QUESTION
The emerging technologies such as VoIP are rapidly growing as far as their use by the corporate and enterprises are concerned. The mega-trends of wireless and the Internet are revolutionizing voice and data communications. Wireless technology has become ubiquitous for voice applications, and is becoming the access technology of choice for data applications. As result, new radio technologies and network elements are being developed to offer new service possibilities. The network readiness of a country indicates the ability of its principal stakeholders—government, citizens, businesses—to leverage the potential of information and communication technology (ICT). As broadband becomes more widely diffused in developing countries, there is great potential to increase the number of people who are connected. Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) are not only revolutionizing broadband communications in the developed world but they also offer to developing countries the opportunity to bridge the digital divide that may exist in their communities. As emerging markets look for opportunities to ‘‘leap-frog’’, they can quickly adapt to next-generation wireless technologies like WiFi and WiMAX, thereby gaining advantages over other traditional wired infrastructures.
SOLUTION
The emerging technologies such as VoIP are rapidly growing as far as their use by the corporate and enterprises are concerned. The mega-trends of wireless and the Internet are revolutionizing voice and data communications. Wireless technology has become ubiquitous for voice applications, and is becoming the access technology of choice for data applications. As result, new radio technologies and network elements are being developed to offer new service possibilities. The network readiness of a country indicates the ability of its principal stakeholders—government, citizens, businesses—to leverage the potential of information and communication technology (ICT). As broadband becomes more widely diffused in developing countries, there is great potential to increase the number of people who are connected. Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) are not only revolutionizing broadband communications in the developed world but they also offer to developing countries the opportunity to bridge the digital divide that may exist in their communities. As emerging markets look for opportunities to ‘‘leap-frog’’, they can quickly adapt to next-generation wireless technologies like WiFi and WiMAX, thereby gaining advantages over other traditional wired infrastructures.
3. Background Information
Emerging wireless technologies, such as VoIP, WiMax, Wearable computers, and blogs are widely implemented in the business organizations. However, implementing these technologies is not the end of the road. These technologies require infrastructure, management, cost, and the right approach towards project management. Implementing the emerging technologies can also give rise to various organizational and technical issues. The security is a major concern while implementing the wireless technologies, especially in an organization, where a hacker can steal all the sensitive data. Moreover, behavioral issues such as change in technologies, change in the work methodology, or difficulty in adapting to a work environment. The cost issues are quite common in implementing the emerging wireless technologies by the organizations. At times, the organizations end up spending more than required.
4. Emerging Technologies’ Infrastructure
The scope of the emerging wireless technologies can be enhanced only if the proper infrastructure is built. In most of the developed nations, the infrastructure of the emerging technologies is up to the mark. However, in most of the developing nations, the infrastructure is still not apt. Three main issues can play a major role as far as the infrastructure is concerned. These are: Accessibility, Availability, Affordability.
4.1 Accessibility
For most developing countries, lack of access to advanced voice and data services is a barrier to network readiness. Within the next few years those who do not have access to the next generation of broadband-driven communication technologies, such as Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video telephony, and Internet protocol television (IPTV), will be at a great disadvantage . The developing countries need to build a broadband communication infrastructure that is accessible to all, in order to encourage social service and e-government applications. Wi-Fi wireless access technology is undoubtedly an attractive option for data, voice (e.g., VoWi-Fi), and video, compared to other traditional communication infrastructures in the developing world.
4.2 Availability
In most countries, 2.4 GHz bandwidth is license-exempt, although some may require registration of use. Wi-Fi has become the most common use of unlicensed bandwidth for so-called ‘‘hotspot’’ or ‘‘hot zone’’ or ‘‘hot city’’ type of coverage. This is because of the widespread availability of Wi-Fi radios that comply with IEEE 802.11b and the upcoming 802.11g/a standards. Wi-Fi has 100% global recognition and has become the single networking standard for all developers, equipment manufacturers, service providers, and end users. The main advantage with Wi-Fi is that large-scale, service-level roaming between different Wi-Fi providers is possible, as Wi-Fi certification has become a de facto standard for IEEE 802.11-based products.
