Tag Archives: ensure

HOW CAN STUDENTS ENSURE THAT THEIR CAPSTONE PROJECT IS ORIGINAL AND CONTRIBUTES NEW INSIGHTS?

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Start early in your academic career by keeping up with the current research in your field. Read recent journals, papers, and books to understand the current questions researchers are asking and what gaps exist in the literature. This will help you recognize areas where new research could advance knowledge. Pay attention to the references and bibliographies of important works – these can lead you to related topics and ideas not yet fully explored.

When choosing a topic, select something narrowly focused that allows an in-depth investigation rather than a broad overview. Drill down on a specific issue, case study, population, theory, method, time period, or other narrow aspect that has not been extensively analyzed before. Avoid topics too general or that simply rehash established facts. Your project should contribute new empirical data, theoretical insights, applications, critiques, or perspectives to the field.

Develop a clear research question rather than a vague statement of inquiry. A research question should be answerable based on systematic investigation, be open to multiple perspectives, and lead to new understanding. It should not be so broad that thorough coverage is impossible. Have your research question checked by your advisor and peers to ensure it has not already been addressed and contributes novel insights. Be willing to refine your question based on their feedback to focus it more precisely.

Do an exhaustive review of the literature on your topic before beginning research in earnest. Search a wide range of relevant databases and sources, using various keywords and related terms to identify all prior work on your question or area of focus. Analyze this literature critically to understand how your project will extend past research rather than duplicating it. Your literature review chapter should demonstrate to readers how your work fills a clear gap. Only then narrow your focus for data collection and analysis.

When conducting research, use appropriate qualitative or quantitative methodologies and be meticulous in your execution of research protocols, especially relating to human subjects. Draw on a variety of perspectives through diverse sources and subjects. Be transparent about any limitations or constraints on your findings. Properly cite all ideas and data from other works. These steps will help demonstrate your results are objective and your conclusions validly supported by evidence rather than speculation.

Analyze your data and findings through multiple theoretical or conceptual lenses as relevant. Consider how different perspectives might interpret your results rather than sticking to one rigid viewpoint. This shows a sophisticated, critical approach. Look for patterns but also exceptions that refine or complicate prevailing theories. Discuss implications and applications of your work for public policy, professional practice, social justice or other real-world issues as appropriate.

In your conclusion chapter, clearly summarize the original contributions your capstone makes, such as providing new case studies, variables, populations studied, methodologies applied, theoretical frameworks employed, integrations of previously separate ideas, policy applications identified, or alternative perspectives considered. Highlight how this adds to and possibly reshapes the scholarly conversation. Recognize limitations but end on forward-thinking suggestions for future related research by yourself or others.

Have your draft project papers and reports reviewed by others throughout the research process, not just at the end. Incorporate constructive feedback into subsequent drafts to strengthen various elements. Share your work at relevant conferences to get questions and feedback from peers working in similar areas which can spark new insights. These various review opportunities help ensure your project maintains a sharp focus on real original contributions rather than drifting.

Your completed capstone should represent a significant original work that breaks new ground through empirical data collection, theoretical analysis, application of innovative methods or frameworks, identification of limitations in past works, or other means. It should help advance understanding in your field significantly beyond where current research has taken it. With careful execution of research best practices and refinement through review and presentation opportunities along the way, you can maximize the originality and impact of your capstone project.

HOW CAN HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS ENSURE THAT AI ALGORITHMS ARE TRANSPARENT AND UNBIASED?

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Healthcare organizations have an ethical obligation to ensure AI algorithms used for clinical decision making are transparent, interpretable, and free from biases that could negatively impact patients. There are several proactive steps organizations should take.

First, organizations must commit to algorithmic transparency as a core value and establish formal governance structures, such as oversight committees, to regularly audit algorithms for biases, errors, and other issues that could compromise care. Clinicians, data scientists, ethicists, and patients should be represented on these committees to bring diverse perspectives. Their role is evaluating algorithms throughout the entire development life cycle from design to deployment.

