Case study problem #3

Dr Ogola wants to implement new IT systems based on the improving mobile phone technology tosupport medical practices in outlying rural areas by providing:– telemedicine outreach to village clinics in the province– education and training to medical and paramedical staff– effective distribution of medical information.
1. What cell phone infrastructure exists in East Africa? Which nations have poor or no cell service? Which have good cell service? How does "good" cell service in East Africa compare to cell service in the US?

When looking at cell phone infrastructures in East African countries, the list that can develope is rather long and complicated with mostly all infrastructures being closely related to, either directly or indirectly, to each other. Some of the infrastructures that exist are lack of cellphone towers, cell availability, and the problem of having structures which block cell phone service such as bridges, cities. Also, all of these problems fall under the difficulty of having equally spaced out cell phone services because in East Africa, the distance between one cell phone structure and another, is very large distance. Many East African countries as well as others have black spots, dead zones, and cell towers are so spread out that they do not pick up service in many locations. One African country that is well known for their cell phone coverage is Kenya. However, the United States is much more advanced when it comes down to cell phone coverage because in America there are multiple services connecting to towers all around the country which then provides for multiple 3G coverage.

2. How does telemedicine treatment work in theory? Find an example in the real world, and explain how the reality compares to the theory. Discuss whether current telemedicine is feasible in East Africa. Discuss the feasibility of future telemedicine practices in East Africa.

Basically, telemedicine treatment works through sending an image of an ailment to a remote clinic for analysis in real time. This means that people, that are sick or could possibly become sick and cannot leave their homes, would have the ability to send an image of their ailments to clinics that they cannot travel to so that the doctors may find out what is the matter with them faster than it would take for the sick person to travel to the clinic. Sensibly high quality close up digital pictures with 640x480 resolution are possible solutions to how one may send a picture of their ailment to a clinic without travel. The resolution above probably represents the best quality that could be sent today with high-quality CCD camera over an ethernet link to a remote site for evaluation.

One example of a real life situation is actually in Tanzania. "Wilson Mkama, Permanent Secretary in the Health and Social Welfare ministry, when he opened a three-day Cross Country Learning Event in Health in Dar es Salaam yesterday.Among the delegates to the function were health experts from Ghana, Mali, Uganda and Tanzania." (from africanews.com) Tanzania is currently undergoing paying for the expenses of the setup and equipment of a telemedicine treatment. This would allow the people of Tanzania to not spend as much on their trips to the nearest clinic or hospital and it would also allow Tanzania to get the most out of its few certified doctors in the country.

3. Discuss the feasibility of telemedicine for training purposes.

Telemedicine enable medical information to be shared from one place to another with the use of technology. This would allow a physician located far from a reference center to have the ability to consult his colleagues remotely in order to solve a case, the ability to follow a continuing education course over the Internet, or the ability to access medical information from digital libraries. Thus, the feasibility of telemedicine for training purposes is very high because with Telemedicine, only a little bit of training is needed to know how to send and receive information and the rest will come from the doctor's own personal knowledge about a particular medical case. The potential of these Telemedicine tools is very important in countries where there are little to no doctors and where distances between clinics, hospitals, cities, and homes hinder the movement of physicians or patients. The problem faced by many East African countries, as well as Africa as a whole, is that the many infrustructures that are in the way of cell phone and telemedicine treatment limit the rate in which both of these two technological advances can proceed. In order for these two advances to work, they must be tested, and then tested again. That is until every little offset in the data is fixed so that all the equipment runs properly and smoothly. However, the feasibility of telemedicine for training purposes is very high because telemedicine needs very little high tech equipment on the patients side, however on the doctors side, the medical equipment is a of higher tech and thus they must be trained first. But after that small problem is overcome, many doctors will be able to use telemedicine to consult their patients without actually seeing them physically and therefore they increase their abilities in the field.

Homework due 12/4/09

On pages 182 and 183 of A Gift of Fire, answer questions 4.8 and 4.10; post your answers on your blog!

4.8
Consider the case described in Section 4.1.2, in which a boy was assumed to be a drug abuser because two schools used different disciplinary codes in their computerized records.
a) Is this kind of problem more likely to occur with computerized records than with paper records? Why, or why not?

