Thursday, October 31, 2019

Tuition assistance in the work place and its effects on retention Coursework - 1

Tuition assistance in the work place and its effects on retention - Coursework Example ), most organizations focus on employees’ growth that takes diverse forms of education including training initiatives other than leadership training; cross-functional training; management training; and development training. However, the survey revealed that three of the least used employee development programs were job sharing, official professional mentoring programs, and job alternations. Tuition assistance programs are said to have numerous benefits like tuition satisfaction, improvement of working environment, effective recruitment tools, reduced turnover and increased loyalty to the firm one is working. According to Jacobs (2011), employees’ turnover implies the rate of employees entering and leaving a firm within the time span of one year. In the wake of a recovering economy after the 2008 economic recession, employers are experiencing high employee turnover rates. These turnover issues are beyond what employers could have dealt with in the past when recession forced most of them into downsizing and restructuring. In this regard, turnover rates experienced by most employers currently are way above what most employers consistently deal with. For now, most employers hope that the current employees’ turnover outburst is a onetime issue that will go away with the turning around of the economy. Based on natural wisdom, no turnover rate is perfect especially since good turnover for one firm could be bad for another. In addition, it is hard to define bad turnover and good turnover since different firms in different industries have their own rates. Turnover could vary within industries and depend on geography. In this case, turnover rates are just an abstract number whose value evaluated relative to other facts and numbers like unemployment rates, and local and national politics amongst other. The crucial aspect that employers need to understand in evaluating turnover is the impact arising from both internal and external factors and develops the best way to

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Has religious tourism increased because of the recent growth in new Essay

Has religious tourism increased because of the recent growth in new age spiritualism - Essay Example In the recent decades, people have been moving for leisure whereby faithful in a particular religion meet at a designated country or place for religious activities such as fellowship. Mecca in Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s popular religious tourism destinations for Muslims. They embark on pilgrimage annually, which is a tradition that is entrenched deeply in Islam. North America is also among the regions that have pronounced religious tourism. Faith tourism is among the sectors that are experiencing rapid growth in the contemporary tourism industry. Most of the religious tourist destinations are associated with pre-historic sites of worship or areas legendary for supernatural occurrences. The main religions associated with religious tourism include Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism although there are many other minor religions that practice this form of religion. This paper evaluates whether religious tourism has increased because of the recent growth in new age spiritualism. It focuses on how religious tourism has evolved as well as whether pilgrimage has taken on a new meaning. It seeks to establish if people go to spiritual places because they are interested or because religion has seen a revival and people go for spiritual reasons. Pilgrimage dates back as far as the 16th century. The paper will address whether it is now done for different reasons or whether people still do it for the same reason as in the past. The World Tourism Organization estimates that more than 300 million people travel to key religious sites annually (World Tourism Organization, 2002). Since the industrial revolution, technological advancements made travelling all over the world simpler. Religions spread world wide and by the end of the 19th century, there was a marked increase in religious tourism that has grown to the present day. Communication technology has made it possible for people to exchange views and plan for meetings globally. The U.S.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Gi Fi Or Gigabit Wireless

Gi Fi Or Gigabit Wireless Gi-Fi will helps to push wireless communications to faster drive. For many years cables ruled the world. Optical fibers played a dominant role for its higher bit rates and faster transmission. But the installation of cables caused a greater difficulty and thus led to wireless access. The foremost of this is Bluetooth which can cover 9-10mts. Wi-Fi followed it having coverage area of 91mts. No doubt, introduction of Wi-Fi wireless networks has proved a revolutionary solution to last mile problem. However, the standards original limitations for data exchange rate and range, number of channels, high cost of the infrastructure have not yet made it possible for Wi-Fi to become a total threat to cellular networks on the one hand, and hard-wire networks, on the other. But the mans continuous quest for even better technology despite the substantial advantages of present technologies led to the introduction of new, more up-to-date