Connect and innovate with an elite information systems program
The goal of this project was to use data from an API to show summary statistics. By making this program I learned more about parsing through JSON arrays and nested objects, as well as retrieving data from APIs. See the following link for my work: http://misdemo.temple.edu/tuk72906/propointsproj/
As a Vanguard crew member for nearly three decades, Philip Taddeo brings a deep understanding of the technology industry and business world to his role as the new chair of the MS in Information Technology Auditing and Cyber Security (MS ITACS) advisory council.
Currently an IT Risk Senior Manager, Taddeo helps Vanguard clients manage its IT Risk portfolio. He became involved with the program about six years ago when he was recruited to join the advisory council as a member. “At the time, I was in the Internal Audit department and I jumped at the opportunity,” said Taddeo, who has worked in many roles in his 28 years with the financial services firm.
The advisory council serves to create robust professional development opportunities for students as well as provide feedback to help improve the ITACS program. The council offers workshops for students, such as one on the value of professional networking. “That’s not something you typically find on a course catalog,” Taddeo said. “The workshop taught students what professional networking is, how to do it, and why it’s important.”
It also runs a mentoring program that pairs advisory council members with students and hosts site visits to industry locations where students hear directly from audit and risk professionals and get to see what cyber security operations look like in large multinational corporations.
Taddeo is excited for the opportunity to help shape and advance the council. In seeking to provide value, impact, and positive outcomes for the ITACS program, he plans to continue creating meaningful experiences outside the classroom through mentorship, a speaker series on industry hot topics, and networking. He’s also passionate about growing and diversifying the council to make it more representative and inclusive.
“From a business perspective, Greater Philadelphia is a really great city with many great companies,” Taddeo said. “If we can get representation from them, it will benefit the companies and students.” Recently, IT Audit Directors from Sallie Mae and Independence Blue Cross joined the council.
Taddeo has seen firsthand how successful the MIS program is in training and preparing its students for their careers. “MIS graduates understand business and technology,” he said. “That combined knowledge gives them a leg up. They also have a great sense of enthusiasm, drive, and curiosity which is refreshing.”
“Temple is a significant source of local talent,” he said. I’ve personally hired four or five students from the ITACS program.”
In 3506, we’ve spent time working with a client, gathering requirements and ultimately providing a solution to the client that we hope meets their needs. Delivering the solution contains two parts – the Justinmind prototype and the accompanying documentation. For this assignment I focused on a process at a former job that wasn’t as efficient as possible. I took that process and broke it down step by step Then created a prototype in Justinmind that will hopefully improve the efficiency of that process. My results were a two screen prototype that consisted of the employee logging in and tracking their weekly hours, instead of inefficiency doing it on paper and handing it in to the manager. I learned from this project that processes will infinitely continue to change and we must keep up.
We performed a network security assessment for one of my virtual networks under Microsoft Azure. Throughout the semester, we took time to set up climates to perform and identify security-related vulnerabilities. We explained what was done to create and resolve these vulnerabilities and how to secure our systems. He then reviewed them again later in the semester to see what problems or improvements arose. We learned more about IT auditing, network security, penetration testing, Linux administration and usage, as well as valuable lessons on how easily our information can be intercepted.
What are public libraries, how do they reflect the community, and what innovations will allow them to remain relevant? These were the central questions that governed the recent Design+Innovation workshop at the Free Library of Philadelphia, led by Professor James Moustafellos and funded by the Knight Foundation in support of the library’s innovation initiative.
Part of a series of arts-engagement events, the workshop hosted 40 participants and tapped eight MIS undergraduates from Moustafellos’ Digital Design course to serve as group leaders, analysts, and ethnographic research assistants.
The students worked directly with senior library administrators, library staff, and community members to create portraits of five pilot libraries for an upcoming large-scale renovation—thus applying their MIS-imparted skills in a complex, hands-on, real-world setting.
“The library [and network of libraries] is itself an information system,” Moustafellos said. “It enables people to access information, to perform tasks, to interact with technology and get things done.”
The four-hour event was the culmination of several weeks of background research and ethnographic field work. The students’ preparations included taking photographs, logging notes, and conducting interviews in and around the surrounding communities.
“The branch I worked with has a fascinating history of immigrants coming to change the local flavor multiple times in the past century,” said student participant Michelangelo Collura. Added fellow student Emily Wylde: “The most rewarding part was being able to learn so much about the community and the impact that the library has on it.”
During the workshop, the attendees split off into smaller teams, each of which created three-dimensional models to visually express the concept of “community”—and what a library within that community represented.
“It was so interesting to visualize the interaction between the library and all its members,” said Moustafellos. “It was a great surprise to see models so rich and revealing.”
Attendees comprised both local residents and artists selected to have their original work appear in the libraries after the upcoming renovations. Reflecting on the event’s success, student Andre Messa concluded: “Being able to witness complete strangers coming together for the better of their community was amazing. I was glad to be a part of the experience.”
MIS3580: Next Generation Mobile Applications. Tues, Thurs 3:30-4:50pm. Learn the concepts, leverage, the phone’s features, develop innovative mobile applications. For more information contact Paul Weinberg weinberg@temple.edu
