Foundation to Information Systems.

As we live in a new era of advanced technology, it is important for us to know about it from the beginning in order to survive in today’s world.  Let’s dive into some basics concepts of IT to get a clear understanding about what the technology actually means.

First, let’s understand what is Information Communication Technology.

ICT is a technology that supports activities involving information. Such activities include gathering, storing and presenting data. Increasingly these activities also involve collaboration and communication. Hence IT has become ICT: Information and Communication Technology (Gokhe).

Information Systems (IS)

IS is a set of interrelated components: collect, manipulate, store and disseminate data and information. It provides feedback to meet an objective.

Examples: ATMs, airline reservation systems, course reservation systems.

Now you have a clear idea about ICT and IS, let’s dive to the information concepts. These can be identified as, Data, Information, and Knowledge.

Data: raw facts

Alphanumeric, image, audio and video

Information: collection of facts organized in such a way that they have additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves.

After processing (such as formatting and printing) data, output data can again be perceived as information.

Knowledge: When information is packed or used for understanding or doing something, it is known as knowledge.

We tend to gain knowledge from information and we use that information to make decisions.

Knowledge can be split into two categories: explicit and Tacit.

Explicit Knowledge: is rules or processes or decisions that can be recorded either on paper or in an information system.

Tacit Knowledge: exists inside the minds of humans and is harder to record.

It tends to be created from someone’s experiences, so again it is based on a set of rules or experiences.

The characteristics of valuable Information

• Accessible: information should be easily accessible by authorized users so they can obtain it in the right format and at the right time to meet their needs.
• Accurate: accurate information is error free.
• Complete: complete information contains all the important facts. For example, an investment report that does not include all important costs is not complete.
• Economical:  information should also be relatively economical to produce. Decision makers must always balance the value of information with the cost of producing it.
• Secure: information should be secure from access by unauthorized users.
• Simple: information should be simple, not very complex.

Input, Processing, Output and Feedback.

• Input: the activity of gathering and capturing raw data.
• Processing: converting data into useful outputs.
• Output: production of useful information, usually in the form of documents and reports.
• Feedback: output that is used to make changes to input or processing activities.

Information Technology is a broad concept that sometimes you may feel uncomfortable to deal with. Therefore, getting knowledge about its some of the basic concepts will help you to get a clear idea about the foundation of this broad concept. Now I hope you were able to gather knowledge about basic concepts of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Information Systems (IS), and basic information concepts, and how the information we use in our day to day life convert into the way they actually are.