This paper presents a practical approach to empowering software entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia through a unique course offered by the Software Engineering department at Prince Sultan University. The course, SE495 Emergent Topics in Software Engineering: Software Entrepreneurship, combines software engineering and entrepreneurship to equip students with the necessary skills to develop innovative software solutions that solve real-world problems. The course covers a range of topics, including platform development, market research, and pitching to investors, and features guest speakers from the industry. By the end of the course, students will have gained a deep understanding of the software development process and its intersection with entrepreneurship and will be able to develop a working prototype of a software solution that solves a real-world problem. The course’s practical approach ensures that students are well-prepared to navigate the complexities of the digital and software sectors and succeed in an ever-changing business landscape.

This study evaluates the influence of quality certificates on sustainable food production in Poland, considering economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Analyzing 25 different certificates, the research explores their criteria, procedures, and costs across various food product categories, including meat, fish, and plant-based products. The study provides a detailed review of certification processes, from initiation to audits and inspections. It identifies both commonalities and differences among certificates, each addressing unique aspects such as environmental impact, worker rights, and product origins. Despite the diversity in standards and procedures, the study underscores the need for standardized international criteria to improve transparency and meet consumer expectations, highlighting the significant role of quality certificates in advancing sustainable food production.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial economic and psychological impact on workers in Saudi Arabia. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on the financial and mental well-being of Saudi employees in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Purpose: The COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in significant economic and societal ramifications. Current study indicates that the pandemic has not only precipitated an economic crisis but has also given rise to several psychological and emotional crises. This article provides a conceptual examination of how the pandemic impacts the economic and mental health conditions of Saudi workers, based on contemporary Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) models. Method: The current study employed a qualitative methodology and utilized a sample survey strategy. The data was gathered from Saudi workers residing in major cities of Saudi Arabia. The samples were obtained from professionals such as managers, doctors, and engineers, as well as non-professionals like unskilled and low-skilled laborers, who are employed in various public and private sectors. A range of statistical tools, including Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Pearson’s Correlation, Factor analysis, Reliability test, Chi-square test, and regression approach, were employed to analyze and interpret the results. Result: According to the data, the pandemic has caused a wide range of economic problems, including high unemployment and underemployment rates, income instability, and different degrees of pressure on workers to find work. Feelings of insecurity (about food and environmental safety), worry, dread, stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns have been generated by these challenges. The rate of mental health decline differs among demographics. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has universally affected all aspects of our lives worldwide. It resulted in an extended shutdown of educational institutions, factories, offices, and businesses. Without a question, it has profoundly transformed the work environment, professions, and lifestyles of billions of individuals worldwide. There is a high occurrence of poor psychological well-being among Saudi workers. However, it has been demonstrated that both economic health and mental health interventions can effectively alleviate the mental health burden in this population.

The holding of soccer events has an important impact on modern urban activities, which is conducive to the economic development, social harmony, cultural integration and regional integration of cities. However, massive energy is consumed during the event preparation and infrastructure construction, resulting in an increase in the city’s carbon emissions. For the sustainable development of cities, it is important to explore the theoretical mechanism and practical effectiveness of the relationship between soccer events and urban carbon emissions, and to adopt appropriate policy management measures to control carbon emissions of soccer events. With the development of green technology, digitalization, and public transportation, the preparation and management methods of soccer events are diversified, and the possibility of carbon reduction of the event is further increased. This paper selects 17 cities in China from 2011 to 2019 and explores the complex impact of soccer events on urban carbon emissions by using green technology innovation, digitalization level and public transportation as threshold variables. The results show that: (1) Hosting soccer events increases carbon emissions with an impact coefficient of 0.021; (2) There is a negative single-threshold effect of green innovation technology, digitalization level and public transportation on the impact of soccer events on carbon emissions, with the impact coefficients of soccer events decreasing by 0.008, 0.01 and 0.06, respectively, when the threshold variable crosses the threshold. These findings will enhance the attention of city managers to the management of carbon emissions from soccer events and provide guidance for reducing carbon emissions from soccer events through green technology innovation, digital means and optimization of public transportation.

The nexus between foreign direct investment, natural resource endowment, and their impact on sustained economic growth, is contentious. This study investigates the resource curse hypothesis and the effects of FDI on economic growth in Kazakhstan. The study covers the period from 1990 to 2022 and employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Toda-Yamamoto causality methods. The Bounds cointegration results reveal the existence of long-term equilibria between per capita GDP and the predictors. The findings reveal a significant impact of oil rents on economic growth, contradicting the resource curse hypothesis and suggesting a resource boon instead. In stark contrast, the impact of FDI on Kazakhstan’s economic growth is found to be insignificant, despite the presence of a causal nexus. Furthermore, economic freedom and export diversification have a positive significant impact on economic growth, while inflation exhibits a negative but significant impact. Although governance has a direct impact on GDP per capita, it is deemed insignificant, as the negative average governance index implies poor governance. Expectedly, the result establishes a causal effect between export diversification, economic freedom, governance, oil rents, and economic growth. This underscores the fundamental role played by the interplay of diversification, economic freedom, governance, and oil rents in fostering sustainable economic growth. In addition, economic freedom stimulates gross fixed capital formation, indicating that it enhances domestic investment. Notably, the findings refute the crowding-out effect of FDI on domestic investment in Kazakhstan. Consequently, to escape the resource curse and the Dutch disease syndrome, the study advocates for enhancing good governance capabilities in Kazakhstan. Thus, we recommend that good governance could reconcile the twin goals of economic diversification and deriving benefits from oil resources, ultimately transforming oil wealth into a boon in Kazakhstan.

This research explores the necessity and the effect of job resources for undergraduates’ career satisfaction during work experience in an apprenticeship program. Additionally, we examine the extent to which a supportive environment enhances apprentice career satisfaction by providing access to valuable learning experiences. We propose PLS equation modelling with a sample of 81 students who completed a dual apprenticeship degree in Business Administration and Management at Spanish University. The study finds that all three workplace job resources are necessary for career satisfaction among apprentices. Learning opportunities and social relations have significant effects, while job control contributes only marginally. It highlights that learning opportunities enhance social relations, emphasizing the importance of feedback. The study extends job resource research to university level apprenticeships, showing that without these resources, apprentices lack career satisfaction. It highlights that learning opportunities are crucial for satisfaction through social relations and offers guidance for designing effective workplace training programs.