Impact of ICT on Environment, Economy, and Society

This assignment examines the multifaceted benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It delves into the impact of ICT on environmental sustainability, economic growth, and social interactions. Students will analyze how ICT facilitates efficient processes, promotes global connectivity, and empowers individuals in various sectors, including business, healthcare, and education. The assignment encourages critical thinking about the role of ICT in shaping a better future.

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 for 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 talk 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:
This article explains major features and applications of both
direct-attached storage (DAS) and network-attached storage
(NAS) in details. Paulsen in this article elaborates various
functionalities of DAS and NAS. I find out that the article
contains the relevant information about NAS and DAS. DAS
offers basic, cost-effective solutions. DAS also requires low
maintenance. DAS is utilized in several IT infrastructures and
other DAS storage units. DAS is useful when some
organization is planning to scale the growth of the
organization within a short period. DAS applies to small
business. DAS is ideal for projects for which low budget has
been allocated. Paulsen (2018) states that DAS is best
suited for the business that has little IT support. However,
DAS is not applicable to a large business that is growing
rapidly. The business that needs to scale quickly should not
adopt DAS. Paulsen (2018) also explains network-attached
storage technology elaborately. NAS deals with files sharing
over the Internet. NAS is suitable for the business that
requires minimal maintenance, NAS suits those enterprises
those who need a reliable as well as flexible storage system
with minimal maintenance. According to Paulsen (2018),
NAS is best suitable for SMBs. The business organizations
that want to scale up the business activities should adopt the
NAS. NAS facilitates usage of only one centralized
database, and it can provide cost-effective service. Network-
attached storage is known to provide easy and reliable
solutions at the time of system failure. I find this article quite
informative. There are several benefits of NAS however it
comes with one disadvantage. NAS cannot transfer data in
large number. The article explains the main features of both
the mass storages in details. I get an overview where DAS is

applicable and where NAS is applicable.
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 explains benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT)
and Real Time Operating System (RTOSes) in the health
sector in details. I find this article quite relevant to the topic
chosen. The article will illustrate the benefits of RTOSes for
the healthcare sector. RTOSes can assist in improving the
IoT medical devices’ performance. RTOSes can improvise
the IoT devices used in the healthcare. The fitness apps can
run on mobile app platform. According to Abhinav (2018),
effective patient engagement can be acquired with the help
of IoT and RTOSes. The patients can use the software and
can access the health data. The patients can access the
mobile app and the website and can get to know the details
of the healthcare. The healthcare managers with the
assistance of IoT can get access to the real-time data of the
patients. The IoT devices like Apple Watch and the health
bands can be able to provide the real-time data of the
patients. The data collected from the devices help in
providing better care to the patients. The fitness freak people
can acknowledge how fit they are; they can measure the
blood pressure level and the sugar level. Abhinav (2018)
states that the real time data of RTOSes helps the doctors
and the care managers. The doctors can take care of the
patients well with the aid of IoT. The patients will not have to
visit the doctors physically. RTOSes and IoT devices can
help the healthcare experts in getting the latest healthcare
units. IoT devices can aid remote patient monitoring.
Abhinav (2018) states that continuous health check-up can
be carried out with the help of IoT. The doctor and the health
sector can get the error-free, fast and cost-effective service
with the aid of the RTOSes and IoT device services. IoT-
enabled hearing devices, the eyeglasses basically work on

