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The coronavirus disease has created an unconventional thought process since it gained pandemic status in March 2020. The pandemic has forced the world to make fundamental changes to how humans live, work, play and conduct businesses, as well as changed the norms in policymaking and sectors such as health and education. The world has gravitated towards advanced technology and an unavoidable embrace of the 4thIR as digital solutions are rising to save the day. Before the pandemic, scholars argued the pros and cons of the fourth industrial revolution. The oft-quoted statement is that the 4thIR is a force for disruption, and a threat to the livelihood of people as humans are being replaced with machines. However, with the current effect of COVID-19, the 4thIR has helped to navigate the unprecedented challenge that has hit the globe. Taking South Africa as a focal study and employing various literature sources, the paper expanded the debate on harnessing the 4thIR in the context of the new COVID-19 pandemic. The paper reviewed the 4thIR pre-COVID in South Africa, the furthering of 4thIR since the inception of the pandemic, and concluded with a forecast on the future of 4thIR adoption in post-COVID South Africa.

In the quest to realize analog signal processing using subwavelength metasurfaces, in this paper, we present the first demonstration of programmable time-modulated metasurface processors based on the key properties of spatial Fourier transformation. Exploiting space-time coding strategy enables local, independent, and real-time engineering of not only amplitude but also phase profile of the contributing reflective digital meta-atoms at both central and harmonic frequencies. Several illustrative examples are demonstrated to show that the proposed multifunctional calculus metasurface is capable of implementing a large class of useful mathematical operators, including 1st- and 2nd-order spatial differentiation, 1st-order spatial integration, and integro-differential equation solving accompanied by frequency conversions. Unlike the recent proposals based on the Green’s function (GF) method, the designed time-modulated signal processor effectively operates for input signals containing wide spatial frequency bandwidths with an acceptable gain level. Proof-of-principle simulations are also reported to demonstrate the successful realization of image processing functions like edge detection. This time-varying wave-based computing system can set the direction for future developments of programmable metasurfaces with highly promising applications in ultrafast equation solving, real-time and continuous signal processing, and imaging.

Purpose: Modern digital public spaces are evolving from being mostly the provider of ICT and internet connection to institutions that provide complex range of services and support for the community. With this shift in their focus new challenges are emerging, among others their sustainability.Methodology/Approach: We build on and extend the methodology of Digital Cooperatives project. Within this project, survey on 59 digital public spaces from 12 EU countries was conducted. These digital public spaces were examined in 21 areas, some of them relating to their sustainability. We further analyse the sustainability issue of these digital public spaces.Findings: We identified three main issues affecting sustainability of digital public spaces – budgeting, services and community. Digital public spaces mostly rely on public funding and have limited diversification of their funds, which increases a risk when one source of funding drops out. They also have to build a strong community of users, supporters, which will make use of their capacities and helps co-create new services and thus strengthen and improve the community itself.Originality/Value of paper: Research in this paper is based on the collection of best practices from various EU countries in the field of digital public spaces. Recommendations based on these practices could help the creation of new, and in current digital public spaces.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to create a research framework to scrutinize how individuals' digital technology use produces tangible and intangible outcomes in online (digital) and offline realms.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applies the Bourdieusian e-capital perspective to create a theory-based framework. The framework was used to guide a survey design to explore women's “social media-assisted reuse” at the micro-scale in Helsinki, Finland.FindingsThe paper argues that a new form of capital emerges when individuals utilize digital technologies in correspondence to their goals to gain added value that would be impossible or significantly more arduous to gain without the digital realm. The survey indicates that the respondents utilize the digital space – set objectives and gain capital-related outcomes – in correspondence to their differing social, economic and cultural positions and related resources in- and outside of the digital realm.Practical implicationsIf digital spaces – due to social inequality and underlying power structures – become increasingly stratified, there will be significant impacts on how individuals from differing backgrounds gain accumulated forms of capital through the digital realm. The question is of great importance for battling inequality.Originality/valueThe paper enhances and synthesizes recent discussions on different forms of capital and outcomes of the use of digital technologies and presents a combined “e-capital–digital divide” framework that offers a more complete agenda for investigating the finely nuanced links between the inputs, outputs and outcomes of digital technology use.

Recent progress in space‐time‐coding digital metasurface (STCM) manifests itself a powerful tool to engineer the properties of electromagnetic (EM) waves in both space and time domains, and greatly expands its capabilities from the physical manipulation to information processing. However, the current studies on STCM are focused under the synchrony frame, namely, all meta‐atoms follow the same variation frequency. Here, an asynchronous STCM is proposed, where the meta‐atoms are modulated by different time‐coding periods. In the proposed asynchronous STCM, the phase discontinuities on traditional metasurface are replaced with the frequency discontinuities. It is shown that dynamic wavefronts can be automatically realized for both fundamental and high‐order harmonics by elaborately arranging the spatial distribution of meta‐atoms with various time‐coding periods. The physics insight is due to the accumulated rapidly changing phase difference with time, which offers an additional degree of freedom during the wave‐matter interactions. As a proof‐of‐principle example, an asynchronous STCM for automatic spatial scanning and dynamic scattering control is investigated. From the theory, numerical simulations, and experiments, it can be found that the proposed STCM exhibits significant potentials for applications in radars and wireless communications. An asynchronous space‐time‐coding digital metasurface (ASTCM) is proposed to generate dynamic wavefronts by modulating the meta‐atoms with various periods. It is the first time to introduce frequency discontinuities to the digital coding metasurfaces. The outstanding abilities of the ASTCM include the automatic spatial scanning and dynamic scattering control, thus benefiting its applications in radars and wireless communications.

