MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2016)

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11071/4563

Browse

Browsing MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2016) by Subject "ICT"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An application for career path decision making among high school students: case of Nairobi
    (Strathmore University, 2016) Njeru, Daniel Ndwiga
    In many developing countries, young people have and are embracing formal education as this has proven to be one of the main ways of alleviating poverty. In Kenya, the level of literacy has taken an upward trajectory for more than a decade now. On the other hand, studies show that majority of Kenyan Students do not receive proper and adequate career guidance in their early ages so as to make informed decisions on which career best fits their preferences. In addition, students neither have adequate information of the available career paths and occupational opportunities neither are they well informed of which opportunity they best fit. Furthermore, Information communication and technology has not been adequately leveraged in education sector to facilitate students in making careers that they best fit. The purpose of this study is to develop an application that can facilitate students in making informed decision about their career aspirations. The study was guided by the objectives: To establish the specific data and information necessary for determining a career path of a student, to review the challenges that exist in the choice of a career path among students, to review the existing techniques that are used in determining the career path of a student, to develop an application for career path decision making and to test the application. To achieve these objectives, a thorough review of the scholarly literature was carried out, the researcher also carried out a pilot study to establish the viability and validity of the proposed solution, and spiral model of system development lifecycle was used to further define, model, develop and validate and implement the system. The researcher further reviewed the solution developed in comparison with the others that exist. Finally, recommendations were made and suggestion of further research work was proposed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Near Field Communication (NFC) based card payment prototype : case of SMEs in Nairobi
    (Strathmore University, 2016) Yegon, Denis Kipkorir
    The card industry has been around for decades, evolving in tandem with the banking industry. Initially used exclusively for ATM transactions, cards have gone past that and are now used to perform payments in a society moving towards becoming a cashless society. The benefit of cashless transaction includes less opportunity for fraudulent and criminal activity (Wishart 2011). Despite this, the card industry has still been affected heavily by fraudulent activity; in Kenya for example, losses of in excess of 1.49 billion were reported between April 2012 and April 2013. This necessitated a move from magnetic stripe cards to EMV cards in a bid to cub the vice. Despite this measure being enforced, the SME sector in Kenya was largely unaffected as the utilization of card payments is very low. Research has shown that this can be attributed to the challenges merchants face in using card payment. It is no surprise therefore that most merchants in Kenya still prefer and take only cash payments as opposed to card payments. The major card service providers, VISA and MASTERCARD are directing additional focus in the form of investment to the East Africa in the hopes of increasing card payments in the market. The secret to this been a success could lie in the success of mobile payments in Kenya. MPESA has been adopted widely by merchants across SMEs in Kenya indicating that the merchants are not facing the same challenges they face in using mobile payments as when using card payments. If the principles applied to mobile payment‟s success can be applied in the card sector, it is likely adoption of card payment will also enjoy success in the SME sector. One of the ways this can be implemented it through Near Field Communication technology (NFC). The research will sort to understand the challenges that the merchants in SMEs face in utilizing card payments resulting in low adoption of the card payment systems. In addition, secondary data on implementation of mobile payments will be analyzed to understand the concepts that led to their success. Existing NFC based systems around the world will also be analyzed so that this combined knowledge can guide the researcher in designing and developing a prototype of NFC-based card payment system for business transactions for SMEs in Kenya. Research design to be adopted will be qualitative research design. The study targets SMEs spread in sectors of trade (wholesale and retail) in Nairobi County. The study will use primary data which will be collected through self-administered questionnaires and interviews.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A prototype for tracing missing children : a case of Nairobi County
    (Strathmore University, 2016) Ndeto, Martin Ndithi
    Tracing missing children has been quite hectic for parents and care givers. A missing child is vulnerable to risks associated with drugs; poor health; involvement in criminal activities for survival, assaults, murder, rape and infection with killer diseases. Currently, there is lack of coordination in departments dealing with issues concerning children and no timeliness for the police department in handling this process. In addition, there is no convergence among the agencies involved in child protection. Several solutions have been proposed among them, the “App for the loved ones”; which has a central database and uses short messaging services (SMS) to send search terms that must have an exact match. Social media has been another approach capable of mobilizing volunteers to spread the information concerning the missing child at a fast rate. However, it lacks credibility since any one can author the information. A “CodeSearch” application was introduced in Canada which uses global positioning system (GPS) to send geo-targeted alerts to its subscribers. However, most people tend to have their GPS turned off unless when in use. It is also limited to employees of the CodeSearch partners. This research aims at introducing an expert system that uses ID3 algorithm to populate its knowledge base and an interactive search using the same algorithm. This allows users to interactively search the database, enter details about their missing loved ones if not yet found and notify them whenever the person is found. The search is based on the person’s phenotypes as they cut across the human race. The research is a form of applied research. The sample size was computed through convenience non-probability sampling. Most of the respondents recommended a proper system hence the reason for creating this prototype. The prototype is developed using V-Process methodology since the clarity of the user requirements was high and the technical expertise needed was readily available. The prototype produced 99% accuracy in tracing the missing children in the sample used.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Real-time solution for automated inventory monitoring of antiretroviral medicines: case of Nairobi County
    (Strathmore University, 2016) Alick, Raymond Stephen
    Cases of stockouts and expiry of Antiretroviral Therapy medicines are occurring and this is due the fact that the current inventory monitoring systems for Antiretroviral Therapy Medicines and commodities are manual despite the use of electronic systems for the ordering and issuing of the same. This research proposed a real-time inventory control and monitoring model to address the challenges. The model uses fuzzy logic through a fuzzy inference engine to predict the appropriate quantity level on when to place an order so as to reduce the probability of a stockout occurring. The model uses a continuous review technique to monitor the quantity of the medicines in real-time as they are being issued or received. The model gives immediate notification when a reorder point for a particular inventory item is reached. The model is also able to monitor product lifetime of the medicines to ensure those concerned are informed when medicines in inventory have expired and need to be replaced. The model is validated through the implementation of a web-based system which is then tested against the propositions of model to confirm it works as expected. The tests on the system yielded a positive validation of the model. The fuzzy inference engine’s accuracy of predictions was tested using the Random Mean Square Error method and it yielded a standard deviation error result of 4.3% from a set of actual test data sets. The model was then compared against other existing models and it was proven that the model developed in this research is the most appropriate for the monitoring of Antiretroviral Therapy medicines and commodities.