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Introduction To ICT - module 1 college notes

management accounting 1 (Tom Mboya University College )

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DIPLOMA IN
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY

KENYA INSTITUTE OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

STUDY NOTES

Introduction to information
communication technology and ethics

MODULE I: SUBJECT NO 1

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Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ........................... 5
Definition of ICT......................................................................................................................................... 5
USES OF ICT ............................................................................................................................................... 5
ICT equipment / facilities found in organizations ..................................................................................... 5
The impact of ICT on society ..................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS .............................................................................................. 7
Definition of a Computer .......................................................................................................................... 7
Importance of Computers so use.............................................................................................................. 7
Evolution of computers............................................................................................................................. 9
History of computers .............................................................................................................................. 11
Classification of Computers .................................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 3: COMPUTER HARDWARE AND ORGANISATION ....................................................................... 18
Computer hardware devices ................................................................................................................... 18
Memory storage...................................................................................................................................... 21
Communication Devices ......................................................................................................................... 23
CHAPTER 4: COMPUTER SOFTWARE ....................................................................................................... 25
Introduction to Computer software ....................................................................................................... 25
System software ..................................................................................................................................... 25
Application software ............................................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 5: HARDWARE, SOFTWARE SELECTION AND ACQUISITION ........................................................ 26
Meaning and importance of hardware and software selection and acquisition.................................... 26
Factors of consideration during Choosing hardware and software ....................................................... 26
Hardware and software acquisition procedure ...................................................................................... 29
Major phases in selection ....................................................................................................................... 30
Steps to Hardware and software acquisition.......................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 6: COMPUTER PERSONNEL ......................................................................................................... 37
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 37

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Computer Programmer ........................................................................................................................... 37

System Analyst and Designers ................................................................................................................ 37
Database Administrator .......................................................................................................................... 38
Network Administrator ........................................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER 7: COMPUTER SAFETY AND ERGONOMICS ................................................................................. 39
What is ergonomics and why is ergonomics important?........................................................................ 39
Computer safety ..................................................................................................................................... 39
Computer Ergonomic .............................................................................................................................. 41
Computer Setup ...................................................................................................................................... 41
Principles of Ergonomics ......................................................................................................................... 41
Use of Ergonomics in Health and Safety in the workplace ..................................................................... 42
CHAPTER 8: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION NETWORK ................................................................ 44
What is Computer Network? .................................................................................................................. 44
Uses and benefits of communication networks ..................................................................................... 44
Telecommunication technology .............................................................................................................. 45
Computer Network Components ........................................................................................................ 45
Transmission modes ........................................................................................................................... 46
Network Medium ................................................................................................................................ 47
Types of Communication Networks ........................................................................................................ 59
Computer Network Topology ................................................................................................................. 60
CHAPTER 9: ICT ETHICS AND LEGISLATIONS ............................................................................................... 67
Meaning and importance of ICT ethics ................................................................................................... 67
Unethical Behavior in the Workplace ..................................................................................................... 67
Common Reasons for Unethical Behavior .............................................................................................. 70
How to Prevent Unethical Behavior in the Workplace ........................................................................... 70
ICT Legislation and Policies ..................................................................................................................... 71
Definition of legislation ....................................................................................................................... 71
Legislation affecting IT. ....................................................................................................................... 71
ICT Policy and Legislation .................................................................................................................... 72
Objectives of ICT Policy ....................................................................................................................... 73
Guidelines on legislation and policies Enforcement ........................................................................... 73
CHAPTER 10: LIFE SKILLS ............................................................................................................................. 77

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Definition of Life Skills and terms ........................................................................................................... 77

Area and Importance of life skills ........................................................................................................... 77
Challenges facing the youth .................................................................................................................... 78
Categories of Life Skills ........................................................................................................................... 78
CHAPTER 11: CONFLICT MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................... 81
Meaning of conflict ................................................................................................................................. 81
Importance of Conflict Management ..................................................................................................... 81
Main types of conflict ............................................................................................................................. 82
Causes of conflicts................................................................................................................................... 82
Techniques or approaches of managing conflict .................................................................................... 83
CHAPTER 12: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ............ 87
Definition of Social Responsibility........................................................................................................... 87
Environmental protection ....................................................................................................................... 87
Challenges of social responsibility in ICT ................................................................................................ 89
CHAPTER 13: EMERGING TRENDS IN ICT AND ETHICS ................................................................................ 90
Cloud Computing ................................................................................................................................ 90
Mobile Application .............................................................................................................................. 90
User Interfaces .................................................................................................................................... 91
Analytics .............................................................................................................................................. 91

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

Definition of ICT
1. Information and Communications Technology(ICT), it is the study or business of developing
and using technology to process information and aid communications.
2. ICTs stand for information and communication technologies and are defined, for the purposes
of this primer, as a 5diverse set of technological tools and resources used to communicate, and
to create, disseminate, store, and manage information.6 [4] These technologies include
computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony.

USES OF ICT
1. ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital
data.
2. The data is transferred or communicated to people over long distances electronic means.

ICT equipment / facilities found in organizations

1. Computers - A computer is a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized
data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instructions
on how the data is to be processed.
2. Photocopiers - an instrument using light-sensitive photographic materials to reproduce
written, printed, or graphic work
3. Telephone 3 an apparatus, system, or process for transmission of sound or speech to a
distant point, especially by an electric device.
4. Fax machines - a method or device (fax′ machine`) for transmitting documents,
drawings, photographs, or the like by telephone or radio for exact reproduction
elsewhere. Your fax machine can be plugged directly into a wall phone jack or into the
telephone connection at the back of your Home Phone modem, or MTA (Multimedia
Terminal Adapter). - See more at: http://support.brighthouse.com/Article/Connect-Fax-
Machine-Home-Phone-Service-2266/#sthash.SwuhIiub.dpuf
5. Printer is a peripheral which produces a representation of an electronic document on
physical media such as paper or transparency film
6. others

The impact of ICT on society

Faster communication speed
In the past, it took a long time for any news or messages to be send. Now with the Internet, news
or messages are sent via e-mail to friends, business partners or to anyone efficiently. With the
capability of bandwidth, broadband and connection speed on the Internet, any information can
travel fast and at an instant. It saves time and is inexpensive.

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Lower communication cost

Using the Internet is cost-effective than the other modes of communication such as telephone,
mailing or courier service. It allows people to have access to large amounts of data at a very low
cost. With the Internet we do not have to pay for any basic services provided by the Internet.
Furthermore, the cost of connection to the Internet is relatively cheap.

Reliable mode of communication

Computers are reliable. With the internet, information could be accessed and retrieved from
anywhere and at anytime. This makes it a reliable mode of communication. However, the input
to the computer is contributed by humans. If the data passed to the computer is faulty, the result
will be faulty as well. This is related to the term GIGO.

GIGO is a short form for Garbage In Garbage Out. It refers to the quality of output produced
according to the input. Normally bad input produces bad output.

Effective sharing of information

With the advancement of ICT, information can be shared by people all around the world. People
can share and exchange opinions, news and information through discussion groups, mailing list
and forums on the Internet. This enable knowledge sharing which will contribute to the
development of knowledge based society.

Paperless Environment
ICT technology has created the term paperless environment. This term means information can be
stored and retrieved through the digital medium instead of paper. Online communication via
emails, online chat and instant messaging also helps in creating the paperless environment.

Borderless communication
Internet offers fast information retrieval, interactivity, accessibility and versatility. It has become
a borderless sources for services and information. Through the Internet, information and
communication can be borderless.

Social Problems
There are some negative effects of ICT. It has created social problems in the society. Nowadays,
people tend to choose online communication rather than having real time conversations. People
tend to become more individualistic and introvert.
Another negative effect of ICT is :
• fraud
• identity theft
• Pornography
• Hacking
This will result a moral decedent and generate threads to the society.

Health Problems
A computer may harm users if they use it for long hours frequently. Computer users are also exposed to
bad posture, eyestrain, physical and mental stress. In order to solve the health problems, an ergonomic

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environment can be introduced. For example, an ergonomic chair can reduces back strain and a screen
filter is used to minimize eye strain.

CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

Definition of a Computer
A computer is an electronic device that takes in data and instructions (input), works with the data
(processing), and produces information (output).
Basic Terms
Data refers to the raw facts that are fed to a computer.
Information is data that has been processed and can be used for decision making.
Data and Information can take either of the following formats:
•Text 3 These are number, characters or special symbols. They are used when preparing reports,
letters, etc.
•Graphics 3 These are images. Used when preparing charts, graphs, pictures
•Multimedia 3 These are audio and video recordings that may or may not combine of text and
graphics.
Processing is the act of converting data into information.
A typical personal desk top computer

Importance of Computers so use

Computer is an electronic device used in almost every field even where it is most unexpected.
That is why this age is called as the era of IT. And now we cannot imagine a world without
computers. It is made up of two things one is the hardware and other is software. All physical
components of computer like keyboard, mouse, monitor etc comes under the hardware whereas
all the programs and languages used by the computer are called software. These days computers
are the tools for not only engineers and scientists but also they are being used by millions of
people around the world.

Computer has become very important nowadays because it is very much accurate, fast and can
accomplish many tasks easily. Otherwise to complete those tasks manually much more time is
required. It can do very big calculations in just a fraction of a second. Moreover it can store huge
amount of data in it. We also get information on different aspects using internet on our computer.

In mid nineteen’s computers were only used by the government and army because at that
time using computer was a complicated task. When the microprocessor was invented computer
gets smaller in size but after DOS and unix it became very easy for the people to use computer.
Computer in different fields:-

Banks: Almost every bank is using computers to keep the record of all the money transaction
and other calculations. Moreover it provides speed, convenience and security.

Communication: Communication is another important aspect of computer and has become very
easy through internet and email. Computer communicates using telephone lines and modems.

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Through email we can send messages to anybody in any part of the world in just a second while
if we write letter then it will reach in some days. So the internet has made the earth a global
village and above all saves time. This would not be possible without computers. Internet helps to
find information on every topic. It is the easiest and fastest way of research. Computer network
makes the user capable of accessing remote programs and databases of same or different
organizations.

Business: Computer has now become an integral part of corporate life. They can do business
transactions very easily and accurately and keep the record of all the profit and loss. Today
computers can be found in every store, supermarkets, restaurants, offices etc. special software is
used in these computers to calculate the huge bills within seconds. One can buy and sell things
online, bills and taxes can be paid online and can also predict the future of business using
artificial intelligence software. It also plays a very important role in the stock markets.

Medical Science: Diseases can be easily diagnosed with the help of computer and can also know
about its cure. Many machines use computer which allows the doctor to view the different organs
of our body like lungs, heart, kidneys etc. There is special software which helps the doctor
during the surgery.

Education: Today computer has become an important part of one’s education because we
are using computers in every field and without the knowledge of computer we cannot get job and
perform well in it. So computers can secure better jobs prospects. Knowledge about computer is
must in this time.

Media: Almost every type of editing and audio- visual compositions can be made by using
special software especially made for this purpose. Some software can even make three
dimensional figures which are mostly used in the cartoon films. Special effects for action and
science fiction movies are also created on computer.

Travel and Ticketing: Computers do all the work of plane and train reservation. It shows the
data for vacant and reserved seats and also saves the record for reservation.

Weather Prediction: Weather predictions are also possible by the experts using
supercomputers.

Sport: It is also used for umpiring decisions. Many times the umpire has to go for the decision of
third umpire in which the recording is seen again on the computer and finally reaches to the
accurate and fair decision. Simulation software allows the sportsman to practice and improve his
skills.

Daily Life: We operate washing machines, microwave oven and many other products using
software. Moreover we can store all the information about our important work, appointments
schedules and list of contacts.

So we can say that today computer is playing very important role in our lives. Now is the time
when we cannot imagine the world without computers. And this technology is advancing both in

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industry and home. It has become necessary for everyone to have the basic knowledge about
computer. Otherwise he cannot get a job as computers have invaded almost all the fields.

Evolution of computers
Computer
Computer History Computer History
History
Inventors/Inventions Description of Event
Year/Enter

First freely programmable

1936 Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer
computer.

Who was first in the

John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry
1942 computing biz is not always as
ABC Computer
easy as ABC.

Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper The Harvard Mark 1

1944
Harvard Mark I Computer computer.

John Presper Eckert & John W.

1946 Mauchly 20,000 vacuum tubes later...
ENIAC 1 Computer

Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn

Baby and the Williams Tube
1948 Manchester Baby Computer &
turn on the memories.
The Williams Tube

No, a transistor is not a

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain &
computer, but this invention
1947/48 Wiliam Shockley
greatly affected the history of
The Transistor
computers.

John Presper Eckert & John W. First commercial computer &

1951 Mauchly able to pick presidential
UNIVAC Computer winners.

International Business Machines IBM enters into 'The History of

1953
IBM 701 EDPM Computer Computers'.

John Backus & IBM

The first successful high level
1954 FORTRAN Computer
programming language.
Programming Language

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The first bank industry

Stanford Research Institute,
computer - also MICR
Bank of America, and General
1955 (magnetic ink character
(In Use 1959) Electric
recognition) for reading
ERMA and MICR
checks.

Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce Otherwise known as 'The

1958
The Integrated Circuit Chip'

Steve Russell & MIT The first computer game

1962
Spacewar Computer Game invented.

Nicknamed the mouse

Douglas Engelbart
1964 because the tail came out the
Computer Mouse & Windows
end.

1969 ARPAnet The original Internet.

The world's first available

1970 Intel 1103 Computer Memory
dynamic RAM chip.

Faggin, Hoff & Mazor

1971 Intel 4004 Computer The first microprocessor.
Microprocessor

Alan Shugart &IBM Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its

1971
The "Floppy" Disk flexibility.

Robert Metcalfe & Xerox

1973 The Ethernet Computer Networking.
Networking

Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM The first consumer

1974/75
5100 Computers computers.

Apple I, II & TRS-80 & More first consumer

1976/77
Commodore Pet Computers computers.

Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston Any product that pays for
1978 VisiCalc Spreadsheet itself in two weeks is a
Software surefire winner.

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Seymour Rubenstein & Rob

1979 Barnaby Word Processors.
WordStar Software

IBM From an "Acorn" grows a

1981
The IBM PC - Home Computer personal computer revolution

Microsoft From "Quick And Dirty" comes

1981 MS-DOS Computer Operating the operating system of the
System century.

The first home computer with

1983 Apple Lisa Computer a GUI, graphical user
interface.

The more affordable home

1984 Apple Macintosh Computer
computer with a GUI.

Microsoft begins the friendly

1985 Microsoft Windows
war with Apple.

SERIES TO BE CONTINUED

History of computers

• The first counting device was the abacus, originally from Asia. It worked on a place-value
notion meaning that the place of a bead or rock on the apparatus determined how much it was
worth.

• 1600s : John Napier discovers logarithms. Robert Bissaker invents the slide rule which will
remain in popular use until 19??.

• 1642 : Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and philosopher, invents the first mechanical
digital calculator using gears, called the Pascaline. Although this machine could perform addition
and subtraction on whole numbers, it was too expensive and only Pascal himself could repare it.

• 1804 : Joseph Marie Jacquard used punch cards to automate a weaving loom.

• 1812 : Charles P. Babbage, the "father of the computer", discovered that many long
calculations involved many similar, repeated operations. Therefore, he designed a machine, the
difference engine which would be steam-powered, fully automatic and commanded by a fixed

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instruction program. In 1833, Babbage quit working on this machine to concentrate on the
analytical engine.

• 1840s: Augusta Ada. "The first programmer" suggested that a binary system shouled be used
for staorage rather than a decimal system.

• 1850s : George Boole developed Boolean logic which would later be used in the design of
computer circuitry.

• 1890: Dr. Herman Hollerith introduced the first electromechanical, punched-card data-
processing machine which was used to compile information for the 1890 U.S. census. Hollerith's
tabulator became so successful that he started his own business to market it. His company would
eventually become International Business Machines (IBM).

• 1906 : The vacuum tube is invented by American physicist Lee De Forest.

• 1939 : Dr. John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry build the first electronic digital
computer. Their machine, the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer (ABC) provided the foundation for the
advances in electronic digital computers.

• 1941 : Konrad Zuse (recently deceased in January of 1996), from Germany, introduced the first
programmable computer designed to solve complex engineering equations. This machine, called
the Z3, was also the first to work on the binary system instead of the decimal system.

