Software crisis

Software crisis INTRODUCTION: Since last 20-25 years, there has been a rapid increase in the development of programs using a computer. Also, the difficulty level of software has increased to a greater extent. In other words, a drastic change has occurred in the development of computer programs. In order to make the programs more and more predictable, different types of patterns have been created. But the software industry is still many years away from becoming a mature engineering discipline. Even in todays society, software is viewed with suspicion by many individuals, such as senior managers and customers, as something similar to black magic. The result is that software is one of the most difficult artifacts of the modern world to develop and build. Developers work on techniques that cannot be measured or reproduced. All this, lead to a new concept called software crisis. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world, and it continues unabated. As the nature of software is that it is intangible, malleable, and intellectually intensive and has trivial replication. Our ultimate goal is to make quality software-on time and within budget which can be achieved through application of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation and maintenance of the software. SOFTWARE CRISIS The difficulty of writing the code for a computer program which is correct and understandable is referred to as software crisis. The term software crisis revolves around three concepts: complexity, change and the expectations. This term was given by F. L. Bauer at the first NATO Software Engineering Conference in 1968 at Garmisch, Germany. Current System design approach is exceedingly empirical. It is unable to cope with increasing systems complexity. A number of problems in software development were identified in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The problems that software projects encountered were: the projects ran over-budget, caused damage to property even to life. Despite our rapid progress, the software industry is considered by many to be in a crisis. Some 40 years ago, the term Software Crisis emerged to describe the software industrys inability to provide customers with high quality products on schedule. In general it refers to poorly written, hard to read, error-prone software that often lacks good documentation. Software crisis is also referred to the inability to hire enough qualified programmers. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world and it continues unabated. The most visible symptoms of the software crisis are late delivery, over budget; Product does not meet specified requirements, inadequate documentation. One of the most serious complaints against software failure is the inability to estimate with acceptable accuracy the cost, resources, and schedule necessary for a software project. Conventional assessment methods have always produced positive results which contribute to the too well-known cost infested and schedule slippage. As the world becomes more and more dependent on computers and as the complexity of software systems continues to rise, the crisis can only get worse. It is particularly severe in vital segments of the economy such as the health and financial services, and the transportation, manufacturing, communication, power generation, and defen se industries. Software Crisis in terms of statistics in 1990s * 31 % of projects canceled * 52.7% cost an average of 189% over budget * 84% are late or over budget (91% for large companies.) * The average system is delivered without 58% of proposed functionalities * $81 billion in 1995 for cancelled projects * $51 billion in 1995 for over-budget projects Only 16.2% of software projects are completed on-time and on-budget. In larger companies, a meager 9% of technology projects come in on-time and on-budget. In addition, about one third of all projects will be canceled before they ever get completed. Further results indicate 53% of projects will cost an average of 189% of their original estimates. In financial terms this analysis revealed that over $100 billion in cancellations and $60 billion in budget over runs occur in the Software Sector annually. CAUSES Software engineering today is in severe crisis. The situation is particularly grim because this crisis is not widely acknowledged by the software development industry. The causes of software crisis were linked to the overall complexity of the software process and the relative immaturity of software engineering as a profession. The main reason for the crisis is the lack of a sound software construction methodology with which to manage the high complexity of modern applications. The notion of a software crisis emerged at the end of the 1960s. An early use of the term is in Edsger Dijkstras ACM Turing Award Lecture, The Humble Programmer (EWD340), given in 1972 and published in the Communications of the ACM. Dijkstra says, The major cause of the software crisis is] that the machines have become several orders of magnitude more powerful! To put it quite bluntly: as long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem. Edsger Dijkstra * The cost of owning and maintaining software in the 1980s was twice as expensive as developing the software. * During the 1990s, the cost of ownership and maintenance increased by 30% over the 1980s. * In 1995, statistics showed that half of surveyed development projects were operational, but were not considered successful. * The average software project overshoots its schedule by half. * Three quarters of all large software products delivered to the customer are failures that are either not used at all, or do not meet the customers requirements. To explain the present software crisis in simple words, consider the following. The expenses that organizations all around the world are incurring on software purchases compared to those on hardware purchases have been showing a worrying trend over the years. Not only are the software products turning out to be more expensive than hardware, but they also present a host of other problems to the customers: software products are difficult to alter, debug, and enhance; use resources no optimally; often fail to meet the user requirements; are far from being reliable; frequently crash; and are often delivered late. Among these, the trend of increasing software costs is probably the most important symptom of the present software crisis. Software crisis: The present scenario The Software Crisis began 4 decades ago and continues today. In the 60s, we began to speak of a software crisis. A thirty year long crisis was beginning. A world-wide research effort also began. Today, the situation is quite different. We have a Science of Programming. We know a great deal about how to design and document software, but the Software Crisis continues unabated! The software crisis continues because the communication between Computer Scientists and those who write software, including the Engineers, has been very poor. Current software standards, are weak, superficial, and are not based on software science. Process oriented standards are empty because there are no product/document standards. SOLUTION Over the last twenty years many different paradigms have been created in attempt to make software development more predictable and controllable. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. One of the possible solutions to the software crisis is the study of software engineering. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements in the software engineering discipline itself. Software engineering is concerned with all aspects of software production from the early stages of system specification through to maintaining the system after it has gone into use. As a solution to this software crisis, we must apply a disciplinary artistry; using tools that help us manage this complexity. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. But still, there is no single approach which will prevent all the consequences of software crisis in all cases. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. It is our human inability to deal with complexity that lies at the root of the software crisis. It has been noted frequently that we are experiencing a software crisis, characterized by our inability to produce correct, reliable software within budget and on time. No doubt, many of our failures are caused by the inherent complexity of the software development process, for which there often is no analytical description. Through the use of computer-aided symbolic specification techniques and simulation, and with an understanding of the software development process, the skilled systems engineer can contribute to the resolution of the software crisis. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. In software engineering, the possible solution to software metrics is the use of proper software metrics and the proper utilization of these metrics. For the implementation of this solution to the problem of software crisis some pre-requisites are there. They are: 1. Knowledge of basic statistics and experimental design. 2. Basic understanding of commonly used software life cycle models, at least to the level covered in an introductory senior or graduate-level software engineering course. 3. Experience working as a team member on a software development project. In addition, for maximum utility in analytic studies and statistical analyses, metrics should have data values that belong to appropriate measurement scales. Software engineering is still a very young discipline. There are encouraging signs that we are beginning to understand some of the basic parameters that are most influential in the processes of software production. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects which are delivered late must adopt the following methodology: Project Planning Scheduling Project planning means creating work breakdown, and then allocate responsibilities to the developers over time. Project planning consists of construction of various tasks, timelines and essential pathways including Gantt charts and PERT charts and different written plans for various situations. It is quite usual in software development process to work backward from the project end date which results in complete software project failure. It is impossible that a project can be completed efficiently from the planning stage to the implementation stage. Allocation of roles and responsibilities has to be clearly defined. Proper scheduling is also required before the start of the project. It includes the time scheduling, teams scheduling. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects running out of budget, cost estimation methodology must be applied: Cost Estimation Cost estimation is mainly involved the cost of effort to produce the software project. But its not limited to the effort only. It also includes the hardware and software cost, training the employees and customer, travelling to the customer, networking and communication costs. Cost estimation should be done as a part of the software process model. Cost estimation needs to be done well before the start of the project development. Failure of the budgeting for the cost of the project results in complete disaster. Development tools, cost and hardware cost also need to be estimated first. ÃÆ'Ëœ In order to cope up with the increasing system complexity, risk management should be applied: Risk Management Risk management is an important factor towards software project failure if its not managed timely and effectively. As nothing can be predicted that what will happen in future so we have to take the necessary steps in the present to take any uncertain situation in the future. Risk management means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis. Project managers have to identify the areas where the risk can be and how it can affect the development of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or non technical. After the risk is identified there is a need to make the categories of that risk. Risk analysis is the process of examining the project results and deliverables after the risk analysis and applying the technique to lower the risk. After the risk is analyzed, the next step is to priorities the risk. At first focus on the most sever risk first; and les sever later. Managing the risk to achieve the desired results and deliverables is done through controlling the risk at its bes t. Conclusion Thus, we have discussed software crisis, its causes, the present status and the possible solution to this crisis. Software engineering appears to be one of the few options available to tackle software crisis. Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to software. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements to the software engineering discipline itself. The solution being advocated is to place a special emphasis on fault tolerance software engineering which would provide a set of methods, techniques, models and tools that would exactly fit application domains, fault assumptions and system requirements and support disciplined and rigorous fault tolerance throughout all phases of the life cycle. Also, the software must not be considered equivalent to a widget, i.e. a gadget. REFERENCES: Books referred: Software engineering: concepts and techniques Peter Naur Software engineering- Richard H. Thayer Websites and links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_crisis www.apl.jhu.edu/Classes/Notes//SoftwareEngineeringOverview.PDF http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/1999/july99/

Childhood Obesity Essay

What is making the next generation fat? Just a decade or so ago the debate of childhood obesity was not even a matter to be discussed. Our grandparents never even questioned the weight of their children. Their children, our parents, ate healthy foods at the family dining table and played outside all day long, but the subject of childhood obesity has gained quite a bit of interest since those days. With the ever so growing popularity of fast foods, the introduction of Play station and Xbox games and the more demanding careers of today’s parents, the overdevelopment of both urban and suburban areas our kids are living sedentary lives and are becoming very overweight. The epidemic of childhood obesity is rapidly rising in America. The number of children who are now overweight has tripled since 1980 and the prevalence of obesity in younger children has more than doubled. Overall, approximately 17% or 12.5 million of the children in the United States between the ages of 2 and 19 are already obese (_C_ _enters for Disease Control and Prevention_ _, 2012_). This finding is very disturbing to many Americans and has caused many debates on who is responsible for this rising epidemic and how can we control it. Childhood obesity is measured by the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated using a child’s height and weight. BMI does not measure body fat directly, but it is a reasonable indicator of body fatness for most children. A child’s weight status is determined using an age and sex specific percentile for BMI rather than the normal BMI categories which are used to determine an adult BMI. These are used because a child’s body composition varies as they age and also varies between boys and girls. Overweight in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.  Obesity in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. The causes of childhood obesity are multi-factorial. Obesity in children is caused by a lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits, media and marketing campaigns, adverse family conditions, stress and the avai lability of technology. Most Americans agree that childhood obesity is more prevalent today than ever before. If you look into the bedroom of an average American child you find video games, a computer, usually a television and possibly some other electronic gadgets. Today American children have access to just about anything they could ever want. They just ask and most parents will buy them whatever they want. If you looked into the same child’s room thirty or forty years ago you would have probably found baby dolls, toy trucks and probably even some books. You would have found the neighborhood children outside playing in the kickball or hide and seek in the yard. Children played outside from sun up to sun down. The playing of these physical activities outside has unfortunately been replaced by the inactive high tech toys of today. The kick ball and hide and seek games of thirty years ago have now been replaced with games being played on the Play Station, Xbox or Wii. It is estimated that children in the United States are spending at least twenty five percent of their waking hours watching television and statistically children who watch the most hours of television have the highest incidence of obesity. If you take another look inside the house of 30 years ago you would find a dad who went to work every day and a mom who stayed home to tend to the household duties and the children. With the rising cost of our day to day living expenses in America, most homes now must have both dad and mom working full time to make ends meet. Over the last two decades there has been an increase in the number of dual income families as more women have entered the workforce and more women become the sole supporter for their single parent family. This new way of living has caused American children to eat whatever is convenient for mom or dad to fix or for some children to eat whatever is easiest for them to fix for themselves. Constraints on time has made working parents rely more heavily on prepared, processed, and fast  foods, which are generally high calorie, high fat, and low in nutritional content. Usually these â€Å"easy† meals come in greasy bags from fast food establishments or in plastic wrappers within a frozen cardboard box and have to be cooked in the microwave before eating. In some homes the stove never even gets warm from preparing a meal more than once a week. These â€Å"easy† meals are contributing to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history and the marketers of fast food have taken full advantage of it. American children are exposed to some 40,000 or more food advertisements per year. (_U.S. D_ _ept. of Health & Human Services_ _, 2011_). Most of these advertisements promote fast food. Therefore, the expanding fast-food industry is another cause for the rising childhood obesity epidemic. Fast food companies like McDonald’s or Burger King are not only selling their food, but also have a way of marketing which is not fair to consumers. Most fast food restaurants offer a toy together with a children’s meal. Usually the toy is from a popular new movie or television show so it is very appealing to children. Children are stimulated to eat junk food because they know they will be rewarded with a toy. Psychological issues and stress are said to cause obesity in adults, but they both can cause obesity in children as well. Some children have a difficult time dealing with stress, so they use food to comfort them when they feel unsure of things. Like adults, they too use food as a comfort when they feel, bored, anxious or angry. Children in the past did not have to worry so much about parents being divorced and remarried, mothers that worked long hours or fathers that traveled for most of the week. Today’s economy has put financial strain on parents and children cannot help but to hear and feel the results of these tough economic times. The children of this generation are all too familiar with all of these situations. Each child has to contend with different factors in their lives and they too turn to food as a solution. Our environment too has an effect on the growing number of obese children. Experts are now looking to at our environment as a cause of the rapid  increase of obesity in children in the United States. In urban and suburban areas the overdeveloped environment can create obstacles for children to stay physically active. In urban areas the space for outdoor recreation can be scarce, which prevents kids from having a protected place to play. Neighborhood crime, lack of street lighting and busy traffic can impede children from being able to run and play or ride bicycles as a means of daily exercise. In the suburban areas, the evolution of ‘sprawl’ can prevent children from walking or biking and contributes to the great amount of dependence on using motor vehicles to get around. Suburban neighborhoods too lack resources for physical recreation and many suburban neighborhoods do not include sidewalks. Genetics and DNA are also contributing factors in the causes of childhood obesity. A group of British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who were overweight. They looked for extra copies or deletions of DNA segments. They found evidence that a deletion of DNA may promote obesity. The deletion of chromosome 16 is thought to cause obesity in children because it removes a gene that the brain needs to respond to the appetite controlling hormone leptin. Children with a chromosome 16 deletion appear to have a very strong drive to eat. These children are very, very hungry and always want to eat. (_British Medical Association, 2005_) This very slim chance may be the only cause that we cannot change. Unfortunately, some children are destined to obesity. These children are born with the genes that cause them to put on weight more easily and quicker than other children. These children end up storing the fat more easily than other children. There is not anything these children can do about their genes. Despite the strong influence that genetics can have on the epidemic of childhood obesity, studies show that our genetic makeup has not changed dramatically over the last couple of generations. Therefore the increases and prevalence of childhood obesity has to be mostly from other behavioral and environmental factors, not genetics. There are a number of root causes of obesity in the children of the United States. Selecting one or two main causes is next to impossible because the potential influences are multiple and intertwined. With the contributing factors of technology, family structure, advertising, stress and our  physical environment we are making the next generation fat. We can make small changes that will have a significant impact on the issue of childhood obesity. Parents and caregivers can encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits and be more physically active. We need to focus on overall good health, not necessarily a certain goal weight. We should teach and model healthy and positive attitudes toward food and physical activity. We should establish daily meal and snack times, and eat together as families as much as possible. When we shop for groceries we should purchase foods that will give children a wide variety of healthful foods to choose from. We should try to plan meals and serve them in sensible portions. Allowing children to â€Å"scoop† their own food can promote them eating in unhealthy amounts. These are just a few ideas of small change that can make a huge difference. We also need to promote exercise as much as possible. Having children walk to school when distance and safety allows is great exercise. Children should be encouraged to play outdoor games rather than just be allowed to sit in front of the television. There are plenty of activities that our children can do to get exercise. Remember even household chores like raking leaves or running the vacuum cleaner constitute as exercise. Washing the car on a hot summer day can be fun while they are getting exercise. Some children will jump at the chance to earn a few bucks. Children can be rewarded with a few dollars and they will never know they are being bribed into getting some exercise. Eating out is another place to be mindful of our decisions. When eating out is it important to be conscious of our food choices and try to keep healthy eating in mind. Lots of fast food places now offer healthy alternatives. The obesity issue is prevalent in the next generation, but it is not too late for us to work together to reverse this epidemic. REFERENCES British Medical Association, June 2005. _Preventing Childhood Obesity._ London: British Library Catalog. Centers for Disease Control, July 16, 2012, _Overweight and Obesity_. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html Ford-Martin, Paula. _(2005) The Everything Parent’s Guide to the Overweight Child._ Massachusetts: Adams Media Hassink, Sandra G, MD, FAAP. (2006) A _Parent’s Guide to Childhood Obesity._ United States: American Academy of Pediatrics. Herscher, Elaine, Woolston, Chris and Tartamella, Lisa. (2004) _Generation Extra Large._ New York, New York: Basic Books. Ludwig, David, MD, Ph.D. (2007) _Ending the Food Fight._ New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne, Ph.D. (2005) â€Å"I’m Like, So Fat!† New York: The Guilford Press U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 19, 2011, _Childhood Obesity._ Retrieved from: http://www.hhs.gov

Shortcuts to Essay on Business Idea Samples Only the Experts Know

Shortcuts to Essay on Business Idea Samples Only the Experts Know The Debate Over Essay on Business Idea Samples It's really hard to decide on which idea can be great to begin a business and a career. A thriving idea has to start somewhere, and if it's very small in the first place, an open dialogue should occur to provide the idea some actual importance. If the home based business idea works, it is going to get the job done for you with the proper mindset and energy. If you like the concept of a house business but hate the notion of selling, you've got to come up with new skills to supply you with the confidence to bridge the gap. You may be wondering what type of product which you could even construct your business around, and who'd get it. If you're interested in a business in arts and crafts, but don't necessarily need to be doing all of the work yourself then it's possible to expand you network and sell items that could be sold for a reduce price $10 to $100. Another g ood idea is handmade soap. There are many tips for businesses that are expected to be somewhat successful ideas in the present sector. Just devote some time doing some on-line small business research and you're guaranteed to obtain the ideal small business idea for you. Become a Virtual Assistant Another excellent small business idea is to be a digital assistant. You could have always wanted to begin a business, but you might not have the confidence which you really can pull it off. The business demands immense commitment, cleanliness and most importantly, plenty of compliance to healthcare requirements, safety and tranquil for those neighbors kids. The fantastic thing about the online today is the awesome quantity of information that is easily offered. Think about what it is that you are good at, or what you've always wished to do for a living, and do it. Finally, there are numerous benefits of having your home based or internet enterprise. 1 great thing about internet bus iness is the fact that it puts you in contact with potential buyers in every corner of earth. As soon as you have a couple samples made, you can begin marketing them online. There are several freelance outsourcing sites that you can join to start writing articles for clients. Content marketing is now the primary focus of the digital advertising era and with websites hiring increasingly more content writers for marketing their goods, the demand for copy editors is on the upswing. Online affiliate marketing is likewise an alternative. Up in Arms About Essay on Business Idea Samples? Otherwise, don't be discouraged, there are a lot of more opportunities for women to locate business ideas online. There are lots of home business tips for ladies. The 3 small small business tips for women can be divided up into continuing your career, locating a new career, and the way to discover how to begin a business and company ideas utilizing the web. A number of the most effective small small business tips for women are ones that are devoted to a flexible schedule that could work aro und other commitments. Ladies constitute the most significant portion of the job at home workforce. Yes, they are not just at par with men, but if you actually compare the tasks handled by a women, compared to that of a man, women are actually the ones who are multitasking and yet successful. Throughout time, they have proven to be savvy business owners. An increasing number of women are opting to work at home. Writing online articles for profit is just one of the simplest ways for women to begin earning an income from home. Below are a few of the best internet business tips for women that you are able to begin with right away. There are a number of online jobs and business opportunities for ladies. It is often quite straightforward and extremely profitable to begin your own business of selling cosmetics online. The Importance of Essay on Business Idea Samples In fact, the most effective small business tips for women can get the job done even if she only has a couple of hours a day to spend. In the modern financial climate of international recession it is difficult to locate work and it's especially tough if you want to return to work after starting a family. It's possible to get a variety of opportunities to begin your own company, in addition to find others that are doing something similar. You can also locate available chance for work by searching. Essay on Business Idea Sampl es Help! The web is a probable start due to the visibility and superior traffic it brings to the table. Investing in such a business would bring immediate revenue since it's a service that is required almost everyday. It is possible to also build websites for your clients and raise your earnings. There are many network multi level advertising opportunities on the regions of health care and personal beauty solutions.

Geroge Orwell Essay - 1878 Words

Geroge Orwell â€Å"One of the things Orwell bequeathed us was the adjective ‘Orwellian’†¦. It is a frightening word, generally applied to a society organized to crush and dehumanize the individual, sometimes signifying the alienation of that individual if he dares to rebel† (Lewis 13). George Orwell, the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, depicted the importance of the individual in society and the danger of too much community in his literature. Through his personal experiences, however, he explored the ideas of socialism and was torn between the individual and community ideals. In his literature and his past, Orwell spoke against movements that remove the individual, but still emphasized the importance of community. Thus, he advocated a†¦show more content†¦He enjoyed the idea that everybody was equal, but he still showed resentment towards it. His inner conflict between these two ideas and his experiences as a member in the Spanish Civil War caused him to c hoose a median between the community ideals which he saw and the individual ideals which he missed: â€Å"I have seen wonderful things and at last really believe in socialism, which I never did before† (qtd. in Chen). With the start of World War II, George Orwell began his fight against Nazism, fascism, and communism. In the eyes of many, communism became interchangeable with socialism, and he criticized writers of his time that were in support of Stalin and his â€Å"socialist† movement: â€Å"Why should writers be attracted by a form of Socialism that makes mental honesty impossible† (qtd. in Lewis 76)? In an attempt to pacify the radical communist movements and change imperialism, he spoke of a third method to reform the British Empire—a middle ground that would create a socialist community in Britain. John Newsinger wrote, â€Å"[He had a] call for a new socialist movement that would reject both Communist-style revolution and Labour Party reformism in favour of a third way to socialism, a third way that he continued to call revolutionary but that was adapted to modern conditions† (qtd. in Chen). Through this, one can see that Orwell wanted to avoid such movemen ts as communism, which attempted to obtain control over the individual, and yet he had a need to preserve theShow MoreRelatedThe Dysptopian Novel of 1984 by Geroge Orwell632 Words   |  2 Pages The dystopian novel of 1984, written by the English writer George Orwell, was first published by Secker and Warburg in 1949. The novel discusses the life of Winston Smith and his venture to rebel against the totalitarian state in which he resides. George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning after World War II, with the intention of describing a society that he would never want to live the day to see. Unfortunately, he knew that it was more of a precaution to say this is how life for some was like in GermanyRead More1984 Dystopian Society Essay1212 Words   |  5 PagesEnvision the presence living in a dystopian society - where citizens are watched day-and-night. George Orwell’s novel 1984, written in 1949, depicts and illustrates the future of the 1980’s. Orwell imagined the worl d in which totalitarianism reigned, individualism is dead, and history is just sentiment. The world diverged into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. With protagonist Winston Smith and the citizens of Oceania, they have experienced the impression, having to live life behind

Taylor Liechty. W131-Period 2. March 23, 2017. Ronald Reagan