standards for data exchange rate i.e., Gi-Fi. Gi-Fi or Gigabit Wireless is the worlds first transceiver integrated on a single chip that operates at 60GHz on the CMOS process. It will allow wireless transfer of audio and video data up to 5gigabits per second, ten times the current maximum wireless transfer rate, at one-tenth of the cost, usually within a range of 10 meters. It utilizes a 5mm square chip and a 1mm wide antenna burning less than 2watts of power to transmit data wirelessly over short distances, much like Bluetooth. The development will enable the truly wireless office and home of the future. As the integrated transceiver is extremely small, it can be embedded into devices. The breakthrough will mean the networking of office and home equipment without wires will finally become a reality. In this we present a low cost, low power and high broadband chip, which will be vital in enabling the digital economy of the future. INTRODUCTION: Wi-Fi (IEEE-802.11b) and Wi-Max (IEEE-802.16e) have captured our attention, as there are no recent developments in the above technologies which cannot transfer data and video information at a faster rate and led to the introduction of Gi-fi technology. It offers some advantages over Wi-Fi, a similar wireless technology, that offers faster information rate in Gbps less power consumption and low cost for short range transmissions. Gi-Fi or Gigabit Wireless is the worlds first transceiver integrated on a single chip in which a small antenna used and both transmitter- receiver are integrated on a single chip which is fabricated using the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. Because of Gi-Fi transfer of large videos, files can be done within seconds. Researchers of Melbourne University has come up with a wireless technology which promises high speed short range data transfers with a speed of up to 5Gbps within a radius of 10 meters. The new wireless technology is named as Gi-Fi and operates on the 60GHz frequency band, which is currently mostly unused. The Gi-Fi Chip developed by the Australian researchers measures 5mm square and is manufactured using existing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the same system that is currently used to print silicon chips. The best part about this new technology is its cost effectiveness and power consumption, it consumes only 2watts of power for its operation with antenna (1mm) included and the development of Gi-Fi chip costs approximately $10( Rs 380) to manufacture. In theory this technology would transfers GBs of your favorite high definition movies in seconds. So Gi-Fi can be considered as a challenger to Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi and could find applications ranging from new mobile phones to consumer electronics. REASONS FOR OPTING GI-FI: The reason for pushing into Gi-Fi technology is because of slow rate, high power consumption, low range of frequency operations of earlier technologies i.e. Bluetooth GI-FI: Gi-Fi or gigabit wireless is the worlds first transceiver integrated on a single chip that operates at 60GHz on the cmos process. It will allow wirelesss transfer of audio and video data at up to 5gigabits per second, ten times the current maximum wireless transfer rate, at one-tenth the cost. NICTA researchers have chosen to develop this technology in the 57-64GHz unlicensed frequency band as the millimeter-wave range of the spectrum makes possible high component on-chip integration as well as allowing for the integration of very small high gain arrays. The available 7GHz of spectrum results in very high data rates, up to 5 gigabits per second to users within an indoor environment, usually within a range of 10 metres .It satisfies the standards of IEEE 802.15.3C .The Gi-Fi integrated wireless transceiver chip developed at the National ICT Research Centre, Australia A new silicon chip developed in Melbourne is predicted to revolutionize the way household gadgets like televisions, phones and DVD players talk to each other. The tiny five-millimeter-a-side chip can transmit data through a wireless connection at a breakthrough five gigabits per second over distances of up to 10 meters. An entire high-definition movie could be transmitted to a mobile phone in a few seconds, and the phone could then upload the movie to a home computer or screen at the same speed. The Gi-Fi was unveiled today at the Melbourne University-based laboratories of NICTA, the national information and communications technology research centre. Short-range wireless technology is a hotly contested area, with research teams around the world racing to be the first to launch such a product. Professor Skafiadas said his team was the first to demonstrate a working transceiver-on-a-chip that uses CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) technology the cheap, ubiquitous technique that prints silicon chips. This means his team is ahead and stood in front of the competition in terms of price and power demand. His chip uses only a tiny one-millimeter-wide antenna and less than two watts of power, and would cost less than $10 to manufacture. Chip of Gi-Fi The chip shown in the above figure uses the 60GHz millimeter wave spectrum to transmit the data, which gives an advantage over Wi-Fi (wireless internet). Wi-Fis part of the spectrum is increasingly crowded, sharing the waves with devices such as cordless phones, which leads to interference and