UNIT-1 E-Governance
Definition: E-governance, expands to electronic governance, is the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in all the processes, with the aim of enhancing government ability to address the needs of the general public. The basic purpose of e-governance is to simplify processes for all, i.e. government, citizens, businesses, etc. at National, State and local levels.
In short, it is the use of electronic means, to promote good governance. It connotes the implementation of information technology in the government processes and functions so as to cause simple, moral, accountable and transparent governance. It entails the access and delivery of government services, dissemination of information, communication in a quick and efficient manner.
Benefits of E-governance:- Reduced corruption High transparency Increased convenience Growth in GDP Direct participation of constituents Reduction in overall cost. Expanded reach of government
Through e-governance, the government plans to raise the coverage and quality of information and services provided to the general public, by the use of ICT in an easy, economical and effective manner. The process is extremely complicated which requires, the proper arrangement of hardware, software, networking and indeed re- engineering of all the processes to facilitate better delivery of services.
Types of Interactions in E-Governance:-
G2G (Government to Government): When the exchange of information and services is within the periphery of the government, is termed as G2G interaction. This can be both horizontal, i.e. among various government entities and vertical, i.e. between national, state and local government entities and within different levels of the entity.
G2C (Government to Citizen): The interaction amidst the government and general public is G2C interaction. Here an interface is set up between government and citizens, which enables citizens to get access to wide variety of public services. The citizens has the freedom to share their views and grievances on government policies anytime, anywhere.
G2B (Government to Business): In this case, the e-governance helps the business class to interact with the government seamlessly. It aims at eliminating red-tapism, saving time, cost and establish transparency in the business environment, while interacting with government.
G2E (Government to Employees): The government of any country is the biggest employer and so it also deals with employees on a regular basis, as other employers do. ICT helps in making the interaction between government and employees fast and efficient, along with raising their level of satisfaction by providing perquisites and add-on benefit.
E-Democracy-E-democracy represents the use of information technologies by government agencies as a way to promote democracy and transform relationships with constituents, businesses, nonprofit partners, and other government agencies. Employment of these technologies aids in empowering and engaging citizens through increased access to information and enabling more efficient government management. E-democracy differs from e-government because e-democracy focuses on applying information technology to increase involvement and interaction between the public and officials while holding officials accountable. E-government, on the other hand, focuses on improving the way the government operates through the use of open data and IT techniques.
Umang App:-UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is envisaged to make e- governance . It is developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National e-Governance Division (NeGD) to drive Mobile Governance in India.
UMANG provides a single platform for all Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov services ranging from Central to Local Government bodies and other citizen centric services. UMANG intends to provide major services offered by Central and State Government departments, Local bodies and other utility services from private organizations. It provides a unified approach where citizens can install one application to avail multiple government services.
UMANG service has been made available on multiple channels like mobile application, web, IVR and SMS which can be accessed through smartphones, feature phones, tablets and desktops. UMANG has been created with a thought to add convenience to your lifestyle. UMANG will revolutionize the way how an Indian citizen avails government services today, because it leverages the current accelerated internet and smartphone penetration in our country. Umang App is a Government of India all-in-one single unified secure multi-channel multi-platform multi-lingual multi-service freeware mobile app for accessing over 1,200 central and state government services in multiple Indian languages over Android, iOS, Windows and services such as AADHAR ,Digit locker, Bharat Bill Payment System , PAN, EPFO services, PMKVY services, AICTE, CBSE, tax and fee or utilities bills payments, education, job search, tax, business, health, agriculture, travel, birth certificates, e-District, passport and much more. This a key component of Digital India government initiative to make all traditional offline government services available 24/7 online through single unified app. App is initially available in 13 language and will replace or compliment 1500 apps launched by the government so far. KEY FEATURES
INTEGRATION WITH AADHAAR, PAYGOV, DIGILOCKER-UMANG provides seamless integration with popular customer centric services like Aadhaar and Digilocker. UMANG will soon be providing integration with various other services such as PayGov.
EASE OF ACCESS-Explore UMANG on multiple channels such as Smartphone, Desktop and Tablets. UMANG has a rich multimedia interface with a focus on maximizing usability and enriching user experience.
GOVERNMENT SERVICES ON YOUR FINGER TIPS-Now access various government services through a single mobile app. UMANG provides a unified platform where multiple government services (central, state & regional) can be accessed by user. DEDICATED CUSTOMER SUPPORT-UMANG has a dedicated Customer Support for user convenience from 8 am to 8 pm for all days of the week.
Web Portal https://web.umang.gov.in/web/#/
CM HELPLINE-Now there is only one call gap between governance and citizens. The people of the state will get instant information from CM Helpline and a quick solution to the complaints. It is an important and far-reaching initiative of the state government towards better governance.
In Madhya Pradesh, all the people should be happy, be healthy and everyone should be welfare, that's the rule of governance. For this party, CM Heli 181 has been started in the state. "The state's good governance system is more agile and in its own way The helpline has been added and it has been added to Thirteen thousand officials of different divisions of the state - employees, who will solve the problems received from this helpline. Web Portalhttp://cmhelpline.mp.gov.in
MP Online- MP Online Limited took the opportunity of conceptualizing the e-Governance initiative of Government of Madhya Pradesh, by designing a unique portal to serve various Government Departments and to make their services reach at the doorstep of the common man. MPOnline Ltd, is a Joint venture company between the Government of Madhya Pradesh (Gov. MP) and TATA Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) which frequently develops and operates the official portal for the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Set up in the year July 2006, till date have reached almost all the corners of Madhya Pradesh providing wide range of services.
Following Services Provided By MP-Online Portal Apna CSC Bill Payments Certificates E-Advertisement Online Assessment Reservation
Web Portal www.mponline.gov.in/
Samadhan Online-Madhya Pradesh government is determined to achieve the goal of good governance. Many innovations have been done by this government. Public grievance portal has been created in this order for the people oriented and responsive governance. Through this, the common citizens can register their grievances through online and postal mail. Through this system various complaints will be resolved transparently. Continuous monitoring will be done by this for the department.
Web Portal www.samadhan.mp.gov.in/
MyGov-MyGov platform is a unique path breaking initiative which was launched on July 26, 2014 by none other than the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. It is a unique first of its kind participatory governance initiative involving the common citizen at large. The idea of MyGov brings the government closer to the common man by the use of online platform creating an interface for healthy exchange of ideas and views involving the common citizen and experts with the ultimate goal to contribute to the social and economic transformation of India. In its short span of existence till date, MyGov platform has been more than successful in keeping the citizens engaged on important policy issues and governance, be it Clean Ganga, Girl Child Education, Skill Development and Healthy India to name a few. There is no doubt that this platform has made inroads in diminishing the gap which has traditionally existed between the citizen and the government. MyGov platform has become a key part of the policy and decision making process of the country. Where the platform has been able to provide the citizens a voice in the governance process of the country and create grounds for the citizens to become stakeholders not only in policy formulation and recommendation bit but also implementation through actionable tasks. Given the importance of this platform in transformation of India through participatory governance, the platform has been constantly undergoing upgrades to ensure an enhanced level of user experience. The major attributes of MyGov includes Discussion, Tasks, Talks, Polls and Blogs on various groups based on the diverse governance and public policy issues.
Today MyGov has more than 1.78 Million users who contribute their ideas through discussions and also participate through the various earmarked tasks. In addition to this the platform gets more than 10,000 posts per weeks on various issues which are analyzed and put together as suggestions for the concerned departments who are able to transform them into actionable agenda.
With these impressive numbers, one has to say this is just the beginning and there is a lot more to come on this platform in future. As mentioned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, MyGov is an initiative which should culminate into a mass movement towards self-governance or ‘surajya’. As further progress is being made under the umbrella of Digital India, utilizing the technology to further revolutionalise the public service delivery and citizen engagement, MyGov platform is all set to become a key agent for this change taking inputs from the citizens, the ultimate beneficiary and leverage their collective feedback to improve policy change and implementation.
Web Portal -> http://mygov.in
Digital locker-A digital locker or cyber locker is an online file or digital media storage service. Files stored include music, videos, movies, games and other media. The term was used by Microsoft as a part of its windows marketplace in 2004.By storing files in a digital locker, users are able to access them anywhere they can find internet connections. Most (but not all) digital locker services require a user to register. Prices range from free to paid, and various combinations thereof.
Uses- Digital lockers, as opposed to simple file storage services, are typically associated with Digital distribution — a commercial store where you can buy content such as Steam,, Google Play,, Amazon and iTunes. Download/Play/Watch:- Digital locker services often come with integrated client software that allows users to play the movies or games or songs. Upload:- Many digital locker services enable users to upload their own content or provide synchronization software that will scan a user's computer and upload the appropriate media for them. Matching:- Some services like Google Play and iTunes will match songs users have to a digital signature, allowing them to skip the sometimes slow process of uploading the media file. Rather, once the song is matched, it will just be added to a user's library. Digital Rights Management:- Digital lockers are often used as a way of controlling access to media via Digital Rights Management. Services such as Steam, Origin, Blizzard, Vudu, and others offer to users the convenience of a digital locker in exchange for the control of DRM.
ExampleDigiLocker-Targeted at the idea of paperless governance, DigiLocker is a platform for issuance and verification of documents & certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents. Indian citizens who sign up for a DigiLocker account get a dedicated cloud storage space that is linked to their Aadhaar (UIDAI) number. Organizations that are registered with Digital Locker can push electronic copies of documents and certificates (e.g. driving license, Voter ID, School certificates) directly into citizens lockers. Citizens can also upload scanned copies of their legacy documents in their accounts. These legacy documents can be electronically signed using the eSign facility.
The platform has the following benefits:
Citizens can access their digital documents anytime, anywhere and share it online. This is convenient and time saving. It reduces the administrative overhead of Government departments by minimizing the use of paper. Digital Locker makes it easier to validate the authenticity of documents as they are issued directly by the registered issuers. Self-uploaded documents can be digitally signed using the eSign facility (which is similar to the process of self-attestation). The following are the key stakeholders in the DigiLocker system:
Issuer: Entity issuing e-documents to individuals in a standard format and making them electronically available e.g. CBSE, Registrar Office, Income Tax department, etc. Requester: Entity requesting secure access to a particular e-document stored within a repository (e.g. University, Passport Office, Regional Transport Office, etc.) Resident: An individual who uses the Digital Locker service based on Aadhaar number.
The main technology components of the DigiLocker system are:
Repository: Collection of e-documents that is exposed via standard APIs for secure, real-time access. Access Gateway: Secure online mechanism for requesters to access e-documents from various repositories in real-time using URI (Uniform Resource Indicator). DigiLocker Portal: Dedicated cloud based personal storage space, linked to each resident’s Aadhaar for storing e-documents, or URIs of e-documents.
Web Portal https://digilocker.gov.in/
Digital library: - A digital library is a collection of documents in organized electronic form, available on the Internet or on CD-ROM (compact-disk read-only memory) disks. Depending on the specific library, a user may be able to access magazine articles, books, papers, images, sound files, and videos.On the Internet, the use of a digital library is enhanced by a broadband connection such as cable modem or DSL. Dial-up connections can be used to access plain-text documents and some documents containing images, but for complex files and those with animated video content, a downstream data speed of at least several hundred kilobits per second ( Kbps ) can make the user's experience less tedious, as well as more informative. Internet-based digital libraries can be updated on a daily basis. This is one of the greatest assets of this emerging technology.
On CD-ROM, the amount of data is limited to several hundred megabytes ( MB ) per disk, but access is generally much faster than on an Internet connection. Several CD-ROMs can be combined in a set, and because the disks are small, a large library can be accommodated in a reasonable physical space. The main limitation of CD-ROM is the fact that updating cannot be done as frequently as on the Internet. In addition, producing and distributing CD-ROMs involves overhead costs that are largely nonexistent in Internet-based libraries.
Some institutions have begun the task of converting classic books to electronic format for distribution on the Internet. Some files can be viewed directly in HTML format; others can be downloaded in PDF format and printed. Some publishers keep electronic files of books and produce them one unit at a time in printed and bound form on demand.
