The Impact of Broader Internet and Multimedia effects on the USDA Animal Care Department
Teany D. Gerkin
Capella University

Abstract
This paper explorer the impact that broader internet and multimedia effect on the USDA Animal Care. As of now the USDA Animal Care department is working under limited capabilities, by expanding its internet functions the department would grant its customer better and faster service.

Introduction If you wanted to start business that sold or bread pets you must be license by the United States government and renew that application every year. How much time, money and effort would you think it would take if that process was done only by mail. What if you wanted to find out how well a pet store did on its annual inspections prior purchase but you had to mail in an application and wait for it to return. This is how the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) works. If the USDA was to improve and centralize its internet access and retool its website it would increase profits and reduce overhead costs. In order to understand why the USDA needs to improve its web-based serviced one must understand the mission of the USDA and what it currently provides.
USDA Animal Care background information The, USDA is governed by the Animal Warfare Act (AWA) and Horse Protections Act. There are 18 agencies assigned to be under the USDA. The animal care department falls under the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS). Its primary focus is to uphold the care for warm-blooded animals bread for commercial use, used for exhibition or transported commercially. The USDA Animal Care also has the responsibility to respond in the event a national emergency occurs which involves animals (USDA, n.d.). According to the USDA (n.d), the APHIS department was established in 1972 but its foundation was developed in 1883 when the USDA's Commissioner established the Veterinary Division which was the department's first regulatory program. In order to enforce animal import regulation and support livestock disease research, the Veterinary Division became the Bureau of Animal Industry. Once Congress passed the AWA in 1966, it provided the minimum standard of animal care guidelines in order for those animals to be used for commercial use, for exhibition or commercial transportation (USDA, n.d.) E-commerce evaluation The USDA's website can be located at https://aphis.usda.gov and is an information and database website. The database provides customer with the means to get information on permits and certification. It also offers easy access to downloadable forms and informational guides used within the Animal Care department. The website can also be used to request information using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA allows customers to access any releasable information on individuals or companies that are licensed or hold a registration within the USDA. Additionally, there is a USDA blog located on the website to provide further information to the customers. The Blog option facilitates trending information about animal care and provides customer with educational opportunity (USDA, n.d.) . The main strength of this website is how easy it is to navigate and to understand. By allowing customers to obtain quick and easy information, the USDA helps clients better prepare for future inspections. Furthermore, the rules and regulations tab on the website proves to be a valuable tool since the rules are often updated and because each governing states fall under different laws. Another very useful too for consumers is the access to the FOIA. By allowing FOIA's to be requested by customers, they can make better sound decision on purchasing animals from a reputable source (Suttle, n.d.). Although, the APHIS website has many positive aspects; there are several areas that need vast improvements. With a large customer base, the website is often slow and frequently crashes. Furthermore, it is limited when it comes to expediting the license and registration process because the information packages cannot be entirely obtained thru the website. The main complaint of consumers is they are not able to pay their fees using the internet and they are not able to see their status throughout the application process (USDA,n.d.).
Implications of the Internet and social media According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Institute (2014), " 90% of American adults have a cell phone, 58% have smartphone, 32% own an e-reader and 42% own a tablet computer." These findings indicate that the greatest way to capture the attention of the public or making information accessible is thru the use of internet. Additionally, these findings present an excellent opportunity within the USDA Animal Care to push forward and allow customer transactions using the internet.
SWOT Analysis The identifiable strengths within the USDA is that with the already accessible website customers can conduct some business online. The site also offers educational opportunities for those people who are seeking to understand the rules and regulations. The Animal Care department collaborates well with State Animal Health Officials because it provides training and expertise via the internet. Furthermore, site access provides the capability to help with animal emergencies by mobilizing field agents in order to support during national events (USDA,n.d). The weaknesses within the USDA is there is not an online application submittal process to request licences or registration. Additionally, there is no the way to obtain the inspection reports made available to the public after a complaint has been closed. Lastly, the search engine within the database often crashes, and customer are unable to use it. The opportunity that APHIS has is to expand the current limited capabilities within the website. By reworking the current database to allow customers to solicit applications, pay via website and to monitor the status of applications this will increase satisfactions. Additionally, by adding a section for customer to interact with inspectors will allow them to ensure that they are ready to pass inspections The threat that can be encounter by fully integrating into an online system is that the database will encounter vulnerabilities. Outside sources could potential try to hack the system to obtain sensitive data. There is also the potential of an in-house threat from disgruntle employees that may exploit the confidential information that it stored within the USDA database. As an agency the Animal Care department is responsible for maintaining all negative information and all court documents on our licensee and research facilities (USDA, n.d.).
Ethical Issues Information Security, in the real world ethics is control within the organizations for which we are working. Each company relies on information security in order keep confidential data from being obtained from disinterested parties. Standler said it best when he stated that, The Internet was a highly useful medium and worked extraordinarily well as long as professional scientists and engineers dominated the user community. The Internet began to experience problems when other groups of people (e.g., college students who were away from parental supervision for the first time in their lives, people who were not professionals) joined the Internet, but did not honor the unwritten rules of etiquette for polite professionals. (Standler,1997, p2) Payment Security is an essential part of business today. If the USDA department had the capability of accepting payments over the internet, it would speed up the license processing. One advantage of taking online payments is customer will get instant notification their payment and application have been processed. With the current process, customer wait up to 6 weeks to receive notification of payment and notification their application has been approved (Philip, 2002).
Internet future recommendation The future outlook for the USDA Animal Care department is to expand and expedite its inspection process by allowing better internet application processes. As it stands, the department provides limited capabilities which hinder the customer applications and inspection process. Broader access and capabilities to customer would allow faster inspections times and ensures the well being of the animals that are being sold or researched upon. Also, by allowing applications to be submitted via internet will cut the cost for the USDA.
Conclusion
Broader internet and multimedia changes in the USDA Animal Care department are ones that will have huge impacts on the future of the USDA. Although the company is a great agency to work for, there are certain aspects that I would change that would be both beneficial to the customers and would streamline the USDA's work processes. As previously stated in this paper, it would allow customers to have the ability to make payments via internet and to all information pertaining to their account. This enhanced option would greatly improve revenue for the USDA and improve the support customers receive while at the same time speeding the USDA processes.
Pew Internet Research Project. (2014.). Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet, retrieve on November 5, 2014
Philip, A. R. (2002, July). The Legal System and Ethics in Information Security. SANS Security Essentials, Version 1.4, Option 1. Retrieved from http://www.sans.org/reading- room/whitepapers/legal/legal-system-ethics-information-security-54
Standler, Ronald. (1997). Response of Law to New Technology. http://www.rbs2.com/lt.htm. , retrieve on November 2, 2014
Suttle, R., (n.d.) The Demographic Variables that Affect a Business. The Houston Chronicle. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/demographic-variables-affect-business-24344.html, retrieved on November 4, 2014
USDA. (n.d.). USDA Animal and Plant Inspections Service. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare, retrieve on Nov 1, 2014