All things are made possible

Jethro Querubin

There is now a critical mass of digital information resources that can be used to support researchers, learners, teachers and administrators in their work and study. The production of information is on the increase and ways to deal with this effectively are required. There is the need to ensure that quality information isn’t lost amongst the masses of digital data created everyday. If we can continue to improve the management, interrogation and serving of ‘quality’ information there is huge potential to enhance knowledge creation across learning and research communities. The aim of the Information Environment is to help provide convenient access to resources for research and learning through the use of resource discovery and resource management tools and the development of better services and practice. The Information Environment aims to allow discovery, access and use of resources for research and learning irrespective of their location.

HOME is where i consider my information environment. It is where I started to learn speaking, talking, writing and relating to everyone.

A home is a place of residence or refuge and comfort.[1] It is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and be able to store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or in a domesticated environment.

There are certain cultures in which members lack permanent homes, such as with nomadic people.

The word "home" can be used for various types of residential comunity institutions in which people can live, such as nursing homes, group homes (orphanages for children, retirement homes for seniors, prisons for criminals, treatment facilities, etc.), and foster homes.

In computer terminology, a 'home' may refer to a starting view that branches off into other tasks, e.g. a homepage or a desktop. Many such home pages on the internet start with introductory information, recent news or events, and links to subpages. "Home" may also refer to a home directory which contains the personal files of a given user of the computer system.

Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior, emotions, and overall mental health.[citation needed]

Some people may become homesick when they leave their home over an extended period of time. Sometimes homesickness can cause a person to feel actual symptoms of illness.

*But, as of now, i find my course more interesting. IT profession is another information environment where i learn most second to my home.

Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.

Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems.

When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "infotech". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. Presumably, when speaking of Information Technology (IT) as a whole, it is noted that the use of computers and information are associated.

In recent years ABET and the ACM have collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards for degrees in Information Technology as a distinct field of study separate from both Computer Science and Information Systems. SIGITE is the ACM working group for defining these standards.

IT is now a business focussed profession, partnering with business to maximise the exploitation of information technology and since 2005 BCS has been leading a professionalism Programme for IT.

BCS is working to establish the IT profession on a par with others, such as HR, Marketing and Finance, and for the profession to be recognised as integral to business and seen as more than just a service provider.

The IT profession is as much about Information as about Technology and must be seen - and see itself - as an integral part of the business.

What defines a profession?

There are many definitions of what constitutes a profession. Typically they all refer to a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organized body of learning derived from specialized education and training. Inherent in this definition is the idea that the responsibility for the welfare, health and safety of the community takes precedence over personal considerations.

CIPS and the IT Profession

The concept of establishing a profession for IT is one that has been actively promoted by CIPS since its inception in 1958. The IT profession has evolved from a trade to a profession that has an impact on all facets of society.

CIPS is committed to advancing the IT profession and is actively engaged in a number of initiatives that directly relate to the advancement.

Although the IT industry has made significant progress in the last fifty years there is still significant room for advancement in a number of key areas. CIPS is committed to moving the bar forward in all areas relevant to creating a robust, mature IT profession in Canada.

Courtesy British Computer Society

Most mature professions have reached the "Public" level, where all its practitioners practice with independence, the profession provides leadership, and society in general benefits from the quality and application of best practices. The "Governed" level is a state where the profession is well defined and where professional membership is the norm and industry stakeholders value the profession. The "Qualified" level defines a state where the professional qualification(s) are defined, professional institutes oversee the qualifications, and where the definitions of professional competence and core knowledge are well understood.

What will the future of the IT profession look like? A more mature IT profession will be demonstrating the required leadership in advancing and improving the IT delivered products and services through the responsible and progressive application of IT standards

Benefits of a More Mature Profession

Advancing the broader concepts of a profession and professionalism in IT will result in:

* An improved ability for organizations to exploit the full potential of IT effectively and consistently.
* Create a profession that is respected and valued.
* Create a source of real pride and aspiration for IT practitioners

• What should be your role within this environment?

The student computer facilities within the University campuses are owned and subsidised by each Faculty or School. Technology Services maintain the hardware and software component as per each Faculty or School's requirements.

What Technology Services support:

· Maintain hardware health

· Provide advice on computer hardware replacement and assist areas with planning of cyclic computer replacement

· Install academic applications onto the student suites and ensure that they do not conflict with core services such as authentication, printing, email and MyUni

What Technology Services do not support:

· Do not own the computer equipment or fund replacement of hardware or software

· Are not experts in academic software applications – the functionality and use of applications should be supported by each school

· Are not able to approve the installation and configuration of the software as suitable for teaching and research operations

*My role also is to provide system to companies and information to the people.

• How can the principles of information organization and representation help you in performing this role?

The principles and representation will help me improve myself as a student.

• What are the challenges facing you in performing the role? How will you address these challenges?