Ex-
National Digital Library of India Web Portal -> https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/
Cybercrime: - Cybercrime is defined as a crime in which a computer is the object of the crime (hacking, phishing, spamming) or is used as a tool to commit an offense (child pornography, hate crimes). Cybercriminals may use computer technology to access personal information, business trade secrets or use the internet for exploitative or malicious purposes. Criminals can also use computers for communication and document or data storage. Criminals who perform these illegal activities are often referred to as hackers. Cybercrime may also be referred to as computer crime. Common types of cybercrime include online bank information theft, identity theft, online predatory crimes and unauthorized computer access. More serious crimes like cyber terrorism are also of significant concern.
Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of activities, but these can generally be broken into two categories: Crimes that target computer networks or devices. These types of crimes include viruses and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Crimes that use computer networks to advance other criminal activities. These types of crimes include cabers talking, phishing and fraud or identity theft.
The FBI identifies cybercrime fugitives who have allegedly committed bank fraud and trafficked counterfeit devices that access personal electronic information. The FBI also provides information on how to report cybercrimes, as well as useful intelligence information about the latest cybercriminals.
TYPES OF CYBER CRIME
There are literally a dozen ways in which a cybercrime can be perpretrated, and you need to know what they are In order to protect yourself you need to know about the different ways in which your computer can be compromised and your privacy infringed. In this section, we discuss a few common tools and techniques employed by the cyber criminals. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but will give you a comprehensive idea of the loopholes in networks and security systems, which can be exploited by attackers, and also their possible motives for doing so. Hacking-In simple words, hacking is an act committed by an intruder by accessing your computer system without your permission. Hackers (the people doing the ‘hacking’) are basically computer programmers, who have an advanced understanding of computers and commonly misuse this knowledge for devious reasons. They’re usually technology buffs who have expert-level skills in one particular software program or language. As for motives, there could be several, but the most common are pretty simple and can be explained by a human tendancy such as greed, fame, power, etc. Some people do it purely to show-off their expertise – ranging from relatively harmless activities such as modifying software (and even hardware) to carry out tasks that are outside the creator’s intent, others just want to cause destruction. Greed and sometimes voyeuristic tendancies may cause a hacker to break into systems to steal personal banking information, a corporation’s financial data, etc. They also try and modify systems so hat they can execute tasks at their whims. Hackers displaying such destructive conduct are also called “Crackers” at times. they are also called “Black Hat” hackers On the other hand, there are those who develop an interest in computer hacking just out of intellectual curiosity. Some companies hire these computer enthusiasts to find flaws in their security systems and help fix them. Referred to as “White Hat” hackers, these guys are against the abuse of computer systems. They attempt to break into network systems purely to alert the owners of flaws. It’s not always altruistic, though, because many do this for fame as well, in order to land jobs with top companies, or just to be termed as security experts. “Grey Hat” is another term used to refer to hacking activities that are a cross between black and white hacking. Some of the most famous computer geniuses were once hackers who went on to use their skills for constructive technological development. Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, the creators of the UNIX operating system (Linux’s predecessor), were two of them. Shawn Fanning, the developer of Napster, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame, and many more are also examples. The first step towards preventing hackers from gaining access to your systems is to learn how hacking is done. Of course it is beyond the scope of this Fast Track to go into great details, but we will cover the various techniques used by hackers to get to you via the internet. Theft of FTP Passwords: This is another very common way to tamper with web sites. FTP password hacking takes advantage of the fact that many webmasters store their website login information on their poorly protected PCs. The thief searches the victim’s system for FTP login details, and then relays them to his own remote computer. He then logs into the web site via the remote computer and modifies the web pages as he or she pleases. Virus dissemination: Viruses are computer programs that attach themselves to or infect a system or files, and have a tendency to circulate to other computers on a network. They disrupt the computer operation and affect the data stored – either by modifying it or by deleting it altogether. “Worms” unlike viruses don’t need a host to cling on to. They merely replicate until they eat up all available memory in the system. The term “worm” is sometimes used to mean selfreplicating “malware” (MALicious softWARE). These terms are often used interchangeably in the context of the hybrid viruses/worms that dominate Although mankind’s best invention, the net is still a minefield of threats the current virus scenario. “Trojan horses” are different from viruses in their manner of propagation. They masquerade as a legitimate file, such as an email attachment from a supposed friend with a very believable name, and don’t disseminate themselves. The user can also unknowingly install a Trojan-infected program via drive-by downloads when visiting a website, playing online games or using internet-driven applications. A Trojan horse can cause damage similar to other viruses, such as steal information or hamper/disrupt the functioning of computer systems.
A simple diagram to show how malware can propogate How does this happen? Well, the malicious code or virus is inserted into the chain of command so that when the infected program is run, the viral code is also executed (or in some cases, runs instead of the legitimate program). Viruses are usually seen as extraneous code attached to a host program, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, the environment is manipulated so that calling a legitimate uninfected program calls the viral program. The viral program may also be executed before any other program is run. This can virtually infect every executable file on the computer, even though none of those files’ code was actually tampered with. Viruses that follow this modus operandi include “cluster” or “FAT” (File Allocation Table) viruses, which redirect system pointers to infected files, associate viruses and viruses that modify the Windows Registry directory entries so that their own code is executed before any other legitimate program. Computer viruses usually spread via removable media or the internet. A flash disk, CD-ROM, magnetic tape or other storage device that has been in an infected computer infects all future computers in which it’s used. Your computer can also contract viruses from sinister email attachments, rogue web sites or infected software. And these disseminate to every other computer on your network. All computer viruses cause direct or indirect economic damages. Based on this, there are two categories of viruses: Those that only disseminate and don’t cause intentional damage Those which are programmed to cause damage. However, even by disseminating, they take up plenty of memory space, and time and resources that are spent on the clean-up job. Direct economic damages are caused when viruses alter the information during digital transmission. Considerable expenses are incurred by individuals, firms and authorities for developing and implementing the anti-virus tools to protect computer systems. Logic bombs-A logic bomb, also known as “slag code”, is a malicious piece of code which is intentionally inserted into software to execute a malicious task when triggered by a specific event. It’s not a virus, although it usually behaves in a similar manner. It is stealthily inserted into the program where it lies dormant until specified conditions are met. Malicious software such as viruses and worms often contain logic bombs which are triggered at a specific payload or at a predefined time. The payload of a logic bomb is unknown to the user of the software, and the task that it executes unwanted. Program codes that are scheduled to execute at a particular time are known as “time-bombs”. For example, the infamous “Friday the 13th” virus which attacked the host systems only on specific dates; it “exploded” (duplicated itself) every Friday that happened to be the thirteenth of a month, thus causing system slowdowns. Logic bombs are usually employed by disgruntled employees working in the IT sector. You may have heard of “disgruntled employee syndrome” wherein angry employees who’ve been fired use logic bombs to delete the databases of their employers, stultify the network for a while or even do insider trading. Triggers associated with the execution of logic bombs can be a specific date and time, a missing entry from a database or not putting in a command at the usual time, meaning the person doesn’t work there anymore. Most logic bombs stay only in the network they were employed in. So in most cases, they’re an insider job. This makes them easier to design and execute than a virus. It doesn’t need to replicate; which is a more complex job. To keep your network protected from the logic bombs, you need constant monitoring of the data and efficient anti-virus software on each of the computers in the network. There’s another use for the type of action carried out in a logic bomb “explosion” – to make restricted software trials. The embedded piece of code destroys the software after a defined period of time or renders it unusable until the user pays for its further use. Although this piece of code uses the same technique as a logic bomb, it has a non-destructive, non-malicious and user- transparent use, and is not typically referred to as one. Denial-of-Service attack-A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is an explicit attempt by attackers to deny service to intended users of that service. It involves flooding a computer resource with more requests than it can handle consuming its available bandwidth which results in server overload. This causes the resource (e.g. a web server) to crash or slow down significantly so that no one can access it. Using this technique, the attacker can render a web site inoperable by sending massive amounts of traffic to the targeted site. A site may temporarily malfunction or crash completely, in any case resulting in inability of the system to communicate adequately. DoS attacks violate the acceptable use policies of virtually all internet service providers. Another variation to a denial-of-service attack is known as a “Distributed Denial of Service” (DDoS) attack wherein a number of geographically widespread perpetrators flood the network traffic. Denial-of-Service attacks typically target high profile web site servers belonging to banks and credit card payment gateways. Websites of companies such as Amazon, CNN, Yahoo, Twitter and eBay! are not spared either.
Phishing-This a technique of extracting confidential information such as credit card numbers and username password combos by masquerading as a legitimate enterprise. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing. You’ve probably received email containing links to legitimate appearing websites. You probably found it suspicious and didn’t click the link. Smart move.
How phishing can net some really interesting catches The malware would have installed itself on your computer and stolen private information. Cyber- criminals use social engineering to trick you into downloading malware off the internet or make you fill in your personal information under false pretenses. A phishing scam in an email message can be evaded by keeping certain things in mind. Look for spelling mistakes in the text. Cyber-criminals are not known for their grammar and spelling. Hover your cursor over the hyperlinked URL but don’t click. Check if the address matches with the one written in the message. Watch out for fake threats. Did you receive a message saying “Your email account will be closed if you don’t reply to this email”? They might trick you by threatening that your security has been compromised. Attackers use the names and logos of well-known web sites to deceive you. The graphics and the web addresses used in the email are strikingly similar to the legitimate ones, but they lead you to phony sites. Not all phishing is done via email or web sites. Vishing (voice phishing) involves calls to victims using fake identity fooling you into considering the call to be from a trusted organisation. They may claim to be from a bank asking you to dial a number (provided by VoIP service and owned by attacker) and enter your account details. Once you do that, your account security is compromised. Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism and never provide any personal information. Many banks have issued preemptive warnings informing their users of phishing scams and the do’s and don’ts regarding your account information. Those of you reading Digit for long enough will remember that we successfully phished hundreds of our readers by reporting a way to hack other people’s gmail accounts by sending an email to a made up account with your own username and password… and we did that years ago in a story about , yes, you guessed it, phishing!
Email bombing and spamming-Email bombing is characterized by an abuser sending huge volumes of email to a target address resulting in victim’s email account or mail servers crashing. The message is meaningless and excessively long in order to consume network resources. If multiple accounts of a mail server are targeted, it may have a denial-of-service impact. Such mail arriving frequently in your inbox can be easily detected by spam filters. Email bombing is commonly carried out using botnets (private internet connected computers whose security has been compromised by malware and under the attacker’s control) as a DDoS attack. This type of attack is more difficult to control due to multiple source addresses and the bots which are programmed to send different messages to defeat spam filters. “Spamming” is a variant of email bombing. Here unsolicited bulk messages are sent to a large number of users, indiscriminately. Opening links given in spam mails may lead you to phishing web sites hosting malware. Spam mail may also have infected files as attachments. Email spamming worsens when the recipient replies to the email causing all the original addressees to receive the reply. Spammers collect email addresses from customer lists, newsgroups, chat-rooms, web sites and viruses which harvest users’ address books, and sell them to other spammers as well. A large amount of spam is sent to invalid email addresses.
Email filters cleaning out spam mail Sending spam violates the acceptable use policy (AUP) of almost all internet service providers. If your system suddenly becomes sluggish (email loads slowly or doesn’t appear to be sent or received), the reason may be that your mailer is processing a large number of messages. Unfortunately, at this time, there’s no way to completely prevent email bombing and spam mails as it’s impossible to predict the origin of the next attack. However, what you can do is identify the source of the spam mails and have your router configured to block any incoming packets from that address.
Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud-Identity theft occurs when someone steals your identity and pretends to be you to access resources such as credit cards, bank accounts and other benefits in your name. The imposter may also use your identity to commit other crimes. “Credit card fraud” is a wide ranging term for crimes involving identity theft where the criminal uses your credit card to fund his transactions. Credit card fraud is identity theft in its simplest form. The most common case of credit card fraud is your pre-approved card falling into someone else’s hands. Credit card fraud is the most common way for hackers to steal yoiur money He can use it to buy anything until you report to the authorities and get your card blocked. The only security measure on credit card purchases is the signature on the receipt but that can very easily be forged. However, in some countries the merchant may even ask you for an ID or a PIN. Some credit card companies have software to estimate the probability of fraud. If an unusually large transaction is made, the issuer may even call you to verify. Often people forget to collect their copy of the credit card receipt after eating at restaurants or elsewhere when they pay by credit card. These receipts have your credit card number and your signature for anyone to see and use. With only this information, someone can make purchases online or by phone. You won’t notice it until you get your monthly statement, which is why you should carefully study your statements. Make sure the website is trustworthy and secure when shopping online. Some hackers may get a hold of your credit card number by employing phishing techniques. Sometimes a tiny padlock icon appears on the left screen corner of the address bar on your browser which provides a higher level of security for data transmission. If you click on it, it will also tell you the encryption software it uses. A more serious concern is the use of your personal information with the help of stolen or fake documents to open accounts (or even worse, using your existing account) to take a loan in your name. These unscrupulous people can collect your personal details from your mailbox or trash can (remember to shred all sensitive documents). Think of all the important details printed on those receipts, pay stubs and other documents. You won’t know a thing until the credit card people track you down and tail you until you clear all your dues. Then for months and months you’ll be fighting to get your credit restored and your name cleared. With rising cases of credit card fraud, many financial institutions have stepped in with software solutions to monitor your credit and guard your identity. ID theft insurance can be taken to recover lost wages and restore your credit. But before you spend a fortune on these services, apply the no-cost, common sense measures to avert such a crime.
Malware-“Malware” is short for “malicious software” - computer programs designed to infiltrate and damage computers without the users consent. “Malware” is the general term covering all the different types of threats to your computer safety such as viruses, spyware, worms, trojans, rootkits and so on.
The story of malware-Virus creators, or “virus writers”, started off writing viruses in the early 1980’s. Until the late 1990’s most of the viruses were just pranks made up in order to annoy users and to see how far a virus could spread. The writers were often young programmers, some still in their teens, who didn’t always understand the vast consequences of their actions. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, virus writers and hackers began to put their talents to more professional and sometimes criminal use. The internet had become everyone’s tool for information and businesses and banks were beginning to use it for commerce and transactions. As practical as online shopping and banking are, they also opened a world of opportunities for economic exploitation of both corporations and the ordinary computer user. Today many experts believe the amount of malicious software being released on the web might actually surpass the release of valid software. Different types of malware-The term malware includes viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, rootkits, spyware, keyloggers and more. To get an overview of the difference between all these types of threats and the way they work, it makes sense to divide them into groups:
Viruses and worms – the contagious threat Viruses and worms are defined by their behaviour – malicious software designed to spread without the user’s knowledge. A virus infects legitimate software and when this software is used by the computer owner it spreads the virus – so viruses need you to act before they can spread. Computer worms, on the other hand, spread without user action. Both viruses and worms can carry a so-called “payload” – malicious code designed to do damage.
Trojans and Rootkits – the masked threat Trojans and rootkits are grouped together as they both seek to conceal attacks on computers. Trojan Horses are malignant pieces of software pretending to be benign applications. Users therefore download them thinking they will get a useful piece of software and instead end up with a malware infected computer. Rootkits are different. They are a masking technique for malware, but do not contain damaging software. Rootkit techniques were invented by virus writers to conceal malware, so it could go unnoticed by antivirus detection and removal programs. Today, antivirus products, like BullGuard Internet Security, strike back as they come with effective rootkit removal tools. Spyware and keyloggers – the financial threat Spyware and keyloggers are malware used in malicious attacks like identity theft, phishing and social engineering - threats designed to steal money from unknowing computer users, businesses and banks.
Spyware-Spyware is software that is installed on a computing device without the end user's knowledge. Any software can be classified as spyware if it is downloaded without the user's authorization. Spyware is controversial because even when it is installed for relatively innocuous reasons, it can violate the end user's privacy and has the potential to be abused.
Spyware can be difficult to detect; often, the first indication a user has that a computing device has been infected with spyware is a noticeable reduction in processor or network connection speeds and in the case of mobile devices -- data usage and battery life. Anti-spyware tools can be used to prevent or remove spyware. Anti-spyware tools can either provide real-time protection by scanning network data and blocking malicious data, or detect and remove spyware already on a system by executing scans. To prevent spyware, users should only download software from trusted sources, read all disclosures when installing software, avoid clicking on pop-up ads and stay current with updates and patches for browser , operating system and application software. To reduce the probability of infection, network administrators should practice the principle of least privilege (POLP) and require remote workers to access network resources over a virtual private network (VPN) that runs a security scan before granting access privileges.
Types of spyware Spyware is not just one type of program. It's an entire category of malicious software that includes adware, Trojans, keystroke loggers, and information stealing programs. Adware - Malicious adware is often bundled in with free software, shareware programs and utilities downloaded from the internet, or surreptitiously installed onto a user's device when the user visits an infected website. Many internet users were first introduced to spyware in 1999 when a popular freeware game called "Elf Bowling" came bundled with tracking software. Adware is often flagged by antimalware programs as whether the program in question is malicious or not. Cookies that track and record users' personal information and internet browsing habits are one of the most common types of adware. An advertiser might use cookies to track what web pages a user visits in order to target advertising in a contextual marketing campaign. For example, an advertiser could track a user’s browser history and downloads with the intent to display pop-up or banner advertisements to lure the user to make a purchase. Because data collected by spyware is often sold to third parties, regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) have been enacted to protect the personally identifiable information (PII) of website visitors. Keyboard loggers - Keyloggers are a type of system monitor that are often used by cybercriminals to steal personally identifiable information (PII), login credentials and sensitive enterprise data. Keyloggers may also be used by employers to observe employees' computer activities, parents to supervise their children's internet usage, users to track possible unauthorized activity on their devices or law enforcement agencies to analyze incidents involving computer use. Hardware keyloggers resemble a USB flash drive and serve as a physical connector between the computer keyboard and the computer, while software keylogging programs do not require physical access to the user's computer for installation. Software keyloggers can be downloaded on purpose by someone who wants to monitor activity on a particular computer, or they be downloaded unwittingly and executed as part of a rootkit or remote administration Trojan (RAT). Trojans - Trojans are typically malicious software programs that are disguised as legitimate programs. A victim of a Trojan could unknowingly install a file posing as an official program, allowing the Trojan to have access to the computer. The Trojan can then delete files, encrypt files for ransom or allow others to have access to the user’s information. Mobile spyware - Mobile spyware is dangerous because it can be transferred through Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) text messages and typically does not require user interaction to execute commands. When a smartphone or tablet gets infected with mobile spyware that was sideloaded with a third party app, the phone's camera and microphone can be used to spy on nearby activity, record phone calls, log browsing activity and keystrokes. The device owner's location can also be monitored through GPS or the mobile computing device's accelerometer.
PPP model: - Public private partnership (PPP) is a funding model for a public infrastructure project such as a new telecommunications system, airport or power plant. The public partner is represented by the government at a local, state and/or national level. The private partner can be a privately-owned business, public corporation or consortium of businesses with a specific area of expertise.
PPP is a broad term that can be applied to anything from a simple, short term management contract (with or without investment requirements) to a long-term contract that includes funding, planning, building, operation, maintenance and divestiture. PPP arrangements are useful for large projects that require highly-skilled workers and a significant cash outlay to get started. They are also useful in countries that require the state to legally own any infrastructure that serves the public.
Different models of PPP funding are characterized by which partner is responsible for owning and maintaining assets at different stages of the project. Examples of PPP models include:
Design-Build (DB): The private-sector partner designs and builds the infrastructure to meet the public- sector partner's specifications, often for a fixed price. The private-sector partner assumes all risk.
Operation & Maintenance Contract (O & M): The private-sector partner, under contract, operates a publicly-owned asset for a specific period of time. The public partner retains ownership of the assets.
Design-Build-Finance-Operate (DBFO): The private-sector partner designs, finances and constructs a new infrastructure component and operates/maintains it under a long-term lease. The private- sector partner transfers the infrastructure component to the public-sector partner when the lease is up.
Build-Own-Operate (BOO): The private-sector partner finances, builds, owns and operates the infrastructure component in perpetuity. The public-sector partner's constraints are stated in the original agreement and through on-going regulatory authority.
Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT): The private-sector partner is granted authorization to finance, design, build and operate an infrastructure component (and to charge user fees) for a specific period of time, after which ownership is transferred back to the public-sector partner. Buy-Build-Operate (BBO): This publicly-owned asset is legally transferred to a private-sector partner for a designated period of time.
Build-lease-operate-transfer (BLOT): The private-sector partner designs, finances and builds a facility on leased public land. The private-sector partner operates the facility for the duration of the land lease. When the lease expires, assets are transferred to the public-sector partner.
Operation License: The private-sector partner is granted a license or other expression of legal permission to operate a public service, usually for a specified term. (This model is often used in IT projects.)
Finance Only: The private-sector partner, usually a financial services company, funds the infrastructure component and charges the public-sector partner interest for use of the funds.
Web Portal- https://www.pppinindia.gov.in
Unit-2
E-commerce: -E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.
Whereas e-business refers to all aspects of operating an online business, ecommerce refers specifically to the transaction of goods and services.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Ecommerce:-
The invention of faster internet connectivity and powerful online tools has resulted in a new commerce arena – Ecommerce. Ecommerce offered many advantages to companies and customers but it also caused many problems. Advantages of E-commerce:- Faster buying/selling procedure, as well as easy to find products. Buying/selling 24/7. More reach to customers, there is no theoretical geographic limitations. Low operational costs and better quality of services. No need of physical company set-ups. Easy to start and manage a business. Customers can easily select products from different providers without moving around physically. Disadvantage of E-commerce:- Any one, good or bad, can easily start a business. And there are many bad sites which eat up customers’ money. There is no guarantee of product quality. Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes. As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check. There are many hackers who look for opportunities, and thus an ecommerce site, service, payment gateways, all are always prone to attack.
What are the different types of e-commerce payment systems:-
When you purchase goods and services online, you pay for them using an electronic medium. This mode of payment, without using cash or cheque, is called an e-commerce payment system and is also known as online or electronic payment systems. The growing use of internet-based banking and shopping has seen the growth of various e-commerce payment systems and technology has been developed to increase, improve and provide secure e-payment transactions. Paperless e-commerce payments have revolutionized the payment processing by reducing paper work, transaction costs, and personnel cost. The systems are user-friendly and consume less time than manual processing and help businesses extend their market reach.
The different types of e-commerce payments in use today are:
Credit Card:-The most popular form of payment for e-commerce transactions is through credit cards. It is simple to use; the customer has to just enter their credit card number and date of expiry in the appropriate area on the seller’s web page. To improve the security system, increased security measures, such as the use of a card verification number (CVN), have been introduced to on-line credit card payments. The CVN system helps detect fraud by comparing the CVN number with the cardholder's information.
Debit Card:-Debit cards are the second largest e-commerce payment medium in India. Customers who want to spend online within their financial limits prefer to pay with their Debit cards. With the debit card, the customer can only pay for purchased goods with the money that is already there in his/her bank account as opposed to the credit card where the amounts that the buyer spends are billed to him/her and payments are made at the end of the billing period.
Smart Card:-It is a plastic card embedded with a microprocessor that has the customer’s personal information stored in it and can be loaded with funds to make online transactions and instant payment of bills. The money that is loaded in the smart card reduces as per the usage by the customer and has to be reloaded from his/her bank account.
E-Wallet:-E-Wallet is a prepaid account that allows the customer to store multiple credit cards, debit card and bank account numbers in a secure environment. This eliminates the need to key in account information every time while making payments. Once the customer has registered and created E-Wallet profile, he/she can make payments faster.
Net banking:-This is another popular way of making e-commerce payments. It is a simple way of paying for online purchases directly from the customer’s bank. It uses a similar method to the debit card of paying money that is already there in the customer’s bank. Net banking does not require the user to have a card for payment purposes but the user needs to register with his/her bank for the net banking facility. While completing the purchase the customer just needs to put in their net banking id and pin.
Mobile Payment-one of the latest ways of making online payments is through mobile phones. Instead of using a credit card or cash, all the customer has to do is send a payment request to his/her service provider via text message; the customer’s mobile account or credit card is charged for the purchase. To set up the mobile payment system, the customer just has to download a software from his/her service provider’s website and then link the credit card or mobile billing information to the software.
Amazon Pay-Another convenient, secure and quick way to pay for online purchases is through Amazon Pay. Use your information which is already stored in your Amazon account credentials to log in and pay at leading merchant websites and apps. Your payment information is safely stored with Amazon and accessible on thousands of websites and apps where you love to shop.
