South African Military Health Services Health And Social Care Essay

As combatants, we were used to an enemy that we could see, but HIV is an unseeable enemyaˆÂ ¦ It became an issue of national security for a little state like Eritrea. Dr Haile Mehstun, the Secretary for Health in the probationary authorities of the freshly independent Eritrea during 1991-93INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEWIt ‘s been 30 old ages since the designation and intervention of this disease we call AIDS and yet it seems that we are no closer to incorporating it than we are to bring arounding it. This has been chiefly due to the fact that the disease itself is alone in footings of how it attacks and spreads throughout the organic structure and besides because of the widespread and sustained socio-economic, political and demographic impacts. It has besides been called a ‘long moving ridge event ‘ whose effects will be felt for coevalss to come. Merely as the distinctive as the epidemic is, so excessively has been the response to it been. This response has been highlighted at assorted intervals by both hectic action on one manus and a entire deficiency of action on the other manus, This was unprecedented international response, as ne'er before had there been a committedness of resources of this magnitude to a wellness cause. As such this response became known as ‘AIDS Exceptionalism ‘ . The word, â€Å" Exceptionalism † , intending to handle or to give something the position of being exceeding had both positive and negative effects. AIDS Exceptionalism began as a Western response to the originally terrorizing and deadly nature of the virus, International organisations such as the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ) , Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ( the Global Fund ) and The US President ‘s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR ) , were formed to specifically address HIV/AIDS.This response was mirrored in South Africa every bit good.Since the first instance was discovered in 1982, The SA Department of Health ‘s ( DoH ) reaction to the epidemic was guided by the responses of the Government of the Day. As such by the twelvemonth 2000, 18 old ages after the fact, it had developed the first National Strategy to turn to HIV AIDS. This was followed by a mass motion by DoH together with NGOs, CBOs and foreign givers like PEPFAR and Jackson Foundation, to mobilise already constrained wellness resources to the direction of HIV/AIDS. The South African Military Health Services ( SAMHS ) which offers Military Health Services to all sanctioned clients of the Dept of Defence, besides maps within the guidelines of the Dept of Health every bit good as the assorted statutory organic structures, besides engaged in this ‘drive ‘ to turn to the flagellum of this disease, as it was discovered that this unobserved ‘enemy ‘ had infiltrated our ranks. The same response that was taken and adopted by the DoH was besides utilised within the SAMHS. Therefore the DoD launched the monolithic Masibambisane Awareness Campaign, followed closely by the Nationwide PROJECT PHIDISA which is a clinical research undertaking focused on the direction and intervention of HIV infection in the uniformed members of the SANDF and their dependents.The major function participants in the designation, intervention and direction of the HIV became the Health Care Professionals ( HCPs ) in the Primary Health Care Services and the same was true for the Defence environment.The first point of contact for the bulk of our clients and the topographic point of on-going direction are Primary Health Care clinics. SAMHS adopted the same intervention and direction guidelines as DoH and offered these and other services to our clients. Any alterations to these policies and guidelines unwittingly affect the service bringing within the SAMHS. So foregrounding the National Health attacks and its effects besides reflects the general mode in which PHC services are delivered in the SAMHS. Due to the graduated table and nature of the HIV epidemic, a disease specific response was seen as the most effectual manner of nearing the disease as it enabled capacity edifice of wellness systems in states in demand. It besides allowed at the clip a more manageable manner to place and turn to spreads in the wellness system whilst still being able to present a service. This attack, nevertheless, resulted in parallel systems being set up, and caused breaks in twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours healthcare proviso every bit good as the disregard of other every bit enfeebling and life endangering wellness conditions. This attack farther caused multiple convergences in the wellness service demands for HIV/AIDS and those for other diseases, which people thought did n't necessitate this type of pressing, perpendicular response and intercession. PMTCT programmes can non be isolated from equal antenatal clinic services, household planning, bringing installations, and ambulatory services for chronic diseases of adult females and kids. ( A pregnant adult female comes in at 28 hebdomads, kicking of a relentless cough and dark workout suits. At the PHC sister she is diagnosed on clinical marks and symptoms and history as being TB positive and is given a referral to the TB clinic – which is 2 doors off from where she is right now. Further trials reveal that she is besides HIV positive – so she is given a referral to the ARV/Wellness Clinic which is down the transition. Since she has ne'er had any Antenatal Care she is besides given a referral to the Antenatal Clinic – but she receives merely cough mixture today – because there no assignments available for her today in any of the other clinics. This is because we have adopted a perpendicular disease specific response to pull offing our patients. These service bringing agreements are sometimes described in footings of perpendicular or horizontal attacks. Vertical attacks use planning, staffing, direction, and financing systems that are separate from other services, whereas horizontal attacks work through bing health-system constructions. However the planetary community noticed the frequent co-infections between HIV and TB these were persuasive grounds for seeking complementarities between services for each.BackgroundIn the past few old ages, there has been a recoil against this Exceptionalism with critics claiming that HIV/AIDS receives disproportional sum of international assistance and wellness support, and that this has deductions for other wellness issues. Catching diseases and other wellness conditions were abandoned and/or neglected in favor of what became known as a civil-liberties attack. This public wellness attack helped incorporate the epidemic in certain parts of the universe to changing grades. However in Sub-Saharan Africa the disease still wreaks mayhem with about 1400 new infections per twenty-four hours. When antiretroviral intervention ( ART ) was unveiled at the 1996 International AIDS Conference in Vancouver, Canada, AIDS was transformed into a treatable disease. The coming of intervention shifted Western precedences of response â€Å" The handiness of more advanced antiretroviral therapies has made it possible to handle efficaciously those with HIV infection, thereby increasing the importance of early designation and trailing † . As donor states displacement precedences, and in the context of the economic recession, the urgency around the HIV/AIDS response is one time once more worsening. This displacement in policy and international precedences does non alter the world of an epidemic that, after three decennaries, is still unfolding. Others ‘ commentaries highlighted that many diseases and wellness issues ( such as malaria, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, under-nutrition and respiratory upsets ) resulted in more deceases than those related to AIDS in many parts of the universe, but were having less support. Whether or non this disregard was because of the prioritization of the AIDS response or due to other factors was heatedly contested.THE CURRENT HEALTH PICTUREIn low income states that have been the hardest hit by HIV, the wellness profile of the twelvemonth 2008, harmonizing to the WHO ( 2011 ) is as follows:Low-income statesDeaths in 1000000s% of deceasesLower respiratory infections 1.05 11.3 % Diarrhoeal diseases 0.76 8.2 % HIV/AIDS 0.72 7.8 % Ischaemic bosom disease 0.57 6.1 % Malarias 0.48 5.2 % Stroke and other cerebrovascular disease 0.45 4.9 % Tuberculosis 0.40 4.3 % Prematurity and low birth weight 0.30 3.2 % Birth asphyxia and birth injury 0.27 2.9 % Neonatal infections 0.24 2.6 % Internationally the taking cause of decease harmonizing to the WHO study updated in 2011, the taking cause of decease in 2008 was shockingly non due to AIDS – this could in portion be attributed to the hapless coverage or recording of deceases attributed straight to HIV/AIDS, but it alsol allows the Global Community a opportunity to gain that other serious wellness conditions which exist within our wellness systems, have the capacity to gyrate out of control due to the disregard by the AIDS Exceptionalism response.UniverseDeaths in 1000000s% of deceasesIschaemic bosom disease 7.25 12.8 % Stroke and other cerebrovascular disease 6.15 10.8 % Lower respiratory infections 3.46 6.1 % Chronic clogging pneumonic disease 3.28 5.8 % Diarrhoeal diseases 2.46 4.3 % HIV/AIDS 1.78 3.1 % Trachea, bronchial tube, lung malignant neoplastic diseases 1.39 2.4 % Tuberculosis 1.34 2.4 % Diabetess mellitus 1.26 2.2 % Road traffic accidents 1.21 2.1 % Harmonizing to the World Health Statistics 2012 study, one in three grownups global, has raised blood force per unit area – a status that causes around half of all deceases from shot and bosom disease and one in 10 grownups has diabetes. While the planetary mean prevalence is about 10 % , up to one tierce of populations in some Pacific Island states have this status. Left untreated, diabetes can take to cardiovascular disease, sightlessness and kidney failure. Dr A new wave der Merwe, in 2007, found that bosom disease is the 2nd biggest slayer of South Africans after Aids ( est. 890 people / twenty-four hours decease from Aids ) . Harmonizing to the study 30 South Africans die from bosom onslaughts and 60 from shots alone- every individual twenty-four hours with 70 % of these occur in people younger than 55 old ages of age. She farther stated that high blood force per unit area, high cholesterin and diabetes added well to the load of disease in South Africa. Heart disease is non the male merely job it was thought to be old ages ago. One out of four ( 25 % ) SA adult females younger than 60 is affected. Heart disease is the cause of decease in 20 % of all deceases in adult females – much in the same manner that adult females bear the load for HIV/AIDS more than work forces. More than half the deceases due to chronic disease, including bosom disease, occur before the age of 65 old ages. These are premature deceases that affect the work force in the state and have a major impact on the economic system of the state. Premature deceases due to bosom and blood vas diseases in people of working age ( 35 – 64 old ages ) are expected to increase by 41 % between 2007 – 2030. The negative economic impact of this will be tremendous. And yet the bulk of our focal point remains on pull offing HIV/AIDS entirely. The spread between resources required to implement HIV/AIDS programmes and those available has continued to turn over the past three old ages, this is particularly true with respects to the deficit of trained and skilled wellness attention workers particularly physicians and nurses. This has had a farther impact on the direction of other chronic conditions in that the already short supply of physicians and nurses are being channeled to HIV/AIDS Centres with the enticement of higher wages and increased inducements, go forthing fewer staff to pull off the turning figure of other patients with chronic conditions. With the SAMHS as with the DoH clinics and wellness Centres one merely has to take a glimpse around to happen an copiousness of information, postings, booklets etc on HIV/AIDS, and really few if any on other Health Conditions. Expertness is directed and allocated to the ‘Wellness Clinics ‘ and to the ‘proper ‘ direction of HIV positive patients. The ‘other ‘ can do make with what ‘s left. As Sachs notes in a commentary in The Lancet, â€Å" We are non overspending on AIDS but under-spending on the restaˆÂ ¦The pick is non between AIDS, wellness systems, and other Millennium Development Goals. We can and must back up them all. 2. Understanding HEALTH SYSTEMS The term ‘health system ‘ is a shorthand manner of mentioning to all the administrations, establishments and resources that are chiefly concerned with bettering wellness in a peculiar state. They guarantee the proviso of preventative, rehabilitative, healing, and other public wellness services, every bit good as the coevals of the fiscal, physical, and human resources needed for service proviso. Most significantly, wellness systems besides encompass the direction and administration agreements that help guarantee efficiency and equity in proviso of service, reactivity to patient demands, and answerability to communities and the broader society. Why are wellness systems of import? The recent planetary focal point on control of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria has concentrated attending on intercessions that need to be scaled up, such as antiretroviral therapy, TB and malaria intervention, or intermittent intervention of pregnant adult females for malaria. However, the great bulk of intercessions depend in some manner on a basic substructure of services, which in bend depends on the being of a higher degree substructure that provides resources and supervising. Since the Declaration of Alma-Ata, attending to wellness systems has waxed and waned. Most late, in the planetary wellness community at that place has been a displacement back towards advancing wellness systems, or horizontal, intercessions. Horizontal intercessions are defined as those that strengthen the primary attention system, better wellness systems service and bringing, and address general non-disease specific jobs such as wellness worker deficits and inadequate skilled birth attenders. However, there are matter-of-fact troubles with recognizing the rhetoric and funding horizontal intercessions. The Global Fund via the Global Health Initiatives aims to beef up wellness systems to cut down the spread and impact of HIV, TB, and malaria and will assist many states fulfill their human rights duties, in peculiar the â€Å" right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest come-at-able criterion of physical and mental wellness. † Under international jurisprudence, provinces are obliged to take stairss â€Å" to the upper limit of [ their ] available resources, † , to increasingly recognize the right to the highest come-at-able criterion of wellness. The Alma Ata declaration ( 1978 ) promoted a comprehensive attack to bettering wellness with a strong accent on constructing wellness systems â€Å" from the underside up † through primary wellness attention. However this vision was challenged by those who argued that to accomplish a mensurable consequence it was necessary to concentrate on a limited figure of cost-efficient intercessions through selective primary wellness attention. The accent on presenting cost-efficient intercessions resulted in an increasing array of selective programmes, frequently being promoted at the same time. Service bringing agreements are sometimes described in footings of perpendicular or horizontal attacks. Vertical attacks use planning, staffing, direction, and financing systems that are separate from other services, whereas horizontal attacks work through bing health-system constructions.VERTICAL VS SYSTEMS APPROACH.However, there are many studies from experience that jobs may originate when several perpendicular, parallel subsystems are created within the broader health-care system. Parallel attacks are likely to ensue in: aˆ? Duplicates: running parallel systems for presenting drugs to wellness installations will increase conveyance costs, and increase the figure of signifiers that wellness workers need to finish to procure their drug supply. aˆ? Distortions: making a separate cell of better paid wellness workers for the specii ¬?c undertakings of a programme may consume staff from other cardinal maps and/or demotivate staff who do non benei ¬?t from higher wage or better conditions. aˆ? Breaks: programmes frequently train wellness workers by taking them off from their occupations for several yearss or hebdomads, go forthing their stations vacant. This preparation tends to be coordinated across programmes, and may ensue in the same worker having several preparation classs in a twelvemonth, with a significant loss of services being delivered. aˆ? Distractions: likewise, the specii ¬?c and uncoordinated coverage demands of givers can take to several signifiers being i ¬?lled by a exclusive wellness worker for the same job, deflecting them from more productive utilizations of their clip. ( United Nations: Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS No. 55, nem con adopted