Taylor Liechty W131-Period 2 March 23, 2017 Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America. Before becoming interested in politics, he was an actor born in Tampico, Illinois (Freidel, Sidey). In 1966, Reagan was elected governor of California, and that was the beginning of his political future (Freidel, Sidey). Reagan strove through foreign policy while building America strong thought his words, â€Å"peace through strength† (Freidel, Sidey). Pushing through an assassin-attempt, Reagan achieved great things as told in his farewell address. Ronald Reagan uses thoughtful organization, emotional appeal, repetition, and allusion in his farewell address to the nation, in reason of his termination in presidency as well†¦show more content†¦Reagan’s specific word choice to instill emotional response creates a togetherness, or closeness of America and allows for him to make reflections of what the entire country—including himself—was able to accomplish with his assistance. Along with creating togetherness, his general specific word choice makes his speech more understandable to an average American citizen and creates an emotional response by a soft-hearted farewell tone. For example he says, â€Å"It’s been quite a journey this decade, and we held together through some stormy seas. And at the end together, we are reaching our destination.† Both Reagans specific word choice to instill emotional appeal by creating togetherness and using a soft-hearted farewell tone allows for him to accomplish his purpose of reconnecting the people’s mind of the great accomplishments America achieved while he was president. Furthermore, aside from organization and pathos, Reagan uses repetition of an allusion. In paragraph 23, Reagan uses repetition, but he repeats an allusion to the preamble of the Constitution. He says, â€Å"‘We the people.’ ‘We the people’ tell the government what to do, it doesn’t tell us. â⠂¬ËœWe the people’ are the driver, the government is the car†¦. ‘We the people’ are free.† The preamble begins as so, â€Å"We the people of the United States, to form a more perfect union†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Baltzell, George W.). Ronald Reagan

E-Government in Kazakhstan Challenges and Its Role to Development Free Essays

string(278) " particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere\." Public Organiz Rev (2010) 10:31–47 DOI 10. 1007/s11115-009-0087-6 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan Published online: 9 July 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract This paper critically examines the progress made in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. We will write a custom essay sample on E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now It argues that in order to achieve the articulated development goals, the Kazakh government has moved toward e-government paradigm to ascertain a people-centered, accountable and transparent government. Available data substantiates that the initiative faces several challenges such as political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens, digital divide, widespread corruption, lack of human resources, and inadequate infrastructural development, which needs to be amputated to improve public service delivery. This study illustrates some international development experiences to understand the benefit of e-government. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the successful implementation of e-government to ensure overall development in Kazakhstan. Keywords Development . E-government . Kazakhstan . Service delivery Introduction Electronic governance has been widely endorsed as a solution to a range of predicaments in the public sector. With promises of decreasing corruption, cutting red tape, reducing government costs, and fluctuating participatory governance, the egovernance revolution has swept most nations, capturing the imaginations of policy makers and attracting the interests of citizens and business alike (Salem 2006). Electronic government evolves swiftly through defined stages, beginning with a web presence of public agencies (â€Å"interaction†) to a means for citizens around the clock seven days a week in the convenience of their homes (â€Å"transaction†) (Netchaeva 2002). This essentially creates a new ground for public sector operation. The S. H. Bhuiyan (*) Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan e-mail: sbhuiyan_68@yahoo. com 32 S. H. Bhuiyan equence of stages was depicted as inevitable, fueled by technology, citizen demand, and economic realities in the public sector (Mayer-Schonberger and Lazer 2007). The prime objective of any technological innovation is to improve the quality of human condition. This cannot be achieved by technological advances alone. First and foremost, they have to be successfully applied to human society. Such an approach is significant for governance and public administration because of its impact on a larger section of the society (Sharma 2002). To reap benefit of the information and communication technology (ICT), international development agencies are paying considerable attention to the gradual improvement of egovernment, particularly in developing countries. The most recent United Nations Report entitled e-Government Survey 2008: From e-Government to Connected Governance succinctly illustrates the importance of e-governance: ‘E-government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government. It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental level’ (UN 2008, p. xii). In the same vein, the 2001 Human Development Report entitled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), clearly portrays the role of ICT for development as it stated: ‘[I]t is time for a new partnership between technology and development. Human Development Report 2001 is intended as the manifesto for that partnership’ (UNDP 2001, p. iii). Again, in the United Nations system, the World Bank launched an e-government website, and in November 2002 its Information for Development Program released The E-Government Handbook for Developing Countries. Later on, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development convened the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in December 2003, and in Tunis in November 2005. Outside the UN system, many initiatives were launched. One was the Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World, released by the Pacific Council on International Policy in April 2002 (Holliday and Yep 2005, p. 239). Kazakhstan was a part of the USSR until its collapse in 1990. During the Soviet regime, public documents were largely shelved as ‘classified’, and thus restricting people’s access. Living with such cynic norms of governmental operation for years, the Government of Kazakhstan (GoK), after independence in 1991, quickly realized the need of a transparent and accountable government. In the midst of transitional challenges, the Government has chosen the introduction of e-government for the twin objectives of providing fast and quality access to public services and of improving public services’ effectiveness through the widespread use of ICT in the public sector (World Bank 2006). In order to measure how far e-government initiatives have contributed to the improvement of relationships between politicians, bureaucrats and citizens in post-independence Kazakhstan, this paper: (i) analyzes the background to the introduction of e-government programs and policies; (ii) describes the overall development of e-government; (iii) investigates the challenges facing the implementation of e-government initiatives; and finally (iv) highlights its contribution to development. In short, the main focus of this paper is to critically examine the progress made so far in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. This paper concludes by presenting a road E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 33 map showing how e-governance in Kazakhstan can be utilized as an instrument of development. In reality, Kazakhstan is in transition. Of the many transitions now going on, an important one is the shift from ‘closed’ to ‘information’ society. Here lies the significance of the present study, insofar as it analyzes how this shift is being negotiated in a crucial area of development, the public sector. There is much to gain from a critical assessment of the success of e-government initiatives have so far attained in post-independence Kazakhstan, as it sheds light on the challenges it is confronted with at present, which in turn helps to identify some of the ways as to how they can effectively be overcome. The existing scholarship on e-government in Kazakhstan is less than satisfactory. This paper is intended to make a contribution to the steadily emerging area of study focused on e-government in a local as well as global context. Methodology This paper is based primarily on secondary sources. Three sources in particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere. You read "E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development" in category "Papers" The latter contributes to our understanding regarding the contents and services they provide to citizens. What is E-government? E-government was introduced in the field of public administration in the late 1990s, though it has not been clearly defined and understood by scholars and practitioners of public administration (Moon 2002). The term e-government arises by analogy to the concepts and practices of electronic commerce applied to the public sector, referring to the delivery of government services to the public ‘on-line’ (typically over the Internet) or to the technological infrastructure required to deliver those services (Brown 2005, p. 242). E-government denotes the strategic, coordinated use of ICT in public administration and policy decision-making (Haldenwang 2004). Similarly, by e-government, Tandon (2005) refers to the provision of efficient, convenient and transparent services by government departments and agencies to citizens and businesses. The Global study of E-government, a joint research initiative for global egovernment by the United Nations (UN) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), provides a comprehensive definition of e-government: Broadly defined, e-government includes the use of all information and communication technologies, from fax machines to wireless palm pilots, to facilitate the daily administration of government. However, like e-commerce, the popular interpretation of e-government is one that defines it exclusively as an Internet driven activity†¦to which it may be added â€Å"that improves citizen access to government information, services and expertise to ensure citizen 34 S. H. Bhuiyan participation in, and satisfaction with the government process†¦it is permanent commitment by government to improving the relationship between private citizen and the public through enhanced, cost-effective and efficient delivery of services, information and knowledge. It is the practical realization of the best that government has to offer. † (UN and ASPA 2002, p. 1) According to World Bank, e-government means to governmental use of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other agencies of government (cited in Sharma 2002, p. 607). The World Bank definition indicates the areas of operation of the concept and also lays down the broad benefits accruing out of this utilization of ICT to the field of governance, namely, to promote citizen empowerment, improve service delivery, strengthen accountability, increase transparency, or improve government efficiency (cited in Tandon 2005, p. ). This paper takes a wider view of e-government by adopting the application of ICT tools to the improvement of governance through building public-private partnership to achieve development. In this article, ‘e-government’ and ‘egovernance’, despite their subtle conceptual differences, are interchangeably used. Kazakhstan: co ntext The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia bounded in the West by the Caspian Sea, in the North by Russia, in the East by China, and in the South by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (see Box 1 for summary information). Extending over a territory of 2,725,000 square kilometer (Makhmutova 2001), it is the second largest country of the former Soviet Republics with a population of 15. 