Round Table

• Numerous Hong Kong pavilions and tech companies introduced innovative projects that received positive feedback from industry professionals.
• Hong Kong exhibitor Greentek participated in the Spring Electronics Fair for the 20th year.
• Nico Broder, CEO of Spanish company Atlantis Internacional SL, was sourcing smartwatches, smartphones and mobile accessories at the Spring Electronics Fair.
• Recognising the crucial role of young talent in promoting I&T ecosystem development, this year's InnoEX and Spring Electronics Fair introduced Exhibitors Meet Talents.

• The Sustainable Wine Roundtable is an independent, non-profit roundtable for sharing best practices to advance sustainability
  O-I will be the first glassmaker, globally to join the Roundtable
  Perrysburg, Ohio, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  – O-I Glass, Inc. (“O-I Glass” or “O-I”) announced today that the company will join a global collaborative platform to advance sustainability across the wine industry as member of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR) .
• The SWR consists of more than 120 members representing leading wine brands, small producers, distributors, retailers, and packaging producers to make the wine sector even more sustainable.
• By joining SWR, O-I glass will work to help members make progress toward their sustainability objectives for packaging in glass.
• Wine packaging represents nearly 20 percent of O-I’s global glass container portfolio.

• Like most activities that require personal interaction, this type of research was disrupted by the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Community-engaged projects have garnered attention over the past two decades as they focus on tackling inequities, which often arise during public health crises.

Community-engaged research during the pandemic

• Public health measures focused on preventing the spread of COVID-19 (such as limits on in-person gatherings) halted traditional forms of fieldwork.
• These organizations are sought after as community research partners since they are embedded in the communities they serve and provide crucial services to community members.
• Findings from our roundtable, supplementing this article, have also been included in our Community-Engaged Research during Health Crises: Engaging with Civil Society Organizations handbook published by PIPPS and SFU Community Engaged Research Initiative.

Barriers to conducting community-engaged research

• Roundtable attendees first discussed the challenges of conducting research remotely, with one noting how their research plans were put on pause for more than three months because of pandemic-related restrictions.
• Several attendees found it difficult to recruit research participants; they discussed the challenges of the digital divide, referring to the gap between communities’ access to information and communication technologies.
• While ethics applications were expedited, researchers felt they lacked guidance for community-engaged research during the pandemic.

Opportunities emerging from the pandemic

• Despite the challenges they faced, researchers identified a range of opportunities that emerged as a result of the pandemic.
• Researchers also discussed how the pandemic forced the “professional veneers to slip away.” Over time, researchers connected on a more vulnerable level with their community partners, as they all attempted to get through the pandemic.
• Compensating members of the research team for their knowledge strengthened the relevancy of their findings as they directly learned how the pandemic was impacting distinct groups.

Lessons learned: Conducting community-engaged research in future crises

• Participants were asked what they would do differently in future health crises.
• Some discussed the significance of holding informal check-ins with their teams to openly discuss professional and personal challenges.

• Based on the key themes of the roundtable, three recommendations emerged to support community-engaged research in future public health crises: 1) Post-secondary institutions should develop guidance for community-engaged research in health emergencies Since post-secondary institutions increasingly recognize the importance of community-university partnerships, institutions should create protocols to support community-engaged research in public health crises.
• 2) Develop targeted funding opportunities for community-engaged research partnerships During the pandemic, research unrelated to COVID-19 faced funding drawbacks and resource constraints.
• Rather than treating community-engaged research as a “peripheral activity,” the principles of community engagement should be embedded in research, teaching and learning.

Julia Smith receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Research BC. Simran Purewal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Results noted herein are for the 13-week period ("2023 Q4”) and the 52-week period ("Fiscal 2023”) ended December 31, 2023.
• The comparisons reported in this press release compare 2023 Q4 to the 13-week period ("2022 Q4") and Fiscal 2023 to the 53-week period ("Fiscal 2022") ended January 1, 2023.
• Comparisons and comments are also made to the 13-week period (“2023 Q3”) ended October 1, 2023.
• NFI generated $19 million in cash flows from working capital in the fourth quarter as higher vehicle deliveries lowered finished goods and work-in-progress inventory.