by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS2001. ) In amount, in a barbarous circle, weak wellness systems can restrict the effectivity of enterprises taken ND topographic point indefensible emphasis on already weak systems. This quandary drives a cuneus between wellness systems beef uping attempts and the work of the Global Health Initiatives and limits the capacity of both to accomplish their full potency The Community Systems Strengthening ( CSS ) Framework is a Global Fund enterprise which was finalized in May 2010. A bill of exchange CSS Framework was tabled at a workshop held 24-25 March 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa.South AFRICAN RESPONSEThe HIV & A ; AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South Africa 2012-2016 flows from the National Strategic Plan of 2007-2011 every bit good as the Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management, and Treatment. It represents the state ‘s multisectoral response to the challenge with HIV infection and the wide-ranging impacts of AIDS. The NSP 2012-2016 was developed through an intensive and inclusive procedure of drafting, aggregation and bite of inputs from a broad scope of stakeholders ; through electronic mails, workshops, and meetings. SANAC had chance to interrogate the bill of exchanges on three occasions. The national multisectoral response to HIV and AIDS is managed by different constructions at all degrees. States, local governments, the private sector and a scope of CBOs are the chief implementing bureaus. Each authorities section has a focal individual and squad responsible for planning, budgeting, execution and monitoring HIV and AIDS intercessions. In this program, communities are targeted to take more duty and to play a more meaningful function. The NSP is based upon a set of cardinal Guiding Principles: ‘Supportive Leadership ‘ ‘Effective Communication ‘ ‘Effective Partnerships ‘ ‘Promoting societal alteration and coherence ‘ ‘Sustainable programmes and funding ‘ The intercessions that are needed to make the NSP ‘s ends are structured under four key precedence countries: Prevention ; Treatment, attention and support ; Human and legal rights ; and Monitoring, research and surveillance. Key Priority Area 1: Prevention Reduce by 50 % the rate of new HIV infections by 2011. The purpose is to guarantee that the big bulk of South Africans who are HIV negative remain HIV negative Key Priority Area 2: Treatment, Care, and Support Reduce HIV and AIDS morbidity and mortality every bit good as its socioeconomic impacts by supplying appropriate bundles of intervention, attention and support to 80 % of HIV positive people and their households by 2011. Mitigate the impacts of HIV and AIDS and make an enabling societal environment for attention, intervention and support Strengthen the execution of OVC policy and programmes Expand and implement CHBC as portion of EPWP Strengthen the execution of policies and services for older people affected by HIV and AIDS Mainstream the proviso of appropriate attention and support services to HIV positive people with disablements and their households Key Priority Area 3: Research, Monitoring, and Surveillance The NSP 2207-2011 recognises monitoring and rating ( M & A ; E ) as an of import policy and direction tool. Key Priority Area 4: Human and Legal Rights Stigma and favoritism continue to show challenges in the direction of HIV and AIDS. This precedence country seeks to mainstream these in order to guarantee witting execution programmes to turn to them.RESPONSE WITHIN THE SAMHSUNAIDS ( 2003 ) reported that uniformed services, including peacekeepers, often rank among the population groups most affected by sexually transmitted infections ( STIs ) , including HIV. Military forces are two to-five times more likely to contract STIs than the civilian population and, during struggle, this factor can increase significantly. A military analyst with South Africa ‘s Institute of Strategic Studies has warned that, unless the spread of AIDS among ground forcess from high-prevalent states is stopped shortly, it is possible that many of these states will be unable to take part in future peacekeeping operations. This would stand for a serious blow since soldiers from states, with, or nearing, high-HIV prevalence rates ( above 5 % ) make up 37 % of all UN peacekeepers. UNAIDSSTRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE SA MILITARY HEALTH SERVICE – Contribution TO GOVERNMENT PRIORITIES 2011-2014Government Priority Outcome 2. The SAMHS nucleus concern is directed to lend to the Government Priority Outcome 2, A Long and Healthy Life for all South Africans. The SAMHS is an active participant in the National Human Development Cluster and the Programme of Action of the bunch is straight linked to the following cardinal end products as identified and formulated by the bunch: aˆ? Increased life anticipation at birth. aˆ? Reduced kid mortality. aˆ? Decreased maternal mortality ratio. aˆ? Pull offing HIV prevalence. aˆ? Reduced HIV incidence. aˆ? Expanded Prevention of Maternal to Child Transmission programme. aˆ? Improved TB instance Findings. aˆ? Improved TB results. aˆ? Improved entree to antiretroviral intervention for HIV-TB co-infected patients. Decreased prevalence of MDR-TB. aˆ? Revitalisation of primary wellness attention. aˆ? Improved physical substructure for wellness attention bringing. aˆ? Improved patient attention and satisfaction. aˆ? Accreditation of wellness installations for quality. Enhanced operational direction of wellness installations and improved entree to human resources support. aˆ? Improved wellness attention funding and wellness information systems, improved wellness services for the young person and expanded entree to place based attention and community wellness workers. The undermentioned five cardinal end products that constitute the footing of the Health Sector ‘s Negotiated Service Delivery Agreement ( NSDA ) for 2010-2014 are required from the SAMHS: aˆ? Health Promotion And Prevention Directed To Healthy Life Styles. aˆ? Increasing life anticipation. aˆ? Reducing maternal and child mortality rates. aˆ? Combating HIV and AIDS and diminishing the load of diseases from TB and aˆ? Strengthening wellness system effectivity. The SAMHS has 6 major formations that deal with the operation of the SAMHS as a whole. Of specific mention to this treatment is the Area Military Health Formation, and the Tertiary Military Health Formation that trades specifically with the comprehensive direction of DoD patients. The Area Formation is the Formation through which Primary Health Care is delivered to all SANDF members and their dependents through assorted Military Medical Clinics, Polyclinics and Base Hospitals. Within the Department of Defence ( DoD ) the South African Military Health Services, the Surgeon General manages the HIV Programme since 1991 through a multi-disciplinary attack. The construction of the SA Military Health Service makes proviso for assorted degrees of direction, and the HIV Management Structure mirrors these degrees. The first degree of the HIV Management Structure allows for audience to the Surgeon General and the remainder of the DOD, policy preparation, monitoring and coordination of the HIV ProgrammeThe 2nd degree of the HIV Management Structure allows for execution of the HIV programme throughout the DOD. â€Å" Regional † HIV/AIDS Committees. â€Å" Nodal Points † or regional HIV programme directors appointed in the states, military infirmaries, the Institute of Military Medicine, Aerospace Medicine and the Institute of Maritime Medicine. HIV Workplace Programme Managers, appointed in every unit/workplace in the DOD. HIV Master trainers and other forces involved in the HIV Training Programme of the DOD. The HIV/AIDS Coordinating Committee is responsible for guaranting execution and coordination of the HIV programme and supervising the executing of the HIV programme. As such the commission is end product driven with respect to the direction of the entire HIV Programme. The HIV Programme Manager acts as president of the commission. This Committee every bit good as the SG are guided by the National Strategic Plan and the Treatment Guidelines as developed by the DoH. As is seeable there is n't a Directorate for Diabetes or Cardiac Care or Director Hypertension and Stroke Management. So within the SAMHS as good energies and attempts have been mobilized in an exceeding attempt to turn to HIV/AIDS, as was demonstrated by the monolithic PHIDISA Project.ChallengeThe systemic challenge of human resources peculiarly in the wellness sector, attenuates the expected benefits of these committednesss. The proviso of wellness services is labour intensive and a scope of both clinical and direction accomplishments are required to present quality wellness services in an low-cost and just mode. There is presently an instability in the distribution of wellness professionals between the populace and the private wellness attention sectors, with the bulk of physicians, druggists, and tooth doctors in peculiar placed in the private sector. In add-on, the migration of wellness professionals to developed states has contributed to the job of recruiting and retaining wellness professionals in the public wellness sector. The most destitute countries such as informal colonies and rural countries are disproportionately affected by deficits in human resources..WAY FORWARDControling the harrying effects of HIV/AIDS should non happen at the cost of pull offing other non-communicable chronic conditions that can be merely as lay waste toing. In order to guarantee that the badness of the HIV pandemic is met with the response that it deserves and to supply a comprehensive medical service the SAMHS has to accommodate to the undermentioned guidelines:Adopting theoretical accounts of attention with per se high scalability. The huge bulk of African states use the western referral theoretical account of attention with big Numberss of specialised wellness workers, mostly indefensible for pull offing HIV and AIDS and timeserving infections.Rigid staff definitions hinder occupation sharing and cross-training. In add-on, HIV and AIDS intervention runs the hazard of going a perpendicular programme, focused on a limited set of proficient intercessions offered without mention to people ‘s societal environment and insufficiently integrated with other wellness attention proviso. The world is that people populating with HIV and AIDS live and work in communities non in wellness installations. The challenge is therefore to keep big Numberss of people populating with HIV and AIDS in their communities and prolong them on long-run therapy with high conformity and attachment. Urgently needed are large-scale incorporate public wellness theoretical accounts for turn toing antiretroviral therapy and other signifiers of HIV and AIDS attention and intervention at the primary attention and community degrees. 2. Redefining professional functions Developing and polishing public wellness theoretical accounts for HIV/AIDS intervention and attention will affect extended appraisals, stakeholder treatments and pilot trials. Among the likely issues: redefining and devolving functions and strategies of service and reexamining professional licensure and accreditation demands for wellness staff at all degrees. Pilot undertakings show that some undertakings related to antiretroviral therapy, such as everyday follow ups and reding, can be carried out by lay community workers, trained and supported by referral systems. Technology offers many exciting possibilities for leveraging rare accomplishments and expertness over big Numberss of midlevel and alternate wellness suppliers, possibilities to be investigated. Mobile wellness services need to be refined, adapted and used to widen antiretroviral therapy into widely dispersed communities. Any attack ( or set of attacks ) will profit from leading, sound feasibleness surveies and policy or regulative counsel. 3. Increasing skilled human resources for wellness. Most national or local wellness services are inadequately staffed to supply HIV/AIDS intervention and attention and serve people with other demands. The Joint Learning Initiative on human resources for wellness estimated that Africa needs one million extra wellness professionals in order to run into the WHO ‘s minimal staffing for wellness attention proviso ( Joint Learning Initiative 2004 ) . Health Care Providers themselves are acquiring sick at high rates, adding to losingss of forces who move to the private sector or other states. Health reforms adopted in many states in the 1990s demand to be reviewed in the visible radiation of current and future staff demands, including footings of service. Organizations stand foring wellness workers and authoritiess need to maintain forces in topographic point and better their motive, working environments and inducements. Plan implementers must besides undertake the reluctance of many wellness workers to work in rural locations. 4 Training wellness attention professionals. Training for wellness suppliers to present antiretroviral therapy and relevant supportive, logistical and monitoring services remains limited. A Kenyan survey shows that merely 30 % of physicians ordering antiretroviral drugs had received preparation in administrating and supervising antiretroviral therapy ( Livesley and Morris 2004 ) . There is a clear demand to develop rapid developing methods in order to spread out services across all cells involved in antiretroviral therapy. 5 Meeting the costs of intervention and attention. For scaling-up to be successful, the monetary value of antiretroviral therapy and other indispensable drugs for the direction of chronic conditions and related intercessions needs to come down to a degree that African authoritiess can budget for sustainably. Budgeting for antiretroviral therapy requires a vision and committedness to prolong support for at least five decennaries and possibly longer. Once started, antiretroviral therapy and medicine for lasting chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, must be provided for the patient ‘s life-time. The sustainability of support for HIV/AIDS enterprises raises legion political and ethical issues that can be resolved merely with committed leading. 6 Developing a patient attention substructure. Health forces need substructure to back up their proficient and interpersonal accomplishments. Functioning research lab and proving installations must be available if antiretroviral therapy programmes are to win. 7 Increasing patient followup to increase attachment. Patients must take their chronic medicine which includes antiretroviral drugs on a regular basis. If random breaks occur specifically with ARVs, the virus is likely to mutate into drug-resistant strains. The deficiency of attachment to intervention is non a new job. For illustration, the outgrowth of multidrug-resistant TB is related to the deficiency of attachment to intervention and inappropriate drugs. Many womb-to-tomb diseases like IHV are complex and time-demanding and T is complicates adherence. Close patient followup additions attachment, but this is a challenge in resource-constrained African scenes. 8.Sustaining drug supplies: . A discontinuance in drug supply increases the hazard of failed intervention, detrimental non merely to the patient but besides easing drug-resistant strains. Periodic drug deficits are non uncommon in Africa At the national degree the challenge is to construct strong drug procurance and distribution systems, avoiding supply breaks and leaks and guaranting drug quality. At the undertaking degree, logistics are important, guaranting safe drug storage and distribution. 9. There is besides an increasing demand for a strategic, co-ordinated attack to the epidemic and for the integrating of HIV/AIDS into the primary wellness attention system. 10. Recommendations for South Africa by the Global Health Initiatives Fund, which can be implemented in the SAMHS include: â€Å" Ensure cosmopolitan entree to basic wellness attention, giving absolute precedence to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the population ( kids and adult females ) -with specific mention it includes the married womans and kids of soldiers who live in rural otherwise unaccessible countries. Reinforce whole wellness systems, alternatively of establishing schemes on perpendicular plans ; Strengthen substructures, organisation and control of plans, purchase and distribution of indispensable medical specialties ( including antiretroviral drugs for the intervention of AIDS ) ; And, above all, invest in human resources within the public wellness sector through preparation, motive, appropriate and merely wage of wellness forces that will assist barricade the drain of staff to the private sector and abroad. † Decision The vision which fuelled our battle for freedom ; the deployment of energies and resources ; the integrity and committedness to common ends – all these are needed if we are to convey AIDS under control. ( Mandela, Davos 1997 ) Right now nevertheless, since the handiness of ARVs, we have turned the tide on HIV/AIDS being the decease sentence that it began as, but we turned our dorsums on the other menaces that are harrying the wellness of our soldiersaˆÂ ¦