48 million in 2007 (World Bank 2008), of whom 4. 5 million are ethnic Russians (Wilson et al. 2002), and population density 5. 7 per square kilometer (Agency of Statistics of Kazakhstan website: www. eng. stat. kz). Kazakhstan continues to negotiate the enormous challenges inherent in any transition from a planned to a market economy and, in the last decade, has experienced plummeting production levels (Wilson et al. 002) and two-digit (now 11%) inflation continues to grow. In recent days, Kazakhstan makes considerable progress in almost all aspects of life. Although, critics expressed concern about the limit of the country’s democratic development and the lack of its commitment to hold free and fair elections. For example, the most recent Presidential elections were held in December 2005 when President Nazarbayev won a third term with more than 90% of the vote. The elections gained negative commentary from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which claimed they had not met international standard, citing campaign restrictions, interference in polling stations, multiple voting, pressure on voters, media bias and restriction on freedom of expression (Keesing 2005 cited in Knox 2008, p. 478). In the same vein, in 2001, another scholar also observed: â€Å"It is as yet too early to herald the dawn of real democracy in Kazakhstan† (Robinson 2001). Kazakhstan’s economy has gone through stages of decline, stagnation, and high economic growth after independence in 1990. The period from 1990 to 1997 was the E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 35 period of negative economic growth, or at best stagnation (in 1995–1997, economic growth was close to zero) due to transformation in economic arrangements. It was only from 1998 that Kazakhstan entered the phase of strong and sustained growth (Agarwal 2008). In the first nine months of 2007, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 9. % (ESCAP, 2008). In 2007, GDP per capita was US$ 7,857 (UNDP 2007). However, GDP growth is projected to fall to 5% in 2008, and a modest increase to 6. 3% is penciled in for 2009 (ADB 2008). Over the period 1998–2004, the population living below the poverty line in Kazakhstan declined significantly from 39% in 1998, to 20% in 2004 (Agarwal 2008). The measures being taken by GoK to raise the living standards of the po pulation have cut poverty levels by 1. 7% in 2006 by comparison with 2005 (to 18. %), and the figures for 2007 indicate that poverty levels have fallen to 12. 7% (UNESC 2008). The long-term development strategy ‘Kazakhstan 2030: Prosperity, security and improved living standards for all Kazakhs’ was adopted in 1997. It identified seven priorities for the country’s development: (i) National security, (ii) domestic stability and social cohesion, (iii) economic growth, (iv) health, education and welfare for the citizens of Kazakhstan, (v) energy resources, (vi) infrastructure, transport and communications, and (vii) a professional state. Since 1998 all the programs adopted in the country are being developed in accordance with the noted development strategy of the country, which aimed at improving the quality of life for the population by reducing social exclusion and raising the quality of social services, improving the environment, and involving civil society in development (UNESC 2008, p. 6). Box 1: Kazakhstan: summary information Head of State President Nursultan Nazarbayev, first elected in December 1991 and re-elected in 1999 and 2005. National Legislature Bicameral: 77-seat lower house (Majlis), 39-seat pper house (Senate). Language Kazakh is the state language. Russian is most widely spoken. Currency Tenge Exchange rate 2007 average US$ 1 ? 120 Tenge Unemployment rate 8. 8 (2003) Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) 99. 5 (2005) Life expectancy at birth (both genders) 65. 9 years (2005) GDP 104 billion US$ Internet users (per 100 people) 12 Time required to start a business (days) 21 Sources: Agarwal 2008 ; UNDP 2007; Wilson et al. 2002; World Bank 2008. The development initiatives of GoK have contributed to improving human development index (HDI). In 2007/8, the HDI for Kazakhstan is 0. 794, which gives the country a rank of 73rd out of 177 countries (UNDP 2007). In the contrary, the 36 S. H. Bhuiyan ongoing mammoth development activities also encouraged, it would seem, widespread corruption in the country. As a result, during the years, Kazakhstan consistently gained poor corruption perception index (CPI). A 2008 Global Country Report on the state of corruption launched by the Transparency International ranks the country 145th among 180 countries with a CPI 2. (Transparency International 2008). Admittedly, the backdrop painted a landscape that suggests the critical importance of implementation of e-government scheme in Kazakhstan with an aim to quick and quality access to public services, improving its effectiveness, combating corruption, poverty reduction through income generation, and thus building a breeding ground for development. The state of E-government in Kazakhstan Overall situation: benchmarking Kazakhstan has envis ioned joining 50 most competitive countries in the world by 2030. In achieving this goal, ICT plays a critical role by readying the country for entry into the forum of competitive world. In doing so, Kazakhstan’s accomplishments in fostering e-government include (World Bank 2006): Recognition of e-government as a priority at the highest political level and the elaboration of an e-government strategy; Establishment of the Agency for Informatization and Communications (AIC) as an independent regulatory authority empowered to implement state ICT policy; Creation of government agency Web sites (32 out of 42 government agencies have their own Web sites); Development of a number of corporate networks and databases (e. g. , integrated taxation, customs, pension information systems) by individual government agencies; and Enacting important legislations such as the laws on e-documents and esignatures. Kazakhstan has made substantial progress in introducing ICT in public sector. In terms of e-readiness, the United Nations Report on the e-Governance Survey 2008 recognizes Kazakhstan as the leader of Central Asia, while the region has regressed the most since the 2005 survey. This global survey report has ranked the country 81 among 189 countries with an index value 0. 4743 as compared with 65 among 179 in 2005 (UN 2008, pp. 31–32). Table 1 shows e-government readiness in Central Asian countries. The table indicates that the countries in the region had a lower e-government readiness index than in 2005. In spite of government’s efforts, Kazakhstan slips from its 2005 position partly because 2008’s Survey had more focus on the interactive and transactional stages which largely remain unachievable, and thus the scores were lower (UN 2008). Another potential reason is its weak telecommunications facility. A 2004 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data shows that effective teledensity in the country was quite low, 16. 23 (ITU 2004). However, this number continues to improve. In 2000, the main telephone lines per 100 people were 12. 3 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 37 Table 1 E-government readiness for Central Asia Country 2008 Index 2005 Index 2008 Ranking 2005 Ranking Kazakhstan 0. 4743 Kyrgyzstan 0. 4195 0. 4813 81 65 0. 4417 102 Uzbekistan 0. 4057 76 0. 114 109 Turkmenistan 0. 3262 79 128 †¦ Tajikistan 0. 3150 0. 3346 Region 0. 3881 0. 4173 132 117 World 0. 4514 0. 4267 †¦ Source: UN 2008, p. 32 which increased to 19. 1 in 2006, while in the same period mobile cellular subscriber increased from 1. 3 to 51. 2 (World Bank 2006). The e-Government Survey 2008 data shows that both mainline telephone and cellular user further increased to 19. 77 and 52. 86 respectively (UN 2008). E-government program objectives and implementation Kazakhstan’s e-government program incorporates a three-stage approach (World Bank 2006): st stage: creation of the basic components of e-government infrastructure, such as the governmental portal, a â€Å"payment gateway† providing a linkage with the banking system, national identification system, government-wide ICT network backbone infrastructure, creation of cross-agency information systems, provision of mainly informational and transactional e-government services, promoting Internet use among the citizens and bridging the digital divide. 2nd stage: expansion of the scope and depth of e-government services (predominantly of transactional nature) and comprehensive ICT-enabled reengineering of government administrative procedures. rd stage: ICT-based transformation of government agencies’ operation, building a fully-fledged information society, provision of e-health, e-education, e-culture, e-demo cracy and other services. Some tasks related to the first stage were implemented in 2006. On the April 12, 2006, e-government web-portal (www. e. gov. kz) was launched which provides more than 900 information services (egov magazine 2007). This portal is tri-lingual: Kazakh, Russian and English. Laws ‘On Informatization’ and ‘On Amending Certain Legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Sphere of Informatization’ were developed and enacted. Interagency electronic workflow with digital signature has been implemented in 39 state bodies. A pilot model of National Authentication Center for physical and legal entities has been developed, and a pilot project on integrated transportation medium of state bodies has been implemented in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In an interview with the egov magazine in July 2007, Kuanishbek Esekeev, the Chairman of AIC, reported that GoK had implemented, on 38 S. H. Bhuiyan an experimental basis, government databases on ‘Physical Bodies’ and ‘Legal Entities’, in six oblasts (regions). Moreover, 15 interactive services such as land register and address register software were developed and tested in pilot zones: Citizens’ Service Centers (CSC) of Almatinskiy and Saryarkinskiy regions, Astana (egov magazine 2007). To connect citizens with the web, till 2006, 460 public access points kicked off. Eleven classrooms for providing computer literacy were opened in several regions as a part of capacity development of public sector employees, where more than 1,500 civil servants have been trained (egov magazine 2007). In 1997, a state program was adopted to incorporate information technology (IT) into the general education system, so as to create IT network within the international education space. In 2007, the provision of computers to schools had reached one computer for every 21 pupils compared with one for every 62 in 2001 (UNESC 2008, p. 15). Besides, online instruction has been introduced into the teaching process, comparing a set of five subject schemas, and work has been progressing to connect the education system to the Internet (UNESC 2008). The AIC is currently working to develop interactive services delivery through national e-government portal. In recent days, the Agency has been successful to deliver limited e-services. For example, it is possible to submit tax statements to the authorities as well as to clear mutual payments with the state budget through