CMU Development Plan

The management, in pursuance of its objective of providing the best IT service to its clientele, had envisaged a Computer Maintenance Unit (CMU) for the whole organization. The CMU will be an extension of the Computer Services Section (CSS), and its main responsibility will be to repair, upgrade, and maintain computer machines and other peripherals including, but not limited to, printers, cabling structure, and other network devices.

Inasmuch as the CMU will exist to complement the tasks and activities of the CSS, the following development plan proposal encompasses both entities and will cover an important part in the development of the whole learning development centre from which they are a part.

The Computer Maintenance Unit addresses several primary problems which are:

1. Lack of qualified and competent technicians that are specifically assigned only to repair and upgrade defective computer machines for the organization and its stakeholders.

2. Lack of adequate facilities and tools to properly and efficiently do the required repair and upgrades.

3. Inadequacy of CSS staff to regularly monitor and manage the network infrastructure of the organization for optimum performance.

In order to address these problems, the project is committed to the following objectives:

1. To build up competent manpower to provide efficient services to the stakeholders through computer repair and upgrades;

2. To constantly maintain above 95% computer systems utilization in terms of hardware operation; this means that less than 5% of hardware should not be operating properly at any given point in time;

3. To reduce network / server downtime to less than 2%;

4. To increase the number of other services to stakeholders annually by more than 10% and reduce computer repair services to the minimum.

Since its inception, the CSS – from which the CMU will be a part – has recorded numerous achievements which include among others:

1. Configuration and setup of various servers and domains, such as the organizational domain, the learning resources domain, the SMS server, the Moodle server, and others;

2. Setup and management of the organization's Internet and Intranet infrastructure;

3. Establishment of various computer learning laboratories and maintenance of hardware components inside these laboratories;

4. Formulation of various policies and guidelines with respect to the utilization and management of IT assets of the organization.

However, due to limitations and constraints in its resources, the CSS had always felt that it can improve further the services it provides to its clientele and in the process make the operation of the Section more efficient. Thus, the development of the CMU is proposed, along with the objectives identified in the earlier section of this paper.

Over the next three (3) years, and through the development of the Computer Maintenance Unit, the CSS is hoping to achieve the following goals:

1. Increase the computer machines used by learners/trainees by 5-7% every year, and reduce the percentage utilization of computer laboratories from 75-80% to a manageable 50%; this will in turn give trainees more time to use the labs for other learning activities such as research, assignments, projects, and the like;

2. Increase the number of computer laboratories by at least one (1) new lab per year;

3. Achieve 100% provision of computer machines to all staff – trainors and technicians – in which these machines should be at least the second latest models;

4. Establish a bigger space for computer maintenance workshop for all repair and upgrades of learners and staff computers, as well as computers from other stakeholders such as those coming from the immediate community;

5. Procure a complete collection of computer repair and upgrade tools, as well as network monitoring and management tools for the use of technicians in various computer repair and upgrades;

6. Achieve 100% license for all software used in various learning activities;

7. Put in place a formal refresh cycle for computer hardware as well as implement a regular software upgrade cycle for application packages for the whole institution.

8. Reduce the Technician to Learner ratio from the current 1:500 to an adequate 1:100; this will entail having additional 15-20 technicians after three years, in which 10% of the total will serve full time as repair and upgrade technicians in the workshop.

To be able to expand in this way, we have some organizational and resource requirements and challenges to overcome, which include:

1. Organizational stability in the area of well-trained personnel in their areas of expertise. This is important in regards to project realization.

2. Expansion would mean increase and improvement in the Centre’s (ETC) equipment and furniture.

3. Procurement, starting next fiscal year, of the following equipment and tools which are necessary to realize the goals of this development plan:

a. 25-35 new computers for trainees use each year

b. 20-25 new computers for staff use each year

c. at least 3 complete computer repair tool kits each year

d. at least 1 network monitoring and management tool/software each year

4. Establishment of additional computer laboratories (1 per year) and expansion and/or establishment of a computer maintenance workshop

5. Implementation and finalization of the operational guidelines of the three-year refresh cycle for computer machines for both trainees and staff

6. Buying of necessary licenses for all software (for those currently without license and those with expired license), and adopting a formal guideline for the license acquisition and renewal which can be similar to the hardware cycle or as the immediate needs arise

7. Hiring of additional 7 or 8 computer technicians per year in the areas of computer and network engineering.

The establishment of the Computer Maintenance Unit will help in improving the efficiency of operation of the CSS in particular and the ETC in general. Moreover, it can contribute to the improvement of the Centre’s production which will be beneficial not only to the Centre personnel but to the whole organizational community in the long run. As such, it is hoped that this proposal will be considered and will be given priority action.

Education is the Thing

I got this article from one of my friends through email, and I think this is an interesting read for everybody...

By: Dr Farrukh Saleem
The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas , five million in Asia , two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew. Sigmund Freud - id, ego, superego -- the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.

Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity:

Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease).

Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases. Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their
development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.

Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).

Why are Jews so powerful?

Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor. Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable; Cha rles Adler, traffic lights; Benno Strauss, stainless steel; Isador Kisee, sound movies; Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.

Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans), Howard Schultz (Starbuck's), Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts)

Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman, Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state), Casper Weinberger (American secretary of defence), Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore's first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman
and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Goldwater, Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM), Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home secretary), Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria) and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).

In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).

Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world?

The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world. Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.

At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by winning seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish.

Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish?

(Note: One of the Greatest Hollywood producers in the !950s was Cecil B. DeMill, a Jew)

As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3 ), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad ) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.

To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.

William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?

Question:
So, why are Jews so powerful?
Answer: Education.

Why are Muslims so powerless?

There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia , 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas .

Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims.

Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless? Here is why:

There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities and India has 8,407.

In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an 'Academic Ranking of World Universities ', and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500. As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

Some 98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same.

Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.

Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.

Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan , there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK , the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.

Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan’s exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent. The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent while Singapore is at 58 per cent.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't producing knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't diffusing knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't applying knowledge.

And the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.

Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America , just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).

Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining).

So, why are Muslims so powerless?
Answer: Lack of education.
Quality education to be exact.
Uncontaminated education to be precise.