There are an increasing trend of data analytics as Cloud technologies have enabled cheaper access to obtain data. Many organisations are scrambling to create and hire data analytics resources. As many are aware, data is always a two edge sword. How should you be managing data correctly? I will show you a simple checklist to evaluate your data awareness.
Favourable Data Checklist
Do you have data quality best practices in place?
Do you have data sensitive resources?
Do you conduct data historical review consistently to review trends and business performance?
Unfavourable Data Checklist
Data is as good as what you can record.
Dirty data is as good as no data.
Data have no meaning when the blind is leading the analysis.
In short, do not jump into the data bandwagon blindly. If you are misleaded by data, you are worst than having no data. Always implement good processes and quality practices to ensure good data quality. Data analytics can only be amplified and fully utilised with good business and IT alignment.
There is a sudden surge in coding where anyone can claim to know coding especially with Python and Machine Learning. Driven by demand, many attempt the switch to coding just by taking a course. However, for those whose are familiar in this industry, coding is not as easy as ABC. Picking up is easy but to sustain your interest in coding is even harder. Do you know there is a wide variety of coding? Which coding style brings you joy? Here is a way to apply Marie Kondo approach to coding to learn about your coding interest.
How to Marie Kondo your Coding.
Why do you learn coding?
Which coding spark joy?
What is your place in coding?
Where do you code best?
This is my Way of Coding
I learn coding because I enjoy creating things and making them work. I find joy in interpreter and scripting languages like PHP and JavaScript. Needless to say, my lazy self sway towards non-strict languages instead of language like Java. I usually function as SME (Subject Matter Expert) coding where a bridge is required between business and IT. For that area, exploratory and innovation area intrigue me the most.
Transportation Management System (TMS) is gaining popularity with the need of data visibility. In reality, digitalisation has its fair share of issues that are not related to technology. This is a simple checklist to evaluate your readiness for TMS implementation.
1 min TMS Readiness Checklist
Do you use data to forecast your transportation supply and demand?
Do you manage long term contract to mitigate fluctuations in transportation capacity?
Do you have dedicated TMS team?
Do you have sustained growth in your TMS team?
Review ofChecklist Results
If you answer all yes to checklist, you are likely ready to look towards using TMS to automate your transportation operations. If you do not have answers to some of the checklist, maybe it is time you look to planning for them. After all, TMS is about people, processes and system. It is not just implementation of system like a magic pill and expect to get the results instantly.
There is a hype of news in Singapore over the switch to Electric Vehicle (EV). Consumers are also encouraged to take the Public Transportation. Ironically, there is less awareness and emphasis on Green Public Transport and their Sustainability Programs.
SustainabilityChecklist
Sustainability Program stated on Organisation website
Sustainability Strategy for the next 5 years.
Clear and public disclosure on the information of Transportation Fleet owned, be it Electric Vehicles, Hybrid, Eco Friendly or Combustion Engine Vehicles.
Estimated Published Carbon Footprint generated by Transportation Fleet.
Quick Rating
Using the checklist, I do a quick survey on the overall landscape of Singapore Public Transportation organisations. This is their ranking in terms of their Sustainability program.
Public Transportwith NO Sustainability Program on their Website
Tower Transit – No Sustainability Program in Singapore but present in UK
Go-Ahead Singapore
Transcab
Premier Taxis
Prime Taxi
Simple Thoughts
Out of 8 public transport operators, only 3 have clear sustainability program. Only ComfortDelGro have achieved all the items in the simple checklist. On the other hand, the rest do not have clear indicators to their sustainability program. It is obvious more should be done with Green Public Transport. This observation is also consistent with my Commentary on Singapore Budget 2021 Clean and Green Transport. While debates rages whether consumers should change to EV or not, there is a more pressing need to educate Green Public Transport on existing transport operators.
Data is becoming a commodity as storage become cheaper and cheaper. Many information are now digitised and uploaded to Cloud. Many social media are encouraging content creation with various monetisation incentives. If you own the data, how do you sell it?
