Unit 1

Explores the basic concepts of ICT together with its role and applicability in
today’s knowledge based society

The term data is used to refer raw facts and figures which are input into a system in order to
process and create meaningful information. Data consists of numbers, words, sounds and
images which neither bear a particular meaning nor have organized in order to make decisions.

Lifecycle of data consists of data creation, management of data and removal of obsolete data.
For the purpose of creating meaningful information, data should be introduced into the system
or create inside the system. Keeping data securely and making them accessible necessarily are
done while management of data. Whenever data will be outdated and found to be unnecessary
anymore, it’s the time to remove that data from the system. This is known as the life cycle of
data.

1. Data creation
2. Management
3. Removal of obsolete data

Data can be identified as the inputs into a system that intents to create meaningful information.
Information can be defined as the data organized meaningfully. Creation of information can be
identified as processing of data. For the purpose of processing there should be instructions to
follow. After processing data according to the instructions given, information is produced which
is the outcome the processed data. Although information is an output of a process the same
information would be a data for another process. Thus, data and information can be identified
distinctly through examining inputs and outputs of a particular process.

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Data vs Information

Individual pieces of data are rarely useful alone. For data to become information, data needs to
be put into context.
Data can be classified into two types as quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is
numerical and acquired through counting or measuring. Quantitative data can be presented
with numbers and which can be arranged in a numerical order or can be subjected to arithmetic
process. Qualitative data is not measurable, but can be identified their properties.

Examples:
 Qualitative data – Goodwill of an organization
 Quantitative data – Marks obtained for ICT paper

Valuable information should have characteristics such as relevance, timeliness, accuracy,

completeness, and understandability. Valuable information assists to make smart decisions.

 Relevance–Value of the information will depend on its relevance for a particular person.
 Timeliness–An information should be updated. Timely information is valuable for
making effective decisions
 Accuracy – Accurate information is helpful for making correct decisions.
 Completeness – Information presented with the context are useful where incomplete
information is not sufficient to make decisions.
 Understandability – Information should be clear and unambiguous

The golden rule of information graphically represents the value of information in its maximum
level at the moment the information is created or the information is released. The value of the
information is reduced gradually with the time and become less valuable.

Big Data Analytics

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Organizations such as private companies and research institutions capture terabytes of data
about their users’ interactions in businesses and social media. The volume of data that one has
to deal has been exploded to unimaginable levels with the time. The challenge of this era is to
make sense of this large amount of data. This is where the big data analytics is needed to
manage the data life cycle. Big Data Analytics largely involve collecting data from different
sources, manage it in a way that it becomes available to be consumed by analysts and finally
deliver data products to fulfill the organization’s data requirements.

1.2: Investigates the need of technology to create, disseminate and manage data and
Information

Information is useful for making decisions of day to day life. To make plans, schedules, and
policies information are needed. Today’s information would helpful to predict how it would be
in the future. For an example, present information on currency exchange would be helpful to
predict that for the following month or for the following year.
Data processing and information creation can be done manually. Some drawbacks occur such as
consuming more time in entering and organizing data manually. Also, human errors in data
processing may lead to inaccurate information. Manual methods are inefficient in sharing
information and hard to provide a quality service to the customer. Data inconsistency may
occur in manual methods of manipulating data and information. Data inconsistency is,
occurring the same data in two different files in different formats or values. When same data
exist in different files, updates cannot be done easily.
Automatic data processing in contrast to manual data processing, utilizes technology to store,
process and retrieve data. Automatic data processing handles data more efficiently than
manual data processing and requires considerably less human interaction than in manual data
processing. Some everyday applications in which automatic data processing outperforms
manual data processing are emergency broadcast signals, security updates and weather
advisories. In situations such as bad weather, harmful radiation and in some scientific or space
research and also in war areas in which manual data processing is not possible, automatic
methods save human lives.
With the dawn of Information and Communication Era, it has turned the world into a global
village. Endless connectivity, interactive technologies, information sharing and infinite access of
data by means of networking eliminate drawbacks of manual data manipulation and make
available a fast, easy, convenient and accurate information creation and dissemination. ICT has
emerged as a key tool for influencing the process of organizations and people around the world
catching up with the technological advancement such as the Internet, the WWW, mobile
communication, mobile computing and cloud computing discussed below.