One of the challenges I've encountered is my capibility to do systems and comprehensive information to the people. Reason is that I am still a student. The level of my learning isn't widened yet. But, through studying and digging more of my course will help me improve myself and enhance my capability in doing things as an IT.

reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home
http://www.cips.ca/DefiningITProfession
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

Jethro Querubin

Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company.[1] The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering cost or making better use of time and energy costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of land, labor, capital, (information) technology and resources
Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider.[2] The client organization and the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services. Under the agreement the supplier acquires the means of production in the form of a transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract. Business segments typically outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities, real estate management, and accounting. Many companies also outsource customer support and call center functions like telemarketing, CAD drafting, customer service, market research, manufacturing, designing, web development, print-to-mail, content writing, ghostwriting and engineering. Offshoring is the type of outsourcing in which the buyer organization belongs to another country.
Outsourcing and offshoring are used interchangeably in public discourse despite important technical differences. Outsourcing involves contracting with a supplier, which may or may not involve some degree of offshoring. Offshoring is the transfer of an organizational function to another country, regardless of whether the work is outsourced or stays within the same corporation/company.[3][4][5]
With increasing globalization of outsourcing companies, the distinction between outsourcing and offshoring will become less clear over time. This is evident in the increasing presence of Indian outsourcing companies in the United States and United Kingdom. The globalization of outsourcing operating models has resulted in new terms such as nearshoring, noshoring, and rightshoring that reflect the changing mix of locations. This is seen in the opening of offices and operations centers by Indian companies in the U.S. and UK. A major job that is being outsourced is accounting. They are able to complete tax returns across seas for people in America.[6][7]
Multisourcing refers to large outsourcing agreements (predominantly IT).[8] Multisourcing is a framework to enable different parts of the client business to be sourced from different suppliers. This requires a governance model that communicates strategy, clearly defines responsibility and has end-to-end integration.[9]
Strategic outsourcing is the organizing arrangement that emerges when firms rely on intermediate markets to provide specialized capabilities that supplement existing capabilities deployed along a firm’s value chain (see Holcomb & Hitt, 2007). Such an arrangement produces value within firms’ supply chains beyond those benefits achieved through cost economies. Intermediate markets that provide specialized capabilities emerge as different industry conditions intensify the partitioning of production. As a result of greater information standardization and simplified coordination, clear administrative demarcations emerge along a value chain. Partitioning of intermediate markets occurs as the coordination of production across a value chain is simplified and as information becomes standardized, making it easier to transfer activities across boundaries.
Due to the complexity of work definition, codifying requirements, pricing, and legal terms and conditions, clients often utilize the advisory services of outsourcing consultants (see sourcing advisory) or outsourcing intermediaries to assist in scoping, decision making, and vendor evaluation.

Activities for outsourcing

Research & Development

The competitive pressures on firms to bring out new products at an ever rapid pace to meet market needs are increasing. As such, the pressures on the R&D department are increasing. In order to alleviate the pressure, firms have to either increase R&D budgets or find ways to utilize the resources in a more productive way. There are situations when a firm may consider outsourcing some of its R&D work to a contract research organizations or universities. Reasons why a firm could consider outsourcing are:
• new product design does not work
• project time and cost overruns
• loss of key staff
• competitive response
• problems of quality/yield.
The key drivers for R&D outsourcing are emerging mass markets and availability of expertise in the field. In this context, the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, provide huge pools from which to find talent. Both countries produce over 200,000 engineers and science graduates each year. Moreover both countries are low cost sourcing countries. Other strategic drivers for outsourcing R&D are access to expertise and intellectual property, filling gaps in the capabilities of the R&D function, managing risk better, reducing the time to market, and focusing on the core competence or activities of the firm.
Reasons for outsourcing
Organizations that outsource are seeking to realize benefits or address the following issues:
• Cost savings. The lowering of the overall cost of the service to the business. This will involve reducing the scope, defining quality levels, re-pricing, re-negotiation, cost re-structuring. Access to lower cost economies through offshoring called "labor arbitrage" generated by the wage gap between industrialized and developing nations.
• Focus on Core Business. Resources (for example investment, people, infrastructure) are focused on developing the core business. For example often organizations outsource their IT support to specilaised IT services companies.
• Cost restructuring. Operating leverage is a measure that compares fixed costs to variable costs. Outsourcing changes the balance of this ratio by offering a move from fixed to variable cost and also by making variable costs more predictable.
• Improve quality. Achieve a step change in quality through contracting out the service with a new service level agreement.
• Knowledge. Access to intellectual property and wider experience and knowledge.
• Contract. Services will be provided to a legally binding contract with financial penalties and legal redress. This is not the case with internal services.
• Operational expertise. Access to operational best practice that would be too difficult or time consuming to develop in-house.
• Access to talent. Access to a larger talent pool and a sustainable source of skills, in particular in science and engineering.
• Capacity management. An improved method of capacity management of services and technology where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier.
• Catalyst for change. An organization can use an outsourcing agreement as a catalyst for major step change that can not be achieved alone. The outsourcer becomes a Change agent in the process.
• Enhance capacity for innovation. Companies increasingly use external knowledge service providers to supplement limited in-house capacity for product innovation.
• Reduce time to market. The acceleration of the development or production of a product through the additional capability brought by the supplier.
• Commodification. The trend of standardizing business processes, IT Services and application services enabling businesses to intelligently buy at the right price. Allows a wide range of businesses access to services previously only available to large corporations.
• Risk management. An approach to risk management for some types of risks is to partner with an outsourcer who is better able to provide the mitigation.
• Venture Capital. Some countries match government funds venture capital with private venture capital for startups that start businesses in their country.
• Tax Benefit. Countries offer tax incentives to move manufacturing operations to counter high corporate taxes within another country.