Next, algorithm design must prioritize interpretability and explainability from the outset. “Black box” algorithms that operate as closed systems are unacceptable in healthcare. Developers should opt for intrinsically interpretable models like decision trees over complex neural networks when possible. For complex models, techniques like model exploration tools, localized surrogate models, and example-based explanations must be incorporated to provide clinicians insights into how and why algorithms generated specific predictions or recommendations for individual patients.

During model training, healthcare organizations should ensure their data and modeling protocols avoid incorporating biases. For representative clinical algorithms, training data must be thoroughly evaluated for biases related to variables like age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and more that could disadvantage already at-risk patient groups. If biases are found, data balancing or preprocessing techniques may need to be applied, or alternative data sources sought to broaden representation. Modeling choices like selection of features and outcomes must also avoid encoding human biases.

Rigorous auditing for performance differences across demographic groups is essential before and after deployment. Regular statistical testing of model predictions for different patient subpopulations can flag performance disparities requiring algorithm adjustments or alternative usage depending on severity. For example, if an algorithm consistently under- or over- predicts risk for a given group, it may need retraining with additional data from that group or restricting use cases to avoid clinical harms.

Once deployed, healthcare AI must have mechanisms for feedback and refinement. Clinicians and patients impacted by algorithm recommendations should have channels to report concerns, issues or question specific outputs. These reports warrant investigation and may trigger algorithm retraining if warranted. Organizations must also establish processes for re-evaluating algorithms as new data and medical insights emerge over time to ensure continued performance and accommodation of new knowledge.

Accessible mechanisms for consent and transparency with patients are also required. When algorithms meaningfully impact care, patients have a right to easily understand the role of AI in their treatment and opportunities to opt-out of its use without penalty. Organizations should develop digital tools and documentation empowering patients to understand the limitations and specific uses of algorithms involved in their care in non-technical language.

Ensuring unbiased, transparent healthcare AI requires sustained multidisciplinary collaboration and a culture of accountability that prioritizes patients over profits or convenience. While complex, it is an achievable standard if organizations embed these strategies and values into their algorithm design, governance, and decision-making from the ground up. With diligence, AI has tremendous potential to augment clinicians and better serve all communities, but only if its development follows guidelines protecting against harms from biased or opaque algorithms that could undermine trust in medicine.

Through formal algorithmic governance, prioritizing interpretability and oversight from concept to clinical use, carefully addressing biases in data and models, continuous performance monitoring, feedback mechanisms, and consent practices that empower patients – healthcare organizations can establish the safeguards necessary to ensure AI algorithms are transparent, intelligible and developed/applied in an unbiased manner. Upholding these standards across the medical AI field will be paramount to justify society’s trust in technology increasingly playing a role in clinical decision making.

HOW CAN HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES ENSURE DATA SECURITY AND CUSTOMER PRIVACY WHEN ADOPTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES?

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As hospitality businesses adopt new technologies like online booking platforms, mobile apps, smart lock systems, and IoT devices, they are collecting and storing more customer data than ever before. While these technologies provide many benefits, they also introduce new data security and privacy risks that need to be properly addressed. There are a number of proactive steps businesses can take to ensure customer data remains secure and privacy is respected when introducing new systems.

First, businesses need to inventory all customer data assets and map where data is collected, stored, shared and processed. This data mapping exercise helps identify security and privacy risks and compliance requirements. It is important to understand what type of data is being collected from customers (names, addresses, payment info, travel preferences etc.) and how this data flows through internal IT systems and third party services. Any data that is transferred to external vendors or stored in the cloud also needs to be identified.

Once all customer data assets are mapped, the business should conduct a comprehensive privacy and security risk assessment. This involves identifying potential threats like hacking, data breaches, unauthorized access or disclosure and evaluating the likelihood and impact of such risks materializing. The risk assessment helps prioritize security controls based on risk level. It is also important to identify any legal or regulatory compliance requirements like GDPR in Europe which mandate how customer personal data must be handled.

Strong access controls and authorization protocols need to be established for all systems processing customer data. Role-based access control should be implemented to restrict data access to only authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis. Multi-factor authentication is also recommended for sensitive systems. Next, the principle of “data minimization” should be followed – only collecting the minimum amount of customer data needed to support business functions. Data should also have expiration dates after which it is automatically deleted.

