Information and Communication Technology Benefits

This assignment examines the multifaceted benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Students are tasked with analyzing how ICT positively impacts the environment, strengthens social connections, and drives economic growth. The assignment requires students to research relevant resources, summarize key findings, and articulate a clear understanding of ICT's transformative influence on modern society.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this
assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using
the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not
use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file,
inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the
formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below.
There is a table to complete each task. Please fill in the information required.
An example of a completed task is below. Note the first response is good –
so aim for something like this. The second response is not acceptable, so if
you submit anything like it, you won’t pass the assignment! The reasons?
Poor resource selection (Wikipedia), no Harvard reference and a block cut
and paste from the site (no citation, no original content).
Example
Task Find two resources that explain aspects of IT Service
Management.
(Good
Response)
Title and Reference:
COBIT versus ITIL
Ibaraki, S 2014, online, COBIT versus ITIL, viewed 29/01/2015,
<http://blogs.technet.com/b/cdnitmanagers/archive/2014/04/06/
cobit-versus-itil.aspx>.
Summary:
This resource is a blog entry discussing the differences
between CoBIT and ITIL. I chose this resource as there is a lot
of confusion about the way in which ITSM is applied, and the
distinction between the CoBIT and ITIL implementations is
frequently unclear. Ibaraki explains that CoBIT provides the
governance and metric structures while ITIL delivers on the
actual mechanics and “how-to” processes. The author makes
an interesting observation that it is wrong to simplify COBIT as
providing the ‘why’ and ITIL providing the ‘how’ because both
ITSM mechanisms have considerable overlap and both need to
be used at the same time. I found this article very useful in
explaining the differences and similarities between these two
aspects of ITSM.
(Bad
Response)
Title and Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_service_management
Summary:
This page talks about ITSM. It says that IT service
management (ITSM) refers to the entirety of activities –
directed by policies, organized and structured in processes and
supporting procedures – that are performed by an organization
or part of an organization to plan, deliver, operate and control
IT services offered to customers. It is thus concerned with the
implementation of quality IT services that meet the needs of
customers and is performed by the IT service provider through

an appropriate mix of people, process and information
technology.
Note: Each resource summary should be a maximum of 300 words.
Week 1
Task The past decade has witnessed tremendous advances in
computing, wired and wireless communication, and storage
technologies. Discuss the main features and applications of
two mass storage technologies namely: direct-attached
storage and network-attached storage.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: NAS vs. SAN vs. DAS: Which Is Right for You? -
Seagate
Reference: Paulsen, J. and Paulsen, J. 2018. NAS vs. SAN
vs. DAS: Which Is Right for You? - Seagate. [online]
Seagate. Available at:
https://blog.seagate.com/business/nas-vs-san-vs-das-which-
is-right-for-you/ [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article describes the applications of direct-attached
storage (DAS) and network-attached storage (NAS)
elaborately. Paulsen, the author of this article explains
numerous functionalities and features of NAS and DAS. I
find this article quite informative and it explains DAS and
NAS’s major features. DAS is known to provide the basic
functionalities. Any organisations can get cost-effective
service with the help of DAS. Low maintenance is required
for DAS as well. The IT infrastructures can be facilitated by
the usage of DAS, any organisation those who want to
enhance their growth within a short period must take up
DAS. DAS is applicable to small business. It is known to
facilitate the low budget project. Paulsen further illustrates
that DAS also facilitates those projects that have very little IT
support. However, there are certain drawbacks of DAS. DAS
is not applicable to large business. The large business which
needs growth within a short period of time will not be
benefitted by the adaptation of DAS. The author of this
article also explains about the Network-attached storage.
NAS basically involves sharing of files over the internet.
NAS, unlike DAS, is applicable to a business that has little IT
support. The organisations those who want reliable, as well
as a flexible storage system, must take up the NAS. As per
Paulsen, NAS is best suited for SMPs. The large
organisations those who want to scale up the business must
adopt the NAS. NAS provides easy solutions and reliable
solutions during system failure. There is a drawback of NAS.

