DSS

Decision Support System is often used in Education.  “The Educational Decision Support System (EDSS) combines the data provided by EMIS (educational management information system) with analytical models to generate options for the decision makers to improve policy, strategy, planning, assessing and monitoring of the educational system.”¹

The US government has established a National Center of Education Statistics, to provide information to various educational entities.  Information from this site helps schools, state and federal government, parents and media to understand what level we are at in terms of education.   Some of the data provided mathematics scores of 4^th graders for the last 10 years.  This data can be compared and used to implement new strategies to improve the scores.    

For education, medical or business operations, a special model of DSS is more beneficial.  The combination of DSS and the expertise of education form a Knowledge-driven DSS.  Knowledge-driven DSS “are person-computer systems with specialized problem-solving expertise.” ² It functions well for a specific task.  Sylvan Learning Centers uses a program called Symplicity is a perfect example of DSS.  It is used to evaluate student knowledge.  And based on the results from the system and the educational background of the director of education (DE) and/or program manager, individualized programs are generated to optimize student learning.  So, the system tells user what the student knows or does not know and based on that information, the DE or program manager figures out which level to place the student. 

The advantage of this type of system is that it narrows the task for the user saving tremendous amount of time.   At the same time, it is especially important to continue examining when and under what circumstances Decision Support System should be built and used.³ It is up to the manager/DE to decide how much of the results to use and not use and what to do with the unused information.  For example, when Nancy, who is going into 9^th grade, is evaluated for math, the program results indicated that her fraction skills are very weak due to multiplication facts.  So instead of teaching multiplication facts to the 14 year old, the manager allows Nancy to use a calculator and creates a program to focus on fractions to faster transition her into algebra.   After so many tutoring sessions, when Nancy is re-evaluated, the results showed improvement in fractions and decimals.  So the manager rearranges the program to focus on the lack of skills to master.

Knowledge-driven DSS gives a layout of what is and what is not.  The decision makers use this information and his/her skills to make decisions.  “Proper application of decision-making tools increases productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness, and gives many businesses a comparative advantage over their competitors, allowing them to make optimal choices for technological processes and their parameters, planning business operations, logistics, or investments. “⁴ In the education field, the advantages of DSS are very beneficial if implement properly with expertise knowledge.

1)       UNESCO Office Beirut, Educational Decision Support System, http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.phpURL_ID=22276&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

2)       DSS resources, Daniel Power, http://dssresources.com/

3)       DSS, Disadvantages of DSS, http://dsssystem.blogspot.com/2010/01/disadvantages-of-decision-support.html

4)       DSS, Marek Druzdzel and Roger Flynn, Univ. of Pittsburgh,  http://www.pitt.edu/~druzdzel/abstracts/dss.html

Smart Cards

Increase use of smart cards would be more beneficial in the USA.  Information Technology has introduced may innovative ideas, among them is a smart card. “A smart card, typically a type of chip card, is a plastic card that contains an embedded computer chip–either a memory or microprocessor type–that stores and transacts data.”¹ It can function as a credit/debit card, identification card for an organization/institution, utilized to manage health records and enterprise/network security.   “The primary purposes of including a chip in a bank card are to store cardholder data securely, protect data stored on the chip against unauthorized modification, and reduce the number of fraudulent transactions resulting from counterfeit, lost, and stolen cards.”²   

There are three types of smart cards: contact, contactless and a combination card. Contact cards need to be slide/swiped to a reader to access information.  Contactless cards can be read by radio frequency (RFID) a few inches off the reader for the reader to receive information.  Combination card, often called Multifunction card, has a microprocessor to store data.  An example of a multifunction card is our college ID card, which also allows us to use it as a debit card too.  Each card type comes with a set memory, so the consumer can decide which is most appropriate for their usage. 

EMV, (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa implemented) provides global standards for chip based cards.  EMV gives certification/approvals to appropriate parties involved.  These include: Terminal Type Approval, Security Evaluation, and Card Type Approval.  “A primary goal of EMVCo and the EMV Specifications is to help facilitate global interoperability and compatibility of chip-based payment cards and acceptance devices.” ³ Many countries, with the exception of USA, have been using smart cards rather than credit/debit cards.  United States did not have a need to implement the smart cards due to its very low fraudulent rate and the near perfect security system of the software.  For several reasons, US payment industry is thinking about implementing the EMV system.  One, the credit card loss rate has increased identity theft.  Second, the manufacturing cost of the smart card has decreased.  Third, when we travel to foreign countries, our cards are sometimes rejected because payment terminals are not compatible to our cards.  And lastly, to keep up-to-date with modern technology of contactless cards, this is a perfect opportunity to implement the smart card system.

The encrypted codes used in smart card makes it difficult for someone to steal card information.  It makes it easier for employees to access something that requires user ID and passwords.  Use of smart card is globally accepted, so joining the movement will only be more effective and efficient for the USA.

