A), and the second variant performed it outside the blockchain (Scheme B). Analysis of these data showed that Scheme A outperformed Scheme B in all experiments for write-operations. However, the read operations remained unaffected by any of the experiment variables in the given environment. Based on these results, it is recommended to perform the organ-candidate matching on the blockchain with the max batch time out close to the transaction rate.
The article examines the legal aspects of applying blockchain technologies in the field of legal application and public administration. The concept and technical characteristics of distributed ledger technology (DLT) as the basis of blockchain are analyzed and its legal significance for ensuring immutability, transparency and verifiability of legally significant data is determined. The practice of applying blockchain technologies in the system of state registers of Ukraine is examined, in particular the implementation of distributed ledger technology in the State Register of Real Property Rights and in the electronic auction system ProZorro.Sales, as well as the pilot project of the Central Election Commission regarding the use of blockchain for recording electronic voting results. The legal nature of smart contracts as a type of agreements that are automatically executed upon the occurrence of specified conditions is considered, and their relationship with the institution of contract in civil law in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine of January 16, 2003, is determined. The Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets" of February 17, 2022 (signed by the President on March 15, 2022), is analyzed and its significance for the legalization of blockchain infrastructure in Ukraine is determined. The necessity of forming a comprehensive legal framework for the application of blockchain technologies in legal practice is substantiated, including the normative definition of the legal status of blockchain records, the procedure for their use as evidence in court proceedings, the legal qualification of smart contracts as a type of agreement and liability for errors in their program code, taking into account the potential of blockchain for enhancing transparency and trust in state institutions.
Open access
Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges
Rebecca Stone, Thomas de Hoop, Andrea Coombes, Pooja Nakamura
Children across the world are not acquiring basic reading and math skills despite increases in primary school enrollment and attendance. Teacher training and nutrition programs in LAC are not effective in improving EGL overall, but they may be, under certain conditions. Technology in schools can be detrimental to learning outcomes if these programs only focus on technology. Approximately 250 million children across the world are not acquiring basic reading and math skills, even though about 50% of them have spent at least 4 years in school. Educational policies on EGL in the LAC region have long suffered from a disjuncture between school practice and research. What is the aim of this review? This Campbell systematic review summarizes findings from 107 studies to inform policy for EGL in the LAC region. Quantitative interventions (23 studies) Qualitative interventions (6 studies) Quantitative noninterventions (61 studies) Qualitative noninterventions (14 studies). Overall, programs did not have statistically significant effects on EGL outcomes. But there are instances in which programs may have positive or negative effects. For example, teacher training did not show positive effects on EGL outcomes, but a study from Chile showed that teacher training can possibly positively affect EGL outcomes in high-income economies when it is well implemented and complemented by sustained coaching. Similarly, nutrition programs did not improve EGL outcomes. However, a study from Guatemala showed positive effects on EGL, possibly because Guatemala has high rates of stunting and wasting. Although there is no statistically significant effect of technology-in-education programs on EGL outcomes in the LAC region, a study from Peru showed that the distribution of laptops to children can have adverse effects, particularly when not complemented by additional programs. Other studies showed that phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension are associated with reading ability. Furthermore, poverty and child labor are negatively correlated with EGL outcomes. This finding supports the result that nutrition programs may be effective in settings with high rates of stunting and wasting. Finally, the quality of preschool and promoting social learning are positively associated with EGL outcomes. Teacher training, nutrition, and technology-in-education programs on average do not show positive effects on EGL outcomes in the LAC region. However, there are several factors that could potentially enable positive impacts. These include combining teacher training with coaching, targeting school feeding and other nutrition programs to low-income countries with high rates of stunting and wasting, and combining technology-in-education programs with a strong focus on pedagogical practices. The review also identifies some opportunities for improving the design and implementation of EGL programs. Studies support the need to teach phonological awareness (PA) skills early on, but caution is required considering the small evidence-base in the LAC region. The evidence also supports investing in preschool quality through well-implemented teacher training. Finally, ministries of education in low-income countries with high rates of stunting and wasting could consider investing in programs to improve the nutrition outcomes of students. Caution is needed in interpreting these findings since the evidence base on what works to improve EGL outcomes in the LAC region is weak, with indications of publication bias. The review authors searched for studies published up to February 2016. Improvements in students' learning achievement have lagged behind in low- and middle-income countries despite significant progress in school enrollment numbers. Approximately 250 million children across the world are not acquiring basic