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How effective government policy can be with regard to changing interest rate or taxes?

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CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

Global Economy:

Final Exam: Term 2 (Year 2019)

IMPORTANT: Please type your answers so they can be read without any problem

Please answer the two segments of the questions by following the given instruction for a total point of 300:

  • Twenty questions with suggested answers. Please select the correct answer, provide your reasons for it, and if needed present your calculations or graphs as needed. This segment of the questions has 200 points divided by 10 points for each correct response.
  • This segment has three questions out of which you need to ONLY select two questions and answer them. These questions require structured and brief response. Your response is in essay format and please provide your calculations or graphs if needed. This segment has 100 points divided by 50 points for each complete and correct answer. There are fractional points in this segment of the exam and it depends on the quality of responses and proportion of relevant answer.

Part One for 200 Points:

  1. If a U.S.-owned manufacturing firm closes its American plant and moves its

production facilities and American employees to Austria,

  1. S. GDP falls and U.S. GNI rises
  2. S. GNP falls, and Austrian GNI rises
  3. c) Austrian GDP rises and Austrian GNI is unchanged
  4. d) Real U.S. GDP rises but nominal U.S. GDP falls
  5. e) None of the above

Explain your answer:

  1. If a certain type of machine costs $1500 per year and annually produces output that

sells for $3 per unit according to the production schedule

 

Machines: 0          1          2          3          4          5          6          7

Output       0          900      1700    2400    3000    3550    4000    4400

 

then the optimal number of machines of this type is

  1. 2
  2. 3
  3. 4
  4. 5
  5. 6 or more

Explain your answer:

  1. The rate at which a country saves its income has no effect on
  2. its long run growth rate
  3. its short run GDP
  4. its long run standard of living
  5. its investment behavior
  6. its interest rates

Explain your answer:

  1. Growth accounting for China demonstrates that
  2. Unlike the Asian tiger economies such a Singapore, rapid economic growth has been largely driven by capital accumulation
  3. Like the Asian tiger economies such a Singapore, rapid economic growth has been largely driven by capital accumulation
  4. Unlike the Asian tiger economies such a Singapore, rapid economic growth has been largely driven by rapid population growth
  5. Like the Asian tiger economies such a Singapore, rapid economic growth has been largely driven by rapid population growth
  6. Like the Asian tiger economies such a Singapore, low investment rates have held back Chinese growth

Explain your answer

  1. Rent-seeking differs from entrepreneurship in that rent-seeking
  2. is conducted for profit; entrepreneurship is not
  3. involves risk taking; entrepreneurship does not
  4. is a zero-sum game; entrepreneurship is not
  5. involves innovations; entrepreneurship does not
  6. is illegal; entrepreneurship is not

Explain your answer:

  1. Cultural and social forces, such as religious prohibitions on certain activities or

ethical norms regarding effort

  1. have no effect on economic output, and so are deliberately excluded from growth accounting
  2. are not captured in the production functions used for growth accounting
  3. are assumed to influence total factor productivity
  4. are measured as part of labor input
  5. are treated as ‘social capital’ in the production function

Explain your answer:

  1. Which of the following would not give workers some degree of monopoly power?
  2. learning by doing
  3. labor unions
  4. highly specialized human capital
  5. high rates of short-term unemployment
  6. high costs of job turnover and training incurred by employers

Explain your answer:

  1. Unemployment insurance benefits increase productivity most by
  2. shortening the duration of unemployment
  3. providing replacement rates that are lower than real wages
  4. shifting government funds away from less productive ventures
  5. helping to improve the match-up between jobs and workers
  6. weakening monopoly power

Explain your answer:

  1. Which of the following is not an example of intra-industry trade?
  2. England exports beef to Ireland, and imports Irish potatoes
  3. the Dutch export elm trees and import lumber products
  4. Canadians touring the US side of Niagara Falls stay in US motels while Americans touring the Canadian side stay in Canadian hotels
  5. Russia exports oil and imports capital equipment
  6. Norwegians deposit funds in Swiss banks while the Swiss buy insurance from Norway

Explain your answer:

