The preservation of forests, sustainable forest management (SFM), forest landscape restoration (FLR) and the need to make the most of precious forest resources are priority issues in the policy and sustainable development agenda of the Asia-Pacific region. Innovation will be key in the coming decades to meet the increasing demand for wood and other forest products while halting and reversing deforestation, in line with the commitment taken at COP26 in Glasgow by the international community. However, uptake of innovative technologies has been slow and uneven in the Asia-Pacific region, and there remains a gap between political commitments and the investments – in education, capacity building, and infrastructure development – required to put them into practice. This technical report examines the potential and barriers to disseminating and deploying innovative technologies for SFM in the region and provides overarching recommendations and specific options for decision-makers. It delineates and informs the process by which decision-makers and actors can identify: the potential of innovative technologies to advance SFM; their potential impacts; constraints to technology uptake and scaling up, and how to overcome these constraints and facilitate adoption.

This book provides a brief overview of the recent trends in innovations. Early inventions/innovations that began in Asia (i.e., compass, paper, gunpowder and printing) spread to the Atlantic (Europe and USA) by land and sea routes. However, with population growth, economic expansion, availability of skilled researchers and lower cost of research in Asia Pacific, there has been a shift in innovation activities in this region. There has been a discernable trend of innovation (R&D) in countries like Japan, Korea, China, India and Singapore. This book attempts to create awareness of this trend and hopes to motivate business leaders and policy makers to take advantage of this shifting trend, as well as to encourage more global collaboration in innovations to face societal challenges in the 21st century.

This open access book is unique in its contents. No other title in the book market has tackled this important subject. It introduces innovation as a way of practice for world-class universities. It, then, discusses the criteria for being innovative in the academic world. The book selects some of the top innovative world-class universities to study the factors that qualified them to be innovative, so that any other university can follow their steps to become innovative. The final chapter of the book presents some recommendations in this regard.

Emerging Technologies for Digital Infrastructure Development is a comprehensive and insightful book that reviews the transformative impact of cutting-edge technologies on the digital landscape. It presents 16 topics, from e-commerce consumer behavior to AI applications in healthcare and cybersecurity, this book offers a detailed overview of the role of technology in shaping the modern world. With a focus on bridging the digital divide in education, the book presents innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. The editors also emphasize the importance of privacy and security in an interconnected world by discussing cybersecurity measures and threat detection strategies. The book serves as a valuable resource for technology professionals, researchers, and academics, offering a deep dive into the latest trends and applications in digital infrastructure. It also caters to business leaders, policy makers, and students seeking to understand the transformative potential of emerging technologies.

The Asia-Pacific region, sustaining more than four decades of rapid growth, has emerged as an economic force comparable in significance to Europe and North America. This book examines the economic, geopolitical, technological, demographic, and cultural forces that shape the international business strategies in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, it examines the seismic shifts in global business environment since the new century, and addresses emerging opportunities and threats in the Asia-Pacific region. This book offers new insights for international business in areas such as trade policy, supply chains, international investment, technological innovation, international marketing, digital economy, and human resources. The enclosed comprehensive and diverse analyses of the international business landscape in the New Asia are invaluable to scholars, managers, politicians, and policy makers alike. This book is engaging and informative. It presents a collection of diverse and cutting-edge topics that offer new insights into International Business activities in the Asia-Pacific region, raising questions for debate and opening pathways for future research. A must-read book for International Business scholars.— Hussain G. Rammal, University of Technology Sydney, Australia This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the general business environment in Asia. It highlights the complexities and dynamics of doing business in Asia and provides insightful understandings of emerging issues in the region. The chapter-by-chapter analyses of the region depict the rich thematic contexts in which key issues and challenges facing corporate executives as well scholars in international business. I believe that this book is valuable for students of international business, global business environment and regional studies. —Hongxin Zhao, Saint Louis University, USA

Smart City Citizenship provides rigorous analysis for academics and policymakers on the experimental, data-driven, and participatory processes of smart cities to help integrate ICT-related social innovation into urban life. Unlike other smart city books that are often edited collections, this book focuses on the business domain, grassroots social innovation, and AI-driven algorithmic and techno-political disruptions, also examining the role of citizens and the democratic governance issues raised from an interdisciplinary perspective. As smart city research is a fast-growing topic of scientific inquiry and evolving rapidly, this book is an ideal reference for a much-needed discussion. The book drives the reader to a better conceptual and applied comprehension of smart city citizenship for democratised hyper-connected-virialised post-COVID-19 societies. In addition, it provides a whole practical roadmap to build smart city citizenship inclusive and multistakeholder interventions through intertwined chapters of the book. Users will find a book that fills the knowledge gap between the purely critical studies on smart cities and those further constructive and highly promising socially innovative interventions using case study fieldwork action research empirical evidence drawn from several cities that are advancing and innovating smart city practices from the citizenship perspective. - Utilises ongoing, action research fieldwork, comparative case studies for examining current governance issues, and the role of citizens in smart cities - Provides definitions of new key citizenship concepts, along with a techno-political framework and toolkit drawn from a community-oriented perspective - Shows how to design smart city governance initiatives, projects and policies based on applied research from the social innovation perspective - Highlights citizen's perspective and social empowerment in the AI-driven and algorithmic disruptive post-COVID-19 context in both transitional and experimental frameworks

This book constitutes a selection of the best papers from the 15th International Conference on Business Excellence, Digital Economy and New Value Creation, ICBE 2021, held in Bucharest, Romania, in March 2021. This book is a collection of research findings and perspectives related to the digital economy and new value creation, led by the set of improvements and changes in the economic, societal and technological structures and processes towards the effort of reaching the sustainability goals.

As the world grapples with the pressing issue of natural resource depletion, the global beverage industry finds itself at a crossroads, thrust into the spotlight as a significant contributor to environmental challenges. The dire consequences of climate change and resource exhaustion necessitate a fundamental shift in the industry's practices. The alarming increase in plastic waste, water consumption, and carbon emissions associated with beverage production and distribution has prompted a profound reassessment of its impact on the planet. In this context of environmental urgency, Economics and Environmental Responsibility in the Global Beverage Industry dissects the challenges faced by the industry and offers viable solutions to steer it toward a more sustainable and responsible future. At its core, this book addresses the greatest challenges of the industry, navigating through the intersections of economic imperatives and environmental responsibility within the global beverage sector. Its primary objective is to provide an understanding of the issues confronting the industry, fueling critical study, reflection, and critique. By delving into the triple dimensions of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, the book aims to empower academics and industry practitioners alike with the knowledge needed to effect transformative change. Beyond being an academic exercise, it stands as a rallying call for a collective commitment to reshape the industry's trajectory.

In the twenty-first century, it is necessary for Asia to step up and assume a larger leadership role on the global stage, commensurate with its economic weight and interests. Eighty-eight percent of the increase in the numbers of the middle class in the next five years will take place in Asia, underscoring the reality that global business and leadership will be colored in significant ways by Asian values, approaches and strategies. This book explores how this may impact our view and conceptual approach to the notion of global leadership. The contributors to this collection explore and examine the concept of global Asian leadership and outcome implications at the societal, corporate and policy-making level. They argue that global leaders will increasingly focus on specific needs, values and strategies that are uniquely Asian, which emphasizes the reality that we most likely will have to redefine our notion of global leadership. This comprehensive study of the integration of Asian and global leadership will benefit those employed in the corporate, government and educational sectors as well as a broader audience with an interest in leadership, policy-making and economics.