Information Systems and Transport Industry †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About the Information Systems and Transport Industry? Answer: Introduction As the Transport Industry is growing in every country, even in Australia, the need for managing it effectively and efficiently is critical. The diverse distribution of customers, growing demand, the environmental constraints and higher performance benchmarks are putting new challenges to the public transport systems. In order to provide a profitable and sustainable system, the public transport administration has to manage its resources and all the business processes efficiently (Bayat 2017). Information Technology and Systems (ITS) is of the most important enablers in managing the resources and business processes. Information has become the dominant enterprise resource of every organization, every market and every industry. A strategy to manage information is vital for the industry. Public transport systems that have good business practices but are not integrated completely will be ineffective, tending to ignore the needs of the customers and service providers, and will find it difficult to fulfill the expected roles. A non-integrated public transport will take away comfort from the passengers, provide ambiguous and unclear information to the users, will not be able to provide timetables harmonized to the needs of the customers, and unnecessarily increase the costs of travel (Dameri 2017). By establishing a good information system, the public transport system can function effectively. An integrated public transport system will benefit the users, operators, institution and the general public in many ways. Business Processes In order to establish a high quality public transport system in Australia, the key business processes involved in the execution of the transport activities must be explored (Frehe, Mehmann, Teuteberg 2017) Even before that the parameters to evaluate the quality of the transport system also must be available. The quality of transport system may be evaluated based on the following parameters i.e. Fastness of the transport Reliability of the schedules and time management Safety of the mode of transport Frequency of the availability of the transport Comfort level of the mode of transport Accessibility of the use of transport Pricing or cost of the travel Depending on the technology, resources and the political will available for a mode of transport, the above parameters can be varied. Whatever be the configuration of the quality of transport, the following key business processes need to be included in the management of public transport. Selection of technology or mode of transport for the public (political will is critical in this matter) Types of vehicles to be selected Procurement of vehicles and fleet Establishment of infrastructure for the public transport Operation of the fleet of vehicles Maintenance and servicing of the infrastructure and vehicles Maintaining a good passenger information service Managing the organizations related to public transport such as accounting, services, marketing, finance, information systems, Human resources, etc. Though separate information strategy need to be charted for each of the business processes, this report primarily focuses on the information strategy required for the passenger information services. Overview of the Passenger information systems and Business Requirements One of the criteria to evaluate a public transport system is to assess the passenger information system practiced by the public transport institution. A good passenger information service will enable a person to access the service easily and comfortably. The public transport institution that has strong information strategy will be able to provide correct, reliable and real-time information to the users before and during the journey (Margaritis, Anagnostopoulou, Tromaras Boile 2016). A typical passenger will be able to plan the journey point to point and carry it out with the help of reliable departure timings and route maps of the transport service. A good public system will have the following passenger information facility. Schedules, routes and transport network maps will be available at vital locations in the systems such as stations, within vehicle, in the website and other customer accessible touch points. The information provided will be clear coherent and useful for the passengers. An effective system to inform to the passengers about the real-time arrival and departure of an identifiable service. The public information will also display changes in schedules, detours and availability of alternate routes to the destinations. Information inside the vehicles about the journey, route characteristics, destinations, the standard stops, and the possible linkages to other transport services and modes will be displayed or announced in a language understandable to the users. The information within the vehicle also may include allied services of the public transport such as availability of parking space, retiring rooms, cloak storage, etc. A dynamic feature to the information system can be added by including a facility to calculate the most suitable route to the user in terms of route, cost and time. The information available should be easy to access at the right moment, at right location and through the right media. The customized and personalized information may be available to the customer regarding the journey and other services through mobile messaging, online communications, websites, public kiosks for information access through touch screens, QR code readers, Interactive voice responses, through mega screens in the stations, and public address systems. The public transport customer must be able to respond to the transport system by replying back to the messages and initiating payments to the services through multimodal payment facilities such as cash, transfer, credit cards, etc. Value added information such as distance to key destinations in the city, hiring other modes of transport, interesting places around each stop, providing information regarding basic amenities such as food, health care, lodging facilities, etc. shall be made available to the customer. The information should be presented in barrier free formats. One of the most important requirements of the information system should be to provide information to the challenged population and people with special needs. Appropriate systems to communicate and interact with people of special needs must also be included. The public transport authorities must be able to integrate the total information flow among the system and the users through appropriate technology and human intervention. System Requirements The Information infrastructure for a public transport system in Australia is likely to be massive. The passenger information administration function must be centralized and an integrated control