Case Study 1 in Chapter 10 * The Census Bureau’s Outsourcing Debacle *

*Discussion Questions*

1. After many years of conducting successful IT projects, why did the Census Bureau decide to outsource creation of the FDCA system to automate the collection of field data?

 

ANSWER:

The only reason why a Census Bureau decide to Outsource creation of the FDCA system to automate the collection of field data is that a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the US Census Bureau is responsible for collecting and providing relevant data about the people and economy of the United States. The first national census in the United States was conducted in 1790, and counted 3.9 million inhabitants. With the growth of the country, the needs for different kinds of information about the people changed. In 1850, the census included inquiries on social issues, such as taxation, churches, pauperism, and crime. As new states and territories were added to the Union, the censuses also spread geographically.

A host of surveys are conducted by the census bureau, collecting information on subjects such as population; housing; retail merchandise; personal, business and transport services; international trade; local, state and federal government agencies; education; transportation.

Only general statistical information is to be collected by the census, and it is illegal to release any specific information about individuals.

 

 

2. Go to the Harris Corporation Web site (www.harris.com) to gain an understanding of the broad range of projects that Harris is working on for the U.S. government. Do you think it is appropriate that the government continues to spend so much money with this firm based on the Census Bureau experience? Why or why not?

 

ANSWER:

Yes, I think that Harris Corporation is appropriate that the government continues to spend so much money with this firm based on the Census Bureau experience, it is because Harris Corporation is the name behind many government and military communications systems, and even more HDTV broadcasts, wireless transmitters and secure network solutions. The challenges that we face are tremendous, and our answers to these challenges define the cutting-edge. This is where your ideas can do more than make money. Here, they’ll make a difference.

 

3. Make a list of three key principles for the successful outsourcing of IT projects, based on the Census Bureau’s experience.

 

ANSWER:

The three key principles for the successful outsourcing of IT projects, based on the Census Bureau’s experience is that:

1. First is the revealed that the Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) system, which was supposed to save taxpayers $1 billion, would now raise the total cost of conducting the census from $11.5 to $14.5 billion.

2. Second is the UNIVAC, the first commercial computer, was originally designed for use in the 1950 census. In the 1980s, the Census Bureau created the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing ( TIGER) database, which provides automated access to and retrieval of relevant geographic information about the United States and its territories.

3. Third is the data assembled from the surveys and the reports of the enumerators is integrated by the Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS). The final step of tabulating and summarizing the results is carried out through the Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS II).

 

Case Study 1 in Chapter 9 * Cyber bullying Results in Death*

*Discussion Questions*
1. Do you believe that knowingly violating the terms of a Web site’s service agreement should be punishable as a serious crime, with potential penalties of substantial fines and jail time? Why or why not?

ANSWER:

I didn’t believe to much, but i know that when you violate the terms and condition of a certain websites services agreements their such a punishable activity and can be a serious crime but it doesn’t mean a punishment would be in a jail time maybe its up to the mistake how you violate the terms and condition of a website. If it is worst violation then their should be a potential penalties of substantial fines and jail time.

 
2. Imagine that you are the defense counsel for Lori Drew. Present your strongest argument for why your defendant should not be convicted for violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Now imagine that you are the prosecutor. Present your strongest argument for why Drew should be convicted. Which argument do you believe is stronger?

ANSWER:

If i imagine myself as a defense counsel and a prosecutor of Lori Drew and believe where is the two should be stronger, I believe in the defense Counsel, because the defense counsel is usually hired directly by the person accused and from that point forward, represents the accused throughout the legal process, including trial. And also the defense counsel has the strongest argument for me.

 
3. Do you think that Lori Drew was responsible for Megan’s death? Do you think that justice was served in this case? Should new laws be created to address similar future cases?

ANSWER:

I think that Lori Drew was not responsible for Megan’s death because only Megan can make her life miserable, have no fear with GOD and have not LOVE and RESPECT of her own so that she killed herself because its all her fault.

Yes, the justice was served in this case because it detail how Megan was killed her self.

Yes, new laws be created in order to address similar future cases like this so that the justice would be served and the justice would be attain   by the victims.

Case Study 1 in Chapter 8 *IT Enables a Smarter Power Grid*

*Discussion Questions*
1. What do you see as the major advantages of implementing a smart power grid?

ANSWER:

The major advantages of implementing a smart power grid, is that it delivers electricity from points of generation to consumers around the country. It is also delivers electricity from power plants to distribution substations, and it delivers electricity from distribution substations to consumers.

 
2. What are the key issues and barriers associated with implementation of a smart power grid?

ANSWER:

The key issues and barriers associated with the implementation of a smart power grid, is that there are a number or unresolved issues with the smart grid, including costs, benefits, value proposition to consumers, implementation and deployment.

