Introduction to Information

Systems
1.1 Information
Concepts
 Course Objective

• Purpose of this course is

to appreciate the value or
role of IT to business
• How important is
Information Technology to
businesses?
 How Much data is on
the internet per Minute/ day?
• In 2014, there were 2.4 billion internet users. That number
grew to 3.4 billion by 2016,and in 2017 300 million
internet users were added – making a total of 3.8 billion
internet users in 2017 (as of April, 2017) This is a 42%
increase in people using the internet in just three years!
•  216,000 Instagram posts are posted every minute,
• 204,000,000 emails are sent in a minute,
• Around 12 hours of footage is uploaded to Youtube
• 455,000 Tweets per minute in 2017!
• 22 billion texts sent every day.
• 3,607,080 Google searches are conducted worldwide each
minute of everyday.
• 5.2 billion daily Google Searches in 2017.
 How Much data is on
the internet per Minute/ day?
• Since 2013, the number of Face book Posts shared
each minute has increased 22%, from 2.5 Million to 3
million posts per minute in 2016. This number has
increased more than 300 percent, from around
650,000 posts per minute in 2011!
• Every minute on Face book: 510,000 comments are
posted, 293,000 statuses are updated, and 136,000
photos are uploaded.
• Face book users also click the like button on more
than 4 million posts every minute!
• 4.3 billion face book messages posted daily!
• 5.75 billion Face book likes every day.
 Presentation Outline
Information concepts

i. Data
ii. Information
 Characteristics of valuable information
iii. Wisdom
iv. Knowledge
 1. What is Data
• Definition 1: These are raw,
unorganized, potentially
useful facts and figures that are
later processed in order to
produce meaningful information.

• Definition 2: These are discrete,

objective facts or observations,
which are unorganized and
 1. What is Data Cont..
• Definition 3: Streams of raw facts representing
events such as business transactions, which
meaningless without structure

• Data items are an elementary and recorded

description of things, events, activities and
transactions

• It can be numbers, letters, words, symbols,

sound, images or simple measurements
 Data Examples...
• Data = raw facts that represent
the characteristics of an Event
– Example 1:
• Event: High temperature
• Data: 37° C

– Example 2:
• Event: Sale
• Data: Sale’s date, item number, item
description, etc.
 Data Examples...
• Data: Real Madrid, PSG, 5, 2
• Information: Real Madrid beat PSG
5-2 to qualify for the quarter finals of
champions league
 Data Examples Cont...

• Data – thermometer readings of

temperature taken every hour:
16.0, 17.0, 16.0, 18.5, 17.0,15.5….

Transformation

• Information – today’s high: 18.5

today’s low: 15.5
 Types of Data
Data Represented by

Alphanumeric data Numbers, letters, and other

characters

Image data Graphic images or pictures

Audio data Sound, noise, tones

Video data Moving images or pictures

 2. What is Information
• Definition 1: Information is processed data i.e. well
organized and well structured in a particular
context and is useful for decision making

• Definition 2: collection of facts organized in such a

way that they have additional value beyond the
value of the facts themselves

• Definition 3: Information is data that has been

processed and useful; provides answers to "who",
"what", "where", and "when" questions
 What is Information
cont...
• Information = facts within a given
context
– The temperature today at noon in
Mount Pleasant, Harare was 31° C

• If we gave you 18041980 as a series of

numbers you would not make much sense
of it at first. But if we added Date: 18-04-
1980, to a Zimbabwean this begins to
mean something.
 Relationship between data & information

• I have a Box
• Found in many people’s homes (bed,
wardrobe)
• Usually in the kitchen (rules out TV)
• Comes in Various shapes, sizes, colours
• Door on the front
• Open door light switches on (refrigerator
• Has some controls at the top or sides
• Usually a window on the door
• We heat things in it (Microwave oven)
What Counts as
information
Methods for conveying
information
Data versus Information

Monthly Sales Report

for West Region

Sales Rep: Charles Mann

Emp No. 79154
Item Qty Sold Price
TM Shoes 1200 $100
Data versus Information Cont..