Paytm:-Paytm, owned by One97 Communications, is a digital payment platform that allows you to transfer cash into the integrated wallet via online banking, debit cards, and credit cards, or even by depositing cash via select banks and partners. Using the money in the Paytm wallet, you can pay for a number of goods without using cash.
Among the transactions you can make on Paytm are recharges for mobile phones, metro cards, DTH cable, data cards, etc, as well as postpaid payments for mobile phones, landline/ broadband, electricity, water and gas bills, etc. You can also book tickets for buses, trains, flights, movies, hotel rooms, etc. and pay for Uber cab rides using the platform. Additionally, you can buy goods on the company’s e- commerce platform using the wallet, and even make offline payments at over 8 lakh merchants, Paytm claims.
How can we use paytm and paytm wallet:- In order to use the Paytm Wallet and transact cash-free, follow the steps below:-
1. Set up a Paytm account using your mobile number and email ID 2. Add some money to your Paytm Wallet using net banking, debit card, or credit card 3. To transfer money to someone else, select the 'Pay or Send' option 4. You can make payments to others or to bank accounts on Paytm by scanning a QR code 5. Alternatively, you can send money to another Paytm user via their phone number
BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is a mobile payment app developed by the National payments corporation of India (NPCI), based on the unified payments interface (UPI). It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra modi at the DigiDhan Mela at Talkatora stadium in new Delhi on 30 December 2016. It was named after B.R. Ambedkar and is intended to facilitate e-payments directly through banks as part of the 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation and drive towards cashless transactions. The app supports all Indian banks which use UPI, which is built over the immediate payment service (IMPS) infrastructure and allows the user to instantly transfer money between bank accounts of any two parties. It can be used on all mobile devices.
RTGS: - The acronym 'RTGS' stands for Real Time Gross Settlement, which can be explained as a system where there is continuous and real-time settlement of fund-transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis (without netting). 'Real Time' means the processing of instructions at the time they are received; 'Gross Settlement' means that the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually.
IMPS: - Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones. It is also being extended through other channels such as ATM, Internet Banking, etc.
NEFT: - National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a nation-wide payment system. Under this Scheme, individuals can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual having an account with any other bank branch in the country participating in the Scheme. NEFT transactions are settled in batches. Any transaction initiated after a designated settlement batch would have to wait till the next designated settlement batch.
UPI: - Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.
With the above context in mind, NPCI conducted a pilot launch with 21 member banks. The pilot launch was on 11th April 2016 by Dr. Raghuram G Rajan , Governor, RBI at Mumbai. Banks have started to upload their UPI enabled Apps on Google Play store from 25th August, 2016 onwards.
How is it unique?
Immediate money transfer through mobile device round the clock 24*7 and 365 days. Single mobile application for accessing different bank accounts. Single Click 2 Factor Authentication – Aligned with the Regulatory guidelines, yet provides for a very strong feature of seamless single click payment. Virtual address of the customer for Pull & Push provides for incremental security with the customer not required to enter the details such as Card no, Account number; IFSC etc. Bill Sharing with friends. Best answer to Cash on Delivery hassle, running to an ATM or rendering exact amount. Merchant Payment with Single Application or In-App Payments. Utility Bill Payments, Over the Counter Payments, Barcode (Scan and Pay) based payments. Donations, Collections, Disbursements Scalable. Raising Complaint from Mobile App directly.
Unit-3
Networks:-Identifying the strengths of the underlying technology of a cell phone is simple as long as you understand the meaning of 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G. 1G refers to the first generation of wireless cellular technology, 2G refers to the second generation of technology, and so on. As you might expect, subsequent generations are faster and contain improved or new features. Most wireless carriers currently support both 4G and 3G technology, which is handy when your location allows your phone to operate only at 3G speeds.
Since 1G was introduced in the early 1980s, a new wireless mobile telecommunications technology has been released roughly every 10 years. All of them refer to the technology used by the mobile carrier and device itself. They have different speeds and features that improve on the previous generation. The next generation is 5G, which is scheduled to launch in 2020.
1G: Voice Only: -Remember analog phones back in the day? Cell phones began with 1G technology in the 1980s. 1G is the first generation of wireless cellular technology. 1G supports voice only calls.1G is analog technology, and the phones using it had poor battery life and voice quality, little security, and were prone to dropped calls. The maximum speed of 1G technology is 2.4kbps.
2G: SMS and MMS: - Cell phones received their first major upgrade when their technology went from 1G to 2G. This leap took place in Finland in 1991 on GSM networks and effectively took cell phones from analog to digital communications .The 2G telephone technology introduced call and text encryption, along with data services such as SMS , picture messages, MMS .Although 2G replaced 1G and is superseded by later technology versions, it's still used around the world .The maximum speed of 2G with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is 50 Kbps. The speed is 1 Mbps with Enhanced Data Rates for GSM evolution (EDGE).
2.5G and 2.75G:data,finally: -Before making the major leap from 2G to 3G wireless networks, the lesser-known 2.5G and 2.75G were interim standards that bridged the gap to make data transmission — slow data transmission — possible.2.5G introduced a new packet-switching technique that was more efficient than 2G technology. This led to 2.75G, which provided a theoretical threefold speed increase. AT&T was the first GSM network to support 2.75G with EDGE in the U.S. 2.5G and 2.75G were not defined formally as wireless standards. They served mostly as marketing tools to promote new cell phone features to the public.
3G: More data, video calling &mobile internet: -The introduction of 3G networks in 1998 ushered in faster data-transmission speeds, so you could use your cell phone in more data-demanding ways such as for video calling and mobile internet access. The term "mobile broadband" was first applied to 3G cellular technology. Like 2G, 3G evolved into the much faster 3.5G and 3.75G as more features were introduced to bring about 4G.The maximum speed of 3G is estimated to be around 2 Mbps for non- moving devices and 384 Kbps in moving vehicles.
4G: The current standard:- The fourth generation of networking, which was released in 2008, is 4G. It supports mobile web access like 3G does and also gaming services, HD mobile TV, video conferencing, 3D TV, and other features that demand high speeds .The max speed of a 4G network when the device is moving is 100 Mbps. The speed is 1gbps for low-mobility communication such as when the caller is stationary or walking .Most current cell phone models support both 4G and 3G technologies.
5G: coming soon: - 5G is a not-yet-implemented wireless technology that's intended to improve on 4G. 5G promises significantly faster data rates, higher connection density, much lower latency, and energy savings, among other improvements .The anticipated theoretical speed of 5G connections is up to 20 Gbps per second.
Mobile switch office:-The Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) is the mobile equivalent of a PSTN Central Office. The MTSO contains the switching equipment or Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) for routing mobile phone calls. It also contains the equipment for controlling the cell sites that are connected to the MSC.
Base station:-A base station is a fixed point of communication for customer cellular phones on a carrier network. The base station is connected to an antenna (or multiple antennae) that receives and transmits the signals in the cellular network to customer phones and cellular devices. That equipment is connected to a mobile switching station that connects cellular calls to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
A single base station may extend the service providers network by blocks or by miles. Base stations are company-specific. However, a single site may host multiple base stations from competing telecommunication companies.
Hard handoff: It means that all the old radio links in the MS are removed before the new radio links are established. In GSM, it is general. we can say Break before Make. so in this case higher rates of call drops is found.
Soft Handoff: It means the radio links are added and removed in a way that the MS always keeps at least one radio link to the UTRAN. In CDMA this technique is performed. In simple words we can say Make before Break. To lower the rates of call drops, this technique is used.
Softer Handoff: It is a special case of soft handover where the radio links that are added and removed belong to the same site of co-located base stations from which several sector-cells are served i.e. Node B. But in a simpler way it can be said as below:
Hard Handover: When mobile(in Call) switches to a new sector/Cell which is on different frequency , then it performs hard Handover. It is basically an inter-frequency handover.
Soft Handover: When mobile (in Call) switches to a new sector/cell which is on the same frequency then it is called a soft handover.
Wireless communication: - The term wireless communication was introduced in the 19th century and wireless communication technology has developed over the subsequent years. It is one of the most important mediums of transmission of information from one device to other devices. In this technology, the information can be transmitted through the air without requiring any cable or wires or other electronic conductors, by using electromagnetic waves like IR, RF, satellite, etc. In the present days, the wireless communication technology refers to a variety of wireless communication devices and technologies ranging from smart phones to computers, tabs, laptops, Bluetooth Technology, printers. This article gives an overview of wireless communication and types of wireless communications. Introduction to Wireless Communication:
In the present days, wireless communication system has become an essential part of various types of wireless communication devices that permits user to communicate even from remote operated areas. There are many devices used for wireless communication like mobiles. Cordless telephones, Zigbee wireless technology, GPS, Wi-Fi, satellite television and wireless computer parts. Current wireless phones include 3 and 4G networks, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies.
Types of Wireless Communication
The different types of wireless communication mainly include, IR wireless communication, satellite communication, broadcast radio, Microwave radio, Bluetooth, Zigbee etc..Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communication technology that allows devices such as mobile phones, computers, and peripherals to transmit data or voice wirelessly over a short distance. The purpose of Bluetooth is to replace the cables that normally connect devices, while still keeping the communications between them secure.. The "Bluetooth" name is taken from a 10th-century Danish king named Harald Bluetooth, who was said to unite disparate, warring regional factions. Like its namesake, Bluetooth technology brings together a broad range of devices across many different industries through a unifying communication standard.
Bluetooth Technology
Developed in 1994, Bluetooth was intended as a wireless replacement for cables. It uses the same 2.4GHz frequency as some other wireless technologies in the home or office, such as cordless phones and WiFi routers. It creates a 10-meter (33-foot) radius wireless network, called a personal area network (PAN) or piconet, which can network between two and eight devices. This short-range network allows you to send a page to your printer in another room, for example, without having to run an unsightly cable.
Bluetooth uses less power and costs less to implement than Wi-Fi. Its lower power also makes it far less prone to suffering from or causing interference with other wireless devices in the same 2.4GHz radio band.
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is the name of a popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked phrase that means IEEE 802.11x.
How Wi-Fi Networks Works
Wi-Fi networks have no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency (RF) technology -- a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. The cornerstone of any wireless network is an access point (AP). The primary job of an access point is to broadcast a wireless signal that computers can detect and "tune" into. In order to connect to an access point and join a wireless network, computers and devices must be equipped with wireless network adapters.
Wi-Fi Support in Applications and Devices
Wi-Fi is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs,mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics. Any products that are tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. For example, a user with a Wi-Fi Certified product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is also "Wi-Fi Certified". Products that pass this certification are required to carry an identifying seal on their packaging that states "Wi-Fi Certified" and indicates the radio frequency band used (2.5GHz for 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n, and 5GHz for 802.11a).
LiFi: LiFi is a wireless optical networking technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for data transmission. LiFi is designed to use LED light bulbs similar to those currently in use in many energy- conscious homes and offices. However, LiFi bulbs are outfitted with a chip that modulates the light imperceptibly for optical data transmission. LiFi data is transmitted by the LED bulbs and received by photoreceptors.
LiFi's early developmental models were capable of 150 megabits-per-second (Mbps). Some commercial kits enabling that speed have been released. In the lab, with stronger LEDs and different technology, researchers have enabled 10 gigabits-per-second (Gbps), which is faster than 802.11ad.
Benefits of LiFi: Higher speeds than Wi-Fi. 10000 times the frequency spectrum of radio. More secure because data cannot be intercepted without a clear line of sight. Prevents piggybacking. Eliminates neighboring network interference. Unimpeded by radio interference. Does not create interference in sensitive electronics, making it better for use in environments like hospitals and aircraft.
By using LiFi in all the lights in and around a building, the technology could enable greater area of coverage than a single WiFi router. Drawbacks to the technology include the need for a clear line of sight, difficulties with mobility and the requirement that lights stay on for operation.
WiMAX (WMAN)-WiMAX is one of the hottest broadband wireless technologies around today. WiMAX systems are expected to deliver broadband access services to residential and enterprise customers in an economical way.
Loosely, WiMax is a standardized wireless version of Ethernet intended primarily as an alternative to wire technologies to provide broadband access to customer premises.
More strictly, WiMAX is an industry trade organization formed by leading communications, component, and equipment companies to promote and certify compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment that conforms to the IEEE 802.16 and ETSI HIPERMAN standards.