Reasons For Choosing Corporate Human Resources

The grounds for taking Corporate HR – NCC are because NCC is the Norfolk local authorization where a broad scope of information and cognition is transmitted and managed every twenty-four hours. In add-on, Corporate HR is a squad that supports the bringing of Council services by pull offing, back uping and developing NCC ‘s employees. Therefore, it is convenient to happen out how people interact and learn from each other. Furthermore, the fact that Corporate HR – NCC are willing assistants facilitated the execution of survey in this administration. The visit to NCC was carried out on Thursday, 4 March 2010.Scope of Study ( what will you analyze, what will you cover and non cover )Since NCC is a big administration with different sections responsible for a assortment of services, it is impossible to detect and cover all activities of it. As a effect, this study simply concentrates on the cognition direction patterns within one unit of NCC – Corporate HR. The c ountries of cognition direction in NCC studied in this paper are knowledge types, acquisition degrees, cognition making and sharing, and cognition storing.Methodology of Study ( how you studied it and why )Methodologies used in this survey are detecting how Corporate HR Team communicate and learn from each other in their workplace, questioning an HR officer of Placements – Ms. Sarah Holloway and utilizing secondary informations from NCC web site and the available literature on cognition direction. After analyzing all collected primary and secondary informations, findings and recommendations are presented.Literature ReviewDefinition of KnowledgeKnowledge has become a concern of doctrine since the ancient Greek. However, there remains a deficiency of consensus about the nature of cognition. Harmonizing to traditional epistemic Western philosophers, cognition was described as ‘justified true belief ‘ whose indispensable property is truthfulness ( Alexander et al. , 1 991 ; Nonaka & A ; Takeuchi, 1995, p.21 ) . However, this position appears to be obscure and headlong since things people believe to be true may non be true cognition. Furthermore, it is difficult to warrant cognition claims because no 1 can gauge accurately how much grounds is sufficient to vouch the truth of a cognition claim ( Firestone & A ; McElroy, 2003 ) . Another school of idea defined cognition by separating it from information, and informations. ‘Data is a set of distinct, nonsubjective facts about events ‘ ( Davenport & A ; Prusak, 2000 ) . Information is meaningful informations that have been processed and organised to accomplish a peculiar intent ( Davis & A ; Botkin, 1994 ; Firestone & A ; McElroy, 2003 ) . Knowledge, likewise, is an collection of organizational information and expertness ( Firestone & A ; McElroy, 2003 ) ; accordingly, it can be stored, manipulated and applied ( Zack, 1999 ) . Again, this apprehension could non comprehensively explicate the significance of ‘knowledge ‘ as cognition and information do non chiefly differ in the content, construction or truth but in the location. As stated by Alavi & A ; Leidner ( 2001, p.109 ) , ‘knowledge is information possessed in the head of persons: it is personalized information ‘ . Furthermore, cognition is broader and deeper than inform ation ; it is besides created due to the impacts of external stimulations. As a consequence, towards a clearer working definition of cognition, this paper agrees that: Knowledge is a unstable mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a model for measuring and integrating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the heads of apprehenders. In administrations it frequently becomes embedded non merely in paperss or depositories but besides in organizational modus operandis, procedures, patterns, and norms. ( Davenport & A ; Prusak, 2000, p.5 )Knowledge Types and Oganisational Knowledge CreationDifferent attacks result in assorted categorization of cognition. Harmonizing to Garud ( 1997 ) , there are three types of cognition, consisting of know-what, know-how and know-why. Know-what refers to minimal apprehension of the facts such as cognition of targeted clients of a merchandise ( Neef et al. , 1998 ) . Such sort of cognition is generated by a procedure of ‘learning by utilizing ‘ , largely through interaction between manufacturers and users, Sellerss and clients. Know-how relates to accomplishments and accrued practical experience ; it is the consequence of ‘learning by making ‘ procedure and exists in persons, organizational modus operandis and fabrication patterns ( Garud, 1997 ) . Know-why, on the other manus, involves ‘scientific cognition of rules and Torahs of gesture in nature, in the human head, and in society ‘ ( Neef et al. , 1998, p.116 ) . It is deep cognition found in persons and acquired through ‘learning by analyzing ‘ . Polanyi ( 1967 ) and Nonaka & A ; Takeuchi ( 1995 ) , in contrast, argued that there are fundamentally two types of cognition: explicit and tacit. Explicit or codified cognition refers to knowledge that is easy to pass on, transportation and express in text signifier ( Ahmed et al. , 2002 ) . Tacit cognition, on the other manus, is embedded in human head through practical accomplishments and experiences, hence, is hard to be articulated. It is considered work-related know-how that is merely transferred among people through a long procedure of apprenticeship ( Polanyi, 1967 ) . Nonaka ( 1994, 1995 ) argued that cognition in an administration is created by persons through the interaction of tacit and expressed cognition in four transition procedures, get downing from socialization ( tacit/tacit ) , externalization ( tacit/explicit ) , combination ( explicit/explicit ) to internalization ( explicit/tacit ) . However, as argued by Gourlay ( 2006 ) , this position seemed to be flimsy since the categorization ignored the fact that cognition, in some instances, may non be wholly silent. In other words, whether there is such thing as silent cognition or merely cognition which is silent. Furthermore, the mechanism does non reflect how new ideals are created or how deepness of understanding develops. It is ill-defined why cognition transition has to get down with socialization instead than others ( Gourlay, 2006 ) and besides diffident whether silent cognition is wholly and accurately transmitted from a individual to another by merely observation, repeat and pattern s. Hence, it is said to be barely a representation of cognition creative activity.Degrees of LearningAs argued by Argyris & A ; Schon, there exist two degrees of acquisition in the administration: single-loop acquisition and double-loop acquisition. Single-loop acquisition is lower degree of larning which concentrates on problem-solving, chiefly detects and corrects mistake, and as a effect, consequences in incremental betterments. Double-loop acquisition is the higher degree one which emphasises on uninterrupted self-reflection and scrutiny of ways the administration defines and solves jobs ( Ahmed et al. , 2002 ) . Consequently, it frequently leads to transformative betterments which are critical to the success of the administration, particularly during times of rapid alteration.Knowledge CodificationKnowledge codification, as defined by Cowan & A ; Foray ( 1997 ) , is ‘the procedure of transition of cognition into messages which can so be processed as information ‘ . In the epoch of cognition economic system, as cognition residing in the human heads can greatly lend to the sustainability and development of administrations, the codification of cognition, viz. the transition of silent cognition to explicit cognition in a functional signifier, is truly indispensable.Knowledge ManagementKnowledge direction as presented by Huczynski & A ; Buchanan ( 2007 ) is the transition of single tacit cognition into expressed cognition in order to be shared among people in the administration. It is the procedure of identifying, pull outing and capturing the cognition assets of the house so that they can be to the full exploited and protected as a beginning of competitory advantage. In order to better the productiveness of cognition direction, it is necessary for the administration to use information engineering to increase the single and group ability of cognition creative activity and storage every bit good as to beef up the linkages among persons and between g roups ( Alavi & A ; Leidner, 2001 ) .Knowledge Management in Corporate HR – NCCA Typical Day at Corporate HR – NCCCorporate HR are responsible for all kinds of HR issues, embracing HR scheme and Policy, Learning and Development, Health & A ; Safety and the Employee Services Centre. Their purpose is to back up the bringing of Council services by pull offing, back uping and developing the people who work for NCC. A normal twenty-four hours at Corporate HR begins at around 8.00 am when people come to the office and look into all latest electronic mails they received. They answer the electronic mails and if there is any affair that they do non cognize, they email or ask their co-workers for information or their ain HR senior director for advice. Besides, they check assignments in their computing machines, answer the phones, talk to each other about work and how to cover with the undertakings. They besides complete their ain electronic flexitime sheet with the clip when they start working and go forthing. The employees here are encouraged to self pull off their working hours. However, they must non be absent from work during nucleus clip – between 10.00 am and 4.00 autopsy and must work for at least 37 hours a hebdomad. In add-on, HR staff have to go to the scheduled meetings with the whole Corporate HR squad or with people involved in their ain undertakings, or with the directors to info rm about the undertaking processs and advancement, other facets of work and show their feelings at work. During my visit, there was a meeting between HR officer, Corporate HR between Ms. Glenda Bennett – Corporate HR Manager, Ms. Jane Hanrahan – HR and Organisational Development Manager of Learning – Adult Social Services Department and Ms. Sarah Holloway, HR Officer of Placements about Apprenticeships at 10.00 am. After the meeting, Ms. Holloway came back and wrote carefully in her computing machine what she took note while other people continued working at their desk until 4.00 to 4.30 autopsy.Knowledge Types and cognition CreationAfter one-day detecting how employees work and interact with each other, I recognise that cognition transmitted in Corporate HR is the combination of both expressed and silent cognition. It is clearly illustrated when the HR staff and her senior director discussed how to reply a inquiry she received via electronic mail, when the staf f showed an learner how to utilize a photocopier and asked her to show utilizing the photocopier to her, and particularly through the meeting between Ms. Holloway and other two directors about Apprenticeships undertaking. In the meeting, the tacit cognition was externalised into expressed cognition when Ms. Hanrahan explained the content of the Apprenticeships undertaking to Ms. Bennett and Ms. Holloway. Then, the combination procedure occured when Ms. Hanrahan gave them a cusp incorporating some activities of Apprenticeships programme and when Ms. Holloway wrote down the information and apprehension about the undertaking in her notebook. After that, the explicit cognition once more was converted into silent cognition as Ms. Bennett and Ms. Holloway repeated some contents of the undertaking Ms. Hanrahan has merely said to guarantee they understood right and exhaustively. From the world of Corporate HR, it could be said that Nonaka ( 1994 ) was right when asseverating the duologue be tween tacit and expressed cognition is uninterrupted and dynamic. Nevertheless, in this instance, the cognition making procedure did non purely follow the theoretical account of Nonaka since cognition is produced from the externalization procedure non stiffly from the socialization. This, once more, has strengthened the aforesaid unfavorable judgment of Gourlay ( 2006 ) toward the theoretical account of Nonaka and Takeuchi. Besides silent and expressed, cognition in Corporate HR besides includes know-what, know-how and know-why. Know-what and know-why are generated largely through different preparation classs designed by Corporate HR. For illustration, Corporate HR have cooperated with member co-workers such as UEA and City Colleges in Norwich to supply HR practicians with necessary HR formal makings – CPP ( Certificate in Personnel Practice – degree 3 ) and CIPD ( Postgraduate Certificate in Personnel and Development – degree 7 ) . Additionally, they have developed Learning Hub, a website offering e-courses such as informations protection and client services, and organised seminars and conferences sing some peculiar subjects to assist any NCC staff to better cognition at work. Know-how, conversely, is acquired through ‘learning by making ‘ . Namely, when an employee of a section has grudge and it can non be sorted out by his ain HR section, it will be passed to Corporat e HR to work out. After settling the grudge, HR staff will enter it as ‘a instance jurisprudence ‘ for them to work out similar jobs if go oning.Knowledge SharingPeoples in Corporate HR use legion ways to interact with each other and with other sections, from face-to-face treatments and meetings, electronic mail, telephone, facsimile to formal authorship. However, the most widely used manner is to portion knowledge electronically via PeopleNet. PeopleNet is an intranet site designed, updated and monitored on a regular basis to supply clear, concise HR information and cognition to all NCC staff. This site holds all HR related information from processs, policies to signifiers and often asked inquiries so that employees can happen the replies for their inquiries as a first point of contact. Furthermore, Corporate HR besides tailored an electronical newssheet called HR Matters. It is produced monthly and emailed to HR community to inform them about impending statute law, ass orted undertaking updates and messages from the Head of Human Resource & A ; Organisational Development. With other organisations and public, the squad chiefly interacts by utilizing electronic mail, telephone, meetings and presentation, seting information on the Press or Website ( extranet ) for enrolling or set uping work experience.Information and Knowledge StoringAll information and codified cognition of HR are stored in three systems – electronic filing system, paper filing system including papers booklets, books and transcripts, etc. and Outlook Calendar incorporating information of meetings, seminars and conferences. Storing information and cognition is really indispensable for any HR staff to recover if necessary and do it go their cognition indispensable at work.Knowledge LearningBased on the interview with Ms. Holloway, I found that most of larning activities in Corporate HR is merely single-loop acquisition. It is because Corporate HR is merely a unit within NCC. M ost of work and undertakings they handle are given by Senior Management in NCC or come from the authorities. Cardinal authorities develops enterprises and as a portion of local authorization, Corporate HR has duty to develop the enterprises that are relevant to them such as Apprenticeships. During the execution procedure of undertakings, if HR staff gain some arising jobs, they will speak to their directors about that. The directors can propose a solution or organize a squad meeting to discourse. Other members, so, will lend their sentiments and recommendations to work out the jobs or develop and hone thoughts of the undertaking. Furthermore, the acquisition activities, different from the theory of Agyris, are still ongoing even when there are no errors and no alterations made to the undertakings. As Ms. Holloway said, the employees continue lending their thoughts and sharing them to other squad members in order to better the quality of the undertakings even when the undertakings ar e in advancement. This reveals a spread in the theoretical account of Argyris and recommends that larning is a dynamic procedure and should be defined in footings of procedure itself.Summary and ConclusionDrumheadThis paper is about how Corporate HR – NCC pull off their cognition. The chief literature reappraisal chiefly refers to knowledge types, cognition creative activity, degrees of acquisition, cognition codification, and knowledge direction. The objects of observation and interview mostly concentrate on the nature of cognition shared, how cognition is created, managed and transmitted and the information system that supports it, how HR staff interact and learn from each other, and how they store information and cognition. Weaknesses in the organizational cognition creative activity theory of Nonaka and Takeuchi every bit good as in larning theoretical account of Argyris and Schon are pointed out and proved by the operations of Corporate HR.DecisionDue to the clip bound o n observation and interview, all aspects of cognition direction in Corporate HR – NCC could non be wholly discovered and discussed within the range of this paper. Given the fact that the NCC is a big administration with different sections, farther survey could concentrates on happening out more inside informations of cognition making and sharing procedure ; NCC ‘s norms, values, and modus operandis which are affected by the cognition direction as Davenport & A ; Prusak ( 1998 ) suggested about administration cognition ; every bit good as the larning procedure of the Corporate HR in peculiar and the NCC in general.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Telecommunication

