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IS432 – Public Sector Systems (PSS)

Faculty: Kan Siew Ning (adjunct)

Course Overview

Synopsis

Large-scale IT systems have become ubiquitous especially for developed countries.

Although similar in technology to private sector IT systems, Public Sector Systems

(PSS) serving governments have different considerations and challenges. Such PSS

perform a variety of roles supporting government regulation, law enforcement,

community outreach, licensing, military, and other functions of government.

This PSS course aims to introduce the students to the considerations and challenges of

managing Public Sector IT projects – from conception to retirement of the systems.

Using examples from both local and overseas government organizations, the students

would learn the taxonomy, life cycle, and career opportunities in public sector IT

systems.

Building upon the list of modules in the Prerequisites list, Public Sector Systems

revisits these and other IT themes in more in-depth and sophisticated ways, leveraging

on the fact that upper year SIS students taking this elective are much more

experienced and capable than when they first entered the programme.

Topics will vary from year to year; the instructor will include fresh news articles and

case studies each year to ensure the course is kept up to date.

Prerequisites

Students should have taken or be exempted from taking:

Seminar on IS Management (IS101) Data Management (IS202) Software Engineering (IS203) Enterprise Integration (IS301) Information Security and Trust (IS302)

For students from the other schools who are planning to take this course, you must be

in your final academic year and are required to consult the Professor before being

officially admitted to the course.

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Objectives

The objectives of the course are to enable students to:

Learn the Taxonomy of PSS

– The different categories of government IT systems

– What is unique about each category

Understand the typical project life cycle of PSS

– What does the life cycle look like?

– Managing the life cycle

– Special aspects of the life cycle – managing IT security

Learn about IT and related career paths in the Singapore Government

– IT careers in IDA and DSTA

– Careers in other ministries and statutory boards

Course structure

The chart above illustrates the structure of the course.

Teaching team

Nil

Course Assessment

Assessment components

Class Participation 10%

Individual Assignment #1 15%

Individual Assignment #2 20%

Team Project 30%

Test 25%

(1) Class participation (10%)

Intelligent questions, lively discussions and friendly debates are expected of each

student over the course of the academic term. Students are expected to develop skills

in articulating insightful questions and provide appropriate responses in real time. The

Successful IT career – sharing by IT leaders, overview of public sector IT careers

Life Cycle of PSS Managing the Life Cylce Special Aspects of PSS

Taxonomy of Government IT systems + Field Visit

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award of the full class participation marks requires distinctive comments or insightful

questions raised during each class session. (note: “I do not understand” is not

considered an insightful question) Students will be assessed based on the quality of

your comments and not the quantity. Unsubstantiated absence from class may lead to

an automatic lowering of the student’s class participation grade.

Students may be asked to facilitate short in-class discussions. For the students who

tend to be introverts and if you do not get a chance to get “air time” in class, you can

email to the Instructor your fresh ideas and insights.

(2) Individual Assignment #1 (15%) – see Annex A (Excel file) for details

The objective of this assignment is to train the each student to take a detailed look at

the core functions of the government ministry or statutory board assigned to him/her,

what a new IT professional joining the government agency would need to know about

its mission, and how to translate the core functions into information management

needs.

This is a “simulation” of the learning required within the first month of a fresh SMU

graduate joining that particular government agency – the On-Boarding Process of

understanding the “Who we are” and “What we do” in depth, and what the core

business of the agency is; this will be followed by an analysis of the information

management needs and challenges of the agency.

From research into the agency’s website and Internet news, the student is to do a 10-

minute presentation in class. Once all the agencies have been covered, the entire class

would have a good overview of the workings of the various government agencies.

No report is required. This is a presentation-only assignment. The presentation shall

cover:

What is the mission, vision and core business of this government agency?

Map the core business of the agency into information management needs

Define what you deem are the information management challenges for the

government agency

(3) Individual Assignment #2 (20%) – see Annex B (Excel file) for details

Each student will be assigned one e-Service from a selected Singapore Government

website. The student is to become familiarized with the User Interface (UI) of the

website, and do a detailed analysis of:

a. The back-end database that this UI need to be connected to – what

should its table structure look like?

b. The external (other) systems that this back-end system needs to

integrate with

c. How to ensure the software design is robust

d. Potential risk areas

e. Any other things to pay attention to when designing the software

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The deliverable of this assignment is a report of at least 1200 words, font size 13. No

presentation is required.

(3) Team project & presentation (30%) – see Annex C (MS Word document) for

details

The Team Project is a collaborative effort. Students are to form themselves into teams

of between three to four students each to work on the selected topics in Annex C (see

separate Word document).

All students in the Team will get the same marks/grade for this assignment – you

would have to learn to work effectively as a team – this is what you are expected to

do when you enter the working world.