• 1943 : British mathematician Alan Turing developped a hypothetical device, the Turing
machine which would be designed to perform logical operation and could read and write. It
would presage programmable computers. He also used vacuum technology to build British
Colossus, a machine used to counteract the German code scrambling device, Enigma.

• 1944 : Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers from IBM, constructed a large automatic
digital sequence-controlled computer called the Harvard Mark I. This computer could handle all
four arithmetic opreations, and had special built-in programs for logarithms and trigonometric
functions.

• 1945 : Dr. John von Neumann presented a paper outlining the stored-program concept.

• 1947 : The giant ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) machine was
developped by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr. at the University of Pennsylvania. It
used 18, 000 vacuums, punch-card input, weighed thirty tons and occupied a thirty-by-fifty-foot
space. It wasn't programmable but was productive from 1946 to 1955 and was used to compute
artillery firing tables. That same year, the transistor was invented by William Shockley, John
Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs. It would rid computers of vacuum tubes and radios.

• 1949 : Maurice V. Wilkes built the EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer),
the first stored-program computer. EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer),

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the second stored-program computer was built by Mauchly, Eckert, and von Neumann. An Wang
developped magnetic-core memory which Jay Forrester would reorganize to be more efficient.

• 1950 : Turing built the ACE, considered by some to be the first programmable digital
computer.

The First Generation (1951-1959)

• 1951: Mauchly and Eckert built the UNIVAC I, the first computer designed and sold
commercially, specifically for business data-processing applications.

• 1950s : Dr. Grace Murray Hopper developed the UNIVAC I compiler.

• 1957 : The programming language FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator) was designed by John
Backus, an IBM engineer.

• 1959 : Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce of Texas Instruments manufactured the first
integrated circuit, or chip, which is a collection of tiny little transistors.

The Second Generation (1959-1965)

• 1960s : Gene Amdahl designed the IBM System/360 series of mainframe (G) computers, the
first general-purpose digital computers to use intergrated circuits.

• 1961: Dr. Hopper was instrumental in developing the COBOL (Common Business Oriented
Language) programming language.

• 1963 : Ken Olsen, founder of DEC, produced the PDP-I, the first minicomputer (G).

• 1965 : BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) programming language

developped by Dr. Thomas Kurtz and Dr. John Kemeny.

The Third Generation (1965-1971)

• 1969 : The Internet is started. (See History of the Internet)

• 1970 : Dr. Ted Hoff developed the famous Intel 4004 microprocessor (G) chip.

• 1971 : Intel released the first microprocessor, a specialized integrated circuit which was ale to
process four bits of data at a time. It also included its own arithmetic logic unit. PASCAL, a
structured programming language, was developed by Niklaus Wirth.

The Fourth Generation (1971-Present)

• 1975 : Ed Roberts, the "father of the microcomputer" designed the first microcomputer, the
Altair 8800, which was produced by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). The
same year, two young hackers, William Gates and Paul Allen approached MITS and promised to
deliver a BASIC compiler. So they did and from the sale, Microsoft was born.

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• 1976 : Cray developed the Cray-I supercomputer (G). Apple Computer, Inc was founded by
Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak.

• 1977 : Jobs and Wozniak designed and built the first Apple II microcomputer.

• 1970 : 1980: IBM offers Bill Gates the opportunity to develop the operating system for its new
IBM personal computer. Microsoft has achieved tremendous growth and success today due to the
development of MS-DOS. Apple III was also released.

• 1981 : The IBM PC was introduced with a 16-bit microprocessor.

• 1982 : Time magazine chooses the computer instead of a person for its "Machine of the Year."

• 1984 : Apple introduced the Macintosh computer, which incorporated a unique graphical
interface, making it easy to use. The same year, IBM released the 286-AT.

• 1986 : Compaq released the DeskPro 386 computer, the first to use the 80036 microprocessor.

• 1987 : IBM announced the OS/2 operating-system technology.

• 1988 : A nondestructive worm was introduced into the Internet network bringing thousands of
computers to a halt.

• 1989 : The Intel 486 became the world's first 1,000,000 transistor microprocessor.

• 1993s: The Energy Star program, endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
encouraged manufacturers to build computer equipment that met power consumpton guidelines.
When guidelines are met, equipment displays the Energy Star logo. The same year, Several
companies introduced computer systems using the Pentium microprocessor from Intel that
contains 3.1 million transistors and is able to perform 112 million instructions per second (MIPS)

Classification of Computers
1) According to Size
2) According to Technology
3) According to Purpose
1) According to size
• Supercomputers
• Mainframe Computers
• Minicomputers
• Workstations
• Microcomputers, or Personal Computers
Supercomputers: are widely used in scientific applications such as aerodynamic design
simulation, processing of geological data.

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• Supercomputers are the most powerful computers. They are used for problems requiring
complex calculations.
• Because of their size and expense, supercomputers are relatively rare.
• Supercomputers are used by universities, government agencies, and large businesses.
Mainframe Computers: are usually slower, less powerful and less expensive than
supercomputers. A technique that allows many people at terminals, to access the same computer
at one time is called time sharing. Mainframes are used by banks and many business to update
inventory etc.
• Mainframe computers can support hundreds or thousands of users, handling massive
amounts of input, output, and storage.
• Mainframe computers are used in large organizations where many users need access to
shared data and programs.
• Mainframes are also used as e-commerce servers, handling transactions over the Internet.

Minicomputers: are smaller than mainframe, general purpose computers, and give computing
power without adding the prohibitive expenses associated with larger systems. It is generally
easier to use.
• Minicomputers usually have multiple terminals.
• Minicomputers may be used as network servers and Internet servers.
Workstations
• Workstations are powerful single-user computers.
• Workstations are used for tasks that require a great deal of number-crunching power,
such as product design and computer animation.
• Workstations are often used as network and Internet servers.
Microcomputers, or Personal Computers : is the smallest, least expensive of all the
computers. Micro computers have smallest memory and less power, are physically smaller and
permit fewer peripherals to be attached.
• Microcomputers are more commonly known as personal computers. The term 5PC6 is
applied to IBM-PCs or compatible computers.
• Desktop computers are the most common type of PC.
• Notebook (laptop) computers are used by people who need the power of a desktop
system, but also portability.
• Handheld PCs (such as PDAs) lack the power of a desktop or notebook PC, but offer
features for users who need limited functions and small size.

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Personal Computers(PC)
Desk Top, Lap Top, Palm Top, PDA
2) According to Technology
• Analog Computers
• Digital Computers
• Hydride Computers
Analog Computers:- These computers recognize data as a continuous measurement of a
physical property ( voltage, pressure, speed and temperature).
Example: Automobile speedometer
Digital Computers:- These are high speed programmable electronic devices that perform
mathematical calculations, compare values and store results. They recognize data by counting
discrete signal representing either a high or low voltage state of electricity.
Hybrid Computers:-A computer that processes both analog and digital data.
3) According to Purpose
1. General purpose Computers
2. Special Computers
General purpose Computers
A 7General Purpose Computer8 is a machine that is capable of carrying out some general data
processing under program control.
Refers to computers that follow instructions, thus virtually all computers from micro to
mainframe are general purpose. Even computers in toys, games and single-function devices
follow instructions in their built-in program.
Special purpose Computers
A computer that is designed to operate on a restricted class of problems.
Use special purpose computer equipment to obtain patient diagnostic information.

Benefits and Challenges of computers

The importance of computers cannot be exhausted as computers have become an integral part of our lives.
Some of the areas that we shall identify are outline below. Find more at your free time and highlight
them.
Advantages/Benefits of using computers
1. A computer helps you automate various tasks that you cannot do or are very cumbersome to do
manually. An example, a computer can be configured to record all transactions regarding co-operative
members. It can then produce reports and statements regarding members instantly. Computers have made
it possible for us to withdraw our money from our bank account from a remote location using automated
teller machines (ATM).

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2. It helps you organize your organizations data and information in a better way. This eases the process of
retrieval. Therefore you become very efficient when you can respond to any queries in a very short while.

3. It has much more computing and calculating power than an ordinary human. It will help you become
very effective in your work, make it easier and greatly improves the accuracy and quantity of your output.
It makes it possible to solve problems faster than an ordinary human being.

4. It has a large storage capacity for data and files. This will therefore eliminate the bulkiness of manual
files that are normally present in areas where there are many transactions.

5. Computers have consistency and reliability of performance without the need of rest that human being
need.

6. Computers have made communication faster and cheaper. It has made it possible for one to
communicate using voice or text with another person in far away location at a very affordable rate.
Computers have also eased the time taken to exchange documents between two places. This is done using
internet infrastructure that we shall learn more in lesson 8.
7. Computers have made research easy without the need to move physically to libraries. Access to
materials that are from all over the world has been made possible. All this is through the internet.

8. Computers using the internet have now made it possible to meet partners and even date online via the
dating sites. This has also made interaction with people from other parts of the world that you would have
otherwise been unable to meet.

Limitations/Challenges of computers
From the above advantages of using computers that we have identified, computer can outperform human
beings in speed, memory and accuracy but still the computer has limitations. Some of the limitations of
computers that we shall study are the following:
1. Though computer is programmed to work efficiently, fast and accurately but it is programmed by
human beings to do so. Computer only follows these instructions. If the instructions are not accurate the
working of computer will not accurate.

2. It is very difficult to make a computer act correctly in all situations since a computer cannot be truly
intuitive. Without supervision, computers will operate poorly when dealing with unexpected
circumstances, such as information or instructions that are incorrect or incomplete.

3. The computer cannot think by itself. The concept of artificial intelligence that we learnt in the fifth
generation of computers (section 1.4) shows that the computer can think. But still this concept is
dependent on set of instructions provided by the human beings.

4. A Computer cannot take care of itself like a human. A computer is dependent still to human beings for
this purpose. A computer cannot therefore completely replace of human because it is always dependent of
human

5. A computer can retrieve data very fast but this technique is linear. A human being's mind does not
follow this rule. A human mind can think randomly which a computer machine cannot.

6. Computers have also made the users who are addicted to them very unhealthy as they do not walk
around and exercise.

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CHAPTER 3: COMPUTER HARDWARE AND

ORGANISATION
Computer hardware devices
The computer system consists of four units:
1. Input device 2. Central Processing Unit (CPU) 3. Output device 4. Storage

The various functions of these units can be summarized as:

Unit Function
1.Input device Reads information from input media and enters to the computer
in a coded form
2.CPU (a) Memory unit Stores program and data

(b) Arithmetic Performs arithmetic and logical functions

Logic unit
(c) Control Unit Interprets program instructions and controls the input and
output devices

3. Output device decodes information and presents it to the user

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4.Storage Preserves

There are 4 primary parts to a computer system:

1. Input devices

Input devices allow a person to communicate information to the computer. Examples of input devices
would be a keyboard and mouse.

2. Output devices

Output devices communicate information to the user. Examples of output devices would be a monitor
or printer.
3. CPU [Central Processing Unit]

Central Processing Unit (CPU) performs all the arithmetic and logical calculations in a computer.
The CPU is said to be the brain of the computer system. It reads and executes the program
instructions, perform calculations and makes decisions. The CPU is responsible for storing and
retrieving information on disks and other media.

Figure: Meaning of CPU

There are three major parts to the CPU: the CU, the ALU, and the registers.
Control Unit: The control unit issue control signals to perform specific operation and it directs the
entire computer system to carry out stored program instructions
Arithmetic and Logic Unit: The ALU is the 7core8 of any processor. It executes all arithmetic
operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), logical operations (compare numbers,
letters, special characters etc.) and comparison operators (equal to, less than, greater than etc.).
Register Set: Register set is used to store immediate data during the execution of instruction. This
area of processor consists of various registers.

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Computer processor structure Summary

ALU CU R
CU (Control unit) – Reads an instruction in R, decode it and fetch data in the R as recurred and gives to
the ALU with direction on what to do to the data.

ALU (Arithmetic and Logic Unit) – takes data and direction from CU and works on the data to produce
the desired results

R (Register) – small memory in the Processor that holds what the computer is working on immeditry

Computer processor operation with memory

Primary memory
PROCESSOR
RAM
R

Secondary
Primary memory
memory

ROM H/D

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PROCESSOR: responsible for all computations/data execution, it takes/fetches data from RAM onto the
Register and works on it

PRIMARY MEMORY: These are the memory which the computer has direct access to/direct connects to,
we have two Primary memories, RAM and ROM

RAM - holds data and program fetched by processor from secondary memory temporary as it awaits its
immediate use

ROM – the content of ROM is BIOS (Basic Input/output System) program; the program is responsible for
two responsibilities at computer Booting processes /computer start up processes

1. Checks that the computer basic input/output devices are working properly
2. Direct the computer processor on how to load the OS (Operating System)

The operating system is the computer software that manages all computer operations; it gives total
direction to computer processor on how to do all operation. NOTE: The Processor works with the
direction of operating system and when it’s not loaded, the computer processor is primitive (can’t do
anything)

SECONDARY MEMORY: These are the memory which the computer has no direct access to/ connects to
the memories under their responsible memory controllers; we have several secondary memories and
may be classified according to the technologies by which they works, H/D (Hard Disk/Local Disk ) is the
main secondary memory in a computer.

NOTE: the secondary memory/ secondary storage hold data/reserve data after use by the computer
processor. It holds data permanently for future use

Memory storage
There are two types of memory: primary memory and secondary memory.
Primary Memory
Primary memory is the RAM (Random Access Memory) of a computer. It is temporary storage space for
data when the computer is in a power-on state. It is much slower than the registers in the CPU, but there
is a lot more of it (more data storage capacity). Primary memory holds both data and programs (once they
are loaded for execution). (ROM, or Read Only Memory, could also be considered primary memory, but
there is usually a lot less ROM than there is RAM. The difference between ROM and RAM is that data
cannot be written to ROM.)
Primary memory is like a table of addresses and contents. Also, 4 or 8 bytes (depending on the
CPU-type) is grouped together to form words.
Secondary Memory

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Secondary memory is what the disk drives are – places data can be stored and kept there even
after the computer is turned off.
Types of secondary storage

Data storage has evolved in recent years, and storage devices can vary in cost, performance, size
and storage space quite a bit.

1) Magnetic Storage Device

Hard drives are the primary storage device in most personal computers. Hard drives use
magnets to record data on rotating metal platters.

Benefits of Magnetic Storage Devices: Solid state drives are the only drives that are faster than hard
drives; however the cost to store date is pennies per gigabyte.

Advantages of Magnetic Storage Devices

 Inexpensive storage
 Very fast access to data
 Direct access on any part of the drive
 Very large amounts of storage space

Disadvantages of Magnetic storage devices

 Data can be altered by magnetic fields, dust, mechanical problems
 Gradually lose their charge over time - data lost
 Hard disks eventually fail which stops the computer from working
 The surface of the disk, can lose data within sectors with regular crashes
 Cannot transfer the disk to another computer easily

2) Optical Storage Device

Optical drives include CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray disks and they all use a lens to read and write
information. CD-R, DVD-R, BD-R can be written to once and are then Read only, while CD-RW, DVD-
RW, BD-RW are Read Write so they can be written many times.

Benefits of Optical Storage Devices: CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray disks are great to record music, movies,
games, and software applications. It seems with optical storage an advantage can also be a
disadvantage depending on how they are being used.

Advantages of Optical Storage Devices

 Optical discs are portable and can be read on many different devices

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 Very inexpensive
 Memory is retained even when the power is turned off
 Durable and last a long time
 Archived data cannot be overwritten on read only CD-R, DVD-R, BD-R formats
 Can random access data no matter where or when it was stored

Disadvantages of Optical Storage Devices

 Require special drives to read/write.
 Compared to other storage devices they have little storage
 Can be expensive per GB/TB
 There are compatibility issues with different drives
 Lack of standards for grading quality and for longevity tests
 You can write once on read only CD-R, DVD-R, BD-R formats

3) Solid State Storage Device (SSD)

Solid state drives use flash memory and could possibly make conventional hard drives obsolete. They
are compatible with SATA or SAS, and use standard form factors of 3.5-, 2.5- or 1.8-inch.

Benefits of Solid State Storage Devices: Solid State Storage Devices are durable, reliable, have a long
service life and they can rewrite and erase data very often.

