Imagining people’s functions in everyday life and work without the use of ICT, seems difficult. Their application is ubiquitous everywhere, regardless of which aspect it is viewed from, because it has a strong function in ensuring the competitiveness of various systems at the micro and macro levels. Numerous national and multinational strategies try to encourage educational systems to put a greater focus on ICT to more efficiently acquire skills, competencies, and knowledge, which should represent added value to all generations in the future. This article analyzes the progress of the ICT development index (IDI) in Scandinavian countries by comparing these countries in the European region. It is known that the Scandinavian countries belong to that part of the countries that have recognized the importance of involving ICT in education programs, which improves the economy of a certain country. Given this, the research reveals how ICTs play a key role in improving socio-economic development in Scandinavian countries.

The aim of the research is to elucidate the features of the modern model of bioecomedicine and its components as a social determinant of sustainable societal development. The theoretical-methodological basis of the work was the complex use of scientific principles and a systematic approach, which determined the choice of research methods: general scientific and interdisciplinary. The concept generalized content is substantiated and the main lines of building the bioecomedicine model are characterized from the standpoint of information-structural modeling and sustainable development. Based on the structural-logical imperative, the object, subject, basic method and main concepts of this science sphere are characterized. The bioecomedicine principal idea as a social determinant of the sustainable development within a single information space is the unification of the knowledge information field of biology, ecology and medicine based on the use of the latest achievements in information technologies. It is proven that the algorithm for achieving the bioecomedicine global goal in the form of a set of principles reflects the essence of a systemic approach to solving the tasks of sustainable societal development by ensuring the system-environmental homeostasis of humans and the ecosystems that surround them.

Coordination and integration among farms within agri-food chains are crucial to tackle the issue of fragmentation within the primary sector, both at the European and national level. The Italian agri-food system still complains about the need to aggregate supply to support market dynamics, especially for niche and quality products that characterize the Made in Italy. It is well known that the Italian agri-food sector is closely linked to the relationship between agriculture on one hand and culture/tradition on the other, which is reflected in the high number of quality products that have obtained EU PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) recognition. The development of vertical forms of coordination has found significant support in recent years from the integrated supply chain design approach, which is increasingly becoming an essential tool for implementing rural development policies. In this context, the study provides a comparison between companies that have joined the Integrated Supply Chain Projects of the Rural Development Program and those that have not applied. The aim is to highlight any differences in order to understand policy impact. The analysis is based on the Emilia-Romagna region Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data, and the sample consists of more than 2 thousand farms. The statistical analysis conducted compares treated and non-treated using the Welch-t-test for independent unmatched samples. The main results show higher values for treated farms when structural variables are analyzed, like the utilized agricultural area or the agricultural work unit. In general, higher balance sheet performances emerged for treated farms. In conclusion, this study shows that the Integrated Supply Chain Projects represent a worthwhile tool both to increase cooperation, food quality, and to enhance a competitive agricultural sector.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new dimension of organizational collective engagement (OCE), namely spiritual engagement. This dimension proposes spiritual engagement, which is considered to increase the bundle of engagement as a whole at the organizational level. We collected data from 107 employees who worked in various agencies in Indonesia. We tested the validity and reliability of the proposed indicators of OCE and spiritual engagement using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. This study enhances the literature in the field of human resource development, especially in OCE, with the Islamic dimension of spiritual engagement. The findings reveal that there are 10 valid and reliable indicators that can be used to measure the concept of OCE among employees in Indonesia. OCE with four dimensions (physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual) can be an effort to increase organizational effectiveness through the collective engagement of all employees. Since this research is limited to Indonesia, further studies are needed in institutions around the world so that the consistency of the results can be justified.

This research explores the role of digital economy in driving agricultural development in the BIMSTEC region, which includes Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan (with Bhutan excluded due to data limitations) with a particular focus on mobile technologies, computing capacity and internet connectivity which were the most readily available data points for BIMSTEC. Using a combination of document analysis, and panel data analysis with the data covering 10 years (2012–2021), the study examines the interplay of key digital technologies with agricultural growth while controlling for factors including water usage, fertilizer consumption, and land temperature and agricultural land area. The analysis incorporates additional variables such as infrastructure development, credit to agriculture, investment in agricultural research, and education level. The findings reveal a strong positive correlation between mobile technology, Internet and computing capacity in BIMSTEC. This study underscores that digital tools are pivotal in enhancing agricultural productivity, yet their impact is significantly combined with investment in infrastructure and education. This study suggests that digital solutions, when strategically integrated with broader socio-economic factors can effectively challenges in developing countries, particularly in rural and underserved regions. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on digital economy in agriculture, highlighting how digital technologies can foster agricultural productivity in developing countries.