Network-attached storage is not capable to transfer data in
large number. I find this article helpful in knowing the details
of the DAS and NAS. I get to know where DAS can be used
and where NAS can be used.
Week 2
Task Real-time operating systems are operating systems that
guarantee a certain capability within a specified time
constraint. Discuss the main benefits of real-time operating
systems for the health sector.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: 10 Benefits of IoT for Healthcare and Hospitals
Reference: 10 Benefits of IoT for Healthcare and Hospitals,
2018. [online] Available at:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-benefits-iot-healthcare-
hospitals-abhinav-shrivastava [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article illustrates in details the beneficial aspects of the
Internet of Things (IoT) and Real-Time Operating System
Real Time Operating system (RTOSes) in the health sector. I
find this article suitable and it explains the impacts of IoT and
RTOSes in the health sector. The IoT device can run on
RTOSes thus RTOSes can improvise the IoT medical
device’s performance in the healthcare sector. Abhinav
states that effective patient engagement can be achieved by
the usage of RTOSes and IoT. The patients with the aid of
the device and the software can access the important
information about health. The patients with the help of a
website and mobile app can acknowledge their health
conditions. The real-time data of the patients can be
acquired by the healthcare managers with the help of IoT
devices. Apple Watch and other similar health bands run on
RTOSes are all IoT devices that are capable to provide real-
time data of the patients. The fitness freak people can
acknowledge how fit they are with the help of IoT devices.
The IoT devices run on RTOSes measure blood pressure as
well as sugar level of the patients. Therefore, the patients
can diagnose their health at home with the help of RTOSes
devices and they do not have to visit the doctors. According
to the author, with the assistance of IoT, continuous health-
check-up can be conducted. Thus the health sector can
provide a cost-effective error-free diagnosis to the patients
sitting at home. IoT-enabled devices like IoT-eyeglasses,
IoT-hearing device run on RTOSes. These devices can
facilitate the patients of the health sector. I read this article
and find out how RTOSes devices are facilitating health

sector.
Week 3
Task Mobile Cloud computing has gained wide acceptance for
organizations as well as individuals by introducing
computation, storage, and software-based services. Explain
the security and privacy issues about the use of the mobile
Cloud computing in the finance sector.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: Today's Cyber Security Threats to the Financial
Sector
Reference: Us, C., Equipment, O., Copiers, M., Printers, W.,
Systems, D., Technology, M., Management, P.,
Management, D., Management, W., Management, N.,
Services, M., Planning, D., Protection, D., Security, N.,
Serve, I., Services, F., Firms, L., Printing, P., Us, A., Team,
O., Testimonials, C., Desk, H., Readings, M., Call, R.,
Supplies, O., Request, E. and Information, R. 2018. Today's
Cyber Security Threats to the Financial Sector. [online]
Business World. Available at:
http://businessworld-usa.com/todays-cyber-security-threats-
to-the-financial-sector/ [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article describes all the security as well as the privacy
issues associated with mobile cloud computing. The cloud
computing can be a threat to the finance sector. I find this
article quite useful to know the security issues of cloud
computing that can prove to be disastrous for the finance
sector. The finance sector must take into consideration the
data breaches. The finance sector conducts business
activities over the cloud platform. They store, access and
process those financial data over the cloud data. The clients
or the customers of those financial sectors access those
data via mobile cloud computing. They transact money
online via mobile phones and if these mobile devices are not
secure and not protected then they can fall into the traps of
the intruders. Mobile banking is conducted on the cloud
platform and the cloud database. The unencrypted data
stored in the cloud database can lead to security threats.
The hackers can take advantage of the insecure network;
insecure system and database can use them for their own
profits and benefits. According to Us et al., the hackers steal
those confidential data and conduct malicious activities. The
hackers hack the bank account and steal all the money. In
this way, the hackers can exploit the security loopholes the
privacy of the customers can get threatened. The customers