WiMAX would operate similar to WiFi, but at higher speeds over greater distances and for a greater number of users. WiMAX has the ability to provide service even in areas that are difficult for wired infrastructure to reach and the ability to overcome the physical limitations of traditional wired infrastructure. WiMAX was formed in April 2001, in anticipation of the publication of the original 10-66 GHz IEEE 802.16 specifications. WiMAX is to 802.16 as the WiFi Alliance is to 802.11.
WiMAX is Acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Based on Wireless MAN technology. A wireless technology optimized for the delivery of IP centric services over a wide area. A scalable wireless platform for constructing alternative and complementary broadband networks. A certification that denotes interoperability of equipment built to the IEEE 802.16 or compatible standard.The IEEE 802.16 Working Group develops standards that address two types of usage models − A fixed usage model IEEE802.16 − 2004. A portable usage model IEEE802.16e.
What is 802.16a? WiMAX is such an easy term that people tend to use it for the 802.16 standards and technology themselves, although strictly it applies only to systems that meet specific conformance criteria laid down by the WiMAX Forum.
The 802.16a standard for 2-11 GHz is a wireless metropolitan area network technology that will provide broadband wireless connectivity to Fixed, Portable and Nomadic devices. It can be used to connect 802.11 hot spots to the Internet, provide campus connectivity, and provide a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access.
WiMax Speed and Range WiMAX is expected to offer initially up to about 40 Mbps capacity per wireless channel for both fixed and portable applications, depending on the particular technical configuration chosen, enough to support hundreds of businesses with T-1 speed connectivity and thousands of residences with DSL speed connectivity. WiMAX can support voice and video as well as Internet data.
WiMax developed to provide wireless broadband access to buildings, either in competition to existing wired networks or alone in currently unserved rural or thinly populated areas. It can also be used to connect WLAN hotspots to the Internet. WiMAX is also intended to provide broadband connectivity to mobile devices. It would not be as fast as in these fixed applications, but expectations are for about 15 Mbps capacity in a 3 km cell coverage area.
With WiMAX, users could really cut free from today's Internet access arrangements and be able to go online at broadband speeds, almost wherever they like from within a MetroZone.
WiMAX could potentially be deployed in a variety of spectrum bands: 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz, and 5.8GHz
Why WiMax ? WiMAX can satisfy a variety of access needs. Potential applications include extending broadband capabilities to bring them closer to subscribers, filling gaps in cable, DSL and T1 services, WiFi, and cellular backhaul, providing last-100 meter access from fibre to the curb and giving service providers another cost effective option for supporting broadband services.
WiMAX can support very high bandwidth solutions where large spectrum deployments are desired using existing infrastructure keeping costs down while delivering the bandwidth needed to support a full range of high-value multimedia services. WiMAX can help service providers meet many of the challenges they face due to increasing customer demands without discarding their existing infrastructure investments because it has the ability to seamlessly interoperate across various network types.
WiMAX can provide wide area coverage and quality of service capabilities for applications ranging fromreal-time delay-sensitive voice-over-IP to real-time streaming video and non-real- time downloads, ensuring that subscribers obtain the performance they expect for all types of communications.
WiMAX, which is an IP-based wireless broadband technology, can be integrated into both wide- area third generation mobile and wireless and wireline networks allowing it to become part of a seamless anytime, anywhere broadband access solution.
Ultimately, WiMAX is intended to serve as the next step in the evolution of 3G mobile phones, via a potential combination of WiMAX and CDMA standards called 4G.
WiMAX Goals A standard by itself is not enough to enable mass adoption. WiMAX has stepped forward to help solve barriers to adoption, such as interoperability and cost of deployment. WiMAX will help ignite the wireless MAN industry by defining and conducting interoperability testing and labeling vendor systems with a "WiMAX Certified™" label once testing has been completed successfully.
Introduction of Mobile Computing:
A technology that is capable of providing an environment which enables users to transmit data from one device to other device without the use of any physical link/cables is known as Mobile Computing. It means, data transmission is done wireless-ly with the help of wireless devices such as mobiles, laptops etc. Whenever any device is connected to a network without being connected physically over a link or cable, data transmission such as messages, voice recording, videos etc. can be done be done by using the concept of mobile computing. Mobile Computing technology helps users to access and transmit data from any remote locations without being present there physically. Thus, having such a big coverage diameter, it is one of the fastest and most reliable sectors of computing technology field.
Voicemail:-Voicemail is a feature with new telephone systems, especially VoIP. It is a voice message that a caller leaves when the person called is absent or is taken up with another conversation. The voicemail feature acts in a way similar to the old answering machine, but with the main difference that instead of the voice message being stored on your answering machine, it is stored on the service provider's server, in a space reserved for the user called a mailbox. It is not very different from email, save that the messages are voices instead of text.
Features: Voicemail has evolved and improved and now is a rich service. Besides recording and playing sounds back, you can do the following:
You can take voicemail messages from many callers at the same time. You can forward voicemail messages to other people's mailbox. You can add a voice introduction to the message you are forwarding. Broadcast voice messages, i.e. send to more than one person at the same time. Store voice messages for a long period of time. Be notified of the arrival of a voicemail through your mobile phone or pager. Present different greetings to different users. Transfer and save voice messages to storage media like your hard drive, which can also be sent as an attachment with email messages.
Internet Service Provider (ISP):-An Internet service provider (ISP) is a company that provides customers with Internet access. Data may be transmitted using several technologies, including dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or dedicated high-speed interconnects.
Typically, ISPs also provide their customers with the ability to communicate with one another by providing Internet email accounts, usually with numerous email addresses at the customer’s discretion. Other services, such as telephone and television services, may be provided as well. The services and service combinations may be unique to each ISP. An Internet service provider is also known as an Internet access provider (IAP).
IP telephony: - An IP telephone system uses packet-switched Voice over IP (VoIP), or Internet telephony, to transmit telephone calls over the Internet as opposed to the circuit-switched telephony used by the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Also known as VoIP phone systems, IP telephone systems typically comprise a VoIP private branch exchange (an IP PBX) and desktop VoIP phones (IP Phones) that connect to a VoIP service provider via a Local Area Network (LAN). One of the key advantages to IP telephone systems is that whereas long-distance calls on a regular phone system can be cost prohibitive, the same calls on an IP phone system are free -- there are no fees beyond the cost of Internet access.
SOFTPHONE: A softphone is an application that enables Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) via computing devices, including desktops, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDA) and services like Skype and Vonage. A softphone functions like a traditional phone and is used with a headset connected to a PC's sound card. Sometimes a softphone is designed to behave like a traditional phone and has a phone image, display panel, keypad and buttons for user interaction. Softphones are used in many call centers or customer care centers, where combined phone and computer usage is required.
IMEI Number: The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI is a device identification number mentioned below the battery of every mobile phone device for the identification of the particular mobile device. This number is different in every mobile device. IMEI number tells that where the mobile device is made and what is the model number of the device. These numbers are also available in GSM, CDMA and IDEN and some satellite phones. This number is made of 15 digits (sometimes 16 and 17 digits) which shows the mobile phone device number, its place of origin and the serial number of mobile (device).
According to an estimate about 25 million people in India are using mobile phones without the IMEI number. Since 30 November 2009 night, Government of India banned the mobile device without IMEI number or having fake IMEI number.
What is the function of IMEI number? The IMEI number of any phone indicates the phone's current location. Through IMEI number, it can be ascertained that where is an individual standing? If a person's phone is lost or stolen, then that phone's location can also be traced through the phone's IMEI number.
What are the benefits of the IMEI number? The most important advantage of the IMEI number is that it helps in catching the criminals. If someone has lost his mobile phone or stolen by someone then IMEI number can be useful to trace the location of the phone/thief.
How does IMEI number helps in catching the thieves? Police traces the mobile phone’s location by knowing the network used by the SIM card of the theft/lost mobile. Police immediately informs the nearby police station to catch a particular vehicle or individual using the IMEI number of the mobile phone. (See the picture below to understand properly)
How to check IMEI?
The IMEI can be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones. It can also be printed inside the battery compartment of the phone.
Sim - SIM cards have evolved a lot over the years. While they have maintained a relative thickness of just under 1mm, their surface area has steadily decreased, from the credit card-sized plates used in the earliest cellphones to the nano SIMs of today's devices. The nano SIM is the SIM card's fourth size standard since its inception. Designated as 4FF, or fourth form factor, it measures 12.3mm x 8.8mm x 0.67mm, a reduction of over 42 times from the SIM's inception. Most people, however, are more familiar with the 2FF SIM card, known more readily as the Regular SIM card. At 25mm x 15mm x 0.76, it is 3.4 times larger than today's current SIM cards, which offer the same features in a much more compact package. Some manufacturers still choose to use the micro SIM format which, at 15mm x 12mm, is only slightly larger than the nano SIM. Many carriers offer branded SIM cards with cutouts for all three modern sizes, so users can choose which version they want to insert depending on their device. There are also adapters so nano SIM cards can fit into slots meant for micro SIM or Regular SIM cards.
What are the benefits of a SIM card?
SIM cards are the unseen magicians of today's smartphones. They make connecting to networks and switching phones as easy as removing a small metal tray. If you buy a new phone, you can simply insert your existing SIM and keep on using your existing service as long as the new phone isn't locked to a different carrier. Likewise, if you travel internationally you can just buy a SIM card from a local carrier — as long as your phone isn't locked to a carrier.
Mobile Ad hoc Network: MANET stands for Mobile adhoc Network also called as wireless adhoc network or adhoc wireless network that usually has a routable networking environment on top of a Link Layer ad hoc network.. They consist of set of mobile nodes connected wirelessly in a self configured, self healing network without having a fixed infrastructure. MANET nodes are free to move randomly as the network topology changes frequently. Each node behave as a router as they forward traffic to other specified node in the network.
MANET may operate as standalone fashion or they can be the part of larger internet. They form highly dynamic autonomous topology with the presence of one or multiple different transceivers between nodes. The main challenge for the MANET is to equipped each devices to continuously maintain the information required to properly route traffic. MANETs consist of a peer-to-peer, self-forming, self- healing network MANET’s circa 2000-2015 typically communicate at radio frequencies (30MHz- 5GHz). This can be used in road safety, ranging from sensors for environment, home, health, disaster rescue operations, air/land/navy defense, weapons, robots, etc. Characteristics of MANET – Dynamic Topologies: Network topology which is typically multihops, may change randomly and rapidly with time, it can form unidirectional or bi-directional links. Bandwidth constrained, variable capacity links: Wireless links usually have lower reliability, efficiency, stability and capacity as compared to wired network.The throughput of wireless communication is even less than a radio’s maximum transmission rate after dealing with the constraints like multiple access, noise, interference conditions, etc. Autonomous Behavior: Each nodes can act as a host and router, which shows its autonomous behavior. Energy Constrained Operation: As some or all the nodes rely on batteries or other exhaustible means for their energy.Mobile nodes are characterized with less memory, power and light weight features. Limited Security: Wireless network are more prone to security threats. A centralized firewall is absent due to its destributed nature of operation for security, routing and host configuration. Less Human Intervention: They require minimum human intervention to configure the network; therefore they are dynamically autonomous in nature.
Pros and Cons of MANET – Pros: 1. Seperation from central network administration. 2. Each nodes can play both the roles ie. of router and host showing autonomous nature. 3. Self configuring and self healing nodes, does not require human intervention. Cons: 1. Resources are limited due to various constraints like noise, interference conditions, etc. 2. Lack of authorization facilities. 3. More prone to attacks due to limited physical security.
Wireless Sensor Network-WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) is the most standard services employed in commercial and industrial applications, because of its technical development in a processor, communication, and low-power usage of embedded computing devices. The WSN is built with nodes that are used to observe the surroundings like temperature, humidity, pressure, position, vibration, sound etc. These nodes can be used in various real-time applications to perform various tasks like smart detecting, a discovery of neighbor node, data processing and storage, data collection, target tracking, monitor and controlling, synchronization, node localization, and effective routing between the base station and nodes. Presently, WSNs are beginning to be organized in an enhanced step. It is not awkward to expect that in 10 to 15 years that the world will be protected with WSNs with entree to them via the Internet. This can be measured as the Internet becoming a physical n/w. This technology is thrilling with infinite potential for many application areas like medical, environmental, transportation, military, entertainment, homeland defense, crisis management and also smart spaces.
