Assessing Effectiveness of Humanitarian Activities against COVID-19 Disruption: The Role of Blockchain-Enabled Digital Humanitarian Network (BT-DHN)

Recycling of e-waste power cables using microwave-induced pyrolysis - process characteristics and facile recovery of copper metal

This article reports on recycling e-wastes using a VVF power cable as a model through a rapid pyrolytic process following exposure to microwave radiation. This occurred via three possible pathways: (i) discharges at the copper wire on exposure to microwaves, with heat produced causing the thermal decomposition of the covering material - a relationship exists between the length of the copper wire and the wavelength of the microwaves; (ii) microwave heating softened the wire's covering material and ultimately led to its decomposition - in addition, the coating material carbonized by the discharge is rapidly heated by microwaves; (iii) the carbonaceous component present in the covering material absorbed the microwaves, causing the thermal decomposition. On the other hand, for VVF cables longer than 12 cm canceled the wavelength-dependent process, and the longer the VVF cable was, the more efficient was the microwave-induced pyrolysis, therefore eliminating the need to pre-cut the waste VVF cable into smaller pieces. The microwave-induced pyrolysis showed that chlorine could be recycled as HCl and the carbon and activated carbon produced could be recovered as carbon black. While conventional pyrolysis might produce tar substances and polycyclic aromatic compounds, microwave pyrolysis has been shown to enable extremely rapid resource recovery, with only C6 to C12 linear alcohols produced as intermediates; no formation of tar-like substances, polycyclic aromatic compounds, or dioxins were detected. Clearly, microwave-induced pyrolysis has proven suitable for recycling/recovery of e-waste containing metals and requires no pre-treatment to separate the plastics from the metals.

Assessment of implementation barriers of blockchain technology in public healthcare: evidences from developing countries

The widespread use of Blockchain technology (BT) in nations that are developing remains in its early stages, necessitating a more comprehensive evaluation using efficient and adaptable approaches. The need for digitalization to boost operational effectiveness is growing in the healthcare sector. Despite BT's potential as a competitive option for the healthcare sector, insufficient research has prevented it being fully utilised. This study intends to identify the main sociological, economical, and infrastructure obstacles to BT adoption in developing nations' public health systems. To accomplish this goal, the study employs a multi-level analysis of blockchain hurdles using hybrid approach. The study's findings provide decision- makers with guidance on how to proceed, as well as insight into implementation challenges.

Digital humanitarianism and crisis management: an empirical study of antecedents and consequences

Purpose

This study proposes a digital humanitarianism dynamic capability (DHDC) paradigm that explores the direct effects of DHDC on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the mediating effects of process-oriented dynamic capabilities (PODC) on the relationship between DHDC and DRR.

Design/methodology/approach

To validate the proposed model, the authors used an offline survey to gather data from 260 district magistrates in India managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

The results affirm the importance of the DHDC system for DRR. The findings depict that the impact of PODC on DRR in the DHDC system is negligible. This study can help policymakers in planning during emergencies.

Research limitations/implications

Technological innovation has reshaped the way humanitarian organizations (HOs) respond to humanitarian crises. These organizations are able to provide immediate aid to affected communities through digital humanitarianism (DH), which involves significant innovations to match the specific needs of people in real-time through online platforms. Despite the growing need for DH, there is still limited know-how regarding how to leverage such technological concepts into disaster management. Moreover, the impact of DH on DRR is rarely examined.

Originality/value

The present study examines the impact of the dynamic capabilities of HOs on DRR by applying the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capability theory (DCT).

Blockchain Technology and Artificial Intelligence Based Decentralized Access Control Model to Enable Secure Interoperability for Healthcare

Healthcare, one of the most important industries, is data-oriented, but most of the research in this industry focuses on incorporating the internet of things (IoT) or connecting medical equipment. Very few researchers are looking at the data generated in the healthcare industry. Data are very important tools in this competitive world, as they can be integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) to promote sustainability. Healthcare data include the health records of patients, drug-related data, clinical trials data, data from various medical equipment, etc. Most of the data management processes are manual, time-consuming, and error-prone. Even then, different healthcare industries do not trust each other to share and collaborate on data. Distributed ledger technology is being used for innovations in different sectors including healthcare. This technology can be incorporated to maintain and exchange data between different healthcare organizations, such as hospitals, insurance companies, laboratories, pharmacies, etc. Various attributes of this technology, such as its immutability, transparency, provenance etc., can bring trust and security to the domain of the healthcare sector. In this paper, a decentralized access control model is proposed to enable the secure interoperability of different healthcare organizations. This model uses the Ethereum blockchain for its implementation. This model interfaces patients, doctors, chemists, and insurance companies, empowering the consistent and secure exchange of data. The major concerns are maintaining a history of the transactions and avoiding unauthorized updates in health records. Any transaction that changes the state of the data is reflected in the distributed ledger and can be easily traced with this model. Only authorized entities can access their respective data. Even the administrator will not be able to modify any medical records.

Humanitarian Actors’ Cooperation Network in the Social Sustainability Context. Evidence from Poland

The humanitarian sector is responsible for minimizing people’s suffering during humanitarian crises and consists of several groups of stakeholders, who are named humanitarian actors (HAs). They play different integrative and supportive roles; however, intersectoral cooperation is not structured and usually relies on chaos. Thus, this research aimed to answer two questions: (1) what is the level of cooperation of Polish humanitarian organizations with other HAs?; and (2) who could be a leader(s) of humanitarian sector coordination and synchronization, to ensure social sustainability? The research was conducted among 100 Polish humanitarian organizations’ at the turn of the year 2021/2022, with an anonymous survey. The main aim of the paper was to assess the HA cooperation network from the Polish humanitarian organizations’ perspective. To conduct the research, a social network analysis (SNA) was performed. The results suggest a challenge in integrating HAs’ activities. Moreover, their synchronization is hampered by the significant dispersion of activities and the multitude of HAs involved in humanitarian actions. As a result of the SNA, a set of four groups of HAs with different roles were distinguished: a group of leaders, a group of followers, a group of supporters and suppliers, and a group of secondary supporters.