The Philippine Automated Elections

In my own definition, election is an act of choosing competent individuals to serve and not to rule in formal office. The May 2010 elections will be one of the critical yet historical events in the Philippines simply because this said event will bring a major change in our country for the reason that this will end not all but some of the corrupt incumbent officials’ regime in the government. It was Senator Richard Gordon who crafted the Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Elections System Law which begun on July 24, 2006.

I took this statement from philippinestoday.net posted on July 14, 2006:

“The cheating happens when people are tired from watching the vote, and when the count slows down. By automating the process, the counting will be instantaneous and the results transmitted immediately at the end of the voting day, straight from the precinct to the world. This is how we will stop the cheating and protect our democracy,” Gordon said.

I took another statement of Senator Gordon from the Senate of The Philippines press release in August 11, 2008:

"We have worked hard for the Automated Elections Law. We had hoped it would be tested last 2007 elections, but it didn't happen. Now, we're just a few hours away from witnessing a new system of elections. This is not just a historical event for our country, but a crucial one. Isinulong ko ang batas na ito para sa susunod na eleksyon sa 2010, patas na ang laban. Wala na ang dayaan at dahas. Wala na ang mga dagdag-bawas at cash-unduan. Elected officials can now hold their head up high because they know they are the true leaders chosen by the people. The populace will have confidence in their leaders because they were voted through a credible system of elections," Gordon said.

The technologies that will be used in the system are Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machine and Optical Mark Reader (OMR). The Optical Mark Reader is a machine that reads and documents the poll results. The Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machine records the votes by use of a ballot image and is being activated by the user. The results will then be stored in two ways: as a data in the memory and as a printed copy of the tabulation. This type of technology will be able to produce the results faster than the usual manual elections that the Philippines have and this voting machine will help you minimize time and cost in ballot printing and transporting. The very first automated election happened last August 11, 2008 on the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The election served as a test for a much bigger event – full automation of the 2010 Presidential elections.

Here is a bit of news I read about the lessons learned from the ARMM automated elections from Lesson for the ARMM polls: New problems accompany election automation written by By DAVID DIZON/abs-cbnNEWS.com | 08/07/2008 4:02 PM:

Roberto Verzola, secretary-general of election watchdog Halalang Marangal, said the use of optical mark readers (OMR) and direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines in the ARMM election does not guarantee an error-free electoral exercise.

"Everyone thinks that if we automate the elections, then all our problems will go away. However, if you look at the experience of the United States and other countries who have automated their elections, the old problems still persist and new problems crop up," he said during a forum at the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement headquarters in Quezon City.

I agree to Mr. Roberto Verzola’s statement regarding the inaccuracy of optical mark readers (OMR) and direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines. These types of machines cannot totally eradicate the election fraud. When I heard the news about automated election in the Philippines, two words came into my mind, “inside job”, in contrast to what Senator Gordon stated. That is because, I have this impression that I live in the country of political thieves and we have a lot of public officials who easily fool the people and stage-manage the situations as if nothing controversial has ever happened, not to mention President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo and her cronies. When it comes to automated election issues, we never know, source codes are being manipulated by the people in position. There may be transparencies in the development of the code, but it does not actually mean that what they will be showing the public is the truth. In the technical side, computers are not always “bug” free and that it could always have a system malfunction and procedural miscalculation no matter how many times it underwent error checking and testing before being implemented. Simple things like these can somehow affect the results of the poll.

I cited some issues or problems that the COMELEC or let us just say, the Philippines will have to overcome before the elections or might have to undergo during this critical event. First, there are some rural or urban areas in some or most of the provinces in the Philippines are up until now, do not have access to electricity. Second, we have what we call illiteracy and third, we have the safe transportation of the machines to the voting precincts. Even though an election is automated, still, some old problems will occur. We have corruption, vote-buying, fly voting and the worst of all, violence.

Senator Richard Gordon’s statements show his pride on this automated election system which would somehow make the people confident in using the modern technology in the coming 2010 Presidential elections. I doubt that what he stated, “…patas na ang laban. Wala na ang dayaan at dahas. Wala na ang mga dagdag-bawas at cash-unduan.”, will really happen in the coming election. I, as a Filipino citizen, do not go against the automated election system. The real world problem is not actually the machine or the software to be used but it is in each and every one of us. It may somehow lessen the probability of cheating, vote buying and fly voting, but the best thing for us to do is to become vigilant and be honest to have a 100% faster, fair and honest elections!