Advantages of Solid State Storage Devices

 Startup faster due to no spin-up and they are faster than magnetic hard drives
 When seeks on the hard disk seeks are limited they have faster launch times
 They last longer and some are waterproof
 All data stored can be scanned quickly for security purposes

Disadvantages of Solid State Storage Devices

 Solid State Storage devices are expensive
 Vulnerable to abrupt power loss, magnetic fields, and electrical and static charges
 Limited writes cycles wear out after 100,000-300,000
 High endurance
 Larger erase blocks make random write speeds slow

Communication Devices
A communication device is a hardware device capable of transmitting an analog or digital
signal over the telephone, other communication wire, or wirelessly. The best example of a
communication device is a computer Modem, which is capable of sending and receiving a signal
to allow computers to talk to other computers over the telephone. Other examples of
communication devices include a network interface card (NIC), Wi-Fi devices, and an access
point. Below is a picture of some of the different types of Wi-Fi devices that are all examples of
a communication device.

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CHAPTER 4: COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Introduction to Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is any set of machine-readable instructions (most often in the
form of a computer program) that directs a computer's processor to perform specific operations.

On most computer platforms, software can be grouped into a few broad categories:

 System software is the basic software needed for a computer to operate (most notably the
operating system);
 Application software is all the software that uses the computer system to perform useful work
beyond the operation of the computer itself;
 Embedded software resides as firmware within embedded systems, devices dedicated to a
single use. In that context there is no clear distinction between the system and the application
software.

System software
This is the type of software that enables the computer to manage its resource. It is further divided
into;
 Firmware - system software fixed into hardware components e.g. BIOS.
 Network - type of computer software that enable computers to communicate over a network
 Utility3 used to manage computer files, diagnose and repair computer problems e.g. antivirus,
compilers, diagnostic tools etc.
 Operating systems 3 provides the interface between the user, the hardware and the application
software
Note: Housekeeping software is the operating system assistant software (handle computer basic
operations as file mngt, security etc.) including utilities

Application software
This is the type of software that solve specific problems or perform specific tasks. It is divided into;
 Off 3 the 3 shelf application software 3 programs developed by software engineers and made
available in the market for sale. Normally sold in bundles called program suites e.g. the
Microsoft Office Application Programs suite.
 In 3 house 3developed packages 3also referred to as tailor 3made 3 application software.
Designed or tailored to solve problems specific to an organization e.g. MIS.

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CHAPTER 5: HARDWARE, SOFTWARE SELECTION

AND ACQUISITION
Acquisition: The act of coming into possession. To gain, procure, secure or obtain. Includes but is not
limited to finding, buying, renting and leasing as well as accepting as a gift or donation.

Meaning and importance of hardware and software selection and acquisition

The Hardware and Software Acquisition Process is intended to assist departments with the
selection, purchase and, if applicable, implementation of technology-related products and
services. Consultation with the Office of Information Technology and Purchasing early in the
process will help avoid delays later. Many departments have chosen a technology solution only
to find that at the time of purchase they had not taken into consideration the technical
implications of their solution, or a solution already exists, therefore experiencing significant
delays when attempting to remedy the situation.

This process applies to:

 Implementation of a new or upgraded multi-user system
 Solutions requiring an interface to an existing system, such as Banner
 Contracting with a third party service for software
 Implementing an e-commerce solution
 Purchase of servers, network equipment, digital signage, and classroom audio/visual equipment
 This process does NOT apply to the following items on standing contract:
 Desktops and laptops – Apple and Dell
 Computer accessories, peripherals, and supplies
 DVDs, CDs and videotapes
 Software
 Printers and toner cartridges
 Backup tapes
 Camcorders, digital cameras, DVD players

Factors of consideration during Choosing hardware and software

Software factors

Factors influencing choice of software includes:

(i) User requirements: the selected software or package should fit user requirement as
closely as possible
(ii) Processing time: these involves the response time e.g. if the response time is slow the
user might consider the software or package as unsuccessful
(iii) Documentation: the software should be accompanied by manual, which is easy to
understand by non-technical person. The manual should not contain technical jargon.
(iv) User friendliness: the package should be easier to use with clear on screen prompts,
menu driven and extensive on screen help facility
(v) Controls: the software should have in-built controls which may include password
options, validation checks, audit trails or trace facilities etc

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(vi) Up-to-date: the software should be up-to-date e.g. should have changes or corrections
in line with business procedures
(vii) Modification: one should consider whether the user could freely change the software
without violating copyright.
(viii) Success in the market: one should consider how many users are using the software
and how long it has been in the market
(ix) Compatibility of the software: how the software integrates with other software
particularly the operating system and the user programs
(x) Portability: one should consider how the software runs on the user computer and
whether there will be need for the user to upgrade his hardware
(xi) Cost: the user company should consider its financial position to establish whether it
can afford the software required for efficient operations rather than the least cost
package software available.

Software contracts

Software contracts include the costs, purpose and capacity of the software. The following are
covered in software contracts:

 Warrant terms
 Support available
 Arrangement for upgrades
 Maintenance arrangements
 Delivery period/time especially for written software
 Performance criteria
 Ownership

Software licensing

Software licensing covers the following:

 Number of users that can install and use the software legally
 Whether the software can be copied without infringing copyrights
 Whether it can be altered without the developers consent
 Circumstances under which the licensing can be terminated
 Limitation of liability e.g. if the user commits fraud using the software
 Obligation to correct errors or bugs if they exist in the software

Hardware factors
Custom-built hardware is a rare necessity. Most hardware is standard, compatible, off-the-shelf
components. It is cheaper, easy to maintain, and ensures compatibility with equipment in your
organization and your partners and clients.

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The system analysis and design should have precisely determined what sort of hardware is
needed - down to the make and model.

The decision of hardware choice must consider many factors:

 Future needs - can the equipment be expanded or added to?

 Availability (is it only available overseas?)
 Capacity (e.g. is the hard disk big enough to hold all your data? Is it fast enough?)
 Reliability - can it be depended on?
 Cost - initial cost, running costs, upgrade costs, repair costs, training costs
 Compatibility - with your other equipment, and that of your partners and clients
 Warranty and support - in case of failure or problems
 Ease of use and installation
 Compliance with local conditions (e.g. power supplies must be 240V or compliant with
telecommunication systems)

Choosing a supplier
After choosing the hardware equipment and the equipment makers (manufacturers), one must
choose a supplier or reseller (in other words, once you know what you want to buy, what shop
will you choose?)

Factors to consider:

 Reputation for support (e.g. phone support, onsite visits, website help)
 Reputation for reliability, honesty, permanence (very important!)
 Knowledge of the equipment
 Geographic location - can you get to them easily if you need to?
 Ability to offer onsite support or repair
 Prices – cheap, affordable

Installation
Software and hardware installation is done by supplier’s technicians or the user organization
appointed person to avoid the risks associated with improper installation of the equipment.
The system analyst and other development team members may be called to assist where
appropriate.

User training
It is important that the system users be trained to familiarize themselves with the hardware
and the system before the actual changeover.
The aims of user training are:

a) To reduce errors arising from learning through trial and error

b) To make the system to be more acceptable to the users
c) To improve security by reducing accidental destruction of data

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d) To improve quality of operation and services to the users

e) To reduce the cost of maintenance by minimizing accidental destruction of data or
hardware
f) To ensure efficiency in system operation when it goes live

The persons to be trained include system operators, senior managers, middle managers and all
those affected by the system directly or indirectly. Training should cover current staff and
recruited personnel.

Hardware and software acquisition procedure

The systems come with hardware, software and support. Today, selecting a system is a serious
and time-consuming business.

There are several factors to consider prior to system selection :

1. Define the system capabilities that make sense for business. Computers have proven valuable
to business in the following areas :

 Cost reduction includes reduction of the inventory, savings on space and improved
ability to predict business trends
 Cost avoidance includes early detection of problems and ability to expand operations
without adding clerical help.
 Improved service emphasizes quick availability of information to customers, improved
accuracy and fast turnaround
 Improved profit reflects the bottom line of the business and its ability to keep receivables
within reason.

2. Specify the magnitude of the problem, that is, clarify whether selections consist of a few
peripherals or major decision concerning the mainframes.

3. Assess the competence of the in-house staff. This involves determining the expertise needed in
areas such as telecommunications and data base design. Acquiring a computer often results in
securing temporary help for conversion. Planning for this help is extremely important.
4. Consider hardware and software as a package. This approach ensures compatibility. In fact,
software should be considered first, because often the user secures the hardware and then
wonders what software is available for it.

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5. Develop a schedule for the selection process. Maintaining a schedule helps keeps the project
under control.

6. Provide user indoctrination. This is crucial, especially for first-time users. Selling the system
to the user staff, providing adequate training, and preparing an environment a conductive to
implementation are pre- requisites for system acquisition.

Major phases in selection

The selection process should be viewed as a project, and a project team should be organized with
management support. In larger projects, the team includes one or more user representatives, an
analyst and EDP auditor, and a consultant. Several steps make up the selection process:
1. Requirement Analysis
2. System Specification
3. Request for proposals (RFP)
4. Evaluation and validation
5. Vendor Selection
6. Post Installation Review
1. Requirement Analysis:
The first step in selection is understanding the user8s requirements within the framework
of the organization8s objectives and the environment in which the system is being installed.
Consideration is given to the user8s resources as well as to finances.

In selecting software, the user must decide whether to develop it in house, hire a software
company or contract programmer to create it, or simply acquire it from a software house. The
choice is logically made after the user has clearly defined the requirements expected of the
software. Therefore, requirements analysis sets the tone for software selection.

2. System Specifications
Failure to specify system requirements before the final selection almost always results in a faulty
acquisition. The specifications should delineate the user8s requirements and allow room for bids
from various vendors. They must reflect the actual applications to be handled by the system and
include system objectives, flowcharts, input-output requirements, file structure and cost. The

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specifications must also describe each aspect of the system clearly, consistently and completely.

3. Request for Proposal

After the requirements analysis and system specifications have been determined, a
request for proposal is drafted and sent to selected vendors for bidding. Bids submitted are based
on discussions with vendors. At a minimum, the RFP should include the following :
1. Complete statement of the system specifications, programming language, price range, terms
and time frame.
2. Request for vendor's responsibilities for conversion, training and maintenance
3. Warranties and terms of license or contractual limitation.
4. Request for financial statement of vendor
5. Size of staff for system support

4. Evaluation and validation

The evaluation phase ranks vendor proposals and determines the best suited to the user8s
needs. It looks into items such as price, availability and technical support. System validation
ensures that the vendor can match his/her claims, system performance. True validation is
obtained verified by having each system demonstrated. An outside consultant can be employed
for consulting purpose
5. Vendor selection
This step determines the winner 3 the vendor with the best combination of reputation, reliability,
service record, training, delivery time, lease finance terms and conversion schedule. Initially a
decision is made which vendor to contact. The sources available to check on vendor includes the
following:
1. Users
2. Software Houses
3. Trade Associations.
4. Universities
5. Publications and Journals
6. Vendor Software Lists
7. Vendor Referral Directories

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8. Published Directories
9. Consultants
10. Industry Contacts
6. Post- installation Review
Sometime after the package is installed, a system evaluation is made to determine how closely
the new system conforms to plan. System specifications and user requirements are audited to
pinpoint and correct any differences
A user may acquire the hardware and software directly from a manufacturer and developer
respectively. He may also purchase them from an intermediate supplier. Whichever way,
carefully controlled purchasing procedures should be followed. The procedures should include
invitation to tender and comparative analysis to determine the appropriate supplier of the
required hardware and software.

Steps to Hardware and software acquisition

1) Invitation to tender (ITT)

It is issued to a range of suppliers. ITT sets out specifications for the required equipment and
software and should explore how the hardware will be used and the time scale for
implementation. It sets the performance criteria required for the new system.

Contents of ITT

ITT includes background information about the companies together with an indication of the
purpose of the system. This includes:

(i) The volume of data to be processed by the system. Complexity of the processing
requirements and system interfaces should be stated.
(ii) The number of individuals who will want to access the computer system after
installation and whether access needs to be instant or not
(iii) The speed of processing required or expected
(iv) Input and output desired
(v) The type of processing methods preferred
(vi) Estimated life of the system
(vii) Possible upgrades or expansion anticipated
(viii) Other general consideration include:
 Contact person in the company
 Overall financial constraints
 The form that submission is to take
 Closing date for submission of tender
 The address to which the tender is to be sent
 The reference person to which tender is to be addressed

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While all the above features are necessary, it is important to decide on the financing methods.
These may include:

a) Purchasing – where the buyer acquires ownership of item after payment of an agreed
amount
b) Leasing – involves formation of an agreement between lessee and lessor detailing the
use of equipment, the length of time to use the equipment and the periodical payment
c) Renting – involves a single agreement where one party agrees to use another party’s
resources at certain periodical payments. The agreement is not as binding as that of a
lease agreement.

2) Evaluation process
There are three process for evaluating hardware and software.
1. Benchmark programs: It is a sample program for evaluating different computers and their
software. It is necessary because computers often use the same instructions, words of memory
or machine cycle to solve a problem. Benchmarking includes the following

 Determination of the minimum hardware.

 An acceptance test
 Testing in an ideal environment to determine the timings and in the normal environment
to determine its influence on other programs.

2. Experience of other users: Benchmarking only validates vendors8 claims. Experience of other
users with the same system software is essential.

3. Product reference manuals: These evaluate a system8s capability. These reports elaborate on
computer products, services and prices.

Evaluation of proposals:
After all proposals are evaluated, the final vendor is selected using any of the 3 methods
1. adhoc refers to the user8s inclination to favour one vendor over others.
2. Scoring. In this method the characteristics of each system are listed and score is given in
relation to the maximum point rating. Then each proposal is rated according to its characteristics.
3. Cost value approach. In this method a dollar credit method is applied to the proposal that
meets the user8s desirable characteristics. This credit is subtracted from the vendor8s quoted
price. The proposal with the lowest price is selected.

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Performance Evaluation
Hardware selection requires an analysis on the following criteria:
1. System Availability
2. Compatibility
3. Cost
4. Performance
5. Uptime
6. Support
7. Usability

For the software evaluation, the following are considered

1. The programming language and its suitability to the applications
2. Ease of Installation and training
3. Extent of enhancements to be made prior to installation.

In addition to hardware and software evaluation, the quality of the vendor8s should be examined.
Considerations to ensure vendor quality are as follows:
1. Backup
2. Conversion
3. Maintenance
4. System Development

3) Financial consideration in selection:

There are three methods of acquisition:
1. The rental option:
Rent is a form of lease directly by the manufacturer. The user agrees to a monthly payment,
usually for one year or less. Rental option is one of the most opted option for acquisition as
insurance, maintenance and other expenses are included in the rental charge, there is financial
leverage for the user and rental makes it easier to change to other system thereby reducing the
risk of technological obsolescence.
2. The Lease option:

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A leased system is acquired through a third party or from the vendor. A third party purchase
ranges from six months with month to month renewals to seven years. However, lease charges
are lesser than rental charges for the same period. Leases may not include maintenance or
installation costs or providing a replacement system in an emergency.
3.The purchase option:
Purchasing means assuming all the risks of ownership including taxes, insurance and
technological obsolescence. However, the owner obtains all the services and supports that are
available under the lease or rental agreement.

4) The Art of Negotiation

Negotiating is an art. Timing is critical. Strategies must be planned and rehearsed. The leverage
enjoyed by both the parties can change during the course of negotiations.

Strategies and tactics for negotiation:

Various strategies and tactics are used to control the negotiation process. Some of them are:

1. Use the "good guy" and "bad guy" approach. The consultant is often perceived as the bad guy,
the user as the good guy. The consultant is the "shrewd" negotiator and the user is the
compromiser.

2. Be prepared with alternatives at all times. It is a give - and - take approach.

3. Use trade -offs. Rank less important objectives high early in the negotiation.

4. Be prepared to drop some issues.

5) Contract checklist

Responsibilities and Remedies:

1. Hardware: A good hardware contract is goal oriented. It stipulates the result to be achieved
with the system. The greater importance should be given to the definition of the system's
performance in terms of expected functions.

2. Software: A software package is the license to use a proprietary process. It is not truly "sold",
since a title is not transferred, so it is more or less a "license for use". The user has the right to
use the package but does not have title of ownership.

3. Delivery and Acceptance: A major problem in contracting is the failure of the vendor to
deliver on schedule. A contract should specify the remedies provided for failure to meet the

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agreed- upon delivery schedule. The section governing acceptance describes the tests that must
be met for the equipment to be accepted by the user.

4. Warranties: Article 2 of the UCC provides three implied warranties by the vendor for the
goods sold and many lease transactions as well. Because warranties are desirable for the
customers, vendors include provisions relating to them in agreements, thus suggesting that some
warranty is made.