1)      Smart Card Basics, http://www.smartcardbasics.com/smart-card-overview.html

2)      Card Payments Roadmap in the U.S.: How Will EMV Impact the Future Payments Infrastructure?, Smart Card Alliance, February 2011, http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-card-payments-roadmap-in-the-us

3)      EMV, http://www.emvco.com/default.aspx

E-Books

Slowly but steadily, book lovers are embracing what technology has offered, E-Books.  In 1971, Michael Hart created the Project Gutenberg with “the aim of establishing an electronic public library of 10,000 books.” ¹ At the time when computers were being introduced, the idea of e-books did not generate the awareness that was expected by the world of technology.  When Kindle was introduced in 2007, more than 25 years later, a spark of interest generated.  “Amazon's e-reader may be the spark that lights up the e-publishing industry, turning consumers on to the possibility of downloading and reading books on paper-like gadgets.” The device had its drawback, it was bulky and dull but the competition was on.  “Sony introduced PRS700 Reader with touch screen.  A Dutch company made available iRex iLaid with stylus and iRex Reader 1000 (similar to  iPad) and Polymer Vision Readius where the screen rolls up like the newspaper to fit the pocket (only available in Europe).”³ The proceeding products with the Apple’s iPhone and iPad have made e-publishing a sought out market.

The digitalization of books generated e-publishing, where companies like Google are converting printed materials into digital.  Proquest, Cengage, and Pearson are offering online research materials, libraries and textbooks.  Many apps and libraries are offering free e-books.  Here is a perfect example of cloud computing at work. 

The advantages of e-books are obvious:  less paper, less ink, instant access, less space and less weight.  There are some drawbacks of the e world as well.  The files in which the e-book is stored, is not compatible to all the devices.  So, one can’t transfer an e-book from one device to another.  The some publishers have agreements that certain books be only available through one software application.  So JK Rowling’s decision to publish Harry Potter books may or may not be available to all e-readers.      

 The evolution of e-books is diminishing companies like Borders.  “At the same time, its rival, Barnes & Noble has no choice but to invest in the future”⁴ to stay on the market.  E-books are taking place of traditional books.  As the sales rate of traditional book drop, the rate of e-books is increasing.  “In the first quarter of this year, the sales of e-book were up 20% on average.”⁵ E-Books are on their way to the top.

1.       & 2.   E-book Timeline, Thursday 3 January 2002 14.49 GMT, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/03/ebooks.technology/

  3.  The Future of E-Books, Andy Greenberg, Forbes. Com, http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/03/ebooks- kindle-digital-tech-personaltech-cx_ag_1203ebooks.html

4.  AS New One Is Opening, Jeffrey Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2011, p. B1 & B7

5.  E-books Sales Statistics-2001, Book Publishing Software, May 9, 2001, http://www.bookpublishingsoftware.com/2011/05/ebook-sales-statistics-2011/

Cloud Computing

Overcoming disadvantages of Cloud Computing (CC) is not going to be easy.  In today’s society, any user wants to use the quickest way to express his/her thoughts to the recipient, be it for business or personal reasons.  The intention of CC is to provide software and storage related services through the Web 1.0/2.0.  Total use of CC would eliminate all physical devices used for IS with the exception of the display unit as long as there is access to internet.  Therefore, basically, if we had the Apple iPad with 3G service, we could conduct any IS related transaction.  The internet provides us wealth of products to use for CC.  We have used the software service, Zoho, and the storage service of GMAIL for our advantages.  CC involves massive amount of storage capacity, beyond Exabyte or may be more, for the Cloud Service Provider (CSP).      

However, as Peter Parker’s uncle said, “with great power comes great responsibility.”   Every user is depended on the services of CC with a lot of trust.  So, when it fails, there is substantial amount of data to recover.   

First, if we can’t access the internet, we can’t get our data.  If we can’t access the data, we can’t work with it.   And we have no idea as to where the information is stored, and how to retrieve it. So,“Companies like SugarSync backs up key folders you select to the Web and synchronizes them to the hard disks on your PCs or Macs, so you always have the freshest copies handy, whether you have a connection or not.”¹  And even if we didn’t have the hard copy to our data, the data is ours, service providers.  ““As a customer, you should always continue to own all data that you put into the cloud, but that the service provider would need to own the intellectual property (IP) that runs the cloud itself,” he said. “In other words, the service provider has built a cloud solution, and they need to own that solution and all enhancements they make to it, but you should always own your data,” he added.”²

The second most concern users have is the security of the data.  “One thing you can do, said Schin, is to make sure that your service provider has programmatic access to your data as opposed to human access.”³  In simple terms, if a computer backs up your data, there are less chances of hacking than a person running the back-up because they won’t have access to it.  And make sure the browser you access has a lock on it.

And lastly, if we are not happy with one service provider, we can easily transfer all the data to another service provider.  Many large IT companies are offering CC services.  “Among the top 30 CSP are: http://aws.amazon.com/, http://www.salesforce.com/,  http://www.ibm.com/ibm/cloud/ and  http://www.3tera.com/ .”⁴   SunGard, the service provider for Ramapo College is a disaster recovery specialist who has ventured into CC.  "Finding the right cloud starts with you," advised Carl Meadows, director of managed services product management at SunGard. "The cloud is not one thing. There are many clouds. Every business' needs in the cloud are not the same."⁵  So, pick a cloud that you like.  If you are not comfortable with all the information in it, than keep for yourself until you are ready.

      

1.     1.  Learning about Everything Under the ‘Cloud’, Walter S. Mossberg, WSJ.com, May 6, 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961104575226194192477512.html

2.       2. & 3.  Don’t let Service Provider Rain on Your Cloud, Sukanya Mitra, CPA2Biz.com, June 27, 2011, http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2011/CPA/Jun/ServiceProviders.jsp

4.       4.  Top 30 Cloud Service Providers Gaining Mind Share in 3Q 2010, Ray Depena, Cloud Computing Journal, Aug. 19, 2010, http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1513491

5.       5. Tough Questions To Ask Cloud Service Providers, Charles Babcock, InformationWeek.com, May 13, 2011, http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/229500608