The ability to take advantage of new digital solutions and technology will give companies a competitive edge, and operational optimization remains a major concern. A significant area of risk is cyber security because software-based technologies are integral to ship operations. Particular emphasis has been placed on the vulnerabilities of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), since it is an essential part of many maritime facilities and hence a target for hackers. Presently, research has shown that increased integration of new enabling technologies, like the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data, is driving the dramatic proliferation of cybercrimes. However, most of the attacks are related to ransomware attacks and/or with direct attack to the information technology (IT) and infrastructure. Nevertheless, there is a strong trend toward increased systems integration, which will produce substantial business value by making it easier to operate autonomous vessels, utilizing smart ports more, reducing the need for labour, and improving economic stability and service efficiency. Cybersecurity is becoming more and more important as a result of the quick digital transformation of the offshore and maritime sectors, which has also brought new dangers and laws. The marine sector has started to take cybersecurity seriously in light of the multiple documented instances of cyberattacks that have exposed business or personal data, caused large financial losses, and caused other problems. However, the body of existing research on emerging threats in maritime cyberspace is either inadequate or ignores important variables. Based on the most recent developments in the maritime sector, the article presents a classification of the most serious cyberthreats as well as the risks to cybersecurity in maritime operations and possible mitigation strategies from an educational research perspective.

This study examines factors associated with an increasingly poor perception of the novel coronavirus in Africa using a designed electronic questionnaire to collect perception-based information from participants across Africa from twenty-one African countries (and from all five regions of Africa) between 1 and 25 February 2022. The study received 66.7% of responses from West Africa, 12.7% from Central Africa, 4.6% from Southern Africa, 15% from East Africa, and 1% from North Africa. The majority of the participants are Nigerians (56%), 14.1% are Cameroonians, 8.7% are Ghanaians, 9.3% are Kenyans, 2% are South Africans, 2.1% are DR-Congolese, 1.6% are Tanzanians, 1.2% are Rwandans, 0.4% are Burundians, and others are Botswana’s, Chadians, Comoros, Congolese, Gambians, Malawians, South Sudanese, Sierra Leoneans, Ugandans, Zambians, and Zimbabweans. All responses were coded on a five-point Likert scale. The study adopts descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis for the data analysis. The descriptive analysis of the study shows that the level of ignorance or poor “perception” of COVID-19 in Africa is very high (87% of individuals sampled). It leads to skepticism towards complying with preventive measures as advised by the WHO and directed by the national government across Africa. We adopted logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with a poor perception of the virus in Africa. The study finds that religion (belief or faith) and media misinformation are the two leading significant causes of ignorance or poor “perception” of COVID-19 in Africa, with log odd of 0.4775 (resulting in 1.6120 odd ratios) and 1.3155 (resulting in 3.7265 odd ratios), respectively. The study concludes that if the poor attitude or perception towards complying with the preventive measures continues, COVID-19 cases in Africa may increase beyond the current spread.

COVID-19 is among the tremendous negative pandemics that have been recorded in human history. The study was conducted to give a breakdown of the effect of post-COVID-19 mental health among individuals residing in a developing country. The two scales, namely DASS-21 and IES-R, were employed to collect the essential related data. The findings indicated that anxiety was a typical and common mental issue among the population, including up to 56.75% of the participants having extremely severe anxiety, 13.18% reporting severe anxiety. Notably, no one has anxiety and depression under moderate levels. Additionally, there is 51.92% depression and 43.64% stress ranging from severe to extremely severe levels. Furthermore, there were significant statistical differences among the data on stress, anxiety, and depression according to gender (males and females) and subgroups (students, the elderly, and medical healthcare workers). Besides, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the study was relatively high, especially when compared to the figures reported by the World Health Organization. Moreover, stress, anxiety, and depression all displayed positive correlations with post-traumatic stress disorder. This is big data on the mental health of the entire population that helps the country’s government propose policy strategies to support, medical care and social security for the population.

This systematic literature review examines the convergence of entrepreneurship and information technology between 2005 and 2024. It investigates how the emergence of information technologies such as social networks, smart devices, big data, and cloud computing have transformed business operations and entrepreneurial approaches. The study use technologies such as Bibliometrix to analyze academic literature and identify research trends, knowledge structures, and their evolutionary routes. During the specified time frame, a grand total of 292 articles were published by 777 writers. These publications have played a key role in redirecting academic focus from traditional entrepreneurship to the field of digital entrepreneurship and the applications of information technology. A thematic analysis uncovers a shift from theoretical investigation to practical implementations and multidisciplinary research, while a co-citation analysis highlights important contributors and influential works. This study emphasizes the crucial importance of information technology in influencing entrepreneurial behaviors and strategic business decisions. It also offers valuable insights for future research and entrepreneurial practice in the information age.

This study seeks to explore the uses, behaviors and perceptions of university students regarding mobile phones to help elucidate whether there is a relationship between the use of mobiles and the academic performance of university students. A quantitative approach based on an ad hoc questionnaire, applied before the pandemic, was used to gather evidence in this regard, which revealed the uses and educational visions of mobile phones in a convenience sample of 314 university students from nine different degree courses in two Spanish universities. Three major conclusions are formulated as part of future lines of development. First, although there is frequent use of mobile phones, the image of the mobile as a learning resource in the university classroom does not reach one-third of students. Second, although this study does not determine the causal relationship, there is a statistically significant negative relationship between average grades achieved and hours of dedication to the mobile phone. Finally, students who are unable to spend more than one hour without checking their phone obtain a significantly lower average mark than those who can stay more than one hour without checking their phone.

The COVID-19 epidemic has given rise to a new situation that requires the qualification and training of teachers to operate in educational crises. Amidst the pandemic, online training has emerged as the predominant approach for delivering teacher training. The COVID-19 pandemic has created potential opportunities and challenges for online training, which may have a long-lasting impact on online training procedures in the post-pandemic era. This study aims to determine the primary potential and constraints of online training as seen by instructors. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) identified online training opportunities and challenges by examining the to-be-applied behavioral intention variables that influence trainees. These variables include individual, system, social, and organizational factors. The study has applied the Phenomenological technique to address the research issues, using the Semi-structured interview tool to get a comprehensive knowledge of the online training phenomena amongst the pandemic. A total of seven participants were selected from a list of general education teachers at the Central Education Office of the Education Department in Bisha Governorate. These people were deliberately selected because of their high frequency of completing training sessions throughout the epidemic. A series of interviews was conducted with these participants. The findings indicated that the primary prospects included both equal opportunities and digital culture within the individual factors, enrollment in training programs and variation in training programs across organizational characteristics, the use of digital material and electronic archiving within the system variables, engaging in the exchange of personal experiences, providing constructive criticism, and fostering favorable communication within the realm of social factors. However, the primary obstacles included deficiencies in digital competencies, compatibility of trainees’ attributes, and dearth of desire as per individual factors, the temporal arrangement of training programs, as well as the lack of prior preparation and preparedness within the realm of organizational factors. Other challenges included the absence of trainer assessment, limited diversity of training exercises, and technological obstacles within the system factors, and ultimately the absence of engagement with the instructor, and lack of engagement with peers are within the social variable.