I believe that the problem could equally occur either with a paper record or a computerized record. This is because there are many factors that are associated with errors in a database or on a record. For example, there are many people in this world and thusly a name can be mistaken, nonhuman machines running and recording things about actual humans could lead to potential problems because the machines cannot recognize special cases and it does not have any common sense, many people have too much faith in computerized records and their accuracy, some people create errors when putting information into the database, failure to update information, and many people do not want to take the blame if something goes wrong within the computerized records. People managing paper records can have all of these problems as well because people are prone to make mistakes. No one is perfect and therefor a database whether it be paper or electronic is going to have a mistake or two or three etc. There is no possible way to determine if a computerized record has any more potential at being less problamatic than paper records because both actually have a lot of common factors that make record keeping very difficult.

b) Describe some policies or practices that can help prevent such problems.
There are many policies and/or practices that can help prevent such problems. For starters, if the people that are using either the paper or the computerized record system if they enter the persons name with his/her social security number then that fixes the problem of the large population and names being mis-matched, second, if the people that are using the paper records know about the special case scenarios beforehand and if the computerized records are programmed with these special case scenarios then that fizes the second problem dealing with machines not having common sense, thirdly, if people are more cautious about how/when/why/where they are putting data entries into the records then that would fix the accuracy problem, fourthly, if people are more careful when entering the data into the records then that fixes the carelessness errors, fifth, make sure that the information in the records are updated frequently (month, year, etc.) to fix the problem dealing with lack of updated information, and six, make sure that if there is an error either with a person at fault or a machine, take responsibility for it so that more problems may not arise but rather be settled quickly and efficiently.

4.10
Consider the standardized-test-score-reporting error discussed in the box in Section 4.1.3 Suppose the scores had been reported to the schools as significantly higher, rather than lower, than the correct scores. Do you think the schools would have questioned the scores? Do you think the error would have been discovered? If so, how? Give a few examples of situations where you think computer errors would not be reported. For each example, give your reason (e.g optimism, ignorance, gullibility, dishonesty).

Personally, I do not think that the school would have questioned the higher scores unless they had morals. But I mean in todays world, where nearly everything is a competition, people want to show other people that their schools are superior and if this means using false test scores as proof, so be it. I think that if the scores were really low, like 10 percent all around lower than the year they were before then the school would have done something but if it was higher ten percent then heck, make it work for in your benefit. I think that the error would have been eventually caught because school testing officials (like in Section 4.1.3) would have been very skeptical of the scores showing sudden rises in every category. Also, I bet that they would have questioned the "CTB" and looked into it further especially if it was a school that could never in its right mind achieve test scores like that.
Some examples of where computer errors would not be reported could be:
- If a bank or the government issues you a check for way more than it should be - dishonesty because one should report that but who is going to do that in this economy?
- If a store does not charge your credit card - again dishonesty because they are stealing
- If a person goes through the wrong lane in a toll plaza - truthful because they are the ones actually at fault

Portfolio topic check

1. Does the topic relate to ITGS? Explain how!
Yes, this topic does relate to ITGS because Microsoft officials said that they will experiment with selling marketers the right to place ads in Windows 7 themes on users' desktops. This means that those marketers will sell their brands and products using two of Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) graphical customization capabilities in Windows 7 and Internet Explorer.

2. Is the area of impact one that has not been addressed in a previous portfolio piece? Which area of impact have you already done? Which area of impact does this piece fit?
Yes, the area of impact is one that has not been addressed in a previous portflio piece. I have already done the politics and government and health areas of impact. However, this portfolio piece fits in with business and employment.

3. Was the news item published no more than six months before you started the course (you started September 2008)? What is the publication date of the article?
Yes the news item was published no more than six months before I started the course. The publication date of the article was November 13, 2009.

4. Does the article raise one or more social or ethical issues related to an IT system? State clearly the social or ethical issue.
Yes this article raises one or more social oor ethical issues related to an IT system because with Microsoft having the ability to choose which marketers will display what info on each theme then that allows Microsoft the potential power to disregard some companies and only allow others in which violates the equality between each future marketer. Also, with businesses displaying ads on Microsoft themes, that makes the possibility of actual store businesses losing money a reality because the ads on the themes will probably be displaying ads for businesses that are online and not in an actual building.

5. Is the problem clear? Explain the problem.
Yes, the problem is clear. Microsoft wants the ability to have potential marketers place ads on their themes but the question is for how much and how often will they be able to fo it for.