The Internet

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The Internet is defined as a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if
they have permission, get information from any other. The U.S. Department of Defense laid the
foundation of the Internet with a network called ARPANET. However, the general public did not
use the Internet much until after the development of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s.
In 1957, the U.S. government formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a
segment of the Department of Defense charged with ensuring U.S. leadership in science and
technology with military applications. In 1969, ARPA established ARPANET, the 9

Forerunner of the Internet. ARPANET was a network that connected major computers at the
Universities and other educational and research institutions later.
In response to the threat of nuclear attack, ARPANET was designed to allow continued
communication if one or more sites were destroyed. In the beginning ARPANET served only
computer professionals, engineers, and scientists who knew their way around its complex
workings. Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible to
millions of people worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of
the currently existing public telecommunication networks. The Internet uses a set of protocols
called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). A protocol is an agreement or
law behind the data transmission over networks. TCP is a reliable transmission protocol.
Services provided by the Internet are World Wide Web (WWW), File Transfer (FTP), email,
Video conferencing, Telnet, File sharing, Internet Relay chat, IP Telephone and IPTV. Electronic
mail (e-mail) has replaced the postal letters. Live conversations can be carried out with other
computer users, using the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and more recently, the Internet telephony
hardware and software allows real-time voice conversations. Real time voice and video can be
transmitted over network with the use of video conferencing technologies. WWW allows users
to view web pages distributed over the Internet and reach to the information they wish to find
from anywhere anytime. File transfer allows users to transfer files over the Internet and Telnet
facilitates remote login.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web came into being in 1991. Tim Berners-Lee is the developer of the WWW
and at the moment who directs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a group of industry
and university representatives that oversees the standards of Web technology.
HTTP is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other
multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. Hypertext is the documents that make content on
the web and it is possible to connect hypertext documents by means of hyperlinks. To view files
on the Web, it is needed a web browsing software. This software is used to view different
documents on the Web, which are known as Web pages. A collection of one or more web pages
is a Web site. The first page of a Web site is often called as the home page. Each web site in the
www has a unique address which is called the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Mobile communication and mobile computing

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Mobile communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the
help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors. Initially the mobile
communication was limited between one pair of users on single channel pair. To accommodate
multiple users Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and their hybrids are used.
Mobile Computing is a technology that allows transmission of data, voice and video via a
computer or any other wireless enabled device without having to be connected to a fixed
physical link.

Cloud Computing
The term Cloud refers to a Network or Internet. A Cloud is present at a remote location and
provides services over a network. Applications such as e-mail, web conferencing, customer
relationship management (CRM) run in clouds. Cloud Computing refers to manipulating,
configuring, and accessing the applications online. It offers online data storage, infrastructure
and application. Cloud Computing provides access to applications as utilities, over the Internet.
There are reference models on which the Cloud Computing is based. These can be categorized
into three basic service models as listed below:
1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - provides access to fundamental resources such as
physical machines, virtual machines, virtual storage, etc.
Ex - Customer Relationship Management, games, virtual desktop applications
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS) - provides the runtime environment for applications,
development & deployment tools, etc.
Ex - Database, web server, deployment tools
3. Software as a Service (SaaS) - allows to use software applications as a service to end
users.
Ex - Virtual machines, servers, storage, networks

1.3: Formulates an Abstract model of information creation and evaluates its compliance with
ICT

A system can be defined as an interrelated components work together to achieve a common

objective. A system is made up of inputs, processing and output. A school, a vehicle or a bicycle
can be introduced as a system. A system consists of interrelated components / sub systems and
system should be analyzed to identify inputs, outputs, subsystems and their individual
responsibilities. In an information system data input into the system is processed using
processing instructions given and information is produced as output. This is called an abstract
model of information.

A digital computer carries out the following five functions:

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 1. Takes data as input.
2. Stores the data/instructions in its memory and uses them as required.
3. Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
4. Generates the output.
5. Controls all the above four steps.

Though a computer system follows data input, processing data into information and output
results, the basic functions of a computer system are well overlapped on the Abstract Model of
Information.

1.4: Selects and classifies the basic components of a computer system

Computer System consists of four major components called Hardware, Software, Firmware and
Live ware.

Computer Hardware
Hardware components can be categorized into Input Devices, Output Devices, Processing
Devices, Networking Devices and Memory Devices. In addition to those types of hardware there
is a circuit board located inside a computer system called mother board by means of which
every hardware component are connected to each other.

