Government right to monitor information technology usage

Question

The purpose of this assignment is to increase your knowledge in a variety of subject areas covered in this course, enabling you to apply the concepts to real-world situations and events. It will also help enhance your research and writing skills and your critical-thinking abilities. Critical thinking involves reflecting and questioning as you read. Do not believe everything you read simply because it was published. You may find that you disagree with the statements made in an article or even consider them inaccurate.

Select one of the issues listed below and locate an article that addresses the key points of the issue. Read the article and provide the following:

1. Summarize its key points so that your reader can understand the author’s position—do not go into detail about what the author said, but your summary should give the reader a good feel for the article’s content, intended audience, overall focus, etc.
2. Critique the author’s position and the article in general, justifying your position. You may or may not agree with the author, but you must support your position with objective statements.
3. Recommend, supported by your analysis, whether you think others (define audience) would benefit from reading this article – why or why not.

• You must double-space your paper and it should be no longer than two pages, excluding the cover sheet and references.
• You must write your paper in APA (American Psychological Association) style, including in-text citations and references.
• You must attach a copy of the article you are summarizing and critiquing, or provide a direct link to it. A direct link is one that brings up the actual article rather than an intermediate site. A link to the UMUC Library databases will go to the UMUC library login screen, but once an authorized user logs-in, the article should appear.
• You must select an article that is timely (2007 or later), that comes from a reputable source, and that indicates the name of an individual author(s). Do not use Wikipedia, blogs, or Web sites that have updated postings with no authors. You are strongly encouraged to use the UMUC library’s electronic databases to find current and appropriate resources.

Whatever Article you find please attach to paper and I would disagree with the government monitoring are computers.

Answer

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The article under review in this paper is entitled, A convenient multi-sectoral policy control for ICT in the USA economy. The authors of the article propose that a Macro Multiplier approach should be used on a multisectoral model in the USA in order to determine an appropriate structure for imposing control on the use of information and communications technology. The authors’ arguments bend towards a policy objective of industry output with particular attention being put on the role of ICT in governance.

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The method used to determine the need for government control is based on a matrix decomposition, which allows an aggregate scale-effect to be decomposed. The effect of the objective variable on policy control is assumed to take a predetermined structure, thereby enabling policymakers to determine which measures to monitor and which ones not to monitor.

According to the authors, ICT is an extremely critical industry in every economic system, including that of the US. ICT can easily be applied in a wide range of industries, often with high returns in terms of capacity building, efficiency and profitability. Some policy problems that arise in the use of ICT, such as privacy, can only be dealt with through policy control. The US government takes stringent measures in monitoring the extent to which private information is accessed by inappropriate persons. The authors of the article think that the suitability of any chosen policy structure should be evaluated according to both its aggregate scale effect as well as on the basis of the structure of the policy objective.

The analysis made in the article on how the scale effect is a reliable measure of the government’s level of monitoring and control on ICT is objective and accurate. On this basis, the authors argue that when a chosen policy structure is different from the one that is dominant, the loss is encountered in the overall effectiveness of the policy. Therefore, the level of ICT monitoring by the federal government ought to be justified by determining the gains that will result from such measures.

However, I think the authors are not clear on how the loss of value in the use of technology can be calculated. For instance, when a person’s privacy has interfered within the process of government monitoring efforts, the negative implications may not be readily measurable. They may not be direct either. A further explanation of the multisectoral model is required in order for the Macro Multiplier approach to be understood more clearly.

Moreover, certain events, for example, terrorism, cause an increase in the level of government monitoring over how ICT is used. In the aftermath of terrorist activities, the subjective feeling of the need to monitor ICT use increases among citizens. The feeling of an impending terrorist attack motivates government agencies to increase their level of monitoring, without considering the objectivity of the existing risks.

Rather than interfere with people’s ICT usage trends in times of such unfortunate incidents, the US government should first assess the real dangers involved and put the necessary monitoring mechanisms without resorting to panicky measures. As Ciaschini, Pretaroli, & Socci (2009) indicate, the suitability of the selected monitoring policy system should be evaluated on the basis of both the aggregate scale effect as well as according to the structure of the given policy objective. However, I disagree that the resulting interventions always lead to ‘pure’ policies. This is because, in any multi-sectoral approach, it is difficult to achieve perfection because of the many variables that are involved.

Reference

Ciaschini, M., Pretaroli, R., Socci, C. (2009) A convenient multi-sectoral policy control for ICT in the USA economy, Retrieved from www.iioa.org/…/Socci%20A%20convenient%20multi%20sectoral%20policy%20control.pdf on   September 27, 2010.