Faculty of Informatics - Honours Theses (Archive)

The digital aid framework: A conceptual, end-to-end technology integration platform for humanitarian (refugee) relief operations

J. Sargent — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:44:56 PST

International humanitarian relief organisations such as AUSTCARE, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have increasingly moved towards technology adoption as a means of enabling more effective management of complex refugee relief crises. Currently however, a fragmented, multi-layered approach exists in regards to technology-enabled humanitarian relief. This thesis offers a solution to overcome current disparate approaches through developing the Digital Aid Framework; an encapsulated, end-to-end, technology integration platform for future refugee relief interventions. The framework consists of three modules; Planning, Implementation and Evaluation and is ‘wrapped’ within an ‘External Considerations’ layer where Non Government Organisations (NGO) codes of conduct and relief guidelines drive the framework development process. Distinctive features of the proposed framework are its use of illustrated indicative examples of IT&T deployment within a refugee relief context and its ‘Internet-centric’ design; allowing relief organisations and personnel to take advantage of Internet protocols to communicate, manage information and work remotely with global reach and high transmission speeds over the web. A descriptive study methodology and online questionnaire, targeted towards international relief organisations, determine the current state of technology-enabled relief and provide a process to evaluate and validate the framework. Primary focus is given to the Kosovo crisis (1998-99) due to this theatre being the first instance of a complete technology-enabled refugee relief cycle for emergent socio-political humanitarian crises. It is this technology-enabled relief cycle which forms the basis for the core objective of this research; developing a conceptual framework comprised of suitable, feasible and adaptable technology applications which support refugee and Internally Displaced Person (IDP) operations through each stage of the cycle. Other objectives attempt to determine if technology adoption by relief agencies has been experiential in nature (i.e. learning by doing), strategically implemented or through a hybrid approach and suggesting appropriate/ feasible IT&T solutions for a number of situations where the literature review has indicated inadequacies. Technology applications such as biometric identification, geographical information systems (GIS) and magnetic stripe/ integrated circuit 'smart cards', among others, are examined in the course of this research for their potentially supportive role within the context of future relief interventions. It is envisaged this framework may be subsequently extended to all types of disaster relief scenarios.

Humancentric applications of RFID: the current state of development

A. Masters — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:43:42 PST

Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, is a wireless data collection technology which, through the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, uses electrostatic or electromagnetic coupling to identify objects, animals and humans as unique entities. The technology first reached mass-market application in the 1980s when it was earmarked by industry as appropriate for identifying high value items moving through the manufacturing and assembly process. Successful implementation here saw RFID systems later grow to encompass supply chains, commercial goods and animals. The most recent advance in the evolutionary development of RFID has been to make humans the subject of applications. The purpose of these applications has ranged from convenience, to access, to monitoring, and to allowing for communication. We have carried the RFID devices in our hands, wallets, and our clothes. Now, potential exists to carry the technology in our bodies. This thesis examines current applications associated with the RFID implantation of humans. It aims to bridge the gap between existing technical knowledge and speculation as to future uses. Research design is based on a usability context analysis methodology with applications thematically separated into areas of control, convenience and care. This qualitative study will clarify the current state of development by investigating issues of use, nature and commercial feasibility.

Digital distribution music services and the demise of the traditional music industry: three case studies on mp3.com, Napster and Kazaa

