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There are many pros to using digital platforms. First, digital platforms are things like Amazon and FaceBook. They are used for interactions between consumers and businesses, online websites or aps. They are great for consumers to find out what businesses sell, information about the business, and learn about the people involved in running them. 

This diagram shows some digital platforms and how they connect clients with the people from the business. Things like PayPal can be used to connect clients and workers for methods of payment. Even Instagram can make online shopping easier by allowing consumers to see what is new and link potential customers to more information. Digital platforms make business better because they allow for easy access online.

Network effects is also something we have discussed in class. This is when goods and services values increase based on consumer use. Facebook is not only an example of a digital platform but also an example for network effect. As more users use Facebook, their profit and net worth also grew. Through more users there are more networking opportunities for businesses find more clients. Here is a diagram that makes this make more sense. 

With more users making connections with businesses online, there is a better chance for new customers, new markets, and new income for the business. Connecting 4 users to a company has a much less impact than connecting 8 users. Therefore the network effect is an imperative role in business nowadays. It allows for online connection to increase business profits. 

Week 7 (What are the pros of using digital platforms?)

Digital platforms allow us to grow our social network. In past generations, you could only network with so many people in your area, but now digital platforms have allowed us to build our networks with people anywhere in the world. For example, you can connect with people on LinkedIn from different states and even different countries. 

Week 8 (What are some methods to protect yourself online?)

One method to protect yourself online is to create complicated passwords and not reuse the same password for different accounts. By doing this, you greatly reduce the risk of someone breaking into an account or multiple accounts by guessing your password. 

Another method to protect yourself online would be to be careful where you put certain pieces of information about yourself on the internet. You should always be aware of the digital footprint you are leaving behind as our technology advances at an absurd rate.

AI stands for artificial intelligence. This is simply intelligence created by humans and demonstrated by machines. There are three types of AI’s. Narrow intelligence, general intelligence, and superintelligence. Narrow intelligence matches a very low level of human intelligence, it doesn’t match or surpass the intelligence of humans, it is the only AI type that currently exists. An example that most of us have come into contact with is someone who a lot fo people talk to daily, Siri. More examples include Alexa, Cortana, and the bot that we chatted with in class. When we were doing our ICA and chatted with either humans or bots, I chatted with a bot. At first it was cool, then it became creepy. I felt like the bot wasn’t pleased with the conversation we were having and kept trying to steer off course. Of course, I’m sure the bot acted this way because it was confused, or didn’t know how to respond. Regardless, it was something that I don’t think I’ll do again due to a general feeling of “this is kind of weird”. Back to the types of intelligence. General intelligence is intelligence that matches the intelligence of an average person, and superintelligence is intelligence that surpasses that of human beings. The concept of this is pretty scary but also cool when you think about what these AI’s could be capable of, I feel like they’ll either be very helpful, or take over and destroy mankind. I’m not sure if we’ll see this in our lifetime, or if we’ll get to this point at all, but if we do I wonder what it will look like.

Before taking this course, all I knew about cloud computing was one thing: That Apple users used “The Cloud”. I didn’t relate cloud computing to anything outside of Apple before, it wasn’t something I thought about. Before reading about it, I just thought that “the cloud” was something Apple made up to make sharing data between people who had family plans easier. You had to make sure that everything was downloaded to the cloud so that you wouldn’t lose it. Photos, texts, calls, contacts…all these things could be saved to the cloud. If I took a picture, it would show up on my mom’s phone. If I deleted a photo, it deleted from my mom’s phone. However, after last week, I know understand cloud computing and that it is very much not just an Apple thing. Cloud computing gives people and businesses the ability to save data on one device, such as a computer, and then to retrieve this data on a different device. For example, it would allow person A to save a document to their own computer and then person B could view that document on a different computer, or any other device. Cloud computing is great for collaboration and sharing data across networks. Another pro of cloud computing is how easy it is to use. It’s simple. Cost is another huge pro. Relating back to Apple, you can have multiple cloud accounts for free, this is a cost effective way to share data across different platforms. Despite these pros, there are still cons. For instance, security and privacy can easily be taken away. When not careful, anyone can access the data uploaded to cloud computing systems. In my personal experience, cloud computing has actually taken up storage. My mom takes pictures of EVERYTHING. And it takes up a TON of data on my phone. This can be frustrating, especially when I can’t take my own photos because all my data has been used, by someone else. However, I do have an option to create my own Apple cloud account…the only thing stopping me is myself and my inability to remember to do so. 

Week 8 questions

-What is threat modeling?
A procedure for optimizing application, system, or business process security by identifying objectives and vulnerabilities, and then defining countermeasures to prevent or mitigate the effects of threats to the system.

