Category: Infrastructure

Lebanon had been experiencing a dynamic economy, enjoying high growth rates, an increased inflow of foreign capital, as well as, a steady increase in the capita income. However, after the civil war, transportation system of Lebanon deteriorated to the extent that it does not comply with Mobility requirements and needs.

The country continues to operate under aging transportation facilities that were severely damaged during the civil war. Therefore, this can be seen as chaotic and unsustainable. This combines with the unusable railway system, an increased number of licensed automobiles, coupled with poor road network.

Road network in Lebanon constitutes primary and secondary roads and highways. The highways are classified according to their role and characteristics of the traffic they serve. An extensive network of roads covering over 4000 miles constituting serves Lebanon. Most roads, particularly within the Beirut area and most remote areas, the transportation system, have remained in a poor condition. An increased number of licensed automobiles have caused congestion in public roads.

In addition, the railway system has remained largely unutilized due to the effects of civil war. Other pubic infrastructures that were affected by the civil war cover the airports, the electrical power supply, and the Telecommunication services that were considerably damaged due to the aftermath of the civil war.

The existing road transportation system lacks a coherent organization of the public, since the public has become over reliant on the use of private cars and underutilized public transport relative to international standards. The public lacks coherent patterns to provide sound and sustainable alternatives to the automobile.

Furthermore, there is an inequitable distribution of the supply of the public transport over the market. Major markets such as Beirut and Tripoli have remained underserved, hence; experience severe competition among road transport operators. The Lebanese railway network began in 1980. However, the public infrastructures have been experiencing conflict in the struggle to provide citizens with an efficient mobility system.

Through history, it is possible to trace the establishment of the railway system that began in late 20th century. The railway system connects prime urban areas, as well as, neighboring countries such as Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. Due to socio-political struggles experienced in most countries in the Middle East, the developments of public utilities have become unimaginable.

The civil war and posttraumatic recovery in Lebanon led to uncertainty to the future of transportation infrastructure. The railway system that began in late 20th century was terminated because of political problems. Initially, the railway line was intended to connect Beirut and Damascus in order to provide Damascus with accessibility to the port. The Beirut Damascus railway line continued operating, and made travel possible from Europe to Africa without changing trains. In addition, the line served as an important means of transportation to people both from the South to North up to Syria.

The aftermath of the Lebanese Civil war led to a considerable damage to the rail network and interfered with the transportation system that gradually ceased. The failure of the rail network causes congestion on roads that led to difficulties in mobility to distant areas. Statistics pertaining to transportation patterns in Lebanon began recently, during the civil war, there were unreliable public transportation system.

Thus, there is a need to upgrade the transportation system by reviving the rail network. Hence, the Lebanese government should do more research on the possibility of reviving the rail network since; it will provide an opportunity to make Beirut affordable and have efficient connections with neighboring cities that are on the Mediterranean and beyond.

The population of Lebanon is unevenly distributed with more than 90% of the Lebanese staying in urban areas. A large majority of the population are concentrated within the coastal areas such as Beirut and Sidon. This uneven distribution of the population has led to regional disparities.

There is mobility of many people into and out of Beirut; however, they experience transportation problems. The government, as well as, transportation experts have made substantial efforts to combat this issue, but have faced many problems including financial constrains to implement the projects. Lebanon experiences a large per capita public debt that has made publicly funded projects not to be possible.

The Lebanese government has made emphasis on privatization to ensure that the damaged public utilities are restored. In addition, the government has made pledges apply proceed of sales in order to minimize public debt and the budget deficit. There have been reforms made towards ensuring that qualified technocrats are involved to address fundamental economic programs, and make reviews on further savings that can be achieved through reforms of the income tax system.

The war made transportation system to be silenced whereas private transportation companies ensured a short term-term solution to the issue. However, private bus and taxi operators suffered due to the monopolization of the bus depots by independent companies. This had contributed to a sectarian struggle that has contributed to the division in Lebanon today.

Lebanese government has spent large sums of money to reconstruct and maintain the roads by paving and improving the road quality. However, the country still experiences inadequate capacity due to budget deficits in the allocation of funds channeled for road construction and maintenance. Economic development has been hugely uneven in Lebanon which has made the government fail in reducing economic and social inequalities in various communities.

However, the President has made efforts to reduce the inequalities by pursuing development projects in various societies, in the north and south that had been traditionally neglected. The status of public infrastructure is poor. There are poor facilities on roads for pedestrian crossing on highways. This is coupled with insufficient public lighting, poor quality road surface, absent road markings, as well as, particularly curvy and small roads. These have contributed to congestion on roads.

Thus, the years of civil war in Lebanon and post-traumatic recovery have contributed to uncertainty for the future of the public transportation system. Three key developments have taken shape in Lebanon. These includes the Cola transport hub, the Charles Helou Bus station, and the Dora transportation hub that have embodied the existing failures and conflicts in Lebanon.

Since Cola and Dora transportation hubs are located underneath populated highway bridges, they operate as productive intersections. The cross roads are used for social interactions and economic growth. Most travelers would move to these hubs remarkably early in the morning to conduct their businesses, while mini-buses and taxis transport commuters between the shores.

The residential areas surrounding the hubs make the roundabouts provide a layered activity. They were removed from statically enforced characteristics of infrastructure thus providing a platform enabling the operation of private transport companies.

In conclusion, Lebanese civil war devastated the economic infrastructure and significantly affected the countrys national output and its ranking in the Middle East. In the post-traumatic years, Lebanon has made substantial improvements undo some of the damages through assistance from both bilateral and multilateral donors by renewing the efforts to bring about sustainable development and economic growth.

Based on the information gathered from this study, it is evident that Lebanese economic developments have been slowed due to poor basic services and public utilities, such as infrastructure, water and power supply, communication. In order to sustain a rebound in economic growth, the government should put a lot of effort in upgrading public utilities especially mainly, transport, communication, water, and power supply.

For example, under an orderly planning and implementation of road maintenance through sufficient budgetary allocations, transportation system can be improved to a pint that decreases production and distribution costs of other economic activities.

In addition, the government should reconcile plans to ensure a substantial increase in infrastructure with the aim of maintaining macro-economic stability, as well as, reducing the countrys net burden. The country should be stable politically, and put in place growth enhancing policies that are necessary to achieve sustainable expansion in economic growth. Furthermore, the government should aim at reducing the high debts that should remain to be a medium term-priority. The thriving financial sector should work under a continued strong supervision and regulation.

Therefore, in order to sustain economic growth, and translate economic expansion into a broader social gain, the government of Lebanon must strengthen public finances, make efforts to upgrade public infrastructure, in order to improve the business environment. These conditions will ensure that Lebanon gains exceptional resilience in the face of financial crisis, as well as, a capacity to rebound and thrive.

Bibliography

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House, 1992.

Kunstler, H. James. The Geography of Nowhere: the rise and decline of Americas man-made landscape. New York: Free Press, 1994.

Lambeth, S. Benjamin. Air Operations in Israels War Against Hezbollah. New York: Rand Corporation, 2011.

Niasari, Nora. Under the Bridge: The consequences of the Lebanese Civil War in Beiruts public transportation. MAS CONTEXT. Web.

Introduction

Development based on the pursuit of progress to achieve high and clear goals is a meaningful process in any sphere of life. When applied to a society where people communicate and interact with one another constantly, planning changes to improve living standards and expand personal capabilities can lead to effective outcomes. In turn, the absence of any steps towards development is a regression and is fraught with stagnation in views and actions.

Based on the analysis of the post presented by the Editorial Board, the formation and current achievements of the city of Chicago as one of the American megalopolises and important cultural centers will be considered. Experts analyze the position of Daniel Burnham, the famous architect, regarding the development of the city and its historic formation. According to the town planner, no one should make little plans, and it is essential to strive for high goals all the time to amaze descendants (Editorial Board). Such an opinion may seem presumptuous and too bold; nevertheless, Chicago needs an effective transformative plan since many problems exist at the moment, and an intervention to improve the citys well-being is relevant.