electronic channels in real time using digital signatures, which distinguishes Kazakhstan from other CIS countries (World Bank 2006, p. 10). In March 2006, a service has been launched, which enables citizens to submit applications to five ministries (e. . , Ministry of Economic Affairs and Budget Planning) and get an answer to his or her question in 3 to 5 working days. Almost all Akimats (city government) and ministries opened their virtual reception rooms. Visitors can download reference-document; get acquainted with legal base and search addresses of various offices (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz). Future plans The transactional phase of e-government development will allow citizens to pay for using public services via governmental portal. AIC is in the process to implement a payment scheme based on existing electronic transactional (payment) system of second-tier banks. GoK is committed to build a transparent information society that presupposes gradual increase of the portal users in number. It means this will eventually transfer public services delivery only in electronic form. As a move to this, AIC plans to provide 900 different kinds of services that are to be exhibited on the portal in 2009 (egov magazine 2007). The challenges In 2005, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has estimated that more than 60% of e-government projects in developing countries fail (Salem 2006). Likewise, Kazakhstan confronts with multifaceted challenges to the introduction of e-government, and some of them are described here. E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 39 Political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens Kazakhstan e-government program receives strong support from the President and his office. AIC has been given a mandate to coordinate and lead the effort (World Bank 2006). But problem arises due to the government’s tendency to monopolize political power (Perlman and Gleason 2007), dodging the established norms of multi-party politics. As a consequence, in the August 2007 elections, the President’s political party â€Å"Nur Otan† (father land) received 88. 41% of vote and captured all seats, and thus became the only party in the parliament when none of the parties were able to meet 7% threshold required to obtain parliamentary seats (Bakenova 2008, p. 4; Iqbal 2007). It is corroborated that political elitism is compounded by the fact that Kazakh opposition political parties are in disarray and fractured, offering no real alternative to the voting public (Knox 2008, p. 487). Kazakhstan is dominated by a formal political elite and a highly centralized and power base comprising the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan and key stakeholders therein : the State Secretary, Head of Administration and Security Council Secretary (Knox 2008). Cummings (2005, cited in Knox 2008) argued that the elite system is a compelling factor behind the emergence and maintenance of authoritarianism in Kazakhstan. Given disintegrated political context, it is clear that political communication develops in line with one’s party affiliation, which limits the general trust in government. As a result, the nature of relationship existing between the party in power and opposition signals low quality of political development in Kazakhstan. The lack of political participation, however, compartmentalizes the development of e-governance. On the other hand, a major means through which interaction between citizens and politicians occurs is the parliamentary website, which is supposed to facilitate the top-down flow of information from the legislature to citizens, allow a bottom-up channel for feedback from citizens to the elected members, increase transparency by providing detailed information about legislative procedures and activities, expand the number of avenues for greater public scrutiny of the nature and processes of public policies and thus enhance the accountability of these elected politicians to their constituencies (Norris 2001, cited in Haque 2002, p. 38). To this point, Kazakh Parliament maintains a website (www. parlan. kz) and provides a list of basic information such as parliamentary activities, legislative acts, constitution, and list of parliamentary groups. It also provides an option to the website visitors to contact parliamentary secretariat to inform their queries and comments. The emergence of e -governance has significantly changed the nature of the relationship between citizens and public servants (Haque 2002). A 2002 World Bank survey made an assessment of Kazakhstan’s governance and service delivery. The survey suggests that general areas where Government can work on to improve the quality of public services through e-government. For example, the results of the survey indicated that households were not satisfied with their interactions with public officials (World Bank 2002). To improve this perception, ICT can be utilized for the reduction in the time that citizens and businesses have to spend to complete transactions with public bodies can be set as one of the performance indicators. If the transactions can 40 S. H. Bhuiyan e completed online, citizens do not have to spend the time to visit and wait at a public office, as long as they have an Internet connection (World Bank 2006, p. 20). Corruption In April 2005, the President of Kazakhstan signed a decree ‘On Measures to Step up the Fight against Corruption’ to strengthen discipline in the activities of state bodies and officials (Transparency International 2006, p. 185). Against this backdrop, petty corruption in the various form of bribe taking is a fixture of daily life (Gleason 1997, p. 379). High profile corruptions are also rampant. For example, the President of the state-owned Kazakh Telecom joint-stock company was sacked by Security Council when it was revealed that his monthly wage was $365,000 (Knox 2008, p. 487). Similarly, in 2007, Kazakh Anti-corruption Agency (financial police) filed charges against the selection committee of â€Å"Bolashak† (future) program, a presidential scholarship scheme that enables talented young Kazakhs to study in developed countries. The charges stated that many scholarships have been actually purchased through the corrupt jury decisions (Bakenova 2008, p. 94). It is widely believed that e-governance is promised to reduce corruption, which displeases corrupt political executives and bureaucrats, who, in turn, create building blocks to the implementation of e-government programs. Digital divide ‘Digital divide’—exclusion of groups within the population to get access to a computer—is another challenge that has received government attention. It reveals that only 12% of the population in Kazakhstan has skills to use PCs and half of them can use computer without being helped (egov magazine 2007), and only 12% are Internet users (World Bank 2008). To bridge the gap, the government is implementing Digital Inclusion Program for years 2007–2009. This program aims to increase number of ITC educated people by 15% and prepare the country to the transition from the industrial to information society (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz/? mod=staticIng=rusid=22, accessed November 22, 2008). Many governments across the world have taken up measures to lessen the magnitude of the problem. Philippines and Hong Kong, for example, have facilitated this partly by providing free or subsidized access to computers and Internet) in designated public places (Holliday 2002). Telecommunications infrastructure is relatively problematic, although there are examples of significant public intervention. To this effect, several municipal governments in Germany have facilitated the development of high-speed network cables, fiber optics, and public access to improve digital economy (Hasse 2002). Infrastructural development E-government operation requires strong technological infrastructure such as computing and telecommunications. A great deal of financial resources is involved to develop structure. In Kazakhstan, it is more burdensome due to its vastness and unique geographical structure. The government has so far (2005–2007) allocated E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 41 approximately US$380 million (World Bank 2006) for the purpose of e-government implementation. Let alone government fund is inadequate to meet required expenses, which warranted a partnership among public, private and donor agencies for the accumulation of investments. Kazakhstan’s poor infrastructural readiness for egovernment also reflected in the e-Government Readiness Survey 2008 where it scored 0. 306 on infrastructure index (UN 2008). Human resources There is no denial that in most of the developing countries e-government programs suffer due to the lack of quality human resources. Kazakhstan is no exception. A 2006 World Bank report points out that even AIC, the lead organization to implement e-government, is struggling with the shortage of professional staf f, leaving only 12–15 for the ‘informatization’ task (World Bank 2006). To overcome the challenge, GoK provides continuous training and education to develop professionals in this field. However, given the low public sector compensation packages, it is unclear whether the shortage of professionals will ever be overcome. Admittedly, Kazakh public administration suffers from migration of knowledgeable employees to its growing private sector due to attractive emoluments. This will essentially constrain country’s journey toward e-government development. Poverty Given the gradual decline of the population living below the poverty line, the reduction of poverty is still an important policy goal for Kazakhstan (Agarwal 2008). However, a Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality, with higher values denoting more unequal incomes) increased from 25. 74 in 1988 to 33. 85 in 2003 (ESCAP 2008). Income inequality is on the rise and took a defiant shape due to onslaught global economic meltdown, which also affects Kazakh economy. Consequently, rates of rural poverty continue to grow, and the economic necessity force migration from rural areas to the towns, which contributes to increase urban poverty too. According to UNDP, nearly 16% of the total population lives on less than US$2 per day (Euromonitor International, www. euromonitor. com/pdf/indonesia. pdf, accessed November 22, 2008). In this context, it is argued that a large population is unable to buy PCs (price of a PC ranges between 40,000–60,000 Tenge) and be connected with Internet (initial connection fee and deposit amount to nearly 20,000 Tenge even with the state-owned Kazakh Telecom). Apart from the above, there are disparities in the distribution of basic services in Kazakhstan (Gleason 1997). For example, a study shows that due to ageing Soviet transmission and distribution lines, electricity losses average 15%, reaching 30% to remote areas (cited in Cochran 2008, p. 1), which causes frequent power cut1 mainly in rural settlements and thus upset the prospect of their social and economic life. This poverty-ridden environment is often not receptive to adopt technological innovations, like e-government. 1 Kazakhstan produced 76. 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2007 and consumed just over that amount, 76. 4 billion kWh (Cochran 2008, p. 1). 