49,126 research outputs found

    Policy and Practice: Customer Service in Illinois Department of Human Services Local Offices

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    In a single month, as many as 6,400 to 12,500 people visit each of the busiest of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) local offices. Since welfare reform in 1996, TANF caseloads in Illinois have declined precipitously. In the midst of the current economic recession with its attendant high levels of unemployment, Illinois ranks first in the United States with a reduction in its TANF caseload of 39.5% for period March 2001 to March 2003. 1 However, reductions in TANF caseload do not mean that the number of eligible families in need of assistance is declining.2 Nor do they mean that the workload of local offices has been decreasing at the same rate as TANF caseloads. On the contrary, welfare reform policies have made the management of the remaining TANF caseload a time consuming and labor intensive process. As of August 2003 for the five local offices in this study, caseworker staffing was 23.7% less than the allocated level and supervisor staffing was 28.6% less than allocated. These staff reductions resulting in caseloads in Cook County offices as high as 700 to 1,200 per caseworker negatively impact the kind of service that families encounter when they try to apply for and retain benefits. Commenting on the critical shortage of staff, one Cook County Local Office Administrator said, "I've been around a long time and it's very bad now. There are long lines and long waits. The volume is very detrimental to providing efficient services." Over the past two years, members of community-based organizations and advocacy groups have expressed concern about the increasing number of reports of problems facing people who go to Chicago area IDHS offices for public benefits such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, and TANF. For example, the volume of calls to the Public Benefits Hotline has increased from 7,054 calls for the period August 2001 through July 2002 to 8,418 calls for the period of August 2002 through July 2003. During 2003, call volume has continued to expand, with 43% more calls in August 2003 than in January 2003. In response to the need for current data about customer service in IDHS offices, CIR collaborated with community human services agencies and advocacy organizations in conducting a one-day survey to document the experiences of customers in five of the busiest local IDHS offices in Cook County. IDHS assisted with logistics, instructing local offices to allow CIR to conduct the survey in the waiting areas. Working group members conferred on research design and survey development, attended training in survey administration, and participated in administering the survey. Working group members also participated in discussions to interpret research findings and develop policy recommendations. Although the scope of the survey is limited -- information about 199 customers in 5 offices on one day in July 2003 -- the findings offer important indicators of strengths and weaknesses in service delivery. These findings are being used to inform stakeholders such as elected officials, state agencies, community leaders and organizations, and the media about the quality of service delivery

    Bitcoin: Where Two Worlds Collide

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    Troli tong gas

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    Tong gas adalah sebahagian daripada keperluan rumah yang sangat penting untuk kegunaan dapur. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), atau petroleum gas biasanya digunakan untuk aplikasi perumahan (tong gas masak) dan tujuan komersial. LPG terutamanya terdiri daripada campuran hidrokarbon seperti propana (C3H8), propene (C3H6), n-butana (C4H10), isobutena (metil-propana), dan pelbagai butanes lain (C4H8) (Mustapa, Gitano Briggs, 2008). LPG disimpan cair dalam tong pada tekanan tinggi, tekanan wap sekitar 6 hingga 7 bar (Petrolium Nasional Berhad, 2013). Oleh itu, tong gas perlu diperbuat daripada silinder keluli bertekanan tinggi. Tong gas digunakan hampir di semua perumahan, termasuk rumah pangsa, kondominium dan apartment. Kebiasaan penghuni perumahan bertingkat yang tidak mempunyai lift terpaksa mengangkat tong gas menggunakan tenaga empat kerat, kadang kala menggunakan troli biasa untuk menggangkut tong gas tersebut bagi memudahkan dan meringankan kerja. Troli adalah peranti yang digunakan untuk membawa beban atau memindahkan bahan dari satu tempat ke yang lain. Untuk aplikasi yang berbeza pelbagai jenis troli digunakan Kebanyakan pekerja domestik juga menggunakan tenaga tulang empat kerat untuk kerja-kerja pemindahan troli .

