ASSIGNMENT 3. :D

TOPIC: Your thoughts on automated elections with reference to the current situation ... (1000 words)

Automated Election: Are we ready?

The Malacañang's Department of Budget and Management produce the P11.9 billion supplemental budget for this coming election which will be automated. Christian Monsod has been explaining how the Open Election System method of automation works.

“Monsod stressed that the proposed OES-based automated election system, combined with an optical mark recognition (OMR) technology, could cost government about P8 billion for the equipment and operations. If Comelec prefers getting the OES automated election system alone, it will cost around P4 billion."

And he added that "The choice of automation technology and its successful implementation is key to the credibility of the elections."

What was really the "Automated Election"?
Based on the Senate Bill No. 2231: (13th Congress) which entitled:

AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436, ENTITLED AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, TO ENCOURAGE TRANSPARENCY, CREDIBILITY, FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY OF ELECTIONS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 881, AS AMENDED, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7166 AND OTHER RELATED ELECTIONS LAWS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

On section 2 on the said article defines the automated election system as:
A system using appropriate technology for voting, counting, consolidating, canvassing, transmission of election results and other processes in the conduct of electoral exercises.

Equipments or components that are being used for Automated Election:
1. Counting machine - a machine that uses an optical scanning mark-sense reading
2. Data storage device - a device used to electronically store counting and device of any similar advanced technology to count ballots; canvassing results, such as, memory pack or diskette;
3. Computer set - a set of equipment containing regular components, i.e., monitor, central processing unit or CPU, keyboard and printer;
4. National Ballot - refers to the ballot to be used in the automated election system for the purpose of the May 1998 elections. This shall contain the names of the candidates for president, vice-president, senators and parties, organizations or coalitions participating under the party-list system;

This ballot shall be counted by the counting machine:
5. Local Ballot - refers to the ballot on which the voter will manually write the names of the candidates of his/her choice for member of the House of Representatives, governor,vice-governor, members of the provincial board, mayor, vice-mayor, and members of the city municipal council.
6. Board of Election inspector - there shall be a Board of Election Inspectors in every precinct composed of three (3) regular members who shall conduct the voting, counting and recording of votes in the polling place.

Many questions and complains arise from this issue such as:
How reliable can be the automated election system be?

Some people said that anything that is being done through computerized would be easier to falsify.
In the side of indigenous people it would be hard for them to vote if the election will be done automatically because some of them are illiterate.

Advantages of the system to this coming 2010 election:
• There will be no ballot box snatching as the ERs are transmitted electronically for canvassing
• There is less work for the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI)
• If all precincts are connected, national results can be produced within one hour after the close of voting
• There is automated tally of votes at the city/municipal level
• The DRE can include an automated voter validation system
• Canvassing at the city/municipal and provincial levels is almost instantaneous
• There is an instantaneous tally of votes at the precinct level
• Ballots are pre-printed and voters simply mark choices

Manual V.S. Automated

In manual voting, each of the positions are simply printed, with an underlined space on which the voter writes his choices. In the automated system, where both voting and canvass is done through a printed ballot fed into a machine, voters will need to shade an oval space beside the printed names of each of the candidates of each of these positions. So the ballot will contain some 300 names of persons or parties. Go figure how this can be done.
In the manual system official ballot, the fonts used are probably 24. In the automated system, will they use font 8? That will make it extremely difficult for senior citizens with poor eyesight, and worse for those who have not been properly initiated into the new system, as in the country’s hinterlands and islands where the Comelec’s “massive” information program may not connect. The ridiculous alternative is to use large font, but that would make the ballot as long as two meters.

REFERENCES:
http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2007/ra_9369_2007.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/Automated-Election-Are-we-ready
http://technogra.ph/20090303/sections/editorial/how-the-philippines-can-in-lead-election-automation/
http://technogra.ph/20090622/sections/editorial/why-the-2010-election-automation-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen/

July 03, 2009. COMDDAP Exhibition held at Apo View Hotel. I was there, and I was able to attend the 2nd day seminar from 1:00pm up to 6:00 pm. I implemented a strict policy just for myself intended for that day actually. And it is to dress properly which means formal blouse not a dress because I am not comfortable with it, with matching high heeled shoes that would fit for my attire that day, and to act accordingly which means I should not make any unnecessary movements such as speaking loudly, laughing as if there is no tomorrow and acting like a boy. Just kidding! (hehe.)