42 S. H. Bhuiyan Harnessing privacy Rapid adoption of global networks and technological innovations has raised many outstanding concerns from civil society over the protection of their privacy and personal data and has brought into focus the possibility of the rise of ‘Big Brother ’ (cited in Bhuiyan 2006, p. 114). In a similar vein, referring to Korea, Jho (2005) illustrates that the Korean government has faced fierce public opposition and suffered major setbacks in pursuing some of its ICT projects. This symptom worries yet growing civil society of Kazakhstan and effective dialogue with the government can reduce tension over the issue. E-government in the context of development New ICTs can make a significant contribution to the achievement of good governance goals (Heeks 2001). The e-governance permeates the four domains of government: its role in fostering economic growth and social cohesion, its relationship with the governed, its internal administration, and its relationship with the international environment (Brown 2005, p. 251). In each of these areas developing countries are faced with limitations on institutional capacity and infrastructure, financial resources and civil service skills that characterize—and prolong—lower levels of development (Brown 2005). Against this backdrop, efforts have been made for implementing e-governance in many developing countries and some of them were successful. The outcomes of those practices have shown improved government functioning, better service delivery, and triumph over many socio-economic, political and administrative ills. Among them, three cases are presented below to help us to understand the usefulness of using e-government to achieve development goals. Lessons learned from the cases have immense value to reorganize Kazakh public administration in line with e-government mandate. Case 1. Brazil: house of representatives e-participation The Brazilian House of Representatives website allows citizens to talk to their representatives and to participate in debates directly through the Internet. The Government of Brazil also provides an e-participation platform that permits Members of Parliament and citizens to communicate through chat rooms, discussion forums and the service â€Å"Falm com Deputado† or â€Å"Talk to the MP†. This form of eparticipation has enhanced the interaction between citizens and Members of parliament. In a country as vast as Brazil and with a geographically dispersed population, online participation has provided citizens with a greater voice in the creation of policies and laws. (UN 2008, p. 31) Case 2. Health service in Malta The Malta Health Ministry is an excellent example of providing customer service online. The portal allows citizens to apply for the European Health Insurance Card online. It has an electronic patient library provided through a partnership with a E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 3 private firm, which provides citizens with a medical encyclopedia, information on surgeries and procedures, and has animated lessons. The portal also provides its citizens with a list of local pharmacies. (Source: http://www. ehealth. gov. mt/article. aspx? art=90 cited in UN 2008, p. 60) Case 3. E-seva program in Andra Pradesh, India The Government of Andra Pradesh has a clear vision to create a knowledge society by using IT in all aspects of devel opment and governance (www. esevaonline. com, last accessed November 24, 2008). Consequently, E-Seva (electronic service) program was launched to effectively deliver public and social services to the citizens. This program offers services of multiple central, state and local government agencies as well as some private sector organizations. The salient features of E-Seva include the following: 46 e-Seva centers (with 400 service counters) spread over the Twin Cities and Ranga Reddy District. All service counters are facilitated with an electronic queuing system. Operating from 8:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m. , on all working days and 9:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. n holidays (Second Saturdays and Sundays). ‘One-stop-shop’ for over 66 government-to-consumer (G2C) and business-toconsumer (B2C). No jurisdiction limits- any citizen in the twin cities can avail of the services at any of the 46 e-Seva service centers. Online services: eForms, eFiling, ePayments. Payments by cash/cheque/DD/credit card/Internet. The Government of India data shows that e-Seva cente rs offer the total of 132 G2C services from 16 government departments, and 15 B2C services from 10 business firms. Services include, among others, online transaction processing of payments, issuance of certificates, and licenses. The number of transactions at e-Seva centers was initially under 5,000/month (August 2001). It quickly gained popularity and the number surpassed a million in July 2003. As of May 2004, the level of transaction is above 1. 1 million. (Source: http://www. esevaonline. com/ cited in World Bank 2006, p. 42) The first case makes it clear that interaction between MPs and citizens through Internet helps the former to better understand citizens’ opinions, grievances, and demands, while the latter participates in scrutinizing public policies and laws. Kazakhstan government needs to implement the practice, contextualizing it to the local conditions, to boost up contact between parliament members and citizens, a pre-requisite for ensuring good governance. The second case is focused on electronic delivery of customer services related to healthcare in an EU country, Malta. The dismal performance of healthcare sector in Kazakhstan (Iqbal 2007) warrants a major overhaul. As a part of perceived reform, GoK may experiment with the transferability of Malta’s practice in public healthcare outlets. The third example illustrates the significance of providing public services through public-private partnership (PPP) in Andra Pradesh, an Indian state. PPP is now a common strand of ‘third way’ government policy, with better efficiency promised 44 S. H. Bhuiyan from the private funding of public infrastructure through the transfer of risks to private concerns. In this perspective, GoK may consider to build PPPs as a potential strategy to deliver effective and efficient services to the citizens. Over and again, control of corruption and poverty reduction are two important development challenges that are being facilitated through e-government. These issues are in some detail discussed here. Corruption Heeks (1998) points out that the level of corruption in the public sector sharply decreases in countries where e-government exists. A survey in India has revealed that, in the states where e-government has been established even partially, the corruption rate has substantially fallen. The survey has found that in Kolkata and Mumbai, two Indian cities, due to implementation of e-governance in some public sector, corruption rate has declined to 19% and 18% compared to 51% and 38% respectively in 2000 (Kabir 2008). Similarly, in Bangladesh, one may observe that due to computerization of Railway Reservation System, the number of black-marketers has decreased considerably. Elimination of the middle-men in citizen-government interaction, in fact, is the major factor eradicating corruption (Kabir 2008). Poverty reduction Admittedly, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has made a significant contribution to the development of ICT in Bangladesh. During the years, Grameen philosophy has proved that ICT can be very useful to uplift the rural and disadvantaged communities in Bangladesh and beyond (cited in Hossain 2005). According to the founder of the Bank and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus identified three key areas ICT can play an immediate role in helping the poor (Yunus 2004, cited in Hossain 2005) are: 1. Integrating the poor into the mainstream economy by expanding their market, eliminating the middle-men in their business, and creating international job opportunities through service out-sourcing; 2. Bringing information, educational programs, skill training, and healthcare services, etc, all in a very user friendly way, even to the most remote villages; 3. Empowering the poor, particularly poor women, with a stronger voice that can be heard behind the borders of their villages, better access to information, and improvement in the democratic process. The study by Aminuzzaman et al. (2003) found a positive correlation between the uses of ICT and poverty reduction in Bangladesh. According to the findings, at the individual level, the Village Phone (VP) of Grameen Bank has contributed significantly to income generation of rural women (popularly known as phone ladies). Socially, it has given a new status and image to those women who are getting Bank’s support to start this venture both at the family and community levels. Moreover, at the community level, it has narrowed gaps between cities and villages by enhancing frequent communication between family members. Economically, it has increased business transactions and dissemination of information (Aminuzzaman E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 45 et al. 2003, p. 327). In an earlier but similar study by Bayes et al. 1999) also evaluated the role of VP (of Grameen Bank) within the context of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular. They came up with two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction cost, and second, the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor in Bangladesh (Bayes et al. 1999). Kazakhstan suffers from rampant corruption and poverty. As a means to control corruption and eradicate poverty, the government can evaluate the suitability of the noted (or similarly designed) initiatives for implementation in Kazakhstan. Conclusion The paradigm of e-government emphasizes coordinated network building, external collaboration, and one-stop customer services to facilitate efficient service delivery to citizens, and, thus, contrasts sharply with the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, which stresses standardization, departmentalization, and division of labor (Ho 2002). In order to keep pace with the articulated development goals, particularly to achieve Kazakhstan 2030, the GoK has started to move toward e-government paradigm to establish a citizen-centered, accountable and transparent government. Kazakhstan’s past political history was linked to the long-standing legacies of monopolism, clanocracy, and cynicism of the Soviet period (Gleason 1997, p. 379). In the new Kazakhstan, situation has not improved to the extent many had expected. The country is still marked by widespread corruption, abject poverty, digital divide, lack of infrastructural development and human resources. In this context, egovernment offers opportunities, though rudimentary at the present stage, to the government to improve service delivery across the country. The international development experiences clearly portray the benefit of egovernment. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the implementation of e-government in Kazakhstan, after careful evaluations to their acceptability in Kazakh society. An important challenge to e-government implementation in developing countries is the lack of financial resources. The case of Kazakhstan is very much the same. The honeymoon period of booming Kazakh oil economy is under stress. To continue the systematic implementation of e-government even during the sluggish economy, public-private partnership is a necessary strategy for the avoidance of huge initial investment costs. The successful implementation of the program will surely change the public administration landscape and enable the government to deliver services to a transparent, accountable, and client-focused environment. References ADB (Asian Development Bank). (2008) Asian development outlook 2008 [Kazakhstan]. Available at: http://www. db. org/Documents/Books/ADO/2008/KAZ. pdf, last accessed December 5, 2008. 