Information Technology Assignment on IS/IT Innovation

Question

Task: Prepare a report on information technology assignment that critically discusses how organisations apply the strategic use of IS/IT to achieve IS/IT-enabled innovation.

Answer

Introduction
It is evident in the present context of information technology assignment that there is a lot of technological innovation that is taking place and is providing immense benefits to the users. These innovations have resulted in some of the massive transformations for a lot many industrial and business sectors.

Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to discuss the examples of the IS/IT innovations and include the success factors and lessons learned in associated with these technological concepts.

IS/IT Innovation
Internet of Things, IoT is one of the emerging technologies and the innovation has disrupted the technology market. IoT is a technology that provides a platform to inter-connect several other technologies, devices, gadgets, sensors, etc. with each other. These components can have varied properties and are inter-connected so that a common goal can be achieved. With the aid of IoT, there are smart systems that have been developed(Slama et al., 2016). IoT is an innovation that is transforming the workspaces, infrastructures, and a number of business processes & operations. For example, the smart city infrastructures have been developed and implemented with the aid of the IoT technology. One of the sectors that have benefitted a lot with the IT innovation is the healthcare sector. Smart healthcare is now offered, such as wearable devices, tele-health monitoring, etc. which has resulted in increased awareness of the health condition and the reduced burden on the medical professionals and resources.

Big Data is another innovation that has also revolutionized the data handling and management mechanisms. The technology refers to the massive quantities of data sets that can be effectively stored and managed. There are Big Data tools that are available that can manage such massive and varied pieces of information (Dhar, 2014). The business firms in the present times deal with a lot of information. With the development of the database systems and computing technologies, the use of digital data is now done. There are millions of data pieces that get generated from a variety of data sources in an organization. For example, there are multiple projects that a business firm works on. Each of these projects has their data, such as project updates, deliverables, etc. The social media is also one of the prominent sources of information that generates a lot of data. There are market sources that are also associated with the organization and considerable amount of data is generated from these market sources. There are various such sources and the combination of all of these lead to the massive volumes of information with varied structures, properties, etc. The manual handling of these data sets is not possible. Big Data has enabled the proper storage and handling along with the effective utilization of the data(Wasiluk and Muryjas, 2017). The data analytics can be conducted using these tools to determine the useful patterns and trends associated with the data sets.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are the innovations that provide the capability to develop the intelligent machines that may have the human-like rationality and abilities. These systems and machines can perform and take decisions on their own. The use of the data that is provided as the input and the algorithms that are fed in these systems is done to allow such systems to form decisions. The technology is innovative as it has reduced the manual process execution (Bond, 2017). The monitoring of the computerized systems is also reduced after the release of AI and ML systems. Semi and fully autonomous vehicles are the primary examples of the application of these technologies.

Virtual Reality (VR) is another innovative concept that allows the simulation of the real-world objects. The use of the technology has up-scaled and transformed the gaming industry. The use of technology is also being done in the training procedures carried out by various industries and businesses(Lau and Lee, 2018). The technology provides the mechanism to immerse the users in the virtual world by offering them with the simulated environment.

Success Factors/Lessons Learned
The technological innovations that are discussed above are associated with certain success and failure factors. There are a lot of elements and activities that are involved with these technologies to make sure that the intended usage can be done. The inability to effectively design and implement these aspects can result in the failure of these technological innovations.

One of the primary success factors that are determined is modularization. In all the innovative concepts that are described, there are various components and functionalities that are involved. For example, in the implementation of the IoT technology for healthcare, a number of components will be included and each of these components will have their specific purpose for inclusion. The combination of all of these in one go or the treatment of all these specific concepts as one unit right from the beginning will do not good(Seo and Huh, 2019). With such a methodology, the probability of risks will be higher and the chances of failure will also be high. Modularization of the activities and elements will provide the ability to carry out the adequate planning and testing.

Another success factor that is determined is early testing. In the traditional methodologies, testing is the phase that emerged later in the lifecycle. However, it has been observed that the inclusion of testing from the initial phases provides the ability to properly analyse the system. The continuous determination of the loopholes and their rectification is done so that the improved outcomes can be witnessed. For example, in the autonomous vehicles, there are several components and functionalities that are involved. It is essential to keep on testing the system regularly to determine the defects (Pal, 2016). The testing of the system after the development and integration is done will lead to the emergence of numerous changes all at once. It will lead to increased costs as well.

Planning and communication are some of the generic aspects that play an important role in any of the business process, technology implementation, and innovation.
These technologies are also associated with some of the risk factors that need to be managed properly as they may lead to failures if not managed in an effective way. The implementation methodology is one such factor. These technologies are massive and the associated projects can take several months or years to be successfully implemented and brought in use. The implementation mechanism that shall be followed varies from one case to the other. The use of Big Bang implementation is witnessed in several instances that result in the ineffective management and gradual failure.

Another concerning aspect that is determined for all these technological innovations is the aspect of information security and privacy. There are security risks and privacy concerns that are identified with IoT, Big Data, AI, ML, and Virtual Reality. The issues around data breaches or network-based security attacks are common. There are scenarios wherein the attackers violate the access controls and share the information in an unauthorized manner. In several instances, there are malicious codes that are developed and launched on these systems to violate the security and privacy(Jansen and Jeschke, 2018). In spite of the numerous controls and measures, it is becoming difficult to prevent and mitigate these risks.

Conclusion
There is a lot of IT and IS innovations that have occurred and the research and development activities are being executed at a rapid pace. The innovative concepts and technologies shall be used and implemented as per the need. It is often seen that the business firms or the users seek to utilize these technologies without the actual need to do so. The determination of success and failure factors is essential so that the effective usage can be done. ?

References
Bond, D. (2017). Artificial intelligence. Broomall, Pennsylvania: Mason Crest.
Dhar, V. (2014). Why Big Data = Big Deal. Big Data, 2(2), pp.55–56.

Jansen, C. and Jeschke, S. (2018). Mitigating risks of digitalization through managed industrial security services. AI & SOCIETY, 33(2), pp.163–173.

Lau, K.W. and Lee, P.Y. (2018). Shopping in virtual reality: a study on consumers’ shopping experience in a stereoscopic virtual reality. Virtual Reality.

Seo, Y.-S. and Huh, J.-H. (2019). GUI-based software modularization through module clustering in edge computing based IoT environments. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing.

Slama, D., Puhlmann, F., Morrish, J. and Bhatnagar, R.M. (2016). Enterprise IoT strategies and best practices for connected products and services. Beijing?; Boston?; Farnham?; Sebastopol?; Tokyo O’reilly.

Sumit Pal (2016). SQL on Big Data Technology, Architecture, and Innovation. Berkeley, CaApress Imprint: Apress.

Wasiluk, R. and Muryjas, P. (2017). The assessment of usefulness modern IT tools of data analysis Big Data. Journal of Computer Sciences Institute, 5, pp.179–186.