4.3 Affordability
At some stage, it is expected that WiMAX will reach price and performance levels similar to Wi-Fi. The vendors and service providers who founded the WiMax Forum believe that it will be widely deployed in a manner similar to that of Wi-Fi. Standardization will not only reduce equipment and component costs, which will enable mass production, but it will also allow interoperability between the equipment of different vendors. The most suitable frequency band for WiMAX is 3.5 GHz band, followed by 5.2–5.8 GHz band. It is also expected that a 2.5–2.7 GHz band could be used for WiMAX in some countries. There are several ways in which WiMAX can be deployed. The most popular provides backhaul for Wi-Fi access points, and it also serves as a backhaul between conventional cellular towers. The second type of deployment is ‘‘last mile’’, which serves residential and enterprise users as an alternative to cable and DSL. The third is similar to metro Ethernet provided on point-to-multipoint sources that compete directly with fibre. The fourth type is the mobile version of WiMAX based on the 802.16e standard. It should be noted that while it was ratified recently, it is not expected to be quickly adopted by operators.
4.4 Wireless infrastructures for urban, sub-urban and rural communities
Modern communication infrastructures vary not just from country to country but also within different parts of the same country. However, a uniform infrastructure is not necessary, since the needs and requirements of cities versus villages are different. It is important, however, to understand each wireless technology’s capabilities and limitations, and it is essential to determine appropriate architectures for each tier of the economy. It is also critical to identify wireless applications that can be offered in the near future, as well as new applications that can be expected to evolve in the long term. Therefore, when building a wireless broadband communication infrastructure, countries and states need to have both tactical and strategic vision. City-wide Wi-Fi/ WiMAX deployment is emerging as a modern, high-tech economic development tool. It is currently used in developed countries, and can also be used in developing nations. It is indispensable that wireless access should be viewed as a fundamental good to public communication in the near future.
5. Managing Emerging Technologies
Managing emerging wireless technologies is a tedious task. It is dependent on various factors such as infrastructure, connectivity, budget etc. In the discussions below, we will discuss about the management of emerging wireless technologies in different infrastructures.
5.1 Urban Areas: wireless model
This model incorporates WiMAX mesh infrastructure with Wi-Fi systems, where both technologies work together to offer cost-effective solutions. WiMAX mesh architecture can cover whole urban areas by forming a number of metro zones. Each metro zone has a WiMAX base station, which serves as a first, second, or third-tier backhaul for all Wi-Fi mesh nodes within its coverage zone. Within each WiMAX cell coverage area, mesh Wi-Fi nodes can be deployed to give blanket coverage. The technology of wireless mesh routing simply chains together separate nodes, which is a low-cost method for providing instant access to thousands of users. Roughly 20–40 Wi-Fi access points can be placed inside each WiMAX cell. Leasing costs are much lower as this infrastructure uses a light pole or rooftop of a campus building, which significantly reduces operating cost.
5.2 Sub-urban areas: fixed wireless model (hot zones)
Wireless infrastructure ranges from configurations that offer less coverage in rural areas to ubiquitous coverage for metropolitan areas. There are also semi-populated areas, other than metro and rural areas; hence, it is necessary to explore an optimal coverage for such sub-urban towns and cities. There capital expenditure is very low, with WiMAX used as backhaul and Wi-Fi for access in a specific geographic zone. Coverage can be provided by Wi-Fi access points with high-gain antennae, to extend neighborhood or campus-area coverage. By taking advantage of wireless technologies ranging from Wi-Fi long-range access points to wide-area WiMAX, residents and businesses in suburban regions are able to obtain wireless access. In sub-urban India, broadband penetration is very low. Many small businesses and low-income households simply cannot afford leased lines. In some situations, the connection speeds are also slow and/or insufficient to support many applications.
5.3 Rural areas: wireless model (Wi-Fi hotspots)
The economic and social value of a rural Wi-Fi network is governed by Reed’s Law: the value of the village network is proportionate to the number of groups in the given rural community This kind of infrastructure is used to incorporate VSAT with Wi-Fi systems where both technologies coexist to offer a cost-effective solution. Outdoor Wi-Fi units can be used to serve end-user groups while also taking advantage of a satellite connection as a backhaul system to reduce the time for service provisioning and to reach remote parts of the country where there is no connectivity. Each village needs a kiosk to house the VSAT system; from there it can be distributed to other groups within a 1 km radius using Wi-Fi. In each location, a Wi-Fi outdoor access point can be fed by a dedicated satellite channel of 512 kbps–2 Mbps for downlink and between 516–256 kbps for uplink. The hub-to-remote outroute service should have a minimum of 512 kbps and remote-to-hub inroute service can have 256 kbps in the initial stage of deployment, so that it supports shared access for at least two to three groups, in a village. In the initial stage, each location can start with two or three groups with only one Wi-Fi client device-enabled PC in each location
6. Technical Issues
Wireless technologies including VoIP, WiMax and wearable computers and Wi-Fi technologies are rapidly emerging as an important to send and receive the technical use. Many emerging technologies present ethical challenges and it will generate and raises the number of ethical issues. There are more aspects of recognizing ethical challenges in emerging technologies and making an achievement in one area. The wireless technologies are to be aware of variety implementation to then other areas. In this section, we will discuss about the technical issues in implementing wireless technologies.