Criticisms of outsourcing
Quality Risks
Quality Risk is the propensity for a product or service to be defective, due to operations-related issues. Quality risk in outsourcing is driven by a list of factors. One such factor is opportunism by suppliers due to misaligned incentives between buyer and supplier, information asymmetry, high asset specificity, or high supplier switching costs. Other factors contributing to quality risk in outsourcing are poor buyer-supplier communication, lack of supplier capabilities/resources/capacity, or buyer-supplier contract enforceability. Two main concepts must be considered when considering observability as it related to quality risks in outsourcing: the concepts of testability and criticality.
Quality fade is the deliberate and secretive reduction in the quality of labor in order to widen profit margins. The downward changes in human capital are subtle but progressive, and usually unnoticeable by the out sourcer/customer. The initial interview meets requirements, however, with subsequent support, more and more of the support team are replaced with novice or less experienced workers. India IT shops will continue to reduce the quality of human capital, under the pressure of drying up labor supply and upward trend of salary, pushing the quality limits. Such practices are hard to detect, as customers may just simply give up seeking help from the help desk. However, the overall customer satisfaction will be reduced greatly over time. Unless the company constantly conducts customer satisfaction surveys, they may eventually be caught in a surprise of customer churn, and when they find out the root cause, it could be too late. In such cases, it can be hard to dispute the legal contract with the India outsourcing company, as their staff are now trained in the process and the original staff made redundant. In the end, the company that outsources is worse off than before it outsourced its workforce to India.

Public opinion

There is a strong public opinion regarding outsourcing (especially when combined with offshoring) that outsourcing damages a local labor market. Outsourcing is the transfer of the delivery of services which affects both jobs and individuals. It is difficult to dispute that outsourcing has a detrimental effect on individuals who face job disruption and employment insecurity; however, its supporters believe that outsourcing should bring down prices, providing greater economic benefit to all. There are legal protections in the European Union regulations called the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). Labor laws in the United States are not as protective as those in the European Union. [20] On June 26 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the United States to increase its manufacturing base employment to 20% of the workforce commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much and can no longer rely on consumer spending to drive demand.

Language skills

In the area of call centers end-user-experience is deemed to be of lower quality when a service is outsourced[citation needed]. This is exacerbated when outsourcing is combined with off-shoring to regions where the first language and culture are different. The questionable quality is particularly evident when call centers that service the public are outsourced and offshored.
The public generally find linguistic features such as accents, word use and phraseology different which may make call center agents difficult to understand. The visual clues that are present in face-to-face encounters are missing from the call center interactions and this also may lead to misunderstandings and difficulties.[22]

Social responsibility

Outsourcing sends jobs to the lower-income areas where work is being outsourced to, which provides jobs in these areas and has a net equalizing effect on the overall distribution of wealth. Some argue that the outsourcing of jobs (particularly off-shore) exploits the lower paid workers. A contrary view is that more people are employed and benefit from paid work. Despite this argument, domestic workers displaced by such equalization are proportionately unable to outsource their own costs of housing, food and transportation.
On the issue of high-skilled labor, such as computer programming, some argue that it is unfair to both the local and off-shore programmers to outsource the work simply because the foreign pay rate is lower. On the other hand, one can argue that paying the higher-rate for local programmers is wasteful, or charity, or simply overpayment. If the end goal of buyers is to pay less for what they buy, and for sellers it is to get a higher price for what they sell, there is nothing automatically unethical about choosing the cheaper of two products, services, or employees.
Social responsibility is also reflected in the costs of benefits provided to workers. Companies outsourcing jobs effectively transfer the cost of retirement and medical benefits to the countries where the services are outsourced. This represents a significant reduction in total cost of labor for the outsourcing company. A side effect of this trend is the reduction in salaries and benefits at home in the occupations most directly impacted by outsourcing.

Quality of service

Quality of service is measured through a service level agreement (SLA) in the outsourcing contract. In poorly defined contracts there is no measure of quality or SLA defined. Even when an SLA exists it may not be to the same level as previously enjoyed. This may be due to the process of implementing proper objective measurement and reporting which is being done for the first time. It may also be lower quality through design to match the lower price.
There are a number of stakeholders who are affected and there is no single view of quality. The CEO may view the lower quality acceptable to meet the business needs at the right price. The retained management team may view quality as slipping compared to what they previously achieved. The end consumer of the service may also receive a change in service that is within agreed SLAs but is still perceived as inadequate. The supplier may view quality in purely meeting the defined SLAs regardless of perception or ability to do better.
Quality in terms of end-user-experience is best measured through customer satisfaction questionnaires which are professionally designed to capture an unbiased view of quality. Surveys can be one of research. This allows quality to be tracked over time and also for corrective action to be identified and taken.

Jethro Querubin

1. Transportation and Communication Services

Implementation of the enhanced Organized Bus Route (OBR) System using the Radio frequency identification (RFID) Technology to track and efficiently control the travel of around 2,664 city buses within Metro Manila using wireless technology, thus decongesting the major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

Enhanced the monitoring and provision of emergency assistance. Being operated at the MMDA Communication and Command Center in Guadalupe, Makati City, the Surveillance Camera System monitors not only traffic conditions but the general situation and other important public concerns through strategically installed CCTV cameras within the metropolis.

The Administration also improved the country’s competitive advantage in information and communications technology (ICT), which resulted to the robust economic activities in the ICT industry with gross revenue of US$17.934 Billion and total employment for 371,965 individuals from 2004 to 2008.

• Centers of information technology and business processing outsourcing (IT-BPO) services all around the country have been connected. Aside from Metro Manila and Metro Cebu which have already been considered as “ICT Centers of Excellence”, the Administration has been promoting the top 10 “Next Wave Cities” to be the destinations of ICT industry outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu:

Metro Laguna (Sta. Rosa, Calamba, Los Banos, San Pablo)
Metro Cavite (Dasmarinas, Bacoor, Imus, Cavite City)
Iloilo City
Davao City
Bacolod City
Pampanga Central (Angeles/Clark, Mabalacat, Dau)
Bulacan Central (Baliuag, Marilao, Meycauyan)
Cagayan de Oro City
Bulacan South (Malolos, Calumpit)
Lipa City

• Policies were implemented promoting systematic and accelerated ICT advancement.

o Removed barriers and allow full competition in the provision of high-speed networks and connectivity. This resulted in the reduction of cost of local internet connections from PhP30 per hour in 2000 to PhP15 per hour in 2008.

o Allocated radio frequencies to allow broadband wireless access network.

o Liberalized the telecommunications environment/ industry to allow the entry of more players, ie, the telecommunication operators (TelCos).

