Theories that Underpin Project Risk Management Techniques - Term Paper Example

? Project Risk Management Executive summary Digital services are meeting new expectations of the government to promote new governance in the system. It is so straightforward and convenient nowadays that all those who can use it can will choose to use it. By digital devices we mean internet-enabled services like desktop, tablet, laptop etc. It will change the way we work presently. One such change is being implemented in the judicial process where the courts are going digital to reduce the paper work and hence reduce the cost and make the judicial process more fast and efficient. Contents Introduction 4 Risk Identification 4 Theories that underpin project risk management techniques and their critics in relation to practice 6 Risk Analysis 7 Impact on project outcomes for Digital Courtrooms 8 Sources of risk in case of digital courtrooms 9 Uncertainty in the project environment for Digital Courtrooms 9 Conclusion and recommendation 10 References 12 Introduction Computers have been in existence since the late 1980s. They are present almost everywhere like in business, homes, and government agencies. Government agencies are using digital mediums to improve their governance style like filing of taxes, utility bill payments, pension payment etc. Through the use of e-governance the government is trying to speed up the process and reduce cost at the same time. Because of computers we can now use digital evidence to solve crime and prosecute the offenders at a much faster pace. Many a times the law enforcement agencies and judiciary can’t handle such evidences. There is an ample shortage of judges and attorneys who understand technology. Digital courtrooms refer to use of technology to run the courtrooms so that prosecution or trials can be done at a much faster pace and at considerably low cost. They use electronic evidence which can be effective at implicating the criminal. Electronic evidence refers to the information and data which of investigative value and stored in the electronic medium. With new advancement of technology digital forensic specialist will ensure that the evidence meets the standards. In such trials both the parties need not be present in the courtrooms. They can be connected via internet and use their laptops or other visual mediums to get connected to the digital courtrooms. It reduces the cost to a great extent. Risk Identification To make the judicial system digital, necessary infrastructure needs to be built upon; it means technical platforms are needed to be put in place for the data systems (software, equipment, networks and standard services). The aim should be that the same standard platforms should be able to serve the data systems which will be implemented in the coming years (Kendrick, 2009, p67). The users in the digital courtrooms will now require graphical user interfaces and easy to use systems should be installed. Else it would be difficult for all to comprehend and use the devices (Pmp and Knapp, 2010, p65). One of the most common forms of digital devices to be used is audio devices. One needs to ask the question whether digital recording is better than human reporting or it may cause more trouble. There can be problems like botched recordings, microphone mishaps etc. can lead to a mistrial in the courtroom (Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain), 2005, p67). Also with the introduction of new digital courtrooms the pending cases must be first integrated to the system. It may result in few cases not making it through (Bartlett, 2004, p78). With the era of digital information comes the question of security and reliability. The reliability of the saved digital devices must be ascertained at first (Raftery, 2003, p99). It is not impossible to create a fake digital recording or fake videos to implicate someone. Again the security issue must also be looked at. Making the courtrooms digital implies that all of the data needs to be stored somewhere. With the advent of newer technologies it its becoming increasingly important to keep the data secured from data theft (Grey, 1995, p76). With some groups engaging in unethical hacking into the sites of major organizations, there’s no guarantee that such things won’t happen there also (Roberts, 2011, p89). One of the major factors of any project management system is delay. E-governance is an excellent tool to enhance governance throughout the country in a speedy way. But implementation of digital courtrooms will take time. Also the existing staff needs to be trained well enough for them to use the technology seamlessly. It will incur huge tax payer’s money (Dinsmore and Cabanis, 2010, p98). The deadline for implementation of digital courtrooms is 2016. If that deadline is to be met it means introducing sweeping changes overnight with a single stroke. It would definitely spell a disaster since it be fraught with difficulties. With the advent of new technologies though the process may get speedier, it must be borne in mind that it comes at a cost (Gatti, 2007, p125). Theories that underpin project risk management techniques and their critics in relation to practice While running any project following risk management activities need to be taken care of. Categorization of the information system in important. Proper information should be processed, and stores in the right directory. Then the data need to be transmitted through a secure medium in the system (Sofroniou, 2002, p132). Selection of proper security controls for the data and information should be employed within the system based on the security categorization (Patel, 2005, p126). Implementation of the proper security controls should be done within the system and the operating environment. Access to the information should be based on appropriate assessment of the personnel to determine the extent of access to it. It must always meet the security requirements needed for the system. Authorization of the information system based on the risk determination of the organizational operations should be done. Monitoring of the security controls should be done on an ongoing basis which should include assessing control effectiveness, making changes to the document, etc (Kerzner, 2009, pp.741-816). Such type of implementation will have project dependencies problem. Like at first all the previous cases need to be digitized which are relevant to the upcoming cases. Until and unless it is done the new cases will remain pending. Parts delay can be another problem where if a particular part relating to a case gets pended the entire case may get delayed (Sofroniou, 2002, p56). While going for such a digital courtroom they must quantify and analyze the risk associated with such events. Hence it is imperative that they must assess the risk by determining the probability of the risk in each sections or part if the digitization process and knows the associated values attached to it (Loosemore, Raftery, Reilly and Higgon, 2012, p122). They must apply qualitative method to prioritize the risk and apply quantitative