What is a Wireless Sensor Network?
A Wireless Sensor Network is one kind of wireless network includes a large number of circulating, self- directed, minute, low powered devices named sensor nodes called motes. These networks certainly cover a huge number of spatially distributed, little, battery-operated, embedded devices that are networked to caringly collect, process, and transfer data to the operators, and it has controlled the capabilities of computing & processing. Nodes are the tiny computers, which work jointly to form the networks. The sensor node is a multi-functional, energy efficient wireless device. The applications of motes in industrial are widespread. A collection of sensor nodes collects the data from the surroundings to achieve specific application objectives. The communication between motes can be done with each other using transceivers. In a wireless sensor network, the number of motes can be in the order of hundreds/ even thousands. In contrast with sensor n/ws, Ad Hoc networks will have fewer nodes without any structure.
GIS- A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. The key word to this technology is Geography – this means that some portion of the data is spatial. In other words, data that is in some way referenced to locations on the earth. Coupled with this data is usually tabular data known as attribute data. Attribute data can be generally defined as additional information about each of the spatial features. An example of this would be schools. The actual location of the schools is the spatial data. Additional data such as the school name, level of education taught, student capacity would make up the attribute data. It is the partnership of these two data types that enables GIS to be such an effective problem solving tool through spatial analysis.
GIS is more than just software. People and methods are combined with geospatial software and tools, to enable spatial analysis, manage large datasets, and display information in a map/graphical form. What can we do with GIS? GIS can be used as tool in both problem solving and decision making processes, as well as for visualization of data in a spatial environment. Geospatial data can be analyzed to determine (1) the location of features and relationships to other features, (2) where the most and/or least of some feature exists, (3) the density of features in a given space, (4) what is happening inside an area of interest (AOI), (5) what is happening nearby some feature or phenomenon, and (6) and how a specific area has changed over time (and in what way). Mapping where things are. We can map the spatial location of real-world features and visualize the spatial relationships among them. Example: below we see a map of frac sand mine locations and sandstone areas in Wisconsin. We can see visual patterns in the data by determining that frac sand mining activity occurs in a region with a specific type of geology. Mapping quantities. People map quantities, such as where the most and least are, to find places that meet their criteria or to see the relationships between places. Example: below is a map of cemetery locations in Wisconsin. The map shows the cemetery locations as dots (dot density) and each county is color coded to show where the most and least are (lighter blue means fewer cemeteries). Mapping densities. Sometimes it is more important to map concentrations, or a quantity normalized by area or total number. Example: Below we have mapped the population density of Manhattan (total population counts normalized by the area in sq. miles of census tracts.) Finding what is inside. We can use GIS to determine what is happening or what features are located inside a specific area/region. We can determine the characteristics of "inside" by creating specific criteria to define an area of interest (AOI). Example: below is a map showing a flood event and the tax parcels and buildings in the floodway. We can use tools like CLIP to determine which parcels fall inside the flood event. Further, we can use attributes of the parcels to determine potential costs of property damage. Finding what is nearby. We can find out what is happening within a set distance of a feature or event by mapping what is nearby using geoprocessing tools like BUFFER. Example: below we see a map of drive times from a central location in the City of Madison, WI. We can use streets as a network and add specific criteria like speed limit and intersection controls to determine how far a driver can typically get in 5, 10, or 15 minutes. (Map courtesy of UW Extension) Mapping change. We can map the change in a specific geographic area to anticipate future conditions, decide on a course of action, or to evaluate the results of an action or policy. Example: below we see land use maps of Barnstable, MA showing changes in residential development from 1951 to 1999. The dark green shows forest, while bright yellow shows residential development. Applications like this can help inform community planning processes and policies.
ISP (Internet service provider):An ISP (Internet service provider) is a company that provides individuals and other companies access to the Internet and other related services such as Web site building and virtual hosting. An ISP has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have a point-of-presence on the Internet for the geographic area served. The larger ISPs have their own high-speed leased lines so that they are less dependent on the telecommunication providers and can provide better service to their customers. Among the largest national and regional ISPs are AT&T WorldNet, IBM Global Network, MCI, Netcom, UUNet, and PSINet.
ISPs also include regional providers such as New England's NEARNet and the San Francisco Bay area BARNet. They also include thousands of local providers. In addition, Internet users can also get access through online service providers (OSP) such as America Online and Compuserve. The larger ISPs interconnect with each other through MAE (ISP switching centers run by MCI WorldCom) or similar centers. The arrangements they make to exchange traffic are known as peering agreements. There are several very comprehensive lists of ISPs world-wide available on the Web. An ISP is also sometimes referred to as an IAP (Internet access provider). ISP is sometimes used as an abbreviation for independent service provider to distinguish a service provider that is an independent, separate company from a telephone company.
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AI (Artificial Intelligence): -Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. These processes include learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions) and self-correction. Particular applications of AI include expert systems, speech recognition and machine vision.
AI can be categorized as either weak or strong. Weak AI, also known as narrow AI, is an AI system that is designed and trained for a particular task. Virtual personal assistants, such as Apple's Siri, are a form of weak AI. Strong AI, also known as artificial general intelligence, is an AI system with generalized human cognitive abilities. When presented with an unfamiliar task, a strong AI system is able to find a solution without human intervention.
Because hardware, software and staffing costs for AI can be expensive, many vendors are including AI components in their standard offerings, as well as access to Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) platforms. AI as a Service allows individuals and companies to experiment with AI for various business purposes and sample multiple platforms before making a commitment. Popular AI cloud offerings include Amazon AI services, IBM Watson Assistant, Microsoft Cognitive Services and Google AI services.
While AI tools present a range of new functionality for businesses, the use of artificial intelligence raises ethical questions. This is because deep learning algorithms, which underpin many of the most advanced AI tools, are only as smart as the data they are given in training. Because a human selects what data should be used for training an AI program, the potential for human bias is inherent and must be monitored closely.
Some industry experts believe that the term artificial intelligence is too closely linked to popular culture, causing the general public to have unrealistic fears about artificial intelligence and improbable expectations about how it will change the workplace and life in general. Researchers and marketers hope the label augmented intelligence, which has a more neutral connotation, will help people understand that AI will simply improve products and services, not replace the humans that use them.
Types of artificial intelligence
Arend Hintze, an assistant professor of integrative biology and computer science and engineering at Michigan State University, categorizes AI into four types, from the kind of AI systems that exist today to sentient systems, which do not yet exist. His categories are as follows:
Type 1: Reactive machines. An example is Deep Blue, the IBM chess program that beat Garry Kasparov in the 1990s. Deep Blue can identify pieces on the chess board and make predictions, but it has no memory and cannot use past experiences to inform future ones. It analyzes possible moves -- its own and its opponent -- and chooses the most strategic move. Deep Blue and Google's AlphaGO were designed for narrow purposes and cannot easily be applied to another situation. Type 2: Limited memory. These AI systems can use past experiences to inform future decisions. Some of the decision-making functions in self-driving cars are designed this way. Observations inform actions happening in the not-so-distant future, such as a car changing lanes. These observations are not stored permanently. Type 3: Theory of mind. This psychology term refers to the understanding that others have their own beliefs, desires and intentions that impact the decisions they make. This kind of AI does not yet exist. Type 4: Self-awareness. In this category, AI systems have a sense of self, have consciousness. Machines with self-awareness understand their current state and can use the information to infer what others are feeling. This type of AI does not yet exist.
Examples of AI technology
AI is incorporated into a variety of different types of technology. Here are seven examples.
Automation: What makes a system or process function automatically? For example, robotic process automation (RPA) can be programmed to perform high-volume, repeatable tasks those humans normally performed. RPA is different from IT automation in that it can adapt to changing circumstances. Machine learning: The science of getting a computer to act without programming. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that, in very simple terms, can be thought of as the automation of predictive analytics. There are three types of machine learning algorithms: o Supervised learning: Data sets are labeled so that patterns can be detected and used to label new data sets o Unsupervised learning: Data sets aren't labeled and are sorted according to similarities or differences o Reinforcement learning: Data sets aren't labeled but, after performing an action or several actions, the AI system is given feedback Machine vision: The science of allowing computers to see. This technology captures and analyzes visual information using a camera, analog-to-digital conversion and digital signal processing. It is often compared to human eyesight, but machine vision isn't bound by biology and can be programmed to see through walls, for example. It is used in a range of applications from signature identification to medical image analysis. Computer vision, which is focused on machine-based image processing, is often conflated with machine vision. Natural language processing (NLP): The processing of human -- and not computer -- language by a computer program. One of the older and best known examples of NLP is spam detection, which looks at the subject line and the text of an email and decides if it's junk. Current approaches to NLP are based on machine learning. NLP tasks include text translation, sentiment analysis and speech recognition. Robotics: A field of engineering focused on the design and manufacturing of robots. Robots are often used to perform tasks that are difficult for humans to perform or perform consistently. They are used in assembly lines for car production or by NASA to move large objects in space. Researchers are also using machine learning to build robots that can interact in social settings. Self-driving cars: These use a combination of computer vision, image recognition and deep learning to build automated skill at piloting a vehicle while staying in a given lane and avoiding unexpected obstructions, such as pedestrians.
AI applications
Artificial intelligence has made its way into a number of areas. Here are six examples.
AI in healthcare. The biggest bets are on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. Companies are applying machine learning to make better and faster diagnoses than humans. One of the best known healthcare technologies is IBM Watson. It understands natural language and is capable of responding to questions asked of it. The system mines patient data and other available data sources to form a hypothesis, which it then presents with a confidence scoring schema. Other AI applications include chatbots, a computer program used online to answer questions and assist customers, to help schedule follow-up appointments or aid patients through the billing process, and virtual health assistants that provide basic medical feedback. AI in business. Robotic process automation is being applied to highly repetitive tasks normally performed by humans. Machine learning algorithms are being integrated into analytics and CRM platforms to uncover information on how to better serve customers. Chatbots have been incorporated into websites to provide immediate service to customers. Automation of job positions has also become a talking point among academics and IT analysts. AI in education. AI can automate grading, giving educators more time. AI can assess students and adapt to their needs, helping them work at their own pace. AI tutors can provide additional support to students, ensuring they stay on track. AI could change where and how students learn, perhaps even replacing some teachers. AI in finance. AI in personal finance applications, such as Mint or Turbo Tax, is disrupting financial institutions. Applications such as these collect personal data and provide financial advice. Other programs, such as IBM Watson, have been applied to the process of buying a home. Today, software performs much of the trading on Wall Street. AI in law. The discovery process, sifting through of documents, in law is often overwhelming for humans. Automating this process is a more efficient use of time. Startups are also building question-and-answer computer assistants that can sift programmed-to-answer questions by examining the taxonomy and ontology associated with a database. AI in manufacturing. This is an area that has been at the forefront of incorporating robots into the workflow. Industrial robots used to perform single tasks and were separated from human workers, but as the technology advanced that changed.
How AI affects marketing operations.
Expert system: -An expert system is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to simulate the judgment and behavior of a human or an organization that has expert knowledge and experience in a particular field.
Typically, an expert system incorporates a knowledge base containing accumulated experience and an inference or rules engine -- a set of rules for applying the knowledge base to each particular situation that is described to the program. The system's capabilities can be enhanced with additions to the knowledge base or to the set of rules. Current systems may include machine learning capabilities that allow them to improve their performance based on experience, just as humans do.
What are the advantages of them? The knowledge base can be updated and extended They can contain a large amount of information
But the disadvantages are:
They are not able to learn from the mistakes They cannot creatively come with new solutions for the issues It’s not easily achievable to mimic the exact knowledge of an Expert in Computer Programs.