5. Finances: Contract negotiations for finances can be summarized by "Let the buyer beware".
One of the most important contract items to negotiate is the time when payments begin. Most
standard contracts specify that payments commences upon installation

6. Guarantee and reliability: This is a statement by the vendor specify the following:

1. Minimum hours of usable time per day- that is, the amount of time of computer operation
before a shutdown.

2. Mean time between failures (MTBF): the length of the time the system will run without
breaking down.

3. Maximum time to repair- response time to repairing the system.

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CHAPTER 6: COMPUTER PERSONNEL

Introduction to computer personnel
The are two main classes of people who use computers. People who make use of software to
perform an aspect of their job are known as 7users8. These 7users8 would make use of hardware
and software without making major changes from the original configuration in order to perform
their tasks.

For people who are employed for their IT/computing skills and are recognised as 7experts8 then
the term 7practitioner8 is used. Practitioners come from a wide range of expertise and respond to
users8 requirements. They help specify systems; design, test and build systems; develop and
enhance existing systems; implement and manage systems; and liaise with and train the users.

Computer Programmer
Computer programmers write, test, and maintain the programs that computers follow when
performing specific functions. While job titles and descriptions vary by company, the main task
of computer programmers is problem solving and development of systems solutions using the
appropriate methodologies and techniques.

System Analyst and Designers

The role of system analysts and designers is critical in contemporary system development. The
systems analyst is a key partner with project managers and system developers.

Systems analysts define software requirements and specifications and guide program design and
development. A systems analyst may supervise a software development or maintenance team of
analyst / programmers and programmers.

Depending on the level of responsibility and the particular job role involved, duties may also
include:

1. Analyzing problems in software development and guiding the rectification of faults in

programs
2. Analyzing software requirements and defining program parameters and specifications
3. Undertaking analysis of current software products and determining approaches which
will improve their user interface, performance and integrity
4. Leading team members and third parties in client organisations in the integration of
technological methodologies and components of projects
5. Ensuring and being accountable for the technical integrity of the design in accordance
with the client8s requirements
6. Ensuring that programs meet marketing/user requirements by testing and monitoring
initial field use and problems
7. Guiding the preparation of software manuals and guides
8. Improving the interface between systems users, the operating system and applications
software

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9. Conducting user requirements analysis to match customer needs to company products

and services
10. Assisting the sales force with pre-sales activity such as proposal preparation, systems
demonstrations and presentations, particularly in relation to larger and more important
clients.

Database Administrator
Database administrators design, implement, maintain and repair an organisation8s database. The
role includes developing and designing the database strategy, monitoring and improving database
performance and capacity, and planning for future expansion requirements. They may also plan,
co-ordinate and implement security measures to safeguard the database.

A database administrator may

1. undertake daily administration, including monitoring system performance, ensuring

successful backups, and developing/implementing disaster recovery plans
2. manage data to give users the ability to access, relate and report information in different
ways
3. develop standards to guide the use and acquisition of software and to protect valuable
information
4. modify existing databases or instruct programmers and analysts on the required changes
5. test programs or databases, correct errors and make necessary modifications
6. train users and answer questions

Network Administrator
Network administrators provide operational support for and management of computer networks
to ensure they run efficiently. The IT networks can range from internet and private networks to
large communications networks.

A network administrator may

 install, configure and maintain PCs, networking equipment and network operating
systems
 monitor and configure networks to optimise performance and resolve faults
 undertake recovery action in the event of a system failure
 establish and control system access and security levels
 provide training and support for system software
 implement and co-ordinate housekeeping procedures, including system back-ups, setting
up user accounts, monitoring file access etc
 plan and implement maintenance and upgrades for system software and hardware
 maintain peripheral devices connected to the printer such as printers and scanners

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CHAPTER 7: COMPUTER SAFETY AND

ERGONOMICS
What is ergonomics and why is ergonomics important?
Ergonomics, or "human factors", is the science of designing equipment, the workplace and even
the job to fit the worker. It covers a broad spectrum of factors that make up the fit between
humans and work. Ergonomic research enables designers to create equipment better suited to the
human form so that it puts less stress on the body, as well as controlling external factors such as
light, temperature and noise so workers can be at their most productive for longer.

Ergonomics also covers the presentation of information to the worker. By studying the way the
data is presented, ergonomic researchers can improve the presentation, recognition and retention
of the information being presented.

Computer safety
Ways to Safeguard Computers
You computers may be the most valuable items on your business premises. As well as being
expensive to replace physically, computers contain valuable and sensitive data. Safeguarding
your computers requires protecting your hardware against damage or theft, protecting computer
systems against malware and protecting valuable data from being accessed by unauthorized
personnel or stolen by disgruntled staff. Physical security devices, security software and data
protection procedures should all be part of your overall computer security plan.

Firewalls
If you use a wireless router, it is probably behind a hardware firewall, but it's still wise to turn on
your Windows firewall as well. To turn on your Windows firewall, click the Windows "Start"
button, select "Control Panel," choose "System and Security" and select "Check Firewall Status."
If Windows Firewall is currently turned off, turn it on.

Install Anti-Virus Software

It's imperative that every computer in your business has security software installed to protect it
from malicious code, whether you purchase this from an authorized distributor (you will need a
commercial license) or use a free anti-virus package licensed for small business such as
Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft Security Essentials is licensed for small businesses with
up to 10 computers. To get it, navigate to the Microsoft Security Essentials download page (see
Resources), click the "Download" link and follow the instructions on the screen. You may also
wish to install extra anti-malware utilities such as Ad-Aware by Lavasoft or Spybot: Search &
Destroy.

Updates
Windows and all of the other software on your computer systems needs to be updated regularly
to fix bugs and remove security flaws. You can make sure that automatic Windows updates are
scheduled by clicking the Windows "Start" button, selecting "Control Panel," choosing "System
and Security," and clicking "Windows Update." Click "Change Settings" on the left and set your

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updates to take place regularly.

Backups
Back up your data regularly, either manually or using an automated backup system. Backups can
be copied onto an external hard drive or you can back up data onto a Web-based storage area
using an online service.

Physical Damage
Use an uninterruptible power supply so that blackouts, brown-outs and spikes in the electricity
supply don't harm your computer systems or cause data loss. Educate staff not to place liquids,
magnets or hot items on or near computers. Make sure that your custodial employees also
understand these safeguards.

Secure Disposal
When disposing of an old computer, drives or removable media, make sure that all data has been
destroyed. Deleting files is not sufficient. You can either use a special disk-wiping utility or
physically destroy the disk. Hard drives can be destroyed by drilling through them in several
places; optical discs can be shredded; flash drives can be crushed or snapped.

Data Theft
The theft of sensitive information, such as financial information, your customers' personal details
or details of products under development, can be a disaster for a small business. Protect your
information by password-protecting all your computers and important files. Always change
default passwords and don't give out your password to anyone. Secure your Wi-Fi network so
that data can't be intercepted. Make sure that any email messages containing sensitive
information only go to the intended recipients. Consider disabling or locking CD drives and USB
ports, either with a software utility or a hardware lock.

Hardware Theft
Desktop computers make a tempting target for intruders or disgruntled staff members. As well as
stealing a whole computer, thieves may also take smaller items -- mice, keyboards or other
peripherals. Hardware can be stolen from inside the computer casing -- RAM is small, easy to
hide and can sell for a lot of money. Security devices such as locking stands or lockable tower
cases can help prevent computer theft. If your employees need to take laptops offsite, have an
inventory system so that you know exactly who has what at any time. Property marking, lockable
tags and software such as Theftguard or Lojackforlaptops can help retrieve lost or stolen
computers. Boxes and packaging should not be left around outside to advertise the presence of
new equipment.

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Computer Ergonomic
Ergonomics and human factors use knowledge of human abilities and limitations to design
systems, organizations, jobs, machines, tools, and consumer products for safe, efficient, and
comfortable human use.

Computer Setup
1. Use a good chair with a dynamic chair back and sit back.
2. The eye-level should be the same as the level of the monitor. You should be able to see
the contents in the monitor without bending your neck.
3. No glare on screen, use an optical glass anti-glare filter where needed.
4. Sit at arm8s length from monitor as a good viewing distance.
5. Feet on floor or stable footrest.
6. Use a document holder, preferably in-line with the computer screen.
7. Wrists flat and straight in relation to forearms to use keyboard/mouse/input device.
8. Arms and elbows relaxed close to body.
9. Top of monitor casing 2-3" (5-8 cm) above eye level.
10. Use a negative tilt keyboard tray with an upper mouse platform or downward tiltable
platform adjacent to keyboard.
11. Center monitor and keyboard in front of you.
12. Use a stable work surface and stable (no bounce) keyboard tray.

Principles of Ergonomics
In order to consider the ergonomics involved in different design projects, universal principles of
ergonomics can be applied. While the principles below may not be applicable in some projects,
the concepts can be adapted to both physical and digital projects.

The five main principles of ergonomics are:

 safety
 comfort
 ease of use
 productivity and performance
 aesthetics

These principles can be broken down into three areas:

Physical ergonomics
Physical ergonomics is concerned with the way the body interacts with the workers' tools
(anything from shovels to chairs to personal computers) and their effects on the body such as
posture, musculoskeletal disorders, repetitive disorders, workplace layout and workplace health
and safety.

Cognitive Ergonimics
Cognitive Ergonomics relates to the way the mind processes information it is presented with and
associated motor functions, memory usage, decision-making and other mental workloads. Study
of these factors and the interation between humans and the data presentation can improve

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everything from the placement of signs, the visibilty and recognition and retention of the data
and areas such as Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to improve everything from operating
systems to websites.

Organizational Ergonomics
Organizational Ergonomics is concerned with optimizing the workplace, everything from
teamwork to assessing teleworking and quality management.

Ergonomics was pioneered by the Greeks but was transformed into a science by Frederick
Winslow Taylor in the late 19th Century when he pioneered his "Scientific Management"
method to discover the most efficient method for carrying out a specified task. Using his method,
Taylor set out to discover the optimum way to shovel coal by experimenting with shovels of
incrementally reduced size and weight until the fastest shovelling rate was achieved. In the early
1900s these methods were expanded into "time and motion studies" which help to eliminate
unneccessary steps in a given process.

Ergonomics took another leap forward during World War II as the demands on the human body
from the first real mechanised war took it's toll on the mind and the body. Attempts to reduce the
phenomenon of "pilot error" by the U.S. Army led to changes in the layout and design of cockpit
interiors and the theories behind the changes spread to other branches of the armed forces.

The information age put different demands on ergonomic research with everything from
computers, mice, chairs, joysticks and more needing to be designed. A high profile example of
ergonomic designing improving the HCI of a games console is the Wii remote control,
specifically designed to be simple to use, easy to hold and not tiring to use.

Use of Ergonomics in Health and Safety in the workplace

Ergonomics in the workplace can reduce the potential for accidents, injury and ill health and
improve productivity and performance. Accidents can be reduced by through better design of
controls. If, for example, a switch on a control board is switched on accidentally it may mean the
switch should be moved to prevent accidental operation. This is ergonomics in action.

Ill health or injury can be prevented by ensuring there is adequate lighting in all areas and that
such lighting does not cause glare or causes eye strain due to low light levels. If, for example, an
operator's mouse is positioned too far away and requires repeated streaching movements to reach
then this could lead to Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). Re-arranging the operator's work area so
the mouse and other frequently used items are within easy reach can prevent such injuries. A
computer operator's chair must also be adjustable to the correct height for the operator to prevent
hunching, should provide lumbar or lower back supportand enable the operator to sit at a
comfortable distance from the screen and keyboard. We recommend these Fantastic Niceday
Deluxe Ergonomic Synchro Task Chairs, for an amazing £69.99 from Viking Direct.

Ergonomic principles even extend to a worker's shift patterns. Shifts should have enough time
betwen them to enable the worker to recover fully, attend to domestic responsibilities and
prevent workers from doing excessive overtime. This means workers are rested, alert, and less
likely to have an accident or fall ill.

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There are several ways you can identify an ergonomic problem, from simple observation and
common sense through to risk assessment or simple checklists. We recommend several methods
are used to cover all eventualities.

If you think you have identified an ergonomic problem there are several things you should do to
solve it.

 Look for causes and solutions. Minor alterations could make a big difference and do not need to
be expensive.
 Talk to employees and take suggestions from them. The workers actually performing the task
usually have the best insights into how a job can be improved.
 Ask a qualified ergonomics expert.

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CHAPTER 8: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

NETWORK
What is Computer Network?
Two or more computers connected together through a communication media form a computer
network.
The computers are connected in a network to exchange information and data. The computers
connected in a network can also use resources of other computers.

Uses and benefits of communication networks

You have undoubtedly heard the 5the whole is greater than the sum of its parts6. This phrase describes
networking very well, and explains why it has become so popular. A network isn't just a bunch of
computers with wires running between them. Properly implemented, a network is a system that provides
its users with unique capabilities, above and beyond what the individual machines and their software
applications can provide.

Most of the benefits of networking can be divided into two generic categories: connectivity and
sharing. Networks allow computers, and hence their users, to be connected together. They also
allow for the easy sharing of information and resources, and cooperation between the devices in
other ways. Since modern business depends so much on the intelligent flow and management of
information, this tells you a lot about why networking is so valuable.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the specific advantages generally associated with
networking:

o Connectivity and Communication: Networks connect computers and the users of those
computers. Individuals within a building or work group can be connected into local area
networks (LANs); LANs in distant locations can be interconnected into larger wide area
networks (WANs). Once connected, it is possible for network users to communicate with
each other using technologies such as electronic mail. This makes the transmission of
business (or non-business) information easier, more efficient and less expensive than it
would be without the network.

o Data Sharing: One of the most important uses of networking is to allow the sharing of data.
Before networking was common, an accounting employee who wanted to prepare a report
for her manager would have to produce it on his PC, put it on a floppy disk, and then walk it
over to the manager, who would transfer the data to her PC's hard disk. (This sort of <shoe-
based network= was sometimes sarcastically called a <sneakernet=.)

True networking allows thousands of employees to share data much more easily and quickly
than this. More so, it makes possible applications that rely on the ability of many people to
access and share the same data, such as databases, group software development, and
much more. Intranets and extranets can be used to distribute corporate information between
sites and to business partners.

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o Hardware Sharing: Networks facilitate the sharing of hardware devices. For example,
instead of giving each of 10 employees in a department an expensive color printer (or
resorting to the <sneakernet= again), one printer can be placed on the network for everyone
to share.

o Internet Access: The Internet is itself an enormous network, so whenever you access the
Internet, you are using a network. The significance of the Internet on modern society is hard
to exaggerate, especially for those of us in technical fields.

o Internet Access Sharing: Small computer networks allow multiple users to share a single
Internet connection. Special hardware devices allow the bandwidth of the connection to be
easily allocated to various individuals as they need it, and permit an organization to purchase
one high-speed connection instead of many slower ones.
o Data Security and Management: In a business environment, a network allows the
administrators to much better manage the company's critical data. Instead of having this data
spread over dozens or even hundreds of small computers in a haphazard fashion as their users
create it, data can be centralized on shared servers. This makes it easy for everyone to find
the data, makes it possible for the administrators to ensure that the data is regularly backed
up, and also allows for the implementation of security measures to control who can read or
change various pieces of critical information.
o Performance Enhancement and Balancing: Under some circumstances, a network can be
used to enhance the overall performance of some applications by distributing the
computation tasks to various computers on the network.
o Entertainment: Networks facilitate many types of games and entertainment. The Internet
itself offers many sources of entertainment, of course. In addition, many multi-player games
exist that operate over a local area network. Many home networks are set up for this reason,
and gaming across wide area networks (including the Internet) has also become quite
popular. Of course, if you are running a business and have easily-amused employees, you
might insist that this is really a disadvantage of networking and not an advantage!

Telecommunication technology

Computer Network Components

There are different components of a network. Following are the basic components of network.

1. Server: Powerful computers that provides services to the other computers on the network.

2. Client: Computer that uses the services that a server provides. The client is less powerful than
server.

3. Media: A physical connection between the devices on a network.

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4. Network Adopter: Network adopter or network interface card (NIC) is a circuit board with
the components necessary for sending and receiving data. It is plugged into one of the available
slots on the Pc and transmission cable is attached to the connector on the NIC.

5. Resources: Anything available to a client on the network is considered a resource .Printers,

data, fax devices and other network devices and information are resources.