must be applied to the service (Zurob, Allard, Macrio, Garcia Garcia 2016). For achieving such a system, the following components are to be included for the information systems. The specific technologies needed for the integrated system includes the following. Computer Systems Software for management decisions Software for integrated information and communication system Hardware for administrative computing Hardware for passenger computing Hardware for centralized control systems Communication Technology Telephones and other voice interactive equipments Radio technologies for wireless communications Other Technologies Bar coding and QR code readers Automated vehicle identification systems Large screen Display boards and touch screens Public address systems Global positioning systems Point of Sale systems and ticketing dispensers Payment gateways and Cash-handling equipments Common hardware includes data communications architecture, telecommunication architecture, data bases, operating system, application software, desk top computers, servers, networking cables and modems, etc. Public Buying Process in Australia and Vendor Selection for Public Transport Because the public transport is provided to the users by the support of the government, the procedure for acquiring the equipment needed for the passenger information service must be transparent and accountable to the government authorities. There are a number of policies to guide the acquisition of equipment for the project. The following principles are generally followed by the public institutions while purchasing resources for the public consumption i.e. Value for Money Buy Local Open and Effective Competition Integrity and Accountability. The policy of value for money guides the purchasing officer to demonstrate how the selected equipments are going to help the institution. It does not mean that the buying official has to purchase the lowest priced equipments. The value for resources is considered based on the outcomes the equipment can bring to the public in terms of economic, social and environmental benefits. The following are the criteria selected for determining value for money when purchasing for the public projects (Vaidya Campbell 2016). Consider life cycle cost of the equipment and not just the quoted price of the equipment Technical advantages of the informational resource or technology Ability to meet the contractual conditions Supplier capability and characteristics Risk factors associated with the purchase Other benefits to the public due to the purchase of the technology Buy Local Policy of the Australian government is to stimulate economic growth of the region. This policy is intended to maximize opportunities to the regional or local vendors so that the economic benefits trickle to all regions. The public projects take into consideration the following factors that are related to the policy of local buying. A comparison of buying from local versus buying from elsewhere. The characteristic of the local vendors Evidence of opportunity for industry development in the region Scope for creation of jobs or enhancements of the current job conditions Comparing the bids from local and other competitive vendors Assessment of net benefits to the State in terms of economic development, progress and effectiveness of the project implementation. Influence of Australias Free Trade Agreements also affects the purchase decisions while engaging in execution of public projects. The current bilateral agreements that are vital for international relations include the following. AUSFTA: Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement AClFTA: Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement KAFTA: Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement JAEPA : Japan Australia Economic Partnership Agreement Software and Vendor Selection The software and hardware system that is required for the public transport will be assessed based on the functional and non-functional matters proposed in the system requirements. Following factors play prominent influence on the decisions of the vendor selection. multiple levels of software support and enhanced maintenance is required from the vendor Service Level Agreement (SLA) signed by the both parties shall determine the commercial relationship and both have the rights to escalate the demands, but are not mutually obliged to meet the demands. The project implementers have the choice to buy the standard package or commission a customized software system specifically for the public transport. Methods of Utilization of Technology The installation of Passenger intimation system with the help of the earlier listed technologies and equipments in the public-sector transport in Australia is expected to bring out the following outcomes. Benefits of Technology utilization for the public By providing relevant transport information to the public, the public transport can become an alternative to the use of private vehicles. Increased use of public transport can reduce the density of private vehicles on the road, diminish the chances of traffic congestions and reduce the impact on the environments (Patanakul, Kwak, Zwikael Liu 2016). Better informational services and on time schedules can help the public to save the time spent on waiting and the passengers can become productive with saved time. Benefits of Technology utilization for the Individuals Individual users will have reliable and real time information regarding the arrival and departure of transport. The individual people will be able to plan the journeys effectively and save the time due to non-travel procedures such as waiting ticketing queues, waiting for the vehicle, etc. Public transport companies and regulatory authorities will be able to gain appreciation from the public. The transport operating companies can build better brand of their service by providing real time information and increase in comfort of travel. Relevant communication will increase user satisfaction and reduce vandalism of disgruntled travelers. An effective use of informational and communication technology in public transport will affect the public and country I many ways. The tourists who visit the places in Australia will report good about the transportation services and more tourists are likely to visit the places. Evaluation of the Strategic Information Systems Various researches on public transport and passenger information systems have identified that often there is mismatch between the practice of providing information and the utility of the information. Many times, the information that is provided to the travelers is of no use to the receivers because the information is not real time oriented. Rehrl, et. al. (2007) has emphasized about the importance of integrated information system. The current system recommends using the emerging technologies also to increase the value of the information. The possibilities of mobile