1. You are required to select ONE of the following

Tasks to be undertaken:

In this assignment you demonstrate your understanding of SSM, along with your critical analysis skills, judgement and insight.

Soft Systems Study of a UK Government ICT Initiative.

Tasks:

1. You are required to select ONE of the following prominent UK Government IT Initiatives:

• UK Smart Meters Programme https://www.nao.org.uk/report/update-on-preparations-for-smart-metering/
• Universal Credit Benefits System https://www.nao.org.uk/report/universal-credit-progress-update-2/
• General Practice Extraction Service https://www.nao.org.uk/report/general-practice-extraction-service-investigation/
• Identity Assurance Programme. https://www.nao.org.uk/report/identity-assurance-programme/
• National Cyber Security Programme https://www.nao.org.uk/report/update-on-the-national-cyber-security-programme/
• HMRC Aspire Contract https://www.nao.org.uk/report/managing-replacing-aspire-contract/
• BBC Digital Media Initiative https://www.nao.org.uk/report/memorandum-on-the-bbcs-digital-media-initiative/

2. Collect all the relevant documentation you can find using web sources. Make sure you note any details needed for Harvard referencing purposes, for example journal title, article title, and/or URL and date accessed.
3. Develop an understanding of what is involved in the initiative. To do this you will apply SSM techniques being taught in the module.
4. Develop an SSM model which analyses the failure as far as the data you have found will allow. In this assignment, you demonstrate your critical analysis skills, judgement and insight. The SSM Model should contain:
1. Brief summary of the Initiative. (250 words)
2. Rich picture(s)
3. Analysis 1,2 and 3 comments; these three analyses are usually conducted by visiting the company and talking to people – you won’t be able to do that so you should comment on what these analyses are about, how you can work them out from the sources you have, and what your analysis tells you in this case.
4. CATWOE
5. Root definition(s)
6. Purposeful activity models
7. Issue Catalogue.

NOTE that tasks 4b to 4g are studying the Initiative process (not the resultant or intended IT system)

5. Identify THREE interventions which might have made or will make a difference to the programme.  Give a brief explanation of each intervention, including a description, how it would be put into practice, and how it might have helped.

Deliverables to be submitted for assessment:

There is one deliverable, an SSM report, containing:

1. Table of contents and numbered pages.
2. SSM model (with contents as described above in Task 4).
3. Explanations of your three suggested interventions (with explanations as described above in Task 5).
4. Bibliography showing references in Harvard referencing format.

Practicalities:

• Your report is expected to be about 15-20 pages, to include text and relevant diagrams and models. The point is to demonstrate your understanding of SSM, rather than being mechanistic about the components of the model.
• Diagrams can be created on a computer (eg. using Visio, or another drawing application) or handwritten, scanned and inserted into your report document. If handwritten, then the diagrams and models must be readable.

Note:

The system under study is the system and activities around initiative or programme (and not the intended ICT system).