IND 250: Careers in the Digital Age 

Individual Project Assignment 5

 

Digital skills have become an integral part of every industry in the 21st century. There have been profound advancements made in a short period of time as a result of digital innovation. Mark Zuckerberg utilized his coding skills to create a multi-billion dollar company, completely revolutionizing the way we socialize. Individuals that possess these skills are creating logistical tools, applications, and a varying array of other tools and services that we use on a daily basis.

Our exploration of issues related to computing and digital skills spanned the basics of HTML to coding animations. Our assignment for basic coding and coding animations is a rudimentary aspect of coding. But when you realize this is the basis of every web page that you visit on the internet it becomes much more profound. If you right click on any website on the internet and select “view source code” you can easily see the coding on the back end. One of the most important elements is the importance of limiting syntax errors when writing code. Understanding HTMP or hyper text markup language is key to understanding coding. This programming language is used and has very specific characteristics. If there is an error, it may prevent you from moving forward. It’s important that you understand the rules and the language that apply to the programming world.

The second most important lesson includes how data and big data is shaping the business world. As more and more data is being collected about what customers buy, when they buy, demographics and much more, there is a need to understand how to use this data to make a business more efficient. Analyzing customer data allows a business to predict what customers want based on previous sales. Utilizing a number of tools including Tableau and Google Analytics, allows businesses to use this data in an effective and efficient way. I’m currently working on an e-commerce business so I plan on taking steps to ensure that I incorporate what I’ve learned in my own business.  I also plan on exploring other courses offerings on coding and information systems.

 - Baiyinah

Learn how to code for free!

https://www.codecademy.com/

References

Learn to code. (2016). Codecademy. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from https://www.codecademy.com/

Welsh Government | Computing: The Science of Nearly Everything. (2014). Proftomcrick.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from http://proftomcrick.com/tag/welsh-government/

What is Google Analytics and CSS?

What is Google Analytics?:

Google Analytics is a free online tool that allows its user to visualize web traffic data and create reports. Google Analytics is a useful tool that is primarily used for small to medium size retail websites. For this assignment we will be using implementing it in our personal blog. (Please see the picture below) This is a screen shot of the information that will appear after you put google analytics on your blog. There are a number of other web analytic's tools that are for commercial use including Omiture, Webtrends, Cognos, and Oracle WebCenter.

Google Analytics: How it Works:

There are four main components to data collection with google analytics and that includes collection, configuration, reporting, and processing. Google analytics collects website traffic using javascript code that is embedded in every page on the website. It can collect this information a number of ways from the website itself, or browser, or it can also collect the information from the referring source. This “package” of information is then sent to google analytics to be analyzed. The information is said to be processing when it is sent to google to be analyzed. Configuration settings are added during the processing stage; these configurations settings can include or exclude certain data from your reports. The final part is reporting, you can retrieve data by just signing on to your google analytics account to view your unique data specific to the “hits” on your website. Mobile app tracking is another service that google offers, this requires a developer and is very similar to how data is collected on a website.

Google Analytics: Reports

Within google analytics easy user interface there are a number of tools including reports that show metrics for your website. You can view data based on the date range and compare date range from perhaps one month to the next. You can adjust the metrics that are displayed in front of you with just one click.

What is CSS?

CSS stands for cascading style sheets and is basically a language that is used to edit and change the appearance of your HTML. A style sheet is a file that conveys how the HTML should look. The style sheets are cascading because each sheets can apply formatting when more than one style may apply. CSS is a language that is basically used for the presentation on the pages that you see on the internet. Css controls the layout, font, design, and colors that appear on your webpage. An exaple of this is the font that is used in this post. With CSS this entire post is in Times New Roman, this font appears on the back end of this blog post as follows..text-section { font-family; Times, Times New Roman; margin-top: 12pt; There you go, this is just a small example of what can be done using CSS. Keep up the coding!