can lose all the money of their bank account due to this
attack. Secured system configuration can help the customers
to conduct mobile banking and mobile money transactions.
The customers must stay aware and do not click on the link
that can direct them to a malicious website. The article is
quite informative and holds some important points with
regards to security and privacy concern in the finance sector
and mobile banking.
Week 4
Task TCP/IP is consists of communication protocols used to
transfer packets between computer hosts within the network.
In TCP/IP, the transport layer is responsible for providing the
application layer with session and datagram communication
services. Discuss the common standards at the transport
layer.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: 9 Difference between TCP and UDP Protocol
Reference: Javarevisited.blogspot.in. 2018. 9 Difference
between TCP and UDP Protocol - Java Network Interview
Question. [online] Available at:
http://javarevisited.blogspot.in/2014/07/9-difference-
between-TCP-and-UDP-protocol.html [Accessed 25 Jan.
2018].
Summary:
The article explains all the transport layer standards
elaborately. I find this article informative. The article
elaborates two major protocols and standards of TCP/IP and
they are TCP and UDP. TCP stands for Transport Layer
Protocol. TCP is basically connection-oriented. TCP
establishes a link between the clients and server and then
the message gets exchanged or transmitted between the
server and the client. TCP is known to provide reliability and
it ensures data transmission all the time. Data can get lost
during transmission however that data can be recovered with
the aid of the TCP. The sender sends data in a particular
order, TCP ensures that the data will be received by the
receivers in the same order the sender sends data. TCP is
best suited for applications which need sequential delivery.
The data gets transmitted in the form of the byte stream.
TCP is relatively slow as it takes time to establish the link
between the receiver and the sender. The header size of
TCP is near about 20 bytes. HTTP and HTTPs are some of
the examples of TCP. The author explains UDP in details in
the article. UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol. UDP is

connectionless protocol. UDP connection is best-suited
multicast message distribution. UDP connection is not
reliable. Also, it does not provide a delivery guarantee. The
data packets are transferred individually and each of the
packets is checked for integrity. UDP is faster in comparison
to UDP. 8 bytes is the header size for UDP. NFS, DHCP,
TFTP and DNS are some of the examples of UDP. This
article helps me in knowing the transport layer standards
elaborately.
Week 5
Task The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated
computing devices that are provided with unique identifiers
and the ability to transfer data over a network without
requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer
interaction. Discuss the cybersecurity challenges faced by
the health sector in this IoT era.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: Cyber Security Threats in Health Sector
Reference: Cyber Security Threats in Health Sector
2018. Cyber Security Threats in Health Sector -
InnovatioCuris. [online] InnovatioCuris. Available at:
http://innovatiocuris.com/cyber-security-threats/ [Accessed
25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article explains all the ill effects of a cyber attack in the
health sector. I find this article relevant and it includes the
cybersecurity challenges that are faced by health sector in
IoT era. There are multiple security threats related to the
health sector. The malware attack can prove to be disastrous
for the healthcare units and hospital management system.
The intruders attack the system of the health sector and
steal all the confidential data of the patients and the
employees and then ask for money. The health sector staffs
if agrees to pay the money then they get their files back.
Denial of Service attack is one of malicious attack that
affects the health sector. The hackers take advantage of the
insecure network and make the entire system vulnerable. In
this way, the confidential data of the clients and the
customers get compromised. the hospital management staff
and the health sector must create a security system to
protect the patient's data, the financials of the health sector
and the employees' details. The health sector team must
implement make their network secure, must install an
antivirus program. All the employees must set up a strong
password to secure their system. If possible they must set up
a two-step verification procedure. The employees do not

follow the procedures and become victims. IoT devices are
used in the health sector. The IoT thermo-meter used in the
health sector records the breathing sound of the patients.
The IoT devices then store the diagnosis result on the
server. The security attack on IoT devices can provide faulty
data and results. The hackers even delete the results from
the server. For this reason, the doctors cannot diagnose the
illness of the patients well and entire health sector unit
suffers. I find this article helpful in explaining the
cybersecurity risks that can negatively affect the health
sector.
Week 6
Task Internet of Things (IoT) Cloud is a model designed to
facilitate the information society, enabling advanced services
by interconnecting physical and virtual things based on,
existing and evolving, interoperable information and
communication technologies through ennoblement of
ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a
shared pool of configurable computing resources. Explain
the importance of real-time data capture capability, data
visualization, data analytics, and API protocols in the
application of IoT Cloud.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: The Internet Of Things: Benefits And Challenges
For Your Business
Reference: Webhosting.uk.com. (2018). The Internet of
Things: Benefits and Challenges for Your Business | Web
Hosting UK Blog. [online] Available at:
https://www.webhosting.uk.com/blog/the-internet-of-things-
benefits-and-challenges-for-your-business/ [Accessed 25
Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article explains the value of data visualization, data
analytics, and data capture capability. The article also
explains about the API protocols. The IoT clouds offer
several advantages. I choose this article since this article
contains the relevant information about the IoT cloud. The
author describes in this article about several advantages of
IoT cloud. IoT generally collects data about consumers and
various kinds of products. The IoT can help the organization
to know the behaviour of customers in details. The
organization can know the details of the products the
consumers use with the aid of IoT. IoT can facilitate the
organizations so that they can provide better customer

