News blog 15

Information ethics is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development and application of information technologies. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how agents should one behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially ownership and copyright, digital divide).

INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS

http://www.capurro.de/iie.html

In this article, the author talks about a leading question from an intercultural perspective: how human cultures can locally flourish within a global digital environment. This question concerns community building on the basis of cultural diversity. How far does the Internet affect, for better or worse, local and particularly global cultures? Digital interaction could be used to weaken the hierarchical one-to-many structure of global mass-media, giving individuals, groups, and whole societies the capacity to become senders and not only receivers of messages. Moreover, intercultural information ethics deals with the economic impact of the Internet as far as it can become an instrument of cultural oppression and colonialism. I agree with the author that digital divide is not just an issue of giving everybody access to the global network, but rather an issue on how the digital network helps people to better manage their lives while avoiding the dangers of cultural exploitation and discrimination. Therefore concepts such as hybrid and polyphony are ethical markers that need to be critically analyzed in specific situations.

Individual Assignment Blog 5

How did your group make the decisions? What problems did you encounter in the process? Did your group make decisions in a different way than the whole class did? Why?

Our group shared the value sheets and used permutation and combination to figure out the best decision for most of us. Since there are only 6 members in our team and the alternatives are only a few, it seemed that there is no need to use complicated software or hardware to get the optimum result. However, we did encounter a problem during the negotiation process: at least one of our team members had to compromise. At the end, one team member made the sacrifice for the best benefit of the whole team. As far as I know, the other teams used almost the same method as ours to make the final decision.

What kind of information system do you need to design to support such a process of negotiation? Provide a simple hardware/software configuration.

Negotiation is conceptualized as a means through which two or more purposive actors arrive at specific settlements or outcomes under conditions of strategic interaction or interdependent decision making. Left unsupported, negotiating parties often fail to reach the maximum joint outcome that is possibly attainable. As well, the negotiated outcomes may not be fair (from the perspective of the Nash solution) for the parties involved. Prescriptive theories such as game theory, and economic and political models of negotiation exist which attempt to maximize the payoffs for one or more parties by relying mainly on the strategies of the bargainers. Nevertheless, rationality assumption of the prescriptive approach necessary for effectively forming and carrying out the strategies cannot always be met due to limitations of the human information-processing system. Computer support for negotiation entails facilitating electronic communication among the parties involved, and providing decision models to aid in requirement analysis as well as strategic analysis. These systems are labeled as Negotiation Support Systems (NSS).

Negotiation Support Systems (NSS) are designed to assist negotiators in reaching mutually satisfactory decisions by providing a means of communication and through the analysis of available information. Negotiation support may involve using a model-driven, data-driven, communications-driven, document-driven or a knowledge-driven DSS. Model-driven and data-driven DSS are the most common types of DSS one would consider developing using a spreadsheet package. Spreadsheets seem especially appropriate for building a DSS with one or more small models. A developer would then add buttons, spinners and other tools to support a decision maker in "what if?" and sensitivity analysis. A data-driven DSS can also be implemented using a spreadsheet. A large data set can be downloaded to the DSS application from a DBMS, a web site or a delimited flat file. Then pivot tables and charts can be developed to help a decision maker summarize and manipulate the data.

Please check this link for video:

Negotiation, negotiation

News Blog 14

What I learned from class:

Data flow diagram: a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an information system. It has zoom levels and it is sequential. The simplified "blueprint" of course registration process was shown in the class.

Entity relationship diagram: an abstract conceptual representation of structured data. It has no sequence and it is project oriented.

Relevant article:

Jackson System Development Overview

http://www.dsisoft.com/jackson_system_development.html

In this article, the author introduces us to the Jackson System Development (JSD), which is a method of system development that covers the software life cycle either directly or, by providing a framework into which more specialized techniques can fit. From the technical point of view there are three major stages in Jackson System Development, each divided into steps and sub-steps. From a manager's point of view there are a number of ways of organizing this technical work. In this overview the author also describe the three major technical stages and discuss about JSD project planning, the variation between plans, and the reasons for choosing one rather than another. what I agree most with the author's opinion on the overlappings between technical stages. A set of circumstances exists that makes each overlapping sensible. Therefore a project plan is made based on the technical framework of JSD and on the political and organizational circumstances of the project.

News Blog 13

What I learned from class:

Four levels of changes you can make to business systems: automation, rationalization, reengineering, paradigm shift. The risk is higher as the change is more radical. We should take risk into consideration when designing business strategy. From team A and team B's presentations, I also learned about problems of Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast and the strategies to improve the company's website.