  1. Country A has a large pool of skilled workers earning $50 per hour and a small pool of unskilled workers earning $18 per hour. Country B has a small pool of skilled workers earning $60 per hour and a large pool of unskilled workers earning $8 per hour.  Trade theory predicts that if A and B engage in international trade with each other,
  2. real wages paid to skilled workers will fall in A
  3. unskilled wages will become more unequal between A and B
  4. real incomes will become more equal within B
  5. the wages of unskilled workers in B will fall
  6. wages to all workers in both countries will rise

Explain your answer:

  1. Who among the following is likely to have the highest marginal propensity to consume out of current income?
  2. a rational consumer who intends to behave strictly according to the permanent income hypothesis
  3. a risk averse consumer facing a high degree of uncertainty
  4. a low-income consumer facing borrowing constraints
  5. a working age consumer looking forward to retirement
  6. a wealthy parent who is currently accumulating funds to bequeath to his heirs

Explain your answer:

Consider an individual who enters adulthood and the labor force at age 18, expects to work 5 years at a real income of $10,000 per year, anticipates earning a real income of $40,000 per year from age 23 to 63, expects to retire with a $10,000 annual pension, and live until age 78.  Suppose the interest rate is zero, and the individual seeks perfectly smooth consumption across his adult lifetime.

  1. In the absence of borrowing constraints, then beginning at age 18, the individual should consume
  2. all of his income as he receives it each year
  3. $10,000 every year
  4. $20,000 every year
  5. $30,000 every year
  6. $25,000 every year

Explain your answer:

Consider the following production function for a delivery service.

Number of trucks:                   0            1          2          3          4          5

Number of deliveries:             0          100      170      230      280      300

Each delivery generates $200 in gross revenue, and the tax rate is 10 percent on profits.  Each truck costs $11,000.

  1. The optimal number of trucks is
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5

Explain your answer:

  1. Which of the following correctly describes a theory of wage behavior during the business cycle?
  2. Real Business Cycle theory holds that workers are relatively unresponsive to wage changes
  3. Classical theory holds that nominal wages are inflexible
  4. Keynesian theory holds that real wages may rise during recessions, preventing labor markets from clearing
  5. Rational expectations theory holds that workers continue to anticipate wage increases during recessions
  6. Marxist theory holds that unions cause recessions by keeping wages too high

Explain your answer:

  1. A sudden, unexpected increase in the economy’s prevailing wage level due to a general strike threat would
  2. shift the aggregate demand curve out and push equilibrium prices down
  3. shift the aggregate demand curve in and push equilibrium output down
  4. shift the short run aggregate supply curve in and push equilibrium prices up
  5. shift the Phillips Curve in and increase the natural rate of unemployment
  6. shift the long run aggregate supply curve out and push equilibrium prices down

Explain your answer:

  1. When depositors transfer funds from savings accounts to checking accounts,
  2. M2 falls and M1 rises, while M3 remains constant
  3. b) M1 rises while M2 and M3 remain constant
  4. c) Both M1 and M2 increase, while M3 falls
  5. d) M3 falls while M1 and M2 remain constant
  6. e) M1 falls, M3 rises, and M2 remains constant

Explain your answer:

  1. According to the quantity theory of money,
  2. the quantity of money determines the long run equilibrium price level
  3. the amount of money in the economy determines the long run quantity of output
  4. money affects the aggregate supply curve, while the aggregate demand curve determines real output
  5. the money supply only affects the economy in the long run, not in the short run
  6. the full-capacity level of output determines the supply of money needed in the economy

Explain your answer:

  1. Consider the following (hypothetical) cash economy with no banks. The money

supply consists entirely of $1000 in currency.  Output is currently at potential.  The government is currently faced with a $100 budget deficit and chooses not to raise taxes, but instead prints $100 more currency with which to balance its budget.  The long run result is likely to be

  1. an interest rate of 10%
  2. an inflation rate of 10%
  3. a 10% increase in the velocity of money
  4. a 10% growth rate of real GDP
  5. a 10% increase in the national debt

Explain your answer:

  1. Which of the following is the most appropriate model for a central bank conducting discretionary stabilization policy?
  2. observe what the unemployment rate has been in recent periods, estimate the difference from the natural rate, and adjust the money supply accordingly
  3. observe the current level of GDP, estimate the output gap between actual and potential GDP, and adjust bank reserve requirements accordingly
  4. observe the past and current trade-weighted exchange rate, estimate the difference from purchasing power parity, and adjust income taxes accordingly
  5. predict the future inflation rate based on current and recent trends in economic variables, estimate the difference from the target rate, and tighten or loosen lending accordingly
  6. disregard current trends and simply keep the money supply growing at a rate equal to the long run growth rate of GDP

Explain your answer:

  1. Targeting interest rates and targeting the money supply are equivalent if
  2. money demand is stable
  3. banks hold no excess reserves
  4. exchange rates are fixed
  5. central banks practice inflation targeting
  6. consumers exhibit rational expectations

Explain your answer:

Part Two for 200 Points:

 

PLEAE answer ONLY two of the following three questions and NOT more-😊

 

  1. Policies and economic changes affecting consumption have far-reaching consequences on people and the state of an economy. Please provide concise answers to the following questions:

 

  1. What will happen to consumption (present or future) if interest rate goes up?
  2. How effective government policy can be with regard to changing interest rate or taxes?
  3. Economic impact of having strong and supportive social security in old age on saving behavior of people within various countries?
  4. Study of business cycles is one of the key topics in study of macroeconomics. Give short and concise answers to the following questions:
  5. In early 1980s increase in price of oil forced a number of governments to increase interest rate. Why have they done so and do you agree with such decision?
  6. Real business cycle theory implies that negative total factor productivity shocks cause recession. What do you think such shocks might be
  7. Explain if the central bank is engaged in expansionary or contractionary monetary policy under each of the following circumstances and explain the likely impact on real GDP, rate of unemployment, and price level:
  1. Selling securities to the commercial banks
  2. Buying securities from commercial banks
  3. Lowering discount rate
  4. Increasing its auctioning of reserves.
  5. Lowering its required reserve ratio

Why did you choose this specific article? What about it caught your attention?

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Description

Collateral
Please scroll down to read the instructions for this assignment.

Take a moment now to apply the concepts you learned from the readings this week. Follow the instructions below to submit your work.

Linden, W. (2005). Stress management: From basic science to better practice. (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
ISBN-10:0761929460
ISBN-13:978-0761929468

Content Requirement
Find an article that directly relates to any topic that we covered this week. The article should be less than 10 years old and you should find the article on the Internet. In a 2-3 page paper, summarize the key ideas or statements that you feel are important for you to implement in your life.

Guiding questions:

Why did you choose this specific article? What about it caught your attention?
Do you agree with the author’s views on this subject? Why or why not?
How might one’s faith affect their views on this particular subject?
Format Requirements
Document Type

MS Word

Paper Size

8.5 X 11″

Length

2-3 pages

Margins

1″

Font

10-12 pt Times New Roman or a similar font.

Line Spacing

Double. No extra double space between paragraphs please.

In-text Citations & Reference List Style

APA

Paper Structure

Title Page or Cover Page
Introduction
Body (this includes your in-text citation from your listed reference)
Conclusion
Reference Page

Are we supposed to just manage people or lead them? Are we controlling their paths with the communications we are putting across?

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Draft Interdisciplinary Research Proposal

  1. Research Problem Statement:

Many unemployment cases are awarded to former employees when the reason they are released was due to attendance. As an organization are we ensuring our employees needs are met to ensure they are able to bring their best self to work each and every day to prevent continued attrition?

  1. Justification:

I have worked in a business with almost 100% attrition year over year for the past 10 years. While in a leadership it makes you wonder what are we doing to prevent this? Are we doing everything we can before letting an employee go? Have we looked at the root cause of the issue as opposed to the surface problem alone? All of these questions cannot be answer by one discipline alone there is Economics, Psychology, Sociology, and many more I am sure.  But having someone look past the surface issue of “attendance” for example and digging into the causes of this issue would open up a world of opportunity for employers to assist their employees to ensure they are provided the best opportunity to perform at their highest levels and to be committed to their jobs.

