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Systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) are a group of inflammatory disorders caused by dysregulation in the innate immune system that leads to enhanced immune responses. The clinical diagnosis of SAIDs can be difficult since individually these are rare diseases with considerable phenotypic overlap. Most SAIDs have a strong genetic background, but environmental and epigenetic influences can modulate the clinical phenotype. Molecular diagnosis has become essential for confirmation of clinical diagnosis. To date there are over 30 genes and a variety of modes of inheritance that have been associated with monogenic SAIDs. Mutations in the same gene can lead to very distinct phenotypes and can have different inheritance patterns. In addition, somatic mutations have been reported in several of these conditions. New genetic testing methods and databases are being developed to facilitate the molecular diagnosis of SAIDs, which is of major importance for treatment, prognosis and genetic counselling. The aim of this review is to summarize the latest advances in genetic testing for SAIDs and discuss potential obstacles that might arise during the molecular diagnosis of SAIDs.
The pyrin inflammasome has evolved as an innate immune sensor to detect bacterial toxin-induced Rho guanosine triphosphatase (Rho GTPase)-inactivation, a process that is similar to the "guard" mechanism in plants. Rho GTPases act as molecular switches to regulate a variety of signal transduction pathways including cytoskeletal organization. Pathogens can modulate Rho GTPase activity to suppress host immune responses such as phagocytosis. Pyrin is encoded by MEFV, the gene that is mutated in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). FMF is the prototypic autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurring short episodes of systemic inflammation and is a common disorder in many populations in the Mediterranean basin. Pyrin specifically senses modifications in the activity of the small GTPase RhoA, which binds to many effector proteins including the serine/threonine-protein kinases PKN1 and PKN2 and actin-binding proteins. RhoA activation leads to PKN-mediated phosphorylation-dependent pyrin inhibition. Conversely, pathogen virulence factors downregulate RhoA activity in a variety of ways, and these changes are detected by the pyrin inflammasome irrespective of the type of modifications. MEFV pathogenic variants favor the active state of pyrin and elicit proinflammatory cytokine release and pyroptosis. They can be inherited either as a dominant or recessive trait depending on the variant's location and effect on the protein function. Mutations in the C-terminal B30.2 domain are usually considered recessive, although heterozygotes may manifest a biochemical or even a clinical phenotype. These variants are hypomorphic in regard to their effect on intramolecular interactions, but ultimately accentuate pyrin activity. Heterozygous mutations in other domains of pyrin affect residues critical for inhibition or protein oligomerization, and lead to constitutively active inflammasome. In healthy carriers of FMF mutations who have the subclinical inflammatory phenotype, the increased activity of pyrin might have been protective against endemic infections over human history. This finding is supported by the observation of high carrier frequencies of FMF-mutations in multiple populations. The pyrin inflammasome also plays a role in mediating inflammation in other autoinflammatory diseases linked to dysregulation in the actin polymerization pathway. Therefore, the assembly of the pyrin inflammasome is initiated in response to fluctuations in cytoplasmic homeostasis and perturbations in cytoskeletal dynamics.
Towards self-explaining social robots. Verbal explanation strategies for a needs-based architecture
(2019)
In order to establish long-term relationships with users, social companion robots and their behaviors need to be comprehensible. Purely reactive behavior such as answering questions or following commands can be readily interpreted by users. However, the robot's proactive behaviors, included in order to increase liveliness and improve the user experience, often raise a need for explanation. In this paper, we provide a concept to produce accessible “why-explanations” for the goal-directed behavior an autonomous, lively robot might produce. To this end we present an architecture that provides reasons for behaviors in terms of comprehensible needs and strategies of the robot, and we propose a model for generating different kinds of explanations.
