Unit 4: Digital impacts

10 dot points, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

How are the requirements of a complex, secure data exchange identified and specified?

Identify and specify the functional, security and data requirements of a complex data exchange problem, including the systems involved, the data exchanged and the conditions for reliable exchange

Data exchange requirements. Identifying the systems and data involved, specifying functional and security requirements, defining reliability and validation conditions, and scoping a complex exchange for IA3.

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How is data exchanged between digital systems across networks?

Explain how data is exchanged between digital systems using structured formats such as JSON and XML, application programming interfaces (APIs) and network protocols, and the conditions required for reliable exchange

Data exchange. Structured data formats (JSON and XML), APIs and HTTP requests, network protocols, and the conditions for reliable, interoperable exchange between digital systems as required for IA3 prototypes.

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How do hashing and checksums verify that exchanged data has not been altered?

Explain how hashing, checksums and authentication are used to verify the integrity and authenticity of data during storage and transmission

Integrity verification. What a hash function is, how checksums detect transmission errors, how hashing verifies integrity and stores passwords, and how this differs from encryption.

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How do network protocols move data reliably between digital systems?

Explain how network protocols, including TCP/IP and HTTP/HTTPS, package, address, route and reassemble data so that it is transmitted reliably between digital systems

Protocols. The role of protocols, the TCP/IP model, packets and addressing, HTTP and HTTPS, and how layered protocols deliver reliable data exchange between systems.

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How is data kept secure as it is stored and exchanged between digital systems?

Explain and apply data security techniques including encryption (symmetric and asymmetric), hashing, authentication and secure transmission to protect data confidentiality, integrity and availability

Data security. Symmetric and asymmetric encryption, hashing, the CIA triad, authentication and HTTPS, and how QCAA expects you to secure a data exchange solution in IA3.

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How are the design of a data exchange and its algorithms represented before they are built?

Represent the design of a data exchange using data exchange diagrams, IPO tables and pseudocode to communicate how data moves and is processed between systems

Design representation. Data exchange diagrams, IPO (input-process-output) tables, pseudocode for exchange algorithms, and how these tools communicate a prototype design before coding.

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How and why is data compressed for storage and transmission between digital systems?

Explain how lossless and lossy data compression reduce the size of data for efficient storage and transmission, and the trade-offs each makes

Compression. The difference between lossless and lossy compression, how run-length and dictionary methods work, common formats, and the trade-offs between size, quality and speed in data exchange.

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What are the privacy, legal and ethical impacts of storing and exchanging personal data?

Evaluate the privacy, legal and ethical impacts of collecting, storing and exchanging personal data, applying privacy principles and considering the social consequences of digital solutions

Data privacy and ethics. Australian Privacy Principles, data minimisation and consent, legal obligations, ethical evaluation of digital impacts, and how QCAA expects you to weigh social consequences in IA3 and the EA.

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How is a data exchange prototype tested and evaluated against its requirements?

Design and apply testing strategies, including test data and test cases, to verify a prototype against its requirements, and evaluate the solution using justified criteria

Testing and evaluation. Test cases and test data (normal, boundary, abnormal), the types of testing, evaluation against criteria, and how testing differs from evaluation in IA3.

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How is a prototype digital data exchange developed, tested and evaluated?

Develop, test and evaluate a prototype that exchanges data between digital systems, applying iterative development, validation and a structured test plan against the solution requirements

Prototyping data exchanges. Iterative development, building and parsing an exchange, input validation, structured test plans with normal/boundary/error cases, and how QCAA expects you to evaluate a prototype in IA3.

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