Communicating with patients The New Medicine Service (and MURs) provides a formal opportunity for pharmacists to communicate with patients on a one-to-one basis about their medicines and underlying medical condition(s). The NMS permits the interventions to be done either as a face-to-face appointment or via telephone. Careful consideration must be given as to which of these communication methods is adopted by the pharmacy as each method brings its own advantages and disadvantages. Although face-to-face communication would be the preferred method of conducting an intervention, it is likely that elephone interventions will be used by most pharmacies at some stage. This brief guide will help you and your staff communicate more effectively when using the telephone as part of the NMS. The words we use make up less than 10% of the way we communicate in a face-toface situation, with the way we say these words (paralinguistics) and body language making up the remaining percentage. When you a re dealing with someone over the telephone you cannot see them, which deprives you of most of the information you would normally have about the other person (body language, eye contact etc). Related article: Disadvantages of Aquatic PlantsYou can base your judgements only on the words you can hear and the way they are being said, which can sometimes present challenges. Advantages and disadvantages Some of the advantages and disadvantages of telephone communication are: Telephone communication Advantages of communicating by telephone: †¢ ofteneasiertoreachsomeonebyphone than by trying to arrange to see them in person; more convenient for patients †¢ morelikelytosucceedincontacting someone – especially if a time / date has been agreed (few people are able to ignore the telephone and leave it ringing) telephoneconversationsare,onaverage, shorter than face-to-face conversations as it’s easier to control the conversation and take the initiative. Disadvantages of communicating by telephone: †¢ it’smoredifficulttoestablisharapporton the telephone, as you don’t have all the visual signals that help you to get on the â€Å"same waveleng th† as the other person †¢ whenphoningsomeoneit’spossibleto intrude at an inconvenient time and not realise it †¢ it’seasytoassumethatyouhavetheother person’s undivided attention †¢ youaremorelikelytogetdistractedand let your attention wander itismoredifficulttoavoid misunderstandings – you cannot use visual behaviour to get feedback on whether your message has been understood or if there are things left unsaid †¢ somethingsareimpossibletocheckover the telephone such as inhaler techniques †¢ youaremorelikelytobelieveyoucando other things at the same time as using the telephone – DON’T! Voice matching Thefirstthreesecondsofaphonecall are important, as this is when the other person makes a judgement about the caller. When making an outgoing call listen to the pitch, speed, volume and tone of the other erson’svoicewhentheyfirstspeakandtry to â€Å"match† it. Matching is a good way of building rapport , which can otherwise be difficultoverthetelephone,andmakesthe other person feel more comfortable. Tips for effective telephone interventions Opening the conversation NMS intervention Introduce yourself clearly and ask to speak to the patient using their preferred title / name. Check it’s still convenient to speak to the patient. If the patient is concerned about disclosing sensitive personal information over the telephone and cannot besatisfiedthatthecallerisringingfrom he pharmacy he / she may contact the pharmacy directly instead. Explain in a clear, simple manner the purpose of the call – check the patient understands the nature of the NMS and the reasons for the discussion. Youshouldalsoconfirmconsentatthis stage. Inform the patient you will be asking a series of questions about their new medicines and that you will be making notes as you go along. Listen to the patient’s responses as you work though the questions – resist the temptation to interrupt . Demonstrate you are listening by making noises such as â€Å"um†, â€Å"yes†, and â€Å"really†.Use assertive behaviour to stay in control of the call – use open / closed questions as appropriate (open questions invite detailed answers whereas closed questions invite single word answers). Body language Body language, even though it can’t be seen, can affect our voice when on the telephone. Therefore, think about your posture whilst on the phone. If you are comfortable and relaxed your voice is likely to reflect this. Remember to smile – even though it can’t be seen it will be â€Å"heard† and you will sound friendly and assertive. If you are standing up whilst n the telephone this can also make you sound more assertive, and it is another way of ending a telephone call if you stand up during a conversation. Using a closed question for example is often helpful in stopping an enthusiastic patient digressing from appropriate line s of questioning. Do not rush through the call. Talk at the patient’s pace and pause after providing advice or offering solutions to a problem to allow the patient to air their views about this. Finally agree the time / date for any followup intervention. Remember to give the call your undivided attention!

Diversity in the workplace Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diversity in the workplace - Term Paper Example Helping understand the concept of diversity, let us take the example of a family system. An entire family consists of individual persons- for example, obviously different sexes, different groups of age, belief systems being different too, bringing up of these individuals and having different values etc. Now why an entire family is like it is. The answer to this question is that there is a want and need to learn about each other and be a part of each other’s lives. Without this, the family system would not be present, like it is today. Usually, the Human Resource Department plays an important part in diversity planning and leadership to build and empower an organizational custom that promotes a respectful, inclusive, knowledge-based atmosphere where each employee has the opportunity to learn, nurture and meaningfully add value to the organizations achievement. Many multinational corporations and big firms have found it a need of the hour that diversity is essential for any business’s success. It helps in retaining employees that are efficient and hard working, lowering the costs by having in-house skills developers, and having a goodwill that is there for the overall betterment of the company. Talking about multinational companies, let us take the example of Coca Cola. Initially Coke has its headquarters at Atlanta, but its business is all over the world and more than fifty percent of the revenue comes from outside the USA. The only reason for doing so is that, Coke believes in diverse workforce and wherever it has gone, it has looked after its employees. They give the locals, key positions in the firm, and listen to what ideas they provide. Obviously, locals are residing there, and they know the market there well. Now if Coke, used the same technique and strategy to sell its products say in India, as it did in the US, straight away failure would be there.

The Second Industrial Revolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Second Industrial Revolution - Assignment Example Because the First World War came immediately after the Second Industrial Revolution, no one really understood the effect that mass production could have on warfare. The result was that developments of mass production, such as an unlimited supply of bullets, machine guns and semiautomatic weapons which were machined to exact standards through assembly lines, allowed a single soldier to kill countless more than ever previously in history. The Second Industrial Revolution, by making the production of all human devices, including weapons, more efficient, allowed governments in war to kill each other on an unprecedented scale. The Revolution also had economic downsides. It allowed economic ‘bubbles’ to build up on scaled previously unseen, the bursting of which had a part to play in the great depression. Furthermore, the mechanization of production tasks meant that a lot of things that used to need several people to accomplish could now be done by one, leading to unemployment . The solution to this, brought around in part by Roosevelt’s New Deal, was a shift of the workforce from production to services, leading to a better quality of life overall. The Second Industrial Revolution was just as influential as the first, but in very different ways. And also like the First Industrial Revolution, the progress it brought on came with significant costs.

Importance Role of Cooperation in Achievement of Goals Essay

Importance Role of Cooperation in Achievement of Goals - Essay Example Graduating from school with satisfactory grades was one of the most important goals I have achieved that exemplifies the importance of cooperation. I always registered poor grades prior to my final examination. Thus, I realized that I had to take action in order to achieve decent grades in my final examination. Coincidentally, three of my classmates realized the need to improve their grades and we eventually became a team when doing our revision in order to achieve our individual goals. In this regard, we came up with a program that would help us come together to revise and teach each other what we independently knew. In addition, we could help each other improve essays that we wrote in class in order to make them better. Furthermore, we could ask for teachers on tips that we could use for effective group work, in different subjects, in order to achieve that common goal that we so desired. Eventually, we became better each passing day and our grades ultimately improved through cooper ating with each other in revision. In order to achieve our individual goals, we had to cooperate and learn a lesson from small creatures like wasps, ants, bees, and other similar creatures. These diminutive creatures epitomize the importance of cooperation, which is a lesson we can learn as human beings. In this regard, these tiny creatures teach us the fundamental aspect of unity for a common goal. Therefore, we had to unite in order to achieve the common goal of improving our grades towards the final examination.

Organization of the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization of the Future - Essay Example the liberty to do what they want with the business and this means whether the business will make profits or not the owner has full control over all the possible outcomes (Goldsmith, 2009). A sole proprietor cannot be fired by anybody because he owns the business thus he can do his job at his own speed. In this form of business, owner can decide to give any name that he or she wants to and this also means that the owner can call his business by his name or just come up with a fictitious name without being asked for any explanation. This is the most famous legal forms of commerce due to the fact that it has the ease of setup, nominal cost and its wide simplicity (Mole, 2003). When it comes to legalizing a sole proprietorship business, one only needs to register his or her name and get legal licenses of the business and there it is ready to start operating. One of the only disadvantages of the sole proprietorship is that the business owner remains responsible for any losses that the business undertakes and this means that if the business goes through a financial crisis then creditors are allowed to come and bring lawsuits against the business owner. When such suits take place successfully then a sole proprietor is forced to pay the debts with his or her own pocket money and this is where the pain of the money lost is greatly felt (Witte, 2000). Another benefit of a sole proprietorship business is that while business checks are written by creditors, they are printed with the name of the business owner or with the fictitious names that the business bares and this means that a sole owner can bring lawsuits against another company that bears its business name. Many businesses in the modern world begin as a sole proprietorship then along the way depending on its rate of growth it graduates to more complex forms and this also benefits the owner in a huge way (Ostroff, 1999). Competitors of Cosmos Cuisine are big restaurants and hotels in town such as Jazz restaurant

Global climate change is responsible for the increasing frequency of Essay

Global climate change is responsible for the increasing frequency of severe weather - Essay Example The message from top climate scientists who gathered in Japan is louder than ever. In a statement issued by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Patricia Lankao warns of the dangers of thinking that the climate changes in the polar region is a danger just to polar bears in a far land. According to the scientists, climate change effects are nearer that imagined. It is now beyond melting ice, endangered animals and plants, it has escalated to more real issues such as droughts, hunger, diseases, and refugees (Borenstein par 5). The report further states that the present situation as observed by scientist is due to the increase in heat waves across continents such as Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. This increase has led to severity of damaging floods like the one experienced in Mozambique that displaced 90,000 people in 2008. Such floods have increased in Africa and Australia much as there is an increase in down pour felt in Europe and North America. Changes in the climate have also impacted on the change in livelihoods of people living in Northern Canada (Borenstein par. 7). According to Chuck (par. 2), the livelihoods of the Inuit (Indigenous people living in the Artic circle) are changing. For example solid ice that used to serve as a road for the hunters have become unpredictable in recent years as it has melted into water. Now they have to use their dogs to pull boats into the water instead of sledging through the ice as before. As explained by Box who has been studying the Arctic in the last 20 years, the amount of ice discharged into the ocean has double in the past 10 years. This melt down is not just experienced in the arctic region but also in other areas such as the Alps, Himalaya and Peru. The burning of gas, oil, and coal releases heat trapping green house gases such as carbon dioxide, leading to warmer