slower speeds. But the millimeter wave spectrum (30 to 300 GHz) is almost unoccupied, and the new chip is potentially hundreds of times faster than the average home Wi-Fi unit. However, Wi-Fi still benefits from being able to provide wireless coverage over a greater distance TECHNOLOGIES USED This mmWave WPAN will operate in the new and clear band including 57-64 GHz unlicensed band defined by FCC 47 CFR 15.255. The millimeter-wave WPAN will allow high coexistence (close physical spacing) with all other microwave systems in the 802.15 family of WPANs. Two Technologies that help realize GWLAN are, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) System-On-a-Package(SOP) APPLICATIONS There are many usage scenarios that can be addressed by Gi-Fi. The following are some applications of Gi-Fi . Gi-Fi access devices: Gi-Fi access devices Some of the Gi-Fi access devices are shown in fig.These access devices include termination units, internal radio modules, network interface cards ,printers, PCs,and all household electronic appliances. Broadcasting video signal transmission system in sports stadium : Broadcasting video signals Easy and immediate construction of temporal broadband network such as in sports stadium for the advertisement of information distribution can be possible as shown in fig Office appliances: Office appliances As gi-fi data transfer rate is very high we can transfer data at very high speed in offices as shown in fig 7.0.3 which made work very easy and it also provides high quality of information from the internet. Video information transfer: Video information transfer By using present technologies video swapping takes hours of time where as with this technology as shown in fig 7.0.4 we can transfer data at a speed of giga bits/sec same as that for the transfer of information from a PC to a mobile and vice-versa. FUTURE SCOPE: As the integrated transceiver is extremely small, it can be embedded into devices. The breakthrough will mean the networking of office and home equipment without wires will finally become a reality. The Gi-Fi integrated transceiver chip may be launched by the starting of next year by NICTA. Due to the less cost of chip so many companies are coming forward to launch the chip. The potential of mmwave range for ultra fast data exchange has prompted many companies like intel, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony Toshiba to form wireless HD. Specifically wireless HD has a stated goal of enabling wireless connectivity for streaming high definition content between source devices and high definition devices. CONCLUSION: Within five years, we expect Gi-Fi to be the dominant technology for wireless networking. By that time it will be to provide services with low-cost, high broadband access, and with very high speed large files swapped within seconds which will develop wireless home and office of future. If the success of Wi-Fi and the imminent wide usage of WiMAX is any indication, Gi-Fi potentially can bring wireless broadband to the enterprise in an entirely new way.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Violent Behavior In Society Essay -- essays research papers

Violent Behavior in Society It gained through violent behavior is only temporary and it lasts until the time of revenge comes around. Violence was glorified hundreds of years ago. Back then it was a form of a pure entertainment. We know how among ancient Romans, gladiators (usually slaves or captives trained for the purpose),fought with swords or other weapons at public "shows". The more harm the gladiators inflicted the bigger hero he was, and the more respect he gained. All the crimes they committed were condoned, accepted and glorified. Today it seems like instead of gladiators we have boxers. Is boxing just a sport, or another way of violent behavior, that is not only accepted by society but also in many ways glorified? Do we glorify boxing (most of the time bloody shows) because it is entertaining, or maybe because it is a multi-milion dollar business? The scenery of boxing is broken bones, black and blue faces, blood...The more severe the fight the more exited and happy the audience seems to be. Violence simply stimulates people. Big glory comes when one passes out! YES...here is the hero! What is the message here? It is, we will like you more since you are physically stronger, and we will respect you because we are afraid of you. That is again, a wrong message. Violence is glorified the most throught media, violent movies, TV shows and newspaper sensationalism. THERE SEEMES TO BE A NEED FOR VIOLNCE IN SOCIETY! Violent movies are born one after another: &...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Teaching Literacy in the Primary School