6. Can you think of two viable solutions? Briefly state the possible solutions.
Yes, I can think of two variable solutions. One is if Microsoft does allow marketers to place ads on their themes then they should make the price of placing said ad universal no matter who the business is. Second, if Microsoft will allow every marketer that has placed an ad on a theme the same amount of time then the potential problem of playing favorites will be taken away.

7. Do you have access to a range of resources on this topic? Name three possible resources to research this topic.
Yes, I do have a range of resources on this topic. On possible place for potential information is bbc.com, a second potential source for information is internetnews.com, and the third possible source for information of this IT topic is microsoft.com.

ATM Questions

Describe 3 advantages to using an ATM. Evaluate those advantages. Post to your blog.

1. The main advantage of using an ATM is the fact that you can have access to the cash in your bank account whenever you need it. For example: If you are at a place (store/ticket booth/train station) that does not accept checks or credit cards but there is an ATM nearby, then you can go over to the ATM and using you card, you can get money withdrawn from your account in cash. Also, this makes traveling without cash much more accessible because if you have your card and you are at a place that happens to have an ATM, then you can get money withdrawn from your account no matter where you happen to be.

2. On some ATMs you can "transfer funds between accounts, buy stocks, check account balances and even buy stamps." All of these features can be accessed with one debit card or credit card and a PIN number. This allows you to have many features of owning your own debit card. For one, no matter where you are, you can get money/stamps/buy stocks quickly and efficiently without the hassle of going and finding a bank where you can make a transfer of your funds or take out money. It is very convenient to use an ATM because of their high speed quality and their ability to do so much with you doing so little.

3. ATM is very convenient and makes life's little emergencies far less challenging. An ATM being convenient is another one of the advantages of using an ATM because no you don't have to carry cash everywhere you go because ATMs are now popping up everywhere because banks know that people like to have the ability to do things wherever they happen to be and quickly. I think that people like to be able to take out money, or transfer money, or buy stocks, or whatever it may be, because it gives them a sense of power. I know that if I had a debit card I would be very enthusiastic because I would know that I would have the convenience of having ATMs all around me, whenever I needed them.

Part E

Selection and Use of Sources

Adams. 28/8/2009, "Bill Would Give Obama 'Emergency' Control of Internet", http://www.internationalfreepresssociety.org/2009/08/bill-would-give-obama-emergency-control-of-internet/ (10/11/2009)

McCullagh , Declan. 28/8/2009, "Bill Would Give President 'Emergency' Control of Internet", http://www.mixx.com/stories/7248338/bill_would_give_president_emergency_control_of_internet_cnet_news (10/11/2009)

Reich, June. 31/8/2009, "Should the White House Control the Internet During an Emergency?", http://www.examiner.com/x-21668-Philadelphia-Gadgets-Examiner~y2009m8d31-Should-the-White-House-control-the-internet-during-an-emergency (10/11/2009)

The Washington Times. 30/8/2009, "EDITORIAL: White House Control of the Internet", http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/30/white-house-control-of-the-internet/ (10/11/2009)

News Item - Extract
"Translation: If your company is deemed 'critical,' a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.

The Internet Security Alliance’s Clinton adds that his group is 'supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective.'"

Part D

Solutions to Problems Arising from the Issue

There are many solutions to the problems that arose in part C. One of these solutions is to only allow the President to have the power to shut down the private sector computers instead of having another group of people do it for him. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license (Adams 2009). Allowing other people to shut down the private sector computers when the bill specifically says that it is only the President’s authority to do so is breaking the law and to have the President do it instead will be more efficient. If the President was to be properly trained then the extra people that are currently used as “cybersecurity professionals” need not be there any longer.

Also another solution to one of the problems that arose was that the language of the bill made companies timid. “As soon as you’re saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it’s going to be a really big issue” (Adams 2009). Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to “direct the national response to the cyber threat” if necessary for “the national defense and security.” The White House is supposed to engage in “periodic mapping” of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies “shall share” requested information with the federal government (Reich 2009). The language of the bill can have a number of relatively easy solutions. One is that a new draft of the bill is formed with language more suitable to companies ears and this is due to the fact that the language in the old one frightened them into thinking that the President would be watching over their companies 24 hours 7 days a week, when really it meant that he would periodically check in to see how and what the company was doing. Another example is to have the President address the issue himself, describing all the benefits associated with his new ability to shut down private sector computers such as national defense and national security.