  1. Relevant Academic Disciplines:

The most valuable disciplines for my research would be coming from the social sciences: Economics, Psychology, Sociology, and then Communications and Education. Starting with Economics this discipline could provide the research to show the value driving this campaign would bring to any organization(cost/saving of keeping an employee instead of constantly hiring and training new).  Psychology and Sociology would have the task of digging into this causes and effects this constant turnover is having and the benefits of stopping the cycle would have. Communications and education would provide the insights of how to present this and lead the public view charge of implementing this and how best to put it out there to the employee with training, resources, etc.

  1. Connection to Disciplines:

Leadership Development, LDSP 3000, Principles of Management, MGMT 3610, and Organizational Communication, COMM 3240 are the three that come to mind the most because they have been more recent but they each have brought to light many issues we face in the workplace. Are we supposed to just manage people or lead them? Are we controlling their paths with the communications we are putting across? Are we bringing the most value to the business we support by having this high turnover or could we be adding greater value by developing a loyal employee?

  1. Connection to Experiences:

My experiences in the workplace resonate with this issue more than any course I have taken. I have worked for the same company since I graduated high school, starting in their call centers and working my way up. I have seen first-hand the constant turnover and the effects it has not that employee and the others around them but also on those families losing an income source. It can be devastating.

 

 

 

 

How common is this disorder? Does it run in specific ethnic bloodlines?

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Choose a genetic disorder that can be inherited from a parent. Write a paper on SICKLE CELL ANEMIA. Include the following in your paper:
Summarize the Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance and how chromosomal abnormalities can lead to genetic disorders.
Describe the relationship between chromosomes and DNA.
Identify an example of a genetic disorder and describe the genetic disorder, including symptoms, impact on the quality of life, and life expectancy. How common is this disorder? Does it run in specific ethnic bloodlines?

Why the cities should consider going to medic engines and eliminating rescue ambulances.

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Why Cities Should Consider Medic Engines instead of rescue Ambulances Outline

  1. You are the fire chief. The city manager, a former fire chief has asked for a staff report and PowerPoint presentation on whether the city should consider going to medic engines and eliminating the rescue ambulances. The previous city he worked in used a third party service to staff BLS ambulances services through a private company, saving thousands of dollars and eliminating worker compensation claims by 75%, and reducing overtime by 30 %. Explain the advantages/disadvantages and the potential cost saving if any or cost increases in your report/presentation

Introduction

  • The fire menace in cities
  • The city served
  • Overview data on past incidences
  • Overview data on fire department staffing and operational cost
  • The need for functional fire departments
    • Fire fighters
    • Medic engines
    • Rescue ambulances

Collaborations

  • Emergence of ‘Blue-Light Collaboration’
  • Collaborations in the contemporary city disaster response
  • Community involvement
  • Importance of blue light collaborations
  • Incorporating police officers into fire stations
  • Cross-service trainings for firefighters
  • Emergency trainings prevents overlapping roles during disasters
  • Provision of life-saving during disasters
  • Effectiveness of Collaborations
  • Stakeholder involvements
  • Outsourcing and cost reduction

Advantages of Medic Engines

  • Utilizing fire station software for gathering responses from fire departments, health departments, and incident scenes
  • Shorter time for training personnel e.g paramedics
  • Lower training costs for the paramedics
  • Quicker response compared to ambulances
  • Increase in on-duty shifts
  • Better service delivery to a larger geographical location
  • The size of the city (population and area size)

Disadvantages of Medic Engines

  • Startup costs may be higher in the absence of substantial savings
  • Recurring costs (staff benefits and equipment) may rise up to $700,000 annually

Potential Cost of Medic Engines

  • Initial start-up costs
  • A medic engine costs around $500,000 while an ambulance goes for around $ 70,000
  • Fuel consumption rounding to about 2-5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel
  • Preventative and maintenance cost approximating to $4500 per annum
  • Paramedic training course cost of $1,200 per trainee

Cost Cutting

  • Reduction in Overall staffing
  • Peak demand staffing
  • Rightsizing of the staff and population coverage
  • Progressive Communication centers
  • Utilizing response data in planning
  • Reduces hiring costs for paramedics by about $ 38,702 per annum per ambulance
  • Better resource allocation and utilization

What role can nurses play in promoting health status through policy changes directly affecting this social determinant?