Plant sap-feeding insects are widespread, having evolved to occupy diverse environmental niches despite exclusive feeding on an impoverished diet lacking in essential amino acids and vitamins. Success depends exquisitely on their symbiotic relationships with microbial symbionts housed within specialized eukaryotic bacteriocyte cells. Each bacteriocyte is packed with symbionts that are individually surrounded by a host-derived symbiosomal membrane representing the absolute host-symbiont interface. The symbiosomal membrane must be a dynamic and selectively permeable structure to enable bidirectional and differential movement of essential nutrients, metabolites, and biosynthetic intermediates, vital for growth and survival of host and symbiont. However, despite this crucial role, the molecular basis of membrane transport across the symbiosomal membrane remains unresolved in all bacteriocyte-containing insects. A transport protein was immuno-localized to the symbiosomal membrane separating the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum from its intracellular symbiont Buchnera aphidicola. The transporter, A. pisum nonessential amino acid transporter 1, or ApNEAAT1 (gene: ACYPI008971), was characterized functionally following heterologous expression in Xenopus oocytes, and mediates both inward and outward transport of small dipolar amino acids (serine, proline, cysteine, alanine, glycine). Electroneutral ApNEAAT1 transport is driven by amino acid concentration gradients and is not coupled to transmembrane ion gradients. Previous metabolite profiling of hemolymph and bacteriocyte, alongside metabolic pathway analysis in host and symbiont, enable prediction of a physiological role for ApNEAAT1 in bidirectional host-symbiont amino acid transfer, supplying both host and symbiont with indispensable nutrients and biosynthetic precursors to facilitate metabolic complementarity.
The limited sodium availability of freshwater and terrestrial environments was a major physiological challenge during vertebrate evolution. The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is present in the apical membrane of sodium-absorbing vertebrate epithelia and evolved as part of a machinery for efficient sodium conservation. ENaC belongs to the degenerin/ENaC protein family and is the only member that opens without an external stimulus. We hypothesized that ENaC evolved from a proton-activated sodium channel present in ionocytes of freshwater vertebrates and therefore investigated whether such ancestral traits are present in ENaC isoforms of the aquatic pipid frog Xenopus laevis. Using whole-cell and single-channel electrophysiology of Xenopus oocytes expressing ENaC isoforms assembled from alpha beta gamma- or delta beta gamma-subunit combinations, we demonstrate that Xenopus delta beta gamma-ENaC is profoundly activated by extracellular acidification within biologically relevant ranges (pH 8.0-6.0). This effect was not observed in Xenopus alpha beta gamma-ENaC or human ENaC orthologs. We show that protons interfere with allosteric ENaC inhibition by extracellular sodium ions, thereby increasing the probability of channel opening. Using homology modeling of ENaC structure and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified a cleft region within the extracellular loop of the delta-subunit that contains several acidic amino acid residues that confer proton-sensitivity and enable allosteric inhibition by extracellular sodium ions. We propose that Xenopus delta beta gamma-ENaC can serve as a model for investigating ENaC transformation from a proton-activated toward a constitutively-active ion channel. Such transformation might have occurred during the evolution of tetrapod vertebrates to enable bulk sodium absorption during the water-to-land transition.
For protection from inhaled pathogens many strategies have evolved in the airways such as mucociliary clearance and cough. We have previously shown that protective respiratory reflexes to locally released bacterial bitter taste substances are most probably initiated by tracheal brush cells (BC). Our single-cell RNA-seq analysis of murine BC revealed high expression levels of cholinergic and bitter taste signaling transcripts (Tas2r108, Gnat3, Trpm5). We directly demonstrate the secretion of acetylcholine (ACh) from BC upon stimulation with the Tas2R agonist denatonium. Inhibition of the taste transduction cascade abolished the increase in [Ca2+](i) in BC and subsequent ACh-release. ACh-release is regulated in an autocrine manner. While the muscarinic ACh-receptors M3R and M1R are activating, M2R is inhibitory. Paracrine effects of ACh released in response to denatonium included increased [Ca2+](i) in ciliated cells. Stimulation by denatonium or with Pseudomonas quinolone signaling molecules led to an increase in mucociliary clearance in explanted tracheae that was Trpm5- and M3R-mediated. We show that ACh-release from BC via the bitter taste cascade leads to immediate paracrine protective responses that can be boosted in an autocrine manner. This mechanism represents the initial step for the activation of innate immune responses against pathogens in the airways.
This article examines similarities and differences in the attitudes and social representations of destination managers towards implementing sustainable tourism between the mountain regions of the Alps and the Dinarides. Bearing in mind the transnational impacts (i.e., environmental, economic and social) of the tourism industry the research methodology adopted an international perspective by sending a questionnaire to tourism organizations in fourteen different countries in the Alps and the Dinarides. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, because it integrates knowledge from sustainability and management science with tourism geography and social psychology. The findings confirm that social representations of sustainable tourism differ significantly in the two mountain regions.