RTOSes. These devices can be beneficial for the needy
people. The IoT gadgets run on the RTOSes platform. This
article details the benefits of RTOSes for the health sector. I
have acknowledged several benefits of RTOSes reading this
article.
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:
This article explains the security and privacy issues related
to mobile cloud computing in the finance sector. I find that
this article illustrates the security and privacy issues related
to mobile computing in the finance sector that is why I chose
this article. There are several issues and challenges
associated with mobile computing. The data breach is one of
the concerns that must be taken care of. Mobile banking is
carried out on the cloud platform. The financial data stored in
cloud database can get lost due to the security and the
privacy breaches. The unencrypted data can lead to virus
attack. The intruders encrypt those data and use them for
their benefits. Us et al. (2018) state that the hackers can get
to know the financial data of the organization through a
mobile cloud platform. Any organization’s confidential data
can get affected by a mobile cloud platform. The
organization can lose the data due to the malware attack and
the virus attack. The intruders can hack the information for
their benefits. The organization can face severe loss as a
result of a security breach. Us et al. (2018) state that the

unprotected third-party services can access confidential
financial data of the organization can steal and modify those
financial data. The intruders can evade through the insecure
system, and the database can steal the customers’ data as
well. The hackers do not delete the customers’ data usually.
They use the customers’ data for later use. Mobile banking
becomes popular in recent times. However, the security of
the mobile devices is still a matter of concern. The hackers
having skills and expertise can find out the security
loopholes in the mobile devices. The customers’ bank details
can be compromised, and their hard earned money will get
robbed off. In this way, the customers’ privacy can get
threatened due to the hackers’ attack. Secured platform
configuration can help organizations to conduct mobile
banking over the cloud platform securely. I find this article
very useful as it details the security and privacy concerns
related to mobile banking in the finance sector.
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 describes the transport layer standards in details.
I find this article quite descriptive. The article explains TCP
and UDP in details. In TCP/IP protocol suite the two main
standards and protocols are TCP and UDP. TCP stands for
Transport Layer Protocol whereas UDP stands for User
Datagram Protocol. TCP is connection-oriented. A
connection gets established between server and client
before transmission of data. The control messages are
exchanged between server and client
(Javarevisited.blogspot.in. 2018). TCP provides greater

reliability that means TCP guarantees data transmission.
The data can get recovered if the data gets lost during
transit. TCP also ensures that the data will be sent to the
receiver in the order the sender sends the data. TCP does
ordering and sequencing. TCP suits those applications that
require delivery sequentially. Here, the data is transmitted as
a byte stream. TCP is relatively slow as it establishes a
connection between the sender and receiver. Also, it
guarantees secure order delivery. The header size of TCP is
about 20 bytes. The examples of the TCP protocols are the
HTTP and HTTPS. UDP is connectionless protocol
(Javarevisited.blogspot.in. 2018). UDP connection is suitable
for multicast distribution of the message. The connection is
unreliable, and it does not provide a delivery guarantee.
Also, UDP does not provide any sequencing guarantee. In
case of UDP, the packets are transmitted individually, and
after that, they are checked for integrity. UDP is relatively
fast compared to TCP. The header size of UDP is 8 bytes.
Examples of UDP are DHCP, NFS, DNS, TFTP, and
BOOTP. This article helps me a lot in understanding the
transport layer standards in details.
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 describes the ill effects that occur if cyberattack
occurs within the system of the health sector. I find this
article quite informative about the cybersecurity challenges
that are faced by health sector in IoT era. There are several
cybersecurity threats associated with the health sector. The
hospital information system can get seriously affected due to
the virus and the malware attack (Cyber Security Threats in
Health Sector 2018). The ransomware is another threat
which is a matter of concern. The intruders encrypt the files