What are Expert Systems? The expert systems are the computer applications developed to solve complex problems in a particular domain, at the level of extra-ordinary human intelligence and expertise. Characteristics of Expert Systems High performance Understandable Reliable Highly responsive Capabilities of Expert Systems The expert systems are capable of − Advising Instructing and assisting human in decision making Demonstrating Deriving a solution Diagnosing Explaining Interpreting input Predicting results Justifying the conclusion Suggesting alternative options to a problem They are incapable of − Substituting human decision makers Possessing human capabilities Producing accurate output for inadequate knowledge base Refining their own knowledge Applications of Expert System The following table shows where ES can be applied. Application Description Design Domain Camera lens design, automobile design. Medical Domain Diagnosis Systems to deduce cause of disease from observed data, conduction medical operations on humans. Monitoring Systems Comparing data continuously with observed system or with prescribed behavior such as leakage monitoring in long petroleum pipeline. Process Control Systems Controlling a physical process based on monitoring. Knowledge Domain Finding out faults in vehicles, computers. Finance/Commerce Detection of possible fraud, suspicious transactions, stock market trading, Airline scheduling, cargo scheduling. Development of Expert Systems: General Steps The process of ES development is iterative. Steps in developing the ES include − Identify Problem Domain The problem must be suitable for an expert system to solve it. Find the experts in task domain for the ES project. Establish cost-effectiveness of the system. Design the System Identify the ES Technology Know and establish the degree of integration with the other systems and databases. Realize how the concepts can represent the domain knowledge best. Develop the Prototype From Knowledge Base: The knowledge engineer works to − Acquire domain knowledge from the expert. Represent it in the form of If-THEN-ELSE rules. Test and Refine the Prototype The knowledge engineer uses sample cases to test the prototype for any deficiencies in performance. End users test the prototypes of the ES. Develop and Complete the ES Test and ensure the interaction of the ES with all elements of its environment, including end users, databases, and other information systems. Document the ES project well. Train the user to use ES. Maintain the System Keep the knowledge base up-to-date by regular review and update. Cater for new interfaces with other information systems, as those systems evolve.
Benefits of Expert Systems Availability − They are easily available due to mass production of software. Less Production Cost − Production cost is reasonable. This makes them affordable. Speed − They offer great speed. They reduce the amount of work an individual puts in. Less Error Rate − Error rate is low as compared to human errors. Reducing Risk − They can work in the environment dangerous to humans. Steady response − They work steadily without getting motional, tensed or fatigued.
Big Data: - Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis. But it’s not the amount of data that’s important. It’s what organizations do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves.
Big Data History and Current Considerations While the term “big data” is relatively new, the act of gathering and storing large amounts of information for eventual analysis is ages old. The concept gained momentum in the early 2000s when industry analyst Doug Laney articulated the now-mainstream definition of big data as the three Vs:
Volume. Organizations collect data from a variety of sources, including business transactions, social media and information from sensor or machine-to-machine data. In the past, storing it would’ve been a problem – but new technologies (such as Hadoop) have eased the burden. Velocity. Data streams in at an unprecedented speed and must be dealt with in a timely manner. RFID tags, sensors and smart metering are driving the need to deal with torrents of data in near- real time. Variety. Data comes in all types of formats – from structured, numeric data in traditional databases to unstructured text documents, email, video, audio, stock ticker data and financial transactions. At SAS, we consider two additional dimensions when it comes to big data: Variability. In addition to the increasing velocities and varieties of data, data flows can be highly inconsistent with periodic peaks. Is something trending in social media? Daily, seasonal and event-triggered peak data loads can be challenging to manage. Even more so with unstructured data. Complexity. Today's data comes from multiple sources, which makes it difficult to link, match, cleanse and transform data across systems. However, it’s necessary to connect and correlate relationships, hierarchies and multiple data linkages or your data can quickly spiral out of control.
Why Is Big Data Important? The importance of big data doesn’t revolve around how much data you have, but what you do with it. You can take data from any source and analyze it to find answers that enable 1) cost reductions, 2) time reductions, 3) new product development and optimized offerings, and 4) smart decision making. When you combine big data with high-powered analytics, you can accomplish business-related tasks such as: Determining root causes of failures, issues and defects in near-real time. Generating coupons at the point of sale based on the customer’s buying habits. Recalculating entire risk portfolios in minutes. Detecting fraudulent behavior before it affects your organization.
Who uses big data?
Big data affects organizations across practically every industry. See how each industry can benefit from this onslaught of information.
Banking-With large amounts of information streaming in from countless sources, banks are faced with finding new and innovative ways to manage big data. While it’s important to understand customers and boost their satisfaction, it’s equally important to minimize risk and fraud while maintaining regulatory compliance. Big data brings big insights, but it also requires financial institutions to stay one step ahead of the game with advanced analytics.
Education-Educators armed with data-driven insight can make a significant impact on school systems, students and curriculums. By analyzing big data, they can identify at-risk students, make sure students are making adequate progress, and can implement a better system for evaluation and support of teachers and principals.
Government-When government agencies are able to harness and apply analytics to their big data, they gain significant ground when it comes to managing utilities, running agencies, dealing with traffic congestion or preventing crime. But while there are many advantages to big data, governments must also address issues of transparency and privacy.
Health Care-Patient records. Treatment plans. Prescription information. When it comes to health care, everything needs to be done quickly, accurately – and, in some cases, with enough transparency to satisfy stringent industry regulations. When big data is managed effectively, health care providers can uncover hidden insights that improve patient care.
Manufacturing-Armed with insight that big data can provide, manufacturers can boost quality and output while minimizing waste – processes that are key in today’s highly competitive market. More and more manufacturers are working in an analytics-based culture, which means they can solve problems faster and make more agile business decisions.
Retail-Customer relationship building is critical to the retail industry – and the best way to manage that is to manage big data. Retailers need to know the best way to market to customers, the most effective way to handle transactions, and the most strategic way to bring back lapsed business. Big data remains at the heart of all those things.
Internet of thing: -The Internet of things (IoT) refers to the concept of extending Internet connectivity beyond conventional computing platforms such as personal computers and mobile devices, and into any range of traditionally "dumb" or non-internet-enabled physical devices and everyday objects. Embedded with electronics, Internet connectivity, and other forms of hardware (such as sensors), these devices can communicate and interact with others over the Internet, and they can be remotely monitored and controlled. Or Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of connected physical objects that are accessible through the internet. The ‘thing’ in IoT could be a person with a heart monitor or an automobile with built-in- sensors, i.e. objects that have been assigned an IP address and have the ability to collect and transfer data over a network without manual assistance or intervention. The embedded technology in the objects helps them to interact with internal states or the external environment, which in turn affects the decisions taken.
Why IoT? An article by Ashton published in the RFID Journal in 1999 said, “If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things - using data they gathered without any help from us - we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves, in all its random glory.” This is precisely what IoT platforms does for us. It enables devices/objects to observe, identify and understand a situation or the surroundings without being dependent on human help.
Why IoT Matters When something is connected to the internet, that means that it can send information or receive information, or both. This ability to send and/or receive information makes things smart, and smart is good. Let’s use smart phones (smart phones) again as an example. Right now you can listen to just about any song in the world, but it’s not because your phone actually has every song in the world stored on it. It’s because every song in the world is stored somewhere else, but your phone can send information (asking for that song) and then receive information (streaming that song on your phone).
To be smart, a thing doesn’t need to have super storage or a super computer inside of it. All a thing has to do is connect to super storage or to a super computer. Being connected is awesome. In the Internet of Things, all the things that are being connected to the internet can be put into three categories:
Things that collect information and then send it. Things that receive information and then act on it. Things that do both. And all three of these have enormous benefits that feed on each other.
Collecting and Sending Information This means sensors. Sensors could be temperature sensors, motion sensors, moisture sensors, air quality sensors, light sensors, you name it. These sensors, along with a connection, allow us to automatically collect information from the environment which, in turn, allows us to make more intelligent decisions. On the farm, automatically getting information about the soil moisture can tell farmers exactly when their crops need to be watered. Instead of watering too much (which can be an expensive over-use of irrigation systems and environmentally wasteful) or watering too little (which can be an expensive loss of crops), the farmer can ensure that crops get exactly the right amount of water. More money for farmers and more food for the world! Just as our sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste allow us, humans, to make sense of the world, sensors allow machines to make sense of the world.
Receiving and Acting on Information We’re all very familiar with machines getting information and then acting. Your printer receives a document and it prints it. Your car receives a signal from your car keys and the doors open. The examples are endless. Whether it’s a simple as sending the command “turn on” or as complex as sending a 3D model to a 3D printer, we know that we can tell machines what to do from far away. So what?
The real power of the Internet of Things arises when things can do both of the above. Things that collect information and send it, but also receive information and act on it.
Doing Both Let’s quickly go back to the farming example. The sensors can collect information about the soil moisture to tell the farmer how much to water the crops, but you don’t actually need the farmer. Instead, the irrigation system can automatically turn on as needed, based on how much moisture is in the soil. You can take it a step further too. If the irrigation system receives information about the weather from its internet connection, it can also know when it’s going to rain and decide not to water the crops today because they’ll be watered by the rain anyways. And it doesn’t stop there! All this information about the soil moisture, how much the irrigation system is watering the crops, and how well the crops actually grow can be collected and sent to supercomputers that run amazing algorithms that can make sense of all this information. And that’s just one kind of sensor. Add in other sensors like light, air quality, and temperature, and these algorithms can learn much much more. With dozens, hundreds, thousands of farms all collecting this information, these algorithms can create incredible insights into how to make crops grow the best, helping to feed the world’s growing population.
What is the scope of IoT? Internet of Things can connect devices embedded in various systems to the internet. When devices/objects can represent themselves digitally, they can be controlled from anywhere. The connectivity then helps us capture more data from more places, ensuring more ways of increasing efficiency and improving safety and IoT security.
IoT is a transformational force that can help companies improve performance through IoT analytics and IoT Security to deliver better results. Businesses in the utilities, oil & gas, insurance, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure and retail sectors can reap the benefits of IoT by making more informed decisions, aided by the torrent of interactional and transactional data at their disposal.
How can IoT help?
IoT platforms can help organizations reduce cost through improved process efficiency, asset utilization and productivity. With improved tracking of devices/objects using sensors and connectivity, they can benefit from real-time insights and analytics, which would help them make smarter decisions. The growth and convergence of data, processes and things on the internet would make such connections more relevant and important, creating more opportunities for people, businesses and industries.
What is cloud computing?
Simply put, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, intelligence and more—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources and economies of scale. You typically pay only for cloud services you use, helping lower your operating costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently and scale as your business needs change.
Top benefits of cloud computing
Cloud computing is a big shift from the traditional way businesses think about IT resources. Here are six common reasons organizations are turning to cloud computing services:
Cost-Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and software and setting up and running on-site datacenters—the racks of servers, the round-the-clock electricity for power and cooling, the IT experts for managing the infrastructure. It adds up fast. Speed-Most cloud computing services are provided self service and on demand, so even vast amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes, typically with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking the pressure off capacity planning. Global scale-The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale elastically. In cloud speak, that means delivering the right amount of IT resources—for example, more or less computing power, storage, bandwidth—right when it is needed and from the right geographic location. Productivity-On-site datacenters typically require a lot of “racking and stacking”—hardware set up, software patching and other time-consuming IT management chores. Cloud computing removes the need for many of these tasks, so IT teams can spend time on achieving more important business goals. Performance-The biggest cloud computing services run on a worldwide network of secure datacenters, which are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast and efficient computing hardware. This offers several benefits over a single corporate datacenter, including reduced network latency for applications and greater economies of scale. Security-Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies and controls that strengthen your security posture overall, helping protect your data, apps and infrastructure from potential threats.
Types of cloud computing
Not all clouds are the same and not one type of cloud computing is right for everyone. Several different models, types and services have evolved to help offer the right solution for your needs.
Types of cloud deployments: public, private and hybrid
First, you need to determine the type of cloud deployment or cloud computing architecture, that your cloud services will be implemented on. There are three different ways to deploy cloud services: on a public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud.
Public cloud-Public clouds are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service providers, which deliver their computing resources like servers and storage over the Internet. Microsoft Azure is an example of a public cloud. With a public cloud, all hardware, software and other supporting infrastructure is owned and managed by the cloud provider. You access these services and manage your account using a web browser. Private cloud-A private cloud refers to cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single business or organization. A private cloud can be physically located on the company’s on-site datacenter. Some companies also pay third-party service providers to host their private cloud. A private cloud is one in which the services and infrastructure are maintained on a private network. Hybrid cloud-Hybrid clouds combine public and private clouds, bound together by technology that allows data and applications to be shared between them. By allowing data and applications to move between private and public clouds, a hybrid cloud gives your business greater flexibility, more deployment options and helps optimise your existing infrastructure, security and compliance.