Each Team is given a maximum of 30 minutes to make the presentation for this team

project. No report is required. Focus on doing a good presentation in class.

(4) Test (25%)

The test will take place a few weeks after the semester break and before the team

presentations start. It will comprise of essay questions to be answered within two

hours.

Grades release schedule

Individual Assignment #1 : Before Recess

Individual Assignment #2 : Before Week 13

All other assessment components : End of the semester

Group allocation for assignments

Assessment Minimum number

of team members

Maximum number

of team members

How teams are

formed

Team project 3 4

To be announced by

Instructor before

Week 4.

SIS - PSS TEAM ASSIGNMENT TOPICS

NAME DESCRIPTION TEAM NAME

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1

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

Uniformed organizations like the SAF (Army, Navy, Airforce), Police Force, and Civil Defence Force would require WMS to help them track the thousands of items stocked in their respective warehouses. For example, Army warehouses would stock water bottles, helmets, boots, belts, headgear, ceremonial swords, etc. Your team has been tasked to design, develop and deliver a WMS for the Army.

2 Feedback Management System (FMS)

“The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) is a statutory board established under the Estate Agents Act 2010 to administer the enhanced regulatory framework for the real estate agency industry. Commencing its operations from 22 October 2010, CEA's principal functions are to license the estate agents (referring to the estate agencies) and register salespersons (referring to the property agents), promote the integrity and competence of estate agents and salespersons and engage in public education efforts to help consumers in property transactions.” (source: http://www.cea.gov.sg/cea/content/index.html) Your team has been tasked to design, develop and deliver an FMS for CEA which handles all kinds of feedback – complaints about real estate agents, compliments, and suggestions for CEA to improve its current operations or policies. Currently, the process is well defined but the current implementation is very manual – using papers, files and record books.

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Prime Minister’s Facebook page

The team is tasked with writing software to do basic sentiment analysis of the comments posted into the PM’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong). Note: detection of sarcasm in the comments is considered an advanced sentiment analysis function and not within the scope of this team project. Marks will be awarded based on how sophisticated the software turns out to be.

4 e-Voting System

[ This is a hypothetical situation. ] The user and system owner is Elections Department. The task of the team is to design and develop an Electronic Voting IT System to replace the current paper-based voting system. Start from the requirements gathering phase, and take note of the very important requirement of authenticity of the e-Voter.

5 Weapons Management System

The user is a uniformed organization whose mission requires them to carry weapons (e.g. Army, Police). The current method of signing out a weapon for training or work is very archaic – it involves officers queuing up in front of the Armoury, surrender their NRIC (which is slotted into a wooden slot embossed with the identification number of the weapon), and sign on a hardcopy record book. The processing time per officer is about 1 minute. Your team’s task is to modernize this with a state-of-the-art system that reduces the processing time per officer to no more than 30 seconds. Conceptualize at least three different technical designs possible, do the cost-benefit analysis, and make your recommendation of which design your team has

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selected. Explain the reasons for your choice.

6 Facebook site (MCYS)

This government ministry, MCYS, currently does not have a Facebook presence, but does not wish to be left behind because 25% of the statutory boards already have one. This proposed IT project is in its conceptualization phase. You are to make a presentation to the Minister of MCYS on your proposal for this Facebook site.

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iPhone / Android Apps (up to 2 teams)

Your team has been tasked to design, develop and deliver either an iPhone or Android app for the selected government agency. Select one government organization that currently does not have an iPhone or Android app. (note: Singapore Police Force already has one) Two teams will be doing this project, with each team choosing a different government agency from one of the following categories: (a) Economic – MTI, EDB, IE Singapore, SPRING. (b) Education – MOE, polytechnics, universities

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Requirement Study of common HR Management System (HRMS) – spare topic

Your main task is to draft the data structure of an HRMS for the entire Singapore Civil Service – i.e. all the Ministries AND Statutory Boards. Note: you must be exhaustive in covering all the government agencies. There are two main categories of HR data: (a) Common Data – e.g. UIN/FIN, Name, Address, Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Educational qualifications, Next-of-Kin, etc. (b) Data unique to that particular agency – this is data that may not need to be tracked by every Ministry. E.g. martial arts qualification (SAF, Police), foreign languages spoken & written (MFA, EDB) The team is to submit the database design of this HRMS. The database design must also facilitate inter-agency information exchange in two to three years’ time.