K. Alves — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:29:21 PST

The Internet has changed the traditional supply chain of the music industry. The shrinking of music into the Moving Picture Experts Group Audio layer 3 de-facto standard has resulted in the global sharing of digital music online. This type of sharing potentially causes the disintermediation of record companies and retailers from the traditional supply chain and allows artists and consumers to be directly connected through websites and peer-to-peer technology. As a result, stakeholders are currently uncertain of their role in the emerging music-on-demand model of purchase. This research project examines the relationship between digital music distribution services and its role in the destruction of the music industry. The aim of this research project is to assess the role of digital music distribution services in the downturn and restructuring of the music industry. Furthermore, research will explore the interplay between technical, social, legal and economic dimensions with the purpose of understanding how the traditional supply chain has changed. Due to the exploratory nature of this thesis, the multiple case study methodology will be employed, with case studies completed on MP3.com, Napster and Kazaa. Multiple sources of evidence will be used to collect data for the multiple cases, including documentation review and interviews. Interviews will be used to gather the opinions of the various stakeholders of the music industry on the issues to be covered as part of this thesis. The results of the case studies demonstrated that the creation of digital music distribution services initially resulted in the disintermediation of record companies and retailers. The record companies reacted by trying to close and takeover each of the three online music sharing services. This proved unsuccessful, and initiated the product life cycle trend, where digital music distribution services are continually evolving to avoid the threat of legal action. Eventually the record companies and retailers have established themselves online, causing reintermediation through the introduction of a pay-per-download (PPD) and subscription payment system. Of the dimensions covered it was found that technology will always outpace law and thus impact on social behaviors and attitudes. The principal conclusion of this thesis is that digital music distribution services will not lead to the demise of the music industry as evidence from the three cases suggested that the online music industry is growing and that consumers have simply shifted their spending rather than stopped purchasing altogether. Furthermore, the three cases of MP3.com, Napster and Kazaa reveal how technology can shape society and identity the underlying desire of the record companies to control the supply and demand of music by resisting change. Recommendations for future research include quantitative research into the success of online business models, the establishment of an integrated digital rights management system and an investigation of the possibility of technological advancements for the creation of a converged MP3 device.

The advantages and disadvantages of barcodes and radio frequency identification in supply chain management

L. McCathie — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:29:20 PST

Since the 1980s, barcodes have become the backbone of supply chain management (SCM). Recently organisations, from both government and corporate sectors have placed increasing emphasis on further streamlining SCM to deliver cost savings. This has lead to a number of leading organisations introducing mandates for their suppliers to implement radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Many organisations are unsure which technology, barcodes or RFID offers them the best return. This thesis will aid stakeholders in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each respective technology in SCM applications. Furthermore, the research will examine the importance of a global standard for RFID such as the Electronic Product Code (EPC) and offer insight into the coexistence of barcodes and RFID. The research will employ a thorough documentation review as well as several interviews with users of each technology.

Minimizing product shrinkage in the supply chain through the use of radio-frequency identification: A case study on a major Australian retailer

N. Huber — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:33:24 PST

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been used for over half a century. Today, RFID is commonly used for electronic toll collection on motor highways, document management, identification of gaming tokens and chips in casinos, tracking and sorting luggage at international airports, managing diamonds for jewellery businesses, and inventory management for pharmaceutical and retail industries. These are just a few of the many thousands of applications that RFID can facilitate. Currently, the retail industry uses barcodes to identify products and Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) as an anti-theft mechanism solely within retail outlets. Both systems have the ability to play a role in an overall loss prevention strategy, yet they fail to minimise product shrinkage across the entire retail supply chain from the point of manufacture to the end customer. Recent developments in automatic identification (auto-ID) have seen the emergence of Generation-2 (Gen-2) RFID technologies as an asset management solution integrated into the supply chain. In addition, the recent ratification of a global standard for RFID tags and data storage is intended to oversee the technology’s interoperability on a global scale. So far, this type of technology provides a means to uniquely identify tagged items, track and trace an item at any given time and rapidly capture data. One retailer who has fully embraced Gen-2 RFID technology is Wal-Mart in the United States. Wal-Mart has mandated its suppliers RFID enable products as part of this initiative. Retailers based in the United States are adopting RFID technology but it is yet to engage the Australian retail industry. Focusing on RFID as a potential technology to minimise product shrinkage across the retail supply chain, this thesis provides conclusive results in an attempt to complement existing works. It is also designed to further contribute to the field of information technology and the application of RFID, thus bringing with it benefits to the academic community and the retail industry.

Humancentric Applications of Precise Location Based Services

L. Perusco — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:19:52 PST

Mobile technologies, which allow users to move around while maintaining the ability to access a network and its services, now claim a significant degree of attention in both industry and academia. In this vision, one particular attribute gains critical importance: location. The ability to pinpoint a mobile user’s location creates a new class of applications and services. These location based services (LBS) exploit the known location of a user to provide services dependent on their geographic context and personalised needs. However, as newer positioning technologies are introduced into the market with a greater level of location accuracy, and existing technologies are integrated to overcome limitations, issues pertaining to the use and potential misuse of location information rise to the fore. In addition to this, perhaps because LBS are so new, there has been limited investigation into exactly what effects the widespread use of these technologies may have. This thesis aims to rectify a gap in current knowledge by presenting a plausible scenario that describes how humancentric applications of LBS could change the world of tomorrow, based on the current state of development. It also makes several original contributions in an analysis of legal, ethical, social and technological issues that arise from the scenario.