 
3. If the government provides much of the money required to implement a smart power grid, does that give it the right to control how the power grid is operated?

ANSWER:

No, because money does not give the right to control how the power grid is operated. Because money is not a power or electricity and maybe their are things that money can control but I think that it doesn’t control the smart power grid.

Case Study 1 in Chapter 7 *Computer Problems at WellPoint Have Serious Impact*

*Discussion Questions*
1. “The computer system did it” is an easy excuse for a multitude of problems. Clearly WellPoint’s system consolidation effort went poorly, but is it fair to say that this incident raises other more fundamental areas of concern about the management of WellPoint?

ANSWER:

WellPoint decided to consolidate the claims processing computer systems for the three merged companies into a single system. unfortunately, it is not fair because the consolidation turned out to be much more difficult that anticipated and many problems arose-causing significant delays in claims processing.

 

2. What can be done to improve the quality of information technology projects at healthcare organizations? Should such system efforts be classified as safety-critical systems and be subjected to more rigorous implementation standards and processes? Should there be oversight of such efforts by either the government or some industry organization?

ANSWER:

In order to improve the quality of information technology projects at Healthcare organizations, is that the system must handle a full responsibility of the said organizations and can access automatically and reliable to the organization, so that it will support and maintain the good quality of Healthcare organization through information technology.

Yes, the system efforts be classified as safety-critical systems and be subjected to more rigorous implementation standards and processes by attaining a good quality and accessible functions of the system, so that it can be safety-critical systems to use for a certain organization.

Yes, there should be an oversight of such efforts by either the government or some industry organization.

 

3. Implementation of electronic healthcare records is a national priority, and much emphasis is being placed on the importance of adopting new information technology. Meanwhile, the fundamental processing systems are falling into disrepair. How should healthcare organizations such as WellPoint prioritize their scarce resources?

ANSWER:

In order to prioritize the scarce resources of the organizations/WellPoint. They need to organized the data of their clients who was enrolled and eligible for benefits  and linking correctly to its systems, so that the fundamental processing systems are falling correctly and not falling into repair/disrepair.

Case Study 2 in Chapter 6 * Google Book Search Library Project *

*Discussion Question*

1. Do you think that Google should have taken a different approach that would have allowed it to avoid litigation and a lengthy delay in implementing its Book Search Library Project? Please explain your answer.

ANSWER:

Yes, because, Google Book Search Library Project goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalogue of all books in all languages that help users discover new books and publishers discover new readers. Google established a process requiring publishers and copyright holders to opt of the program if they did not want their books to be searchable.

2.  As a potential user, are you in favour of or do you oppose the Book Search Library Project? Please explain your answer.

ANSWER:

Yes, I’m in favour of Google Book Search Library Project. Because Google Book Search Library Project can help for me as a student, because you can easily search the book that you want to read through using internet. And it is not hassle of the part of the student.

3. Do you think the proposed settlement gives Google an Unfair advantage to profit from creating an online service that allows people to access and search millions of books?

ANSWER:

Maybe yes, because it is unfair to the authors of the actual books that the people can buy to the bookstore, because the actual books can’t be sold, because most of the people are prefer to the Google Books Search Library Project, because it is not so expensive and it is also accessible for all to read, with out paying/renting.

Case Study 2 in Chapter 5 * Defamation Incident Impacts Lives of All Involved *

*Discussion Questions*

1. Did the two Law School students overreact in filing a Law Suit over these postings? What sort of penalties should be levied against the anonymous posters?

ANSWER:

Yes, both of the two Law school students are overreact in filing a law suit over the postings.

The sort of penalties that should be levied against the anonymous posters is that, it’s violation privacy, defamation, and infliction of undue emotional dress.

 

2. Did Anthony Ciolli act ethnically in his response to the postings on AutoAdmit; in his apparent “damage control” actions with the Boston Law Firm; in filing a law suit against the two Yale Law School Students?

ANSWER:

The act of Anthony Ciolli is an “unethical”, because, in the letter to Ciolli, the managing partner stated that the contents of AutoAdmit are “unethical” and violate the principles of congeniality and respect that members of the legal profession should observe in their dealings with other lawyers.

 

3. Do you think that the Boston Law firm was right in revoking its Job offer to Ciolli? Why or why not?

ANSWER:

Yes, why? Because, even though they dismissed him from the case for four months later, he alleges his connection with the law suit caused him to lose a full-time position with a prestigious Boston Law firm.

Case Study 1 in Chapter 4 * Is Your Passport Secure? *

*Discussion Questions*
1. What type of security breaches could occur with e-passports?