Part C

The Impact of the Issue

There are many advantages when it comes to the president having the ability to shut down private sector computers in a “cybersecurity emergency”. One of these advantages is that the creator of the bill, a man named Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) he claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. “We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs–from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records,” Rockefeller said (Adams 2009). Another advantage, however it can also be seen as a disadvantage, is thatIf your company is deemed “critical,” a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.
The Internet Security Alliance’s Clinton adds that his group is “supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national security perspective” (Adams 2009).

However there are some disadvantages too. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president’s power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001 (Adams 2009). The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection. Also other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license (Reich 2009). To complete this project, it requires a “cybersecurity workforce plan” from every federal agency, a “dashboard” pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a “comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy” in six months–even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete (The Washington Times, 2009).

Case study problem #2

The government of the Western Province wants to purchase a pre-existing or custom-built EMR management system from a local or multinational company that would lead to improvements in the:-healthcare of patients -accuracy of record keeping -efficiency of the hospital and clinics.

1. What is an EMR management system? What do they typically include? How would they help improve each of the points above? Would they be available in East African countries? Provide evidence for your answer!

EMR = Electronic Medical Record. So i'm guessing that an EMR management system is an electronic medical record management system... but I don't know. A EMR is usually a computerized legal medical record created in an organization that delivers care, such as a hospital and doctor's surgery. Electronic medical records tend to be a part of a local stand-alone health information system that allows storage, retrieval and manipulation of records. An EMR management system would help improve each of the points above because EMR's are organized, allow storage, retrieval, and manipulation of records. Yes, an EMR management system would be available in East Afrcian countries however at a price.

2. What options are available for pre-exisiting systems? What are the price points for those systems? What are the advantages and disadvantages to buying a pre-built system?

The options that are available for preexisting systems are that the Oobunta clinics and hospitals could get used computers for a cheaper price than new and implement an EMR sytem into them for a higher price which will allow for the cheaper computers to equal out the new database software. Electronic medical record (EMR) software prices typically range from $10,000 to $30,000 per physician, with higher and lower cost options on the market. In addition to the software license cost, implementation adds indirect costs. These include training; additional hardware or software; downtime or decreased productivity during implementation; vendor implementation fees; ongoing service or maintenance fees; and possible attorney, electrician, contractor, or consultant fees. The advantages for buying a prebuilt system is that it is cheaper than a new one however the system may have defects associated with it such as viruses or broken equipment.

3. What options are available for custom systems? What are the price ranges for those systems? What are the advantages and disadvantages to buying a custom system?

The sample presented below is from texmed.org:

Sample Costs (based on an average, 3.5-physician practice)
Software Licenses
Product A $ 31,980
Product B $ 61,020
Product C $ 71,000
Data Conversion
A 2,995
B 2,900
C 5,000
Other Licenses
-
B 6,691
C 8,000
Training
A 6,205
B 26,449
C 50,635
Installation
A 4,480
B 12,345
C 4,940
Discounts
-
B (23,215)
C (19,402)
Annual Recurring Costs
A 12,871
B 26,834
C 21,537
Hardware/Network
A 30,000
B 30,000
C 30,000
Project Total
A $ 88,531
B $ 143,024
C $ 171,710

As we can see, the higher and more custom an EMR system is than the more expensive it will be. There are advantages though to buying a custom system however. Some of these adantages may include easier accessibility, easier operation and manipulation, more storage or less storage depending on how many people go to the clinic per year. However, there are diadvantages too to custom EMR system because an EMR system is already large and can contain a lot of information. Upgrading one is, in my opinion, a waste of money (that these clinics have little of) and they should be looking more into physical IT systems rather than hardware and software systems.

4. Make a recommendation to the government of the Western Province; which type of system should they buy? Which options should it include? What compromises will they have to make?

I believe that the government of the Western Province should by pre-existing computers and spend more money on EMR systems. The more computers the clinics have along with the hospital, the more information can be passed to a fro between the two. You should buy cheaper computers, that are relatively new (last 10 years) and install EMR systems into them. I do not think that it is neccessary to have a custom system installed because it is a waste of money and more physical IT systems should be purchased instead (xray systems, MRI's). I believe that you will have to help the clinics of Oobunta, whether you see it in the countries best interests economically, because when people need help, it should be given to them despite their distance from the hospital and/or their state in the economic ladder.

