Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) undertakes collaborative research with faculty partners from the University of Westminster (UoW). This research support program promotes institutional cooperation and focuses on developing scholarly research helping WIUT faculty members develop their areas of specialisation.
2023
An Assessment of Green Supply Chain Management Practices Implementation in the Textile Industry in Uzbekistan
Project members: Dr Anil Kumar (WIUT), Dr Waqas Ahmed (WIUT), Dr Galina Gornostaeva (UoW), Dr Sumita Ketkar (UoW)
Description: The integration of environmental aspects into organisations’ strategic and operational decisions is a reality that affects not only the organisation that makes decisions but also all its stakeholders, whether customers, suppliers or society. A critical issue that demonstrates the growing concern over sustainability issues is the convergence of supply chain and sustainability of the business and society, particularly when we see pandemic situations such as Covid-19. This project aims to answer this question: Does the adoption of GSCM practices result in a higher level of environmental performance, and improved performance of textile firms in emerging economies? Particularly, it aims to identify the key drivers for green supply chain management (GSCM) practices for textile firms in Uzbekistan. It also aims to examine the impact of GSCM practices on the environmental performance and organisational performance of textile firms in Uzbekistan.
IoT-based Machine Learning Models for Efficient Classroom Usage using Timetabling Data
Project members: Dr Djuradj Budimir (UoW), Olga Yugay (WIUT), Dr Philip Trwoga (UoW), Dr Dilshod Ibragimov (WIUT), Dragana Barjamovic (UoW), Muharrem Maloku (UoW)
Description: Due to its multidisciplinary approach, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been phenomenal in revolutionising many aspects of traditional education paradigms, so that education applications and services can be obtained with high efficiency and productivity. In the last two decades, IoT and Sensor Networks have been applied for various IoT education applications, such as using IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for optimising classroom usage or predicting room occupancy using Wi-Fi Soft Sensors. One of the project’s main aims is to research existing AI solutions for modelling IoT-based predictive smart campus frameworks. Later we can use these findings as a foundation and testbed for advancing algorithms for working on the Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) timetabling problem, which has been explored on the algorithmic level. Moreover, the university may benefit by attempting to predict the university dropout at various stages by analysing collected data. Such analysis would be helpful in implementing effective dropout prevention policies for the university. Considering the growing trend for efficiency, we will also investigate resource-effective approaches when applying algorithms in predictive timetabling and dropout analysis. This project can impact university teaching, learning and research at both institutions.
Spillover Effects of Geopolitical Crises to CIS Banks: Early Warning Indicators of Bank Fragility
Project members: Roberta Adami (UoW), Dr Dildora Ibragimova (WIUT), Feruza Yodgorova (WIUT)
Description: In the face of geopolitical tensions and sanctions, economic activity in Russia decelerated several times, resulting in negative spillovers on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Since the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, restrictive measures have been imposed on Russia. These restrictions have since been expanded to recognise the non-government-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent entities during the Russia–Ukraine crisis that began in 2022. The sanctions imposed include:
- individual restrictive measures
- economic sanctions
- diplomatic measures
- restrictions on media
- restrictions on economic relations with Crimea and Sevastopol
- restrictions on economic relations with the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk
- restrictions on economic cooperation
All these sanctions had direct and indirect impacts on banking systems in CIS. Indeed, the degree of impact is commensurate with the level of these countries’ trade, remittances and foreign direct investment (FDI) links with Russia. The objective of the present study is to detect channels of spillover to banking systems and develop early warning indicators of bank fragility.
Modelling and Application of People Analytics Platforms
Project members: Dr Sumita Ketkar (UoW), Dr Abdumalik Djumanov (WIUT), Olesya Smagina (WIUT), Sitora Inoyatova (WIUT), Shakhnoza Kazimova (WIUT)
Description: The project aims to develop research capacity and outcomes as well as business applications of Human Resource (People) Analytics models for HR intelligence and predictive models in recruitment (yield ratios of recruitment sources and effectiveness) and selection (selection methods performance and performance modelling), workforce planning and performance appraisal and management aspects (retention, turnover, promotion, succession planning). These models will help organisations to optimise HR processes, use of resources and alignment to the organisational goals and objectives.