This enabled the mobile telephone industry to experience robust growth. About 62% of the total populace (or about 56 million out of the 88 million Filipinos) are now mobile telephone subscribers who are connected to 14,506 cell sites, nationwide, as of end of 2008. To date, there are 11 international gateway facility (IGF) operators who can provide international long distance calls; six (6) cellular mobile telephone system operators; 11 public trunk radio operators; 14 inter-exchange carrier licenses that service other carriers’ traffic using their own networks; and, 74 local exchange operators or those with fixed line services.
o Authorized the retail-pricing for local telephone lines by allowing local exchange carriers to design price packages.

2. Business Process Outsourcing

The Arroyo Administration’s strategic foresight of using information technology to advantage early on, built the necessary physical and regulatory infrastructure that enabled the Services Sector particularly the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, to become one of the main economic growth drivers of the country. The growth in the BPO also improved the country’s Balance of Payments (BOP) and investments.
The BPO sector has been growing through the years. The total number of full-time employees rose to 371,965 in 2008 more than triple the 2004 number of 100,500 full-time employees. BPO revenues skyrocketed as the industry expanded. From US$1.5 billion in 2004 it grew more than three times to US$6.1 billion in 2008.
The Philippine BPO sector caters to varied support services functions. The rise of Animation, Software Development and Medical Transcription in 2003 became an addition to promising BPO investments that were portrayed in the succeeding years. It marked the rise of digital servicing, niche service operations and marketing using information technology. Later on, outsourcing services were popularized in the following support service functions, namely: (1) Human Resources such as recruitment and payroll; (2) Customer Service and helpdesk functions; (3) Procurement and materials management; (4) proof reading and editing; and (5) layout and design. Among the top contact centers in the country are Sykes, Convergys, Ambergis, and People Support. Some of the companies that have set-up internal BPO operations in the country include HSBC, AIG Business Processing Services, Chevron Texaco, Procter and Gamble Asia Pt. Ltd., Shell Shared Services, among others.

3. Financial System
The purposeful financial reforms in the past enabled the Philippine financial system to weather the global financial storm. The BSP strengthened its financial supervision and regulation particularly through the alignment of accounting practices with international standards, the enhancement of risk management systems, and strengthening bank capitalization.

1. Capital Adequacy Ratio. From 2001-2008, the average capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of banks remained above the BSP minimum requirement. The CAR, which indicates the overall health and condition of the banking sector, is the proportion of a bank’s capital to its risks. This helps ensure that banks have enough capacity to absorb a reasonable amount of loss and that they are complying with their statutory capital requirements as mandated by the BSP. It is also an indicator that banks are well-capitalized.

The average CAR of Universal Banks (UBs) and Commercial Banks (KBs) was at 17.2% from 2001 to 2007, way above the BSP minimum requirement of 10%. As of December 2008, CAR is at 15.7%, slightly lower than the 15.9% CAR during the same period in 2007.

2. Non-Performing Loans. From 2001-2009, Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) have been steadily declining. NPL is an indicator of financial soundness, expressing banks’ exposure to bad debts. Non-performing only means that payments of interest and principal have remained unpaid for 30 days or more.
NPLs in UBs and KBs have been steadily declining. In 2001, NPL was at PhP281.9 billion (17.3% of total loans), decreasing to PhP88.2 billion in 2008 (3.5% of total loans). As of March 2009, NPL is PhP88.6 billion (3.6% of total loans) lower than the March 2008 NPL of PhP96.4 billion (4.5% of total loans).

3. Domestic Liquidity. Domestic liquidity, or M3, recorded double-digit growth rate of 15.6% in December 2008. The increase in the domestic liquidity was fueled by strong growth in both the net domestic assets (NDA) and the net foreign assets (NFA). Both credit extended to the private and public sectors grew by 16.8% and 18.2%, respectively, in 2008. Further, domestic liquidity continued to grow in by 15.0% last May 2009. An appropriate level of liquidity only means that there is a proper functioning of the financial system and can help support economic growth, while keeping guard against any build-up in price pressures.

4. Interest Rates. Reverse repurchase rates (RRP) decreased from 9.72% in 2001 to 5.44% in 2008 to keep inflation within the government’s target ranges. Recently (July 4, 2009 release), RRR were further reduced by 25 basis points to 4%. Given prevailing downside pressures on prices and output, the reduction in policy rates will support economic activity as banks are expected to pass on the lower borrowing costs to clients.

5. Legislative Measures. The following were vital legislations which strengthened the Philippine financial system:

. RA 9182 as amended by RA 9343 - Special Purpose Vehicle Act (2002 and 2006). The Special Purpose Vehicle Act facilitated the cleaning of bad assets in the banking system.
. RA 9505 - Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA) Law (2008). RA 9505 was passed to improve the country’s saving rates by allowing the creation of tax-free personal retirement accounts.
. RA 9510 - Credit Information System Act (2008). RA 9510 is designed to help boost bank lending by enhancing the availability of credit to small borrowers.
. RA 9576 (2009). RA 9576 increased the insurance coverage for deposits to PhP500,000 from PhP250,000 in order to protect depositors.