Relevant Article:

Developing a Bed& Breakfast Business Plan

http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/b&b.pdf

After having some knowledge about Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast's problems and business strategies, I started to wonder what a business plan should be for this kind of hotel business. Fortunately I found one from the Internet and unfortunately it is kind of out dated. In this business plan, 13 steps are listed to be considered and executed, including to determine and research the market, to develop a plan to meet laws and regulations, to develop a financial plan, and etc. However, it doesn't mention to build up a business information system. A good information system can dramatically improve a B&B business basically in that it collects, and process customer data to optimize decision-making and enhance customer experience. To develop the information system, a lifecycle of planning, analysis, design, development, testing, implement and maintain should be completed.

News Blog 12

What I learned from class:

From team C's presentation: An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber designed to guide light along its length. It is widely used in fiber-optic communication, which permits transmission over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of communications. Fiber to the premises (FTTP), also called fiber to the home (FTTH) - architecture based on fiber optic cables carried all the way to the customer's home (or premise).

Relevant article:

I Want My Web TV
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/technology/20online.html

More quickly than many people had thought, the number of people who watch TV shows online has doubled in the last year, according to a report issued by two research organizations, TNS and the Conference Board. Close to 16 percent of American households now watch some programs online. Is this means that the big time for Web TV is coming? Chris Albrecht of the blog NewTeeVee asked whether putting full-length shows online was a “waste of time.” His readers answered with a resounding no, three-quarters of them indicating an interest in full-length shows. The migration of television to the computer will have "a huge impact on the way brands and advertisers communicate with viewers." However, the author still has some doubt of this tendency. "Futurism," the author cited, “has a tendency to take the products of today and merely extrapolate them. Thus TV becomes 3-D TV, cars become flying cars and telephones become video telephones.” But often, people just don’t want them.

Individual Assignment Blog 4

Suggest two other business cases in which this method can be used to collect information.

Electronic market can be used to
(1) estimate the price of securites or a new product.
(2) forcast the profit of certain company.

What problems do you see besides the ones mentioned in the Background information section?

In my opinion, there are more problems with electronic market other than those discussed in the background information section.

First, the nature of business information is two-sided. An one-sided decision is much easier to grasp than is a decision in a two-sided reactive market. Participants can easily grasp the notion of themselves facing (alone) a sea of potential "customers", and trying to attract their interest. In such a scenario, the unknown market demand represents various states of nature, and participants readily grasp the usefulness of information about market demand. But the presence of competition radically alters the nature of the decision-making and the role of information. The problem becomes reactive and it becomes a problem of markets and equilibrium behavior. Therefore, the role of information would be much more complex.

In addition, these markets are implemented as Information Systems, i.e. the software is the market. The market behavior and the value of various kinds of information can be radically altered just by changing a software parameter. Market behaviors can turn upside down because of a "software" change, e.g. a change that eases the comparison of prices, or a change in an auction's time limit. Information systerm professionals, in collaboration with the owners of business and markets, are making design decisions with far-reaching industry implications.

What kind of information system do you need to design to support this method of collecting information? Provide a simple hardware/software configuration.

An electronic market information system or “EMIS” shall contain real-time access to information concerning the transfer capability of the transmission grid and the market clearing prices. It should also be able to target deadline for reply. All market participants should have access to the EMIS on a nondiscriminatory basis. Here is a simple hardware/software configuration. (I have very limited information system knowledge background. Here I just try my best.)

1. The SQL Server. This is the database server where most data manipulations take place, and most business rules are enforced. There is normally only one of these.
2. The Client Software. This is the Graphic User Interface to specific electronic market. There are normally many of these.
3. The Application Server (or Reports Server). The Application Server generates reports and performs other resource intensive tasks. There are normally a few of these.
4. The Web Server (optional). The Web server is used to give access to managers and ordinators.
5. The TCP/IP Network connecting these parts.

Please check the link below for video.

Will HP be defeated? (For those who buy green in CIS class)

News Blog 11

What I learned from class:

From the presentations this week, I learned quite a few new stuffs. Here are two examples of them. Keysurvey: Online survey software for easy and robust data collection. It provides survey tools and offers enterprise and private label solutions. Digital rights management(DRM): an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices.

Relevant Article:
The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music

The variety of options for purchasing music online is increasing. However, thicket of confusing usage restrictions is also growing. This is what the author of this article talks about. Many digital music services employ digital rights management (DRM) to protect copy rights, preventing customers from doing things like using the portable player of their choice or creating remixes. In other words, "in this brand new world of 'authorized music services', law-abiding music fans often get less for their money than they did in the old world of CDs". The article "translates" the marketing messages by the major services, giving the real deal rather than spin. It is very helpful and we should be sure to understand how the service might limit the ability to make lawful use of the music we purchase before buying DRM-crippled music from any service.