INF3703
ASSIGNMENT 2 2024
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 28 JUNE 2024
, Databases II
INF3703
Assessment 2
Examiner: Dr Emil van der Poll
Internal moderator: Dr Sam Ssemugabi
Published: 1 May 2024, 08:00 AM
Due date: 28 June 2024, 08:00 PM
Total:180
INF3703 – ASSIGNMENT 2
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Assessment briefing
1. This is Assignment 2 of INF3703.
2. Do not cheat! If you do, I will know, I will catch you out – a zero mark will be rewarded. Do not
copy any part of the assignment from other students. Your assignment should be your work and
should be unique. This is part of your learning process in this module. It should be your learning
that is reflected in the assignment report you submit.
3. If you want to submit this assignment on time, start immediately.
4. Before you start with the assignment, read it through. So, read the Case, Question 1, Question
2, Question 3, and Question 4.
5. ATTENTION! Except for Questions 1.1.1, 2.2.1, and 3.5.1, your student number must be
included in all entity names. For example, if an entity’s name is STUDENTS, make use of
the following naming convention: STUDENTS_STUDENT NUMBER, that is,
STUDENTS_39475964. The omission of your student number will result in a zero for the
specific question.
6. Submit your solution(s) to Assessment 2 by uploading a PDF file to the INF3703-24-Y site on the
myUNISA website.
7. The case of this assessment is an extension of the case presented in the Oct-Nov 2023
examination of the Software Project Management (INF3708) module – if you are interested in
reading the original case, see INF3708_OctExam2023_CASE.pdf in Assessment 2 folder, which
in turn, is stored in the ADDITIONAL RESOURCES section of the INF3703-24-Y module site.
8. While this case is inspired by true events, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this
assessment has been pseudonymised. No identification of pseudonymised persons (living or
deceased), places, buildings, and products should be inferred.
INF3703 – ASSIGNMENT 2
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Case
Table Mountain Shopping Centres (TMSC) are a chain of malls located across the Cape Peninsula.
The mall has been avoiding the use of automated pay stations to counter the negative effect that
rapid technological advances have on employment growth. That is, they prefer to use the services of
parking attendants (i.e., car guards) to help keep people employed amid the rush by various
industries to adopt technology. Parking attendants are formally employed and paid a weekly wage by
the Table Mountain Shopping Centres chain. To boost their weekly wage, parking attendants rely on
cash tips. While the mall does not use automated pay stations, the managers acknowledge the
advantages of having a cashless parking pay station and its associated technologies. For example, if
you arrive at a station, you wave your hand in front of a motion sensor to initiate the issuing of a
parking ticket. Motion sensors advance health safety by reducing the risk of contracting a virus like
COVID by preventing physical touch. Furthermore, sensors installed at each parking space can
detect the presence or absence of a vehicle; in the instance where it detects that a parking space is
not occupied, it communicates this information to the parking station, which, in turn, prints the
available parking space location ID (e.g., please park your vehicle at parking space A25). Therefore,
human parking attendants are not needed in the presence of such advanced system (see Waldron-
Curry, 2023).
To compete with these technological advantages, parking attendants use walkie-talkies to
coordinate the allocation of an available parking spot. However, the shopping centre management
observes that transaction technologies have been detrimental to cash tips. On the verge of the 4th
industrial revolution, the phenomenon of physical cash that exchange hands has been showing a
significant decline. Needless to point out, nowadays it is convenient to pay for purchases by simply
swiping, inserting, or tapping your bank card. The managers furthermore notes that near field
communication (NFC1) technology has exacerbated the impact that technology-driven payments
have on cash tips. Before NFC-enabled smartphones were designed, patrons would pay for goods
and services by tapping their bank card; if they do not have cash on them, some of them would
withdraw cash at an ATM to tip the parking attendants. When NFC-enabled smartphones were
introduced, it solved an issue many people (mostly men) have with wallets; they now feel lighter
without the burden of carrying bulky wallets and keep track of fewer things – they are only vigilant
concerning their car keys and phone. It is worth noting that the automotive industry is already
showing innovation of starting a car by smartphone (refer to DroneMobile, 2023). So, soon people
will be going to the shops with only their smartphone!
Table Mountain Shopping Centres recently hired Skyworth Software Solutions (Skyworth) to explore
the use of advanced digital technology to help people stay employed instead of contributing to
unemployment. Skyworth will embark on an information systems project that seeks to equip parking
1
“NFC is a method of wireless data transfer that allows smartphones, laptops, tablets and other devices to
share data when in close proximity. NFC technology powers contactless payments via mobile wallets like Apple
Pay and Google Pay, as well as contactless cards. …NFC is a method of wireless data transfer that allows
smartphones, laptops, tablets and other devices to share data when in close proximity. NFC technology
powers contactless payments via mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as contactless cards.
...[i]t is limited to sharing data with other devices within about four inches. That’s why a consumer who’s paying
with their mobile wallet must place their device close to the contactless payment reader.” (Fintech Insights,
2022)
INF3703 – ASSIGNMENT 2