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis provided some hard and painful lessons for emerging economies like the Philippines which resulted in its banks not having been substantially affected by the global economic crisis due to their: (1) very limited exposure to subprime and other structured and sustained securitized products; (2) relatively stronger balance sheets and profitability; (3) improved risk and liquidity management frameworks; (4) placement under strengthened supervisory and regulatory systems; and (5) exploration of other profitable business lines such as consumer lending, which arrested the strong search for yields common among financial institutions in advanced economies.

6. Inflation and Prices. Under the Arroyo Administration, inflation remained in single digits, ensuring stable prices to benefit consumers. Factors like the strong peso and improved agricultural production as well as sound monetary policy contributed to the slowdown of inflation from 2001-2008, notwithstanding the volatility of world food and oil prices that put upward pressure on inflation in 2008.
Inflation eased from 6.8% in 2001 to 2.8% in 2007. The 2007 inflation rate is well below the 4.0-5.0% target range for 2007 and the lowest annual average in 21 years. Inflation was kept in single digits in 2008 at an average of 9.3%.
Inflation rate improved in 2009, at a lower 5% average from January to June 2009, or almost back to its 2007 level. In light of the global crisis, the BSP was quick to provide liquidity to boost spending and investment and support market confidence. However, it remained committed to price stability and inflation was still well contained in June 2009, dropping to 1.5% from 3.3% in May, the lowest in more than 22 years.
From 2001 to 2009, the Arroyo Administration undertook intensive price monitoring activities and regular market visits. Strict enforcement of the Price Tag Law and Price Act were pursued to ensure availability of basic necessities to consumers at reasonable prices, keeping prices low. Meetings and dialogues with industry associations, manufacturers and retailers were continuously conducted.

7. Markets. The strong economic fundamentals achieved by the Arroyo Administration through its economic reforms had a strong positive impact on the Philippine Markets as these improved investor climate and brought confidence in the peso and the Philippine stock market.

The continued foreign exchange inflows from OFW Remittances, export earnings, and overall positive market sentiment enabled the strong performance of the peso in the past years. The peso appreciated by 9.5% from an average of PhP50.99/US$ in 2001 to PhP46.15/US$ in 2007. Although the peso fell in 2008, the peso remains strong and has averaged at P47.8160/US$ for the first half of 2009. In 2008 to the first half of 2009, investor concerns about a slowing global economy resulted to risk aversion and the decreasing value of the peso. However, due to the stored value of the peso from the previous 6 years, the peso value was not substantially diminished.
As a result of an improved fiscal condition, declining inflation and a strong peso, investor confidence in the economy was renewed, resulting into positive reactions from investors and the financial market. The Philippine Stock Market Composite Index (Phisix) increased from 1168.1 index points in 2001 to 2587.4 index points in 2008.

Reference:
http://www.gov.ph/sona/sona2009/2009_SONA_TECHNICAL_REPORT.pdf

Jethro Querubin

If I were hired by the university president as an IT consultant, I would suggest innovations in order for the internet connectivity be improved because it is what the university needs before we consider technology, infrastructure, steps and process. There should be a "new way of doing something" in the university.

Why I choose Innovations?

According to my research, the term innovation refers to a new way of doing something. It may refer to incremental, radical, and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. A distinction is typically made between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully. (Mckeown 2008) In many fields, something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change, e.g., in the arts, economics, business and government policy. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.
Innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. Colloquially, the word "innovation" is often synonymous with the output of the process. However, economists tend to focus on the process itself, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation; and on the system within which the process of innovation unfolds. Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.
Those who are directly responsible for application of the innovation are often called pioneers in their field, whether they are individuals or organizations.

In the organizational context, innovation may be linked to performance and growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitive positioning, market share, etc. All organizations can innovate, including for example hospitals, universities, and local governments.
While innovation typically adds value, innovation may also have a negative or destructive effect as new developments clear away or change old organizational forms and practices. Organizations that do not innovate effectively may be destroyed by those that do. Hence innovation typically involves risk. A key challenge in innovation is maintaining a balance between process and product innovations where process innovations tend to involve a business model which may develop shareholder satisfaction through improved efficiencies while product innovations develop customer support however at the risk of costly R&D that can erode shareholder return. In summary, innovation can be described as the result of some amount of time and effort into researching (R) an idea, plus some larger amount of time and effort into developing (D) this idea, plus some very large amount of time and effort into commercializing (C) this idea into a market place with customers.

Conceptualizing innovation

Innovation has been studied in a variety of contexts, including in relation to technology, commerce, social systems, economic development, and policy construction. There are, therefore, naturally a wide range of approaches to conceptualizing innovation in the scholarly literature. See, e.g., Fagerberg et al. (2004).
Fortunately, however, a consistent theme may be identified: innovation is typically understood as the successful introduction of something new and useful, for example introducing new methods, techniques, or practices or new or altered products and services.

Distinguishing from Invention and other concepts

"An important distinction is normally made between invention and innovation. Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the first attempt to carry it out into practice" (Fagerberg, 2004: 4)
It is useful, when conceptualizing innovation, to consider whether other words suffice. Invention – the creation of new forms, compositions of matter, or processes – is often confused with innovation. An improvement on an existing form, composition or processes might be an invention, an innovation, both or neither if it is not substantial enough. It can be difficult to differentiate change from innovation. According to business literature, an idea, a change or an improvement is only an innovation when it is put to use and effectively causes a social or commercial reorganization.
Innovation occurs when someone uses an invention or an idea to change how the world works, how people organize themselves, or how they conduct their lives. In this view innovation occurs whether or not the act of innovating succeeds in generating value for its champions. Innovation is distinct from improvement in that it permeates society and can cause reorganization. It is distinct from problem solving and may cause problems. Thus, in this view, innovation occurs whether it has positive or negative results.
So far there is no evidence where innovation has been measured scientifically. Scientists around the world are still working on methods to accurately measure innovation in terms of cost, effort or resource savings. Some of the innovations have become successful because of the way people look at things and need for change from the old ways of doing things.

