- Meaning and Dimension of Information.
- Meaning of Information Technology.
- Major Issues in Information Technology.
- Growth and Present Position of IT Industries in India.
- Future Prospects of IT Industries in India.
What do you mean by Information ?
Information is that which informs, i.e. that from which data can be derived. At its most fundamental information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system. Information is conveyed either as the content of a message or through direct or indirect observation of some thing. That which is perceived can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, information is always conveyed as the content of a message. Information can be encoded into various forms for transmission and interpretation. For example, information may be encoded into signs, and transmitted via signals.
Meaning of Information
The word ‘information’ is used commonly in our day to day working. In MIS, information has a precise meaning and it is different from data. The information has a value in decision making while data does not have. Information brings clarity and creates an intelligent human response in the mind. In MIS a clear distinction is made between data and information. Data is like raw materials while the information is equivalent to the finished goods produced after processing the raw material. Information has certain characteristics. These are :
a) Information
b) Improves representation of an entity
c) Updates the level of knowledge
d) Has a surprise value
e) Reduces uncertainty
f) Aids in decision making
The quality of information could be called good or bad depending on the mix of these characteristics.
Dimensions of Information
Information is multi-dimensional and dynamic which in turn makes IT difficult to manage well over time. Here are some of the dimensions of information
1) Economic dimension :
This dimension of information refers to the cost of information and its benefits.
a) Cost of information :
It may include
1) Cost of acquiring data
2) Cost of maintaining data
3) Cost of generating information
4) Cost of communicating information
The cost is related to the response time required to generate information and communicate it. For systems with low response time, cost is high.
b) Value of information :
Before a particular piece of information is acquired, decision-makers must know its value. In decision theory, the value of information is the value of the change in decision behavior because of the information. The change in the behavior due to new information is measured to determine the benefits from its use. To arrive at the value of new information, the cost incurred to get this information is deducted from the benefits.
2) Business Dimension :
This dimension relates to the business angle of information. Its value to the organization, sustainability of getting the information from a managerial standpoint, accuracy and reliability of the information, scope and appropriateness of the information are the parameters for understanding the business dimension of the information. This dimension has got more to do with the ‘what’ of the information rather than the ‘how’. Business dimension of information can have the following parameters:
a) Time dimension :
Information has to be timely to be of any value. The basic utility of information within an organization is in decision-making. If the information is not timely then the decisions derived out of it will have poor quality. Hence, time is an important dimension of information.
b) Accuracy dimension :
Information has to be accurate to satisfy the user. Again this is an important dimension as inaccurate information leads to bad decision-making.
c) Reliability dimension :
Information has to be reliable so that users have confidence.
d) Appropriateness dimension :
Information must be relevant to the receiver. It must be appropriate to his needs.
e) Scope dimension :
Information should be within the scope.
f) Completeness of content dimension :
Information should be complete and not in bits and pieces.
3) Technical Dimension :
The technical dimension relates to the information gathering, summarizing, storing and retrieval, analysis and cost aspects of information. It can have the following parameters :
a) Information gathering :
The means of capturing the data and storing it.
b) Analysis methodology :
The data processing methodology.
c) Costs of Information :
i) Cost of Data Acquisition :
The cost of data acquisition from the point of view of time and resource (technical) costs. A piece of data is supposed to be costly to acquire if say, it is recovered from a secondary source after processing it for a long time. On the other hand the cost of acquisition of data is low for such cases when (say), the customer is himself putting such data into the system (like in the case of ATMs or online banking, the systems cost of acquiring data is very low is such cases).
ii) Cost of Data Maintenance :
Cost of data maintenance is the cost of maintaining the data in terms of technical costs of space and efforts (technical) in maintaining it. A data source that requires a lot of technical efforts like indexing, etc., and requires huge storage (for say storing images, etc.) is said to be more costly.
iii) Cost of Data Access :
Cost of data access is the cost in terms of resource requirements (both processing and network) for accessing the data. Data that can be accessed after utilizing a lot of CPU and network resources is said to be costly to access.
d) Data Management :
i) Data Management and Maintenance :
Data management and maintenance means by which data is stored and maintained (in a database).
ii) Visualization and reporting :
Visualization and reporting the manner in which data information is presented.
