On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, receiving recognition from over half of the UN member states, the majority of the European Union, Council of Europe and NATO member states, as well as the most industrialized states in the global economic forum. However, Kosovo did not receive recognition from Serbia, China, Russia, India, certain states with diplomatic grievances with the USA, communist dictatorial states like North Korea, and five EU member states, including Romania, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Spain. This article focuses on Spain’s possibilities and reasons for recognizing Kosovo or not. Using qualitative methodology, five university professors—two from Madrid, one from Barcelona, and two Kosovar professors, one from the University of Pristina and the other from the University of Winchester, England—were interviewed with open-ended questions in November-December 2023. The research identified opportunities and reasons for Spain’s hesitation in recognizing Kosovo, including Spain’s domestic context, historical relations with the Western Balkans and the newly formed countries after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, as well as the European and international political context. The research results show that Spain has been hesitant to recognize new states quickly, not only in the case of Kosovo, due to the context of autonomist aspirations within Spain and reluctance to draw parallels between Kosovo and Spain’s autonomous regions.

The study examined the mediating role of supply chain security performance on the relationship between supply chain security practices and supply chain disruptions occurrences in the manufacturing industry in Ghana. Drawing on a survey of 336 manufacturing firms, dynamic capability, and contingency theories were applied using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the conceptual model. It was discovered that both direct and indirect hypotheses supported the findings of the study. The results indicate that Ghanaian manufacturing firms have made progress in implementing supply chain security measures. The findings revealed that the adoption of comprehensive supply chain security practices is positively associated with improved performance metrics, including reduced inventory losses and damages, faster order fulfillment and delivery times, lower costs related to security incidents, and enhanced brand reputation and customer trust. Policymakers can leverage these insights to develop support programs aimed at strengthening the security capabilities of manufacturing firms, ensuring they are equipped to compete effectively in both local and global markets, improving security performance, and reducing the likelihood and impact of supply chain disruptions. In the quest of bridging the gap between theory and practice, this research contributes valuable knowledge to the discourse on supply chain security in developing countries, offering a roadmap for enhancing resilience and performance in the manufacturing sector.

Health data governance is essential for optimal processing of data collection, sharing, and reuse. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed practical guidelines for managing health data during the pandemic, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that many countries still lack the use of health data for decision-making. Therefore, this research aimed to identify and assess the challenges faced by health organization in implementing health data governance from various countries based on research articles. The challenges were assessed based on key components of health data governance from practitioner and scientist perspectives. These components include stakeholder, policy, data management, organization, data governance maturity assessment, and goals. The method used followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for collecting and reporting. Data were collected from several databases online with large repositories of academic studies, including IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, National Library of Medicine, ProQuest, Taylor and Francis Group, Scopus, and Wiley Online libraries. Based on the 41 papers reviewed, the results showed that policy was found to be the biggest challenge for health data governance. This was followed by data management such as quality, ownership, and access, as well as stakeholders and data governance organization. However, there were no challenges regarding maturity assessment and data governance goals, as the majority of research focused on implementation. Policy and policymaker awareness were identified as major components for the implementation of health data governance. To address challenges in data management and governance organization, creating committees focused on these components proved to be an effective solution. These results provided valuable recommendations for regulators and leaders in a healthcare organization to optimally implement health data governance.

The objective of this research is to assess the current state of e-banking in Saudi Arabia. The banking industry is rapidly evolving to use e-banking as an efficient and appropriate tool for customer satisfaction. Traditional banks recommend online banking as a particular service to their customers in order to provide them with faster and better service. As a result of the rapid advancement of technology, banks have used e-banking and mobile banking to both accumulate users and conduct banking transactions. Nonetheless, the primary challenge with electronic banking is satisfying customers who use Internet banking. Thus, the current study seeks to determine what factors affect e-payment adoption with e-banking services. mobile banking, e-wallets, and e-banking, as well as the mediating role of customer trust, can drive e-payment adoption. We distributed the survey online and offline to a total of 336 participants. A convenience sampling technique was used; structure equation modeling (SEM), convergence and discriminant validity; and model fitness were achieved through Smart PLS 3. The findings have shown that mobile banking, e-banking, and e-wallets are three significant independent variables that mediate the role of customer trust in influencing e-payment adoption when using Internet banking services. They should emphasize trust-building activities, specifically in relation to the new ways of e-payment such as e-banking, m-payments, NFC, and e-proximity, which will further help reduce consumer perceptions of risk. The system developers should design user-friendly applications and e-payment apps to enhance consumers’ belief in using them for payment purposes over any Internet-enabled device. They should promptly respond to consumers in cases of failed e-payment transactions and be able to promptly demonstrate transparency in settling claims for such failed transactions. Future studies could benefit from implementing probability sampling to facilitate comparisons with non-probability sampling studies. This study selected responses from only Saudi Arabian adopters of mobile payment technology. We need to conduct research on non-adopters and analyze the results using the model we proposed in this study. Due to time and resource constraints, in depth research using a mixed-methods approach could not be conducted. Future studies can utilize a mixed-methods approach for further understanding.

The current state of the Moroccan mountains in general, and the Beni Iznassen Mountains in particular, is the result of a dynamic process that has accelerated in recent years due to rapid demographic growth and the associated pressure on mountain natural resources. This has led to significant degradation, varying in severity across different areas within the Beni Iznassen Mountain range. In the context of these imbalances between natural mountain resources and the daily needs of the local population, there has been an emergence of various challenges, such as poverty and marginalization, affecting the lives of the region’s residents and a noticeable decline in socioeconomic indicators. This situation has consequently driven migration towards regions that better meet the population’s needs. Therefore, it has become essential to pay attention to this natural area by restoring its residents’ livelihoods, breaking their isolation, and rationalizing the use of its land-based natural resources. This has made the region a focus of territorial development efforts by both the state and local stakeholders.

This research explores the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) across high-risk industries, highlighting its pivotal role in mitigating the global incidence of occupational incidents and diseases, which result in approximately 2.3 million fatalities annually. Traditional OHS practices often fall short in completely preventing workplace incidents, primarily due to limitations in human-operated risk assessments and management. The integration of AI technologies has been instrumental in automating hazardous tasks, enhancing real-time monitoring, and improving decision-making through comprehensive data analysis. Specific AI applications discussed include drones and robots for risky operations, computer vision for environmental monitoring, and predictive analytics to pre-empt potential hazards. Additionally, AI-driven simulations are enhancing training protocols, significantly improving both the safety and efficiency of workers. Various studies supporting the effectiveness of these AI applications indicate marked improvements in risk management and incident prevention. By transitioning from reactive to proactive safety measures, the implementation of AI in OHS represents a transformative approach, aiming to substantially reduce the global burden of occupational injuries and fatalities in high-risk sectors.