The sustainable development of the global economy and society necessitates the integration of environmental and socially responsible management, known as ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance). Despite growing recognition of ESG’s importance, the strategic management of ESG factors in Kazakhstan’s telecommunications industry remains underexplored. This study bridges this gap by analyzing Kazakh telecom’s ESG strategies from 2019 to 2021 through a cross-sectional design and semi-structured interviews with 12 industry experts. Utilizing the National Rating Agency (NRA) methodology, the research evaluates environmental, social, and governance variables. Key findings reveal that Kazakh telecom excels in “Climate Change” and “Human Capital Management” but needs significant improvements in “Environmental Impact” and “Society.” The study offers specific recommendations such as enhancing corporate volunteering, responsible marketing, service quality, and integrating sustainable practices. The primary contributions of this research include actionable insights for improving ESG strategies in telecommunications companies and advocating for more systematic and standardized ESG assessment approaches. This study expands the understanding of how ESG principles can enhance competitiveness and sustainable development in the telecommunications industry, providing valuable guidance for industry practitioners and policymakers. It offers insights into effective ESG implementation practices and highlights critical areas requiring attention to drive sustainable development in telecommunications.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can be an effective way of delivering infrastructure. However, achieving value for money can be difficult if government agencies are not equipped to manage them effectively. Experience from OECD countries shows that the availability of finance is not the main obstacle in delivering infrastructure. Governance—effective decision-making—is the most influential aspect on the quality of an investment, including PPP investments. In 2012, the OECD together with its member countries developed principles to ensure that PPPs deliver value for money transparently and prudently, supported by the right institutional capacities and processes to harness the upside of PPPs without jeopardizing fiscal sustainability. Survey results from OECD countries show that some dimensions of the recommended practices are well applied and past and ongoing reforms show progress. However, other principles have not been well implemented, reflecting the continuing need for improving public governance of PPPs across countries.

This article analyses the case of Dubai’s smart city from a public policy perspective and demonstrates how critical it is to rely on the use of the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Effective use of this model can guarantee the building of a smart city that could potentially fulfill the vision of the political leadership in Dubai and serve as a catalyst and blueprint for other Gulf states that wish to follow Dubai’s example. This article argues that Dubai’s smart city project enjoys significant political support and has ambitious plans for sustainable growth, and that the government has invested heavily in developing the necessary institutional, legal/regulatory, and supervisory frameworks that are essential foundations for the success of any PPP project. The article also points to some important insights that the Dubai government can learn from the international experience with the delivery of smart cities through PPPs.

This study aims to discover the relationship between growth sales, capital structure, and corporate governance on financial performance of energy and basic material sector public companies in Indonesia. Financial performance is observed from 2 aspects: market performance (Tobin's Q) and profitability performance (ROA). The population in this study is firms in the energy and basic material sector on Indonesia Stock Exchange. The total population is 248 firms. 39 firms were selected as samples. The data is obtained from the annual report which starts from the period 2018 to 2022. A total of the population was determined as samples by purposive sampling method. Data analysis using panel data regression. The result shows: 1) Growth Sales have a significant influence on market performance; however, it does not have a significant effect on profitability performance. 2) Capital Structure significantly influences market and profitability performance 3) Corporate governance significantly influences market and profitability performance. Suggestions for companies that must strive to increase sales, maintain good corporate governance and pay attention to the company's capital structure in a balanced manner.

This study examines the factors influencing e-government adoption in the Tangerang city government from 2010 to 2022. We gathered statistics from multiple sources to reduce joint source prejudice, resulting in a preliminary illustration of 1670 annotations from 333 regions or cities. These regions included major urban centers such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Makassar, and Denpasar, as well as other significant municipalities across Indonesia. After removing anomalous values, we retained a final illustration of 1656 annotations. Results indicate that higher-quality digital infrastructure significantly boosts e-government adoption, underscoring the necessity for resilient digital platforms. Contrary to expectations, increased budget allocation for digital initiatives negatively correlates with adoption levels, suggesting the need for efficient spending policies. IT training for staff showed mixed results, highlighting the importance of identifying optimal training environments. The study also finds that policy adaptability and organizational complexity moderate the relationships between digital infrastructure, budget, IT training, and e-government adoption. These findings emphasize the importance of a holistic approach integrating technological, organizational, and policy aspects to enhance e-government implementation. The insights provided are valuable for policymakers and practitioners aiming to improve digital governance and service delivery. This study reveals the unexpected negative correlation between budget allocation and e-government adoption and introduces policy adaptability and organizational complexity as critical moderating factors, offering new insights for optimizing digital governance.