Innovation in organizations

A convenient definition of innovation from an organizational perspective is given by Luecke and Katz (2003), who wrote:
"Innovation . . . is generally understood as the successful introduction of a new thing or method . . . Innovation is the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, processes, or services.
Innovation typically involves creativity, but is not identical to it: innovation involves acting on the creative ideas to make some specific and tangible difference in the domain in which the innovation occurs. For example, Amabile et al. (1996) propose:
"All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is necessary but not sufficient condition for the second".
For innovation to occur, something more than the generation of a creative idea or insight is required: the insight must be put into action to make a genuine difference, resulting for example in new or altered business processes within the organization, or changes in the products and services provided.
A further characterization of innovation is as an organizational or management process. For example, Davila et al. (2006), write:
"Innovation, like many business functions, is a management process that requires specific tools, rules, and discipline."
From this point of view the emphasis is moved from the introduction of specific novel and useful ideas to the general organizational processes and procedures for generating, considering, and acting on such insights leading to significant organizational improvements in terms of improved or new business products, services, or internal processes.
Through these varieties of viewpoints, creativity is typically seen as the basis for innovation, and innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization (c.f. Amabile et al. 1996 p.1155). From this point of view, creativity may be displayed by individuals, but innovation occurs in the organizational context only.
It should be noted, however, that the term 'innovation' is used by many authors rather interchangeably with the term 'creativity' when discussing individual and organizational creative activity. As Davila et al. (2006) comment,
"Often, in common parlance, the words creativity and innovation are used interchangeably. They shouldn't be, because while creativity implies coming up with ideas, it's the "bringing ideas to life" . . . that makes innovation the distinct undertaking it is."
The distinctions between creativity and innovation discussed above are by no means fixed or universal in the innovation literature. They are however observed by a considerable number of scholars in innovation studies.

Innovation as a behavior

Some in depth work on innovation in organizations, teams and individuals has been carried out by J. L. Byrd, PhD who is co-author of "The Innovation Equation." Dr Jacqueline Byrd is the brain behind the Creatrix Inventory which can be used to look at innovation, and what is behind it. The Innovation Equation she developed is:

Innovation = (Creativity * Risk Taking)

Economic conceptions of innovation

Joseph Schumpeter defined economic innovation in The Theory of Economic Development, 1934, Harvard University Press, Boston.[2]
1. The introduction of a new good — that is one with which consumers are not yet familiar — or of a new quality of a good.
2. The introduction of a new method of production, which need by no means be founded upon a discovery scientifically new, and can also exist in a new way of handling a commodity commercially.
3. The opening of a new market, that is a market into which the particular branch of manufacture of the country in question has not previously entered, whether or not this market has existed before.
4. The conquest of a new source of supply of raw materials or half-manufactured goods, again irrespective of whether this source already exists or whether it has first to be created.
5. The carrying out of the new organization of any industry, like the creation of a monopoly position (for example through trustification) or the breaking up of a monopoly position
Schumpeter's focus on innovation is reflected in Neo-Schumpeterian economics, developed by such scholars as Christopher Freeman and Giovanni Dosi.
Innovation is also studied by economists in a variety of other contexts, for example in theories of entrepreneurship or in Paul Romer's New Growth Theory.

Transaction cost and network theory perspectives

Main articles: Transaction cost and network theory
According to Regis Cabral (1998, 2003):
"Innovation is a new element introduced in the network which changes, even if momentarily, the costs of transactions between at least two actors, elements or nodes, in the network."

Innovation and market outcome

Market outcome from innovation can be studied from different lenses. The industrial organizational approach of market characterization according to the degree of competitive pressure and the consequent modeling of firm behavior often using sophisticated game theoretic tools, while permitting mathematical modeling, has shifted the ground away from an intuitive understanding of markets. The earlier visual framework in economics, of market demand and supply along price and quantity dimensions, has given way to powerful mathematical models which though intellectually satisfying has led policy makers and managers groping for more intuitive and less theoretical analyses to which they can relate to at a practical level. Non quantifiable variables find little place in these models, and when they do, mathematical gymnastics (such as the use of different demand elasticities for differentiated products) embrace many of these qualitative variables, but in an intuitively unsatisfactory way.
In the management (strategy) literature on the other hand, there is a vast array of relatively simple and intuitive models for both managers and consultants to choose from. Most of these models provide insights to the manager which help in crafting a strategic plan consistent with the desired aims. Indeed most strategy models are generally simple, wherein lie their virtue. In the process however, these models often fail to offer insights into situations beyond that for which they are designed, often due to the adoption of frameworks seldom analytical, seldom rigorous. The situational analyses of these models often tend to be descriptive and seldom robust and rarely present behavioral relationship between variables under study.
From an academic point of view, there is often a divorce between industrial organization theory and strategic management models. While many economists view management models as being too simplistic, strategic management consultants perceive academic economists as being too theoretical, and the analytical tools that they devise as too complex for managers to understand.
Innovation literature while rich in typologies and descriptions of innovation dynamics is mostly technology focused. Most research on innovation has been devoted to the process (technological) of innovation, or has otherwise taken a how to (innovate) approach. For example the integrated innovation model of Soumodip Sarkar (Sarkar 2007). These 'integrated' approaches, draw on industrial organization, management and innovation literature.