ANSWER:

                                    The type of security breaches could occur with e-passports is the ELECTRONIC SECURITY BREACH, this security breach is another form of breach is an electronic security breach, wherein the intruder gets into a business’ systems to access sensitive data. The intruder gains such access by taking advantage of any weaknesses in the systems, such as inadequate firewall protection. This could also happen if the organization does not have adequate password protection for sensitive data. This sort of security breach is one reason businesses should perform constant security updates.

2. Why are passport cards less secure than e-passports? What types of breaches could occur with passport and EDL cards?

ANSWER:

The passport card uses state-of-the-art security features to prevent against the possibility of counterfeiting and forgery. A protective RFID-blocking sleeve is provided with each passport card to protect against unauthorized reading or tracking of the card when it is not in use. But the passport cards is less secure than e-passports because all U.S. passports issued since August 2007 have been e-passports (Electronic Passports), enhanced passports with embedded data chips. The passport is designed to facilitate immigration procedures and to automate identity verification, according to the State Department, not to mention make it impossible for passports to be falsified. Each passport has a shield to protect the chip from skimmers and high-level encryption supposed to protect your personal information. The RF-enabled e-passport actually requires several steps that makes it nearly impossible to determine the holders identity without the passport itself – it requires the use of a special reader to read the identification key, which then allows the chip to be activated and show the data contained on the printed page. Even if the data is skimmed, theoretically the chip cannot be altered because it has a signing key that is locked so even if someone read your passport and made a duplicate with different information, the key would not match.

The type of security breaches could occur with passports and EDL’s cards is the DATA CAPTURE SECURITY BREACH. Data capture, or skimming, is a practice whereby the intruder captures and records the data on a magnetic card stripe, such as on a credit card. This form of security breach helps the intruder produce copies of credit and debit cards. The intruder could either be an employee of a merchant who handles the customer’s card, or it could be an external intruder. An external intruder could attach a device to card readers or ATM machines to skim information.

3. What measures do you think federal and state governments should take to protect the privacy of individuals when issuing these electronic identity cards?

ANSWER:

The federal government pushed for the adoption of e-passports in order to automate identity verification, speed up immigration inspections, and increase border protection. Yet the information technology security industry has continuously raised concerns about e-passports, suggesting that they might actually increase security risks and identity theft. The measures that the federal and the state governments take to protect the privacy of individuals when issuing these electronic identity cards is the security of the user, the security of the data, to secure , aware and protected from the intruders.

Case Study 1 in Chapter 3 * Wildcats Fight Cyberterrorists *

*Discussions Questions*

1. There are some who think that the techniques and tools used in the Dark Web project could be used in a way that could negatively affect our way of life. The executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Marc Rotenberg, fears “the very same tools that can be used to track terrorists can also be used to track political opponents.”
What are some of the negative ways such tools can be used against U.S. citizens? Do you think that this is a reasonable fear?

*ANSWER:

Some of the negative ways that can be used against US citizens is the Surveillance cameras, because this cameras can monitor the behavior, activities or other changing information usually of people for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing or protecting. Surveillance is therefore an ambiguous practice, sometimes creating positive effects and at the other times it would be negative. The other one is the outsourcing jobs, because outsourcing jobs is bad because it destroys jobs for Americans.

Yes, I think that this negative ways to used against US citizens such as Surveillance cameras and Outsourcing jobs is a reasonable fear.

 
2. Identify three positive ways that this technology could be used to improve the performance of organizations or to help us in our daily lives.

*ANSWER:

Technology help us in daily life by helping us in online banking, A.T.M, Internet Selling, Credit Cards and many more. It is also help us to save and manage our time and it is also useful to our daily life routine.

 
3. Do a Web search to find current information about the Dark Web research being carried out at UA, including information about the budget for this effort, the number of researchers currently employed, and any new tools or techniques they’ve developed. Write a brief summary of your findings.

*ANSWER:

As part of its Dark Web project, the Artificial Intelligence Lab has for several years collected international jihadist forums. These online discussion sites are dedicated to topics relating primarily to Islamic ideology and theology. The Lab now provides search access to these forums through its Dark Web Forum Portal, and in its beta form, the portal provides access to 28 forums, which together comprise nearly 13,000,000 messages. The Portal also provides statistical analysis, download, translation and social network visualization functions for each selected forum.

The budget fund of a dark web research are provided by Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Air force Research Lab, National Science Foundation, Library of Congress and DHS/ CNRI.

The number of researcher currently Employed are the following: one director, two staff researcher namely Cathy Larson and Mark Patton, Seven PhD Students, five Masters Students, five Undergraduate Students and Interns, five Visiting Scholars, nine Past Visiting Scholars and four Affiliated Members.