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For this week’s project, you’ll answer three questions related to your opportunity as a nurse and an advocate. The first two questions relate to influencing a bill is traveling through the legislative process. The third question refers you to the social determinants of health as described in your course textbook reading and asks you to think specifically on your role as a nurse in influencing social determinants of health.

In a brief paper (no more than 2 typed pages, 1 inch margins, 12 font Times New Roman or Courier New), answer the questions below. Write each question as a new topic area and then follow with a paragraph or two to answer the question. You may find it necessary to search for answers to the questions outside of the assigned reading. Be sure to use APA guidelines for writing style, spelling and grammar, and citation of sources.

Answer the following questions:

What parts of the lawmaking process does a nurse have an opportunity to influence the final bill passage?
List at least two ways that this influence can take place. In your opinion, would one way be preferable over the other?
Reviewing the social determinants of health, select one to respond to this question:
What role can nurses play in promoting health status through policy changes directly affecting this social determinant?
Submission Details:
Submit your response in a 2-page Microsoft Word document (500 words).
Name your document SU_NSG4068_W2_Project_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
Submit your document to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned.
Cite sources in the APA format on a separate page.

What effect will each of the following have on the demand for small automobiles such as the Mini-Cooper and Fiat 500?

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n 2001 an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in Europe led to the burning of millions of cattle carcasses. What impact do you think this had on the supply of cattle hides, hide prices, the supply of leather goods, and the price of leather goods?
What effect will each of the following have on the demand for small automobiles such as the Mini-Cooper and Fiat 500?
Small automobiles become more fashionable.
The price of large automobiles rises (with the price of small autos remaining the same).
Income declines and small autos are an inferior good.
Consumers anticipate that the price of small autos will greatly come down in the near future.
The price of gasoline substantially drops.
What effect will each of the following have on the supply of auto tires? LO3.3
A technological advance in the methods of producing tires.
A decline in the number of firms in the tire industry.
An increase in the prices of rubber used in the production of tires.
The expectation that the equilibrium price of auto tires will be lower in the future than currently.
A decline in the price of the large tires used for semi trucks and earth-hauling rigs (with no change in the price of auto tires).
The levying of a per-unit tax on each auto tire sold.
The granting of a 50-cent-per-unit subsidy for each auto tire produced
Label each of the following scenarios with the set of symbols that best indicates the price change and quantity change that occur in the scenario. In some scenarios, it may not be possible from the information given to determine the direction of a particular price change or a particular quantity change. We will symbolize those cases as, respectively, “P?” and “Q?”. The four possible combinations of price and quantity changes are:

P ↓ Q? P? Q ↓

P ↑ Q? P? Q ↑

On a hot day, both the demand for lemonade and the supply of lemonade increase.

On a cold day, both the demand for ice cream and the supply of ice cream decrease.

When Hawaii’s Mt. Kilauea erupts violently, the demand on the part of tourists for sightseeing flights increases but the supply of pilots willing to provide these dangerous flights decreases.

In a hot area of Arizona where they generate a lot of their electricity with wind turbines, the demand for electricity falls on windy days as people switch off their air conditioners and enjoy the breeze. But at the same time, the amount of electricity supplied increases as the wind turbines spin faster.

How is the way the problem exists locally similar to or different from the way it exists globally?

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OUTLINE AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE COVERED IN PAPER

NEEDS AT LEAST 2 CITATIONS TO BACK UP POINTS MADE

  1. Global Impact: So that the funder can understand the significance of the social problem, you will explain the local and global impacts using a sociological perspective.
  2. Provide an example of how the social problem manifests itself on a local as well as global scale. In what other country or countries does this problem present itself and how?
  3. Compare and contrast the existence of the problem locally versus globally. How is the way the problem exists locally similar to or different from the way it exists globally?
  4. Based on your comparison of the local and global manifestations of the social issue, what conclusions can you draw about the influence of globalization on this specific social issue? How similar or different are the social issues and their repercussions, and what does that mean in relation to the impact of globalization?
  5. Select a key sociological theoretical perspective that best explains why there are similarities and differences in how the social issue presents on a local and global scale, justifying your selection.
  6. Apply SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM perspective to explain why there are similarities and differences in how the social issue presents on a local and global scale.
  7. Potential Solution
  8. Compare at least one successful attempted solution with at least one attempted unsuccessful solution to the problem. From your comparison, why did the successful solution succeed, and why did the unsuccessful solution fail? Support your findings with resources from your own research.
  9. Based on your previous research, what suggestion do you have for responding to the identified social issue? Specifically, what do you suggest as an action in responding to the social issue?
  10. Explain why your suggestion is likely to be successful, substantiating with research. Explain how the suggestion takes into account your previous research of attempted solutions and identified best practices.