-What are the three types of artificial intelligence, and what are some examples of each?
1.) Artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), which has a narrow range of abilities
2.) Artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is on par with human capabilities
3.) Artificial superintelligence (ASI), which is more capable than a human

 

 

Week 9 Questions

-What is a variable in JavaScript, and how do you create one?
a JavaScript variable is simply a name of storage location. All variables must be identified with unique names. You create one by declaring it with keywords var, let, const.

-What is concatenation, and what are the concatenation operators?
Concatenation is a series of interconnected things or events. Concatenation operators join multiple strings into a single string. There are two; + and &.

Threat modeling is the process of identifying potential threats, such as structural vulnerabilities or the absence of appropriate safeguards, so that they can be enumerated and have countermeasures prioritized. This is an important process for data protection and cybersecurity as people are always vulnerable to having their private information stolen and exploited. Data collected by the vast majority of products that people use every day isn’t regulated. The US does not have a singular law covering the privacy of all types of data, but rather a mix of laws that go by acronyms like: HIPAA, FCRA, FERPA, GLBA, ECPA, COPPA, and VPPA. Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a ransom is paid. Hospitals are often targets for ransomware as they are more likely to pay to prevent disruption to patient care. Alan Turing, who developed the basis for the first computer, created a test for AI called the Turing test. The test entails that a computer uses written communication in order to convince a human that it is another person. Despite major advancements in AI, no computer has ever passed the test.

Digital platforms are an online space where exchange happens between the producers of products, services, and information and their customers. Digital platforms are very convenient for businesses as they allow for a frequent updates and faster launches for any and all digital services. Customers can gain access to new digital services within days, and based on those customers interactions, services can be updated and optimized on a daily basis. Digital platforms also allow for more coordination across departments within a business. This means that frivolous activities like duplicated processes can be eliminated allowing for employees to focus on business processes and other high value work.

Software as a Service or cloud application services (SaaS) utilizes the internet to deliver applications. Most SaaS applications run directly through a web browser rendering no need for downloads or installations. Platform as a Service or cloud platform services (PaaS) delivers a framework for developers that they can build upon and use to create custom applications. Infrastructure as a Service or cloud infrastructure services (IaaS) is for accessing and monitoring computers, networking, storage, and other services.   

If you’re like me then you struggle understand pretty basic concepts that most people grasp pretty easily. I forgot what this acronym stood for; it is Applicaiton Programming Interface. An API is a software interface that allows two or more applications to interact with each other. Now that I defined what it was, I am starting to remember. 

This graphic represents an API, it allows products or services to communicate with other products or services. One example we talked about in class if TripAdvisor. Now, I have never used that app, but I have a general understand of how it may work. My understanding is you go on their app and you are able to see a bunch of different flights from different airliners. They do this so that they can push traffic to their business in the hopes of getting more views. Yelp also works on the same preface, but they are a bit more complicated to understand.

Businesses looking to automate core businesses processes typically look at two different solutions. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Customer relationship management (CRM). ERP helps companies in their inner workings. An example of this is allowing a company to connect their financial and operational systems to a central database. An easy way to remember this is the B2B acronym. CRM helps to manage how a customer interacts with a business. An example of this is the home page of amazon. Think of the B2C acronym. We reviewed these two forms of core business automations in class last week. One thing that stuck out to me was that businesses decide to develop their ERP programs before their CRM programs. It makes sense because a business has to have a sound infrastructure before they can begin selling a product or providing a service. Late on in the company’s life they will develop a sound CRM program.

Source: DeepCoreData.com

A legacy system is software/hardware that is outdated but still being used. While the program still works the way it was intended, it often doesn’t work with newer systems. The upside to continuing to use outdated software is that it’s technology that you’ve already paid for. But that plus comes with a lot of negatives. The following are some downsides to using legacy systems: 

• It can cost a lot of money to try to maintain it
• You’ll likely run into a problem finding anyone who can maintain it
• The system becomes a security liability
• It doesn’t work with new systems/technology

Source: https://techcrunch.com/

As an example, I worked for a company that was using a 30 year old CRM program. As the years went on, there were more and more problems with the program working with new tech. As a result, they could not update their computer systems because the old program wouldn’t install on new computers. The company that designed the program had long gone out of business but the owner was still personally maintaining the program for the company. When he was no longer able, the system was no longer maintained. Eventually it failed entirely and the company lost every piece of data it had collected over the lifetime of the program. The company personally got to experience almost every con associated with legacy systems. It made working for them extremely difficult. I, personally, will avoid working for any other company using a legacy system.