Malaysia’s economic development strategies have evolved significantly since independence, focusing on reducing poverty, enhancing education, and integrating technology to foster sustainable growth. Despite substantial progress, challenges persist in achieving inclusive development across rural and urban sectors. This study examines the effectiveness of Malaysia’s New Economic Model (NEM) in addressing poverty and unemployment through technological and educational advancements. Employing a qualitative approach, it reviews literature on technology’s impact on economic growth, poverty alleviation, and the role of tertiary education in national development. Analysis reveals that while NEM initiatives have attracted foreign investment and improved infrastructure, gaps remain in educational access and technological self-reliance. The findings underscore the need for targeted policies that enhance educational outcomes, promote inclusive technology adoption, and address structural inequalities to achieve sustainable economic development. Recommendations include bolstering vocational training, enhancing rural infrastructure, and fostering public-private partnerships in technology innovation to ensure equitable economic progress.

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. 

This study aims to explore the feasibility of using virtual reality technology to educate students with learning difficulties in the Asir region. To achieve the study aims, the researcher employed a descriptive design and deployed a quantitative technique, depending on the questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection. The research was carried out on a cohort of 240 educators hailing from the Asir region who were enlisted through a process of random sampling. The results of this study show that factors like infrastructure, human resources, administrative regulation, and student population have an impact on the use of virtual reality technology. The results suggest that there are no statistically significant differences in the development of using virtual reality technology among teachers of students with learning disabilities in the Asir region when taking into account factors such as experience and level of qualification.

Science and technology play an extremely important part in today’s world. They are the key for countries to reach a certain level of economic and social development. Thus, in order to catch up with the common development of mankind, countries have issued their own policies and laws on science and technology activities. National science and technology policies aim to enhance social welfare, foster sustainable development, and advance global scientific and technological progress. Vietnam is considered as one of the countries attaching great importance to science and technology. Therefore, even in the law with the highest legal value—the Constitution has solemnly recognized the position and role of science and technology as the leading national policy, playing a major role in the cause of the country’s socio-economic development. However, in the face of the requirements of sustainable development and the desire for the country’s prosperity and strength, policies and laws on science and technology in particular and policies and laws in general of Vietnam must be perfected and renewed continuously, especially in the context of globalization and sustainable development requirements, modern nation as it is today. Therefore, the article focuses on clarifying the situation of adjusting policies and laws on science and technology in Vietnam during the past, thereby proposing new complete solutions in the coming time. This is the basis for policy makers to refer to in the process of developing policies and laws on science and technology in Vietnam.

Technological advancements are transforming agriculture, yet adoption rates among agricultural extension officers, especially in regions like West Java, remain modest due to several challenges. This study applies the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to investigate factors influencing the adoption of agricultural technologies by agricultural extension officers in West Java. Specifically, we explore the role of socialization, training, access to technology, cost, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness in shaping behavioral intention and actual adoption. Data were collected from 295 agricultural extension officers via structured surveys and analyzed using SmartPLS 4 software. The findings indicate that socialization and training collectively enhance both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, while Technology Investment Worth specifically enhances perceived usefulness by emphasizing the value of the investment. Access to technology also plays a critical role in increasing ease of use perceptions. Both perceived ease of use and usefulness positively influence behavioral intention, which in turn is a strong predictor of actual adoption. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers aiming to increase technology uptake among agricultural extension officers, promoting sustainable agricultural practices through improved access, support, and cost reduction initiatives.

Rapid global warming and continuous climate change threaten the construction industry and human existence, especially in developing countries. Many developed countries are engaging their professional stakeholders on innovation and technology to mitigate climate change on humanity. Studies concerning inclusive efforts by developing countries’ stakeholders, including Nigeria, are scarce. Thus, this study investigates the construction industry’s practitioners’ preparedness to mitigate climate change through pre- and post-planning. Also, the study appraises climate change’s impact on construction activities and proffered measures to mitigate them. The research employed face-to-face data collection via a qualitative approach. The researchers engaged 33 knowledgeable participants. The study covered Abuja, Benin City, Owerri, and Lagos and achieved saturation at the 30th participant. The research employed a thematic approach to analyse the collected data. Findings reveal that Nigerian construction practitioners cannot cope with climate change impacts because of lax planning and inadequate technology to mitigate the issues. Also, the government’s attitude towards climate change has not helped matters. Also, the study suggested measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on construction activities in Nigeria. Therefore, as part of the research contributions, all-inclusive and integrated regulatory policies and programmes should be tailored toward mitigating climate change. This includes integrated stakeholder sensitisation, investment in infrastructure that supports anti-climate change, prioritising practices in the industry to achieve sustainable project transformation, and integration of climate change interventions into pre- and post-contract administration.