 

 

Do proposed strategies align with the organizations strengths and improve weaknesses?

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HLSC 3P94: Health Administration

Fall 2019

How to Write a Case Analysis

Part 1. Situational Analysis

The purpose of the situational analysis is to demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of the organization and the current situation outlined in the case. There are two components of the situational analysis: an overview and a SWOT analysis.

  1. a) Overview (1/2 page)
  • Describe the organization with respect to:
    • Structure
    • Mission/vision/values
    • Goals/objectives
    • Culture
    • Key stakeholders
  1. b) SWOT Analysis (2-3 pages)
  • Describe the main problem that is apparent in this case with evidence from the case to support that this is the issue
  • Create your SWOT by outlining
    • Strengths/Weaknesses:
      • Internal to the organization
      • 3-4 points for EACH
    • Opportunities/Threats
      • External to the organization
      • 3-4 points for EACH
    • Include your SWOT in a chart format added as an appendix, but in the body of the text you must have a paragraph detailing each section (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats)
  • Each point requires proof from the case and/or research to justify its classification as a strength, weakness, opportunity, threat and explain why it is relevant to the situation

When looking at strengths/weaknesses, consider the following:

  • Advantages/disadvantages of proposed change
  • Leadership (structure, knowledge, etc.)
  • Personnel
  • Finances
  • Reputation
  • Quality of services
  • Capabilities (or lack thereof)
  • Time frame/deadlines
  • Historical results of change
  • Culture
  • Structure
  • Partnerships

When looking at opportunities/threats, consider the following:

  • Change patient needs
  • Changing resource availability
  • Changing technology
  • Economic conditions
  • Political climate
  • Partnerships
  • Industry trends

Part 2. Strategic Analysis (3-4 pages)

The purpose of the strategic analysis is to critically appraise the changes that need to be made within the organization to make improvement. Using the information from the SWOT, create recommendations to help move the organization forward based on theories learned in class. When making your own recommendations your goal is to match strengths with environmental opportunities and eliminate or minimize weaknesses to avoid or manage environmental threats. You must use research evidence to support your recommendations.

  1. Analyze the changes proposed within the case:
  • Summarize the proposed changes outlined in the case (your recommendations must be different from the plan identified in the case)
  • Offer a brief assessment of whether the proposed plan is likely to be successful
  1. Create your own recommendations (4) to move the organization in the desired direction
  • Offer four recommendations that have evidence to support their implementation
  • Relate your recommendations to your SWOT (i.e. each recommendation should match a point highlighted in your SWOT)
    • Do proposed strategies align with the organizations strengths and improve weaknesses?
    • Do proposed strategies capitalize upon opportunities and minimize threats?

Additional Details: You should include a minimum of 10 references.  Readings from class can be used but students will be rewarded for conducting a more comprehensive search of the literature to be included in the paper.  APA referencing style must be used.

what are the cybersecurity implications (good or bad) for the selected critical infrastructure sector?

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Technology Review #2: Emerging Application of Technology in a Critical Infrastructure

Objective

The purpose of this technology review is to identify, discuss, and evaluate the cybersecurity implications of an emerging application of technology in the context of a critical infrastructure sector. Your selected technology may be hardware, software, or systems that rely upon both hardware and software. Your research will also include an examination of the cybersecurity implications of using this technology in critical infrastructures. This type of research is also referred to as a survey of the literature. Allowable sources for your literature survey are journal articles, papers published in conference proceedings, and research studies published in dissertations.

Overview

Your audience is a group of senior executives who will be meeting to decide which emerging applications of technologies should be selected for a security-focused, Internal Research & Development projects during the next budget cycle. Each of these executives is responsible for developing products and systems that support next generation systems in the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.