This paper describes a practical method for obtaining the spectra of lights emitted by a fluor in a liquid scintillator (LS) using a digital camera. The emission wavelength results obtained using a digital image were compared with those obtained using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. For general users, conventional spectrophotometers are expensive and difficult to access. Moreover, their experimental measurement setup and processes are highly complicated, and they require considerable care in handling. To overcome these limitations, a feasibility study was performed to obtain the emission spectrum through image analysis. Specifically, the emission spectrum of a fluor dissolved in a liquid scintillator was obtained using digital image analysis. An image processing method was employed to convert the light irradiated during camera exposure into wavelengths. Hue (H) and wavelength (W) are closely related. Thus, we obtained an H-W response curve in the 400~450 nm wavelength region, using a light-emitting diode. Another relevant advantage of the method described in this study is its non-invasiveness in sealed LS samples. Our results showed that this method has the potential to accurately investigate the emission wavelengths of fluor within acceptable uncertainties. We envision the use of this method to perform experiments in chemistry and physics laboratories in the future.

We introduce a connectedness in the digital space ℤ3 induced by a quaternary relation. Using this connectedness, we prove a digital 3D Jordan-Brouwer separation theorem for boundary surfaces of the digital polyhedra that may be face-to-face tiled with certain digital tetrahedra in ℤ3. An advantage of the digital Jordan surfaces obtained over those given by the Khalimsky topology is that the former may bend at the acute dihedral angle π4 {\\pi \\over 4} .

On May 5, 2022, a food blogger named Yishiji (一食纪) with over 700,000 followers on the Chinese social media platform Bilibili, posted a farewell video expressing his struggles as a gay man and his lack of attachment to the world. Shortly thereafter, it was confirmed that he had died by suicide, sparking widespread discussion across social media. Over three years later, his self-obituary continues to foster significant engagement, leading to a unique digital mourning space. Drawing on theories of obituary and digital mourning, this study analyzes the digital mourning spaces generated by self-obituaries on social media platforms through a case study of Yishiji. Employing multimodal discourse analysis and latent Dirichlet allocation thematic analysis, the research identifies four key features characterizing this emergent digital mourning space: sustained spatial content production; precise spatio-temporal dialogue, notably through the danmu feature; functional zoning of semi-open spaces; and its profound capacity to facilitate self-communication and connection among mourners. The study argues that such digital mourning spaces formed by self-obituaries are not merely extensions of traditional physical mourning rituals; rather, they constitute a novel democratic memorial institution co-constructed by the deceased’s obituary, user-generated content, and the platform’s algorithmic logic. This research enhances our understanding of how digital platforms transform mourning practices. It emphasizes the potential of digital mourning spaces to foster inclusive environments for expression and connection, providing valuable insights into the evolving nature of grief in the digital age.

Creating an effective tax system in the country is one of the most important conditions for ensuring its competitiveness. Today, there is a process of active tax competition between states around the world. This determines the importance of creating conditions for the introduction of digital technologies in the field of taxation, which can radically change the efficiency of tax authorities and facilitates the transition of tax systems to a qualitatively new level of development. Thus, within the article, theoretical provisions of the development of fiscal digitalization as an objectively necessary component of reforming tax systems in the current context of the national economy digitalization are examined. This was implemented through the study of the digitalization essence, which was carried out based on the analysis of the formed scientific concepts of this phenomenon consideration, concretization of the influence of such phenomenon on the national economy development. As a result, advantages of the digital technologies introduction for the tax system of the countries are also determined. To specify the essence of fiscal digitalization, within the article, the content of fiscal and digital space is considered, their objective convergence in the current conditions of economic development are substantiated, as well. The author’s interpretation of the essence of fiscal transformation was proposed, namely: fiscal transformation — a space in which the processes of introduction of modern information technologies into the activities of fiscal authorities to increase the effectiveness of the relevant executive authorities policy in the field of revenue and expenditure regulation. economic development and ensuring the development of other economic entities. Conceptual principles of the fiscal digitalization development, its inevitable nature are also deepened, and its important role in ensuring the competitiveness of tax systems is substantiated,  advantages and threats that may arise in the process of the introduction of modern digital technologies in the fiscal sphere are analyzed. Keywords: digitalization, fiscal space, digital space, fiscal digitalization, digital technologies. JEL Classification H21 Formulas: 0; fig.: 3; tabl.: 0; bibl.: 36.

The article is devoted to the legal regulation of digital technologies in the agricultural sector. In the modern period of development of civil relations, the digitalization of personal and social relations, including in agriculture, is widespread. The regulation of these relations is carried out with the help of civil law. The legislator considers only certain types of regulation. Covering the current problems of digital technology regulation, the author draws attention to the similarities and differences between digital currency and digital financial assets. Digital technology requires proper legislative support and the development of diverse jurisprudence. The introduction of mathematical methods in biology, including biometrics and statistics, as specific sections of modern mathematics reflects the need to intensify cognition in the era of scientific and technological progress. These methods will be used both within the framework of state management and for improving the efficiency of production and marketing processes of enterprises of agro-industrial and fishery complexes. The author unequivocally concludes that digital technology is a good that must be protected by law. Digital technologies are increasingly entering all spheres of human activity, and agriculture, as a key sector of our country's economy, is no exception.