This study critically examines the implications of international transport corridor projects for Central Asian countries, focusing on the Western-backed Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), the Chinese initiative “One Belt—One Road”, and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) supported by the Russian Federation, India, and Iran. The analysis underscores the risks associated with Western projects, highlighting a need for a more explicit commitment to substantial infrastructure investments and persistent contradictions among key investors and beneficiaries. While the Chinese initiative presents significant benefits such as transit participation, infrastructure development, and economic investments, it also carries risks, notably an increased debt burden and potential monopolization by Chinese corporations. The study emphasizes that Central Asian countries, though indirect beneficiaries of INSTC, may not be directly involved due to geographical constraints. Study findings advocate for Central Asian nations to balance foreign investments, promote economic integration, and safeguard political and economic sovereignty. The study underscores the region’s wealth of natural and human resources, emphasizing the potential for increased demand for goods and services with improved living standards, strategically positioning these countries in the evolving global economic landscape.

COVID-19 has presented considerable challenges to fiscal budget allocations in developing countries, significantly affecting decisions regarding number of investments in the transport sector where precise resource allocation is required. Elucidating the long-term relationship between public transport investment and economic growth might enable policymaker to effectively make a decision in regard to those budget allocation. Our paper then utilizes Thailand as a case study to analyze the effects on economic growth in a developing country context. The study employs Cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) techniques to account for long-term correlations among explanatory variables during 1991–2019. The statistical findings reveal a significantly positive correlation between transport investment and economic growth by indicating an increase of 0.937 in economic growth for every one-percent increment in transport investment (S.D. = 0.024, p < 0.05). This emphasizes the potential of expanding the transport investment to recover Thailand’s economy. Furthermore, in terms of short-term adjustments, our results indicate that transport investment can significantly mitigate the negative impact of external shocks by 0.98 percent (p < 0.05). These findings assist policymakers in better managing national budget allocations in the post-Covid-19 period, allowing them to estimate the duration of crowding-out effects induced by shocks more effectively.

In regard to national development (ND), this review article (which is basically a perspective approach) presents retroactive and forward-looking perspectives on university education in Nigeria. In the past, particularly during the 1970s, the Nigerian university (NU) sector was among the most outstanding in Africa as well as globally. The best institutions drew students from around Africa, who flocked to Nigeria to study. The NU structure evidently contained four essential components for an international and effective university system, viz., world-class instructors, world-class students, a conducive learning environment, and global competitiveness. The NU structure, nevertheless, has undergone some neglect over the past thirty years and lost its distinctive identity, which raises questions about its function and applicability at the current stage of ND. Hence, some retrospective and forward-looking observations on university education in Nigeria in connection to ND are conveyed in this perspective article uses basically published articles and other relevant literature, as well as other sources and data from available literature. Hitherto, there is an urgent need for reinforcement of the university system in order to give it the desired and comparable international quality and functionality needed to meet the demands of current issues and the near future. However, this article conveys an intense belief and conviction that the NU system is still important for both the political and socioeconomic development (growth) of the nation. The article concludes by recommending the way forward in this regard.

As cities continue to face the increasing demands of urban transportation and the need for sustainable mobility solutions, the integration of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) with smart city infrastructure emerges as a promising approach. This paper presents a novel framework for integrating ITS with smart city infrastructure, aiming to address the challenges of urban transportation and promote sustainable mobility. The framework is developed through a comprehensive literature review, case studies, and stakeholder interviews, providing significant insights into the integration process. Our research outlines the key components of smart city infrastructure that can be integrated with ITS, highlights the benefits of integration, and identifies the challenges and barriers that need to be addressed. Additionally, we propose and apply evaluation methods to assess the effectiveness of ITS integration with smart city infrastructure. The results demonstrate the novelty and significance of this framework, as it significantly reduces traffic congestion, improves air quality, and enhances citizen satisfaction. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing a comprehensive approach to integrating ITS with smart city infrastructure, offering a transformative solution for urban transportation challenges.

There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant stress worldwide and impacted practically every aspect of human activity. The impacts of this deadly virus on education are not seen as gaining much-needed focus from the scientific research community. The majority of educational institutions globally switched to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there were considerable differences in the technical readiness of various nations. In this regard, the study’s attempt to provide a way forward for how the educational sector ought to manage the challenges brought on by COVID-19 issues in support of online educational activities. Since some of the consequences that resulted have an impact on the educational sector, the answers presumably also should have included innovations that would improve scientific research to lessen its effects. Particularly, it appears there is still much that has to be done about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational sector. Hence, this perspective review study aims to explore the potential relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the educational sector while suggesting a way forward.

The number of accidents at level railway crossings, especially crossings without gate barriers/attendants, is still very high due to technical problems, driving culture, and human error. The aim of this research is to provide road maps application based on ergonomic visual displays design that can increase awareness level for drivers before crossing railway crossings. The double awareness driving (DAD) map information system was built based on the waterfall method, which has 4 steps: defining requirements, system and software design, unit testing, and implementation. User needs to include origin-destination location, geolocation, distance & travel time, directions, crossing information, and crossing notifications. The DAD map application was tested using a usability test to determine the ease of using the application used the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and an Electroencephalogram (EEG) test to determine the increase in concentration in drivers before and immediately crossing a railway crossing. Periodically, the application provides information on the driving zone being passed; green zone for driving distances > 500 m to the crossing, the yellow zone for distances 500m to 100m, and the red zone for distances < 100 m. The DAD map also provides information on the position and speed of the nearest train that will cross the railway crossing. The usability test for 10 respondents giving SUS score = 97.5 (satisfaction category) with a time-based efficiency value = 0.29 goals/s, error rate = 0%, and a success rate of 93.33%. The cognitive ergonomic testing via Electroencephalogram (EEG) produced a focus level of 21.66%. Based on the results of DAD map testing can be implemented to improve the safety of level railroad crossings in an effort to reduce the number of driving accidents.

The goal of this research is to determine whether hospital financial performance is impacted by particular management accounting techniques, such as departmental revenue budgeting, specific costing, and departmental costing. We analyzed several sets of performance indicators for 146 hospitals whose management accounting adoption status is available. An outlier test was used to determine which data were outliers at the 0.1% significance level, and the results were then eliminated in order to see if any extremely outlier values (hospitals) were present for each indicator. To determine whether there were any noteworthy variations in the average values of the several performance measures, we employed a t-test (two-tailed probability). The results suggest that departmental revenue budgeting and departmental and specific costing improve hospital financial performance.

In the current competitive global marketplace, innovation is key for high-tech firms to thrive. Open innovation offers a promising approach, but its effectiveness remains unclear. Therefore, this research explored the connection between open innovation, knowledge management capability, and innovation performance within high-tech firms. We used a mediation approach to highlight the central role of knowledge management capability in the relationship between open innovation and innovation performance. We used a survey questionnaire approach to collect data from the 462 employees of high-tech firms on open innovation, knowledge management capability, and innovation performance using a convenient sampling technique. We used partial least square structural equations modeling through PLS-SEM statistics. Results indicated that open innovation has a direct, positive and significant connection with innovation performance. Similarly, the current research serves as a pioneering exploration into mediation analysis, highlighting the mediating role of knowledge management capability that influences the relationship between open innovation and innovation performance. Empirical studies offer valuable insights for leaders of high-tech firms, guiding them to identify effective knowledge management practices and determine the ideal extent of open innovation to boost innovation performance. The current study reveals novel insights into the benefits of knowledge management capability in enhancing open innovation efforts within firms. This research provides valuable implications and future research directions.