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The construction industry is notorious for high risks and accident rates, prompting professionals to adopt emerging technologies for improved construction workers’ health and safety (CWHS). Despite the recognized benefits, the practical implementation of these technologies in safety management within the Construction 4.0 era remains nascent. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms influencing the implementation of Construction 4.0 technologies (C4.0TeIm) to enhance CWHS in construction organizations.

Drawing upon integrated institutional theory, the contingency resource-based view of firms and the theory of planned behavior, this study developed and tested an integrated C4.0TeIm-CWHS framework. The framework captures the interactions among key factors driving C4.0TeIm to enhance CWHS within construction organizations. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey among 91 construction organizations and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.

The results reveal that: (1) key C4.0TeIm areas are integrative and centralized around four areas, such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing, Internet of Things and extended reality; and (2) external coercive and normative forces, internal resource and capability, business strategy, technology competency and management (BST), organizational culture and use intention (UI) of C4.0 technologies, collectively influence C4.0TeIm-CWHS. The findings confirm the pivotal roles of BST and UI as mediators fostering positive organizational behaviors related to C4.0TeIm-CWHS.

Practically, it offers actionable insights for policymakers to optimize technology integration in construction firms, promoting industrial advancement while enhancing workforce well-being.

The novel C4.0TeIm-CWHS framework contributes to the theoretical discourses on safety management within the C4.0 paradigm by offering insights into internal strategic deployment and compliance challenges in construction organizations.

Sudan’s challenges are deeply rooted in a complex web of societal, political, and health-related issues. The nation is currently experiencing a challenging period that is impacting various aspects of human life, including the healthcare system for the youth, who are significantly impacted by this crisis that has persisted for a decade. Sudan, located in northeastern Africa, is an Arab nation and a member of the Greater Horn of Africa, along with Ethiopia and South Sudan. Despite its strategic location near the Nile River – a hub for global oil trade and other merchandise – it does not possess any military equipment. Its history, unfortunately, is marked by prolonged social conflicts. These conflicts have significantly affected essential infrastructures, social services, and the overall well-being of the population. We examine the conflict through humanitarian and socio-economic factors affecting Sudan and its people. This chapter explores the role of global economic forces and international relations in Sudan’s ability to address these challenges. Secondly, we explore the social structures, power dynamics, and interdependencies, examining how institutions and societal functions hinder comprehensive issue resolution through structural functionalism. Lastly, we will analyze the legal recognition and protection as foundational elements for human rights and assess the acknowledgment of rights, its absence influences the endurance of multifaceted challenges like health care and educational system by the Right to have Rights.

This paper examines to what extent blockchain creates legitimacy and trust in different modes of public governance. It posits that while blockchain aims for political legitimacy through decentralising, immutable and consensus-based mechanisms, the execution of these mechanisms is limited in legitimating governance, which has knock-on effects on trust. It provides an original contribution by recontextualising and reframing blockchain as a governance mechanism that should, and must, perform a legitimating function in order to engender trust.

The research adopts a comprehensive framework for understanding the legitimacy of blockchain governance, positioning it in terms of co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical governance modes. It systematically analyses blockchain whitepapers, legislation, government documents and other sources in three paradigmatic case studies where blockchain governance failed. These cases are then used to assess blockchain according to three key characteristics of decentralisation, immutability and consensus.

The research finds that blockchain’s use in governance settings still relies on legitimacy conferred from other sources – namely state – in order to generate trust. Significant limitations in its de facto political decentralisation, immutability and consensus protocols can create failures in co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical-governance applications, thus limiting the legitimation function of blockchain in facilitating political trust.

These findings are significant in highlighting blockchain’s limitations as a decentralised, immutable and consensus-driven legitimating tool, which has knock-on effects on trust in technology and governance more broadly. It also has broader implications in more clearly highlighting the interconnectedness of political trust and legitimacy in governance processes.