reading and math skills, even though about 50% of them have spent at least 4 years in school (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2014). The World Development Report (World Bank, 2018) presents evidence showing that learning is unlikely to improve unless the quality of each factor improves. The LAC region has experienced some positive trends in educational outcomes in the last decade, including improved EGL outcomes for third-grade students in the majority of the countries. However, educational policies on EGL in the LAC region have long suffered from a disjuncture between school practice and research. As a result, policy makers, pedagogy and curriculum specialists, and other stakeholders in the region are unable to determine high-quality research and what works in improving EGL outcomes. For this reason, they are unable to shape policy, practice, and programs in an evidence-driven manner. This systematic review examines the effectiveness of various programs implemented in the LAC region that aim to improve EGL outcomes, including teacher training, school feeding, computer-aided instruction, programs with an emphasis on nutrition, and technology in education programs. In addition, we assess the fidelity of implementation of programs that aim to improve EGL outcomes as well as the factors that predict EGL outcomes. Finally, we examine the experiences and perspectives of various stakeholders about EGL in the LAC region. What is the impact of reading programs, practices, policies, and products aimed at improving the reading skills of children from birth through Grade 3 on reading outcomes in the LAC region? What factors predict the reading outcomes of children from birth through Grade 3? What factors contribute to improving the reading outcomes of children from birth through Grade 3? We searched electronic databases, gray literature, relevant journals, and institutional websites, and we performed keyword hand searches and requested recommendations from key stakeholders. The search was conducted from July to August 2015 and we finalized the search in February 2016. In addition, we used novel computational approaches (specifically Wikilabeling) to maximize the comprehensiveness of the review. This review includes studies that are relevant for the literacy of children in early grades in the LAC region. This literature included both studies with an emphasis on education and studies with a focus on enabling factors that are linked to education programs or reading outcomes. For example, we included studies with a focus on nutrition that may indirectly influence reading outcomes. We developed a theory of change to identify these enabling factors. To answer our research questions, we included four study types. The first types are experimental and multivariate nonexperimental studies that include a control or comparison group. We defined these studies as "quantitative intervention studies." We included these studies to determine the impact of specific programs on EGL outcomes. The second study type consists of qualitatively oriented studies with a focus on interventions. These studies usually emphasize the process of program implementation or the experiences of beneficiaries about the performance of the program. We defined these studies as "qualitative intervention studies." The third study type emphasizes the predictors of reading outcomes but does not focus on the effects of a specific program. We defined these studies as "quantitative nonintervention studies." We included these studies to increase our understanding of intermediate outcomes and their ability to predict reading outcomes. Fourth, we included qualitative studies that discuss literacy in the LAC region but do not include an emphasis on a specific program. We defined these studies as "qualitative nonintervention studies." We systematically coded information from the studies included in the review and critically appraised them. We conducted statistical meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis using the data extracted from quantitative experimental and quasiexperimental studies. We also used narrative synthesis techniques to synthesize the findings from qualitative studies and studies that focused on predictors of literacy outcomes. We included 107 studies with a focus on EGL in the LAC region. Initial searches resulted in 9,696 articles. Following a manual review of the abstracts, we were left with a total of 164 studies that underwent full-text review. During this phase, an additional 57 articles were removed as not relevant, resulting in 107 studies included in the final review. The 107 included articles were comprised of quantitative intervention research, quantitative nonintervention research, qualitative intervention research, and qualitative nonintervention research. We included 23 articles with studies that were experimental or quasiexperimental with a focus on the effects of specific development programs on EGL outcomes. Three of these 23 articles (Cardoso-Martins, Mesquita, & Ehri, 2011; Larraín, Strasser, & Lissi, 2012; Vivas, 1996) each covered two distinct studies bringing the number of quantitative intervention studies included to 26. We also included 61 quantitative studies that had an emphasis on EGL outcomes but did not emphasize a specific intervention, 14 qualitative studies without a focus on a specific intervention, and six qualitative studies that focused on a specific intervention. Most of the studies included in our review of evidence were published journal articles and came from either Mexico or South America; significantly fewer articles were from Central America and the Caribbean. Almost all articles were published in English or Spanish. More than 90% of the articles were focused on high- to upper-middle-income countries. We only found few quantitative intervention studies with a low risk of bias. Of the 26 included studies, seven were rated as having a low risk of selection bias, five were rated as having a medium risk of selection bias, and eight were rated as having a high risk of selection bias. Furthermore, 11 studies were rated as having a low risk of performance bias, seven studies were rated as having a medium risk of performance