Noriel Christopher C' Tiglao, Dr' Eng

1
GIS Design and Implementation
Module 10

• Noriel Christopher C. Tiglao, Dr. Eng
• 24 January 4 February 2005
• Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC)
• Quezon City, Metro Manila

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Presentation Outline

• Principal choices
• Process leading to a GIS
• Information Systems and Organizations
• Information System Development Methodologies
  (ISDM)
• Socio-Technical Approach
• Knowing Organizations

3
Principal choices

• Data
• Hardware and software
• Expertise
• Structuring

4
Process leading to a GIS

• Planning
• Analysis
• Design
• Implementation
• Operation and maintenance

5
Why do Organizations maintain information?

• To process routine transactions of day to day
  business
• Each transaction result in changing the
  organizations memory
• Organizations need memories to record data about
  agency transactions
• Agencies need to plan to know how to achieve
  mandate

6
Components of an organizational memory

• People
• Tables
• Documents
• Images
• Graphics
• Voice

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Components of an organizational memory

• Models
• Knowledge
• Decisions
• External memories

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Desirable attributes of organizational memory

• Shareable
• Transferable
• Secure
• Accurate
• Timely
• Relevant

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Problems with organizational memory

• Redundancy
• Data control
• Interface
• Delays
• Lack of reality
• Lack of data integration

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Why organizations need information systems

• Some of these problems can be solved with present
  methods
• Functional modeling, data modeling and relational
  database technology help overcome some problems
• Organizations must develop policies and
  procedures for the management of organizational
  memories
• Need for a harmonious interaction of managerial
  and technical systems.

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DATA defined

• raw, unsummarized and unanalyzed facts
• too detailed to be useful. Ex list of goods
  bought daily
• In GIS, data means representations that can be
  operated upon a computer
• Spatial data -- data that contains positional
  values
• Geospatial data refers to spatial data that is
  georeferenced

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INFORMATION defined

• Data that has been interpreted by a human being
• Data processed into meaningful form
• Geo-information a specific type of information
  that involves the interpretation of spatial data
  describes objects and/or phenomena from the real
  world

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KNOWLEDGE defined

• Capacity to use information
• Making sense of information received
• Means that managers can interpret information and
  use it in decision-making
• Also means the capacity to recognize what
  information would be useful for making
  intelligent decisions

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Relationship between data, information and
knowledge
knowledge
Interpretation
Conversion
information
decision
data
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PA organizations and the role of geodata

• the data providers mapping agencies land
  surveyors perception -topography
• the registering agencies Land register
  cadastre the parcel perception
• the physical planners, integrated and sectoral
  the resource-use perception
• the regional and local government units the use
  regulation perception
• the utility providers public / private the
  public access perception

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Information Supply in an organization

• Supports the execution of the organization
  (production) process and service delivery
• Each organization can be represented by three
  main functions (Paresi)
• Primary function production process (to deliver
  a product or service)
• Secondary function the info systems (w/c
  supports production
• Tertiary function the automation (the resources
  w/c conditioned the production and the
  information processes

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Main functions in an organization
Environment
Primary function
Organization
GOAL
Secondary function
Area of concern
Supporting
Information system
Tertiary function
Conditioning
Automation
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What is an Information System?

• system that use information technology to
  capture, transmit, store, retrieve, manipulate,
  or display information used in one or more
  business processes.
• IS must be defined together with information
  technology, business process, a firm or
  government organization and the business
  environment

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What is an Information System?

• Information technology is the hardware and
  software that make IS possible.
• Hardware computers, workstations, physical
  networks, data storage, transmission devices
• Software operating systems, word processors,
  application software

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IS components

• Inputs such as information system requirements
  from customers and external constraints. The IS
  requirements define the IS boundaries and the
  information flow in the organization (represented
  by a functional model and an informational
  model).
• Processes in an organization to process inputs
  to produce products and services.
• The functional model will help define processes
  and workflows

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IS components

• Processes and workflows will invoke (software or
  manual) applications, w/c will in turn invoke
  data in the databases.
• Relationships between processes, applications,
  data and expert knowledge will be supported by
  user interfaces.

