An Optimized Dynamic Process Model of IS Security Governance Implementation

The year 2011 has witnessed a lot of high profiles data breaches despite the availability of IS security and governance controls, frameworks, standards and models for organisations to choose from; and the technical advances made in intrusion prevention and detection. Taking this issue into account the objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the weaknesses in the IS security defences of organisations from a holistic perspective, and propose a dynamic IS security governance process model for the implementation of appropriate controls and mechanisms for optimised IS security. Optimization is achieved through the strategic overlap of security and governance frameworks implemented in a prioritized phased manner for efficiency and effectiveness in cost, time and effort. The paper starts with the analysis of data breaches to identify the weaknesses in the organisational information system. This is followed by the analysis of recommended requirements and dimensions of effective IS security architecture, IS governance, concepts and models to identify relevant frameworks used in IS security and governance. Thereafter, the best practices for implementing the model is evaluated and finally the frameworks and IS entities are integrated into an optimized Information Systems Security and Governance (ISSG) process model

Closer Than You Think: The Implications of the Third Offset Strategy for the U.S. Army

The Defense Innovation Initiative (DII), begun in November 2014 by former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, is intended to ensure U.S. military superiority throughout the 21st century. The DII seeks broad-based innovation across the spectrum of concepts, research and development, capabilities, leader development, wargaming, and business practices. An essential component of the DII is the Third Offset Strategy—a plan for overcoming (offsetting) adversary parity or advantage, reduced military force structure, and declining technological superiority in an era of great power competition. This study explored the implications for the Army of Third Offset innovations and breakthrough capabilities for the operating environment of 2035-2050. It focused less on debating the merits or feasibility of individual technologies and more on understanding the implications—the second and third order effects on the Army that must be anticipated ahead of the breakthrough.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1403/thumbnail.jp

Processes of Social Work Engagement with The Reforming State in Australia: The Case of Centrelink

Processes of social work engagement with the reforming state in Australia: The case of Centrelink This thesis provides an account of processes of social work engagement with the reforming state in Australia. The thesis focuses on the embedding and intensification of activation reforms into income support and employment services policy and the development through new public management (NPM) strategies of an individualised service delivery culture in the Australian federal government agency Centrelink during the period 1997 to the close of 2007. Central to this thesis is an interest in performative aspects of social work identity, as well as ways in which organisational control was pursued through intentional efforts to regulate the identity of its employees to ensure their responsiveness towards achieving contested welfare policy reforms. The study draws upon a particular articulation of the theoretical framework of performativity to explore processes of regulation at the level of the organisation and at the level of individual workers. The study informing this thesis analyses narratives from two sets of agents: politicians and former members of the Centrelink Executive and eleven highly experienced social workers from all levels of the Centrelink hierarchy who participated in the transformation of this public service agency through NPM reform and welfare policy reform process. The focus of the study is on reflexive processes of coming into being, specifically how these two sets of agents interpreted and responded to interactive social and regulative processes of identity formation within this restructured organisational and policy context. The thesis extends current understandings of the effect of ubiquitous NPM and welfare policy reforms on social workers through shedding light on the processes by which social workers become or are produced in particular organisational and policy contexts. This thesis explores the way social work and public service values and commitments were constructed and contested throughout a period of transformational change. Keywords: social work, organisational regulation, Centrelink, performativit

The Chief Information Security Officer: An Exploratory Study

The proliferation and embeddedness of Information Technology (IT) resources into many organizations’ business processes continues unabated. The security of these IT resources is essential to operational and strategic business continuity. However, as the large number of recent security breaches at various organizations illustrate, there is more that needs to be done in securing IT resources. Firms, through organizational structures, usually delegate the management and control of IT security activities and policies to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Nevertheless, there seem to be a number of firms without a CISO and for the ones that do, there is little consensus regarding who the CISO should be reporting to. This exploratory study investigates the organizational security reporting structures using a dataset of all the firms that hired a CISO between 2010 and 2014. The results suggest that the number of firms hiring CISOs is increasing and that the hired CISOs are predominantly coming from outside the firm. Also, CISOs who are hired to fill newly created positions tend to report to the CEO whereas replacement hires for existing positions tend to report to the CIO. These findings have implications for both academics and practitioners