Ownership of Data
The ownership of data is something of a dispute as there is no clear legal stand as it differs from country to country. If data is really yours and transferable, you shall be able move it from place to place like physical thing. Unfortunately, data is intangible and the true owner often belongs to the platform you created. Common platforms are social media who harvest your data for their commercial usage. This is with the fact that most platforms provided free services for “acquiring” your data with very fine print of consent.
Data Broker and Data Banking
Since it is established that data mainly do not belong to you, how do you secure your data privacy and rights? Data Broker and Data Banking will emerge in future. Like currency, data is a value of trade and can be transferred and stored. These entities will act as intermediary to help you secure data. Imagine a futuristic version of your Cloud Drive that can seamlessly extract and secured your social media data and transfer anywhere.
Data Marketplace
A current version of Data Marketplace is the stock market. When there are Data Broker and Data Banking, suppliers and consumers will come together in a Data Marketplace. This is place where Data can be bought and sold. This is not new as many informal channels existed for such transactions. We will be looking forward to such future where data owners are can sell and be compensated with their data.
With Cloud Technologies, there is a hype of Agile methodology replacing Lean practices. As I am of Engineering background and Agile advocate, I am in a best position to bridge and clarify the views for both practices. So, I will raise the awareness that Agile is never a replacement of Lean practices but can coexist and improve existing Lean processes.
Whatare Lean Processes?
Lean Processes roots comes from Manufacturing and Engineering. The sole objective of Lean is to simplify and reduce wastage in process and in mindset. By doing, you can be efficient and effective, getting the best output from your inputs. It is a way of life, methods, technique, principle or even philosophy. The best examples comes from Toyota “Kaizen” in its car manufacturing and Motorola “Six Sigma”.
Lean or Agile
Lean software development serve as early inspiration for Agile. You will find many similarities between Lean and Agile. Both emphasis on speed by different means. You may wonder which method should be adopted. Existing organisations which practice Kaizen or Six Sigma may find their IT development team using Lean concepts. Overall, the switch from Lean to Agile and vice versa can be conflicting. In some case, Agile is more pro software development while Lean methods can be used for all types of business units.
Lean and Agile
With a simple comparison of Lean and Agile, you can see there are advantages for each method. The key is not to be rigid and follow each method to the teeth. For IT teams who are deep in Lean methods, you can also adopt Agile into existing Lean principles. On the other hand, existing Agile team can introduce Lean into various SOP and relate to other businesses.
Business IT Alignment is a necessity in today economy. With the speed of technology deployment and Agile approach, features can now be deployed daily. Often, business are frustrated by IT over lack of innovation. On the other hand, IT are annoyed over the changing requirements. This is a quick summary of these challenges I encountered over the years.
Timing is key. Consistent alignment is recommended.
Manage stakeholders expectation, not user expectations.
What you want is not what you need. Wants and needs is a constant battle for alignment.
Business or IT Sign off is not alignment. You will need communication more than a sign off.
Remember to build for unarticulated needs. What you cannot see is could be the key to alignment. Dig further.
Speak a common language. Carrier, trucker and vendor may mean the same thing.
Giving in to business or IT does not mean you are aligned. Alignment means a common understanding.
Learn to design your solution for alignment and adapt for change.
Always include political factor as part of alignment process.
If you cannot be aligned, it means that neither Business or IT is ready. Do not come to alignment for the sake of alignment. It is common not to be aligned.
The innovation have been faster and time to market for products are shorter. Consumers become flicker minded with lower switch costs in eCommerce. However, the gap between between Business and Information Technology (IT) keeps widening. Business IT Alignment is a topic of interest in the field of Information Systems (IS) and Enterprise Architecture. There are plenty of theories and research on this. Here are my short checklist based on my experiences and exposure.
Business IT Alignment Checklist
Do a SWOT analysis (Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats).
Stakeholders Analysis, know who you are dealing with.