All elements of literacy are inter-related. This essay will examine the reading process and how the teaching of speaking, listening, writing and reading all influence pupils’ development in many ways. One pupil’s language and literacy development will be explored in this context, with a particular emphasis on his reading progression. Literacy is the ability to use language to communicate one’s ideas expressively, through speaking and writing and receptively, through listening and reading. (Palmer, S 2003). The Department for Education (2012) explains that pupils’ acquisition of language allows them to access learning across the curriculum.Notably, reading aids pupil’s development culturally, emotionally, spiritually and socially. Since 1988 and the introduction of the National Curriculum, the government have overseen the teaching of English and literacy in schools. It was not until the publication of The Rose Review in 2006 however, that a standard strategy for teaching reading was devised. In his report, Rose reviewed the way early reading was taught and advised that all children should have a secure foundation of phonics knowledge so that they are able to link graphemes to phonemes and blend these into words.As a result, it became statutory for schools to use a daily, systematic, synthetic style of teaching phonics. To help schools instigate this new teaching style, the Communication, Language and Literacy Development Plan (CLLD) was introduced in 2006. Local authorities were given trained consultants, often teachers, who could model high quality phonics teaching and ensure the findings of the Rose Review were implemented effectively.Ofsted (2010) reported, that several schools, from a sample demonstrating ‘outstanding’ practice in their teaching of early literacy, used a scheme such as ‘Letters and Sounds’, published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in 2007. These schemes initially teach phonemes alongside their written representation (graphemes), followed by the skill of blending and segmenting graphemes to write and decode individual words. It is widely recognised that the teaching of phonics enables children to decode words, but does not teach an understanding of vocabulary. The skill of decoding is not enough to enable children to read effectively.Rose (2006) also observed this in his review, â€Å"Different kinds of teaching are needed to develop word recognition skills from those that are needed to foster the comprehension of written and spoken language. † Wyse and Parker (2010), cited by the Institute of Education (2012), argue in favour of â€Å"contextualised teaching†, which begins by looking at whole texts that pupils can relate to, thus motivating them to read independently. They claim that although important, the teaching of phonics, in a way where it is exaggerated above all other elements, comes with serious risk and that children ’s language skills develop best through classroom talk.Until recently, the importance of Speaking and Listening was overlooked by many schools. Ofsted (2005) reported that the teaching of speaking and listening had been neglected and the range of contexts in which children are given the opportunity to converse with their peers was constrained. It is crucial to understand that as each strand of literacy is equally important, a child who struggles to communicate verbally will have difficulty in communicating or understanding concepts in written form. Douglas (2009) observes, â€Å"†¦Speaking and listening skills underpin all learning and are the start of all other literacy skills.†Rose (2006) observed, â€Å"Schools provide massive opportunities and unique advantages for developing speaking and listening skills. † Activities such as talking partners develop children’s vocabulary by getting them to share their ideas about set questions in short bursts, throughout the lesson. This technique can be integrated into the teaching of any concept across the curriculum, meaning the opportunities to acquire new language are infinite. Drama is part of the Speaking and Listening strand of the National Literacy Strategy.McMaster (1998) explains that it is an invaluable tool as it supports every aspect of literacy development. Drama can extend vocabulary; develop decoding and conversational skills; and improve understanding of syntax, as well as metacognitive knowledge. Drama also aids personal, social and emotional development (PSED). By engaging in situations as if they were real, children build the confidence to express themselves and develop creativity and empathy. These attributes are closely associated with reading development, as they facilitate comprehension and response (Wagner, B.  1988; Vygotsky, S. 1976 cited by McMaster, J. 1998)Poetry is also a useful tool to improve pupils’ personal, social and emotional development (PS ED). Children should be encouraged to believe that poetry is a normal human activity, a very intense one and an activity that people often resort to at crucial times in their lives†¦ which shows its central importance. (Longley, M. 2008 cited by McLeish, J. 2008) In Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1, learning nursery rhymes and other simple poems and songs assists the development of phonological awareness.The repeated rhythm and rhyme patterns develop an understanding of how words can be broken into syllables. The next stage is to understand that each syllable is made up of a structure of sounds, onsets (the initial phoneme) and rimes (the remaining sound in the syllable. ) Wilson (2005) believes this is a fundamental skill to develop if a child is to blend and segment efficiently. Sharing poetry and re-telling stories provide the basis for the â€Å"Talk for Writing† initiative, developed by The National Strategies (2010), in conjunction with Pie Corbe tt.The National Strategies explain â€Å"†¦good readers learn about the skills of writing from their reading and draw (consciously or unconsciously) upon its models in their own work†¦. † Reciting poetry and rhymes, and re-telling stories enable children to internalise language (referred to as imitation) so