The sense of belonging in any organization is vital to generate a work motivation with the objective of a good organizational performance, because of this, companies usually take this point into account, ensuring that this leads to greater performance. For this reason, the objective of this article is to determine the relationship between the sense of belonging and the work motivation in the workers of a small Peruvian research company. For this purpose, a quantitative methodology was used, with a cross-sectional descriptive design. The instrument used was a survey consisting of 10 items, which were interpreted using the Likert scale. The survey was conducted and delivered to 24 workers, who were selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. After verifying the validity of the instrument and the study variables by means of Cronbach's Alpha statistic, we proceeded to determine the existence of correlation between the variables, which, using Spearman's Rho coefficient, obtained a 70.2% which demonstrates a moderate positive correlation, therefore it indicates that employees feel highly motivated as they feel an indispensable part of the company, therefore they feel job satisfaction by being part of the organization.

Objective: This study synthesizes current evidence on the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, where relevant, Open Science (OS) practices in enhancing Human Resource Management (HRM) performance. It focuses on recruitment processes, ethical considerations, and employee participation. Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted in Scopus covering the period 2019–2024, following PRISMA guidelines. The initial search yielded 1486 records. After de-duplication and screening using Rayyan, 66 studies (≈ 4.4%) met the inclusion criteria, which targeted peer-reviewed works addressing AI-supported HR decision-making. A combined content and bibliometric analysis was performed in R (Bibliometrix) to identify thematic patterns and conceptual structures. Results: Analysis revealed four thematic clusters: 1) Implementation and employee participation emphasizing human-in-the-loop approaches and effective change management; 2) ethical challenges including algorithmic bias, transparency gaps, and data privacy risks; 3) data-driven decision-making delivering higher accuracy, fewer errors, and personalized recruitment and performance assessment; 4) operational efficiency enabling faster workflows and reduced administrative workloads. AI tools consistently improved selection quality, while OS practices promoted transparency and knowledge sharing. Implications: The successful adoption of AI in HRM requires employee engagement, strong ethical safeguards, and transparent data governance. Future research should address the long-term cultural, organizational, and well-being impacts of AI integration, as well as its sustainability.

The effects of aid dependency on preventing the achievement of sustainable development in Africa has not been given appropriate academic attention. Aid dependency in Africa is undoubtedly among the most factors that have promoted poverty and underdevelopment. Aid dependency which hindered the growth of local innovation, promoted divisions that has affected good governance for sustainable development. Aid dependency has promoted chronic poverty, mental laziness and unstable health and well-being. It has ignited unhealthy condition that has created a perpetual vicious cycle of poverty that prevents the achievement of sustainable development. The study found that planning diplomacy can serve as a solution to aid diplomacy and address its effects thus promoting the achievement of sustainable development. Planning diplomacy was found to have critical links with Africa’s communalism theory, thus making it an ideal approach to addressing the effects of aid dependency in Africa. Planning diplomacy was found to promote local and business in collective manner. It is through this collective approach that sustainable development can be achieved in Africa. Planning diplomacy was found a key for sustainable development because it makes good use of foreign aids, promotes local ownership thus strengthens sustainable economic growth and development that makes sustainable development achievable. Planning diplomacy was equally found a remedy to aid dependency because it enhances knowledge and skills transfer. Knowledge and skills transfer promotes sustainable development because it facilitates sharing of skills that brings innovation and technologies to local citizens in a collective manner. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology with the use of secondary data collected from existing literature published in the public domain. Collected data was analysed and interpreted through document analysis technique.   

The food supply chain in South Africa faces significant challenges related to transparency, traceability, and consumer trust. As concerns about food safety, quality, and sustainability grow, there is an increasing need for innovative solutions to address these issues. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising tool to enhance transparency and accountability across various industries, including the food sector. This study sought to explore the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing through promoting transparency that enable the achievement of sustainable food supply chain infrastructure in South Africa. The study found that blockchain technology used in food supply chain creates an immutable and decentralized ledger of transactions that has the capacity to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility of food products from farm to table. This increased transparency can help mitigate risks associated with food fraud, contamination, and inefficiencies in the supply chain. The study found that blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance supply chain efficiency and trust among stakeholders. This technology used and/or applied in South Africa can reshape the agricultural sector by improving production and distribution processes. Its integration in the food supply chain infrastructure can equally improve data management and increase transparency between farmers and food suppliers.There is need for policy-makers and scholars in the fields of service delivery and food security to conduct more research in blockchain technology and its roles in creating a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy food supply chain infractructure that address food supply problems in South Africa. The paper adopted a qualitative methodology to collect data, and document and content analysis techniques were used to interpret collected data. 

The rapid expansion of smart cities has led to the widespread deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices for real-time data collection and urban optimization. However, these interconnected systems face critical cybersecurity risks, including data tampering, unauthorized access, and privacy breaches. This paper proposes a blockchain-based framework designed to enhance the security, integrity, and resilience of IoT data in smart city environments. Leveraging a private blockchain, the system ensures decentralized, tamper-proof data storage, and transaction verification through digital signatures and a lightweight Proof of Work consensus mechanism. Smart contracts are employed to automate access control and respond to anomalies in real time. A Python-based simulation demonstrates the framework’s effectiveness in securing IoT communications. The system supports rapid transaction validation with minimal latency and enables timely detection of anomalous patterns through integrated machine learning. Evaluations show that the framework maintains consistent performance across diverse smart city components such as transportation, healthcare, and building security. These results highlight the potential of the proposed solution to enable secure, scalable, and real-time IoT ecosystems for modern urban infrastructures.