Reasons for Introducing a Transformative Plan

Over the past years of the development of Chicago, the local authorities have managed to do enough to make the city an important cultural, economic, and political state object. However, according to Editorial Board, Chicago suffers plenty of problems that demand more than incremental solutions, and additional attention should be paid to moving forward rather than preserving achievements. Despite significant prospects and opportunities, not enough valuable decisions regarding infrastructure improvement are made, which slows down the natural process of civilization and restrains innovations.

As Lazzeretti and Oliva note, cities are not only the centers of economic life but also the places of attracting people with different cultural backgrounds, and space for innovations is one of the driving forces (1856). In addition to the natural changes that occur, for instance, the provision of social services and control over the execution of federal orders, additional interventions aimed at improving the appearance of the city may be relevant. Therefore, based on Burnhams ideas, it is crucial to provide an effective plan for the reorganization of thinking in terms of engaging resources and establishing a progressive and convenient city with high and clean goals.

Evidence of the Need for Changes

Moving towards Chicagos progress is an urgent task for the authorities because current development results cannot be viewed in terms of compliance with the innovation program. Based on Burnhams thoughts that were practical rather than poetic, the importance of development is due to responsibility to descendants and the natural need to grow in the conditions of available opportunities (Editorial Board).

The mark in the history that the citizens of the city can leave is a springboard to innovations, and new projects are the logical outcome of the developmental work. As Mendizabal et al. argue, the degree of adaptability to transformations characterizes any city as a dynamic structure, and the lack of progress, on the contrary, indicates instability and problems (412). Those government programs that are implemented in most major cities of the country are used in Chicago. However, according to Editorial Board, city leaders need to mobilize not only readily available resources but also additional reserves to prove to citizens that the only acceptable direction to move is forward. At the moment, weak attempts are made, and the need for changes is warranted.

Warrants

In the conditions of life at the present stage, many changes are required to ensure sustainable and successful movement towards improving urban infrastructure. As Filion et al. remark, the organization of social institutions does not always allow for proper urban development trajectories, and much effort is needed to ensure total control over transformations (217). Obviously, in an environment where changes are acceptable and desirable, there should be a solid background for interventions aimed at achieving progressive and relevant solutions. Accordingly, as a city with a highly developed economy, Chicago may afford to implement necessary transformative plans.

Under the influence of modern trends, it is not always easy to achieve quick and effective changes. Lazzeretti and Oliva argue that economic transformation is inextricably linked with cultural and creative resources, which may be the result of a certain ideology (1860). Today, in the USA, the infrastructure of many large cities is the pride of the authorities and the result of many years of investments.

However, when the reorganization is influenced by such trends, it is hard enough to find the necessary sources to enable all planned innovations to be realized. According to Editorial Board, people rarely think about the future and seek to improve the present, thereby slowing progress. However, changes based on big plans imply more global changes when both current issues are touched upon and upcoming tasks are also taken into account. Accordingly, in the context of the policy of innovations and movement towards progress, it is essential to engage as many creative people with proper cultural priorities as possible. This measure will provide an opportunity to implement the development program effectively and will allow achieving high-performance work.

Rebuttals

Chicagos transformational efforts and hard work on innovations can be made more difficult by the overly complex and lengthy process of changes. When global innovations are planned, engaging all possible resources may require the significant reorganization of not only the citys infrastructure but also individual social institutions. According to Filion et al., the diversity of human associations, for instance, enterprises, governments and their agencies, as well as nonbusiness and non-governmental common-purpose organizations should be engaged (204). As a result, orientational transformational work is hampered by the necessity to control the activities of all these stakeholders and to allocate resources by constantly changing trends and needs.

In addition, significant challenges may arise while reasoning the evidence of the relevance of particular transformative plan implementation. Despite Burnhams view of high and clear goals regarding the citys development policy, Chicagos authorities may not approve of the set of measures that may be required for a complex reorganizational policy. Experts from Editorial Board note that at the moment, large-scale construction campaigns are planned in the city, for instance, the expansion of Steppenwolf Theater. Therefore, the total transformative plan may be costly both from the point of view of financial investments and about the complexity of the whole process.

Backing

Contrary to the complexity and costs of innovations, transformations are necessary for Chicago to develop sustainably and successfully. The effective cooperation of individual social institutions may help strengthen unity and achieve high goals. According to Linnenluecke et al., stakeholders working in one direction can co-create future plans and generate value, with an external focus of planning (3223).

This, in turn, is necessary to not only improve the condition of the city and its infrastructure but also achieve a successful future for the sake of descendants. This goal justifies the challenges that may arise during the implementation of a transformative plan and is the result of deliberate and coordinated actions.

An opportunity to understand current shortcomings and mobilize resources to achieve high goals is determined by the desire for improvements. Despite some steps in this direction, Chicago still needs innovations as a natural step towards progress. Activities aimed at adapting to the constant search for new possibilities should be part of civilian thinking so that all planned changes could have a positive outcome. As a result of the assessment made by the Editorial Board, the dreams of tomorrow can become a reality if enough efforts are put in. Therefore, moving towards transformations should be part of the citys development program.

Conclusion

Despite the potential challenges and costs of implementing a transformative plan for the development of Chicago and its infrastructure, the need for changes is relevant to achieve high goals. Burnhams ideas regarding the value of innovations in terms of their importance for posterity may be applied to involve all the necessary resources and stakeholders. The movement in this direction may be complicated by the time-consuming process of transition to the new model of the organization of life in the city. However, based on the findings in the reviewed academic sources, it can be concluded that such measures are accessible due to the cumulative participation of citizens in solving the current issues.

Works Cited

Editorial Board. A Chicago Tale: Why Were Happy to Erase the Asterisk from Daniel Burnhams Make No Little Plans*. Chicago Tribune. 2019. Web.

Filion, Pierre, et al. Planners Perspectives on Obstacles to Sustainable Urban Development: Implications for Transformative Planning Strategies. Planning Practice and Research, vol. 30, no. 2, 2015, pp. 202-221.

Lazzeretti, Luciana, and Stefania Oliva. Rethinking City Transformation: Florence from Art City to Creative Fashion City. European Planning Studies, vol. 26, no. 9, 2018, pp. 1856-1873.

Linnenluecke, Martina K., et al. A Review of Collaborative Planning Approaches for Transformative Change Towards a Sustainable Future. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 142, 2017, pp. 3212-3224.

Mendizabal, Maddalen, et al. Stimulating Urban Transition and Transformation to Achieve Sustainable and Resilient Cities. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 94, 2018, pp. 410-418.

Purpose of Inclusion of Performance Measures in MAP-21

Including performance measures in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) has been done to ensure the effective risk-based management of available assets and the decision-making associated with the improvement of infrastructural quality. Performance measures linked to pavement and bridge infrastructure can allow the key decision-makers to establish quality improvement objectives, identify the existing gaps in performance, and develop investment strategies. For assessing the effectiveness of the introduced performance measures, frequent evaluations are put in place. Such evaluations based on performance measures lead to the development of reasonable alternatives for improving roads, highways, or bridges that require repair and reconstruction activities from emergency events (Federal Highway Administration).

Bridge Performance Measures Adopted in 2017

The two key performance measures of 2017 adopted about bridges were Pavement and Bridge Condition for the National Highway Performance Program and the National Highway Performance Program Final Rule (published on January 18, 2017, and effective on May 20, 2017) (FHWA, National Performance Management Measures). The measures were established for State departments of transportation to carry out the National Highway Performance Programs alongside with assessing the state of pavements on bridges, Interstate Systems, on- and off-ramps, and the National Highway Systems overall (NHS) (FHWA, Two Performance Management Final Rules Take Effect).

NHS Bridges in the United States

If to consider the total number of bridges in the United States, there are approximately 610,749 bridges, 23% of which belong to the National Highway System that covers 58% of the total deck area of the country (U.S. Government Accountability Office). Based on the data provided by the Federal Highway Administration (U.S. Department of transportation), there were 144,610 of NHS bridges in the United States as of 2016, with the number increasing with the expansion of the National Highway Systems (FHWA, Deficient Bridges by Highway System 2016). It is important to mention several states with the largest numbers of deficient NHS bridges; for instance, there are 17,000 of such bridges in Texas, 5,325 in Florida, 5,136 in the state of New York, 5,071 in Ohio, and 5,858 in Pennsylvania. Delaware (323), District of Columbia (154), Rhode Island (414), and Alaska (400) are among the areas with the lowest numbers of NHS bridges (FHWA, Deficient Bridges by Highway System 2016).