The high-level visibility for your deliverable means that you need to start from a strong foundation of suitable research-based journal articles, papers published in conference proceedings, and doctoral dissertations. The basic question that must be answered about the selected technology is: what are the cybersecurity implications (good or bad) for the selected critical infrastructure sector?

In addition, the executives have expressed the following information needs, which must be met by the deliverable for this assignment:

  • characteristics of the critical infrastructure,
  • characteristics of the technology,
  • use of the technology to support or improve cybersecurity,
  • use of the technology to reduce or manage risk,
  • use of the technology to increase resistance to threats/attacks,
  • use of the technology to decrease vulnerabilities in an existing technology application,
  • use or exploitation of the technology by attackers, criminals, terrorists, etc. to accomplish their goals.

Instructions

Format your deliverable as a “descriptive or informative” annotated bibliography. The UMUC library provides information about how to complete this type of assignment. See http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_apa.cfm (sub-heading “To get started”). APA style is recommended but, you may use another professional format for your annotated bibliography.

In addition to the list of sources and annotations, you must provide an introductory paragraph.

See the rubric for additional requirements for this assignment.

Note: If you have problems accessing any of the library databases, contact the UMUC librarians via the contact methods listed on the library’s home page https://sites.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm . They will be able to assist you with login issues and/or search engine questions (but will not do your research for you).

Choose a Critical Infrastructure Sector

“There are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof” (Department of Homeland Security, 2016, p.1).

Choose a critical infrastructure sector to focus your technology review. For definitions of critical infrastructures, see https://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors. You may wish to choose your emerging application of technology first and then select an appropriate critical infrastructure in which your selected technology can be applied or deployed.

Choose an Emerging Application of Technology

Choose an emerging application of technology that can be used in the computers, digital devices, and other electronic / electrical technologies (including networks and network infrastructures) that are deployed in or used to build, operate, support, or maintain a critical infrastructure sector (e.g. utilities, pipelines, transportation, smart cities, etc.).

Suggested technologies include:

  • Autonomous Vehicles (ground, sea, or air): Transportation Systems Sector
  • Deep Space Communication Networks: Communications Sector
  • Implantable Medical Devices: Healthcare and Public Health Sector
  • Precision Agriculture (integrated systems using satellite imagery, GPS, Sensors, Robots): Food & Agriculture Sector
  • Robot inspectors for physical infrastructures (buildings, roads, railways, pipelines, etc.): Multiple Sectors
  • Smart Grid (also called Advanced Metering Infrastructure): Energy Sector
  • Wearable Sensors for Hazardous Materials Detection (e.g. CBRNE): Emergency Services Sector

You are encouraged to look for and investigate additional appropriate technologies before deciding upon your technology choice for this assignment.

If you decide to research a technology that is not on the suggested technologies list (see above), you must first request and receive your instructor’s permission.  Your instructor may require that you do preliminary library searches for research papers and technical papers to prove that you can find a sufficient number of resources to complete the assignment.

Find Appropriate Sources (“Survey the Literature”)

You may find it helpful to begin by reading the tables of contents for recent issues of the Communications of the ACM, IEEE Computer Magazine, IEEE Pervasive Computing, and IEEE Security & Privacy. These professional journals frequently publish highly readable, research-based articles about the cybersecurity implications of new and emerging technologies in the context of critical infrastructure sectors.

Next, brainstorm keywords that you can use to find additional articles, papers, and other scholarly publications (“sources’) which discuss and/or evaluate your selected emerging application of technology in the context of your chosen critical infrastructure.

Allowable source types are: (a) professional journals, (b) conference proceedings, (c) dissertations or theses, and (d) technical magazines (published by either the ACM or IEEE). Each of your selected sources must have a reference list containing at least 3 references for authoritative papers. (See http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/scholarlyjournals.cfm)

Your selected sources must come from publications indexed in one or more of the following library databases:

Since the point of this search is to find information about emerging applications of technology for a critical infrastructure, your sources must have a publication date of 2015 or later (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). For papers indexed in Science Direct, you may also use papers that are marked “In Press.”