I was not able to attend for July 2 seminar unlike my other classmates because I WAS REGISTERED LATE. I cannot make it even if I want to since that the seats are limited. (sigh!) In relation to that, I was registered for July 3 schedule, and it was the only option available. I was able to attend the ERIC-DMS seminar, the HP Thin Client, The Windows Server 2008 and The Open Source Forum. From the topics I mentioned, the Open Source forum was the one I find really interesting.

From The ERIC-DMS seminar or lecture (hehe), whose name of the speaker I forgot, I think he emphasizes that mostly their clients are from the Cars Industry. As mentioned by him are MITSUBISHI, MAZDA, HONDA, VOLVO, and a lot more. ERIC which stands for Enterprise Resource Information and Control , and DMS for Dealer Management System. ERIC-DMS which was under by Jupiter Systems Inc., is a 24-year old enterprise software company which is owned purely by Filipinos. Aren’t we somehow proud of that? (hehe) The Dealer Management System (DMS) has the following coverage:
-Customer Relationship Management,
-Vehicle Sales Administration,
-Sales Management,
-Parts Inventory,
-Payroll/Time Card,
-Purchasing or Procurement,
-General Ledger,
-Accounts Payable,
-Accounts Receivable, and
-Order Entry and Billing.

As I take down notes all of the must post details, unfortunately, I was not able to catch up all the things that the speaker said. (hehe) Meanwhile, the CRM (I don’t know what this stands for) Pre-Sales has these following features:
-Sales lead monitoring from initial inquiry to actual close
-Sales quotation processing
-Supervisor review of appointment schedules and sales calls
-Monitor sales stages
-Classifies sales probabilities
-Keeps all call histories
-Prospect follow-up reminders
-Lead generation reports

The ERIC DMS-Vehicle Sales Administration:
-The system supports sales of new and used vehicles
-The vehicle inventory checking in multiple branches and warehouses
-Vehicle purchase agreement processing
-Vehicle Sales Invoicing
-Process receivables and payable form
-Vehicle delivery Advice Entry
-Vehicle Receipt to Warehouse
-Vehicle Inventory Calling
-Registers all vehicle purchase to service management and CRM module
-Online interface to ERIC accounting module

And lastly, their Service Management General Features:
-Advance Bookings/Customer Appointments
-Operation Maintenance/FLAT Rates
-Repair orders
-Customer Service history
-Technician Time-in/Time-out
-Parts Requisitioning and Picking
-Warranty claims and Processing
-Field Service Actions(campaigns)
-Service Reminders
-Highly graphical technician assignments and loading window
-Sublet P.O processing

Just for the sake of being honest, I have this notes without listening to the speaker as to what he is really talking. Why? Because he was really a very FAST and spontaneous speaker. Especially that, I as just a student, cannot relate to what he is talking about and to what message he wants to say. Because of that, I just chat down notes, act as if I am really interested and copy all the necessary information that can be seen on his slides. (hehe.)

After the very fast ERIC-DMS, here comes HP Thin-Client which for me is more informative and the topic I can much relate to than the first one. The speaker whose name must not be mentioned here, first discussed what is a Thin Client. At first look, for me it was really just a thin and simple system unit. Just another product made by HP, but as the discussion went on, it was clear that Thin Client can really make your life much easier. I mean, less hassle, no need to set up many anti-virus on every unit that you have, it may be a lot expensive than a simple system unit when it comes to purchasing, but in the long run you will find that it is much cheaper if you sum up all the expenses.

As said by the speaker, HP today is one of the FORTUNE 500 companies, one of the leading and powerful companies in IT Industry. HP (Hewlett-Packard) have their operations in 178 countries worldwide. They are customer focus, and 3rd on the rank in releasing patents worldwide. Actually they can produce 11 patents a day. I had learned the challenges for IT professionals as based on the speaker himself, they are the following:
-Provide information security
-Deployment and maintenance
-Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

And also, with a brief explanation of what a Thin Client is, it is a computing device without a hard drive, which displays data and applications from remotely located servers, blade PCs, or virtual desktops. Thin Client can also be used independently, as a task specific computing device with a minimal set of applications installed.

Right after Mr. Thin Client, was Mr. Windows Server 2008. I am not so really interested with this part since that it was more technical than the previous two topics. Also, they were discussing more on installation process of the different Directory Roles in the server which for more is not so interesting. I had gone through with so many installation processes during my Data Communications subject and I cannot force myself to get a hold of the topic because my interest was not there. I didn’t mean to be rude or what but I just don’t like the topic even if I know that it would give me a great help someday. (sigh!)