that it can later be reused in their own writing automatically. Once this skill is mastered, children can continue to change parts of the story (innovation) using aids such as story maps and shared writing. The final stage is invention, at this point pupils use the language and writing styles they acquired to create their own pieces of writing.In his early workshops, Corbett (2008) stated that these approaches to learning also work extremely well when teaching children to write in a non-fictional context. The use of speaking and listening is also an invaluable tool when teaching children with special educational needs (SEN). Corbett (2004) states â€Å"Many chil dren with special needs have succeeded using this multi-sensory, oral strategy to developing composition. † These children need as many opportunities as possible to internalise new vocabulary and writing styles that may be unfamiliar.The same is applicable to pupils who are learning English as an additional language (EAL). These children have the extra hurdle of comprehending vocabulary and writing styles that may differ greatly to that found in their first language. Cummins (1999) explains, â€Å"There are clear differences in acquisition and developmental patterns between conversational language and academic language, or BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) and CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency). † Children generally develop BICS within two years of immersion in the target language, providing they spend much of their time in  school interacting with native speakers.However, it typically takes children between five and seven years to develop CA LP and therefore be working at a linguistic level similar to their native speaking peers. It is therefore vital to provide a wide, varied range of opportunities for students to converse. The DFES (2004) explains, â€Å"Bilingualism is an asset, and the first language has a continuing and significant role in identity, learning and the acquisition of additional languages. † Children who are truly bilingual will often work at a higher academic level than those who speak one language.Child C is a six year old boy. He is a native English speaker, although he does have developmental problems with his speech and is currently seeing a speech therapist. He lives with both his parents and his two brothers, aged seven and two. The following information has been sourced from interviews with his teachers and mother, his speech and language reports and his records of attainment. Permission from C’s parents and school were sought in order to include him in this study, and for reasons of confidentiality his anonymity will be respected throughout. C was born nine days late with no issues at birth.C refused solid food until about 10 months of age, and his mother explained that he has always expressed a dislike for food that requires a lot of chewing. It was suggested to C’s parents that this may be a contributing factor to his speech difficulties. C started ‘babbling’ at about 22 months, experimenting with sounds and a few words. His mother was able to understand his attempts to communicate by around 3 years of age, although other members of his family and the practitioners at his nursery school struggled to understand him, this caused C to become greatly frustrated and stressed when trying to express his wants and needs.It was at this point that C was referred for speech therapy. He was also referred for hearing tests which did not uncover any auditory problems. C and his older brother have shared books with their parents before bedtime since C was 2 years old. His mother explained that neither of the boys demonstrated a strong interest for books and requests to be read to, apart from before bed, were infrequent. C’s lack of interest was also observed by his EYFS teacher, as a result C was initially only given one book a week to share at home, as more than this tended to overwhelm him and generate a refusal read at all.It was also noted in the early months of EYFS, C disliked contributing to group discussion or conversing extensively with his peers as a result of insecurity about his speech problems. He felt much more confident talking to adults on a one to one basis. C left EYFS with a reading level higher than the national average for his age group, although lower than that of most of his classmates. His ability to blend and segment graphemes was good, meaning he was able to read and write a range of simple words.His ability to form particular cluster sounds orally remains an issue, but his confidence to communi cate with his peers and contribute to group work has improved significantly. As a result, his range of vocabulary and comprehension has also improved. C has continued with his speech therapy in KS1 and he receives daily interventions with a teaching assistant to help with his sound formation. C’s current class teacher has observed that his reading has significantly improved recently; C will now read quite complex sentences with some expression, using a range of decoding techniques such as segmenting and looking at accompanying pictures.C recently read a short passage to the rest of his class, demonstrating his improved reading skills and confidence levels. In conclusion, speaking, listening, reading and writing are all of equal importance. The strategies, tools and initiatives explored in this essay help children develop their reading skills. Each strand can be built upon each other to develop a pupil’s literacy development as a whole. Being literate is essential if a child is to access all areas across the curriculum.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Learning from LeapFrog Essay