within the database and ask for money. If the hospital
management staff pays the money, then the intruders
decrypt the file back. Denial of Service attack is another form
of malicious attack that can attack the health sectors. The
intruders attack the insecure network and make the entire
system vulnerable (Cyber Security Threats in Health Sector
2018). The intruders then attack the compromised system
and steal all the vital information of the employees and the
patients. The employees of the companies do not set a
password. The employees also set a weak password which
can be guessed very easily. The hackers take this
opportunity and attack the system and take away the vital
information of the employees. For this reason, the privacy
and the security can get compromised. The employees must
set up a strong password, and they must create a two-step
verification procedure. However, they do not use this
procedure and fall into the trap. IoT devices are used now in
the health sector. The IoT thermo-meter device is capable of
sending data to the phone or stethoscope; this IoT
thermometer can record the breathing sound of the patients
and can store them on the server (Cyber Security Threats in
Health Sector 2018). The security flaws or any kinds of
security breaches can provide faulty data. Thus the doctors
face immense difficulties to diagnose the patients’ illness if
the hackers attack the IoT devices of the health sector. I find
this article explaining the threats that can adversely 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 illustrates the importance of the data
visualization, data capture capability, data analytics and API
protocols. Several benefits can be attained with the help of
IoT clouds. I choose this article as this article contains the
relevant information about the information of IoT cloud
platform in details (Webhosting.uk.com. 2018). There are
several benefits associated with IoT cloud. The IoT
accumulates data about the customers and a wide range of
products. The organization with the help of IoT can get to
know the customers’ behaviors. The organizations can get to
know about the details of the products they use. They can
provide better customer experience to the customers based
on IoT. Thus IoT helps in data analysis. IoT can facilitate the
customer communications as well. The information gathered
with the aid of IoT can be easily transferred to the clients or
the customers via device screen messages, emails, texts
and app notifications (Webhosting.uk.com. 2018). For
example, the smart meters can help individuals to turn off the
light automatically in the empty rooms. The food packages
with the implementation of IoT can be tracked when the
contents of the packets will go out of date. The IoT devices
help the organizations to keep a clear record of inventory.
The organizations with the help of IoT can get to know the
products which have been shipped, damaged and have been
used. The organization can help with greater efficiency with
the aid of IoT. IoT also facilitates data visualization in real
time. IoT can provide enhanced security to the customers.
The implementing of CCTV camera can help in enhancing
the security. The CCTV footage can be helpful to monitor the
suspicious activities in real time (Webhosting.uk.com. 2018).
I find this article useful in acquiring the information related to
data visualization, data capture capability and other benefits
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 explains the security solutions by which the
Social Network Service can be made secure. I have chosen
this article as the article contains all the relevant security
information about Social Network Service (SNS), this article
explains the security risks that can occur. The article also
elaborates the mitigation procedures by which the security
risks can be handled efficiently (Hootsuite Social Media
Management. 2018). The policies vary from organization to
organization. However, the security guidelines, the safety
guidelines are somewhat for the organization. The policies
can help the users and the customers to safeguard their
system and database from the threats and the security
issues. The customers must follow the guidelines; they must
use a secure password, the customers must know how to
avoid spams, phishing attacks. They must know how to fight
against the malware attacks and the malicious software
attacks. In case of business activity, the organizations must
train their employees about the social network threats; the
employees should have a clear idea about what they should
do and what they should not do. The employees should be
trained to identify the security risks (Hootsuite Social Media
Management. 2018). The security risks can help the
employees in knowing the malware and virus attack
beforehand. They can even get to know the about the
malware attack and can provide solutions to mitigate the
risks. The organizations should give responsibility to certain
individuals, and the individuals should fight against those
threats. The organization must adopt certain software to
safeguard their system and the database. The LastPass
software can safeguard passwords. The popular antivirus
software like Kaspersky can help to prevent scams,
malware, and viruses. I have chosen this article. This article
elaborates how the system can be secured following the
suitable guidelines and policies.
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 explains the big data challenges in details. The
challenges they suffer challenges typically related to
infrastructure, applications, skills, attitudes, fragmentation,
and valuation. I find this article quite helpful in knowing the
challenges associated with big data. According to Team
(2018), the organization deals with the technical structure,
storage, bandwidth, and CPU. The organizations are not
aware how much resources are required for them to conduct
the business activities. The big data and the cloud
technology can help them to scale up the business activities.
Again, the organizations trying to adopt the big data
technology are not used to the technology. The existing
resources may not be compatible with the big data. They will
have to learn several aspects of the big data and must train
their employees the same. The organizations will have to
hire a business analyst. The business analyst who has the
required knowledge and the experts will analyze with the
help of the statistical algorithms. It is a challenge for the
organizations to find out the appropriate business analyst.
The organizational data are mostly fragmented. In an
organization, there are numerous departments. Every
department handles different kinds of data. Team (2018)
illustrates about the fragmentation, and the issues
associated with fragmentation have been detailed in the
report. Team (2018) explains that the big data adaptation
can be a challenge for the organizations as the organizations
will have to integrate all the services. Thus big data
adaptation can affect the organizations economically.
Moreover, the organizations will require a lot of time to adopt
the big data technology fully; they can face loss
economically. They can lose the customer base. I find this
article very useful as it explains all the socio-economic
issues and 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/invisiblethr
ead/entry/five_benefits_of_agile_practices?lang=en [Accessed 25
Jan. 2018].
Summary:
The article chosen for this discourse will help to know the
several benefits of agile and lean practices. I find this article
relevant, and it contains the benefits. The project
management team following the agile methodologies. They
must work according to the DO-178B, ISO 26262 and ISO
62304. They must work according to the compliance of those
standards. The management team adopting the agile
methodology can mitigate the issues that get aroused. The
team requires relatively less end-to-end overhead (Ibm.com.
2018). Following the agile methodology, the project team can
get less rework, and the project can complete the task within
the stipulated deadline. The project team can find out that
their project has not worked appropriately. The clients are
found to be not satisfied with the project. The agile
methodology can help the organizations to work effectively
(Ibm.com. 2018). The organizations must submit partial to the
clients and should verify it from the customers’ end. The
clients must provide feedback to the organizations back, if
the feedback is fine the organizations should work on the
rest, in this way they can give their best to the clients. The
agile and lean methodology give priority to the project
activities that involve high risks, that is why the risks can be
analyzed and can be mitigated within the short period using
the agile methodology (Ibm.com. 2018). Multiple ways can
mitigate the high risks, and the agile project management
allows parallel risk management where project management
team can get multiple best solutions. The organizations
following all the approaches can choose the one that suits
them best. The agile and lean practice can enhance the
productivity profile. I find this article very useful (Ibm.com.
2018). The article will help to acknowledge the benefits that
agile and lean practices can enhance the project activities
and can make the activities agile and effective.