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e-Learning site for new SMU students - spare topic

Your "company" has been contracted to construct an online e-Learning website for orientation of SMU freshmen. The objective is to provide essential and nice-to-have information on how to survive and excel in Year 1 in SMU. You are to conceptualize and build this e-Learning system based on your own choice of software tools. (note: focus on the content)

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Course Planning

Introduction

There will be one 3-hour classroom session each week. It is split into two 1.5-hour

sessions as follows:

First half : 1.5 hours

Break : 15 minutes

Second half : 1.5 hours

Classes will comprise:

Classroom Discussions

o Case study discussions

o Team facilitated discussions on assigned readings / topics

Lectures

Singapore IT leaders’ knowledge sharing sessions

Term Project Presentations

Instructor will be available to meet students generally after class, and by appointment

scheduled via emails. This will be from week 2 – 11, unless otherwise stated. Please

make appointment with me at least 3 calendar days in advance of the meeting. My

email is: siewningkan@smu.edu.sg

Course Schedule Summary

(*) Classroom activities are in green text in the table below.

WEEK PART 1 PART 2

1

PSS Course overview & review learning

competencies

Revision of Business, Government, Society

- Role & concerns of government

- Overview of government IT system

“hiccups”

- Examples of non-IT projects in

government

- Taxonomy of government IT systems

In-Class Tutorial – alluding to “Smart Cities”,

the students are to form teams to role-play the

Mayor of New York City (NYC). They have

to prioritize a list of 12 IT projects for NYC

in terms of importance and budget use.

What is e-Government? What are Smart

Cities?

Examples of e-Government Projects

(overseas)

Examples of e-Government Projects

(Singapore)

- Overview of TradeNet, LawNet, ERP

Case studies of semi-successful IT systems

implementation from government

organizations (non-Singapore context). Why

were they not successful?

In-Class Tutorial – each team is given a

description of an actual IT system that had

some problems. They are to analyze (a) what

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went wrong, (b) how can it be prevented, and

(c) learning points.

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Defining value in public sector systems

Tracking tangible and intangible ROI

In-Class Tutorial – each team is given one

government IT system. They are to come up

with a list of tangible and intangible ROI.

User Requirements Definition

(1) Differentiate between requirements &

solution

(2) The importance of user requirements

definition in Public Sector IT systems. The

90-10 Principle.

In-Class Tutorial – comparison of different

technology solutions to alleviate road traffic

congestion in central business district.

In-Class Tutorial – students to write the user

requirements specification of a small-scale

public sector IT system. A variety of 5 such

systems to be done by the respective teams in

the class.

Life Cycle of Public Sector Systems

Milestones in the Life Cycle

- Important activities in each milestone

Managing the Life Cycle

Special Topic: Managing outsourcing

In-Class Tutorial – students to discuss three

different types of projects that are earmarked

for outsourcing – software maintenance, data

center operations, externally hosted e-Service.

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IT Procurement Process of Singapore

Government

- Introduction: when SG Govt was

questioned

- When to tender and when not to?

- How to manage a tender?

- Unique legal terms in government

contracts

- What is the AHP evaluation

methodology?

- Case studies of things that went wrong

In-Class Tutorial – student teams to work on

the tender evaluation criteria of an assigned

IT system (variety of 3 different systems to be

provided)

IT Procurement Process of Singapore

Government

- Overview of unique legal clauses

- How to interpret and tackle these

clauses

Info Security Governance in Public Sector

Systems

- Info security as a superset of IT

security

- Human security (HUMINT)

- Physical security

- Data security

- Cyber security

In-Class Tutorial – using the same IT system,

each team to define the physical, data and

cyber security needs of the system.

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Organization Structure of Government IT

CAREERS in public sector IT domain

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Projects

- Stakeholders

- Steering Committees

- Project Director, CIO

- End user departments / officers

- Maintenance personnel

Why is IT systems integration and data

exchange so important for public service

systems? Principles of systems integration.

In-Class Tutorial – students to work on two

types of IT systems integration.

- Working as a government IT

professionals (general IT jobs,

technical specialists)

- Working for vendors with government

IT contracts

- Working for subcontractors (hardware,

software)

- Working for consultants

- Working with overseas vendors

In-Class Tutorial – human aspects of IT

projects: managing international partners.

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Student Presentations (Individual Assignment #1)

[ 10 minutes per student ]

Student Presentations (Individual Assignment #1)

[ 10 minutes per student ]

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Student Presentations (Individual Assignment #1)

[ 10 minutes per student ]

The Big Picture – Criminal Justice

Framework

CSI: Overview of Police Operations

In-Class Tutorial – students to work out the

big picture for (1) social welfare support

framework, (2) use of land & buildings

framework (SLA, BCA, HDB, etc.)

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PSS IT Systems #1:

Facing the public with Web 1.0 & 2.0 –

website, blogs, Facebook, iPhone/Android

apps

In-Class Tutorial – governance of social

media content.

PSS IT Systems #2:

- Logistics system (overview)

- Feedback management system

(overview)

In-Class Tutorial – how to use software to

minimize stock quantity discrepancies.