Doing research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Doing - Research Paper Example A personal assessment of my skills and knowledge shows that even though I possess some level of competence to get the idea through, there remains a major aspect of my study that needs to be improved. This is because the need to go about this research and complete it according to the required objectives demand an interrelated level of skills and knowledge that are tied around a self empowered motivation to get an issue of concern, investigated to the latter. There will therefore be additional skills in interpersonal relation, communication skills, as well as data collection and handling skills to ensure that the project is carried out to its logical conclusion. I also need to revamp my knowledge in marine safety in general and boat yard safety in specific. Without an overall understanding of marine safety and boat yard safety to be specific, working on this research area will be like treating stomach ache by placing a plaster on the tummy. This is because the core or depth of the problem will not be reached. Most times, people working in the marine area have been identified to have their own peculiarities and depths of issues that affect and undermine their safety, security and general wellbeing. It is only when a researcher has an adequate level of knowledge on these that the best forms of interventions can be identified for them. As part of finding out about boat yard safety, specific aspects of learning such as causes of risk, risk factors, effects of risk, and solutions to marine risks must all be considered. The original idea of the research shall be changed significantly in this new project. It would be noted that the original idea laid emphasis on employee and employer forum. As far as the original ideas are concerned, there is one major deficiency that may hinder its feasibility. This is the absence of prove of

Migration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Migration - Assignment Example In other instances, migration is as a result of marriage. Married couples often migrate to convenient locations where they can live happily together and state a family. The emerging migration trends indicate that migration can be influenced by gender as well as sexuality. Gender has a strong relation to social, economic and political factors that might influence the movement of people from one place to another. Gender and its related subjects are some of the most discussed issues globally. Many news magazines, articles and newspapers feather gender as an emerging issue which has influenced the lives of people in so many ways (Pojmann.2006. pg. 17). Migration is one of the phenomena attributed to gender. Researchers as well as the media have been working to discover the reasons that link gender to the migration of people. This document is a review of an article on gender and migration by the International Organization for Migration. Gender in this case is described as the differences between the women and men. The differences between the male and the female gender places a great role in the social, cultural and economic status of a particular geographical location. This influences the settlement and migration of people. In 1980s, migration highly focused on economy. Male migrants played major roles in the economy while female migrants were viewed as passive followers. However this has chang ed with the change of time and women are currently playing an equal role as that of men when it comes to economic issues. The battle for supremacy is the factor that brings inequality to both genders. Men are the dominant species in the business market, thus women have found it difficult to contribute to an equal share of the economy as they are suppressed by the fact that men have taken all control of the job market. This factor has made women to migrate form one geographical

Naming and Shaming Sex Offenders Essay Example for Free

Naming and Shaming Sex Offenders Essay Define: The social issue naming and shaming sex offenders is the worst sex offenders being named and shamed on a website with their picture, name, address and date of birth on their profile. People can type in the suburb they live in and see what sex offenders live in their area. Argument #1 For: Sex offenders, even more so than other forms of crime, are prone to re-offending upon release from prison. Therefore, to protect society, they should be required to register with a local police station, and their names and addresses should be made available to the public. Police would also supply this information to schools and day cares, who will be consequently far more alert to any risk. Parents would find this information invaluable in ensuring their children’s safety, and it would cut the rate of sexual crime by those freed from prison. In the end, we have to protect our children at any cost. Against: This proposal is an essential violation of the principles of our penal system, which are based on the serving of a set punishment before being freed from prison. This registration inflicts a new punishment for an old crime and will lead to sex offenders to be demonized by their neighbours and community, and possibly be forced to move out of the town they are located in. It will also lead to campaigns and violence, sometimes against innocent people with similar looks and names, such a risk cannot be taken. Argument #2 For: Crimes for sexual offence are among the most repulsive and damaging that exist; they can ruin a person’s life. As the offenders responsible for these crimes cannot be imprisoned forever, and must be released at some point extra caution must be taken to ensure they pose no threat to the public. Against: The suggestions of this website are clouding the options. Physiological evaluations can define accurately whether an offender is still danger to society or not. If an offender is still a danger to society then they should not be released from prison, if they are not a danger any more then they should be released and be able to live a happy and normal life. Studies have shown that treatment is quite effective to help reduce the rate of re-offending. Argument #3 For: A national web register would allow police to track re-offenders faster, increasing the success rate and the speed of which they are brought to justice. Against: Police can be aided by a register only available to the police. Making it public might make the offenders run and making it hard for police to track them. Studies have shown that a public register is a subjective to abuse from the public. Around 2 out of every 5 offenders have been a victim of vigilantism. The social ostracism, denial of rehabilitative measure such as housing and stable employment, and threats of vigilantism, making former offenders disobey reporting requirements. Argument #4 For: A national register would benefit sexual offenders directly, as they would be on local registers of counseling and psychological help groups, who would be more able to offer help. Against: Offenders should have access to these services anyway, regardless of whether their names are available to society or not. This register has led to large qualities of withdrawing sex offenders listen on the register, along with their families. The register is a spread of myths and stereotypes used by the public to justify the ostracism and denial of service. Sex offenders in Australia have lost jobs, housing and treatment options and forced to live under never ending changing requirements.