1. Input Devices
Input Devices correspond to input data into the computer system. Mouse, Trackball, Joystick,
Touch pad, Touch screen and Light pen can be considered as pointing devices which are related
to point out and select pixels on the screen. Keyboard is the most common and very popular
input device which is used to input data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is similar
to that of traditional typewriter, although there are some additional keys provided for
performing additional functions. Scanner is an input device that captures images from the
source which are then converted into a digital form that can be stored on the disk. These
images can be edited before they are printed. Microphone is an input device to input sound
that is then stored in a digital form. In addition to the devices mentioned above MICR, OCR,
Barcode Reader also can be considered as input devices.
2. Output Devices
As its name implies output devices are the devices support to present information out from the
computer system. Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output
device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a
rectangular form. The resolution of the image depends upon the number of pixels.
There are two kinds of viewing screens used for monitors named as Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
and Flat-Panel Display. The flat-panel display is divided into two categories as follows.
 Light Emitting Diode (LED) – These are emissive displays that convert electrical energy
into light.
 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)–These are non-emissive displays which use optical effects to
convert light into graphics patterns.

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Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper which is called a
hardcopy. There are two types of printers
 Impact Printers - print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then
pressed on the paper. Dot Matrix Printer is an example for impact printers.
 Non-Impact Printers - Non-impact printers do not physically strike the page. These
printers print a complete page at a time, thus they are also called as Page Printers. Laser
printers and Inkjet printers are laid on this type of printers.

3. Memory Devices
A memory is used to store data and instructions. Computer memory is the storage space in the
computer system, where data is to be processed and instructions required for processing are
stored. The memory is divided into large number of small parts called cells. Each location or cell
has a unique address.
Memory is classified into three types -
 Cache Memory - Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which can
speed up the CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and the main memory. It is used
to hold those parts of data and program which are most frequently used by the CPU.
 Primary Memory/Main Memory - Primary memory holds only those data and
instructions on which the computer is currently working. It has a limited capacity and
data is lost when power is switched off. It is generally made up of semiconductor device.
 Secondary Memory - This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-
volatile. It is slower than the main memory. These are used for storing data/information
permanently. CPU does not access these memories directly instead they are accessed
via input-output routines. The contents of secondary memories are first transferred to
the main memory, and then the CPU can access it.

4. Processing Devices
Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the most common processing device of a computer which has
the control of all other components. Arithmetic and logical operations take place inside the
CPU. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly
manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended
for output to a display. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal
computers, workstations, and game consoles.
5. Networking Devices
Computer networking devices are physical devices which are required for communication and
interaction between devices on a computer network. Specifically, they mediate data in a
computer network.
Ex - Hubs, Switches, Bridges, Routes, Gateways, Network Interface Cards (NICs)

Computer Software

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Computer software is classified as system software and application software. System software
(systems software) is the computer software designed to operate and control the computer
hardware and to provide a platform for running application software. System software can be
separated into three different categories as follows.
 Operating Systems –Windows, Linux, Mac OS
 Utility Software– Virus Guard, Device drivers
 Language Translators – Compiler, Interpreter

Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need of a particular

environment. Application software may consist of a single program, such as Microsoft's
notepad for writing and editing a simple text. It may also consist of a collection of programs,
often called a software package, which work together to accomplish a task. 17

Software can also be classified as ‘open source software’ and ‘proprietary software’.
Open Source Software –source code is available and it is free to use, modify or redistribute
these type of software.
Proprietary Software – source code is not available and user should have the permission given
by owner of the software to use this type of software.

Firmware
Firmware is a computer program that is "embedded" in a hardware device, that is, an essential
part of the hardware. It is sometimes called embedded software. In computers firmware
embedded in ROM and which handles booting up process of computers.

Liveware
Liveware refers computer users. According to user commands generally computers are
functioning.

1.5: Analyses the activities of data processing

Steps in data processing are:

1. Data gathering
2. Data validation
3. Data processing
4. Data output
5. Data storage.

Data gathering

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Data gathering methods vary as manual methods, Semi-automated and automated methods.
Tools used in automated methods.

Interviews, questionnaires and observation can be done in order to collect data manually. Using
interviews detailed questions and answers may helpful for making the discussion fair enough to
capture deserved data. It’s a fast method to use of questionnaires which is most suitable for
gathering quantitative data and answering anonymously, may helpful to gather fair and
confident data.

In semi-automatic and automatic methods OMR, OCR, MICR, card/tape readers, magnetic strip
readers, bar code readers, sensors and loggers are popular.
 An Optical Mark Reader (OMR) is a scanning device that reads carefully placed pencil
marks on a specially designed form or document. Most popular use of OMR is marking
of MCQ answer sheets.
 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is done by Optical Character Reader which allows
us to identify written or printed characters and extract editable text from it.
 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is done by Magnetic Ink Character Reader
which supports to input data written in special magnetic ink under cheque.
 Magnetic strip readers use to read data stored in a magnetic strip attached on credit
cards and bank ATM cards.
 Bar code readers use visible light to scan and read barcodes which contain data to be
input into computer systems.