References:
http://bayan-natin.blogspot.com/2009/06/whats-worry-over-a
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/10/09/two-former-justices-refined-automation-contract
http://services.inquirer.net/mobile/09/07/01/html_output/xmlhtml/20090630-213069-xml.html
http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2008/0811_gordon1.asp
http://bayan-natin.blogspot.com/2009/06/philippine-automated-election-update.html
http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2008/0811_gordon1.asp
http://www.philippinestoday.net/index.php?module=article&view=47
http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0311_gordon1.asp
http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2007/ra_9369_2007.html
http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=41&Itemid=301
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080513-136300/Computer-group-assesses-planned-ARMM-automated-elections
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080513-136300/Computer-group-assesses-planned-ARMM-automated-elections
http://www.votetrustusa.org/pdfs/CRSDREReport.pdf
http://www.ifes.org/publication/de870bce4b39339d89a3469c8de3a0a0/1%20IFES%20Challenging%20Election%20Norms%20and%20Standards%20WP%20ELVOT.pdf
http://microlab.uwyo.edu/Documentation/OMR/default.htm
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/04/09/tim-president-ended-cool-smartmatic-save-firm
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/special-report/08/07/08/lesson-armm-polls-new-problems-accompany-election-automation

Major Paper Update

July 8, 2009
3:15pm

I and my groupmate Joan Rose P. Dandoy went to Holcim Cement Inc. located at Bo. Ilang, Davao City and gave our letter of approval addressed to their HR Manager for our MIS Assessment project. Luckily, the company approved our letter signifying that we are now allowed to adopt their company for our MIS assessment project.
Thank God!

Assignment 2

Based on the organization(s) that you visited, what do you think are the risks associated with business and IS/IT change? (1000 words)

The answer to my second assignment is just a continuation of the interview which we conducted last June 25, 2009, Thursday. The company we visited was the remote office of Dole Philippines located in Lanang, Davao City and we interviewed a company MIS Programmer.

The risks associated with business and Information Systems or Information Technology change will be discussed below.

One of the risks associated with business and Information System or Information Technology change is the user. If you are going to create a system, you will have to inform the user about the new system so that the user will be prepared and will know what type of system will be created, how the system flows, and what will be its purpose. The MIS Programmer also mentioned that you really have to consider the user especially id the user is already used to the environment of the system, and it also depends to the user because some users would want to use the older system.

I agree with what the MIS Programmer said about having the user considered before changing the system. If the user will be informed about the system change or system upgrade, they will be able to get a chance to say what kind of system they would like to use, they will be able to have a bird’s eye view and somehow be prepared or trained to use the new system.

However, if the users will not be informed about the system change or upgrade, the users might have some difficulties in using the new system. They might think that they will train again for another type of system which they might not like or which seems not a comprehensible program. Moreover, they might think that they will undergo another training when they are already comfortable using the old one.

There are other risks associated with business or things to be considered before changing Information Systems or Information Technology. According to the MIS Programmer whom we interviewed, you have to plan what type of system you are going to change. Is it the database? Are you going to upgrade the system, what type of language will be used for the new system? Or are you going to change the system from a desktop or web application.

The MIS Programmer also mentioned that if it is only the database that you want to change, you have to verify some things like looking at the data, seeing if you can upgrade it, and knowing if it would still synchronize with other versions before changing such system. Moreover, when it comes to the type of language you are going to use, you have to check if there is really a need to change from one type of language to another type of language or to switch from desktop application to a web application depending on the need. The MIS Programmer mentioned further that the desktop application is user side while the web is not. Once you browse the internet explorer or the mozilla firefox, you will already see the system. The desktop application on the other hand, you will have to install the application because it has its own executable file. According to the MIS Programmer, these are the things you need to consider before changing the system because it is like creating a new system. The MIS Programmer also mentioned about system failure.

Finally, on the business perspective, the risk associated with business on Information Technology or Information System or a thing to be considered before changing the system is the data. The MIS Programmer said that whatever the data is before, it will be the same data that the users will be able to see or to access.

I agree with what the MIS programmer said that if you want to change the database, you have to look at the data for the reason that if you overlooked or lost important data, it would cause a very big problem for your company. There must also be compatibility with other versions so that the end users will not find it hard use the system in any types of application.

Aside from the compatibility on changing the database, you also risk security and confidentiality of the data. You have to maintain or improve its security and confidentiality when developing the system. If not, your database will be vulnerable against system hackers or system thieves.

When it comes to switching from web application to desktop application or vice versa, you really have to consider the type of users who will be using your system. A web application, I think is very suitable for what the MIS Programmer said about mobile users while the desktop application on the other hand will be very suitable for users who are non-mobile.

The MIS Programmer mentioned about system failure. It is true that when changing your system, you will not be free from system failures during implementation. System failures may come any time but somehow, it can be prevented. To avoid such, newly developed systems must undergo a series of tests before being implemented. Moreover, System failures can cause communications to breakdown, lost of profit and delay of reports. Moreover, it can cause massive lost of data that might become a big problem for the company.

I think you also have to consider the cost of the system, because if you do not have enough budgets for the new program, it will be impossible to change or upgrade such system unless the programmers will do the job for free. Moreover, you should also consider the amount of money that you will be able to save by the time the new system will be implemented and compare it with your savings using the old one. If you are purchasing your program from in IT outsourcing company, you should consider the cost of buying such program. If you have an Internal IT department, you should also know the cost of such program so that you will be able to decide whether to buy a new program or just create a program.