The Internet and assurance services Essay Example for Free

The Internet and assurance services Essay 1. 0 Introduction The Internet is the greatest business tool ever invented. Merchant, trading partners and Online retail shoppers can find greater selection, convenience, and lower prices on the Internet. Online businesses can reach millions of shoppers and business partners, provide 24 hours seven days a week of products and services, and better meet their customers individual needs. For these reasons, E-Commerce over the Internet has been growing. According to ActivMedia, e-commerce activity for 2000 will be $132 billion worldwide, which is twice as much as estimated for 1999. This figure includes revenues from B2C, B2B and Internet services. According to a study by eMarketer in April 2000, almost 34 million US households were actively using the Internet, and of that number 23. 5 million or 69% have made a purchase. (http://www. cpawebtrust. org/online. htm) However, despite the Internets many advantages and opportunities, it also raises some new risks for businesses and has some customers worried. The risks are fraud, poor sales conversion rates, detrimental effects of negative PR due to privacy breaches and security problems. A recent study by the Internet Fraud Complaint Centre (IFCC) showed that online auctions accounted for 48. 8% of fraud complaints. Non-delivery of goods ordered online came in second, at 19. 2%. Other top fraud complaints to the centre involved: securities and commodities (16. 9%), credit cards (4. 8%) and identity theft (2. 9%). The IFCC, which is jointly run by the FBI and the Justice Departments National White Collar Crime Centre, received an average of 1,000 complaints per week after opening in May 2000. (http://www. cpawebtrust. org/online. htm) In order to reduce risks, many technological solutions have been developed such as Firewalls, encryption, and digital signatures, etc. Despite these available solutions, most of Internet users still lack confidence in the medium. Therefore, third-party assurance service is needed to ensure secure transaction. 2. 0 The Third-Party Role of Assurance Service According to AICPA, Assurance Services are defined as independent professional services that improve the quality or context of information for decision-makers. Assurance services might involve any type of information. The goal of assurance services is information improvement, not the issuance of a report on it. (http://www. aicpa. org/assurance/about/comstud/defncom. htm) More in detail, AICPA has been categorised its assurance service into two areas. Those are integrity assurance systems and security assurance systems. According to the textbook (Greenstein, et. al. 2000), integrity assurance systems ensure that the data elements captured in an electronic transaction are the agreed upon elements, and the processing and storage procedures maintain the integrity of the data elements and do not alter them in any unauthorised fashion. Security assurance system ensures the authentication of the transacting parties, and that electronic data are protected from unauthorised disclosure. There are four areas that assurance service provider has to concern. Those are:   Security of data   Privacy of data   Business policy Transaction processing integrity Above categories are the most important area that the assurance service provider has to satisfy. And those will be applied to analyse travel. com. au. 3. 0 Difference and Similarity between B2B andB2C The web has evolved as a great medium for running business. Traditional B2B transaction used EDI, phone and fax for transaction. Also, B2C was just relied on bricks and mortar outlet. However, evolution of technology enables business entity to expand its business to new area, and provides more opportunities. Despite of Internets advantages for business entity, the risk has been arisen along with development of technology. According to recent survey of Computer Security Institute and the FBI, not surprisingly, computer-related crimes are up, as are the costs related to such crimes. This year, the survey included results from 538 respondents from a number of industries corporations, government agencies, financial institutions, and universities. This year, total losses, based on the 186 respondents willing to provide details on actual losses, totalled approximately US$378 million. Thats up from the US$265 million reported last year by 249 respondents. Based on this data, on average, each of the 186 companies lost more than US$2 million dollars in security breaches. (http://www. advisor. com/Articles. nsf/aid/HARTB15) In this section, similarity and differences existing between two models will be analysed. Based on the result of analysis, our assurance team provides desirable solution for B2B and B2C transaction B2C Perspective B2C is relationship is considered very vulnerable, because the party involved in transaction or interactions have no prior knowledge, they are completely strangers. Many risks involve during B2C transaction such as transmission of sensitive data (ie credit card number). In B2C e-commerce, the customers are the general public. Therefore, its transaction can be easily exposed. It is the one reason that consumers reluctant to shop over the Online. To decrease the risk and increase positive consumer perception, most of e-tailers employ security system, and state their privacy and security policy in its Web site. B2B Perspective B2B are interacting in more secure environment with respect to assurance of the electronic business environment. The nature of B2B e-commerce is that operator just interact with its business customer. Thus, the main concern for B2B is lying in their intellectual property. Many of the intellectual property are stored online in intangible form. Also many confidential information and trade secret is transmitted online. The reason they are safer is because B2B transactions are conducted usually through companies that have an existing relationship with each other or trading contractual agreements. So it can be said that they have mutual relationship. These existing relationships have evolved from the days of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to the fully functioning web sites on the World Wide Web or on company extranets. Due to evolution, the transaction has been completed within VAN (Value-Added Networks). Although, the evolution enable business entity to interact with its partner more efficient, the risk related in transaction has been increased.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics ABSTRACT Organisations have goals and therefore acquire assets to ensure these goals are met and the continuity guaranteed. Financial sector while trying to promote convenient methods such as online banking and use of ATM for their customers to access their money strives to ensure only the right person has access to the account. Also, military and national security services store high sensitive and critical information that must only be accessed by specific individual thereby deploying security measures to keep this tradition. However, achieving these goals largely depends on securing and controlling the assets as documented which means only authorised individuals have access to these environments and eventually the assets. Sequel to the importance of access control, different security techniques have been deployed to safeguard these assets which ranges from PINs and passwords, ID cards, smart card est. Vulnerabilities to these methods have lead to the recent surge in biometrics industry as many believe this is the future. Reasons such that the physical presence of the authorized person is needed at the point of access and also, the fact that it is unique and almost impossible to duplicate emphasis the benefit of biometrics and explain its glooming popularity. However like any other security methods, biometrics has limitations and threats which can impact its effectiveness and efficiency. It is not suitable for every application and can be a very wrong choice for certain applications. Therefore, it is essential to manage these limitations and threats properly to enhance the success factor of biometrics. Finally, it is important for any sector deploying biometrics to understand the various issues associated with biometrics such as privacy, standards and what the law requires of biometrics. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Organizations strive to secure their assets and provide means of controlling access to these assets. This process requires identification and authorization to ensure the right person is accessing the right asset. Over the years, traditional methods of authentication, mainly passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) have been popularly used. Recently, swipe card and PINs have been deployed for more security since one is something you have and the latter something you know. However, these methods still have vulnerabilities as swipe card can be stolen. Also, bad management of passwords has left people writing them on papers and desks or simply choosing easy and general words for quick remembrance which expose the password to intruders. More recently, stronger identification and authorization technologies that can assure a person is who he claims to be are becoming prominent and biometrics can be classified to this category. Biometric technology makes use of a persons physiological or behavioral characteristics in identification. Every human being is unique in nature and possesses physical parts completely different from any other person. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack did not help security concerns as governments and organizations all around the world especially the border security agencies have greatly embraced this human recognition technology. As both private and public entities continue to search for a more reliable identification and authentication methods, biometrics has been the choice and considered the future. WHAT IS BIOMETRICS? Biometrics refers to the automatic identifications of a person based on his or her physiological or behavioral characteristics (Chirillo and Blaul 2003, p. 2). It is an authorization method that verifies or identifies a user based on what they are before authorizing access. The search for a more reliable authorization method to secure assets has lead to the revelation of biometrics and many organizations have shown interest in the technology. Two main types of biometrics have been used mainly physical and behavioral. A physical biometrics is a part of a persons body while, a behavioral biometric is something that a person does (Lockie 2002, p. 8). He added that although there are some more unusual biometrics which may be used in the future, including a persons unique smell, the shape of their ear or even the way they talk, the main biometrics being measured include fingerprints, hand geometry, retina scan, iris scan, facial location or recognition (all physical), voice recognition, signature, keystroke pattern and gait (Behavioral). However, it has been argued by Liu and Silverman (2001) that different applications require different biometrics as there is no supreme or best biometric technology. HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS According to Chirillo and Blaul (2003, p. 3) the term biometrics is derived from the Greek words bio (life) and metric (to measure). China is among the first known to practice biometrics back in the fourteenth century as reported by the Portuguese historian Joao de Barros. It was called member-printing where the childrens palms as well as the footprints were stamped on paper with ink to identify each baby. Alphonse Bertillon, a Paris based anthropologist and police desk clerk was trying to find a way of identifying convicts in the 1890s decided to research on biometrics. He came up with measuring body lengths and was relevant till it was proved to be prone to error as many people shared the same measurement. The police started using fingerprinting developed based on the Chinese methods used century before by Richard Edward Henry, who was working at the Scotland Yard. Raina, Orlans and Woodward (2003, p. 25-26) stated references to biometrics as a concept could be traced back to over a thousand years in East Asia where potters placed their fingerprints on their wares as an early form of brand identity. They also pointed Egypts Nile Valley where traders were formally identified based on physical characteristics such as eye color, complexion and also height. The information were used by merchant to identify trusted traders whom they had successfully transacted business with in the past. Kapil et al also made references to the Bible, first pointing to the faith Gileadites had in their biometric system as reported in The Book of Judges (12:5-6) that the men of Gilead identified enemy in their midst by making suspected Ephraimites say Shibboleth for they could not pronounce it right. The second reference is to The Book of Genesis (27:11-28) where Jacob pretended to be Esau by putting goat skins on his hands and back of his neck so his skin would feel h airy to his blind, aged fathers touch. This illustrates a case of biometric spoofing and false acceptance. They finally wrote Biometrics as a commercial, modern technology has been around since the early 1970s when the first commercially available device was brought to market (p. 26). HOW BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS WORK A biometric system is essentially a pattern-recognition system that makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral characteristics possessed by the user (Blaul 2003, p.3). Biometrics has so far been developed to work in two ways mainly verification and identification. Verification systems are designed to give answer to the question, Am I who I claim to be? by requiring that a user claim an identity in order for a biometric comparison to be performed. The user provides data, which is then compared to his or her enrolled biometric data. Identification systems gives answer to the question, who am I? and do not require a user to claim an identity as the provided biometric data is compared to data from a number of users to find a match (Nanavati 2002, p. 12). An illustration of a scenario using an identifying biometrics system is given below and thus gives an answer to the question Who am I? In October 1998 in the United Kingdom, Newham Council introduced face recognition software to 12 town centre cameras with the sole purpose of decreasing street robbery. Images are compared against a police database of over 100 convicted street robbers known to be active in the previous 12 weeks. In August 2001, 527,000 separate faces were detected and operators confirmed 90 matches against the database. Where a face is not identified with any in the database, the image is deleted; if a match is found a human operator checks the result. The introduction of face recognition technology to Newham city centre saw a 34% decrease in street robbery. The system has not led directly to any arrests, which suggests that its effect is largely due to the deterrence/displacement of crime. The face recognition system has been widely publicised by the council and 93% of residents support its introduction (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). The case study below illustrates a verifying biometrics system and supply answers to the question Am I who I claim to be? The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Passenger Accelerated Service System (INSPASS) has been introduced at eight airports in order to provide a quick immigration processing for authorised frequent flyers entering the US and Canada. On arrival at an airport, a traveller inserts a card that carries a record of their hand geometry into the INSPASS kiosk and places their hand on a biometric reader. A computer cross-references the information stored on the card at registration with the live hand geometry scan. The complete process takes less than 30 seconds. If the scans match, the traveller can proceed to customs; if not, travellers are referred to an Immigration Inspector. There are more than 45,000 active INSPASS users with, on average, 20,000 automated immigration inspections conducted each month (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). Verifying system is often referred to as a one-to-one process and generally takes less processing time compared to the identifying systems. This is due to the fact that in identifying systems, a user is compared to all users in the database (one-to-many). Verifying systems are also more accurate since they only have to match a users data against his or her stored data and do not need hundreds, thousands or even millions of comparisons like the identifying systems. However, it is important for an organization to decide the type appropriate for the applications. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology designed for this dissertation is mainly the qualitative approach. A quantitative approach has been overlooked due to limited time as designing surveys, distribution take time and response time could not be predicted. Therefore, my effort will be concentrated on critically reviewing previous literatures in order to acquire an overview of, and intakes on the topic. For more details, Journals, Books, Publications, Documentaries and previous dissertations related to the topic will be reviewed, compared and analyzed. The objectives will be achieved by purely reviewing literatures and previous researches and the literatures critically analyzed by comparing information obtained from different sources. Findings, recommendations and conclusions will be made from the analysis. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this research is to critically analyse biometric security as an emerging and booming industry by examining the positives and negatives and providing ways of improving the method effectively and most importantly efficiently. Since biometrics applies to many applications, access control will be the main focus of this dessertation. Also, issues such as privacy, laws governing biometrics and standards will be examined. The main objectives of this research are; To review biometric security and issues related to it. To evaluate the threats, advantages and disadvantages of biometrics. To propose ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of biometrics from previous researches. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is aimed at critically reviewing and analysis of numerous works of researchers in the area of biometrics, threats to biometrics, advantages and disadvantages and ways of improving biometrics efficiency in access control. The effect of privacy (human rights) and the need to conform to biometrics standards will also be examined and reviewed. DEFINITION OF BIOMETRICS According to Jain, Ross and Pankanti (2006, p. 125), one great concern in our vastly interconnected society is establishing identity. Systems need to know Is he who he claims he is, Is she authorized to use this resource? or simply who is this? Therefore, a wide range of systems require reliable personal recognition schemes to either verify or identify of an individual seeking access to their services. The purpose of that scheme is to ensure that the rendered services are accessed by only the authorized and not any intruder or imposer (Ross 2004, p. 1). Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and, or behavioral characteristics (Jain, 2004 p. 1). Woodward (2003, p. 27) cited biometric industry guru Ben Millers 1987 biometric definition: Biometric technologies are automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physical or behavioral characteristic. Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 10) provided several definitions of biometrics which include: Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological science. Biometrics = identification/verification of persons based on the unique physiological or behavioral features of humans. Biometrics is the measurement and matching of biological characteristics such as fingerprint images, hand geometry, facial recognition, etc. Biometrics is strongly linked to a stored identity to the physical person. Nevertheless the various definitions, it can be seen that the science of biometrics is based on the fact that no two people are the same and this has a significant influence on its reliability and success factor. THE BIOMETRICS INDUSTRY According to Lockie (2002, p. 10), the biometric industry did not really get established until the middle of the twentieth century. The researchers at that particular time were investigating whether various human parts and characteristics, such as the iris or the voice, could be used to identify an individual. This was made public by publishing papers and as a considerable number of these strands of research began to form a piece, the biometrics industry as we know it these days was established. As organization search for more secure authentication methods for user access, e-commerce, and other security applications, biometrics is gaining increasing attention (Liu 2001, p.27). Higgins, Orlan and Woodward (2003, p. xxiii ), emphasized that even though biometrics have not become an essential part of all systems requiring controlled access, the emerging industry has come a long way from its modern founding in 1972 with the installation of a commercial finger measurement device on Wall Street. He made reference to the highly respected MIT Technology Review called biometrics one of the top ten emerging technologies that will change the world. The growth in biometric industries is reflected in the numbers. The trio cited Rick Noton, the executive director of the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA), who reported in the Biometrics 2002 Conference in London, United Kingdom, that the industrys trade association has indicated the surge in biometric revenues over recent years. From $20 million in 1996, it has increased to $200 million in 2001 and Norton believes they will increase as the years pass on significantly in 5 years time. Also, a forecast made by the International Biometric Group (IBG), which is a biometric consulting and integration firm located in New York City, estimate that biometric revenues totaled $399 million in 2000 and will increase to $1.9 billion by 2005. Both IBIA and IBG believe that the private sector will be responsible for much of the growth. These give evidence of the relevance of biometrics in organizations in modern times. BIOMETRICS AND ACCESS CONTROL Over the years, biometrics has evolved rapidly and many vertical markets such as governments, transport, financial sectors, security, public justice and safety, healthcare and many more have adopted biometrics. Due to this wide range of users, biometrics has been deployed to many applications. Biometrics has been of high benefit to organization as they seek a reliable security method to safeguard assets. Fully understanding how biometrics work, it can be said that the ultimate aim of applying biometrics in the vertical markets listed above is to control access to a resource irrespective of the system used whether a verifying or an identifying process It has been stated by S. Nanavati, Thieme and R. Nanavati (2002, p. 14), that biometric systems are deployed for two primary purposes which are physical and logical access. LOGICAL VERSUS PHYSICAL ACCESS Physical access systems monitors, restricts, or grant movement of a person or object into or out of a specific area (Thieme 2002, p. 14). This could be implemented to control entry into rooms or even the main building. Popular examples are control towers, bank vaults, server rooms and many other sensitive rooms requiring controlled access. In physical access, biometrics replaces the use of keys, PIN codes access cards and security guards although any of these could be combined with biometrics as a complementation. Common physical access application is time and attendance. Thieme also gave a definition of logical access systems as one that monitor, restrict or grant access to data or information listing examples such as logging into a PC, accessing data stored on a network, accessing an account, or authenticating a transaction. In this case, biometrics replaces and can be designed to complement PINs, passwords and also tokens. Basic biometric functionality precisely acquiring and comparing of biometric data is often identical in both physical and logical systems. For example, the same iris scan data can be used for both doorway and desktop applications. Thieme explained that the only difference between the two is the external system into which the biometric functionality is integrated. The biometric functionality is integrated into a larger system. This applies for both physical and logical access system and actions such as access to any desktop application or access to a room via a doorway are effected by a biometric match. However, not every system can be classified as physical or logical access as the end result does not indicate access to data or a physical location and the result therefore may be to investigate more. An ATM secured by biometrics allows access to money, a physical entity. This is made possible by allowing the user logical access to his or her data. In the example above, the application is even difficult to classify as either physical or logical. Thieme (2002, p. 15) suggested that the distinction between physical and logical access systems is a valuable tool in understanding biometric. He noted that key criteria such accuracy, fallback procedures, privacy requirements, costs, response time and complexity of integration all vary effectively when moving from logical to physical access. WHAT ARE BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Stapleton (2003, p. 167) defined a standard in a general term as a published document, developed by a recognized authority, which defines a set of policies and practices, technical or security requirements, techniques or mechanisms, or describes some other abstract concept or model. The growth of the biometric industry has been relatively slowed by the absence of industry wide standards and this has also impeded various types of biometric deployment. Nanavati (2002, p. 277) stated that the relative youth of the technology in use, coupled with the disunified nature of the industry, has impacted the developments of standards resulting in a sporadic and frequently redundant standards. Nanavati also noted that the live-scan fingerprint imaging is the only segment of biometric industry with widely accepted and adopted standards. Due to this absence of biometric standards, some institutions have been concerned of being tied into technologies they actually believed as not mature or even dev elopmental. However in an effort to actively address the standards issue, the biometric industry has finalized some blueprints and the process of getting industries to accept these standards is ongoing WHY IS STANDARDIZATION NECESSARY? The high rate of biometric development and rapid growth in adoption of biometric technologies in recent years has resulted in ever-increasing levels of what is expected in terms of accuracy, adaptability, and reliability in an ever-wider range of applications. Due to the adoption of biometric technologies in large-scale national and international applications, involving a potentially unlimited range of stakeholders, Farzin Deravi (2008, p. 483) stated that it has become essential to address these expectations by ensuring agreed common frameworks for implementation and evaluation of biometric technologies through standardization activities. Majority of biometric systems, including both the hardware and software are made and sold by the owner of the patent at this stage in their development. They are being proprietary in numerous aspects including the manner in which biometric devices and systems as a whole communicate with applications, the method of extracting features from a biometric sample, and among many more, the method of storing and retrieving biometric data. This resulted in many companies in most cases, being wedded to a particular technology, once they agree to implement that particular technology. Nanavati (2002, p. 278) stated that in order to incorporate a new technology, the companies are required to rebuild their system from scratch upward, and in some cases duplicating much of the deployment effort. Deravi (2008 p. 483) noted that the need for interoperability of biometric systems across national boundaries has implied a rapid escalation of standardization efforts to the international arena, stating that the sense of urgency for the need for standardization has been the priority of internal security concerns. The industry wide or universal adoption of biometric standard will not make biometric technology interoperable at least, to the state where an old device can be replaced by a new device without rebuilding the system. However, Nanavati (2002 p. 278) argued the core algorithms through which vendors locate and extract biometric data are very unlikely to be interoperable or standardized, the reason being that these algorithms represents the basis of most vendors intellectual property. Numerous reasons are responsible for the motivation towards standardization. These include the desire for reducing the overall cost of deploying biometrics technologies and optimize the reliability of biometric systems, to reduce the risk of deploying solutions to biometric problems, to ensure in the area of encryption and file format, that the basic building blocks of biometric data management have been developed based on best practice by industry professionals. Nanavati (2002 p. 278) concluded that standards ensure that, in the future, biometric technology will be developed and deployed in accordance with generally accepted principles of information technology. EXISTING BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Shoniregun and Crosier (2008 p. 22) stated that the evolving interest and developments have made developments of standards a necessity with the sole aim of allowing compatibility of different systems. The detailed standards in the Biometrics Resource Centre (2002) report are summarised below: Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF): The Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF) sets a standard for the data elements essential in supporting biometric technology in a common way irrespective of the application involved or the domain in use. It makes data interchange between systems and their components easier, while promoting interoperability applications, programs as well as systems based on biometrics. INCITS MI-Biometrics Technical Committee: The committee which was established by the Executive Board of the International Committee for Information Technology standards (INCITS) with the responsibility to ensure a focused and reasonably comprehensive approach in the United States for the rapid development and approval of previous national and international generic biometric standards (Shoniregun ad Crosier 2008, p. 22) BioAPI Specification (Version 1.1): The BioAPI standard defines the architecture for biometric systems integration in a single computer system. (Deravi 2008, p. 490). The Bio API specification has been one of the most popular standards efforts since it was formed in April 1998 according to Nanavati (2002, p. 279). Nnavati stated that the standard was formed to develop an API that is both widely accepted and widely available while being compatible with various biometric technologies. Other general standards available are Human Recognition Module (HRS), ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000, American Association for Motor Vehicle Administration and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which specifies the acceptable security requirements necessary for effective management of biometric data especially for the financial services industry. BRITISH BIOMETRICS STANDARDS The British Standards Institution (BSI) commenced work in June 2004 on biometrics standards and since then, has published according to Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 24) a set of four new BS ISO/IEC 19794 STANDARDS, reported to have covered the science of biometrics, and using biological characteristics in identifying individuals. The objective of publishing these standards is to promote interoperability between the several products in the market. BS ISO/IEC 19784-2:2007: This standard defines the interface to an archive Biometric Function Provider (BFP). The interface assumes that the collected biometrics data will be managed as a database, irrespective of its physical realization. Crosier (2008, p. 24) defined the physical realization as smartcards, token, memory sticks, files on hard drives and any other kind of memory can be handled via an abstraction layer presenting a database interface.) BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006: According to Shoniregun (2008, p. 25), this standard provides recommendations and requirements on collection of data, analysis as well as reporting specific to two types of evaluation (scenario evaluation and technology evaluation). BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006 further specifies the requirements in the development and full description of protocols for scenario and technology evaluations and also, in executing and reporting biometric evaluations. BS ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007: ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies the concepts, framework, test methods and criteria required to test conformity of biometric products claiming conformance to BioAPI (ISO/IEC 19784-1). (www.iso.org). Crosier (2008, p. 25) stated ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies three conformance testing models which allows conformance testing of each of the BioAPI components mainly a framework, an application and a BSP. BS ISO/IEC 24709-2:2007: The standard BS ISO/IEC 247 defines a number of test assertions composed in the assertion language explicitly required in ISO/IEC 24709-1. The assertions allow a user to test the conformance of any biometric server producer (BSP) that claims to be a conforming implementation of that International Standard to ISO/IEC 19784-1 (BioAPI 2.0) (www.iso.org). BIOMETRICS AND PRIVACY The fact that biometric technologies are based on measuring physiological or behavioral and archiving these data has raised concerns on privacy risks, and also raised discussion on the role biometrics play when it comes to privacy. As stated by Nanavati (2002, p. 237), increase in the use of biometric technology in the public sector, workplace and even at home has raised the following questions: What are the main privacy concerns relating to biometric usage? What kinds of biometric deployments need stronger protections to avoid invading privacy? What biometric technologies are more prone to privacy-invasive usage? What kinds of protections are required to ensure biometrics are used in a non privacy-invasive way? Woodward (2003, p. 197) cited President Clintons speech in his commencement address at Morgan State University in 1997: The right to privacy is one of our most cherished freedomsWe must develop new protections for privacy in the face of new technological reality. Recently, Biometrics has been increasingly deployed to improve security and a very important tool to combat terrorism. Privacy issue is central to biometrics and many people believe that deploying biometrics poses a considerable level of risk to human rights, even though some are of the opinion that biometrics actually protect privacy. Human factors influence the success of a biometric-based identification system to a great extent. The ease as well as comfort in interaction with a biometric system contributes to how people accept it. Jain, Ross and Prabhakar (2004 p. 24) stated an example of a biometric system being able to measure the characteristic of a users without touching, such as those using voice, face, or iris, and concluded that it may be perceived to be a more user-friendly and hygienic system by the users. They added that on the other hand, biometric characteristics not requiring user participation or interaction can be recorded without the knowledge of the user, and this is perceived as a threat to human privacy by many individuals. According to Sim (2009, p. 81), biometrics compared to other security technologies has significant impacts on users privacy (Civil Liberties). It can protect privacy when deployed in an appropriate manner; but when misused, it can result in loss of privacy. ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC OVER TRADITIONAL METHODS Password and PINs have been the most frequently used authentication method. Their use involves controlling access to a building or a room, securing access to computers, network, the applications on the personal computers and many more. In some higher security applications, handheld tokens such as key fobs and smart cards have been deployed. Due to some problems related to these methods, the suitability and reliability of these authentication technologies have been questioned especially in this modern world with modern applications. Biometrics offer some benefits compare to these authentication technologies. INCREASED SECURITY Biometric technology can provide a higher degree of security compared to traditional authentication methods. Chirillo (2003 p. 2) stated that biometrics is preferred over traditional methods for many reasons which include the fact that the physical presence of the authorized person is required at the point of identification. This means that only the authorized person has access to the resources. Effort by people to manage several passwords has left many choosing easy or general words, with considerable number writing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics Advantages and Disadvantages of Biometrics ABSTRACT Organisations have goals and therefore acquire assets to ensure these goals are met and the continuity guaranteed. Financial sector while trying to promote convenient methods such as online banking and use of ATM for their customers to access their money strives to ensure only the right person has access to the account. Also, military and national security services store high sensitive and critical information that must only be accessed by specific individual thereby deploying security measures to keep this tradition. However, achieving these goals largely depends on securing and controlling the assets as documented which means only authorised individuals have access to these environments and eventually the assets. Sequel to the importance of access control, different security techniques have been deployed to safeguard these assets which ranges from PINs and passwords, ID cards, smart card est. Vulnerabilities to these methods have lead to the recent surge in biometrics industry as many believe this is the future. Reasons such that the physical presence of the authorized person is needed at the point of access and also, the fact that it is unique and almost impossible to duplicate emphasis the benefit of biometrics and explain its glooming popularity. However like any other security methods, biometrics has limitations and threats which can impact its effectiveness and efficiency. It is not suitable for every application and can be a very wrong choice for certain applications. Therefore, it is essential to manage these limitations and threats properly to enhance the success factor of biometrics. Finally, it is important for any sector deploying biometrics to understand the various issues associated with biometrics such as privacy, standards and what the law requires of biometrics. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Organizations strive to secure their assets and provide means of controlling access to these assets. This process requires identification and authorization to ensure the right person is accessing the right asset. Over the years, traditional methods of authentication, mainly passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) have been popularly used. Recently, swipe card and PINs have been deployed for more security since one is something you have and the latter something you know. However, these methods still have vulnerabilities as swipe card can be stolen. Also, bad management of passwords has left people writing them on papers and desks or simply choosing easy and general words for quick remembrance which expose the password to intruders. More recently, stronger identification and authorization technologies that can assure a person is who he claims to be are becoming prominent and biometrics can be classified to this category. Biometric technology makes use of a persons physiological or behavioral characteristics in identification. Every human being is unique in nature and possesses physical parts completely different from any other person. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack did not help security concerns as governments and organizations all around the world especially the border security agencies have greatly embraced this human recognition technology. As both private and public entities continue to search for a more reliable identification and authentication methods, biometrics has been the choice and considered the future. WHAT IS BIOMETRICS? Biometrics refers to the automatic identifications of a person based on his or her physiological or behavioral characteristics (Chirillo and Blaul 2003, p. 2). It is an authorization method that verifies or identifies a user based on what they are before authorizing access. The search for a more reliable authorization method to secure assets has lead to the revelation of biometrics and many organizations have shown interest in the technology. Two main types of biometrics have been used mainly physical and behavioral. A physical biometrics is a part of a persons body while, a behavioral biometric is something that a person does (Lockie 2002, p. 8). He added that although there are some more unusual biometrics which may be used in the future, including a persons unique smell, the shape of their ear or even the way they talk, the main biometrics being measured include fingerprints, hand geometry, retina scan, iris scan, facial location or recognition (all physical), voice recognition, signature, keystroke pattern and gait (Behavioral). However, it has been argued by Liu and Silverman (2001) that different applications require different biometrics as there is no supreme or best biometric technology. HISTORY OF BIOMETRICS According to Chirillo and Blaul (2003, p. 3) the term biometrics is derived from the Greek words bio (life) and metric (to measure). China is among the first known to practice biometrics back in the fourteenth century as reported by the Portuguese historian Joao de Barros. It was called member-printing where the childrens palms as well as the footprints were stamped on paper with ink to identify each baby. Alphonse Bertillon, a Paris based anthropologist and police desk clerk was trying to find a way of identifying convicts in the 1890s decided to research on biometrics. He came up with measuring body lengths and was relevant till it was proved to be prone to error as many people shared the same measurement. The police started using fingerprinting developed based on the Chinese methods used century before by Richard Edward Henry, who was working at the Scotland Yard. Raina, Orlans and Woodward (2003, p. 25-26) stated references to biometrics as a concept could be traced back to over a thousand years in East Asia where potters placed their fingerprints on their wares as an early form of brand identity. They also pointed Egypts Nile Valley where traders were formally identified based on physical characteristics such as eye color, complexion and also height. The information were used by merchant to identify trusted traders whom they had successfully transacted business with in the past. Kapil et al also made references to the Bible, first pointing to the faith Gileadites had in their biometric system as reported in The Book of Judges (12:5-6) that the men of Gilead identified enemy in their midst by making suspected Ephraimites say Shibboleth for they could not pronounce it right. The second reference is to The Book of Genesis (27:11-28) where Jacob pretended to be Esau by putting goat skins on his hands and back of his neck so his skin would feel h airy to his blind, aged fathers touch. This illustrates a case of biometric spoofing and false acceptance. They finally wrote Biometrics as a commercial, modern technology has been around since the early 1970s when the first commercially available device was brought to market (p. 26). HOW BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS WORK A biometric system is essentially a pattern-recognition system that makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral characteristics possessed by the user (Blaul 2003, p.3). Biometrics has so far been developed to work in two ways mainly verification and identification. Verification systems are designed to give answer to the question, Am I who I claim to be? by requiring that a user claim an identity in order for a biometric comparison to be performed. The user provides data, which is then compared to his or her enrolled biometric data. Identification systems gives answer to the question, who am I? and do not require a user to claim an identity as the provided biometric data is compared to data from a number of users to find a match (Nanavati 2002, p. 12). An illustration of a scenario using an identifying biometrics system is given below and thus gives an answer to the question Who am I? In October 1998 in the United Kingdom, Newham Council introduced face recognition software to 12 town centre cameras with the sole purpose of decreasing street robbery. Images are compared against a police database of over 100 convicted street robbers known to be active in the previous 12 weeks. In August 2001, 527,000 separate faces were detected and operators confirmed 90 matches against the database. Where a face is not identified with any in the database, the image is deleted; if a match is found a human operator checks the result. The introduction of face recognition technology to Newham city centre saw a 34% decrease in street robbery. The system has not led directly to any arrests, which suggests that its effect is largely due to the deterrence/displacement of crime. The face recognition system has been widely publicised by the council and 93% of residents support its introduction (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). The case study below illustrates a verifying biometrics system and supply answers to the question Am I who I claim to be? The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Passenger Accelerated Service System (INSPASS) has been introduced at eight airports in order to provide a quick immigration processing for authorised frequent flyers entering the US and Canada. On arrival at an airport, a traveller inserts a card that carries a record of their hand geometry into the INSPASS kiosk and places their hand on a biometric reader. A computer cross-references the information stored on the card at registration with the live hand geometry scan. The complete process takes less than 30 seconds. If the scans match, the traveller can proceed to customs; if not, travellers are referred to an Immigration Inspector. There are more than 45,000 active INSPASS users with, on average, 20,000 automated immigration inspections conducted each month (Postnote Nov 2001, p. 1). Verifying system is often referred to as a one-to-one process and generally takes less processing time compared to the identifying systems. This is due to the fact that in identifying systems, a user is compared to all users in the database (one-to-many). Verifying systems are also more accurate since they only have to match a users data against his or her stored data and do not need hundreds, thousands or even millions of comparisons like the identifying systems. However, it is important for an organization to decide the type appropriate for the applications. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology designed for this dissertation is mainly the qualitative approach. A quantitative approach has been overlooked due to limited time as designing surveys, distribution take time and response time could not be predicted. Therefore, my effort will be concentrated on critically reviewing previous literatures in order to acquire an overview of, and intakes on the topic. For more details, Journals, Books, Publications, Documentaries and previous dissertations related to the topic will be reviewed, compared and analyzed. The objectives will be achieved by purely reviewing literatures and previous researches and the literatures critically analyzed by comparing information obtained from different sources. Findings, recommendations and conclusions will be made from the analysis. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The aim of this research is to critically analyse biometric security as an emerging and booming industry by examining the positives and negatives and providing ways of improving the method effectively and most importantly efficiently. Since biometrics applies to many applications, access control will be the main focus of this dessertation. Also, issues such as privacy, laws governing biometrics and standards will be examined. The main objectives of this research are; To review biometric security and issues related to it. To evaluate the threats, advantages and disadvantages of biometrics. To propose ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of biometrics from previous researches. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is aimed at critically reviewing and analysis of numerous works of researchers in the area of biometrics, threats to biometrics, advantages and disadvantages and ways of improving biometrics efficiency in access control. The effect of privacy (human rights) and the need to conform to biometrics standards will also be examined and reviewed. DEFINITION OF BIOMETRICS According to Jain, Ross and Pankanti (2006, p. 125), one great concern in our vastly interconnected society is establishing identity. Systems need to know Is he who he claims he is, Is she authorized to use this resource? or simply who is this? Therefore, a wide range of systems require reliable personal recognition schemes to either verify or identify of an individual seeking access to their services. The purpose of that scheme is to ensure that the rendered services are accessed by only the authorized and not any intruder or imposer (Ross 2004, p. 1). Biometric recognition, or simply biometrics, refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on their physiological and, or behavioral characteristics (Jain, 2004 p. 1). Woodward (2003, p. 27) cited biometric industry guru Ben Millers 1987 biometric definition: Biometric technologies are automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physical or behavioral characteristic. Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 10) provided several definitions of biometrics which include: Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis problems in the biological science. Biometrics = identification/verification of persons based on the unique physiological or behavioral features of humans. Biometrics is the measurement and matching of biological characteristics such as fingerprint images, hand geometry, facial recognition, etc. Biometrics is strongly linked to a stored identity to the physical person. Nevertheless the various definitions, it can be seen that the science of biometrics is based on the fact that no two people are the same and this has a significant influence on its reliability and success factor. THE BIOMETRICS INDUSTRY According to Lockie (2002, p. 10), the biometric industry did not really get established until the middle of the twentieth century. The researchers at that particular time were investigating whether various human parts and characteristics, such as the iris or the voice, could be used to identify an individual. This was made public by publishing papers and as a considerable number of these strands of research began to form a piece, the biometrics industry as we know it these days was established. As organization search for more secure authentication methods for user access, e-commerce, and other security applications, biometrics is gaining increasing attention (Liu 2001, p.27). Higgins, Orlan and Woodward (2003, p. xxiii ), emphasized that even though biometrics have not become an essential part of all systems requiring controlled access, the emerging industry has come a long way from its modern founding in 1972 with the installation of a commercial finger measurement device on Wall Street. He made reference to the highly respected MIT Technology Review called biometrics one of the top ten emerging technologies that will change the world. The growth in biometric industries is reflected in the numbers. The trio cited Rick Noton, the executive director of the International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA), who reported in the Biometrics 2002 Conference in London, United Kingdom, that the industrys trade association has indicated the surge in biometric revenues over recent years. From $20 million in 1996, it has increased to $200 million in 2001 and Norton believes they will increase as the years pass on significantly in 5 years time. Also, a forecast made by the International Biometric Group (IBG), which is a biometric consulting and integration firm located in New York City, estimate that biometric revenues totaled $399 million in 2000 and will increase to $1.9 billion by 2005. Both IBIA and IBG believe that the private sector will be responsible for much of the growth. These give evidence of the relevance of biometrics in organizations in modern times. BIOMETRICS AND ACCESS CONTROL Over the years, biometrics has evolved rapidly and many vertical markets such as governments, transport, financial sectors, security, public justice and safety, healthcare and many more have adopted biometrics. Due to this wide range of users, biometrics has been deployed to many applications. Biometrics has been of high benefit to organization as they seek a reliable security method to safeguard assets. Fully understanding how biometrics work, it can be said that the ultimate aim of applying biometrics in the vertical markets listed above is to control access to a resource irrespective of the system used whether a verifying or an identifying process It has been stated by S. Nanavati, Thieme and R. Nanavati (2002, p. 14), that biometric systems are deployed for two primary purposes which are physical and logical access. LOGICAL VERSUS PHYSICAL ACCESS Physical access systems monitors, restricts, or grant movement of a person or object into or out of a specific area (Thieme 2002, p. 14). This could be implemented to control entry into rooms or even the main building. Popular examples are control towers, bank vaults, server rooms and many other sensitive rooms requiring controlled access. In physical access, biometrics replaces the use of keys, PIN codes access cards and security guards although any of these could be combined with biometrics as a complementation. Common physical access application is time and attendance. Thieme also gave a definition of logical access systems as one that monitor, restrict or grant access to data or information listing examples such as logging into a PC, accessing data stored on a network, accessing an account, or authenticating a transaction. In this case, biometrics replaces and can be designed to complement PINs, passwords and also tokens. Basic biometric functionality precisely acquiring and comparing of biometric data is often identical in both physical and logical systems. For example, the same iris scan data can be used for both doorway and desktop applications. Thieme explained that the only difference between the two is the external system into which the biometric functionality is integrated. The biometric functionality is integrated into a larger system. This applies for both physical and logical access system and actions such as access to any desktop application or access to a room via a doorway are effected by a biometric match. However, not every system can be classified as physical or logical access as the end result does not indicate access to data or a physical location and the result therefore may be to investigate more. An ATM secured by biometrics allows access to money, a physical entity. This is made possible by allowing the user logical access to his or her data. In the example above, the application is even difficult to classify as either physical or logical. Thieme (2002, p. 15) suggested that the distinction between physical and logical access systems is a valuable tool in understanding biometric. He noted that key criteria such accuracy, fallback procedures, privacy requirements, costs, response time and complexity of integration all vary effectively when moving from logical to physical access. WHAT ARE BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Stapleton (2003, p. 167) defined a standard in a general term as a published document, developed by a recognized authority, which defines a set of policies and practices, technical or security requirements, techniques or mechanisms, or describes some other abstract concept or model. The growth of the biometric industry has been relatively slowed by the absence of industry wide standards and this has also impeded various types of biometric deployment. Nanavati (2002, p. 277) stated that the relative youth of the technology in use, coupled with the disunified nature of the industry, has impacted the developments of standards resulting in a sporadic and frequently redundant standards. Nanavati also noted that the live-scan fingerprint imaging is the only segment of biometric industry with widely accepted and adopted standards. Due to this absence of biometric standards, some institutions have been concerned of being tied into technologies they actually believed as not mature or even dev elopmental. However in an effort to actively address the standards issue, the biometric industry has finalized some blueprints and the process of getting industries to accept these standards is ongoing WHY IS STANDARDIZATION NECESSARY? The high rate of biometric development and rapid growth in adoption of biometric technologies in recent years has resulted in ever-increasing levels of what is expected in terms of accuracy, adaptability, and reliability in an ever-wider range of applications. Due to the adoption of biometric technologies in large-scale national and international applications, involving a potentially unlimited range of stakeholders, Farzin Deravi (2008, p. 483) stated that it has become essential to address these expectations by ensuring agreed common frameworks for implementation and evaluation of biometric technologies through standardization activities. Majority of biometric systems, including both the hardware and software are made and sold by the owner of the patent at this stage in their development. They are being proprietary in numerous aspects including the manner in which biometric devices and systems as a whole communicate with applications, the method of extracting features from a biometric sample, and among many more, the method of storing and retrieving biometric data. This resulted in many companies in most cases, being wedded to a particular technology, once they agree to implement that particular technology. Nanavati (2002, p. 278) stated that in order to incorporate a new technology, the companies are required to rebuild their system from scratch upward, and in some cases duplicating much of the deployment effort. Deravi (2008 p. 483) noted that the need for interoperability of biometric systems across national boundaries has implied a rapid escalation of standardization efforts to the international arena, stating that the sense of urgency for the need for standardization has been the priority of internal security concerns. The industry wide or universal adoption of biometric standard will not make biometric technology interoperable at least, to the state where an old device can be replaced by a new device without rebuilding the system. However, Nanavati (2002 p. 278) argued the core algorithms through which vendors locate and extract biometric data are very unlikely to be interoperable or standardized, the reason being that these algorithms represents the basis of most vendors intellectual property. Numerous reasons are responsible for the motivation towards standardization. These include the desire for reducing the overall cost of deploying biometrics technologies and optimize the reliability of biometric systems, to reduce the risk of deploying solutions to biometric problems, to ensure in the area of encryption and file format, that the basic building blocks of biometric data management have been developed based on best practice by industry professionals. Nanavati (2002 p. 278) concluded that standards ensure that, in the future, biometric technology will be developed and deployed in accordance with generally accepted principles of information technology. EXISTING BIOMETRIC STANDARDS Shoniregun and Crosier (2008 p. 22) stated that the evolving interest and developments have made developments of standards a necessity with the sole aim of allowing compatibility of different systems. The detailed standards in the Biometrics Resource Centre (2002) report are summarised below: Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF): The Common Biometric Exchange File Format (CBEFF) sets a standard for the data elements essential in supporting biometric technology in a common way irrespective of the application involved or the domain in use. It makes data interchange between systems and their components easier, while promoting interoperability applications, programs as well as systems based on biometrics. INCITS MI-Biometrics Technical Committee: The committee which was established by the Executive Board of the International Committee for Information Technology standards (INCITS) with the responsibility to ensure a focused and reasonably comprehensive approach in the United States for the rapid development and approval of previous national and international generic biometric standards (Shoniregun ad Crosier 2008, p. 22) BioAPI Specification (Version 1.1): The BioAPI standard defines the architecture for biometric systems integration in a single computer system. (Deravi 2008, p. 490). The Bio API specification has been one of the most popular standards efforts since it was formed in April 1998 according to Nanavati (2002, p. 279). Nnavati stated that the standard was formed to develop an API that is both widely accepted and widely available while being compatible with various biometric technologies. Other general standards available are Human Recognition Module (HRS), ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000, American Association for Motor Vehicle Administration and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which specifies the acceptable security requirements necessary for effective management of biometric data especially for the financial services industry. BRITISH BIOMETRICS STANDARDS The British Standards Institution (BSI) commenced work in June 2004 on biometrics standards and since then, has published according to Shoniregun and Crosier (2008, p. 24) a set of four new BS ISO/IEC 19794 STANDARDS, reported to have covered the science of biometrics, and using biological characteristics in identifying individuals. The objective of publishing these standards is to promote interoperability between the several products in the market. BS ISO/IEC 19784-2:2007: This standard defines the interface to an archive Biometric Function Provider (BFP). The interface assumes that the collected biometrics data will be managed as a database, irrespective of its physical realization. Crosier (2008, p. 24) defined the physical realization as smartcards, token, memory sticks, files on hard drives and any other kind of memory can be handled via an abstraction layer presenting a database interface.) BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006: According to Shoniregun (2008, p. 25), this standard provides recommendations and requirements on collection of data, analysis as well as reporting specific to two types of evaluation (scenario evaluation and technology evaluation). BS ISO/IEC 19795-2:2006 further specifies the requirements in the development and full description of protocols for scenario and technology evaluations and also, in executing and reporting biometric evaluations. BS ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007: ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies the concepts, framework, test methods and criteria required to test conformity of biometric products claiming conformance to BioAPI (ISO/IEC 19784-1). (www.iso.org). Crosier (2008, p. 25) stated ISO/IEC 24709-1:2007 specifies three conformance testing models which allows conformance testing of each of the BioAPI components mainly a framework, an application and a BSP. BS ISO/IEC 24709-2:2007: The standard BS ISO/IEC 247 defines a number of test assertions composed in the assertion language explicitly required in ISO/IEC 24709-1. The assertions allow a user to test the conformance of any biometric server producer (BSP) that claims to be a conforming implementation of that International Standard to ISO/IEC 19784-1 (BioAPI 2.0) (www.iso.org). BIOMETRICS AND PRIVACY The fact that biometric technologies are based on measuring physiological or behavioral and archiving these data has raised concerns on privacy risks, and also raised discussion on the role biometrics play when it comes to privacy. As stated by Nanavati (2002, p. 237), increase in the use of biometric technology in the public sector, workplace and even at home has raised the following questions: What are the main privacy concerns relating to biometric usage? What kinds of biometric deployments need stronger protections to avoid invading privacy? What biometric technologies are more prone to privacy-invasive usage? What kinds of protections are required to ensure biometrics are used in a non privacy-invasive way? Woodward (2003, p. 197) cited President Clintons speech in his commencement address at Morgan State University in 1997: The right to privacy is one of our most cherished freedomsWe must develop new protections for privacy in the face of new technological reality. Recently, Biometrics has been increasingly deployed to improve security and a very important tool to combat terrorism. Privacy issue is central to biometrics and many people believe that deploying biometrics poses a considerable level of risk to human rights, even though some are of the opinion that biometrics actually protect privacy. Human factors influence the success of a biometric-based identification system to a great extent. The ease as well as comfort in interaction with a biometric system contributes to how people accept it. Jain, Ross and Prabhakar (2004 p. 24) stated an example of a biometric system being able to measure the characteristic of a users without touching, such as those using voice, face, or iris, and concluded that it may be perceived to be a more user-friendly and hygienic system by the users. They added that on the other hand, biometric characteristics not requiring user participation or interaction can be recorded without the knowledge of the user, and this is perceived as a threat to human privacy by many individuals. According to Sim (2009, p. 81), biometrics compared to other security technologies has significant impacts on users privacy (Civil Liberties). It can protect privacy when deployed in an appropriate manner; but when misused, it can result in loss of privacy. ADVANTAGES OF BIOMETRIC OVER TRADITIONAL METHODS Password and PINs have been the most frequently used authentication method. Their use involves controlling access to a building or a room, securing access to computers, network, the applications on the personal computers and many more. In some higher security applications, handheld tokens such as key fobs and smart cards have been deployed. Due to some problems related to these methods, the suitability and reliability of these authentication technologies have been questioned especially in this modern world with modern applications. Biometrics offer some benefits compare to these authentication technologies. INCREASED SECURITY Biometric technology can provide a higher degree of security compared to traditional authentication methods. Chirillo (2003 p. 2) stated that biometrics is preferred over traditional methods for many reasons which include the fact that the physical presence of the authorized person is required at the point of identification. This means that only the authorized person has access to the resources. Effort by people to manage several passwords has left many choosing easy or general words, with considerable number writing the