    ITC SOLUTIONS TO ACHIEVE PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY OF HEALTH SERVICES:ONLINE VIRTUAL CLINIC

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    The digital era modified the way people work, how the information and the informational resources are defined and organized. The organization which holds, uses and correctly reproduces the piece of information, the knowledge, the intellectual capital, becomes a leader in the proper field of activity. Following the actual tendencies in the digital era connected to the exchange of professional information, I can say that the exchange and sharing of digital information in a global multitude of interconnected computers are essential instruments that can contribute to the development and consolidation of the intellectual potential of the organization. This is why, the access of the individuals to information is an actual requirement of the development of the Romanian society in the context of globalization and world implication o contemporary processes and phenomena. The Digital integration eliminates the barriers that traditionally suppress the circuit of the medical information, lets the goods and services circulate to and from Romania by promoting efficiency as final purpose. Performance is needed in the health system, the transformation of the system of medical services by bringing the benefits of the medical science and technology to all individuals from every community. In order to accomplish these expectations it is needed that all the components that form the health system look at it as a whole and subscribe to modern solutions for improvement so that the quality of health should raise to an unprecedented level. Even if health systems differ from country to country from the organizational and financial point of view, they face the same challenges and problems, respectively the supply of medical care of better quality and keeping under control the health expenses. The use of information and communication technology in the field of medical assistance in order to stock, share, transmit and analyze clinical data and knowledge is more necessary than ever.Internet, communication in real time, health system, medical information system, digital integration, virtual medical assistance, virtual clinic, shared medical information

    Ordinary Search Engine Users Carrying Out Complex Search Tasks

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    Web search engines have become the dominant tools for finding information on the Internet. Due to their popularity, users apply them to a wide range of search needs, from simple look-ups to rather complex information tasks. This paper presents the results of a study to investigate the characteristics of these complex information needs in the context of Web search engines. The aim of the study is to find out more about (1) what makes complex search tasks distinct from simple tasks and if it is possible to find simple measures for describing their complexity, (2) if search success for a task can be predicted by means of unique measures, and (3) if successful searchers show a different behavior than unsuccessful ones. The study includes 60 people who carried out a set of 12 search tasks with current commercial search engines. Their behavior was logged with the Search-Logger tool. The results confirm that complex tasks show significantly different characteristics than simple tasks. Yet it seems to be difficult to distinguish successful from unsuccessful search behaviors. Good searchers can be differentiated from bad searchers by means of measurable parameters. The implications of these findings for search engine vendors are discussed.Comment: 60 page

    Challenges of Internet of Things and Big Data Integration

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    The Internet of Things anticipates the conjunction of physical gadgets to the In-ternet and their access to wireless sensor data which makes it expedient to restrain the physical world. Big Data convergence has put multifarious new opportunities ahead of business ventures to get into a new market or enhance their operations in the current market. considering the existing techniques and technologies, it is probably safe to say that the best solution is to use big data tools to provide an analytical solution to the Internet of Things. Based on the current technology deployment and adoption trends, it is envisioned that the Internet of Things is the technology of the future, while to-day's real-world devices can provide real and valuable analytics, and people in the real world use many IoT devices. Despite all the advertisements that companies offer in connection with the Internet of Things, you as a liable consumer, have the right to be suspicious about IoT advertise-ments. The primary question is: What is the promise of the Internet of things con-cerning reality and what are the prospects for the future.Comment: Proceedings of the International Conference on International Conference on Emerging Technologies in Computing 2018 (iCETiC '18), 23rd -24th August, 2018, at London Metropolitan University, London, UK, Published by Springer-Verla

    Nonlinear pricing of information goods

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    This paper analyzes optimal pricing for information goods under incomplete information, when both unlimited-usage (fixed-fee) pricing and usage-based pricing are feasible, and administering usage-based pricing may involve transaction costs. It is shown that offering fixed- fee pricing in addition to a non-linear usage-based pricing scheme is always profit-improving in the presence of any non-zero transaction costs, and there may be markets in which a pure fixed-fee is optimal. This implies that the optimal pricing strategy for information goods is almost never fully revealing. Moreover, it is proved that the optimal usage-based pricing schedule is independent of the value of the fixed- fee, a result that simplifies the simultaneous design of pricing schedules considerably, and provides a simple procedure for determining the optimal combination of fixed-fee and non-linear usage-based pricing. The introduction of fixed-fee pricing is shown to increase both consumer surplus and total surplus. The differential effects of setup costs, fixed transaction costs and variable transaction costs on pricing policy are described. These results suggests a number of managerial guidelines for designing pricing schedules. For instance, in nascent information markets, firms may profit from low fixed-fee penetration pricing, but as these markets mature, the optimal pricing mix should expand to include a wider range of usage-based pricing options. The extent of minimum fees, quantity discounts and adoption levels across the different pricing schemes are characterized, strategic pricing responses to changes in market characteristics are described, and the implications of the paper's results for bundling and vertical differentiation of information goods are discussed.nonlinear pricing, screening, digital goods, information goods, fixed-fee, usage-based pricing, transaction costs
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