ABSTRACT:
The study tackles the limits of understanding of EU e-governance principles and practices in Ukraine, since strong EU aspirations of the country are challenged by the warfare threatening the nation existence. The struggle of Ukraine against Russian invasion revealed the benefits of previous digitalization efforts in the public sector. However, civil servants and citizens in the country still feel the urgent need of enhancing digital competence. The public sector developed a clear understanding that further reforms must be aligned with EU experiences and expectations, and a proper expertise is called for. Thus, the research objective is to highlight and disseminate EU experience and best practices of the transition to e-governance. The research project e-DEBUT helps promote EU values of transparency, participatory democracy, and inclusiveness through strengthening the digital community in Ukraine. The study aims to develop an innovative curriculum to enhance skills and competencies of civil servants, enrolled in master's programs, needed for effective rendering of public e-services in war-time, and transferring knowledge of the tech trends and best e-governance practices of EU countries. The project's meaningful results are: a course syllabus, summer schools' curricula, and a workshop on the facets of development of e-governance in EU countries and in Ukraine; open digital educational resources and analytical materials; a manual for civil servants on the use of e-governance tools under martial law and through post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The centerpiece of the study is the development of the study module, covering EU lens on concepts of e-governance and digital state, EU technological trends for e-governance, EU best practices in rendering e-governance for business and citizens, as well as the investigation of the adaptation of EU experience in the use of artificial intelligence and smart city infrastructures to the managerial needs of the country at war.

ABSTRACT:
This study explores the impact of ethical artificial intelligence (AI) usage on university students' academic experiences, performance, and knowledge acquisition. Conducted at Zayed University in the UAE, this cross-sectional study assesses student perceptions of ethical AI practices, including fairness, transparency, and responsibility, using a conceptual framework adapted from prior research. Findings reveal that ethical AI practices, such as the responsible use of adaptive learning systems and AI-driven feedback mechanisms, significantly enhance students' academic outcomes while addressing issues like plagiarism and over-reliance on AI. However, challenges such as biases, reliability, and context understanding in AI tools highlight the need for enhanced development and guidelines. By integrating ethical considerations and reflecting on these challenges, this study underscores the importance of balancing AI's transformative potential with responsible implementation to foster equitable and effective learning environments. Recommendations for educators, students, and developers include promoting ethical AI usage, developing reliable systems, and enhancing awareness of privacy concerns to maximize AI’s benefits in education.

ABSTRACT:
This study uses Random Forest algorithm to model students' final year mark in an engineering technology module taught by the University of South Africa. The algorithm uses a supervised learning classification technique to map the different assessment marks and the final mark. Hence, the latter are labelled instances whereas the former constitute the features. Random Forest (RF) has been applied to Structural Analysis 3, which takes into consideration the graduate attribute concept or level of competence as far as assessments are concerned. Firstly, the RF is subjected to imbalanced binary classes, then balanced classes are achieved by Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) and class weights adjustment techniques. The results showed that SMOTE brought an improvement in accuracy of 3%. It was also revealed that an increase of 4, 15 and 9% in precision, recall and F1-Score were observed in predicting non-competent students. An increase of 4 and 3% was noticed in the case of the precision and F1-Score respectively in predicting competent students, whereas the recall did not display any change. Despite the RF with SMOTE overperformed standard RF and RF class weights adjustment, all three algorithms were good candidates in the prediction of student performance. RF-SMOTE could be suggested as a guiding instrument when dealing with imbalanced data.

ABSTRACT:
This study examines computer science students' perceptions of their service learning experiences, comparing fully online and on-campus modalities. Service learning is a teaching approach that integrates community engagement with academic learning, offering students opportunities to apply technical knowledge in real-world settings while addressing community needs. An electronic mixed methods survey was developed, tested for validity and reliability, and distributed to 110 college students enrolled in both modalities of our 400-level Race, Gender, and Class in the Digital World course. About 57% of students responded to the survey: 50 on campus and 13 fully online. Using survey data, this research evaluates students’ views on skill development, career preparation, and their ability to apply computer science concepts to practical challenges. Additionally, qualitative analysis of open-ended responses reveals insights into students’ reflections on social responsibility, professional growth, and challenges faced during their service learning. The findings indicate minimal differences between the two modalities, suggesting that service learning offers consistent benefits regardless of how it is delivered. However, unique challenges were highlighted, including managing expectations in virtual collaborations and navigating non-technical client relationships. Implications for curriculum design, strategies to foster deeper community impact, and directions for future research are discussed, emphasizing the value of service learning in computer science education.

ABSTRACT:
This paper is a treatise on the impact of globalization on referencing sources from languages that do not use the Latin alphabet, such as Greek, Russian, Ukrainian (and any other Slavic Languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet), Chinese, Japanese as well as from languages that are written from the right side of the page to the left, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, Hindi. This is a tantalizing issue for international (non-English) scholars when they want to communicate their own research and cite valuable research done in their own countries whose language is other from English, especially a language that does not use the Latin alphabet. The paper starts with the notion of linguistic glocalization, that is, when the global (English, as lingua franca, a means of international communication) comes in contact and interacts with the local (languages other than English – and - within the present context – languages that do not use the Latin alphabet). Then, it provides a couple of examples of how Greek references (local) have been cited in international journals, using either English (global) or simply transliterated Greek into English. Finally, it tries to systematize how referencing in languages that do not use the Latin alphabet can be done (providing specific examples), by using AI (in the form of Microsoft Word, jpg, and the Internet) and discussing how useful Informatics and AI are for this systematization.