Deficient Bridges

It has been established that in the case of states showing the same or increasing rate of deficient NHS bridges (10% and more), the total deck areas to which the bridges belong would be considered Structurally Deficient, forcing states to invest in appropriate quality improvement projects. The statistics show that the rates of deficient bridges are decreasing. As of now, the gap between the desired 10% and the recent rates of deficient bridges is not large, as mentioned in the USA Today report prepared by Jansen. As found by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the number of structurally deficient NHS bridges decreased by 20% (between 2005 and 2012) and functionally obsolete NHS bridges decreased by 2%.

The barriers associated with decreasing the number of deficient bridges is associated with the slow pace of investment, the low purchasing power of local governments, tax increases, the lack of federal government support, and the slowing down of the major projects initiated by state departments of transportation.

Works Cited

Federal Highway Administration. MAP-21 National Highway Performance Program. ACPA. 2015, Web.

FHWA. Deficient Bridges by Highway System 2016. FHWA. 2016, Web.

FHWA. National Performance Management Measures: Pavement and Bridge Condition to Assess the National Highway Performance Program. FHWA, 2017, Web.

FHWA. Two Performance Management Final Rules take Effect. FHWA. 2017, Web.

Jansen, Bart. Study: 58,000 U.S. Bridges Found to be Structurally Deficient. USA Today. 2018, Web.

U.S. Government Accountability Office. Transportation Infrastructure: Information on Bridge Conditions. GAO. 2015, Web.

The vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the United States post experiences of 9/11 and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina have generated intense debate amongst the academia, government circles, and the media. This essay examines the vulnerabilities in US critical infrastructure.

The government has a National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) that lists 18 core areas identified as critical infrastructure, namely: Agriculture and food; defense industrial base; energy; healthcare and public health; national monuments and icons; banking and finance; water; chemical; commercial facilities; critical manufacturing; communications; dams; emergency services; nuclear reactors, materials, and waste; information technology; postal and shipping; transportation systems, and government facilities (DHS, 2009, p. 3). These 18 core areas have 12 different lead agencies in charge, which leads to difficulty in coordination and turf wars.

Critical vulnerabilities of the food and agricultural sector stem from the possibility of Agro-terrorism that can disrupt the nations food supply chain, including attempts to introduce poisons in packaged foods and liquids by terrorists (US Food and Drug Administration, 2007) as also bio-terrorism and bio-infestation due to introduction of incompatible foreign origin flora and fauna into the nations biosphere. It could also include the deliberate introduction of diseases into animals or plants and thereon into the human food chain (Monke, 2004, p. 1). Since livestock are usually concentrated in specific locations such as a pig farm or a poultry farm, the deliberately introduced disease can quickly infect the entire livestock. Livestock is moved from place to place through modern means of mass transportation; thus, the animal disease can quickly spread to the entire country. The other vulnerability is that foreign pathogens introduced may not be detected by their own medical fraternity, which may not have the wherewithal to tackle an outbreak of foreign disease. Lastly, there are numerically more types of such pathogens that affect plants and animals than humans, and these are easily available outside the country for terrorists to acquire. Vulnerability to the US food and agricultural sector could then stem from the loss of confidence in the populace regarding the safety of the food being produced and also the possibility of other countries then banning US produce from entering their markets.

The defense industrial base is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, defense industrial espionage either through hackers or through an insider job. The concentration of defense industries in one geographical area is also a vulnerability that can be exploited by an adversary. For example, Over 31% of U.S. naval shipbuilding and repair capacity is in and around Norfolk, VA (Parfomak, 2008, p. 5). US electrical grid depends upon network system for control and monitoring. There exists a danger of spies penetrating the US electrical grid network, and Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet (Gorman, 2009). Defense Industries dealing with fuels and explosives are especially sensitive targets because any successful attack on these can cause huge explosions that would not only cause primary damage in the vicinity of the plant but can also affect the outlying areas and towns by spewing toxic and corrosive gases, causing thousands of casualties. The vulnerability of such industries stems from the fact that exploding ammunition can trigger secondary or sympathetic detonations, and thus even a single attack can result in horrendous damage.

Healthcare and public health have critical vulnerabilities of reach and inadequate facilities and their equitable geographic distribution. Approximately 25% of U.S. pharmaceuticals are manufactured in Puerto Rico, primarily in the San Juan metropolitan area (Parfomak, 2008, p. 5). So should San Juan metropolitan area be put out of action due to human mischief or a natural disaster, America would face a sudden shortage of medicines in the market. Dangers from infectious diseases such as SARS and Avian Flu can spread into the public and from them to infect workers working in critical infrastructure industries (Parfomak, p. 7).

The main vulnerability of National Monuments and Icons (NMI) is that they are like a magnet for terrorists because the terrorists perceive NMI assets as internationally recognized symbols of American power, culture, and democratic tradition (DHS, 2007, p. 14). National monuments and icons are difficult to protect against terrorist strikes as these attract visitors and tourists who have to be provided access. Secure access control is a difficult task as the authorities have to balance the stringency of the controls versus the inconvenience caused to genuine visitors. Another vulnerability of icons and monuments is that because they are famous, even an unsuccessful or partially successful attempt would be considered as a success by the terrorists as it would achieve the purpose of symbolism and gather the much-needed media attention. For example, if a small explosive-laden model airplane was to fly into the White House complex and explode, killing no one, the very act would achieve the tremendous psychological and symbolic effect and the attendant media coverage.

The main vulnerability that came to the fore in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was the poor state of Americas emergency services to cope with natural disasters. This was not surprising considering the fact that emergency services as a critical infrastructure had ranked 7th and 5th under the Clinton and Bush administration, respectively. That too, the focus had remained excessively on terrorism. The other vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were also numerous. Nobody had paid attention to the fact that the earth around New Orleans was sinking at a rate of 3 feet every year (Palser, 2006, p. 19) which therefore had required the up-gradation of the citys levee system. Critical infrastructure such as electricity, telecommunication, backup generators, and evacuation points too required to be elevated above a possible storm surge level. Suitable transportation, namely rubber boats, and dinghies were not available. Mass care such as housing and human services was nonexistent in the aftermath of the disaster. Restoration services were also woefully inadequate. Oil-producing platforms and associated industries in the Gulf of Mexico were geographically concentrated and were put out of action by Katrina, pointing to a need for dispersal of vital assets.

Nuclear reactors and waste products are prone to cyber attacks, physical intrusion, insider jobs, and the possibility of nuclear waste being smuggled out to construct a dirty bomb. Out of these, vulnerabilities from cyberattacks are more worrisome as physical security around nuclear plants is usually quite stringent, and waste disposal is regulated by extremely stringent guidelines. Cyber attackers can take control of a reactor and set the nuclear chain reaction of the reactor out of control and explode, releasing radiation into the atmosphere, a sort of a Three Mile Island or Chernobyl accident committed deliberately.

Critical vulnerabilities of the banking and finance sectors lie in their requirement for seamless and uninterrupted communication networks. These require protection from physical disruption due to human actions or from natural disasters as also from cyber attacks carried out by hackers or adversaries to either bring down the network or steal wealth and information. Post current economic depression, another critical vulnerability of the banking and finance sector that has come to light has been the concentration of far too much capital in a few core banks, leading to a domino effect when the core banks fail, pointing to a need for diversification.