service. IoT assists in data analysis. As per author, customer
communication can be simplified with the aid of IoT. The
data gathered can be transmitted to the clients or consumers
via text messages or emails and all these are possible for
IoT. For instance, the IoT enabled smart meters are capable
to switch off the light of the empty rooms. The IoT also helps
to identify the food packets that are going out of date. The
organizations with the implementation of IoT can manage the
inventory. The IoT also helps to acknowledge the products
which are damaged, the products which are shipped. And
the products which are already used. The organizations thus
can work efficiently with the help of IoT. IoT offers the facility
of data visualization in real time and this has been explained
in the report in details. According to the author of the article,
the IoT also provides security to the customers. The IoT-
enabled CCTV camera can assist in monitoring the
suspicious activities. I find this article beneficial in knowing
various beneficial aspects of IoT. The information related to
data visualization and data capture capability can be
acquired with the help of IoT.
Week 7
Task A Social Network Service (SNS) is a kind of web service for
establishing a virtual connection between people with similar
interests, backgrounds, and activities. However, there are
different security and privacy threats that target every user of
social networking sites. Provide five solutions to deal with
these security threats.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: 5 Social Media Security Risks And How To Avoid
Them
Reference: Hootsuite Social Media Management. 2018. 5
Social Media Security Risks and How to Avoid Them.
[online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-
security-for-business/ [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article illustrates various security solutions by which
Social Network Service can be made secure. I choose this
article since this article provides necessary security
information about the Social Network Service (SNS). The
article also explains about various mitigation techniques
following which security threats can be handled effectively.
Varied social media policies following which the SNS can be
secured have been explained in the report. Different
organizations follow different policies; however, the basic
guidelines are somewhat same for all the policies that
organizations adopted. The security policies can help the

organizations to conduct the business activities safely and
securely. Also, this approach can help the users and the
customers to assure the safety of their system and database.
The clients of the organizations must also follow the policies
imposed by the organizations. The employees should be
aware of all those guidelines as well. The guidelines and the
policies can help the employees to fight against the
malicious software attack and take necessary actions. They
must be trained well so that they can safeguard
organization’s system. The employees must know how to
security policies as that can help them to provide better
customer service. They can even solve minor security attack
as well. The organizations must install an antivirus program.
Software like LastPass can help to safeguard passwords.
Antivirus software like Kaspersky can be helpful in
preventing scams, viruses and malware. I chose this article
and this article illustrates how the system can be secured
following policies and guidelines.
Week 8
Task Big data has been considered to be a breakthrough
technological development over recent years. Big data is
based on large volumes of extensively varied data that are
generated, captured, and processed at high velocity. Discuss
the main challenges as well as the social and economic
values for organizations in adopting big data.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: 6 Big Data Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Reference: Team, S. 2018. 6 Big Data Challenges and How
to Overcome Them. [online] The TIBCO Blog. Available at:
https://www.tibco.com/blog/2012/08/01/6-big-data-
challenges-and-how-to-overcome-them/ [Accessed 25 Jan.
2018].
Summary:
The article illustrates the challenges in details. The
organizations mainly suffer due to the attitudes,
fragmentation, infrastructure and skills. I find this article
appropriate as it explains all the challenges of big data in
details. Team, the author of this article explains that any
organisations deal with storage, bandwidth, CPU and
structure. The organizations who have not adopted big data
yet are completely unaware that how many resources are
required for them to conduct the business activities. The
organizations know that the big data will assist them to scale
up the business but the organizations do not know the
procedures. The employees and the management staffs are