The impact of COVID-19 on Uzbekistan Higher Education Teaching and Learning
Project members: Andrey Khojeev (WIUT), Dr Richard Paterson (UoW), Dr Diana Akhmedjanova (WIUT)
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has majorly affected the operation of higher education institutions around the globe. The effect is on both research and teaching activities. The lockdown situation has created major obstacles for the collaboration of faculty staff and graduate students on joint research projects where associated mobility for fieldwork and the presence of humans as the subject of investigation are required. The closure of higher education institution campuses has led to the urgent transition from traditional face-to-face to online classes.
A SMARTER way of transition for high school pupils to Higher Education in Uzbekistan
Project members: Dr Alexander Bolotov (UoW), Elena Aripova (WIUT), Dr Aziz Makhmudov (WIUT), Dr Gabriele Pierantoni (UoW), David Chan You Fee (UoW), Richard Paterson (UoW), Dr Serena Masino (UoW), Igor Kim (WIUT), Dmitry Surkov (WIUT), Sayyora Nurmatova (WIUT), Albina Khodjimatova (WIUT)
Description: Transition to university education has always been difficult. To improve access to university education the 2019–2023 Uzbekistan development plan requires enhanced courses through innovative online resources. We will contribute to this initiative by tuning the Digital Educational Hub, SMARTEST recently developed within the Global Challenges Research Funding project “EduHub” and by offering novel transitional educational content in three subjects – Mathematics, English and Generic Skills where socio/economic/community engagement aspects are also embedded.
Adaptation of the learning sign language project for Uzbekistan
Project members: Dr Daphne Economou (UoW), Markos Mentzelopoulos (UoW), Dariusz Piotrowski (UoW), Shirin Primkulova (WIUT), Said Abduvaliev (WIUT), Mikhail Shpirko (WIUT), Olga Yugay (WIUT)
Description: This project will be a follow up from the “Learning sign language combining game theory, video and VR technology” project that received funding from WIUT for 2020/21 to support the UoW/WIUT research collaboration. That project marriages video, Virtual Reality (VR), image processing and speech recognition technologies together with gamification theory to develop an educational resource/game to assist in learning the British Sign Language alphabet. This educational resource/game includes three main levels: learning, practice and assessment. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated game mechanisms in learning and it will provide a resource to be trailed in different cultures European and Asian. The partners will work together for the implementation of the resource as well as for conducting a user testing study at the UoW and WIUT. The project will be scalable to support more learning objectives in the future.
Outcomes
Daphne Economou:
- presented progress of the work at one of WIUT's research seminars as part of a visit as Liaison tutor in November 2022
- will present the project at the 6th Annual Student STAFF Research Conference of the School of Computer Science & Engineering on the 28 February, 2023
- will present the progress of the project at the WIUT-UoW Computing Conference 2023: Digitalisation and Digital Transformation over Silk Road, 17 May 2023, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, https://conference.wiut.uz/silkroadigital2023
- will organise a workshop on the implications of developing immersive educational resources to support sign language as part of iLRN2023 on June 26-29, 2023 (in person) at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA [https://www.immersivelrn.org/ilrn2023/home-ilrn2023/]
In addition, the project attracted interest from Business School, and it is used to support authentic assessment as part of one of the level 6 modules of the Business Course. Students are using this application as a case study, and they are preparing and will be presenting proposals for the commercial exploitation of the project in April 2023 to the University Enterprise panel.
Daphne Economou has also submitted a proposal for QHT Fund for 150K, two years funded project, which successfully went to stage 2. She is preparing the video pitch for stage 2 of the proposal to be submitted by 3 March.
Westminster Development Policy Network Virtual Seminars
An open online academic seminar series is for any scholar/student worldwide interested in the issues of development policy. The webinars will be run in English via Zoom and include presentations on theoretical and empirical approaches.
All webinars begin at 5pm (Tashkent time) – 12pm (UK time) every Wednesday. Each webinar lasts for up to 60 minutes, starting with the speaker's presentation of 30 minutes, followed by the next 15-30 minutes of questions from the audience. The questions should be submitted to the moderator online via chat, who will address the questions to the presenter.
For more information please visit the Westminster Development Policy Network's blog.
Central Asian Integration: Obstacles and Opportunities
Project members: Roland Dannreuther (UoW), Wojciech Ostrowski (UoW), Komiljon Karimov (UWED/WIUT), Ahliddin Malikov (WIUT)
Description: The overall objective of the project is to address the following overarching research question:
Why have previous efforts at Central Asian integration been unsuccessful and what are the opportunities, and obstacles, for greater Central Asian cooperation and integration in the future?
The project has three main dimensions:
- Internal and intra-regional dimensions of Central Asian integration
- External and extra-regional dimensions of Central Asian integration
- Uzbek perspectives and debates on Central Asian integration.