The prime vulnerability of the shipping and maritime sector arises from the sheer volume and traffic of shipping that arrives at U.S. ports daily, which makes it physically impossible to scan each and every container entering U.S. ports. Only 5.2% of the containers reaching American ports on ships are screened with X-ray and gamma-ray devices (Richardson, 2004), which makes the ports vulnerable to a possible dirty bomb being smuggled into the U Sport and being exploded by terrorists. Also, terrorists can be smuggled into the United States by hiding in an undetected shipping container, disembarking stealthily to attack vital installations or soft targets. Vulnerabilities of monitoring and tracking merchant ships stem from the nature of seas being the common heritage of mankind. This means that even if a ship leaves a known destination such as Singapore, it can call port at some Yemeni ports (known to be infested with Al Qaeda) and then arrive at a U.S. port. The International Maritime Organization has made it mandatory for sea-going ships of over 300 tons to be fitted with an Automated Identification System (AIS) so that ships can be tracked automatically through globally designated monitoring posts. However, the system can be switched off manually by the crew, and rogue elements can resort to AIS spoofing that can generate false identities. Vulnerabilities to the shipping and maritime sector have been identified by the US Coastguard as 12 possible attack modes against 50 different types of target for example, & boat loaded with explosives exploding alongside a docked tank vessel (Moteff, 2004, p. 7)

A terrorist attack on a mass transportation system such as the subway can result in massive casualties not only due to the explosive device used but because of the stampede that is natural to ensue. So the vulnerability of subway systems lies in the funneling effect of the various exits from the enclosed area as also the design of the vents and the exhausts to channelize out a blast effect of an explosion.

In conclusion, it can be stated that the 18 critical infrastructures as declared in the NIPP have many vulnerabilities. Most of these stem from physical disruption and cyber disruption of human origin and natural disasters as also structural weaknesses and geographical concentration of facilities that require greater efforts at mitigation, including seamless interagency coordination between multiple agencies.

Works Cited

DHS. (2009). National Infrastructure Protection Plan.

DHS. (2007). National Monuments & Icons.

Gorman, S. (2009). Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies.

Monke, J. (2004). Agroterrorism: Threats and Preparedness.

Moteff, J. (2004). Risk Management and Critical Infrastructure Protection:Assessing, Integrating, and ManagingThreats, Vulnerabilities and Consequences.

Palser, B. (2006). Hurricane Katrina. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books.

Parfomak, P. (2008). Vulnerability of Concentrated Critical Infrastructure: Background and Policy Options.

Richardson, M. (2004). Growing Vulnerability of Seaports from Terror Attacks. Web.

US Food and Drug Administration. (2007). Federal Efforts to Mitigate Vulnerabilities in the Food Supply Chain.

Introduction

South Korea has an advanced logistics infrastructure, which the country has been developing since the 60s. Moreover, the logistics industry is the ninth-largest in Korea with regards to revenue from sales and therefore is among the key drivers of economic growth. As of 2014, the sector employed up to 600,000 workers, and the combined revenue from sales in the sector stood at $84.4 billion (Kotra, 2016). This means that the country is high on the list of economies with effective logistical infrastructure, with ports and airports allowing travelling to a variety of destinations worldwide. It is also important to mention that the aviation and marine transport in Korea is the fifth (to sixth) largest industry in the world, with the Incheon Airport classified as the second-best airport for international freight while the Busan Port regarded as one of the best container ports in the world (Kotra, 2016).

Transportation Infrastructure

Highways

The government of South Korea is known to invest in transportation infrastructure to launch new projects of building expressways, railroads, and other transportation facilities for improving the nationwide infrastructure (South Korea governments US$108.61 bn for transport infrastructure, 2013). The country can boast of its highways (divided into national roads, expressways, and other types of roads below the national level). In 2001, the government numbered the expressways in order for it to resemble the US system of interstate highways. The network of freeways in Korea covers the majority of the roads in the country, with tolls collected via the system of electronic toll collection operated and developed by Korea Expressway Corporation.

Railways

The railway system is considered among the most convenient ways of traveling between different destinations within the country. Since schedules for bus routes range depending on the severity of traffic, the railroad allows travelers to make exact planes since the schedules rarely change (Trains, 2017). Depending on the types and the number of amenities offered onboard, trains can be classified into KTX express trains, KTX-Sancheon, Saemaeul, ITX-Saemaeul, ITX-Cheongchun, Mugungwa, and KORAIL tourist trains (Trains, 2017, para. 2). It is important to mention that the Korean railway is extremely accommodative to both foreign and local travelers, providing trains to both remote destinations (e.g., Yeosu and Changwon) as well as the most popular tourist attractions with the exclusive pass that allows for the unlimited traveling for visitors.

Water

When it comes to the water infrastructure in Korea, the government managed to develop a sustainable water sector that is developing simultaneously with the countrys economy. Despite the challenges that South Korea experienced in the past, the country can now boast of its universal wastewater and water services. Water pollution has significantly reduced, with population morbidity associated with water-borne diseases becoming non-existent (Danilenko, 2016). The government of South Korea continues its investment into the water infrastructure for maintaining the system as well as ensuring its sustainability.

Air

Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. is the largest airline carrier in the country, which replaced Korean National Airlines that operated until 1962. Currently, Korean Air is privately owned and serves both international and local passenger. Asiana Airlines also has a large presence in the country, serving as both commercial and cargo traffic carrier. At the moment, airlines in South Korea serve international routes while smaller airlines provide services for domestic travelers. It is important to mention that South Korea experiences extremely busy passenger air corridor (based on passengers per year). This occurred due to the affordable prices on air travel as well as the tight competition in the sector, which facilitated the trend for air travel. As of today, there are one hundred and three airports in South Korea that serve both international and domestic destinations.

Pipelines

South Korea operates two pipelines: the South-North Pipeline and the trans Korea Pipeline. The former is owned by the Daehan Oil Pipeline Corporation while the latter belongs to the Korean Ministry of National Defense. With regards to the import of gas to South Korea, there have been some tensions with the North Korean government. However, Russia has been planning to reduce the tension between the countries for ensuring pear in the Korean peninsula, as reported by Sputnik News (2017).

Intermodal

With regards to the intermodal transportation in South Korea, the country is striving to establish itself as a regional and global hub through the development of the Eurasia Initiative. Under the initiative, South Korea has a vision of creating a new era of Eurasia with co-prosperity through integrating digital, transportation, and Korean Wave networks (Park, 2015, p. 10). The goal of the initiative is ensuring smooth intermodal transportation through the promotion of regional investments and open economic integration of the country. The Eurasia Initiative has several priorities that include the commercialization of the North-South route, the establishment of efficient energy transportation networks, and facilitating transport connectivity (Silk Road Express) (Park, 2015).

Logistics and Warehousing

Since the 1990s, South Korean national logistics infrastructure has been expanding to cater to the dynamic logistics activities. As mentioned in KenResearch (2017) article, recently, the dominance of first-party logistics and second-party logistics has been declining, whereas third-party logistics has been growing at an alarming rate in the country (para. 2). With such large logistics destinations as Busan, South Korea is presented with opportunities many opportunities for growth and expansion within the logistics industry. The warehousing industry has increased between 2011 and 2016, with retail and industrial manufacturing leading the segment. The market is dominated by small warehouses (between 2 and 5 thousand square meters); large size warehouses (10 thousand square meters and more) constitute the second place in the rating, followed by medium size ones.

Communication Infrastructure

The South Korean government also invested in the development of an effective telecom structure to keep up with the active IT market. The economy was transformed with the help of the development of ICT and other high-technology equipment. Also, the partnership between companies such as Huawei and LG led to the creation of Seoul TechCity for bringing smart city capabilities for the country capital. It is essential to mention that the popularity of fixed lines has been declining.

Utilities

South Korea is continuously improving the availability of convenient and innovative utilities to improve both commercial and private life. The utility construction market will be reinforced by the plan of the government to support the provision of high-speed Internet to citizens. By 2025, South Korea is expecting to establish a 5G connection to cover at least 90% of the country.

Therefore, a brief overview of the logistics infrastructure of South Korea showed that the country is highly advanced in this sphere. This means that such locations as Busan-Jinhae will be suitable for setting up a manufacturing operation and distribution hub.

References

Danilenko, A. (2016). Korea: A model for development of the water and sanitation sector.

KenResearch. (2017). South Korea future. South Korea logistics market, warehousing automation.

Kotra. (2016). Koreas leading industries: Logistics. Web.

Park, S. (2015). Korean road to developing intermodal transport system.

South Korea governments US$108.61 bn for transport infrastructure. (2013). Web.

Sputnik News. (2017). Pipeline of peace: How Russian gas could soothe tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

Trains. (2017).

