This book proposes new technologies and discusses future solutions for ICT design infrastructures, as reflected in high-quality papers presented at the 5th International Conference on ICT for Sustainable Development (ICT4SD 2020), held in Goa, India, on 23–24 July 2020. The conference provided a valuable forum for cutting-edge research discussions among pioneering researchers, scientists, industrial engineers, and students from all around the world. Bringing together experts from different countries, the book explores a range of central issues from an international perspective.

This book proposes new technologies and discusses future solutions for ICT design infrastructures, as reflected in high-quality papers presented at the 4th International Conference on ICT for Sustainable Development (ICT4SD 2019), held in Goa, India, on 5–6 July 2019. The conference provided a valuable forum for cutting-edge research discussions among pioneering researchers, scientists, industrial engineers, and students from all around the world. Bringing together experts from different countries, the book explores a range of central issues from an international perspective.

From the erosion of state legitimacy in Lebanon to the use of smartphones in Kyrgyzstan, from a Polish suburb to the music scene in Azerbaijan, this volume attempts to explain why, in a variety of world regions, a substantial number of people tend to ignore or act against state rules. We propose to look at informality beyond simplistic associations of the phenomenon with a single category such as "informal labour" or "corruption". By doing this, we propose to look for a correlation between the emergence, and persistence, of some informal practices and the quality of governance in a given area. We also suggest that a better understanding of the variety of informal practices present in a region can help conceptualising more adequate interventions and eventually improve the socio-economic conditions of its inhabitants.

This book proposes new technologies and discusses future solutions for ICT design infrastructures, as reflected in high-quality papers presented at the 6th International Conference on ICT for Sustainable Development (ICT4SD 2021), held in Goa, India, on 5–6 August 2021. The book covers the topics such as big data and data mining, data fusion, IoT programming toolkits and frameworks, green communication systems and network, use of ICT in smart cities, sensor networks and embedded system, network and information security, wireless and optical networks, security, trust, and privacy, routing and control protocols, cognitive radio and networks, and natural language processing. Bringing together experts from different countries, the book explores a range of central issues from an international perspective.

Hybrid forms of governance – where the central state authority does not possess a monopoly of violence and fails to exercise control – are not only an epiphenomena, but a reality likely to persist. This book explores this phenomenon drawing on examples from the Middle East and Africa. It considers the different sorts of actors – state and non-state, public and private, national and transnational – which possess power, examines the dynamics of the relationships between central authorities and other actors, and reviews the varying outcomes. The book provides an alternative view of the way in which governance has been constructed and lived, puts forward a conceptualisation of various forms of governance which have hitherto been regarded as exceptions, and argues for such forms of governance to be regarded as part of the norm.