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System definition

• a limited part of reality
• With well-defined boundary separating system from
  its environment
• and interrelated elements
• Elements inside the system have strong functional
  relations
• with limited, weak or non-existent relations with
  elements outside the system
• A system is what you want to see and how you
  want to see it

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Systems components

• System consists of some elements, which operate
  together to accomplish objectives
• System has inputs, output, process, outcome and
  feedback
• The border of the system is the system boundary
• The system is located inside the boundary and
  outside is the system environment the
  environment has more impact on the system than
  the system on the environment
• Each system is composed of subsystems which in
  turn are made of other subsystems, each subsystem
  being delimited/enclosed by its boundary
• A system has emergent properties. If one property
  is not there, the system fails.

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System environment

• Elements outside the system, with impact on the
  systems behavior and performance
• Elements belong to the environment if
• It has some impact on the systems behavior and
  performance
• It is not possible for the decisionmaker to
  significantly manipulate it.

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Systems thinking'

• implies thinking about the world outside
  ourselves, and doing so by means of the concept
  'system'.
• Systems thinking is founded upon two pairs of
  ideas, those of emergence and hierarchy, and
  communication and control.

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Information Systems

• information systems can be defined as an
  information technology orientated solution to
  organizational and management challenges.
• They are systems that use information technology
  to capture, transmit, store, retrieve,
  manipulate, or display information used in one or
  more business processes.

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Stylized Structure of Organizations
Executive (E)
Research and Management (R M)
Operation (O)
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Organization and Nature of Information
Unstructured
External
Low Volume
E
R M
O
Structured
Internal
High Volume
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Flow of Information (Ideal)
E
R M
O
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Flow of Information (Reality)
E
R M
O
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Types of Information Systems
Type of information system
Systems purpose
Transaction processing
Collects and stores data from routine transactions
system
TPS
Management information
Converts data from a TPS into information for
system
planning, controlling, and managing an
organization
MIS
Decision support system
Supports managerial decision making by providing
models for processing and analyzing data
DSS
Executive information system
Provides senior management with information
necessary to monitor organizational performance,
EIS
and develop and implement strategies.
On-line analytical processing
Presents a multidimensional, logical view of data
to
the analyst with no requirements as to how the
OLAP
data are stored.
Data mining
Uses statistical analysis and artificial
intelligence
techniques to identify hidden relationships in
data.
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Information System Applications
Executive information system
Executive (E)
Decision support system
Research and Management (R M)
Data mining
Management information system
On-line analytical processing (OLAP)
Operation (O)
Transaction processing system (TPS)
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IS Development Methodologies

• Systems development a non-trivial task costs
  time and money need for clear step-by-step
  approach
• Methodologies as a concept defines the pieces
  or components, phases and activities in a typical
  system development project, and the interface
  between project components

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IS Development Methodologies (contd.)

• An ISDM aims to
• Analyze the complexity of problems simplify
  them
• Achieve unity of system architecture
• Establish and improve interaction between users
  and System Development team
• Enable efficient parallel development of
  sub-systems
• Achieve sound data analysis and administration
  through a well-defined procedural framework.

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Main Phases of new generation ISDM

• The set-up of an information strategy/policy and
  of an information plan
• The set-up of the system specifications and
  subsequently the implementation/ construction and
  installation of the system
• The management of data

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Phase 1. The set-up of an information
strategy/policy and an information plan

• Phase I objectives
• Define the relations between the organization
  strategy and the information technology
• Formulate the global information needs and to
  define the most important development projects
• Define the resources necessary for the enterprise
  (time, costs, people, etc.)

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Phase 1

• The following activities take place during this
  phase
• Object or organization analysis
• Functional decomposition
• The result of this phase is an information
  strategic plan

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Object or organization analysis

• Generally, it includes
• Analysis of the characteristics of the
  organization
• Definition of information needs
• Set up of an information plan and of automation
  plan
• Definition of priorities

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Functional decomposition

• Steps in functional decomposition
• Step 1. Structured analysis to define globally
  the input output information streams (data
  flows between the organization sub-processes of
  the sub-systems
• Step 2. Information analysis to define the
  users information needs by identifying
  information elements and their structure

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Functional decomposition

• Step 2 results to a functional model and an
  information model, which forms a stable base to
  undertake the functional technical design of
  the IS, which in turn permits the creation of
  programs and of physical data base.