Learning Sign Language Combining Game Theory, Video and VR Technology
Project members: Daphne Economou (UoW), Markos Mentzelopoulos (UoW), Shirin Primkulova (WIUT), Said Abduvaliev (WIUT), Dariusz Piotrowski (UoW, Level 5 student)
Description: This project marriages video with Virtual Reality and leap motion technology and provides an educational resource that allows learning, training and assessment. Involving 24 users, the current study compares this educational resource to traditional video highlighting the success of the latter. The project extends the current Serious Games by covering all the signs of the British Sign Language, integrating image processing for training and speech recognition for assessment to develop an effective educational resource supporting users learning BSL. The project is scalable to support Uzbek and other sign language in the future.
The Application of Social Media Messengers to Enhance Student Learning Outcomes and Engagement - Facing the Challenges of Engaging HE Students in a Post-COVID World
Project members: Elena Volkova (WIUT), Richard West (UoW), Mudra Mukesh (UoW), Aziza Khakimova (WIUT)
Description: This research project seeks to articulate the reasons why Social Media Messages should be recommended as a replacement and/or augmentation to the formal virtual learning environment in HE. We investigate the effectiveness of two different Social Media Messengers, Instagram and Telegram, in two different Higher Education contexts (England and Uzbekistan). We are forced to study this students’ practice because they seem to prefer using these messages as opposed to formal means of communication. Also, the idea of conducting this research is reinforced given the current climate, specifically the COVID 19 pandemic, where everyone has been forced to conduct teaching and learning online and transform their digital capabilities.
Creativity and Risk in Advertising in Central Asia
Project members: Farhod Karimov (WIUT), Jaafar El-Murad (UoW), Dildara Gapparova (WIUT), Pinar Demir (UoW)
Description: The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between risk and creativity in advertising from the perspective of both advertising agencies and customers. The project objective is to determine the attitude of local entrepreneurs and businesses towards using creativity in promoting their products and services.
The Evolution of Family Stereotypes in Advertising Communications. A Cultural Comparison between the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan
Project members: Richard West (UoW), Lilit Baghdasaryan (Regents University), Irina Kerimova (WIUT), Zamira Ataniyazova (WIUT)
Description: The objective of the project is to analyse the way images and stereotypes of the family are used in the advertising and marketing communications of two countries, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. A research gap exists because little work has been published on the employment of family symbols and stereotypes in the marketing communications of former States of the Soviet Union. This presents an opportunity to gain further ethnographic insights into the culture of post-Soviet Uzbekistan whilst at the same time comparing the historical adaptation of Jung’s archetypes in Western and Central Asian brand story telling.
Cotton Chains: Mapping-Out Clusters of Interest and Responsibility in the Uzbek Cotton Industry and Cotton Supply Chains
Project members: Aurora Voiculescu (UoW), Jamshid Normatov (WIUT), Firuza Bobokulova (WIUT), Bekhzod Egamberdiev (IAMO), Tamilla Tagieva (WIUT)
Description: This research project addresses key issues in the Uzbek cotton sector and cotton supply chains, focusing on aspects related to labour and the environment. The proposed one-year research project stems from the important role that the cotton industry plays in the Uzbek economy and in Uzbekistan’s participation in global exchanges, as well as from the need to address complex socio-economic problems in order to support the cotton sector’s reform.
Reduce Access Barriers to Big Data Analytics
Project members: Gabriele Pierantoni (UoW), Natalya Muzaffarova (WIUT), Temur Makhkamov (WIUT), Tamas Kiss (UoW)
Description: Nowadays, Big Data Analytics is at the base of many decisional processes in different aspects of our society: from corporate business planning, to government-level policies decisions; from city planning to educational feedback analysis. Unfortunately, access and proper usage of Big Data Analytics tools present difficult challenges; this project aims at reducing these access barriers along different dimensions: to facilitate the access to Big Data Applications through Cloud Deployment; to support the computational and storage requirements required by the execution of Big Data Analytics; to facilitate the access to various Big Data Applications tools and applications; to facilitate the conceptual comprehension of the various Big Data Analytics tools and to offer a comprehensive set of tutorials and examples to support the learning process; and to share educational resources between UoW and WIUT to build a coordinate approach (both technical and educational) to learning and using Big Data Analytics.
