This study investigated the enablers and challenges in the implementation of e-Learning policies in public technical education, vocational and entrepreneurship training (TEVET) institutions under the Ministry responsible for Vocational Education and Training in Zambia. The aim of this study was to explore how implementation of e-Learning policies in a developing context could be enhanced so as to lead to improved access to TEVET. The study was guided by the following research questions: what knowledge do managers and lecturers have of e-Learning; what are the key enablers and challenges in implementing e-Learning policy; what criteria do individuals/institutions use to make the decision to adopt or reject e-Learning innovations and how are decisions made in the implementation of e-Learning in the TEVET sector. The study used the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory to answer the main research question in the study. The theory was used to gain insights into TVET implementers and policy makers motivations and actions. The study was qualitative with seven (7) individuals interviewed. In the study, interviews of TEVET managers and lecturers were conducted to provide the data required to answer the research questions.

No description available.

Les développements actuels de microfinance encouragent les IMF à fournir un éventail plus large de services financiers au sein d'un portefeuille multiservices comprenant de la micro-épargne, de la micro-assurance, des services bancaires mobiles. L'une des caractéristiques de cette tendance s'exprime par la volonté des IMF de développer le marché de l'épargne afin d'atteindre les clients les plus pauvres mais également d'attirer des dépôts à moindre coûts. L'évolution rapide de la microfinance a également engendré un processus de commercialisation qui implique l'ouverture du secteur aux pratiques marchandes et qui se concrétise par un changement des modes de financement des IMF. Le domaine de la microfinance est donc sujet à de nombreuses modifications qui touchent aussi bien les pratiques des IMF, que leur organisation ou leur mode de financement. L'objectif de cette thèse est alors de contribuer à la compréhension de l'impact de ces modifications sur le développement et l'efficacité des sociétés de microfinance. Pour se faire, nous nous proposons d'explorer trois thèmes particuliers, correspondant aux trois chapitres de la thèse. Premièrement, nous chercherons à identifier des mécanismes originaux d'incitations relatifs aux nouvelles pratiques des IMF (en particulier l'offre couplée de services financiers) et permettant d'assurer l'exécution des contrats de financement. Deuxièmement, nous tenterons d'évaluer la performance des IMF offrant des services de microfinance couplés (crédit plus épargne) par rapport aux IMF traditionnelles. Enfin, nous étudierons l'impact des nouvelles modalités de financement des IMF sur leurs performances à la fois financières et sociales. / It has been commonly acknowledged that in order to reach the target clienteles with loans at attractive terms and conditions, an appropriate technology for delivering financial services must be developed. Next to this, current developments in microfinance industry encourage MFIs to offer wide-ranging services within a multiservice portfolio including microsavings, microinsurance, remittances, mobile banking etc. One of the main pillars of this trend has become MFIs increasing interest in the expansion into the savings market to reach more poor clients as well as to lower costs by attracting presumably cheaper deposits. Joint services are tailored to better meet needs of the poor and aim at building sustainable financial systems and establishing closer and long-term relationship with clients. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of microfinance has generated another essential and closely related trend: commercialization. The focus of this dissertation is on three emerging issues associated with the development of microfinance sector: incentive mechanisms to address contract enforcement and screening problems, performance of MFIs though the lenses of combined microfinance services (credit plus savings), and performance of MFIs though the lenses of capital structure. The essays in the dissertation vary in research methodology: one essay is theoretical and two are empirical. Moreover, the data come from diverse microfinance units: Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) online database and Microfinance Centre for Central & Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (MFC). As far as methods are concerned the empirical essays use less frequently applied methodologies in microfinance studies: seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and propensity score matching (PSM).

No description available.

No description available.

The diploma thesis deals with the proposal and succeeding implementation of the municipal information portal for the municipality of Radošov. It takes into account legal specifications for information providing and publishing in the public administration and also some current trends in the websites development. The thesis also contains a critical evaluation of the present state of the municipality official website.

