44.493201
Issues in Technology and Security44.493201
Issues in Technology and Security
Governments
adopt and share open source softwareTaser
wants to market to public
The analysis and evaluation processoften iterative -- do these steps and then repeat, for continuous improvement
- Define a problem or purpose
- identify and test possible solutions
- evaluate alternatives, select a preferred approach.
make certain the problem you choose is worth the effort: "complex, mission-critical, information-intensive problems.. their solution has high positive impact. For these problems, you need to pay close attention to the political, economic, legal, and organizational environments as well as the technologies involved." (my emphasis). Want ones that involve information-intensive situations. "The solution to each problem depends, in large part, on the quality, timeliness, and accessibility of information."
Usually have some sort of system in place -- must take it into account with new version. Also, they are highly complex problems. Probably involve public opinion, public budget and legislative cycles, legal issues. "Civil service rules circumscribe staffing assignments and compensation. Organizational rules, traditions, and structures set boundaries. Many different business processes already in place will need to be understood, and may need to be changed. In projects with these characteristics, opportunities abound for wrong assumptions, premature decisions, and dangerous oversimplification. This kind of complexity seems overwhelming, and a common reaction is to try to cut through to the part of the project that is more concrete and manageable-the technology. This is almost always a mistake. Projects like these demand a careful analysis that works through and manages the complexity at every level, from the larger environment, to the organizational considerations, to the work processes and data needs, to the technology choices."