6. User: Any person that uses a client to access resources on the network.

8. Protocols: These are written rules used for communications. They are the languages that
computers use to talk to each other on a network

Transmission modes
The way in which data is transmitted from one place to another is called data transmission mode. It is
also called the data communication mode. It is indicates the direction of flow of information.
Sometimes, data transmission modes are also called directional modes.

Types of Data Transmission Modes

Different types of data transmission modes are as follows:
1. Simplex mode
2. Half-duplex mode
3. Full-duplex mode
1- Simplex Mode
In simplex mode, data can flow in only one direction. In this mode, a sender can only send data
and cannot receive it. Similarly, a receiver can only receive data but cannot send it. Data sent from
computer to printer is an example of simplex mode.
In simplex mode, it is not possible to confirm successful transmission of data. It is also not possible to
request the sender to re-transmit information. This mode is not widely used. However, this mode is
used in business field at certain point-of-sale terminals. The other examples of simplex communication
modes are Radio and T.V transmissions.

2- Half-Duplex Mode
In half-duplex mode, data can flow in both directions but only in one direction at a time. In this
mode, data is sent and received alternatively. It is like a one-lane bridge where two-way traffic must
give way in order to cross the other.
The Internet browsing is an example of half duplex mode. The user sends a request to a Web server
for a web page. It means that information flows from user's computer to the web server. Web server
receives the request and sends data of the requested page. The data flows the Web server to the
user's computer. At a time a user can a request or receive the data of web page.

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3- Full-Duplex Mode
In full duplex-mode, data can flow in both directions at the same time. It is the fastest directional
mode of data communication. The telephone communication system is an example of full-duplex
communication mode. Two persons can talk at the same time. Another example of fully-duplex mode
in daily life is automobile traffic on a two-lane road. The traffic can move in both directions at the
same time.

Network Medium

Introduction

Electrical properties of matter

Matter is defined as something that occupies space, possesses mass, offers resistance and can be felt by
our senses, for example, water, metals, plants, animals, etc.

State of State?

Matter exists in three physical states - Solid, Liquid and Gas. The existence of any state depends
upon two main forces,
 Intermolecular forces : The force which binds the constituent particles and tries to keep them close
together.
 Thermal energy : This is the energy which tries to keep the particles apart and makes their
movement fast.
At low temperature, the thermal energy is low and intermolecular forces are strong, so the
particles occupy fixed positions and can oscillate about their mean position. The compound
exists in solid state.

A solid is defined as that form of matter which possesses rigidity and hence possesses a definite
shape and a definite volume.

The three states are inter convertible by changing the conditions of temperature and pressure as
shown below-

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Properties of Solids

There are three main properties of solids which depend on their structure. The three main
properties are:
1) Electrical property
2) Magnetic property
3) Dielectric property

Electrical properties: Solids show a wide range of electrical conductivities from 10-20 to 107
ohm-1 m-1. On the basis of electrical conductivity the solid can be broadly classified into three
types:

Metals (conductors): The solids which have conductivities in order of 104 to 107 ohm-1 m-1.
Metals are good conductors of electricity.

Insulators: Solids which have very low conductivity in the range 10-20 to 10-10 ohm-1 m-1. For
example wood, rubber, sulfur, phosphorus etc.

Semiconductors: Their conductivity is in between conductor and insulator up to the order of 10-6
to 104 ohm-1 m-1.

Electrical Conductivity
Solids can conduct electrical charge due to the motion of electrons and the positive holes
(electronic conductivity) or because of the motion of ions (ionic conductivity). The reason for
electrical conductivity of metals is the motion of electrons and it increases by increasing the
number of participating electrons in the process of conduction.

Pure ionic solids, in which conduction occurs only through the ionic motion, are termed as
insulators. The defects in crystal structure increases the conductance property of semiconductor
and more so with insulator. The electrical conductivity of metals, insulators and semiconductors
can be explained in terms of Band Theory.

Band theory
This is based on molecular orbital theory. The molecular orbitals are formed by overlapping of atomic
orbitals and the number of molecular orbitals formed are equal to the number of atomic orbitals which
take part in overlapping.

In the case of metals, the atomic orbitals are very close in energy so they form a large number of
molecular orbitals which are very close in energy. This set of molecular orbitals is called band
which is of two types.

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 Valence band :This is a band of lower energy

 Conduction band :The band of higher energy

The energy difference separating these two bands is called band gap or energy gap. These energy
bands are separated by space where no energy is allowed in and are termed as forbidden bands.
The top of available electron energy level at low temperature is called Fermi level.

 If the valence band is partially filled or it overlaps with higher energy or have unoccupied
conduction band then the electrons can be excited from lower to higher energy level by
supplying a very small amount of energy or applied electric field. Hence the metal
conducts electricity and behaves as a conductor.

 If the gap between the filled valence and unfilled conduction band is large and it's not
possible for electrons to jump from the valence to conduction band, then the substance
has extremely low conductivity and behaves as an insulator.

 If the gap between the valence and conduction band is small and some electrons can jump
from valence to conduction band, then the substance shows some amount of conductivity
and behaves as a semiconductor.

Effect of temperature on conductivity

1. In the case of metals, the conductivity decreases with increase in temperature because the
positive ions of metals start vibrating and produce hindrance in the flow of electrons.
2. There is no effect of temperature on the conductivity of an insulator.
3. In the case of a semiconductor, it increases by increasing the temperature as more
electrons can jump from valance to conduction band.

Transmission medium

Types of transmission media, Importance and benefits and limitations

A transmission medium is a material substance (solid, liquid, gas, or plasma) that can propagate
energy waves. For example, the transmission medium for sounds is usually air, but solids and
liquids may also act as transmission media for sound.

The absence of a material medium in vacuum may also constitute a transmission medium for
electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves. While material substance is not required
for electromagnetic waves to propagate, such waves are usually affected by the transmission
media they pass through, for instance by absorption or by reflection or refraction at the interfaces
between media.

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The term transmission medium also refers to a technical device that employs the material
substance to transmit or guide waves. Thus, an optical fiber or a copper cable is a transmission
medium. Not only is this but also able to guide the transmission of networks.

A transmission medium can be classified as a:

 Linear medium, if different waves at any particular point in the medium can be superposed (i.e.
when two waves meet they overlap and interact. Sometimes they add to make a wave bigger,
sometimes they cancel each other)
 Bounded medium, if it is finite in extent, otherwise unbounded medium;
 Uniform medium or homogeneous medium, if its physical properties are unchanged at different
points;
 Isotropic medium, if its physical properties are the same in different directions.

Transmission and reception of data is performed in four steps.

1. The data is coded as binary numbers at the sender end

2. A carrier signal is modulated as specified by the binary representation of the data
3. At the receiving end, the incoming signal is demodulated into the respective binary numbers
4. Decoding of the binary numbers is performed

Telecommunications
A physical medium in data communications is the transmission path over which a signal
propagates.

Many transmission media are used as communications channel.

For telecommunications purposes in the United States, Federal Standard 1037C, transmission
media are classified as one of the following:

 Guided (or bounded)4waves are guided along a solid medium such as a transmission
line.
 Wireless (or unguided)4transmission and reception are achieved by means of an
antenna.

Bounded/Guided Transmission Media

It is the transmission media in which signals are confined to a specific path using wire or cable.
The types of Bounded/ Guided are discussed below.

Twisted Pair Cable

This cable is the most commonly used and is cheaper than others. It is lightweight, cheap, can be
installed easily, and they support many different types of network. Some important points :

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 Its frequency range is 0 to 3.5 kHz.

 Typical attenuation is 0.2 dB/Km @ 1kHz.
 Typical delay is 50 µs/km.
 Repeater spacing is 2km.

Twisted Pair is of two types :

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)

 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)

Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable

It is the most common type of telecommunication when compared with Shielded Twisted Pair
Cable which consists of two conductors usually copper, each with its own colour plastic
insulator. Identification is the reason behind coloured plastic insulation.

UTP cables consist of 2 or 4 pairs of twisted cable. Cable with 2 pair use RJ-11 connector and 4
pair cable use RJ-45 connector.

It can be either voice grade or data grade depending on the condition. UTP cable normally has an
impedance of 100 ohm. UTP cost less than STP and easily available due to its many use. There
are five levels of data cabling

Category 1 These are used in telephone lines and low speed data cable.
Category 2 These cables can support up to 4 mps implementation.
Category 3 These cable supports up to 16 mps and are mostly used in 10 mps.
Category 4 These are used for large distance and high speed. It can support 20mps.
Category 5 This is the highest rating for UTP cable and can support up to 100mps.

UTP cables consist of 2 or 4 pairs of twisted cable. Cable with 2 pair use RJ-11 connector and 4
pair cable use RJ-45 connector.

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Characteristics of UTP

 low cost
 easy to install
 High speed capacity
 High attenuation
 Effective to EMI
 100 meter limit

Advantages :
 Installation is easy
 Flexible
 Cheap
 It has high speed capacity,
 100 meter limit
 Higher grades of UTP are used in LAN technologies like Ethernet.

It consists of two insulating copper wires (1mm thick). The wires are twisted together in a helical
form to reduce electrical interference from similar pair.

Disadvantages :
 Bandwidth is low when compared with Coaxial Cable
 Provides less protection from interference.

Shielded Twisted Pair Cable

This cable has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering which encases each pair of insulated
conductors. Electromagnetic noise penetration is prevented by metal casing. Shielding also
eliminates crosstalk (explained in KEY TERMS Chapter).

It has same attenuation as unshielded twisted pair. It is faster the unshielded and coaxial cable. It
is more expensive than coaxial and unshielded twisted pair.

It is similar to UTP but has a mesh shielding that8s protects it from EMI which allows for higher
transmission rate.

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IBM has defined category for STP cable.

Type 1 STP features two pairs of 22-AWG

Type 2 This type include type 1 with 4 telephone pairs
Type 6 This type feature two pairs of standard shielded 26-AWG
Type 7 This type of STP consist of 1 pair of standard shielded 26-AWG
Type 9 This type consist of shielded 26-AWG wire

American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a U.S. standard set of non-ferrous wire conductor sizes. The "gauge"
means the diameter.

Characteristics of STP

 Medium cost
 Easy to install
 Higher capacity than UTP
 Higher attenuation, but same as UTP
 Medium immunity from EMI
 100 meter limit

Advantages :

 Easy to install
 Performance is adequate
 Can be used for Analog or Digital transmission
 Increases the signalling rate
 Higher capacity than unshielded twisted pair
 Eliminates crosstalk

Disadvantages :

 Difficult to manufacture
 Heavy

Coaxial Cable
Coaxial is called by this name because it contains two conductors that are parallel to each other.
Copper is used in this as centre conductor which can be a solid wire or a standard one. It is
surrounded by PVC installation, a sheath which is encased in an outer conductor of metal foil,
barid or both.

Outer metallic wrapping is used as a shield against noise and as the second conductor which
completes the circuit. The outer conductor is also encased in an insulating sheath. The outermost
part is the plastic cover which protects the whole cable.

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Here the most common coaxial standards.

 50-Ohm RG-7 or RG-11 : used with thick Ethernet.

 50-Ohm RG-58 : used with thin Ethernet
 75-Ohm RG-59 : used with cable television
 93-Ohm RG-62 : used with ARCNET.

There are two types of Coaxial cables :

BaseBand
This is a 50 ohm (Ω) coaxial cable which is used for digital transmission. It is mostly used for
LAN8s. Baseband transmits a single signal at a time with very high speed. The major drawback
is that it needs amplification after every 1000 feet.
BroadBand
This uses analog transmission on standard cable television cabling. It transmits several
simultaneous signal using different frequencies. It covers large area when compared with
Baseband Coaxial Cable.
Advantages :
 Bandwidth is high
 Used in long distance telephone lines.
 Transmits digital signals at a very high rate of 10Mbps.
 Much higher noise immunity
 Data transmission without distortion.
 The can span to longer distance at higher speeds as they have better shielding when compared
to twisted pair cable

Disadvantages :
Single cable failure can fail the entire network.

 Difficult to install and expensive when compared with twisted pair.

 If the shield is imperfect, it can lead to grounded loop.

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Fiber Optic Cable

These are similar to coaxial cable. It uses electric signals to transmit data. At the centre is the
glass core through which light propagates.

In multimode fibres, the core is 50microns, and In single mode fibres, the thickness is 8 to 10
microns.

The core in fiber optic cable is surrounded by glass cladding with lower index of refraction as
compared to core to keep all the light in core. This is covered with a thin plastic jacket to protect
the cladding. The fibers are grouped together in bundles protected by an outer shield.

Fiber optic cable has bandwidth more than 2 gbps (Gigabytes per Second)

Characteristics Of Fiber Optic Cable:

 Expensive
 Very hard to install
 Capable of extremely high speed
 Extremely low attenuation
 No EMI interference

Advantages :
 Provides high quality transmission of signals at very high speed.
 These are not affected by electromagnetic interference, so noise and distortion is very less.
 Used for both analog and digital signals.

Disadvantages :
 It is expensive
 Difficult to install.
 Maintenance is expensive and difficult.
 Do not allow complete routing of light signals.

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UnBounded/UnGuided Transmission Media

Unguided or wireless media sends the data through air (or water), which is available to anyone
who has a device capable of receiving them. Types of unguided/ unbounded media are discussed
below:

 Radio Transmission
 MicroWave Transmission

Radio Transmission
Its frequency is between 10 kHz to 1GHz. It is simple to install and has high attenuation. These
waves are used for multicast communications.
Types of Propogation

Radio Transmission utilizes different types of propogation :

 Troposphere : The lowest portion of earth’s atmosphere extending outward approximately 30

miles from the earth’s surface. Clouds, jet planes, wind is found here.
 Ionosphere : The layer of the atmosphere above troposphere, but below space. Contains
electrically charged particles.

Microwave Transmission
It travels at high frequency than the radio waves. It requires the sender to be inside of the
receiver. It operates in a system with a low gigahertz range. It is mostly used for unicast
communication.

There are 2 types of Microwave Transmission :

1. Terrestrial Microwave
2. Satellite Microwave

Advantages of Microwave Transmission

 Used for long distance telephone communication
 Carries 1000’s of voice channels at the same time

Disadvantages of Microwave Transmission

 It is Very costly

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Terrestrial Microwave
For increasing the distance served by terrestrial microwave, repeaters can be installed with each
antenna .The signal received by an antenna can be converted into transmittable form and relayed
to next antenna as shown in below figure. It is an example of telephone systems all over the
world

There are two types of antennas used for terrestrial microwave communication :

1. Parabolic Dish Antenna

In this every line parallel to the line of symmetry reflects off the curve at angles in a way that they
intersect at a common point called focus. This antenna is based on geometry of parabola.

2. Horn Antenna

It is a like gigantic scoop. The outgoing transmissions are broadcast up a stem and deflected outward in
a series of narrow parallel beams by curved head.

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Satellite Microwave
This is a microwave relay station which is placed in outer space. The satellites are launched
either by rockets or space shuttles carry them.

These are positioned 3600KM above the equator with an orbit speed that exactly matches the
rotation speed of the earth. As the satellite is positioned in a geo-synchronous orbit, it is
stationery relative to earth and always stays over the same point on the ground. This is usually
done to allow ground stations to aim antenna at a fixed point in the sky.

Features of Satellite Microwave :

 Bandwidth capacity depends on the frequency used.
 Satellite microwave deployment for orbiting satellite is difficult.

Advantages of Satellite Microwave :

 Transmitting station can receive back its own transmission and check whether the satellite has
transmitted information correctly.
 A single microwave relay station which is visible from any point.

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Disadvantages of Satellite Microwave :

 Satellite manufacturing cost is very high
 Cost of launching satellite is very expensive

Transmission highly depends on whether conditions, it can go down in bad weather

Types of Communication Networks

Different types of (private) networks are distinguished based on their size (in terms of the
number of machines), their data transfer speed, and their reach.
Private networks are networks that belong to a single organization.

There are usually said to be three categories of networks:

 LAN (local area network)

 MAN (metropolitan area network)
 WAN (wide area network)

There are two other types of networks:

 TANs (Tiny Area Network), which are the same as LANs but smaller (2 to 3 machines),
 and CANs (Campus Area Networks), which are the same as MANs (with bandwidth
limited between each of the network's LANs).

LAN stands for Local Area Network.

It's a group of computers which all belong to the same organization, and which are linked within
a small geographic area using a network, and often the same technology (the most widespread
being Ethernet).

A local area network is a network in its simplest form. Data transfer speeds over a local area
network can reach up to 10 Mbps (such as for an Ethernet network) and 1 Gbps (as with FDDI or
Gigabit Ethernet).
A local area network can reach as many as 100, or even 1000, users.

