Abstract: Commercial air transport growth and its technological evolution have played a pivotal role in facilitating increased people movement across nations. While numerous studies have examined the broader international travel demand evolution or specific patterns between locations, understanding the drivers that propel people towards different destinations is essential for both companies’ planning and the formulation of public policies. This study contributes to this endeavor by analyzing three crucial socioeconomic factors that shape our global reality: globalization, countries’ economic structure, and the dynamics within this structure. Through the utilization of panel data regression analysis methodology, the relationships between the evolution of international tourism and these socioeconomic factors are estimated and discussed. The findings highlight strong associations between each perspective analyzed and the historical demand for tourism, which provides valuable insights for developing strategies that harness the positive impacts of globalization, addressing regional disparities, and promoting sustainable tourism growth
By: Ventura, R. V., Fernandes, E., Cabo, M., Carvalho, C. F. de M., Fernandes, V. A., & Tshikovhi, N. 

Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2024.2368730

Abstract: In developing countries, there is an increased emphasis on encouraging the commercialisation of research at universities. This triggers universities to adopt a culture of innovation and technological learning at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The focus of this review article is to highlight the benefits and challenges faced by researchers in the field of synthetic biology products, biotechnology, agribusiness, Biofuels and phytomedicine in commercialisation. The methodological approach was informed by a selection of electronic databases with a high chance of the selected field in relation to the commercialisation of the research outputs. Google Scholar, PubMed, and Higher Education and Science Technology South Africa Reports for entrepreneurial universities were searched, focusing on 2007 to 2023. The years proved to have played a role in furthering discussions and policy in research on commercialisation in South Africa, the benefits of research commercialisation, challenges of research commercialisation, its determinants, and its impact on academics, universities, and other stakeholders. The review findings suggest that the commercialisation of research is a challenging and complex task to execute, as there are very few cases in South Africa to have a successful academic intellectual property creation, licensing, academic entrepreneurship, and start-up of research. This is placed into context by the fact that the market for high-end products and processes is highly uncertain.

By: Razwinani, M., Tshikovhi, N. and Motaung, K. S. 

Access Link: https://journals.dut.ac.za/index.php/ajims/article/view/1210

Abstract: It has been propagated by scholars and practitioners that entrepreneurship and innovation are potent tools that can be harnessed to transform rural areas, grow rural economies, create jobs, and enhance the prospects of attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs). Subsequently, these disciplines have garnered attention from researchers for virtually a century. Nonetheless, these researchers often focused on entrepreneurship and innovation activities in urban areas, thereby neglecting entrepreneurship and innovation activities in rural areas. Thus, there is a paucity of literature on rural entrepreneurship and innovation in the BRICS economies. Within the context of the agency theory and the Triple Helix Model of industrial policy, this study systematically reviews the literature on rural entrepreneurship and innovation in the Republic of South Africa. The study revealed that rural firms are risk-averse, which challenges the doctrine of rural transformation through rural entrepreneurship and innovation. Moreover, the ability to engage in entrepreneurship and innovation by rural firms is highly dependent on the availability of support from the government and actor networks. Subsequently, rural firms fail when support has been phased out. Thus, the government and actor networks should do things differently, with an emphasis on teaching rural firms to be independent and sustainable entrepreneurs and innovators.
By: Lavhelesani, M. and Tshikovhi, N.

Access Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062408

Abstract: There is an increasing interest in the role of digital health in the healthcare industry, focusing on enhancing patient care through technologies such as electronic health records (EHRs), mobile health applications, telemedicine, and other advancements. The purpose of this review is to highlight the enormous potential of digital transformation tools in managing and mitigating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect millions of people worldwide, particularly in the Global South. To meet this purpose, we conducted a scoping review of existing literature and investigated the specific application of these technologies to NTDs. Briefly, the review entailed three main components: a bibliometric analysis, a content analysis, and the design of an ontological model to illustrate the relationships between technologies and diseases.
By: de Souza Rodrigues, D., de Paula Fonseca, B. and Fernandes, E.
Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-024-00319-x