1. What was the Leapfrog business model at the time that the company launched its first products and services? How did the business model change over time? 2. Who are LeapFrog’s key stakeholders? How does LeapFrog deliver value to each of these stakeholder groups? 3. At the time of the case, Leapfrog had become the #3 consumer toy company in the U.S. behind #1 and #2, Mattell and Hasbro respectively. What factors contributed to Leapfrog’s success? Do you expect the success to continue in the future? 4. What challenges and opportunities does the company face in early 2003? Would you buy stock in Leapfrog? Why or why not? As an independent member of the company’s board of directors, what would you expect of management in the short-term and long-term? How would you fulfill your fiduciary duties to the company’s shareholders? Canyon Ranch 1. What is the value of customer information to Canyon Ranch? 2. As CIO, how would you make the case for customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) systems at Canyon Ranch? 3. What impact would you anticipate these systems to have on the Canyon Ranch strategy and capabilities? 4. What advice do you have for Canyon Ranch executives? Business Intelligence Software at SYSCO 1. What will be the biggest obstacles faced by the business intelligence implementation as it expands throughout SYSCO? 2. Why did SYSCO decide to initially address only two questions with its new BI software, rather than using it as a more general analysis tool in the operating companies? Why did Business Objects recommend this approach? What are its strengths and weaknesses? 3. Will effective use of BI software ever be a competitive differentiator for SYSCO? Wouldn’t it be straightforward for another food service company to also purchase and implement similar software? 4. How much software should Day purchase at this time? Boeing’s e-Enabled Advantage 1. What challenges and opportunities did Boeing face in the late 1990s? 2. What is the e-Enabled Advantage? How did it link to the company’s strategy? 3. What advantages would such an approach give Boeing? 4. What challenges did Boeing face in executing such a radical new strategy? CareGroup 1. Describe the health care context in which the case occurs. 2. List several strengths of the IT environment at CareGroup. 3. On the other hand, list several weaknesses that led to the collapse. 4. Evaluate carefully the 10 lessons that John Halamka learned from the experience. What are the pros and cons of each of these lessons? Are there other learnings that come from this situation? The IPremier Company: Denial of Service Attack 1. How well did the IPremier Company perform during the seventy-five minute attack? If you were Bob Turley, what might have you done differently during the attack? 2. The IPremier Company CEO, Jack Samuelson, had already expressed to Bob Turley his concern that the company might eventually suffer from a â€Å"deficit in operating procedures.† Were the company’s operating procedures deficient in responding to this attack? What additional procedures might have been in place to better handle the attack? 3. Now that the attack has ended, what can the IPremier Company do to prepare for another such attack? 4. Describe the ethical implications of not being sure if credit card numbers had been stolen. What options do you have in the struggle to be an ethical vendor, yet to stay in business? What actions would you take? 5. In the aftermath of the attack, what would you be worried about? What actions would you recommend? Strategic Outsourcing at Bharti Airtel Limited 1. What must Bharti do well to succeed in the Indian mobile phone market? What are Bharti’s core competencies? 2. Do you think Bharti should enter the outsourcing agreements outlined by Gupta? What do you see as advantages and disadvantages of such agreements? How do the different outsourcing agreements work towards building these core competencies? 3. If you were Bharti, what major concerns would you have about entering an outsourcing agreement with IBM? With Ericsson, Nokia, or Siemens? 4. How would you structure the agreements to address your concerns and capture any advantages you have identified? What governance mechanisms would you design for the agreements? 5. Assume the role of IBM or Nokia. What major concerns would you have about entering an agreement with Bharti? How would you structure the agreement and the governance mechanisms? VW of America: Managing IT Priorities 1. What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? 2. Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? Who should control these budgets? Should the IT department have its own budget? 3. How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system? 4. What should Matulovic do about the unfunded Supply Flow project? The ITC eChoupal Initiative 1. What was ITC’s motivation for creating the eChoupal? 2. What were the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel? 3. What principles did it employ as it built the newly-fashioned supply chain? 4. What barriers did ITC face in embarking on this project? 5. How should ITC develop this platform for the future?