Background Statement

Midtown Neurology has faced significant issues regarding governance and infrastructure management. Initially, the medical practice was founded by a single physician who had over 20 years of experience helping the community members. As the practice grew further, it has changed from a mom-n-pop operation to a more significant practicum site but faced pain points of growth. The founding physician hired four new neurologists to help to expand the practice. However, as the primary physician insisted on his own decisions, the new professionals forced him to leave the practice. The critical organizational points that a practice faces include issues in organizational leadership, the structure of the practice, and the management of proper behavior from employees and adjustments.

Summary of the scenario and issues in the case

Midtown Neurology, established by a physician with significant experience, gained recognition primarily due to the work of that medical professional. The founding physician had all the powers, responsibilities, and decision-making duties. However, when the large urban hospital associated with the Midtown Neurology gained Level 1 trauma status, the practice had to expand to capture new opportunities for development. However, the major problem was the absence of the structure and governance established defining employees duties, responsibilities, and schedules to present the information and track the processes within the practice.

The secondary issue that, from time to time, became the primary issue is the absence of leadership skills of the founding physician. It is evident that the founding physician was able to schedule his time correctly and was responsible for successfully managing his responsibilities. When new employees came to Midtown Neurology, the physician could not empower others and detach some of his duties. The main difference that comes out when reviewing the problems is the leadership and management of a small and a more significant organization that brings the necessity to establish controlling protocols, medical records, and administrative accountabilities and divide it among all workers.

An analysis of the causes and effects

I will address the cases significant problem from the point of the outside consultant who would advise the practice. I have chosen such a role because it provides an opportunity to present results in a structured manner and present specific solutions that are achievable and applicable for the organizations. The advantage of being an external consultant lies in the ability to be unbiased and make decisions based on gathered information without emotional attachment to the practice (Allen, 2020). The disadvantage of being an external consultant lies in data collection because sometimes, consultants cannot get the full scope of problems and existing relationships within the organization (McKewen, n.d.).

It is clear that the cause and effect system in the organization is primarily connected to the decision-making issues and lack of leadership. When there are no clear responsibilities of employees, they do not want to be accountable for their actions. When there is a lack of a clear strategy for future development and continuous communication, everyone does what is in his or her interests and does not take joint steps to help each other. An outside consultant can define the roles and authority for team members and present a structure that would exclude vague duties.

The strengths and weaknesses of the organization

The lack of governance is one of the central weaknesses of the Midtown Neurology practice. Governance helps to establish a clear direction of the organization, its goals, and objectives. This approach would aim to oversee the managerial activities, make everyone accountable for the organizations success and risk, and satisfy the regulative authorities (Jyoti & Dev, 2015). The second weakness of the organization is the lack of employees managerial skills to supervise the existing infrastructure. It is suggested that managing complex and evolving organizations requires leadership skills, including division of responsibilities, coordination of all stakeholders, participation in the decision-making process (West et al., 2015). The lack of diversity of views can also negatively affect the organization.

One of the significant strengths of Midtown Neurology is its recognition in the medical community and its ability to attract talent. It should be highlighted that the founding physician has built a workplace where other professionals want to work because he was able to hire four new neurologists. This fact suggests that the organization has a good brand image and human resources techniques that allowed it to recruit new employees and retain them. The other strength is the analytical approach and the evidence-based decisions that helped the organization treat patients successfully.

Solutions and alternatives

There can be named several options that might be implemented in the organization to resolve the primary problem. First, it is possible to focus on the transformational leadership approach that helps develop and nurture the leadership skills of employees and personality traits to encourage open communication and employee accountability. The implementation of proper leadership strategies will help to resolve the major problem. It can be suggested that Midtown Neurology will benefit from a transformational leadership style that implies an exchange of information among staff while avoiding hierarchical structure (Xenikou, 2017). The advantage of this approach is the unity of employees that can be achieved when developing the necessary skills together. The disadvantage of this approach is a lack of governance rules that should also be established in the organization.

Another way to approach the significant problem initially is to establish a clear strategy and constructive organizational culture and then deal with leadership issues. It is suggested that a constructive organizational culture brings transparency and open communication about the company processes, employees activities, and duties (Cooke, 2015). Constructive organizational structure assigns the leader as a facilitator accountable for the development of the employees skills and providing essential benefits to adjust according to circumstances (Cooke, 2015). In this case, the leader is the first to improve competencies and then convince workers to follow the changes. The pro of this approach is an opportunity to develop clear governance rules and divide responsibilities. The con is the possibility of employees disobeying and do not follow the example of a leader who adopted the rules and regulations.

Any alternative implies that the adjustments must start from the leaders to show other employees willingness to establish a clear structure, rules, and evaluation methods to encourage others to follow. To assess the success of adjustments, it is essential to develop an evaluation plan based on goals, KPIs, and participation. Firstly, the list of goals will be defined. Duties will be distributed; anonymous surveys will be conducted weekly to check whether the proposed solution works and see if the organization reaches its goals. For all employees and leaders, there will be established a list of duties and an electronic track record system, where they should mark their performance. For instance, checked ten patients in one day, prescribed medicine to 5 patients, gave a presentation on proper communication with colleagues, depending on the role. All the goals should be in the proper time frame; the leader and an employee should define deadlines. The proposed solutions will bring Midtown Neurology to a new stage of development while gaining more and more recognition and expanding its services to get more revenues and help patients.

References

Allen, T. (2020). This is what it takes to become a successful management consultant. Forbes.

Cooke, R. (2015). Create constructive cultures and impact the world. Human Synergistics International.

Jyoti, J., & Dev, M. (2015). The impact of transformational leadership on employee creativity: The role of learning orientation. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 9, 78-98.

McKewen, E. (n.d.). Hiring a consultant: The pros & cons. California Manufacturing Technology Consulting.

West, M., Armit, K., Loewenthal, L., Eckert, R., West T., Lee, A. (2015). Leadership and leadership development in health care: The evidence base. The Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Xenikou A. (2017). Transformational leadership, transactional contingent reward, and organizational identification: The mediating effect of perceived innovation and goal culture orientations. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1754.

Introduction

Kenya is a developing country, and in spite of the associated challenges, the Kenyan Government is focused on improving the transport infrastructure. The government plans to enhance the road transport infrastructure and the railway infrastructure to address international standards. However, such issues as the high poverty level in Kenya and the low level of education do not contribute to the development of the transport infrastructure in the country.

The Kenyan Government reported that in 2014, 49.1% of the Kenyan population lived below the poverty line, and the country is the sixth one in the world according to the extreme poverty index (Kenya’s infrastructure investment potential 2015).

In addition, 7.8 million Kenyans are illiterate, and 38.5% of people among them are the youths (Estache & Rus 2013). Thus, limited financial and skilled human resources are available for developing the transport infrastructure (Rietveld & Bruinsma 2014). This report aims to compare economic and social factors associated with the development of the road transport infrastructure and the railway infrastructure in Kenya in order to provide recommendations regarding the alternative that should be selected by the Kenyan Government for the further development.

Background

The current transport system in Kenya is not developed effectively because of the economic challenges, high poverty rates, high levels of illiteracy, and the lack of funding. Currently, the focus is on road transport, railways, ports, and air transport (Stough 2012). However, the Standard Gauge Railway transport infrastructure is rather outdated. The existing road transport infrastructure is not developed, roads are narrow, and the traffic congestion is observed. For 2013, Kenya’s GDP was $1,245.51 (Bias 2013). For the population of 44 million people, the GDP is not high, causing economic instability (Bias 2013).

Kenya has developed ties with the African, Western, and Asian countries. This factor influences the investment and funds’ distribution in the country. The Kenyan Government launched two Standard Gauge Railway projects that would cost $4.5 billion. Referring to the Kenyan GDP, the success of these projects will influence the country’s transport infrastructure and economy (Bias 2013; Kenya’s infrastructure investment potential 2015). Still, the Kenyan current transport infrastructure is less developed comparing to middle-income African countries (Estache & Rus 2013).

Options

The Standard Gauge Railway

To improve the rail transport infrastructure, the Kenyan Government is focused on promoting the Standard Gauge Railway that will connect Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya. The goal is to connect Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda, as well as to decrease the travel time and address the passengers’ demands. The project implementation was started in 2013, and it is planned to be completed in 2017 (Transport infrastructure before development 2015).