Follow up FBI questions

Discuss three advantages the biometric database provides the FBI. Evaluate these advantages.
Biometrics:
- How you walk
- Speech Pattern
- Facial Features
- Iris
- Ear lobe
- Finger Print
- Typing/keystrokes
- Hand geometry

1. Speed: A computer can compare data much faster than a human; this potentially allows for the capture of criminals much sooner
2. Accessibility: 900,000 law enforcers now have the ability to search FBI database easier than before when people would have to
3. Accuracy: A computer can compare data much more efficiently and accurately rather than a human can; computers have no bias, opinion, or emotion; this potentially allows for the capture or criminals rather than civilians
4. Capacity: computers can store far more data and can access data across the networks
5. Thoroughness: access data from all over the world than it will be much faster/easier to catch a criminal

Social Issues

FBI Prepares Vast Database Of Biometrics

1. What are the social issues associated with a particular IT development?

2. How did the IT development emerge?
3. Who are the stakeholders--individuals, institutions, societies who initiate and control the IT developments and are affected by them?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages for the stakeholders?
5. What feasible solutions cab be applied to overcome problems?
6. What is the social impact of the IT development on human life? This may include some or all of the following areas: economic, political, cultural, legal, environmental, ergonomic, health and psychological.
7. What are the social impacts on local and global communities?

Case Study Problem #1

What is the most appropriate IT system that would allow data to be accessed and transferred between the hospital and the village clinics?
The most appropriate IT system that would allow data to be accessed and transferred between the hospital and the village clinics is either a peer to peer network or virtual private network with disaster recovery. This is because a peer to peer network allows for the transferal of real time data. P2P networks are typically used for connecting nodes via largely ad hoc connections. This means that a P2P network would be good to have specifically in the each clinic rather than having all the clinics and the hospital connected with one P2P network. P2P networks are useful for many purposes such as sharing content files containing audio, video, data or anything in digital format. This would be a very feasible IT solution for the clinics because the technology needed for a P2P network is very antiquated, which is perfect for the clinics both IT wise and economically, and the health workers would be able to easily access and transfer data with the help of a P2P network and email. A P2P network would be used for patient and financial record keeping. The other option is a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) is a "a wide area network whose links are provided by a common carrier although they appear to the users to behave like dedicated lines and whose computers use a common cryptographic key to send messages from one computer in the network to another." A virtual private network would allow the clinics, which vary in distance from the hospital in Oobunta, to send messages to each other easily because they are all connected through a common carrier in which the dedicated lines are only provided to the hospital and the clinics, nowhere else.

Another appropriate IT system would be email or gmail/google docs. This is because this is a free form of IT that is very easy to understand and use. Village A and B both have Internet access however Village C only has a phone line. But, if Village C was able to acquire a modem then they would also be able to have some form of Internet with which they could set up gdocs and gmail for free and be able to communicate with the other Village clinics and Oobunta Hospital quickly and they would be able to access and transfer data between one another.

I believe that the most appropriate IT system that would allow data to be accessed and transferred between the hospital and the village clinics is a VPN network because the clinics could easily set up Internet access within the facilities and with a VPN network, the clinics and the hospital can transfer and access data very quickly and in an organized manner.

Tasks to understand the context of healthcare and IT:
1. Search through sites such as the BBC News website, The Economist, and the Financial Times for "health care" and "Africa" and other related terms to get a sense of the state of healthcare and healthcare technology in Africa.
The current state of healthcare and healthcare technology in Africa is absolutely dreadful. There are little to no doctors in Africa and in some places in Africa the people to doctor ratio is 10000 to 1, which is very low. The healthcare technology is also very antiquated and does not provide enough assistance to the sick (People with HIV aids). However, there are some British and American companies which are working to spread healthcare technology through the use of cellphones in Africa. The American and British companies both send out text messages to the people in Africa who have cellphones and tell them that they should try to get tested for AIDS. This new technology has really increased AIDs awareness in Africa and also is helping decrease the risk of obtaining AIDs because in the text message the companies tell the people of Africa how to avoid it.