6.1 Security and Privacy Issues
Wireless networks differ from their wired counterparts in that they are virtually impossible to physically secure. In a physically secure enterprise, it is difficult for an external attacker to enter the office and covertly connect a laptop to the network. With wireless, the signals are broadcast over the air, and can be easily intercepted by an attacker who is within range of the signals. This makes the wireless security problem more challenging and interesting. An ideal example that clearly signifies the need for wireless security is that of war drive. It involves an attacker driving around, using a standard wireless NIC and a custom antenna, to detect available wireless networks.
6.2 Connectivity Issues
There are various connectivity issues while implementing a wireless technology. At times, strength of the wireless network is not optimum. Wireless card might not be in the accordance of the prescribed wireless security standards. There are several reasons why the wireless connection is slower than a wired connection. Firstly, the technology itself is slower, 11 Mbps (shared) for the wireless versus 10/100 Mbps (dedicated) for most wired connections.
Secondly, wireless uses bandwidth limitation to provide a fair level of service to all users, else it would be possible for a single user to sit very close to an access point and “hog” all the bandwidth.
Thirdly, the amount of bandwidth you get is somewhat determined by how strong and “clean” your signal is, so even though the Wireless Team has made every effort to provide clear strong signals in marked coverage areas, there still remains the possibility of outside interference such as microwaves and cordless phones which can drastically affect bandwidth on the 802.11b and 802.11g.
7. Project Management Issues
There are ample issues which can be encountered while working on any emerging technologies, such as VoIP or Blogs. From administrative tasks to Vendor related tasks, and from dependencies to sharing of resources, project management can be a tedious task at times. The common issues that can rise while working with emerging wireless technologies are:
7.1 Administrative Tasks
These tasks are associated with running several projects. For example, an employee working with a wireless software firm that works on VoIP and other emerging wireless technologies, has to maintain some a balance between all the projects. He might divide his time in locating software bugs for one project and having meetings, preparing agendas, taking notes, and attending conferences for the other project.
7.2 Sharing of Resources
Sharing of resources with other project or another project manager can simply be pretty frustrating. The project manager not only has to track and allocate his own resources but also have to monitor someone else’s project to keep the productivity level at par. The project managers of both projects might lend the resources from one another to keep the productivity at par. However, the resource that is being shared will tend to loose the productivity as he will not be able to concentrate on one particular thing.
Even in Wireless technology, two resources shared with one point might reduce the speed of connectivity.
7.3 Time-related Issues
Maybe you had a slow go of it last month, but now, you’re swamped. You know you need to take on the work when you can get it, but now you’re worried that you won’t be able to start all of your projects on time as you promised. Or perhaps your client says you’re a top priority — but tomorrow a different project becomes more important.
If the hold up is on your end, then it’s important that you do something to jump-start the project — even if it’s in a really small way. Give the client a call to discuss their expectations and set a more realistic timeframe for the first milestone. This could take as little as a few minutes, but it makes the client feel like things have started. However, beware of doing this more than once. That’s known as stringing the client along — they don’t take that too well, and for good reason. (Boyle, 1987)
If the hold up is on their end, then you need to communicate very clearly how that alters things moving forward. Be sure to let them know exactly how this change affects the completion dates of future milestones and you should check the revised schedule against other commitments with other projects.
8. Cost Issues
8.1 The Cost Control Problem
During the execution of a project, procedures for project control and record keeping become indispensable tools to managers and other participants in the construction process. These tools serve the dual purpose of recording the financial transactions that occur as well as giving managers an indication of the progress and problems associated with a project. The problems of project control are aptly summed up in an old definition of a project as “any collection of vaguely related activities that are ninety percent complete, over budget and late.” (Dian 1987)
Interpretation of project accounts is generally not straightforward until a project is completed, and then it is too late to influence project management. Even after completion of a project, the accounting results may be confusing. Hence, managers need to know how to interpret accounting information for the purpose of project management. In the process of considering management problems, however, we shall discuss some of the common accounting systems and conventions, although our purpose is not to provide a comprehensive survey of accounting procedures.
8.2 Forecasting for Activity Cost Control
For the purpose of project management and control, it is not sufficient to consider only the past record of costs and revenues incurred in a project. Good managers should focus upon future revenues, future costs and technical problems. For this purpose, traditional financial accounting schemes are not adequate to reflect the dynamic nature of a project. Accounts typically focus on recording routine costs and past expenditures associated with activities.