Robust technical security controls also need to implemented based on the risk assessment. This includes measures like data encryption of customer files at rest and in transit, intrusion detection and prevention systems, log monitoring, regular security patching, configuration hardening etc. to prevent data theft or leakage. Web applications should also be rigorously tested for vulnerabilities during development using techniques like penetration testing. Infrastructure security controls ensuring network segmentation, firewall rulesets, etc. must be reviewed periodically as well.

Strict confidentiality and privacy policies governing employee conduct and responsibilities need to be established. Rigorous background checks should be performed for employees handling sensitive data. Ongoing security awareness training is important to educate staff on cyber risks, zero day threats and their role in protecting customer privacy and securing systems. Robust governance measures like access logs, regular vulnerability scanning and audits help verify compliance.

Customers also need transparency into how their data is collected and used via detailed privacy policies. They should be able to access, correct or delete personal data easily as per regulation. Customer privacy preferences like opting out of data sharing with third parties need to be respected. If any data breaches occur, affected customers must be notified promptly as required by law. Adopting a “privacy by design” approach ensures customer needs are prioritized right from the start.

Implementing strong accountability measures through senior management oversight and establishing an incident response plans in case of breaches are equally crucial. Outsourcing certain controls to expert managed security service providers may also help plug capability gaps, especially for small and medium businesses. Customers will continue trusting businesses only if they are convinced robust data stewardship is a top priority alongside innovation. Taking a comprehensive, risk-based approach to security and privacy can help win that trust.

While new technologies offer many opportunities, customer data protection must remain the top concern for any hospitality business. Implementing security controls across people, processes and technologies at each stage of the data lifecycle helps strike the right balance between progress and responsibility. With diligence and care, businesses can harness digital innovations to enhance service and experience, without compromising on customer confidence.

HOW CAN STUDENTS ENSURE THAT THEIR LEADERSHIP CAPSTONE PROJECTS ARE ALIGNED WITH THEIR DESIRED CAREER PATHS

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The leadership capstone project is an important part of a student’s college experience as it allows them to demonstrate the leadership skills and knowledge they have gained throughout their program. It is crucial that students take time to carefully choose a capstone project topic that is directly relevant to their post-graduation career goals. Aligning the capstone with a future career will allow students to gain real-world experience that can be talked about passionately in job interviews and added to their resume.

The first step is for students to thoroughly research potential career options. They should explore various occupations and industries they may be interested in and identify 2-3 specific career paths they want to further explore. Speaking to professionals currently working in those fields can provide valuable insight into the day-to-day responsibilities and skills needed to succeed. Networking is key to gaining these career perspectives. Students should utilize campus career services, alumni connections, informational interviews, professional associations, and more to speak to potential mentors.

With potential careers in mind, students then need to brainstorm some big issues or opportunities faced by organizations within those industries. Ideas could relate to challenges like lack of funding, inefficient processes, outdated technologies, lack of community involvement, etc. Researching topics reported on by trade publications and professional organizations can spark project ideas. Students should focus on challenges that have real solutions which their capstone project could reasonably address within the given timeframe and resource constraints.

When an idea is selected, students must connect their project back to the hard and soft skills desired by employers. They should clearly outline the specific competencies their capstone will help them develop, like communication, critical thinking, leadership, project management, or technical abilities depending on the career field. Incorporating these skill connections early in writing the capstone proposal will demonstrate its relevance to future career goals for approval purposes.

During project execution, students must network within their targeted industry to find expert guidance. Community partners, employers, mentors, and faculty advisors can all potentially provide oversight, data, or other support. This real-world collaboration ensures the capstone stays applicable to the profession. Regular check-ins keep the project accountable to industry needs and timelines. Students get mentoring while professionals obtain solutions to real problems.

As the capstone concludes, students should reflect deeply on the technical and professional lessons learned. How do these insights relate specifically to their targeted careers? The final presentation and written report provide an opportunity to showcase grown competencies while directly connecting outcomes back to the initial career motivations. Exhibiting passion for solving issues the chosen career addresses again reinforces the project’s relevance for future employers.