Managing persistent (regular) complainants.

PSS IT Systems #3:

Government call centers:

Reporting urgent police cases – emergency

hotline

In-Class Tutorial – how to use software to

manage nuisance calls, and repeat calls about

the same incident (e.g. earth tremors).

Managing non-urgent police cases – front

counter, ePC, 3-1-1, non-emergency

ambulance, nuisance calls, and others.

In-Class Tutorial – how to use software and

menus to “funnel” users to use the non-

emergency reporting channels.

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* RECESS *

* RECESS *

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PSS IT Systems #4:

CSI systems:

- Fingerprinting, DNA, car paint DB, etc.

- Investigation Systems, Criminal Records

In-Class Tutorial – ensuring 100% foolproof

identification of alleged criminals.

* GUEST LECTURE *

Speaker to talk about non-Singapore law

enforcement IT projects in at least five

different countries.

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* TEST *

PSS IT Systems #5:

- Miscellaneous topics: Interpol, FBI,

FATF, POLCYB, etc.

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PSS IT Systems #6:

- MinLaw example: render spent

- Case management: to Attorney-

General Chambers

- Case management: from Courts to

Prison

In-Class Tutorial – transitioning from paper-

based hand-over of documents to digital

transmission of documents. Human factor and

legacy issues.

* FIELD VISIT *

12 Student Team Presentations

Student Team Presentations

13 Student Team Presentations

Student Team Presentations

14 Student Team Presentations (spare slot)

READING WEEK

Additional Info

Resources

Course reference books

Under library course reserve

S/No Title Edition Date Author Publisher ISBN

1 Unlocking Public Value

2006 Martin Cole

& Greg Wiley

978-0-471-

95945-8

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Parston

2 Mastering the

Requirements Process 2006

Suzanne

Robertson &

James

Robertson

Addision-

Wesley 978-0321419491

3

Public-Sector Project

Management: Meeting

the Challenges and

Achieving Results

2009 David

Wirick Wiley 978-0470487310

4

Spies Among Us: How

to Stop the Spies,

Terrorists, Hackers, and

Criminals You Don't

Even Know You

Encounter Every Day

2005 Ira Winkler Wiley 978-0764584688

Academic integrity statement All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating,

fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized

possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of other students)

are serious offences.

All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the

students’ own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for

the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of the offense. When

in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details on the SMU

Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed at

http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html .

Course competencies

Competencies organized by course topics

1. Integration of business & technology in a sector context

1.1 Public Sector domain skills

Understand government considerations in implementing IT systems, vis-à-

vis business and society concerns

How do Public Sector IT systems differ from the others?

1.2 Cost-Benefit Analysis skills

Understand Cost-Benefit Analysis in the Government sector context

1.3 Business impact analysis skills

Find different IT approaches to support government e-service

requirements

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2. IT architecture, design and development skills

2.1. System requirements specification skills

Accurate and complete user requirements elicitation

Alignment to international standards & policies (E.g. FBI, FATF)

2.2. System & Software Design skills

Design software for user flexibility

Design software for future system growth

Design systems for contingencies

Design data transfers

Design data backups

3. Project management skills

3.1 Scope management skills

Accurate & complete user requirements elicitation

Differentiate between “needs” and “nice-to-have”

3.2 Stakeholder management skills

Manage technology lay persons as decision makers

Manage stakeholders with diverse & conflicting requirements

3.3 System integration skills

Manage modern systems integration

Manage legacy systems integration

3.4 Project scheduling skills

Manage urgent user requirements

Balance with long-term system growth and stability

3.5 Risk management skills

Identify risks

Communicate risk impact

Fore-see potential Murphy’s Law situations

4. Learning to learn skills

4.1 Research skills

4.2 Skills for lifelong learning in IT projects & related business domains

5. Collaboration (or team) skills

5.1 Skills to improve the effectiveness of the project team

5.2 Effectively communicate while working in a project team

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6. Change management skills for public sector systems

6.1. Skills to implement IT solutions for new government policies

6.2. Skills to manage difficult users

7. Skills for working across countries, cultures and borders

7.1. Cross-national awareness skills

Awareness of cultural uniqueness of various countries

Impact on government IT projects

7.2. Skills to manage work across different countries

Virtual meetings

Communicate differences

Manage differences

8. Communication skills

8.1. Presentation skills

Prepare and deliver an effective presentation on a public sector IT

topic

8.2. Writing skills

Write an analysis report on a public sector IT topic

9. Knowledge about Public Sector IT Careers

9.1 Working as a government IT professionals

(general IT jobs, technical specialists, end user computing jobs)

9.2 Working for vendors with government IT contracts

9.3 Working for subcontractors (hardware, software)

9.4 Working for consultants