Note
Ethernet (also known as IEEE 802.3 standard) is a data transmission standard for local area
networks based on the following principle:
 All machines on an Ethernet network
 are connected to the same communication line,
 made up of cylindrical cables

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) technology is network access technology over fibre optic type
lines.

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By expanding the definition of a LAN to the services that it provides, two different operating
modes can be defined:

 In a "peer-to-peer" network, in which communication is carried out from one computer to

another, without a central computer, and where each computer has the same role.
 in a "client/server" environment, in which a central computer provides network services
to users.

MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks) connect multiple geographically nearby LANs to one
another (over an area of up to a few dozen kilometers) at high speeds. Thus, a MAN lets two
remote nodes communicate as if they were part of the same local area network.

A MAN is made from switches or routers connected to one another with high-speed links
(usually fibre optic cables).

A WAN (Wide Area Network or extended network) connects multiple LANs to one another
over great geographic distances.

The speed available on a WAN varies depending on the cost of the connections (which increases
with distance) and may be low.

WANs operate using routers, which can "choose" the most appropriate path for data to take to
reach a network node.

Other Types of Area Networks

While LAN and WAN are by far the most popular network types mentioned, you may also
commonly see references to these others:

 Wireless Local Area Network - a LAN based on Wi-Fi wireless network technology
 Metropolitan Area Network - a network spanning a physical area larger than a LAN but smaller
than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically owned an operated by a single entity such as a
government body or large corporation.
 Campus Area Network - a network spanning multiple LANs but smaller than a MAN, such as on
a university or local business campus.
 Storage Area Network - connects servers to data storage devices through a technology like
Fibre Channel.

System Area Network (also known as Cluster Area Network).- links high-performance computers with
high-speed connections in a cluster configuration.

Computer Network Topology

A topology is a usually schematic description of the arrangement of a network, including its nodes and
connecting lines. There are two ways of defining network geometry: the physical topology and the
logical (or signal) topology.

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The physical topology of a network refers to the configuration of cables, computers, and other
peripherals. Physical topology should not be confused with logical topology which is the method
used to pass information between workstations. Logical topology was discussed in the Protocol
chapter.

Main Types of Physical Topologies

The following sections discuss the physical topologies used in networks and other related topics.

 Linear Bus
 Star
 Tree (Expanded Star)
 Considerations When Choosing a Topology
 Summary Chart

Linear Bus
A linear bus topology consists of a main run of cable with a terminator at each end (See fig. 1).
All nodes (file server, workstations, and peripherals) are connected to the linear cable.

Fig. 1. Linear Bus topology

Advantages of a Linear Bus Topology

 Easy to connect a computer or peripheral to a linear bus.
 Requires less cable length than a star topology.

Disadvantages of a Linear Bus Topology

 Entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main cable.
 Terminators are required at both ends of the backbone cable.
 Difficult to identify the problem if the entire network shuts down.
 Not meant to be used as a stand-alone solution in a large building.

Star
A star topology is designed with each node (file server, workstations, and peripherals) connected
directly to a central network hub, switch, or concentrator (See fig. 2).

Data on a star network passes through the hub, switch, or concentrator before continuing to its
destination. The hub, switch, or concentrator manages and controls all functions of the network.

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It also acts as a repeater for the data flow. This configuration is common with twisted pair cable;
however, it can also be used with coaxial cable or fiber optic cable.

Fig. 2. Star topology

Advantages of a Star Topology

 Easy to install and wire.
 No disruptions to the network when connecting or removing devices.
 Easy to detect faults and to remove parts.

Disadvantages of a Star Topology

 Requires more cable length than a linear topology.
 If the hub, switch, or concentrator fails, nodes attached are disabled.
 More expensive than linear bus topologies because of the cost of the hubs, etc.

Tree or Expanded Star

A tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star topologies. It consists of groups
of star-configured workstations connected to a linear bus backbone cable (See fig. 3). Tree
topologies allow for the expansion of an existing network, and enable schools to configure a
network to meet their needs.

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Fig. 3. Tree topology

Advantages of a Tree Topology

 Point-to-point wiring for individual segments.
 Supported by several hardware and software venders.

Disadvantages of a Tree Topology

 Overall length of each segment is limited by the type of cabling used.
 If the backbone line breaks, the entire segment goes down.
 More difficult to configure and wire than other topologies.

5-4-3 Rule
A consideration in setting up a tree topology using Ethernet protocol is the 5-4-3 rule. One aspect
of the Ethernet protocol requires that a signal sent out on the network cable reach every part of
the network within a specified length of time. Each concentrator or repeater that a signal goes
through adds a small amount of time. This leads to the rule that between any two nodes on the
network there can only be a maximum of 5 segments, connected through 4
repeaters/concentrators. In addition, only 3 of the segments may be populated (trunk) segments if
they are made of coaxial cable. A populated segment is one that has one or more nodes attached
to it . In Figure 4, the 5-4-3 rule is adhered to. The furthest two nodes on the network have 4
segments and 3 repeaters/concentrators between them.

NOTE: This rule does not apply to other network protocols or Ethernet networks where all fiber
optic cabling or a combination of a fiber backbone with UTP cabling is used. If there is a

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combination of fiber optic backbone and UTP cabling, the rule would translate to a 7-6-5
rule.The speed of networking switches is vastly improved over older technologies, and while
every effort should be made to limit network segment traversal, efficient switching can allow
much larger numbers of segments to be traversed with little or no impact to the network.

Considerations When Choosing a Topology

 Money. A linear bus network may be the least expensive way to install a network; you do not
have to purchase concentrators.
 Length of cable needed. The linear bus network uses shorter lengths of cable.
 Future growth. With a star topology, expanding a network is easily done by adding another
concentrator.
 Cable type. The most common cable in schools is unshielded twisted pair, which is most often
used with star topologies.

Summary Chart

Physical Topology Common Cable Common Protocol

Twisted Pair
Linear Bus Coaxial Ethernet
Fiber

Twisted Pair
Star Ethernet
Fiber

Twisted Pair
Tree Coaxial Ethernet
Fiber

Categories of computer networks

There are two different categories/architecture with which network between computers can be formed.

A network is either a peer-to-peer network (also called a workgroup) or a server-based network

(also called a client/server network).

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Peer-to-peer network(p2p)

In a peer-to-peer network (see Figure above), a group of computers is

connected together so that users can share resources and information.
There is no central location for authenticating users, storing files, or
accessing resources. This means that users must remember which
computers in the workgroup have the shared resource or information
that they want to access. It also means that users must log on to each
computer to access the shared resources on that computer.

In most peer-to-peer networks, it is difficult for users to track where information is located
because data is generally stored on multiple computers. This makes it difficult to back up critical
business information, and it often results in small businesses not completing backups. Often,
there are multiple versions of the same file on different computers in the workgroup.

In some peer-to-peer networks, the small business uses one computer that is running a client
operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Windows XP Professional, as the designated
"server" for the network. Although this helps with saving data in a central location, it does not
provide a robust solution for many of the needs of a small business, such as collaborating on
documents.

Limitation of P2P networking model:

Before deciding to implement P2P model one must know the limitations of this type. Getting to
know later can be frustrating big time. It would highly be recommended to get your
organizational people site together and discuss the needs. Peer to Peer looks very simple, quite
cost effective and attractive, yet it can keep progress very limited.

 Peer-To-Peer networks are designed for limited number computers, it will start creating
issues when exceed 15 number of computers
 High security levels can not be achieved using p2p networks, so if organization have
concerns with security p2p will not be that great.
 Organizational growth will outgrow p2p networks; it will not support growing number of
computers when increased above fifteen.
 Regular training is required for computer users of p2p network. p2p network is control by
computers and computers are controlled by human, small mistake by one of the user can
hold the work for other users on same p2p network.

Server-based network

In a server-based network, the server is the central location where users share and access network
resources (see Figure below). This dedicated computer controls the level of access that users
have to shared resources. Shared data is in one location, making it easy to back up critical
business information. Each computer that connects to the network is called a client computer. In

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a server-based network, users have one user account and password

to log on to the server and to access shared resources. Server
operating systems are designed to handle the load when multiple
client computers access server-based resources.

Windows SBS 2008 is installed and configured as the central server on a server-based network.
Windows SBS 2008 provides the central point for authenticating users, accessing resources, and
storing information.

Features of Server:
Servers are powerful machines when they are compared to normal desktop computers. They are
meant to provide strength to computing power within the entire network. Controlling developed
network can only be done by dedicated servers as they have higher specifications to support
network. Servers can have better processing speed with multiple processors capability available.
Server machine have higher RAM to load and execute software with ease. They have more
advance network cards installed for faster data transfer. Hard drives are way bigger to store the
data for entire clients. Hardware can be plugged in and plugged out while server is on, this helps
network stable, and hardware like hard disk can be removed and attached accordingly.

Server OS:
Operating systems are also specially designed for servers. Server OS have much more features
file serving, print serving, backing up data, enhanced security features etc. There are few major
Server OS which are used commonly in servers, Windows server NT. 2000 , 2003,Linux and
Novell NetWare. Windows server 2003 is more powerful and enhanced for much higher security
levels, Linux servers provide the maximum security to networks.

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CHAPTER 9: ICT ETHICS AND LEGISLATIONS

Meaning and importance of ICT ethics
Computer ethics is a part of practical philosophy concerned with how computing professionals
should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct.

<Ethics= are moral standards that help guide behavior, actions, and choices.

Significance of Ethics
Inhibits Knowledge: First and foremost, ethical norms help in gaining knowledge, analyzing the
truth, and avoiding any chances of errors while examining any given circumstance or situation.
Thus, ethics are most efficient for avoiding errors and prohibiting against fabricating, falsifying,
or misrepresenting any data.

Enhances Cooperation: Working in any organization or workplace demands great deal of

cooperation and coordination amongst people at different levels and different fields. As such,
different values are promoted and shared amongst these people, such as trust, accountability,
mutual respect, and fairness. These only contribute to better and improved working conditions,
growth, and success, in turn.

Assists In Dealings: The right sense of thinking can help us deal with people on a daily basis in
the right and positive manner. The absence of the right approach and wrong sense can only
induce negative feelings, thereby affecting our communication with people as well. Ethics,
which are built on trust, help in treating everyone as the children of GOD and love everyone.
Hence, ethics that we pass onto others reveals the correct way of living.

Builds Public Support: By following proper ethical norms, they ensure building positive and
strong public support. Say, for example, people are more likely to invest in a project or fund if
they are guaranteed about the quality and integrity of the project. However, if they are unsure of
the quality and growth, they probably will step back and look for another similar project that will
fulfill their demand.

Promotes Moral & Social Values: Ethics are considered to be of utmost importance simply
because they assist in promoting other significant moral and social values. As such, values like
social responsibility, human rights, animal welfare, compliance with the law, and health and
safety, are some that are supported through practicing proper ethics. Any flaw in our values will
reduce our ability to achieve success in our endeavors. For example, a person who fabricates data
in a clinical trial can harm or even kill patients.

Unethical Behavior in the Workplace

Ethics is based on the recognition of certain human rights. An individual has the right not to be
deliberately deceived. He has the right not to be forced to go against his conscience. He has the
right to expect other parties to live up to their commitments and to behave according to the law.
In the workplace, the employer has the right to expect employees to behave according to

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company policy.

Deliberate Deception
Deliberate deception in the workplace includes taking credit for work done by someone else,
calling in sick in order to go to the beach, sabotaging the work of another person and, in sales,
misrepresenting the product or service to get the sale. There are other examples of deliberate
deception, but these show how damaging deception can be by using a person's trust to undermine
his rights and security. In a workplace environment, this results in conflict and retaliation. In a
sales function, it can result in lawsuits from deceived customers.

Violation of Conscience
Your sales manager calls you into his office and threatens to fire you unless you sell 50 large
toasters. You know the large toasters are inferior products and have been selling the small
toasters to your customers, instead. To keep your job, you must violate your conscience and
recommend that your customers buy the large toasters. Your boss is engaging in unethical
behavior by forcing you to do something you know is wrong, and also risking the ire and
potential loss of valuable customers to meet a product sales goal. He may be engaging in
unethical conduct because top management has forced him by threatening his job, too. Coercion
is also the basis for workplace sexual harassment and results in lawsuits. Unethical behavior
often causes more unethical behavior.

Failure to Honor Commitments

Your boss promises you an extra day off if you rush out an important project by a certain date.
You work late hours and finish the project before the deadline. Ready for your day off, you
mention it to your boss who responds "No, we have too much work to do." Your boss engaged in
unethical behavior that has virtually guaranteed your future distrust and unwillingness to extend
yourself to assist in department emergencies. In addition, you are likely to complain to your co-
workers, causing them to distrust the promises of the boss and be unwilling to cooperate with his
requests.

Unlawful Conduct
Padding an expense account with non-business expenses, raiding the supply cabinet to take home
pens and notebooks and passing around unregistered or counterfeit software are examples of
unlawful conduct in the workplace. The person who steals from the company by padding her
expense account or taking supplies for personal use risks losing her job. If a company decides to
overlook such theft on the basis of maintaining employee morale by not firing a popular
employee, other employees will also steal so they can feel they are getting the same deal as their
co-worker. Passing around counterfeit software, if discovered by the manufacturer, can cost the
company through lawsuits and fines.

Disregard of Company Policy

An employer is understandably concerned about avoiding lawsuits and angry customers because
those things negatively affect profitability. Most employers clearly state company policies
against deception, coercion and illegal activities. They also strive to convey an image of
trustworthiness to their customers and employees. Corporate trustworthiness helps retain
customers and valued employees, and the loss of either also negatively affects company

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profitability. To disregard company policy is unethical because it has the potential to harm the
company and other employees.

ICT Ethical Issues

Some of the impact and changes of ICT are obvious, but many are subtle. Benefits and costs
need to be studied closely for a nation to progress and improve the quality of life for its citizens.
Issues that have arisen from the adoption of ICT, such as the application of automated teller
machines (ATM), can be summarized as follows

 Unemployment-The automation of work has caused creative destruction by eliminating

some vocations and creating new ones. How does this affect the employment or
unemployment of the work force of a nation?

 Crime-Stolen and counterfeit ATM cards are used to steal millions of dollars each year
throughout the region. The anonymity of the machines makes some crimes easier and
creates many new types of crimes.

 Loss of privacy-Transactions are transmitted and recorded in databases at banks, hospitals,

shopping complexes, and various organizations, in the public or private sector.
The contents of electronic communications and databases can provide important and
private information to unauthorized individuals and organizations if they are not securely
guarded.

 Errors-Information input into the databases is prone to human and device error.
Computer programmes that process the information may contain thousands of errors. These
errors can create wrong and misleading information about individuals and organizations.
Information and programme errors might result in financial loss, or even the loss of lives.

 Intellectual property-Millions of dollars of software is illegally copied each year all over
the world.
This phenomenon has a great impact on the software industry in the region.
Local and foreign software industries need consumers support all over the world to
maintain the progress of technology. Most importantly, for the sake of growth in
indigenous ICT innovation and invention, local software industries in Asia-Pacific need
local support in protecting their intellectual property rights and investment.

 Freedom of speech and press-How do the constitutional rights of individuals in terms of

the freedoms of speech and press apply to electronic media? How seriously do the
problems of pornography, harassment, libel, and censorship on the net affect individuals
and society? What government initiatives have been used in handling this crisis?

 Digital Divide-How does ICT affect local community life? The increasing use of
computers has increased the separation of rich and poor, creating a digital divide between
the information 5haves6 and 5have-nots.6 What subsidies and programmes have been
provided by governments of the region to address the issue?

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 Professional Ethics-How well trained and ethical are our ICT professionals in dispensing
their duties? Faulty and useless systems that cause disasters and hardships to users might be
built by incompetent ICT professionals. In dispensing their duties ICT professionals must
demonstrate their best practices and standards as set by professional bodies for quality
assurance.

