UNIT ONE

INTRODUCTION

11/5/2022 1
 What to be covered

1. What is information?

2. Why do we need information?

3. Data, Information and Systems

4. Ethical and social issues in Information Systems

11/5/2022 2
Information and Data

Information means data that have been shaped into a form that is
meaningful and useful to human beings.

Data, in contrast, are streams of raw facts representing events

occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they
have been organized and arranged into a form that people can
understand and use.

11/5/2022 3
Data and Information
• Data is the collection of raw facts collected from any specific
environment for a specific purpose. Data in itself does not show
anything about its environment, so to get desired types of results
from the data we transform it into information by applying certain
processing on it.
• Once we have processed data using different methods data is
converted into meaningful form and that form of the Data is called
information

11/5/2022 4
Data and Information

11/5/2022 5
Data and Information
• If we consider the data in the above figure without the titles or the
labels associated with the data (EmpName, age, salary) then it is not
much useful. However, after attaching these labels it brings some
meanings to us, this meaningfulness is further increased when
• we associate some other labels, like the company name and the
department name etc. So this is a very simple example of processing
that we can do on the data to make it information.

11/5/2022 6
Information and Data Cont…
A brief example contrasting information and data may
prove useful. Supermarket checkout counters scan
millions of pieces of data from bar codes, which describe
each product. Such pieces of data can be totaled and
analyzed to provide meaningful information, such as the
total number of bottles of dish detergent sold at a
particular store, which brands of dish detergent were
selling the most rapidly at that store or sales territory, or
the total amount spent on that brand of dish detergent at
that store or sales region

11/5/2022 7
 What is a system

• A system is a collection of interrelated components that work

together towards a collective goal (Bocij et al, 2003; O’Brien 2004)

11/5/2022 8
 What is a system?

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

FEEDBACK

CONTROL
11/5/2022 9
 System components
Input
• The capture or collection of raw data from within the organization
or from its external environment for processing in an information
system.
Processing
• The conversion, manipulation, and analysis of raw input into a form
that is more meaningful to humans

11/5/2022 10
System components

Output
• The distribution of processed information to the people who will
use it or to the activities for which it will be used.

• Feedback
Output that is returned to the appropriate
members of the organization to help them
evaluate or correct input
• Control – monitors and evaluates feedback

11/5/2022 11
Characteristics of systems
1. Work towards collective goal
2. Systems are contained within an environment that contains other
systems
3. Systems can be complex and made up of other systems i.e
Enterprise system in organizations
4. Subsystems in an information system interact by exchanging
information i.e the participant application forms are passed from
the participants application information system to registration
system

11/5/2022 12
Characteristics of systems

1. The linkage or coupling between subsystems varies. The degree of

coupling defines how closely linked different subsystems are. Loose
coupling means that the modules pass only the minimum of
information between them and do not share data and program
code. Closely coupled systems are highly dependent on each other.
2. Systems are made of subsystems

11/5/2022 13
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
What Is an Information System?
From a functional perspective; an information system is a technologically
implemented medium for the purpose of recording, storing, and
disseminating information as well as for the supporting of inference
making.
From a structural perspective; an information system consists of a
collection of people, processes, data, models, technology and partly
formalized language, forming a cohesive structure which serves some
organizational purpose or function
The functional focuses on what actual users -from a conceptual point of
view- do with the information system while using it.
The structural makes clear that IS are socio-technical systems,.

11/5/2022 14
General definition of Information Systems

• An information system can be defined technically as a set of

interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and
distribute information to support decision making and control in an
organization.

11/5/2022 15
 Activities in an information system
Input, processing, and output.
• Input captures or collects raw data from within the
organization or from its external environment.
• Processing converts this raw input into a more meaningful
form.
• Output transfers the processed information to the people
who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
• Information systems also require feedback, which is output
that is returned to appropriate members of the
organization to help them evaluate or correct the input
stage.

11/5/2022 16
ACTIVITIES OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

11/5/2022 17
 What Is A Computer-Based Information System?

• Is an information system that uses computer technology to

perform some or all of its intended tasks.

• Such a system can include as little as a personal computer

and software. Or it may include several thousand computers
of various sizes with hundreds of printers, plotters, and
other devices, as well as communication networks (wire-line
and wireless) and databases.

11/5/2022 18
Components of Information Systems

1. Resources of people: (end users and IS specialists, system

analyst, programmers, data administrators etc.).
2. Hardware: (Physical computer equipments and associate
device, machines and media).
3. Software: (programs and procedures).
4. Data: (data and knowledge bases), and
5. Networks: (communications media and network support).
• Others can be facilities,procedures,partners

11/5/2022 19
Information Systems Components

11/5/2022 20
 Qualities of Information
1. Relevance: Relevant information is capable of making a difference
in decision by reducing uncertainty and increasing knowledge
about that decision. For example, making a decision about
offering credit to a new customer might include an analysis of the
customer’s financial statements or previous credit history. Analysis
of academic levels may not be relevant.
2. Timeliness: Information must be provided to the decision maker
in sufficient time for it to be used in decision making process.
Information should be given to a decision maker before a decision
is made.
3. Understandability: Information should be presented to a user in a
form that permits him/her to apply it effectively to decision
making situation. It has to be clear.
4. Comparability: This is the quality of information that enables
users to identify the similarity and differences in various pieces of
information. If we can compare information about the same
object or event collected at two or more points in time, then the
information is also consistent. Consistency aids comparability in a
decision making.

11/5/2022 21
 Qualities of Information
• Accuracy: This is the degree to which there is agreement between the information
and the events or activities that the information is meant to represent. It is
important to assess the level of accuracy required by managers before providing the
information, as accuracy requirements will differ between decisions.
• Completeness: This is the degree to which information includes data about every
relevant event necessary to make the decision.
• Neutrality: This means that information is not biased towards one particular
perspective or from one particular source or location. Biased information is likely to
lead to decisions made wrongly or incomplete.
• Effectiveness: Effective information is relevant and pertinent to the business process
as well as being delivered in a timely, correct and consistent manner.
• Efficiency: Information is efficient when it is provided through optimal use of
resources.

11/5/2022 22
Is Concerns

IS and its related Information technologies raise new ethical

questions for both individuals and societies because they
create opportunities for intense social change.

IT can be used to achieve social progress, but

it can also be used to commit crimes and
threaten cherished social values

11/5/2022 23
 INFORMATION SYSTEMS ETHICS AND CRIMES

IS and their related technology especially the Internet has

made it easier than ever to collect, process, store and
disseminate Information, however, it has unleashed new
concerns about appropriate use of customer information,
the protection of personal privacy, and the protection of
intellectual property.

In the USA the above issues have moved to the

forefront of social and political debate.

11/5/2022 24
 Ethics

Principles of right and wrong that can be

used by individuals acting as free
moral agents to make choices to
guide their behavior

11/5/2022 25
Ethical, social, political (5 dimensions)

Read and Write about the Five moral dimensions:

1. Information rights and obligations,
2. Property rights and obligations,
3. System quality,
4. Quality of life,
5. Accountability and control.

11/5/2022 26