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IBM made a very wise comment regarding businesses in the age of technology, and how things are changing radically for all businesses, and in the long term, for all consumers as well. The IT system and issue at stake here is the future of businesses who choose to not adapt to new technologies, and transform their businesses in the world of technology in our day. Specifically, the article refers to "digital transformation," but does not touch upon an important topic we have discussed in ITGS, being the ethical implications involved in making such a transition. Beginning from the positive aspects of such a transformation, and specifically in the long term, these include: - more buyers - no data loss - better data management/analysis - improved business models through online systems - better quality marketing -- more effective So, in terms of these factors, one could say that such a "digital transformation" would definitely be worth the effort in the long term. However, ethical implications must also be considered, which include potential spreading of data to the wrong people, "filtering" the minds of consumers through online marketing, but also violating the consumer's privacy by noting down what they purchase each time and exchange a list of the consumer's interests to other businesses. In conclusion, we can see that such a digital transformation in terms of technology in relation to businesses can be both good and bad; this entirely depends on the effort that is put in the creation of this system, how well the system is maintained, and to what extent the system is targeted for attacking.

Hello! I liked how you incorporated that one of the biggest technology companies in the world has the same changes as some smaller companies; and the one thing that they have in common is the change of technology. I also think that your article choice was linked nicely to ITGS because it develops on the idea of Information technology changes throughout many societies.

This article discusses artificial intelligence, and the extent to which it is a) realistic and b) can be used as a replacement for humans in the case of chats -- in other words, it analyzes the question of how and when any such bots will be ready for usage in a manner that will be realistic enough for chatting with an actual human being. This development emerged due to the immediate need of firms such as customer service centers to use less work force and yet satisfy customers with solutions to trivial (to them) problems. The advantages for the stakeholders are immediately obvious -- less workforce will be needed because the computers will be in charge of answering most questions, and fewer questions will be eventually directed to an actual individual. However, the immediate ethical disadvantage is the loss of job openings in the area of customer service, along with many other areas, since intelligent machines will soon be the preferred alternative to complete such tasks; this provides the impacts concerning the economic and psychological aspects. Furthermore, through the loss of jobs, it is likely and very possible that legal issues may arise. The solutions to these problems is that the human workers work in tandem with each other; that way, both the machines are put to good use and the aspects involving the loss of jobs and the ethical/moral issues that arise with these points will be solved. Through the analysis of this article, it is immediately and readily obvious that the IT systems involved in this wide range of scenarios includes but is not limited to computers/computer servers, robotic mechanisms (e.g. robotic arms, etc.).

An article relating to targeted advertising through the use of installed cameras within billboards. These tiny cameras gather details about passer-by - their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at the billboard. Social and ethical significance: 1)Privacy and anonymity - although Quividi claims that the process is completely anonymous, the details of the camera's recordings must be stored in a central database which, if not protected properly, could be susceptible to hackers and other perpetrators of crime. 2) Security - the safety of the data stored in the central database will be in danger if not properly protected. The data will most likely contain details of a person's identity. 3) Surveillance - the cameras must be connected to a network in order to to function to its full capacity. Once again, these cameras could be hacked into and used for surveillance purposes, which leads back to the issue of privacy and anonymity on the street. The general public, who are one of the stakeholders, are deeply involved in this matter as it is their identity that is being scrutinized by a small camera - in most cases the public are unaware that the billboard is identifying who they are and their presumed interests. The company, Quividi, is another stakeholder in this issue as they are responsible for this new technology. The advantages of this kind of "ultra-targeted advertising" is that companies can now know for sure what kind of advertisements to place and where, without the need of analysing the kinds of people that live in the particular area of interest etc; the camera installed in the billboards have the ability to do it themselves. Also, as the billboard is digital, there is no manpower involved in constantly changing the large billboard every other week or so. The main disadvantages to this is of course the invasion of privacy for the public but also the maintenance that would be required to keep the camera clean as well as updated

Technology has helped businesses in lots of ways in this case, Facebook launched a tool for nonprofits to raise money. The company is partnering with 37 organizations in order to try the new option, which enables users to set up pages where they can share videos, pictures and more about their organization. These features come with normal Facebook pages, so the special parts are where they can collect money towards a goal, and donations in general. People can now also donate on certain posts where the nonprofit puts a button to make donations easier. When this feature is enabled nonprofits and donors who support a cause(s) will change completely, especially since Facebook is a page where social movements and certain posts gain quite a lot of attention. Facebook currently has over a billion users, having this feature means that thousands of people will now be able to donate instantly, only needing to press a button to do so. Socially and ethically this feature is a big pro for Facebook and the world in general, when donating is this easy people will support more nonprofits, removing the hassle of going to different webpages or going in person donations will increase. People who are helped by these organizations are going to see more benefits since nonprofits can now raise money faster. Despite the fact that these are for social causes it also raises some concerns, Facebook is known to be a place where posts can cause social pressure on people. We have all seen the "Like and share this post if ________", it is very common, and a great way for pages to make themselves popular. A similar outcome could be placed when presented with these new features, and people might start saying "Donate to this post if you feel sorry for _____", making people succumb under social pressure, which might be even stronger if many of your friends and relatives donated. It is also important to note that fake pages might be setup and many people might donate money where it ends up in

Good analysis. It's crazy the amount of power social media sites like facebook has.

Situation: Digital Piracy can be publicly and officially classified as an offence or a violation of intellectual property. However, there are many violations in the present time, that people don't think are morally wrong. Social and Ethical Significance: The article takes the opening example of the new Game of Thrones episode which comes out on HBO, and how millions of individuals who wouldn't be able to watch it during the screening time, would download the episode illegally to watch it. It's true, that at some point or the other, people would tend to use means of digital piracy to receive what they cannot without it. Now, it's true, that all assets, ideas and artistic creations be held in common, and kept free for all. They believe that intellectual property, in the form of copyrighted information restricts that idea and creation. There exist these individuals that consider illegal downloading a crime, and that it wouldn't impose any sort of cost on anybody. However, there do exist "fundamentalist protectors" that would believe that illegal downloading equivalent to theft. This article speaks about the ethical considerations of why digital piracy occurs and why it's an issue not very publicly criticised upon. Stakeholders: Producers - Those who take countless hours creating the movie/audio that would be pirated. End users - Those people who would like to watch/listen to the movie/audio clip so that they receive more public entertainment.

I enjoyed reading the article you selected and your analysis of it. The thought that when stealing an object, your gain is their lost, but when stealing a movie or music, the cost is not the same as the gain, is an interesting perspective. Do you agree more with the "fundamentalist libertarians" or "fundamentalist protecters"?