We present a systematization of usable security principles, guidelines and patterns to facilitate the transfer of existing knowledge to researchers and practitioners. Based on a literature review, we extracted 23 principles, 11 guidelines and 47 patterns for usable security and identified their interconnection. The results indicate that current research tends to focus on only a subset of important principles. The fact that some principles are not yet addressed by any design patterns suggests that further work on refining these patterns is needed. We developed an online repository, which stores the harmonized principles, guidelines and patterns. The tool enables users to search for relevant guidance and explore it in an interactive and programmatic manner. We argue that both the insights presented in this article and the web-based repository will be highly valuable for students to get a good overview, practitioners to implement usable security and researchers to identify areas of future research.
Contemporary software is inherently distributed. The principles guiding the design of such software have been mainly manifested by the service-oriented architecture (SOA) concept. In a SOA, applications are orchestrated by software services generally operated by distinct entities. Due to the latter fact, service security has been of importance in such systems ever since. A dominant protocol for implementing SOA-based systems is SOAP, which comes with a well-elaborated security framework. As an alternative to SOAP, the architectural style representational state transfer (REST) is gaining traction as a simple, lightweight and flexible guideline for designing distributed service systems that scale at large. This paper starts by introducing the basic constraints representing REST. Based on these foundations, the focus is afterwards drawn on the security needs of REST-based service systems. The limitations of transport-oriented protection means are emphasized and the demand for specific message-oriented safeguards is assessed. The paper then reviews the current activities in respect to REST-security and finds that the available schemes are mostly HTTP-centered and very heterogeneous. More importantly, all of the analyzed schemes contain vulnerabilities. The paper contributes a methodology on how to establish REST-security as a general security framework for protecting REST-based service systems of any kind by consistent and comprehensive protection means. First adoptions of the introduced approach are presented in relation to REST message authentication with instantiations for REST-ful HTTP (web/cloud services) and REST-ful constraint application protocol (CoAP) (internet of things (IoT) services).
Beyond HCI and CSCW: Challenges and Useful Practices Towards a Human-Centred Vision of AI and IA
(2019)
Risk-based authentication (RBA) is an adaptive security measure to strengthen password-based authentication. RBA monitors additional implicit features during password entry such as device or geolocation information, and requests additional authentication factors if a certain risk level is detected. RBA is recommended by the NIST digital identity guidelines, is used by several large online services, and offers protection against security risks such as password database leaks, credential stuffing, insecure passwords and large-scale guessing attacks. Despite its relevance, the procedures used by RBA-instrumented online services are currently not disclosed. Consequently, there is little scientific research about RBA, slowing down progress and deeper understanding, making it harder for end users to understand the security provided by the services they use and trust, and hindering the widespread adoption of RBA.
In this paper, with a series of studies on eight popular online services, we (i) analyze which features and combinations/classifiers are used and are useful in practical instances, (ii) develop a framework and a methodology to measure RBA in the wild, and (iii) survey and discuss the differences in the user interface for RBA. Following this, our work provides a first deeper understanding of practical RBA deployments and helps fostering further research in this direction.
Entfernungsmesssystem
(2019)
Destination Development for Entrepreneurial Tourism in Lake Bosomtwe and Kintampo falls (Ghana)
(2019)
The tourism industry is one of the world’s largest industries (direct, indirect and induced Africa has the potential with its cultural and natural resources to outpace other regions in attracting valuable tourism dollars. The main aim of the study is to improve visitor experience on the two tourist sites. To do this it is necessary to explore the elements and success factors of Tourism Destination Development and using these as a checklist to identify the strength and weaknesses of the selected Tourist Destinations in Ghana West Africa. The rationale behind the study is to outline the crucial Destination Management (DM) criteria of all aspect that contribute to boost ultimate visitor experience, articulating the roles of the different stakeholders and identifying clear actions for effective Tourism Development in Ghana. The interview technique was employed to collect data from staff and management of the selected destinations. Data was analyzed for themes related to elements, success factors and challenges of destination development and new ideas for development was also solicited. It was revealed that some of the elements that feature for tourists’ attraction are good hotels, high hygiene and sanitation standards, good food and activities of amusements. Competency gaps identified suggest collaboration with academia to secure a high level of knowledge through research in this present world of dynamism. Some of the critical success factors found are: systematic provision of cultural events, advance knowledge of agents and tour operators and quality leisure and recreation. It is recommended that product and service development should be a joint idea of all stakeholders. The research team therefore, have plans underway to proceed on the second phase of the project: that is to gather resources together to make lake Bosomtwe and Kintampo falls sites attractive to tourists.