2. Search through the websites of local hospitals such as Cape Cod Hospital, Falmouth Hospital, and Jordan hospital to find out about their use of technology.
The Cape Cod Hospital and the Jordan Hospital both use databases in order to bring up old patients records and to record new ones. The use of databases allows easy search enquiries in which the doctors and nurses can find old records of patients and their status'. Also both hospitals use many forms of hardware such as X-rays and MRI's in order to find out what is in a person that is sick or a person that might have broken a bone.

3. Be sure to address at least all of the following ITGS questions:
a. Who are the stakeholders—individuals, institutions, societies who initiate and control the ITdevelopments and are affected by them?
The stakeholders are the people that go to the hospital because they have been injured in some way and need help from the doctors and nurses as well as the IT there (X-ray machines, MRI's), the doctors and nurses that use the IT in the hospitals, and the people/companies that make the IT for the hospital.

b. What are the advantages and disadvantages for the stakeholders?
The advantages for the people that go to the hospital if they have been injured are that they can find out what's the matter with them and then use the IT there to make them better. However, the disadvantages of this is that if they go to the hospital and they get something done to them using the IT in the hospital, there is a possibility of something going wrong with the procedure and that injured person can become more prone to injury or even death. The advantages for the doctors and the nurses that use the IT in the hospitals is that the IT makes their jobs easier because they can use the IT in the hospital to determine what is the matter with the people coming in to be seen and that they can make those people better. However, the same applies to the doctors and nurses as did to the people, which is that the IT in the hospital might have a failure and/or malfunction which would create the possibility of causing more injury to the already injured person. The advantages for the people/companies that make the IT systems is that they are making lots of money. However, their disadvantage is that if something is the matter with their IT system then people could get hurt, then sue, and then the companies would lose money.

c. Who is responsible?
The government is responsible for creating just a just healthcare system in which people can become healthier. If the government passed some bills then healthcare could be given to all people and many more hospitals can be opened throughout the United States and throughout the world.

d. Who is accountable?
The doctors and nurses are accountable because they help the injured or sick people and they use the IT. Also the people/companies that make the IT system could be accountable because they are selling there products for the hospitals to use.

e. What policies, rules or laws apply to the situation?
Many policies, rules, and laws apply to the situation such as the hospitals implementing healthcare to all who go there for help or assistance and all the governments need to allow healthcare either free or for a small fee to all people all over the world.

Porfolio Topic Check

White House contol of Internet could lead to censorship of the public


1. Does the topic relate to ITGS? Explain how!
Yes, this topic does relate to ITGS becuase with this new proposed US Senate bill, the president will be able disconnect private sector computers from the internet.



2. Is the area of impact one that has not been addressed in a previous portfolio piece? Which area of impact have you already done? Which area of impact does this piece fit?
Yes, the area of impact for this topic has not been addressed in a previous portfolio piece. I have already done the health area of impact. The area of impact that this piece fits into is politics and the government.


3. Was the news item published no more than six months before you started the course (you started September 2008)? What is the publication date of the article?
Yes, the news item was published no more than six months before I started the course in September 2008. The publication of this article is August 28, 2009.


4. Does the article raise one or more social or ethical issues related to an IT system? State clearly the social or ethical issue.
Yes, this article does raise more than one social and/or ethical issue related to an IT system. The social issue is that raised when dealing with this topic is that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license, which will allow them to see the things the private sector computers have been looking up on the internet which is a violation of privacy. The ethical issue is that the president will be able to see what every private sector computer has been doing on the internet during a "cybersecurity emergency".



5. Is the problem clear? Explain the problem.
Yes, the problem is clear. The problem deals with whether or not the president should have the right to disconnect the private sector computers during a cybersecurity emergency and if the president should have the right to issue that emergency.


6. Can you think of two viable solutions? Briefly state the possible solutions.
Yes, I can think of two viable solutions. One could be to really look into the private sector computers before they are named "critical" because that causes a company many problems. Another solution could be that the President along with an advisor can issue the cybersecurity emergency and that the president should have many people under the president should keep watch over the private sector computers instead of just a few people.


7. Do you have access to a range of resources on this topic? Name three possible resources to research this topic.
Yes, I have access to a range of resources on this topic. I can use the Information Technology News website run by Janco, BBC news, and CNN news. All of these websites have great articles on this topic however, the IT news website deals greatly with the topic piece.