Road Transport Infrastructure

The Kenyan Government also participates in building the Lagos-Mombasa highway and the LAPSET corridor that will connect Addis Ababa, Juba, and Lamu (Figure 1). The goal of the project is to connect the African economic centres in different countries with the help of the modernised road network (Kenya’s infrastructure investment potential 2015). In order to achieve the goal of enhancing the road infrastructure, the Kenyan Government will consider economic, social, political, cultural factors and the project’s overall costs.

Requirements

Economic Requirements

It is important that the road transport infrastructure should fulfil the economic requirements in Kenya. The reason is that Kenya has a small economic growth with a GDP of $1,245.51 (Estache & Rus 2013). If the Kenyan Government decides to continue focusing on the roads’ development as the priority, the country’s economy can fail to support the project, and the Government will be forced to seek loans from international financial institutions and developed nations.

This situation will lead Kenya to increasing the foreign debt. However, road transport is economically advantageous because the Kenyan regions are connected by roads, and the facilities and vehicles are available.

Rail transport is not well developed in Kenya; thus, railway projects are not economically viable for the country. Kenya requires the complex approach to developing rail transport in the country, but the economic requirement is mostly associated with the quick development of roads. The investment in the road infrastructure can address the economic needs of Kenya more quickly (Kenya: infrastructure, power, and communications 2016). The reason is that road transport will serve the majority of Kenyans and organisations, creating connections and contributing to economic development.

Social Requirements

The means of transport should fulfil the social requirements in Kenya. It is important for the Kenyan Government to invest in those transport methods that can be beneficial for the citizens since the resources spent on the infrastructure construction are received from taxes paid by citizens (African Union Conference of Ministers of Transport 2014). The social requirements include the necessity of connecting the remote regions of the country in order to provide all citizens with an opportunity to reach the economic centres of the country. The developed transport systems are also necessary to guarantee the access to the healthcare facilities and other social services.

Cultural, Political, and Cost Issues

In Kenya, several cultural practices and beliefs are facilitated with references to the transport systems’ development. Thus, the Standard Gauge Railway transport is perceived as having a negative impact on the society because of the high construction costs. Similarly, the political aspects of Kenya also influence the development of the road transport infrastructure, as compared to the Standard Gauge Railway project (Cárcamo-Díaz & Goddard 2013).

Thus, the Kenyan Government should choose to develop the transport infrastructure that is culturally and politically supported (Allen Consulting Group 2013). The total cost of constructing the road transport infrastructure is small compared to the total cost of constructing the Standard Gauge Railway infrastructure. The choice depends on the availability of financial resources. It is necessary to avoid the increases of foreign debts and development of the financial crisis in the country (Transport infrastructure before development 2015).

Comparison

Economic Factors

The development of the Standard Gauge Railway project requires spending $3.8 billion, 10% of the necessary sum should be provided by the Kenyan Government when other expenses are covered by the investment (Transport infrastructure before development 2015). On the contrary, the construction of the Lagos-Mombasa highway and the LAPSET corridor costs $100 million that is 2% of Kenya’s GDP. Therefore, the road transport project is more cost-efficient for the country (Kenya’s infrastructure investment potential 2015).

Furthermore, the use of roads in the country is potentially higher than the demand for the Standard Gauge Railway while referring to the needs of businesses and different organisations. Currently, the Rift Valley Railway and the Kenya Railway Corporation serve the needs of passengers and businesses, and economists state that their services address the needs of customers (Bias 2013). As a result, the Kenyan Government will gain benefits while developing the roads transport system rather than the Standard Gauge Railway because of the predictions for returned investments and spent resources.

Social Factors

The development of the Standard Gauge Railway project can cause the unequal distribution of citizens in the country, leading to social issues because workers participating in the project need to change locations depending on the project’s progress. The project development also disrupts the normal functioning of transport in regions, affects citizens, and influences the life of the pastoralist community in Kenya (Bias 2013).

In its turn, the development of the road transport system in Kenya leads to overcoming such social issues as the unemployment because of the creation of job positions and investments. Furthermore, the development of the roads leads to enhancing the social interaction, trade, and communication between the country’s region while leading to the exchange of ideas, information, and technologies (Stough 2012). While comparing the transport methods, it is possible to state that the investment in the development of roads is advantageous because the Kenyan Government will address the problem associated with the fact that miles of modern roads in the country suffer from the traffic congestion that affects the country’s social and economic growth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Kenyan Government should consider the social, economic, cultural, and cost issues, as well as political concerns when deciding regarding the transport infrastructure to develop. The country’s GDP, economic growth, poverty, and educational levels are important factors that will determine the success of developing the chosen transport system. The careful analysis of the most feasible and friendly transport modes is completed to predict the returns on investment and the economic growth for Kenya.

Recommendations

The method recommended for Kenya is the development of road transport infrastructure since it is economically feasible and socially friendly. The costs of constructing the roads transport system are affordable to Kenya, and the project will benefit to the Kenyan population. On the contrary, the development of the Standard Gauge Railway transport infrastructure will benefit only a small portion of citizens, but it will require the huge percentage of the Kenyan budget.

Reference List

African Union Conference of Ministers of Transport 2014, Investment in transport infrastructure – 1985-1995, OECD Publishing, Cairo.

Allen Consulting Group 2013, Land transport infrastructure: maximising the contribution to economic growth, Allen Consulting Group Publishing, Melbourne.

Bias, R 2013, Kenya has big plans for ports, power, rail and roads. Web.

Cárcamo-Díaz, R & Goddard, J 2013, Coordination of public expenditure in transport infrastructure: analysis and policy perspectives for Latin America, United Nations, Santiago.

Estache, A & Rus, G 2013, Privatization and regulation of transport infrastructure: guidelines for policymakers and regulators, World Bank, Washington.

Kenya: infrastructure, power, and communications. 2016. Web.

Kenya’s infrastructure investment potential. 2015. Web.

Rietveld, P & Bruinsma, F 2014, Is transport infrastructure effective?: transport infrastructure and accessibility, Springer, Berlin.

Stough, R 2012, A set of guidelines: for socio-economic cost benefit analysis of transport infrastructure project appraisal, United Nations, New York.

Transport infrastructure before development. 2015. Web.

Sydney Airport is a very important piece of infrastructural facility to the Australian economy and the world in the general. The government in coordination with the Airport’s management is planning to launch major commercial flights at the airport and therefore there is need to expand the facility in order to accommodate commercial flights such as A380 and other new generational aircrafts. Airbus A380 has a capacity of around 600 that surpasses the capacity of normal planes by almost 50%. Apart from carrying more passengers, A380 will greatly help in the reduction of emissions and noise. This paper will highlight the infrastructure plan and building works by the airport management to enable the smooth operations of Airbus A380.

Sydney Airport has got elaborate plans in place to meet the ever increasing demand and at the same time maximize its positional advantage. The government in coordination with the Airport’s management has a plan of building new terminal extensions and at the same time embarks on upgrading the existing ones (Parkin, 1999). The other projects in the master plan include a new aircraft parking and an expanded fright terminal to accommodate A380. The strengthening of runways is also important in facilitating the operation of the A380 aircraft. The Airport has to upgrade its infrastructure in line with the international aviation standards for it to be permitted to land high capacity aircrafts such A380. Public and passenger safety is mandatory and therefore the necessary infrastructure and building works had to form the core part of the Airport’s master plan (Parkin, 1999). Since the pavement shoulders to runways and taxiways are very narrow, widening them was a priority. In order to accommodate the A380 wingspan, Taxiway G had to be relocated to the east of Taxiway D. The plan also involved strengthening of the General Holmes Tunnel that is situated on the main runway as a way of dealing with additional takeoff weight of A380. The other building works in the plan include the relocation of the perimeter road and the demolition of hangers to create space for the construction of a new Taxiway Golf. The plan also included the construction of new aerobridges to service the access doors of A380.