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Phase 2. Set-up of system specifications system
implementation or construction system
installation

• This phase is process oriented, and can be
  divided into 3
• 1. Design has two components functional and
  technical design
• The process analysis of the functional design
  concentrates on which functions should be
  included in the system (the what)

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Phase 2

• The program model analysis of the technical
  design concentrates on the hierarchy structure of
  modules and the interfaces between modules
• 2. Construction testing in which concepts are
  becoming realities by the realization of the data
  processing system
• 3. Installation of the system and data conversion

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Phase 3. Management of data

• Distinction is made between
• Functional design data and data structures are
  combined in a stable, effective and
  computer/database programs independent conceptual
  data model
• Technical design
• Construction and test of the data base

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Approaches to ISDM

• Soft methodologies
• Socio-technical methodologies
• Structured methodologies
• Object-oriented methodologies
• Formal methodologies
• Rapid application development methodologies

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Hard versus Soft System thinking

• Hard systems thinking
• Methods, techniques tools are used to model
  processes data to achieve a well-defined goal.
  The concern is with the How of the problem
• Soft systems
• The objectives of the system are assumed to be
  more complex than a simple goal. Emphasis on
  What as well as the How of the system. the
  term Problem is also replaced by problem
  situation

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Socio-technical development methodologies

• Take the participative design approach
• Use simultaneous of social and technical
  subsystems
• Main concern is job satisfaction (social system)
  work efficiency (technical system)
• Use a narrative model not pictorial
• Consider training and education of users as
  important aspects
• Belong to the systems paradigm take a subjective
  view of reality

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Structured system development methodologies

• Use the life cycle approach, mainly waterfalls
  approach
• Provide tools techniques, rules guidelines
  (DFD, data dictionary, etc)
• Take an objective view of reality assume that
  there is a reality that is the same for everyone
• Provide elaborate planning guidelines and case
  tools

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Object-oriented system methodologies

• Have both structural (data) and behavioral
  (process) aspects
• Are based on modeling of objects the analysts
  think of the system as a collection of objects
• Major features abstraction, classification,
  generalization, aggregation association
• Have properties including encapsulation,
  inheritance, polymorphism, persistence
• Provide for case tools

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The Technological Imperative

• The computer industry relies on the allure of
  technological advance to sell its products into
  organizations
• We bow to the power of the technological
  imperative and are persuaded to buy power we
  dont need, and functions we dont use
  (Winfield, 1991)
• Computer industry has an edge over other
  industries because of the association of new
  technology with modernity and progress

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The Technological Imperative (contd.)

• Fethishism of the Product (Marx)
• Capitalism teaches us to desire products for
  themselves for the status which possession will
  convey rather than for what they will actually
  do for us

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Are You Over-specified?

• If you have access to a GIS, word processor or
  spreadsheet, take a few minutes to look through
  the list of functions in the manual and calculate
  the percentage of functions you use regularly,
  the percentage you can remember having used once
  or twice and the percentage you didnt even know
  were there. Now divide the purchase price of the
  software by the percentage of the non-used
  functionality to discover the cost of
  over-specification.

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GIS A Classic Example of the Allure of Technology

• GIS is a technical innovation as important to
  the spatial sciences as was the invention of the
  microscope to the biological sciences (Abler,
  1987)
• the most significant development in the
  management of data since the invention of the
  computer (Blenheim Online, 1993)
• the biggest step forward in the handling of
  geographic information since the invention of the
  map (Department of the Environment, 1987)

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From Technology-Push to Demand Pull

• If I define a successful system as one that is
  developed on time and within budget, it is
  reliable and maintainable, meets its goals and
  satisfies its users, how many of you would say
  that your organization builds successful systems?
  Ive asked this question of hundreds of people at
  all levels of data processing, and the
  overwhelming response is silence the vast
  majority of us have worked on systems that do not
  meet these criteria for success in other words,
  on systems that in some way can be classified as
  failures (Block, 1983)

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Failure of Information Systems

• From Gee you mean it really does this? to Did
  we actually need it to do this?
• An early North American study by Mowshowitz
  (1976) reported that
• 20 of the information systems considered were
  regarded as successful
• 40 had achieved marginal gain
• 40 were failures

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Failure of Information Systems (contd.)