But then I was able to take down notes. I did jut down the different Active Directory roles which are the Active Directory Domain Services, the Active Domain Certificate Services, Active Domain Federation Services, Active Domain Lightweight Directory, and Active Domain Rights Management Services. As to what are the functions of these, well, that is something I cannot answer. Actually, the speaker was also a very fast one. (hehe)

And lastly, the Open Source forum. This was the most interesting among them all. Actually, I was not able to start the forum because I had my early dinner that time, so what was left for me to attend to are the different softwares that can be found on the web such as Joomla, Drupal, Tomcat, MySql, and names I cannot recall. It was really a nice topic, so many things that can be found on the web, and that outsourcing can be fun but you must make sure that you are relying on a competent site. For you not to fail as a client.

"Given Enough eyeballs, ALL BUGS ARE SHALLOW" -Linus' Law.

ASSIGNMENT 2. :D

Topic : Based on the organization(s) that you visited, what do you think are the risks associated with business and IS/IT change? (1000 words)

In organizations without a formal information technology (IT) change management process, it is estimated that 80% of IT service outage problems are caused by updates and alterations to systems, applications, and infrastructure. Consequently, one of the first areas to address to improve service reliability is to track all changes and systematically manage change with full knowledge of the risks of the change and the potential organizational impact. While tracking change events is fairly well understood and is a common practice, consistently and reliably predicting the impact of change requires a disciplined, standards-based approach to assessing risk and likelihood of impact, a technique not usually found in off-the-shelf change tracking tools. –PNNL, Joanne R. Hugi

Since that the company I conducted an interview in my previous assignment was SONY, to be consistent, I would still used this company as my reference for this current assignment. Sony is still located at Magallanes beside Aljem's Inn. Based on the interview I conducted two weeks ago, I observed that even a large and international company like SONY can be very dwarf in terms of their Information System. I mean, as what their assigned IT said, their home base or main server is located at MANILA, therefore, all the sales, expenses, and other important matters are relayed via internet.

But still, he gave me some of the problems they encounter as their IS change. Since they relay data via internet, one of their problem is NETWORK CONNECTION, according to him, this happens every time especially when an interruption to the signal occurs. Some of the said possible reasons (internet based) were it may be that you have simply made a typing mistake, and there is an error in the name of the remote host computer. In this case you should also receive an error stating that the host is unknown. Second, There may be problems with the configuration or physical setup of the network connection. Verify that other network connections are functioning. And, there may also be a temporary problem with the remote host computer. If this is the case, you should wait for a while and try to connect again later. Contact the administrator of the remote host computer for additional information.

SONY as stated earlier has only ONE MAIN SOURCE, or they only have one main server which is currently located in Manila. Therefore, if IT personnel changes or there IS (Information System) changes, it would be very difficult for the new employee (if IT personnel changes) to cope up with the main server unless if He is used to having a main server on a far area or location. Data Recovery would also be prolonged if their would be an IS change, IT personnel in charged especially if it is outsourcing, would feel different and likely would not use the new implemented system.

But then before a change of a system, a company such as SONY focuses on controlling the integrity of information systems and resources, including all network devices, computer systems, applications, and databases in the infrastructure. To accomplish this, the change management process tracks all changes and requires reviews and approvals commensurate with the potential impact of the change. To promote thorough consideration of change impact prior to instituting the change, the process is integrated with the systems and software development lifecycle: change risks are considered before systems are built and tested. Modifications to the change release plan during the build and test phases are allowed, but the plan will be reviewed before implementation is approved. After implementation, a release status report records the success of the change, permitting self-assessment of change effectiveness.

My learnings are, actually, a system needs to be changed in order to improve its efficiency and competitiveness. Even though a change is crucial to a success, but still as an IT we must accept and embrace change, since that technology is fast pacing, nothing is constant except CHANGE nowadays, we really have to deal with it. But as changes occur, we must make sure that we keep on the right track. Implementing changes is a repeatable process, one must learn to get abide with it as quick as it should be.

--whew!i had hard time composing these since that I was supposed to have an interview with JOLLIBEE regarding this assignment. I was hoping for their call but 'till now, I haven't received any. (sigh!)