The estimated cost of the Airport Airfield and terminal works for Airbus A380 IS $128 million. The main challenge faced by the planners was how to maintain the commercial operation of the Airport while the upgrading work goes on. Since Sydney Airport is one of the busiest Airports in the world, elaborate plans were a mandatory to maintain the normal operations of the Airport (Parkin, 1999). In order to sustain operations during construction, the engineers opted to work only during curfew hours.

In conclusion, the master plan to upgrade and expand the Sydney Airport was very timely considering its location and importance to the Australian economy. For the facility to accommodate high capacity planes such as A380, it was necessary to upgrade the existing facilities and at the same time construct new ones o meet the aviation standards necessary to accommodate high capacity commercial planes such as A380. Some of the notable building works include the construction of new terminals and the strengthening of the main runways.

Reference

Parkin, J., 1999. Infrastructure planning. New York, NY: Thomas Telford.

In the modern world, information technology has become an important management tool in many organizations. Since the advent of computers, operations in many organizations have been computerized with easy management of information in the organization. However, all has not been well in many organizations with the installation of IT infrastructure. According to Alter, S. (2002, many organizations have experienced a massive loss of resources in an attempt to install or upgrade the IT system. Failure in the IT system can be caused by many factors.

One of the greatest reasons leading to failure is due to lack of initial assessment of the system and the implications it will have on the organization. This leads to the installation of systems that do not help the organization or are too expensive for the organization to maintain. Poor architectural design and decision can be another major cause of the failure of the system. This can be due to the inclusion of personnel not competent enough in the computer science field. As White (2004) argues, the management of the software system can be another reason for the failure of the system. These are just but few major causes of IT system failure. There are other causes but some of them are specific to an organization and a particular instance.

Virtual Case File of the FBI

The FBI is the major investigation body in the United States of America. It was established in 1908 to deal with the investigation of criminal cases ranging from smart crimes happening in day to day life in America, to complex matters involving counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, public corruption, civil rights, organized crimes, white-collar crimes, and other kinds of theft and violent crimes.

Due to its scope of operation, the FBI needs a comprehensive information management system since it deals mainly with intelligence issues that involve a lot of information. At the turn of the new century, the FBI has been faced with a lot of challenges in the management of the information system. According to Doherty (2006), it has woken up to the realization that the world is advancing in technology and it needed to catch up with the changing technology if it had to remain relevant in the investigation field. With information technology being no longer the privilege of the top organizations of the world and with the crime world becoming more and more highly computerized, the FBI must always being on top of the criminals in some of the areas that they seem to outsmart. This was the reason that led to the development of a new IT system.

Initial FBI information system

The FBI was for a long time threatened with new crimes that were becoming more and more sophisticated for it to handle. From the early days when Italian Mafia partnered with Russian mobsters to siphon millions of dollars from New Jersey State which saw Gambino family, the Genovese family, and others being convicted of the highly-rated crime, to the 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Tower, the FBI was highly criticized of not having an efficient system that could deal hard on breaking the information system of the crime world.

The September 11 attack left the FBI with clear information that their information system was not competent to that used by the terrorists and other criminals. It was criticized for not gathering crucial information that would have prevented the loss of life in the attack. Before the agent thought of installing the Virtual Case File, it had for a long time relied on The Archaic Automated Case Support System which was adopted in 1995.

However, this system was rarely used by some agents since it was cumbersome, inefficient, very low capability, and very poor in management. It was also criticized for not being able to manage, link, research, analyze and share information effectively. The system was not efficient and it needed an immediate overhaul if the agent was to remain on top of crime. This replaced the 1970s program which used over 40-odd software including database Adabas and programming language of Natural based on software like AG, Darmstadt, Germany, and others.

The start of VCF

In the year 2000, the FBI embarked on a mission to upgrade its IT systems by the installation of new software. In the same year, Congress approved $379 million to be spent over three years to upgrade the FBI information system. The then Assistant Director of Information Bob Dies was the one who prepared the starting plans in the year 2000.

The system was divided into three components hence the name Trilogy was born. All the 56 FBI file offices, some 22 000 agents, and support staff were to be provided with new Dell Pentium PCs running the Micro-soft office with scanners, printers, and servers were to make up the Information Presentation Component. Then there would be the Transportation Network Component with was to provide secure local area and wide area network for easy sharing of information. The third component was to be the User Application Component which was the Virtual Case File and the new system to be used to manage its information system.

It was of vital importance not only to the investigative body but also to the whole country. The VCF was to use five investigative applications including the Automated Case Support System, Intelplus, the Criminal Law Enforcement application, the Integrated Information Application, and the Telephone Application. It was also to rebuild and remake the FBI intranet and also identify new ways of replacing all the 40 odd software that was used by the FBI. The project was bound to start working in 2004 but it never saw its date of completion since it was officially abandoned in April 2005. The project was commissioned by Director Robert S. Mueller III.

In June 2001, the contract to implement the new system was awarded to major U.S government contracts in a cost-plus-award-fee system. Dyncorp was awarded the tender for hardware and network projects while SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) was awarded the tender for software. The contract was to be delivered in 2004.

Problems of the VCF

With the appointment of Robert Mueller as the Director of FBI one week before the September 11 attack, there was a high geared commitment towards the implementation of the initial plan of the VCF. With the expectation that the VCF would replace the inefficient system an 800-page document that was prepared was of very low quality and was expected to be the base for the development of the system.

This document was prepared after meeting with the users of the ACS system and their recommendations were contained in the initial document. This document showed that the project defied the basic laws of software planning. It defied the rule which needs the plan to define the exact role of the project. It should then define how the plan is to be executed systematically. This showed that the project was a failure right from the start.

Mueller has estimated that 251 computers, 3408 printers, 1463 servers, and new LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) would be in operation in the summer of 2004 which was 22 months behind its schedule. The project never developed along with its schedule despite the frequent consumption of taxpayer’s money.

According to Eggen and Witte (2006), another failure of the system was a communication problem between the eight groups working under SAIC. It became difficult to thread the 8 teams into one cohesive one. This was intended to address the issue of urgency that the project had and its importance in combating the rising terrorist cases. They used the wrong plan in the implementation of the project preferring to use basic technologies like messaging, workflow, or email to the existing software. The project never worked on the 2002 schedule. Seeing it was lagging behind, the FBI requested additional funding of $70 million to pump into the project in order to accelerate it. Congress responded by awarding $78 million and both contractors vowed to deliver their tenders a year earlier than agreed.

In the plan, SAIC agreed with the FBI that they would replace the ACS system within 22 months in one swoop. This involved using the risky flash cutover system. This meant that the agent would switch off the ACS system on Friday afternoon and log on to the new VCF system on Monday morning. This was risky since there was no plan B in case the system did not work.

At the time of development, there was intense pressure both on the side of the SAIC and the FBI on delivering the new system. SAIC embarked on staffing new developers to meet the deadline. At the same time, there were quick successions of the CIO’s office. In May 2002, Bob Dies who launched the project handed it over to Mark Tanner who acted in the position for only three months before stepping aside for John Darwin. John was later replaced by Wilson Lowery.

SAIC worked very hard and delivered the VCF in 2003. However, it was declared not fully functional by the FBI on account that it had 17 operational deficiencies which needed to be addressed before the new system was installed. This resulted in a heated debate between the two sides with the SAIC team claiming that deficiencies resulted from specification changes which were what the FBI had insisted on. An arbitrator mediated between the two and both sides were declared faulty on their allegations.

It was clear to all that that system had failed even to the management of the system. The Director of the agent, Robert Mueller convinced the congress standing before the Senate Committee on Appropriation’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary that the system would be in operation in a matter of months. To this SAIC claimed that the project needed an additional fund of $50 million to be operational but Congress only approved $16 million to save the system. Congress also hired Aerospace Corporation to assess the project further on grounds of its viability at a cost of $2 million. Aerospace released its report on the project in late 2004 which showed that that system was faulty and could not be applied.

It was highlighted that the system failed due to software engineering errors. The failure was specifically caused by poor architectural design work and decisions made from the beginning. As earlier highlighted by SAIC, repeated changes in the Agent’s specifications, made it difficult to focus on one area of development to the end, as there were many alterations in the process which eventually led to code bloat.