ABSTRACT:
Explainable Decision Support Systems (XDSS) have emerged as a critical tool for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into decision-making processes, combining predictive accuracy with interpretability to foster user trust and accountability. Despite their increasing adoption across various domains, XDSS face significant computational challenges, including data complexity, scalability, real-time processing demands, and ensuring fairness and robustness. These challenges are further compounded by the unique requirements and constraints of different application areas, which directly influence system performance and utility, making the strategic selection of application areas a crucial step in optimizing XDSS performance. Therefore, this paper employs an adaptation of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to systematically evaluate and rank potential application areas based on domain-specific factors such as data characteristics, explanation requirements, and computational constraints. Through a detailed analysis of challenges and application contexts, this paper underscores the importance of domain selection in maximizing the practical utility and computational efficiency of XDSS. The findings emphasize that selecting the right application area is foundational to ensuring XDSS efficiency and highlight how the MCDA framework can be extended to support further configuration decisions within selected domains. This paper contributes to the strategic planning and development of future XDSS frameworks, offering guidance for developers and business leaders aiming to implement these systems more effectively.

ABSTRACT:
Critical digital literacy is becoming a key skill in higher education, given the increasing integration of digital technologies into teaching and research. This paper explores the attitudes of students and professors in higher education institutions towards critical digital literacy, which includes technical skills, the ability to analyze and evaluate digital sources, and the active use of digital tools in an educational context. The research is based on an analysis of the perception of critical digital literacy as an important component of academic success and professional development. Through survey research and interviews with 900 students and 300 professors from all levels of study, attitudes were examined on the importance of digital technologies in education, online safety, and their role in developing critical thinking and recognizing disinformation. The results show that students and professors are mostly aware of the importance of critical digital literacy. Still, there are significant differences in the level of engagement and trust in digital tools among different groups. Students at lower levels of education show greater trust in technology, while professors highlight the challenges in integrating digital tools into teaching, especially in terms of assessment and maintaining academic ethics. This paper points to the need for further development of critical digital literacy in higher education institutions and suggests strategies for improving educational practices, including training for faculty and students in critical thinking, internet safety, and proper use of digital resources. In conclusion, the paper highlights the importance of continuous investment in developing digital skills, which are necessary for successfully facing the challenges of the digital age and preparing students for the labour market.

ABSTRACT:
This study examined the effectiveness of service-learning as a pedagogical approach in a course offered to business management students. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the research compared student outcomes between an experimental group that incorporated service-learning and a control group that underwent traditional teaching methods. These student outcomes included knowledge application, personal and professional skills, civic orientation and engagement, and self-awareness. The results revealed that students participating in service-learning significantly gained self-reflection skills, self-efficacy, and a sense of social responsibility compared to their peers undergoing traditional teaching approaches. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the other areas. These results suggest that while service-learning offers unique advantages in specific areas, its broader impact may depend on the depth and duration of community immersion in service-learning. This study shows the transformative potential of service-learning in rethinking business management education, emphasizing its ability to bridge theory and practice while fostering socially responsible professionals.

ABSTRACT:
The emergency (warfare-induced) and sustainable (pandemic-induced) digitization changes in the higher education sphere of Ukraine heralded the enhancement of pervasive dimensions of learning – digital, hybrid, and blended, synchronous and asynchronous, AI-enhanced.

This end-to end digital shift in the educational processes (communication, content, outcomes and outputs, skills) introduced the meta-disciplinary dimensions of learning, mitigated by human-in-the-loop and AI-in-the-loop formats of educational communication. These meta-disciplinary dimensions can be considered conduits of vertical (endocentric) and horizontal (exocentric) transdisciplinary of digital education as a sustainable dynamic system.

Applied trans-disciplinary lens contributes to the solution of holistic modeling of processes and results of updating models and mechanisms of the highly dynamic communication system of education in the digital environment as a whole and its individual formats in the emergency digitization measures of different types to foster resilience and sustainability.

ABSTRACT:
This study is a continuation of the paper from last year's conference "Cyber Risks: Systematic Literature Analysis". The work considered the process and risks of digitalization. As a result, definitions of cyber risks and cyber threats, cyber security and cyber resilience were given, and differences between similar concepts were considered. Also, as a result of the work, gaps in current approaches to small and medium enterprise (SME) cyber resilience were identified. To eliminate these gaps, it is necessary to see the full picture, understand which elements are included in the company's security system from cyber threats and are also able to strengthen its cyber resilience against threats and how it is possible to minimize cyber risks. In this work, an attempt will be made to build a conceptual model of cyber resilience of small and medium enterprises, considering the elements of the model and their interrelations and interdependencies.

ABSTRACT:
This study investigates the presence of climate change in the temporal variations of historical rainfall by utilising satellite-based precipitation data from 1993 to 2023 for the Olifants River watershed. Data were derived from the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) Rainsphere system. The historical annual mean rainfall was found to be 621.45 mm, with the highest and lowest values observed in the year 2000 and 2015, respectively. A notable declining trend in annual rainfall was identified, while seasonal data showed a declining rainfall trend in Spring. It was also revealed that the spatial rainfall distribution from CHRS Rainsphere had little in common with the one derived from the observed rainfall data provided by the South African Weather Service.