Kenya, like all other developing countries in the world, is faced with the task of working strategically towards the achievement of the Sustained Development Goals (SDGs) 2030. These goals whose due date of accomplishment coincides with those of the national development blueprint, namely, the Kenya Vision 2030, have become a major focus of attention in the country. Conferences, workshops, and seminars are organized throughout the country on regular bases by joint multiplicity of organizations to address modalities of ensuring a timely achievement of SDGs in the country. Universities either individually or jointly are working towards this same target. More specifically, there are great areas of concern or priority areas that the country is focusing on as a strategic focus towards the achievement of the Kenya Vision 2030 and SDGs 2030. These strategic areas of focus have been isolated and declared by the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, as the country’s “big four priority areas”, namely, affordable housing, affordable health care, food security, and manufacturing as a grandiose effort towards achievement of the SDGs, Kenya Vision 2030 as well as job and wealth creation. Similarly, Mount Kenya University’s top management established the Graduate Enterprise Academy (GEA) in 2013 under the direct Patronage of the university’s Founder with the primary aim of assisting graduates to be job and wealth creators rather than being job seekers. So far, over twenty start-ups are running throughout the country under Graduate Enterprise Academy (GEA). Incidentally, although the Graduate Enterprise Academy’s diverse areas of focus extend beyond the President of Kenya’s “Big Four” to include ICT and creative arts, among others, there are justifiable cases to indicate that GEA’s activities are also in support of the national “Big Four” agenda. This paper gives an exposition of different start-ups under MKU’s Graduate Enterprise Academy and are show-cased as evidence of MKU’s support towards the achievement of the national “Big Four” agenda. The paper covers a part of an ongoing program through desk-top analyses of reports, with an objective of show-casing MKU’s contribution to the national agenda through the Graduate Enterprise Academy for possible scale - up.
This study sought to examine the relationship between the components of SMEs social capital and firm performance. Using the social capital theory and the resource-based view as the theoretical foundations and census, 1,532 SMEs were selected in the Accra Metropolis for the study. Empirical results from 717 SMEs, utilising the hierarchical linear regression model, revealed that owner/manger’s network relationships are beneficial to the firm depending on when the relationships are closed or opened. Moreover, the study found that social capital has a significant impact on the sales and market performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. The results also brought to the fore the fact that most social networks of SME entrepreneurs are family, friends and relatives, which most times can only be used for expressive purposes and not for instrumental gain. The practical implications of the results are also discussed.
The aim of the descriptive study is to gain an understanding of the perceived level of fairness in their experience of security screening relation to their satisfaction. The context of the study was a major aviation hub in East Africa. The target population was all departing international passengers. Primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The respondents were selected using convenience sampling of passengers who had just completed the final security check at the departure area of the airport. A total of 251 usable responses were collected from a target of 384 respondents giving a response rate of 65 percent.
The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the relationship between the perceptions of fairness of security procedures and their influence on satisfaction. One way between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test for statistical significance. A Cronbach’s alpha of 88.7 was computed demonstrating a high level of internal consistency of the survey instrument. The adequacy of security procedures, level of communication provided before and during the screening process, consistency and fairness were found to have a significant relationship to the level of satisfaction reported by passengers. The findings suggest that there are significant differences between groups’ perception of different elements security procedures.
The implications of the study are twofold. The study was cross sectional and indeed was impacted by significant changes in security procedures at the airport at the time of the study. A longitudinal survey may further mitigate the impact of the variances of responses and support a robust contribution to the development of a theoretical model of airport passenger satisfaction. Airport managers could use the results of this study as inputs to enhance the design of screening procedures in modern hubs to enhance the passenger experience to drive revenue growth.