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:
This article describes the benefits that Information and
communication technology (ICT) can bring. The article
contains the relevant information related to the beneficial
aspects of ICT. The report focuses on the impact of ICT on
environment, economy and the social relationships. The ICT
can create an impact on environment, economy and the
social relationships all over the world. The information and
communication technology can make the processing of
technology more timely; the information can be processed in
agile and cost-effective manner. The ICT provides flexible
human interaction. ICT makes information more and more
attractive as well as efficient. Due to the advent of ICT, every
individual can stay connected with each other. Thus
information and communication technology influences the
social relationship. Ofonimeh (2018) explains that the
business transaction and the business dealings get
facilitated by the ICT. The ICT also facilitates the
communication, the GSM technology, satellite cable network,
and video conferencing. ICT create impacts on the health
sector. Again ICT influences the e-commerce activities.
Ofonimeh (2018) states that e-commerce involves the
activity of purchasing and selling activities. ICT encourages
youth empowerment. ICT helps to create individuals who
have the required skills and the expertise to carry out
activities fast and effectively. Ofonimeh (2018) illustrates that
ICT is capable of providing cost-effective service. The
organizations adopting the ICT services can be able to
enhance their sales and productivity. ICT simplifies the work,
and the working conditions and ICT also gives the

opportunity where an organization can conduct online
services all the time. The organization can communicate with
the customers throughout day and night. I find this article
beneficial as the article explains various aspects of ICT.
Ofonimeh (2018) explains the beneficial aspects of ICT on
environment, economy, and society.

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
(Up to 3 marks per weekly task)
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1.0 Poor resource selection; 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; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
of the resource as been explained to some extent, but needs additional
information.
<=3.0 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); 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 with details
provided.
Week Marks Awarded Comments
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