In evaluating capstone projects, schools look for demonstrations of applied learning through meaningful, real-world experiences. By choosing a topic aligned with their desired careers and incorporating stakeholder feedback from within that profession, students ensure their projects satisfy these high-impact practice requirements while also developing a compelling career narrative. The lessons and deliverables can then be confidently discussed in job interviews as tangible examples of the student’s preparedness and fit for the targeted role or industry. In this way, capstone projects fulfilling career relevance criteria help students gain experience and insight pivotal for launching their professional paths.

Thoroughly researching potential careers, brainstorming issues faced in those fields, clearly outlining how the project develops desired hard and soft skills, collaborating with industry experts, and reflecting deeply on lessons learned ensures leadership capstone projects directly set students up for success in their chosen professions. Aligning capstones tightly to future goals provides invaluable real-world experience while demonstrating high motivation and passion for the work – compelling resume additions compelling for landing that dream job. Students who take the time to purposefully connect their projects to targeted careers gain immense career preparedness and a competitive edge in their post-graduation job searches.

HOW CAN I ENSURE THAT MY BACKUPS ARE PROTECTED FROM RANSOMWARE ATTACKS?

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Ransomware has grown to become one of the biggest cyber threats today for both individuals and organizations. These malicious programs are specifically designed to encrypt files on systems and demand ransom payments in order to restore access and functionality. If backups are not properly secured, ransomware can penetrate backup systems and files, rendering restoration impossible.

One of the most important things you can do is isolate your backups from your main network and only access them when needed for restoration purposes. Do not store backup files on the same system they originated from or on network-attached storage that is accessible from client devices. Instead, store backups offline on external storage devices like external hard drives or tape drives that are completely disconnected from your network. Physically secure these backup storage devices away from your main systems in a locked environment where unauthorized access is not possible.

You should also leverage backup best practices like the 3-2-1 rule – having 3 total copies of your data with 2 local on different storage mediums and 1 offsite. For the offsite copy, leverage cloud backup services that provide secure air-gapped storage in isolated infrastructure where ransomware cannot traverse networks to encrypt files. Look for providers that can guarantee point-in-time restoration capabilities to roll data back before an attack occurred.

Implement multi-factor authentication on all administrator accounts for your backup systems and storage devices. Strong and unique administrative passwords are also critical to prevent unauthorized access. Enable automated backup monitoring and alerting as well. If backups stop running as scheduled or file integrity checks fail, you need to be notified right away to investigate potential issues.

When backing up, do full backups along with incremental backups. If ransomware infects your systems, you will need the full backup image to restoration from before the files were encrypted rather than just relying on incrementals that may have been compromised too. Test your restore process from backups on a regular basis to validate backups are valid and you can successfully restore from them in the event of an attack or data loss incident.

On the backup storage media and devices themselves, leverage encryption at rest to add an extra layer of security. Even if a bad actor was somehow able to gain physical access, without the encryption key stored securely offline, they cannot decrypt and alter or encrypt your backup files. Consider regularly rotating or replacing backup media as well depending on your retention needs. Older backup tapes or hard drives no longer needed can be properly destroyed or physically destroyed.

Control access to your backup infrastructure with network segmentation best practices. Use a separate backup network segment that is firewalled and not directly accessible from endpoints or the primary production environment. Routers and switches for the backup network should also have very restricted administrative access controls enabled via strong unique credentials.

Monitor your endpoints, servers and network for suspicious and malicious activity with tools like antivirus software, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions and network intrusion prevention systems (IPS). Keep all software up to date with the latest patches as many ransomware variants leverage known vulnerabilities that have fixes available. Limit account privileges and rights to only what is needed for a user’s specific job functions using the principle of least privilege.

By following security best practices for isolating, encrypting, authenticating and monitoring your backups, you significantly reduce the risk of ransomware successfully compromising your restoration capabilities. Having reliable, tested backups is one of the best defenses against evolving ransomware threats and will help ensure you can recover should prevention controls someday fail despite your preparedness efforts.

Proper cyber hygiene and implementing a defense-in-depth approach with backups as the last line of defense is key. No single solution can provide complete protection, but layering controls according to guidance from security experts gives you robust protection suitable for today’s sophisticated cybercriminal landscape.