Sensors may helpful for collecting data from different places in to a single data center fast.
Sensor networks are consisting of variety of electronic sensors. Each node in a wireless sensor
network is equipped with one or more sensors in addition to a microcontroller, wireless
transceiver, and energy source.

Data validation methods

1. Data type check – Check whether correct data type (numeric/text/date/currency etc) is
input into the system
2. Presence check – Presence of data (i.e. data entry field is not blank) is checked. It is
compulsory to input important data
3. Range check – Check whether the data is in allowed range (i.e. Marks have to be
between 0 and 100) commonly used when working with data which consists of
numbers, currency or dates/times

Modes of data input

1. Direct and remote - In direct data input, data is input into the system directly without
direct user interference. In remote entry, system is designed specially to store data.
Data storing and transactions are taking place in different geographical places.
2. Online and offline – In online data input, the data is input at the same time transaction
taking place, where data of different transactions input after a specific time period as a
batch in offline method.

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Data processing
Data input and processing occur as a batch in batch processing. It is easy to handle huge
amount of data as a batch. So, data stored until the system comes online to process the data in
one 'batch'. Batch processing is done in billing systems and pay roll system.
In real time processing of data, input, processing and output as well as data storing occur
simultaneously. Any type of monitoring system, any type of booking system, computer
controlled systems such as automatic production line, an aircraft auto-pilot, the system
controlling a nuclear power stations uses real time processing.

Output methods
Direct presentation to the user can be done by using a monitor, multimedia projector or a
printer. Soft copies are presented with monitors and multimedia projectors whereas printer
output printed copies which is said to be hard copies. Storing methods are used to store data
securely for further processing needs.

Storage methods
Local storages such as Hard Disks Drives, Compact Disk, Digital Versatile Disks and Tape Drives
can be used to store data inside the local computer. Remote storage such as cloud space can be
used to store data securely. To get remote data when needed it is required the access to the
internet.

1.6: Investigates the application of ICT in different domains

Education
The computer helps in providing a lot of facilities in the education system. The computer
provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer Based Education). CBE
involves control, delivery, and evaluation of learning as follows.
1. Simulations:
Computer simulators and prototypes can be used to perform the rather impossible
experiments on the subjects which seemed impossible to be done in the labs especially in
the field of medicine and engineering.

2. Distance Learning and E- Learning:

This is the trend in 21st century education where the obstacles arise due to distance are
being eliminated. One can attend classes and access learning materials remotely, without
having to travel to the learning center.

3. Better Content Delivery:

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 The motivation effect that comes about due to embracing ICT in teaching and learning is a
common factor. For instance, multimedia and interactive content on interactive boards
remain quite engaging and motivating making students pay more attention in class.

4. Individualized Learning:
ICT help students with individual needs to have better suited assignments and making it
easy to organize their learning.

Healthcare
Computers have become an important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. They are being
used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is also used in scanning and
diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, ultrasounds and CT scans are also done by
computerized machines.
Following are some major fields of health care in which computers are used.
 Diagnostic System - Computers are used to collect data and identify the cause of illness.
 Lab-diagnostic System - All tests can be done and the reports are prepared by computer.
 Patient Monitoring System - These are used to check the patient's signs for abnormality
(ECG)
 Pharmacy Information System - Computer is used to check drug labels, expiry dates,
harmful side effects, etc.
 Surgery - Nowadays, computers are also used as a supporting tool for surgery.

Agriculture
ICT is applied in the field of agriculture, animal farm houses and fisheries industries. ICT is used
to control light, moisture and air inside the greenhouses. Robotic machines are used to monitor
plant growth levels, record them and harvesting in large scale farm lands. Crop harvesting and
seedling planter robotics are also useful to keep efficiency of agriculture industry. Automatic
weed removers and insect control devices protect the crop from weed plants and insects
respectively. Monitoring devices are used to monitor factors affect crop production such as
weather, climatic changes, rainfall, wind direction, soil fertility and water content.
Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) helps in identifying and counting the number of
animals in farmhouses. Automated milking and examination of cows can be done with
computer controlled systems which is helpful in monitoring the health status of the cows and
the quality of milk.

Business and finance

A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility which has
made it an integrated part in all business organizations.
Computer is used in business organizations for payroll calculations, budgeting, sales analysis,
financial forecasting, managing employee database and maintenance of stocks etc.
Today, banking is almost totally dependent on computers. Banks provide online accounting
facility, which includes checking current balance, making deposits and overdrafts, checking

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interest charges, shares, and trustee records. ATM machines which are completely automated
are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.
In marketing, advertising and home shopping, computers are widely used today. Advertising
professionals use graphics, and animations fascinatedly to get customer attractions. Home
shopping has been made possible through the use of computerized catalogues that provide
access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to be filled by the customers.