• Eason (1988) concluded that introducing
  information technology had proved to be a
  high-risk undertaking, where complete failure is
  not uncommon, and marginal impact common place
• Compares the difficulty of introducing
  information technology into an organization to
  that of transplanting an organ into a human
  being if all goes well and the transplant is
  accepted by the host great benefits can be
  achieved, but there is a great risk of rejection
  and failure sometimes success is achieved only
  by taking actions so drastic that they severely
  weaken other parts of the organization

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Explaining Failures of Information Systems

• The immediate, almost instinctive reaction is to
  look for technical explanations
• We regard information systems as technical
  projects, therefore we look for technical reasons
  for failure
• The recommended remedy will probably involve
  more, newer and better technology
• For many years, some computer professionals have
  concluded that the major reasons for the lack of
  success of their systems lies not much in any
  technical limitations, but rather in their
  neglect of the human and organizational aspects
  of computing

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Organizations and Information Systems

• Organizations have been expected to bend to
  accommodate the new technologies, rather than the
  other way around
• Systems have been imposed on organizations
  because the technology made them possible, rather
  than because there was a genuine demand for them
• Technology-push rather than demand-pull

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Shift in Focus

• Socio-technical viewpoint
• The definition of an information system is
  expanded to include not only the hardware and
  software but also the people involved
• Increasing movement towards demand led view of
  computing information systems being regarded as
  worthwhile only if they are meeting genuine use
  needs

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From Techno-centric to Socio-technical Computing
Techno-centric Computing
Socio-technical Computing

• People and technology
• Demand pull
• Because its needed
• WE need it
• Democratic
• Specified by users

• Focus on technology
• Technology push
• Because its possible
• Others are doing it
• Hierarchic
• Specified by technologists

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Evolving Conceptions of the Organization

• In the 1960s the adoption of the standard
  assumption from management science that
  organizations could be treated as if they were
  instrumentalities, goal-seeking machines, seemed
  not unreasonable. But in the 1980s such an
  assumption seemed increasingly dubious. Why not
  treat organizations as if they were not
  goal-seeking machines but discourses, cultures,
  political battlegrounds, quasi-families, or
  communications and task networks? (Checkland and
  Scholes, 1990)

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Evolving Conceptions of the Organization
(contd.)

• Campbell and Masser (1995)
• Technological Determinism Host organization is
  assumed to provide an unproblematic, indeed
  almost unconsidered, environment into which new
  systems can be introduced
• Managerial Rationalism Introducing new
  technology will cause problems of adjustment
  within the organization
• Social Interactionism Organizations are viewed
  as very complex, social structures which cannot
  be expected to behave rationally

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How do Organizations Use Information?

• Organization uses information to make sense of
  change and development in its external
  environment
• An immediate goal is to construct a shared
  understanding of what the organization is and
  what it is doing
• The longer term goal is to ensure that the
  organization adapts and continues to thrive in a
  dynamic environment

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How do Organizations Use Information? (contd.)

• Organizations create, organize, and process
  information in order to create new knowledge
  through organizational learning
• Knowledge, rather than capital or labor, is the
  only meaningful economic resource of the
  postcapitalist or knowledge society (Peter
  Drucker, 1993)
• Right role of management is to ensure the
  application of knowledge and performance of
  knowledge application of knowledge to knowledge

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How do Organizations Use Information? (contd.)

• Organizations search for and evaluate information
  in order to make important decisions
• In theory, rational choices should be made based
  on complete information
• In reality, a complex and messy process
• Management is decision-making, so that the best
  way to analyze organization behavior is to
  analyze the structure and processes of
  decision-making (Herbert Simon, et. al)

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The knowing organization (Choo 1998)
Sense Making
Knowledge Creating
Decision Making
Organizational Action
Information Processing
Information Conversion
Information Interpretation
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Sense-making processes in an organization (Weick
1979)
Ecological Change
Enactment
Selection
Retention
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Organizational knowledge conversion processes
(Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)
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Organizational decision making
DECISION PREMISES
DECISION ROUTINES
BOUNDED RATIONALITY
ORGANIZATIONALLY RATIONAL DECISION BEHAVIOR

• Performance Program
• Satisficing
• Simplifications

• Cognitive
• Information
• Values

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Final Note

• Information Systems Strategy is dependent on
  Information Policy
• Information Technology Strategy is dependent on
  Information Systems Strategy
• Thus,
• Information Policy ? Information Systems Strategy
  ? Information Technology Strategy

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End