Raw data from a supermarket checkout counter can be

processed and organized to
produce meaningful information, such as the total unit sales
of dish detergent
or the total sales revenue from dish detergent for a specific
store or sales territory.
 Value of Information
• Organizations depend on the
information for

i. Planning (Budgeting)
ii. Organizing
iii. decision making, …
iv. Fore-casting
 Characteristics of Valuable
Information
i. Accessibility vii.Explicitness
ii. Accuracy viii.Flexibility
iii. Relevance ix. Reliability
iv. Timeliness x. Secure
v. Adequacy xi. Simplicity
vi. Completeness xii.Verifiability
 i.Accessibility
• 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

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 ii.Accuracy
• Information must be free from
errors and clear in its meaning
• Accuracy means the
information is free from bias
• Inaccurate information may
result in wrong decisions
being made
• Garbage In – Garbage Out
Characteristics of Valuable Information
 iii. Relevance
• Information is said to be relevant
if it answers specifically to the
recipient what, where, when,
who etc.
• Relevant information is
important to the decision maker.
Information that umbrella prices
might drop, might not be
relevant to a computer
Characteristics chip
of Valuable Information
 iv. Timeliness
• Information must reach the recipient within
prescribed time frame (at the right time)

• Timely information is delivered when needed.

Knowing last week’s whether conditions will
not help when trying to decide what to wear
today.

• “information delayed is information denied”

• Delays affects decision –making adversely

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 v. Adequacy

• Information should be of sufficient

quantity covering all the related
aspects of the situation or event

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 vi. Completeness
• Information should contain ALL
important facts. For example an
investment report that does not
include all important costs is not
complete.

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 vii. Explicitness
• Information is said to be good
quality if it
– does not require further analysis
by the recipient to make decisions
– It helps managers to make
decisions without wasting time by
reanalysing it

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 viii. Flexible
• Flexible information can be used for a
variety of purposes.
• For example information on how much
inventory is at hand for a particular part
can be used by a sales representative in
closing a sale, by a production manager
to determine whether more inventory is
needed or not, and by a financial
executive to determine the total value the
company has invested in an inventory
Characteristics of Valuable Information
 ix. Reliable
• Reliable information can be depended on.
• In many cases the reliability of the information
depends on the data collection method used.
• In other cases reliability depends on the source
of the information. A rumour from an unknown
source that petrol prices might go up cannot be
reliable
• Research: Look into the different data collection
methods that are there. (observations,
questionnaires, interviews, etc), write brief
notes on them, comparing and contrasting them.

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 x. Secure
• Information should be
secure from access by
unauthorized users

Characteristics of Valuable Information

 xi. Simple
• Information should be simple, not
overly complex. Sophisticated and
detailed information might not be
needed.
• In fact too-much information might
cause information overload, whereby
a decision maker has too-much
information and is unable to
determine what really is important.
Characteristics of Valuable Information
 xii. Verifiable
• Information should be verifiable.
This means you can check to
make sure that it is correct,
perhaps by checking many
sources for the same
information.

Characteristics of Valuable Information

The Value of Information
• Value of information is directly
linked to how it helps decision
makers achieve their
organization’s goals
• For example, value of information
might be measured in:
– Time required to make a decision
– Increased profits to the company
Fundamentals of Information
33
Systems, Fourth Edition
 Information Literacy

• The ability to know when

information is needed, and to be
able to locate, evaluate, and
effectively use that information
is called information literacy
 3. What is Knowledge
• Definition 1: ‘Knowledge is the combination of data and
information, to which is added expert opinion, skills,
and experience, to result in a valuable asset which can
be used to aid decision making

• Definition 2: ‘Knowledge is data and/or information that

has been organized and processed to convey
understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and
expertise as they apply to a current problem or activity’

• Knowledge is information that is applied to a decision

or action
 4. What is Wisdom
• Definition: ‘Wisdom is the highest
level of abstraction, with vision,
fore-sight and the ability to see
beyond the horizon’

• Wisdom is the use of knowledge

for future planning and fore-
casting.
The Information
Hierarchy
Example