46 S. H. Bhuiyan Agarwal, P. (2008). Economic growth and poverty reduction: evidence from Kazakhstan. Asian Development Review, 24(2), 90–115. Aminuzzaman, S. , Baldersheim, H. , Jamil, I. (2003). Talking back! empowerment and mobile phones in rural Bangladesh: a study of the village phone scheme of Grameen Bank. Contempor ary South Asia, 12(3), 327–348. Bakenova, S. (2008). Civil service in Kazakhstan: Deja Vu? International Journal of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1, 89–96. Bayes, A. Braun, J. V. , Akhter, R. (1999). Village pay phones and poverty reduction: insights from a Grameen bank initiatives in Bangladesh. ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy. No. 8. Bonn: ZEF, University of Bonn. Bhuiyan, S. H. (2006). E-government in Bangladesh: prospects and challenges. Journal of Politics Administration, 1(1), 105–118. Brown, D. (2005). 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(2008). National report on the achievement of Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities to 2030 in the light of the millennium development goals. Available at: apps01. un. org/nvpcms, last accessed November 20, 2008. Wilson, J. , Gardner, D. Kurganbaeva, G. , Sakharchuk, E. (2002). The changing role of local government managers in a transitional economy: evidence from the Republic of Kazakhstan. International Journal of Publi c Sector Management, 15(4/5), 399–411. The World Bank. (2008). Kazakhstan: Data and statistics. Available at: http://www. worldbank. org. kz/ website/external/countries/ecaext/kazakhstan, last accessed November 13, 2008. The World Bank. (2006). Kazakhstan e-government program and the road ahead. Washington, DC: World Bank (a joint economic research program with the Government of Kazakhstan). The World Bank. (2002). Kazakhstan governance and service delivery: A diagnostic report. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region. Yunus, M. (2004). Petersburg Prize 2004- acceptance speech delivered by Professor Muhammad Yunus in the Prize giving ceremony on June 27, 2004, at the Development Gateway Forum 2004, held at Petersburg Conference Center, Kongiswinter, Germany Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), Almaty. He earned a Ph. D. in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, Germany. His research interests are in governance, public policy and administration, public management, organization theory and behavior, culture, knowledge and development. Copyright of Public Organization Review is the property of Springer Science Business Media B. V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. 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Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa for Scientific-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theJunctional Epidermolysis Bullosa for Scientific Study. Answer: Background to the Scientific Study The study in the journal article talks about a lethal skin disease known as junctional epidermolysis bullosa. This disease is caused by the mutations in genes (Dang and Murrell, 2015, p.23). The people who are attacked by JEB develop skin diseases. The chronic wounds on the patients skin result to the development of the skin cancer. In this study, a seven-year-old boy is suffering from Junctional epidermolysis bullosa. The disorder came because of the generation of autologous transgenic keratinocyte culture (De Rosa et al.2014,p.5). The study in the journal focuses on transforming the lives of the boy to be a better one. Many patients affected by junctional epidermolysis bullosa die before reaching their adolescent stage; however, the study in the journal combines several approaches to save the life of the seven-year-old boy. The above research applies the method of gene therapy and ex vivo cells using other stem cells to deal with the epidermis. The study does a clonal tracing, whic h shows that the skin in the human being is enhanced by the existing small number of the old stem cells. There are three genes in the human body, which include LAMB3, LAMA3 and LAMC (Kiritsi et al.2015, p.200), the mutation of these genes result in the epidermis. Summary of key findings From the study in the journal article, all the epidermis on the individual suffering from JEB, are possible to be treated by autologous transgenic epidermal cultures. This way of replacement should contain the appropriate number of the stem cells. All mammals should have a proper generation of tissue in their cells and the only way to prove the development is the existent of stem cells. From the study, many clinics have used epidermal cultures for more than 30 years to control JEB. However, there is a challenge of proving the engraftment of stem cells, which are cultured. In addition to that, there is also indirect evidence that holoclones identification of stem cells from human epithelial regeneration. Another important thing evident in the study is that transient amplifying progenitors do not survive for long after grafting. In the journal, the study states that they wither after two months of grafting (Melo et al.2014, p.730). The progenitors may persist for a period, which is ess ential during the repair, and the renewal of the stem cells. Besides that, there are some cells, which contribute very little to the generation and healing of the wounds in the human body. As shown earlier in the study, those people who suffer from JEB have several injuries in their body that even cause skin cancer to them. Before doing grafting on the patient, there must be enough cells that form the holoclones. In the other part of the journal, epidermis can be generated by transgenic epidermal stem cells. On the other hand, the study has given room for the use of therapy to heal some of epidermolysis (Masunaga et al.2015, p.64). The findings in the journal are supported by the data. For instance, the data shows that the paraclones and meroclones cannot renew themselves. They are increasingly lost during the renewal of epidermal in vivo. Therefore, these two holoclones cannot be used in the maintenance of epidermis. The sample used in figure seven in the journal shows that the original holoclones need to go through self-renewal to regenerate skin. Strength and weakness of the study Every study has its strength and weakness. When analyzing the survey on this article journal, its advantage is that it combines the two methods to find the solution to the boys problem. The study is combining the gene therapy and the ex vivo cell to find the best solution to the patient. It is evident that after six weeks in the hospital, the health of the seven-year-old boy had turned worse. The evidence made the medical team conclude that the method of therapy was not the best approach (Sartelet et al, 2015, p.545). Another critical strength of the study is that it provides a room for the use of other methods of diagnosing this infection. On the last part of the study, it is elaborated that further studies are required to prove some of the things related to the gene approach of dealing with JEB (Sproule et al.2016, p.60). However, on the weakness part, the research only focuses on how to treat the infection but fails to show how to prevent the disease. As much as treatment is right but it is better to avoid than cure. If it were a matter of mutation or generation, the study would have outlined the ways of the disorder during generation to prevent the attack to many other people. Reflection on whether newspaper article accurately reports the results of the study The procedure of helping the boy in this article matches what is in the study. The doctors used the grafting method whereby, a piece of the boys body skin was added to the regular part of his skin. This is a process of grafting which was stated in the study. The doctors have applied the gene therapy to heal the boy (Pfendner and Lucky, 2014, p.87). The study illustrated that epidermis infection is a mutation problem, and the gene therapy is another best way to deal with the disease. On the other hand, the accuracy of the news article may be questionable. The news article has some limitations. For instance, the article does not outline clearly how the doctors did the grafting procedure. This limitation might make someone doubt if the process was active or not. In addition to that, the article would have elaborated on the changes that the seven-year boy was going through after the therapy process. It has jumped to the conclusion on how the boy was moving well not elaborating on the cha nges. On the last bit, the articles fail to talk about other methodologies that may have been used but failed. The news article is not providing awareness efficiently to the medical students. It may only be relevant to people who may have been in the field for a long time. However, news has been well arranged and the methodology applied is evident. Despite the message being direct, it has elaborated one of the best ways of dealing with the infection that is the gene therapy. References Dang, N. and Murrell, D.F., 2015. Integrins A6 and B4 and Their Role in Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa and Recessive Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex. InBlistering Diseases(pp. 85-90). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. De Rosa, L., Carulli, S., Cocchiarella, F., Quaglino, D., Enzo, E., Franchini, E., Giannetti, A., De Santis, G., Recchia, A., Pellegrini, G. and De Luca, M., 2014. Long-term stability and safety of transgenic cultured epidermal stem cells in gene therapy of junctional epidermolysis bullosa.Stem Cell Reports,2(1), pp.1-8. Kiritsi, D., Huilaja, L., Franzke, C.W., Kokkonen, N., Pazzagli, C., Schwieger-Briel, A., Larmas, M., Bruckner-Tuderman, L., Has, C. and Tasanen, K., 2015. Junctional epidermolysis bullosa with LAMB3 splice-site mutations.Acta dermato-venereologica,95(7), pp.849-851. Masunaga, T., Niizeki, H., Yasuda, F., Yoshida, K., Amagai, M. and Ishiko, A., 2015. Splicing abnormality of integrin 4 gene (ITGB4) due to nucleotide substitutions far from splice site underlies pyloric atresia-junctional epidermolysis bullosa syndrome.Journal of dermatological science,78(1), pp.61-66. Melo, S.P., Lisowski, L., Bashkirova, E., Zhen, H.H., Chu, K., Keene, D.R., Marinkovich, M.P., Kay, M.A. and Oro, A.E., 2014. Somatic correction of junctional epidermolysis bullosa by a highly recombinogenic AAV variant.Molecular Therapy,22(4), pp.725-733. Pfendner, E.G. and Lucky, A.W., 2014. Junctional epidermolysis bullosa. Sartelet, A., Harland, C., Tamma, N., Karim, L., Bayrou, C., Li, W., Ahariz, N., Coppieters, W., Georges, M. and Charlier, C., 2015. A stop?gain in the laminin, alpha 3 gene causes recessive junctional epidermolysis bullosa in Belgian Blue cattle.Animal genetics,46(5), pp.566-570. Sproule, T.J., Philip, V., Chaudhry, N., Sundberg, J.P. and Roopenian, D.C., 2016. 374 Complex genetics of non-herlitz junctional epidermolysis bullosa.Journal of Investigative Dermatology,136(5), p.S66.