Jethro Querubin

A barrier is an obstacle which prevents a given policy instrument being implemented, or limits the way in which it can be implemented. In the extreme, such barriers may lead to certain policy instruments being overlooked, and the resulting strategies being much less effective. For example, demand management measures are likely to be important in larger cities as ways of controlling the growth of congestion and improving the environment. But at the same time they are often unpopular, and cities may be tempted to reject them simply because they will be unpopular. If that decision leads in turn to greater congestion and a worse environment, the strategy will be less successful. The emphasis should therefore be on how to overcome these barriers, rather than simply how to avoid them. ECOCITY provides a useful illustration of the ways in which such barriers arise, and of how obstacles have been overcome, in case study cities.

1. Financial barriers

These include budget restrictions limiting the overall expenditure on the strategy, financial restrictions on specific instruments, and limitations on the flexibility with which revenues can be used to finance the full range of instruments.

2. Lack of Security

a. Database security is the system, processes, and procedures that protect a database from unintended activity. Unintended activity can be categorized as authenticated misuse, malicious attacks or inadvertent mistakes made by authorized individuals or processes. Database security is also a specialty within the broader discipline of computer security.

Traditionally databases have been protected from external connections by firewalls or routers on the network perimeter with the database environment existing on the internal network opposed to being located within a demilitarized zone. Additional network security devices that detect and alert on malicious database protocol traffic include network intrusion detection systems along with host-based intrusion detection systems.

Database security is more critical as networks have become more open.

Databases provide many layers and types of information security, typically specified in the data dictionary, including:

* Access control
* Auditing
* Authentication
* Encryption
* Integrity controls

Database security can begin with the process of creation and publishing of appropriate security standards for the database environment. The standards may include specific controls for the various relevant database platforms; a set of best practices that cross over the platforms; and linkages of the standards to higher level polices and governmental regulations.

A database security program should include the regular review of permissions granted to individually owned accounts and accounts used by automated processes. The accounts used by automated processes should have appropriate controls around password storage such as sufficient encryption and access controls to reduce the risk of compromise. For individual accounts, a two-factor authentication system should be considered in a database environment where the risk is commensurate with the expenditure for such an authentication system.

In conjunction with a sound database security program, an appropriate disaster recovery program should exist to ensure that service is not interrupted during a security incident or any other incident that results in an outage of the primary database environment. An example is that of replication for the primary databases to sites located in different geographical regions.

After an incident occurs, the usage of database forensics should be employed to determine the scope of the breach, and to identify appropriate changes to systems and/or processes to prevent similar incidents in the future.

b. When a computer connects to a network and begins communicating with others, it is taking a risk. Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account and files from intrusion of an unknown user.[1] Basic security measures involve protection by well selected passwords, change of file permissions and back up of computer's data.

Security concerns are in some ways peripheral to normal business working, but serve to highlight just how important it is that business users feel confident when using IT systems. Security will probably always be high on the IT agenda simply because cyber criminals know that a successful attack is very profitable. This means they will always strive to find new ways to circumvent IT security, and users will consequently need to be continually vigilant. Whenever decisions need to be made about how to enhance a system, security will need to be held uppermost among its requirements.

Internet security professionals should be fluent in the four major aspects:

* Penetration testing
* Intrusion Detection
* Incidence Response
* Legal / Audit Compliance

3. Limited workstation

A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also been used to refer to a mainframe computer terminal or a PC connected to a network.

Historically, workstations had offered higher performance than personal computers, especially with respect to CPU and graphics, memory capacity and multitasking cability. They are optimized for the visualization and manipulation of different types of complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation (e.g. computational fluid dynamics), animation and rendering of images, and mathematical plots. Consoles consist of a high resolution display, a keyboard and a mouse at a minimum, but also offer multiple displays, graphics tablets, 3D mice (devices for manipulating and navigating 3D objects and scenes), etc. Workstations are the first segment of the computer market to present advanced accessories and collaboration tools.

In our adopted company, one of their barriers is their station. Before, they can manage the people, the processes and the customers because it is not that busy before. But, as time goes by, more customers are coming, more people are involved in the company, many processes have been changed and added, now they are having a problem of their station. Though it still could cater the company but it is limited because they lack stations that will be even more convenient for everyone.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_security
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_security
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workstation

Jethro Querubin

With respect to the company we have interviewed, there are a lot of risks that will be faced as the company grew bigger. As technology evolve, you have to go with the level of business process or else the company will be left behind by all the technologies. Here are some risks they have encountered:

1. Compatibility with the business process

("Kinahanglan daw nimo gukdon ang business process while ga evolve ang technology". Which means, you have to be updated with "what's new" in the present with regards to technology.)

*compatibility indicates that a product can work with or is equivalent to another, better-known product.

*A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. It often can be visualized with a flowchart as a sequence of activities.

There are three types of business processes:

1. Management processes, the processes that govern the operation of a system. Typical management processes include "Corporate Governance" and "Strategic Management".
2. Operational processes, processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are Purchasing, Manufacturing, Marketing and Sales.
3. Supporting processes, which support the core processes. Examples include Accounting, Recruitment, Technical support.

A business process begins with a customer’s need and ends with a customer’s need fulfillment. Process oriented organizations break down the barriers of structural departments and try to avoid functional silos.

A business process can be decomposed into several sub-processes, which have their own attributes, but also contribute to achieving the goal of the super-process. The analysis of business processes typically includes the mapping of processes and sub-processes down to activity level.