Attracting FDI in Support of Development and the Role of Legal Frameworks in Uzbekistan
Project members: Ioannis Glinavos (UOW), Khasan Sayfutdinov (WIUT), Karen Jackson (UOW), Akbar Ismanjanov (WIUT), Musojon Rizoev (WIUT), Serena Masino (UOW)
Description: The study investigates the existing status and potential of Bilateral Investment Treaties between Uzbekistan and other nations to support Uzbek development. Uzbek trade and investment deals are at an early stage of development. The project covers the potential for enhancing trade and investment deals and maps the role of legal instruments in improving Uzbek attractiveness for FDI. This is an underresearched area now and novel research outcomes will be of direct use to policy makers in guiding the development of legal instruments and frameworks in Uzbekistan.
Big Data Veracity and Soft Computing
Project members: Panagiotis Chountas (UOW), Dilshod Ibragimov (WIUT), Abdumalik Djumanov (WIUT), Dmitriy Pochitaev (WIUT)
Description: The research topics addressed in this project are of importance for the development of advanced techniques and applications for managing and handling Big data and delivering a data quality framework for big data platforms. Considering the societal and industrial relevance and importance of Big data, the research conducted in the project will indirectly have a socio-economic impact. With this project aims to promote research on: veracity in Big data within the computational intelligence community; on how data quality propagates in data processing and impacts the results of the computations; and under the consideration that quality is a characteristic of data, it is relevant to investigate how data quality can be adequately presented to users.
Civil Society Development: Mahalla as a 'Melting Pot' of Uzbek and European Values
Project members: Pippa Catterall (UOW), Victoria Levinskaya (WIUT), Paul Breen (UoW), Salim Turdaliev (WIUT)
Description: This research aims to identify the most fruitful means of accomplishing this end by looking at how Mahalla can be incorporated into processes of democratization. On the basis of this work, it is intended that the project leads to the elaboration of a framework for the development of more inclusive and democratic institutions in Uzbekistan and contributes critically and constructively to Uzbek political reforms and the strengthening of civil society, good governance and sustainability in Uzbekistan by providing research outputs that can become a point of reference for policymakers.
China in Uzbekistan: an investigation into the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on trade, migration, and Chinese language education
Project members: Gerda Wielander (UoW), Cangbai Wang (UoW), Karen Jackson (UoW), Bakhrom Mirkasimov (WIUT), Khamid Inomkhodjaev (WIUT), Nozima Yusupova (WIUT)
Project background: This project very simply asks what impact BRI has had on Uzbekistan in the field of trade, migration, and Chinese language education and aims to provide a preliminary evaluation of this impact on the Uzbek population. The main objective of this one-year project will be to map out Chinese presence in Uzbekistan since 2013 to find out whether there has been a marked increase of activity following Xi Jinping’s declaration. We expect that the main change in dynamic will in fact have occurred since the political change in Uzbekistan in 2016 and Uzbekistan’s launch of its own New Strategy for Development in 2017. We also expect that China’s importance in the country in all areas under investigation will reflect Uzbekistan’s geopolitical situation and historic orientations.
Language policy at WIUT
Project members: Andrew Linn (UoW), Anastasiya Bezborodova (WIUT), Saida Radjabzade (WIUT)
Description: This is a practical project to develop a language policy for an English-Medium-Instruction university in Uzbekistan. Although the university is de facto English-only, it presents a complex language ecology, which in turn has led to confusion and disagreement about language use on campus. The project team investigated the experience, views and attitudes of over a thousand people, including faculty, students, administrative and maintenance staff, in order to arrive at a proposed policy which would serve the whole community, based on the principle of tolerance and pragmatism. After outlining the relevant language and educational context and setting out the methods and approach of the underpinning research project, the project team proposed a language policy document.
Embedding Students Learning Profiles in Teaching Practices to Improve the Efficiency of Mathematics Learning
Project members: Aleksey Semyonov (TEAM University), Alexander Bolotov (UoW), Temur Makhkamov (WIUT), Gabriele Pierantoni (UoW)
Description: According to the students’ feedback, lectures and tutorials for mathematics (QM) are of less value than expected. This is also confirmed by the feedback from the tutors, indicating that time to deliver tutorial material is not sufficient and some of the lecture material has to be repeated. We believe that the reason for these lie in the delivery of the mathematical content which is not optimised to the students’ audience needs and abilities. Hence there is a need to optimise mathematics teaching at WIUT to address both students and tutors/lecturers concerns. This project’s main goal is to study individual differences in students’ psychological and learning profiles and embed this personalised element in teaching.
