MIS602 Data Modelling & Database Design – Reflective Research Report

Individual/Group Individual
Length Three Thousand Word Limit
Weighting 40%
Total Marks 40 Marks

Context:
The MIS602 Data Modelling & Database Design subject is designed for you to progressively add to
your understanding of data and database management and its relevance with in business context. It
also introduces you to some of the key features of database management system and designing
database systems that will feature in later modules of this topic. In order for you to do well in this
subject, it is imperative that you undertake all of the learning activities in the modules. The learning
activities are presented as a way of scaffolding your learning so that you can attempt the building
blocks of the assessments and be in a safe environment to fail and to learn from them. Therefore,
doing your learning activities and seeking feedback from them from peers and from the learning
facilitator is the single best way of preparing for doing well in this assessment.

Scenario:
The scenario for this assessment is a hypothetical future system that helps governments to manage
traffic flow in municipal localities. You should imagine that the local Road Traffic Authority has put
out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for appropriately qualified consultants to undertake a body of
work that would help to scope the data requirements for such a system. With your success in your
Torrens University Australia degree so far, and other similar projects that have garnered you some
sustained success in the eyes of the profession and community, you have been shortlisted among no
less than 10 other consultancies. There are expectations from them, then, as to the standard of
report you will produce.
While there has been a tremendous amount of attention given in the media and in scientific circles
to the progression and uptake of autonomous vehicles, their widespread adoption has not yet
proliferated: there are reasons for this that you will need to take into account in your deliverable.
The local Road Traffic Authority is, with several other bodies, lobbying the government on what it
can manage in the emergent world of technological change and the capability of artificial
intelligence. An alternative model has been proposed that the Road Traffic Authority believes to be

MIS602 Assign 3 Page 2 of 4
preferable to autonomous vehicles and it involves a system that would control all non-autonomous,
driverless vehicles through a traffic management and routing system.

For such a system to work, it is necessary that there be no autonomous vehicles on the road, and AI-
enabled as well as human drivers would be included in such a ban. With the remaining non-
autonomous, driverless vehicles the only ones left on the road, the system would then be allowed to

control the flow and routing of each and every vehicle by manipulating its speed, direction and
ultimate route to the passengers’ intended destination. The system would control all traffic lights,
lane changing, slowing and acceleration of the vehicles.
The benefits of such a traffic management system are thought to be enormous as the hope is that
the most effective routes can be calculated and that the most efficient traffic flow between those
destinations is streamlined, congestion minimised and safety on the roads improved. But the system
is ambitious and requires a lot of forethought and design elements fed into it before it could be
seriously considered by the government of the day. The Road Traffic Authority seeks consultation
on what the data requirements of such a hypothetical system might be.

Instructions:
There are two objectives of this assessment: for the purposes of the client, the local Road Traffic
Authority, you are to produce a design brief; and, for the purposes of the assessment you are to
produce a reflection. So, this written submission should expertly mix a consultative style—that is,
providing a solution to the problem as outlined by the client—with a deep reflection on what you
have learned in the subject and the potential for such a futuristic system. You will need to use your
judgement on this; it is likely to take several drafts to get right. The deliverable for this assessment is
plainly:
You are tasked to create a consultative report that addresses the data requirements of a
Driverless, Non-autonomous Traffic Management System as well as commenting on the
feasibility of such a solution, given what you learned in the subject. Following instructions
will assist you in completion of the task.
Some hints for you to heed while you develop and write your assessment:
• Consider what is meant by ‘autonomous’ and then explore the benefits and challenges that
autonomous vehicles may present in a future in which they are widely adopted
• The Road Traffic Authority has not provided any assumptions and you should list these if
your proposal and reflection are to be considered cogent
• Consider that there are presently several roads in operation that contain more than one
traffic lane and while generally there are rules for how they are to be used, not all human
drivers adhere to them—what are the consequences?
• Consider what would happen when a driverless (non-autonomous) vehicle needed refuelling
• Consider the security requirements in the context of what could go wrong in operating such
a system
Based on your learning from the course modules and previous assignments, you are expected to
come up with data requirements and a logical design of the system and a brief commentary on the
design.

MIS602 Assign 3 Page 3 of 4
Submission Instructions:
This consultative research and reflective report will be in a format that you choose and there are no
prescriptions for what to include or what not to include. You will need to research consultant-grade
reports (look for consulting reports form the Big Four firms as a guide and use them as the basis for
their content, articulation presentation standard).

You should include logical data requirements in a design summary that includes appropriate entity-
relationship diagrams replete with connectivity and cardinality considerations. You should list any

and all assumptions used in your report as well as any limitations that the reader should consider as
they read your report.

You should treat the prescribed word limit as something you cannot breach as there is no plus-or-
minus 10 per cent ascribed in this assessment. The reality of consultant-grade reports is that any

that breach the requirements are rejected and no reasoning is provided to the consultant. As you
are preparing for your professional life, treat this requirement as the same in this subject and that
any report that breaches the word limit will not be marked.
Requests for extensions must be compliant with the university policy and must be applied for before
the due date. Include in your application a full draft of your assessment as this draft may be what is
assessed if the extension request is denied.
Submit your report to the submission point in Blackboard prior to the due date. In accordance with
university policy, late assessments will attract a 10% of available grade penalty for every day late, up
to a maximum of 5 days, after which the assessment will not be marked.
Please note that requests for resubmissions of this assessment will not be considered.