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Caine College of the Arts, September 26, 2014 - Bachelor of Arts in Music

Utah State University proposes the creation of a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree. The new BA will offer emphases in General Music, Performance (voice and instrumental), Music Business, Production, Arranging/Composition, and Jazz Studies USU does not currently offer a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree

The Expanding Use of Information Technology in the Social Services: A Study of Small Nonprofit Social Service Organizations in the Bay Area

A survey was sent to 243 nonprofit social service organizations in six Bay Area counties on August 6, 2002. There were 72.surveys completed and returned by the stop of data collection on September 30, 2002. This survey was distributed as part of a research study identifying the access and use of e-mail and the Internet by nonprofit social service organizations in the Bay Area. The study also investigated perceptions held by nonprofit organizational leaders regarding the usefulness and impact of technology on the social service field. Survey results identified that proximity to the Silicon Valley increases the likelihood of IT use, however there are still many NPOs in the Bay Area not using e-mail. Survey data suggests that area NPOs need more adequate hardware to efficiently perform job tasks. Findings suggest that NPOs using e-mail and the Internet value technology and perceive it to be beneficial for the social service field. Findings also suggest that NPOs not currently using e-mail are not as aware of the impact or benefits nor are they aware of resources available to help NPOs access technology

Knowledge Management Systems That Influence Sustainable Competitive Advantage amongst Humanitarian Agencies in Kenya- Case of Information Technology Systems as an Enabler of Knowledge Management

This study investigated the influence of Knowledge Management (KM) systems on Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) amongst Humanitarian Agencies-HAs through the use of IT systems as an enabler of knowledge management. The objective of study was to examine how information technology systems affect sustainable competitive advantage in humanitarian agencies- HAs- in Kenya. The study population was 42 HAs with 10,487 employees in Kenya. Both the primary and secondary data were collected using questionnaires, interviews, and observation checklists. The questionnaires were administered by a drop and collect method to ensure high response rates. Employees were stratified into management and junior staff. Purposive sampling was then used to sample management staff in the agencies surveyed and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample employees at the junior level. Statistical tools such as cross-tabulation and frequency tables were used to analyze the data. This study adopted a descriptive research design. The study used resource-based theory of knowledge management for competitive advantage as its theoretical basis. The resource-based view and theory of the firm defines a strategic asset as one that is rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable. Knowledge is seen as one such strategic asset with the potential to be a source of competitive advantage for an organization. By adopting a resource-based theory of the firm with an extension of a knowledge-based perspective, this study aimed at developing and validating a conceptual model of the relationships between knowledge management enabler- it Systems and their influence on competitive advantage amongst humanitarian agencies in Kenya. From the study, there is substantial evidence to show that knowledge management has a strong positive influence on sustainable competitive advantage. The results from the 42 agencies surveyed reconfirmed a general agreement found in the literature that technological systems are ideal to bring significant positive correlations in improving organizational competitive advantage. Finally, recommendations were offered from practical ideas, drawn from experience, and intended for practitioners working with HAs but are also based on the theory behind the knowledge management concept and are just as relevant for consideration by knowledge management and development theorists alike. Key Words: Knowledge Management, Competitive Advantage, Humanitarian agencies, Civic, IT, Strategy, Organization, Enabler

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

Tending to Richmond\u27s Children: Community Strategies to Bridge Service Gaps

The National Health Policy Forum sponsored a site visit to Richmond, Virginia, in October 2008 to explore social and environmental determinants of children’s health, including the impacts that poverty and exposure to lead-based paint have on birth outcomes, child development, and school readiness; and the community\u27s efforts to address them. Though not large in population terms, Richmond faces many of the social and economic problems often common in larger urban areas—concentrated poverty, migration of wealth and services to the surrounding counties, a high infant mortality rate, and troubled schools. The site visit explored community strategies to improve birth outcomes and early childhood development, such as home visiting programs. Efforts to serve children with special behavioral and physical health care needs were discussed as were community-level efforts to bridge service fragmentation and gaps. Site visitors learned about issues faced by community-based organizations serving children and families, including problems with federal funding streams, state and local politics and bureaucracies, and perennial budget challenges