Business Processes are designed to add value for the customer and should not include unnecessary activities. The outcome of a well designed business process is increased effectiveness (value for the customer) and increased efficiency (less costs for the company).

Business Processes can be modeled through a large number of methods and techniques. For instance, the Business Process Modeling Notation is a Business Process Modeling technique that can be used for drawing business processes in a workflow.

2. Piracy
The unauthorized copying of software. Most retail programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather than an owner (see EULA). You are allowed to make copies of the program for backup purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues.

Software piracy is all but impossible to stop, although software companies are launching more and more lawsuits against major infractors. Originally, software companies tried to stop software piracy by copy-protecting their software. This strategy failed, however, because it was inconvenient for users and was not 100 percent foolproof. Most software now requires some sort of registration, which may discourage would-be pirates, but doesn't really stop software piracy.

Some common types of software piracy include counterfeit software, OEM unbundling, softlifting, hard disk loading, corporate software piracy, and Internet software piracy.

Software piracy can be defined as "copying and using commercial software purchased by someone else". Software piracy is illegal. Each pirated piece of software takes away from company profits, reducing funds for further software development initiatives.

The roots of software piracy may lie in the early 1960s, when computer programs were freely distributed with mainframe hardware by hardware manufacturers (e.g. AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, General Electric and General Motors). In the late 1960s, manufacturers began selling their software separately from the required hardware.

Current illegal software in the US accounts for 25 - 50% of the software in use (see web sites below for further detail). Other countries often have levels of piracy well beyond that of the US. For example, Carol Bartz, the president and chairman of Autodesk, Inc. (www.autodesk.com) reports that one of their flagship products, AutoCAD, has 90% of the computer-aided design (CAD) market in China, yet sales are virtually negligible due to the widespread acceptance of software piracy (Fighting Computer Crime: A New Framework for Protecting Information, Donn B. Parker, 1998). A number of annotated web sites at the end of this document contain information regarding estimates of software piracy throughout the world. Bartz also states that many software companies are reluctant to pursue the educational market due to concerns that several copies of purchased software may lead to millions of copies of illegal software, produced "in the name of educating children" (Parker, 1998).

Ways to Deal With / Minimize Software Piracy

As teachers, the easiest way to minimize piracy is to set a good example. Don't use pirated software or distribute commercial software to students or colleagues. It is important that policies go beyond individual classrooms, and that schools / districts develop software management, acquisition and implementation policies. These policies should be made clear to each teacher in the school's Acceptable Use Policy, with explicit statements regarding the unacceptability of software piracy. Technology Coordinators should determine which commonly used software packages are compatible with anticipated hardware and network upgrades, and make faculty aware of those changes prior to upgrade. Other ways to reduce the likelihood of software piracy are explicitly stated in Safeguarding Your Technology: Practical Guidelines for Electronic Education Information Security (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=98297). Among their recommendations are:

1. Have a central location for software programs. Know which applications are being added, modified or deleted.
2. Secure master copies of software and associate documentation, while providing faculty access to those programs when needed.
3. Never lend or give commercial software to unlicensed users.
4. Permit only authorized users to install software.
5. Train and make staff aware of software use and security procedures which reduce likelihood of software piracy.

Finally, there are a number of network utilities which remove unauthorized files and programs on a preset basis. These utilities can effectively monitor and remove illegally possessed shareware and commercial software without any significant additional investment in network administrator time or effort.

3. Hacking
Hack has several related meanings in the technology and computer science fields. It may refer to a clever or quick fix to a computer program problem, or to what may be perceived to be a clumsy or inelegant (but usually relatively quick) solution to a problem. The term is also used to refer to a modification of a program or device to give the user access to features that were otherwise unavailable, such as DIY circuit bending.

acking is unauthorized use of computer and network resources. (The term "hacker" originally meant a very gifted programmer. In recent years though, with easier access to multiple systems, it now has negative implications.)

Hacking is a felony in the United States and most other countries. When it is done by request and under a contract between an ethical hacker and an organization, it's OK. The key difference is that the ethical hacker has authorization to probe the target.

We work with IBM Consulting and its customers to design and execute thorough evaluations of their computer and network security. Depending on the evaluation they request (ranging from Web server probes to all-out attacks), we gather as much information as we can about the target from publicly available sources. As we learn more about the target, its subsidiaries and network connectivity, we begin to probe for weaknesses.

Examples of weaknesses include poor configuration of Web servers, old or unpatched software, disabled security controls, and poorly chosen or default passwords. As we find and exploit vulnerabilities, we document if and how we gained access, as well as if anyone at the organization noticed. (In nearly all the cases, the Information Syhstems department is not informed of these planned attacks.) Then we work with the customer to address the issues we've discovered.

The number of really gifted hackers in the world is very small, but there are lots of wannabes.... When we do an ethical hack, we could be holding the keys to that company once we gain access. It's too great a risk for our customers to be put in a compromising position. With access to so many systems and so much information, the temptation for a former hacker could be too great -- like a kid in an unattended candy store.

4. People

With regards to people, they can't deny the fact that people wants a "greener pastures". People or employees are considered their risks if they look for a greener pastures. The capability of one person especially in the MIS department is unique to every different person. In effect, it would delay the work if someone is taken from a department to look for a greener pastures. It would also affect the service of the company to the customer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/software_piracy.html
http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/crime/piracy.htm
http://www.crime-research.org/news/05.05.2004/241/

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Watch this

Thursday, October 1, 2009

eye-opener (lines I like that I got from the news after the ondoy tragedy)

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