Case Study 2 in Chapter 2 * Waste Management Sues SAP for Alleged Fraud and Breach of Contract*

*Discussion Questions*

1. What actions should WMI have taken to lessen the risk of this project and avoid these
problems?

ANSWER:

Waste Management, Inc. ( WMI) actions in order to lessen the risk of the project and in order to avoid the problems is they provide and integrate waste and environment services through its subsidiaries, it provides collection, transfer, recycling, disposal, and waste-to-energy services.

 
2. What sort of losses has WMI incurred from the delay of this project? How has the lack of success on this project affected SAP?

ANSWER:

The sort of losses has WMI incurred from the delay of this project is that they alleges that it discovered that pre sale demonstrations of the SAP software were of “fake, mock-up simulations” of software with “false functionality.” When WMI conducted an initial pilot of the actual SAP software at a WMI site in New Mexico  WMI was dismayed to find that the software “was unable to run [our] most basic revenue management operation.” WMI further alleges that SAP wrote tens of thousands of lines of code in a fruitless attempt to address the issues. The pilot was originally scheduled to be completed in December 2006 but was still not complete as of March 2008. SAP recommended a new development project to provide the functionality needed by WMI.

The lack of success on this project affected SAP is that, SAP felt that it could finish this new project in 2010 but “without any assurance of success.” WMI Ethics for IT Workers and IT Userswas not warm to this idea, as it would require the company to “once again act as SAP’s guinea pig by agreeing to convert what was supposed to be an 18-month-out-of-the-box implementation into an even more expensive, longer, and highly risky software development project.

 
3. Do research on the Web to find out the current status of the lawsuits between WMI and SAP.
Write a brief report summarizing your findings.

ANSWER:

Reports are coming in that SAP has settled the two year old Waste Management lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Back in March 2008 :

The software maker sold Waste Management computer programs that were supposed to be designed to manage tasks unique to U.S. companies that haul waste and handle recycling, with no customization required, the lawsuit said.

Those programs handle tasks including billing, waste logistics, container management, and on-board computing, according to a December 2005 press release from SAP America.

“Unknown to Waste Management, this ‘United States’ version of the Waste and Recycling Software was undeveloped, untested, and defective,” the suit says.

As details of the lawsuit trickled out, it became apparent that the sales people had used a number of well known ‘industry tricks’ to entice Waste Management into buying what they saw as software unfit for their purpose and at a cost of more than $100 million. In its defense, SAP claimed :

Waste Management didn’t “timely and accurately define its business requirements” nor provide “sufficient, knowledgeable, decision-empowered users and managers” to work on the project.

In April 2010, we settled the lawsuit, receiving a one-time cash payment, and all parties dismissed their claims with prejudice.

Case study 2 in Chapter 1 *Dell Inc. Merely Tough on Suppliers or a Bully?*

“Discussion Questions”

1. Identify at least two other companies that manage their suppliers in a manner similar to Dell Computers. Do these companies have anything in common with Dell?

ANSWER:

I identify two companies that manage their suppliers in a manner similar to Dell computers, one of this is COX COMMUNICATIONS INC. Cox Communications is a king when it comes to customer satisfaction – it ranked first in customer satisfaction in the fixed line telephone service provider category. It reflected customer satisfaction in areas such as customer service, billing, performance and reliability, company image and cost of service.  And with options such as VoIP and mobile phones now available to customers, the paying attention to customer service has become more important than ever. The second company is the APPLE. The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI)* second quarter report indicates that within the Personal Computers category, customers perceived Apple as the best company in terms of customer service. Computerworld , discussing Apple’s number one ranking says,  “The Company’s focus on product innovation and customer service has won it a cadre of famously loyal customers, unlike any other PC vendor.

This companies are have similarities in the Dell Computers, because it manage the suppliers needs and services. So that they have in common in the Dell Computer company.

2. Can you identify any disadvantages for Dell in taking this approach to managing suppliers?

ANSWER:

There are no disadvantages I identify for Dell in taking this approach to managing suppliers, because Dell computers are collecting payment from the customer once it receives an order. It then pulls the needed parts directly from its suppliers, builds the computer, and ships the order within four days. Dell makes payments to suppliers 36 days after it receives payment from the customer and it is a very measures-driven organization and does not hesitate to use measures to pressure its suppliers to improve.

3. Do you think that this approach to managing suppliers is unethical, or is it acceptable and ethical? Explain your reasoning.

ANSWER:

I think that the approach of managing suppliers is acceptable and ethical. It is because, it deals on how you value the respectful attitude and how you be with other suppliers or people in a good manner and a proper decorum.

4. Would you recommend any changes to the way Dell manages its suppliers? Defend your position.

ANSWER:

I recommend that they must give more better manages, services etc. to their suppliers  so that the their company will boom in richness and became more famous in near future.