bias, and eight studies were rated as having a high risk of performance bias. We rated 14 studies as having a low risk of outcome and analysis reporting bias, five studies as having a medium risk of outcome and analysis reporting bias, and seven studies as having a high risk of outcome analysis reporting bias. Finally, we rated 17 studies as having a low risk of other biases, eight studies as having a medium risk of other biases, and one study as having a high risk of other biases. Meta-analyses did not show the average and statistically significant effects of development programs on EGL outcomes, but a narrative synthesis of the limited number of high-quality quantitative intervention studies did show some examples of development programs that may have positive effects on EGL outcomes in specific circumstances and contexts. For example, a meta-analysis that focused on teacher training did not show positive effects on EGL outcomes (95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.17, 0.48; evidence from two programs). However, a study from Chile showed that teacher training programs can possibly positively affect EGL outcomes in high-income economies when they are well implemented and complemented by the sustained coaching of teachers (Pallante & Kim, 2013). In addition, a meta-analysis that focused on nutrition programs did not show positive effects on EGL outcomes (95% CI = −0.08, 0.25; evidence from two programs). However, a study from Guatemala showed some evidence that nutrition programs can have positive effects on EGL outcomes in contexts where stunting and wasting are high (Hoddinott et al., 2013). On average, we also did not find statistically significant effects of technology in education programs on EGL outcomes in the LAC region (SMD = −0.01, 95% CI = −0.13, 0.10; evidence from three studies). However, a study from Peru showed that the distribution of laptops to children can have adverse effects on EGL outcomes, particularly when the distribution of laptops is not complemented by additional programs (Cristia, Ibarrarán, Cueto, Santiago, & Severín, 2012). The findings of the quantitative nonintervention studies indicate that phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension are associated with reading ability. The research also indicates that poverty and child labor are negatively correlated with EGL outcomes. This finding on the importance of poverty and socioeconomic factors for EGL outcomes supports the quantitative intervention result that nutrition programs may be effective in improving EGL outcomes in contexts with high rates of stunting and wasting. Finally, the quantitative nonintervention studies show that the quality of preschool is positively associated with EGL outcomes. Both qualitative and quantitative studies indicated that consideration of context is key to improving reading outcomes. The most frequently discussed topic in qualitative nonintervention articles was the need to promote social learning to improve EGL. We found some indications for publication bias in the studies that focus on the effects of teacher practices, parental involvement, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programs on EGL outcomes in the LAC region; that is, it is possible that some studies that focus on EGL in the LAC region were not published because they did not find statistically significant effects. Our review highlighted several important implications for practice and policy related to the rollout, design, and potential impact of education programs that aim to improve EGL outcomes in the LAC region. First, our quantitative evidence suggests that teacher training, nutrition, and technology in education programs on average do not show positive effects on EGL outcomes in the LAC region. However, the quantitative narrative synthesis shows several factors that could potentially enable positive impacts of these programs on EGL outcomes. These factors include combining teacher training with teacher coaching, targeting school feeding and other nutrition programs to low-income countries with high rates of stunting and wasting, and combining technology in education programs with a strong focus on pedagogical practices. However, the evidence-base is too small to derive strong conclusions about the ability of these components to improve EGL outcomes in the LAC region. Second, the systematic review identified some promising opportunities for improving the design and implementation of education programs that aim to improve EGL outcomes. We found evidence for a strong correlation between PA and reading ability. In addition, studies focused on the importance of PA and phonics to help students become strong decoders. These findings suggest the need to teach PA skills early on, but caution is required considering the small evidence-base in the LAC region. Third, the review suggests that more resources may potentially need to be focused on enhancing the quality of preschools through well-implemented teacher training. The findings of this review suggest that such teacher training could possibly enhance reading outcomes if the training is complemented with sustained teacher coaching. The evidence-base is, however, again too small to derive strong conclusions about the effects of teacher training in preschools. Fourth, ministries of education in low-income countries with high rates of stunting and wasting could consider potentially investing in programs to improve the nutrition outcomes of students in order to improve EGL outcomes. These efforts may be less effective in middle- or high-income countries, however, and more evidence is needed to derive strong conclusions about the effects of programs that aim to improve nutrition on EGL outcomes. In general, the evidence base on what works to improve EGL outcomes in the LAC region is weak. We only found a small number of studies that can present credible estimates on the impact of development programs on EGL outcomes. The majority of the studies suffer from either a medium or high risk of selection bias or a medium or high risk of performance bias. Furthermore, we found some indications for publication bias in the studies that focus on the effects of teacher practices and parental involvement