Engineering
CAD (Computer Aided Design) that provides creation and modification of drawing.
3D virtualization also can be done in engineering industry before development of buildings,
machinery, and vehicles also. Some machinery can be developed virtually and can be monitored
functioning animations on screens. Computer Aided Software Engineering tools (CASE) supports
software engineers for designing, coding, testing and debugging of software.

Tourism
Internet has facilitated prospective tourist services, communication, and information access.
Bringing a better quality of service to the tourism industry, the Internet has pulled down prices,
made information widely available, and allowed sellers and buyers to connect more easily and
make transactions.

Media and journalism

ICT is effectively used in media and Journalism which helps in designing of articles interactively
as well as organizing information. Content sharing between broadcasters, and reaching global
news fast have become easy with the use of the Internet and Internet services such as www,
email, video conferencing and so on.

Law enforcement
ICT is applicable in law enforcement which facilitates information recording and storage,
investigations, reporting and statistics. ICT supports the investigations carried out to apprehend
criminals. Today CCTV systems, GPS, and telecommunication services provide severe support
on criminal investigations.

1.7: Evaluates the impact of ICT in the society

Social and economic benefits of ICT

Benefits provided by ICT such as social benefits and economic benefits would tend people to
embrace the information communication technology.
ICT impact in entertainment and leisure industry has improved the way in which we can
entertain ourselves by enhancing and providing people with different ways of entertaining
ourselves such as online games and chat with friends etc.
A growing ICT sector can contribute to aggregate increases in productivity, GDP and trade. As
people continue to embrace ICT with an aim of making their life better, it may also affect how
productive they are. Increase in the size and productivity of the ICT sector, it associate growth
in labor productivity, manufacturing productivity and ultimately the economy.

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ICT has bridged access to information from anywhere anytime which improves information
dissemination around the world. Cloud computing activates better application, services,
security, reliability and availability of information. 28

Social, economic, environmental, ethical, legal and privacy issues caused by ICT
ICT adoption in industries causes thousands of job losses. This is because computers reduce the
number of people needed to perform a particular task.
Negative impacts of entertaining using ICT are time wastage, health issues. Continuous use of
ICT for entertainment such as playing games brings health issues. For instance, constant use of
thumbs, wrists and eyes can lead to problems such as eyes strain, RSI and other physical
problems.
“Digital divide” is an economic and social inequality with regard to access to, use of, or impact
of information and communication technologies. Access to appropriate technological resources
similar and improvements in ICT education will helpful to overcome digital divide.
Electronic waste or e-waste is becoming a severe problem around the world. The major
problem with e-waste is that the toxic chemicals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium can leach
into the soil over time and contaminate the drinking water.
Green computing, the study and practice of efficient and eco-friendly computing resources, is
now under the attention of not only environmental organizations, but also businesses from
other industries. As a result, most countries in the developed world have introduced
regulations to prevent e-waste being dumped into landfill. The majority of components in
electronic goods now have to be recycled.
Intellectual property rights, patents on academic material, music and software difficult to be
protected as how fast they are distributed over networks. Net etiquette/internet ethics are not
kept by all of the Internet users.

Confidentiality of data or information

Confidentiality of information can be kept with the use of password protection, encryption
techniques and digital signatures.

 Stealing / Phishing
Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and
credit card details for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an
electronic communication. To protect data or information against stealing or phishing it is
necessary to setup firewall, use of password, apply updates and not opening suspicious emails
and clicking on links of untrusted senders. 29

 Piracy
Software piracy is the illegal copying, distribution, or use of software.

 Copyright / Intellectual Property laws

Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with protecting the rights of those who create
original works. It covers everything from original plays and novels to inventions.

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  Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the stealing of someone else’s thoughts, ideas, expressions or work and the
representation of them as one's own original work.

 Licensed / unlicensed software

A software license is a legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software. Two
common categories for software under copyright law are proprietary software and free and
open source software (FOSS). FOSS software licenses both rights to the customer and therefore
bundles the modifiable source code with the software (open-source), while proprietary
software typically does not license these rights and therefore keeps the source code hidden
(closed source). License grants the licensee specific rights to use, edit or redistribution of
software. Unlicensed software outside the copyright protection is either public software or
software which is non-distributed, non-licensed and handled as internal resource of an
organization.

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