References

What is Google Analytics? - Definition from WhatIs.com. (2016). SearchBusinessAnalytics. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/Google-Analytics
What is Google Analytics? - Definition from WhatIs.com. (2016). SearchBusinessAnalytics. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/Google-Analytics
(2016). Codecademy.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from https://www.codecademy.com/courses/web-beginner-en-TlhFi/0/3?curriculum_id=50579fb998b470000202dc8b

 

 

The Importance of Data Capital

This is a review of the MIT technology review article entitled, “The Rise of Data Capital”, this article highlights the role and importance data capital has played in recent years. There are a number of companies that rely heavily on data capital including Netflix, Facebook, and Airbnb. Data capital can be best described as any digital data, like shares on social media, or purchases.

CEO’s at a number of fortune 500 companies severely underestimate the quintessential role that data plays in the organization. Most industries haven’t focused on data as an asset, there are a number of big box retailers that also rely heavily on data, so it is not just limited to digital or online companies like Netflix. As data plays a larger role in more of our day to day functions, it would behoove a prudent organization to focus on it as an asset.

-       Baiyinah Brookins

Please check out the Article below by following this link!

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601081/the-rise-of-data-capital/  

Works Cited

The Rise of Data Capital. (2016). MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 23 March 2016, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601081/the-rise-of-data-capital/

Image Citation 

Mahendra, M. (2015). Data Analysis: Putting Data Capital to Work. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 23 March 2016, from http://www.slideshare.net/MohitMahendra/data-analysis-business-pov

Baiyinah Brookins

IND 250: Careers for the Digital Age

Dr. Chung

Computing and Digital skills in the Natural Beauty Care Industry: Interview

            For this assignment I’ve chosen to interview the buyer at a small health food store to get a better understanding of the role that technology has played in the health and beauty industry.

1.)   What role does the internet and technologies play in the natural beauty industry?

The ordering process for a number of different products are conducted solely online however some orders are still placed by making phone calls. The natural health and beauty industry continues to grow as consumers recognize the benefits of limiting petro-chemicals in beauty care products. She cites the fact that this industry started out with a small number of businesses catering to what was a niche market. Those numbers have exploded in resent years primarily because of a growing awareness by consumers. Technology in my position is limited to online ordering, there is not much automation, there is a POS (point of sale) system that the health food store currently uses that tracks inventory. This has made the process easy as the number of products that the health food store has grown.  

2.)   Do you feel that coding or having coding skills is important in your industry?

She went on to say, “Honestly I don’t have much experience with coding and have almost no coding skills. I feel that these skills may be necessary if I was creating a website but as a buyer I have not run into any problems in recent years because of my limited coding knowledge." She went on to mention that as the industry becomes more and more technology friendly it may be beneficial in the future.

3.)   Big data is defined as larger volumes of data that require innovative solutions for process automation. What role does big data and analytics play in the natural beauty care industry?

There may be a role in a larger organization that sale hundreds or thousands of products however where I work is a small, and has a limited amount of sales and inventory data. Processing this type of information is easily obtained by accessing the POS (point of sale) system. I think that having knowledge about big data and analytics is important for students because they may go on to become a buyer for a larger organization.

4.)   What is the role does website development play in your industry?

 She mentioned that as a buyer she rarely accesses web development or software tools, and she also stated that currently she doesn't see a need for it as a buyer. As a smaller organization it plays a limited role as a buyer but there may be a role played at other smaller organizations because this may not be something that can be out sourced because of budget constraints.

5.)   Do applications (apps) or games play a role in your industry?

"From what I have had the opportunity to observe apps and games play a limited to non-existent role. Again the industry is constantly evolving and this may change in the near future." 

Check out this great article that highlights the increasing demand for natural hair and beauty care products.

http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/category/natural/Demand-for-Organic-Beauty-to-Grow-to-Over-13-Billion-by-2018-Report-Says-213160491.html  

Works Cited

Demand for Organic Beauty to Grow to Over $13 Billion by 2018, Report Says. (2016). Cosmeticsandtoiletries.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/category/natural/Demand-for-Organic-Beauty-to-Grow-to-Over-13-Billion-by-2018-Report-Says-213160491.html