While universities are mandated to teach, research and do community outreach, studies reveal that typical university communities live in relative isolation where research is more basic than applied. This study focused on; 1) determining how WWE could be fostered through linkages between universities and external agencies (communities, public and private sectors); 2) establishing how universities’ resources could be optimized to promote research and capacity building for WWE. The dimensions of WWE studied were; 1) Technical & Business Models; 2) Capacity building; and 3) institutional frameworks. Baseline studies were conducted in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, documents analysis. Experimentations were carried out whereby Laboratory tests on Bio-methane Potential (BMP) for different biomass types was conducted. A complete chain of briquettes production and consumption has been successfully piloted at St Kizito High School in Namugongo, near Kampala. The 20,000 kg of briquettes produced (from municipal bio-waste) by students monthly are used to cook in three schools whose total population is 2000 students. With an average net profit of $ 3000, the project makes business sense even in absence of social-benefit accounting. Based on start-up capital of $ 12,250, the payback period on investment is 14.7 months. Bio-char (from carbonized waste) and briquette-ash are used as organic fertilizers and biocide in vegetable gardens at the schools. New pathways for municipal waste management based on stakeholder engagement and entrepreneurship are demonstrated; departing from the conventional waste collection and disposal models. This circular enterprise which enhances Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-use and Energy (FABLE) nexus will scale-up to incorporate non-student communities (youths/women), private waste-collectors and entrepreneurs. The application of entrepreneurial models for engaging students in green enterprises integrates technological, social, economic and governance dimensions for promoting municipal sanitation, environment; energy and food security.
Pan-African University (PAU) is an initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC) that started in 2008 with the objective to promote higher education, science and technology on the African continent at a high academic level. The Pan-African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (including Climate Change) (PAUWES) is one of the five hubs of the Pan African University (PAU) and hosted at the University of Tlemcen in Algeria. PAUWES offers graduate students access to leading academic research and the latest theoretical and hands-on training in areas vital to the future of Africa’s development in water, energy and the challenge of climate change.
Innovation has been touted to be the central catalyst of entrepreneurship. This view has dominated research in start-ups as well as small and medium enterprises. Therefore, the relationship between innovation and firm performance has been a subject of interest to many researchers and policy makers. Through a longitudinal approach, this study investigated the influence of product innovation on the performance of Haco Tiger Brands, a medium sized fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in Kenya’s East Africa market. The study looked at the product innovation activities within the company for a period of 7 years for a total of 35 products across the five major brand categories of the company. Using a secondary data capture form, data on sales revenues for both the company and innovated products for the past 7 years was obtained. Data on the innovated products launch time and type of innovation was also obtained. Using time series and linear regression analysis, the results indicate that the total company sales revenues less innovation grew at a slower rate of 50% as compared to growth when product innovation sales revenues were included in the total company sales revenues accounting for a faster sales growth rate of 76%. The influence of product innovation on performance was statistically significant (p<0.05) accounting for 92.19% variation in performance. These findings provide irrefutable empirical basis that product innovations have significant revenue growth rates, hence the need for managers of medium sized companies to invest in research and development to sustain product innovation and spur growth. The results sit well within theory and other empirical studies with additional contribution to methodology. Based on the study limitations, further areas for research have been suggested.
Namibia’s hunting industry is increasingly threatened by animal rightists and opponent groups whose adversarial mindset is mostly based on emotion orientated information. The fatal consequences if closing hunting tourism in a country like Namibia are expounded in this study by critically investigating the input of well-regulated hunting tourism towards conservation in Namibia. Different factors have to be taken into consideration, regarding the country’s attributes that differ significantly from other countries and their methods to achieve successful conservation management strategies. By conducting an in-depth interview with Mr. Volker Grellmann and by obtaining secondary data from local authorities and organizations, the current research investigates how well-regulated hunting tourism in Namibia is an important part of biodiversity conservation. The results outline that hunting tourism is crucial for the value of wildlife and yields for wildlife to have a greater benefit than livestock and crop farming in Namibia. Likewise, the country takes care of their valuable natural recourse. As a result, natural habitats are induced, and subsequently a steeply growing number of wildlife was recorded over the last 50 years in Namibia. Among others hunting tourism favors the development of rural areas and yields incentives to fight poaching and the illegal trade of wild animal products.
This paper stresses the importance of entrepreneurship education towards enhancing sustainable development in Kenya. The problems facing the country ranging from high rate of poverty, youth and graduate unemployment; overdependence on foreign goods and technology.