not used to the technology so it is a challenge for them. They
will have to learn various aspects of big data and cloud
computing before adopting and use the big data. They must
be knowledgeable about how big data can facilitate their
business. The organizations must train their employees so
that they can conduct the business activities using big data
effectively. Organizations must appoint business analyst as
well. The business analyst is responsible to analyze the
entire business and will suggest how the organizations
should use the big data. The article also explains about
fragmentation, the organizations can face several risks due
to fragmentation. The adaptation of big data is a huge
challenge and the organizations will have to integrate all their
resources and services. They can face loss, The
organizations can lose the customer base. Besides all that,
the organizations will need a lot of time to take up the big
data technology, they can face loss economically. I find this
article quite helpful as it elaborates all the challenges
associated with big data.
Week 9
Task There has been a growing interest in the application of agile
and lean practices for software development. Discuss the
benefits of agile and lean practices and their impacts on
project constraints.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: Five Benefits Of Agile Practices In Software-
Intensive Systems Development
References: Ibm.com. 2018. Five benefits of agile practices
in software-intensive systems development. [online]
Available at:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/invisi
blethread/entry/five_benefits_of_agile_practices?lang=en
[Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article illustrates the several advantages of lean and
agile practices. I find this article quite informative. The article
focuses on the agiler methodologies which every
organization should follow to acquire the maximum benefits.
The project management team must work in accordance
with the standards ISO 62304, DO-178B and ISO 26262.
The management team can follow the agile project
methodology as that can help them to mitigate the risks. The
project management team can get relatively less rework if
they follow the lean and agile project methodology. The
project management team can be able to complete the task
within the set deadline. As per author of the article, the

organizations must follow the agile methodology as that can
give the effective outcome. The project management team
while working on the project must submit partial to the
clients. The clients if approve the partial then the project
management team should carry on the work, if the clients
disapprove, then the project team must rework and should
reshape the project according to the clients' demands, in this
way they can carry on the project activities and can finish the
project. The agile project methodology prioritizes works, the
project methodologies involving high risks can be easily
mitigated within short range of time. Agile project
management allows multiple solutions by which the project
risk can be identified and can be solved. The organizations
are free to use any of the solutions that suit them. All the
solutions will give more or less similar outcome. The agile
methodology can really help the organizations to gain profit. I
find this article quite useful as the article defines the benefits
that organizations can get adopting the agile methodology.
Week 10
Task The availability and implementation of information and
communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly vital to all
dimensions of a nation’s inclusive, equitable and sustainable
economic development and growth strategies. Discuss how
ICT is fundamentally changing the nature of economic,
environmental, and social relationships globally.
Summary Title and Reference:
Title: Benefits of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)
Reference: Ofonimeh, J. (2018). Benefits of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT). [online]
Jaysciencetech.com. Available at:
https://www.jaysciencetech.com/2015/10/benefits-of-
information-and.html [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article defines various benefits of the Information and
Technology (ICT) in the report. The article depicts the
beneficial impact of ICT on the environment, social
relationships and economy. I find his article depicting the
impact of ICT on economic, environmental and social
relationships. The ICT facilitate the communication.
According to Ofonimeh, ICT can help the individuals to stay
connected with each other all the time. The customers and
the employees can communicate and thus both the
organization and the customers can be benefitted, thus ICT
facilitates the social relationship. The ICT has turned the

entire world into global village. ICT offers multiple facilities
like communication over satellite cable network, video
conferencing. ICT helps to conduct e-commerce activities.
Ofonimeh explains that the skilled businessmen those who
want to carry out cost-effective fast solutions can be
benefitted by adopting ICT. The ICT will enable the
organisations to work online all day and night 24x7. The
organisations with the help of ICT can sell their products
online. The customers can choose the product and can
purchase it online. The organisations with the help of ICT
can be able to keep track of the products they purchase, the
products they browse. In this way, the organisations can
predict the customers' behavioural patterns. Thus ICT can
enhance the sales and productivity of the organisations.
Moreover, they can connect with the customers, thus ICT
helps organisations economically. ICT also creates an
impact on the environment so that sustainable environment
can be built using ICT. I find this article useful. The article
depicts the impact of ICT on social relationships,
environment. And the economy, that is why I choose this
article.

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
(Up to 3 marks per weekly task)
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1.0 Poor resource selection; the resource is too broad or lacks
relevance to the task; summary fails to explain what the resource
was about; the relevance of the resource has not been explained.
<=2.0 Good resource selection; the resource is relevant to the task; a
summary is adequate but may require either more detail or is too
long; the relevance of the resource has been explained to some
extent, but needs additional information.
<=3.0 Excellent resource selection; the resource is highly relevant to the
task (the resource is probably highly specialised); a summary is
detailed yet concise; the relevance of the resource selection has
been clearly explained.
Key
Deductions
-1.0
-3.0
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Resource not referenced/Resource cannot be traced to details
provided.
Week Marks Awarded Comments
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