The problem in the specification was due to the fact that the FBI dictated what they wanted and went further to dictate how it is to be done. As we have seen earlier, there was heightened succession in the CIO’s office and at the same time, SAIC was involved in a lot of new hiring which brought new people to work in the system. Hence management and workforce changes can be partly attributed to the failure of the project.

The supervision of the developers was closely tied to the management issues and was a cause of failure in the development of the project. The problem of management was compounded by the involvement of unqualified FBI officers as the managers of the project. The use of a flash cutover deployment system could have complicated the adoption of the system taking into account the nature of the FBI work and the role of information in their work.

In the end, the project claimed that the project had used up more than $104 million of public funds. However, the figure could be much higher if well accounted for since initially, congress had approved $379 million. Although it is not all accounted for, congress had approved additional funds of $70 million, $16 million, and $2 million. This totals $88 million and does not put into account the initial funding.

The project must have used more public funds than estimated. According to Dizard (2007), it is claimed that the project used more than $581 of public funds although it may not have exhausted all the funds. The project cost the agent a lot in terms of resources and the fact that it resulted back to the much-criticized ACS system which it uses up to date. Stirland (2005), argues that although the agent has planned to install a new IT system by the name Sentinel which is expected to be in operation in 2009, there is still much to be done in the management of the project if it has to succeed.

This is case study demonstrates that the implementation of any information technology project should be initially assessed and all aspects considered before it is implemented. This case gives appropriate lessons to the FBI officials in the future when they think of implementing another IT project. Software Engineering and management issues are key considerations in any IT project to be implemented.

Reference

Alter, S. (2002). Information Systems. University of San Francisco Press.

Dizard, W. (2007): FBI overhauls Virtual Case File contract. Government Computer News. Web.

Doherty, A. J. (2006). The FBI I-drive and the right to a fair trial; Iowa Law Review; Iowa University Press.

Eggen, D. and Witte, G. (2006): The FBI upgrade that wasn’t. Washington Post.

Stirland, S. L. (2005). Senators grill FBI chief over failed Virtual Case File system. Nationals Journal’s Technology Daily.

White, C. M. (2004): Data Communication and Computer Networks. Thomson.

Abstract

This report aims to highlight on the plans carried out during the implementation of expansion of Melbourne International airport. Background, planning implementation and strategies carried out by project teams are discussed and findings are presented through in depth analysis.

Executive Summary

Melbourne airport is the main airport that provides air services to Melbourne city. In addition, the airport is the 2nd most active airport in Australia. Having commenced in the year 1970, the airport has evolved to become the only exclusive international airport that serves the metropolitan area. The airport also boasts of being the 4^th most toured air route in the globe. It serves 33 direct destinations that link to other parts of Australia, including international hubs in Africa, Europe among others. It acts as the main hub of Qantas and Virgin airlines, Australia division (Ellis 2006).

When it comes to Cargo, the airport acts the most active when it comes to international export freight while at the same time acting as the second most active in import freight (Albertini 2008).

Melbourne Airport Airfield Infrastructure Planning and Building Works for the Airbus A380 Aircraft Operations

The entrance of the new Airbus A380 into our skies signaled the beginning of expansion plans in most international airports all around the globe. Pundits have labeled the new Airbus as a splendid giant, the five hundred and sixty tone machine with wings that spans a massive fifteen meters wider than the jumbo. It has over five hundred and thirty kilometers of wiring which contributed to delays in delivery to customers. The passenger version can carry up to five hundred and fifty passengers (Melbourne’s Airport 2003).

Following preliminary studies conducted by consultative project teams, Firms in the project had to conduct concept stage studies that included the development of design criterion founded on international standards. Planning also included the analysis of design codes and prior evaluation of construction methods. This was all done to go with procedural constraints to ensure that the airport would remain fully operational during the expansion period.

The international terminal was widened by five thousand squared meters with emphasis placed on increasing seating capacity and construction of a 3^rd level that is home to airline lounges. The gates (gate nine and eleven) were integrated with aerobridges that can hold at least one A380 at a time. This greatly reduced the turnaround time for the planes being served by the airport. The aerobridges facilitate the boarding and disembarking of passengers from the double-decker airplane. There was also the addition of baggage carousel within arrival halls.

The project involved the close participation of planning and development consultants together with officials from the Melbourne airport. Close participation assisted in minimizing passenger and cargo traffic disruptions within the airport. Planning of the expansion included the design of intricate multi level spaces that hosted the high movement of passengers through the terminals. The terminals also required complex functionalities such as comfort and convenience for its users. Planning of the expansion was greatly aided by 3D animations as provided by Connell Wagner. Project architects were successful in illustrating the modifications to be done on the terminal and how it would cope with increase in passenger traffic. This significantly increased savings on time and money as it introduced a creative approach from an engineering standpoint. This together with close collaboration assisted, not only timely project completion but also making of better informed decisions (Harrison 2000).

Total Costs of Melbourne Airport Airfield and Terminal Works for the Airbus A380 Aircraft Operations

The Melbourne airport invested over two hundred and twenty million dollars in its expansion program which included the plans to accommodate the massive airbus. The expansion program included work on terminal precinct, runway among other facilities. This was done to offer support to the expected rise in the number of passengers that the airbus caries. The airport boasts of being the sole airport that can comfortably accommodate the “splendid giant”. Work also went into extending the width of North South Runway by fifteen meters. It cost fifty million dollars for this task alone. This brings home the massive work that was needed for the project (Australia Pacific Airports (Melbourne) 2005).

Strategies Implemented by Melbourne Airport to Mitigate Disruption to Commercial Operations during Airfield/Terminal Infrastructure Works for the Airbus A380 Aircraft

The international state of the airport provided project engineers with the laborious task of ensuring that the project could be coordinated with minimum disruption to the daily routine within the airport. The engineers had to ensure that there was a daily interaction between the project and 24/7 operations. The strategies implemented by the engineers included the modification of work zones, procedures among other tasks. Shifts in normal timetable were necessary to allow work to be carried within out of office hours. The major challenge to minimizing disruption to normal services was orienting passengers and airport officials on the changes in procedures that followed the expansion of the airport (Dempsey 2000). The fact that expansion work was to be integrated with existing infrastructure introduced major challenges to project completion. A good example of this was highlighted by the hidden sewer lines that were spotted within the location where bored piles were to be placed. This necessitated in the designing of a new foundation system. The new redesigned foundation was made from multiple micropiles.

Other strategies implemented by project engineers include proper site measuring. This was done to arrange out where everything was in the first place. Expansion work was sometimes allowed within a 4 to 5 hour window during off peak hours which was normally at night.

Conclusion

Expansion of the airport to accommodate the Airbus A380 was completed after twenty nine days and this was greatly aided by close participation of project teams. The wishes of Melbourne airport officials were respected as the work followed the runway closure for four weeks and a program that enabled construction tasks to be carried out over a span of 24 hours,7 days each week. The wide range of experience held by the project team members and experience allowed the development of favorable outcomes that tackled the severe limitations that were created by the project. The A380 being as massive as it is requires dedicated support as the traffic introduced by the aircraft can quickly cripple an airport that has not been designed for such an airplane. Both passengers and cargo traffic have to be kept in mind when accommodating the plane. With this hindsight, Melbourne airport took a proactive approach rather than to wait in expanding its facilities to accommodate the plane. Regardless of both financial and time constraints, the project ended up as a success due to efficient planning and implementation of objectives set forth by project teams

References

Albertini, C. A380 Airplane Characteristics Rev: 2008. (PDF). Airbus. Web.

Australia Pacific Airports (Melbourne). (2005). Melbourne Airport: master plan: preliminary draft. Australia Pacific Airports (Melbourne) Pty. Ltd.

Dempsey, P. (2000). Airport planning and development handbook: a global survey. McGraw-Hill Professional,

Ellis, F. (2006). Aerospace Notebook: It’s no cruise ship of the sky, but A380 is raising the bar for comfort. Web.

Harrison, M. (24 June 2000). Airbus opens its books for the world’s biggest jumbo. But is it a plane too far?. The Independent (UK).

Melbourne’s Airport – A World Class Operator. Melbourne Airport Media Releases. 2003. Web.

Movements at Australian Airports (PDF). Airservices Australia. 2010. Web.