Common Reasons for Unethical Behavior

What drives employees to make unethical decisions or break from the norm and begin behaving
in unethical ways? There may be many reasons that drive people to cross the line and act
unethically. Some examples include:

 Pressure can drive people to do things they wouldn8t normally do. Pressure to succeed,
pressure to get ahead, pressure to meet deadlines and expectations, pressure from co-
workers, bosses, customers, or vendors to engage in unethical activities or at least look
the other way.
 Some people make unethical choices because they are not sure about what really is the
right thing to do. Often, ethical problems are complicated, and the proper choice may be
far from obvious.
 Of course, some people do not just do something wrong in a weak moment or because
they are not sure about what is the right thing to do. Some people know exactly what they
are doing and why. Self-interest, personal gain, ambition, and downright greed are at the
bottom of a lot of unethical activity in business.
 Misguided loyalty is another reason for unethical conduct on the job. People sometimes
lie because they think in doing so they are being loyal to the organization or to their
bosses. Examples of this type of behavior are not hard to find. For example, managers at
automobile companies who hide or falsify information about defects that later cause
accidents and kill people or managers at pharmaceutical companies who hide information
about dangerous side effects of their drugs. No doubt these managers believed they were
protecting their employers. They may well have seen themselves as good, loyal
employees.

Then there are those who simply never learned or do not care about ethical values. Since they
have no personal ethical values, they do not have any basis for understanding or applying ethical
standards in business. These people do not think about right and wrong. They only think,
"What8s in it for me?" and "Can I get away with it?"

How to Prevent Unethical Behavior in the Workplace

Unethical behavior in the workplace can lead to an unhealthy environment, often filled with mistrust
and spite. To prevent unethical behavior, managers and employees alike should follow these
suggestions.

1. Make sure all employees and managers review company policies regarding a hostile workplace
and retaliation. These policies should be shared and discussed freely.
2. Hold managers to the same standards as employees. Evaluate managers on ethical leadership
practices in addition to evaluating each employee’s ethical conduct.

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3. Discuss ethical issues and behaviors with employees during regular and one-on-one meetings.
4. Model ethical behavior and integrity by incorporating company values in all business
communications.
5. Provide ethical behavior professional development opportunities and implement best practices.

ICT Legislation and Policies

Definition of legislation
Legislation is the laws governing us all. In the Kenya we have three types of law.

 'Common law' which is not written down but has come into being historically.
 'Statute law' which comes into being through an Act of Parliament.
 International Union laws

Each of these types must be adhered to by an organization and it is up to the organization to ensure
the laws are implemented by its employees.

Legislation affecting IT.

The legislation which this course covers is:

 The Data Protection Act.

 Aimed at protecting the rights of the individual to privacy.
 If an organization holds data on individuals it must register under the act.
 Personal Data should be processed fairly and lawfully.
 Personal Data should be held only for registered purpose/s.
 Personal Data should not be disclosed in anyway other than lawfully and within the
registered purpose.
 Personal Data held should be adequate and relevant and not excessive for the required
purpose.
 Personal data should be accurate and kept up-to-date.
 Personal data should not be kept for longer than is necessary.
 Data must be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subjects.
 Appropriate security measures must be taken against unauthorised access.
 Individuals should be informed about the data stored and should be entitled to have
access to it and be able to correct errors.
 Personal data cannot be transferred to countries outside the Union unless the country
provides an adequate level of protection.
 The Computer Misuse Act
 Before this act it was not possible to prosecute a 'hacker'. The act created 3 new
offences.
 Unauthorised access to computer material (viewing data which you are not authorised to
see).
 Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences
(hacking).

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 Unauthorised modification of computer material.

 Copyright Designs and Patents Act
 This act protects software developers from having their software copied and pirated.
 A software audit should be carried out by an organisation to ensure all its software is
legal.
 Health and Safety
 Both employers and employees are obliged to implement the relevant Health and Safety
provisions, which are designed to provide a safe and healthy working environment.

ICT Policy and Legislation

Sources of ICT legislation in Kenya

 National Regulatory Authorities[ The Kenyan constitution act, The government

enactment, Other stake holders – NGOs, private sector ]
 International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Legislation is the act or process of making or enacting laws.

Liberalization is generally defined as the loosening of government regulations in a country to

allow for private sector companies to operate business

A policy is a principle or protocol to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A set of
policies are principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach
its long-term goals

Kenya National Policy Framework

As stated in the Kenyan Policy framework:

There are three areas of focus of the ICT Policy:

1) Information as a resource for development

2) Mechanisms for accessing information

3) ICT as an industry, including e-business, software development and manufacturing

However, the policy recognizes that the three areas are not mutually exclusive. Rather, the new
ICT have led to convergence between the media and telecommunications. For instance, on a
multi-media computer system, one can read online newspapers and other publications, watch
television stations and listen to various radio stations as well as getting a wide variety of
information from different websites.

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Although the majority of the population is still dependent on the conventional and traditional
information delivery systems, especially radio, new ICT can greatly enhance the efficiency of
these systems in delivering development information.

Objectives of ICT Policy

ICT evolution will take place with or without a systematic, comprehensive and articulated
policy.
However, the lack of a coherent policy is likely to contribute to the development (or prolonged
existence) of ineffective infrastructure and a waste of resources. Listed below are some
aspirations that ICT policies often try to meet:
• Providing citizens with a chance to access information,
• Increasing the benefits from information technology for the country,
• Providing information and communication facilities, services and management at a reasonable
or reduced cost,
• Improving the quality of ICT services and products,
• Encouraging innovations in technology development and use of technology,
• Promoting information sharing, transparency and accountability and reducing bureaucracy
within and between organizations, and towards the public at large,
• Attaining a specified minimum level of information technology resources for educational
institutions and government agencies,
• Providing individuals and organizations with a minimum level of ICT knowledge, and the
ability to keep it up to date, and
• Helping to understand information technology, its development and its cross-disciplinary
impact.

Key questions regarding ICT policy are:

• What are the objectives of ICT policy?
• How does it link to legislation and regulation?
• Who are the key players nationally and globally?
• Who governs the internet?
• How has telecommunications reform evolved?
• What are the objectives of regulation and how does it work?
• What are key reform and regulatory issues and their consequences?
• What can be done to make decision-making processes more participatory, democratic
and transparent?

Guidelines on legislation and policies Enforcement

Within this context, ECOWAS Member States have adopted the following guidelines relating to
a model ICT Policy:
• ICT policy must give prime focus to the sector so that policy makers do not get distracted by
attempting to include too many issues and/or sectors to be covered by such a policy.
• ICT Policy should address the following objectives:

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3 Increasing the benefits from information technology for the country

– Building and contributing to a competitive national and regional ICT sector respectively
– Providing affordable, ubiquitous and high quality services
– Creating an enabling environment for sustainable ICT diffusion and development
– Providing wide-spread access to ICT, including broadband through relevant universal
access policies and programs. Some key actions which generally help in the further
development of NII and the fulfilment of universal access goals are:
 Provision of broadband capacity
 Availability of services at affordable costs
Establishment of international reliability and redundancy standards
 Ensuring adequate capacity to provide service on demand
 Accessibility of services by the large majority of consumers
 Facilitating the delivery of a wide range of value-added services
 Facilitating the chance to access information
– Encouraging innovations in technology development and use of technology
– Promoting information sharing, transparency and accountability and reducing bureaucracy
within and between organizations, and towards the public at large
– Attaining a specified minimum level of information technology resources for educational
institutions and government agencies
– Providing individuals and organizations with a minimum level of ICT knowledge, and the
ability to keep it up to date
– Helping to understand information technology, its development and its cross-disciplinary
impact.

• Key Challenges to the adoption of an acceptable and sustainable ICT Policy include:
– Promotion of Stakeholder awareness
 Promote stakeholder participation and constitution building throughout society
 Start early e.g. through Internet to school programs
– Guarantee of broad-based Stakeholder participation and planning
 Promote ICT capacity-building throughout the sector through workshops, seminars,
media events and pilot projects to show practical benefits of ICTS
 Cultivate ICT champions
– Political buy-in/champions on a local and national level
 Ensure communication between interested parties (regulator, ministries, private sector,
NGOs, beneficiaries)
 Ensure local politics participation and buy in Ensure that ICT Policy is tailored to
realities of market, amongst others through prior analysis of situation and participation of
local actors in process
– Coordination with other policies/priorities
 Stay focused on objectives of ICT Policy but do not ignore the synergy between sectors
– Relevance and usefulness of policy and projects
 Aim for innovation (e.g Grameen-type projects)
 Define targets (e.g.: Internet to municipalities, broadband to rural areas,…)
 Provide for revision clauses so that the ICT Policy can be amended to be adapted to
market realities

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– Transparent Decision Making Procedures

 Member States in the Region should aim to adopt transparent decision-making and rule-
making procedures relating to ICT Policy and Regulation.
 Where ICT Policy is revised, Member States should strive to undertake public
consultation, which could include market studies, so as to ensure a transparent
rulemaking and decision-making process.
– Sustainability of projects (training, financing, appropriateness of technologies)
 Ensure sufficient training- make it part of the package
 Technologies introduced through ICT initiatives must take account of realities
 Timing must be appropriate
– Regional and International Framework Coordinate with regional initiatives

Given the central and essential role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in
organisations it is paramount that this ethical sensitivity percolates decisions and activities
related to ICT. In particular organisations need to consider:

 how to set up a strategic framework for ICT that recognises personal and corporate
ethical issues;
 how the methods for systems development balance ethical, economic and technological
considerations;
 the intellectual property issues surrounding software and data;
 the way information has become a key resource for organizations and how to safeguard
the integrity of this information;
 the increasing organizational responsibility to ensure that privacy rights are not violated
as more information about individuals is held electronically;
 the growing opportunity to misuse ICT given the increasing dependence of organisations
on it and the organisational duty to minimise this opportunity whilst accepting individuals
have a responsibility to resist it;
 the way advances in ICT can cause organisations to change their form - the full impact of
such change needs to be considered and, if possible, in advance, and the way the advent
of the global information society raises new issues for organisations in how they operate,
compete, co-operate and obey legislation; and
 how to cope with the enormous and rapid change in ICT, and how to recognise and
address the ethical issues that each advance brings.

Thus there is an ethical agenda associated with the use of ICT in organisations. This agenda
combines issues common to many professions and issues that are specific to ICT. New advances
in ICT and new applications may change the agenda. If organisations wish to secure benefits to
their business in the long term and enhance their reputation they have to address a
comprehensive agenda. The following steps provide a way in which organisations can establish
such an agenda and address the ethical issues arising in the field of ICT.

1. Decide the organisation's policy, in broad terms, in relation to ICT. This should:
 take account of the overall objectives of the organisation, drawing from such
existing sources as the organisational plan or mission statement;

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 use the organisation's established values, possibly set out in its code of practice,
for guidance in determining how to resolve ethical issues;
 set the scope of policy in terms of matters to be covered.
2. Form a statement of principles related to ICT that would probably include:
 respect for privacy and confidentiality;
 avoid ICT misuse;
 avoid ambiguity regarding ICT status, use and capability;
 be committed to transparency of actions and decisions related to ICT;
 adhere to relevant laws and observe the spirit of such laws;
 support and promote the definition of standards in, for example, development,
documentation and training; and
 abide by relevant professional codes.
3. Identify the key areas where ethical issues may arise for the organisation, such as:
 ownership of software and data;
 integrity of data;
 preservation of privacy;
 prevention of fraud and computer misuse;
 the creation and retention of documentation;
 the effect of change on people both employees and others; and
 global ICT.
4. Consider the application of policy and determine in detail the approach to each area of
sensitivity that has been identified.
5. Communicate practical guidance to all employees, covering:
 the clear definition and assignment of responsibilities;
 awareness training on ethical sensitivities;
 the legal position regarding intellectual property, data protection and privacy;
 the explicit consideration of social cost and benefit of ICT application;
 the testing of systems (including risk assessment where public health, safety and
welfare, or environmental concerns arise);
 documentation standards; and
 security and data protection
6. Whilst organisations have a responsibility to act ethically in the use of ICT so to do
individual employees. Those involved in providing ICT facilities should support the
ethical agenda of the organisation and in the course of their work should:
 consider broadly who is affected by their work;
 examine if others are being treated with respect;
 consider how the public would view their decisions and actions;
 analyse how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions and actions;
and
 consider if their decisions and acts are worthy of the model ICT professional.

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CHAPTER 10: LIFE SKILLS

Definition of Life Skills and terms

<Life skills are abilities that help us to adapt and behave positively so that we
can deal effectively with the challenges of everyday life.=

Using this definition, we can separate the life skills from the other types of skills, like this:

Life skills: Decision-making, goal setting, problem-solving, coping with stress, coping with
emotions, negotiating, friendship, interpersonal relationships, empathy (concern for others),
critical thinking, creative thinking, resisting peer pressure, assertiveness
Livelihood skills: Time management, getting a job, interview, computer, cooking, driving etc
Learning skills: Reading, reporting, numeracy etc
Technical/health skills: Cleaning teeth, condom, road safety, giving oral rehydration etc
Outcomes of life skills: Teamwork, self-esteem, learning from each other, confidence etc

The most important life skills are grouped into five related areas. They are called the core skills.
Here is a list of the areas and one example of how each core skill is developed in a life skills
session:

Area and Importance of life skills

The five core life skills and examples of a life skills activity

1. Decision-making and problem- solving

- A group of children decide with the educator to give up smoking and help others do the same.
They set goals to encourage themselves and each other and try to think what problems and
benefits may hap

- A group of older boys shout at and threaten two girls. The girls have to work out whose help to
seek if this happens again.

2. Critical thinking & Creative thinking

- A girl is able to assess the risks involved in accepting an invitation from a male stranger to
accept a lift across the town.

- A young person is able to think about different future job options and to think how to work
towards these options

3. Communication & Interpersonal relationships

- A child is able to discuss problems with parents or an appropriate adult

- A child is able to resist peer pressure when his friends ridicule his refusal to drink alcohol

4 Self-awareness and empathy

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- A young woman develops an awareness of her sexual feeling and how these feelings can 'take
over' sensible decisions. This awareness helps her avoid situations where she might risk unsafe
sex.

- A group of children think about how they can help a disabled child who is alone a lot.

5 Coping with Stress & Emotion

- A child learns how to cope with the conflicting pressures of needing to work and wanting to
study

- A boy learns to cope with the anger he feels towards his abusive father

Challenges facing the youth

 Psychological e.g. preparing for examinations, peer pressure, etc.

 Social e.g. peer pressure, inter-relationships, etc.
 Economic e.g. lack of resources (such as finance, basic necessities), excessive resources.
 Emotional e.g. anger management, hormonal influences, etc.
 Spiritual e.g. exposure to conflicting religious beliefs.
 Etc.

Categories of Life Skills

CATEGORY 1: Skills of Knowing and Living with oneself

 Self-awareness- This skill includes the recognition of one's self esteem, internal locus of
control, likes and dislikes. If an adolescent is able to recognise them, then he/she starts
believing that they can make a change in the world. Therefore, they start looking at
themselves and world more positively.

 Self esteem - a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. Self-esteem is often seen as a
personality trait, which means that it tends to be stable and enduring. Self-esteem can involve a
variety of beliefs about the self, such as the appraisal of one's own appearance, beliefs, emotions
and behaviors.
 Coping with emotions - Briggs concluded that emotional development is complete by the age
of 2 years. The adolescent generally shows heightened emotions as compared to an adult and
we end up in concluding that this group is immature.

This skill is involved in recognising the emotions and also helps to respond to those
emotions appropriately. Since, emotions also influence the overt behaviour, the skill
becomes more important for the constructive personality development.

 Coping with stress - Adolescence is a vulnerable period of development and rapid

developmental changes causes stress. Erickson has propounded that in this period individual
wants to have his/her own identity. If proper direction is not given then he/she feels stressed

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out. Therefore, this skill helps in recognising the sources of life stress and directs an
individual to choose a way that can control the heightened stress level.

CATEGORY 2: Skills of Knowing and Living with Others

 Empathy - It is an ability to imagine and understand what life is like for another person, even
in a situation that you may not be familiar with. It is important for an adolescent to develop
positive outlook towards others and feeling of cooperation, which is necessary for preparing
the foundation for adulthood.

 Effective communication - Communication is an important process which is used by an

individual to transfer ideas, information or feelings to others. Unless

the communication is effective, the purpose of communication fails. Effective

communication skill helps to express oneself both verbally and non-verbally through
gestures, in way that messages are not distorted and, moreover, it is appropriate to one's
culture and situation.

Therefore, effective communication includes active listening, ability to express feelings and
giving appropriate feedback.

 Conflict resolution and negotiation - Sometimes, an individual is put in a situation, where he/she
does not want to remain for a long time. This induces lot of dissatisfaction in an individual.
For example, a child is bullied or abused by his/her classmates. This can put him/her in a
state of depression or detachment.

