Respu

Student #1

Networked computers and communications systems are now part of the daily life of a significant percentage of the public all over the world because we are in a new era of computerization. Arguably, the most crucial importance to the development of the public policy choice that fueled this increase in networked computing was the introduction of public access to the Internet. The Internet, as described by Kurose & Ross (2013) is a worldwide computer network which provides a host of communication and information capabilities, that is made up of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols. The Clinton–Gore White House showed a high level of symbolic support for “information superhighways” which contributed to the popularization of the interest in the public access to the Internet, as well as the enthusiasm of Technology Journalists, business, and entertainment. The possibilities of the widespread public access to the Internet enabled significant developments in many applications, including electronic commerce (eCommerce), Electronic Publishing, distance learning like the Walden DIT program, virtual communities, and digital libraries. According to Noam (1995), the evolution of these new applications raised a lot of important questions and arguments about the social changes that could arise as a result of the widespread public use of the internet. Most of the arguments centered around whether electronic commerce, as portrayed by eBay and Amazon.com could gradually drive away the markets of physical stores. Noam (1995), further noted that many people also wondered whether widespread distance learning such as the programs in online Universities could provide new opportunities for an inexpensive and convenient home education that could become attractive enough to reduce the enthusiasm for place-based colleges and universities rapidly. Harnad (1991) and Fuller (1995) were concerned about the rapid development of electronic journals serving as a low-cost alternative to the increasingly expensive print journals. Furthermore, they pondered whether digital libraries would reduce the need for “brick and mortar” libraries and also the threat to community life if most social activities were to move from face-to-face, place-based settings to online forums.

For the last 25 years, the relationships between social change and information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been substantially analyzed and empirically researched with the help of all these discussions and questions. According to Kling (2000), Social Informatics is the research body that examines the uses, design, and consequences of ICTs in ways that take into consideration their interaction with cultural and institutional contexts. Kling (2000), further noted that the key themes of their research included the importance of social contexts and work processes, sociotechnical networks, public access to information, and social infrastructure for computing support.

The discussions and assessments from the past seven weeks course will enable me to apply social change and illustrate some of the key ideas from the social informatics research. For example, creating reliable, secure, fast, and safe computer networks in my workplace and customer sites because the number one priority in any organization should be to monitor its systems for potential unauthorized access and various other attacks to safeguard sensitive information. The provision of scientific or electronic communication via electronic journals, brochures, and articles on our corporate website educates visitors to our website on information such as the vast prevalence of Ransomware, how to avoid Ransomware and the importance of not paying the Ransome. My organization offers complimentary WiFi access to the Internet to visitors to our offices. By providing this free WiFi, my company found that the time customers spent on our premises significantly increased and it, in turn, increased the business relationships, which then translated to a rise in the amount customers spent on our products and services. According to a WBDG report by Heerwagen, Kelly, & Kampschroer (2016), as collaboration and cooperative activity becomes more prevalent, workers need well-developed social skills or "emotional labor" as their report called it. Heerwagen, Kelly, & Kampschroer (2016), found that good social skills are necessary for teamwork, collaboration, relationship development, networking, learning, and growth. As a result, with internet accessibility, my organization developed a virtual community on the intranet which is a private network based on TCP/IP protocols where employees can resolve conflicts, improve negotiation skills, share relevant information and learn not only through formal training but relationships with coworkers.

References

Fuller, S. (1995). Cyberplatonism: An Inadequate Constitution for the Republic of Science. The Information Society, 11(4), 293–303.

Harnad, S. (1991). Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution in the Means of Production of

Knowledge. Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 2(1), 39–53.

Student #2

  Technology has changed the way we all conduct or daily business at work and are away from work.  Rather it be, you  telework from home or check that important email from work while home off hours.  The Internet has changed how business are done from the private sector to the federal government.  The Internet makes it possible for people who thought a degree was out of the question possible now.  I took my first web base course while pursuing my Bachelors Degree from University of Maryland in 1999.  The Internet has changed the ways we communicate where a phone call seems the thing of the past when I can instance message the person.  The Twenty First Century requires a new breed of leaders who understand this social change.  For the federal government, folks get into these position and cannot adapt to them, but they do not try to learn, or move along within the organization by getting promoted and it bottle necks the higher positions, by stopping someone who is trying to make it to the highest possible rank before retiring.  

I work for Department of Treasury Information Technology Department. Provide support to executive department, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Secret Service, and other Departmental Office throughout the United States and CONUS.  The federal government believes in four organizational units of learning: Individual, Team, Organizational, and Inter-Organizational.  The organizational learning within the federal government differs between agencies.  For this agency, the process of change is dependent upon experience of the individuals.    An individual learning new technology that increases their skills brings it back to share with other team members (Gratton & Erickson, 2007).  In my opinion, everyone should be afforded the opportunity of learning the technology as long as it falls in line with the work that you are doing.

          Individual learning is what can be done online through CBT, Skill Port, etc. .  Someone can possibly learn something from these training aids, but for me On-The-Job (OTJ) is more efficient than sitting behind a computer and clicking next to a PowerPoint slide .  If you have a person who has all the knowledge of a project and does not share that information or have it documented, this is a one-stop shop for disaster because if that person leaves or is out of work, the project fails (Moley, Furco, & Reed, 2008).  If you keep everyone informed and involved, you have a higher return rate of employees looking forward to coming to work.

          Another learning done is group learning.  Today technology, the group does not have to be in the same building, city, or state.  Different types of technology allow this to happen.  For instance, you have Cisco WebEx, Adobe Connect, etc. allow group to acquire, share, and combine knowledge through experience with one another.  For instance, agency I work for group leaning is big for my shop. We have new equipment that needs to deploy that involves configure a new switch, router, firewall, etc.  Someone assigned the job and soon as they are finished, sent to the next team member to verify the configurations are correct and nothing missing.   Working together as a team allows for sharing their knowledge and learning from others. 

          Organizational learning happens in all agencies.  The speed at which it happens varies.  Agency seems to move at a snail pace and when the Intelligence Agencies that I have worked for in the past, moves a much faster pace.  The key here is to adapt to changing environments. 

          Inter Organizational Learning is working with different agencies departments, sharing knowledge, and gaining knowledge (Ammons & Roenigk, 2014).  An example of this would be working for the Intelligence Agency (CIA) and resolving a network issue of gaining access to information on another intelligence agency network (NSA).  By working with their IT Department and gaining knowledge they are sharing along with the knowledge you are providing, both are learning about the different networks.   For instance, at Department of Treasury because they have issues with webcasting to the IRS due to firewall rules in place at the IRS.  Instead of working with IRS IT Department to fix the issue, the answer I receive is it’s their problem do not work with them.  For me, that is the wrong solution. 

          Social change that I have learned from this course that I can apply to the organization I work for is, everyone opinion matters as long as you have the facts to back it up.  Not everyone knows everything.  When it comes to how a network is setup and how it is running, I feel that I can bring benefit on how it can be improved.  I came here after working on intelligence agency networks for 15 years.  The experienced I learned from working with routers, switches, routing protocols, firewalls, Taclanes, Video Teleconference Networks, etc., feel that I have the knowledge to share with others as long as they are willing to listing.  For me though, I do not believe they are keen on social change.  They feel as long as it working do not bother it instead of looking for ways to improve the network.  

 References

Ammons, D. N., & Roenigk, D. J. (2014). Benchmarking and Interorganizational Learning in Local Government. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093

Gratton, L., & Erickson, T. J. (2007). Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2007/11/eight-ways-to-build-collaborative-teams