To complete this part of the assignment, you may need to review 15 – 20 sources (search results) in order to find 10 papers or articles that are usable for this assignment. The sources you choose must provide technical information about your selected technology (see selection requirements for each paper).

Create Your Bibliography (List of Sources)

Choose the 10 best sources from your searches for articles, papers, and dissertations. Focus on the ones that give details about your technology and how it can be used in an emerging application of technology. Next, write the reference list entry (APA, MLA, or another appropriate professional citation style) for each source. Alphabetize your list of reference list entries. After you have the correctly ordered list, number your entries from 1 to 10. Note: different reference entry formats are used for different types of sources. Review the UMUC Library’s “Get Help > Citing and Writing for samples and explanations of the formatting rules. If you are using APA format, your list should look something like the following.

  1. (date). Article title. Publication name, vol(issue), #-#.
  2. (date). Paper title. Published in the Proceedings of conference-name, pp. #-#.
  3. Author …

Write Your Annotations

In an annotated bibliography, the annotation is a paragraph or two placed under the reference list entry for each source. For this assignment, the annotation should be a combination of factual information from the source and your evaluation (opinion) of that information. To accomplish this, you should read the abstract, introduction section, and closing sections for each article or paper. For dissertations, look over the Introduction and the Literature Review (usually Chapters 1 & 2). From this information, develop a one to three paragraph informative or descriptive summary of the source that includes: (a) a description of technology and its characteristics, (b) planned uses of the technology in the critical infrastructure, and (c) your thoughts and opinions as to how you could use this paper to justify selecting the technology for an Internal Research & Development study.

In each annotation, you should provide at least one specific example of a characteristic and/or application of the technology, e.g. an emerging technology, which impacts cybersecurity.

For example, for an annotation for an article about robots used to inspect dams and bridges, you could focus upon the need to secure the WiFi communications used to operate the device (“command and control” links). Improving the security of the WiFi transmissions would reduce the risk that attackers could take control of the robot or otherwise interfere with its operations.  This in turn will decrease the probability of loss of availability caused by a successful attack. Decreasing the probability of a negative event will decrease the risk associated with that event

Note: Remember that the security posture of a system or product is framed in terms of risk, threats, vulnerabilities, etc. Improvements to the security posture (positive security implications) will result in reduced risk, increased resistance to threats or attacks, and decreased vulnerability.  Negative impacts on the security posture will result in increased risk, decreased resistance to threats / attacks, and increased vulnerability (weakness).

As you write the annotations for each article / paper / dissertation, make sure that you include YOUR thoughts and ideas about the security implications of this technology. Use standard terminology per the resources in this course and in your previous coursework.

As you brainstorm the security implications of this technology (if these are not specifically discussed by your source), you should consider use of the technology to improve cybersecurity. Then consider applications or uses which will negatively impact the security posture of the identified critical infrastructure. It is very important that you consider BOTH SIDES OF THIS ISSUE.

Putting It All Together

  1. Consult the grading rubric for specific content and formatting requirements for this assignment.
  2. Your 5-8 page annotated bibliography should be professional in appearance with consistent use of fonts, font sizes, margins, etc. You should use headings and page breaks to organize your paper.
  3. Your paper should use standard terms and definitions for cybersecurity. See Course Content > Cybersecurity Concepts Review for recommended resources.
  4. The CSIA program recommends that you follow standard APA formatting since this will give you a document that meets the “professional appearance” requirements. APA formatting guidelines and examples are found under Course Resources > APA Resources. An APA template file (MS Word format) has also been provided for your use CSIA_Basic_Paper_Template(APA_6ed,DEC2018).docx.
  5. You must include a cover page with the assignment title, your name, and the due date. Your reference list must be on a separate page at the end of your file. These pages do not count towards the assignment’s page count.
  6. You are expected to write grammatically correct English in every assignment that you submit for grading. Do not turn in any work without (a) using spell check, (b) using grammar check, (c) verifying that your punctuation is correct and (d) reviewing your work for correct word usage and correctly structured sentences and paragraphs.
  7. You are expected to credit your sources using in-text citations and reference list entries. Both your citations and your reference list entries must follow a consistent citation style (APA, MLA, etc.).