This paper therefore argues that entrepreneurship education will equip the students with the skills with which to not only be self-reliant, but to become wealth creators. The intervention level of entrepreneurship education has been at tertiary institutions and universities. This paper argues that attitudes and values are acquired at formative stage in life. Based on literature review of the models that have been used and yielded positive results, this paper proposes an innovative approach to the teaching of entrepreneurship education that is inclusive of pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels. This paper explores the “Mully Model of Applied Entrepreneurship Teaching” as a case study, using interviews, surveys and reviewing relevant MCF data. The organization’s success factors within the Kenyan context are discussed.
The paper also recommended that educational programs at all levels of education should be made relevant to provide the youth the needed entrepreneurial skills. Further, it recommends that experiential learning methodologies be emphasized in the delivery of entrepreneurship education.
The link between universities and the industry has been of concern both locally as well as globally for a long time, for the obvious reason that it is perceived to enhance organizational performance. The gap between universities and the industry has been widening in developing countries leading to lost opportunities for joint research, product development and job creation. Marketing and entrepreneurship could play a pivotal role in reversing the weakened linkages by building mutual relationship and strengthening bonds between universities and industry. This study sought to examine the role of marketing and entrepreneurship as important tools for enhancing the university industry linkages. The study sought to determine the aspects of marketing and entrepreneurship that have the highest influence on enhancing the university industry linkages. It considered the nexus of entrepreneurship and marketing exemplified by the attributes of innovativeness, creativity, risk taking; proactive orientation and value creation as crucial for creating, nurturing and developing sustained linkages between universities and industry. The study targeted 150 small and medium sized enterprises in Nairobi City County, out of which 143 responded, giving a response rate of 95 %. Data was collected using structured questionnaire administered to managers of small and medium sized enterprises engaged in manufacturing, retail, banking and hospitals. Survey data collected from small and medium enterprises will be analyzed through descriptive statistics including mean scores and standard deviation. We will test our hypothesis through regression analysis. The study found that marketing practices especially those focused on the product, promotion and distribution were key in enhancing University industry linkage. With regards to entrepreneurial orientation, risk taking, and creativity indicators were found to be more important than innovation in enhancing university-industry linkages.
This research was conducted to determine the relationship between entrepreneurship educations, venture intention on venture creation among entrepreneurial graduate in Kenya focusing on selected universities in Kenya. The study was grounded on the economic entrepreneurship theory, an attitude-based view on entrepreneurship education and resource-based theory. This research embraced a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. Study population was 2500 student taking entrepreneurship course in various universities of whom a sample of 345 students was chosen using purposive and simple random sampling technique. The study used both primary and secondary data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21) was used to analyse quantitative date. The findings of the study revealed that entrepreneurial education had a noteworthy influence on venture creation (r= 0. 512, p = .001<0.05, t= 10.904) increase in entrepreneurial education would lead to significant increase in venture creation. The study revealed that entrepreneurial training has significance influence in venture creation among graduate as indicated by β1=-0.670, p=0.002<0.05, t= 10.304. Study established that increase in entrepreneurial orientation would lead to increase in venture creation among graduates by a factor of 0.519 with P value of 0.002 (r =0.519, P=0.03< 0.05). The research conclusion was that entrepreneurial knowledge acquisition, entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurial orientation combined have important and positive relationship with venture creation among the graduates.
Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are widely recognised as playing a pivotal role in economic development and job creation. This is particularly so in Africa, where SMMEs are responsible for 80% of all formal jobs. While this is recognised by various African continental and national developments plans, the nefarious practice of late payment, by especially governments, not only stunt the growth of SMMEs, but often-time leads to business failure. This article investigates the impact of late payment, with a specific focus on South Africa and touches on international good practice that may be employed to address this phenomenon.
For years, the common logic that underpinned entrepreneurship was to find a niche within in a market/sector and then solidify business practice to achieve success in the market segment. The dawn of technologically-based disruptive enterprises, such as Uber and Air B&B, coupled with the nearing Fourth Industrial revolution seriously call into question the conventional business logic. In this article, the projected impact of these forces on African entrepreneurs is explored. We look at the role of government, business and education systems to prepare for the impact of the Fourth Industrial revolution. Specific focus is placed on the need for entrepreneurial skills and training to prepare for the impact of the Fourth Industrial revolution. We also explore the importance of innovation, both in terms of products and processes to mitigate against the impact of these forces.
„Es gibt keine Lücke“
(2019)