technology are valuable to the management of passenger information systems. The public transport system can now provide personalized and localized information the passengers. Passengers often seek variable information from the transport providers that has comprehensive and useful contents (Woodcock, Hoppe, Tavlaki, Jarzemskis, Georgiadis 2016). The users expect easily comprehensible and value added information to make travel decisions. The passenger information system must have the capability to automatically select the media depending on the user profile built through various commercial interactions in the past. For example, a passenger who uses the transport service at particular time of the day may be informed of the trip schedules organized for the time period. The strategy to provide context specific information must take into account the characteristics of the user, the media available, and the nature of the message or information. Selection of media be based on passengers usage history and feedback. As the ICT advances, the information must be value added, personalized and prescriptive. An effective passenger system not only saves time for the users, the anxiety and stress experienced by the passengers are also reduced through the reliable information broadcast. As the reliability of the information service increases, the passenger confidence also builds up. Precise information and prescriptive messages such as economical routes, mode of transport and the linkages with allied services will enable the passengers to sharpen their service to the market; this level of service can make the public transport a platform for business deployment. Ultimately, the passenger information system must increase comfort, save time and reduce anxiety for the users. Potential Security Risks and Data Breaches Public Transport network is becoming increasingly dependent on digital technology which has huge data flow that can be tracked and monitored physically as well as electronically. As the number of devices is connected to the information systems, the vulnerabilities are bound to increase. When the technology for information and communication advances the challenges of detecting the electronic fraud and controlling the disruption of system becomes difficult. Public systems that are interconnected for data transfer and data inputs are highly vulnerable. The mass transport infrastructure managers working in rail, aviation and logistics have experienced attacks by hackers that interrupted the networks physically and disrupted the business processes. The cost estimation of such data siege is huge seriously affecting the companys existence and growth. An understanding of the types of risks and the ways to mitigate is valuable in the public transport system. The common varieties of attacks are listed below. Risks from criminals Organized criminals in the digital world hack the popular websites and digital installations. Many are attacking the information networks for the thrill of, but some have monetary aims such as routing the digital monetary assets to their accounts or stealing the data such as personal information, credit card information, intellectual property, etc. and sell it to third party for a fee. Risks from Terrorists The ability to bring physical effects through digital networks has given the terrorists the power to disrupt data networks, bring damage to the technological assets, and cause even loss of lives. The economic consequences of terrorist attacks are enormous. Risks from Hacktivist Hacktivist groups are working for a cause and have sufficient technological competence to bring damage to the target organizations. Because of the public support, sometimes Hacktivists who damage data assets can escape as part of desirable activity. Risks from Malice Disgruntled individuals and employees sometimes act maliciously (towards digital servers) to revenge or vent off their anger. Sometimes the culprit works with targeted motive or randomly. Risks from State Rival nations who has dedicated and highly qualified teams engage in digital vandalism. The purpose of such attackers ranges from destroying intellectual property of the other nation to espionage of the defense secrets. Public transport institution must take preventive actions to mitigate the security risks. There is a misconception that organizations that are linked to internet only are vulnerable to data risks (Karchefsky Rao 2017). Any organization that rely on computer networks to transact business, control operations, run administration of functions, control automated devices through computer, store critical data, or process third party data are exposed to cyber threats. The solution to these risks can be mitigated with the following actions. The solution to cyber threats can be managed with the following steps. Establish best practices within the public transport organization with standard security guidelines and checks. The total organization must be involved in preventing the digital attacks. A risk governance structure must be established depending on the probable risks. A dedicated team to monitor the anomalies in the data flow and understand the emerging threats and risks must be appointed in the organization. Establish an incident-response procedure with tested steps to contain the damages and impact of the cyber-attacks. Conclusion This brief report provides very fundamental information related to the implementation of strategic information services in the field of Passenger information systems of public transport in Australia. A birds eye view of the business processes, business requirements, system requirements, technology acquisition process, evaluation of the systems and risks associated with the system are provided. Availability of the network technologies and software capabilities can help the public transport system improve the passenger information system in an integrated manner i.e. provide all the passengers with real time information and suggestions. The benefits of a good passenger information system are available not only for the customers; it affects positively the public, the operators and the State. Depending on the scale of operations, the public transport may use standard software or customized system to manage the passenger communications. There are mechanisms and measures that have also been developed to deal with these risks and attacks. These mechanisms shall be incorporated and it shall be made sure that the information is always kept protected. References Bayat, A., 2017. Survey of Strategic Design for Public Transportation. InAdvances in Human Factors, Business Management, Training and Education(pp. 851-862). Springer International Publishing. Dameri, R.P., 2017. Using ICT in Smart City. InSmart City Implementation(pp. 45-65). Springer International Publishing. Frehe, V., Mehmann, J. and Teuteberg, F., 2017. 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