RFID Privacy and Security: A Content Analysis

K. Johnston — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:53:47 PDT

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that is becoming readily available. It is currently used to identify cats and dogs, as well as tracking inanimate objects throughout the world by using the Electronic Product Code (EPC) standard. Trials are currently underway that involve the implantation of RFID transponders in humans in various parts of the world. This paper discusses the possible concerns with wide spread use of RFID, on both inanimate and living things. It will identify and discuss several socio-technical aspects of RFID, including privacy and security.

The Integration of Positioning Technologies for Precise Location Identification

T. Y. Chew — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:47:40 PDT

With the growing trend towards a world where people, vehicles, and other mobile objects are getting more and more interconnected, location information is increasingly becoming a recognized need for providing rapid and timely information to the mobile workforce. More and more products are present in the market that allows location identifications. Positioning technologies differ in their capacity to identify. Some technologies work well outdoors while others are tailor-made for the in-building environment. Significantly, technologies that are present within the market do not support wide range coverage with high accuracy simultaneously. Current location identification systems do not work where people spend most of their time: coverage in current systems is either constrained to outdoor environments or limited to a particular building or campus with installed sensing infrastructure. Unfortunately with the current state of innovation, there is no single system that is able to fill this gap. In this research, an exploratory study approach sustained by qualitative data gathering methods has been adopted to address the gap. The key deliverable is the Hierarchical Positioning System (HPS), conceptual in nature which integrates a variety of positioning technologies to provide precision in location identification. Location identification which requires location information can be for a variety of purposes and the precision depends on the needs. Integration is therefore necessary at just about any level of the positioning technology value chain, as combinations of technologies increased their power manifold. To attain the aim of developing the HPS, studies will be focused on the needs of location information, previous and current work by various authors and researchers and lastly on integrated environment proposed by various authors. Most significantly, the combination of technologies, deployed as a single environment, is capable to address and surmount other technology’s limitations, and allow flexibility of positioning identifications aligned with the different circumstances and service requirements. Through integration, it is envisaged that the proposed Hierarchical Positioning will achieve the aim of this research; a logical architecture to seamlessly provide location information to even local level of details.

Ethical Issues arising from the Real Time Tracking and Monitoring of People Using GPS-based Location Services

A. Mcnamee — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:17:26 PDT

The Global Positioning System is a constellation of 24 satellites which have the ability to calculate the position, time and velocity of any GPS receiver. Ethical concerns arise when a person carrying a receiver has their location transmitted to second party. This type of tracking has a wide variety of applications including tracking dementia sufferers, tracking parolees and law enforcement. A literature review found that the ethics of GPS tracking has not been thoroughly assessed. This paper investigates the ethical issues arising from the real time tracking of people using GPS-based location services. Usability context analysis and an observational study were the methodology used in this study. Usability context analysis provided insight into GPS tracking over the contexts of care, control and convenience. Its current applications could be seen in the tracking of Alzheimer’s patients, parents tracking children, law enforcement, parolee and sex offenders, terrorist tracking, employee monitoring and commercial uses. A participant observational study was also used to develop an ethical discussion. It found five issues prevalent to GPS tracking: accuracy, editing track data, user travel behaviour, detail of GIS and user awareness. The results from the usability context analysis and participant observational study were used to form a discussion based on the issues of privacy, accuracy, property and accessibility.

E-Business Solutions: Complete vs Segmented

R. Gauci — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:05:07 PDT

The topic of this thesis is “E-Business Solutions: Complete Vs Segmented”. This study has analyzed three e-business B2B vendor solutions in order to compare and contrast the similar and differentiating features. Within this study the use of Qualitative, Interpretive and Cross-Sectional methods has been used. Along with these, the use of Document Analysis has been utilized for the extraction of data from the vendor websites. This data is then displayed and analyzed through the use of Cross-Case Comparison tables. The results are comprised through a series of diagrams which illustrate the findings that were established. Some of these diagrams include the Cross Case Vendor Comparison Table and The Complete “End-to-End” Solution diagram. These diagrams along with many other figures and tables demonstrate the primary conclusion that the functionality of the three vendor solutions in question is similar and therefore it is the non-technical features that are differentiating these solutions within the marketplace.