De plus en plus de tâches informatiques sont effectuées par des systèmes interactifs qui impliquent plusieurs agents distribués, qui n'ont qu'une connaissance locale de l'état global du système, et leurs propres ressources de calcul. Notre travail explore des scénarios interactifs parle prisme des jeux synchrones sur graphes finis et à information imparfaite. Premièrement, on s'intéresse à la question de la difficulté intrinsèque des phénomènes interactifs, en étudiant une variante de notre modèle général de jeux, les consensus game acceptors. On montre que, sous hypothèse d'information imparfaite, la condition de consensus est suffisante pour causer l'indécidabilité. En utilisant les outils de la théorie des langages formels, on donne une classification des jeux en termes de complexité d'exécution des stratégies gagnantes. Ensuite, on se concentre sur des cas décidables et sur la façon dont l'information est rendue accessible aux joueurs. On identifie un motif de flot d'information parmi les joueurs qui assure la décidabilité: l'information hiérarchique. Un jeu est considéré à information hiérarchique quand l'information à propos de l'historique actuel est accessible aux joueurs de manière ordonnée, de telle sorte qu'il n'y a pas deux joueurs ayant de l'information incomparable. On présente trois variantes de l'information hiérarchique : l’information hiérarchique statique, dynamique, et enfin récurrente, qui élargissent le paysage des architectures décidables. Enfin, on considère une source particulière d'information imparfaite dans les jeux, qui peut apparaître en pratique: les délais. Développant la technique de delayed-response de la littérature de théorie des jeux économique, on élabore une procédure qui prend en charge la structure de système de transition à états multiples de notre modèle de jeux, et, en recombinant prudemment des stratégies gagnantes dans les instances de jeu avec monitorat instantané, construit des solutions au problème de la synthèse distribuée différée qui préservent les équilibres. / More and more computing tasks are performed by interactive systems that involve several distributed agents which have local knowledge about the global state of the system and their own computing resources. Our work investigates interactive scenarios through the prism of synchronous games on finite graphs with imperfect information. First, we address the question why interaction is difficult to handle, by studying the consensus game acceptor variant of the general game model. We show that, under imperfect information, the consensus condition is enough to cause undecidability. By using tools of formal language theory, we also give a classification of the complexity of executing joint winning strategies. Second, we focus on decidable cases and the way information is made accessible to the players. We identify a pattern of information flow among players that leads to decidability: hierarchical information. A game has hierarchical information when the information about the current history is accessible to the players in an orderly fashion, so that no two players have incomparable information. We present three variants of hierarchical information: static, dynamic, and finally recurring hierarchical information that enlarge the landscape of decidable architectures. Finally, we consider a particular source of imperfect information in games, that can arise in practice: delays. Extending the delayed-response technique from the economical game theory literature, we design a procedure that handles the transition state-structure of our game model, and constructs, by carefully recombining winning strategies from instant monitoring game instances, solutions to the delayed distributed synthesis problem that preserve the equilibrium outcomes.

No description available.

This dissertation analyzes the geography of information in the 21st century where BigData, social networks, user generated production of content and geography combine to create new and complex patterns of space, context and sociability. Both online and offline, social networks are creating a space that simultaneously unifies individuals and identifies distinct differences in their patterns and their relationships to space. Using methodologies derived from spatial analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), and Social Network Analysis (SNA), this dissertation identifies how Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) both mimic and bolster existing social structures and allow individuals to extend their activities into flows between non-contiguous spaces. Simultaneously it demonstrates how the adoption of user-generated geographic information has not been uniform. Instead it has resulted in an uneven distribution of content and more nuanced digital divides. Although geographically uneven, social structures developed through online networks of user-generated content are most effective at transmitting information at a local level. This dissertation provides a comprehensive examination of online networks and representations of the GeoWeb. It repudiates previous assumptions that online content provides liberation and collaboration among users without regard to geographic constraints and demonstrates the locally constrained nature social networks and the demographically constrained nature of geographic information.

The seven compositions that comprise this dissertation are represented by the following files: text file (pdf), seven video performances (mp4), and corresponding zipped files of custom software and affiliated files (various file types). / This Digital Portfolio Dissertation presents seven compositions including text documents that explain the synthesis techniques, data mapping and routing, visual elements, the software used, all software needed to reproduce these works, and a video recording of all seven compositions. The unifying thread in my seven works is magic. The sense of magic in a live performance is the connection between artist and audience that lies beyond the immediate understanding of any work. I use this insight to create a new world inspired by sound and visuals. I perform each of these works by combining my understanding of data-driven instruments and my experience as a classically trained musician. The combination of sound design, visual composition, and a sense of magic allows me to realize these seven works. My goal is to contribute to the extensive library of electroacoustic works through my performance of my music with data-driven instruments.