Generally, past expenditures represent sunk costs that cannot be altered in the future and may or may not be relevant in the future. For example, after the completion of some activity, it may be discovered that some quality flaw renders the work useless. Unfortunately, the resources expended on the flawed construction will generally be sunk and cannot be recovered for re-construction (although it may be possible to change the burden of who pays for these resources by financial withholding or charges; owners will typically attempt to have constructors or designers pay for changes due to quality flaws). Since financial accounts are historical in nature, some means of forecasting or projecting the future course of a project is essential for management control.
8.3 The Project Budget
For cost control on a project, the construction plan and the associated cash flow estimates can provide the baseline reference for subsequent project monitoring and control. For schedules, progress on individual activities and the achievement of milestone completions can be compared with the project schedule to monitor the progress of activities. Contract and job specifications provide the criteria by which to assess and assure the required quality of construction. The final or detailed cost estimate provides a baseline for the assessment of financial performance during the project. To the extent that costs are within the detailed cost estimate, then the project is thought to be under financial control.
9. Appendix
This appendix contains an overall summary of implementing emerging technologies. This appendix will cover all the above discussed topics and will provide a jist of “analysis of emerging technologies for the implementation of these emerging technologies in the selected business / organization”
There’s an ancient story about a man that decided to jump on the back of a tiger. Riding the tiger gave the man a feeling of power and control, until he came to realize that he couldn’t get off. The tiger would eventually eat him alive. So it is with facility information. Technology can provide enormous financial and productivity advantages but requires careful consideration to realize its potential. What’s more, emerging technologies such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and WiMAX will redefine the way facility professionals get and share information. .
9.1The realities of managing emerging technologies
Facility professionals see it all—paper floor plans that in no way reflect reality; electronic drawings of unknown origin that can’t be opened by your software no matter what you do and drawing files that, once opened, are such a jumble of entities, blocks and layers they are virtually useless. Now, after all those years of harping to your design and construction team about never receiving accurate electronic record drawing files, they have finally come through. You’ve received an information-laden building model of your last project which can easily transfer that data to your facility information system. Now what do you do? How do you decide what information to keep, what form to keep it in and how long to keep it? And once you’ve tackled those issues, how do you decide who needs this information and how do you share it with them? We’re all drowning in unprecedented amounts of information—but is it all necessary?
9.2 Sorting through it all
When gathering facility data, it’s important to first identify what information is important to your company now and what may be important in the future. This is where your intimate knowledge of your company’s business and objectives comes into play. There are data points that virtually every organization needs; metrics such as amount and types of space, number of employees and square foot per employee. Studying industry benchmarks will help you both identify the common data that you should gather and allow you and your management team to compare your company to similar organizations. However, it’s identifying and gathering the information unique to your industry that helps you add the most value. This information gives management insight into the effect facilities have on business decisions and vice-versa. It is crucial in proving the effectiveness of the facility team to your organization.
9.3 Using technology to your advantage
Technology can be the key to efficiency, productivity and savings or it can result in failed projects, lost time and excessive costs. Keep your eye on new technologies because the results are real and significant—but don’t let their sparkle blind you to the need for careful planning and communication. Understand your business, set clear goals, know your internal customers and carefully plan for the implementation and maintenance of your system. Then you will be on track to success.
10. CONCLUSIONS
Emerging technologies can be implemented at the appropriate infrastructures. There are many issues while implementing the emerging technologies. However, the issues can be taken care of if proper measures are taken. The technical issues such as security concerns are quite common with emerging wireless technologies. Proper infrastructure is also required for the implementing emerging technologies.
11. REFERENCES
1. Joy, Bill (2000). Why the future doesn’t need us. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html. Retrieved 2005-11-14.
2. Bostrom, Nick (2002). Existential risks: analyzing human extinction scenarios. http://www.nickbostrom.com/existential/risks.html. Retrieved 2006-02-21.
3. Warwick, K: “March of the Machines”, University of Illinois Press, 2004
4. McKibben, Bill (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. Times Books. ISBN 0-8050-7096-6.
5. Kurzweil, Raymond (2005). The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Viking Adult. ISBN 0-670-03384-7.
6. Ford, Martin R. (2009), The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future, Acculant Publishing, ISBN 978-1448659814, http://www.thelightsinthetunnel.com. (e-book available free online.)
7. “Machine Learning: A Job Killer?”
8. “Will Automation Lead to Economic Collapse?”
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