Then, negotiation skill will help that child to negotiate, without getting aggressive towards
them and thus helping him/her to become more acceptable.

 Assertiveness - involves directly expressing your feelings and thoughts while taking in to account the
needs of others. Standing up for your personal rights - expressing thoughts, feelings and beliefs in
direct, honest and appropriate ways.
 Friendship formation

 Peer pressure resistance

CATEGORY 3: Skills of Effecting Decision Making

 Critical thinking - Critical thinking skill is an ability which helps to analyze information and
experiences in an objective manner. It also helps us to evaluate the influence of decisions
taken on our own values and values of people who are near to us.

Adolescents are most of the time influenced by media and peers. This skill can assist them to
assess the pros and cons of the situation and help them to evaluate their actions.

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 Problem solving- It is an ability to identify the problems correctly, understanding its sources
and causes very constructively. These causes have to be reduced or eliminated. This skill also
assists in choosing the best alternative from many to solve the problem.
 Decision making - Decision-making is a process to determine alternative and constructive
solutions about problems.

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CHAPTER 11: CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Meaning of conflict
We define conflict as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to
their needs, interests or concerns. Within this simple definition there are several important
understandings that emerge:

Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing
the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group
outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in organizational setting

Importance of Conflict Management

A conflict arises when individuals have varied interests, opinions and thought processes and are
just not willing to compromise with each other. It is always wise to adjust to some extent and try
to find a solution to the problem rather than cribbing and fighting. Conflicts and disagreements
only lead to negativity and things never reach a conclusion. It only adds on to the tensions and
makes life hell. It actually leaves you drained and spoils your reputation. Every individual should
try his level best to avoid conflict at the first place rather than resolving it later. Precautions must
be taken at the right time to avoid a conflict.

Imagine yourself constantly fighting with your fellow worker. Would you ever feel going to
office? The issues resulting in a conflict must be controlled at the right time to prevent the
eruption of a big fight. Conflict management plays an important role everywhere, at work places
and even in our personal lives. Fighting never makes anyone happy and actually makes one8s life
miserable.

No organization runs for charity, it has to make money to survive well. Employees must give
their hundred percent at work to ensure the maximum productivity. Nothing productive will ever
come out if the employees are constantly engaged in fighting and criticizing others. Conflict
management plays a very important role at workplaces to prevent conflicts and for the employees
to concentrate on their work. The team leaders must ensure that the roles and responsibilities of
each and every employee are clearly passed on to them. Employees should be demotivated to
interfere in each other8s work. Employees waste half of their time and energy in fighting with
others and find it very difficult to work which they are actually supposed to do. An individual
must enjoy his work; otherwise he would never be able to give his best.

Conflict management goes a long way in strengthening the bond among the employees and
half of the problems automatically disappear. Individuals must feel motivated at work and
find every single day exciting and challenging. Before implementing any idea, it must be
discussed with everyone and no one should ever feel ignored or left out. This way, every
employee feels indispensable for the office and he strives hard to live up to the expectations of
his fellow workers and in a way contributing to the organization in his best possible way.
Conflict management avoids conflicts to a great extent and thus also reduces the stress and

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tensions of the employees. No one likes to carry his tensions back home and if you fight with
your colleagues and other people, you are bound to feel uncomfortable and restless even at
home.

Conflict management also plays an important role in our personal lives. Tussles and fights
spoil relationships and only increase our list of enemies. Everyone needs friends who will stand
by us when we need them. Conflict must be avoided at homes as it spoils the ambience and
spreads negativity. Individuals tend to disrespect others as a result of conflicts. Conflict
management prevents fall out between family members, friends, relatives and makes life
peaceful and stressfree. Blamegame never helps anyone, instead it makes life miserable. No idea
can ever be implemented if the individuals fight among themselves.

Conflict management helps to find a middle way, an alternative to any problem and
successful implementation of the idea. Problems must be addressed at the right time to prevent
conflict and its adverse effects at a later stage. Through conflict management skills, an individual
explores all the possible reasons to worry which might later lead to a big problem and tries to
resolve it as soon as possible.

Conflict Management is very important because it is always wise to prevent a fight at the
first place rather than facing its negative consequencies. Stress disappears, people feel
motivated, happy and the world definitely becomes a much better place to stay as a result of
conflict management

Main types of conflict

We have four main types of Conflict as listed below
1)Person Vs. Self
2)Person Vs. Person
3)Person Vs. Society/world
4)Person Vs. Nature

the four main conflicts are categorized into 2 groups

1) Internal Conflict - Person Vs. Self

2) External Conflict - Person Vs. Person, Person Vs. Society, Person Vs. Natural(Natural
disasters), Person Vs. Supernatural (Ghosts), Person Vs. Technology

Causes of conflicts
The main cause of conflict may be briefly stated as follows:

1. Individual Difference: In society, men are not alike in their nature, attitudes, ideal, interest
and aspirations. Due to this difference, they fail to accommodate themselves which may lead to
conflict among them.

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2. Cultural Difference: Culture is the way of life of a group. It differs from society to society.
The culture of one group differs from the culture of the other group. These cultural differences
among the group, sometimes cause tension and lead to conflict.

3. Clashes of Interests: The clash of interests of different people makes conflict inevitable. The
interests of the workers clash with those of employers lead to conflict among them.

4. Social Change: Conflict also arises due to the difference between rates of social change. The
change in the moral norms of a society and man's hopes, aspirations and demands leads to
conflict .The conflict between the old and new generations is owing to social changes. Conflict is
an expression of social disequilibrium.

Techniques or approaches of managing conflict

1. Preventive- remedy that prevents or slows the course of conflict.
2. Reactive- Behavior that is not internally motivated but manifests in response to a situation or
the actions of others.

A proper conflict resolution can make the difference between a positive and negative outcome.
An improper resolution can negatively affect your project.

The following are a few consequences of improper conflict resolution:

 Low team morale

 Impact on authority of the project manager
 More personal clashes
 Low productivity and efficiency
 Low quality work

As a project manager, it is your job to monitor and resolve conflicts in the early stage to avoid
them from becoming a major issue.

You can use many techniques to resolve conflicts basically put to five such techniques:

1. Withdraw/Avoid
2. Smooth/Accommodate
3. Compromise/Reconcile
4. Force/Direct
5. Collaborate/Problem Solve

Now let8s discuss each of them in detail.

1. Withdraw/Avoid
In this conflict resolution technique, you avoid the conflict or simply retreat. You let this issue
resolve itself.

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You can use this technique in the following cases:

 When stakes are low.

 The stakeholders involved in the conflict are not important.
 The issue is not worth investing your time.
 The issue will disappear on its own after some time.
 When there is a heated argument among parties and you want to give them some cooling time.
 When there is limited or no information available about the conflict.

Advantages:
This technique saves precious time you can invest in other productive activities.

Disadvantages:
It may weaken your position as a project manager and negatively affect your relationships.

There is a dispute with this conflict resolution technique: Some experts say this is not a conflict
resolution technique because when the conflict arises you simply avoid it, no action is taken from
your side. Escaping is not a solution.

2. Smooth/Accommodate
Here, you will find areas of agreement, and try to smooth the situation. This technique helps you
avoid a tough discussion.

In smoothing, you give more concerns to other parties rather than yours. Here you try to
downplay the situation and behave like the problem never existed.

This technique can be used in the following cases:

 When you are very busy and have no time.

 You need a temporary solution to the problem.

Advantages:
This technique can conciliate the situation, bring harmony, create goodwill, and give you
sufficient time to find a permanent solution.

Disadvantages:
Since you8re giving more concerns to other parties, they may try to take advantage of it.

The other disadvantage is that it may weaken your position as an authoritative leader. Therefore,
you should avoid using this technique to solve issues.

3. Compromise/Reconcile
Here you take suggestions from both sides and try to make a compromise. Both parties involved
in the conflict gain something, so this solution partially satisfies both parties.

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You may use this technique in the following cases:

 All parties involved in the conflict need to win.

 You have an equal relationship with them.
 When collaborative and forcing techniques do not work.
 When you need a temporary solution to move forward quickly.

Advantages:
This technique brings a faster result, lowers the stress, and keeps all parties cool. In the
meantime, you can search for a permanent solution.

Disadvantages:
This technique does not bring trust in the long run, and the conflict could resurface at any time.

4. Force/Direct
Here you agree with one party8s viewpoint and enforce their wishes. This is a win-lose situation
and risks demoralizing team members.

You can use this technique in the following cases:

 You need a quick solution.

 When stakes are high and you need an immediate solution.
 When you know one party is right and don’t have time to investigate.
 The stakeholders involved in the conflict and not very important.
 The relationship with them is not important.

Advantages:
Provides a quick solution to the problem.

Disadvantages:
You may lose the opportunity gained from the opposing party8s viewpoint. Also, it may
negatively affect your impression on your team members.

5. Collaborate/Problem Solve
In this technique, you will discuss the issue with all parties to find a solution considering
multiple viewpoints and agreed upon by all.

You may use this technique in the following cases:

 When you want to incorporate multiple views.

 The people involved in the conflict are very influential.
 When a consensus is required.
 When you want to distribute the responsibility equally to all parties.

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Advantages:
Brings consensus, commitment, and shared responsibility for the outcome. This technique is
considered a win-win approach.

Disadvantage:
Takes time and effort, so it cannot be used when you8re short on time and need a quick solution.

For example:
Suppose if two ground level laborers are involved in a conflict, what do you believe is the best
solution? You may simply ignore it. However, if you see that some important stakeholders are
having a conflict, you will show interest in solving the conflict to save your project from any
harm.

Although there is no single technique that can be used in all types of conflict, it is generally
understood that Collaborate/Problem Solve is a technique which brings consensus and
commitment.

Role of the project manager

I have explained all types of conflict resolution techniques and you can use them if any conflict
arises in your project. However, as a project manager you have to respond rationally and reach a
solution which best serves your

While resolving conflict, please keep the following points in mind:

 Treat each participant respectfully.

 Be calm and rational.
 Keep people and problems separate.
 Listen to each participant patiently.
 Explore all possible solutions.
 Don’t take the side of any participant, unless you have arrived on a resolution and the
participant is on the resolution’s side.
 Try to avoid forcing and pressurizing participants to reach a solution.
 Try to avoid postponing a conflict, as it may increase its severity.

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CHAPTER 12: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
(ICT)
Definition of Social Responsibility
Social Responsibility refers to an organization’s total responsibility towards the business environment in
which it operates (The idea that businesses should not function amorally, but instead should contribute
to the welfare of their communities).

Environmental protection
Social Responsibility describes the broader solution to triple-bottom-line matters of the 3Ps – profit,
people and planet.

Given the central and essential role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in
organizations it is paramount that this ethical sensitivity percolates decisions and activities
related to ICT. In particular organizations8 need to consider:

 how to set up a strategic framework for ICT that recognizes personal and corporate ethical
issues;
 how the methods for systems development balance ethical, economic and technological
considerations;
 the intellectual property issues surrounding software and data;
 the way information has become a key resource for organizations and how to safeguard the
integrity of this information;
 the increasing organizational responsibility to ensure that privacy rights are not violated as
more information about individuals is held electronically;
 the growing opportunity to misuse ICT given the increasing dependence of organizations8
on it and the organizational duty to minimize this opportunity whilst accepting individuals
have a responsibility to resist it;
 the way advances in ICT can cause organizations to change their form - the full impact of
such change needs to be considered and, if possible, in advance, and the way the advent of
the global information society raises new issues for organizations in how they operate,
compete, co-operate and obey legislation; and how to cope with the enormous and rapid
change in ICT, and how to recognize and address the ethical issues that each advance
brings.

Thus there is an ethical agenda associated with the use of ICT in organizations. This agenda
combines issues common to many professions and issues that are specific to ICT. New advances
in ICT and new applications may change the agenda. If organizations wish to secure benefits to
their business in the long term and enhance their reputation they have to address a
comprehensive agenda. The following steps provide a way in which organizations can establish
such an agenda and address the ethical issues arising in the field of ICT.

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1. Decide the organization8s policy, in broad terms, in relation to ICT. This should:
 take account of the overall objectives of the organization, drawing from such
existing sources as the organizational plan or mission statement;
 use the organization8s established values, possibly set out in its code of practice,
for guidance in determining how to resolve ethical issues;
 set the scope of policy in terms of matters to be covered.
2. Form a statement of principles related to ICT that would probably include:
 respect for privacy and confidentiality;
 avoid ICT misuse;
 avoid ambiguity regarding ICT status, use and capability;
 be committed to transparency of actions and decisions related to ICT;
 adhere to relevant laws and observe the spirit of such laws;
 support and promote the definition of standards in, for example, development,
documentation and training; and
 Abide by relevant professional codes.
3. Identify the key areas where ethical issues may arise for the organization, such as:
 ownership of software and data;
 integrity of data;
 preservation of privacy;
 prevention of fraud and computer misuse;
 the creation and retention of documentation;
 the effect of change on people both employees and others; and
 Global ICT.
4. Consider the application of policy and determine in detail the approach to each area of
sensitivity that has been identified.
5. Communicate practical guidance to all employees, covering:
 the clear definition and assignment of responsibilities;
 awareness training on ethical sensitivities;
 the legal position regarding intellectual property, data protection and privacy;
 the explicit consideration of social cost and benefit of ICT application;
 the testing of systems (including risk assessment where public health, safety and
welfare, or environmental concerns arise);
 documentation standards; and
 security and data protection
6. Whilst organizations have a responsibility to act ethically in the use of ICT so to do
individual employees. Those involved in providing ICT facilities should support the
ethical agenda of the organization and in the course of their work should:
 consider broadly who is affected by their work;
 examine if others are being treated with respect;
 consider how the public would view their decisions and actions;
 analyze how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions and actions;
and
 Consider if their decisions and acts are worthy of the model ICT professional.

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Challenges of social responsibility in ICT

1. ICT equipment reuse/disposal
2. Reduction of environmental impact of waste
3. Education to the society on their responsibility on ICT integrity
4. Harnessing of policy across the society

Need to adjust, adopt and develop laws that properly regulate use of ICT in the society

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CHAPTER 13: EMERGING TRENDS IN ICT AND

ETHICS
Introduction to trend and issues in ICT
21st century has been defined by application of and advancement in information technology.
Information technology has become an integral part of our daily life. According to Information
Technology Association of America, information technology is defined as 5the study, design,
development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based
information systems.6

Information technology has served as a big change agent in different aspect of business and
society. It has proven game changer in resolving economic and social issues.

Advancement and application of information technology are ever changing. Some of the trends
in the information technology are as follows:

Cloud Computing
One of the most talked about concept in information technology is the cloud computing.
Clouding computing is defined as utilization of computing services, i.e. software as well as
hardware as a service over a network. Typically, this network is the internet.

Cloud computing offers 3 types of broad services mainly Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Some of the benefit of cloud computing is as follows:

 Cloud computing reduces IT infrastructure cost of the company.

 Cloud computing promotes the concept of virtualization, which enables server and storage
device to be utilized across organization.
 Cloud computing makes maintenance of software and hardware easier as installation is not
required on each end user’s computer.

Some issues concerning cloud computing are privacy, compliance, security, legal, abuse, IT
governance, etc.

Mobile Application
Another emerging trend within information technology is mobile applications (software
application on Smart phone, tablet, etc.)

Mobile application or mobile app has become a success since its introduction. They are designed
to run on Smartphone, tablets and other mobile devices. They are available as a download from
various mobile operating systems like Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, etc. Some of the mobile app are
available free where as some involve download cost. The revenue collected is shared between
app distributor and app developer.

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User Interfaces
User interface has undergone a revolution since introduction of touch screen. The touch screen
capability has revolutionized way end users interact with application. Touch screen enables the
user to directly interact with what is displayed and also removes any intermediate hand-held
device like the mouse.

Touch screen capability is utilized in smart phones, tablet, information kiosks and other
information appliances.

Analytics
The field of analytics has grown many folds in recent years. Analytics is a process which helps in
discovering the informational patterns with data. The field of analytics is a combination of
statistics, computer programming and operations research.

The field of analytics has shown growth in the field of data analytics, predictive analytics and
social analytics.

Data analytics is tool used to support decision-making process. It converts raw data into
meaningful information.

Predictive analytics is tool used to predict future events based on current and historical
information.

Social media analytics is tool used by companies to understand and accommodate customer
needs.

The every changing field of information technology has seen great advancement and changes in
the last decade. And from the emerging trend, it can be concluded that its influence on business
is ever growing, and it will help companies to serve customers better.

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