It is a simple checklist but it will take years before you are capable to arrive at point 3. Business IT Alignment will need to come from your values and yourself. With shared values, you can build a team and vision. A strong vision will guide you to align common goals with business.
Over the years, IT roles have evolved accordingly to technological trends playing catch up at many junctions. As times passed, I have tried different types of roles in various forms of organisations. However, we have kindly seek to divide domain into project manager, business analyst, developer and tester. With emergence of Cloud technologies and Agile, these roles are gradually merging again into a role called Full Stack.
What is Full Stack role?
Full Stack role is nothing new but a rebranding of an old role I used to call Software Engineer! In fact, I would say that Software Engineer can do much more. That will be a debate in another article. To understand Full Stack, we need to delve into a bit of history. Back in Open Source days, a Stack is refers as a set of systems that is required to run the application. The most famous stack will be LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) in the Dot Com age. Basically, full stack role will involve a mastery of the solution stack e.g. LAMP stack.
3 Myths to Full Stack Role
For those who are in the Dot Com era, we will be de facto Full Stack! This also applies to techies who have worked in Startup. After all, you are expected to setup everything from end to end from Servers to Applications.
Myth 1: Full Stack is a specialised role.
As opposed, Full Stack role involves knowledge to set up end to end solution. This is actually a generalist role to configure the system architecture which is getting common in Cloud Technologies. Only then, the deployed application can be transferred to the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for engagement with users.
Myth 2: Full Stack role is difficult to find.
Once you understand the fundamental of Full Stack Role, you will realise Full Stack has existed in many parts of existing IT roles. This role can be easily found in Agile team or Startups as they are expected to handle a variety of solutions stacks. In many cases, SME or Solution Architect can often act as Full Stack developer.
Myth 3: Full Stack is a competitive advantage.
Sadly, coming from the world of Open Source, it is quite depressing to see the misunderstanding of Full Stack role. One may feel that having Full Stack is a competitive advantage. In fact, this is the opposite. Full Stack knowledge will become a commodity because most of Cloud Technologies offer templates with quick deployment methods that can be setup within hours. We shall see a decrease in this role as Cloud technologies mature. On the contrary, there will be a continued focus on SME and specialisation of domain knowledge. Let us not be sidetrack and go back to being a generalist just because it has a nice ring in “Full Stack”.
There is a growing concerns over Green efforts and sustainability talk. The ozone layer have been broken and temperature are rising with pollution of Earth. Environmental issue are nothing new and run contradictory to economic growth. With current technologies, it is feasible to measure and leverage carbon tax on its footprint.
What is Carbon Footprint?
Carbon Footprint is carbon dioxide given out by the produce or process, i.e. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The full definition by Wright, Kemp, and Williams states that it is
A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100).
From the definition, we saw that there is a potential dispute with the processes and interaction that emit the greenhouse gases. Moreover, the majority of the product lifecycle will give out carbon emission one way or another. The next question is how much and how to measure!
Measuring Carbon Footprint
The measurement of Carbon Footprint is under constant debate as our concern for sustainability and environment rises. The final commitment comes when countries sought to reduce carbon emissions with the introduction of carbon tax. For the first time, there is agreement on some common measurement of Carbon Footprint, namely the energy sector. Many research and papers are also done on how to measure these Carbon Footprint. You could even find free online Carbon Footprint calculator which you could try out.
Default Carbon Footprint Computation
Just like the fight for obesity, Carbon Footprint values will soon be default view like calories on food. One example is the Energy Labels to be displayed on electrical applicants in Singapore. Another effort is the introduction of Carbon Tax in Singapore, which makes the measurement and reporting of GHG emissions mandatory. I will foresee major technologies providing Carbon Footprint computation as a service as organisations seek greater visibility to sustainability. For more in-depth reading on Carbon Footprint, you could check out this book on how to reduce Carbon Footprint at a personal level, read my other articles on sustainability or look at Singapore Emission Profile for reference.
Danny Kwok 