Background: Effective plagiarism deterrence in the Republic of Cyprus, requires the identification of any gaps, best practices and case studies relating to plagiarism across the Higher Educational Institutions in the country. This paper discusses the findings of the first research conducted among university students and faculty in Cyprus and focuses on students’ awareness of and perceptions towards academic plagiarism. Methodology: The research instrument for students was initially designed based on experts’ feedback, as part of the IPPHEAE project. It was translated into the national language and pilot tested. The questionnaire included 33 questions of the following types: i) open-ended questions; ii) multiple choice questions in two variations: those requiring mutually exclusive options and single response and those permitting multiple selected answers and iii) Likert-type scale questions. The target population of the study included all students, undergraduate and graduate, pursuing an academic degree, in public and private universities in Cyprus. A total of 318 correctly completed questionnaires were collected. Results: It is clear from the findings of this study that there is a need for a clear and uniform definition and understating of the terms “plagiarism” and “academic dishonesty”. There is also a need to develop mechanisms for communicating these definitions both to students and to faculty, in addition to ensuring that these terms have been understood. In the setting up of policies, procedures and penalties for plagiarism and academic dishonesty, it is necessary to have uniformity and consistency in both implementation and especially in the imposition of penalties. The results also indicate that the use of tools, such as software for the detection or discourage of plagiarism, would definitely contribute positively to reducing plagiarism. Conclusions: Findings and recommendations outlined in this paper have been included to a national report distributed to interested stakeholders and it may contribute towards improved perceptions of students regarding plagiarism and relevant policies in Cyprus.

The increasing frequency of natural catastrophes and other disasters has underscored the importance of resilience as a core competence for smart cities so that they efficiently manage unforeseen crises. The increasing recognition of resilience in the context of smart cities leads to examining the role and context for the role of the “Smart City Resilience Officer” (SCRO). This article addresses this research gap by exploring the significance of resilience in smart cities and introduces a self-assessment model for evaluating the skills of professionals tasked with its management. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of open data in enhancing smart city resilience, whose utilization offers significant benefits, such as increased transparency, improved collaboration among stakeholders, and the ability to harness data-driven insights for more effective resilience strategies. This article identifies and defines the requisite competencies for SCROs to differentiate them from other city managers and develops a self-assessment tool featuring 20 key competencies. This tool was evaluated by smart city stakeholders in the consortium countries of the OpenDCO Erasmus+ project using a competencies assessment methodology. This study highlights the role of resilience policies in Europe and in launching large-scale training programs that develop competencies and facilitate the sharing of experiences and best practices. The findings underscore the potential of competency assessment and open data utilization in advancing the resilience of smart cities.

E-commerce for reverse logistics is an area of web applications that has been active and progressing aggressively, especially in the US, though it has not been explicitly recognised until now. It has given reverse logistics in general and especially remanufacturing of parts and re-use of surplus goods an important stimulus. However, existing E-commerce models are rather restricted and represent simply the migration of conventionally practices over the Web.