13

2.1 Ethics in an Information Society

Did you ever hear the old warning, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should?"

Well, a lot of things are possible on the Internet nowadays, but that doesn't mean you

should do them.

Ethics is easily managed in small groups because the group itself tends to control the

individual's behavior. The larger the group, the harder it is to manage the actions of

individuals. Now stretch that to a huge number of people with many frames of reference

and experiences. Responsibility to the group becomes harder to police and accountability

for an individual's actions is harder to enforce.

Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability, and Liability

Every action causes a reaction. When you're using the Internet, computers on campus, or

your employer's computer, you should be aware of:

• Responsibility: accepting potential costs, duties, and obligations for your

decisions.

• Accountability: determining who should take responsibility for decisions and

actions.

• Liability: legally placing responsibility with a person or group.

• Due Process: ensuring the laws are applied fairly and correctly.

Responsibility, accountability, and liability are all yours when it comes to your actions in

cyberspace. Every Internet Service Provider has a "usage policy," even the so-called

anonymous emailers that hide your real identity. HotMail is a popular Internet email

service that allows you to mask who you really are. You could send out all the, shall we

say, unethical, threatening, nasty, aberrant email you like. You think: "Hey, no one will

really know who I am. This is cool."

And then here comes the message from HotMail to cease and desist. Your free email

account is cancelled because you violated HotMail's usage policy. Then your local

Internet Service Provider contacts you and tells you you're terminated, baby! You

violated its usage policy by your actions. By now you're really mad, not to mention

embarrassed (at least we hope so). It's true. It happens.

Computer crime is one area that has been extremely hard for our society and our

governments to keep up with. Many laws have to be rewritten and many new laws must

be implemented to accommodate the changes. Computer crime and abuse extends to

any wrongdoing involving equipment and Internet usage, as Table 2.1 shows. We spoke

earlier about anonymity not being a license for socially unacceptable behavior. You

should remember that everything you do on a network or the Internet is recorded and can

be tracked. Many people committing computer crimes and abuse have been caught and

prosecuted.

14

Other issues affecting our society include job losses and career changes caused by

technology. You can argue the positive or negative effects, but one thing is clear: you'll

be a part of the evolution of technology for the rest of your life. You will have to

continually update your skills and knowledge in order to remain competitive in the job

market. As companies continue to embrace new technology and new methods of using it,

you'll be responsible for ensuring your skills and education remains current.

2.2 IT Infrastructures and Platforms

Three major levels of infrastructure exist particularly:

• Public (kamusal)

• Enterprise (kurumsal)

• Business unit (işletme biriminde)

15

Levels of IT Infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS

There are Seven (7) Key Infrastructure Components

• Computer Hardware Platforms(Hadoop Tool)

• Operating System Platforms (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003)

• Enterprise Software Applications (like Oracle)

• Data Management and Storage (Microsoft SQL Server)

• Networking/Telecommunications Platforms (Enterprise Networking almost

entirely Unix / Linux)

• Internet Platforms (Apache remains Web server software)

• Consulting and System Integration Services (Most firms today, even large firms,

cannot develop their systems without significant outside help. *Danışmanlık ve

Sistem Entegrasyon Servisleri)

16

IT Infrastructure - A Multitiered Client/Server Network (N-tier)

2.3 Managing Data Resources

File Organization Terms and Concepts

• Bit: Smallest unit of data; binary digit (0,1)

• Byte: Group of bits that represents a single character

• Field: Group of words or a complete number

• Record: Group of related fields

• File: Group of records of same type

• Database: Group of related files

• Entity: Person, place, thing, event about which information is maintained

• Attribute: Description of a particular entity

• Key field: Identifier field used to retrieve, update, sort a record

17

THE DATA HIERARCHY

Entities(Objects) and Attributes (Specializations-Characteristics of the objects)

18

Problems with the Traditional File Environment

Data Redundancy and Inconsistency:

• Data redundancy: The presence of duplicate data in multiple data files so that the

same data are stored in more than one place or location

• Data inconsistency: The same attribute may have different values.

Program-data dependence:

• The coupling of data stored in files and the specific programs required to update

and maintain those files such that changes in programs require changes to the data

Lack of flexibility:

• A traditional file system can deliver routine scheduled reports after extensive

programming efforts, but it cannot deliver ad-hoc reports or respond to

unanticipated information requirements in a timely fashion.

Poor security:

• Because there is little control or management of data, management will have no

knowledge of who is accessing or even making changes to the organization’s

data.

Lack of data sharing and availability:

• Information cannot flow freely across different functional areas or different parts

of the organization. Users find different values of the same piece of information in

two different systems, and hence they may not use these systems because they

cannot trust the accuracy of the data.

Traditional File Processing

19

THE DATABASE APPROACH TO DATA MANAGEMENT

Database Management System (DBMS) • Software for creating and maintaining databases

• Permits firms to rationally manage data for the entire firm

• Acts as interface between application programs and physical data files

• Separates logical and design views of data

• Solves many problems of the traditional data file approach

The Contemporary Database Environment

Components of DBMS:

• Data definition language: Specifies content and structure of database and defines

each data element

• Data manipulation language: Used to process data in a database

• Data dictionary: Stores definitions of data elements and data characteristics

20

Types of Databases:

• Relational DBMS

• Hierarchical and network DBMS

• Object-oriented databases

The Relational Data Model

21

A Hierarchical Database for a Human Resources System

The Network Data Model

22

CREATING A DATABASE ENVIRONMENT

Designing Databases:

• Conceptual design: Abstract model of database from a business perspective

• Physical design: Detailed description of business information needs

• Entity-relationship diagram: Methodology for documenting databases illustrating

relationships between database entities

• Normalization: Process of creating small stable data structures from complex

groups of data

An Unnormalized Relation for ORDER

Normalized Tables Created from ORDER

23

An Entity-Relationship Diagram

DATABASE TRENDS

Data Warehousing and Data Mining

Data warehouse:

• Supports reporting and query tools

• Stores current and historical data

• Consolidates data for management analysis and decision making

24

Components of a Data Warehouse

Data mart:

• Subset of data warehouse

• Contains summarized or highly focused portion of data for a specified function or

group of users

Data mining:

• Tools for analyzing large pools of data

• Find hidden patterns and infer rules to predict trends

Databases and the Web

Database server:

• Computer in a client/server environment runs a DBMS to process SQL statements

and perform database management tasks.

Application server:

• Software handling all application operations

25

Management Opportunities:

Business firms have exceptional opportunities to exploit modern relational database

technologies to improve decision making, and to increase the efficiency of their business

processes.

The critical elements for creating a database environment are:

• Data administration

• Data-planning and modeling methodology

• Database technology and management

• Users

Key Organizational Elements in the Database Environment