Evidences are recorded

Identifying a local organization(s) and some of their best practices in IT/IS

Before I discuss some of our chosen local organization’s best practices in Information Technology/Information System, I would like to share a little bit of what we experienced before we finally conducted our interview for this assignment. Our first choice was really the Department of Social And Welfare Development or DSWD. However, Sir Randy did not approve our letter because he wants us to go to private companies for some reasons. So, we considered our last option which is the AMA Computer College because we already arranged a meeting with the school’s IT personnel before we asked Sir Randy to sign our letter for DSWD. Unfortunately, he had an emergency which caused the cancellation of the interview. That is why, we went to the remote office of Dole Philippines, Davao in Lanang and there we interviewed a company Management Information System Programmer. What happened was an ambush interview and that the programmer was really on leave and that she only went to the office just for us to be able to conduct an interview. BEST PRACTICES:Inform The UserIt was mentioned in the interview that in making or changing a system, some things must also be considered like the user. I agree with what the programmer has mentioned and as for me, if you are going to create a system, you will have to inform the user about the new system so that the user will be prepared and will know what type of system will be created, how the system flows, what will be its purposes and what will be its uses.Systems AnalysisThe programmer mentioned that in systems analysis, you have to analyze what kind of system is needed and that there is budgeting. I agree with what the programmer said and in my opinion, during systems analysis, the developers must know first the needs of the user, the type of system they will develop, the time frame of the project and the cost of the project.DevelopmentFor me, after careful system analysis, that will be the time that the system will be developed. TestingIn my opinion, before the system will be implemented, it must be first tested for any errors that might occur.ImplementationIn my own opinion, after the development of the system has reached its perfection, that will be the time to implement the new system.IT Outsourcing and Internal ITAside from the five protocols or practices mentioned, the programmer also discussed the difference between IT outsourcing and having an Internal IT in the company. According to the MIS Programmer, IT outsourcing needs to be updated but the IT company does not have to be because it is their own system. In IT outsourcing, they sell the system and follow whatever is the trend or if not, they will be left behind due to the competition. But the Internal IT does not have to follow the trend because they do not sell the system and that there is no competition between the IT department besides, their clients are the departments which are within the company unlike in the outsourcing whose clients are the external companies. Moreover, the programmer mentioned that the outsourcing must follow whatever is the market standard, because if not, they will not be able to sell their product to the companies. Not like in the Internal IT, whatever is requested from them or whatever system can be offered to the company, it will be the system that the company will adopt - that will be the system that they will produce for them. The advantage of having an Internal IT as what the Management Information System Programmer said that if you look on the IT perspective, the Internal IT is advantageous than IT outsourcing because you create the system, you maintain the system and the overhead cost is cheaper in the long run and the only downside is when the IT personnel will leave. That is why everything must be documented. The programmer also added that in the business perspective, it would be most advantageous if you use IT outsourcing for the reason that the business will stand whether you have an internal IT or not because you will have a contract outside the company. So the IT outsourcing company will be consulted whenever a problem will occur. If one personnel of that IT outsourcing company will leave, it will be the outsourcing company’s problem. In terms of security, internal IT is more secured than IT outsourcing. Within the internal IT they it is already the bylaws or it is already mandated by the mother company that this is the IT protocol or this will be the protocol to be followed. The latter is also acceptable because security is also a part of the service contract. At the same time, IT outsourcing also a disadvantage because they are outside the company unlike in the internal IT which is held by the company.If I am a company owner, I will want to have an internal IT department because having one is cheaper than purchasing products from IT outsourcing companies. If I have one, I will be able to request systems which have functions that I specify according to my needs. Moreover, an internal IT department, knows more about the needs of my company in terms of database security and system flows. Annual TrainingAccording to the programmer, the company also conducts an annual training which is budgeted to keep their personnel updated and that in IT, it is their only advancement for their personnel. They also adapt whatever was trained to them.System SecurityIn terms of their system security, the programmer said that they have not experienced hacking and that their security is verified by verisign who checks the security of the company. She added that verisign is a company who checks if the site is vulnerable. They also have firewalls that they use to protect their system.MIS and ICTAccording to the programmer, the new name of Management Information System or MIS is Information and Communication Technology or ICT because Management Information System is usually under the finance but once you are called Information and Communication Technology or ICT, you will be detached from the finance. It is not part of any other department in the company but is solely a separate department.Definition of IT/IS Finally, the programmer defined Information System or IS. IT is called the brain of the company because the IT holds all the information which is used for business. These information are used as basis as to what must be done.The interview was recorded....

Introduction to MIS-1

Good day everyone! I'm Jerusalem M. Alvaira, 4th year BSIT student. I expect that I will learn a lot not only from this subject but also from Sir Randy...

Reflections

Our first meeting with Sir Randy Gamboa was fun... As expected, there will be group projects, presentations and more company visits. He introduced the subject Management Information Systems 1 or MIS 1 starting with the word Management with its keys: PLANNING DIRECTING ORGANIZING CONTROLLING. Sir Randy also discussed about the components of Information System - Hardware, Software and Peopleware. I agree with what Sir Randy said about the subject that it should be named Leadership and Management Information System because if we talk about Management Information System and learning about its components, it means for me, that even people has to be managed when in fact, the only things that should be managed are the hardware and the software components of Information System. On the other hand, the people are not supposed to be managed or controlled but to be guided or to be led in every responsibility that they have.For your comments, click here