on EGL outcomes in the LAC region. There is evidence of a global learning crisis (Berry, Barnett, & Hinton, 2015; Nakamura, de Hoop, & Holla, 2019; Pritchett & Sandefur, 2013). School enrollment has improved, but EGL and math assessment data have shown high "zero" scores in literacy assessments in many low- and middle-income countries (e.g., Annual Status of Education Report [ASER], 2013; EGRA data, n.d.). The findings of the latest World Development Report on education highlight how educational outcomes are affected directly by the quality of school inputs, school management, and teachers, as well as the education preparedness of learners. In theory, improvements in the quality of one of these factors could result in improvements in learning outcomes. However, the World Development Report (World Bank, 2018) presents evidence demonstrating that learning is unlikely to improve unless the quality of each factor improves. A systematic review of Snilstveit et al. (2012) also argues that education programs are unlikely to improve learning outcomes unless they ease more than one constraint. The LAC region is composed of more than 40 countries and territories on two continents with five different official languages (English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese) and many more regional languages. The region has experienced some positive trends in educational outcomes in the last decade, including improvements in pupil/teacher ratios, increases in the percentage of trained teachers (UNESCO, 2014, p. 8), and improved EGL outcomes for third-grade students in the majority of the countries (see Figure 1). (1) Only changes shown in blue or black are statistically significant. (2) The mean score for the region includes all countries in this graph with equal weight Source: from Are Latin American children's reading skills improving? Highlights of the second and third regional comparative and explanatory studies (SERCE & TERCE). Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research; p. 15. Reprinted with permission However, we still find great disparities among the poor, rural, indigenous, and other disadvantaged groups in the region. In addition, one in four third graders performed so poorly that they were categorized in the lowest level of the reading test, and <5% of the third graders performed so well that they were categorized as achieving the highest levels of reading. Figure 2 depicts these challenges by demonstrating that there are still a significant number of third graders scoring at the lowest levels of reading. In fact, more than 60% of third-grade students have only achieved basic reading skills (Levels 1 and 2). (1) Lowest levels include level 1 and below. (2) The mean score for the region includes all countries except for Cuba, El Salvador, and Honduras with equal weights. (3) Cuba's and El Salvador's scores are from 2006 Source: from Are Latin American children's reading skills improving? Highlights of the second and third regional comparative and explanatory studies (SERCE & TERCE). Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research; p. 19. Reprinted with permission There are many reasons to explain the poor literacy outcomes in the region but one of the key potential reasons is the lack of evidence-based training, preparation and support for teachers. According to Bruns and Luque (2015) "the seven million teachers of LAC are the critical actors in the region's efforts to improve education quality and raise student learning levels, which lag far behind those of OECD countries and East Asian countries such as China." Some of the reasons they cite are the low standards for entry into teacher training, poor quality training programs that are removed from the realities of the classroom, few career incentives, and weak support for teachers once they are on the job. In addition, teachers are not receiving the training they need to deal with students at very different learning levels, different ages, speaking different languages, and so forth, which is the reality of most LAC classrooms. Evidence-informed EGL policy can contribute to mitigating some of the concerns associated with EGL outcomes in the LAC region. However, up until now, education policies to improve reading outcomes have only been informed by evidence to a limited extent. National governments and development agencies in the LAC region have created a range of programs to improve EGL outcomes. Some of these programs specifically aim to improve EGL outcomes while others might improve EGL through indirect mechanisms. This review aimed to include any program that had the potential to affect EGL outcomes. We found and included research on the following program types and practices: teacher training, technology in education programs, school feeding and other nutrition programs, school governance programs, preschool programs, teacher practices and general pedagogical approaches, parental and community participation, and curricula. We discuss each of these intervention types below. Teacher training programs can take several forms ranging from extensive multiyear, one-on-one coaching delivered to teachers in their classrooms to training workshops delivered outside of the classroom. Emerging evidence suggests that teacher training models that emphasize sustained in-class coaching may produce larger effects on learning outcomes than short-term training models in developing countries (Kraft, Blazar, & Hogan, 2018). For instance, a study from South Africa showed that monthly visits from specialized training coaches resulted in statistically significant effects on reading outcomes (0.25 standard deviations), while two 2-day training sessions (provided over the course of a year) did not result in statistically significant effects on reading outcomes (Cilliers & Taylor, 2017). Technology in education programs involve providing technological equipment (e.g., laptops, digital game-based technology, mobile phones) to teachers or learners and integrating these tools into existing curriculums or including technology as additional tools. The equipment may have been refurbished and donated by the private sector or produced specifically for classroom instruction (Barrera-Osorio & Linden, 2009; Cristia et al., 2012). Some programs may complement the distribution of technological equipment with training modules for teachers on the use of technology in the classroom for specific subjects. Other programs do not provide any complementary training. Studies that have examined the impact of technology in education programs on learning outcomes in low- and middle-income countries suggest mixed evidence with a pattern of null results for programs that do not focus on complementary training for teachers (Bulman & Fairlie, 2016, p. 2). However, recent evidence shows more promising results for programs that include a strong focus on teaching at the right level. For example, Muralidharan et al. (2019) showed that a technology-based afterschool instruction program with a strong emphasis on learning at the right level produced large and statistically significant effects on reading outcomes in India. School feeding and nutrition programs vary in their modes of delivery and expected outcomes. Most programs are delivered within schools and provide meals (typically breakfast or lunch) to participating children (Adrogue & Orlicki, 2013; Powell, Walker, Chang, & Grantham-McGregor, 1998). Other programs may provide children with specific nutrients that might be missing from their diets (Maluccio et al., 2009). Nutrition programs may aim to improve school attendance and boost learning outcomes, in addition to aiming to aiming to improve children's food security and nutritional status. School governance interventions address school management issues that affect the delivery, quality, and financing of education. These programs often focus on decentralizing decision-making at the school level or improve parents' and communities' involvement in school management. Some school governance interventions involve cash transfers to schools and provision of matching funds for private investment to schools along with institutional changes, which allows parents to how to funds Other models might provide support to poor schools on identified in a school & education programs often focus on preschool the of primary education. The effects of preschool can be by in the of spent in and quality of school quality of instruction and factors such as & 2012). aimed at parents in children's early literacy take approaches and have shown mixed In developed countries, several interventions focus on to improve children's literacy & have the findings from literacy training programs for parents National but the effectiveness of training on children's literacy has not been through systematic because of among the studies & that curriculum and teacher practices for literacy instruction take approaches as For instance, some interventions teachers to explain to learners reading in order to boost reading comprehension et al., 2012). Other interventions focus on providing PA training to boost et al., interventions involve more actors and may have outcomes. For instance, interventions may focus on the of an existing curriculum to across or teaching that to different levels 2014). We developed a theory of change all types of programs the across enabling and programs or that are associated with intermediate outcomes, and reading outcomes, as well as the that the theory of The theory of change how programs or can contribute to improving EGL outcomes in a manner. Figure 3 depicts the theory of The theory of change with the enabling factors and that are for any intervention or program to be to impact EGL outcomes in the LAC region. These factors to that need to be in to enable programs that are effective in improving reading outcomes. education programs are implemented along with other programs that may have or effects on EGL. implementation the achievement of intermediate EGL outcomes, such as changes in teacher and practices, which in improve EGL. Finally, we include key for implementation and enable implementation to outcomes and impacts. also on potential including at the community in the and of these among The theory of change also that influence how stakeholders with programs or practices, as well as or factors that influence implementation and the in the the in the can be by the enabling This enabling consists of the and other that need to be in to enable the implementation of programs that are effective in improving EGL outcomes. For example, teacher training programs are to be more effective in an with a number of teachers with the to school. Similarly, teaching students how to is to be more effective in an in which students are not or Finally, a strong governance the for high-quality education by that schools and teachers are and have a within which they can programs or practices. The World on Education for in the focus of the education from to quality and a in the quality of education students (World on Education for of the six at the to and support for EGL were the of early and development and in learning There is evidence that programs in low- and middle-income countries that focus on educational without other to learning are not to improve learning outcomes et al., 2012). et al. that to have an impact on student if what is
El autor otorga una visión adecuada de smart contract. No obstante, no se detiene en definir este tipo contractual, pues advierte ciertas características que deberán tenerse en cuenta para afinar su funcionalidad, además de identificar las ventajas del arbitraje en la solución de controversias que nazcan en la ejecución de tales actos jurídicos, siempre que se logre un empalme adecuado con este sistema heterocompositivo.
The goal of this research paper is to summarize the collected works on blockchain concepts, blockchain application area, blockchain problems, and draw appropriate conclusions. Since Blockchain is relatively an innovative technology, a representative sample of research is presented, spanning the last ten years, starting with the early work in this field. Different types of Blockchain use and other digital ledger techniques have been investigated, including their challenges, security and privacy issues. The key motivation of the review study is to detect the most favorable direction for future use of blockchain and research challenges in blockchain.