The Threat of Public Data Availability on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), and the Level of Awareness Amongst Security Experts in Australila

R. Abbas — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:34:09 PST

Critical infrastructure protection (CIP) refers to safeguarding essential services from harm. CIP has gained recognition as a priority area on the national security agendas of many countries in recent years, most notably Australia, due to events that have compromised the critical infrastructure (CI) of other nations. The importance of the CIP process is evidenced extensively in the related literature, where the major phases of the process are discussed. Traditionally, the CIP focus is on the three major stages of vulnerability identification, risk assessment and risk management. A study conducted by Breeding in 2003 introduced the risk of ‘sensitive but unclassified’ data to America’s infrastructure, viewing the threat on CIP from an alternative viewpoint. ‘Sensitive but unclassified’ data refers to information that may not on its own appear harmful but when amalgamated with additional data elements can be truly revealing about CI, thus posing a threat to CIP. This study adapts Breeding’s research to an Australian setting, in an attempt to determine the threat of public data availability on the CIP process in Australia. The methodology involved an observational study on the nature of the public data availability situation through a structured public data collection process, an evaluation of data protection mechanisms using a content analysis, and a survey of security experts in Australia. The ultimate objective of the study was to attempt to provide a solution to the censorship versus open information access debate, which is presently a prominent dilemma. That is, should certain CI-related information be restricted from the public arena in the interest of national security? The outcomes of the public data collection phase, the content and the survey revealed that a balance between open data access and restriction is required, supporting the existing view in the reviewed literature. A Stakeholder Matrix was devised as a crucial component of public data protection, providing a sensitivity-based grading system. Additionally, a structured approach in the form of the Public Data Protection Lifecycle was proposed, which recognised that current security mechanisms (primarily written documentation) do not offer adequate protection for CI-related public data. A comprehensive, and multi-faceted approach is required, which considers the Stakeholder Matrix, current written documentation (licence agreements), and technical security mechanisms as instrumental to protecting public data from potential misuse, and ensuring that the threat of public data availability on the CIP process, and Australia’s CI is minimised.

The Importance of Utilising Electronic Identification for Total Farm Management: A Case Study of Dairy Farms on the South Coast of NSW

A. Trevarthen — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 19:31:14 PDT

The introduction of the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) within Australia empowers authorities with rapid and precise information however, it also provides Australian farmers with the opportunity to derive additional benefits for themselves via enhanced farm management practices. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is becoming globally recognised as the technology to implement animal identification and has become a mandatory form of livestock management in many countries. In accordance with this global trend, Australia has introduced the NLIS for the identification and tracking of livestock, subsequently placing Australia at the forefront of cattle traceability in the world. However, it is proposed that producers go beyond mere compliance, and take advantage of the RFID technology used in the NLIS to leverage additional benefits for themselves through enhanced farm management practices. This research investigates this concept and provides an ideal framework for the use of RFID technology for total farm management. At the core of this research are two case studies, undertaken on dairy farms on the South Coast of New South Wales. These case studies differ with regards to the use of RFID technology in their farming operations - from utilising little to no RFID technology, to a dairy farm with strong integration of RFID technology in their daily operations. It is believed that dairy farmers may be able to relate to these case studies in terms of their own current situation, or future plans for their dairy, subsequently aiding them to decide on their own utilisation of electronic identification for farm management. As a final endeavour, the research undertakes a cross-case comparison to provide a proposed framework with the aim to maximise the advantages and return on investment for farmers by utilising RFID technology for farm management. Some of the potential advantages explored include increased efficiencies, greater information availability, reduced feed and labour costs, improved milk quality and volume, improved herd health, ease of herd management and more. With the rapid growth of RFID technology for animal traceability, this research takes a step towards resolving the current gap in academic research, while also aiding to inform farmers of the range of opportunities provided by utilising RFID technology for farm management.