Types of cloud services: IaaS, PaaS, serverless and SaaS
Most cloud computing services fall into four broad categories: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), serverless and software as a service (SaaS). These are sometimes called the cloud computing stack because they build on top of one another. Knowing what they are and how they are different makes it easier to accomplish your business goals.
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)-The most basic category of cloud computing services. With IaaS, you rent IT infrastructure—servers and virtual machines (VMs), storage, networks, operating systems—from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis. Platform as a service (PaaS)-Platform as a service refers to cloud computing services that supply an on-demand environment for developing, testing, delivering and managing software applications. PaaS is designed to make it easier for developers to quickly create web or mobile apps, without worrying about setting up or managing the underlying infrastructure of servers, storage, network and databases needed for development. Server less computing-Overlapping with PaaS, serverless computing focuses on building app functionality without spending time continually managing the servers and infrastructure required to do so. The cloud provider handles the setup, capacity planning and server management for you. Serverless architectures are highly scalable and event-driven, only using resources when a specific function or trigger occurs. Software as a service (SaaS)-Software as a service is a method for delivering software applications over the Internet, on demand and typically on a subscription basis. With SaaS, cloud providers host and manage the software application and underlying infrastructure and handle any maintenance, like software upgrades and security patching. Users connect to the application over the Internet, usually with a web browser on their phone, tablet or PC.
How cloud computing works
While cloud computing services all work a little differently, many provide a friendly, browser-based dashboard that makes it easier for IT professionals and developers to order resources and manage their accounts. Some cloud computing services are also designed to work with REST APIs and a command- line interface, giving developers multiple options.
Uses of cloud computing You are probably using cloud computing right now, even if you don’t realise it. If you use an online service to send email, edit documents, watch movies or TV, listen to music, play games or store pictures and other files, it is likely that cloud computing is making it all possible behind the scenes. The first cloud computing services are barely a decade old, but already a variety of organizations—from tiny startups to global corporations, government agencies to non-profits—are embracing the technology for all sorts of reasons. Here are a few examples of what is possible today with cloud services from a cloud provider: Create new apps and services-Quickly build, deploy and scale applications—web, mobile and API—on any platform. Access the resources you need to help meet performance, security and compliance requirements. Test and build applications-Reduce application development cost and time by using cloud infrastructures that can easily be scaled up or down. Store, back up and recover data-Protect your data more cost-efficiently—and at massive scale—by transferring your data over the Internet to an offsite cloud storage system that is accessible from any location and any device. Analyze data-Unify your data across teams, divisions and locations in the cloud. Then use cloud services, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, to uncover insights for more informed decisions. Stream audio and video-Connect with your audience anywhere, anytime, on any device with high-definition video and audio with global distribution. Embed intelligence-Use intelligent models to help engage customers and provide valuable insights from the data captured. Deliver software on demand-Also known as software as a service (SaaS), on-demand software lets you offer the latest software versions and updates around to customers—anytime they need, anywhere they are.
Google Forms—along with Docs, Sheets, and Slides—is part of Google's online apps suite of tools to help you get more done in your browser for free. It's easy to use and one of the simplest ways to save data directly to a spreadsheet, and it's the best sidekick to Google Sheets' spreadsheets.
When you need to gather data for your spreadsheets, a form is your best friend. In this chapter, let's take an in-depth look at Google Forms' features, hidden tools, and add-ons to help you make the forms you need in minutes.
FeaturesOf Google Form
Get answers fastPlan your next camping trip, manage event registrations, whip up a quick poll, collect email addresses for a newsletter, create a pop quiz, and much more. Survey with styleUse your own photo or logo, and Forms will pick just the right colors to complete your own unique form, or choose from a set of curated themes to set the tone. Q&A, your wayChoose from a bunch of question options, from multiple choice to dropdowns to a linear scale. Add images and YouTube videos, or get fancy with page branching and question skip logic. Create or respond on the goForms is responsive, so that means it’s easy (and beautiful) to make, edit, and respond to forms on screens big and small. Organized & analyzedResponses to your surveys are neatly and automatically collected in Forms, with real time response info and charts. Or, take your data further by viewing it all in Sheets.
Web Portal-https://www.google.com/forms/about/
Google Docs- Google Docs is the word processor component of Google’s online office suite. It’s a free alternative to Microsoft Word. It also has more features than you might realize. Google Docs is Google’s browser-based word processor. You can create, edit, and share documents online and access them from any computer with an internet connection.
What set Google Docs apart from its main desktop competitor, Microsoft Word, are its collaborative features? Google Docs was one of the first word processors to offer shared online document editing.
Google has made it incredibly easy to share documents across platforms and work on them together in real time from a browser window. Your collaborators don’t even need a Google account to view or edit Google documents you share with them.
Moreover, Google Docs add-ons let you expand the functionality and add missing features.
Features of Google Docs- More than letters and wordsGoogle Docs brings your documents to life with smart editing and styling tools to help you easily format text and paragraphs. Choose from hundreds of fonts, add links, images, and drawings. All for free. Get a head start with templatesChoose from a wide variety of resumes, reports, and other pre-made documents — all designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier. Get to your documents anywhere, anytimeAccess, create, and edit your documents wherever you go — from your phone, tablet, or computer — even when there's no connection. Never hit “save” againAll your changes are automatically saved as you type. You can even use revision history to see old versions of the same document, sorted by date and who made the change. All of Search, right in DocsExplore and get inspired by images, quotes, and text from Google searches, without leaving the Android app. Do more with add-onsTake your Docs experience even further with add-ons. Try Lucidchart Diagrams to create and insert flow charts and diagrams.
Web Portalshttps://www.google.com/docs/about/
Google SheetsGoogle Sheets is a free, web-based program for creating and editing spreadsheets. Google Sheets, along with Google Docs and Google Slides, is a part of what Google calls Google Drive. It's similar to how Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint are each individual parts within Microsoft Office. Google Sheets excels* most with those who have modest spreadsheet requirements, work remotely from multiple devices, and/or collaborate with others.
Google DriveGoogle Drive is a free cloud-based storage service that enables users to store and access files online. The service syncs stored documents, photos and more across all of the user's devices, including mobile devices, tablets and PCs.
Google Drive integrates with the company's other services and systems -- including Google Docs, Gmail, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Google Analytics and Google+. Google Drive competes with Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud, Box, Dropbox and SugarSync.
How Google Drive works
To get started with Google Drive, the end user must create or sign in to a Google account. Then, the user types "drive.google.com" into his or her browser. "My Drive" will automatically appear, which can contain uploaded or synced files and folders, as well as Google Sheets, Slides and Docs. Then, the user can either upload files from his or her computer or create files in Google Drive.
Alternatively, the end user can download a Google Drive application to one or more devices. A Google Drive folder will appear along with other folders in each device's file system. Files that the user adds to one folder are available through a Google Drive web app or the Google Drive folder on each device.
When the end user creates a file or folder, he or she becomes its owner by default. Then, the owner can control the level of visibility (public or privately shared with specific Google accounts) and transfer ownership to another user using Gmail addresses. The owner can also regulate permissions for both folders and files, using access levels such as "can edit," "can comment" and "can view."
Major features of Google Drive
Google Drive integrates with several first-party and third-party external web applications that users can add from the Chrome Web Store. End users can sign documents, make flowcharts, store music files and complete other tasks using these apps. To add a third-party app, users can click "My Drive," "more," and "connect more apps." Third-party apps are all free, but they charge users fees to use certain features.
Google Drive's search feature can sort results by item name, file type, date modified, location, ownership and more. As of September 2016, users can make queries in natural language such as "find my sales presentations from last May."
The Quick Access feature for the Android, iOS and web apps uses machine learning to predict files that users need based on their Drive activity and workday patterns.
Pricing and storage tiers
As of this writing, Google offers 15 GB of storage for free and larger amounts at low rates -- 100 GB for $1.99 per month, 1 TB for $9.99 per month, 2 TB for $19.99 per month, 10 TB for $99.99 per month, 20 TB for $199.99 per month and 30 TB for $299.99 per month. Users that pay annually can receive a discount on the 100 GB and 1 TB plans.
Google automatically renews purchases at the end of each month, and it gives a seven-day grace period for users to update their payment information if the auto-renewal fails. If users cancel a subscription or let it expire, they will go back to the free 15 GB storage tier.
Unit-5 Decision Tree Definition: - A decision tree is a graphical representation of possible solutions to a decision based on certain conditions. It's called a decision tree because it starts with a single box (or root), which then branches off into a number of solutions, just like a tree. Decision trees are helpful, not only because they are graphics that help you 'see' what you are thinking, but also because making a decision tree requires a systematic, documented thought process. Often, the biggest limitation of our decision making is that we can only select from the known alternatives. Decisions trees help formalize the brainstorming process so we can identify more potential solutions.
Decision Tree Example: - Applied in real life, decision trees can be very complex and end up including pages of options. But, regardless of the complexity, decision trees are all based on the same principles. Here is a basic example of a decision tree: You are making your weekend plans and find out that your parents might come to town. You'd like to have plans in place, but there are a few unknown factors that will determine what you can, and can't, do. Time for a decision tree. First, you draw your decision box. This is the box that includes the event that starts your decision tree. In this case it is your parents coming to town. Out of that box, you have a branch for each possible outcome. In our example, it's easy: yes or no - either your parents come or they don't. Your parents love the movies, so if they come to town, you'll go to the cinema. Since the goal of the decision tree is to decide your weekend plans, you have an answer. But, what about if your parents don't come to town? We can go back up to the 'no branch' from the decision box and finish our decision tree. If your parents don't come to town, you need to decide what you are going to do. As you think of options, you realize the weather is an important factor. Weather becomes your next box. Since it's spring time, you know it will either be rainy, sunny, or windy. Those three possibilities become your branches.
Decision table:-A decision table is an excellent tool to use in both testing and requirements management. Essentially it is a structured exercise to formulate requirements when dealing with complex business rules. Decision tables are used to model complicated logic. They can make it easy to see that all possible combinations of conditions have been considered and when conditions are missed, it is easy to see this.
Let’s take an example scenario for an ATM where a decision table would be of use.
A customer requests a cash withdrawal. One of the business rules for the ATM is that the ATM machine pays out the amount if the customer has sufficient funds in their account or if the customer has the credit granted. Already, this simple example of a business rule is quite complicated to describe in text. A decision table makes the same requirements clearer to understand:
In a decision table, conditions are usually expressed as true (T) or false (F). Each column in the table corresponds to a rule in the business logic that describes the unique combination of circumstances that will result in the actions. The table above contains three different business rules, and one of them is the “withdrawal is granted if the requested amount is covered by the balance.” It is normal to create at least one test case per column, which results in full coverage of all business rules.
MIS Introduction-This article will help you understand more about Management Information System (MIS) which explains the important functions in an organization. Management Information System (MIS) is a computer based system that helps managers to manage and organize the organization easily in which it processes information through computers. In order to be successful in your organization, MIS is a big help for a better planning and decision.
MIS life cycle
Definition of Fact-finding Techniques:-
Fact finding is process of collection of data and information based on techniques which contain sampling of existing documents, research, observation, questionnaires, interviews, prototyping and joint requirements planning. System analyst uses suitable fact-finding techniques to develop and implement the current existing system. Collecting required facts are very important to apply tools in System Development Life Cycle because tools cannot be used efficiently and effectively without proper extracting from facts. Fact-finding techniques are used in the early stage of System Development Life Cycle including system analysis phase, design and post implementation review. Facts included in any information system can be tested based on three steps: data- facts used to create useful information, process- functions to perform the objectives and interface- designs to interact with users. Fact-finding techniques
There are seven common fact-finding techniques:- Sampling of existing documentation, forms and databases Research and Site visits Observation of the work environment Questionnaires Interviews Prototyping Joint requirements planning
Data dictionary:- A data dictionary contains metadata i.e. data about the database. The data dictionary is very important as it contains information such as what is in the database, who is allowed to access it, where is the database physically stored etc. The users of the database normally don't interact with the data dictionary; it is only handled by the database administrators.
The data dictionary in general contains information about the following:
1. Names of all the database tables and their schemas. 2. Details about all the tables in the database, such as their owners, their security constraints, when they were created etc. 3. Physical information about the tables such as where they are stored and how. 4. Table constraints such as primary key attributes, foreign key information etc. 5. Information about the database views that are visible.