analysis to those specific risks. They can employ PERT analysis to estimate the time required for each implementation small project. They must do root cause analysis. They must also use one of the three methods to handle the risk like mitigate it, avoid it or transfer it. They must also develop some contingency plan for all types of risk. At the same time they must display the risk publicly and look for ways to prevent it. Risk Analysis An analysis of the risk associated due to the launch of the digital courtrooms have been presented below with due consideration of the impacts of the digital courtrooms on the system of justice, the sources of risk and the uncertain environment that is created in the operations of the court. Impact on project outcomes for Digital Courtrooms The huge investment by the government in implementing the operations of the digital courtrooms is likely to impact the criminal proceeding and the system of justice in huge way. The use of the wifi-enabled tablets by the parties of criminal justice which include the prosecution, the defence, the jury, the judge and the staffs of the court would help them to continue with the proceeding of the court in a smooth and interrupted manner without any delay and error as may be caused by the use of manual system in the court (Ministry of Justice, 2013, p.1). The digital systems would reduce the volume of paperwork and would speed the access to data and information which would be available readily through the electronic medium. The court staffs would also be able to access the data records and information in their office with the help of the electronic systems and the wifi networks which would reduce the time delays in the criminal proceedings due to the adjournments of the court (BBC, 2013, p.1). The launch of the digital courts would allow the parties involved in the criminal proceedings to use video footages, audio recordings and the recordings of the mobile devices that offer real life evidence and witnesses for crime. This would the police and the enforcement agencies to take advantages of the technology and take actions in case of criminal cases which are line with the intelligence discoveries (Chapman and Ward, 2011, pp. 221-279). Thus the digital courtrooms provides equal, right and timely response to the activities of crime which could be achieved by leveraging on the technological advantage due to the use of mobile and electronic devices and networks, video footages of SSTV, audio recordings, etc (Casey, 2004, p.47). Sources of risk in case of digital courtrooms The sources of risk associated with the operations of the digital courtrooms are due to the high-end technologies and the networks that replace the manual systems and the paper work in the operations of the court (Seong, 2009, p69). The performance of the recording systems for audio as well as video could not be guaranteed. This could pose risk to the public in case of technical glitch leading to loss of data and information. The efficiency of the staffs using the high-tech applications in the digital courtrooms would be an area of concern as they would need to undergo transition from manual paper work to use of wifi-enable tablets. Any mistake in the process of recordings may lead to distorted information that is hard to retrieve (Gardiner, 2005, pp. 162-175). Uncertainty in the project environment for Digital Courtrooms The various sources of risk in case of implementation of Digital Courtrooms could present uncertainties in the project environment with the cost of justice to be incurred by the public. The implementation of the digital courtrooms in the arena of justice is being viewed by the critics as actions of the judicial system that is running out of liquidity (American Bar Association, 2003, p.57). The implementation of digital courtrooms are referred as decision for the purpose of cost saving which on the other hand increase the risk to fair and transparent recording in the courtrooms and involves higher risk of injustice or delays in the systems of justice (Conrow, 2003, p.63). The sources of risk and uncertainty in the arena of justice emerge due to the risk of the high-tech systems being implemented in the process of criminal justice (Lyon, 2003, p.37). The various parties involved in the courtrooms would be able to access information through their wifi-enabled tablets (Handlechner, 2008, p.98). Although the digital courtrooms ensure the security of data and information on criminal records, there is high risk in case of unreliable functioning of the technology networks, digital microphones for recording and the quality of recordings that is being maintained (Khatta, 2008, p.73). The clumsy performance of the microphones used for the purpose of recording the conversations in case of criminal recordings increase the risk of injustice and the public is supposed to bear the cost of delay and error in the performance of the digital system in the courtroom. The distortion of the recordings in the digital courtrooms also hinders fair and transparent exchange between the parties between the parties and the attorneys, judge in the digital courtrooms. Due to these mishaps, it raises the risk of misinterpretation of the evidences in the criminal case and exposes the victims and the public at large to the risk of injustice (Hillson, 2009, pp. 141-163). Thus the risk associated to the launch of the digital courtrooms poses high level of the uncertainty to the aspect of fair justice delivered to the victims without any delay and error. Conclusion and recommendation The launch of the digital courtrooms is a landmark decision in the system of criminal justice. The project management theories that could be applied to explain the launch of digital courtrooms asserts that it would hugely impact the delivery of fair and timely justice to the public (Woodford, 2006, p.68). The use of the technological networks, wifi-enabled tablets by the parties in the courtroom that includes the staffs, prosecution, defence, judge and others would allow them to carry on uninterrupted proceeding in the criminal cases. This is due to the freely available electronic data and information and no need of adjournments. It is however, recommended that a cost benefit analysis needs to be carried out for the digital courtrooms to weigh the expected benefits against the anticipated risks (Cherifi, Zain and El-Qawasmeh, 2011, p.56). It is also recommended that the cost of various risks associated with the digital courtroom need to be estimated and the justification of these risks borne by the parties need to be ascertained (Birch, 2007, p.95). The risks due to the technical glitches and underperformance of the electronic devices and technologies may lead to the unwanted delay and error in the criminal proceedings of the case (Strader, 2011, p.84). References American Bar Association. 2003. Scientific Evidence Review: Admissibility and Use of Expert Evidence in the Courtroom. Chicago: American Bar Association. Bartlett, J. 2004. Project Risk Analysis and Management Guide. 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